Chapter 23
The identity of the suddenly arriving black hawk—
It was, of course, the Hao Sect's carrier bird.
[Wishing that this letter reaches the Lord safely.
Reporting from Hao Sect's Ansun branch, Hyang-I.
The errand boy, wiso, has brought some very important information.]
... Very important information?
[There is a spy within Fierce Sky Faction.
We haven't identified exactly who yet, but apparently, in Guiyang, someone from the Kaiyang Society was seen having a secret conversation with someone from Fierce Sky Faction.
Besides that, the Kaiyang Society's movements are unusual.
If you truly intend to stay at Fierce Sky Faction, please be careful, my Lord.]
... A spy?
Jaseong involuntarily clenched the letter in his hand tighter.
First, he immediately halted his training and went to find Pacheon Gong.
At that moment, Pacheon Gong was sitting inside, drinking tea that was steaming warmly.
"What brings you here at this crack of dawn, before the sun is even up?"
Standing by the window, admiring the snowy scene at dawn, Pacheon Gong asked when he saw the sudden appearance of Jaseong.
"Leader. It seems there's a spy inside Fierce Sky Faction."
"A spy?"
"Yes."
Jaseong handed over Hyang-I's letter and explained the situation.
But for some reason, even after hearing Jaseong's words, Pacheon Gong didn't seem particularly surprised.
Instead, he brought up another topic.
"Kid. I have a favor to ask you."
"A favor?"
"If you go to the capital of Sichuan, there's a temple called Wuhou Shrine. There, find a monk named Hanseong and deliver this letter to him."
Pacheon Gong said, handing over a tightly sealed letter.
Naturally, Jaseong was puzzled.
"Can't you send a letter using a carrier bird?"
"This letter must be delivered by a person. I'll give you a gold bar for the travel fare, so don't argue and just go."
"... You'll give me a gold bar just to deliver a single letter?"
"And I'll also count our hundred-move bet as your win."
"... What's in this letter that warrants all that?"
"That I cannot tell. Anyway, it's a very important letter, so go right away."
Hanseong at Wuhou Shrine... Who is he that this letter must be delivered in person?
And on top of that, to count the hundred-move bet as won....
Jaseong kept wondering, but as Pacheon Gong pressed him, he had no choice but to accept the letter.
Then, as he was leaving, Pacheon Gong suddenly called out to him.
"Kid."
"?"
"My master, the Iron Little Demon Swordsman, once said this."
"What did he say?"
"In this complicated martial world, affection and grudges cannot be distinguished."
"Huh...? What does that mean?"
"So don't get entangled in any of them."
Pacheon Gong's voice was deep and heavy.
At that moment, he had a look in his eyes that Jaseong had not seen even once in the past several months.
* * *
Watching Jaseong's back disappear out the door, Pacheon Gong's gaze suddenly turned cold.
Step, step—
He walked to the storage room at the back of the building.
Clack!
When he opened the door, the smell of blood was overwhelming.
Amazingly, right in the middle, a man was tied up, covered in blood.
"Please... Leader... Spare me...."
"......."
"I'm sorry... I really couldn't help it...."
A Fierce Sky Faction warrior, his body ruined from several days of torture.
Amazingly, this was the Kaiyang Society spy Jaseong had just mentioned.
"It was suspicious how every time I left Gaeyang, Kaiyang Society bastards would attack... So it was you, Tak Ryong, who leaked the information."
"Please... Spare me, leader!"
"Tak Ryong. After so many years under me, do you not know what kind of person I am?"
"L-Leader...!"
"I despise people who beg for their lives more than anything."
Crunch!
"Gyaaah!!!"
"Just answer what I ask. Is it true that the Seven Freaks of Zhejiang are coming tonight?"
"Ugh! Yes! It's true!"
"I can't trust you."
"It's really true! Really... Gyaaah!!!"
True to his title as Number One Fiend in Sichuan, Pacheon Gong's hands were cruel.
He crushed the man's fingers, toes, and limbs beyond recognition.
As a result of this brutal torture, Pacheon Gong learned that the Seven Freaks of Zhejiang would attack tonight.
That, in fact, was the reason he sent Jaseong to the capital.
If it were his younger self, maybe; but now, with a prosthetic on one leg, he couldn't guarantee victory against the Seven Freaks.
Besides, after ten years of training, the Freaks were bound to be stronger than ever—this would be a tough fight.
'Especially Black Demon and Red Demon were forces among the Seven Freaks apart. If, over ten years, their skills have surpassed first-rate...'
There was no possible help.
His only friend, the Lord of Black Blood Hall from Hao Sect, had left for the North Sea, and besides, if someone who had already left the Hao Sect were to seek aid from its headquarters, he would be caught up in severe repercussions.
In this situation, sending Jaseong away was all Pacheon Gong could do.
The young manager of Hao Sect, whose future was still bright.
A prodigy among prodigies who would soon shake the world—he couldn't let him be killed before his flower ever bloomed.
"... I can't let a boy like him get embroiled in the fights of the Dark Path."
Of course, sending Jaseong away did not mean Pacheon Gong intended to lose to the Seven Freaks of Zhejiang.
Fierce Sky Faction had Mantis Maiden, Jihyung, Little Devil, Silent Traveler, and Double-handed Heaven Net—all capable fighters.
And above all, he was the Number One Fiend of Sichuan.
'Tonight, I'll wipe out the Seven Freaks I failed to kill back then.'
With a chilling gleam in his eyes, Pacheon Gong gave orders to the surrounding Fierce Sky Faction warriors.
"Prepare to greet our guests."
At Pacheon Gong's order, the Fierce Sky Faction warriors' eyes also grew cold.
Dark Path fighters who had survived the back alleys, fearing nothing.
It was the moment their war began.
* * *
When the war between Fierce Sky Faction and the Kaiyang Society was right on the doorstep, Jaseong was leaving Gaeyang and heading for Sichuan's capital.
Walking the deep mountain paths, only one question filled Jaseong's mind.
'What kind of letter requires the likes of me to deliver it personally? And who could the reinforcements be? Maybe it's a master from Hao Sect... More importantly, why did he say those last words...'
Throughout his walk in the mountains, Jaseong debated whether to open the letter.
Eventually, when he reached halfway up the mountain, he could no longer restrain his curiosity.
"... If I just peek a little, he'll never know."
Jaseong took out Pacheon Gong's letter.
Then, using a trick he'd learned back in the Red Light District—"carefully licking and loosening sealed letters"—he delicately opened the envelope.
[Kid. I truly hope your wild-pony self doesn't open this letter ahead of time.]
Reading the very first line, Jaseong twitched.
"... That old man is like a ghost."
But there was something odd.
Why did it pertain to him, when it was a letter to be delivered to a Wuhou Shrine monk?
Jaseong continued to read.
And then, all of a sudden, his eyes widened.
[Kid.
I never said this for fear of making you arrogant, but you possess a level of talent that could astonish the world.
A prodigy like you doesn't need to share your fate with these back-alley Dark Path men.
So leave Fierce Sky Faction.
I've erased all traces of you from Gaeyang, so you shouldn't have to worry about pursuit from Mocheon Sect or the Kaiyang Society.]
"Leader...?"
[Go to Wuhou Shrine, find the monk Hanseong, and deliver this letter.
He'll give you what I've saved up over the years.
With that, build up your own branch.
And even if I and Fierce Sky Faction fall, don't think of revenge.
As my master once said, in this martial world, affection and grudges cannot be distinguished.
So don't get entangled in grudges—live freely, like a cloud.
I'm sorry that I won't be able to see what kind of flower you will bloom into someday...
But still, meeting you in my twilight years, while guarding the entertainment district,
It made me happy.]
Reading the letter all the way through, Jaseong felt like he had been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.
"... So this letter was just a ploy to send me out of Fierce Sky Faction...?"
Suddenly, memories of the past came flooding back.
The days spent eating together, struggling in the training hall at dawn in duels.
He shouted a lot, but at times, he wore a gentle smile.
Though they couldn't quite be called true master and disciple, their bond had grown into something just as strong, and now all those days flashed before his eyes like a lantern slide.
That was it.
Pacheon Gong of Fierce Sky Faction was the first person to make Jaseong feel the spirit of the martial world.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Clutching the letter, Jaseong began to run madly back toward Fierce Sky Faction.
Lacking lightness skill, his breath caught in his throat, but even so, Jaseong didn't stop.
No, he couldn't stop.
... I'll never lose anyone again!
As he ground his teeth, the day he lost his eldest brother and sister-in-law flashed across his mind.
* * *
That night.
The Kaiyang Society, led by the Seven Freaks of Zhejiang, were hiding out in a quiet farmhouse on the outskirts of Gaeyang.
Once night fell, they all headed for the Red Light District.
"It's... It's the Kaiyang Society!"
"Where are they headed...? No way—are they targeting Fierce Sky Faction?!"
The Kaiyang Society fighters in black clothes.
Their numbers were astounding—at least seventy.
Soon, they came to a stop in front of the estate located deep in the heart of Gaeyang's Red Light District.
[Fierce Sky Faction]
Seeing the plaque on the main gate, the Kaiyang Society men quickly spread out to surround the estate.
With grim smiles on their lips.
"Stupid Fierce Sky Faction fools. They're all snoring in their beds. It's dead quiet."
"With all seven leaders here, today will be Fierce Sky Faction's funeral."
"Mantis Maiden's head is mine. Heh heh. The Seven Freaks said whoever brings a Fierce Sky Faction officer's head will get a brothel in Gaeyang..."
The Kaiyang Society fighters, minimizing their presence, began slipping over the walls into Fierce Sky Faction.
Even as back-alley thugs, they had all learned martial arts—scaling walls was nothing to them.
Inside the mansion grounds, all was still eerily silent.
With cruel grins, the Kaiyang Society men each drew their weapons.
But then, at a certain point after all seventy had entered—
"Uwaagh!"
"Aagh! My foot!!"
"I can't move...!"
Suddenly screams erupted from the Kaiyang Society.
Between the long grass in the garden, spiked caltrops had been scattered.
Even worse, the spike tips were coated with paralytic poison.
Because they had underestimated Fierce Sky Faction, the Kaiyang Society group was thrown into disorder.
But that was only the first of Fierce Sky Faction's traps.
"Fire!"
Someone shouted from the darkness.
At that moment—
Whoosh! Fwip!
Arrows whistled from the shadows, raining down on the Kaiyang Society fighters.
Thud! Thuck! Thunk!
"Ugh!"
"Aaagh!!!"
"Guh?!"
The second trap set by Fierce Sky Faction was the bow.
The perfect weapon for a surprise attack in the night.
Of course, if Righteous Faction types who preached fair and honorable combat saw this, they would have called it cowardly.
But this was the way of the Dark Path.
To back-alley survivors, "cowardice" was more a compliment than an insult.
"Kill them all!!"
"Yaaahh!!!"
Then, hiding Fierce Sky Faction warriors rushed out of the darkness, starting a bloodbath against the Kaiyang Society.
At the center of Fierce Sky Faction's defenders stood Pacheon Gong.
'It's about time they showed up...'
With his sword lifted, Pacheon Gong extended his senses, waiting for something.
And then—
'They're here...!'
Pacheon Gong's eyes snapped open.
He leapt toward the east wall, unleashing a wide horizontal slash.
KAAAAANG!!!!
With a harsh clanging, invisible steel threads snapped and recoiled into view.
And then,
"Whew~ Old man's not dead yet?"
From the darkness, seven men appeared.
Each held a unique weapon—strange spears, swords, steel threads, and so on.
The most infamous Dark Path masters of Zhejiang Province, the Seven Freaks of Zhejiang, had arrived.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
This damn old man, raising death flags and shit...
【(⩌_⩌ )】