Chapter 65: Now, Fight!
It was as if a massive tidal wave was crashing into the inn.
Even if each one’s martial ability was somewhat lacking, the sight of dozens of martial artists wielding blades and pouring out killing intent created an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Even Seo Yu-gyeom gripped the Heaven-Slaying Dagger tightly with a tense expression. He did not forget to glance sideways to check Hwa Yeon-seol’s position.
‘If push comes to shove, I’ll take her and run.’
Jin Seong-un had a vague belief that he would survive no matter what. Because of that, he decided to focus all of his attention solely on Hwa Yeon-seol.
Sa Ryeong-geuk watched Jin Seong-un with curious eyes as martial artists surged left and right around him.
‘What will you do?’
A narrow inn.
Martial artists pouring down endlessly.
Even a skilled master without experience could be taken down in an instant.
Sa Ryeong-geuk never took his eyes off Jin Seong-un, watching for his reaction, his insight, his skill.
And then it happened.
More than a dozen martial artists of Twilight Pavilion thrust their swords at Jin Seong-un at once. From the ceiling, assassins from Azure Wild Valley dropped down.
It was a situation where no path of escape existed.
Up to that moment, Jin Seong-un merely remained still in his seat. He had not even drawn his sword.
He looked like a man who had stopped thinking, crushed beneath immense pressure.
A mocking smile tinged with disappointment curled across Sa Ryeong-geuk’s lips.
‘So in the end, he’s still just a kid?’
Sa Ryeong-geuk had rolled through the murim for decades.
He had seen countless geniuses, and he had seen their deaths.
That was what the murim was. It was a place where survival could not be achieved by strength alone.
Experience was never something one could be born with. Only by being crushed beneath countless crises and rising again could it be gained…
That was where Sa Ryeong-geuk’s thoughts stopped.
Jin Seong-un’s figure could no longer be seen, surrounded in every direction by martial artists.
Yet between the unorthodox martial artists, a reddish light suddenly flashed.
The instant he saw it, Sa Ryeong-geuk launched his body out of the inn without a shred of hesitation.
A breath later, the Master of Twilight Pavilion and the Valley Leader of Azure Wild Valley also withdrew from the inn.
Soon after, a short scream rang out inside.
“Uuhh…!”
It was truly a short scream, cut off as if swallowed by something.
An ominously thick and crimson aura filled the inn and overflowed through its doors and windows.
Jjeeoooooong—!
The blood and flesh of martial artists were shredded apart, spilling out with the aura.
It was a gruesome sight, like a massive insect had burst open and died with the inn as its center.
Sa Ryeong-geuk blinked. Even for someone who had lived through countless situations, this was not something he could take lightly.
“……”
After a brief silence, Jin Seong-un walked out of the inn. His attitude was so nonchalant that even Sa Ryeong-geuk flinched for a moment.
The Master of Twilight Pavilion and the Valley Leader of Azure Wild Valley stared at Sa Ryeong-geuk.
‘He really is a monster.’
Their eyes seemed to be saying exactly that.
Ignoring their gazes, Sa Ryeong-geuk fixed his eyes solely on Jin Seong-un.
He had to admit it. That man was a monster.
‘Where on earth did he come from?’
He could not have suddenly become strong overnight.
If that were the case, then he should have gradually begun to build a name for himself. The only exception would be if a master of the previous generation had secretly raised him in hiding.
Sa Ryeong-geuk asked Jin Seong-un.
“Do you have a master?”
“I do. Several.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s brows furrowed.
His attitude shifted to something more cautious.
If his masters truly were past generation masters, then striking him carelessly could be like poking a hornet’s nest.
Sa Ryeong-geuk was the second-in-command of a nationwide unorthodox faction. Naturally, he knew more about murim history than most.
There were several masters who had vanished from the public eye yet were still alive. Their martial abilities were no weaker than those of the so-called greatest under heaven of this era.
‘Was I too hasty?’
Sa Ryeong-geuk had to admit that his calculations had been a little rash. He still did not think he would lose. But if he killed this man here, the aftershocks were uncertain.
‘I need to find out more.’
At the very least, he had to uncover who stood behind him. Any decision—whether to kill or let live—would be made only after that.
Sa Ryeong-geuk smiled faintly.
“Very good. The meal was well received.”
Though he spoke elegantly, his meaning was clear.
“You’re running away?”
Jin Seong-un’s low voice suddenly caught Sa Ryeong-geuk by the ankle.
Running away?
Never in his life had he run away. At least, not by his own standards.
“You were the one who called me here to eat in the first place. I answered your invitation, and my subordinates ate their fill. What more is there to say?”
“So you are running away.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s eyebrow twitched.
But if he could be rattled by the words of a youth, he would never have risen to the position of Vice Leader of the Heavenly Poison Alliance.
Instead, Sa Ryeong-geuk smiled.
“Send my regards to your masters. Whoever they may be, they’ve raised their disciple well.”
“How about you tell them yourself?”
A thought suddenly crossed Jin Seong-un’s mind.
Could he bring others into the Seong-un Inn’s Storage Shed—that is, the Martial God Realm?
If it were possible, he wanted to show the bad ones—people like Sa Ryeong-geuk or the Lord of the Southern Black Lotus—a tour of the Martial God Realm.
If they met the Sword Immortal and the Blood Demon, surely they would all turn good.
As he thought that, Sa Ryeong-geuk’s figure suddenly wavered. He was about to use his movement arts to flee.
At the same time, Jin Seong-un gathered qi at the tips of his toes. Since he had mastered the Divine Thief’s movement technique, he was confident he could catch him no matter how far he ran.
Just as Sa Ryeong-geuk took his first step—
Swaaaek—!
From afar, the sound of something tearing through the air exploded.
Something was cutting through the air sharply, rushing toward them. The sound stretched long, which meant it was coming from quite a distance.
Everyone’s gaze turned in that direction, and suddenly a thin hidden weapon appeared.
Reflecting the moonlight, the hidden weapon shot straight down, embedding itself at Sa Ryeong-geuk’s feet.
Tang—!
Sa Ryeong-geuk put his foot back down.
The fact that a hidden weapon thrown from such a distance could fly straight and strike its mark meant that the wielder’s martial arts were truly formidable.
Naturally, here in Sichuan—or rather, throughout the entire Central Plains—there were scarcely any who could display such skill with hidden weapons.
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s expression grew grim.
Soon, a middle-aged man appeared with a hollow laugh. Draped over his mountain-like broad shoulders was a dark green long robe.
“…Poison Lord.”
It was Tang Tae-san, Elder of the Sichuan Tang Clan, known as the Poison Lord.
Aside from the Supreme Clan Leader and the Clan Leader, he was considered the strongest martial artist within the Tang Clan.
His distinctive dark green eyes sparkled like jewels as he approached.
“Sa Ryeong-geuk, it’s been a long time. You’ve grown old since I last saw you. We’re past the age of suffering, you know.”
It was an obvious taunt and criticism.
As if to say, “At your age, aren’t you ashamed to be fighting a man barely past his twenties?”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s lips twisted unpleasantly.
“You must be fortunate. Thanks to excellent successors, you’ve been able to rest early.”
“You’re mocking me for being pushed to the back room, aren’t you?”
“Good thing your ears haven’t gone deaf yet.”
A subtle smile of victory spread across Sa Ryeong-geuk’s face.
But Poison Lord paid no mind. From the beginning, the distinguished figures of the orthodox faction had always regarded the unorthodox as insignificant.
The arrival of the Poison Lord made both the Master of Twilight Pavilion and the Valley Leader of Azure Wild Valley feel their hearts drop.
Not only was the immense presence he radiated overwhelming, but the very name of the Tang Clan weighed down upon the hall.
The Master of Twilight Pavilion’s mind whirred busily. He was a man as quick in calculation as Sa Ryeong-geuk himself.
‘Why would the Tang Clan…?’
The appearance of such a figure could only mean that the entire Tang Clan was moving.
Could it be that the Heavenly Poison Alliance had acted too brazenly, and the Tang Clan stepped in to check them?
Or perhaps the Tang Clan also had designs on the Hwa-un Trading Company?
Many possibilities flashed through his mind. But the Poison Lord’s next words shattered them all.
“It’s been a while. I heard that those from the Heavenly Poison Alliance shamelessly troubled a young noble of the Tang Clan, so I came.”
The Master of Twilight Pavilion blinked.
It sounded like a simple greeting, but the meaning was clear. The Poison Lord was officially declaring enmity against the Heavenly Poison Alliance. The reason was that the young monster in the inn was a ‘noble’ of the Tang Clan.
‘Damn it…’
Of all people, they had provoked a noble of the Tang Clan. The Sichuan Tang Clan were zealots who always repaid both kindness and grudges, no matter the cost.
By any means necessary. And the fact that the Poison Lord himself had come here meant that if need be, they would not hesitate to go to war with the Heavenly Poison Alliance.
The problem was that the Master of Twilight Pavilion had now been dragged into the middle of it.
His neck stiffened. A crushing sense of crisis crawled up his spine.
His gaze turned to Jin Seong-un.
‘What in the world is he?’
What kind of person was he, that the Tang Clan would be willing to risk war with the Heavenly Poison Alliance to repay a debt to him?
Could it even be possible for a single young martial artist to place such a debt upon the Tang Clan?
As such thoughts crossed his mind—
Jin Seong-un, the very subject of it all, simply stared at the Poison Lord. His narrowed eyes flickered with confusion. He clearly did not recognize him.
The Poison Lord gave a hollow laugh.
“I am So-yeon’s uncle. Did you not see me last time?”
Jin Seong-un’s expression shifted in realization.
At that, the Poison Lord gave a bitter smile. In all his life, no one had ever forgotten his face before.
“It has been a while.”
Jin Seong-un bowed his head politely.
In that moment, the Poison Lord’s displeasure washed away, replaced with satisfaction. No matter how he thought about it, Jin Seong-un was too precious to be yielded to the Wudang Sect.
Especially because the Tang Clan had only one daughter. Their clan had no issue with a woman becoming Clan Leader, so that was not the concern.
Simply put…
‘He would be perfect as a son-in-law.’
Had they had a son, it would have been impossible. But since they had a daughter, the Tang Clan had the perfect justification to bring Jin Seong-un in.
It was a method neither the Wudang Sect, the Seomun Clan, nor the House of Seok could even imagine.
Especially since Tang So-yeon was beautiful, even by her uncle’s standards. Her character was upright as well.
Even Tang So-yeon herself seemed to harbor affection, though she pretended otherwise.
‘Whether that affection is for one of them, I do not know.’
The Poison Lord’s eyes shifted between Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom. He hoped it was Jin Seong-un, but even that assassin was not a bad choice.
For teaching hidden weapons, perhaps that one would be better.
As he entertained such personal musings, Sa Ryeong-geuk growled.
“Poison Lord. Are you saying you dare interfere with the Heavenly Poison Alliance’s business? Just for a brat?”
The Poison Lord turned his head to face Sa Ryeong-geuk.
A grin spread across his lips, though his eyes were cold.
“Dare? Since when did the Heavenly Poison Alliance dare to use such words against the Tang Clan?”
“……”
“Yes, I dare to interfere with the Heavenly Poison Alliance’s business. For that boy alone.”
“You will regret this.”
“You mean those riffraff soon to arrive? Sorry, but not one of them can enter Deyang. The Tang Clan’s martial artists already surround the place.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s eyes flickered.
He had not expected the Tang Clan to act so decisively.
The Poison Lord, confident in his advantage, continued.
“Even the Heavenly Poison Alliance Leader will not aid you. The Clan Leader has gone to meet him directly. Which means this matter must be settled here, among us.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk felt his breath catch.
The Tang Clan’s Clan Leader was the Poison King. If he personally met the Heavenly Poison Alliance Leader, the situation would spiral into the worst outcome.
The Poison Lord, as if enjoying Sa Ryeong-geuk’s expression, went on.
“If the Heavenly Poison Alliance makes a move, then so will the Tang Clan. What choice do you think your Alliance Leader will make?”
It was the Tang Clan’s decision.
To completely exclude the Heavenly Poison Alliance from Deyang. If the Heavenly Poison Alliance refused, it would mean war, but that was unlikely.
War with the Tang Clan would be an unbearable burden, even for the Heavenly Poison Alliance. No one would gamble their entire organization for a single trading company.
Sa Ryeong-geuk exhaled deeply.
There were only two choices.
To face two young monsters and the Poison Lord alone in the inn, or to admit defeat and retreat.
Both were crushing choices. The first risked his life, the second his position.
Even if the situation had turned dire, to return empty-handed would make the Heavenly Poison Alliance Leader punish him severely.
The Heavenly Poison Alliance Leader was a man who demanded results no matter what.
After deep contemplation, Sa Ryeong-geuk devised a scheme.
“Poison Lord. By your own words, both the Heavenly Poison Alliance and the Tang Clan should refrain from interfering in Deyang. Then, is it not meddling for you to interfere? But I am different.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk produced a letter.
The invitation to eat.
“They called me, provoked me, and insulted me. Therefore, this is a personal duel, unrelated to the Heavenly Poison Alliance.”
In other words, he meant to exclude even the Poison Lord.
Sa Ryeong-geuk believed that without him, he could handle Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom.
The Poison Lord widened his eyes and nodded.
“You are right! My, the unorthodox factions these days—do you study rhetoric now? You speak so well. Very well, then let those present here fight it out. I shall serve as witness.”
“……”
Sa Ryeong-geuk felt a strange unease.
In truth, he had only meant to trouble the Poison Lord and then find a compromise.
But he had not expected him to accept so readily.
It even felt as though he was encouraging the fight.
Sensing something ominous, Sa Ryeong-geuk made a grim face, but the Poison Lord burst into laughter.
“Now, fight!”
The Poison Lord knew.
That the one who had personally torn apart and slain Sikmu-gaek—the one known as the public enemy of the martial world and the Great Demon—was none other than Jin Seong-un.