Chapter 110: Going for the Throat
Jang Gwang, who had been blinking, doubted his own ears and asked again.
“Did I hear that right just now?”
“What did you hear?”
“That you’re going to storm the Shui Band.”
Jin Seong-un calmly nodded.
Then he looked at Jang Gwang with eyes that said:
‘You heard right. That’s exactly it.’
Jang Gwang’s expression turned incredulous.
“That’s nonsense.”
“Why do you say so?”
It was truly a pure question.
Sensing this, Jang Gwang felt a faint dizziness wash over him.
“Innkeeper, I know well enough that you’re strong. I saw it with my own eyes. But your opponent is the Yangtze River Eighteen Strongholds. Do you even understand what kind of place that is?”
“River bandits.”
At that concise answer, Jang Gwang’s dizziness grew stronger.
Soon, with a more serious expression and tone, Jang Gwang explained further.
“There are eighteen strongholds along the Yangtze. Each one alone possesses power on par with a mid-sized sect.”
“I see.”
“It’s not just ‘I see.’ The one targeting the child isn’t just some random stronghold leader—it’s the Chief Strategist who stands at the peak of all eighteen. He’s a master who has reached Peak Master Level.”
His personal martial prowess was high, and the power he commanded was overwhelming. In his Yigong Stronghold alone, he had over a hundred river bandits under his command.
Among them were experts on a completely different level from the ones who had just come after him.
“In short, going there is like throwing yourself into a fire. Especially now, when the Chief Strategist has gone mad.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
His face clearly showed he wouldn’t keep it in mind at all, which left Jang Gwang feeling stifled.
Just then, the two of them arrived at Seong-un Inn.
Jin Seong-un spoke as if it were nothing.
“Go wash up.”
“……”
At Jin Seong-un’s casual tone, Jang Gwang momentarily wondered if the man had truly understood his words.
When Jang Gwang returned to the dining hall after washing, Seo Yu-gyeom was already seated next to Jin Seong-un.
Seo Yu-gyeom glared at Jang Gwang, then suddenly slammed the Heaven-Slaying Dagger onto the table.
“……”
Jang Gwang’s expression turned bewildered.
Seo Yu-gyeom spoke next.
“If you’re planning to cause trouble for this inn, get lost right now. Otherwise, I’ll stab you with this dagger first.”
“……”
Jang Gwang staggered back.
Then Jin Seong-un said to Seo Yu-gyeom,
“Ah, the talk’s already over. He’s someone protecting the child.”
“Really? You should’ve said that earlier. Just calling him a river bandit—what the hell?”
Looking slightly embarrassed, Seo Yu-gyeom retrieved the Heaven-Slaying Dagger.
Jang Gwang then had no choice but to explain what had happened to Seo Yu-gyeom as well.
While speaking, he held a small hope. A sane person would surely stop this insane innkeeper’s reckless plan.
Unfortunately, there were few sane people in Seong-un Inn.
“This is insane.”
“……”
“But damn, that sounds fun.”
Jang Gwang rubbed his forehead with a thick hand. His head throbbed as though it would split open.
He couldn’t bear to see two young men throw their lives away because of him.
Regardless, Seo Yu-gyeom eagerly began talking about plans.
“Should we sneak in at night and quietly slit some throats? Or set fire to the place and strike them while they flee? Or maybe…”
Jang Gwang cut in, his tone more serious than ever.
“You’ve all gone mad. No matter how skilled you are, common sense still exists. Life is no game. Please, think rationally.”
He meant it. He truly didn’t want the innkeeper and the chef to die in vain.
Moreover, he felt a strange guilt—it was his choice to come to Seong-un Inn that had caused all this.
Seo Yu-gyeom’s eyes grew cold. With a chilling gaze, he spoke in a calm voice.
“You’re the crazy one. How far do you think you can run with that child? Can you even leave Hubei Province?”
“……”
“If it weren’t for Jin Seong-un today, you’d already be dead, right? If you want to die, die alone. Are you saying you’re willing to risk that kid’s life on some half-baked sense of duty?”
Every word struck true.
The river bandits would not give up chasing Jang Gwang. With his skills, he would never escape forever.
Eventually, he would most likely be caught and killed. And when that happened, the child would just be dragged back to the Shui Band.
Jang Gwang fell silent.
Seeing this, Seo Yu-gyeom smirked inside. It was an assassin’s instinct—when an opponent hesitated, you pressed harder until you broke them.
His tone turned sharper.
“And you’re saying it’s madness for us to go to the Yangtze? Isn’t your belief that someone weaker than us can keep running from that mad river bandit chief far more delusional?”
“No, young master…”
Jin Seong-un made a show of trying to stop him.
But in truth, he had no such intent. Seo Yu-gyeom’s words rang true, and Jin Seong-un had already decided to head for the Yangtze anyway.
He only felt it was time to add a beat to the rhythm of their persuasion.
Seo Yu-gyeom smoothly picked up that rhythm and added to it.
“You know I’m right. If he had made that decision alone, we’d be clapping for him, saying, ‘Now here’s a true man of this age.’ But dragging a kid into it? What the hell is that?”
The two of them were practically using sound arts. Jang Gwang was left speechless.
His head bowed, his shoulders slumped. He had wilted like boiled greens.
He kept replaying Seo Yu-gyeom’s words in his head. Every single one of them was true. He realized he had been far too arrogant.
So Jang Gwang made up his mind.
“Young master, you’re right. I’ve been acting like a fool.”
“Exactly.”
“So I’ll take responsibility. I’ll head straight to Yigong Stronghold and settle things with the Chief Strategist myself. Of course, I’ll probably die. But at least I won’t gamble with the child’s life…”
“Bullshit.”
Seo Yu-gyeom dismissed Jang Gwang’s nonsense with a single word. To him, it was clear that Jang Gwang was the real moth flying into the fire.
“Let’s go check on the kid first.”
Seo Yu-gyeom stood up, and Jin Seong-un followed right after. Neither of them showed the slightest sign of tension.
Watching their backs as they walked away, Jang Gwang scratched his head.
“Am I the strange one?”
An unreal sense had overtaken his entire body.
When the three arrived at the Merchants’ Association, the child was already awake.
In an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, the child’s expression had been full of unease. But upon seeing Jang Gwang, he looked a little more at ease.
The child smiled bashfully at Jang Gwang.
Jang Gwang gazed at him with a deeply troubled face. The physician, who had been at the child’s side all along, smiled and said,
“Good thing you washed up, isn’t it?”
“……”
Jang Gwang gave a small nod.
The physician clapped his hands as if satisfied, then rose from his seat.
“I’ll be awake tonight, so call me whenever you need. Ah, and that decoction—feed the one on the left to the child, and drink the other one yourself. He wouldn’t take it unless I handed it over.”
It seemed even as a physician, he felt uneasy about Jang Gwang’s condition.
When the physician stepped outside to rest, Jang Gwang sat in front of the child.
He placed the decoction in the child’s small hand, and took his own as well.
They drank together. The bitter taste made both of them grimace.
The child pulled a grotesque face, sticking his tongue out over and over.
Watching this, Seo Yu-gyeom pulled out a piece of candied fruit and handed it over. The child snatched it up quickly and popped it into his mouth.
“Taste good?”
The child smiled bashfully again.
He couldn’t speak, but he understood everything.
Which meant he had understood everything the river bandits in the Shui Band had said as well.
All three adults let out a sigh at once. The child mimicked them, pretending to sigh too.
Jin Seong-un said with a bemused look,
“They say you can’t even drink cold water in front of kids.”
So the three waited quietly until the child fell asleep.
Soon, as the child who had been nodding off drifted into slumber—
Seo Yu-gyeom, after gazing at him for a moment, spoke.
“Looking at his condition, I know for certain now. The one and only way to resolve this.”
Jin Seong-un and Jang Gwang turned to him.
Then Seo Yu-gyeom, in a confident tone, said,
“Let’s go. This isn’t something to discuss here.”
He walked out.
The other two followed.
Out in the courtyard pavilion, the physician was lying down yawning. When he noticed the three, Jang Gwang said apologetically,
“……I must ask a favor.”
“Haha, of course.”
The physician entered the room willingly, showing neither annoyance nor fatigue.
After all, it was his duty, and he also felt it was a way to repay Oh Jeong-san, the Chairman, who had always treated him well.
The three walked side by side.
Seo Yu-gyeom finally revealed the solution.
“Let’s assassinate the Chief Strategist.”
“……”
Jang Gwang stayed silent.
Regardless of his reaction, Seo Yu-gyeom continued unfazed.
“To put it simply, the top dog’s gone mad, right? So if we cut him down, the rest will settle itself. You—do you have grudges with the others?”
Pointing at him with the Heaven-Slaying Dagger, Seo Yu-gyeom asked. Jang Gwang shook his head. At least he hadn’t lived making enemies.
“Good. Then we just kill him and it’s over. Of course, it’d be tricky to go just by ourselves. Luckily, we have someone to help.”
Hope flickered in Jang Gwang’s eyes.
After all, hadn’t he seen the exterior of the inn hung with congratulatory banners from countless prestigious clans, sects, and even the Murim Alliance?
‘No wonder they were so confident…’
Thinking Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom must have solid backing, he said,
“Still, those clans or sects would find it difficult to clash directly with the Shui Band. Especially if the only reward is the life of a child and mine……”
“Your life I’ll acknowledge.”
“……”
“And the ones who’ll help us aren’t those great sects or clans. In fact, it’s someone even greater.”
Jang Gwang’s puzzlement mixed with a strange anticipation. For them to say that, the person must truly be a great master.
.
.
.
Inside a guest room of Seong-un Inn.
Around a man lying as if dead, Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, and Jang Gwang crouched.
Jang Gwang, dumbfounded, said,
“This great man is the inn waiter?”
“That’s right. The one and only Inn Waiter recognized by the Head of the Seomun Clan himself.”
Seo Yu-gyeom poked Seomun Ak’s cheek with the hilt of the Heaven-Slaying Dagger.
“Hey, not waking up? Are you really a martial artist? If I were an assassin, you’d be dead just now. Once dead. Twice dead. Thrice…”
After a grueling day as an inn waiter, Seomun Ak had been enjoying a sweet, deep sleep. He opened his eyes irritably.
“Haa, why wake a sleeping man and cause a fuss?”
“There’s somewhere urgent we need to go. Get up.”
“Where the hell in the middle of the night?”
“If you don’t come, it’ll just be me and Jin Seong-un going. Don’t regret it later. I clearly woke you up, remember?”
Seo Yu-gyeom made as if he were really about to leave. Reluctantly, Seomun Ak sat up, still annoyed.
That was human nature. When the other side acted like they didn’t care, curiosity bit deeper, and fear of losing out took over.
.
.
.
So the four walked together.
Still half-asleep, Seomun Ak yawned widely and asked,
“So where are we going?”
“To cut the throat of the Yangtze River Stronghold’s chief.”
“Uh-huh.”
Seomun Ak immediately turned back.
What lunatics.
Seo Yu-gyeom, without even glancing at him, said coolly,
“Fine, run away. We’ll wipe them out, come back safely, and then laugh at you for a hundred years. We’ll spread it everywhere. Even Sword Phoenix and Poison Phoenix will hear of it.”
Seomun Ak returned and rejoined them.
And so, the journey to the Shui Band was set in motion.
Looking up at the still-dark sky, Jin Seong-un added softly,
“Let’s be back before business hours.”