Kang Sogun

The pill that No Ichil had given showed a very outstanding medicinal effect.

After taking the pill, Kang Sogun circulated his qi all night and recovered more than half of his internal energy.

If he continued to circulate his qi and rest for a hundred days, he would be able to completely heal the internal injuries he had received from the Yocheon Pavilion Master.

The Yocheon Pavilion Master's martial arts were very unique, and his internal energy was also sinister. The Yocheon Pavilion Master's internal energy, which was no different from evil qi, had infiltrated and spread around his lower dantian.

A cool energy seeped in, and his internal organs were hardening day by day, and to prevent this, Kang Sogun had operated his Golden Elixir True Art every night.

But because the Three Masters of Yocheon had come and fought a battle, he had been injured again, and on top of that, the internal injuries he had received in the successive fierce battles with the Heavenly Martial Faction had overlapped, leaving him in a state of being a complete wreck.

No Ichil's pill had almost completely corrected the internal injuries that Kang Sogun had suffered.

However, it had not been able to drive out the Yocheon Pavilion Master's qi. It seemed that the evil qi had spread and about half of his internal organs' qi and blood had hardened.

"Thank you!"

Kang Sogun said a short word to No Ichil.

"I didn't do it to receive praise. Don't I have to live too? As it turns out, the dogs outside are not common mutts."

No Ichil looked outside and continued.

"The rumor that the Heavenly Martial Faction has a hidden military force has been circulating for a long time. It means that the real military force is not known to the world. One of them is said to be assassins."

At the word "assassins," Kang Sogun's eyebrows twitched.

The presence of those who were chasing him was extraordinary, and as expected, they were killers.

"They are called the killing demon squad. I had guessed that those bastards were operating in the dark, but this is the first time I've encountered them directly."

The ten halls of the Great Righteous Martial Hall were each independent, but their roles were slightly different.

No Ichil was the master of the tenth hall, the tenth hall, and was in charge of collecting and disseminating information throughout the world.

Kang Sogun looked at No Ichil blankly.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you moved? I originally have some ability to move others."

At No Ichil's shameless good nature, Kang Sogun let out a smirk.

How long had it been since he had laughed?

Kang Sogun turned his gaze.

Swish! Swish!

The sound of a sword wind was heard from the direction of the rear courtyard.

Kang Sogun slowly went around the building, and Yeon Hwasim was training with her sword, and Jungrang was watching.

"Hwasim. If you overdo it, you'll hurt your muscles and bones, and it will have the opposite effect. Let's stop."

"I haven't been able to unfold all sixty-four forms yet. I can't stop until I can unfold them all at once."

Yeon Hwasim, like Jungrang, had learned the Heavenly Star Sword Art.

Jungrang, with Kang Sogun's help, had realized the essence of the Heavenly Star Sword Art and had entered the peak stage from the first-rate stage.

This morning, Yeon Hwasim had asked Jungrang to point out her shortcomings.

Yeon Hwasim had not been very interested in martial arts until now. Since she was a descendant of a martial family, she had learned it as a matter of course.

But after the annihilation of the Three Blade Sect, Yeon Hwasim seemed to have become a different person.

She had been training hard since dawn, and Jungrang was telling her not to overdo it.

It was a long-standing taboo in the martial world to secretly watch another person's training.

As Kang Sogun was about to turn around and come out again, Yeon Hwasim saw his back and stopped her sword.

"Great Warrior Kang!"

Kang Sogun turned around. He could see a strand of venom in the depths of Yeon Hwasim's large, clear eyes.

"Thank you for opening the way. Thanks to you, I and the Heavenly Fire Brigade were able to survive and continue the lineage of the Three Blade Sect, so I will definitely repay that grace."

Yeon Hwasim said, cupping her fists in a salute.

***

The previous day, Yeon Hwasim had had a sleepless night.

Her resentment towards Kang Sogun did not easily subside.

Yeon Hwasim thought that if it were Kang Sogun, he could have saved her father and uncles.

Although she was not in a position to question a stranger about it, since the person she had lost was her own flesh and blood, she could not shake off the lingering attachment. Even though her reason said no, her emotions kept running to strange places.

In the end, Yeon Hwasim had confessed to Jungrang before her morning training.

"Is it wrong for me to think that way?"

Jungrang had never been in love with anyone. Therefore, although he did not know about the affection between a man and a woman, he could instinctively feel Yeon Hwasim's heart towards Kang Sogun.

To Yeon Hwasim, Kang Sogun was a man she wanted to trust and rely on.

It was a feeling between a man and a woman, different from the trust she showed to Jungrang himself.

She had been hurt by that feeling. Her heart was heading towards him, but another heart was resentful and confused.

Jungrang thought he had to make it clear.

"Hwasim. Whatever he did, the result could not be changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember what the Sect Master said to Wu Wonsong?"

The day that Hwang Uichae's party, which had left the Three Blade Sect and was heading for Fujian, had been caught in the ambush of the Heaven's Mandate Brigade's Wu Wonsong and had returned.

Yeon Seongyeol had said to Wu Wonsong.

'I will personally have a life-or-death battle with the Heavenly Martial Faction Master! Tell him. That I will be waiting.'

"I believe that the Sect Master's words were not said in a fit of anger."

Jungrang continued.

"As long as the Heavenly Martial Faction wanted the complete submission of the Three Blade Sect, the Sect Master had no choice but to fight with his life on the line. This was not something that could be resolved just because Kang Sogun stepped up as a protector."

Only then did Yeon Hwasim nod.

She also knew her father's character well.

Since he had said he would have a life-or-death battle with the Heavenly Martial Faction Master himself, he would not have had any thought of escaping with someone else's help in the first place.

"Even if Kang Sogun had said he would help, the Sect Master would have had a direct confrontation with the Heavenly Martial Faction Master."

Yeon Hwasim, who had been thinking for a long time, organized her thoughts and then nodded with a relieved expression.

"Older brother. Thank you. My thoughts were short."

Jungrang smiled calmly.

"I am rather grateful that you did not hide your worries and told me."

***

Kang Sogun was inwardly flustered as Yeon Hwasim politely praised him.

He was feeling a kind of debt.

After the thought that if he hadn't killed the Heavenly Martial Faction's third young master, Gu Yangun, things would not have come to this, he could not shake off his sense of responsibility.

If you consider the order of events, it was something that Gu Yangun had brought upon himself, but Kang Sogun was originally a person who took responsibility himself rather than blaming others.

'Older brother is too nice. I wish he were only nice to me.'

Jang Yeongyeong's voice was heard in his head.

As he received praise from Yeon Hwasim, an old memory suddenly came to mind.

Although he was originally introverted, he was affectionate and sentimental.

Everyone who knew him said so.

But now, no one said so.

'Cold-blooded man! Killing demon!'

His enemies had trembled and shed blood as they died.

People, as if instinctively feeling the smell of blood, were reluctant to approach him.

The words of the abbot of White Dragon Temple, Cheol U, came to mind.

When he had killed the Three Masters of Xinjiang, Abbot Cheol U had held onto him and had pestered him for a fortnight.

'Even taking the life of a small creature is a sin, how on earth are you going to handle it?'

The reason his personality had changed so coldly was probably because of the days he had spent in the Martial Tomb.

In that space of death where there were neither enemies nor allies, one could not live with humanity.

"Great Warrior Kang?"

Yeon Hwasim, seeing Kang Sogun staring at her blankly, seemed to be thinking of something else, so she called him once more.

'Ah!'

Only then did Kang Sogun escape from the memory of the Martial Tomb and return to reality.

"I don't think it's something to be thanked for."

Kang Sogun cupped his fists in a salute, said in a low voice, and then turned around.

"...?"

In the dining hall of the outer building, Jang Mugang and No Ichil were exchanging words, drinking.

"Ah. Young Hero Kang! Come here!"

No Ichil gestured to Kang Sogun.

It seemed he had gotten Kang Sogun's name from Jang Mugang.

Kang Sogun approached and sat down at the dining table.

No Ichil poured wine, but only half full.

"Brother No, what is that? If you're a man, you should pour the cup until it overflows."

Jang Mugang chided, seeing No Ichil pour.

"Ah, this man. Young Hero Kang is a patient."

The taciturn Jang Mugang and the talkative No Ichil surprisingly hit it off.

It seemed they had become sworn brothers in the meantime. No Ichil, being two years older than Jang Mugang, had taken on the role of the older brother.

Sim Mabaek and Wi Eunghwan had gone out to look around, and Jo Unryong was also not seen.

"The third young master of the Dragon Slaying Society seems to be a sleepyhead. He still hasn't come out of his room."

No Ichil was in a good mood because he had found out Kang Sogun's name.

If he put Kang Sogun in his information network, it was only a matter of time before he found out what kind of person he was.

It could be said that it was No Ichil's calling to be in charge of the information network of the Great Righteous Martial Hall, as he could not stand being curious.

"Then you shouldn't have poured at all."

As Jang Mugang argued, No Ichil played dumb.

"Thanks to Young Hero Kang, I met the famous Three Tigers of Shandong. I'm pouring a cup out of gratitude."

As he praised himself, Jang Mugang became embarrassed.

"It's more surprising that there is someone who still remembers such an insignificant nickname."

"What are you talking about? The heroic deeds of the Three Tigers of Shandong are still talked about like a legend in the Shandong region."

No Ichil's expression became serious, and he said to Kang Sogun.

"A few years ago, there was a famine in Shandong, and a peasant uprising occurred. There were many people who starved to death due to the exploitation of corrupt officials."

As No Ichil mentioned that time, Jang Mugang drank a cup of wine.

It seemed he had remembered the old days.

"But the court, instead, only believed the words of the corrupt officials and sent the government army to suppress the peasants."

As the master of the ten halls of the Great Righteous Martial Hall, No Ichil knew the details of the events of several years ago.

"The government army surrounded a village and tried to massacre it. The reason was that the leader of the uprising was hiding there."

Jang Mugang nodded.

"They were killing everyone, regardless of age or gender."

"That's when three heroes appeared. Three people stood against hundreds of government soldiers."

"It wasn't hundreds, it was dozens."

The straightforward Jang Mugang corrected him with a reluctant expression.

"Ahem. There were hundreds more behind the dozens, so it's right to say hundreds. It's not good to be too modest."

No Ichil cut off Jang Mugang's words and continued his passionate speech.

"While the three heroes were blocking the government army, the villagers were able to escape safely and join the peasant army. After that, the rumor that there were three tigers in the Shandong region spread far and wide."

"We weren't the only ones who stepped up..."

When Jang Mugang and his sworn brothers stepped up, the peasant army also found a clue to a counterattack and was able to defeat the government army.

"You just stay quiet. If the world knows it that way, then that's how it is. Anyway, to meet the great heroes, the Three Tigers of Shandong, here. Isn't it really amazing?"

No Ichil seemed to be in a really good mood.

-Creak.

The door of Jo Unryong's guest room opened.

Jo Unryong approached with quick steps and asked.

"Did you say the Three Tigers of Shandong?"

No Ichil's voice was so loud that it seemed to have reached Jo Unryong's guest room.

As Jo Unryong suddenly approached and asked, Jang Mugang stood up from his seat.

"The three of us brothers are called the Three Tigers of Shandong in the martial world. Do you have business with us?"

At Jang Mugang's words, Jo Unryong bowed his waist deeply and cupped his fists in a salute.

"I have always admired the reputation of the Three Tigers of Shandong, and I am sorry for not recognizing you when you were here."

No Ichil was surprised to see Jo Unryong, who was unexpectedly polite.

"What's gotten into you? This is the first time I've seen you so polite."

Jo Unryong glared at No Ichil and then said again.

"Many people in Shandong still talk about the heroic deeds of the Three Tigers of Shandong. It is a true honor to meet you in person."

"Hoho. This is really... to have my face gilded with gold from the morning, I'm embarrassed."

Jang Mugang cupped his fists in a salute back.

A strange light flashed in No Ichil's eyes as he saw this.

The fact that the Dragon Slaying Society's base was in Shandong came to mind.

(End of Chapter)