The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 37

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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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Chapter 37
37
Im Gang watched Baek Do Gwang and Baek Cheon, his mind turning over a question.
‘Why are they together?’
It wasn’t unusual for two ronin from Hangzhou to be acquainted—the city’s floating population had a way of crossing paths.
Meeting at the Geogan House, trading a few blade strikes, perhaps smashing a plate over someone’s head during dinner—these were the natural threads from which such friendships were woven.
Yet the atmosphere between them seemed closer than mere acquaintance.
‘Come to think of it, they’re both surnamed Baek, aren’t they?’
He wondered if they might be brothers, then dismissed the thought almost at once.
Baek Do Gwang had a brutal face—the kind that looked capable of murder—while Baek Cheon had the delicate features that made female ronin offer themselves as his bodyguards without a second thought.
Who would believe they were brothers?
“Brother, what’ll it be?”
“Ah. Thin noodles. Throw some meat toppings on it.”
Finding an empty spot nearby, Im Gang sat down to order, then let his eyes drift between the two men.
“So what’s the connection between you two?”
Baek Do Gwang paused with a chopstick of noodles halfway to his mouth, then raised his head to answer.
“My younger brother.”
“Ah… so he’s your younger brother, then.”
What?
Im Gang’s chopsticks stopped mid-gesture. He studied both their faces again, searching for resemblance.
“……?”
“……?”
Both men tilted their heads at him.
“You’re sworn brothers?”
“No—blood brothers.”
“Ah… so it’s just that you call each other brother and younger brother out of courtesy? Since you share the surname Baek, close friends do that sort of thing.”
“No, we really are brothers.”
“Ah……?”
“The same blood runs through our veins.”
Im Gang couldn’t tell if this was jest or earnest. He examined their faces with fresh scrutiny.
Baek Do Gwang’s base features weren’t bad—it was only the perpetual scowl that spoiled them. If you looked closer, his hair was always neatly combed back, his skin pristine and pale without a blemish, and he wore a Jade Green Robe with evident care.
A man who knew how to present himself well, if you were being charitable about it.
Baek Cheon, by contrast, needed no explanation—even standing still, women seemed to gravitate toward him. He was the sort of pretty that transcended mere handsomeness, what people called a courtesan’s dream.
Im Gang couldn’t fathom where the family resemblance was supposed to be.
As Im Gang’s eyes kept blinking in confusion, both men broke into wry smiles.
“I’m serious. He really is my older brother.”
“Really?”
“It’s the truth.”
Im Gang stared directly at Baek Cheon’s face. They were insisting so earnestly that refusing to acknowledge reality would be rude.
God must have miscalculated when mixing the proportions for these two.
One spoon of delicacy, and—whoops, oops! Dumped the whole thing over into one cup.
“Did your parents’ genes all go to you or something?”
“Gene… what?”
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
When Baek Cheon didn’t understand, Im Gang shook his head and turned to Baek Do Gwang instead.
“Baek, did your commission go well?”
“Good work done. But while I was away, I hear things got stirred up. They told me Im Gang got caught up in it all, and I was worried sick—though I’m relieved to see you looking well.”
“Relief is fair. I nearly died.”
“It seems that ordeal turned into a blessing in disguise.”
Im Gang didn’t shy from Baek Do Gwang’s gaze—those eyes that had shifted from the refined scholar’s look to something hard and martial. The man had clearly noticed he’d broken through to First-Rate. Whatever secrets he was keeping ran deeper than that.
Im Gang simply shrugged.
“Life’s unpredictable, isn’t it? I never thought I’d end up like this myself.”
“So it is. As your elder brother, I’m genuinely glad for your advancement.”
Baek Do Gwang’s eyes softened as he smiled with pure delight.
“How are things these days? I hear there’s been a shortage of commissions in Hangzhou lately. If you wish it, I could arrange some work for you.”
“No, don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ve already taken something on.”
“What commission?”
“You know as well as I do there’s no good in discussing it, yet you ask anyway—entertaining.”
Im Gang drained his noodle broth cleanly and got to his feet.
“I should head out.”
“We have a commission of our own to attend to. What if we part ways here?”
“That works for me.”
And so the three of them arrived at the main gate of the Ubo Sect.
……
An awkward silence hung in the air—not a little awkward, but distinctly so.
* * *
After having their identities verified by the gatekeeper, they entered. They passed through gardens, walked along covered corridors, and an elderly man came to greet them.
“I am the administrator of the Ubo Sect, O So-wi.”
The administrator led the three to a side building and brought refreshments. Then he explained the details of the commission.
“…and so, beginning tomorrow at the Hour of Mao—between five and seven in the morning—we ask that you protect the Submaster for fifteen days and nights. Do you have any questions?”
“The letter you sent stated this was a single-target commission, but…”
Im Gang glanced sideways at the Baek brothers.
It wasn’t a single target—it was three of them.
“Ah. That was our error, and I apologize for any confusion. ‘Single-target’ refers to the object of protection—one person, our Submaster. It’s a one-person protection commission.”
“I see.”
One-person protection.
Not one protector, but one person being protected.
The administrator apologized formally and continued.
“For the duration of the commission, you may stay in the side building. Should you require anything, inform the servants and they will attend to it immediately. If you have no further questions, shall I take my leave?”
“Yes.”
Once the administrator withdrew, Im Gang asked the other two about the current situation in Hangzhou.
“Hmm? Doesn’t the Master know more about this than I do?”
“No, I don’t know much. I was locked away in a cell because I was implicated.”
“Ah, so that’s why you weren’t home when I stopped by.”
Baek Do Gwang clicked his tongue.
“That affair involving the Master created numerous large and small problems throughout Hangzhou. As a result, the city is currently embroiled in territorial disputes, conflicts of interest, and covert struggles born from old grudges.”
“Covert struggles…”
Evil sects rarely enjoy harmonious relations with one another.
Given the slightest opportunity, they eye each other hungrily, waiting to devour one another.
Now that the balance has tilted from the devastation wrought by the Polearm Demon Army incident, everything that had accumulated over time has erupted all at once.
“…In the midst of all this, there have been incidents where sect masters and submasters from several factions were assassinated.”
……!
Im Gang’s expression hardened. Looking at the war between Jeokryuha and Heukdo Bang, one could see that sect masters die often enough. But that was the result of honorable duels.
Assassination is different. It crosses a line—the rule of Hangzhou, one that everyone had implicitly observed.
“This seems quite dangerous. Will it be alright?”
Im Gang tilted his chin toward Baek Cheon.
Ordinary protection and protection against an assassination threat are two different things. To speak bluntly, Baek Cheon, who had only recently become a Second-Rate Martial Artist, was not equal to such a task.
* * *
The Submaster of the Ubo Sect turned out to be unexpectedly ordinary.
Ordinary in what sense?
“You useless bastards! What the hell good are you?”
“My sincere apologies.”
“Are you parasites? We feed you, shelter you, teach you—we’ve done everything—and this?”
“…My apologies.”
“I still don’t understand why Father accepted these worthless wretches as disciples.”
He was simply a common Evil Sect member.
The Submaster’s name was O So-wi.
For some reason, it was a name that made you want to tease him about being slow. He was in his early twenties, average height, average build, average face.
Had he not been the Submaster of the Ubo Sect, you would forget him the moment you passed him on the street.
Though, he did have one aspect unbecoming of an Evil Sect member.
“The three of you, I ask for your service going forward.”
He had bowed to the ronin with both hands clasped respectfully.
Considering how ronin were typically treated, it was unexpected.
Favorable feelings arose unbidden.
By Evil Sect standards, his character ranked him in the top five percent.
Which made it all the more mysterious why he behaved so poorly toward his own disciples.
‘Is he two-faced?’
“Do you have any engagements today?”
“Well… let’s head to Wol Hyang Tower.”
Baek Do Gwang led the way, Baek Cheon walked in the middle, and Im Gang followed at the rear. As they entered the marketplace, people recognized O So-wi and stepped aside.
Occasionally, someone would offer a greeting.
“Submaster O So-wi, I trust you’ve been well. This time in Anhui…….”
“Pleased to see you. These days…….”
O So-wi accepted the greeting, paused briefly to exchange words, then moved on. There was no dismissiveness in his manner, no contempt. To manage a relay station, one needed the cooperation of Hangzhou’s merchants and residents—the correct approach entirely.
Reconsidering it, he truly seemed to possess a split personality.
‘Though it’s stranger still that an Evil Sect clan runs the relay station instead of the government.’
Im Gang observed his surroundings while entertaining such thoughts.
He kept his Qi Sense wide open and his map active.
The marketplace was crowded enough that perfect discrimination was difficult, yet he’d reached the point where he could catch anything amiss the moment it surfaced.
After arriving at Wol Hyang Tower, he raised his vigilance further. They’d walked through the marketplace without incident, which meant he needed to be even more cautious.
‘I’d prefer if nothing happened, but——’
That was unlikely.
The commission paid a hundred silver taels and one Martial Arts Manual. An assassin would surely come.
It was precisely when their ordered food arrived.
“…Baek Do Gwang.”
“I’ll handle it, Master.”
Baek Do Gwang seized Im Gang’s shoulder and brought him to a halt.
O So-wi showed no alarm at his bodyguard’s sudden action.
He didn’t even spare a glance, as though utterly indifferent.
‘Something’s off about him, as I thought.’
Im Gang held that observation while watching O So-wi.
Clang.
Baek Do Gwang drew his sword and swung in one fluid motion.
“Agh!”
One of the three servants carrying food hastily retreated. But it was too late. With a sound between a groan and a scream, the assassin masquerading as a servant had his arm sliced clean away.
Baek Do Gwang’s Sworddraw had simply been too swift.
“……!”
The other two servants froze in shock. Thanks to their paralysis, they lived. Baek Do Gwang’s blade had passed between them.
Had they moved, they would each have lost an arm with equal courtesy.
Just before the assassin retreated into the corridor to leap high——
Baek Do Gwang’s sword moved like a serpent, severing the assassin’s ankle.
The foot dropped to the ground with a thud.
Blood fountained from the severed edge. Passersby in the corridor screamed and fled in panic. The assassin, having failed to escape into the hidden layer, dragged himself forward with one arm and one leg.
He would have to overcome such impediments to survive ahead, but that was preferable to death.
“Master, watch closely.”
Baek Do Gwang spoke to Im Gang before swinging his blade.
“This is the bare minimum requirement to become truly First-Rate.”
Whoosh!
The sword in his hand was engulfed in blue Internal Energy, trembling faintly. Then it took the form of the blade itself, lengthening as though stretching outward.
It was Sword Aura.

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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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