Chapter 85. So We Finally Meet.

After returning from the Namyeong Association, nothing much happened, so I took a close look at the ruined lives around me.

By nature, I am an expert on ruined lives.

The Dark Iron had been delivered to the Yongdu Ironworks. Since the Plum Blossom Sword Art had come to mind, I asked them to forge a sword from Dark Iron this time. Whether it would come back as a proper sword, or whether even the Dark Iron would be ruined, depended on Geum Cheolyong’s life.

I sent Heuk-Baek Soso to study at the Murong Medical Clan.

If they grew into respectable female physicians, they would remain with the Murong Medical Clan. If they failed again, they would return to the Black Cat Gang.

In the sense that I was taking in ruined lives, I was also an expert on ruined lives.

Having nothing to do, I looked outside and saw Cha Seongtae, who had been living a ruined life for over twenty years, diligently swinging his sword.

Cha Seongtae’s master was Ho Yeoncheong.

He had once been a swordsman from an insignificant clan, but because of me, he had become even more ruined and was now a guest at the Black Cat Gang. A ruined master and a ruined disciple were comforting each other. When the two of them looked at me, I gave them a nod.

“You’re working hard. Continue.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cha Seongtae and Ho Yeoncheong bowed their heads slightly to me, then resumed their training. Honestly, I didn’t think doing that would make Cha Seongtae rise to become a famous swordsman in the martial world. But you never knew what might happen in a person’s life, so I intended to cheer him on.

So Gunpyeong was, as always, harshly training subordinates whose lives were even more ruined than Cha Seongtae’s. I watched So Gunpyeong with my arms crossed. Still, our Three-Hundred-Gapja So Gunpyeong was a man of rare diligence in the black path. It occurred to me that I should hand the Black Cat Gang over to him later.

In any case, I was the master of Haomun, so all I had to do was pass this and that responsibility onto my subordinates.

After observing a round of ruined lives, I moved to my own training spot.

I sat cross-legged beneath the plum tree, which could never be ruined merely because its flowers bloomed and fell. As I closed my eyes while occasionally listening to the pained groans of my subordinates, a river-like peace came over me.

Within my heart, river-like peace and ocean-like madness mingled and surged. Nothing in particular had angered me today, but as if reciting a Buddhist scripture, I engraved the word patience in my mind.

‘I must endure.’

“Gang Leader, it is Chief Byeok. I have something urgent to report.”

I opened my eyes and looked calmly at Chief Byeok, who had lived as a ruined black path man for nearly fifty years.

“What brings our grand strategist here?”

I had been about to call him Chief Byeok of a ruined life, but after hastily correcting myself according to the flow of my thoughts, something excessive came out instead.

“Grand strategist, you say? You flatter me. Hehe.”

“Mm.”

“Gang Leader, we have finally received word that a man with a very similar appearance has been found.”

My drowsiness vanished at once.

“Where?”

“The location is somewhat dangerous. Do you know Baekeungji, where the young masters of orthodox martial clans often gather for social purposes?”

“I do.”

“He was sighted in the bustling Garosu district at the center of that place. However, the fellow who went to investigate followed him around, got caught, and seems to have been beaten by that man. The report was delayed because he had to receive treatment at a nearby clinic before returning. They say his face was split open and his right arm was broken.”

“It’s amazing you found him at all.”

“I compiled what you told me, Gang Leader, and instructed them to ask around mainly at famous taverns within orthodox territories where annoyingly handsome bastards tend to come and go. It bore fruit.”

“As expected, Chief Byeok’s instructions were extremely appropriate.”

“Indeed. However, he is merely a man who resembles the drawing, so we need to confirm whether he is truly the one. If it is too troublesome for you, Gang Leader, I will send another nimble fellow.”

I shook my head.

“There’s no need. If he gets caught by that bastard again, it won’t end with one broken arm. To think he dared beat my subordinate. I’ll have to take revenge. What’s the name of the subordinate whose arm was broken?”

“Everyone calls him Gongcheol.”

“Gongcheol, got it.”

The Left Envoy of Light came from an orthodox martial clan, so he was originally quite skilled. He had trained in martial arts since he was learning to walk, so he was strong enough to thoroughly trample most black path experts. The Demonic Cult’s Left Envoy of Light was not a position just anyone could ascend to. Regardless of what his personality was like, when it came to martial arts, it was fair to regard him as a rare genius.

I gave Chief Byeok an order.

“Let’s make preparations.”

“Please give your orders.”

“Ask Gongcheol and prepare a white long robe and martial clothes that match the fashion there as closely as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Send someone to the Murong Medical Clan and request poison and antidotes from Physician Murong Bai.”

Chief Byeok asked back.

“Poison?”

“If you ask for a poison like a laxative, Physician Murong will understand what I mean. I should go thoroughly prepared, just in case.”

“Understood. I will prepare quickly.”

Since my decisive battle with the Left Envoy of Light was imminent, I closed my eyes again and entered qi circulation. I intended to accumulate as much internal energy as possible before facing him.

With this bastard, it was one of two things: kill him, or make him my subordinate.

I had absolutely no intention of sending him to the Demonic Cult.

If both of those failed, I intended to stomp on his thing and make him a eunuch. That way, at the very least, the women of the orthodox path would not suffer misfortune. The women of the orthodox path would never know that I was changing their lives like this. After completing one heavenly circuit, I rose to my feet, and while falling into a trance, I muttered.

“I’ll make you a eunuch.”

Cha Seongtae, who had been training, replied with wide eyes.

“Pardon?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, sir.”

I began practicing kicks aimed at the groin. I also thrust straight punches toward the lower body. As I circled the plum tree, practicing low kicks and low straight punches, Cha Seongtae, who had been resting, asked.

“Sect Leader, what are you doing?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, sir.”

I used lightness skill, floated low into the air, displayed a miraculous technique of striking an imaginary groin three or four times in succession, then landed. Beside me, Cha Seongtae and Ho Yeoncheong applauded my Divine Eunuch Art.

“That was splendid.”

“Good.”

A man training in order to make a perfectly normal man into a eunuch—that was me.

* * *

Baekeungji was named so because a white hawk was said to have rested there, but why people drank themselves stupid in such a place was beyond me.

There are many times when one cannot clearly know the reason behind human affairs. In any case, I had come to a place where the young rising talents of the orthodox path gathered to drink, find partners, fight, and ruin their lives.

There are many pathetic bastards in the black path, but the orthodox path is not greatly different.

Those with great ambition are probably reading books or training in martial arts. Occasionally, there are bastards who play well, drink well, are popular with women, and are strong in martial arts on top of that. Those bastards are simply born that way.

The world is unfair by nature.

There were too many inns and taverns here, so I wandered around the places with many customers. I looked around while pretending to search for a friend, and I entered as if attending a gathering, only to slip out as though I had come to the wrong place.

Even if it looked somewhat pathetic, there was nothing I could do about it.

After looking around a few more inns and wine houses, I grew hungry and had no choice but to take a seat by the second-floor window of Tianfeng Inn, a place frequented by many people of the jianghu.

I can say this with certainty: I probably had more money than the young masters from wealthy families who came and went here. I called a waiter over and ordered one each of the inn’s signature meat and seafood dishes, then added Dukang wine, rock-sugar noodles, sea cucumber known as golden sea mouse, tofu with chili peppers, and dumplings.

It was somewhat too much for one person to eat alone.

But a country bumpkin could not come to the bustling streets of the Orthodox Path and let himself be cowed.

As soon as the food came out, I moved my chopsticks and ate like a soldier on a battlefield. As the day gradually darkened, the lanterns hanging from every shop lit the street brightly. As expected, they were lights that would set women’s hearts fluttering, and also wicked lights that would make the chests of bastards like the Left Envoy of Light pound.

There were even more people than when it was bright out. In the blink of an eye, Tianfeng Inn filled up as well, and several people glanced at me sitting alone at a round table before turning away.

Seats were becoming scarce, and since I was occupying one by myself, it seemed they wanted to say something.

However, this was the domain of the Orthodox Path.

Everyone here was the sort who kept to a certain line, so there were no bastards who caused trouble or demanded to share my table.

In any case, bastards who placed importance on manners and etiquette on the surface—that was the Orthodox Path.

Thanks to that, I ate my meal while looking at the men and women filling the inn, like a country bumpkin, a loner, and a swordsman pretending to be tough.

Fortunately, the waiter was a kind fellow who often refilled my water and occasionally asked if I needed anything else, so I beckoned him over. The waiter approached and said,

“Yes, young master.”

I took a common silver coin from my robe and held it out to the waiter. The waiter deftly pulled out the towel he had tucked into his trousers and brought it toward the table, snatching and pocketing the silver coin in an instant. His hands moved as quickly as if he were performing a swift sword technique.

As the waiter wiped the edge of the table with the towel, he murmured,

“Please speak.”

I unfolded the portrait notice I had taken from my robe and showed him the Left Envoy of Light’s face.

“Do you know who this is?”

The waiter looked at the portrait notice, thought for a moment, then poured me water and said,

“That is the face of the Meng family’s good-for-nothing.”

“The Fengyun Meng Clan?”

“Yes.”

“What is his name?”

“I don’t know exactly. Everyone calls him Meng Lang.”

It sounded like a childhood name rather than an alias. It meant the wolf cub of the Meng family. I put the portrait notice back and asked the waiter one last thing.

“Is he a rotten bastard?”

The waiter looked me straight in the eye and answered with great conviction.

“Yes. You should be careful too, young master. There is no one who can handle him.”

I finished the rest of my meal. If the Left Envoy was from the Fengyun Meng Clan, there was no particular need to hurry. In a word, the Fengyun Meng Clan was a family that had once produced generals. Now, they were a clan that had cut off all ties with the military and established themselves in the jianghu. The entire Fengyun Meng Clan of the present was probably a collateral branch. As far as I knew, the main family had been annihilated long ago. In one way or another, I thought there was a high possibility that it was the Left Envoy of Light’s family.

As I drank the Dukang wine, I recalled the Left Envoy of Light’s chilling palm force.

How strong was he at this point?

Thanks to the Heavenly Jade and my regression, I had grown strong at a tremendous speed, but the young masters of Orthodox noble clans trained in martial arts from the moment they learned to walk, so he must have already devoted more than fifteen years to martial arts.

The children of families that had produced generals or high-ranking officials possessed tremendous pride. If he had been treated as an illegitimate son there, his anger would have been greater than most.

After draining the Dukang wine clean, I got up and went down to the first floor.

Slightly tipsy, I looked around the bustling streets of Baekeungji, then bought some rock candy and held it in my mouth. I asked a street vendor where the Meng family was located, and also stood for a while on the street watching performers.

While I was watching the performance without thinking, I swept my eyes over the spectators once and noticed a man and woman who stood out. Their appearances were so exceptional that it was as if they did not blend in with the spectators at all. As they watched the performance, they exchanged a few words with each other and laughed. I had only looked at them for a moment, but the bastard holding a folding fan looked straight into my eyes.

“……”

The annoyingly handsome bastard folded his fan, then pointed it directly at me. His expression and hand gesture seemed to say, “If you keep glaring, you’ll be in trouble.” Only after he folded the fan was I able to confirm his face.

I nodded as if I understood and smiled.

The young Left Envoy of Light was watching a performance with a beautiful woman. Though I was smiling on the outside, a sea-like madness welled up within me.

To think he was leisurely meeting a woman.

Even knowing that he was originally the type of bastard who met many women, rage surged up in me.

I was angered because he was a bastard who exploited women, and angered a second time by the fact that the women he met were so perfectly beautiful. I was angered a third time because he was not yet called a lecher, and angered a fourth time because he had pointed at me with that arrogant hand gesture.

The alcohol hit me, and I was angered for the fifth time.

I glared at the Left Envoy of Light again and recited inwardly.

‘For the Orthodox Path…….’

Starting today, I was temporarily the chivalrous hero Yi Jaha.

For the Murim Alliance Leader, for the innocent alliance members, for the naive maidens, for justice, and for the unattractive men…….

I silently pointed my finger at the Left Envoy of Light standing on the opposite side, with the utmost arrogance.

‘I will execute your thing.’

A man who returned to the past to execute the Left Envoy of Light’s thing—that was me.