Chapter – 84
A small marketplace where few people passed.
In the corner stood a modest thatched house.
The small door of the house opened.
An old man of short stature stood at the entrance.
A middle-aged man with a smiling face greeted him.
“Welcome. Are you here to request an escort mission?”
The old man glanced at the worn signboard.
[Haju Escort Agency]
The old man spoke an unexpected request.
“Until the first day after the lunar new year’s eve, give me three dumplings. Also cold noodle soup. Ah, and braised pork.”
“….”
Words more fitting for an inn than an escort agency.
The middle-aged man’s smile froze.
He checked the quiet surroundings.
“Come inside.”
The courtyard they entered was plain.
The interior of the house in the corner was the same.
Mold covered the walls and ceiling.
The old man wiped the dusty table with his hand.
“So this is why I could not find it.”
“What?”
“Reliable.”
Reliable?
What did that mean?
“…!”
A sharp instinct flashed in the middle-aged man’s mind.
The old man’s manner of speaking was strange.
He grabbed the sword stuck under the table.
“You bastard…!”
The middle-aged man leaped.
The old man remained calm.
“Gold Bell.”
“Kuh….”
The middle-aged man, covered in blood, spat foam.
Crawling on the floor, he grabbed the hem of the old man’s pants.
The short old man looked down at him indifferently.
“How… did you find….”
The middle-aged man could not finish.
The old man wiped the sole of his shoe on the ground.
From behind him, a figure in black rose.
“Right Historian.”
Gwak Yeom brushed his pants and spoke.
“Burn this place and erase all traces. He is trustworthy.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gwak Yeom flipped over the corpse with his toe.
“Gold Bell and the Beggars’ Sect. They are dissidents who ruined the foundation of the great plan in Dang family’s territory. We must root them out across the entire central plains.”
The black-clad man bowed.
“I was about to report something about the Beggars’ Sect.”
“What is it?”
He continued.
“The beggars’ sect members are acting strange. Signal fires keep rising from the mountains, and all the lower and higher beggars have stopped begging. They openly break doors and jump over walls. They even raid government offices without restraint. It feels as if they have gone mad.”
Hearing this, Gwak Yeom stepped outside the house.
He had thought there were unusually many beggars in the area.
Outside, it was exactly as reported.
More beggars than pedestrians roamed the small market, searching everywhere.
Gwak Yeom moved and grabbed one of them.
“What are you doing?”
There was no need for further questioning.
The beggar’s hollow face was exhausted.
“Do you know about strange creatures?”
“…!”
“If you do, tell me. I want to quit this work. Hehe.”
The beggars searched shops and stalls, rummaging everywhere.
“No, these bastards are crazy! Why are they doing this?”
Just as one shop owner shouted, the Beggars’ Sect—normally part of the righteous faction—was doing things not even the evil sect would do.
Gwak Yeom felt a chill despite his fiery nature.
If this continued, news of the strange creature would soon spread.
The leader was heading toward that creature right now.
Gwak Yeom checked the beggar’s pulse.
“Ah!”
He threw the beggar aside.
“Go. If you have practiced martial arts, you would have died.”
He turned to the black-clad man.
“Tell Gwak Hwa about the situation and find the child. There is only one person capable of doing this.”
“Yes, sir.”
Soon, black flames rose from the corner of the marketplace.
The fire grew and swallowed the area.
“Haah.”
Yeon Baekrim sighed in the room.
Even late at night, he could not sleep.
He recalled earlier words:
“To be honest, I doubted you. I thought the divine dragon was just a rumor. A liar deceiving people. You never run, and you faint whenever I carry you. I even planned to fight you once I escaped dreamland….”
He turned over again.
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.
He had avoided worrying, but it was like walking on thin ice with iron shoes.
Every moment with the monster felt like the edge of life and death.
Thinking again, he wondered how he had endured so far.
Sometimes he even worried beyond his station.
The monster might be a great demon hiding in Gold Bell to overthrow the righteous faction… should I just run away after this? But is it right to leave him?
Yet he was useless, like an empty gourd.
“Haah.”
“Phew.”
“Ha.”
“Haah….”
His sighs continued.
Normally he worried a lot, but today felt especially suffocating.
Earlier in the day, while being carried and inspecting signal fires:
“Can’t you run on your own when it’s just the two of us?”
“….”
It sounded like a mutter, but he clearly heard it.
Something was approaching.
Something bad would happen in a few days.
After tossing and turning, he put on his outer clothes.
Fresh air might help.
The innkeeper had mentioned a stream behind the building.
Thinking to clear his mind, he left the room and headed outside.
“?”
As soon as he stepped behind the inn, figures emerged from the bushes.
They came from the stairs leading down to the stream.
I guess I’m not the only one feeling uneasy.
In the moonlight he saw them—two small old men, short in stature and identical like twins.
They stared at him.
Feeling awkward, he tried to greet them.
“Hello—”
He sensed a presence behind him.
“Looks like you noticed.”
“?”
It was a familiar voice.
Turning, he saw the monster.
Though startled, he followed the usual rule: when the monster spoke strangely, it was best to agree.
“Sir?”
“Yes.”
Kang Yu nodded and surveyed the front.
The two small old men were obvious masters—at least as strong as the left and right envoys he had met in the Dang family.
They had not come by accident.
They seemed to have known.
One of the old men spoke in a rough voice.
“So we finally meet.”
The other smiled slyly.
“Just as the rumors said, you are pretty. Do you even have a man’s parts? Heh.”
Yeon Baekrim whispered to Kang Yu.
“Do you know them?”
Kang Yu kept watching the old men.
‘They look like people from the Five Elements Cult.’
‘Five Elements Cult?’
The old man confirmed it.
“I heard you are searching for the strange creature.”
The other continued.
“Don’t interfere too much if you want to laugh it off. Heh.”
Gwak Yeom stepped forward.
“You crossed the line.”
Gwak Hwa followed.
“We only refrained from touching you because we were ordered.”
Kang Yu unconsciously grabbed his sleeve.
The closer they came, the heavier the pressure.
It felt like facing both Xuan Ji and Murong Hui at once.
Gwak Yeom placed a hand on his waist.
“Your time ends today.”
Gwak Hwa gathered formless energy in his hand.
“You should have behaved. Heh.”
The situation was on the verge of explosion.
Sweat ran down Kang Yu’s back.
Still, he smiled.
“I don’t think I’m the one acting arrogantly.”
Gwak Hwa paused.
Gwak Yeom also stopped.
“What?”
Kang Yu stood proudly.
“You didn’t come here with only the two of you, did you?”
He had someone with him.
The greatest of masters.
The divine dragon who flew in the blue sky.
So strong that unlike other masters, he had two nicknames.
Divine Sword Yeon Baekrim.
Sky Dragon Yeon Baekrim!
He had endured acting as a porter all this time just for moments like this!
“You two old men made a mistake.”
“….”
Feeling his gaze, Yeon Baekrim looked at Gwak Yeom and Gwak Hwa.
Small old men barely reaching his chest.
They were from the Five Elements Cult.
I have never heard of Five Elements Cult. It is not the same as the demonic or blood sect, is it?
Is it another name for the demonic or blood sect?
Yes?
No. As far as I know, Five Elements Cult is just Five Elements Cult.
He had even confirmed it.
It is nothing serious.
It is not our main business.
…….
Gold Bell’s main business was information gathering and infiltration—sometimes even assassination.
But this matter about Five Elements Cult was not their main business.
Moreover, the monster valued manners, at least on the surface.
“I don’t think I’m the one acting arrogantly.”
“You didn’t come with only two people, did you?”
“You old men made a mistake.”
Yet the monster treated the elderly so carelessly?
That could only mean one thing.
Yeon Baekrim’s eyes sharpened.
“You old fossils are making a useless show.”
“…what?”
He drew his sword.
Though sudden, he needed to leave an impression on the monster.
The monster doubted him.
“Retreat, Five Elements Cult fools. No one who faces this sword returns alive.”
Even if the old bones fought, the outcome was uncertain.
He added a line he remembered from theater:
“Come closer if you dare. My sword does not cut backs, but it cleans its blade with the blood of fools. All who block my path shall fall.”
Kang Yu, watching from behind, admired him.
Such confidence and elegance against two great masters!
His words were impressive, but his demeanor was even more so.
Though he felt guilty, he had sometimes doubted him.
Maybe the rumors were exaggerated…
No!
The dragon’s back was like a mountain.
A terrifying aura of a heavenly tiger radiated from him.
The rumors about the Sky Dragon were not exaggerated!
Wheeeing—
The sword in Yeon Baekrim’s hand vibrated.
Gwak Yeom narrowed his brows.
“Phantom Light Sword?”
Gwak Hwa realized his identity.
“Divine Sword of Sun and Moon…!”
Now it was Gwak Yeom and Gwak Hwa who were startled.
Yeon Baekrim had not been in their plans.
They had received reports of a companion through the Beggars’ Sect, but they never expected the Divine Sword.
The rumors were true.
His bearing and aura were extraordinary.
Of course, they could fight.
Who were they?
The twin lords of the Western Lands who once ruled from Potala Palace.
But the Divine Sword’s presence was too heavy.
Too confident—like Zhang Fei in Changban.
Even in a two-on-two fight, he looked absolutely certain of victory.
Worse, he even smirked, looking down on them like old men from the back room.
He had even called them old fossils.
If it were simple arrogance, they would fight—but being treated like fools made it hard to move.
Damn….
Something was going on.
And they could not fight a life-or-death battle yet.
They needed to protect their leader, weakened by internal injury.
Moreover, behind the Divine Sword stood that child…
The twins thought the same thing.
“We will meet again.”
Gwak Yeom and Gwak Hwa vanished into the darkness, still wary of Yeon Baekrim.
Relieved, Yeon Baekrim chuckled.
His thinking had been right.
“Anytime.”
Watching him remain calm, Kang Yu admired him.
“Truly amazing! How can you stay so calm against such opponents?”
Yeon Baekrim smiled lightly.
“It is nothing.”
“Wow.”
Nothing?
Against masters surpassing the left envoy of the Dang family.
Kang Yu checked his clothes again.
Unlike himself, who had rushed out in underclothes, the divine dragon wore shoes and an outer coat.
That was it.
He had noticed the intruders long before and prepared!
Truly a master among masters—the sky dragon everyone praised!
“He is so cool.”
“Hmph.”
At that moment, smoke twisted in the distance.
Kang Yu decoded it and brightened.
“They found it.”
“Wha… ah, now I see.”
Though Yeon Baekrim could see nothing.
Only Kang Yu saw the smoke rise again in the same pattern.
“The strange creature.”
