Yu Family Manor

It hadn’t been many days before Gyo-ha arrived in Lanzhou.

With no party and no iron shackles, he could move without hindrance.

Had he not taken a wrong turn along the way, he could have arrived two days earlier.

Arriving in Lanzhou, Gyo-ha looked around, impressed.

“Wow.”

It was different from the villages he’d been to so far.

Buildings stretched on endlessly.

It felt like several towns stitched together.

It lived up to the name of a provincial capital.

He also saw a fair number of martial artists.

They weren’t wanderers. Each group wore coordinated martial uniforms and gathered in small clusters, chatting.

They were people from the same sects or martial halls.

His eyes went to them too, but he didn’t feel the same thrill as before.

Gyo-ha tilted his head.

“Is my body still not recovered?”

Or maybe he was just hungry.

Gyo-ha thought little of it and kept walking.

“I should hurry and find Uncle.”

But even after searching for a long while, finding his companions wasn’t easy.

Lanzhou was far too big.

“…I heard it was the Yu Family Manor, but still.”

Gyo-ha scratched his cheek with a troubled look.

With only “Yu Family Manor” to go on, there were limits.

How many Yu families were there in Lanzhou?

Naturally, there was more than one manor.

In the end, he could only rely on his nose.

As night fell, Gyo-ha stepped into a conspicuous inn.

‘What if I can’t meet them like this?’

He’d finally grown attached, so the regret was large.

“…Right.”

Gyo-ha stopped. He had remembered something he’d forgotten.

He groped at his back without thinking.

His muscles kept his hand from reaching lower, but he could feel the absence.

The Kunlun Sect’s secret manual.

He had entrusted it to Noh-sam during the fight with the Darkshadow Mountain Ghost.

“…No, wait.”

Gyo-ha opened both hands.

Then, as if calculating, he folded his fingers one by one.

Finding fingers insufficient, he even lifted his toes. Gyo-ha’s face turned pale.

Even excluding the time he’d fainted in the spider nest, he had far overshot the date his master said he would return.

Was this the foreboding he’d felt before?

Gyo-ha shivered.

“…I have to find the manual.”

Running away only meant stepping on death’s doorstep a few times, but the manual was different.

It might send him beyond the threshold entirely.

Muttering with a grave face, Gyo-ha turned his steps away from the inn.

This wasn’t the time to sleep idly.

As he moved, Gyo-ha’s eyes sharpened.

He felt presences approaching from behind.

But soon, a familiar scent brightened his expression.

“Uncle!”

“So it was you, Young Master.”

At being called “Uncle,” Geum Ho-pyeong’s eyes trembled, then quickly filled with delight.

“You’re safe.”

“Yes. How did you know I arrived?”

It wasn’t a coincidence.

From his tone, he had been looking for Gyo-ha.

“I heard a mon—…an eccentric in leather was wandering through the town, so I wondered.”

Geum Ho-pyeong had meant to say “monster,” but changed it to “eccentric.”

Skin-tight leather, muscles bulging as if they might burst out any moment.

Hair sticking out every which way.

The term “monster” truly fit.

But Gyo-ha didn’t seem to care. Geum Ho-pyeong sighed and spoke.

“Training is fine and all, but walking on your hands through town was too much.”

“Ah.”

Gyo-ha stuck out his tongue.

“I’m used to being alone, so I forgot.”

How could someone forget that? People were still sneaking glances even now.

He sensed hostility flawlessly, but was truly careless about everything else.

When Gyo-ha glanced their way, people flinched and turned their heads.

Geum Ho-pyeong sighed at the sight.

“Let’s go. Master Jang and Warrior Moon are also staying at the main manor. I’m curious what happened, but let’s hear it when everyone’s together.”

At the mention of Master Jang, he wondered who it meant, then remembered Noh-sam’s surname was Jang.

Naturally, Gyo-ha’s face brightened.

With this, the risk of dying was as good as gone.

It was a bit unexpected that Moon Ryang was there too, but what did it matter?

Watching Gyo-ha nod vigorously, Geum Ho-pyeong spoke again.

“Of course, before that, let’s change your clothes.”

If he entered the Yu Family Manor dressed like that, rumors would spread.

Normally it wouldn’t matter, but now drawing eyes was unwanted.

And so the two set off.

By the time they bought and changed clothes, it was already dusky around them.

In black martial garb, a simple country youth now stood there.

‘…I only covered the muscles.’

The atmosphere changed.

Geum Ho-pyeong glanced at Gyo-ha as if intrigued.

Then their eyes met and he cleared his throat.

“By the way, since you came to Lanzhou, why did you wander around town instead of coming straight to the Yu Family Manor?”

At his question, Gyo-ha blinked.

“There’s more than one Yu Family Manor, you know?”

At Gyo-ha’s words, Geum Ho-pyeong let out a small sigh.

“True, my explanation was lacking.”

Before they knew it, Geum Ho-pyeong’s pace had slowed.

Were they already there? Gyo-ha looked around.

But he saw only a large outer wall.

“There are many Yu Family Manors in Lanzhou, but only one that can be called the Yu Family Manor of Lanzhou.”

A large gate soon came into view.

With warriors guarding it.

Once they checked Geum Ho-pyeong’s face, the warriors opened the gate.

Beyond it lay a sprawling manor.

“Welcome to the Yu Family Manor.”

Seeing Geum Ho-pyeong speak so confidently, Gyo-ha’s mouth fell open.

As soon as they arrived at the Yu Family Manor, Yu So-ha welcomed Gyo-ha.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Seeing Yu So-ha in tears, Gyo-ha gave an awkward smile.

As he soothed the crying Yu So-ha, Gyo-ha tilted his head.

The eyes of the manor’s guarding warriors were fierce.

It was too much to be merely because a stranger had come.

In the midst of that, he also saw Moon Ryang drenched in sweat.

Moon Ryang stared at Gyo-ha, then nodded.

It meant “good to see you again,” but Gyo-ha didn’t understand and only cocked his head.

Then he felt a familiar emotion rise.

What one calls competitive spirit, or fighting spirit.

‘…Huh? Wasn’t my body not healed?’

From experience, that spirit didn’t stir for average martial artists, but he hadn’t realized it.

But seeing the bandages swathing Moon Ryang’s shoulder, he only smacked his lips.

Since blood was seeping out of it, it seemed that his wound hadn’t healed.

By now, even Gyo-ha recognized that his body was different from others’.

‘I’ll ask him tomorrow—no, the day after.’

He just didn’t know the exact difference.

Nodding to himself, Gyo-ha looked around.

“Where’s Uncle Noh-sam?”

“He should be here soon.”

“He stepped out to buy something. More importantly, what happened?”

Gyo-ha glanced around. It was not only Yu So-ha and Geum Ho-pyeong, but even Moon Ryang was looking at him.

Too many were curious to wait for Noh-sam.

Nodding, Gyo-ha began to speak slowly.

He told of being separated from the party and fighting alongside Moon Ryang.

They passed over what the party already knew easily, but once Moon Ryang drew the blade, it was a chorus of awe and sighs.

Moon Ryang, too, only frowned and groped for his memories.

It seemed he had no memory of when he changed into that state.

Yet he nodded now and then as if not entirely without memories.

Even Moon Ryang held his breath when the woman in the cave came up.

There was no awe or lament.

Everyone stilled even their breathing to listen to Gyo-ha.

Only when Gyo-ha finished did they let out long breaths.

“…Amazing.”

“More than that, who in the world was that woman…”

If it hadn’t been Gyo-ha telling the story, they would have dismissed it as nonsense.

But the Gyo-ha they knew didn’t embellish facts or lie.

If anything, he often passed over enormous facts lightly.

“It’s possible that even Darkshadow Mountain Ghost is still alive.”

Their faces darkened. Even one-armed, he was a peak master.

There was no guarantee he’d die easily.

Besides, having glimpsed a chance, he might have fled.

In such cases, one always chose whatever held even a sliver of possibility.

“Then…”

Just as Yu So-ha was about to speak again, a commotion rose outside.

They hurried out, and saw someone being helped in by the guards.

“Uncle!”

“Master Jang!”

Startled, Gyo-ha and the others rushed out.

For the one being helped along by the guards was Noh-sam.

As soon as he saw Gyo-ha’s face, Noh-sam bit down on his lips.

Then he pushed away the guard supporting him and dropped to his knees.

Noh-sam banged his head to the floor.

Startled, they tried to raise him, but he wouldn’t budge.

Instead, he spoke toward Gyo-ha.

“I am sorry, Young Master.”

“Eh?”

“The bundle. The secret manual was taken.”

At the words “secret manual,” the party jolted and turned to Gyo-ha.

The bundle Gyo-ha always carried so carefully.

They hadn’t imagined a secret manual was inside.

Gyo-ha hadn’t told them what was in it either.

Unlike them, Gyo-ha’s expression hardened coldly.

“…Where is it?”

“Young Master, please wait a moment.”

Geum Ho-pyeong quickly held Gyo-ha back.

It seemed he knew who the culprit was.

The others’ faces darkened as if they knew as well.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”

It was Yu So-ha. Brow furrowed, she spoke calmly.

The problem began with the Yeo-un Merchant Guild.

Though the foremost merchant guild in Lanzhou was the Yu Family Merchant Guild, Yeo-un had been swelling its power frighteningly of late.

A matchmaker arrived on behalf of Bang Geum-hyeok, the Yeo-un Guild’s second young master.

Bang Geum-hyeok’s debauchery was well known throughout Lanzhou.

Naturally, the Yu Family Manor refused.

Partly because he fancied Yu So-ha, but more because marrying her would let them absorb the Yu Family Manor.

Yu So-ha had an older brother, but he had stepped away from family affairs.

Thus Yu Hyeop, the Yu Manor Lord, cut them off with a single stroke.

They thought the matter ended there, but while the Manor Lord was away on important business, the matchmaker returned.

When they refused again, subtle pressure began.

Unable to pressure them directly, they harassed the Yu Family Guild’s trading partners.

“It’s certain they’re the ones who contrived the Manor Lord being away.”

Otherwise, such a business trip wouldn’t have come at this time.

Geum Ho-pyeong clenched his fist in vexation.

But Gyo-ha felt something was off.

“Isn’t the Yu Family Manor bigger than they are?”

Unlike the Yeo-un Guild, the Yu Family also ran businesses beyond the merchant guild.

Even without the Manor Lord, if they made a mess like that, problems would follow later.

At Gyo-ha’s question, Yu So-ha and Geum Ho-pyeong’s faces darkened.

“It isn’t that simple.”

Noh-sam, who was cooling a bruise with a wet cloth on their behalf, spoke.

“The Yu Family is undoubtedly the wealthiest in Lanzhou. But that doesn’t make us the strongest.”

When Gyo-ha tilted his head, not understanding, Moon Ryang answered.

“It’s because the Yu Family isn’t a Murim sect.”

No matter how many warriors you hired with money, you couldn’t compare with a Murim sect.

So their force had its limits.

And currently, two could be named as the strongest powers in Lanzhou.

The Ironblood Gang and the Justice Gate.

The Ironblood Gang belonged to the Evil Heaven Alliance, the foremost Unorthodox power, and the Justice Gate was, remarkably, an affiliated branch sect of Wudang.

But what did that have to do with this matter?

“I hear the Justice Gate Master will retire at his sixtieth-birthday banquet.”

Honestly, it was long overdue.

The sect’s affairs were already being handled by his son, the Young Gate Master.

Even so, there was one reason the Young Gate Master hadn’t inherited the sect. The name of the Justice Gate Master, Gwak Mu-hyeok, was simply too great.

Gwak Mu-hyeok was the Justice Gate itself.

The Young Gate Master’s skill didn’t measure up.

So they had delayed the change of Gate Lord as long as possible.

From the Justice Gate’s perspective, that was better.

But now it could not be put off any longer.

Naturally, the elders who had served alongside the Gate Master would also have to step down.

And one of those newly made elders this time—

“Bang Sa-hyeok. The Yeo-un Merchant Guild’s first son.”