I Am The Chief Of This Place. (3)

After the strategy meeting, Yu Jinsan inspected the headquarters with Il Kwang.

As they walked and chatted, Il Kwang asked, “By the way, Yang Monster, which inland region are you from?”

There was no reason to hide his identity, so Yu Jinsan answered honestly. “I’m from the Yu family in Shaanxi.”

Il Kwang’s booming laughter reverberated through the lava cave. “Ha ha! Hahaha! What an incredible coincidence.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“My hometown is Baekyang County in Shaanxi, too. I’ve met people from the Yu family a few times.”

Yu Jinsan looked surprised. Baekyang County was very close to the village where the Yu family lived. It was an unlikely coincidence.

“I can’t believe it — to meet someone from Shaanxi in this faraway land.”

“Exactly. There’s a place in my town called the Soho Inn that makes incredible meat noodles; have you been there?”

“I’ve been there a few times. My granddaughter really likes their food.”

Il Kwang smacked his lips and murmured, “If I could have just one bowl of the Soho Inn’s meat noodles, I’d ask for nothing else…” His face was full of longing.

Yu Jinsan gave a small smile and fell quiet for a moment. He thought, ‘This is puzzling. If a master of this caliber were from Shaanxi, I would have heard of him.’ If Il Kwang really hailed from there, rumors would have spread through the martial world, but no such figure came to mind.

Curious, Yu Jinsan asked directly, “If Shaanxi is your hometown, which sect are you from?”

“I’m not a martial man,” Il Kwang replied. “So even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.”

Yu Jinsan’s suspicions seemed confirmed. “Were you perhaps government troops?”

“Your intuition is sharp. Although I retired long ago, I once served as deputy commander of the Lang-a Corps.”

The Lang-a Corps — the legendary combat unit of the government troops — was a name Yu Jinsan knew well. Disbanded shortly after the war ended, it had once delivered victory after victory and won the people’s adoration. General Somu, the corps’ captain, had been the strongest military commander in history; a statue of him even stood in Chang’an. Il Kwang had been Somu’s adjutant and the Lang-a Corps’ deputy commander.

“But how did you end up on this island?” Yu Jinsan asked.

“My wife and I were traveling across the Central Plains when we drifted here. It was just bad luck that it happened when Jeon Sa-ryong started acting up,” Il Kwang said.

With his light footwork skill, Il Kwang could easily have left the island, yet he had stayed because he couldn’t abandon the residents. Even retired, he still carried the bearing of a commander willing to stake his life to protect people.

“What have the military and the murim world been doing all this time?” Yu Jinsan pressed.

“They weren’t idle. Until about five years ago, government troops and martial folk formed extermination squads and came here frequently.”

“What was the result?”

Recalling those failures, Il Kwang burst into anger. “They were like fools — captured one after another and only made the enemy stronger. This place is essentially a death island, abandoned even by the state.”

It matched what they’d already learned. Most extermination squads had been killed or poisoned by enemy herbs and turned into Jeon Sa-ryong’s subordinates. The few survivors had gathered here and clung to life. Where else in the world could such despair exist?

Yu Jinsan sighed and shifted the topic. “I heard the only person who went into the barrier and came out alive was the captain. What happened inside?”

Il Kwang stroked his chin and recalled the past. “At the time I was full of confidence. No matter who or how many the enemy were, I’d charge in without thinking.”

“But it sounds like things went badly.”

Il Kwang nodded. “Surviving was a miracle. I jumped over the barrier to escape and blindly ran into the sea.”

“Because of Jeon Sa-ryong?”

“He’s terrible, but there were strange fellows with him, too.”

Yu Jinsan remembered what Im Pyeong-il had said and thought of the mysterious figures with golden masks. “Do you mean the ones called the Gold Clan?”

“Yes. I encountered three of them, and they all seemed Supreme realm level. Their martial arts, like Jeon Sa-ryong’s, didn’t resemble anything from the Central Plains.”

A bad feeling washed over Yu Jinsan. He had suspicions but no proof yet.

“What were they doing in there? Judging by the barrier, it looks like they were plotting something.”

“What I saw looked like troop training — Jeon Sa-ryong described a hellish slaughter unit that kills without mercy.”

“Would they prepare to that extent just to crush the resistance?” Yu Jinsan asked.

Il Kwang shook his head slowly. “Jeon Sa-ryong has never once come outside the barrier. We’re of no concern to him.”

If he wanted to crush them directly, they wouldn’t have lasted this long. If Jeon Sa-ryong had delegated suppression to subordinates, Il Kwang would be right — so why secretly train elite warriors? It made no sense.

“Do you know his purpose?”

“How could I know? Whether he’s trying to drown the world in blood or something else. In any case, the fellow is dark-hearted.” He said it half in jest, but the charge was true enough; Jeon Sa-ryong’s massacre in a southern coastal village was well known.

“Understood for now. Whatever he’s done or plans to do, he’ll pay for his crimes soon.”

Il Kwang grinned. “Just hearing that makes me almost crazy with joy. Let’s do this properly together. With Yin Monster joining us, we’ll be able to do something.”

A subordinate marched down the opposite corridor and called, “Preparations are complete!”

“Tell them we’re departing immediately.”

“Yes, captain!”

When they stepped out of the cave, a torrential rain was falling — perfect weather for evading pursuit. Il Kwang surveyed the ranks and laughed. “Heaven helps us. Let’s hurry and be back before the rain stops!”

Il Kwang and Yu Jinsan, with Im Pyeong-il and about fifty warriors ranging from first-rate to peak-level, were drafted for the mission. Each carried weapons and supplies. There was no reason to hesitate. Their destination was Hangam Lake, the resistance’s hideout, and the procession moved swiftly with Il Kwang and Yu Jinsan at the head.

An hour passed as they traveled to avoid the enemy’s notice. At last the head of the column neared the area’s vicinity. When they reached the forest path’s entrance, everyone stopped at Il Kwang’s signal.

“What’s wrong, captain?”

Il Kwang raised his right hand to signal silence and stared at the muddied ground. “It looks like the hideout has been discovered.”

Countless footprints had been stamped into the soil, and they weren’t very old. Faces darkened around him — except Yu Jinsan’s. He’d expected this possibility. He had already brought the residents hiding underground up to the surface; given his granddaughter’s character, she wouldn’t have sent them back below.

Yu Jinsan explained calmly, “All the footprints head in the same direction. Some went in, but not a single one came out.”

That meant one of two things: those who entered had been subdued, or the attack was still ongoing. Yu Jinsan suspected the former; Il Kwang leaned toward the latter.

“I’ll go ahead and check. The rest, keep formation and follow!” Il Kwang’s massive frame shot forward like an arrow.

There was no time to stop him. Yu Jinsan shook his head and followed slowly, worrying only that he hadn’t warned Il Kwang about his granddaughter.

As Il Kwang sped through the forest, he sensed something was wrong: masked warriors lay strewn everywhere, and their numbers multiplied the deeper he went. What baffled him wasn’t their quantity but the way they were subdued — not killed, merely collapsed and gasping. Subduing without killing is harder, and to bring down so many in such a uniform way…

One common detail stood out: each had its front panel torn, as if someone had rifled through their belongings. What on earth had happened here?

Questions crowded his mind, but answers would come soon enough. He pushed on. There was no need to worry about ending the lives of the fallen masked warriors; the men behind him would take care of that. His only concern was the residents’ safety.

After unfolding his light footwork for a moment, a temple came into view, and a young girl wandered alone in the front yard. She stared wide-eyed, apparently frightened by his rugged face.

‘Tsk! She’s afraid because she doesn’t recognize this handsome face. Anyway, it seems everyone is safe.’

The girl was Yin Monster, who had been defending the village, though Il Kwang assumed she was just one of the children — he saw no traces of martial training. He relaxed but still needed to check the others.

He didn’t stop his light footwork and kept running. Just as he was about to enter the temple, he flinched.

“Gah!?”

The girl he had intended to ignore threw a punch straight at his face — a concentrated, island-style strike. Taken by surprise, he crossed his arms to guard his abdomen.

Zzheeong-!!

“Ugh!”

With a single groan, the massive man was forced backward. Il Kwang’s face registered bewilderment. ‘Could this kid be the Yin Monster? Where does such raw power come from…’

Before he could reveal himself, she darted at him like lightning. He didn’t have the confidence to fully parry with his protector, so he reflexively thrust out a fist. She was not an opponent whose strength he could moderate for. A crimson current wrapped and engulfed his thick arm as her fist approached.

Their blows met and a violent shockwave erupted between them.

Kwaaang-!!

The impact sent Il Kwang’s huge body airborne. Yu Seol lunged like a streak of lightning.

“Wait, wait! Oh, it’s a misunderstanding…”

Thrown backward, Il Kwang shouted desperately, but Yu Seol didn’t hear him. “Die, monster!!”

She unleashed a flurry of punches, leaving dozens of afterimages, pummeling him mercilessly.

Thwack-! Kwa kwa kwaang-!!

The speed was beyond imagination; there was no hope of dodging. Il Kwang covered his vital points with both arms and could only take the blows.

“Ugh!”

Kwaang-!!

Tossed to the ground, he looked utterly beaten. Worse, the Yin Monster pointed a finger into the air, and a tense, ominous flow of qi condensed at her fingertip.

As the tension peaked, a savior finally appeared. “He’s on our side, child! Stop!”

It was Yu Jinsan, who had arrived a step late on purpose. He had wanted to gauge Il Kwang’s martial level and let him personally feel the Yin Monster’s skill.

Yu Seol approached her grandfather with an incredulous expression. “…Really?”

Yu Jinsan nodded and transmitted, He looks like a villain to anyone, but he’s definitely on our side. He’s the chief of the resistance.

Embarrassed, Yu Seol stepped toward Il Kwang and apologized. “S-sorry, sir. What if you suddenly charged like that and startled someone?”

Il Kwang sat up and raised his left hand as if to wave it off. Then, for some reason, he began laughing uncontrollably.

“Hahaha! Puhahaha!!”