Chapter 58
Chapter 58: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
A formal challenge had arrived from the Gyojin Gang. In truth, it was nothing less than a death match with the entire future of the house hanging in the balance.
An atmosphere of profound crisis swept through the Baek Estate. Baek Muryang abruptly ended his closed-door seclusion to summon an urgent gathering of the senior council.
The gravity of the peril demanded nothing less.
“Steward Han. Recite the missive so that every person present understands our predicament.”
Unrolling the parchment delivered by the Gyojin Gang, Steward Han addressed the room in a clear, resonant voice.
“To summarize its contents: both factions are to select three representatives to clash in a death match thirty days from now. Whichever side sustains two or more losses must forfeit their holdings and permanently depart from Ak’an County.”
Put plainly, they were enforcing a confrontation where sect survival was the wager.
Exhaling a long, measured breath, Baek Muryang broke the stillness.
“What drives them to make such an abrupt gamble? If any of you harbor a theory, share it now.”
A heavy silence descended. The elders and retainers were plunged into deep thought, searching for the underlying motive.
Yanghwi was similarly absorbed in silent contemplation.
Ever since the fierce turf war of the dark path, the Gyojin Gang had harbored an unquenchable thirst to establish absolute dominance over Ak’an County.
With dangerous competitors like the Cheongsa Gang and the Honggyo Gang wiped off the board, violent ambition naturally took root in their minds.
To the gaze of the Gyojin Gang leader, the Suho Alliance and the astonishingly ascendant Baek Estate were two unbearable thorns in his side.
For that very reason, he had launched a swift, crushing offensive against the Suho Alliance to swallow them whole before they could react. The sole reason the Baek Estate had escaped that initial ambush was the deterrence provided by Uncle Zhuge.
So long as the esteemed Zhuge family stood behind them, no adversary could strike the Baek Estate without risking utter ruin.
To commit an unprovoked assault was to court retaliation beyond their ability to endure.
And yet. Having utterly broken and absorbed the Suho Alliance, why were they moving with such desperate urgency? It defied strategic logic.
When assessing the landscape of forces, the Baek Estate and the Suho Alliance had only ever stood a fighting chance against the Gyojin Gang by uniting their might.
Now that the equilibrium between the orthodox and dark paths had collapsed, the Gyojin Gang had everything to gain by taking their time to digest their newly conquered assets and consolidate power.
Yet they demanded an immediate, decisive showdown right on the heels of the Suho Alliance’s destruction.
Suddenly, a realization pierced Yanghwi’s thoughts.
Ha. I was so fixated on threats looming from the exterior that I overlooked our internal vulnerabilities.
A sharp scowl formed on Yanghwi’s brow as he raised his hand. Baek Muryang turned his attention toward him.
“Speak your mind, Hwi.”
“Understood, Lord of the House.”
Yanghwi unraveled his reasoning step by step. As his deductions filled the chamber, the faces of those assembled at the council table darkened with dread.
“Hwi. Are you implying…”
“Precisely. A traitor walks among our ranks.”
A sharp current of unease rippled across the room as everyone traded wary looks.
Yanghwi waved his hand dismissively to quell their suspicions.
“The traitor does not sit within these four walls.”
The assembly was comprised strictly of the Lord of the House, Baek Muryang; Steward Han Seok’eon; Yanghwi himself; Gu Ak; Yeo Hyeok; and Gwak Mun, the senior retainer who had stood as the estate’s paramount combatant prior to Gu Ak’s arrival.
“It is true that only this circle possesses knowledge of our formal alliance with the Tang Clan and the establishment of their branch within our grounds.”
Nevertheless.
“That does not prevent the broader body of retainers from reading the shifting winds.”
The preparation of extraordinarily rare medicinal elixirs in their workshops.
The undeniable warmth and camaraderie during the banquet.
The Tang Clan warriors who remained behind, specifically members of their Poison and Medicine Hall, while the rest departed.
Had merely scraps of those developments leaked, the Gyojin Gang leader would have found his seat growing unbearably hot with apprehension.
“Lord of the House. It appears the moment has arrived for this old man to repay the immense debts of gratitude I owe. Grant me a brief window, and I shall pluck this weed by the roots.”
“We would be profoundly indebted to your efforts, Elder.”
Entrusting the internal hunt to Yeo Hyeok, the senior members redirected their focus toward the impending crisis with the Gyojin Gang.
“A three-against-three death match thirty days from today. How does the council propose we address this challenge?”
“Lord of the House, since this gauntlet has been thrown down by mere dark-path criminals, could we not simply dismiss it out of hand?”
Listening to Steward Han’s suggestion, Yanghwi silently shook his head.
That is utterly out of the question. The steward does not walk the martial path, so he fails to grasp the consequences.
This challenge was delivered openly from one sect master directly to another.
To brush it aside would allow the Gyojin Gang to broadcast far and wide that the Master of the Baek Estate was a trembling coward.
The clan’s hard-won standing and dignity would plunge into the dirt.
Evading the confrontation was impossible.
“Steward Han, retreat is not an option. Before anything else, what intelligence do we have regarding the Gyojin Gang’s current martial ceiling? Particularly their highest-tier combatants.”
Gu Ak signaled for attention.
“A troubling rumor reached my ears, Lord of the House. It is whispered that during their sudden onslaught against the Suho Alliance, a shadowy master fought alongside them.”
“A shadowy master? A rogue expert?”
“The likelihood is overwhelmingly high. What is more… if my suspicions prove true, that individual may well be the Blood Night Wanderer.”
“The Blood Night Wanderer!”
Murmurs of shock rippled through the chamber, and eyes widened across the table.
The Blood Night Wanderer was an apex realm master whose name commanded fear throughout the territory.
“If the Blood Night Wanderer is truly aiding them… this is dire.”
“The stipulations for the three duelists were the clan head, the young master or an equivalent representative, and the premier master among the retainers.”
Assuming that an apex realm combatant like the Blood Night Wanderer had thrown his lot in with their foes,
the Gyojin Gang leader, Yi Hoyang, was an established first-rate master in his own right.
From what was known of the young gang leader, he too was a formidable prodigy who had ascended to the second-rate realm at the mere age of twenty.
The odds of securing a triumph were perilously grim.
“Across three contests in a death match… pulling off even a solitary victory will be an uphill struggle.”
“…”
“Could we perhaps request reinforcements from the Zhuge family, or enlist the Tang Clan experts who remain stationed on our grounds?”
“Out of the question. The Zhuge family sits too many leagues away for a message and escort to complete a round trip within thirty days. And among the Tang Clan experts currently residing here, none have reached the apex realm.”
That left only one potential counter: seeking out an unaligned vagabond expert, placing a colossal bounty on the table, and fielding them under the guise of an estate retainer.
Undoubtedly, the Gyojin Gang had secured the services of the Blood Night Wanderer through the exact same strategy.
A tangled mess. If Old Man Yeo could take the field, the problem would vanish instantly… but that cannot happen.
Though Yeo Hyeok possessed the terrifying might of an apex realm master, he remained a branded public enemy across the wider martial world.
Regardless of how flawlessly he disguised his appearance, entering a public, high-stakes death match courted catastrophic exposure.
A trap where every path exacts a devastating toll on our house. The Gyojin Gang orchestrated this board with cunning precision.
To decline the battle was to drag their prestige through the mire.
To step onto the platform offered chances of victory that were tragically faint.
Even if I can manage to suppress that young gang leader, the insurmountable wall remains their gang leader and the Blood Night Wanderer.
Their ranks boasted an apex master alongside a first-rate combatant. The Baek house possessed only two first-rate masters.
Even under the kindest projection, their path to survival rested on nothing better than a coin flip, turning a death match into a disastrous gamble.
The emergency council session that commenced with the morning light dragged relentlessly until dusk settled over the courtyard.
Right as twilight fell, Yeo Hyeok, who had departed to pursue the informant, strode back into the room.
Dangling from his grip by the collar was a battered figure who looked barely among the living.
“Lord of the House. The rat has been caught.”
The broken wretch dragged across the floor was a martial artist assigned to the Reformation Pavilion.
In other words, a rogue formerly aligned with the dark path who had defected to the Baek Estate only a handful of months prior.
White-hot fury erupted across Gu Ak’s face. He lunged forward and drove a brutal kick into the turncoat’s ribs.
“Filthy scoundrel!”
“Aaaargh!”
“How dared you! Selling our secrets to the enemy! You ungrateful cur!”
“S-Spare me! The coin blinded my judgment, I only—gah!”
“Pavilion Master of Reformation. Restrain yourself.”
As Gu Ak stepped backward, Baek Muryang’s blade slid silently from its scabbard.
“Answer a single inquiry. Is the wandering expert enlisted by the Gyojin Gang truly the Blood Night Wanderer? Speak the truth, and I will grant you a swift, painless end.”
Resigned to his demise, the informant shut his eyes and forced words through his bruised lips.
“According to what I witnessed, that is the truth. I have committed an unforgivable sin, Lord of the House.”
Baek Muryang offered no verbal reply, letting his steel deliver the verdict.
Swoosh!
Having attained mastery in the Bee Wing realm, his blade’s tip hummed with a high-frequency vibration akin to fluttering wings before piercing straight through the informant’s chest.
“Our suspicions are verified.”
“Lord of the House. In our present state, our prospects are nonexistent. Would it not be prudent to hire a wandering master of our own…?”
“Our treasury cannot produce the fortune required to hire an apex realm expert on such notice.”
Given sufficient months, they could have liquidated commercial properties to assemble the required funds.
Alternatively, ample time would have allowed them to summon direct aid from the Zhuge family.
A thirty-day window is a fiendishly tight restriction. If we attempt to delay or maneuver, they will broadcast to the four corners of the land that we are trembling in terror.
When all was weighed, only a single course remained.
They had to shatter this crisis relying solely on the internal prowess of their own clan.
Can we achieve it?
The young gang leader who attained the second-rate realm by twenty?
Others might consider the youth a lethal obstacle, but Yanghwi harbored total confidence in his ability to dismantle him.
If we treat my duel as an assured victory,
one of the two first-rate combatants of the Baek Estate—either Baek Muryang or Gu Ak—had to accomplish an upset in their bout.
Indeed. However poor the current odds appear, plunging into the wager is our only viable move.
The path forward was not entirely shrouded in darkness.
Leaving Gu Ak’s path aside, his father’s heritage rested upon the Hundred and Eight Heaven-Splitting Swords.
Yanghwi could instruct him stroke by stroke, accelerating his comprehension and imparting profound martial enlightenments directly into his cultivation.
Should catastrophe loom at the final hour, the hidden wild card of Old Man Yeo still exists. For now, we must push this endeavor to its limit.
“Lord of the House. A solution exists.”
“Tell me, Hwi.”
“The answer is uncomplicated. You must simply break through into the apex realm within thirty days, Lord of the House.”
“What? H-Hmph…”
Baek Muryang could not even muster an idle boast that such a feat lay within his grasp.
To be fair, his hesitation was entirely warranted.
To demand that someone reach the apex realm when barely half a year had passed since breaking through to the first-rate tier?
It defied martial logic. Were it to occur, the world would deem it nothing short of a divine marvel.
Even so.
“Lord of the House. No, Father. No alternative exists regardless. Your ascension is the sole bridge across this chasm.”
If transcending to the apex realm so soon after entering the first-rate tier was deemed a miracle,
then reversing the river of time itself was a forbidden anomaly that should never have occurred in the heavens or earth.
Set against the miracle of rebirth, manifesting a martial breakthrough was child’s play.
And through this process, Mother’s affliction can be remedied as well.
“Why not place your faith in your flesh and blood, as well as in your own blade, and attempt the impossible?”
A knowing smile curved upon Yanghwi’s lips.
Thirty days came and went in the blink of an eye.
The impending death match pitting the Gyojin Gang against the Baek Estate had dominated every tavern and market stall throughout Ak’an County for the entirety of the month.
While the Baek Estate maintained an austere silence after accepting the terms, the Gyojin Gang had hired town criers to trumpet the spectacle to every corner of the province.
Their calculations were obvious. Be it a gentlemanly duel or a fight to the death, substantial wagers required an abundance of witnesses and arbitrators.
Furthermore, the Gyojin Gang’s aggressive publicity was designed to maximize the humiliation visited upon the Baek name when they fell.
Bolstered by the legendary sword of the Blood Night Wanderer, their camp was thoroughly convinced of an effortless triumph.
Let us see if your grand design survives contact with reality.
The selected battleground was an expansive grassy plain bordering the shores of Yuhang Lake.
Long before the appointed hour, an immense throng of onlookers packed the perimeter.
“Father.”
The retinue of the Baek Estate held their ground along the northern perimeter of the clearing. Baek Muryang sat in meditative posture at the center, his eyelids lowered in quiet composure.
“I hear you, Hwi.”
Catching his father’s steady gaze, Yanghwi offered an amused tilt of his mouth.
“You harbor no doubts, do you?”
“…”
Baek Muryang gently shuttered his eyes in silent resolve, detaching his scabbard and resting it deliberately across his arms.
“Little Brother. Will this… truly turn out well?”
Gu Ak, who was slated to fight as the third representative, murmured with an expression thick with worry.
Yanghwi and Baek Muryang had remained locked in seclusion until the break of dawn on this very day.
As a result, Gu Ak had been left completely in the dark regarding their progress.
“Brother Gu. Trust the process.”
Witnessing the playful, confident grin that accompanied the boy’s reassurance, Gu Ak felt the knot of anxiety in his chest loosen against his will.
Those unwavering words, coupled with that familiar, brazen composure.
Every time this audacious young master displayed that insolent smirk, impossible outcomes had a habit of bending into reality.
“Reflecting on it, Brother Gu, I owe you my gratitude. You are risking your life in this death match despite it being an internal burden of our clan.”
“Ahem. I belong to the Baek house now; fulfilling my duty is only proper.”
Once again, recruiting Gu Ak into the fold proved to be an inspired stroke of fortune.
Who could have envisioned that Gu Ak, who in Yanghwi’s previous existence had brought profound disgrace to their doorstep, would transform into such an indispensable pillar?
“Brother Gu.”
“What is it, Little Brother?”
“Before long, I shall secure an abundance of rare tonics specifically tailored to enhance your vitality.”
“…Ahem! My constitution has no requirement for such remedies!”
Aiya. You exert yourself night after night for months on end, yet the household has received no whisper of an heir, have they?
The retort danced upon his tongue, but Yanghwi swallowed it down.
Regardless of fraternal bonds, certain lines of personal dignity were best left uncrossed.
“Think of it merely as a heartfelt token from your younger brother.”
“Cough, hmph! If you insist, I shall not insult your kindness by refusing.”
Just then, a roar surged through the gathering.
“The Gyojin Gang has arrived!”
“Make way! The Gyojin Gang is here!”
A wave of movement parted the crowd as the leading figures of the Gyojin Gang strode onto the field.
The head of the gang, Yi Hoyang. His heir, Yi Myeongchu.
And walking alongside them was the unaligned master of the apex realm, the feared Blood Night Wanderer.
“Greetings to the Master of the Baek Estate. To think you possessed the stomach to attend in person. How unexpected. I was certain you would tuck your tail between your legs and scurry into the shadows.”
A chorus of coarse chuckles erupted at the gang leader’s brazen opening barb.
The disparity in strength between the rival houses was common knowledge among the crowd, rendering the match’s conclusion an apparent foregone conclusion.
“Still, I see you retain a shred of pride as a house leader after all, hahaha!”
Baek Muryang lifted his heavy eyelids slightly, offering not a single syllable in response.
He evidently deemed the insolence beneath his notice.
Yanghwi, on the other hand, had no intention of letting the slight pass.
“People say the scoundrels of the Gyojin Gang grew abnormally long tongues to compensate for whatever they lack between their thighs. Seeing you today, the rumors were clearly modest!”
Yi Hoyang’s mocking smirk vanished, his glare turning venomous. Never had he anticipated such scathing vulgarity from the mouth of an eight-year-old child.
Nor did the gallery contain their amusement.
“Pfft—bwahaha!”
“The young lord of the Baek house wields a wicked tongue!”
“Compensating for a hollow crotch with a wagging tongue! Ahahaha!”
Uproarious laughter, vastly drowning out the gang leader’s earlier taunt, reverberated across the lakeshore.
Veins bulged along Yi Hoyang’s crimson neck as he pointed an enraged, trembling finger at Yanghwi.
“Y-You insolent brat! You impudent whelp, were you never taught the basic decencies owed to your elders?!”
“I suffer from an unfortunate affliction where my manners vanish in the presence of dark-path vermin. Though even so, my tongue is still far more substantial than whatever you carry in your trousers!”
A fresh torrent of unrestrained laughter rolled across the spectators.
Just as Yi Hoyang reached the precipice of drawing his blade in uncontrolled fury, the young gang leader stepped forward to intercede.
“Father. An individual of your standing should not waste breath on a mannerless mongrel. Entrust this little pest to my blade.”
“…Very well. You speak sense, Chu.”
The young gang leader drew an imposing six-foot greatsword from his back.
“Little runt. Judging by your stance, you intend to stand as their representative in this death match. Am I mistaken?”
Flashing a cold smirk, Yanghwi let his own sword slide free.
“You are not. Though if a prodigy like you falls beneath the blade of a mere child, how do you ever intend to show your face under heaven?”
“Bwahahaha! Your delusions know no bounds! I shall grant you a handicap of ten full exchanges. Strike as fiercely as you wish, little runt.”
Ah, this rhetoric. It feels as though I have heard these exact arrogant words in another life.
“Ten exchanges, you say… How generous.”
Buzz—
Emitting the rapid, high-frequency hum of a bee’s wing, the keen edge of his blade began to vibrate with terrifying intensity.
Channeling the Vessel Thousand Steps, Yanghwi blurred across the earth, obliterating the distance separating them in the space of a single breath.
CLANG!
“Guh?!”
Staring down into the young gang leader’s frozen features, which were suddenly drowned in uncomprehending shock, Yanghwi clicked his tongue with a mocking grin.
“That leaves you nine moves. Do you truly believe you can endure them?”
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