Return of the Heavenly Sword

Chapter 13. Inhuman (4)

“Keok……”

Byeok Cheollyong's choked groan pierced my ears.

When I looked up, the first emotion revealed in his eyes was, surprisingly, bewilderment.

As if he couldn't believe the fact that he had been defeated, the fact that he was about to die.

Subsequently, the emotion of pain consumed his gaze.

Slice.

As I pulled out the sword that had pierced his chest, Byeok Cheollyong's body collapsed as it was.

“Hoo.”

Immediately after letting out a deep sigh, I almost collapsed myself for a moment.

As the concentration that had been squeezed to its limit disappeared, a terrible fatigue washed over me.

Just then, someone's rough shout pierced my ears.

“Th-the leader of the Iron Dragon Sect is dead!! Byeok Cheollyong has fallen!!”

When I turned my stiff neck, I saw the youngest son of Azure Sword Sect shouting with joy.

Seeing blood on his clothes and sword, it seemed he hadn't just been cowering in fear.

Because of his shout, the gazes of those who were in the midst of a chaotic battle all turned this way.

“H-how could this be…”

The unorthodox bastards looked at the corpse that had fallen beneath me with dazed expressions, as if they couldn't believe this reality.

The swords of the Azure Sword Sect disciples flew at the men who had completely lost their will to fight, and after a few more lost their lives, the vice-leader hastily knelt and shouted.

“We, we surrender!”

“Please spare us!”

Those with quick wits followed the vice-leader in surrendering, and for those who were slow to act, the blades of the Azure Sword Sect disciples pierced them.

The Azure Sword Sect disciples and sons looked at those who had surrendered with complicated expressions.

If they had their way, they would have wanted to kill them.

However, it seemed they were contemplating it because it was an act that did not align with the righteous path they had learned from the Azure Sword Sect leader.

“Please tend to your internal injuries.”

After saying that to the stern Azure Sword Sect leader who was still standing by my side, supported by his sword, I approached the men who had surrendered.

My legs were trembling, so my walk was staggering, just like the unorthodox bastards.

As if they had heard my footsteps, the Iron Dragon Sect men who were kneeling all turned their heads toward me.

They all had terrified expressions.

For some reason, the gazes of the Azure Sword Sect men, who were my allies, were also similar to theirs.

I didn't have the luxury to care about such trivial matters, so I ignored it.

After slowly moving my steps, I stopped in front of the vice-leader.

“Are you the vice-leader?”

I had roughly guessed from the situation, but I asked for confirmation.

“Ye-yes.”

“Were you with Byeok Cheollyong from the time he first came here?”

The man nodded his head hastily with a strange expression mixed with bewilderment and fear.

“Then, where are you guys from?”

It was a question that had come to mind since I had received information about the Iron Dragon Sect from the Azure Sword Sect leader.

In my past life, I had only known that the Iron Dragon Sect was a pillar of the Steel Sinew Sect and that it was based here in Immortal Spirit.

In other words, I had thought they were unorthodox bastards who had originally been active in Immortal Spirit.

But according to the Azure Sword Sect leader, these men had only been in Immortal Spirit for a few years.

Unless these men had suddenly sprung up from the ground, they must have had a place where they were originally active.

“We, we are from Dongin.”

I furrowed my brow and searched through my hazy mind to recall the place name.

It was a place that was about a thousand li to the northwest from here.

With my current movement technique skill and stamina, it was a distance that would take at least seven days and nights to ten days to travel.

It was a place that was far if you thought of it as far, and a place that could also be called close if you considered this ridiculously large Central Plains.

“What were you guys doing there, that you were muddying the waters here like loaches?”

The vice-leader swallowed once and answered.

“We, we were originally part of the Hegemonic Tiger Gang there. The leader, ah, no, that Byeok Cheollyong was a division leader there, and I was the vice-division leader. The other three were also guys who belonged to the sa-same division.”

The vice-leader's words continued at length.

“Byeok Cheollyong, th-that guy, who was upset with the gang boss for not giving him his share, one day enticed us. He s-said let's leave D-Dongin and start a b-business from a slightly smaller town.”

In short, it seemed to be the idea of being the head of a snake rather than the tail of a dragon.

Of course, although Dongin was bigger than Immortal Spirit here, it wasn't a huge city to be called a ‘dragon.’

In any case, the vice-leader, perhaps wanting to live, rattled off stories he hadn't even been asked.

Byeok Cheollyong's mission was the management of brothels and courtesans. Among them, it was said that the mission of buying and transporting women to be used as courtesans from slave traders was also included.

Byeok Cheollyong, who had bought slaves with the Hegemonic Tiger Gang's money, fled with the slaves instead of returning to the gang. With a few subordinates he had succeeded in drawing in, including this vice-leader.

Through those subordinates and the kidnapped slave-turned-courtesans, they had established themselves in Immortal Spirit.

The vice-leader rolled his eyes and surreptitiously glanced at the Azure Sword Sect disciples and sons who were listening together, then added.

“D-drawing in the Azure Sword Sect people was also because th-that Byeok Cheollyong was scared. He was afraid that the Hegemonic Tiger Gang m-might come after him, so he kept trying to increase his power.”

The mystery of where these guys came from was solved, but I wasn't particularly interested in the story related to Azure Sword Sect.

The story that caught my interest was something else.

“I think you just said slave trader, is there a black market in Dongin by any chance?”

The black market.

A secret market where illegal and dangerous goods, including slaves and stolen goods obtained by killing or stealing from someone, are bought and sold.

Naturally, only the wealthy who were overflowing with money and the bastards worse than trash who were deeply involved in dirty work knew the exact location and opening time of the black market.

And I had business at that black market.

It wasn't to buy or sell something.

The Three Disasters and the Four Demons, also called the Seven Evils. Among them, the Golden Demon was related to the black market.

After more than a decade, that man was scheduled to be called the master of all black markets.

To be precise, he was counted as a member of the Four Demons because he was the master of all black markets.

The criterion for distinguishing the Seven Evils into the Three Disasters and the Four Demons was also related to this.

The Three Disasters were madmen who traveled alone. They had followers because of their madness, but they were not the kind of people who could command others in the first place. They were all mad.

On the other hand, the Four Demons were each the leaders of different forces.

Among them, the Golden Demon was also called the master of all black markets, and in other expressions, he was also called the King of the Unorthodox Path.

Similarly, since the other three were also the leaders of different forces, the unorthodox bastards often referred to the Four Demons as the Four Hegemonic Kings of the Evil Path.

It was truly an idiotic name, but there was a strange story behind this name being attached.

It was because one of the Four Demons, as if he had gone mad, went around calling himself the Fighting King.

The world, combining it with the characteristics of the organization he led, referred to him as the Green Forest Fighting King.

Thanks to that Green Forest Fighting King, strange unorthodox bastards who spouted nonsense that the other three should also be called kings appeared, and before long, the idiotic title of Four Hegemonic Kings of the Evil Path was created along with aliases containing the character for king.

In any case, to find the Golden Demon, one of the Four Demons, information about the black market was needed.

Even I, who hunted unorthodox bastards, knew of only a few black markets, and there was no guarantee that the black markets I knew of in the future existed in this era.

However, contrary to my expectations, the vice-leader's answer was disappointing.

“Th-the Hegemonic Tiger Gang did trade regularly with the slave traders, but th-there was no black market in D-Dongin.”

Was it because I showed a hint of disappointment? The man hastily added.

“Th-those slave traders said that! Th-they deliver goods to the black market too! They said they sell the highest quality and high-quality goods at the black market, and o-only sell us the things that didn't sell at the black market!”

I nodded at his words.

It seemed that after finding the spiritual herb on Wondrous Ridge Mountain and dealing with the Steel Sinew Sect, I should first visit Dongin.

I thought that if I dealt with the Hegemonic Tiger Gang and interrogated those slave traders, I might be able to get information about the black market.

“Right. Now, farewell.”

“Yes?”

Towards the vice-leader, who had a puzzled expression, I preemptively swung my sword.

Slice!

It was a fairly clean strike, as I had filled my dantian and recovered at least a little of my stamina while listening to his story.

“Young Master Jin!”

“Wh-what are you doing!?”

At my surprise attack, the Azure Sword Sect men nearby were the ones who had a fit and shouted.

It was a reaction I couldn't understand.

“Why should we spare a man who talks about people as highest quality or high-quality goods? And have you lost your memories? If it weren't for me, you all would have been dead by those men's hands today. Do you think these men would have spared you?”

As soon as my words ended, the remaining unorthodox bastards who were kneeling shouted.

“P-please spare us!”

“W-we absolutely won't do it again! W-we will live righteously from now on!”

Funnily enough, the men were begging for their lives from the eldest son of Azure Sword Sect, as if they had noticed that a conversation with me would be impossible.

At their begging, the eldest son of Azure Sword Sect surreptitiously turned his head and looked behind him.

The eldest son, who observed the Azure Sword Sect leader in a seated meditation posture, circulating his energy to heal his injuries, let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

“I will take all responsibility, so take care of them.”

“!?”

While the Azure Sword Sect disciples and the unorthodox bastards were all wearing surprised expressions at his command.

Slice.

Crack.

The swords wielded by me and the eldest son pierced the necks and hearts of the unorthodox bastards.

***

Around the time they had dealt with the remnants of the Iron Dragon Sect and called a physician to treat the injured of Azure Sword Sect.

Thump.

With a small noise, Cheong Daejin, who had been circulating his energy to heal, opened his eyes and stood up.

“Are your internal injuries a little better? Father?”

The eldest son, who had been standing guard by his side just in case, asked, and Cheong Daejin nodded his head and looked around.

“Hmm?”

Cheong Daejin, who had noticed something strange, asked his eldest son.

“Where did the Iron Dragon Sect vice-leader and those who surrendered go?”

The eldest son, who hesitated for a moment at that question, firmed his resolve and opened his mouth.

“I killed them all.”

Cheong Daejin, whose eyes widened like lanterns at the unexpected words, soon shouted with a stern expression.

“How could you swing a sword at those who have surrendered!!”

It was an excessively loud shout for a man who had just recovered from internal injuries.

His father's face, so red it looked like he would vomit blood.

Normally, he would have been so afraid of that stern appearance that he would have bowed his head, afraid to even make eye contact, but not today.

He had insisted on standing guard because he wanted to talk about this from the beginning.

“Young Master Jin told me something. He asked if there was a need to forgive trash-like people who grade and sell people. Also, he said that since they had no intention of sparing us, why should we spare them.”

“Are you saying you did as Young Master Jin told you?”

At that question, the eldest son shook his head.

He had brought this up not to sell out Jin Yuseong.

“I did it myself because I felt that his words were right.”

He looked his father straight in the eye and said.

“Father. If we continue to act as we have before, the same thing will eventually repeat itself. This time, we were able to get rid of the Iron Dragon Sect thanks to Young Master Jin, but what will you do if such people come to Immortal Spirit again? If we are beaten like this again, won't our neighbors in Immortal Spirit have to live while being exploited by bastards like the Iron Dragon Sect? Are you going to turn a blind eye to the pain they will suffer just to keep our hands clean?”

“……”

The Azure Sword Sect leader could not answer his eldest son, who had suddenly grown up.