Sang Man-hee frowned, thinking hard. A crazy idea popped into his head. ‘Could it be someone from Jongnam?’ he wondered for a moment.
No, it was impossible! A disciple from the famous Nine Great Sects would never look so messy. Or would they? He looked at the dusty, rough-looking man again. ‘Disheveled… could it actually be… no, forget about Jongnam!’ It had to be someone else.
“Ahem!”
Sang Man-hee cleared his throat loudly.
Jongnam was currently in seclusion. Of course, they might have lifted the seclusion recently, and the news hadn’t reached this far yet. But even so, why would they bother coming all the way to this remote Namchang after finally ending their seclusion?
So, it definitely couldn’t be Jongnam…
“Is it you?”
At that moment, the strange man asked, his eyes gleaming. Sang Man-hee flinched, glancing back and forth between Jin Yang-geon and him. Then, realizing whose side he should take, he raised his voice.
“You villain!”
Of course, Jin Yang-geon’s face also showed clear bewilderment. But who wouldn’t be bewildered in this situation?
Anyone would be shocked to see someone break down the gates like that!
“How dare you cause a ruckus here! Do you even know who is present?”
“I know.”
“…”
“I came because I heard someone from the Wasan Sect is here.”
“How dare he say that, even knowing who we are!”
Sang Man-hee roared, his face turning red and purple.
“You dare to cause trouble here, knowing this is related to the Wasan Sect?”
“Hoo?”
At that, Chung Myung tilted his head slightly.
“Do you know what kind of place the Wasan Sect is, since you speak like that?”
“Of course!”
Sang Man-hee glared fiercely.
“What kind of place is Wasan! They won against the formidable Mount Hua in a martial arts contest, and they now sit as the head of the great Cheonwu Alliance!”
“…”
Chung Myung’s lips twitched slightly.
“And that’s not all! They defeated the villainous Maninbang’s martial force and vanquished the evil Do Yuppyeong, the Red Demon, along with his Red Demon Squad… Why are you laughing?”
Chung Myung’s slightly trembling hand moved towards his face.
And he forcibly pulled down the corners of his mouth, which were stretched up to his ears, with his fingertips.
“Ahem. Why does this keep… Ahem!”
Sang Man-hee stared at him with a dubious expression, thinking that he seemed even stranger than he had initially thought.
“Stop him!”
“Protect the Deputy Chief!”
At that moment, the Gold Sword Squad warriors leaped over the low walls, their swords flashing in the sunlight as they rushed forward and stood between Sang Man-hee and Chung Myung. In an instant, dozens of swords were pointed at Chung Myung.
“Tsk.”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Ha… I’ve really become much kinder.”
In the old days, the moment someone drew a sword in front of him, he would have sent them to the side of King Yama, regardless of whether they were righteous or demonic. King Yama would probably be saying, ‘Did that rascal send you again?’
To think that a day would come when he would just stand there, watching people draw their swords in front of him.
“Haa.”
Chung Myung couldn’t understand why everyone was so eager to devour him, even though he had become so kind.
‘Isn’t that right, Sahyung?’
– Did you sell your conscience to the marketplace, you bastard!
…My, my, your language is getting rougher.
Did you have some heated arguments with the immortals in the Immortal Realm…
“Hmph. Whatever.”
Chung Myung was about to raise his sword, sweeping his gaze over the Gold Sword Squad warriors, when—
“Stop—!”
“It’s not too late! No blood has been shed yet!”
“Capture him! Seize that bastard first!”
The rear became noisy, and the Wasan Five Swords, looking just as disheveled, came running and stood as if to surround Chung Myung.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
“How are there so many disciples?!”
“I was terrified we’d have to subdue him without hurting him.”
“…I just slashed.”
“I just stabbed, too.”
Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Jo Gul, who were panting for breath, stared blankly at Yoo Iseol and Tang Soso.
The three smiled wryly and shook their heads at the sight of the two, who held their chins up proudly.
“Ahem. Anyway…”
Baek Cheon cleared his throat and stepped forward in front of Chung Myung.
“Are you the Deputy Chief of the Gold Sword Squad?”
“…”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are from the Wasan Sect.”
“Wasan?”
“Yes. We apologize for our disheveled appearance, but we rushed here urgently from Seomseo, so please understand.”
Baek Cheon’s voice was truly sincere and confident.
“We heard that someone here is pretending to be a disciple of the Wasan Sect. Whatever the reason, it is unacceptable to call oneself a disciple of the Wasan Sect without the permission of the main sect. If you cooperate with handing over the culprit, Wasan will not forget this.”
If Baek Cheon had said this normally, no one would have doubted him. Rather, they might have been captivated by his dignified and confident demeanor.
But unfortunately, this was not the case now.
“Wasan Sect?”
“That’s right.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
“In that state?”
“…”
Baek Cheon slightly covered his mouth with his fist and cleared his throat quietly.
“Appearance is merely a superficial thing. We are just…”
“Of course, I agree with that. But…”
Sang Man-hee gestured with his chin towards Baek Cheon’s back with a sullen face.
“As far as I know, Wasan is known as a righteous sect…”
Baek Cheon’s gaze followed Sang Man-hee’s towards the back.
Beyond the shattered gate, the Gold Sword Squad disciples were scattered here and there like fallen scarecrows. It wasn’t just one or two; there were nearly fifty of them.
Baek Cheon, who had been momentarily speechless, opened his mouth with an awkward expression.
“…This requires a bit of explanation…”
“In what world!”
“…”
“Which righteous sect barges into another sect’s territory, beats down their disciples, and demands that they hand over a guest! The Wasan Sect I know would never do such a thing!”
Well… I don’t know what kind of Wasan Sect you know, but in the Wasan Sect I know, this is a daily occurrence…
“You villains! You must have been hired by the Iron Helmet Clan to cause trouble!”
“Cause trouble? Iron Helmet Clan?”
Sang Man-hee gnashed his teeth, his anger erupting.
Hey! You think you’re so smart! Trying to stop the Mount Hua guy from getting help, huh? Think we’re stupid?
*Thwack!*
Chung Myung’s fist hit his open hand. He hadn’t even meant to do it, but the idea… it sounded kind of right?
“Sounds like it could work, actually?”
“Hey, you crazy! What’s right about it!”
“You messed things up from the start when we were trying to talk!”
“He needs to learn a lesson!”
“Right, he needs to learn!”
Sang Man-hee frowned at the men who were now arguing with each other. Then,
“Vice-Chief!”
Yoon Jong, who wasn’t fighting, looked at the Vice-Chief’s room behind Sang Man-hee as he spoke.
“You’re being tricked. The one inside isn’t a Mount Hua disciple! We’re the real Mount Hua disciples!”
“…You are?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Sang Man-hee stared at Yoon Jong blankly before asking back.
“Let’s think about this from my side.”
“Yes?”
“If you were me, who would you think is the Mount Hua disciple? The one inside, or you guys?”
At that, the Five Swords looked at Jin Yang-geon inside the room.
Jin Yang-geon wore neat white robes and a coronet. He looked like a real Taoist priest.
“Hmm.”
The brothers nodded and looked at each other. They understood each other without words. They smiled.
‘This won’t work.’
‘Even I would be tricked.’
‘Right. Even the Sect Leader would believe him.’
This was hopeless from the start.
Sang Man-hee clicked his tongue, looking at the Mount Hua disciples who were smiling awkwardly.
‘Where did these silly guys come from…’
Jin Yang-geon looked like a noble Taoist priest and a gentleman. But these guys looked like back alley thugs.
Even a child could tell who the real Mount Hua disciple was.
“Enough! You’ll pay for breaking into the Gold Sword Bureau and causing trouble! What are you doing!”
Chung Myung grinned at his brothers.
“See? I told you. Words don’t work, right?”
“It’s your fault!”
“When do you ever use words? Try it once before saying that! Please, Chung Myung!”
Chung Myung shrugged and smirked at Jin Yang-geon beyond Sang Man-hee.
“You, stay there.”
Chung Myung cracked his neck and stretched his hands. The Five Swords stood to his left and right.
But they looked uneasy. They were ready to fight, but they felt like they were bothering innocent people.
Yoon Jong asked Baek Cheon quickly.
“Sasuk. Is this okay?”
Baek Cheon looked serious and replied,
“Think about it, Yoon Jong.”
“Yes?”
“We’ve already caused trouble. If we let that fake go, we’ll have caused trouble for nothing. We won’t get anything, right?”
“…”
“If we’ve already caused trouble, we should get something out of it. Let’s catch him first! We can clean up the mess later!”
Yoon Jong didn’t know what to say. He wondered if this guy should really be the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.
“What are you doing! Stop them and make them kneel!”
“Yes!”
The disciples started to close in on Chung Myung and his group. Sang Man-hee clicked his tongue.
The outer courtyard disciples had lost, but they were just outer courtyard warriors. The Gold Sword Bureau’s real power came from the inner courtyard warriors here now. Also, the elders of the Gold Sword Bureau were arriving late.
Even if they were real Mount Hua disciples, they couldn’t win with only six people.
Sang Man-hee thought it was already over. He turned and entered the Vice-Chief’s room.
Jin Yang-geon was waiting in the same spot. He hadn’t moved from his chair, even with all the chaos. Sang Man-hee thought, ‘He’s a true gentleman.’
“I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“Ha… Haha. You’re too kind.”
“I’ll take care of it soon. Please wait.”
“They seem to be here for me. I should talk to them…”
“What! No need to worry! We’ll handle them. Don’t worry.”
“Haha…”
Jin Yang-geon smiled and looked outside. When Sang Man-hee looked away, Jin Yang-geon swallowed hard.
‘This is crazy!’
‘Who are these guys calling me a fake?’
‘I need to leave now!’
His plan was ruined. If they caught those guys and he had to face them, things would get worse.
“Vice-Chief.”
“Yes, Taoist Priest.”
Jin Yang-geon smiled at Sang Man-hee, who trusted him.
“Getting help from Mount Hua is important. I should go now.”
“Ah, really? But shouldn’t you see who they are first…?”
Jin Yang-geon shook his head firmly.
“Famous people always have problems. There’s no end to dealing with them.”
“Ah, I see!”
He took the notes and stood up.
“If I send a message now, I should get an answer in three days. We can talk then.”
“Yes. I’ll leave it to you…”
Just then,
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Eek?”
A scream was heard. Something white flew into the room and hit the tea table between Jin Yang-geon and Sang Man-hee.
Crash!
The tea table broke. The expensive tea sets were smashed.
“Th-This is… Gasp? Ch, Chief Elder?”
Sang Man-hee was going to yell about the beggars. But he saw the person foaming at the mouth and collapsing. He was scared.
The Third Elder, a famous expert in the Gold Sword Bureau, was twitching. His eyes were rolled back. His leg was stiff and shaking. It was a terrible sight.
“…Ch, Chief Elder is…”
Sang Man-hee knew something was wrong. He looked up.
“Reinforcements?”
Thud!
Chung Myung stepped into the Vice-Chief’s room.
“I’m here. Reinforcements from Mount Hua!”
White steam came from his mouth as he grinned like a demon.