Chapter 184: It Was No Different, Really
‘Baek Li-joong?’
Seomun Ak widened his eyes and glared at the masked man.
It was night and the distance was considerable, so the figure was not clearly visible.
The masked men who were counting the children’s heads and loading them onto the boat looked practiced, as if this were not the first time they had done this.
‘That can’t be.’
Seomun Ak, who generally trusted Jin Seong-un’s words, could not accept it this time.
He personally did not like the Baek Li Clan. He especially disliked their eldest son, Baek Li-joong.
The reason was simple. The Baek Li Clan and the Seomun Clan were constantly put side by side in comparison.
They might not make the Five Great Clans, but if one were to list the Ten Great Houses, names like Sima Clan, Baek Li Clan, Gongson Clan, and Seomun Clan often came up.
Especially because Seomun Clan and Baek Li Clan were geographically close and their clan heads’ influence and holdings were similar, the comparisons were even more frequent.
The rivalries the clan heads had endured their whole lives had carried over to their sons. It was even worse because Baek Li-joong and Seomun Ak were the same age.
‘But…….’
Putting personal feelings aside, the Baek Li Clan was, undeniably and plainly, part of the Orthodox Faction.
They were rigid and possessed a subtle sense of superiority, which made Seomun Ak dislike them, but they were not people who committed outright atrocities.
Baek Li-joong was the same. He was the sort of fellow so closed-minded and stubborn that reason could not reach him.
It was then.
Seo Yu-gyeom urgently pointed toward the masked men.
Having loaded all the children onto the boat, they were handing over the promised payment to the bandits.
They were going to disperse soon. Decide quickly.
Seo Yu-gyeom’s voice carried through voice transmission.
If they hesitated any longer, they would let the bandits go.
Seomun Ak and Hwamyeong looked at each other. Since these men were inside the large fence of the Orthodox Faction, their thoughts were complicated.
When the two failed to decide, Seo Yu-gyeom shook his head and drew out the Heaven-Slaying Dagger.
“Strike first. We can’t let those bastards go.”
Seo Yu-gyeom’s new form melted into the darkness, and Jin Seong-un also launched himself forward.
Shing—!
The bandit leader’s head was severed by the Heaven-Slaying Dagger and he fell from his horse.
At the same time, sword qi burned like a blaze, stretching sideways and cutting the bandits’ waists clean through.
Kwaaang—!
The startled horses reared and screamed, throwing the bandits to the ground.
The masked men all drew their swords in unison. Dozens of blades flashed in the moonlight like oil-slick glints. Seeing this, Seomun Ak and Hwamyeong also rushed forward.
One of the bandits cursed and charged at the masked men.
“You filthy worms—how could you betray us!”
They seemed to think the masked men had staged this ambush because they didn’t want to pay. The use of the word “betrayal” suggested this was not a one-time deal.
The masked men, with keen momentum, sliced down bandit after bandit. The bandits were bewildered, but those who attacked with suicidal recklessness could not be talked down.
A chaotic melee broke out.
Jin Seong-un’s iron blade swung and split the bandits’ new forms in two every time.
There were dozens of them, but they had been raiding people who did not know martial arts well in the first place.
To them, Jin Seong-un was nothing short of a disaster.
Seo Yu-gyeom’s chilling saber strikes left holes in necks and chests without mercy, and Hwamyeong’s brilliant plum-blossom technique drifted through the air like a river, spraying blood in all directions.
Amid that chaos.
Seomun Ak had a very clear objective.
The masked man Jin Seong-un had pointed out at the start.
He wanted to confirm whether that man was truly Baek Li-joong. He wanted to know if it was indeed that fastidious, rigid fellow he had fought hundreds of times since childhood.
“You—!”
Like a crouching tiger, Seomun Ak surged and delivered a full-force blow.
Instead of dodging, the opponent responded by swinging a large heavy sword.
Zeeang—!
Sword met fist with a loud metallic clang.
Seomun Ak did not stop.
He kept moving forward somehow while continuously emitting fist qi.
Explosions rang out in succession, and the masked man with the heavy sword was pushed back without end.
Seomun Ak’s gaze sank low.
Even after only a few exchanges, he realized the truth. Jin Seong-un’s suspicion had been correct. Being an opponent he had fought countless times, he could be certain.
“Baek Li-joong! Why are you doing such a thing?!”
Seomun Ak’s roar echoed across the riverbank. At the same moment, the surroundings fell silent. It was the first time the name of the Baek Li Clan had been spoken aloud.
The masked men showed obvious confusion. Most of the bandits were already dead.
Seomun Ak and Baek Li-joong faced each other, standing a short distance apart.
After a brief silence, Baek Li-joong removed the mask that had covered his face.
“Da, Great Young Master!”
When Baek Li-joong revealed his face, someone exclaimed in surprise. Baek Li-joong spoke in a composed tone.
“What use is a mask now that I’ve been seen? I might fool others, but I cannot deceive this madman.”
Though they disliked one another, paradoxically they were among the peers who understood each other best.
Baek Li-joong’s look toward Seomun Ak was genuinely complex.
He was flustered because something he had not wanted exposed had been revealed, and he was resentful at Seomun Ak’s growth—Seomun Ak had become strong enough to press him one-sidedly.
Now that he had a moment to catch his breath, Baek Li-joong began to survey the men who had carried out the raid.
“……They were not just madmen.”
There was Chwi Ryong, the Plum Blossom Swordsman of the Mount Hua Sect.
Even that one opponent alone would not be easy, and there were also the obnoxious Chef and Rising Dragon Sima Hwi—plus the Guest Dragon who had left them half-paralyzed.
Baek Li-joong let out a low sigh. With the force present now, there was almost no chance of victory.
‘Even the Guest Dragon alone could not be wagered on.’
Rumors about the Guest Dragon circulating recently had been unsettling. His martial prowess apparently differed entirely from those with titles like Five Dragons or Three Peaks.
Baek Li-joong had not wanted to believe it. Perhaps he did not want to.
When bizarre, implausible rumors came—like Guest Dragon having killed Sik Mugak, or having slain Namheukryeonju, the leader of the Northern Hubei Black Path—people tended to think such rumors were accidentally, or perhaps intentionally, exaggerated.
If one refused to believe them, how miserable would one’s past years appear?
But Baek Li-joong realized. Even the brief sword-display the Guest Dragon had just shown proved half the rumors true.
If the fight continued, it would be annihilation.
Having reached that conclusion after a brief hesitation, Baek Li-joong spoke.
“Let’s go to the Baek Li Clan. I can explain everything there. If you don’t trust me, board the boat and check the children’s condition. We did not touch a single hair on them.”
“Then say it now. Why did you do this?”
“Go to the Clan. I cannot tell you now. What is certain is that we had a righteous cause for our actions. Hwamyeong, go with us. You may inform the Murim Alliance afterward if you wish. We are truly blameless.”
Baek Li-joong spoke with sincerity.
At that, Seomun Ak and Hwamyeong’s eyes wavered.
Someone they had thought of as a comrade within the fence of the Orthodox Faction for over a dozen years was now speaking as if there was truly a reason, claiming it was all a misunderstanding, and making an earnest plea.
That was human nature.
When there existed a truth one did not want to believe, if the possibility was left open that it might be a misunderstanding, anyone would falter.
But not these two.
Seo Yu-gyeom and Jin Seong-un never thought of themselves as martial artists bound by the fence of the Orthodox Faction to begin with.
Naturally, whether it was the Baek Li Clan or any other orthodox house or sect, they bore no special sentiment toward them.
Seo Yu-gyeom spoke.
“What a load of shit.”
“……”
A brief silence followed.
At the insult aimed at their great young master, one of the Baek Li Clan’s warriors gripped his sword tightly, but with Jin Seong-un standing right next to him, he ended up only hurting his own hand.
“Man, why the hell should we follow you all the way to the Baek Li Clan? What if your clan head and elders swarm us and beat us to death? How would we know?”
“The Baek Li Clan is not that kind of place.”
“Not that kind of place, yet you’re buying kids from bandits and loading them onto boats.”
“……”
As Seo Yu-gyeom sneered, Baek Li-joong’s face flushed red. From the start, the rigid Baek Li-joong could never win against Seo Yu-gyeom in words.
The bitter truth was, he could not win with the sword either. There was nothing more infuriating than an opponent who overwhelmed both in strength and in words.
Regardless, Seo Yu-gyeom turned to Seomun Ak and Hwamyeong.
“Think about it. These so-called Orthodox Faction bastards hid their faces behind masks and pulled this stunt. Now that they’ve been caught, how do we know they’re still orthodox?”
“But they wouldn’t go so far as to harm us.”
Hwamyeong countered.
His point was this: even if the Baek Li Clan had done something shady, unless they were ready to be exterminated, they would not dare harm Seomun Ak, the second son of Seomun Clan, and himself, a disciple of Mount Hua Sect and chief of the Murim Alliance.
Seomun Ak nodded in agreement.
In truth, both wanted to go to the Baek Li Clan. They wanted to see with their own eyes exactly what was happening.
If they delayed, the Baek Li Clan might sense suspicion and attempt something.
It was best to confirm directly before the Baek Li Clan had time to prepare.
Seo Yu-gyeom thought the same. He only wanted to make one thing clear.
“Look at these naïve young masters. If we cut you all up, burn the bodies, and scatter the ashes in the mountains, who the hell would know whether you died at the hands of the Baek Li Clan, some bandit’s saber, or went into seclusion in some cave after a miraculous encounter?”
“……”
The two fell silent at once.
Seo Yu-gyeom’s words were all too true.
Jin Seong-un, who had stayed quiet, finally spoke.
“So, Seo Sohyup, what do you want to do?”
“There are two choices.”
Jin Seong-un flinched.
The second option in Seo Yu-gyeom’s proposals usually involved the Heaven-Slaying Dagger.
Seo Yu-gyeom continued.
“First, we all go to the Baek Li Clan like he says. If it’s truly a misunderstanding, there will be reasons we can accept. Of course, if it isn’t, we’ll die.”
“……”
“Second—”
Seo Yu-gyeom looked around at the Baek Li Clan warriors. Some had already taken off their masks. After all, covering one’s face with cloth in the middle of the night was uncomfortable.
“—we kill almost all of them here, except maybe this bastard Baek Li-joong and one or two others. Then we take the survivors straight to the Murim Alliance. Yeah, let’s go right to Sima Baek the Chief Strategist. Or maybe go find that crazy rooster or Elder White Cloud Sword.”
As he said this, Seo Yu-gyeom stole a glance at Baek Li-joong’s face. He was clearly trying to maintain his composure, but the difference in experience was overwhelming.
‘Well, well, look at this bastard.’
A flicker of agitation crossed Baek Li-joong’s face.
Seo Yu-gyeom clearly caught it.
He had deliberately mentioned Sima Baek, Mad Rooster, and Elder White Cloud Sword. Each of them was someone the orthodox martial artists dreaded for different reasons.
Then Seo Yu-gyeom said,
“You choose, Baek Li-joong.”
“……Naturally, I choose the first.”
Baek Li-joong spoke as though baffled. If he were given a choice, wasn’t the answer obvious?
Seo Yu-gyeom nodded as if he had expected it.
“Good. Then you’ll eat this, and we’ll all go to the Baek Li Clan together.”
He pulled out a small, round pill from his robe and held it out.
“……What is this?”
“Poison, of course, dumbass. If you don’t take the antidote by midnight on the fourth day, your whole skeleton will melt and you’ll die. If the misunderstanding is truly cleared when we get to the Baek Li Clan, I’ll give you the antidote.”
This was the reason he had offered the second option. If Baek Li-joong refused to take it, Seo Yu-gyeom would kill most of his men and drag him before the people he least wanted to meet.
Baek Li-joong had no other choice.
At that moment, Jin Seong-un looked at Seo Yu-gyeom in shock.
“But why the hell does the Chef have poison……?”
“It’s for emergencies, of course. Look. Isn’t it useful now?”
Seo Yu-gyeom tossed the pill toward Baek Li-joong. Caught off guard, Baek Li-joong grabbed it, glared at it for a moment, then steeled his gaze as though making up his mind.
The Baek Li Clan warriors hurriedly tried to stop him.
“Gr-Grand Young Master…!”
But Baek Li-joong swallowed the pill first.
As soon as it touched his tongue, it melted coarsely and unpleasantly, sliding down his throat with a revolting sensation.
Baek Li-joong grimaced. Already, his stomach churned and something foul seemed to rise up from within.
The Baek Li Clan warriors’ eyes filled with despair, but Seo Yu-gyeom only nodded in satisfaction, hopped onto the boat, and said,
“Let’s go. To the Baek Li Clan. If you’re lying, you’ll die in hideous pain.”
With at least some safety secured, all that remained was to confirm with their own eyes what scheme the Baek Li Clan was plotting.
Seomun Ak looked at Seo Yu-gyeom as if he were insane. Because despite everything, Seo Yu-gyeom seemed almost delighted by the situation.
It was only natural. The pill Baek Li-joong swallowed wasn’t poison at all, but rather Bigeokdan, a fasting pill Jin Seong-un had once prepared to give to Daoists.
‘Well, no different in the end.’
Seo Yu-gyeom chuckled as he tapped the prow of the boat, while Baek Li-joong struggled desperately to suppress the nausea surging from within.