Kang Sogun

Cho Hagyeong was startled as if a red shadow had appeared behind Kang Sogun.

'The cup of death?'

Cho Haran stood up abruptly. Although she staggered for a moment because of the splint on her thigh, she held out her cup and shouted.

"Death to them!"

Cho Hagyeong and Hwang Oh also stood up in a daze and held up their cups.

Kang Sogun silently emptied his cup and then slammed it down.

-Clang!

This was an irreversible act.

The Cho siblings and Hwang Oh also emptied their wine cups and slammed them down.

Kang Sogun turned and left.

Cho Hagyeong stood blankly for a moment. He felt as if he had crossed a river of no return.

A moment later.

The Cho siblings and Hwang Oh left the garden. In the spring night garden where everyone had left, only the scent of plum blossoms was full.

***

"Haven't you seen a person who looks like this? He'll look to be in his mid-twenties. He has a very gloomy face. He carries a spear."

Jo Unryong asked, showing a portrait.

The young waiter, who had been wiping a table, came over, glanced at it, and then shook his head.

"I haven't seen him."

As the waiter answered perfunctorily and was about to leave, Jo Unryong shouted.

"Look with some sincerity. You really haven't seen him?"

It had already been several days since he had been searching the shabby inns outside Nanjing City.

The waiter flinched, pretended to look at the portrait diligently, and then shook his head once more.

"Sir, a person like this really hasn't come. Our inn is mainly for merchants and workers. Martial artists don't come."

The waiter explained logically, lest he should get into trouble.

Even Jo Unryong could not help but back down. He sighed and was leaving the inn when he heard the waiter muttering from inside.

"Isn't he crazy? Why would a martial artist come to a place like this? How can you find a person with a portrait like that in this wide Nanjing? It's not even drawn with his feet."

Jo Unryong stopped in his tracks. The fist holding the portrait trembled.

"Hah!"

He looked up at the sky and calmed his chest. He could not take out his anger on a young waiter.

'He must be staying in an inn like this.'

Having followed Kang Sogun and observed him, he had found that he mainly looked for shabby inns like this.

But Nanjing was wide, and there were countless shabby inns.

"What's the use of having the name Blood Demon? There's no one who recognizes it."

As the story of Kang Sogun fighting the Heavenly Martial Faction and killing the Ten Guests of Heavenly Martial spread in the martial world, he had obtained the terrifying nickname of Blood Demon.

When people talked about the Blood Demon, Jo Unryong had thought that a new demon head had appeared.

And for good reason. It was said that the Blood Demon was nine feet tall and carried a hell spear.

His whole body was stained with blood, and blood light shot out from his two eyes, so from what he had heard, it reminded him of the demon king of hell itself.

Only after hearing that the Blood Demon had killed the Heavenly Martial Faction's military brigades and the Ten Guests of Heavenly Martial did he realize that it was referring to Kang Sogun.

As Jo Unryong was trudging along, the guards rushed in, surrounded him, and aimed their spears.

Jo Unryong just stood there, not knowing what was going on.

The captain of the guards stepped up and asked.

"Show me your travel permit."

"What on earth is this?"

"A report has come in that you are a suspicious person."

Nanjing was full of guards and soldiers.

The son of the Grand Scholar had been ambushed and had been seriously injured. Since some of the assassins had fled, they had strengthened their patrols and were monitoring all directions, and they had come because there was a suspicious person.

Carrying a large saber and searching for a person in a shabby inn on the outskirts for several days, it was natural that he would attract the attention of the authorities.

Jo Unryong had no travel permit.

The captain of the guards drew his sword as if he had known it would be so.

"Hand over your identification tag."

Jo Unryong had no identification tag either.

"He's definitely a suspicious bastard."

As the captain of the guards gestured, one person disappeared like a flash. He was surely going to call for reinforcements.

Jo Unryong had a sense of hostility towards the government troops. However, he knew well that if he got involved with the authorities wrongly, he would suffer for the rest of his life.

He composed his expression and said politely.

"I think you are misunderstanding something, I just came to look for a person."

The captain of the guards, having thought it over, made a guess.

"Where is your gang?"

"A gang?"

"The bastard who came with you."

"Didn't I say I was looking for him because we got separated on the way?"

The captain of the guards' eyes narrowed.

'It's definitely him. This bastard!'

He had heard that one of the masked assassins who had ambushed Bang Ilok had used a large saber.

What Jo Unryong was carrying on his back was also a rare large saber.

The captain of the guards hardened his conviction that the young man in front of him was a masked assassin. He must have lost his party while fleeing and was looking for them.

'If I just catch this bastard!'

He would be credited with a great achievement. Moreover, the loathsome emergency patrol would be lifted. He had not been able to go home for several days because of the assassins.

"Will you be bound obediently? Or will you die on the spot?"

Jo Unryong was dumbfounded. To be told that he would die if he was not bound after exchanging just a few words.

"Hey. Is it a crime punishable by death to not have an identification tag?"

As Jo Unryong's words became rough, the captain of the guards drew his sword and aimed it.

"You're showing your true colors!"

Strength entered the spears that the guards were aiming.

Jo Unryong drew the saber he was carrying on his back. A sinister light flashed in the captain of the guards' eyes.

"That bastard is resisting. Since he is a heinous person who tried to assassinate Young Master Bang, it is alright to kill him!"

The captain of the guards was a worn-out man.

'This bastard is a drifter with no identification tag or travel permit. If I catch him and interrogate him and he's not an assassin, it will be a headache. It's better to just kill him.'

The dead do not speak. Even if he was framed as a masked assassin, he would not be able to protest.

If he had been a real drifter martial artist, the matter would have been handled as the captain had expected.

But the opponent was the Fire Dragon Saber, Jo Unryong.

-Swish!

Jo Unryong rotated his body and swung his Fire Dragon Saber in a wide arc.

-Thwack!

As the Fire Dragon Saber grazed the spear shafts of the guards, they were cut off in droves.

In a single move, the spears of the surrounding guards were cut off, and the captain of the guards' complexion changed completely.

Only now did he realize that he was a master.

As the spearmen were surprised and retreated, the captain gestured to the swordsmen who were supporting the rear.

"What are you doing? Strike!"

As the swordsmen hesitated and stepped forward, Jo Unryong shouted.

"You come first!"

Jo Unryong did not just shout, but he threw himself forward to catch the captain of the guards.

The captain of the guards quickly retreated and shouted.

"Catch the brute!"

The guards swung their sabers with all their might.

Jo Unryong deflected the pouring sabers and ran towards the captain.

"Hah!"

When the captain of the guards had no more room to retreat, he swung his saber and approached.

His martial arts were quite good, and a strong wind sound arose from his saber. But Jo Unryong's saber was imbued with saber qi.

-Clang!

The captain of the guards' saber was cut in an instant, and his hair scattered. Jo Unryong's saber had sent his official hat flying and had cut his hair.

The captain of the guards froze like a stone statue. It was natural, as the Fire Dragon Saber was placed on his shoulder.

"Shall I cut your throat? Or shall I gouge out your eyes that can't see people properly?"

At Jo Unryong's words, the captain of the guards' face turned pale.

"Y-you dare..."

His vision went dark, and his chest pounded, so he could not speak.

Jo Unryong did not want to kill the guard. He had just intended to scare him and make him retreat.

But things in the world do not go as planned.

"Stop!"

With a shout, a group of people rushed in.

The people who were mixed with the guards were the private soldiers of the Bang Residence. Among them, there were also masters of the martial world, and their lightness skill as they ran was not ordinary.

It seemed that the one who had gone to call for reinforcements earlier had gone to report to the Bang Residence.

"Damn it!"

Jo Unryong threw himself forward.

A strange lightness skill was unfolded, where he slid a full ten feet with one step.

"Chase him!"

***

Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard had retreated, the chief steward, Mo Sang, was anxious in many ways.

'If the Duke of the state were alive, who would dare to look down on the Kang Residence? The Young Master must go into public office soon.'

The Embroidered Uniform Guard were such fearsome people that it was said that even a crying child would stop.

They had the authority to frame even innocent people as traitors, kill them, and then report to the emperor.

If things went wrong, the Kang Residence might be closed.

'Should I have not brought him back? No. The emperor will not cast out his nephew.'

Holding on to a ray of hope, he was calming his complicated heart when the gatekeeper came and reported.

"A monk has come to see the Young Master."

"A monk is looking for the Young Master?"

It was a world where monks were despised due to the policy of promoting Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism.

'Did he also make a connection with a monk in the meantime?'

When Mo Sang went out, they were not ordinary monks.

A middle-aged monk in a yellow robe and a red kasaya, and two younger-looking martial monks were standing in front of the main gate, waiting.

The middle-aged monk performed a half-bow to Mo Sang and said.

"I am Jeonggwan from the Shaolin Temple. I wish to see the young master of the Kang Residence."

"Hah, the Shaolin Temple?"

Mo Sang took a breath. He also knew well what kind of place the Shaolin Temple was.

"Great Master Jeonggwan, for what reason are you looking for the Young Master?"

Mo Sang asked with a suspicious gaze. Since the times were suspicious, he was careful about everything.

"I have heard that Young Master Kang's martial learning is outstanding, and I wish to broaden my knowledge."

Mo Sang could not have not known what that meant. But he had no way of knowing what his intention was.

"The Young Master is currently out. I will escort you to the guest hall for now."

Mo Sang ordered a servant to guide them to the guest hall and then ran to Kang Sogun.

"Young Master Kang, a monk has come from the Shaolin Temple, and it seems he wants to have a martial arts contest."

Kang Sogun closed the book he was reading.

He knew at once why he had come.

Since Bang Ilok had used the martial arts of Shaolin, and his technique was so advanced, he had guessed that their relationship was deep.

But he had not known that a person would come from the main temple in person.

'The power of Bang Yeonso is truly great.'

To have mobilized the Embroidered Uniform Guard and now even the Shaolin Temple.

Kang Sogun had intended to send the Cho siblings after they had recovered and then go to find Bang Yeonso.

But he had no intention of refusing a guest who had come.

"Chief Steward, don't worry and go about your business."

Kang Sogun went to the guest hall.

"Amitabha. This humble monk is called Jeonggwan of Shaolin."

Jeonggwan had thick eyebrows and a sturdy build. The two young monks next to him also had a grave momentum.

"You have come a long way. Please sit here and share some tea."

Kang Sogun performed the proper etiquette and offered a seat. A maid brought tea.

As Kang Sogun poured the tea, an air of a famous family flowed.

Jeonggwan was inwardly examining Kang Sogun and was admiring him.

'Isn't he different from what I've heard? He doesn't seem like a person who would use an assassin.'

Bang Ilok had said that after chasing the assassins who had ambushed him and searching an inn, the opponent had suddenly attacked him and had seriously injured him. He had even conveyed his suspicion that he might be in league with the assassins.

Although Jeonggwan had come with such a prejudice and anger, as the opponent politely offered tea and asked with all due respect, his heart softened.

After drinking the tea, Jeonggwan cleared his throat and said.

"I will not beat around the bush. Bang Ilok is a lay disciple of Shaolin, but his achievements are outstanding, and the main temple is also very interested in him."

"..."

Kang Sogun just listened with his gaze on his teacup.

"I have heard that both the Bang Residence and the Kang Residence are famous families of Nanjing. I don't know what misunderstanding there was on that occasion, but I have come to mediate a reconciliation."

"I see."

Kang Sogun nodded.

"How do you intend to mediate a reconciliation?"

"Since you have harmed a person, shouldn't there be a few words of sincere comfort and a sincere apology?"

Jeonggwan said politely.

"Is that the will of the Bang Residence?"

"Grand Scholar Bang is a person who is bright in reason. Since it is a trivial dispute that has occurred between young people, he will welcome it if it is settled amicably."

Kang Sogun stared at Jeonggwan and said.

"It seems you, monk, do not know the Bang Residence well."

As he spoke calmly without any expression, it was somehow chilling.

The three were startled and looked at Kang Sogun.

A ray of red light flowed from Kang Sogun's eyes.

(End of Chapter)