Chapter 236

The man gazed at the Four Treasures of the Study, neatly arranged before him.

The brush was made from sable fur, the inkstone from bluish jade, and the ink and paper were tribute goods said to be used by the royal family of Haedong,¹ ten thousand li² away.

Every piece was of the finest quality, beyond the means of anyone but the wealthiest.

“Excellent. Simply excellent.”

A satisfied smile spread across his face. The man was famous for his frugality, and the Four Treasures of the Study were the one luxury he allowed himself.

“Well, then. Shall we begin?”

Just as he began happily grinding his ink, the door opened and someone strode toward him without hesitation.

“Anyone who saw you would think you were a Hanlin Academician.³”

The uninvited guest was a martial artist covered in dust.

He had narrow, sharply slanted eyes and a well-worn sword at his waist. At the sight of him, the man made a show of hardening his expression.

“A Hanlin Academician?³ I’d rather you call me a master painter.”

“You still paint?”

“It’s my only pleasure.”

“Unfortunately, you don’t exactly look the part. Would you care to learn some martial arts from me?”

“I must respectfully decline. This is as far as my abilities as a martial artist will ever take me.”

“What a shame. You lack the qualities a martial artist ought to possess.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have a subordinate who’s astonishingly good with a sword. Why else would his epithet be Ghost Sword?”

At the man’s sly response, the uninvited guest’s expression slowly relaxed.

A moment later, as if by prior agreement, they both let out quiet laughs.

“My lord, you haven’t changed.”

“Neither have you, Wipeng.”

They had not seen each other in four whole months, making the reunion all the more welcome.

Jin Wikyung, the Lesser Family Head of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, smiled broadly as he clapped Wipeng on the shoulder.

“What brings you here without any warning? The messenger pigeon said you wouldn’t arrive until noon tomorrow.”

“The Jin Dragon Squad can manage perfectly well without me.”

The Jin Dragon Squad was currently the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s foremost fighting force.

It had been established only a year ago, but every member possessed impressive martial skills, and their loyalty to the family was even greater.

The fact that Wipeng, Jin Wikyung’s trusted subordinate, served as its Commander spoke volumes about the squad’s standing.

“You didn’t slip away on your own without telling anyone, did you? You are the Commander.”

“Of course not. I left that Hyuk fellow in charge. He’ll manage just fine.”

“The acting Deputy Commander?”

“Yes.”

“This was his first mission, wasn’t it? What did you think after watching him?”

Wipeng’s eyebrow twitched.

He had thought he was getting used to Hyuk Mujin, but merely thinking about the man made his head ache.

Still, merit was merit, and personal feelings were personal. He answered with a sigh.

“He’s useful enough. Aside from the fact that he never stops running his mouth.”

“I already had some idea, but he sounds even more cheerful than I expected.”

“He’s so goddamn cheerful it’s a problem.”

“What about everything else?”

“…If you teach him one thing at a time, he learns quickly.”

“If you’re saying that, he must possess considerable martial talent.”

A year earlier, Hyuk Mujin had been granted the honor of joining the Jin Dragon Squad in recognition of his service.

Naturally, Jin Taekyung’s influence had also played a part in that decision.

That fellow is better than he looks. Try training him.

Jin Wikyung had always had a soft spot for his younger brothers.

Thinking Taekyung might be right, he had placed Hyuk Mujin in the Jin Dragon Squad and assigned Wipeng to train him. Sure enough, the young man’s skills improved by the day.

His cheeky, easygoing nature helped him get along well with the other members, and there was no question about his loyalty.

“Ha-ha-ha! As expected of our youngest—he has an eye for people.”

Jin Wikyung laughed heartily. At some point, a bottle of liquor had appeared in his hand.

He filled a cup to the brim, handed it over, and spoke.

“In any case, you’ve worked hard. So, is everything in Northern Gaoyuan settled now?”

“Yes. There shouldn’t be any trouble for at least the next ten years.”

The stabilization of Northern Gaoyuan.

That was why Wipeng had been away from the Jin Family of Taiyuan for the past four months.

Jin Wikyung believed that to become the true hegemon of Shanxi Province, he first needed to subjugate Gaoyuan’s mounted bandits. After months of secret and meticulous preparation, he had unleashed his sharpest weapon against them.

The sword known as Ghost Sword Wipeng.

“We attacked from seven directions, and they collapsed without putting up any meaningful resistance.”

The Murim of Shanxi—particularly the sects and merchant groups in the northern region, which had suffered the worst damage—welcomed the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s bold decision and actively cooperated.

The so-called Seven-Route Army was formed with Wipeng and the Jin Dragon Squad at its forefront. With the merchants’ full support, they were equipped with quality weapons and warhorses.

Powerful reinforcements also joined the campaign.

“The Lower District Sect was frightening. I was reminded once again of how terrifying information can be.”

Having received a considerable share of the northern region’s interests immediately after the war, the Lower District Sect had welcomed Jin Wikyung’s decision with open arms.

Like the seasoned information merchants they were, they monitored the mounted bandits’ every move while spreading false information and laying traps.

Their thoroughness left even Jin Wikyung impressed.

“Everything in this world is put to different use depending on who wields it. The truly frightening one is Wolhwa. She isn’t meant to remain confined to Shanxi Province.”

“Is that so?”

“Can’t you tell from the results? Her true weapon isn’t her beauty. It’s her strategic mind.”

Two thousand.

That was the number of mounted bandits killed or captured in Northern Gaoyuan in that single day.

Seven battles broke out in seven different locations. After claiming seven victories, the army advanced without hesitation.

“After that, we killed or captured every mounted bandit we came across.”

Hundreds of crows wheeled through the sky, while perhaps ten times as many corpses lay scattered across the ground below.

By the time the Seven-Route Army’s horses finally came to a halt, five major mounted-bandit groups had been annihilated and more than ten others had surrendered.

“We had effectively achieved our objective by then.”

“I believe there’s more to the story.”

“Ah. You mean the nomads?”

“Exactly.”

Thanks to their swift, mobile strikes, the Seven-Route Army had suffered few casualties. But the successive battles had left them thoroughly exhausted.

That was when thousands of nomads appeared amid a massive cloud of dust.

“To be honest, even I felt dizzy when I saw them.”

There were thousands of them, and every single one was a master of mounted combat.

No matter how seasoned a Peak master Wipeng was, he had no way to turn the tide of battle alone.

“That was when the incident I reported earlier in my missive occurred.”

“You mean the ones who called themselves khans?”

The great nomadic empire that had once ruled even the Central Plains had long since faded into distant history. But the conquerors’ bloodline had not died out, and neither had the title of khan.

“There were two of them. They came forward first and introduced themselves…”

“Temur and Chinggen, descendants of the Great Khan and members of the Golden Clan.⁴”

“Exactly.”

Wipeng nodded.

The young chieftains of the steppe had each arrived with two thousand riders. They were neither aggressive nor arrogant.

Instead, they cautiously attempted to converse in halting Korean.

“Is there anyone among you from the Jin Family of Taiyuan?”

The battle everyone had expected never took place.

All because of the name of the Fire King, Jeok Cheongang.

“The rumor had already reached Gaoyuan. They knew about the relationship between Great Hero Jeok and the Third Young Master, and said they had no wish to become our enemies.”

“That is precisely what puzzles me. It seems rather suspicious that they would back down merely because of the Fire King’s reputation.”

“Ah, that? It didn’t sit right with me either, so I beat the truth out of the mounted-bandit prisoners.”

Wipeng grinned as he continued.

“They’d already been taught a harsh lesson last winter. Great Hero Jeok killed two notorious mounted-bandit leaders from Gaoyuan—Black Sand and the Human Butcher—with a single palm strike. Temur and Chinggen were both there.”

“They were frightened.”

“On the other hand, it benefited them as well. Once the leaders were dead, the mounted-bandit remnants fell into chaos. Temur and Chinggen absorbed them and grew as powerful as they are now.”

Temur and Chinggen had been lucky.

Black Sand and the Human Butcher had died in the same place, and not long afterward, even the Heavenly Wind Band had been annihilated by Jeok Cheongang. A power vacuum had formed.

After swallowing up the mounted-bandit remnants and gathering the scattered nomads, the two men had risen to become powers in Gaoyuan in the span of only a year.

“They said they wanted to remain on friendly terms from now on. They even loaded us down with furs and plundered gold and silver.”

“What? Ha-ha-ha!”

Jin Wikyung burst into delighted laughter.

The outcome could not have been better.

The campaign had further strengthened the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s fame and standing in the Shanxi Murim while also winning the support of its affiliated sects and the common people.

“You’ve worked hard. Much of the credit belongs to you.”

“I don’t know about that, but I do know my cup is empty.”

“Ha-ha! Then let’s drink until we’re both thoroughly drunk tonight.”

The two men traded cups and stories.

So much had happened over the past year that they had no shortage of things to discuss.

“Oh, right. What happened to the Seongun Escort Bureau?”

“We finished dealing with it completely right after you left. Though I suppose we should call it the Jin Family Escort Bureau now.”

Woo Hwangtae, chief of the Seongun Escort Bureau, had fled with his family, taking only a paltry sum with them. It had been discovered that they had bribed several officials and secretly diverted military supplies.

Prince Shangshan, Zhu Bao, an ardent admirer of Jin Taekyung, had of course provided considerable help during the process.

“Our cooperation with the other sects is progressing smoothly as well. An escort caravan traveling through Mount Song to Hefei is already under way.”

“Mount Song and Hefei…?”

“Shaolin and Namgung. It was too good an offer to refuse.”

Shaolin, the Mount Tai and Northern Dipper of the Murim, and the Namgung Family, counted among the foremost of the Five Great Families.

Both were such enormous powers that Jin Wikyung would have been satisfied merely to establish trade with them. Instead, they had approached him first—and offered extremely generous terms at that.

“Great Hero Jeok’s presence has been a tremendous help to our family.”

Jin Wikyung merely smiled at Wipeng’s remark.

He firmly believed that in the Murim, at least, no favor came without a price.

Their goodwill contained the price of two people.

One was the Fire King, Jeok Cheongang.

The other was the value of Jin Taekyung, a Sleeping Dragon.

Come to think of it, it’s already been a year since our youngest left.

It had been a year filled with countless hardships and events.

Once the ground thawed, the Star-Array Grand Banquet would be held in Henan. The brothers would meet again there.

Are you staying safe?

Jin Wikyung raised his cup, thinking of his thoughtless youngest brother, who had not contacted him even once. Just then, Wipeng spoke.

“By the way, what were you planning to paint this time?”

“I wonder.”

“You were grinding ink without even deciding what to paint?”

“It happens from time to time. I often spend one or two shichen⁵ grinding ink, only to put everything away again.”

“Huh. Are you truly trying to become a master painter now?”

“Put that thought aside for now. But once this painting is complete, I think I’d be happy to be called a master painter.”

“Didn’t you just say you hadn’t decided what to paint?”

“It’s merely that I can’t quite picture what it will look like. I decided on the title long ago.”

“Then what is this magnificent work called?”

Jin Wikyung answered with a smile.

“The Sleeping Dragon Enters Service.”

He was a young man in shabby clothes.

His long, loose hair reached his shoulder blades, and thick stubble covered his chin and upper lip.

The crowning touch was the iron balls dangling from all four limbs, making him look like a convict in a forced-labor camp.

Yet one thing about him was different.

His eyes.

The young man stared into the blue-white flame with a gaze of unfathomable depth, then muttered,

“Ah. This would be the perfect place to grill some meat.”

The next instant—

Fwoosh! Smack!

With a savage crack of displaced air, a wrinkled palm slammed into the back of the young man’s head.

“What an insolent brat! How dare you even think of grilling meat over our sect’s sacred flame!”

The old man was beside himself with rage, but the young man merely grumbled.

“Ah, why not? It should be fine if I just stick it in for a second and pull it right back out.”

“What did you say?”

“You’ve never heard of kiln-roasted pork belly? It’s insanely good.”

“You—you’re dead today!”

Smack! Crash!

On an early spring day, as the earth thawed and fresh shoots poked their heads aboveground, peaceful Mount Jiuhua began to grow noisy.