The place where the ship carrying the water bandits of Suryongchae arrived was a cave formed in a cliff.
As soon as the ship entered the cave, it was gradually dyed in darkness.
"We should have killed that wench by now."
Heukyano's brow deeply furrowed as he slowly sank into the darkness.
Because of the Chaeju's order, he had repeated the act of sparing those he could have killed several times.
In the meantime, the two of them had grown.
Especially the woman's growth rate was so steep that it felt frightening.
"When I first saw her, she couldn't even withstand a single move, but now she's exceeding a hundred moves?"
It was hard to believe even seeing it.
At first, she was in a hurry to even block the Heukya Palm, but now blocking wasn't enough; she was even counterattacking.
'I should nip it in the bud right now.'
He shook his head with a sigh.
But he couldn't do that.
It would mean disobeying the Suryongchaeju's order to back off at the right point.
"Why did the Chaeju give such a useless order..."
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out.
That wasn't all.
By continuously repeating this useless war of attrition, complaints were building up even within Suryongchae.
'Haa, I don't know the Chaeju's intentions.'
When Heukyano pressed his forehead with his index finger as if he had a headache.
Thud—
The ship came to a halt just in time.
At the same time, brilliant lights began to turn on one by one from the ceiling and all around.
They were night-illuminating pearls.
He didn't know how many they had plundered all this time, but there were more than one or two night-illuminating pearls.
"Ah, what kind of hardship is this."
"What can we do? It's the Chaeju-nim's order. We just have to bow our heads and do it."
The water bandits who were expressing their complaints began to pour out of the ship.
"...Do I have to wait after all?"
The moment Heukyano, who was watching his subordinates exiting the ship's passage like a column of ants, was about to take a step.
Creak—
The door of the helm room opened.
"Good work to..."
Heukyano's expression, as he turned his head to the side, slowly hardened like a stone statue.
The one who opened the door and appeared was not a subordinate, but an unfamiliar young man.
"You are..."
For a moment, he locked eyes with the young man.
Pitch-black pupils slowly captivated Heukyano's gaze, plunging him into darkness.
Shake— Shake—
Heukyano shook his head vigorously.
Regaining his senses, he moved his right hand to grasp his weapon and parted his lips.
"Wow, your mental strength is impressive."
A smile formed on the young man's lips.
A very light smile, like fluff.
However, Heukyano, looking at that smile, felt a chill run down his spine.
"...Who are you?"
Whoosh—
Suddenly, the young man's figure flickered.
At the same time, Heukyano's face turned pale white.
The young man was right in front of his nose.
"...W-when!"
"You don't need to know who I am."
The moment those words ended.
Flash!
Sword light devoured Heukyano's field of vision.
'How can there be such an expert...!'
And that was the last thought Heukyano had.
Splash—
It happened in the blink of an eye that the blood spurting from Heukyano's neck dyed the wooden boards on the floor bright red.
"Man, their base is in a place like this."
Cheonhwi clicked his tongue.
Even the way here was complicated.
And the base is a cave?
It was only natural that it was hard to find.
Who would have thought that the base of Suryongchae, one of the top strongholds even within the Changgang Water Bandits, would be a cave on a cliff.
"There are still quite a few guys left inside."
Cheonhwi muttered as he shook off the blood on his blade, then turned around.
"Ah, my whole body aches."
"Why do I have to do this, really."
The water bandits who happened to be grumbling and coming outside panicked when they saw Cheonhwi.
"Huh? Who are you?"
"Was there a guy like him?"
"Gasp!"
At that moment, they simultaneously gasped.
There was a corpse in front of the young man.
It was none other than Heukyano's corpse!
"E-elder?!"
"An enemy... Ack!"
The moment they were about to shout quickly.
Flash!
A sharp sword light flashed once more, and soon cold corpses piled up.
"I've taken care of everyone inside."
Cheonhwi took a slow step forward.
"Shall I clean up now?"
* * *
"Keuaaak!"
"S-save me!"
Those outside sensed something was wrong from the screams running rampant inside the ship and urgently grabbed their weapons.
"W-what's going on!"
"Screams are coming from the ship Elder Heukyano boarded!"
"T-the ship? Could it be an enemy?"
"I don't know about that."
As they swallowed nervously and glared at the ship.
"...It went quiet."
The screams abruptly stopped.
At the same time.
Creak— Creak—
The sound of stepping on wooden boards spread.
Soon, the closed door of the ship opened, and a young man revealed himself.
He was a handsome young man dressed in pitch-black martial clothes.
A drop of blood was dripping down the cheek of the young man with a sharp impression.
Then the young man raised his head.
"Let's see. Even at a rough glance, there must be over a hundred."
A low whisper spread.
Grin—
At the same time, his red lips tore sideways, revealing pearly white teeth.
"It'll take a little while."
Cheonhwi immediately kicked the ground.
Unfolding the Amhyang Step, he reached the floor of the cave from the ship in an instant and slashed someone who still didn't realize he had moved.
Slash!
At the cold sound, the person next to him tried to turn his head.
Slash!
The sword slashed him faster than that.
He was so fast that the fallen person died instantly without even screaming.
"It's an enemy!"
"An enemy has appeared!"
Only then did the water bandits cry out in terror.
"What? Enemy? How many?"
"Where!"
Water bandits appeared from all directions.
Cheonhwi stroked his chin once as he watched the water bandits appearing densely.
"Creepy."
He muttered as he watched the water bandits appearing endlessly like cockroaches, wondering where so many people had been hiding.
"Why are there so many?"
The water bandits who came outside looked around for the enemy and found Cheonhwi.
"Just one?"
The water bandits looked at the one who had requested help with a deflated expression.
"H-he's not an easy opponent! Look at the corpses over there!"
Following the bandit's finger, the expressions of the bandits who saw the mountain of corpses and sea of blood hidden behind Cheonhwi instantly hardened.
And at the same time, they gripped their weapons.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi looked at the water bandits who swarmed out. No, to be precise, he was looking at the unique weapons they possessed.
'They're interesting weapons.'
There were curved scimitars with hooked tips, and whips attached with sharp thorns.
Each and every one of them were vicious weapons that didn't hide their killing intent at all.
Step!
At that moment, a man holding a whip kicked the ground. Then he swung the whip with a rough gesture.
The whip, swung while cutting through the wind, shot towards Cheonhwi's side.
Snap.
Cheonhwi lightly avoided the attacker's rush and grabbed the thorned whip.
"It's quite a fun weapon."
"I'll make it more fun."
The man sneered and pulled the whip.
But.
"Heup!"
The whip didn't move at all.
Yank!
At that moment, his body was pulled forward.
"When are you going to make it more fun?"
"Heop!"
The moment the panicked man let go of the whip.
"Should I show you instead? Here, take a look."
Cheonhwi, who had already properly adjusted his grip on the whip, swung it powerfully.
Crack!
A refreshing sound echoed.
The man's clothes were shredded by the thorns, and blood splattered everywhere.
"Keuaaak!"
A scream erupted from his dantian.
But the attack didn't stop.
Crack! Crack!
After swinging the whip a few times, Cheonhwi wrapped it around him and then yanked it hard all at once.
"Then, next."
Cheonhwi swept his gaze over those who were frozen.
Their eyes were soaked with fear, but Cheonhwi didn't care.
"If you don't come."
Cheonhwi immediately stepped forward.
"I'll go first."
Instantly, some dropped their weapons and tried to run away, but the sword light flashed faster than them.
"Don't even think about living. Unlike last time, I'm going to cut you out by the roots this time."
Cheonhwi's voice was dry.
From the moment he received the mission, he had thought of only one thing.
The annihilation of Suryongchae.
Without leaving a single one behind.
* * *
In the room where the Suryongchaeju stayed.
The inside was full of all sorts of rare objects.
There, a small but solidly built middle-aged man and a middle-aged man wearing a pressed bamboo hat were sitting in chairs, facing each other.
The middle-aged man wearing the bamboo hat twitched his lips at the commotion happening outside.
"It's noisy outside."
"No need to pay attention."
Unlike him, the Suryongchaeju was calm.
It was an attitude born from the confidence that although Suryongchae had been surprise-attacked a few times in the past, it had never been breached.
"Do you know if the Chongchaeju has moved?"
The middle-aged man's eyes turned cold.
"That guy has already moved?"
"Hoho. You've been underestimating the Chongchaeju."
The Suryongchaeju scoffed at him.
The Chongchaeju of the Changgang Water Bandits.
In the Murim, he was known as an ignorant man who only knew brute force, but the Suryongchaeju knew very well.
That he was a man like a snake.
"He is a much more outstanding person than you guys know."
"It seems you trust him."
"It's not trust, it's a fact."
The middle-aged man, who slightly lifted his bamboo hat, smacked his lips as he looked into eyes that contained not a single lie.
"Even so, don't think of betraying us."
"What? Betrayal?"
Suddenly, the Suryongchaeju erupted.
No, it wasn't an eruption; it was rage.
"You use me, yet you spout smooth-sounding words."
"Haha. 'Using'? What a disappointing thing to say. Isn't this a fair transaction?"
Seeing the middle-aged man speaking glibly, the Suryongchaeju could no longer hold back and raised his right hand to slam the table with a bang.
"Put some spit in your mouth before you spout nonsense."
Emphasizing every single word as if chewing and spitting them out, he glared piercingly at the bamboo hat the middle-aged man wore deep down.
"After holding my weakness and toying with me."
"But in the end, you're the one who followed, aren't you?"
At the words that hit the nail on the head, the Suryongchaeju clenched his teeth, lost for words.
They glared at each other for a while.
"......"
The Suryongchaeju eventually slumped back into his seat and asked with a detached expression.
"What is the Sib-Ya-Mun aiming for that you're trying to make the Changgang Water Bandits and the Murim Alliance clash?"
The middle-aged man's identity was astonishing.
The Sib-Ya-Mun, a mysterious sect that ruled the night.
He was a disciple of a sect known as the most mysterious and secretive in the world, an axis of the Yuk-Hwang-Mun—no, the Oh-Hwang-Mun.
"My lips are not light."
The disciple of Sib-Ya-Mun grinned.
The Suryongchaeju, grasping the meaning contained in that smile, furrowed his brows.
"Then why did you come today?"
"That's for the next order, of course."
"...Until when do I have to do this?"
"That is..."
The Sib-Ya-Mun disciple slightly lifted his bamboo hat.
The Suryongchaeju was reflected in his pitch-black pupils.
That figure looked as if he was trapped in an inescapable prison.
"For a lifetime, isn't it?"
The Suryongchaeju squeezed his eyes shut.
His weakness, which he had to hide for his entire life. Of all things, that weakness had been discovered by these vicious bastards.
'I should have struggled then.'
It was a belated regret.
He had already stepped one foot deeply into the vicious swamp these people had created.
Dropping his shoulders with a liberated expression, he muttered as if exhaling a lament.
"Fine. What's the order this time? Are you telling me to kill all the dispatched Hyeop-wi-dae?"
It was just a word thrown out helplessly.
Touching the Hyeop-wi-dae meant touching the Murim Alliance.
It was something that could accidentally spark a war between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions.
However.
"You know surprisingly well."
"......!"
The Suryongchaeju's pupils shook.
"Y-you're thinking of starting a war right now?"
Instead of answering, he smiled faintly.
And that cold smile pierced deeply into the Suryongchaeju's heart, which had swallowed its breath, like a sharp thorn.
"Crazy. Completely crazy."
As the Suryongchaeju couldn't hide his horror.
Bang!
The door shattered and dust rose.
At the same time, Cheonhwi revealed himself, pushing through the thick dust.
"Is the conversation over?"