The Hebei Paeng Clan And The Jinju Eon Clan (2)

“What? Someone died?”

Eon Cheong-gun, head of the Jinju Eon Clan, thought he had heard wrong. How could his son, who should have been on his way to the Martial Alliance, go to some backwater village and die?

“You wretch! Didn’t I tell you to say it again?”

Eon Cheong-gun grabbed the messenger—who had come running to the Eon Clan on Paeng Do-wi’s errand—by the collar and yanked him up.

“Kgh! Y-young master Eon Jo-seong….”

“Who? Who killed that child?”

“P-Paeng….”

Crash!

Eon Cheong-gun hurled him roughly to the floor.

“Paeng? Are you saying the Paeng Clan killed my child?”

“N-no—Paeng Do-wi said he is chasing the culprits.”

The man answered quickly, afraid Eon Cheong-gun would seize him again and punish him.

“The culprits? You mean it wasn’t just one?”

“There were two.”

“Grr—these bastards….”

It looked as though veins might burst from Eon Cheong-gun’s fist at any moment.

Bang!

He slammed the table and roared.

“Prepare the Cheon-gang Unit. I will pursue them myself.”

The Cheon-gang Unit, composed of the Jinju Eon Clan’s elite, had mastered Gangsi Art and did not fear blades. It was the clan’s true power that had not yet been revealed to the world.

Crrrk!

“I will tear these bastards… to pieces.”

The grinding of Eon Cheong-gun’s teeth sounded chilling.

“Good heavens… such a thing…!”

“What will we do?”

At the Paeng Clan, upon receiving Paeng Do-wi’s message, they convened an elders’ council.

“Why in the world did you send that boy there?”

Paeng Jang-gyeong, head of the Hebei Paeng Clan, looked over everyone’s faces.

“He happened to be on the way to the Martial Alliance….”

“Hm! Then what should we do? From what I hear, Eon Jo-seong fought alone and that Do-wi boy simply withdrew. If the Eon Clan head learns this, relations between our clans will rapidly turn cold.”

The Eon Clan and the Paeng Clan were the only two martial households settled near Beijing. They knew well that if they did not help each other, both would decline.

“We must rush there and capture the culprits with our own hands. They used demonic arts, so they are certainly not orthodox— and even if they are masters of the Black Alliance, we cannot leave them alone.”

“That’s right. If we seize them ourselves and hand them over to the Eon Clan head, he won’t worsen relations with our clan, even at the cost of taking a loss.”

“But then what is this talk? That they once worked with our clan? If they are people tied to somewhere deeply connected to us, don’t you understand it may be impossible to seize and hand them over?”

“…!”

The elders had no more to say.

But one thing was certain: no ally mattered more to the Paeng Clan than the Jinju Eon Clan right beside them.

“Send the Five Tigers Unit and Do-gyeong.”

The Five Tigers Unit was one of the Paeng Clan’s three great forces, alongside Thunderclap and Iron-Blood, and consisted of bladesmen who had mastered the Five Tigers Single-Blade Art to the peak realm.

But that art was not easy to achieve, so their numbers were not large.

“Send Do-gyeong as well? Is that necessary?”

“Sending Do-gyeong, rather than only the Five Tigers Unit, gives face to the Eon Clan too.”

“Understood.”

“And tell that Do-wi brat to return and enter three years of closed-door seclusion.”

At Paeng Jang-gyeong’s thunderous order, none of the elders could speak. The elder who had urged Paeng Do-wi to go to Paeng Mun lowered his head.

Paeng Mun turned ashen. By some twist of fate, Eon Jo-seong—whom he had been delighted to see as prospective son-in-law—had died. He had been cut down in a single stroke by someone Paeng Mun had thought was just a petty thief.

The problem was that the current Eon Clan head was famous for his violent temper. If he learned the full story, he might butcher Paeng Mun’s entire household.

Worse, his only son’s leg was completely broken and his nose was crushed—he looked incapable of living as a proper man.

“Elder!”

Someone called from outside.

Irritated, Paeng Mun flung the door open and looked out.

“What is it?”

“They’re coming— they’re coming!”

“What is?”

“A whole pack of warriors is on the way!”

“A-at last…!”

Paeng Mun clutched his trembling legs and barely got up before going outside. Whether it was the Eon Clan or the Paeng Clan, he couldn’t afford to sit inside and wait to be struck.

Crash!

“Where is it? Where did you put my son’s body?”

Eon Cheong-gun stormed into Paeng Mun’s house, shouting.

“T-this way…!”

Paeng Mun ran ahead and guided him personally.

Paeng Mun had commissioned the finest coffin, laid Eon Jo-seong’s body to rest within it, and placed it in a clean room.

Crack—!

The coffin lid was forced open. Eon Jo-seong’s face emerged from inside.

“You… you useless bastard!”

Eon Cheong-gun stared at Eon Jo-seong’s face for a long while as if his mind had gone blank. Then he turned to Paeng Mun.

“From start to finish, you will tell me everything truthfully. If even one lie is found….”

He didn’t finish, but how could anyone not know what he meant?

With a trembling voice, Paeng Mun told him everything—from the moment Paeng Do-wi and Eon Jo-seong visited, until Eon Jo-seong returned as a corpse.

“My child said he would marry your daughter?”

“Y-yes.”

He was told to speak the truth, so he spoke it. If he hid it and Eon Cheong-gun later raged, he would be dead.

“Then you must hold the wedding.”

“E-excuse me?”

“Didn’t you say you agreed as well?”

Eon Cheong-gun said, killing intent spilling from him.

Tremble.

“Y-yes.”

“Then you will conduct their wedding. Before today ends, the ceremony will be held, and my son and my new daughter-in-law will be sent to the main house.”

“Yes, Clan Head!”

At Eon Cheong-gun’s command, the Eon Clan’s martial men moved and prepared a wedding in no time.

“Waaah! Father! What is this? What is happening?!”

Paeng Gyo-ha was dragged out by force and screamed.

But Paeng Mun couldn’t say a word to her. If he uttered even a sentence, he felt he would be buried in Eon Jo-seong’s grave alongside her.

And so Paeng Gyo-ha was forced to marry the dead Eon Jo-seong, was taken into the Eon Clan, and never left again until she died.

Every year, she had to perform memorial rites. If it was any comfort at all, at least she hadn’t been buried with him.

Not long after the Eon Clan’s masters arrived, the Paeng Clan’s Five Tigers Unit also poured in.

Even when he saw them, Eon Cheong-gun’s icy expression didn’t soften. Since Paeng Do-gyeong, the brother of Paeng Do-wi who had brought Eon Jo-seong to his death, was with them, Eon Cheong-gun wouldn’t even accept a greeting.

“Chase them!”

The Eon Clan had brought a single tracking master.

“We should go too. Do-wi will have left traces, so we must pursue as quickly as possible.”

Paeng Jang-gyeong had sent Paeng Do-gyeong to show sincerity to Eon Cheong-gun, but it backfired. The young Paeng Do-gyeong grew sulky when Eon Cheong-gun refused even his greeting. As a result, the two sides did not cooperate and moved separately.

By the time Paeng Do-gyeong arrived at the murder scene, the Eon Clan warriors had already vanished, chasing the culprits’ and Paeng Do-wi’s traces. Even if Paeng Do-wi had left marks, the Eon Clan—who had a specialist—could only be faster.

“Let’s follow the Eon Clan.”

Paeng Do-gyeong might have been offended, but he hadn’t forgotten his duty because of it.

“Constables from the office are coming.”

One of the Five Tigers Unit looked the other way.

“Only now they decide to visit the scene.”

The murder had happened long ago, and only now did the authorities saunter in—truly an impressive government office.

“Huh?”

But what was this?

The men from the office weren’t carrying weapons. They came holding brooms and began sweeping the murder scene clean. The traces vanished in an instant.

“W-what is this? Seize them!”

Paeng Do-gyeong was dumbfounded.

“What is your problem?”

A constable whose arm was grabbed by a Five Tigers warrior snapped irritably.

“This is a murder scene. Why are you ruining it?”

“Murder? Here? Are you people out of your minds?”

“What did you say?”

When the warriors barked and reached for their blades, the constable finally blanched.

“This isn’t a murder scene. This is where people from the Eastern Depot killed a few thieves. If you doubt it, go to the office. The corpses of those thieves are still there.”

After saying that, the constable shook his arm free and went back beside his colleague, sweeping diligently again.

“What is going on? Suddenly it’s ‘thieves,’ and what do you mean ‘Eastern Depot’?”

Paeng Do-gyeong shouted, nerves fraying.

“Wouldn’t it be best to go to the office and ask? The Eon Clan will need days to find the culprits anyway….”

They had been tasked to catch the culprits faster than the Eon Clan, but in truth it wasn’t as if fugitives who had left here days ago could be caught that quickly.

“Fine.”

Paeng Do-gyeong led the Five Tigers Unit to the government office. The word “Eastern Depot” bothered him.

For a long time, the Paeng Clan had maintained good relations with the Eastern Depot. With their base near Beijing, they couldn’t help but watch the Depot’s mood. And when the Depot needed force, the Paeng Clan had often stepped up to help. So they couldn’t ignore the word “Eastern Depot.”

At the office, Paeng Do-gyeong soon heard staggering news. The prefect—guilty of wrongdoing—explained that Secret Shadow and Cheong Yeon bore no crime, and that all fault lay with Paeng Do-wi and Paeng Mun’s household.

“Did he say… Secret Shadow?”

Paeng Do-gyeong and the Five Tigers masters screamed inwardly. Of all people to offend, it had to be Secret Shadow?

They knew the story from the recent Beijing incident. For a while, the full outline of that case had circulated as rumor through Beijing’s streets.

No one failed to notice that most of it had leaked from the Eastern Depot—because the Depot had been the one to resolve the issue.

And at the pinnacle of those tales, there was always the same name: Secret Shadow. A mysterious master said to be all but certain to become the Eastern Depot’s next leader.

Even the Paeng Clan elders had said his fame already surpassed that of the previous Secret Shadow.

Though the sudden appearance of a princess at the Eastern Depot had snuffed out those expectations and the noise had quieted quickly, it wasn’t so long ago. They still remembered it clearly.

“Chase him! We must chase him quickly. Before that Do-wi brat gets in any deeper, we have to catch him.”

Paeng Do-gyeong concluded that clinging to this matter any longer was dangerous. If the Paeng Clan had to choose a side between the Eastern Depot and the Jinju Eon Clan, it would of course take the Eastern Depot’s hand. Becoming enemies with the Eon Clan at worst meant a vendetta—but becoming enemies with the Eastern Depot could lead to extermination.

Paeng Do-gyeong dispatched one Five Tigers warrior back to the main house at once. He had to explain the situation and connect with the Eastern Depot so that, even if the worst happened, faces wouldn’t be reddened.

Paeng Do-gyeong ran at full speed with his men to seize Paeng Do-wi. They could no longer stop the Eon Clan from clashing with Secret Shadow, but Paeng Do-wi must not get caught in that encounter.

“That guy is still following us.”

Cheong Yeon spoke quietly.

“Since I never tried to shake him off, of course he’d keep following.”

Neung Je-gang answered calmly, watching the river flowing in the distance.

“But, boss.”

“What?”

“I’ve been curious for a while now, but where are we going?”

“Hm? Didn’t I tell you?”

“You didn’t.”

Cheong Yeon spoke as if he found it absurd.

“I’ve got some business with the Beggar’s Sect—an old beggar named Shingae.”

“The Beggar’s Sect? Then why are we heading this way? If it’s the Beggar’s Sect, we should go to Kaifeng.”

Cheong Yeon didn’t look particularly surprised even upon hearing the name Shingae.

In truth, Shingae was such an old figure that younger people weren’t familiar with him.

“If we take a boat, we can get there faster.”

“A boat? That’ll take a while, won’t it? Won’t it be boring?”

“Boring? You probably won’t have time for that.”

“Pardon?”

“Why do you think Paeng Do-wi is still chasing after us?”

“Not sure. Don’t tell me… he’s a guide?”

“Without a doubt. Judging by the distance, we’ll likely run into them soon…. If we board a boat, they’ll have to chase for a while longer before they can even see us.”

Neung Je-gang had already predicted everything. He had even calculated roughly when they would meet those who sought revenge for the dead Eon Jo-seong if they kept traveling by land.

“But we can’t just avoid them forever, can we?”

Cheong Yeon had started the fight with the Jinju Eon Clan, and he wanted to finish it with his own hands.

“I’m not saying we should avoid them. I’m saying we should delay it a bit. The martial world is a place where you’ll meet sooner or later no matter what, right? So if we must collide, I want it to be in a place I choose.”

“Is that Kaifeng?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“There’s someone there who can mediate.”

“Ah—Shingae?”

“Yes. No matter how much of a dog bastard the Eon Clan head is, he can’t ignore Shingae’s words. He’s an elder of the orthodox faction, after all.”

“But his child died. Will he really seek reconciliation?”

Cheong Yeon spoke skeptically.

It was only natural. How could one reconcile with the man who killed one’s child?

“What are you talking about? Who said anything about ‘just’ reconciling?”

“Pardon?”

“After we have a good brawl, then we can reconcile. How do you reconcile without even fighting?”

“We fight?”

“Of course! We smash them thoroughly. Then, before they lose any more, they’ll want to reconcile.”

“Is that… even possible?”

“Why didn’t you just endure it? Why did you have to kill him and make things troublesome?”

“…Who would have thought he’d die in a single exchange?”

That was the truth. Eon Jo-seong stepped forward with such confidence that Cheong Yeon never expected him to die in one move. Even after it happened, Cheong Yeon stared at him several times, thinking, What kind of fool was that?

“Anyway, next time we meet them, try not to kill if you can. If it’s impossible to subdue them alive, then it can’t be helped, but….”

“Understood.”

“Now let’s go. It should be about time the boat departs.”

Neung Je-gang went ahead to the pier. A passenger boat that had already taken fares was rushing its departure preparations.

“Are you boarding now?”

The captain, who had been greeting passengers, bowed to Neung Je-gang and Cheong Yeon.

With passenger boats, those who reserved premium cabins were treated better. Even for the same route, they paid several times the fare.

As he boarded, Neung Je-gang glanced toward one side of the pier. Paeng Do-wi was hesitating, unable to decide whether to board or stay behind to wait for the Paeng and Eon pursuers.

In the end, Paeng Do-wi couldn’t board. If he boarded too, there would be no way to relay information to those behind.

He could leave their destination in the Paeng Clan’s secret script, but there was no guarantee such writing would remain there, so he had no choice but to stay himself.

“He isn’t boarding.”

“He’ll probably take the land route and race to Kaifeng. The main road is well laid—if he rides hard, he won’t be much later than us. Either way, remember we’re heading for a brawl soon, and polish your sword while we’re on the boat.”

“Understood.”

After Cheong Yeon returned to his cabin, Neung Je-gang also sat on his bed and entered breathing cultivation. From now on, he intended to spend time like this every day.

Now there were only two ways for him to grow stronger. One was to increase his inner power and raise the might of his martial arts. The other was to perfect the martial arts he still hadn’t truly mastered.

But perfecting arts he hadn’t properly mastered was impossible for the moment. It required what people commonly called “enlightenment.”

The problem was that enlightenment didn’t arise just because one wished for it.

In the end, the only thing he could do right now was inner-power training.