Chapter 34: Get Out of the Way If You Don’t Want to Die!

It was a happy time.

Except for the time I spent in meditation, I spent the whole day sparring with the Mad Guest in the swamp. We didn’t care about day or night, and after sparring, we would always review the important points with him. Although it was a matter of no benefit to him, the Mad Guest helped me with my training without showing any sign of annoyance. He was the best training partner.

I also occasionally exchanged blows with the Eccentric Immortal. Unlike with the Mad Guest, where I focused on deepening my martial arts through various attempts, I fought with him with all my strength. Nevertheless, there were no cases where we reached a dangerous situation like in the first duel. It was because when the Eccentric Immortal, who had gotten angry because I had been exercising my initiative throughout, came at me with a ‘you die, I die’ attitude, I would readily retreat. There was no reason to risk injury and determine a winner or loser.

The Eccentric Immortal, who had noticed that not only had my martial arts deepened in a short period of time, but my primal energy had also increased, could not hide his shock. At the same time, he was openly jealous. I gave him the answer of ‘bone-crushing effort’ when he persistently questioned me about the secret. The Mad Guest was convinced, but the Eccentric Immortal got angry, saying it was a useless answer.

I enjoyed my association with the two strange men. Every day was filled with a fulfillment that could not be wished for more. I wished that this time would last for exactly one year, no more, no less. But the time of happiness was not allowed for even a month, let alone a year.

Following Kang Tae-su, who had come to the swamp, I returned to the villa, and Jin Cheong-un was there.

Seeing his serious expression, I knew that what was to come had come. The Boseong Hyeon family had finally made a move.

“Welcome. Where are the elders?”

“They are in the training ground. I came after asking for their understanding that I would be back after a short visit to the villa.”

“Is that so? Let’s go in. I should wake that child up too.”

I looked up at the sun in the mid-sky. Jin So-wol must be deep in dreamland.

“There’s no need for that. I have already talked a lot with her about the Hyeon family’s matter. So just tell me.”

“I understand. Then I’ll tell you. Actually, it’s a message from the Orthodox Alliance, not the Boseong Hyeon family. They’re summoning you to appear at the Hall of Law Enforcement by the hour of the monkey on the fifteenth of this month. They’re going to hold a trial for the assassination of the Hyeon family’s retainer and decide whether to punish you and the severity of the punishment, and if you don’t comply with the summons, they’ll consider it as an admission of guilt, declare you a public enemy of the martial world, and issue an arrest warrant.”

I was not very flustered. It was one of the situations that Jin So-wol had predicted. She had seen a high probability that the Hyeon family, conscious of the Eccentric Immortal and the Mad Guest, would drag the Orthodox Alliance into it. In fact, the Orthodox Alliance’s notice that Jin Cheong-un had delivered was exactly what she had recited with her beautiful pink lips twenty days ago.

I looked up at the sky again.

Judging by the position of the sun, it must be around noon. Since today was the thirteenth of the eleventh month, the date designated by the Orthodox Alliance was two days later. It meant I didn’t have much time.

“I have to go.”

“Where to?”

“To the Orthodox Alliance, of course.”

Jin Cheong-un’s pale complexion darkened.

“That place could be your deathbed. I’ll wake that child up, so bring the elders. Let’s all come up with a countermeasure…”

I cut Jin Cheong-un’s words short.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no need for that. I have already discussed it with Miss Jin, so please listen to her later.”

Jin Cheong-un grabbed me.

“If that’s the case, then always be with the two of them. Unless the Martial King himself comes to the Hall of Law Enforcement, you’ll be able to secure an escape route even if the situation turns against you.”

“I understand. I’ll do that.”

As if he was finally relieved, Jin Cheong-un let go of my sleeve. I flew toward the swamp. But I had no intention of following Jin Cheong-un’s advice, not even a deer’s tail’s worth.

I told the Eccentric Immortal and the Mad Guest that I was going to take care of some urgent business and that they should hear the details from Jin So-wol, and then I headed northwest. The Eccentric Immortal followed me for several hundred paces, persistently asking what was going on, but I deferred the answer to Jin So-wol. As he, who had been getting angry, fell away, I increased the speed of my lightness skill.

The road to the destination, Seyeon, was three thousand li, and I was determined to get there before the sun rose tomorrow. To do that, I had to fly diligently.

The late autumn scenery passed me by. I moved on a path with as few people as possible. It was something that was impossible with just the geographical knowledge I had learned from the talkative uncle. What I relied on was the information Jin So-wol had given me. Thanks to her telling me the long terrain leading to Seyeon in such detail, I was able to advance straight ahead without getting lost at all, even though it was a long journey and my first time.

I took a rest for about a quarter of an hour just after the sun had set. It was at Mount Jaun in Pyeongju, which was famous for the purple fog that covered it all year round.

It was a tremendous forced march, as I had covered almost a thousand li in two and a half watches. Nevertheless, I did not reach a state of exhaustion. My lightness skill, which added a ‘flash’ to the ‘advance,’ had the special advantage of consuming extremely little internal energy. This was the result of my father’s intense twenty years of research, who had wanted to achieve the speed of a master of the highest level with a handful of internal energy.

---

The morning stars appeared.

Climbing to the mountain peak, I laid my tired body on a rock. My whole body’s muscles ached, and my bones screamed. Ignoring my body’s protest, I got up in less than half a quarter of an hour. Rather than taking a breathing exercise, I wanted to push myself into a more extreme situation. Although the situation had forced it, such an opportunity would not come often.

Looking down at the mountain, the view of the city submerged in the moonlight came into my sight. Seyeon was a place famous for its beautiful scenery, where the entire city was dyed with red autumn leaves in the fall. But it was also the territory of some of the most vicious people in the world. Absurdly, the vicious gang was united under the cool name of Inwoodang.

Although it was a powerful force that was evaluated as being a higher grade than the Taegeuk Sword Sect or the Hundred Blades Alliance, which vied for the position of the ruler of the Seongju martial world, Inwoodang was a new sect that had been established for only twelve years. Their main business was human trafficking. In particular, it was known that they earned an astronomical income by exclusively supplying top-quality catamites to perverts who enjoyed pederasty. Funnily enough, there was also a saying that the martial world had become cleaner thanks to Inwoodang’s suppression or takeover of the black market, which was engaged in the same industry.

There were several reasons why Inwoodang was able to establish itself in the unorthodox martial world, which had a strong sense of territoriality, in a short period of time, but the biggest was the presence and social skills of its founder and leader, the Skull-Faced Lecher, Yun Seung.

Yun Seung was a demonic leader who had early on made a name for himself as one of the ten great villains of the martial world and a strong man who was officially recognized as having the martial prowess of the middle-upper level of the supreme realm. Yun Seung, who had plunged the people of the Yangju and Seoju areas into a crucible of fear with his indiscriminate killing and rape regardless of gender and age for nearly thirty years after his debut in the martial world, had driven out the Pungun Sect, which had been the master of Seyeon, around the time he was sixty and had settled there with his followers.

Laughing at the public’s expectation that the Sun and Moon Sword Sect and the Three Absolutes Sect, which had Seyeon in their sphere of influence, would immediately punish them, Inwoodang had instead expanded its power. It was only later revealed that Yun Seung had made a deal with the two sects, which belonged to the seven sects of the Unorthodox Faction, in advance. The promise to pay them three times the taxes that the Pungun Sect had been paying was a bonus.

And that wasn’t all. Although he was a person with a martial power that would not be inferior to anyone except the leaders of the seven sects of the Unorthodox Faction and a very small number of top leaders, Yun Seung had thoroughly lowered his posture. He had even bowed to the special envoys of the Sun and Moon Sword Sect and the Three Absolutes Sect and treated them as his superiors. Since there was a lot to suck out of him and he was crawling on his own, the two sects had no reason to eliminate him.

On the other hand, the righteous heroes of the Orthodox Faction, who had been struggling to punish Yun Seung for a long time, became dogs looking at a chicken on the roof. It was realistically impossible to punish the villain who had left the neutral zone and settled in the territory of the evil faction.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me.

I went down the mountain and entered the marketplace.

Although it was a bustling street, there were no pedestrians. I immediately headed to the place I had seen from the mountain peak. Even though it was a time when all things were asleep, only that place was flickering with a cluster of lights. It must be Inwoodang.

At the main gate were guards with large builds and fierce impressions. There were two on each side, for a total of four. The hulks, who had been idly looking outside, chatting among themselves as if they had lost their spirit, took a guarded stance when they saw me. One of them asked.

“Who are you?”

I returned his words to him.

“Who are you?”

The warrior flinched.

“W-who are you?”

“You don’t need to know that. Bring your leader.”

The warriors looked at each other. The warrior who had spoken to me gave a signal, and the one with the largest build ran inside. The other warriors awkwardly drew their swords.

“If you don’t reveal your identity…”

I threatened the warrior who was carrying out his duty with a trembling voice.

“Shut up. Get out of the way if you don’t want to die.”

As I strode forward, the warriors, who were overwhelmed by my momentum, fled. As I entered the main gate, the sound of alarms and chaotic footsteps greeted me. A group of martial artists blocked my way. There seemed to be about twenty or thirty of them. Among them, three or four had a rather stern momentum.

“Who are you?”

The one-eyed man at the head of the group asked. A hollow laugh came out. To not even recognize the most famous person in the martial world right in front of them.

Unlike the one-eyed man who didn’t recognize me, I knew his identity.

The Fierce Fang Saber, Bong Sa-han. He was a master of the highest level of the master realm and a confidant of the Skull-Faced Lecher, Yun Seung. He was also a villain who was notorious for his cruel and ruthless sword strikes that split people from the top of their heads to their crotches, regardless of gender or age, if they got on his nerves.

Instead of answering, I took out my iron staff. My target was not the Fierce Fang Saber, but the Skull-Faced Lecher. But I decided to deal with the Fierce Fang Saber first. If you beat the dog, the owner will come out.

As I showed my intention to fight, the Fierce Fang Saber raised his saber and shouted.

“Kill him!”

Throwing the steel balls I had taken out of my pocket, I rushed at the Fierce Fang Saber. Kang! Huk! The Fierce Fang Saber, who had blocked my iron staff, let out a cry of astonishment. Although he had been acting as a strong man in the martial world, he was not at a level to handle the primal energy that was close to half of the maximum. The Fierce Fang Saber, who had figured out in one exchange that I was an unbeatable strong opponent, tried to back away. I did not give him a chance to retreat. After throwing steel balls at those who were attacking me in a group, I chased the Fierce Fang Saber, who had stepped back, and swung my iron staff.

Kang! Kang! Kang! Thud!

The Fierce Fang Saber, who had endured the three attacks I had inflicted in an instant, allowed my fourth blow to his head. His head shattered, and his white brain matter flew into the air. After deflecting the surprise attacks that were flying in from the rear and the left and right with a ‘turn’ and a ‘break,’ I dealt with the ones who had been on my mind first. After the Fierce Fang Saber, three more masters turned into corpses with their heads lost to my iron staff, and the small fries fell into a panic.

The enemies, who had lost their will to resist, fled in all directions. Their companions, who had been running to the scene, also sensed the change and turned in the opposite direction. I did not chase them. My goal was not to wipe out the villains, but to eliminate their leader.

As the enemies disappeared, a silence fell over the grounds. But as I had expected, the silence was soon broken. It was because the one I had been waiting for had appeared.

“You must be the Demonic Hero. Why have you come to this hall and are acting so violently?”

Flap, flap.

With the sound of his clothes fluttering, a black shadow fell into the scene. Following that figure, a white shadow also flew toward where I was standing at a high speed. As the black and white strange men appeared, the insects that had just fled also returned. With this, I was facing fifty or sixty enemies.

[End of Chapter]