Chapter 212
Myo Cheongju, head of the Myo family, approached his daughter, Myo Aran, who had been waiting in the garden reading a book.
“It went just as you predicted. After gathering opinions from both sides, the dispatch team has been decided. Myself, the Jagaju, and the Sulgaju will be going.”
Aran smiled softly and closed her book.
“As expected. It seems the balance has been well maintained.”
Before the family heads met with Jin Taedo, Aran had already anticipated that both sides would want to meet In Parang, and that the dispatch team would be chosen excluding Jin Taedo, Yoo Haeung, and Oh Ikdeok.
“So, the Sulgaju, who is on Jin Taedo’s side, the Jagaju from the opposing faction, and you as the neutral party—these three were selected?”
“That’s right. Just as you said.”
But Aran suspected there was more to it.
The Sulgaju was the highest-ranking family head among Jin Taedo’s supporters.
Meanwhile, the Jagaju was the lowest-ranking and oldest among the opposition.
Their respective ranks must have been factored into the calculations on both sides.
Having thought this through, Aran spoke again.
“Well, that’s good. Since you’re going, Father, I assume I can accompany you?”
Her tone was light, as if asking something obvious.
But Myo Cheongju’s expression hardened, and he shook his head firmly.
“Absolutely not. Do you know where you’d be going if you followed me?”
Aran smiled gently and asked back.
“Why? Do you think something dangerous might happen?”
Cheongju hesitated, unable to answer immediately.
He knew his daughter was well aware of the risks and couldn’t bring himself to lie.
“Hmm…”
Aran’s words were spot on.
If that man truly was In Parang, the meeting would never be a simple matter of revealing identities.
Something serious was bound to happen.
Aran smiled reassuringly, as if to calm her father.
“Don’t worry. You know I’m capable of taking care of myself. And… if he really is In Parang, my fiancé, then who better than me to recognize him?”
Cheongju looked flustered.
“No, Aran! That engagement—”
“Why? If he’s alive, the engagement isn’t invalid, is it?”
Cheongju was left speechless.
Aran regarded her father with a meaningful gaze.
She still vividly remembered In Parang from her childhood.
They had spent countless hours playing together when they were young.
Their bond was so strong that their families arranged their engagement.
So Aran had never considered any other man as a potential husband—at least, not until the rift between her father and In Gyeun arose.
Cheongju swallowed hard, unable to meet her daughter’s expectant eyes.
Jin Taedo returned to his office, struggling to contain his boiling anger.
His fury wasn’t just because he couldn’t go himself or because Yoo Haeung’s faction had defied him.
It was because In Parang—the damned man—had resurfaced, posing an enormous threat.
‘So that bastard really is alive…’
He clenched his teeth, recalling the day he had failed to capture In Parang while dealing with In Gyeun.
For over a decade, he had kept close contact with the Hyeongsan faction, never letting his guard down.
Yet here he was—In Parang had actually appeared.
Not only that, but he had crushed the secret faction Jin Taedo had been nurturing, the Hapsanpa, and spread the news throughout the martial world.
Jin Taedo was so furious he wanted to draw his sword and open a killing strike immediately.
But he forced himself to calm down.
‘Nothing’s decided yet. All he’s done is talk—there’s no proof. In a way, it’s a blessing he’s come out into the open. Now we can finally deal with him cleanly.’
The worry that In Parang might be alive had gnawed at him for years.
If he could wipe that fear away now, it would be like pulling a painful tooth.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the Baekgyobang—the faction he had focused on—had fallen.
The Hapsanpa’s loss was unfortunate, but since the Hyeongsan faction had invested more in it, it wasn’t a fatal blow.
‘Yes, I’ll handle this thoroughly. Before the dispatch team finds him, I’ll make sure he disappears cleanly.’
He suspected the Hyeongsan faction was already moving on this.
Their decision-making was far simpler than his.
Jin Taedo had always envied the Hyeongsan faction’s perfectly vertical hierarchy centered on the family head.
‘But I can’t just sit still either. Let’s see… who can I use from the Gwangseo Province?’
He slowly considered the sharpest blades he could wield.
Since the man had single-handedly destroyed the Hapsanpa, he’d need a very sharp weapon.
Just then, a subordinate outside his office called out urgently.
“Family Head! It’s urgent! Something terrible has happened!”
Jin Taedo frowned instinctively.
That same voice had delivered the news of the Hapsanpa’s destruction before.
The memory soured his mood.
“What is it?”
The subordinate burst in, pale-faced.
“Family Head! …!”
Jin Taedo’s face stiffened like stone upon hearing the news.
“What did you say?”
The Zhu River—the lifeblood of Guangdong Province.
This vast waterway, weaving through regions like Cheongwon, Bulsan, Gangmun, and Gwangju, had long been inseparable from the lives of the people there.
The residents traveled between cities via the Zhu River, fishing to make a living, and sustaining their lives along its banks.
But recently, their situation had worsened considerably.
Ruthless water gangs had completely taken control of the river.
On a foggy dawn, a group hurriedly boarded a boat.
The boatman glanced nervously into the thick mist, urging them on.
“Faster! We must cross while the fog holds!”
A man hesitated, fear in his eyes.
“Is it even safe to cross in such thick fog? We might crash into rocks.”
The boatman scoffed.
“Ha! Crossing in fog is a hundred times safer than in daylight.”
He glanced at the women on board and muttered under his breath.
“Especially with women aboard—it’s a thousand times safer.”
Climbing aboard himself, the boatman called to the hesitant man.
“If you’re scared, get off now! Delaying here could mean death for us all!”
The man stammered.
“Get off? Who said I’m getting off? I’m coming with you!”
With that, the last man scrambled aboard, filling the boat with about a dozen passengers.
The boatman pushed off with his pole.
“Alright, we’re off! Half a shijin and we’ll reach the other side. Pray to the heavens for our safety.”
With that, the boat slipped quietly into the fog, heading across the river.
The passengers stared anxiously at the mist-covered water, silent.
The only sound was the creak of the boatman’s pole.
This ferry was carrying people crossing the Zhu River toward Gwangju, the capital of Guangdong Province.
Once, dozens or even hundreds of boats would ply this route daily—a common, everyday sight.
But now, such scenes were rare.
The Baekgyobang, a ruthless water gang, had seized control of the Zhu River.
The man who had boarded last grew restless and asked the boatman.
“Are these Baekgyobang really that terrifying?”
The boatman glanced around nervously, then hissed.
“Are you crazy?! Don’t even speak their name!”
The man was taken aback.
“I was just asking. Why such a strong reaction?”
The boatman’s eyes darted fearfully as he whispered.
“Do you want to meet them? If you do, I guarantee every man on this boat will become fish food! So please, shut your mouth!”
The man muttered, pouting.
“But there are many women here. Why only men?”
The boatman pushed the pole faster.
“Hmph! Men are fish food, women are their food. If I had to choose, I’d rather be fish food.”
The women on board shrank back, eyes wide with fear.
Since the Baekgyobang took over the Zhu River, they had begun extorting tolls from every boat that passed.
And on top of that, the toll they demanded was outrageously excessive.
This behavior was completely at odds with how previous factions controlling the Pearl River had operated—they had never bothered the small fishing boats or ferries.
Of course, it was impossible for them to collect tolls from every single vessel passing through the vast river.
No matter how many they were, they simply couldn’t monitor the entire expanse of the Pearl River.
But the Baekgyobang were ruthless and relentless.
They filled the gaps in their power with terror.
They made it clear that anyone wishing to cross the river had to come find them in advance and pay the toll willingly.
And if anyone was caught fishing or ferrying people without paying, not a single exception was made—they were all brutally slaughtered.
So people had no choice but to pick one of two options:
Either pay the Baekgyobang an exorbitant price to sail the river, or risk their lives sneaking across in secret.
The boatman gazed into the fog and said, “We’re about halfway there now. If only we could make it back safely, just as far as we’ve come…”
Then, from a corner, a man wearing a straw hat suddenly chuckled darkly and muttered, “Heh heh heh, such big dreams.”
He removed his hat and slowly stood up.
From his cloak, he pulled out a firecracker and abruptly set it off into the sky.
BOOM!
The thunderous explosion echoed through the quiet fog like a clap of thunder.
Everyone on the boat felt their hearts drop.
They panicked and shouted.
“Ahhh!”
“What—what’s going on?!”
“W-what are you doing?!”
But only the boatman immediately understood the situation.
The fierce face of the man who had removed his hat made it clear who he was.
The boatman muttered in despair, “Baek…gyobang?”
The man chuckled darkly and replied, “That’s right. I’m one of the Baekgyobang.”
At that moment, a rough voice pierced through the fog.
“Hey!”
It came from not far away.
The man shouted back loudly.
“Hey! Over here!”
The people aboard fell silent, their eyes wide with terror as they looked toward the voice.
And then, through the mist, something enormous began to appear.
The last man who had boarded muttered, on the verge of tears, “A boat? A boat?”
Indeed.
The massive shadow was not just one, but three large boats.
Three Baekgyobang vessels were closing in on the ferry.
The Baekgyobang man on the ferry chuckled and said to the boatman, “What did I say earlier? Men are fish food, women are our food? I like that phrase. I’ll have to use it more often, heh heh heh.”
He licked his lips greedily as he looked at the women on board.
“Looks like today’s catch is good. This is going to be a very enjoyable day. Fishing is best at dawn, after all.”
The people on the ferry were now utterly speechless.
They could only stare blankly at the large boats surrounding them, their eyes filled with despair.
Shadows of armed men crowded the decks of the three vessels encircling them.
There was no way out.
Someone muttered in hopelessness, “No….”
Then, a man who appeared to be the leader of the armed men on the boat shouted down at the ferry.
“How dare you try to cross the river without paying us the toll! The price for that is your lives! You’re ready for that, aren’t you?! Ah, the women are exempt! You can pay with your bodies! Hahaha!”
Hearing this, despair settled deeply on everyone’s faces.
Then, suddenly, a man wearing a bamboo hat who had been sitting quietly in a corner slowly stood up and muttered, “They all act the same. You’d think they were from the Haenam faction.”
He then shouted toward the Baekgyobang men.
“I’m from the Jin family! How dare you threaten someone from the Jin family?!”
Surprise flickered in the eyes of those on the ferry, quickly replaced by a glimmer of hope.
“The Jin family?”
“You’re from the Jin family?”
Though the Jin family of Guangdong wasn’t officially one of the Five Great Clans, it was always considered a strong contender.
It was also widely recognized as the most powerful martial sect in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.
In the hearts of those on the ferry, hope stirred that maybe, just maybe, they could survive.
Though the Baekgyobang controlled the Pearl River’s waterways, the general consensus was that they were no match for the Jin family.
At that moment, everyone thought the same thing:
“No matter how ruthless the Baekgyobang are, they wouldn’t dare harm someone from the Jin family…”
But then, the armed men on the boats burst out laughing all at once.
“What? The Jin family? Hahaha!”
“What an interesting coincidence! Hahaha!”
The people looked around fearfully at the armed men.
The inexplicable laughter coming from the three surrounding boats pressed down on their hearts.
Then the leader stopped laughing and shouted,
“We were just about to take down the Jin family today! Looks like you and your family will die on the same day, even if not the same hour! Hahaha!”
Nearby, a young girl wearing a bamboo hat whispered to the man sitting beside her, also wearing a bamboo hat.
“Grandfather, the Baekgyobang are planning to attack the Jin family today.”
“That’s right. It seems their power is far greater than the world realizes.”
The old man then asked the young man wearing a bamboo hat,
“What will you do, Master In? Even for you, fighting them on the water is…”
At that moment, the man with the straw hat—Seon Woo-jin—suddenly sprang up.
Snap!
In the thick fog, it seemed as if his form vanished in an instant—a remarkable martial technique.
Those nearby gasped.
“Ah?!”
“He—he just disappeared!”
As the people on the ferry panicked and looked around, Seon Woo-jin’s form soared through the mist into the air.
Beneath his feet, the silvery fog shimmered mysteriously, stretching out like a sea.
Below that, the dark shadows of the enemy boats flickered into view.
Hovering briefly in midair, Seon Woo-jin began to descend slowly, muttering softly,
“Just one boat left to deal with.”
As he gripped his sword, the blade of the White Tiger Sword gleamed brilliantly.
Clang!
A single strike of the Mukrang Sword Technique.
A torrent.
Swish!
It was like a heavenly punishment descending from the sky.
Invisible blades sliced through the sea of fog and the hidden boats, cleaving one vessel clean in two.
Crash!
The boat split in half, and the armed men aboard lost their balance and tumbled into the river.
“Ahhh!”
“W-what is this?!”
“The boat! It’s falling!”
They screamed in chaos.
The other armed men on the remaining boats were just as stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening.
And it didn’t stop there.
Swish!
The fog sea parted again, and another boat was split in two.
Crash!
“Waaah!”
“W-what?!”
“It’s the Dragon King! The Dragon King is angry!”
“Ahhh! Please spare us!”
Seon Woo-jin leapt from the split boat to the next, slicing it apart as well, but the armed men couldn’t even perceive his movements.
Having destroyed two of the enemy boats, Seon Woo-jin now landed on the last remaining vessel.
The leader of the armed men looked around in panic.
“What—what is this?! What the hell is going on?!”
Crack!
The moment Seon Woo-jin landed beside the leader, thin lines suddenly appeared across the necks of the other armed men.
Moments later, those lines split open, spraying blood.
Gush!
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
The leader stared in horror at his bleeding, collapsing men.
He couldn’t begin to understand what was happening.
Seon Woo-jin slowly removed his bamboo hat and said to him,
“I have a question for you. If you’re willing to answer, just blink your eyes.”
It didn’t take long for the leader to grasp the situation.