#73: Loosening And Tangling (4) — The Patriarch of Sichuan

The newcomer looked to be of similar age to the man rolling with a rock for a blanket.

But his aura was sharper, and his larger build gave off considerable pressure.

The man, Jang Yu, spoke coldly.

“You are making the situation unmanageable.”

“Where’s the invitation?”

“What?”

“So there isn’t one? Judging by your reaction, you’re riffraff too. This must be a matter that requires beating the master instead.”

Hwaaak!

Killing intent surged.

Jin-hyeon smiled.

“Were you the first?”

“I don’t know what you mean, but with this one ruckus you’ve picked your own funeral day.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course we must bring you in. But no one said to bring you intact, so I’ll take an arm here and now.”

“Where’s the second one? The one who prodded with killing intent for nothing.”

Jang Yu flinched.

But he soon accepted it. Ambush or not, breaking that underling’s limbs showed he was a master beyond his years.

He drew a small finger-length flute from his sleeve and blew hard.

Piiiii.

The sound was much smaller than expected, yet sharp.

As Jang Yu took the flute from his lips, commotion rose in the woods far to the left and right.

Pababak!

Their movement arts were swift.

Three men and women appeared behind Jang Yu in an instant. Each had an aura no less than the man who fell to Jin-hyeon.

Inwardly, Jin-hyeon felt doubt.

‘They don’t seem to belong to the Eight Martial Houses.’

Their martial level seemed similar, but the temperament they exuded varied widely.

It meant each had learned entirely different arts. In other words, they were not from one school.

Jin-hyeon felt déjà vu. He had felt this once before.

‘Whatever they are, they’re considerable.’

Setting aside battle ability, four experts of that level would not make for an easy fight.

One is easy, two require caution. With three one may struggle, with four victory cannot be assured.

If it were day, he would have considered tactics to raise his odds.

Jin-hyeon pressed his index and middle fingers with his thumb. Crack, crack sounds spread crisply.

“So it’s no use asking questions? Then shall we begin.”

Jang Yu shouted briefly.

“Beat him down!”

Paak!

Jin-hyeon quickly stepped back.

With a single stomp in place he retreated fifteen meters. The three about to rush in flinched, and Jang Yu was greatly surprised.

‘Impressive.’

Internal energy aside, to gain fifteen meters with one stomp without upper-body motion was no easy feat. It proved tremendous abdominal and lower-body strength.

‘I meant to send the three first, but no. I must rush in as well.’

As Jang Yu moved to give orders again.

“A sensitive fellow.”

Startled, Jang Yu and the three turned back.

Two men were walking from there.

“Trash is trash. With the air this heated, you still look back with an enemy ahead? I don’t know how you’ve survived with such caution.”

Jang Yu and the three turned their gaze back to Jin-hyeon.

Thankfully, Jin-hyeon did not attack. He simply watched, arms folded.

Meeting eyes with Jin-hyeon, Jang Yu felt shame.

The other’s eyes were laughing. It was like a seasoned senior looking at an inept junior.

‘That bastard!’

He wanted to curse, but in the end he was the one who looked foolish.

What angered him more was the newcomer’s manner.

“Stand down.”

Gritting his teeth, Jang Yu spoke to the three.

“Step aside.”

Thus the two newcomers’ view opened.

Jin-hyeon’s eyes flashed.

‘Strong.’

The man who ordered the four looked to be a middle-aged man in his mid-forties.

He looked very dignified. A sword hung on his back, and with his solid build, his bearing drew admiration.

What amazed him was his thoroughly restrained aura, unlike his intense eyes.

It was not a forced control of internal energy. Through countless battles and blood-spitting training, his aura had been shaved bit by bit to become like that.

A flintlike aura, harder than any stone, with nothing left to shave. Regardless of skill, one rarely sees an aura honed to this degree.

Amazingly, despite such solid might, the middle-aged man was courteous to the youth at his side.

“He is no ordinary one, but there is nothing to worry.”

“With the Swordsman Mong stepping in, what is there to worry?”

The youth stepped forward.

Inwardly, Jin-hyeon tilted his head. He had never seen him, yet he looked oddly familiar.

‘A very solid build. He has learned first-rate arts.’

The youth opened his mouth.

“I am…”

“And you are?”

“…”

“Why do you look familiar?”

His turn to speak taken, the youth still showed no fluster or anger.

“Of course I look familiar. You broke my youngest brother’s ankle and threw my father into the Sichuan branch dungeon.”

“?!”

“I am Lee Yong-geum (李龍錦).”

Jin-hyeon’s mouth opened slightly.

“The Mighty Tiger’s First Young Master?”

“Yes. I am the next head of the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild and the Shaanxi Oh Family Merchant House’s…”

“Are you out of your mind?”

He cut him off again. The youth, Lee Yong-geum, closed his mouth.

Jin-hyeon could not suppress the dry laugh squeezing through his teeth.

“The Sichuan Investigation and Defense Court must still be hunting you with eyes wide. Yet you came all the way here. I thought you’d hide for years, quite the nerve you have.”

“I’ve been hearing rumors about you here and there.”

Lee Yong-geum spoke coldly.

“Feigning otherwise, you tangled with many incidents. I heard the one who solved this Sichuan murder case from the shadows was you.”

With that, Jin-hyeon was sure. That guy, or those colluding with the Oh Family Merchant House, existed in Sichuan.

Even if the house’s intelligence was superb, the Oh Family was in Shaanxi. It would be hard to know Sichuan’s affairs this quickly and in such detail.

“I did mean to build strength for years. But you meddled with our guild and the murder case. I thought you would throw yourself at whatever incident comes.”

“Sharp. I half meant to.”

“I do not know what you aim to gain, nor need I. What matters is that with such a wide meddling hand, it’s no surprise if you die anytime.”

Lee Yong-geum’s eyes spewed fire.

“Your death must be by our hands. We will not watch you die to unknown hands.”

“So you risked much to come this far?”

“Foolish and lacking though they are, they’re my father and brother. That revenge is ours, of course.”

Foolish and lacking.

He tied in not just his brother but his father. It seemed he was not on good terms with his father.

Quietly looking at Lee Yong-geum, Jin-hyeon smiled coolly.

“So you’re saying what you want is revenge?”

“If not, why would we come for you?”

“Really?”

Lee Yong-geum raised his chin.

“However, if you beg forgiveness here, I am willing to spare your life.”

“…”

“Swordsman Mong here served at the Heavenly Will Alliance central headquarters. You may not know, but his martial arts is stronger than the heads of the Sichuan Eight Martial Houses. At best, the Eight Houses’ top seat, the Cheongyang Society Lord, might contend.”

“Hooh.”

“No matter how great you are, you cannot beat him. Moreover, there are four guest experts here.”

A faint smile spread on Lee Yong-geum’s face.

“By any means, you cannot leave here.”

Jin-hyeon stroked his chin.

‘Interesting words.’

He came for revenge, yet says he’ll spare him if he begs forgiveness.

Such mismatch of aim and act is rare. Jin-hyeon asked as if unaware.

“You’ll spare me if I only ask forgiveness?”

“Of course there is something I want. If you give it, I’ll take your apology as sincere and spare your life.”

As expected, there was something he wanted.

To Jin-hyeon, who did not answer at once, Lee spoke as if doing a favor.

“I’ll give you half a quarter. And don’t think of running. We’ll beat down your companions first and then come for you.”

Gazing blankly at Lee Yong-geum, Jin-hyeon snorted a laugh.

“The Heavenly Will Alliance’s Shaanxi branch was more dangerous then.”

“?!”

“Revenge is only a pretext. You want something from me. But the Heavenly Will Alliance’s Shaanxi branch must have been grilling the Oh Family Merchant House too. Hiding there, you couldn’t bear the pressure and crossed here.”

He did not show anger or fluster even now, but Jin-hyeon saw Lee Yong-geum’s cheek tremble slightly.

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“You are easy to read. What you can get from me is money and lists. Or perhaps you aim to use me to strike a ‘certain’ guild that embezzled the Mighty Tiger’s assets and businesses.”

“!!”

“Is that so secret that you give me time to pretend not to know, First Young Master of the Mighty Tiger?”

Lee Yong-geum’s wavering eyes sank deep for an instant.

“You are a clever one.”

“More than you?”

“Inferring that changes nothing of your reality. Decide. Beg and move as we will, or die here.”

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“The decision is not mine but yours.”

“What?”

“I’ll give you a chance. If even now you kneel and beg forgiveness, though your body be torn by my hands and fed to strays, I’ll spare the Oh Family Merchant House. At least this once.”

“?!”

“But if you choose otherwise, your mother’s family, the Oh Family Merchant House, will vanish from the earth.”

Under the moonlight, Jin-hyeon’s face looked especially pale.

“Whether the Oh Family earned honestly or amassed good deeds does not matter. They are connected to those who touched me, so I erase them. Expanding the bounds of enmity by mood is my hobby.”

“Lunatic!”

The middle-aged man called Swordsman Mong barked.

“First Young Master. We need no talk. I will cut his legs myself and make him kneel.”

Lee Yong-geum, glaring with a fearsome gaze, smacked his lips and nodded.

“Do not kill him. He still has use.”

“Of course.”

Seureureung.

Swordsman Mong, Mong Hyeong, drew the sword from his back.

“It would have been better if it were so from the start. Let me see if your skill matches your mouth.”

Hwaaak!

A biting sword energy burst from Mong Hyeong’s body as he drew.

It was considerable pressure. Since his near-death, this was the strongest master he faced.