Chapter 268

The death of Dharma King Hong Dao. And the mysterious bloodbath at Shaolin Temple, the Mount Tai and Northern Dipper¹ of the Murim.

Word travels faster than a galloping horse.

Countless eyewitnesses spread the rumors far and wide.

“Did you all hear the news? About the Star-Array Grand Banquet…”

“Martial artists are surrounding Mount Song. I heard there was a bloodbath at Shaolin Temple.”

Henan Province, which had been swept up in the festive excitement of the Star-Array Grand Banquet, was thrown into an uproar.

The elderly recalled the Demonic Cult’s rampage across the land several decades ago. The young realized that the war they had dismissed as a dusty relic of the past had become a present-day reality.

“The Demonic Cult has appeared? This is terrible. Just terrible.”

“I heard someone else was behind it, not the Demonic Cult.”

“You’re saying there are others besides the Demonic Cult capable of such a thing?”

“I don’t know the details myself. It’s just something I overheard.”

“That can’t be right. They say the terrifying Yin-Yang Twin Freaks led the attack on Shaolin.”

“The Yin-Yang Twin Freaks? I heard the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult personally made a move.”

“T-The Heavenly Demon?”

As one rumor piled onto another, the story snowballed.

With everyone lost in a jumble of truth and lies, it was only natural for their attention to turn toward a single place.

The former site of the Murim Alliance.

The place where the great and small pillars of the orthodox faction stood.

“I heard what happened. About Jongni Chu—or rather, Great Hero Mae Jonghak, the Sword Saint.”

“…”

“Keep your chin up. These things happen.”

“…”

“I’m completely broke myself now. Whew… Anyway, that’s what happened to me. But when I heard your news, Captain, I felt strength surging through me.”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked why that gave you strength.”

“Isn’t it obvious? As the ancient sages said, pain grows lighter when shared…”

Thwack!

“Guh.”

A precise blow to the solar plexus folded Hyuk Mujin at the waist and knocked the wind out of him.

When I saw the back of his head sitting wide open, my hand moved on its own. It just moved.

Smack!

“Feeling stronger now? Huh?”

“W-Wait. You hit me in the solar plexus. The solar plexus.”

“You’re making my blood pressure shoot up, you bastard. You’ve got my blood running backward!”

Smack-smack-smack!

After raining blows down on the back of his head, I finally felt a little better.

I already had enough on my mind. Why did this bastard have to rile me up on top of everything else?

“Things are serious right now, so watch your mouth. Got it?”

Rubbing the back of his head, Hyuk Mujin muttered, “You looked too serious, so I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“Just keep quiet.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Having silenced Hyuk Mujin, I gazed out the window.

Martial artists hurried frantically in every direction. Though none of them openly showed it, tension hung thick in the air.

Yet amid it all, the sky was brilliantly clear.

Hyuk Mujin’s subdued voice reached my ears.

“It feels strange.”

“What does?”

“Everything. None of it feels real. It’s only been one day.”

“I feel the same way.”

Even tumultuous wasn’t enough to describe it. Nothing that had happened the day before felt real. It all seemed like a dream.

Hong Dao breathing his last. Shaolin Temple drenched in blood. The Yin-Yang Twin Freaks, the Blood Lord, and finally Sword Saint Mae Jonghak.

The scenes passed before my eyes like a panorama.

The problem is, this is only the prologue.

If this were a movie theater, it wouldn’t be strange for the end credits to start rolling by now. But this was nothing more than an ominous prelude.

The vague sense of crisis that everyone anticipated was so palpable I could feel it on my skin.

Something is changing.

The world had already become a massive powder keg. The orthodox faction held the fuse, but Dark Heaven had the flint.

And just yesterday, the fuse had been lit.

I didn’t know how all this would end, but I could guess what would happen along the way.

There’s going to be a war.

A war on an entirely different scale from the one in Shanxi Province.

There was no way the people at the top had failed to realize what even I suspected.

The leaders of the orthodox faction were already consumed with handling the aftermath and holding meetings about the incident.

“Come to think of it, Captain, didn’t you attend yesterday’s meeting too?”

I nodded slightly.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan might not compare to the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Families, but it was still the undisputed hegemon of Shanxi Province.

And since Shanxi Province was where Dark Heaven had first revealed itself, it was only natural that the leaders would take a keen interest in it.

“What did they say?”

“They asked about the Head Elder and the Red Wind Band. I told them everything I knew.”

“The Head Elder is one thing, but why the Red Wind Band?”

“The Temporary Strength Pill used by Pung Yang, the Red Wind Band Leader, is connected to Dark Heaven.”

“Ah.”

Hyuk Mujin was now a high-ranking member of the family, so he had some idea of what was going on. He knew about both the Temporary Strength Pill and Dark Heaven.

“Did they say anything else?”

“I just left. My eldest brother will hear the important news and pass it on anyway…”

My voice sank without me realizing it.

“I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Old Master alone for too long.”

My gaze drifted from the window toward a lone figure.

A small elderly man lay on the bed as though deeply asleep.

When I took his wrinkled hand, I could feel his pulse. The faint rise and fall of his chest told me he was breathing. But even after a full day, he still hadn’t regained consciousness.

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

“That’s the problem. No one knows.”

“Didn’t some famous physician come by?”

“He said there was nothing he could do. Since Old Master wasn’t gravely wounded like the others, he told us to wait and see.”

The Dance of the Fire God and Demon. The supreme technique of the Fire Gate Clan.

It possessed enough power to contend with a thousand martial artists, but everything came at a price.

A man well over a hundred years old simply didn’t have the stamina or strength left to withstand the aftermath.

Maybe…

I shook my head, driving away the thought that had suddenly surfaced.

There was no point dwelling on the worst.

Both the Sword Saint and the physician had said his life wasn’t in danger. For now, the best thing I could do was stay by Jeok Cheongang’s side and watch over him.

“There weren’t any suspicious people around while I was gone, were there?”

The Abbot of Shaolin had been assassinated inside the Murim Alliance. No one was safe. Just as Jeok Cheongang had protected me from the Blood Lord, I had to protect him.

Hyuk Mujin nodded confidently.

“The Jin Dragon Squad has the pavilion completely surrounded. No one can slip through. Don’t worry.”

“The Jin Dragon Squad? The elite force of the Taiyuan Jin Family?”

“Yes. The Lesser Family Head was concerned for Great Hero Jeok’s safety, so he assigned me here. Who do you think I am? I’m Hyuk Mujin, Vice Squad Leader of the Jin Dragon Squad.”

“Uh…”

I looked him up and down, then quietly averted my eyes.

Hyuk Mujin’s confident expression instantly turned sour.

“What was that reaction?”

“Nothing. I just realized I shouldn’t leave again.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t trust the strength of the Jin Dragon Squad, the family’s finest?”

“Come on. I said that’s not it. Let it go.”

Hyuk Mujin glared at me through narrowed eyes, then shot to his feet.

“Fine. I’ll report to the Lesser Family Head and have everyone withdrawn.”

“Hey, why are you taking it that way? Are you going through puberty or something?”

“Because you keep saying such hurtful things, Captain! Is this only the first or second time? Huh?!”

“Keep your voice down. You’ll wake Old Master.”

“It would be nice if he woke up.”

“…”

He had a point.

As I found myself momentarily at a loss for words, Hyuk Mujin headed for the door.

One glance told me he was putting on an act because he wanted me to stop him. At times like this, I had to give him what he wanted.

“Hey, where are you going?”

Hyuk Mujin huffed, “Forget it. I can put up with anything else, but I won’t tolerate you insulting the subordinates I care about!”

“Gasp.”

“What now?”

“I never thought I’d hear words like that come out of your mouth. Mujin, you’ve really grown up. Guess your mouth doesn’t need circumcising after all.”

“…I’m really leaving.”

“Fine, fine. Sit down. Calm down and have a glass of water.”

“Hmph. No.”

“Well, well. Our Mujin really has grown up. Making me say it twice now.”

“…!”

Hyuk Mujin froze, then quietly lowered himself onto the chair.

“I still deserve an apology.”

“Huh? For what?”

“For insulting my subordinates.”

“Why should I apologize? I never insulted them.”

“You just said you didn’t trust them. Wasn’t that because you look down on them for being weaker in martial arts than you?”

I sipped my cold tea.

“Well, we’re not the Nine Sects and One Gang or one of the Five Great Families, so of course there’s a difference in strength. But you said every member of the Jin Dragon Squad is young and talented, didn’t you? They distinguished themselves yesterday too. Weren’t they the ones who saved Unnamed?”

Shaolin was a mighty tree. Yesterday’s tragedy had cost it a great branch called the Dharma King and countless fruits, but its roots remained.

Shaolin’s martial arts. And Unnamed, who had survived.

Those were its roots.

Oh, and hadn’t they said that old monk Hongcheon survived too?

“That’s right. They fought Dark Heaven without giving an inch.”

Hyuk Mujin puffed out his chest, his face filled with pride.

“Exactly. Then what’s the problem? The kids looked sharp to me. They’re fiercely loyal to the family too. There’s only one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re their Vice Squad Leader.”

“…”

“Your subordinates are standing at attention down there, while their Vice Squad Leader sits up here shooting the breeze?”

“Th-That’s…”

“You said you cared about them. That you were proud of them.”

“It’s true! Do you have any idea how much I care about those guys…?”

Hyuk Mujin faltered for a moment, then quickly recovered and poured out the words as though he had been waiting for the chance.

“Besides, my current mission is to guard Great Hero Jeok and you, Captain.”

“And before that?”

“Pardon?”

“What was your previous mission?”

“Guarding the Lesser Family Head, obviously.”

“Really?”

I chuckled, pulled that from inside my robes, and tossed it onto the table.

Clatter.

Hyuk Mujin sucked in a breath at the sight of the golden mask gleaming on the table.

“Gasp! W-Where did you get that…?”

“Where do you think? I knew you weren’t usually that kind of guy, but you stuck to me like a bad smell after the preliminaries.”

“Wait. You’ve got it all wrong. I was genuinely so busy with guard duty that I barely had time to open my eyes—”

“A misunderstanding? Fine. Want me to make sure you never open them again?”

Crack!

The golden mask crumpled into a little ball in my hand. Hyuk Mujin’s eyes shook as though caught in an earthquake.

“You were handling an escort at a gambling house, you bastard? You were so famous I didn’t even need to ask around. Apparently, some guy won a hundred thousand silver nyang² in one go, then lost a hundred thousand silver nyang² right afterward. They were treating him like a legend—no, an absolute legend.”

If the story had reached my ears even in the middle of this crisis, that said everything.

I’d even heard a rumor that one of the servants working at the Murim Alliance had hit the jackpot on Toto³—no, Dodo—slapped the Chief Steward across the face, and walked out.

“If you cared about your subordinates that much, you should’ve collected dues and placed the bet with their money. Did you really gobble it down by yourself because you were afraid the payout odds would drop?”

“…”

No answer. Nothing to say.

Even if he had ten mouths, he wouldn’t have anything to say. Hyuk Mujin stood there frozen and pale before finally forcing out a few words.

“Life is… all about one big score.”

“…”

This bastard still hadn’t come to his senses.

I stared at Hyuk Mujin in disbelief and raised my fist.

That was when—

Swish. Tap.

There had been no noticeable presence. No sound.

As if by magic, a young man—or rather, an old man—had ascended more than ten jang⁴ and landed on the windowsill. He grinned and waved.

“Want to talk for a moment, friend?”

Friend, my ass.

I looked at Sword Saint Mae Jonghak and heaved an inward sigh.