Know Your Place.

Gyo-ha didn’t explain any further. He just shrugged and picked up some food.

He tore at the meat with his hands.

The food disappeared in no time. The dishes on the table were gone before long.

The wanderers only watched.

When he finished eating and smacked his lips, a servant beside him looked helplessly toward the head steward, who gave a small nod.

Soon, new dishes were brought out onto the table.

At that moment, someone walked toward them.

It was Tang Sang-hyeok, who had been chatting with his friends.

“Young Master. Instead of sitting in a place like this, why not join us?”

A place like this.

Namgung Hyeok’s gaze shifted. His eyes were colder than before.

But seemingly not noticing that, Tang Sang-hyeok kept on talking.

“If you are worried about your elder brother, we can look after him. From the looks of it, your brother seems comfortable here…”

Gyo-ha, who had been eating meat with his hands, grinned.

His hands and the area around his mouth were shiny with grease.

Even the wanderers were using chopsticks, but Gyo-ha didn’t care in the slightest.

Seeing him like that, Tang Sang-hyeok failed to hide his expression.

Contempt.

When Namgung Hyeok didn’t reply, Tang Sang-hyeok sighed.

Then he addressed Namgung Hyeok in a dignified tone.

“Young Master, you are still young, so you must be careful about whom you associate with. This may sound unpleasant, but…”

“It is unpleasant.”

“Pardon?”

“My elder brother isn’t someone a person like you has the right to judge.”

At that cold rebuke, embarrassment flashed across Tang Sang-hyeok’s face.

He quickly looked around.

Fortunately, aside from the wanderers, no one else had heard those words.

Soon his face flushed red.

“…To ignore someone’s advice so completely, you will regret this.”

With that, Tang Sang-hyeok spun around so sharply it seemed to kick up a breeze.

But Namgung Hyeok didn’t even snort.

Of course he didn’t. In fact, the wanderers were watching the departing Tang Sang-hyeok with looks of disbelief.

Who was he dealing with?

He was a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Clans.

Jeokmu Hall might be impressive around here, but it couldn’t be compared to the Namgung Clan.

Once Tang Sang-hyeok left, the atmosphere grew strange.

Rather than uncomfortable, the wanderers were now looking at the two with more interest than before.

Calmly eating, Gyo-ha opened his mouth to speak.

“I saw the bodies in front of the village and buried them. They were hyung-nims’¹ comrades, right?”

“…Yes.”

At Gyo-ha’s words, the wanderers’ expressions softened.

In particular, they looked at him in surprise at the way he called them “hyung-nims.”

After glancing around, the wanderers began to take the food, one by one.

“It doesn’t feel like they’re in the middle of a fight here. Is it normally like this?”

Normally, when a sect was in battle, they would stop receiving guests and focus on fighting.

But here, things were different.

At Gyo-ha’s question, the wanderers nodded.

“I heard those guys struck first.”

At that, one of the wanderers let out a short laugh, his expression saying he had plenty to say.

“Brother Gwak.”

A wanderer beside him tried to stop him, but it had the opposite effect.

Annoyed, the wanderer spoke.

“What does it matter at this point?”

When Gyo-ha looked at him, the middle-aged wanderer opened his mouth.

“They might have thrown the first strike, but it was this side that picked the fight.”

“So they provoked the battle.”

The sharp-minded Namgung Hyeok summed up the situation.

The wanderers nodded. But Gyo-ha tilted his head.

“If they want to fight, they can just fight. Why go through all that?”

“Because of justification.”

There was a big difference between attacking first and defending.

For the unorthodox, it might not matter, but for those claiming to be orthodox, it was a serious issue.

“Hmm.”

Gyo-ha scratched his cheek and looked at the wanderers.

“Then what about those guys?”

“You mean Taedong Sect?”

When Gyo-ha nodded, the wanderer furrowed his brow.

Then a wanderer beside him suddenly spoke up.

“They’re all the same bastards.”

If they had a good reputation, there’d be nothing to hold against them.

At those words, Gyo-ha stuck out his lip.

“What is it?”

“Well, if they seemed, I was going to side with them.”

“Join them?”

“I told you. I may not look it, but I’m from the wanderer market.”

He had only used the arena, never actually worked as a wanderer.

But what did that matter?

At first he had thought to join from this side, but seeing how they behaved, he changed his mind out of spite.

Namgung Hyeok was amazed that Gyo-ha had been thinking about such things.

It was something he himself could never do.

‘As expected of Brother.’

His perspective was different from other people’s. He created chances to train in any situation.

Of course, it was possible because he was Gyo-ha, because he was of Kunlun.

Kunlun’s declaration was famous.

If it had been a powerless sect, they would have been ignored, but Kunlun still stood strong.

This wasn’t about Gyo-ha.

The Kunlun Sword Freak.

A man who had once been, along with the Sword Immortal, closest to being the greatest sword under heaven.

Now the Sword Immortal held that position, but had the Sword Freak continued to be active, things might have been different.

The Sword Immortal, Song Hak Jinin.

Wudang’s sect leader, and one of the Twelve Heavens.

Among the later-generation talents of Qingcheng there was someone with the same name, but the courtesy name was different.

The ‘Song’ used in Qingcheng meant the Song dynasty, while the ‘Song’ in Wudang meant pine.

It meant he was a man compared to that Sword Immortal.

The weight of that was by no means light.

“I guess I can’t fight both sides, can I?”

At the regret in Gyo-ha’s voice, Namgung Hyeok nodded.

It was only natural.

This wasn’t like fighting as a wanderer. It would be no different from causing a complete uproar.

And he didn’t want to stand on either side.

“Then we should just leave.”

“You made the right call. We’re only here for the money, but a place like this isn’t something you jump into lightly.”

The middle-aged wanderer who had spoken up first said this curtly.

“Brother Gwak.”

“I’m planning to leave once the contract is up too. I’ve had enough of this.”

At the middle-aged wanderer’s words, the two wanderers beside him nodded.

They had been thinking the same thing.

Hearing their story, Gyo-ha stuffed a handful of food into his mouth and stood up.

Then he stripped off the clothes he was wearing.

He considered taking off his pants as well, but decided to leave them on.

After all, they had taken his original pants.

“Let’s go.”

At the sudden words, the wanderers were dumbfounded.

From the looks of it, he didn’t seem to be heading off to sleep.

It was already dark outside.

But Namgung Hyeok stood up as if he had expected it, and took off his upper garment just as Gyo-ha had.

A few guests who had been watching them had their eyes go wide, but most were too drunk to care.

They had intended to sleep outdoors from the start.

It didn’t matter that it was late at night.

The two left Jeokmu Hall. The martial artists who saw them tried to stop them, but couldn’t.

Avoiding them, they vaulted over the estate wall in one leap.

And eyes watched the spot where the two had left.

“Brother Tang, what are you looking at?”

“It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

Tang Sang-hyeok dodged the question.

“Come on, let’s drink.”

But his fist was trembling slightly.

As soon as they entered Hubei Province, the stream flowing toward the East Lake greeted them.

If they followed the waterway straight along, they would reach Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei.

Walking along the waterway, Gyo-ha spoke.

“Is Wudang far from here?”

Even Gyo-ha couldn’t be ignorant of Wudang.

There were many sects and powers in Hubei, but only one sect represented the province.

The Wudang Sect.

At Gyo-ha’s question, Namgung Hyeok nodded.

“Mount Wudang is to the northwest. It is too far to drop by on the way.”

Gyo-ha clicked his tongue in disappointment.

He had heard from Namgung Hyeok that Wudang’s sect leader was one of the Twelve Heavens.

Of course, he was interested even aside from that.

Even his master, Yun Heo, had praised the skill of Shaolin and Wudang.

And Gyo-ha had met one himself.

A young Taoist.

‘Jin-un, was it?’

He had blown Gyo-ha away with just the palm of his hand.

His movements had been mysterious.

He wanted to have a proper fight with him once.

As if reading Gyo-ha’s thoughts, Namgung Hyeok spoke.

“There should be Wudang Taoists at the Murim Alliance.”

“Ooh!”

Gyo-ha’s eyes sparkled.

That was right. The Wudang Sect was also one of the Nine Sects One Union.

That meant they belonged to the Murim Alliance.

Not just Wudang. Shaolin and the other Five Great Clans would be there as well.

Suddenly his heart began to race.

“Let’s hurry up and go!”

At the sudden change in attitude, Namgung Hyeok also smiled.

But they had to stop after only a short distance.

“Finally caught up to you. But is that really Namgung Hyeok?”

“His features and bone structure match.”

Three men were blocking their path.

Judging by their panting horses at the side, they had ridden hard.

“He really is going around without any escort.”

“Who would recognize him dressed like that?”

The men muttered to each other.

“What’s there to hesitate about? We’ll know once we cut him.”

Otherwise, only one person would end up dead.

They had the same cocky attitude as black-path thugs, but the aura coming off them was real.

A brutal, tyrannical air different from orthodox martial artists.

They were people who had cultivated heretical arts.

“I don’t know the details, but you came for us, right?”

Gyo-ha stepped forward with a bright smile.

He had no complaints about them blocking the road. He was actually happy.

The three snorted when they looked at Gyo-ha.

“So that brat with him must be the one they mentioned.”

At those words, Namgung Hyeok’s eyebrows twitched.

“How dare you call him…”

Had they said brat?

They were here targeting Namgung Hyeok.

But they knew about Gyo-ha as well as Namgung Hyeok.

Namgung Hyeok’s appearance now was different from when he had left the Namgung Clan.

He was in such a state that even someone from the same clan would have trouble recognizing him.

One person naturally came to mind for Namgung Hyeok.

But he quickly shook his head.

It was too early to jump to conclusions.

“Fine.”

In the meantime, he saw Gyo-ha start walking forward.

Seeing that, Namgung Hyeok moved quickly in alarm.

“These aren’t opponents worthy of you stepping in, Brother.”

He drew his sword and aimed it at the three.

His movements were so natural that the three didn’t even notice the moment he drew his sword.

They had looked down on him because of his age, but now their bodies flinched.

“There’s no need to use a cow-slaying knife to catch a chicken.”

“Huh?”

Gyo-ha blinked.

At the same time, the faces of the three, who had been likened to chickens, flushed red.

“What did you just…”

“Come.”

Namgung Hyeok cut him off as if he had no intention of listening.

“People of your level aren’t even worthy of crossing swords with me, but I cannot allow you to trouble my elder brother.”

“W-wait…”

There was someone even more flustered than the three.

That someone was Gyo-ha, who had been about to bravely step forward.

“For the crime of daring to insult this Namgung Hyeok’s elder brother, repay it with your deaths.”

His phrasing was polite, but his voice carried a chill.

Gyo-ha had forgotten, but Namgung Hyeok was a young master of the Namgung Clan.

And his talent was so high that his elder sister worried about his arrogance.

The temperament he had been forcing down at Jeokmu Hall now burst out.

Namgung Hyeok swung his sword toward the three.

It wasn’t the Boundless Firmament Sword Art.

It was the Great Swallowing Sword Art. Even that seemed too good for them, judging by his expression.

His sword, wrapped in thunder qi, shot toward the three.

Pajijik!

The forms of the three twisted and tangled. Before a sword genius recognized by the world, the weight of numbers meant nothing.

There might have been a chance back when he first left the Namgung Clan.

A very slim one.

But with the current Namgung Hyeok, even that possibility had vanished.

Kwaang!

The weight behind his strikes was different now. Naturally, so was the power carried by his blade.

“What the…”

The expressions of the men crossing swords with him changed.

It wasn’t the kind of power that should come from such a slender frame.

They had looked down on him for being young, but they had picked the wrong opponent.

Seeing that, Gyo-ha subtly lowered his fist.

Besides, the enemies had been here for Namgung Hyeok from the beginning.

There was no place for Gyo-ha to step in.

Gyo-ha’s lips jutted out as he watched Namgung Hyeok.

For the first time, Gyo-ha felt resentful toward Namgung Hyeok.

Unaware of how Gyo-ha felt, Namgung Hyeok relentlessly drove his enemies back.

“Know your place! My elder brother isn’t someone the likes of you have the right to even speak to!”

Thunder qi surged from Namgung Hyeok’s sword.

Now even the polite honorifics were gone.

Letting out a sigh, Gyo-ha squatted down and watched the scene.