Chapter 158
Chapter 158. The Black Flame Dragon Who Calms the Chaos (3)
When day broke, new news was delivered through Hao Gate.
“Phew…….”
“What is wrong?”
At Seong Mo-ran’s question, who had not even been able to wash away the traces of the battle from the previous night, I silently held out the carrier pigeon letter.
“Good heavens…….”
Her reaction was not that different from mine.
One sect.
Three martial halls.
Exterminated.
That was the number of Orthodox Path forces that had disappeared overnight.
Originally, the Yujang Sect would have been included in that list.
“What in the world are these people thinking……? Are they really planning to wage war against the Murim Alliance?”
Considering that most of the targeted sects were small and mid-sized sects with no connection to the Murim Alliance, what they wanted was only one thing.
‘Creating fear.’
GRIND.
If Deceit bewitched and deceived the opponent, and Demon overwhelmed and removed them, then Blackness enlarged fear and made them flee.
Fear that there would be no compromise.
A declaration not to hope for mercy.
Despair that survival was impossible.
The only things those who became enemies with the Black Path could do were give up and run.
The effect was decisive.
Because of what had happened overnight, two martial halls had already hurriedly closed their doors, and two sects had packed only small belongings and fled.
Fear had swallowed all of Yueyang.
“Representative.”
When I turned my head toward the voice, I saw the Academy Students who were Jang Woo-jae’s friends standing there.
Like our group, they had not been able to wash away the traces of the previous night’s desperate battle.
“Is something the matter?”
“…….”
The man who seemed to be the representative of the Academy Students slowly knelt.
Then the other Academy Students followed him, one by one, and knelt as well.
“……Why are you doing this?”
They looked straight at me even as I tried to stop them.
“Please do not give up on the Yujang Sect.”
“…….”
“We know that we, who have only watched your mood all this time, cannot possibly look good in your eyes. That is why we wish to reflect like this and ask you. Please do not abandon Woo-jae, that friend of ours.”
I had thought their gathering was no different from other gatherings.
Like the Righteous Path Association, the Orthodox Path Association, or the Twelve Peak Citadels.
A force formed by those without power gathering among themselves.
A force that thought only of its own safety.
“All of us are people who have received a debt of gratitude from Woo-jae at least once. We hope that friend does not die before we can repay that debt.”
“…….”
“We will also do our utmost. Please, Representative, become his strength.”
But their eyes were filled with far too much sincerity for this to be the attitude of people gathered only by mutual interest.
I let out a small sigh.
“Please stand.”
“Representative…….”
“Even if you did not ask me, I was already planning to do so. There was also the declaration I made to the Mukhyul Gang last night.”
“……Thank you! Thank you! We will never forget this grace.”
Even though they had been caught up in someone else’s war, they were accepting it as naturally as if it were their own matter.
Like the hidden masters who appeared in the world when the Great Righteous-Demonic War broke out in my past life.
They were not cowards who thought only of their own safety.
At that moment, Jang Woo-jae came out of the pavilion and slowly approached us.
“Representative Jin. The Sect Leader is looking for you.”
He was trying hard to act as if nothing was wrong, but I could feel emotions that seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
I pretended not to notice the emotions he did not want to be discovered and answered.
“Yes.”
Eighty-seven.
That was the number of coffins piled up in the Grand Training Ground.
Considering that the total number of people was only three hundred, a full third had ended their lives in a short battle.
This was what war was.
This was what battle was.
If it were only me fighting and dying alone, it would not matter.
But while I fought, the people around me died like this.
That was why I had desperately wished for the Taeul Sect to grow all this time.
Perhaps Hong Sa-ryeon and the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers who followed me also felt the weight of the grief the Yujang Sect was experiencing, for they followed with their mouths tightly shut.
“You have come?”
The Sect Leader’s face, which I saw after only one night, had grown so haggard that it looked as though he had weathered ten years of storms.
It resembled Hong Mun-gi from my past life.
“Are you all right?”
“…….”
I offered the customary greeting, but no answer came back.
Instead of answering, he looked at us and Jang Woo-jae’s group and spoke.
“I do not know how fortunate it is that none of you were injured last night. It is something to thank Heaven and Earth and the gods for.”
“…….”
“I have a request for all of you gathered here, including you, Young Master Jin.”
“Please speak.”
The Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect opened his dry lips heavily.
“Please go your own ways now.”
“……What do you mean……?”
“As of today, the Yujang Sect will disappear from the Jianghu.”
I looked at Jang Woo-jae.
As if he already knew, Jang Woo-jae was biting his lip until it bled, holding back tears.
“Many sects that had been planning a response have sent word that they will leave. We, too, have judged that leaving Yueyang now is the path that will minimize the damage.”
The Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect let his shoulders droop and released a long sigh.
After a short while, the Sect Leader raised his head and looked at me, and his eyes were full of guilt.
“We cannot put you in danger because of us, Young Master Jin.”
“I do not mind.”
The Sect Leader nodded slowly.
“You know chivalrous righteousness better than any rising star of the murim I have ever seen.”
“…….”
“The grace the Yujang Sect received today will continue to be remembered even if the Yujang Sect disappears. When Woo-jae has a child, I will teach that child, and when that child has a child again, I will have that child remember it too.”
As if making a vow, the Sect Leader clenched his hand tightly for the first time.
“……Someday, no matter how many long years pass, I will never forget, and I will surely repay today’s debt.”
All the people of the Yujang Sect who had been listening shed silent tears.
Their long history had vanished in a single night.
They likely could not believe the fact that they had lost their home and could no longer stay together.
“Where do you intend to go?”
The Sect Leader slowly looked around the hall.
“Each person will return to their own home. And those with nowhere to go will come with me to Hubei Province, where my wife’s family is.”
“It will be a long journey.”
“It likely will.”
The Sect Leader moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he could not open his mouth.
I broke that silence for him.
“We will accompany you.”
The Sect Leader, whose lips trembled, soon nodded.
“Could I ask you to accompany us only until we leave Yueyang?”
Perhaps he felt ashamed of his own action, for his face flushed red.
In any case, both our group and Jang Woo-jae’s group had to return to the Academy.
Just as I was about to answer that we would accompany them on the way,
a warrior entered with an urgent appearance, as if he were about to run out of breath.
“S-Sect Leader, something terrible has happened.”
“……What terrible thing is there now, at this point?”
“I think you need to come out and see.”
“……?”
Starting with the Sect Leader, the Hall Masters of each hall, and even our group followed the warrior toward the gate.
The collapsed gate and the wall pierced open in a gaping hole.
As we looked at the clearly exposed outside view and the people standing there, our group cursed without anyone going first.
“Those damned bastards…….”
Warriors were lined up outside the large hole.
Even beyond the walls, I could feel the presence of dozens more people.
The Black Path warriors had surrounded the entire Yujang Sect.
At their deliberate show of force, one Elder spoke as if lamenting.
“How can a person harbor such a vicious heart?”
Neither the warriors of the Yujang Sect nor our group could take a single step outside the Yujang Sect.
When I could no longer endure it and tried to leave the Yujang Sect, the man with the scythe from the previous night blocked my path.
“If you move, not a single grass root will remain in the Yujang Sect.”
“…….”
“Did I not tell you? You would need to be prepared.”
“Why are you going this far?”
“Your petty chivalrous righteousness will make more blood flow in Yueyang. We are only acting to prevent that.”
Did even Black Path bastards develop smooth tongues once they built enough experience?
“What a truly grand justification.”
“And even so, will you go outside?”
“……Forget it.”
If I forced my way through, it was not as if I could not get out.
But I could not handle what would happen afterward.
No matter how advantageous the situation in which I fought might be, the side that would ultimately suffer heavy damage was the Yujang Sect.
Moreover, by now, even members of other Black Path sects, not merely the Mukhyul Gang’s people, were openly gathering.
Their intention was to end the battle as quickly as possible with perfect numerical superiority.
No matter how hard I wracked my brain, I could not think of a plan that could immediately overturn the situation.
At that moment, a commotion arose outside the gate.
“Ah! I’m telling you, move! I have business inside!”
“You cannot enter.”
“Listen here! It is fine to fight over Yueyang’s hegemony, but there is a line that must be observed at the very least. Are you certain the Black Path murim can rule Yueyang even after interfering with the work of the Murim Alliance Yueyang Branch Chief?”
It was a voice I had heard somewhere often.
A short while later, the person who entered with attendants was none other than Dang Hyeok-je.
“Branch Chief.”
“Eing.”
As soon as Dang Hyeok-je saw my face, he frowned, then signaled his attendants with his eyes.
The attendants put down the packs they had been carrying on their backs, then walked among the people, handing out rice balls and Golden Wound Medicine.
“How did you know and come here?”
I had wanted to contact Dang Hyeok-je anyway, but there had been no suitable method.
At my question, Dang Hyeok-je stared at my face and said,
“Look here.”
“Yes.”
“Why not loosen that face first?”
“Pardon?”
“You look exactly like some fiendish demon.”
“What do you mean…….”
When I turned my head and looked at Eun-ho, Eun-ho froze for a moment, then nodded.
“Are you very angry?”
“……A little.”
“Could you possibly be as angry as I am?”
“Pardon?”
“The moneybag who said he would invest is about to die, so now I am in a situation where I have to unpack the luggage I had been packing all this time.”
“What does that mean?”
“Do you know what the Black Path forces of Yueyang have prepared?”
“……Their numbers were quite large.”
“They have drawn in not only wanderers from nearby areas, but also five of the Eight Evils.”
At Dang Hyeok-je’s words, the people in the hall could not hide their startled expressions.
The Eight Evils, called the peerless masters of the Black Path murim.
The fact that they had come to Yueyang also meant that the Black Path forces had no intention of stopping midway.
“Are they truly planning to wage war against the Murim Alliance?”
“It will not go that far. But should they deal with someone of your level, would they not still be able to clean things up sufficiently?”
“…….”
Having invested this much, it was clear that they would not retreat until they seized as much hegemony in Yueyang as they wanted.
I was far too curious.
“What exactly are they doing all this for?”
It was not something I could easily accept rationally.
At this point, it had gone beyond the expression “taking a risk” and reached the level of “dancing with a sword atop a straw-cutter blade.”
If they misplaced a single step, their feet could be crushed, and if things went wrong, even their necks could be cut.
“And even if they gained a justification, are they not afraid of the Murim Alliance’s retaliation later?”
Dang Hyeok-je scratched the back of his head.
“It will not necessarily roll that way either.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the power they expand this time may continue as is.”
Yueyang was a city as precious as gold to large powers rooted in the Jianghu.
There was no way the Murim Alliance or Diancang would have their eyes wide open and allow this delicious city to be stolen.
“Is there not the Black Path Alliance?”
“Pardon?”
“The Black Path Alliance is being prepared with the Four Emperors Peak at the center, is it not? They likely intend to enter that alliance and raise their voices within it. And once the Black Path Alliance is founded, even the Murim Alliance will not be able to move recklessly. They likely judged it a gamble worth taking even at risk.”
My head rang.
Only then did the tangled fragments in my head begin finding their proper shapes one by one.
“……Damn it.”
“Yes, it is damnable.”
“They will have absolutely no thought of retreating.”
This was not a situation where they would simply withdraw moderately.
If one considered how enormous a growth the early founding sects of the Murim Alliance had achieved over the last five hundred years, there would be no Black Path force that did not want to become one of the initial founders of the Black Path Alliance being created this time.
After starting the matter with the mentality of “I can win big and pay it back,” they would hide behind the Black Path Alliance.
Then all of Yueyang would enter their hands forever.
“I sent a request for support to the Murim Alliance, but it will take quite some time before it is processed and warriors are dispatched.”
“They will arrive after Yueyang falls into their hands.”
“What will you do?”
“…….”
The bastards were probably unable to close their mouths as they imagined the enormous sum they would earn after the gamble.
A gambler riding a winning streak could not be stopped even by his parents.
“Branch Chief, please mediate for us.”
“Say something that makes sense. Did you not say it yourself? They will have no intention of retreating.”
“That is why I am asking you, Branch Chief. Please tell them that we should decide the outcome through a Decisive Martial Duel.”
“……Do you really think they will accept that?”
Even if we sent them the intention to resolve the conflict through the result of a martial duel, they would not even snort at it.
Since they had already seized victory, they had no reason to go through with a Decisive Martial Duel.
“If they will not accept, we have to make them accept.”
All we had to do was use the exact same method they had used.
The Black Path forces, including the Mukhyul Gang, did not leave the Yujang Sect even by evening.
As if hanging a corpse in the middle of the market so others could not rebel, they were surrounding the Yujang Sect so perfectly that not even water could leak through.
I was looking at the moon.
The moment the bright moon hid itself behind dark clouds,
I unfolded Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art and soared into the sky.
WHIZZ—.
Because I was moving while reducing sound to the utmost, my speed did not come out properly, but even so, it was enough to leave the Yujang Sect.
TAP.
After landing about thirty jang away from the Yujang Sect, I went straight toward the Mukhyul Gang.
Because of the strange tension flowing through Yueyang, even the taverns had all closed early and turned off their lights, but only the Mukhyul Gang was lit as brightly as broad daylight.
‘How carefree.’
Music flowed from the largest pavilion, and from time to time, the drunken ramblings of people spilled out.
Seeing as two presences of considerable weight were detected inside the pavilion, it seemed they were holding a banquet for two of the Eight Evils Dang Hyeok-je had mentioned.
‘So the remaining Three Evils are at the Black Axe Palace.’
With a willing heart, I put on a hood, stepped with Ghost-Breathing Step, and hid myself on the roof of the pavilion.
How much time passed like that?
One by one, the sounds of people talking in their sleep began to be heard, and the music also gradually faded.
Then, following one presence I could feel inside the pavilion, I moved carefully.
After confirming that the presence I had been watching closely had entered the deepest part of the pavilion,
I carefully released internal qi and searched for Shadow Warriors.
‘As expected…….’
An old saying said that the Orthodox Path died because of bold spirit,
and the Black Path died because of vanity.
The Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang was a human who faithfully followed that old saying.
In short, it meant he was an idiot whose head was ruled by vanity.
I removed a roof tile from the ceiling, squeezed myself through the gap, and entered the room.
The Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang, who had been taking off his clothes soaked in liquor, seemed to sense something strange, for he turned like lightning and drew his sword.
CLANG—
“Who…….”
But his words did not continue.
SQUELCH—.
Because the Black Dragon Sword embedded in his chest stopped his heart.
“Y-you are…….”
I spoke to him, who reeked of the smell of alcohol.
“Fear is not something only you can use.”
The Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang, eyes bulging wide, looked unable to believe his own death even until the moment he collapsed.
“Who is there!”
At that moment, I felt two enormous energies approaching like flashes of lightning.
POP!
I broke through the roof and flew upward.
“Hoho, what a curious fellow. How did you evade our Sensory Perception?”
My eyes met those of Snake Evil Ak Jung-hak, said to have the finest Movement Art among the Eight Evils.
I immediately placed the Holy Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand in both hands, then unfolded the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist.
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!
POP, POP, POP, POP!
The flaming fists I poured out and the Kick Qi he struck back with collided in the air, bursting flames in every direction.
“Ugh! Sword Evil!”
Snake Evil, who had properly taken the flames of the Holy Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand, faltered.
Then, the moment Sword Evil stirred up a sword wind to subdue the flames, I unfolded Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art with all my strength and fled the Mukhyul Gang.
***
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