There was no one in the Wandering Swordsmen Inn. The swordsmen who used to sit around like lingering spirits were gone, of course, as were the waiter, the cook, and even the innkeeper. The second floor was quiet too, so it seemed all the guests had been chased out.
Only the lanterns were brightly lit everywhere, making the interior feel desolately empty. As if something had just happened and everyone had been killed. The reason they didn't spare lantern oil and kept the lights bright, despite there being no one around, was because this was an event for the Black Night Gang.
I didn't know what kind of man the innkeeper of the Wandering Swordsmen Inn was, but if he wanted to keep doing business in the Western Village, it was not wise to get on the bad side of the Black Night Gang.
Perhaps because it was on the outskirts and the land was cheap, the interior was about twice as wide as the Wind River Inn. The tables were sparsely arranged to prevent fights, so there was no chance of bumping shoulders while moving about. The ceiling was high and there were several windows.
I pictured in my mind how I would fight if I drew my long blade here, and secured an escape route. I couldn't fight at the Wind River Inn. But walking into the Black Night Gang's territory on my own two feet would be insane.
The place I chose out of necessity was this Wandering Swordsmen Inn. As I had felt when I came before, its location was exquisite, as if designed for wandering swordsmen who often found themselves needing to flee. The back door opened into a complex tangle of narrow alleys, like a sheep's intestines.
The walls were low, so after hopping over a few, it would be easy to lose anyone who was hiding. Outside the western window, a wide field of reeds that came up to my waist stretched out. With darkness settling over it, it was as black as a mudflat.
If things went sour and the deal fell through, jumping in there would make tracking me nearly impossible. I could see why the opium merchant had made his deal with the lumberjack here.
He could have hidden a few men in the reed field, but on a moonless night like this, a perimeter, no matter how tight, could be easily broken. Nor could he set fire to the reeds in a fit of anger. In the dry autumn, the flames would spread in an instant from the shantytown shacks to the bustling streets.
If the city turned to ashes, the authorities could not turn a blind eye, no matter how many bribes the Black Night Gang paid. I unfastened my long blade and sat by the window. My mouth was parched.
I went to the kitchen and found a teapot. My eyes fell on the liquor bottles on one of the shelves. Should I have some free liquor?
My mouth watered, but I couldn't bring myself to reach for it. The thought of my senses dulling was more concerning than easing my tension with a drink. A leader of the Black Night Gang would likely be quite the master.
I needed to keep my wits about me. I took the teapot and returned to my seat. As I was sipping the cold, bitter, cheap tea, I felt a presence approaching the inn.
A moment later, the door opened. A middle-aged martial artist with a sturdy build and a fierce face like one of the Four Heavenly Kings stepped inside.
“Who are you?”
"I am the Grand Venom Master Bok Ha-gyu of the Black Night Gang.” Bok Ha-gyu, a name I had seen in the file I had on Jeok Chu-yeong. One of the three closest confidants who had followed the master of the Black Night Gang all the way from Hunan.
“I don’t know if you have a backer, but if you made me come all this way for nothing, you will surely pay the price.”
Bok Ha-gyu’s ferocious gaze glinted as he stroked the scabbard at his waist. He exuded a savage aura without restraint, like a starving bear. He was on a different level from the small fry who had swarmed the Wind River Inn earlier, doing nothing but scowl without even drawing their swords.
For a man like that to wield a sword, he would not be an easy opponent. Calming my quickening breath, I replied nonchalantly.
“Is that so.”
Bok Ha-gyu did not come any closer but pulled out a chair and sat at a nearby table. The distance between us was about fifteen paces. That must have been the minimum distance he judged necessary to defend against a surprise attack from me.
He didn't seem to think highly of me, but he wasn't underestimating me either. I thought a little closer would have been fine. But we couldn't sit facing each other across a single table.
Once within the reach of a blade, the survival instinct to strike first before being struck would make my hands itch, and we wouldn't be able to talk properly. Without wasting time, I got straight to the point.
"There are people from the Murim Alliance at the Deep Fragrance Pavilion."
Bok Ha-gyu's thick eyebrows twitched. I had written it in the letter, but he seemed to find it unbelievable. He had taken the bait perfectly.
Indeed, nothing worked better on those from the dark path than the Murim Alliance. The Alliance was the very reason those of the dark path would jolt awake from their sleep, as they were often killed in the name of eradicating great evils or performing righteous deeds. "Murim Alliance Inspector, Pyo Hol-deuk.”
He seemed to have no idea. After all, Pyo Hol-deuk and his escorts had ridden their carriage straight into the Deep Fragrance Pavilion. If the Underworld Information Clan had kept their mouths shut, it would have been difficult for outsiders to know.
"They say he tracked an opium merchant from Gansu all the way to the Western Village. He hired me to find evidence of the Black Night Gang colluding with the opium merchant.” Only then did Bok Ha-gyu speak.
“The Black Night Gang does not deal in opium.”
That seemed to be the case. The Western Village had gambling dens and brothels, but no opium dens. Since returning to my hometown, I hadn't heard a word about opium.
Not until this one opium merchant suddenly appeared. I could roughly guess why the Black Night Gang didn't handle opium. Once you get hooked on opium, you just lie on the floor from that day on, smoking the drug until you die.
If all the suckers who were supposed to be drinking at taverns, playing tiles at gambling dens, and rolling dice were doing that, the businesses would be ruined. It would also be a headache if debtors got hooked on opium and just lay there.
Even the vicious debtors who defaulted against the Flame King House, infamous for its murderous interest rates, were never simply cut open. They were intimidated into paying one way or another. A city swept by opium is left with nothing but emaciated wraiths.
Opium addicts don't work, and they don't pay taxes. There was a reason the state outlawed and cracked down on it.
"The truth isn't what's important. If the inspector wants to frame you, you'll be framed. That man is so desperate to make a name for himself his eyes have gone crazy.
He's dead set on dragging the Black Night Gang into this somehow. He tracked an opium merchant and uncovered the dark path faction behind him. Wouldn't the Murim Alliance be satisfied with that?”
Whether truth or fabrication, the leaders of the Murim Alliance wouldn't care. After all, there was no such thing as a good dark path practitioner in this world. For a criminal organization like the Black Night Gang, it was simply an opportunity to show off the Alliance’s fame and power, and then erase them.
“He said if he gets the evidence, he can call in the Murim Alliance strike forces from Hubei and Zhongqing.” The Dragon Sky Squad, the Righteous Heaven Squad… Their names were respectable, but they were all human butchers from the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families, filled with righteousness and seasoned in killing those of the dark path.
Bok Ha-gyu said nothing. He only scrutinized me with a cold gaze. As if trying to see through what was truth and what was bluff.
He could have flared up and dared me to try, but he remained completely unshaken. He wasn't just strong in martial arts; he was a man with a will of iron. What kind of man was Jeok Chu-yeong, who commanded such a person?
The reason I could summon a leader of the Black Night Gang with a single short letter and pressure him like this wasn't because I was so great. It was because I had the backing of a Murim Alliance Inspector. Having thoroughly threatened and cornered him, it was now time to propose a deal.
“I will prove that the damn opium merchant and the Black Night Gang are unrelated."
When I presented a solution, the words I wanted to hear finally came.
"What do you want?"
"I want to know where you took the residents of the Western Village seven years ago.” Bok Ha-gyu's face, like one of the Four Heavenly Kings, contorted viciously. “What kind of trick is this? Don’t you know the Black Night Gang settled in the Western Village long after the escort agency was established?” “Is that so? Then I guess there’s nothing more to talk about."
I stood up, holding my long blade. I stared straight at Bok Ha-gyu and warned him in a low voice.
"Go back to the Black Night Gang and wash your necks. When the Murim Alliance strike forces arrive, they'll be cut off and hung in the market."
“Hmph, haven't you considered that your own neck will be cut off first?”
Bok Ha-gyu feigned composure and snorted. “Do you think killing me will stop the Murim Alliance? If you run, you might save your life, but your faction will be shut down and you'll lose all your businesses.
What will you do?" Bok Ha-gyu retorted.
“Why are you looking for the Western Village residents?”
“They are my family and my neighbors.”
“Are you from the Western Village?" “I left ten years ago and returned recently. There's a witness who saw Jeok Chu-yeong taking the residents away in a carriage.
So stop pretending you don’t know and accept my offer."
“I don’t know. I wasn't in the Western Village seven years ago. But the Master might know.”
“Then let me meet the master.”
Bok Ha-gyu pondered for a long time.
“The Murim Alliance… Murim Alliance..." As he murmured to himself, Bok Ha-gyu's gaze deepened frighteningly, his focus blurring. As if sinking into an abyss. When Bok Ha-gyu looked up again, a grim smile, like a gash from a knife, was on his lips. "Alright. I'll let you see the Master. After this business is finished.”
“If you go back on your word, there won't be a second chance."
“You'd better not change your tune when you see the Master later.”
Bok Ha-gyu pushed himself up from his seat. I thought he would leave since the deal was done, but he walked into the open space and drew his sword.
Shhhring.
The eerie sound of steel, like a beast baring its fangs, echoed through the silent inn. Beyond the tip of the sword pointed at me, Bok Ha-gyu's blazing eyes, wide and fierce, burned like fire. “The wagging of your three-inch tongue ends here.
From now on, I will gauge the weight of the words you've spewed." Without a word, I moved away from the table and drew my long blade. I had expected it would go something like this.
Whether they were from the righteous sects or the dark paths, heroes or villains, the thing martial artists hated most was being bested by those who only knew how to run their mouths. Only after getting beaten in a fight would they finally accept defeat. Bok Ha-gyu's face was flushed red, as if he was thoroughly enraged.
He looked like his guts were twisted from being summoned out here for an unwelcome deal. He probably intended to test my skills and, if possible, land a blow to subdue and string me up. I had no intention of avoiding it.
By knowing Bok Ha-gyu's skill, I could gauge what level Jeok Chu-yeong's martial ability was at.
Paang!
Bok Ha-gyu kicked off the floor and charged. Like a rushing bear, he was swift and intimidating. The body of his sword glinted coldly in the lamplight as it flew toward my chest like an angry claw.
It was a strike meant to force me back. His plan was to seize the momentum no matter where I dodged and relentlessly press his attack. I gripped my long blade with both hands and deflected his sword with a secret art from the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique.
Clang!
Even with my full weight behind it, the sword was pushed back only about two spans. The force of his sword was considerable, making my hands tingle. Bok Ha-gyu's eyes flashed as he brought his sword down vertically.
I used my footwork to evade to the left and kicked at his ankle. At the same time, I swung my long blade horizontally, aiming for his chest. Bok Ha-gyu unpredictably changed his sword path to block my blade and took several steps back.
This was my chance. Without hesitation, I advanced and unleashed a storm of consecutive slashes. Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
It was the most aggressive and seamlessly linked secret art among the first eighteen forms of the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique. I expected to cut him somewhere, be it a limb or his torso, but to my surprise, Bok Ha-gyu blocked every single strike even as he was pushed back.
Won Seo-gang had said he couldn't easily move against the Black Night Gang because of the three annoying confidants under Jeok Chu-yeong. Fighting one of them now, I could see he was indeed top-notch. Were the other two on the same level as Bok Ha-gyu?
Jeok Chu-yeong was their leader, so he must be even stronger.
“Kraaaaah!!”
Bok Ha-gyu roared and charged. As if to make up for being pushed back, a fierce flurry of forms rained down on my vital points. The shower of sword strikes hammering my blade sounded like hail falling on a roof.
I swung my long blade to create distance and threw a nearby chair at him. As Bok Ha-gyu's vision was momentarily obscured, I slipped to the side. Instead of dodging the chair, he swung his sword right through it.
Pa-aang!
The chair was sliced as smoothly as tofu. It might seem like nothing, but to cut wood that cleanly with a sword or saber, the blade must be perfectly steady. Through the falling debris, Bok Ha-gyu's two terrifying eyes were revealed.
His gaze passed the empty space in front of him and turned to the side. Before my charging figure was even reflected in his eyes, his body had already reacted. I had clearly caught him off guard, but Bok Ha-gyu's response was calmer than I expected, as if he had anticipated it from the moment the chair was thrown.
He deftly wrapped his sword around my incoming blade, deflecting it outward, and threw a punch at my face. It was too late to dodge. Twisting my upper body, I raised my left hand to block the fist.
My body tilted back, and I lost my balance. Bok Ha-gyu rushed in like a predator. I kicked him in the chest and used the recoil to retreat.
Bok Ha-gyu, having lost his balance, hastily used his footwork to keep from falling.
Kwaang!
He only came to a stop after crashing into the wall of the inn.