Tang Jincheon stayed behind at the Murim Alliance, saying he needed to investigate the Blood Essence Pill and the martial artists who had consumed it.
For that reason, the rest of the group headed to Anhui Province as previously discussed, and we were able to arrive at the Namgung Clan without any problems.
No, to be a bit more precise, I should say the problems only started once we arrived at the Namgung Clan.
Just as we stood before the main gate and were about to announce our arrival to the gatekeeper, our eyes met with another procession that had arrived before us.
It was a rather familiar face.
Not quite on the level of Peng Woo-jin, but a sufficiently massive build. However, his Aura was clearly lacking, and despite wearing fine clothes, he somehow didn't carry an air of nobility.
"What was his name again. I think it was Hwangbo something."
As I looked at the fellow who was furrowing his brow with an anxious expression, the words slipped out before I could stop them. Seol Ri-hyang's eyes went wide as she shouted.
"Ah! That's the one who supposedly pissed himself at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering… Oops!"
She realized too late that her voice had been too loud and clamped her mouth shut, but it was already too late. Everyone who needed to hear it had already heard.
The Hwangbo-something fellow glared at Seol Ri-hyang, his face turning red and pale by turns.
"You wench! How dare you slander the eldest son of the great Hwangbo Clan!"
"…Slander?"
Just a moment ago, I'd said "Hwangbo-something" half-jokingly, but I actually knew his name quite well.
Hwangbo Gwang. Even among the Hwangbo Clan, which already had a poor reputation, he was counted as one of the worst scoundrels—a man whose misdeeds had been laid bare in full when he died at the hands of Agwibu before my regression.
He's the one who, in this life, pissed himself from the killing intent I radiated and fled the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering like a coward.
Still, one thing puzzled me. No matter how much Hwangbo Gwang was all bark and no bite, and no matter how much he'd neglected his martial training and his level was nothing special… even so, he should have been able to recognize killing intent radiated right in front of his face.
So what was that reaction, looking so genuinely enraged…?
"Ah."
Surely this bastard wasn't—knowing full well what happened, gritting his teeth and denying it all just to pretend it never occurred.
Hiding shame behind anger is an all-too-familiar human habit, now as ever.
Me, Tang So-wol. Of course, the act wouldn't fool Seomun Hwa-rin either… but to Seol Ri-hyang, who hadn't attended the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering and still had a naive side, that brazen attitude apparently worked.
"I-I'm sorry. I must have heard some baseless rumor."
"Ha! Did you think an apology would be the end of it? Sincerity isn't shown with words, but with body and action!"
Hwangbo Gwang said this while scanning Seol Ri-hyang with a gaze that made his lecherous intentions all too obvious.
…Wait, this bastard?
He was unconsciously doing the same things he did back home in Shandong Province.
He probably had a habit of not treating anyone as human unless they belonged to a famous prestigious family or sect.
And on top of that, he was forcing the issue by claiming he'd been slandered, using that as a pretext to push his opponent around. I didn't particularly want to know, but this was exactly what Agwibu had suffered at Hwangbo Gwang's hands after losing his daughter.
For a moment, anger boiled up inside me, but if you asked whether it was enough to draw my sword, it was a bit ambiguous.
The ills of the Hwangbo Clan were an open secret, and among them, Hwangbo Gwang's tyranny was worse than most Unorthodox Sects… but without clear evidence, it was hard to make an issue of it.
Then again, wouldn't it be enough for us to respond in a way that left no evidence behind either?
Once you've wet yourself, you can't do it twice. And as a bonus, I wanted to instill enough fear that he'd find it hard to look anyone in the eye for a while—that was the moment I was sharpening my killing intent.
But Seol Ri-hyang stepped forward half a beat faster than I did.
…Come to think of it, Seol Ri-hyang had never been that mild-mannered either.
In front of obvious allies like me, Tang So-wol, and Seomun Hwa-rin, she'd just grumble a bit, but with everyone else, she was either perfectly polite or bristling with thorns—one or the other.
I mustn't forget. Even back when she had nothing to her name, Seol Ri-hyang was the kind of woman who'd pick up a single stone and think about fighting dozens of Haomun members charging at her with swords.
And while we stood frozen like that, Seol Ri-hyang narrowed her eyes.
"By the way, you're the successor of the Hwangbo Clan?"
"Yeah. You've heard of me, haven't you? I am that very Cheolgol Gwonhyeop, Hwangbo Gwang."
"Really? You're not lying?"
"…Lying? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Hwangbo Gwang flared his Aura fiercely, as if ready to charge at any moment. But Seol Ri-hyang was someone who had often experienced killing intent directed right at her before—even if it wasn't aimed at her this time.
She sneered as if to say this was all he had, and asked back with a shameless air.
"The Hwangbo Clan—even if it's not quite one of the Five Great Families, it's still considered a prestigious clan right below them, isn't it?"
"Ha! Are you getting scared now—"
"And yet, for all that, you seem a bit weak."
"…"
"You look like you're almost thirty, but this is all you've got? Are you sure you're not just some collateral branch or something? I'm telling you this because you seem to be unaware, but going around pretending to be someone you're not can get you into serious trouble."
"Y-you little brat, no bigger than a bellflower seed…"
"Also, you've been speaking pretty harshly since a while ago. What are you going to do if you run into a master stronger than you and pick a fight you can't win?"
"Hah! Who would dare touch a member of the Hwangbo Clan's bloodline? Perhaps if it were a fellow member of a prestigious Orthodox Sect, but if that were the case, there's no way I wouldn't recognize their face!"
Hwangbo Gwang sneered as if he had just heard something utterly foolish. In response, Seol Ri-hyang tilted her head, not in mockery but in genuine confusion.
"No, well… if you kill them all, it doesn't matter whether they're from the Hwangbo Clan or not. No one would even know who the culprit was."
"…"
Hwangbo Gwang wore a dumbfounded expression at how nonchalantly she spoke of mass slaughter.
Seol Ri-hyang, whose petite frame and delicate impression were made even more pronounced by the overflowing Yin Energy around her, gave off a distinctly incongruous atmosphere.
Come to think of it, none of the conflicts Seol Ri-hyang had faced in the martial world had ever ended peacefully.
From the branch head of Haomun to the Blood Flame Fist Demon she had just brought down.
Regardless of background or anything else, it had always been a blade fight with the sole intent of killing each other.
Perhaps the belief had been ingrained in Seol Ri-hyang that a real battle—unlike a sparring bout—only ended when someone died.
Well, to those unaware of such circumstances, it would naturally be taken a bit differently.
As if she would simply kill them all if it came down to it.
"How dare you!"
Still not having come to his senses, Hwangbo Gwang's guard stepped forward in his place, raising a fist brimming with internal energy as he settled into a stance.
At that, as if I'd been waiting for it, I drew my sword, and Tang So-wol followed suit, hiding her fingertips beneath her sleeve.
It was a hair-trigger situation… but honestly, I wasn't tense.
Partly because this kind of petty squabble was common in the martial world, and partly because the martial level of Hwangbo Gwang and his guard wasn't anything impressive.
The gap was such that Tang So-wol alone could handle them without me even needing to step in.
…They were supposed to be a prestigious family, so how had they ended up like this?
Was it because they'd neglected martial arts and become obsessed with wielding power? Or conversely, because their martial arts had declined, they were recklessly throwing around whatever power they had left?
Either way, it didn't matter to me. I wasn't even that curious.
The one-sidedly tense standoff was just about to erupt into direct conflict.
Creak!
"What in the world is all this commotion about? And Hwangbo Gwang. I thought I told you not to come around anymore since you're disturbing my training."
Namgung Jong walked over sluggishly, drenched in sweat as if he'd been in the middle of training, a single sword hanging from his waist.
His face was etched with obvious annoyance and contempt, but the moment his eyes met mine, his heavily wrinkled expression burst into a wide grin.
"Oh! If it isn't my younger brother Cheon! What brings you here without any notice?"
"Didn't you say to come when it's convenient for you, big brother?"
"Indeed! I've been wanting to cross swords with Brother Cheon at some point!"
At Namgung Jong's welcoming demeanor, the hostile atmosphere that had been on the verge of erupting into a fight moments ago vanished without a trace.
This was partly because Namgung Jong and I shared a sworn brotherhood, and partly because he hadn't spared a single glance toward Hwangbo Gwang since opening the door.
"Brother Namgung… how could you…"
Hwangbo Gwang wore an expression like a man betrayed. But Namgung Jong's attitude remained unyielding.
"I've said it before—I'm younger than you, Hwangbo Gwang. And I already refused your mad proposal to hold the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering a second time just to save your face."
"I told you the Hwangbo Clan would cover the costs!"
"And I told you it wasn't necessary."
Namgung Jong kept deflecting with cold precision, while Hwangbo Gwang kept trying to find any opening.
I see. I roughly understood the situation now.
The Namgung Clan was the family enjoying the greatest prosperity among the current Five Great Families.
So he was trying to force a connection with the Namgung Clan, and at the same time, slipping them a suitable bribe to make amends for what happened at the last Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.
But there was no way the Namgung Clan would join hands with the Hwangbo Clan just because they were short on money.
They would have already refused several times. Yet Hwangbo Gwang refused to give up and kept clinging on, which led to the current state of affairs.
"If you came to ask for a favor, what were you thinking causing trouble at the inn? Surely you didn't think the Namgung Clan wouldn't know what was happening at the inn right in front of them."
Watching Namgung Jong look utterly fed up, a good idea suddenly came to me, and I sent a Voice Transmission.
"Would you be so kind as to issue a loud expulsion order, no matter what the reason?"
"Surely not…? No, that wouldn't be bad at all."
His shock lasted only a moment. Namgung Jong gave a nod so subtle that it would be hard to notice unless one looked closely, and his voice rose.
"Do you still not get it, Hwangbo Gwang! I don't want to be associated with you in the slightest! If you understand, then get lost!"
The moment Namgung Jong shouted that, just as he had done before, he secretly extended his killing intent and focused it on Hwangbo Gwang.
"Kuhuk!"
This time, without even a moment to writhe in pain, Hwangbo Gwang lost consciousness in an instant. Whether he was weak to begin with or not, wetting his pants was a bonus.
"Y-young Head?!"
"Surely not…"
The flustered martial artists of the Hwangbo Clan hurriedly caught the fallen Hwangbo Gwang. Then, after glancing around at their surroundings, they bowed their heads and retreated back the way they had come.
A chuckle escaped Namgung Jong's lips as he watched them leave.
"Haha! That puts my mind at ease. I don't know where they heard that my father was away from the estate, but they've been nothing but a nuisance for the past few days."
"You mean the Sword King?"
"Indeed. With the head of the Namgung Clan standing firm right here, how many would dare act so brazenly and shamelessly? Well, the Central Plains are vast, so there must be some fool with enough nerve somewhere out there. But at the very least, that Hwangbo Gwang was not one of them."
True enough. He was the type to value one's origins more than one's martial arts. Add to that his typical bully-weak-and-fear-strong nature, and it made sense that he would either tread extremely carefully in front of the Sword King or avoid approaching him altogether.
As I nodded in agreement, Namgung Jong smirked and pushed the half-open door wide open.
"You've all had a rough time of it. I'll do my best to make sure you're comfortable inside, so please, come in."
And so, we became guests of the Namgung Clan.
***
"You useless bastards! You just came back empty-handed?!"
Hwangbo Gwang, his face twisted in fury, kicked the guard's shins again and again. Still not satisfied, he began grabbing whatever was within reach and hurling it across the room.
Among the things he threw were the corpses of the innkeeper and his daughter, already dead.
After throwing his tantrum for a long while, Hwangbo Gwang finally crouched in a corner, looking uneasy, and started biting his nails.
"Damn it all. At this rate, those shady bastards aren't going to leave me alone…"
Unlike moments ago when he had been acting so arrogantly, Hwangbo Gwang now began trembling violently, but his guards simply went about cleaning up the area as if this were a familiar sight.
However, this did not last long. Suddenly, the guards stopped what they were doing and split to either side.
As if they were afraid of even letting him enter their field of vision.
Through the path that formed, an old man with a hunched frame walked forward.
"Heh heh. So you do have some sense after all. Good. There's no reason for me to leave you alone."
"E-Elder…"
Despite his imposing build, Hwangbo Gwang trembled like an aspen leaf. Seeing this, the hunched old man put on a seemingly benevolent smile.
"But don't worry too much. After all, we are family, are we not? I'll give you one more chance. Just one."
The old man extended a hand covered in liver spots. In his open palm lay a finger-sized pill reeking of a foul stench.
"Swallow it."
"…"
Hwangbo Gwang's trembling hand picked up the pill.
His father, and his father's father before him, had never dared defy the old man's words.
Hwangbo Gwang was no different.