Damn Kunlun.

Not long after Jeon Pyeong headed to the Justice Gate, the Justice Gate came to them.

Instead of a letter, the Justice Gate sent an elder in person, who came to apologize and discuss compensation before leaving.

Now that their relations with Wudang had grown distant, they could not afford to make an enemy of the Mount Hua Sect.

Of course, the Mount Hua Sect would not move over just a single disciple.

However, Jeon Pyeong was not just any disciple.

Plum Blossom Swordsman.

Only the outstanding disciples of Mount Hua could become Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

They were Mount Hua’s sharpest swords.

They were also the talents who would lead Mount Hua’s future.

And two weeks later, a strange figure appeared at Yu Family Manor.

His hair was matted with dirt and sweat, and white steam was rising from his bare upper body.

Heavy iron shackles hung from both his arms and legs.

Suspicious at a glance to anyone who saw him.

The strange man ran up to Yu Family Manor’s main gate and collapsed to his knees as if he were falling over.

“Who goes there!”

“W, water.”

The strange man answered the guard’s shout.

His voice was dry and cracked. One of the guards who sensed something familiar about that voice carefully examined him.

Then.

“…Young Master Gyo.”

Gyo-ha gave a rough nod.

“Some water…”

Then he pressed his forehead to the ground.

Only then did the guard’s expression grow urgent.

“Notify them inside. No, bring water first, quickly!”

“Y, yes!”

The guard beside him hurried inside. Before long, the guard who had gone in came back with a gourd of water.

However, before he could pass it to Gyo-ha, a shadow snatched the gourd away.

The newcomer gulped it down in great swallows before anyone could stop him.

“What do you think you are doing!”

The guard shouted in shock, then his jaw dropped.

Standing there was another strange figure who was no less of a sight than Gyo-ha.

A man with hollow eyes and rags hanging from his body.

If Gyo-ha had not arrived first, they might never have recognized who he was.

“Y, Young Master Jong?”

His real name was Seo Jong-dae, but to the people of Yu Family Manor he was well known as Jong Dae-yoon.

The handsome young noble was gone, replaced by someone in a beggar’s rags.

Seo Jong-dae drained the gourd and then collapsed beside Gyo-ha.

“Damn Kunlun.”

Then he closed his eyes just like that. He had fainted.

At that moment, Gyo-ha beside him stirred.

He was trying to lick up the water Seo Jong-dae had spilled.

The horrified guard grabbed hold of Gyo-ha.

“Y, Young Master. Please endure it.”

However, it was not enough to hold Gyo-ha back.

‘What is with this strength.’

He did not so much as budge, as if the guard were grabbing a boulder.

Gyo-ha’s tongue was about to reach the ground.

The guard could not bear to watch the manor’s benefactor lose his human dignity right before his eyes, so he shouted at the guard who had brought the gourd.

“What are you doing! Bring more! Not in a gourd, in a jar!”

“Yes!”

At the order to bring a whole jar, the guard hurried off again.

Not long after, two guards came carrying a large jar.

People rushed out, having heard the commotion late.

And they saw the strange man with his head plunged into the jar.

“Gulp, gulp.”

Only after quite some time did his head emerge from the crock.

“Puhah!”

“Gyo-ha?”

“Young Master?”

Gyo-ha wiped his mouth with his hand and raised his hand toward them.

Then.

“…I’m hungry.”

He collapsed on the spot.

The people stared at Gyo-ha and Seo Jong-dae with bewildered expressions.

“Chomp, chomp.”

The dishes on the table disappeared in an instant.

Was he digesting as he ate?

Gyo-ha had already eaten an amount larger than his own body.

After he had eaten to a certain point, his hands began to slow down.

However, when he still did not seem about to stop even after a long while, Geum Ho-pyeong asked carefully.

“…More importantly, has the Sect Leader and Warrior Moon not come?”

“Mm, they had their owwwn…”

“Young Master, you should swallow before you speak.”

“Mmm.”

Gyo-ha chewed with his mouth full.

However, there was no need to wait for him to swallow.

“Master and sahyung have something else to do, so they stepped out.”

His tone was somewhat curt.

When they turned their heads, Seo Jong-dae was tearing at a chicken leg in a lazy slouch.

‘Was he always like that.’

He was not.

Before they had set out, he had been a tall young noble. Now he looked no different from a neighborhood thug.

Could a person change this much in less than two short months.

Yet looking at Seo Jong-dae’s state, they could tell how intense that short time had been.

“Then you two?”

“We were sent to build up real combat experience.”

“Real combat experience?”

Gyo-ha, sitting beside him, nodded. His mouth was still stuffed with food.

From Seo Jong-dae’s side, a low curse of damn it could be heard, but everyone pretended not to notice.

“If it is real combat experience, is it a sparring journey?”

Only then did Gyo-ha swallow everything in his mouth and speak.

“No. Hunting.”

“Hunting?”

They understood even less.

As everyone’s gazes gathered on him, Gyo-ha’s lips curled up.

“Yokai hunting.”

From behind him, Seo Jong-dae’s cursing could be heard again.

However, this time the others could understand how he felt as well.

Jeon Pyeong frowned as he looked at the tent that would not open.

He could sense people inside, yet the tent never opened.

“It seems they will not see us today either.”

His fellow junior Jeon Gwang behind him let out a sigh. Unlike Jeon Pyeong, he was not a Plum Blossom Swordsman but an ordinary disciple.

Even so, he was still a proper swordsman of Mount Hua.

At Jeon Gwang’s words, Jeon Pyeong nodded with a stiff face.

“…We cannot wait forever, so let us prepare to depart tomorrow.”

“Yes, Sahyung.”

The two swordsmen bowed their heads.

The tent looked as if it might collapse at any moment.

Yet no one thought it something to be taken lightly. They were standing at the Beggars’ Union’s Lanzhou branch.

They had already spent days waiting for Red-Eyed Beggar, the branch leader, but he kept refusing to meet them with the excuse that he was busy.

It was no different from being turned away at the door.

They could guess the reason.

He was venting his frustration from the humiliation at the Justice Gate.

However, there was nothing Jeon Pyeong could do. The Beggars’ Union was different from the Justice Gate.

Moreover, Red-Eyed Beggar was not just any branch leader.

A Four-Knot Beggar.

He was at the level of a Hall Master.

Just as they were about to give up and stand, there was a commotion beyond the square.

Two people were pushing their way through the beggars.

A simple-looking young man and a tall young man were walking together.

Jeon Pyeong tilted his head.

One of the young men’s faces looked familiar.

At that moment, the youth in front spoke to a beggar and the beggar snorted.

“…You want to meet the branch leader? You think our branch leader has time to spare. Every dog and cow wants to see him. Get lost before you end up begging on the street.”

The Beggars’ Union disciple waved his hand as if annoyed.

Jeon Pyeong’s brow twitched at the disciple’s words.

What he had just said clearly crossed the line.

“How dare you.”

Just as Jeon Gwang was about to step forward, Jeon Pyeong stopped him.

“Sahyung, he said that for us to hear.”

“I know.”

Jeon Pyeong had also been about to step out like Jeon Gwang. They would protect the Beggars’ Union’s face only so long as it respected Mount Hua.

There was only one reason that Jeon Pyeong stopped his juniors.

The young man who had been treated with contempt by the Beggars’ Union disciple was smiling brightly.

At a glance, it looked like a foolish smile.

Jeon Pyeong sensed something beneath it.

The attitude of the youth following behind him also gave him confidence.

He shook his head and stepped back, as if to say he would leave it to him.

The young man touched his fingers to his chin and muttered to himself.

“What did Master say again… Ah!”

His voice was quiet, but everyone here had trained in martial arts.

There was no way they had not heard his words.

“Disciple Gyo-ha of the Kunlun Sect requests a spar. Mm, since I am younger in seniority, I’ll be given the first move. Right?”

Given the first move? And who was he even asking?

Jeon Pyeong blinked. The Beggars’ Union disciple in front of the youth was no different.

However.

Before the Beggars’ Union disciple could even open his mouth, the youth moved.

The youth’s fist drove into the disciple’s jaw.

“Good heavens.”

An exclamation came from one of the juniors behind.

Jeon Pyeong felt no different. Yet he was likely not as surprised as the Beggars’ Union disciples.

To come to a Beggars’ Union branch and attack one of its disciples.

The Beggars’ Union disciples all flared their presence at once.

“Sahyung, just now.”

“Yes.”

He had heard it clearly.

Kunlun.

That was why the Beggars’ Union disciples had stopped.

Only then did Jeon Pyeong understand what was hidden behind that simple smile.

The ferocity of a beast of prey.

Jeon Pyeong looked at the newcomers with renewed eyes.

The Beggars’ Union disciple’s body, sent flying, crashed to the ground.

Gyo-ha, who had done something that shocked everyone, tilted his head as he looked at the Beggars’ Union disciples baring killing intent at him.

“…They aren’t coming at me.”

Gyo-ha clicked his tongue.

At that moment, an old beggar stepped forward.

“What do you think you are doing! Even if you are a disciple of Kunlun, how can you attack a Beggars’ Union disciple!”

“You guys were the ones who disrespected us first.”

It was not Gyo-ha who said that. Seo Jong-dae behind him spoke in a cocky drawl.

“You guys?”

A vein throbbed on the old beggar’s forehead. The other Beggars’ Union disciples raised their presence even more in anger.

“So Kunlun lost its sect and even its manners!”

“Is that not our line to say? Do you know our master is the same generation as your former Beggars’ Union Leader?”

“…What?”

The old beggar’s mouth snapped shut at the unexpected words.

Seo Jong-dae kept up his momentum and jabbed a finger at the old beggar.

“Our master is a close friend of the Sect Leader of the Wudang Sect. If you do not believe it, ask your branch leader. Our master. Huh? He eats with the Sword Immortal. He travels with him. They crack demon heads together. Huh?”

The things he said were so absurd, the old beggar couldn’t even speak.

Seo Jong-dae placed a hand on the speechless old beggar’s shoulder.

“Now then, which generation does that put us in?”

“…”

In the Beggars’ Union, the change of generations happened faster than in other sects.

If Seo Jong-dae’s words were true, these youths were of the same generation as the Beggars’ Union Leader.

There was hardly any need to confirm it. He had failed to notice in his agitation before, but their appearance and bearing matched the ones he had seen not long ago.

The newly appeared Kunlun Sect Leader and his disciple.

‘Even so.’

The old beggar’s face twisted.

“You green youngsters, how dare you think you stand before…”

“Ah hah, the duty of the Orthodox has fallen to the ground. If you are old, the generations of the martial world do not matter, is that it? Well, putting that aside.”

Seo Jong-dae turned his head slightly.

“What will you do about the disrespect you showed to our Great Sahyung, who is as good as the next Kunlun Sect Leader? Great Sahyung, what would you like to do?”

Instead of answering, Gyo-ha brought his fists together.

“Koong!”

He had only struck his hands together in midair, yet the air shuddered.

Gyo-ha smiled in pure brightness.

Now, no one saw that smile as simple-minded.

Seo Jong-dae looked back at the old beggar again.

“You heard him.”

“…So you truly want to see this through to the end!”

The old beggar raised his aura.

Both his sleeves swelled as if they would burst at any moment.

At that moment.

“Enough!”

The tent flap opened and a middle-aged beggar walked out.

His face was flushed as if he had just come out from drinking. Four knots hung at his waist.

He was Red-Eyed Beggar, the branch leader of the Lanzhou branch.

Red-Eyed Beggar looked around and furrowed his brow.

“Did I not tell you to inform me when someone from Kunlun arrived?”

“…We are sorry, branch leader.”

Red-Eyed Beggar clicked his tongue in annoyance, then turned to Gyo-ha.

“That is enough, come inside. You people as well.”

With that, he went back into the tent.

Seo Jong-dae patted the old beggar’s shoulder and headed toward the tent.

The disciples of Mount Hua who had been pointed out along with them also headed for the tent in a daze.

“…What are you doing?”

On his way to the tent, Seo Jong-dae stopped walking.

Gyo-ha was staring blankly.

“…Are we not fighting?”

The Mount Hua disciples who were walking ahead were startled, but Seo Jong-dae nodded as if he was used to it.

“Right, we are not fighting. The situation is over.”

Gyo-ha clicked his tongue, then followed after Seo Jong-dae.