Chapter 19
Chapter 19: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
Yeo Unjuk fixed a quiet, searching stare upon Yanghwi.
“Young master. A figure commanding the Honggyo Gang does not wander unprotected; an entourage always surrounds him. A solitary fighter attempting an ambush is doomed from the start.”
“Taking his life is forbidden. Regardless of his depravity, he remains the sire of the youth Sister Rang holds dear.”
“Though I have brushed against the martial path in my years, my meager ability hardly deserves mention.”
“Shattering his dantian will be plenty. Once he is incapacitated, Brother Gu can naturally rise to take helm of the Honggyo Gang.”
Yeo Unjuk continued to insist on the absurdity of the plan, yet Yanghwi simply pressed forward, blithely laying out his stipulations without missing a beat. Defeated by the boy’s stubbornness, Yeo Unjuk exhaled a long, heavy breath.
“Young master. Whatever gives you the notion that an old fellow like me could accomplish such a grand undertaking?”
“When our strikes met previously, your restraint was unmistakable.”
“I cannot fathom what you refer to. You have misjudged me entirely.”
Instead of pressing the point with words, Yanghwi merely let an arch, knowing smirk touch his lips.
When my eyes first fell upon him, I let the truth slip past unnoticed… but this venerable elder is intentionally shrouding his true depth.
From birth, Yanghwi had been gifted with a perception of qi virtually unparalleled throughout history. The subtlest leak of inner essence could not escape him, allowing him to measure the reservoir within another’s dantian with remarkable precision. By cross-referencing faint impressions of presence and aura, he could gauge an adversary’s cultivation realm down to a razor’s edge.
Yet despite that…
He appears far too ordinary, lacking even a ripple of menace. It can only mean his cultivation is consciously suppressed.
When a martial master’s true foundation completely evaded Yanghwi’s innate senses, only a single reality could explain it.
“A familiar adage travels the jianghu: keep thirty percent of your true strength hidden away. I simply suspected that you, as well, possessed an ace tucked up your sleeve.”
“…….”
“Should the task truly exceed your reach, you are under no obligation to pursue it. Yet if fortune favors your hand, a clear road will emerge allowing Sister Rang to share a long, joyous life beside her chosen companion.”
“…….”
Observing the elder’s brooding silence, Yanghwi merely maintained his easy smile. The Honggyo Gang, the Gyojin Gang, the Honggyo Gang leader, Gu Ak, and at last Yeo Unjuk himself—all the necessary figures had stepped onto the stage. The curtain was ready to rise on a grand spectacle.
“Ah, that brings to mind another matter.”
Yanghwi tossed the remark out with an airy nonchalance, as if it had only occurred to him on an impulse.
“Naturally, this concerns the time after these troubles settle… but have you considered where you will make your dwelling going forward?”
The Gyojin Gang descended violently upon the Cheongsa Gang. Just as the Cheongsa Gang had struck the Honggyo Gang earlier, this offensive hit without warning, devoid of any formal declaration or ritual duel.
Yet this upheaval possessed a critical difference from the initial feud between the Honggyo Gang and the Cheongsa Gang.
“Did you hear the news? Bedlam has swallowed the Cheongsa Gang whole.”
“I heard the commotion. Just days ago they were trading blood with the Honggyo Gang, and out of nowhere, the Gyojin Gang caught them off guard.”
“That hardly covers it! Minor syndicates from every corner of the county are swarming in to rip flesh from the Cheongsa Gang right this instant!”
The counter-techniques exposing every vulnerability of the Cheongsa Gang’s secret martial arts, which Yeo Unjuk had distributed throughout the open markets, had done their work. Unsurprisingly, neighboring factions caught scent of the scrolls, each eager to advance their own ravenous designs.
“Tch, they threw their weight around with so much arrogance… looks like the Cheongsa Gang has finally met its end.”
“You said it. An overdue reckoning, if you ask me.”
Not a single commoner spared a sliver of sympathy for the impending destruction of the Cheongsa Gang. Among the four dominant powers controlling Ak’an County, their reputation had always been the most vicious and detested.
As days rolled on and the Cheongsa Gang withered to less than half its former prowess, the Honggyo Gang—having swallowed its wrath during the Cheongsa Gang’s earlier onslaught—at last unleashed its full might.
“Starting this very second, our ranks shall wage an unrestricted war to annihilate the Cheongsa Gang!”
Having roared this decree to his gathered forces, the Honggyo Gang leader committed every sword at his disposal toward crushing the Cheongsa Gang entirely. He had even summoned outside reinforcements from surrounding counties, leveraging the political unions of his offspring. Against such concentrated pressure, the Cheongsa Gang was reduced to a battered, threadbare shell.
What followed was a ravenous scramble over who would claim the lion’s share of the spoils. Inevitably, the conflict narrowed into an unyielding confrontation between the Honggyo Gang and the Gyojin Gang.
“Honggyo Gang dogs! We prepared this entire feast, yet you scavengers have the gall to snatch a seat at the table?!”
“Our swords are only reclaiming the properties our faction was swindled out of through the Cheongsa Gang’s treacherous plots!”
Each faction traded self-serving justifications, though words held little weight. Within the dark path, absolute force was the sole arbiter of right and wrong.
[To Honggyo Gang Leader Gu Cheolhyo.]
The Honggyo Gang leader scoffed with derision, crushing the parchment delivered by the Gyojin Gang’s envoy into a mangled ball. The missive was straightforward: a summons for the rival masters to engage in a decisive duel to the death, sparing unnecessary slaughter among their underlings.
“Impertinent cur, utterly blind to his own standing.”
Historically, the chieftains of the Gyojin Gang and the Honggyo Gang were regarded as equal rivals in personal martial prowess. Yet the Honggyo Gang leader harbored supreme confidence in his ability to crush his adversary. By mastering the refined Rock-Splitting Axe Technique reworked by his son Gu Ak, his cultivation had pierced through a critical barrier.
Overconfident rat. I’ll split your skull down the center.
Beyond that… he was determined to drag out the conspirator who had stirred this whole storm into motion and cleave an axe straight between their eyes. Even as the ruler of a petty underworld faction confined to a single district, a gang head was still a gang head. Honggyo Gang Leader Gu Cheolhyo understood perfectly well that some reclusive master had seeded this civil war by deliberately leaking those counter-methods.
That bastard never foresaw that my own flesh and blood possessed the genius to overturn those very countermeasures. Blood will answer this insult, without fail.
Flanked by a quartet of loyal retainers acting as personal bodyguards, the Honggyo Gang leader made his way toward the designated dueling grounds. It was at that exact crossroads that Yeo Unjuk materialized in their path.
“Out of the road, old dog, unless you want your life cut short,” a guard of the Honggyo Gang leader barked harshly.
Yeo Unjuk held his ground in the center of the road, his eyes unfathomably chill and still. The instant the Honggyo Gang leader flicked a dismissive hand, Yeo Unjuk blurred into motion.
Slash—!
The subordinate, leaping forward with his axe raised high to split the old man, found his head cleanly severed before the blow could fall. Despite Yeo Unjuk bearing no steel in his grip, the cut across the man’s throat was as sharp and immaculate as polished jade.
“Honggyo Gang Leader Gu Cheolhyo.”
The moment the dry, even tone washed over him, Gu Cheolhyo was seized by the image of an underworld grim reaper. An instinctive terror of impending ruin gripped his spine. Relying on the feral reflexes forged through decades of crawling out of the gutter to the peak of the dark path, Gu Cheolhyo acted without a moment’s hesitation.
“Cut him down, every last one of you!”
Screaming the command, Gu Cheolhyo threw his body backward in frantic retreat.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Three sharp, overlapping whistles of cleaved flesh tore through the air, and Yeo Unjuk was already standing squarely in Gu Cheolhyo’s path of escape.
“Weighing your atrocities, granting you this ease feels far too generous…”
In truth, when reflecting on the horrors this tyrant had inflicted upon his daughter, carving his flesh piece by piece over twelve shichen would hardly pay the debt. And yet…
That innocent, kind-hearted girl pleaded for his survival…
“Wither away your remaining years in bitter torment.”
Gu Cheolhyo never caught the final word. A searing, blinding eruption of agony ripped through his lower abdomen, and his sight plunged entirely into darkness.
Ever since the dark-path syndicates ruling Ak’an County plunged into full-blown war, the common folk had walked in dread for weeks on end. It was an inevitable reaction, given that violent brawls and bloodshed had spilled into the pleasure houses where residents sought diversion and the eateries where they gathered for meals. Even so, an undeniable benefit had emerged from the chaos.
Just look around. The thoroughfares have never been so tranquil.
In previous days, crossing the market square of Ak’an County meant brushing shoulders with several obnoxious street ruffians. Now, that nuisance had vanished entirely. Over the span of two months packed with dozens of bloody skirmishes, even the bottom-feeding cutthroats had been dragged to the front lines and eliminated.
Naturally, if left unchecked, new vermin would eventually fill the void.
Yet within Ak’an County, that cycle would be broken. Yanghwi was determined to personally guarantee it.
Whistling a jaunty melody, Yanghwi strolled leisurely toward Hoyeong Pavilion.
“Welcome, young master.”
An eight-year-old boy striding into an entertainment pavilion was bizarre by any measure, yet the sentry posted beside the doors bowed deeply the moment his eyes landed on Yanghwi. Such deference was only natural; the man was an allied guard belonging to the Baek Estate.
“Young Master Hwi, the guest you requested is waiting in the Azure Tiger Room on the third floor.”
“Very good. You have worked hard.”
The guard’s expression lit up with unvarnished pride. Having devoted himself to cultivating his martial arts and finally having a meaningful role to apply them, his fulfillment was unmistakable. While many claimed to despise hard toil, an honest duty undeniably invigorated both flesh and spirit. Chuckling quietly under his breath, Yanghwi ascended to the third level.
“Brother Gu. Your little brother has arrived.”
“Ah. You made it.”
Gu Ak, who had been brooding over his drinks with a sullen cast across his brow, lifted his eyes toward Yanghwi.
Wine jars… he has already put away four full jugs.
“Little Brother. Since you asked to see me, word of the recent events must have reached you.”
Yanghwi gave a solemn nod.
“I learned of the terrible turn of events regarding your father. It is deeply unfortunate.”
“Set that aside. Is that the extent of what you know?”
“I also understand that your siblings, drawing upon their political alliances, are summoning outside muscle to wrest control of the faction for themselves.”
Through Yeo Unjuk, he was also informed that the Gyojin Gang was biding its time to pounce on the fractured syndicate. In short, the Honggyo Gang was currently teetering on the edge of complete collapse.
“Indeed… I assumed such intelligence would not escape you, Little Brother. So why did you call for me in the middle of such madness?”
Beneath Gu Ak’s grim, guarded expression lay a faint spark of hopeful expectation. Meeting the man’s eyes, Yanghwi replied in an even tone.
“Brother Gu. You find yourself cornered by the combined pressure of all your brothers, do you not?”
It was the inevitable result of being the sole first-rate combatant among the prospective heirs.
“That is true. Do you happen to harbor a plan to untangle this? To speak candidly, I have never needed your brilliant mind more than I do now. If you can deliver a way out, I will ensure your compensation is vast.”
“Brother Gu.”
“I am listening.”
“In your eyes, what kind of person am I?”
“You are the young master of the Baek Estate, naturally.”
“And beyond that title?”
“……?”
“A peerless prodigy appearing once in an era. A pillar capable of lifting an entire clan for a century. The most supreme genius walking beneath the heavens. That happens to be me, Brother Gu.”
It was a preposterously arrogant, shameless declaration, yet rather than reacting with his customary disbelief, Gu Ak appeared intensely fascinated.
“Which means you have found a solution?”
“The path is plain. Cut down every one of your brothers and seize the position of Honggyo Gang leader for yourself.”
“……Surely you cannot mean that is the extent of your wisdom.”
“It is. Cast aside worries about the quantity of bodyguards or the complications that follow. Balancing every factor, you recognize just as clearly as I do that it is entirely achievable.”
“…….”
Gu Ak could not muster a rebuttal, because Yanghwi was entirely correct. Bodyguards? An expertly timed, ruthless raid would wipe them out easily. Retaliation from neighboring sects waving flags of righteousness? The moment he took absolute command, he could simply shelter the gang beneath the banner of a dominant dark-path syndicate. Yet the true reason Gu Ak refused to execute such a plan was far more personal.
“You despise the idea of bathing your hands in kin-slaying, don’t you? Sister Rang would be sickened by it. Furthermore, you were never burdened with a cruel heart, Brother Gu.”
“…….”
Once more, Gu Ak fell into quiet submission. In stark contrast, Yanghwi’s following words carried an astonishing lightness.
“Then the alternative is just as simple. Cast everything aside and join the Baek Estate.”
Gu Ak’s eyes flew wide in absolute shock.
“What madness are you uttering? Extending an invitation like that to a man of the dark path—worse, a direct bloodline heir of a syndicate!”
“Does the notion offend your dignity?”
“You understand that is not what I am saying! My shoulders carry a mountain of blood debts and grudges accumulated from a lifetime spent in the shadows.”
Yanghwi was completely aware. Welcoming Gu Ak under their roof would inevitably bring Baek Muryang and Han Seok’eon an immense headache for the foreseeable future. Even so…
“Did I not give you my word, Brother Gu? Come what may, I will ensure that you and Sister Rang share a long, peaceful life together. I pledged my very breath upon that oath.”
Gu Ak vividly recalled the wager Yanghwi had laid down before. Yet he had never conceived that the resolution would take such an unexpected shape.
“……Little Brother. Do you genuinely place your faith in me?”
Gu Ak’s inquiry was heavy with a web of unspoken doubts. To that, Yanghwi offered a singular truth.
“Because you refrained from detonating the poison bombs.”
Gu Ak had secured dozens of deadly poison bombs after pillaging the Cheongsa Gang’s hidden armory. Yet even when the Honggyo Gang was driven into a desperate corner under the Cheongsa Gang’s relentless fury, Gu Ak had kept them locked away. That restraint stemmed from one truth: poison bombs did not discriminate, unleashing catastrophic ruin upon innocent bystanders in their wake.
Gu Ak is capable of choosing a different road. The foundation of his spirit is untainted.
“Step into the Baek house. Wash clean the dark mud clinging to you and wrap yourself in white robes. If for no grander purpose, do it to stand as a partner Sister Rang can truly look upon with pride.”
With those parting words, Yanghwi offered a wide grin. Gu Ak stared at him in profound stillness.
“…….”
It was the same cheeky, impudent smirk the boy had always worn. Yet to Gu Ak’s heart, it somehow appeared more steadfast and reliable than anything else in the world.
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