It was dark, and the rain kept pouring down.
A middle-aged man in a bamboo hat was walking down a street in the red light district. As the rain grew stronger, the number of people outside decreased.
He continued to walk silently in the middle of the road, stopping in front of a certain store with broken windows.
There were people trying to clean up the surroundings. The man lifted his head to check the store’s signboard, and then walked into the building.
“Go somewhere else. You can’t be here.” Someone said, turning his neck to whoever had just entered.
At those words, the man in the bamboo hat stopped and looked at the person.
“Do you have a death wish?”
The ominous warning was heard by everyone, and silence fell around them.
As the man in the bamboo hat continued to frown, someone suddenly intervened.
“Huh? Aren’t you the merchant’s escort?”
It was someone who recognized the man’s identity. Once he saw the man in the bamboo hat’s face, he bowed his head politely.
“Ah, I didn’t know.”
The person who had originally spoken bowed his head too, with a flustered expression.
The man looked around and asked.
“Where’s Hwangya?”
“On the second floor. I’ll tell him you’re here.”
They hurriedly rushed off, and not long after, a short old man came downstairs.
“You’ve arrived!”
He was Hwangya, an intelligence agent stationed at Geum Man-Jung’s shop. All the important news in this area was known to him.
So, in the dark, even if it was the man with a bamboo hat, he could recognize who it was at first glance.
“Can I take a look?”
“Of course.”
After he bowed to the man, Hwangya shouted at the warriors around him.
“Everyone, get out of the way! And six of you, go find a light source!”
“Yes!”
At his words, all the warriors around began to leave, and some returned with lanterns. As it became clearer to see inside the building, the man in the bamboo hat observed the scene in front of him.
The floor was covered in corpses and blood.
One person whose limbs were severed. One with no head. One who died with his eyes open, and one in a crouched position.
It was a sight that showed how more than ten warriors had suffered helplessly.
Who could have…
The footsteps of the man gradually stopped.
When he got to the center of the room, one man who was on his knees caught his attention.
Cheol Sawoo?!
He doubted his eyes.
How was the fight, for him to be on his knees? This meant he had lost his will.
What level of mastery was the opponent, to overwhelmingly subdue all his men like this?
Huh?
Sang Cheon-jang looked at the body closely. His expression hardened when he noticed the condition of the chest, wrist, and hands.
24 Movement Plum Blossom Sword Technique!
There was no way he wouldn’t know what this was. The direction, the scars, all of it was something he could recognize.
In particular, the curves of the sword slashes, gave more evidence to it.
It wasn’t just Cheol Sawoo. Many of those who died here showed signs of such wounds.
“What happened?” Sang Cheon-jang asked Hwangya.
Still bowing a little, the old man answered. “I heard that there was a man and a woman inside. All the warriors who entered this place were killed.”
“A man and a woman?”
Sang Cheon-jang frowned.
Presumably, the one who killed his subordinates was the person acting out in the red light district. He turned his head and looked at each of the corpses again.
Hwangya, watching him do this, asked.
“Did you find something else?”
“Yes.”
Saying that, Sang Cheon-jang went to Cheol Sawoo’s body.
“Inspecting the wounds on the bodies of the dead, you notice the sword marks. Like the area from the shoulder to the elbow. The opponent’s sword technique can be easily inferred from the surface cuts. As long as the corpse isn’t burned, that is.”
Hwangya paused for a moment after hearing this, and asked another question.
“Then, do you know what kind of martial arts it could be?”
“Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”
“…!”
The old man covered his mouth. The martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect!
Then, it meant the one who did all of this was a member of that sect!
“But, I don’t know who did it.”
Unlike the shocked Hwangya, Sang Cheon-jang was calm.
He turned his gaze away and looked at the broken windowsill.
He tried to picture the previous battle in his head. When he turned to the old man again, very strong killing intent could be felt from him.
“Where is Lee Gu-myung?”
And those were his words.
To find Lee Gu-myung, the disciple of Goo Jong-myung, a business partner.
The next day.
Seol-Hwi was sitting opposite the Lower District Sect’s branch leader.
The two were currently located at one of the shops that had closed down.
In this place, where the children rested after playing pranks and rolling around, Seol-Hwi sat on the broken floor and asked.
“Isn’t it dangerous here?”
“Don’t you know the saying that it’s dark under the lamp1 ? It’s difficult to find places this crowded with people.”
The Twelve Branch Leaders in the provinces of Sichuan.
Among them, Yu Okha, who was in charge of Chengdu, answered with a smile.
When asked who one of the children playing around was, he just replied with a single word - “a passerby”.
“In the future, Sang Cheon-jang… how do you think he’ll move?”
“He will meet with Lee Gu-myung. All his subordinates are dead, and the Plum Blossom Sword Technique is what he found on their bodies, so he will go there.”
“He’ll doubt Lee Gu-myung?”
“I will leave all the possibilities open, but… he wouldn’t be that suspicious of someone he is in a long-term business relationship with. Perhaps, this arrow of doubt will be directed at the Blue Dragon Sect leader.”
Seol-Hwi thought it was fortunate.
The reason he was able to do this at all is because he obtained the Plum Blossom Sword Technique by killing Lee Gu-myung in his past life.
Therefore, he could direct Sang Cheon-jang’s anger to Baek Yang-chun.
“So we’ll be able to get rid of the sect leader without even touching him.”
“They wouldn’t go that far.”
“… didn’t we provoke Sang Cheon-jang?”
“The Blue Dragon Sect leader wouldn’t let it happen. So we need a more certain way.”
“A more certain way? It seems it’s time to deceive the Blue Dragon Sect leader…”
Seol-Hwi pondered for a moment and then looked up. Yu Okha was smiling brightly at the children playing.
“Hmmm, I don’t understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“You should have figured out who I am by now.”
“Hidden Truth Corps?”
“Well, you must know what it means to work with me.”
“Yes, that I will be involved in the politics of the Demonic Sect.”
“…?!”
When Seol-Hwi looked at him with a shocked face, the young man smiled broadly. Yu Okha had a smile that warmed his eyes.
“I have a good enough sense to know. If a demon is fighting another demon, there has to be politics involved.”
“But why? If you aren’t involved in the internal occurrences of the sect, there’s no need to go out of your way.”
“At that time, I would be on their kill list, so of course I need to find someone to cooperate with me to live, right? It’s a bit disgusting that you’re worried about me now.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi said nothing.
He was right.
To ask him what he thinks now was truly disgusting after already dragging him into Seol-Hwi’s affairs. So Seol-Hwi stayed silent for a while, watching the children running around.
Yu Okha spoke up.
“Do you know the average age of the branch leaders of the Lower District sect?”
Seol-Hwi thought about the question for a moment, before he answered. “At least forty?”
“Nineteen.”
“…What?”
“Eighteen to nineteen, to be exact. Most of them die as well.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi was speechless. Yu Okha turned his gaze to the side and continued.
“The younger you are, the more experienced you are, and the faster you die. It doesn’t matter if you are old or young. Because there was a time when the Lower District Sect’s leader was changed five times a year.”
He didn’t seem to be lying.
And it made sense. The happiest and helpless lives of the bottom of the chain….
No one cares who lived or died. The Lower District Sect is at the bottom, where those who aren’t needed are thrown away.
“So, don’t worry too much about what I said. I, too, will be killed sooner or later. Whether it’s on the road, drinking alcohol, or anything else.”
Yu Okha turned to look back at Seol-Hwi.
“When the new branch leader comes, I will decide in advance when and where I will die. And I choose you as that opponent.”
“…?”
“If I had to give a reason, let’s say that it’s interesting.”
Seol-Hwi faced the man, who suddenly had a serious expression on his face.
“Although you are a demon, you learned the Plum Blossom Sword technique. While learning demonic martial arts, you aren’t stained by them. And since you left the Demonic Sect, the first thing you did is to invest in the Lower District, right?”
“…”
Seol-Hwi felt like the man in front of him wasn’t joking. The serious expression on his face, which was always laughing, was a testament to that.
“I will ask you a question now.”
Seol-Hwi nodded.
“How many years do you think I can live?”
“…”
“I’m curious.”
The young man smiled, asking for the date of his death.
“Well…”
“As long as I’m alive, I won’t die due to my own fault. I will prevent everything in advance.”
“…How can you be sure of that?”
“I’m not sure, I’m stating the facts.”
“…?”
“I have a few more years to live than others.”
“…”
Silence fell between the two of them.
Seol-Hwi didn’t know if the man was being serious or not now.
“…That’s good.”
“Shall we begin?” Yu Okha stood up. And Seol-Hwi continued to look at him as he said. “See that?”
Seol-Hwi saw five or six men walking towards them, with swords on their waists, and wearing grey robes.
Seol-Hwi knew who they were at once.
Not because of their outfits, but with the status window suddenly appearing to him.
“Yes. Those are the warriors of the Blue Dragon Sect. They are the front-line guards of the sect leader.”
Seol-Hwi looked at Yu Okha, who had opened a drawer to the side. He took out an object from there. Surprisingly, it was a mask of Sang Cheon-jang’s face.
“Didn’t you say it was time to deceive Baek Yang-chun?”
“I don’t need that.”
After giving his reply, Seol-Hwi ran forward.
Seol-Hwi didn’t need a mask. He already had a technique that would disguise his face perfectly.