Chapter 363. The Worst I Can Imagine
Ju Gwal of the Nasan Gang had run straight over in the same clothes he had been wearing when he came out after eating at the butcher shop, and had now arrived at the Jecheon Alliance. Guided inside, he entered the main hall, where the officers of the Jecheon Alliance were all looking at him. They were all well dressed, many of them looked impressive, and their weapons seemed fine as well.
Ju Gwal felt somewhat cowed, but he waited while keeping his emotions from showing as much as possible.
“……”
One man asked Ju Gwal.
“Do you intend to speak only when the Alliance Leader arrives?”
Ju Gwal nodded.
“That is so.”
“He will be out soon, so wait a moment.”
No one brought Ju Gwal a chair, nor did anyone invite him to sit, so he simply sat down on the floor.
He crossed his arms and waited for the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance.
Some of the officers openly glared at him, but he paid them no mind and closed his eyes for a moment.
‘They don’t even give me water, those sons of bitches……’
The instant Ju Gwal heard footsteps, he sprang to his feet and looked at the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance as he approached. The man was far larger than the rumors said. Since he was, in his own way, a living legend of the Black Path, Ju Gwal naturally felt intimidated, unlike when he had been with the officers.
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance sat in the grand chair and asked.
“……That Hao Sect Leader bastard has a message for me?”
Ju Gwal answered.
“Yes. Alliance Leader, it is an honor to meet you. I am Ju Gwal of the Nasan Gang.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance nodded.
“We share the same surname. You look as if you have come a long way. Have you had any water?”
“I am fine.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance held out a hand.
“Give him water first.”
“Yes.”
After drinking the water brought by a subordinate, Ju Gwal looked at the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance.
“Alliance Leader, I will explain in order.”
“Speak.”
“Two of my younger brothers from the Nasan Gang, the people belonging to the Daeheung Gang, and those from the Samwon Gang, who had been our rivals, were all killed by a man called the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy.”
“Gwangmyeong Right Envoy?”
“Yes. The Daeheung Gang and the Samwon Gang are sects along the route north from where I am based. I entered the Samwon Gang and met a man called the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy, and perhaps because he was cultivating demonic arts, he looked like a madman. For one thing, his eyes shone red. He called himself the Cult Leader of the Blood Cult and even urged me to join. I refused and swung my blade once, then lost consciousness. I woke up after being slapped by the Hao Sect Leader.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance nodded.
“Continue.”
“The Hao Sect Leader was traveling with three others, and he said they were pursuing the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy. The Sect Leader said that the entire Black Path around Dongcheonwon might be killed by the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy, so I was to contact you, Alliance Leader.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance asked.
“There is no way the Hao Sect Leader said it so plainly. What did he say? Exactly.”
Ju Gwal answered again.
“Forgive me, but the Hao Sect Leader’s words were so insolent that I omitted them.”
“I already know he is insolent. Relay it exactly as he said it.”
“Yes.”
Ju Gwal took a deep breath and answered.
“……First, that Sect Leader bastard had this conversation with his terrifying companions. Eldest Brother, if the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance and the Right Envoy fought, who would win? I don’t know. The Hao Sect Leader answers. I think I know. I’ve fought both of them. In my opinion, the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy seems a little stronger.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance looked at Ju Gwal with a startled expression.
“……”
Ju Gwal continued.
“But the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance is not a man who fights alone. He is a pack of wolves, after all. In any case, Ju Gwal, you go tell the Jecheon Alliance. At this rate, all the Black Path in this region is going to die. The Gwangmyeong Right Envoy is openly making the rounds of the Black Path and massacring people right now. The man called the number one of the Black Path is going to ignore a massacre like this? Is he insane? If he ignores it even after hearing the news, tell him to give up that title of number one first…… After saying that, perhaps because he felt unpleasant again, he slapped my cheek. Alliance Leader……”
Ju Gwal presented his left cheek. A faint palm print still remained.
Ju Gwal said, extending one finger at a time.
“Once when waking me after I had passed out, and once while telling me to contact the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance…… It seems he thought I was your subordinate, Alliance Leader. I was struck twice in total.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance looked at Ju Gwal.
“I have never had a subordinate like you.”
“Exactly what I am saying.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance looked at the officers. As soon as the officers heard Ju Gwal’s words, all their faces had turned bright red. Ju Gwal had a habit of scratching his neck with his fingers after telling a lie, and right now his neck was very red. But Ju Gwal himself did not know he had such a habit, and the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance could not know it immediately either.
One man muttered.
“……His words and actions are as insolent as ever.”
“He is that sort of man by nature.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance said.
“So the Demonic Cult’s Gwangmyeong Right Envoy is in a somewhat crazed state. He calls himself the Cult Leader of the Blood Cult and is mainly massacring experts in Black Path territories. That is what you mean.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader. He was completely drenched in blood.”
“I understand the situation. But how are you alive?”
“That, I do not know well myself. When I said I would refuse to join, I spoke a bit roughly, and I suppose he found me amusing. He did say that since he had laughed for once, he would spare me. He seemed to have been regulating his qi while drenched in blood, because there was a smell of burning blood. It seems he spared me because he felt satisfied over having achieved something.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance glared at Ju Gwal for a moment.
The Hao Sect Leader’s words once again rang in his ears, and he needed a moment to control his anger.
“Did you swing your blade at the Gwangmyeong Right Envoy first?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you do something so reckless?”
Ju Gwal answered.
“Because my younger brothers had been killed.”
“I do not see your blade.”
Ju Gwal drew the butcher’s knife from the small of his back and showed it to the Leader of the Jecheon Alliance. The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance said.
“Do you work as a butcher?”
“Yes.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance let out a brief sigh, then said to his subordinate.
“Bring one piece of black iron from my training hall.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
The Leader of the Jecheon Alliance said to Ju Gwal.
“There is something I want you to do.”
“Give me your command, Alliance Leader.”
“If you leave through the Alliance’s main gate and cross Mount Jeonghap, you will come to Jusan County.”
“I know it.”
“If you go to Jusan County, there is a place called Hwanggu Bridge. The ones on or below that bridge are beggars belonging to the Beggar Gang. Do not speak to a young one; if possible, relay the message to a beggar with some age to him.”
“Yes.”
“You need only tell them everything you know. Can you do that?”
Ju Gwal answered.
“Ah, are we forming an alliance with the Beggar Gang?”
“That is for the Beggar Gang to decide. However, if he heads north along the route you mentioned, there is a risk that the Beggar Gang’s branches will also suffer damage. If the Beggar Gang is hit, that old beggar will come popping out from their side, and if my luck is bad, I’ll be getting smacked in the head at this age.”
“Goodness……surely not. What beggar would dare?”
“The Right Envoy seems to have gone mad while practicing demonic arts, but even if he had not gone mad, he was always one of the foremost experts of the Demonic Cult. It is like seeing one of those mad experts of the demonic path you only hear about in old tales. The sooner he is stopped, the less damage there will be.”
“Understood. Then I will leave at once.”
“Wait.”
When the subordinate who had gone to the training ground returned carrying a jet-black straight saber, the Jecheon Alliance Leader said,
“Give it to Jugwal.”
With a puzzled expression, Jugwal received the blade, which gave off a dark sheen.
The Jecheon Alliance Leader said,
“It is the Black Iron Saber I often used in the training ground.”
Jugwal answered in bewilderment.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
The Jecheon Alliance Leader said,
“Did you swing that butcher’s knife with the thought of defeating the Guangming Right Envoy?”
“No, sir.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“As I told you, my younger brothers were struck down……”
The Jecheon Alliance Leader nodded.
“It is a gift for that stroke of yours. Use it. It should be better than a butcher’s knife.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
The Jecheon Alliance Leader said,
“I will send subordinates to deal with matters at Nasanbang, Daeheungbang, and Samwonbang. Since you are running about as a messenger, we need additional people either to block the Guangming Right Envoy’s route or to report the situation. Do you agree?”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“Then go.”
Jugwal lowered the tip of the Black Iron Saber, then cupped his fist while still holding the blade.
“I will be going, Alliance Leader. I will make good use of the saber as well.”
“Take care on your way.”
“Yes.”
After Jugwal disappeared, the Jecheon Alliance Leader looked at his officers.
“Officers……”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
The Jecheon Alliance Leader seemed about to say something, then apparently found it absurd himself and asked with a slight smile,
“If the Guangming Right Envoy and I were to fight, who would win?”
“Mm.”
“Ahem.”
Surprisingly, the officers gave no answer. Partly because they did not know the Guangming Right Envoy’s true skill, and partly because none of them were the sort to answer such a question with empty flattery. In other words, the meaning of their silence was that they did not know.
When the officers all fell silent at once, the Jecheon Alliance Leader nodded.
“……Find him. I am curious myself.”
“We obey your command.”
“Some of you, find the Haomun Sect Leader first and ask whether there is anything Jugwal does not know.”
“Yes.”
The Jecheon Alliance Leader rose from the grand master’s chair.
“I will also prepare to go out.”
As the Jecheon Alliance Leader was moving, one officer asked cautiously,
“Alliance Leader, should we also send word to the Murim Alliance?”
“No need. They are too far away. The matter will be over while they are on their way.”
“Understood.”
* * *
I took the Muk Family dagger from my robe and drove it into the table.
We had ordered food at an outdoor seat of the inn, and I had been looking out at the street from time to time. When I suddenly stabbed the Muk Family dagger into the table, the Ghost Demon said,
“What’s wrong?”
I looked at the Muk Family dagger.
“It would be perfect in the current situation if we could call Unhyang Sect Leader Yeo Unbyeok, but there’s no way to call her. Even if we did, she’s too far away.”
The Lecherous Demon nodded.
“Right. You said that person had a grudge against the Right Envoy. I wonder what kind of grudge. Master, do you perhaps know?”
The Sword Demon answered,
“Was the Muk Family that gave us these daggers the Unhyang Sect?”
“Yes.”
The Sword Demon thought for a moment, then answered,
“When the Cult Leader enters closed-door training, there are times he does not emerge for about a year. If the Right Envoy went sightseeing outside and secretly carried out massacres like this, there would be no way to know. Moreover, once he returned to the Cult, even the Murim Alliance could not approach. I suspect the ill-fated grudge arose then.”
I looked at the Sword Demon.
“……”
For some reason, looking at the Sword Demon today felt strange. In other words, the Right Envoy was now walking the path that the Sword Demon had hated and guarded against the most.
The Sword Demon took out his Muk Family dagger from his robe and drove it into the table.
“Let us deal with this among ourselves. We cannot even find him, so there is no need to call for reinforcements. However, because of the Right Envoy’s skill, there is no need for us to split up and search.”
In the end, the Ghost Demon and the Lecherous Demon also took out their Muk Family daggers and drove them into the table.
With four daggers stuck around the edges of the table in the four directions, east, west, south, and north, we truly looked like madmen.
The waiter bringing the food was startled and stared at us.
“……”
I beckoned the waiter with my hand.
“Don’t mind it. Put it down.”
“Ah, yes.”
Strangely enough, the number of guests in the inn gradually decreased. Some who had been eating hurriedly got up, while other guests sat down in chairs only to rise again at once.
I did not bother paying attention.
After all, there was a slight chance that if they stayed with us, they might be unlucky enough to get caught up in a fight. As the guests kept leaving, the waiter looked ready to cry.
I met the waiter’s eyes, then said while eating,
“We’ll eat quickly and leave.”
“Yes.”
As he ate, the Sword Demon asked me in a quiet tone,
“Third, is there a reason why, for the past few days, you have not kept watch on the Black Path forces and have only been traveling along roads like this?”
I drank a cup of wine, then nodded.
“After thinking it over on the way, the massacres of sects happen about once every three or four days……. The direction is impossible to pin down from start to finish, but if you calculate based on when the corpses appear, that’s how it is. It seems that after one massacre, he holes up somewhere for a day or two to circulate his qi and regulate his breath.”
I looked around at the ordinary street, the rows of inns, teahouses, pleasure houses, and the like, and said,
“He is probably doing his qi circulation and breath regulation in an ordinary place with no experts around. His mind would need to be at ease.”
I thought of something, then said this.
“In the end, I suspect we might not find him……. I have this thought.”
“What thought?”
“That the Right Envoy may call us first. Once he has finished making his preparations.”
The Ghost Demon said.
“No matter how strong he’s become, can he really handle the four of us?”
I did not answer the Ghost Demon. The truth was, there were many ways he could. Right now, the Right Envoy of Light was, in a word, rampaging like a madman. Since he was not choosing his means or methods, I was only hoping inwardly that the worst possible situation would not come to pass.
As for that worst possible situation.
I had not shared it with the Four Great Evildoers either.
For one thing, it was only my conjecture, and for another, I wanted it to end as nothing more than conjecture.
So, to put it simply, in summary……
The Right Envoy of Light understood my disposition, so he could resort to taking hostages. And if a master of the Right Envoy of Light’s level were to stage a hostage crisis, there would truly be nothing I could do.
It meant I would have no choice but to do whatever the Right Envoy of Light wanted.
And I knew what the Right Envoy of Light wanted.
...Me.
That was the worst possible situation I had in mind. That was why I did not want to disgrace myself by chasing after him like a lunatic. Instead, I was pursuing the Right Envoy of Light with my mind calmly settled, and whenever an opportunity to rest arose, I trusted the Four Great Evildoers and focused on circulating my qi and regulating my breath.
The Lust Demon put some of the sweet-and-sour carp from my side onto a small plate and set it down before the Sword Demon.
“Master, please eat.”
The Sword Demon replied.
“I told you to let Third eat it. Why did you bring so much?”
“He says he has no appetite.”
“When did he say that?”
“Look at his expression.”
As I watched the Sword Demon, the Lust Demon, and the Ghost Demon eating, laughter escaped me like air leaking out. Suddenly, while drinking, I had this thought.
If only the Right Envoy of Light had even a single shred of conscience left.
If that were the case, even if the Right Envoy of Light asked me for a one-on-one duel, I would have no intention of avoiding it.
Because matters of the jianghu should be settled among those of the jianghu.