Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 65

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 65. The Blood Emperor, Ak Mugun
The next morning.
Dan Yeop set out again for Jeommun’s headquarters to teach the Jinsam Daedobeop.
At nine in the morning, when Dan Yeop entered Ansik Hall, Sect Leader Baek Chogong and Vice Sect Leader Mok Unsaeng rushed out to greet him.
Taken aback, Dan Yeop clasped his hands respectfully and offered a bow.
“I apologize for my tardiness. I shall make better time starting tomorrow.”
Sect Leader Baek Chogong waved his hand dismissively.
“No, no! Mok and I simply came out early to warm up. You mustn’t have found the cold too unbearable on your way here?”
“Not at all.”
As the three exchanged greetings and pleasantries, a Jeommun disciple entered and spoke cautiously.
“Sect Leader, someone from Hyeonmu Pavilion is here to see you.”
“From Hyeonmu Pavilion? And it’s barely the new year’s dawn at that?”
“Yes.”
“Did he give his name?”
“He said his name is Jin Hacheong.”
“Swordmaster Jin Hacheong? That’s curious. Very well. Have him wait in Simhyang Pavilion—I’ll be there shortly.”
“Yes.”
After the disciple departed, Vice Sect Leader Mok Unsaeng asked with a puzzled expression.
“Isn’t Jin Hacheong the director of Hyeonmu Pavilion? What brings him here to see you?”
“We’ll know once we meet. Has there been anything unusual in Gwannaedu of late?”
“Nothing particularly noteworthy, save that relations between Hukru and Hongbang have grown somewhat strained.”
Ever since Hukru suffered defeat at the hands of Dan Yeop and Dan Bulwi, their power had contracted. Hongbang now began eyeing Hukru’s territories, and the relationship between the two factions had soured considerably.
“Surely this visit isn’t about that?”
“It shouldn’t be. After all, Hukru and Hongbang haven’t come to open conflict, have they? Besides, it’s merely a Sapa dispute—Hyeonmu Pavilion would have no reason to concern itself with it.”
“That may be, but something feels off about this.”
“You should go at once. Jin Hacheong has a hasty temperament—he might march in here himself if kept waiting.”
“You’re right. Master Dan, I shall go and see what this is about.”
Sect Leader Baek Chogong rose from Ansik Hall with reluctance written across his face.
***
Simhyang Pavilion, at the heart of the compound.
Sect Leader Baek Chogong opened the door to his own office cautiously before stepping inside.
And sure enough—
An elderly man with a weathered, stern face sat upon the seat of honor as though he were the master of the place himself.
Sect Leader Baek Chogong clasped his hands together respectfully and bowed his head.
“Swordmaster Jin, it has been far too long. I trust you have been well?”
Swordmaster Jin Hacheong replied in a blunt tone.
“Sit.”
‘How rude—he won’t even return the courtesy.’
Though Sect Leader Baek Chogong’s pride stung, he kept his displeasure hidden and promptly sat.
“Ah, what brings you to our humble hall at such an early hour?”
Regardless of their alignment—orthodox or heterodox—anyone of considerable standing knew who the Sect Leader of Haowen was.
Swordmaster Jin Hacheong was among those who did.
“Let’s dispense with pleasantries and get to the point. We’ve received urgent word from Sorim Temple. A man called the Blood Emperor, who has been conducting massacres in Sannandu, appears to be heading toward Gwannaedu.”
“What! The Blood Emperor, Ak Mugun? He’s truly heading to Gwannaedu?”
“So it would seem.”
“But why would the Blood Emperor come to Gwannaedu? What draws him there?”
“Jangan Fortress is there, isn’t it?”
“But if he enters Jangan Fortress, wouldn’t he be spotted immediately?”
The Blood Emperor, Ak Mugun, had been a scourge upon the previous generation of the Owak Geompa.
Normally, those marked by the Owak Geompa went into hiding, but the Blood Emperor did no such thing.
He roamed the realm as though mocking the Owak Geompa itself.
Though recently sighted in Sannandu where Sorim Temple stands, it now appeared he intended to expand his reach into Gwannaedu.
“A man who freely wanders even Sannandu, where Sorim Temple dwells, would hardly fear the sects of Jangan Fortress.”
“What does Hyeonmu Pavilion ask of Haowen?”
“We ask that Haowen ascertain the Blood Emperor’s whereabouts and report them to us.”
……
Sect Leader Baek Chogong did not answer at once.
In this world, there are deeds one may do and deeds one must never do.
Anything connected to the Blood Emperor fell into the latter category.
He was asking him to inform on the Owak Geompa’s quarry—a scourge from a former age—and report his whereabouts?
If word of this reaches the Blood Emperor’s ears, Haowen in Gwannaedu will be finished.
The Blood Emperor belongs to the Owak Geompa, but even he has connections.
Particularly, the leading figures of the Sapa who stand as sworn brothers with the Blood Emperor are far from few.
There are no secrets in this world.
It might reach him through the Sapa, but there’s no guarantee the Blood Emperor has no friends among the Jeongpa either.
If that happens, only the defenseless Haowen of Gwannaedu will drown in blood.
“Well, our Haowen does run errands for various factions in the martial world, but…….”
“Will you spend your entire lives only in Gwannaedu? If so, you needn’t bother honoring our request.”
In that instant, Baek Chogong’s heart sank.
Those words meant: “If you don’t help with this matter, I’ll make sure Haowen never stands a chance at the Shipdo Iltong.”
“When you say ‘we,’ do you mean there’s someone else behind the Hyeonmu Pavilion?”
“Hah! Of course. What do you think the Hyeonmu Pavilion can do by finding the Blood Emperor themselves? Do you really believe the Hyeonmu Pavilion can accomplish what even Sorim Temple failed at?”
“Then?”
Excessive curiosity beyond one’s station invites calamity. All you need do is mobilize Haowen and tell us the Blood Emperor’s location. Will you do it?”
“Understood. Our Haowen too shall do this for the sake of Gangho Doui…….”
Just then, Jin Hacheong hurled a money pouch at Baek Chogong’s feet.
“You’re told to know your place, yet you keep grasping for more. Haowen’s only job is to do as ordered. The other factions can uphold Gangho Doui’s principles themselves.”
Baek Chogong clenched his teeth, burning with humiliation.
Regardless, Jin Hacheong rose from his seat and strode out with a dismissive wave.
***
Ansik Hall of Jipdan Village.
Baek Chogong’s complexion had grown dark upon returning to the training grounds.
Mok Unsaeng, the Vice Sect Leader, crept near and asked quietly.
“Sect Leader? What did Jin Hacheong say to make your expression so troubled?”
Dan Yeop and the Hall Masters, Village Masters, and Sect Soldiers—all who had been about to begin their training—turned their attention to the two men’s conversation.
“The Blood Emperor, who was in Sannandu, has apparently crossed into Gwannaedu.”
“What? And what does that have to do with us that you……—surely not?”
Mok Unsaeng’s eyes widened with alarm as he stared at Baek Chogong.
Baek Chogong exhaled a light sigh before answering.
“They want us to discover the Blood Emperor’s location and report it to the Hyeonmu Pavilion.”
“We can’t. We must refuse. You did refuse, didn’t you? If we get involved with the Blood Emperor, we’re all dead.”
“The Owak Geompa is plotting something. They said if we don’t help them, we should never dream of leaving Gwannaedu for the rest of our lives.”
“That’s insane—so what? Even so, you must refuse. The Shipdo Iltong will come in time…….”
“I’ve accepted. Even if only the Hyeonmu Pavilion picked a fight with us alone, we’d be utterly helpless. But if the Owak Geompa backs this, we have no choice but to do exactly as ordered. Nothing frightens me more than the Owak Geompa. You know it too. Step out of their favor, and the Shipdo Iltong becomes a pipe dream.”
“Before we can unite the Shipdo, the Blood Emperor’s allies might wipe us all out. The Blood Emperor’s friends aren’t confined to the Sapa alone. He’ll know we’ve informed on him.”
“There’s no helping it. We can only pray the Owak Geompa destroys the Blood Emperor.”
“…….”
Mok Unsaeng could say no more in protest.
In truth, when the Owak Geompa commanded, Haowen had no choice but to obey.
That was the difference between Gaebang and Haowen.
Gaebang could refuse and simply walk away, but Haowen faced certain ruin if it failed to comply.
Dan Yeop, still a novice to the martial world, quietly asked Baek Yuhwa beside him.
“Baek, who is the Blood Emperor?”
“The Blood Emperor, Ak Mugun—a fiend from the old days whom even the Sapa fears. From what he’s done, he seems more demon than human.”
“What has he done?”
“They say he’s eaten the hearts of children. He’s also razed entire villages to the ground on a whim.”
“God, he’s not human at all.”
Dan Yeop shook his head vigorously.
Shortly after, he began teaching the Jinbaekryu Dobeop to the Haowen masters.
Until that moment, no one had imagined the Blood Emperor Ak Mugun and Haowen would become bound by a dark fate.
The training in Jinbaekryu Dobeop ended by mid-morning.
The progress was frustratingly slow, but the Haowen masters had no time to train.
All the masters at Ansik Hall were administrators of Jeommun.
To find the Blood Emperor, every one of them had to move.
Even Baek Yuhwa, a Sect Soldier, was mobilized.
Dan Yeop wanted to help as well, but Baek Chogong would not permit it.
Part of it was that Dan Yeop’s ignorance of the martial world’s affairs made him unsuitable, but more than that, the task of finding the Blood Emperor was far too dangerous, so he was excluded entirely.
There was a risk that stray sparks might fly if Dan Yeop came too close to the Blood Emperor.
In the end, everyone departed to search for the Blood Emperor, leaving Dan Yeop alone.
Standing motionless, Dan Yeop let out a bitter laugh.
‘I don’t know where others belong, but I know where I belong’—and it was true.
Without Baek Yuhwa, Ansik Hall felt all the more desolate.
“Not all martial artists live an easy life, it seems.”
Thinking of the sect disciples searching for the Blood Emperor in the depths of winter, his mood darkened.
Dan Yeop waited until dusk drew near, then left Ansik Hall.
***
The next day, and the day after that, the search for the Blood Emperor continued.
Eventually, training in the Jinbaekryu Dobeop was cut down to just two hours each morning.
The managers had always had spare time on their hands, but with the quarry being the Blood Emperor, they ran about far busier than the disciples.
Dan Yeop trained alone in the Jinsam Daedobeop at Ansik Hall, waiting for good news to arrive.
On the fourth day.
Around the Hour of the Serpent—mid-afternoon—Dan Yeop at Ansik Hall received word from a Jeommun disciple that “the Blood Emperor has been spotted.”
“Who was sent to follow the Blood Emperor?”
“We heard it was Sect Soldier Baek Yuhwa and Sect Soldier Yang Hoe.”
“Understood. Let me know immediately if any new information comes in.”
“Yes!”
As the Jeommun disciple left, Dan Yeop drew his Hengdo but soon sheathed it again.
“It should be fine.”
It wasn’t Haowen who would fight the Blood Emperor—it was the Owak Geompa.
Haowen’s role was merely that of a scout.
The Owak Geompa likely expected nothing more from Haowen than that.
Yet for some reason, his unease would not settle.
No new word arrived until dusk fell.
“By now, they should be returning soon…”
Haowen’s role ended with reporting the Blood Emperor’s location to Hyeonmu Pavilion.
Once the Owak Geompa took action, there was essentially nothing left for Haowen to do.
As Dan Yeop paced in and out of Ansik Hall, someone came rushing in.
It was Baek Chogong, the Sect Leader.
“Dan—we have a disaster. Sect Soldier Baek has been captured by the Blood Emperor.”
“What? Baek Yuhwa?”
Dan Yeop’s eyes widened to the size of an oil lamp in shock.
“The Blood Emperor overheard what Sect Soldier Yang was saying to Sect Soldier Baek.”
The story was this.
The incompetent Yang Hoe, standing at a distance, whispered in Baek Yuhwa’s ear.
He was asking why Hyeonmu Pavilion was taking so long.
Those words reached the ears of Ak Mugun, whose internal power had reached the realm of Chobum Ipsong.
Yang Hoe’s foolish miscalculation—thinking the distance was too great for him to hear—had given them away.
“…Sect Soldier Yang had his throat cut on the spot, while Sect Soldier Baek was subdued and dragged away by the Blood Emperor.”
“Dragged where?”
“It seems they’re heading to Munsan.”
“Munsan? Isn’t that where the Terracotta Army Tomb is?”
“Yes. The Blood Emperor seems to understand what the Terracotta Army Tomb means to Haowen in Gwannaedu, and he’s doing this deliberately.”
“What’s his intention?”
“To punish Haowen, I’d imagine.”
“To punish us?”
“Given the Blood Emperor’s nature, he’ll likely execute Sect Soldier Baek there.”
“But why didn’t Hyeonmu Pavilion move? If they’d gone in time, this never would have happened!”
“I don’t know about that. We informed Hyeonmu Pavilion early enough, but they haven’t told us anything.”
“Still, even so—you asked for the location because you had a plan, didn’t you? And yet there’s been no movement until now?”
“None. It’s enough to drive a man mad. We’ve been left in an impossible position.”
“Even though word came that the Blood Emperor is taking Sect Soldier Baek to Munsan?”
“We heard nothing but ‘understood.’ Now I don’t know what to do.”
“We have to rescue Sect Soldier Baek.”
Dan Yeop spoke with absolute conviction.
Whether it was the Blood Emperor or anyone else, he could not let Baek Yuhwa come to harm.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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