A Son's Duty
Jang Muhwi rose from his seat and offered a polite fist salute to the late-stage juniors.
“Something has come up, so I’ll take my leave here.”
“W-wait a moment. This gathering was prepared for you…”
Mu Ilho shot to his feet in a hurry and stepped close to Jang Muhwi’s side.
At the sight, Jang Muhwi simply shook his head.
“It’s fine. It’s a family matter.”
“I don’t know what it is, but we’ll help.”
“No need. Since it’s a family affair, there’s no reason for you to concern yourself.”
“Are we strangers? If it’s your family’s business, then it’s ours as well.”
Mu Ilho’s eyes gleamed as he lifted his weapon and pressed it to his chest.
In that instant, the other late-stage juniors assumed the exact same posture.
“I share the same intent as Young Master Mu.”
“Please let us help you.”
They shouted in perfect unison, as if they had rehearsed it beforehand.
Then, as one, they began striking their chests with their weapons.
Thud. Thud.
It was a vow sworn before the heavens and earth.
A faint spark of curiosity flickered across Jang Muhwi’s face.
Comrades who trust me this much? This is unexpected.
Looking into their eyes, it was clear they weren’t simply offering words; they were ready to throw their bodies into the fray at any moment.
Jang Muhwi had seen that exact gaze in his previous life.
It was the look one could only find in true comrades.
Yet he still shook his head.
“I’ll accept only the sentiment.”
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
They had seen his smile.
They no longer pressed him.
Setting down their wine cups, they rose and quietly looked at one another.
Emotions thick with trust tangled together like threads.
Those tangled threads eventually became one.
The fierce, competitive glares they had worn when they first met were nowhere to be seen.
It was a far stronger reaction than he had anticipated.
They were no longer rivals; they had become true comrades who could entrust their backs to one another.
Jang Muhwi remained standing as he emptied his wine cup in one gulp.
They, too, silently drained their cups.
Once every last drop was gone, they exchanged glances once more.
At that moment, Mu Ilho gave the other juniors a meaningful look.
Receiving the signal, the late-stage juniors began rummaging through their belongings.
Mu Ilho moved first. He pulled something from his bundle and swiftly held it out to Jang Muhwi.
“This is an internal injury medicine passed down through our family for generations, along with what little travel money I have left. It’s all I can offer.”
“Why give this to me…”
Jang Muhwi tilted his head in confusion.
Though trust had begun to sprout between them, this was still unexpected.
Mu Ilho glanced at Jang Muhwi’s arm as if he had anticipated the question.
Jang Muhwi’s arm was wrapped tightly in bandages.
They had been applied to treat the injuries he sustained in the final trial.
Although he had blocked every poisoned projectile from Dang Jihwa, the juniors all knew that the poison had not yet been fully neutralized.
Jang Muhwi looked down at his own arm. In truth, it was perfectly fine.
It was precisely because it was too fine that he had wrapped it in bandages to conceal the fact.
But to the juniors who didn’t know the truth, it had become a debt of the heart.
And that was only the beginning.
The other late-stage juniors also searched their robes and began offering their own items.
“Despite how it looks, this pill belongs to the lower-grade spiritual medicine category.”
“Here’s the rest of my travel funds.”
“Please accept mine as well.”
Faced with the sudden situation, Jang Muhwi folded his arms and gazed at the gifts piled on the table.
This kind of goodwill was something he could never have imagined in his previous life.
The outcome was strangely perfect.
If this counts as a Giyan, then I suppose it is one.
In the treacherous murim world, one needed a solid foundation to seize opportunities.
Yet there was no better foundation than personal connections.
Jang Muhwi looked at them again.
The late-stage juniors sparkled with the same bright eyes as magpies repaying a favor.
When Jang Muhwi continued to watch them in silence, Mu Ilho scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I’m not saying we’re repaying your grace with mere trinkets. If you don’t want them…”
“No. I’ll make good use of them.”
With those words, Jang Muhwi swept his hand across the table.
In that instant, Mu Ilho and the others stared at him in shock.
The gifts on the table had vanished before their eyes as if blown away by the wind.
Not one of them had seen how the items disappeared.
Jang Muhwi had simply waved his hand once.
Instead, a large sack now hung from his right hand.
As if prepared in advance, every single gift had been sucked into the sack.
While everyone stood with their mouths agape at the blinding speed of his technique, the startled Mu Ilho asked,
“Just what kind of technique was that?”
“In the Jang family, once a guest enters, we never let them leave empty-handed. The same goes for gifts. It’s called the Jangmun Ilsu technique.”
“Now that you mention it, that was the form you displayed during the final trial.”
Mu Ilho and the other late-stage juniors’ eyes sparkled with renewed interest.
Jang Muhwi let out a small chuckle before raising his wine cup once more.
Mu Ilho and the others lifted their cups as well.
After setting his cup down, Jang Muhwi quietly turned and left the tavern.
It was time to depart.
Seeing the resolute look in his eyes, the late-stage juniors no longer tried to stop him.
Jang Muhwi slowly exited the tavern and spotted Cheolwoo waiting with his neck stretched out like a crane.
When their eyes met, Cheolwoo hurriedly approached.
“Let’s go quickly, Young Master.”
“Indeed. Here, take this.”
Jang Muhwi handed over the large bundle.
The moment Cheolwoo received it, his upper body lurched forward.
“Whoa! Why is it so heavy? Did you stuff rocks in here or something?”
“Why would I put rocks in it?”
“If not rocks… then what on earth is inside to make it this heavy?”
“Gifts from my friends.”
“Since when did the Young Master have friends…”
Cheolwoo trailed off and turned to look back at the tavern.
His eyes widened.
On the second floor of the tavern, everyone was watching Jang Muhwi.
At that moment, Jang Muhwi lightly tapped Cheolwoo’s shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
Having said that, Jang Muhwi strode off at a brisk pace.
Cheolwoo, who had been staring blankly, quickly shouldered the bundle and broke into a run.
He couldn’t possibly let the Young Master go alone.
A few days later.
Cheolwoo, trailing behind Jang Muhwi, was staggering in a zigzag pattern, utterly exhausted.
It was only natural. Jang Muhwi had run the entire way here without rest.
Carrying the heavy bundle on top of that, Cheolwoo had grown so disoriented he could barely tell where they were.
With every step, he felt as if his lifespan was being shaved away.
Cheolwoo had cried out in exhaustion several times, but Jang Muhwi paid him no mind and simply pressed onward.
They ran after waking and slept only after running until they nearly lost consciousness.
On rare lucky days they stayed at an inn, but most nights were spent sleeping outdoors.
There were times he wanted nothing more than to collapse on the spot, but Cheolwoo couldn’t allow himself that luxury.
He could not disobey the family head’s orders.
Moreover, he carried a sense of duty to look after Jang Muhwi.
Thanks to that sense of duty, Cheolwoo had no choice but to frantically chase after him.
During that time, one thought kept occurring to him: Jang Muhwi had changed.
Until recently, Jang Muhwi hadn’t been able to keep up with Cheolwoo when he carried the bundle.
That was how frail he had been.
Yet at some point, Jang Muhwi had transformed.
Cheolwoo continued his zigzag walk while staring at Jang Muhwi’s back ahead of him.
Then Jang Muhwi’s voice reached him.
“Let’s rest here.”
Cheolwoo finally caught up, barely managing to open his mouth with a hint of resentment.
“This is too much. How could you leave me behind like that?”
“But you arrived safely, didn’t you?”
“You didn’t even tell me the destination! The family head ordered you to stay as far from the family as possible for three months…”
Cheolwoo stopped mid-sentence.
Through the faint morning sunlight, a familiar sight had appeared.
What entered Cheolwoo’s vision was none other than the Jang family estate.
“Young Master, this is…”
“We’re almost home.”
“W-wait a second. Home? Didn’t the family head order you to stay away from the family for three months?”
“That’s what Father thinks.”
“Are you saying you’re going to disobey the family head’s command?”
“A major incident has occurred within the family. I can’t just sit back and watch. Isn’t that a son’s duty?”
“But that major incident happened because of you, Young Master…”
Cheolwoo hurriedly covered his mouth.
In that instant, Jang Muhwi narrowed his eyes.
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
“What would I be hiding…”
“You’re touching your earlobe right now.”
“What about it?”
“You have a habit of touching your earlobe whenever you lie.”
“Me?”
“Everyone has at least one habit they aren’t aware of. You need to fix that one.”
“What?”
“In the murim, a single habit can determine life or death.”
Jang Muhwi pointed at Cheolwoo’s ear.
Just as he said, Cheolwoo had a habit of touching his earlobe when lying.
It was something everyone knew—except the man himself.
In the murim, revealing one’s emotions was the most dangerous thing of all.
There was even a saying that to survive in the murim, one needed to wear at least a steel plate over their face.
Cheolwoo’s face filled with a mixture of surprise and joy.
“Are you… worrying about me right now?”
“Stop smiling and tell me the truth. What exactly happened to the family?”
“Since I’ve been caught, I suppose I have no choice. Young Master Ma from the Ma family came looking for you.”
“The Ma family… you mean the one with the Blue Sea Spear King?”
Jang Muhwi narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky.
The Ma family was led by Ma Yukcheong, known as the Spear King of the Qinghai region.
In the western part of Qinghai, their influence was second only to the Wi Clan.
The Ma family originally belonged to the righteous path. Thanks to their bizarre spear techniques, people in Qinghai thought of spears the moment they heard the name Ma.
Combined with the current family head Ma Yukcheong’s exceptional business acumen, the family had flourished.
There were even rumors that the Ma family’s land expanded by a full ja with every breath they took.
Any martial artist in the Qinghai region burned with eagerness to build a good relationship with Ma Yukcheong.
However, there was one exception within the Ma family: Ma Uiryong.
People would vacate their seats at the mere sight of his shadow.
It was all because of Ma Uiryong’s personality.
A natural-born fighter, he could not stand losing. His inability to tolerate defeat always caused trouble.
Even when he won, he was never satisfied. If he lost, he would challenge the opponent again and again until he beat them into a pulp.
He knew no such thing as compromise.
Among the murim community, he was generally regarded as closer to the unorthodox path than the righteous one.
Yet no other expert could suppress him with force.
It was all because of the Ma family’s backing.
Ma Uiryong was the only son among Ma Yukcheong’s five children.
Although the successor had not yet been decided, it was obvious he would inherit the family.
No one wanted to create friction with the Ma family.
Whether one won or lost, it was a loss either way.
On top of that, whenever the family head Ma Yukcheong entered closed-door training, Ma Uiryong would run even more wildly.
Come to think of it, it was highly likely that the Ma family head was currently in closed-door training.
The young master of the Ma family, more fittingly called a maniac than by any nickname?
While Jang Muhwi was searching his memories, Cheolwoo spoke up.
“Young Master Ma challenged you to a spar.”
“Hmm.”
Jang Muhwi narrowed his eyes.
This was something that had never happened in his previous life.
The mad dog of Qinghai, the one people called the “hot potato.”
Ma Uiryong had challenged him to a spar?
A faint gleam poured from Jang Muhwi’s narrowed eyes.
“This turned out perfectly.”
“What do you mean, perfectly?”
Cheolwoo asked, clearly worried.
“I was already feeling my shortcomings after the Dragon Gate Assembly. It’s good fortune that the exact piece I needed has come looking for me on its own two feet.”
“You’re saying that maniac is the piece you need?”
“Of course.”
Cheolwoo looked him up and down before continuing.
“The family head was right after all.”
“What did Father say?”
“He said you’ve become strange. He asked me to look after you well. He was worried you might do exactly this.”
“Father knows that avoiding it won’t solve anything.”
“The Ma family head will emerge from closed-door training in three months. Things should calm down then.”
“Then I’ll have to finish this before then.”
Having said that, Jang Muhwi gave a faint smile.