There was still some time before I would officially take up the post of Pavilion Master of Huangcheon Pavilion. In the meantime, I decided to take care of one thing.
I intended to give the Ghost Shadow Unit warriors who would be joining me the very best treatment. Loyalty would not mean squeezing the youth out of them under some empty pretext; I would repay them with a monthly salary commensurate with their abilities.
Whether they squandered their money in the belief that life could end at any moment, or bought land and houses to prepare for old age, I did not care. As long as they did not gamble.
To do that, I needed an enormous amount of money. Fortunately, at this point in time, I knew of a way to make a fortune.
After leaving a letter for Ian saying that I was going out for some fresh air, I slipped out of the Cult in secret.
My life was one lived with regression in mind.
I had spent most of my time busy and exhausted, searching for the materials needed for the Grand Art. Even so, I had made sure to remember the things I needed to remember. I knew exactly when and where the various incidents that had occurred throughout decades in the martial world had taken place—especially those I could make use of.
This time, the incident would occur in a village near Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province. An event I absolutely could not miss would take place there.
I ran all the way there using the Wind God’s Four Steps, both to train and to make the journey. I had only just reached the level of a toddler taking its first steps, but the more I ran, the more deeply I fell into its profound mysteries.
Whenever I rested, I gazed across the vast plains and sank into old memories. Whenever wind blowing in from the horizon sent clouds of sand and dust rolling toward me, I would leap to my feet and start running again.
To arrive on the day the incident occurred, I ran joyfully on some days and slowly on others.
Thus, after running and running, I arrived at the village beneath Wuyi Mountain.
There was a story I had once heard from an old wandering warrior during my own days as a vagabond.
He said that he had once run a freelance warrior office, earning commissions by arranging work. The incident that had occurred during that time—the one he always began with a sigh and the words, “It was a horrifying affair,” whenever he got drunk—would take place here today.
I asked a merchant and learned where the local freelance warrior office was.
At the end of the marketplace stood an old building where wandering warriors gathered.
When I stepped inside, more than a dozen wandering warriors were seated in the suffocatingly cramped space. One was dozing while leaning against the wall, while others tended their weapons or chatted in groups of two or three. Several gazes turned toward me, then drifted away when they found nothing particularly interesting.
I walked over to a middle-aged man seated at a desk in the corner, writing something.
The sight of him stirred my emotions. He was none other than Imchu, the man who had told me about today’s affair during my days as a wandering warrior.
“Is there any work?”
At my question, Imchu raised his head.
“I’ve never seen you before. Did someone recommend you?”
“Brother Seogwang told me to come here.”
“What is your relationship with Warrior Seo?”
“We worked together once.”
“Doing what?”
“I helped him with some business on Hengshan.”
“The Su Dongpo matter?”
“No. It was the Namak Sect.”
I could tell that he had deliberately asked the wrong question despite already knowing the answer. Since all sorts of people gathered here, Imchu was being cautious about verifying my identity. But I had already come prepared.
“If Warrior Seo recommended you, I can trust you. Can you work today?”
“Of course.”
“Fortuitous timing. There’s a major job today, and you came at just the right time. Go sit over there and wait. We need more people to gather.”
I went and sat where he had indicated. A few wandering warriors glanced at me, but I did not spare them so much as a look.
After about an hour, everyone needed for the mission had gathered. There were fifteen of us in total.
In my previous life, Imchu had said that fifty wandering warriors had been mobilized for this job. So much for the exaggerations of wandering warriors over drinks.
In any case, even fifteen men meant this was a major mission. Usually, jobs involving wandering warriors required as few as two or three people, and at most six or seven. Unless it was a truly urgent matter, no one employed so many people living such rough, rootless lives.
“Warrior Yang will be leading you today.”
The man I was introduced to, Liang Dang, was a veteran who had spent many years as a wandering warrior.
“The pay is high because this is a dangerous mission. Anyone who does anything stupid will die by my hand first, so keep that in mind.”
After warning everyone, Liang Dang approached me.
“I hear Warrior Seo recommended you?”
“That’s right.”
“Can I trust your skills?”
“Do I have to cut down someone to prove myself? You?”
I had to come on strong enough to look like a wandering warrior. Being too meek would only make me look suspicious.
“Hey, don’t get cocky. In this line of work, that head of yours can drop like morning dew before you know it.”
I sensed that he was trying to make an example of me and establish discipline among the wandering warriors, so I did not pick a fight.
“I’ll follow orders, so don’t worry. I’m only here for the money.”
“We’ll see.”
And so, the fifteen wandering warriors boarded the prepared horses and carriage and headed somewhere.
Only after several meetings to determine the final destination did we meet the woman and the boy.
Their faces were so alike that anyone could tell they were mother and son.
Only after meeting them did Liang Dang tell us about the mission.
“We have to escort these two safely to Nanping. We need to move as quickly as possible.”
The fact that fifteen wandering warriors had been mobilized for their escort meant that the woman and boy were people of considerable status. At the same time, it meant they were in serious danger.
The boy inside the carriage looked at me through the window. He was a cute, handsome child. I smiled and waved at him, and the boy gave me a little bow.
He seemed good-natured and well educated. The woman riding with him gave me a slight nod before closing the carriage curtain. Her face was filled with unease and worry.
The carriage carrying the two began to move. The wandering warriors rode alongside it, guarding it from the front and rear.
The carriage did not stop until the horses were exhausted and could run no farther.
While the horses rested, the people also took a break and ate a little. Liang Dang handed out the dried meat he had prepared to the wandering warriors. The woman and boy were given food prepared separately.
The wandering warriors had been paid twice their usual fee for this mission. Liang Dang, who led them, had probably received several times more. Perhaps for that reason, he was extremely tense about completing the mission safely.
“We don’t know when we’ll get to eat again, so fill your bellies while you can!”
After resting for about half an hour, the carriage set off again.
How long had we been traveling?
One of the wandering warriors tumbled from his galloping horse.
“Stop!”
The warriors halted and examined the fallen man. His face had turned black, and he was dead, foam spilling from his mouth.
“He’s dead.”
The warrior making the report looked at his companion and was startled. More precisely, they were both startled. The veins in their eyes had begun to bulge, and their faces had also turned black.
“Poison?”
The moment he uttered the word, they clutched their throats and fell backward.
“Ugh.”
The wandering warriors’ faces and bodies turned black as they collapsed one after another.
Only three people remained standing to the end: Liang Dang, who had been leading us, another wandering warrior, and me.
I could tell from the way those two looked at me.
*They poisoned us!*
Even I had not known this would happen. When Imchu told me about it in the past, he had said that the wandering warriors had been attacked from outside, and that not even their bodies had been found. Who would have guessed that the leader had poisoned the food?
The two of them had apparently disposed of all the bodies to conceal the fact that they had used poison.
“Why aren’t you dead?”
Liang Dang glared at me in astonishment.
“Because I didn’t eat the dried meat you gave me. How could I eat food given to me by someone I met for the first time today?”
Though many things had changed after my regression, some things remained unchanged. Just as the cook who had mixed Dispersing Qi Poison into the food was destined to die that day, the deaths of these wandering warriors were destined to happen as well.
Even if I tried to prevent unnecessary killing, some things could not be helped. What was meant to change would change, and what was meant to happen would happen.
The two men drew their swords at the same time.
“You would have been better off eating it and dying.”
At that exact moment, something unexpected happened.
*Shnk!*
Liang Dang’s sword pierced through the other wandering warrior’s back and came out through his chest.
“Urgh!”
The man collapsed, coughing blood.
I shook my head and said to Liang Dang,
“You idiot. You should have made him deal with me first, then killed him afterward. Do you even know how skilled I am?”
“That bastard was calculating and selfish. He would never have fought first. If I had to step forward and fight anyway… it was better to kill him while he was distracted by you.”
The two of them must have been evenly matched.
“What a pathetic life. You live by standing in line and stabbing the other man in the back. Did you think your turn wouldn’t come?”
“I won’t let anyone stand behind me, so stop worrying about it.”
“What are you planning to do with the money you earned by killing even your comrades?”
“There’s plenty I’ll do. Drink liquor, buy women.”
“You killed all these people for that? With all those ghosts clinging to you, will your thing even be able to stand under the weight?”
“You stupid bastard. Worry about your own life!”
Liang Dang had killed his companion because he had another source of confidence.
Four men appeared from that direction. Three of them wore masks, while only the one who seemed to be their leader had his face uncovered. From their eyes and the way they walked, I could tell they were all highly skilled.
“Have you arrived?”
Liang Dang greeted them respectfully. Judging by his tone and behavior, it seemed that these newcomers had hired him.
The unmasked man paid no attention to either Liang Dang or me. He looked toward the carriage and shouted,
“Come out already. Before I burn the whole carriage to ashes.”
At that, the woman and boy climbed down from the carriage, their faces pale with fear.
“You hid like rats so well that it was quite a chore finding you.”
The woman pleaded with the man.
“Warrior Gwon, please spare Yangi, at least.”
The woman seemed to know the man well. The man called Gwon appeared to ponder for a moment before saying,
“Very well. For the sake of our former ties, I’ll spare you.”
A moment of joy and hope passed over the woman’s face. Then Gwon revealed his vile nature.
“Did you really think that would happen? You damned bitch. You should be on your knees, begging and groveling, yet you still act like a mistress?”
Mocking her desperate maternal love, Gwon threw back his head and laughed.
The frightened boy clung to the hem of his mother’s skirt. The woman’s expression hardened as she was humiliated by a former subordinate. But, desperate to save her child somehow, she pleaded again.
“I’ll give you ten times what you’re being paid if you let Yangi live.”
“Money may be the greatest thing in the world, but it can’t be worth more than a life. Your father has already been subdued and captured as well. It’s all over.”
At the mention that her father had been captured, the woman let out a sorrowful sigh.
Then the man called Gwon turned his gaze toward me.
I was smiling and waving at the boy, who looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment, just as I had when we first met.
Thinking that the sight did not fit the situation, Gwon asked Liang Dang,
“What’s with that bastard? Wasn’t he one of your men?”
Everyone’s gaze focused on me. In particular, the eyes of the woman sheltering the boy were filled with desperate hope that this unexpected variable might change everything.
I slowly walked over and stood in front of the woman and boy.
“I’m the man who was paid to escort these two to their destination. And anyone I’m supposed to protect belongs behind my back.”
At that moment, the woman, who had been grasping at even the thinnest straw, found a rope to cling to—one twisted from Heavenly Silkworm Thread.