Chapter 443

Ten days of sailing had been anything but easy.

We weren’t aboard some massive cruise ship. We’d been stuck on a wooden vessel, shuttling between musty cabins and damp decks. Ports? Our schedule was so tight that we’d kept our eyes ahead and sailed straight on.

Under the circumstances, even Jeok Cheongang—and the river bandits who called the Yangtze their home turf—brightened.

Of course, one person was happier than all the rest.

“Ohhh, finally…”

Mu Song, who had been forced to volunteer his talents all the way to Hubei Province, trembled with emotion.

He had been sunk in grief ever since one of his swift ships sank, but now, as if he had forgotten every hardship he’d suffered along the way, he shouted in a powerful voice.

“Drop anchor! Hurry up so we can leave this damn…!”

Jeok Cheongang, who had been nodding in satisfaction, turned toward him.

“This damn what?”

Mu Song realized he had let his true feelings slip and shook his head at tremendous speed.

“N-no, sir. I meant the Yangtze.”

“Of course you meant the Yangtze. That’s what this old man meant, too.”

“…”

“Unless you were calling us damnable?”

“W-why would I ever do that?”

It certainly looked like he would.

While Mu Song broke out in a cold sweat beneath Jeok Cheongang’s narrowed gaze, the river bandits sensed their leader’s peril and sprang into action.

The swift ships gradually slowed, lined up along the pier, and dropped anchor. A murmur rose from the people gathered near the harbor.

“That flag…”

“The Yangtze River Channel League. It’s the Yangtze River Channel League!”

“What does it say underneath? Water Dragon Stronghold? Never heard of it.”

“It’s a river stronghold based in Sichuan. Water Dragon Stronghold is led by Ship-Fire Boy Mu Song, the Seafaring King’s second Disciple.”

“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard of them. But why are those bastards in Hubei when they’re supposed to be in Sichuan?”

“How should I know? Damn river bandits. Things have been tense enough lately as it is…”

“Shh. Keep your voice down. Some young man is looking this way. Nothing good comes from getting tangled up with Murim.”

The group of merchants who met my eyes hurried away.

And they weren’t the only ones.

A fisherman whose face had been blackened by the sun grabbed his net and scurried off, while a vendor selling his catch packed up his stall at the speed of light.

In the distance, an official in formal robes watched us closely, surrounded by an escort of government troops.

Their eyes held undisguised wariness.

What the hell? This atmosphere is completely different from Sichuan.

The Yangtze River Channel League might have been a band of river pirates founded on plunder, but it had rules and an established system of its own.

I’d heard they didn’t simply pounce whenever they spotted an opportunity, kill everyone in sight, and strip the ship bare. Sometimes they even protected vessels from unaffiliated river bandits, and under normal circumstances, they only collected a set toll before letting ships pass.

They tested the waters during the Great Faction War, but in the end, they sided with the orthodox faction.

Give and take made the world go round.

During the upheaval that decided the future of Murim, the Yangtze River Channel League had backed the orthodox faction and slipped the government enough bribes to keep it satisfied.

In other words, they were hired thugs in a cloak of legality, tolerated by both sides and allowed to carry on.

They couldn’t exactly be called good people, but this was Murim, where every kind of lunatic imaginable ran wild. They might not be gentlemen, but by Murim standards, they were at least run-of-the-mill scoundrels.

That’s why ordinary people in Sichuan barely reacted to them.

Their attitude had been more like, Those beggar bastards are still alive and back again? They certainly hadn’t openly avoided us like this.

I tilted my head as I watched the people scatter in every direction.

Is it just a difference in atmosphere from one region to another?

But if that were all, Mu Song’s expression wouldn’t have looked so grim.

He stared at the suddenly deserted harbor with a deep frown, then called over his right-hand man.

“Have we received no word from our brothers in the League?”

“No, Stronghold Lord. They must have known we were coming, but for some reason, there has been no contact.”

“Not even from Dangyang Stronghold or Honghu Stronghold?”

“That is correct.”

“Even if the others didn’t know, Uncle Hwang is at Donghu Stronghold. There’s no way he failed to hear that we were coming…”

Mu Song muttered with a grave expression, then continued.

“Once we disembark, send out our fastest men to find out what’s happening. Contact our nearby brothers immediately as well.”

“Yes, Stronghold Lord.”

At Mu Song’s gesture, the river bandits under his command moved as one. We were no exception, having finished our preparations to disembark long ago.

Jeok Cheongang, finally leaving the Yangtze behind, led the way. I followed, then Jin Wikyung, Cheongpung, Hyuk Mujin, and Gung Gibang.

Mungyeong came too, blending so quietly into the crowd that one could almost forget he was there.

At last, Jeok Cheongang—the Fire Pokémon¹ finally free of his type disadvantage—wore a radiant smile.

“Whew. I can finally breathe again. This is why people are meant to live with their feet on solid ground.”

But his happiness didn’t last long.

“You there. Stop.”

The voice was filled with authority. An official who had approached without us noticing swallowed nervously as he looked at us.

Then he glanced at the hundreds of government troops behind him, puffed out his chest, and continued.

“I hear you came from Sichuan. Is that correct?”

“‘You’? ‘Is that correct’?”

Jeok Cheongang blinked and echoed the official’s words back at him.

“Were you addressing this old man just now?”

“That is correct.”

“‘That is correct’?”

The official’s eyes wavered uneasily. But he quickly steeled himself and raised his voice.

“Ahem! Answer only what this official asks. State clearly where you came from and what purpose brings you here!”

“‘Ahem’? ‘Answer me’? ‘State your purpose’?”

“N-no, this old man…”

“‘Old man’?”

Don’t. Don’t do it. Please, just stop.

They said women got butterflies when a handsome man repeated someone’s words like that, but from where I stood, this was a horror movie.

I hurriedly stepped in before Jeok Cheongang could drive a Flame God Palm into the arrogant official’s chest.

“Talk to me instead.”

“I have nothing to discuss with some wet-behind-the-ears brat!”

“…”

I’d just pulled him out of a tiger’s jaws, and this was how he talked to me?

I wanted to knock his head clean off, but I held back and continued.

“We did come from Sichuan, and we have business here.”

“Then what business would that be?”

“Well…”

At that moment, someone shouted excitedly.

“Steamed fish topped with lots of minced chili peppers!”

“Cheongpung, you son of a bitch!”

“Why, Benefactor? It really is delicious. It’s so good that if two people were eating it and one dropped dead, the other wouldn’t even notice…”

I didn’t know if it was really delicious enough that one person could die without the other noticing, but from the official’s expression, it was clear that we looked like people who deserved to die.

His face turned bright red as he bellowed.

“How dare you mock this official!”

“Wait, mister. That’s not what he meant…”

“It is suspicious enough that you came from Sichuan under the flag of the Yangtze River Channel League, and now you claim you came here to eat steamed fish? You’re the sort who won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin. Guards, arrest them at once!”

“Yes, sir!”

What the hell was this development?

Before I could say another word, hundreds of government troops with military discipline drilled into them surrounded us with spears. Jin Wikyung clicked his tongue softly and stepped forward.

“You’re rather quick-tempered.”

Jin Wikyung was tall even by modern standards. In Murim, he was considered a giant.

The official swallowed hard as he took in Jin Wikyung’s Ural Mountain shoulders² and the muscles bulging beneath his clothes.

“W-who are you?”

“I am Jin Wikyung of the Jin Family of Taiyuan in Shanxi. I won’t waste words, so why don’t you withdraw your men?”

Before the official could answer, Jin Wikyung continued in his deep voice.

“It seems you haven’t been informed yet, but we are martial artists who received direct permission to pass from the City Lord of Sichuan Province.”

“The City Lord of Sichuan Province?”

“If you doubt me, you may verify it. But before you do, I suggest you withdraw your men. There’s no need to throw away perfectly good lives.”

The official flinched, and the spearpoints of the government troops surrounding us trembled.

They knew it too. No matter how rigorous their training or how elite they were, they couldn’t defeat us.

But that was how the world worked. The men at the bottom shed the blood, while the men at the top guarded their pride. I saw the official’s eyes harden.

“How dare you… Do you even know who this official is?”

Without the slightest change in expression, Jin Wikyung replied.

“I do. Naturally, you belong to the Hubei Provincial Administration Commission, which oversees the province’s civil and financial affairs. Judging by your robes, you are a Judicial Inquirer of the secondary sixth rank. Though I don’t know why a man responsible for judicial affairs has come all the way out here to arrest innocent people.”

“…!”

“Oh, that reminds me. Do you know a man surnamed Yi, with the given name Hongcheon?”

A trembling voice slipped between the official’s lips.

“T-that person is the Provincial Administration Commissioner who was newly appointed not long ago.”

“I see. I thought I’d heard something about that. From Assistant Provincial Administrator in Shanxi to Provincial Administration Commissioner of Hubei. Quite the promotion. An occasion worth celebrating.”

“M-might I ask what your relationship is with the Provincial Administration Commissioner?”

Jin Wikyung smiled faintly. At some point, his posture and tone had naturally shifted into those of a man looking down at the official.

“I’ve met him a few times and shared a drink or two with him. I also helped him when he needed it.”

“Gasp!”

“Why? Is there something else you’d like to hear?”

“N-no, sir!”

The official’s rigid back folded like a mollusk.

After snapping into a deep bow toward Jin Wikyung, he spun around and roared at his subordinates.

“You fools! What are you doing? Put away those vicious blades at once!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“What sort of idiots can’t even read a situation like this? Please forgive our rudeness!”

Jin Wikyung benevolently patted the official on the shoulder.

“It’s all right. Everyone makes mistakes in life, like you did today.”

“This man Son is deeply moved by your generosity, as vast as the sea!”

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to these men directly. Especially the gentleman you addressed first. He is a highly respected elder of Murim.”

“I-I had no idea. Then might I ask his sobriquet…?”

“He is Great Hero Jeok Cheongang, the Fire King.”

“…!”

“We came straight to Hubei after the Sichuan Blood Tragedy, aboard a ship borrowed from the Yangtze River Channel League. Oh, and of course, we didn’t come solely to eat steamed fish.”

Stop it. You’re going to make him cry.

The official looked from one of us to another with an expression that said he wanted to die, performing the remarkable feat of bowing five times a second.

Jin Wikyung nudged me lightly in the ribs.

“What do you think, my youngest? Your big brother looks cool, doesn’t he?”

“…”

“You would’ve looked cool if you hadn’t said that.”

“Once you establish connections with the government, they make many things more convenient. If you ever find yourself in trouble, try using my name.”

If he could say that with such confidence, he must have planted quite a few seeds.

According to Gung Gibang, the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s meteoric rise in such a short time was virtually unprecedented.

If Jin Mukyung, who was undoubtedly continuing his grueling training at the Jin Family even now, was a martial arts genius, then Jin Wikyung was an all-rounder who possessed everything a Family Head needed.

“My youngest, don’t you think I look cool? Hm?”

“…”

Yes. Apart from things like this, he was the perfect Family Head.

I was still trying to push away the increasingly clingy Jin Wikyung when it happened.

“Everyone, stand aside.”

At the voice infused with profound internal energy, the people murmuring some distance from the harbor parted to either side.

At the same time, dozens of martial artists carrying considerable qi approached us with measured steps.

That’s…

I narrowed my eyes.

Written in cloud-like calligraphy across their pure-white silk martial robes were the words:

Zhuge Clan.