Chapter 38
The Dang Family of Sichuan (1)
A flickering flame in the wind.
Jin Jo-yeon’s situation was literally like a candle before a gust of wind.
Crack. Sssshh.
Pa-pa-pa-ang!
The overwhelming attacks of the heretical sorcerers poured in an instant, attacks that a third son of an ordinary(?) merchant family could not possibly withstand.
“I- I’m going to die.”
Splash. P-pip-pit.
Barely feeling his body tearing from the exchange of a single strike, Jin Jo-yeon thought of death.
“Gah-!”
If it weren’t for Namgoe Jong-gyeong, whom he had painstakingly persuaded to come, he would already have been gone from this world.
“Fall back!”
Jong-gyeong swung his unique weapon, the Gyoryong-sak, protecting even Jin Jo-yeon alongside him.
Shii-ung. Shii-ung.
Sss-ssit!
From the tip of the Gyoryong-sak, the very space seemed to split and tear, sharp cracking sounds continuing endlessly.
Heretical illusion?
They were aiming somewhere completely different from where the eye could see?
No chance.
Puf-puf-pang. Pa-kang! Tada-dang!
Illusion or not, every single one of them was caught by the brutally fast and wide-reaching Gyoryong-sak. They were shredded like paper.
But that was all.
There were only three enemies in front of them.
Jong-gyeong, famous for wielding the Gyoryong-sak, could not turn the tide in an instant.
“Damn it. If I were alone, I’d have jumped in and torn them apart already.”
Because of Jin Jo-yeon, that was impossible.
He was a guest of the Jin family, after all.
He had to ensure his safety, so he had no choice but to fall back.
“Kuh-huh-huh. Hand over the brat on your back!”
“We don’t need you, fool.”
“Just hand him over. Huh? How about it?”
Was this also an illusion?
The heretical sorcerers continuously tried to disturb Namgoe Jong-gyeong’s mind with strange voices.
They persistently aimed at his back.
They prevented Jong-gyeong from unleashing his true power.
At that, Dang So-baek shouted.
“You damn bastards! Leave my friend alone!”
Puf-puf-puf-ung.
“Grr-!”
Dang So-baek staggered two steps back.
He had been hit by the heretical sorcerers’ attacks while his attention was split.
But that was not the end.
Thud. Pfu-sst.
Two heretical sorcerers’ attacks, precisely meshing like gears, repeatedly grazed vital points. Thick streams of blood spurted everywhere.
Dang So-baek’s hair stood on end.
“This… I might end up buried here.”
There were only two heretical sorcerers to face.
Even if he had a hidden trump card, he couldn’t guarantee his life.
But,
Sss-ick.
Dang So-baek smiled chillingly.
“I won’t die alone.”
He would take them with him.
The two who were already brimming with overconfidence.
“That’s a true Dang man. Yeah.”
Dang So-baek had, unnoticed, a pair of red butterfly charms in his hand.
Chuhon Bi-jeop.
Though not part of the Dang family’s eight great secret techniques, he was confident that even while under attack, he could take down two enemies who couldn’t handle him.
“Come, then. Let’s make our final act… hmm?”
Dang So-baek’s eyes widened.
A kind of tingling, destructive power he had never felt before exploded in front.
A blinding white light.
In an instant, it spread in a zigzag pattern, swallowing the heretical sorcerers. It was undoubtedly lightning.
Kuwaa-ang!
A ferocious roar erupted slightly later?!
“W-What…?”
He didn’t know exactly what martial art had been unleashed, but one thing was certain.
The battle was over.
Puh-buh-buh-buh-buck!
The enemies’ bodies began to be crushed.
“Mokryong-dok-a!”
Jong-gyeong, seizing the opportunity that appeared in an instant, performed his decisive move.
Chwa-chwa-chwa-aaak!
It was a cruel scene.
The three heretical sorcerers pressuring Jong-gyeong and Jin Jo-yeon, as well as the two who had forced Dang So-baek to consider a suicidal move, were all torn apart by the Gyoryong-sak.
“Phew! Damn it.”
Dang So-baek, having secured the Chuhon Bi-jeop, muttered.
He knew that the incredible lightning had originated from the proudly standing Kang Yong-woon.
“Came to help but ended up being helped instead… hey, friend, th- thanks…”
Before Dang So-baek could even finish his greeting,
Sss-r. Plop.
Kang Yong-woon, who had been standing tall the whole time, tilted sideways and collapsed, utterly drained.
“Damn!”
Dang So-baek quickly activated a divine technique.
Only then did he see: Kang Yong-woon’s entire body was soaked in red blood.
“Kang Dae-hyeop!”
Jin Jo-yeon, who had barely survived hiding behind Jong-gyeong, shouted and ran forward, catching Kang Yong-woon before he hit the ground completely.
“Whew. That was an amazing technique.”
Jong-gyeong silently praised him.
He watched, eyes wide, as Kang Yong-woon nestled in Jin Jo-yeon and Dang So-baek’s arms.
“Where could his sect be?”
Jong-gyeong’s curiosity deepened.
After that.
A clinic in Pazhong County, northern Sichuan.
“Huh-!”
Kang Yong-woon, who had been unconscious, suddenly woke in shock and sprang up.
“Kang Dae-hyeop!”
“Ha ha ha. You’re awake.”
Jin Jo-yeon and Dang So-baek happily greeted him.
“Ah! I owe you my thanks.”
“Nonsense!”
Kang Yong-woon bowed immediately, but Jin Jo-yeon panicked and stopped him.
“It’s I who should thank you, Kang Dae-hyeop. Ha ha ha.”
“Same here. Thank you, friend. Because of you, I’m safe.”
Jin Jo-yeon and Dang So-baek alternately expressed their gratitude.
‘Who are they?’
Kang Yong-woon gave Dang So-baek a puzzled look.
Friend?!
He had never had such a friend, so being called “friend” felt awkward.
“Ah! I’m late in introducing him.”
Jin Jo-yeon stepped forward quickly.
“This is my only close friend, Dang So-baek. Hey, So-baek, this is Kang Dae-hyeop.”
“You fool. Didn’t you see what I did?”
Dang So-baek muttered.
He said something Kang Yong-woon never expected:
“He wants to share loyalty as a friend! Just treat him like me, casually.”
“But still…”
“You’re too timid.”
Dang So-baek stepped forward, unable to hold back.
“I’m Dang So-baek, friend.”
“Ah! I’m Kang Yong-woon, Dang Dae-hyeop.”
“Dang Dae-hyeop, my foot.”
With a smirk, Dang So-baek pressed Kang Yong-woon.
“That guy wants to become friends.”
“You mean with me?”
“Yes. As you know, he’s the third son of the Jin family, but aside from his family background, he’s a pretty decent guy. Friend?”
“Please, Dang Dae-hyeop.”
Jin Jo-yeon, who had been quiet, spoke with a passionate voice.
Kang Yong-woon hesitated, then replied.
“I’m now twenty. I believe Jin Gongja is twenty-four…”
“Eh, who cares?”
Dang So-baek interrupted him.
“Hey, friend. A man’s first priority is loyalty, second is faith. As long as you’re compatible, that’s enough, isn’t it?”
“Y-Yes!”
He seemed to gain courage.
Even Jin Jo-yeon began speaking casually like Dang So-baek.
“If you don’t dislike it, just become friends. Right?!”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Drums and gongs played.
Watching this, a pleasant smile appeared on Kang Yong-woon’s face.
‘These are the men who came worrying about me.’
The elders in the palace had already known.
Through the saying “joy follows sorrow,” they foretold both the coming crisis and my safety.
‘Turns out one of the reasons I’m safe is Jin Gongja?’
If he hadn’t wanted to become friends and hadn’t brought Dang So-baek and Namgoe Jong-gyeong, Kang Yong-woon would have perished in the storm.
‘Even if I had mastered a new technique, I wouldn’t have survived.’
He might have handled Hwe-ryeong Five, but Baek-ryeong would have been impossible.
“Thank you, Jo-yeon.”
Kang Yong-woon extended his hand.
“As you know, I am a descendant of a fallen empire, possessing nothing and my martial skill is shallow. But if that’s alright with you, will you be my friend?”
He asked to become friends.
“Yong-woon.”
Snap.
Jin Jo-yeon grasped his hand with both of hers, shouting passionately.
“Of course, Yong-woon.”
“I hope you’ll just call me ‘Un-ah.’”
“Ha ha ha. Alright, Un-ah. From now on, we’re friends, bound by loyalty and faith.”
“Wahaha. Such a day can’t go without wine. Wait a moment. I’ll go get some wine…”
“You fool. Un-ah just woke up. Wine comes later.”
Jin Jo-yeon stopped the excited Dang So-baek from fetching wine.
Smiling, Kang Yong-woon asked first:
“But how did you know I’d be in trouble and come here?”
“Ah! That?”
Embarrassed, Jin Jo-yeon scratched the back of her neck.
Dang So-baek answered instead:
“This friend whined to me so much that I said, let’s go together and make him a friend. Ha ha ha.”
“Hey. I didn’t whine.”
Jin Jo-yeon protested.
Dang So-baek spoke only what he wanted.
“To do that, I had to know your whereabouts. So I went to Jin’s family first, using the guild’s info network to see where you were heading.”
“Ah-! I see.”
Seeing Kang Yong-woon’s wide eyes, Jin Jo-yeon quickly added:
“That’s when I learned my friend was constantly fighting unknown enemies every day.”
It truly was fate.
From Kang Yong-woon’s advice to the previous family head, Jin Yeong-hwi, to Jin Jo-yeon deciding to seek him out, everything aligned.
“My heart dropped, so I hurried. I even begged the guest of our guild to accompany me, saying my friend is in danger.”
“Ah! The one who wielded the whip?!”
“Right. Namgoe Jong-gyeong Dae-hyeop.”
Namgoe Jong-gyeong, a martial artist in the Sichuan area, uses the Gyoryong-sak.
“Thanks to them, I’m safe. Should I thank them? Are they still around?”
“Of course. They said they’re hiding in secret to prepare for possible attacks.”
Kang Yong-woon’s curiosity was satisfied.
What remained was Jin Jo-yeon and Dang So-baek’s curiosity.
“But who exactly were they?”
“Looks like they were deliberately targeting my friend.”
“From the masked appearance and martial skill, they seemed like the villains who tried to kidnap me at Seolbong Mountain… Could it be they were avenging me against my friend?”
“Yes. Revenge.”
Jin Jo-yeon and Dang So-baek’s eyes glinted.
They didn’t know who, but they were furious.
“Phew! Time to tell them clearly.”
When he met the previous family head Jin Yeong-hwi, he intentionally withheld the details.
It wasn’t a martial sect but a guild.
Now, the situation had completely changed.
Neither the Jin family nor the Sichuan Dang family were strangers anymore.
“They were heretical sorcerers.”
“Heretical?”
“Hah-!”
Jin Jo-yeon merely tilted her head, but Dang So-baek was astonished.
He knew the terror and cruelty of the heretical sect that supposedly disappeared a hundred years ago…
Kang Yong-woon began a long explanation.
“Our first encounter with those suspected heretical sorcerers was north of Hongho…”
