Light Novel: Volume 16 Episode 6
Manhwa: N/A

For a moment, Deung Chol-ung froze.

Just like a mouse standing before a snake, he couldn’t move an inch.

His throat felt so tight that he thought he wouldn’t be able to breathe without Pyo-wol’s permission. He had never felt such pressure in his life.

It was all because of Pyo-wol’s voice.

It didn’t necessarily contain any threat or killing intent, but it was overwhelming enough.

Deung Chol-ung felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine. He prayed that Pyo-wol’s words were not directed at him.

Unfortunately, the heavens did not grant his wish.

Pyo-wol was looking right at him.

Deung Chol-ung cautiously asked,

“Are… Are you talking to me?”

“You’re the leader of the Blood Ant Gang, aren’t you?”

“Why would that matter?”

“Because it seems like you’re at the center of this situation.”

At that moment, Deung Chol-ung could feel all his hairs stand on end.

It was an offhand remark, but he understood what Pyo-wol was trying to say. However, he forced a laugh and replied,

“Haha! I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did you involve the Rain Sword Mountain Manor into this because you’re being pressured by the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group?”

“……”

“You’ve thought this through quite well.”

Upon hearing Pyo-wol’s piercing words, Deung Chol-ung’s expression twisted. He instinctively knew that denying the truth here would be useless.

“I… I have to survive too, don’t I?”

“So, you’re saying that you did all this to survive?”

“Isn’t that life? We struggle just to maintain the status quo. I’m no different. I believe someone like you, Master Pyo-wol, would understand what I’m saying. Well then…”

Deung Chol-ung made an excuse and quickly ran out.

He left the Southern Heaven Pavilion, blending in with the Rain Sword Mountain Manor’s swordsmen, so Pyo-wol would not have a chance to do anything.

Pyo-wol watched Deung Chol-ung’s retreating figure in silence.

Yong Hasang looked at Pyo-wol as if he found him strange.

“He does not seem like a remarkable person, so why are you staring so intensely at him?”

“Sometimes, it’s the ones who goes unnoticed that causes the worst situations.”

“Well, he’s just a rat. You’re being too sensitive.”

“Sometimes it’s the rat’s hole that brings down the fortress.”

“You worry too much. If you’re that bothered with him, just kill him then.”

Yong Hasang spoke casually as if it were no big deal.

He didn’t understand Pyo-wol.

In his eyes, Deung Chol-ung was truly an insignificant person, a nobody. There was no reason for a man of Pyo-wol’s prowess and reputation to be concerned of someone like him.

Yong Hasang thought Pyo-wol was too cautious, but he didn’t voice this thought.

Namgung Wol approached Pyo-wol and greeted him.

“It’s been a long time.”

“Did you come here because of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor?”

“Yes!”

“You’ve done something unnecessary.”

“I know that they wouldn’t have posed much of a threat to you, Master Pyo-wol. But, if we left them be, those who decided to join us would definitely feel uneasy and insecure, so we have no choice.” 

“How thorough.”

“Compared to the Golden Heaven Society, our Silver Lotus Society lacks a lot. We’re already at a disadvantage, so we have to pay attention to these kinds of things in order to gain more followers.” 

“So you’re really going to fight? You’re still at a disadvantage.”

“If we simply sit back and do nothing, we’ll find ourselves falling into a greater disadvantage. If we don’t do anything because we’re lacking or because it’s hard, we’ll never have a chance to turn things around.”

Pyo-wol nodded his head as he understood what Namgung Wol was saying.

If they lost the initial momentum, there was a high chance they would lose without even putting up a decent fight.

Even if they were lacking power at the moment, they had to show their determination.

“Even when Jin Geum-woo founded Golden Heaven Society, he started like this. He lacked a lot of things back then, too, but he still ended up doing it. I believe we can do it too.”

“Hmm!”

Pyo-wol felt that Namgung Wol was a much bigger figure than he initially thought. He knew he was a talented individual, but he hadn’t realized how far-sighted and ambitious he was.

‘He has the qualities of a hero.’

Just by organizing the Silver Lotus Society and presenting Yong Hasang as the leader, one could see how impressive he was.

It was then.

“It’s been a long time, Brother Yong, Brother Namgung!”

Yu Suhwan’s voice came from behind Pyo-wol.

The moment they saw him, Yong Hasang and Namgung Wol’s eyes widened.

“No way! Is that you, Brother Yu?”

“How is Brother Yu–”

Yong Hasang and Namgung Wol looked at Yu Suhwan in surprise.

Since the three of them were part of the Three Clans, they were familiar with each other.

Namgung Wol asked,

“Why do you look so pale? What on earth happened?”

“I went through a lot. If it weren’t for Master Pyo-wol, I wouldn’t be alive and well enough to meet you right now.”

“It seems like we have a lot to talk about.”

Namgung Wol helped Yu Suhwan to sit down.

He had come here for a number of reasons, but the moment he saw Yu Suhwan’s disheveled appearance, all such calculations disappeared from his mind.

Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo also felt that something unusual was happening. The Yu Suhwan they knew was a martial artist who hid a strong will beneath his gentle demeanor.

The fact that he appeared in such a disheveled state was proof that something had happened. 

Yong Hasang cut to the chase and asked,

“What happened to you?”

“I was trapped in a place called the Prison of No Return.”

“The Prison of No Return?”

“A hellish place. Once you’re trapped, you can never escape.”

“Such a place exists in Jianghu?”

“I didn’t know about it until I was imprisoned, and only afterward did I realize that such an evil place exists. If it weren’t for Master Pyo-wol rescuing me, I would still be barely surviving, no better than a beast.”

“Hmm! It’s hard to believe.”

Yong Hasang looked at him with a skeptical expression on his face. However, he knew better than anyone else that Yu Suhwan was not the kind of person to lie.

The three of them listened to Yu Suhwan’s story.

Pyo-wol quietly slipped away.

* * *

After leaving the inn, Pyo-wol headed straight for the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group manor.

The Imperial Yuan Merchant Group manor had changed a lot in a month.

The biggest change was the security.

Numerous martial artists were stationed at the front gate, and there were also people standing guard on the walls.

As a stranger approached, the martial artists guarding the gate became tense.

“Stop right there.”

“Wait!”

At that moment, someone sprang out from amongst the martial artists.

He was none other than the attendant of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group.

The attendant hurriedly approached Pyo-wol and greeted,

“Greetings, Master Pyo. I heard that you’ve returned.”

“It seems the situation isn’t good.”

“Yes! Not only the ships, but even the caravans we were transporting overland have been attacked. Because of this, all the executives of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group have gathered right now to formulate a countermeasure.”

No one expected the situation to deteriorate this quickly.

What’s most troubling was that the moves of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group were being closely monitored by someone.

“It seems the Blood Ant Gang is the problem.”

“We think so too. Those rats are doing a lot of damage.”

The attendant’s face was filled with anger.

The current situation of being at the mercy of the Blood Ant Gang had enraged him and the martial artists of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group.

As much as they wanted to beat Deung Chol-ung to death right now, he was using the Rain Sword Mountain Manor as a shield, and operating meticulously from the shadows.

Moreover, Deung Chol-ung was cunningly changing his residence every day, so the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group was at a loss, unable to trace his whereabouts.

“Let’s go inside first. Please come in.”

“Hmm!”

The attendant escorted Pyo-wol to the guest hall of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group.

The guest hall, meant to receive visitors, was incredibly luxurious.

It was made to be as extravagant as possible to demonstrate the wealth and power of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group to outside guests. 

Pyo-wol sat down in the seat the attendant had guided him to and waited for Ju Seolpung to arrive. But another person came in before Ju Seolpung could arrive.

An old woman with a face full of deep wrinkles.

It was Noh Tae-tae, the true owner of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group.

She smiled and said,

“I heard you came back. It’s true then.”

“Weren’t you at Xielao Manor?”

“My son and grandson told me the situation was dangerous, so they brought me here. I didn’t want to worry them so I just followed them obediently.”

Noh Tae-tae laughed brightly.

Even though she was over a hundred years old, her eyes were still clear and deep. She looked at Pyo-wol with a warm gaze as if looking at her own grandchild.

Such a gaze was very unfamiliar to Pyo-wol.

Most of the people he had ever met had the same look in their eyes.

They would looked at him with eyes full of fear or alienation, or eyes full of caution. Of course, there were some who didn’t, but even they hadn’t shown favorable feelings toward Pyo-wol from the start.

But Noh Tae-tae was different.

From the moment she first saw Pyo-wol, she looked at him with such a warm gaze. Although the gaze was burdensome, it wasn’t unpleasant.

“You did well.”

“Hehe! I did good, right? When an oldie gets stubborn, it’s the young ones who suffer.”

“Wise indeed.”

“Hearing such words from the Reaper of Jianghu makes me inexplicably happy. Hehe!”

Noh Tae-tae laughed heartily.

She seemed genuinely delighted.

Pyo-wol was rather taken aback as the elder, who had lived several times longer than he had, reacted in such a way. 

Just then, the door opened and Ju Seolpung walked in.

He was slightly surprised when he saw Noh Tae-tae.

“Oh, Great-grandmother, you’re here?”

“Before you came, I was briefly keeping our Master Pyo-wol company. Well, actually, I was bothering him.”

“Haha! Great-grandmother…”

Ju Seolpung laughed at Noh Tae-tae’s lighthearted remark.

She held Pyo-wol’s hand with her wrinkled one and said,

“Now that you’re here, I should get up. Master Pyo-wol, I leave my dear Seolpung in your good hands.”

“……”

“I’m sure he’ll make mistakes and wrong judgements because of his hotbloodedness, but please be generous and guide him well.”

Noh Tae-tae gave Pyo-wol’s hand a final firm squeeze before getting up from her seat and leaving the room.

Ju Seolpung sat in her place and said,

“Don’t pay too much attention to my Great-grandmother’s words. It’s just a thing she routinely says because she cares about her great-grandchildren.”

“Did the meeting go well?”

“Hoo! How could it possibly go well? The opinions were divided.”

“Is that so?”

“Since the size of the merchant group is large, so does the number of people responsible for it. There is the heads who personally embark on business trips, the trade managers, the ship captains, and so many others. With these many people in charge, it’s hard to come to a consensus.”

Even though Ju Seolpung’s grandfather was the leader of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group, he couldn’t make all decisions unilaterally.

His part was to gather everyone’s opinions and make the most reasonable decisions.

It may seem frustrating at first, but with so many people’s livelihoods at stake, he had no choice but to be cautious.

The tension in the room was palpable, so Ju Seolpung, who attended the hefty meeting, also felt drained. That’s also why, as soon as he heard that Pyo-wol had arrived, he asked his grandfather for permission and excused himself.

“Did you manage to resolve the matter you went out for?”

“Roughly…”

“But you don’t look happy about it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Ju Seolpung responded with a smile.

Pyo-wol thought that could be the case.

Even though he had escaped from the Prison of No Return, he had once again lost contact with the Kowloon Assassin Guild.

By the time Pyo-wol, Yu Suhwan, and the others had gotten outside, the Kowloon Assassin Guild had already erased all traces and disappeared.

Even the Prison of No Return had collapsed, so there was no evidence anywhere that the said place had even existed.

The only witnesses to the prison’s existence were the men who had been imprisoned in the Prison of No Return, but they had all returned to their respective factions.

And even if they did testify, it was uncertain whether people would believe them. After all, they were people who had long been erased or banished from their factions.

The only ones Pyo-wol could rely and trust for now were Hong Yushin and So Gyeoksan. 

Hong Yushin was the chief inspector of the Hao clan.

As he had been imprisoned in the Prison of No Return himself, he could only be certain of the existence of the Kowloon Assassin Guild. 

The reason Hong Yushin hurriedly returned to the Hao clan was to review the information that he had been carelessly passing over from the beginning.

The amount of information that comes into the Hao clan’s headquarters in a single day exceeded that of a cart. Even if accumulated only for a year, it was enough to fill a large warehouse.

In the Hao clan’s headquarters, there is a record room that stores every information that came in to their grasps. 

Hong Yushin intended to review all the past reports to make sure nothing was overlooked.

If Hong Yushin was to dig through the information, the one who would be in charge of the direct pursuit was So Gyeoksan.

He had lost everything to the Kowloon Assassin Guild.

Naturally, his grudge and resentment was bound to be high, so he took on the job of tracking the Kowloon Assassin Guild himself.

—I will definitely find those bastards.

This was the last thing he said before parting ways with Pyo-wol.

And with that, So Gyeoksan returned to being the assassin he had been raised to be in the underground cave.


LUNACAVE

You cannot copy content of this page