Roaming the Martial World (3)
The thugs hauled out money from the safe.
Another group prepared explosives. Junhyeok could tell—they intended to kill the hostages with those.
A masked man approached the hostages and barked, “Hand over everything you’ve got.”
They were planning to take everything from the hostages.
“If you hide even one thing, you’ll die on the spot.”
The thugs rifled through the hostages’ belongings, stealing money and valuables.
An elderly hostage couldn’t hold back and shouted, “You scoundrels, you’ll face divine retribution!”
The leader sneered, “Divine retribution? From where? Up there?” He glanced at the ceiling. “Here stands a filthy sinner, so bring down your wrath!”
Of course, nothing happened.
The leader chuckled, “Old man, why spout such naive nonsense at your age? If divine retribution existed, would the world be like this?”
The masked men laughed along.
They resumed searching through the belongings.
From the man beside Junhyeok, they took a few items.
“Why is this so heavy?” A masked man casually read the inscription on a metal plaque he had taken. It was engraved with a dragon ascending on either side and read, “Leader of the Martial Alliance, Byeokridan?”
A hush fell over the room.
Then the masked man laughed, “Ha! This wet-behind-the-ears kid is pretending to be the leader of the Martial Alliance?”
They assumed it was a fake.
But another masked man nearby said, “Isn’t the current leader also quite young?”
“What?”
The masked man holding the plaque flinched, and the leader called him over.
“Bring that here.”
“Yes.”
The masked man handed over the identification plaque.
The leader examined it closely, his expression growing serious. He had assumed it was a fake, but it was too intricately crafted to dismiss so easily.
His gaze shifted to the man.
The moment their eyes met, the leader felt his heart constrict.
“Bring me the weapon we took from him.”
A subordinate rushed to fetch the sword. The leader unsheathed it.
The terrifying aura of the Suramyeongwang Sword made the leader’s eyes widen.
“Gasp.”
He had never seen such an extraordinary sword in his life.
Finally, the man spoke.
“You said there’s no divine retribution? I beg to differ.”
The leader shouted in a frenzy, “Kill that bastard!”
Just as the subordinates moved to attack.
Flash! Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck the leader’s head. No one had expected lightning to strike indoors, and everyone screamed in terror.
The leader, struck by lightning, was left charred and dead, his head split open.
Another man flinched.
Flash! Crackle!
He too was charred to a crisp.
“Aaah!”
The remaining masked men threw down their swords and fell to their knees.
“Spare us!”
The man waved his hand in the air.
Miraculously, the sealed pressure points of the seven Red Dragon Squad members were released.
The man turned to Junhyeok and said, “Now, it’s your turn to act.”
A new report arrived at the Justice Hall of the Martial Alliance headquarters.
“The ones who raided the battlefield were found to have intended to kill the hostages, and all have been sentenced to execution.”
Gal Saryang nodded at the subordinate’s report.
“Truly unlucky fools. How could they think of raiding a place where the leader resides?”
“Are they the only unlucky ones?”
Gal Saryang was receiving reports from all over.
He had resolved issues at the academy and established laws to severely punish those who committed sexual assault.
This time, he doubled the number of Red Dragon Squad members dispatched to each regional branch of the Martial Alliance and provided them with better equipment.
Of course, this meant the treasurer had to tighten the budget. Unnecessary expenses were cut, and corruption was not tolerated.
At that moment, Baekpyo entered.
“You’re here?”
“Yes. I heard the leader is in Hunan?”
“Indeed.”
“He seems to be working all the time, never enjoying his travels.”
“That’s just his nature. He can’t just pass by.”
“Of course.”
The two stood side by side by the window.
“This martial world is fortunate.”
“What do you mean?”
“The time the leader spends traveling is not just for him but also for this martial world. It’s not just an inspection; he’s observing the lives of the people up close and making many improvements.”
Baekpyo nodded.
“We owe a lot to the leader, both us and this martial world.”
Gal Saryang nodded in agreement.
“At the very least, we must work for the leader’s happiness.”
“Yes.”
The two looked out the window again.
Somewhere far away, Byeokridan was changing this martial world.
“Change it!”
I had told Cheonma twice, but he stubbornly refused.
“No!”
“Are you really going to be like this?”
“Yes. Absolutely not!”
Even the closest of friends can clash and argue during long journeys.
We were no exception.
We argued over various issues, like how to deal with villains.
To kill or to spare.
That was understandable, given our differing values.
And then there were cases like this.
“Grilled fish tastes best! Change the order!”
“You just don’t know. Fish is best in a stew.”
“You really don’t know how to enjoy food. What could you have eaten in the Demon Cult? Raw meat dripping with blood?”
“What could you have eaten in the Martial Alliance? Bland vegetables soaked in ink?”
“Hmph!”
I called the server to add grilled fish to the order.
“Once you taste the perfectly grilled fish, you’ll bow to me.”
“Try a sip of the stew. By the time I bow, you’ll already be flat on the ground.”
Just then, we overheard a conversation from the next table. They were talking about me.
“Have you heard the rumor that the leader is traveling the martial world, rooting out injustice?”
“Of course. Who hasn’t heard that thrilling news?”
“The leader has significantly increased the penalties for all crimes harming the people. Thanks to that, the number of villains has already decreased.”
“Looks like this martial world is finally becoming a place worth living in.”
“The wine tastes great.”
“Another order of braised fish, please.”
“This place is known for its braised dishes.”
Cheonma and I listened silently to their conversation.
I scratched my head and said, “They say this place is known for its braised dishes.”
“Seems so.”
We looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Two months later.
A carriage was traveling down the main road.
Inside were two people.
“I’m only letting you meet the Grandmaster because it’s you.”
The man who kept repeating this was Yeom Jong-yeol, the head of the Sichuan branch of the Black Society, which had recently been thriving.
“Thank you. I’ll never forget your kindness.”
The young man sitting across from him bowed. He was none other than Byeokridan.
“After you saved my life, this is nothing. But be very careful at the meeting. There will be some truly terrifying people there today.”
“I understand. I’ll just stay quietly behind you.”
“Yes, you’re attending as my escort today. Just observe.”
“Yes.”
Typically, when attending a general meeting, a branch head could only bring one subordinate.
In the large courtyard of the manor, about a hundred members of the Black Society had gathered.
It was the day of the general meeting for Yeolim, which had been rapidly growing in the central plains.
Most of the experts present were subordinates of the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster himself was a formidable expert, surrounded by highly skilled subordinates.
“Let’s toast to the future of Yeolim.”
As the Grandmaster raised his glass, all the branch heads followed suit.
At that moment, Yeom Jong-yeol, the head of the Sichuan branch, was startled. The man he had brought, Byeokridan, was walking to the center of the training ground.
-Hey, are you crazy? Get back here!
He urgently sent a message, but Byeokridan didn’t respond.
Instead, he looked at the Grandmaster and spoke in a low voice.
“They say no matter how many times you eliminate the Black Society, it keeps coming back. If you pressure it too much, it hides and causes even bigger problems.”
Though his voice was low, everyone present heard it clearly.
“So I set a boundary for you. Never appear where ordinary people live. If you must fight, do it where you can’t be seen.”
He was a completely different person from when they had arrived by carriage.
Everyone murmured. They were more curious than afraid, wondering who this person was.
The Grandmaster was present, and he was surrounded by true experts.
Especially the Grandmaster’s right-hand man, the One-Eyed Ghost, was known to be able to kill even the top martial artists within ten seconds with his single eye.
“Who the hell is that lunatic?”
At the words of the Shandong branch head, Yeom Jong-yeol quickly stood up.
“I brought him, but it seems he’s fallen into a state of madness.”
He was anxious, worried that the blame might fall on him. He needed to shift the responsibility to Byeokridan.
“You fool, get back here at once!”
But Byeokridan didn’t even glance at him. Calmly, he continued his speech.
“Kidnapping girls to sell them to brothels? Selling boys to perverted old men? And adults, sold off as practice dummies for those who dabble in dark arts?”
The leader’s face hardened. These were secrets, even within their own ranks.
The one-eyed man drew his sword and stepped forward.
“Lock the door! Don’t let that bastard escape!”
A voice from the door replied, “Already locked. Don’t worry.”
The one-eyed man’s expression froze. None of his subordinates would dare speak to him so rudely. Sure enough, a stranger stood by the door. It was Cheonma. He waved at the one-eyed man and said, “No one’s getting out, so relax!”
The tables had turned; the two of them had trapped over a hundred people.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, the leader spoke up, “Who are you?”
At the polite inquiry, Byeokridan snapped, “You idiot, haven’t you been listening?”
Cheonma, still by the door, added, “If he listened, would he be trafficking people in the first place?”
“True.”
The leader cautiously said, “I understand this is an order from the Martial Alliance.”
“Then you heard the part about what happens if you don’t comply, right? Haven’t you heard the rumors about me? You wouldn’t be doing this if you had. Or did you think, ‘Great, this is our chance to grow stronger while the other dark guilds cower in fear’?”
The leader and a few quick-witted members began to look increasingly tense.
“Wait, are you…?”
Everyone’s expressions turned grim.
The leader jumped to his feet, “Please, let me explain—”
“Shh,” Byeokridan silenced him.
“Naming your group ‘Night Forest’—must be fond of the dark. I like the dark too. And the guy at the door? He’s crazy about it.”
Suddenly, darkness enveloped the room, turning it into night.
Everyone looked up, both startled and amazed by the sudden night sky.
“Please, just hear me out—”
Byeokridan coldly cut off the leader’s desperate plea. “These are the tears of the families of those you sold.”
A rain of sword energy poured down.
They couldn’t even scream before they were shattered and crumbled.
News of the Night Forest’s annihilation spread across the martial world.
The Martial Alliance issued a stern decree: any dark guild that harassed ordinary people would be exterminated without exception.
Every dark guild in the land trembled in fear.
As our journey continued, the martial world was slowly changing.
A month later, we were crossing the Yellow River by boat.
We’d seen and experienced so much in that time. Choosing to travel like ordinary people turned out to be a wise decision.
If we’d flown around using our martial arts, we could have seen more and visited more places.
But we wouldn’t have had moments like this.
The sun was setting on the horizon. It was truly beautiful.
Everyone on the boat was captivated by the beauty of the sunset.
“Hey, Cheongwang, aren’t you going to get married?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to be responsible for someone, and I don’t think I can be.”
His straightforward answer left me speechless.
“Isn’t it a waste for someone like you to live alone?”
“What waste?”
“I bet you could raise at least ten kids well.”
“No thanks. One disciple is enough for me.”
“What do you think it feels like to have a child? Must be amazing, right?”
Cheonma looked at me for a moment, then turned back to the sunset. “You, who don’t even know, telling others to have ten kids? What nonsense.”
“Hahaha.”
“By the way, aren’t you going back to Miss Song?”
The end of our journey seemed near.
“Let’s enjoy a little longer. Just a little.”
“Alright.”
Our journey, sometimes chaotic, sometimes thrilling, sometimes dull, and sometimes delightful, was moving toward its end, like a boat cutting through the water.