The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 40

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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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40
The Fight for the Sword
Oh Gang-yeol, the master of the Cheongmun Gang, had always been a proud and arrogant man.
At the very least, he had never once shown weakness in front of the sect members. Yet at this precise moment, Oh Gang-yeol was prostrated before a man in an incredibly pathetic and humiliating display.
The figure Oh Gang-yeol bowed to was a man clad in black garments and a black bangrip.
Revealed beneath the brim of the bamboo hat, the man’s thin, bright-red lips exuded a chilling aura.
The shoulders of the prostrated Oh Gang-yeol trembled with fine spasms.
It was because the man before him instilled that much dread.
Last night, the man had suddenly appeared at the headquarters of the Cheongmun Gang. He then commanded them to steal the tea brought from Yunjung Village.
Oh Gang-yeol had merely snorted at the time.
A complete stranger had abruptly barged in and given orders to him, the ruler of Guangu County’s underworld.
Naturally, Oh Gang-yeol refused the command and lunged at him.
The price for doing so was horrific.
He was beaten by the man until he was on the absolute brink of death.
It was the first time since reaching adulthood that he had been thrashed to such an extent.
Resistance was utterly futile.
Though Oh Gang-yeol took pride in having mastered a powerful external martial arts technique that left him without a rival in Guangu County, the black-clothed man’s martial arts belonged to an entirely different realm.
He was undoubtedly an expert who surpassed even the Peak Realm, as they commonly said in the Jianghu.
He realized that even if the entire Cheongmun Gang swarmed him, they would be no match for the man.
In that manner, a deep, bone-chilling fear of the man was engraved into Oh Gang-yeol.
Thereafter, Oh Gang-yeol became the man’s loyal dog.
Lowering his head even further, Oh Gang-yeol spoke.
“I am… deeply sorry. I failed.”
“To think you failed at a task as simple as seizing tea from a bunch of ignorant mountain rustics?”
“The thing is… it seems there was an expert present.”
“An expert? You expect me to believe that?”
The man’s voice turned even colder.
Instantly, Oh Gang-yeol felt a suffocating dread.
He felt as though the long object slung across the man’s back would pierce through his throat at any second, making it impossible to even breathe properly.
Believing he would be beaten to death if he remained silent, Oh Gang-yeol mustered his courage to continue.
“It is the truth. My subordinates said the weapons were snatched from them before they even realized what was happening. That is why they could not even stage a proper fight.”
“What is the probability that your men are lying?”
“They would never dare lie to me, at least.”
“Hmph! I shall believe you for now.”
Only then did the man withdraw his killing intent.
Through long experience, the man knew.
On rare occasions, individuals worthy of being called experts lived in seclusion even in remote rural corners like this.
It would not be strange if one of them was hiding in the deep mountains of Yunjung Village.
The issue was that his presence was now interfering with his own path.
“If it has come to this, I must redesign the plan from the very beginning.”
His face, concealed beneath the bangrip, contorted.
His name was Go San-gyeong.
Black Snake Spear, Go San-gyeong.
While ordinary people did not know him, his martial title was quite famous in the world of rogue warriors.
The long object strapped to his back was none other than a disassembled spear.
When the two shafts were joined, it became a spear as long as a serpent, and when he wielded it, no rogue warrior could withstand it.
Because it struck relentlessly like a black snake, his martial title was the Black Snake Spear.
Not long ago, he had received an assassination request from someone.
It was a request to kill a certain someone who was coming to buy Yunjung Tea.
He had utilized the Cheongmun Gang to make the job easier, but his plan had instead been thwarted by the interference of an unidentifiable expert.
“I do not know who the bastard is, but since he dared to disrupt my plan, he had best not dream of a peaceful death.”
Oh Gang-yeol, who was prostrated, shuddered violently at the venomous tone of his voice.
A long while later, Oh Gang-yeol cautiously stepped out of the Bangju Hall.
Once outside, Oh Gang-yeol’s fury erupted.
He immediately headed to where the subordinates who had gone to the Zhuyang Inn to plunder the Yunjung Tea were gathered.
“You worthless bastards! You could not even handle a simple task properly and dragged me into this mess?!”
He did not dare lay a hand on Jeong Noya and the martial artists, but instead swung his fists at the dosu and baishu.
“Argh! Please forgive us!”
“Spare us, leader!”
At Oh Gang-yeol’s merciless violence, the dosu and baishu begged for mercy. However, their voices only fueled his rage further.
“Forgive? Spare you? You have the audacity to utter those words? You wretched maggots who cannot even perform a basic chore…!”
Thud! Thump!
He thrashed the dosu and baishu even more savagely.
The dosu and baishu did not dare dream of resisting; they curled their bodies like shrimp and took the full brunt of Oh Gang-yeol’s fists.
Among them was Jin Seo-ho.
Thud! Smack!
Every time Oh Gang-yeol’s fists and boots connected, it felt as if his entire body was shattering, but Jin Seo-ho did not let out a single scream.
Biting his lip hard, Jin Seo-ho endured Oh Gang-yeol’s violence with his entire body.
‘Damn it!’
***
The hole breached by the Cheongmun Gang members was quickly repaired.
Nevertheless, because they could not let their guard down, they increased the number of personnel on watch.
Having suffered a tumultuous ordeal, Baek Wol-sang sat on a chair with a exhausted expression and spoke.
“Thank you, Geom-san! Thanks to you, we did not lose the tea. I am constantly indebted to you.”
“Do not mention it, brother!”
“I will make sure to reward you handsomely for this later.”
“What reward is necessary between us? Forget it.”
“I say it only because I am grateful.”
“You should say such things only after the trade is safely concluded.”
“I suppose so.”
Baek Wol-sang nodded weakly.
Woo Geom-san asked him cautiously.
“By any chance, do you know why the Cheongmun Gang is coveting our tea?”
“How could I possibly know? I did hear a rumor recently that Yunjung Tea has become popular.”
“Who said that?”
“The laborers who came along with the merchants mentioned it.”
“And the merchants themselves said nothing?”
“Those bastards would never say such a thing. They only ever think of finding flaws to beat down the price.”
Deep-seated distrust toward the merchants was embedded within Baek Wol-sang’s words.
Though he had not shown it to the villagers, trading with the merchants who came to buy the tea had always caused him great distress.
The merchants would pick at the slightest flaw to lower the price, while Baek Wol-sang had to strain himself to get even a single extra penny.
Because of this, he was on the verge of developing an illness from sheer stress.
It was obvious that the merchants wanted the tea. Otherwise, they would not have traveled all the way to this distant Guangu County.
Even so, they stubbornly tried to slash the prices.
Baek Wol-sang was utterly sick and tired of the merchants’ behavior.
“As I mentioned before, I will also attend this trade.”
“If the merchants try to pull any dirty tricks, please step in.”
“I will.”
What Woo Geom-san realized while staying in Yunjung Village was that the villagers were far too ignorant of the ways of the world.
The village youths who traveled back and forth to Guangu County for the tea trade were slightly better off, but dealing with seasoned, shrewd merchants was no easy task for them.
Fortunately, since Woo Geom-san had grown up in the Woo Family Manor, he had witnessed merchants trading many times. Therefore, he understood their nature well.
Merchants were a breed that would never move unless there was a profit to be made.
The very fact that they chose to travel all the way to this remote place to buy Yunjung Tea meant it possessed that much value.
Because there was a demand somewhere, they went out of their way to seek out this secluded region.
Objectively speaking, the quality of the tea harvested in Yunjung Village was magnificent.
The aroma felt in the mouth, the smoothness down the throat, and the long-lasting aftertaste were by no means inferior when compared to any other famous tea. Despite that, it seemed they were parting with it for a pittance without receiving its true worth.
‘Just which merchant group is it that dares to pull such tricks…’
Woo Geom-san let out a soft sigh.
Since they did not know when the Cheongmun Gang might pull another trick, Woo Geom-san stayed up through the night alongside the other youths.
***
Fortunately, that night passed peacefully without any incidents.
However, having suddenly pulled an all-nighter, the faces of the youths were filled with exhaustion.
Thanks to his martial arts training, Woo Geom-san felt perfectly fine. Yet, his mind was not entirely at ease either.
After having breakfast, Woo Geom-san surveyed the perimeter of the inn.
As he felt no particularly suspicious movements, Woo Geom-san was about to head back inside the inn.
“Hey, there?”
Suddenly, someone’s voice called out quietly from the corner of an alleyway.
Turning his head to look, he saw a bruised boy cautiously poking his head out.
“You are?”
The boy with dark bruises all over his face was none other than Jin Seo-ho.
He had reappeared with a face beaten to a pulp in the span of a single night.
Woo Geom-san stepped cautiously toward the boy.
“What happened to you?”
“It is because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yes! Because of you, the mission failed, and I got beaten up like this.”
“You blame me when you were the one trying to steal someone else’s property in the first place?”
“I know! I know I was in the wrong too. But it was not my choice.”
“So you came here to make excuses?”
“Tch! Why are you so cold-hearted? In my own way, I came to give you a good piece of information.”
Jin Seo-ho glared straight at Woo Geom-san.
The boy probably thought he was harboring a gaze full of venom, but in Woo Geom-san’s eyes, he simply looked amusing.
Woo Geom-san asked.
“What information?”
“Information about the person who instigated this matter.”
“Instigated? Do you mean the master of the Cheongmun Gang did not order this?”
“The day before yesterday, some guy showed up, subdued the leader, and gave the orders. He is a guy wearing a black bangrip and black clothes.”
“By any chance, is he someone who carries a rod-like object wrapped in cloth on his back?”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I have met him before.”
“That is right! He is the one who subdued the leader and ordered us to steal the tea.”
“And you do not know his identity?”
“His face was hidden by the hat, so how could I know?”
At Jin Seo-ho’s grumbling, Woo Geom-san let out a chuckle.
It was because the boy finally looked his age.
“What is the reason you are telling me this fact?”
“Because I want revenge.”
Jin Seo-ho replied, pointing to his bruised face.
“You really took a beating. It must have hurt.”
“My body hurting is fine! But the fact that I have to keep living like this in the future is what is horrific.”
“So you are asking me to take revenge for you?”
“I do not even expect revenge. I only hope that an opportunity arises for me.”
“What opportunity?”
“An opportunity to escape from them.”
“How can you trust me?”
“I am not trusting you. It is just that I came here because I cannot bear it unless I struggle like this.”
“You are quite clever.”
When Woo Geom-san showed an impressed expression, Jin Seo-ho spoke with a displeased look.
“Try putting yourself in my shoes. You would not be able to endure it without doing something either.”
“I suppose so.”
“I should get going now.”
“Already?”
“It will be troublesome if other people see me.”
“Alright. Return safely.”
“By the way, do you believe my words?”
“No!”
“What?”
“I believe half of it, and half I do not. The world is too harsh to just blindly believe everything, is it not?”
“Tch! You look so noble on the outside, but you have a sly serpent inside you.”
“Just like you, right?”
At Woo Geom-san’s words, Jin Seo-ho’s expression contorted further.
Anger welled up within him at the thought that he had been outmatched in both strength and words. However, the opponent was too powerful for him to recklessly show anger.
In the end, he had no choice but to suppress his rage.
“You, what is your name?”
“Why do you want to know my name?”
“To remember it.”
“It is Woo Geom-san. And yours?”
“Jin Seo-ho.”
“That is a good name. The Tiger of the West. It suits you right now. Though you have not fully grown yet.”
“Whatever. I am leaving.”
Jin Seo-ho disappeared into the gloomy alleyway.
Woo Geom-san muttered while watching the alley where Jin Seo-ho had vanished.
“For some reason, I feel like I will keep seeing him.”
He had a strong premonition.

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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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