28 — These People Saw It

The faces of those remaining went rigid.

They knew well that Moon Ryang was a first-rate master. Even so, they were confident their formation could hold off even a first-rate master.

They had already proven it in bouts with several experts.

In fact, even Bang Sa-hyeok found it hard to break the disciples’ combined formation.

Moon Ryang looked to Gyo-ha and spoke.

“Do you need help?”

“No.”

Gyo-ha grinned crookedly.

“My body’s warmed up now.”

It was not a lie. His body was heating up just right.

Moon Ryang seemed to notice and nodded.

If not for Bang Sa-hyeok, it would have ended long ago.

Moon Ryang knew that as well.

As for Jong Dae-woon, he plopped onto a nearby rock, apparently with no intention of helping from the start.

At the sight of them, Bang Sa-hyeok’s face flushed deeper.

“Insolent brats.”

Kkadedeuk. He ground his teeth, yet he couldn’t rush in so easily.

He too had gleaned from the last exchange that Gyo-ha’s skill was no less than his own.

As he hesitated, Gyo-ha stepped in.

He had no leisure to wait for them.

Those at his flank hastily raised their swords, but they couldn’t stop Gyo-ha.

With one axis collapsed, the pressure no longer matched before.

Gyo-ha ignored the two attacks and hurled himself at Bang Sa-hyeok.

But first-rate was still first-rate.

Bang Sa-hyeok snatched a disciple’s sword and tried to block Gyo-ha.

But his impatience stained the blade.

Severed hairs floated in the air.

At the same time, blood spattered from Gyo-ha’s shoulder.

Bang Sa-hyeok swallowed as a fist came up close before his eyes.

He couldn’t dodge it.

At that moment.

A blue sleeve fluttered.

A hand suddenly intruded.

It looked far too weak to stop Gyo-ha.

But the instant the hand touched Gyo-ha’s chest, his body lifted into the air.

Tak, his two feet settled down.

Gyo-ha blinked without thinking.

It wasn’t strength that had sent him flying. It felt like wind buoyed his body.

The strength felt at his chest wasn’t all that great either.

“Ooh.”

His eyes gleamed at the curious sensation.

This was it.

The feeling he’d sensed when attacking the warrior. At the time, it had been such a small motion he thought he had mistaken, but it wasn’t.

When Gyo-ha looked up, a young man was straightening his fluttering robe.

“Your hand seemed a bit heavy, so I unwillingly stepped in.”

“Taoist Jin-un!”

Relief and delight rose on Bang Sa-hyeok’s face.

And before they knew it, Moon Ryang and Jong Dae-woon had come to Gyo-ha’s side.

They had sensed the youth Jin-un’s approach, but, realizing he held no enmity, they didn’t move in.

Even so, Moon Ryang’s hand rested on his blade’s hilt.

Unlike the composed Moon Ryang, bewilderment rose in Jong Dae-woon’s eyes.

He had recognized the youth’s robe.

The Taiji emblem.

It was the Wudang Sect, famed as the foremost Taoist school under heaven.

“They are villains who harmed the Yeo-un Merchant Guild and my father!”

Bang Sa-hyeok didn’t miss the chance to cry out.

But Jin-un didn’t look at the party. He checked the fallen warriors.

None of the fallen were dead.

There was mercy in their hands for “villains.”

Sensing Jin-un’s mien, Bang Sa-hyeok spoke again.

“They practice heretical arts!”

“That’s right.”

The warriors beside him also nodded.

But this, too, was already known.

Jin-un’s gaze went to Moon Ryang behind Gyo-ha.

The two had already met at a tavern.

“May I hear what happened?”

His manner, unlike Bang Sa-hyeok’s, was courteous. This was because his Martial Uncle’s words came to mind.

“That young guy over there took my belongings from my companion.”

“Don’t lie!”

Bang Sa-hyeok shouted reflexively.

But Jin-un glanced at him and let out a short sigh, knowing the matter was tangled.

“…I understand there are circumstances. For now, please come with this humble Taoist.”

Jong Dae-woon looked at Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang with pleading eyes.

But Moon Ryang was different.

“Why should we trust you and go along?”

At Moon Ryang’s retort, displeasure rose on the Justice Gate disciples’ faces.

To them, Wudang was considered sacred.

Yet Jin-un looked more troubled than offended.

“I give my word in my own name. If you refuse, this humble Taoist will have no choice but to act.”

At his expression which showed reluctance rather than menace, Moon Ryang turned to Gyo-ha.

It meant he would follow Gyo-ha’s will.

Gyo-ha looked between Bang Sa-hyeok and Jin-un and nodded.

He no longer felt fighting spirit from Bang Sa-hyeok.

The fight was as good as over.

---

On the way to the Justice Gate.

“Hey, are we really okay with this?”

Jong Dae-woon spoke cautiously.

People were gathering, likely having heard the commotion.

They didn’t step forward because Jin-un was present, but they glared at the party.

If looks could kill, they’d be dead already.

But Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang’s faces were utterly calm.

In the end, only Jong Dae-woon beat his chest in frustration.

As they walked, people peeked out from houses to see what was happening, then recoiled and hid.

Armed warriors.

Plenty threatening to ordinary eyes.

By the time they reached the Justice Gate, the place was brightly lit.

“…I sent you to resolve matters, and you bring them back larger.”

A middle-aged man in a blue robe like Jin-un’s sighed.

The strangers entering with Jin-un.

To others, they looked like one group.

At the middle-aged man’s words, Jin-un spoke.

“My apologies, Martial Uncle. But I judged this matter too much for your disciple to handle.”

He apologized, but his bearing was firm.

This was Jeong-hye Jin-in, who led Wudang’s disciples.

And the courtyard held not only the Justice Gate and Wudang, but notable guests from all over for the celebration.

Then someone nearby pointed at the party.

“T-those men! They’re the ones who acted against the Guild Master!”

He was surely the one who had fled from the Yeo-un Merchant Guild.

“You’re the one who harmed my father!”

A middle-aged man thundered.

His identity was easy to tell. Unlike Bang Sa-hyeok, he looked just like his father, Bang Ho-gwak.

Down to the greedy cheeks and protruding belly.

It was Bang Geum-hyeok.

Seeing the Bang Geum-hyeok they’d meant to meet, Gyo-ha cocked his head and looked to Moon Ryang.

The man who was pointing his finger to Gyo-ha. Moon Ryang likewise frowned and stared only at him.

“Why?”

At the odd air, Jong Dae-woon asked carefully.

Hearing Gyo-ha’s account, Jong Dae-woon sighed.

“Wow, he’s a cradle-robber.”

To anyone’s eye, Bang Geum-hyeok looked middle-aged.

He was not at the age to be sending a matchmaker to Yu So-ha.

Then Jin-un cleared his throat and murmured softly.

“Young Master Bang only just passed his coming-of-age.”

He had heard Gyo-ha and Jong Dae-woon speaking nearby.

At Jin-un’s words, the party’s eyes widened.

That meant that that face was of someone who was only in his early twenties. In that case, for him to send a matchmaker wasn’t strange.

“How dare you call him a thief¹!”

A warrior beside Bang Geum-hyeok shouted.

He had heard Jong Dae-woon.

Jong Dae-woon quickly stepped up.

“We are guests of the Yu Family Manor. We entrusted luggage to a fellow guest, and they say the Yeo-un Guild’s Second Young Master took it without leave. If that isn’t theft, what is!”

Jong Dae-woon declared it unflinchingly.

Not only Jin-un, but even Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang looked at him with some respect.

In a moment, even Jong Dae-woon had passed himself off as a Yu Manor guest.

A few Yeo-un warriors who knew his face tilted their heads, but dropped suspicion at his bold expression.

His clothes and hair being a mess from several fights helped.

Gazes turned to Bang Geum-hyeok.

Then a warrior beside him cried reflexively.

“Nonsense! How dare you slander him!”

“R-right! You impudent wretches!”

Bang Geum-hyeok also shouted in haste, but all had seen his fluster.

Yet none could easily speak up.

Bang Geum-hyeok, like them, was a guest invited by the Justice Gate.

It wasn’t an issue for the guests to jump into.

People’s eyes shifted elsewhere.

The middle-aged man looked disconcerted.

At last, an elderly elder at the side cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Until the facts are confirmed, everyone will wait in the guest rooms.”

At the elder’s words, Gyo-ha frowned.

Just as Gyo-ha was about to speak, Moon Ryang stepped in first.

“I’m standing right here, why do you need time? Trying to buy time to cover it up?”

Though he said “guest rooms”, what it meant was locking them in.

The elder’s face hardened.

Yet some guests listening nodded.

But those of rank or age murmured lowly.

It could be, as Moon Ryang said, an attempt to buy time to bury the affair.

Even if not, time was needed.

Those present weren’t only of the Justice Gate.

There were guests from all quarters.

They needed time to discuss how to manage it.

But that was their stance, nothing more.

“How arrogant of you! Do you know where you are!”

One Justice Gate disciple stepped out.

A tall, handsome youth.

Seeing him, Gyo-ha tilted his head. He looked familiar somehow.

“Wang Yeong. That’s enough.”

The elder chided him and then looked back to the party.

“I understand your circumstances, but we cannot judge by one side alone. They too are cherished guests of our sect.”

At his words, Bang Geum-hyeok and the Yeo-un warriors looked choked up.

“There are witnesses!”

A voice rang out suddenly.

At the familiar voice, the party turned.

There, was Noh-sam, panting—and not only Noh-sam.

Yu So-ha and Geum Ho-pyeong, and unfamiliar folk shuffled along behind them.

“These people saw it.”

When gazes turned on them, they flinched.

There were too many for them to be called witnesses.

As Noh-sam was about to speak, Yu So-ha caught his collar.

Her brows trembled slightly.

Soon she steeled herself and stepped forward.

“And they will testify to the Yeo-un Merchant Guild’s tyranny.”

“Lies!”

Bang Geum-hyeok shouted by reflex.

A warrior beside him chimed in.

“You lot traded with the Yu Family Merchant Guild for years! How can we trust such people’s words!”

“…Yes. They did trade with our guild for a long time. Until very recently that is.”

At Yu So-ha’s words, the warrior swallowed.

Jeong-hye Jin-in, finding it odd, spoke.

“If until recently, then not now?”

“Yes. Young Master Bang Geum-hyeok will know best. The Yeo-un young masters and warriors coerced them.”

“Hahh.”

Jeong-hye Jin-in let out a sigh.

Then his gaze went to the Justice Gate’s Young Gate Master and elder.

She had said the Yeo-un Merchant Guild, but he could not miss the meaning beneath.

Yet the Young Gate Master and elder looked blank, faces hard.

“S-slander! How dare you speak lies here!”

Bang Geum-hyeok glared at those who came with Yu So-ha.

They recoiled in fright.

Then the Yu Manor’s warriors behind them formed a guard, and Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang stepped up to shield them.

At their fierce eyes, Bang Geum-hyeok flinched.

The middle-aged Taoist sighed and addressed the Young Gate Master and elder.

“It seems we must settle this here and now.”

At Jeong-hye Jin-in’s words, the two murmured lowly.