There are days like that.
Days when the stars look unusually lonely, and the moonlight feels cold.
Days when an ominous sense that something is about to happen wraps around your entire body, and you feel a powerful discomfort and incongruity, as if you are in a place where you should not be.
That day was right now.
The source of all this unease was that man lying in the hammock. That man, who made him feel this way merely by looking at the stars in the night sky together.
A man with such a presence was nothing more than the master of some local sect? Impossible.
And there was one more thing.
The three Battle Ghosts he had sent earlier with Hwang In were nowhere to be seen.
‘I’ve walked into the tiger’s den.’
This was not because his instinct for danger was excellent. It was because that man’s presence was drawing out even premonitions that had not existed before.
‘Stay calm.’
Jeon Nak settled his heart and regulated his internal energy. Yes, there had always been crises. And he had survived to this day by somehow overcoming them. He had to trust this instinct of his.
At that moment, Hwang In, who had come with him, said to Geom Mugeuk,
“I have received permission for my merchant guild to invest in your sect. Let us sign the agreement at once.”
If he was sharp-witted, he would understand what he was saying right now.
Hwang In, for his part, was tense as well. After all, he was still within reach if Jeon Nak stretched out his hand.
With his eyes, he said to Geom Mugeuk,
‘I brought him here, so hurry up and kill this man!’
He was still standing in the middle of the scale. Once it tilted decisively, he would throw himself to that side. Until one of the two died, he was on no one’s side.
Geom Mugeuk stepped forward and asked,
“Who is the person who came with you?”
Jeon Nak introduced himself humbly.
“I am someone who serves Guildmaster Hwang.”
Jeon Nak carefully observed Geom Mugeuk. If this ominous feeling about the middle-aged man lying in the hammock was accurate, then this young man before his eyes must absolutely not be underestimated either.
The clear, bright first impression he had felt earlier now came across as the composure of an expert.
Naturally, his resentment turned toward Hwang In.
‘Where the hell has this bastard dragged me?’
Strictly speaking, he had chased after him of his own accord.
Geom Mugeuk said to Hwang In,
“You have such an impressive person under you. Do you really need us?”
When he spoke as if he had recognized Jeon Nak’s ability at a glance, Hwang In forced himself to respond calmly.
“Doesn’t everyone have a different use?”
“You are quite right. Now, let us go inside and draw up the agreement.”
He should have done that from the start. Just as Hwang In, relieved, was about to step toward Geom Mugeuk—
“Please wait a moment.”
Jeon Nak politely stopped Hwang In. It was because he thought he must not hand Hwang In over to the other side in this situation.
“Guildmaster Hwang.”
“What is it?”
“Did I not say that I left my subordinates here? Yet I do not see them.”
At that, Hwang In asked Geom Mugeuk,
“Where are those men?”
This was also a sincere question. What on earth happened to them?
“They’re inside the house, waiting for you to return. I suggested we look at the stars together, but they ignored me and went in.”
Hwang In was inwardly dumbfounded by how calmly he lied. Hwang In recalled the moment the Battle Ghosts had disappeared earlier. That house was a man-eating house. Once you went in, you did not know how to come out.
“I will go inside to write the agreement and tell them you have arrived.”
Hwang In tried to hurry inside, while Jeon Nak tried to leave.
“Please do. I will wait outside the manor, so sign the agreement and come out with me afterward.”
Jeon Nak’s only thought was that he had to get out of this place first. Truly, since becoming a martial artist, this was the first time he had been so frightened when the other party had not made any threat at all. That was why it was even more terrifying.
But Geom Mugeuk did not let him leave so easily.
“Since you’ve already come, why not go in together and have a drink?”
Putting aside all premonitions and instincts for danger, Jeon Nak could sense the crisis he was in from that fact alone.
He was not the sort of person someone would want to invite for a drink. He was the sort people wanted to avoid when they saw him, the sort they would rather not see at all if possible. And yet they were asking him to drink?
“Shall I?”
Jeon Nak turned and walked naturally to Hwang In’s side.
‘If I go in, I die.’
At the same time, Jeon Nak drew his sword.
As if his drawing the sword were a signal, the ten Battle Ghosts who had been waiting outside leaped over the wall all at once and landed within.
Hwang In felt worry before surprise that they had followed.
‘I must not let them misunderstand and think I betrayed them!’
So Hwang In asked, as if he had known nothing at all,
“Why did you bring your subordinates?”
The gaze Jeon Nak turned on Hwang In was cold.
“I arrived here, and yet my subordinates did not come out to greet me? Unless they are dead, such a thing would not happen.”
He was still speaking politely.
That was why Hwang In found this Jeon Nak terrifying. Because he had always handled matters with that polite attitude. Leave it to me. With that one sentence, things had always ended.
Now that frightening courtesy was directed at him.
“Tell me what happened.”
Even as killing intent faintly bloomed in Jeon Nak’s eyes, Hwang In flatly denied it.
“They were here when I left. Is that not so?”
Hwang In’s eyes as he looked at Geom Mugeuk were desperate.
Please, say that they were.
Geom Mugeuk said to Jeon Nak,
“I told you, the men who came with him are inside the house. If you’re that suspicious, go in and check.”
He said it so calmly that it truly seemed to be the case.
Jeon Nak’s gaze turned past Geom Mugeuk toward Geom Ujin. He was lying in the hammock with his eyes closed. Whether he had fallen asleep or was lost in thought, Jeon Nak could not tell, but that sight alone was enough to seize his nerves.
“Check.”
Jeon Nak sent one of the Battle Ghosts into the house. Through sound transmission, he ordered him to look carefully for anyone hiding inside.
But he could not receive a reply to that order. The Battle Ghost who had gone in did not come back out.
“It seems a drinking party has started.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s calm words, Jeon Nak’s eyes sank coldly. It was the moment he confirmed that the enemies were not only the two before him.
‘They all got caught.’
The first three subordinates he had sent had been among the most skilled of the Battle Ghosts.
Jeon Nak asked Geom Mugeuk,
“What is your true identity?”
“I am Geom Yeon of the Seodo Sect. And this is my father.”
“No. You are not the Seodo Sect.”
Jeon Nak’s sword aimed at the neck of Hwang In, who was standing beside him.
“Why are you doing this to me? I am on your side!”
The reason he believed Hwang In had lied was simple.
“There is no way such formidable people would have decided to join hands with you. You lured me to them.”
His respectful attitude changed. It was the first time since they had met.
“Even if I die, I will make certain you die.”
Because Hwang In could feel that it was no simple threat, fear seized him.
Now, the only person he could trust was Geom Mugeuk.
‘Are you going to abandon me?’
At that desperate gaze, Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“A fine merchant buys this item and that item as well. He does not do business by leaving things to luck.”
At those words, Hwang In understood. He was reproaching him for trying to straddle both sides.
“I…”
The chill of the blade against his throat.
The moment he said he was on Geom Mugeuk’s side, Jeon Nak would kill him. This mad butcher had no mercy.
Whether he knew that danger or not, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze beyond the blade demanded an answer.
Are you really the heir of the Sinbi Family? If I choose you, can you save me?
He felt that this was precisely the moment when he had to stake his life and make his final weighing.
Since he was not a martial artist, he could not know which side was stronger. He had to choose by wit and intuition, by instinct alone.
At last, Hwang In made his decision.
“I have already chosen you.”
The scale in Hwang In’s heart tilted toward Geom Mugeuk.
“So save me.”
Terrified that the sword aimed at his neck might cut him down, Hwang In squeezed his eyes shut. But the butcher’s sword was unusually cautious today.
Geom Mugeuk demanded another answer.
“Who are these men trying to kill you?”
You really intend to push me all the way to the edge of the cliff.
He had already come this far, and there was nowhere left to retreat.
“These men deserve to die. Many innocent people have died by their hands.”
“Were those not things you ordered?”
“Because I joined hands with them, I cannot say I bear no responsibility. But I never ordered them to kill people, nor did I ever wish for it.”
“But thanks to that, the Hwangdo Merchant Guild grew, did it not?”
At those words, Hwang In could make no excuse. He was the one who had joined hands with them, after all. Though he had not known they were this cruel.
He felt the sword aimed at his neck grow even colder.
Hwang In could feel it. Jeon Nak had decided to kill him.
‘Why has he not killed me yet?’
He did not know. The reason this brutal Jeon Nak had not yet cut off his head was because he intended to use him as a hostage, even if only to gain the slightest advantage.
At that moment, hopeful words came from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“There is one technique that can save you. It is a technique I have been practicing diligently lately. And as it happens, there are ten opponents.”
No, why are you explaining that to the enemy? Use it right now! Hurry!
But soon, hope turned into a bolt from the blue.
“However, its accuracy is poor, so you may die.”
A technique with poor accuracy? Is this really the situation to mention some shoddy technique like that?
How could Hwang In know?
That the shoddy technique was none other than the fifth form of the Nine Flames Demonic Art, the Soul-Severing Demonic Strike.
Listening to the conversation, Jeon Nak grew more and more uneasy. It was because he thought Geom Mugeuk would not have mentioned a technique he lacked confidence in.
“You were aiming for me from the start, weren’t you?”
There was no way experts like these had been after a mere merchant guild. To be precise, they were probably not after him, but the ones above him.
He thought that it was rather fortunate. Perhaps he could use that point to get out of this place.
“If I die, a terrifying person will come. When that time comes, even you will not survive.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk asked,
“Who is that terrifying person?”
“Someone who can kill the likes of you with ease. If you kill me, that person will come.”
At the look asking whether he would still kill him, Geom Mugeuk asked Hwang In,
“Are you the lucky sort?”
Hwang In let out a sigh.
“If I were lucky, would I have ended up in this situation?”
“Then I will have to trust my own luck.”
What on earth was he talking about?
“Close your eyes.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Hwang In closed his eyes.
Blood trickled down from Jeon Nak’s sword where it touched Hwang In’s neck.
“If you move, this man will definitely die!”
No matter what enemy he faced, he was confident he could kill a man whose neck he held at sword point. If they attacked, he would cut Hwang In’s throat and fight.
The next moment—
Ten sword qi fell vertically.
The ten streams of sword qi struck down like lightning and pierced precisely into the crowns of the Battle Ghosts’ heads. The Battle Ghosts each differed in skill, but before the Soul-Severing Demonic Strike, all were equal.
They collapsed at the same time like sheaves of straw.
When the first sound burst out, Hwang In thought he was dying.
‘This is the end!’
His father had told him that if a merchant became entangled with martial artists, it would not end well. He should have stopped him to the very end back then.
At the thick scent of blood rising hotly, Hwang In slowly opened his eyes.
And before him unfolded an astonishing sight.
All of the Battle Ghosts lay dead on the ground. Blood flowed from the crowns of their heads. And Jeon Nak, who had aimed his sword at him, had also collapsed beside him, dead.
‘Jeon Nak is dead? That terrifying Jeon Nak? How on earth?’
It felt as though he were dreaming. Hwang In stood there blankly, his soul half gone.
At that moment, Geom Ujin, who had been lying in the hammock, sat up.
“With those shoddy skills of yours, what were you going to do if it fell on that man’s head?”
“Then Father would have saved him.”
When he realized his son truly meant it, Geom Ujin asked with an expression that said it was absurd.
“From where I was lying in that hammock?”
“Yes. Because you are my father.”
That sneer formed at the corners of Geom Ujin’s mouth. But today’s sneer held a pleasant emotion. His son’s trust surpassed even the Nine Flames Demonic Art.
“Only ten strands now. You still have a long way to go.”
Leaving those words behind, Geom Ujin went into the building.
“Sleep well, Father.”
After loudly bidding farewell to his father, Geom Mugeuk walked over to Hwang In, who was still standing in a daze.
“Are you all right?”
Only then did Hwang In come to his senses and bowed deeply on the spot.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
His weighing had been correct. Now, whether he lived or died, he had to trust and follow these people. There were many things he wanted to know and many things he wanted to ask, but what filled Hwang In’s heart right now was this worry.
“But will it be all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did he not say that if you killed him, a terrifying person would come?”
“That is why I killed him.”
Seeing Hwang In’s eyes widen because he did not understand, Geom Mugeuk spoke as if that person were someone he wanted to see.
“He said he would come only if I killed him.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 457