Chapter 647
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 647
Chapter Title: Mysterious
Morning dawned.
Ha Mu-baek's group boarded the boat right on time.
Even early in the morning, the boat was bustling nonstop.
They kept loading cargo one after another.
Most of it was headed for Yichang, they said.
How much time had passed?
The boat left the port and began ascending the Yangtze River.
Gazing at the receding Wuchang, Ha Mu-baek let out a chuckle.
The night before.
A single figure had stealthily approached Ha Mu-baek as he left the Dragon Training Pavilion for the inn.
As if begging to be recognized, the man leaked his energy profusely.
Unorthodox internal energy, no less.
The black-clad masked man they encountered.
The moment he faced Ha Mu-baek, he flattened himself to the ground and delivered a sealed letter, claiming it came on orders from the Literary Man White Pine.
And the instant Ha Mu-baek took it, he vanished.
His movements resembled a desperate flight.
The letter's contents read:
'Je-cheon Mil...'
The Unorthodox Network had already detected their presence.
It was a lucky catch from their close scrutiny of Nanchang.
But the information was scant for all that.
Even though it relayed everything the Unorthodox Network had grasped.
'Well, still, showing this kind of sincerity.'
That was the source of his amusement.
He hadn't expected the Unorthodox Network to extend such goodwill first.
Thanks to it, the journey after the Yeon Clan looked smooth.
No one yet knew they planned to head to the Unorthodox Network after wrapping up Yeon Clan business.
Ha Mu-baek hadn't breathed a word to anyone but Wei Ji-gun.
The boat moved slowly but without pause.
It would make brief stops at ports along the way, but they said it wouldn't dock overnight like this.
So the next time they stepped off, it'd be upon arrival in Yichang.
Gong Hae-jun, leaning on the railing and taking in the scenery as the boat steadily climbed the Yangtze at an unhurried pace, asked,
"Master. I heard the Yangtze is so vast and treacherous that water bandits are everywhere, but it looks peaceful enough in reality."
"Jun-i must be curious about the water bandits, huh."
Ha Seol-ran, standing beside him, smiled gently.
Water bandits.
The term wasn't unfamiliar to her.
Dongting Lake actually hosted quite a few.
Some had poked around Cheong-ran Island only to get thrashed by Wei Ji-gun's forces and chased off.
"He's been reading those hero novels from the marketplace."
Gong Hae-bin jumped in with an excuse.
Water and mountain bandits were staple villains in hero tales.
Fodder for the protagonist to smash.
"A merchant vessel of this scale would've arranged things with the bandits ahead of time. The guild paid a suitable toll upfront. And there are no shortage of escort warriors aboard."
Ha Mu-baek gave a detailed answer to Gong Hae-jun's question.
Indeed, warriors with bulging Sun Acupoints were posted all over the ship.
"Ah! Are those escorts?"
"Escorts handle cargo transport, but this one's run directly by the guild, so think guild warriors. Barring something unusual, no chance of running into bandits."
Gong Hae-jun nodded at his master's reply.
But his inner thoughts differed.
'Whenever they say nothing unusual will happen, that's when something unusual pops up...'
A line from a novel he'd read recently.
And so, young Gong Hae-jun pressed on with his shipboard routine of training after training, chest pounding as he hid his excitement.
And then.
"Yichang at last."
Ha Mu-baek said, eyeing the port coming into view.
Truly without incident, the boat arrived safely in Yichang.
Yeon Ha-min stared silently at the Yichang docks.
How long had it been since her homecoming?
Yichang.
Her hometown, laced with love and hate.
Born and raised here.
In an age too young for memories, and a faintly recalled childhood.
Back then, she had been happy.
At least, faint traces of that memory lingered.
But that life split cleanly before and after entering the Yeon Clan.
What followed was hell.
Hence the mixed feelings for her hometown.
Her life divided once more after rejoining the Dragon Training Pavilion.
The most agonizing chapter of her brief existence thus far.
The Hubei Yeon Clan.
Heading there now, she naturally fell silent.
The boat reached the docks, and disembarking began.
Cargo and passengers tangled into a chaotic flow, and Ha Mu-baek's group naturally rode it to solid ground.
Perhaps due to Yeon Ha-min's heavy mood, the group stayed quiet.
They settled into a suitable inn near the docks.
"We'll rest here today and pay a visit to the Yeon Clan tomorrow."
"Yes."
Yeon Ha-min's reply to Ha Mu-baek was small and curt.
They finished their quiet meal and headed to their rooms.
Even Ha Seol-ran held her tongue with Yeon Ha-min this time.
All she could do was watch and wait.
The room stayed hushed as a result.
"Um, Instructor."
A voice from beyond the door shattered the quiet.
Gong Hae-jun.
Ha Seol-ran opened the door.
"Master said he's stepping out briefly to look around and told us to stay put."
Ha Mu-baek's orders, since he couldn't leave Gong Hae-jun alone in the room.
"Oh? Come on in."
Ha Seol-ran replied with a bright smile.
Dusk had already settled in.
The port remained hectic regardless.
With plenty of cargo still to unload, torches blazed everywhere as work continued.
Ha Mu-baek strolled those streets.
'This place has a whole different vibe from Nanchang.'
Beggars dotted the roads here and there.
In Nanchang, they said the boatmen dragged every last one off since loafing wasn't tolerated.
Ha Mu-baek wandered leisurely until he spotted a suitable beggar.
The hidden knot at his waist marked him as a fairly high-ranking member of the branch.
Ha Mu-baek dropped a coin into the begging bowl.
"Thank you, elder."
The beggar merely bowed his head.
"Hey. You know me, right?"
"Pardon?"
At the abrupt question, the beggar cautiously raised his head. The moment he confirmed Ha Mu-baek's face, his eyes bulged wide.
He'd recognized him properly.
"H-how..."
His voice trembled.
"No word from Wuchang yet, I take it?"
Beggar's Clan Yichang Branch Protector Dong Juk-gae recalled the news that had come in yesterday at Ha Mu-baek's query.
He just hadn't imagined the man himself appearing before his eyes.
Erasing his fluster, Dong Juk-gae soon replied.
"Ah, we got the news, but meeting you face-to-face like this is something else entirely..."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled at the response.
The beggar struck him as rather brazen.
"Your name?"
"Beggar's Clan Yichang Branch Protector Dong Juk-gae greets Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Great Hero Ha Mu-baek."
He rose and offered a proper cupped-fist salute.
"Good. Care to chat?"
"This way, please."
Dong Juk-gae took the lead, guiding Ha Mu-baek.
The spot was beneath a bridge, scarce of passersby.
The few people in sight were beggars—all Beggar's Clan members.
"Different atmosphere from Nanchang."
Dong Juk-gae scowled at Ha Mu-baek's remark, recalling Nanchang.
"That insane city's really..."
Having stayed there himself, his tone dripped with deep resentment.
"Yichang's not like Nanchang. Nanchang thrives on fishing thanks to vast Poyang Lake, but here it's not to that degree. So we don't go grabbing beggars off the streets so conspicuously for work."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at the explanation.
Nanchang's vibe was undeniably peculiar.
Who hauls beggars in for labor and pays them properly?
Likely nowhere but Nanchang in all the world.
"Surprised to see someone headed for the Yeon Clan pop up at the docks out of nowhere. The branch leader's waiting around the Yeon Clan grounds."
Ha Mu-baek's visit to Yichang.
The destination was obvious.
The Hubei Yeon Clan, patriarch of the Five Great Families, made its seat in Yichang.
Though the purpose remained unknown.
"Looks like you came out to the docks on purpose. The fishing boat area, not the merchant ships."
At the question—whether to avoid bumping into Ha Mu-baek disembarking a merchant vessel—
Dong Juk-gae averted his gaze.
A tacit yes.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled once more.
He liked the man's honesty.
Liked the effort to dodge trouble.
It meant quick wits.
"How's the mood at the Yeon Clan?"
"Mysterious."
Ha Mu-baek cocked his head at the answer.
It differed from Yeon Baek-jin's speculation back at the pavilion.
"Heard the third son is running the clan?"
"Correct."
"Word is he's just the type to keep things ticking over."
"That's right too."
"Yet the atmosphere's mysterious?"
"It feels peaceful but tense all at once—hence mysterious. Foot traffic and managing Yichang are business as usual, but the clan folk seem oddly on edge."
Ha Mu-baek furrowed his brow.
Was Yeon Ja-kyeong the sort to be careless?
He wouldn't just leave the clan—crux of his power—unguarded.
"On edge... about what?"
"No clue. Beggars like us can't waltz into the inner compound. But it looked like internal tension, not external."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Their tension eases the farther you get from the clan."
"Hm."
Ha Mu-baek sank into thought.
Arriving in Yichang had unveiled an unexpected scene.
Yeon Baek-jin's ignorance of it meant tight control on clan intel.
In other words, the third son had the clan fully in hand.
'No way?'
A thought flashed through his mind.
An apparent lightweight outperforming expectations—one possibility sprang to mind.
"Thanks for the intel."
Ha Mu-baek offered parting words and turned.
"Ah, and the Yeon Clan probably knows of the Corps Leader's arrival by now."
Dong Juk-gae hurriedly added the bit he'd missed.
But Ha Mu-baek merely flicked a hand and unleashed his lightness skill, vanishing in a blink.
Dong Juk-gae clicked his tongue at the sight.
"A monster through and through."
Ha Mu-baek's form had melted away in an instant.
Ha Mu-baek moved swiftly.
Yichang sprawled across the plains along the Yangtze beneath rugged peaks.
The heart of Yichang.
From there, Ha Mu-baek began treading the air upward.
Endless void stepping.
Poised high in the sky, he overlooked the city.
Hubei Yeon Clan especially.
Scanning for any sign of the Demonic Cult's formation nearby.
The Yeon Clan sat west of the city's bustling core.
An awkward spot for deploying the Eternal Ghost Forest Endless Demon Formation, but the Demonic Cult rats would scheme a way.
Yet no traces appeared.
One possibility down.
The Yeon Clan's third son.
Yeon Baek-pung, defying his reputation—Ha Mu-baek had guessed Soul Devouring Great Law victim, but no.
If ensnared by the Soul Devouring Great Law, Eternal Ghost Forest traces should've shown around the clan.
Releasing his void step, Ha Mu-baek descended slowly, shaking his head.
'No, if it hit recently, they might be prepping the formation still.'
He didn't rule out the Soul Devouring Great Law entirely.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes locked on the Yeon Clan.
'As Yeon Baek-jin said, time to meet the man first.'
Yeon Gong-hu.
Yeon Ha-min's stepbrother, a hidden dragon whose prowess the clan itself concealed.
A faint smile tugged at Ha Mu-baek's lips.
Curiosity toward one who'd scaled the transcendent realm young... and hidden it utterly.
'He already knows I'm here.'
Upon landing, Ha Mu-baek's form whisked away like the wind.
Toward the presence of Yeon Gong-hu, pinpointed amid the clan's pervasive aura sense.
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