Chapter 33. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (8)
“But don’t you think that’s too dangerous? Even if we can kill everyone in that family... if, in the future, either Mount Hua or the Iron Sword Baek Family finds out...”
Whether it be the Mount Hua Sect or the Iron Sword Baek Family, both were behemoths, far too vast to trifle with.
“Then, Father, do you plan on living like this for the rest of our lives? The Deputy Guild Master cleaning up after some bitch? Life is just a gamble, anyway. Wouldn’t everything be fine if we just handle it so perfectly that neither Mount Hua nor the Baek Family finds out?”
Seeing the confident way his son spoke and the glint in his gaze, Chae Noh-Cheol finally nodded his agreement.
‘He’s right, life really is a gamble in the end. If you look at the great men in history, didn’t they get where they got because they gambled with their lives and succeeded?’
Then, Young-Ryong asked his father a question.
“Isn’t Uncle the right hand of the Inksmoke Gang boss? I heard that the Inksmoke Gang has an extremely skilled poison master. Do you think...”
The eyes of the father and son glistened up as they put their heads together and plotted.
* * *
For the Palm Martial Emperor Baek Sang-Woon, his one and only daughter Baek Jin-Jin was a geriatric baby, for lack of a better word. After all, considering he had her when he was in his seventies, it would be difficult to call her anything but that.
Her being such a late baby was not a problem at all, in and of itself. No, the problem was that, after nearly forty years, the Palm Martial Emperor looked younger than his daughter.
A day had passed since Jin-Jin’s treatment for her internal injuries had begun, and whenever Jin-Jin required a break, Sang-Woon would imbue her body with gentle qi for protection and soothe her thirst by dabbing her lips with a wet towel.
Even with such unrelenting effort, putting everything he had into her treatment, the Palm Martial Emperor didn’t seem tired whatsoever, as he had taken a drop of the Clean Air Stone Milk and used it to take care of a large portion of the treatment.
As the sun began to descend again into darkness, Woo-Moon saw their inn cook in the kitchen, making some rice gruel.
“Then, your mother will be okay after that treatment, right?”
“Yes, I was told that she would get better. It’s a relief.”
“It really is. Your grandfather really is someone of great talent.”
The inn cook wasn’t privy to Woo-Moon knowing martial arts, much less to the fact that his grandfather, who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, was the Palm Martial Emperor. Naturally, he had no idea that praising Sang-Woon's healing skills was like praising an imperial scholar for their neat handwriting.
“It’s a little under-seasoned. Woo-Moon, it seems we ran out of salt here. Could you get me some from the back, please?”
“Of course, uncle.”
As Woo-Moon returned with the salt, the inn cook was already in the midst of dividing the gruel into bowls.
“Never mind, I tried it again just now and it actually turned out quite well. Here, you should try some, too.”
A sweet smell tickled Woo-Moon’s nose.
‘Wow, it looks delicious!’
At that moment, Woo-Moon’s Forbidden Divine Art strangely started circulating his qi without any prompt.
‘What’s going on all of a sudden?’
At the same time, Eun-Ah suddenly growled from within his breast pocket.
Grrrrrr!
Eun-Ah stuck her head out, revealing fangs so sharp and hard that it was difficult to imagine that she was still only just a cub.
Maybe because of the Forbidden Divine Art’s unprompted circulation of his qi, an alarm blared in Woo-Moon’s head as he began to feel as if something was wrong with the gruel. Moreover, Eun-Ah was also glaring at the gruel, solidifying his concern.
"That's strange...”
Woo-Moon suddenly looked at the inn cook, whose face had turned pale.
‘What’s going on?’
At that moment, he heard his grandfather’s voice transmission in his ear.
—Silver Tigers can detect any poison just from a sniff. There seems to be poison in the gruel.
Not only did there seem to be poison, but judging from Eun-Ah’s reaction, it was an incredibly deadly one at that.
Woo-Moon felt goosebumps cascade over his body from head to toe. What if his grandfather or his mother had eaten this gruel?
His grandfather, an Absolute Master, was unlikely to be affected by this poison. However, his mother was already fragile and in the midst of a delicate treatment, and she would have been pushed into an irreversible situation.
Soon after the goosebumps came a blinding rage.
“Did you put poison in this?”
Surprised by Woo-Moon’s harsh tone, the inn cook stumbled back. A moment later, he grabbed a kitchen knife from the table next to him and stared at Woo-Moon with vicious killing intent.
“Die!”
Pow!
Crack!!
Woo-Moon struck the knife with one hand and simultaneously grabbed the inn cook’s shoulder with the other, shattering it in one move.
"Argh!"
The moment the inn cook was about to scream, Woo-Moon quickly grabbed his throat to prevent the sound from escaping.
Woo-Moon was clenching his teeth tightly. It had been more than five years since the inn cook had started working at Dae-Woong's inn. Woo-Moon even called him Uncle as he diligently helped the man around the kitchen.
But then....
“Why? Why did you try to poison us?” he whispered angrily.
However, the inn cook wasn’t able to answer due to the force with which Woo-Moon was clenching his neck. Then, another voice transmission came from his grandfather.
—He did it, but I doubt he was the one who thought of it.
No, of course the cook hadn't thought of it. It must have been the hyenas that were aiming for the guild master of the Leebi Merchant Guild that had paid the inn cook off.
As Woo-Moon understood this, rage boiled even more within him.
“Was it because of money? Is that why?”
Woo-Moon loosened his grip around the cook's throat.
“Cough, cough. I... I’m sorry.... I... I have my own reasons...”
At that moment, a fat money pouch slipped from within the inn cook’s sleeve and dropped to the ground.
“You bastard, you really tried to kill my entire family just for some stupid money?!”
Woo-Moon grabbed the inn cook’s knee with one hand and crushed it just as he had the man' shoulder.
“Mmmm!”
Having his shoulder and now his knee shattered one after the other, the cook was unable to even scream properly before fainting.
Woo-Moon's rage was far from being quenched, but at that moment, he remembered that there were a few more people involved in this.
‘The hyenas of the Leebi Merchant Guild!’
The first face to come to mind was Young-Ryong’s, as Woo-Moon received another voice transmission from his grandfather.
—Once your bottom line has been crossed, it might as well not exist. Make sure that you handle this properly. Those types of people will just do the same thing again to someone else if they’re left alone. We do not act against ordinary people, but they are not ordinary people anymore. They acted like villains, and they will be dealt with as such.
Even though they had failed, their goal had still been to kill all of Woo-Moon’s family. Without even any major issues or grudges, they had gone so far as to try to exterminate his entire bloodline.
‘So a person’s heart really can be this evil.’
Woo-Moon thought back to the Venomous Devil, who had slaughtered countless people just because of a bit of anger, and the warriors in brown that had killed the innocent members of the Leebi Guild...
At that moment, Woo-Gang, who had been standing guard outside, entered the kitchen.
–Hyung, what happened?
Woo-Moon sent a short voice transmission to his brother as he rushed out of the kitchen.
–Those bastards bribed the inn cook to poison the gruel we would eat!
Woo-Gang's surprised expression soon hardened into a cold mask, a fiery rage blazing in his gaze.
Woo-Moon rushed toward the Leebi Merchant Guild as he tossed the unconscious inn cook to the side of the road.
Although he had sold his soul for money and tried to murder people, at this point, he’d already lost the use of an arm and a leg, so it was punishment enough that he wouldn’t be able to live like he used to anymore.
This man and Woo-Moon had worked together at the inn for years, and they had laughed and cried together. To think he could do something like this.... The long time they had spent together made Woo-Moon feel the sting of betrayal all the more harshly.
And his growing rage was directed toward the hyenas of the Leebi Guild.
Woo-Moon used his movement technique to the fullest, moving so quickly that he left a trail of afterimages behind. However, even though he was running at a tremendous speed, his footsteps were silent, and the only sound was the faint rustle of a chilly breeze.
It was his own movement technique, the Northern Wind Steps. He had pondered on it whenever he had time after returning home—combining the advantages of the movement techniques used by the Palm Martial Emperor and the Night Spear Devil, the first stance of the Gentle Celestial Sword, and the North Wind technique.
The reason he had been able to create an entire movement technique on his own was that the Gentle Celestial Sword, which contained the principles of the universe, served as the foundation of the technique, while the Martial Arts Fundamentals manual had played a part in helping him combine the various techniques.
Even as he got used to the Northern Wind Steps, and in spite of his growing rage, Woo-Moon still had the leisure to be dumbfounded at what had happened.
‘How could they have come up with that stupid idea?? Did they forget who my grandfather is? Do they think that an Absolute Master would be poisoned just like that?’
For Woo-Moon, who had learned martial arts and realized how one’s body was strengthened as one’s qi grew, it was a ridiculous idea.
However, Chae Noh-Cheol and Chae Young-Ryong were, in the end, just merchants. Although some of their followers were people of the murim, their level was too low, and none of them had even seen a proper qi refinement art, much less actually cultivate it. That was why those two had actually tried to poison the family of the Palm Martial Emperor.
Of course, that didn’t mean that poisoning an Absolute Master was impossible. It was possible if a poison master that had cultivated past the Peak realm and reached the Absolute realm used an Absolute grade poison. However, even poison that killed normal people in seconds was useless.
As Woo-Moon ran forward, he could see the manor of the Leebi Guild in the distance.
‘I don’t even want to think about it, but if my family hadn’t learned martial arts, all of us would have died. They have to pay, and they will pay.’
* * *
Just a few moments ago, at the Leebi Merchant Guild, Jo Mu-Jae had been attacked by surprise and taken down by Guan-Un Martial Hall’s Gwak Gyeom. Behind him was a stampede of the Leebi Guild traitors.
Noh-Cheol had recruited Gwak Gyeom in order to subdue Jo Mu-Jae. Of course, Gwak Gyeom would have been scared off if he had been informed about the Palm Martial Emperor, so Noh-Cheol had conveniently hidden that fact.
“You bastards!”
Si-Hyeon, who was the last one standing, held up a sharp dagger. However, to Gwak Gyeom, it only looked like a child playing about.
“Now, now, let’s not say anything vulgar with such a pretty mouth,” Gwak Gyeom said sleazily as he took Si-Hyeon’s dagger and pressed body and throat acupoints, keeping her from moving or speaking.
In the meantime, Young-Ryong searched through Si-Hyeon’s office, trying to find the seal of the Guild Master. Suddenly, he stumbled upon something interesting.
‘What’s this?’
It was a small pouch. Young-Ryong quietly called his father over, as there seemed to be something unusual about it.
“What is it?” Noh-Cheol said as he opened the pouch and looked inside. Seeing what was in it, he hurriedly stowed it in his sleeve. Worried, he instinctively glanced over to Gwak Gyeom, but fortunately, the man seemed as though he was fascinated by Si-Hyeon and oblivious to anything happening around him.
At least, that was what he thought. Unfortunately, Gwak Gyeon had already sneaked a peak into the pouch while the two merchants were raffling through the room.
‘It’s a Luminous Night Pearl! It’s definitely a Luminous Night Pearl.’
Although it was the first time that Gwak Gyeom had seen one, he was sure what it was just from the feeling it gave off. What other sort of bead would shine like that on its own?
Still, as everyone around him was a warrior of the Leebi Guild and he was by himself, he had hurriedly put it down and pretended not to see it.
‘Hehehe... To think I’d run into a Luminous Night Pearl.’
Gwak Gyeom, who had already hastily conceived a plan, deliberately inspected Si-Hyeon’s body even more explicitly in order to deceive the others.
“Dear, dear, I’m about to go crazy. Hey, let me borrow a room in the guild. I want to have some fun, hehehe.”
Si-Hyeon was on the brink of fainting from revulsion when she heard that.
Noh-Cheol also thought that the youngster was revealing his true colors a little too vividly. However, he replied, “Fine. Take any of the rooms over there.”
“Good, good! Hehehe, let’s go!”
Gwak Gyeom threw Si-Hyeon over his shoulder and entered a room. After shutting the door, he threw the girl on the bed and ripped off the veil covering her face.
At that moment, he forgot what he was about to say as he looked at Si-Hyeon’s face. She was rumored to be an amazing beauty, but the reality defied even those rumors. He hadn’t even seen such a beautiful girl in the capital, let alone this backwoods village.
Still, he tore his eyes away and composed himself, as the Luminous Night Pearl came first. Coming to his senses, he gently caressed Si-Hyeon’s cheek.
“Hehe, you really are as amazing as I imagined. Just wait for me here for a minute. I’ll come back and give you a nice hug after I exterminate all the bastards who betrayed you.”
Gwak Gyeom made sure no one was around and quietly left the room through the window, running to the Guan-Un Martial Hall. He had left Si-Hyeon paralyzed and unable to speak by striking her acupoints, and with her shut in that room, none of the traitors of the Leebi Guild noticed that Gwak Gyeom had left.
In the meantime, Noh-Cheol and Young-Ryong brought Jo Mu-Jae, Si-Hyeon’s father—the guild master, and even the staff of the headquarters together. They knew that they would’ve been done with the guild anyway, so they had no misgivings anymore. Noh-Cheol felt that he was already in control at this point, so he steeled his resolve.
“Well, I guess there won’t be any issues if none of you are alive to tell the story,” he said as he raised his knife.
Jo Mu-Jae, who was now restrained, shouted in anger, “You bastard! You ungrateful bastard! How could you do such a thing? Aren’t you afraid of the government or the Palm Martial Emperor?”
“The government? The enforcers are most likely going to be more interested in the money I’ll offer than the deaths of you useless bastards. As for the Palm Martial Emperor? Phahaha! Why should I be afraid of someone who’s been poisoned and is probably already a corpse by now?”
As Noh-Cheol was laughing smugly at Jo Mu-Jae, the angry voice of a young man resounded from behind them.
“I’m sorry to let you know that things haven’t gone the way you wanted.”