Chapter 171 : Baek Il-gang
Baek Il-gang
"......!"
At that moment, everyone in the hall looked at Baek Il-gang with startled eyes.
The Zhao clan of Changshan was a martial noble clan that openly dominated the huge city of Jin Prefecture in Northern Zhili.
Not only was their standing in the martial world formidable, but their influence on the royal family was not insignificant either.
In fact, the clan head's younger brother belonged to the Royal Golden Guards.
Such language was never appropriate for a young martial artist who had barely reached adulthood to use before the head of such a sect.
Even Jeong-un judged it to be blatant disrespect.
But Baek Il-gang didn't stop there.
"Please, don't look at me with faces like that. It's not as if I came here of my own free will."
Then, a man seated next to Zhao Pyeong shouted.
"Baek Il-gang, you rascal! How dare you—watch your mouth!"
"And what right do you have to speak so rudely? Who calls a Heavenly Martial Hall warrior by his name so carelessly? You're not just disrespecting me, but also Young Hero Yu here as well."
"Y-you...?"
As Baek Il-gang poured out his words without hesitation, the man who had snapped was dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open.
Jeong-un glanced at his companion and checked the expressions of the others.
'It looks like they're all quite familiar with each other.'
Certainly, Zhao Pyeong's face, who had just addressed Baek Il-gang, was not grim.
The welcome in his voice seemed genuine, and there was no sign that he harbored ill intentions when speaking to him.
If so, this uneasy relationship seemed likely to stem from dissatisfaction on one side.
And with high probability, the source was his own companion.
'Let's set this situation straight first.'
Thinking so, he opened his mouth.
"Clan head, if you don't mind, we'd like to quickly unpack our things and then see this Demonic Cultist."
"... Very well."
Zhao Pyeong nodded, his face somewhat subdued. Despite witnessing such rudeness right before him, he did not get angry.
Instead, he merely gave Baek Il-gang a subtly peculiar look.
At that, Zhao Gang, who had been waiting by the side, stepped up and opened the door of the office.
As soon as they stepped out, a tumult of voices erupted behind the closed door.
"......"
Zhao Gang smiled awkwardly and led them to their quarters.
It was a large pavilion built on the outskirts of the estate.
He said this building was specially constructed to receive and serve honored guests.
True to a martial noble clan of such a city, the place was never without guests, but ever since Jeong-un's party's visit had been scheduled, they had intentionally not received anyone else.
He said the two of them could use the entire pavilion for themselves.
"There's no need to feel burdened. This is the hospitality you naturally deserve."
Jeong-un looked quietly at Zhao Gang, who raised his lips in a gentle smile as he looked at Jeong-un, his face full of goodwill.
Then Jeong-un turned to look at Baek Il-gang.
"......"
For someone who had just been rude to the great sect's head, his face was remarkably nonchalant.
Perhaps because of Zhao Gang, he was keeping a slight distance, but when he met Jeong-un's eyes, he simply raised his eyebrow with composure.
Jeong-un asked Zhao Gang,
"How do you know Young hero Baek?"
"......"
He'd asked the same thing when they had met at the gate, but Baek Il-gang had denied it, so he never got a proper answer.
Now, with things as they were, he couldn't just take that answer at face value, nor could he drop the matter.
Zhao Gang spoke up with an embarrassed expression.
"I've known Young hero Baek since we were children. But as for the details, I think you should hear it directly from him."
He was clearly watching Baek Il-gang's reaction.
It seemed that Baek Il-gang's behavior in Zhao Pyeong's office earlier was on his mind.
"And, on a separate note, there's one more thing..."
"...?"
When Jeong-un gave him a perplexed look, Zhao Gang offered a martial salute and continued.
"I wish to deeply thank you for saving my life."
"All of a sudden...?"
"You saved us all from the Demonic Cult leader on Mount Song's cliff. I was there as well. At the time things were hectic, and I never properly thanked you, but it has always weighed on my mind. So, once again, my deepest gratitude."
Jeong-un silently regarded him.
'If all orthodox martial artists were like this man, the Heavenly Martial Hall would never be needed.'
In Jeong-un's estimation, Zhao Gang was a truly righteous man.
The fact that he could frankly bring up the past and bow his head made it clear.
It was a character seldom seen among the orthodox martial artists he had met so far.
Even simply put, it was rare for anyone to so readily offer words of gratitude.
Suddenly, the corps leader Yeom Baek came to mind.
He too, after carrying out the mission to wipe out the Blood Cult, had said something similar.
Even though, for a superior to say such things to a subordinate, it wouldn't have been easy.
With this in mind, Zhao Gang undoubtedly seemed like a good person. At least in Jeong-un's eyes.
'But still...'
Why does he seem to have such a bad relationship with Baek Il-gang?
But with both of them keeping silent, there was no way to know.
Jeong-un spoke to Zhao Gang.
"Then, we'll go inside, quickly unpack, and come back out. As I said, I think it's best if we go meet this Demonic Cultist right away."
"Understood."
Thus, Jeong-un entered the quarters with Baek Il-gang.
As they unpacked their things, surprisingly, Baek Il-gang spoke first.
"You once asked me about my background, did you not?"
"...?"
Turning his head, Jeong-un saw Baek Il-gang looking at him with his usual expression as he spoke nonchalantly.
"In truth, I too am from a martial clan. Of course, it doesn't compare to such a prestigious house as Zhao clan of Changshan here."
"You're from a martial clan?"
"There's a region not far from here called Shin-gang County. My clan is a sect with considerable renown there. I'm the eldest son."
"What?"
Jeong-un looked at him with surprise.
A county is the smallest administrative unit, but in such a vast land, it cannot be considered small.
Not to mention, this was populous Northern Zhili.
For a clan to dominate even one such county, it must be of considerable size.
It would certainly be regarded as one of the so-called prestigious orthodox factions nearby.
And the eldest son?
That would mean he was the heir to inherit the clan.
'The Baek House, right.'
And he remembered Zhao Pyeong's words, about someone from Baek House visiting.
That meant there were frequent exchanges between such powerful houses.
It was now crystal clear why Zhao Pyeong and others had been so pleased to see Baek Il-gang.
He was the heir of a sect they had friendly relations with—it was a matter of course.
Baek Il-gang sneered.
"Is it that surprising? I heard Young Hero Yu is pretty similar to myself."
"... My clan isn't even from a county, but just a small village in the mountains. And even then, we had rival sects for a long time."
"Either way, I'm no different from you. I left my clan behind as well."
"Why did you do that?"
At that question, Baek Il-gang clamped his mouth shut for a moment.
It looked as if he was asking whether Jeong-un was prying too deeply into private matters.
Then Jeong-un said,
"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I'm just curious, that's all. I'm wondering why you've had such a troubled look since arriving here."
"A troubled look? Isn't it more accurate to say I cause troublesome situations?"
"You've been sulking constantly, haven't you?"
Baek Il-gang broke into loud laughter.
"Seems I've been causing you some headaches. Don't worry about it—it won't impact our mission. I made a mistake earlier, and I'll be careful in the future."
Jeong-un stared into his eyes for a moment before continuing.
"It's not about the mission—I'm asking as a separate matter."
"...?"
Baek Il-gang looked at him with a perplexed face, as if to say—what are you talking about?
Jeong-un also looked quietly at Baek Il-gang.
He'd been the first person Jeong-un saw when arriving at the Heavenly Martial Hall, and now, was one of the few comrades he could truly trust to have his back.
The truth was, Jeong-un didn't have many people he could call close friends.
When he was with his clan, he never really formed bonds, and after leaving, he had come straight to the Heavenly Martial Hall.
It would have been stranger if no bond had grown. After all, he was a person before he was a martial artist.
Of course, just because he was his comrade, didn't mean he blindly believed Baek Il-gang to be a good person.
Baek Il-gang, strictly speaking, wasn't all that polite and had a rather negative outlook on the great orthodox sects, enough that others might call him narrow-minded.
But aren't people multi-dimensional beings?
On the other hand, he knew how to empathize with the suffering of the weak, the common people, and when exterminating unorthodox villains, he had thrown himself into danger without regard for his own safety.
For Jeong-un, that was more than enough.
"I just worry about my comrade's troubled expression. That's why I'm curious."
"......"
Baek Il-gang looked at Jeong-un in surprise for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
"You, young hero, need to adopt a colder attitude. I heard four-stripe warriors are usually very cynical."
"That's their story, not mine."
Ever since Jeong-un gained his fourth stripe, people around him acted as if he'd gone through some great transformation.
But Jeong-un felt that nothing about him had changed.
If anything, the idea that advancing martial arts alone could change a person seemed absurd.
"It's not a long story, and it's not interesting either."
"That doesn't matter."
Baek Il-gang smiled again and continued.
"I had a sister. She was a child who always followed me around."
A sister?
Jeong-un had never heard that before.
Since Baek Il-gang said he was the eldest, it meant she was a younger girl.
"We weren't on bad terms. Sometimes we'd play together with Zhao Gang as well. We were young, so never cared much about status. Well, Zhao Gang never cared about such things anyway. In any case, at some point, a villain from the unorthodox faction in the south called Bloody Red Demon caused trouble. Many orthodox swordsmen tracked him."
'Bloody Red Demon?'
Hearing an unfamiliar nickname, Jeong-un looked perplexed, and Baek Il-gang nodded.
"It's only natural you haven't heard of him. He's already dead. He kept running north to escape the orthodox martial artists, and got surrounded passing through Shin-gang County. The problem is that, in the process, my younger sister was taken hostage."
"......!"
Jeong-un's eyes widened. His sister was taken hostage?
Baek Il-gang continued.
"He tried to negotiate with her as collateral, but the chivalrous heroes, blinded by their own reputation, didn't even listen. They all just charged in at once and shredded the man to pieces. My young sister died in the process as well."
"How terrible..."
Jeong-un muttered in a whisper.
It was a horrifying story. It felt even stranger that Baek Il-gang related it so matter-of-factly.
"Strictly speaking, the one who killed my sister was that villain, not the orthodox experts. When negotiation failed, he threw her away while trying to escape, and she died in the process."
"......"
"That night, they had a celebratory banquet. Saying they had finally eradicated an evil unorthodox villain. I simply can't forget those laughing faces."
Jeong-un looked at Baek Il-gang in silence, as he understood his comrade's distaste for the great orthodox sects.
'So that's what happened.'
He could understand why Baek Il-gang ran away from home.
To throw a celebration the night his younger sister died—that would have been the last straw for any attachment to those so-called prestigious orthodox cliques, and to his own clan.
Then, Baek Il-gang spoke up.
"And the place where they held that banquet was this very Zhao clan of Changshan's estate."
"......!"