Chapter 241
Along the inland main road of Guangdong Province, about sixty members of the Hainan faction were walking.
They were heading westward, from Longchuan in Guangdong toward Guangzhou—the exact opposite direction of Sun Woo-jin and his group.
Among them, Myeo Cheong-ju, the head of the Hainan Myeo family, which had traditionally served as the military arm of the Hainan faction, furrowed his brow slightly and asked,
“Are we certain they haven’t reached Longchuan yet?”
Jagae-chu, the head of the Hainan Ja family who managed the faction’s finances through his trading company, replied,
“According to the information from Haomun, yes, that’s what they say. I expect we’ll meet them soon, just a little further ahead.”
Hearing their exchange, Sul Mo-saeng, head of the Hainan Sul family, let out a bitter chuckle and muttered,
“Finally, we’ll meet the one who’s been impersonating In Parang and the Duke.”
Jagae-chu and Myeo Cheong-ju glanced at him sharply.
As a loyal subordinate of Jin Tae-do, the leader of the Hainan Ma Sword Sect, Sul Mo-saeng had already concluded that this In Parang was a fake.
At that moment, Myeo A-ran, the youngest daughter walking beside Myeo Cheong-ju, quietly asked in a small voice,
“You think their pace is too slow, don’t you?”
Myeo Cheong-ju nodded faintly.
“Yes. It’s as if someone is waiting for others to catch up. For someone who dared provoke the two great sects, Hainan and Hyungsan, to show such a lack of urgency…”
Myeo A-ran smiled slyly and replied,
“Maybe they really are waiting for someone to follow them.”
“Hmm?”
As the two exchanged words, Jagae-chu’s voice suddenly rang out.
“I think that’s them.”
“Huh?”
“Did you say ‘them’?”
Following Jagae-chu’s gaze, everyone looked ahead.
There, they all spotted a group of four men and women of various ages. Among them was a handsome young man dressed in white, with a white sword at his waist.
Seeing his silhouette, Myeo A-ran’s heart began to race.
‘Brother In… could it really be?’
Though still some distance away, A-ran, who had long surpassed the peak of her abilities, could clearly make out his face.
It bore a striking resemblance to In Parang, her fiancé from ten years ago.
If he had grown well, he would look just like that…
Usually composed and graceful, A-ran’s face flushed slightly.
As the sixty or so Hainan faction members hurried closer, Sun Woo-jin stood silently with his arms crossed, simply watching them approach.
But he wasn’t just waiting for them.
He was intently listening to Son Dae-su’s rapid explanations, absorbing every detail.
Son Dae-su spoke quickly through a transmission technique.
He went on to describe Myeo Cheong-ju of the Myeo family and Sul Mo-saeng of the Sul family in similar detail.
Son Dae-su’s extensive travels had given him a wealth of knowledge, making this possible.
This was exactly the kind of support Sun Woo-jin had hoped for.
Suddenly, Sun Woo-jin asked,
Son Dae-su hesitated briefly before answering.
What Son Dae-su didn’t know was that she had been In Parang’s childhood fiancée.
Meanwhile, the Hainan faction’s group finally arrived before Sun Woo-jin’s party.
Sun Woo-jin watched them coldly, arms crossed, while the expressions of the faction heads grew increasingly complicated.
The first to speak was Jagae-chu of the Ja family.
With a look of awe, he said,
“You… you truly are In Parang, the Duke! Your eyes are just like your father’s, and you look exactly as you did in childhood…!”
He stepped forward, clearly convinced.
But Sun Woo-jin raised his palm to stop him and said coldly,
“Hold there, Jagae-chu. Haven’t you heard that I’ve declared vengeance against the entire Hainan faction?”
Jagae-chu blinked in surprise.
“B-but, Duke In! Our Hainan faction…!”
At that moment, Sul Mo-saeng frowned and shouted,
“You declare hostility against the whole Hainan faction? How arrogant of you, kid! Jagae-chu! How can you be so sure this guy is really In Parang? He’s definitely…!”
Before he could finish, Sun Woo-jin sneered and shouted back,
“Sul Mo-saeng! You’ve got some nerve showing your face here! Or are you just stupid?!”
Enraged, Sul Mo-saeng retorted,
“W-what did you say?! How dare you…!”
In a flash, Sun Woo-jin drew his sword and pointed it at him.
Clang!
“Sul Mo-saeng! Do you think I don’t know you attacked us alongside Jin Tae-do back then?!”
Sul Mo-saeng’s face went pale.
“W-what?!”
“You really thought I wouldn’t recognize you just because you wore a cheap mask? You must be as dumb as you look!”
Sul Mo-saeng was too stunned to reply.
He had indeed followed Jin Tae-do, masked, to attack In Gye-woon, In Parang’s father.
He probably thought no one would know, but In Parang had never forgotten that day. He had recorded the attackers’ builds and martial arts in his journal.
Jagae-chu’s eyes blazed as he turned to Sul Mo-saeng.
“Sul Mo-saeng! Is it true you attacked Lord In Gye-woon?”
Sul Mo-saeng hesitated, then stammered,
“N-no! That’s just a lie! I would never…!”
But Jagae-chu, sharp as ever, saw through his hesitation and expression.
His anger flared.
“Sul Mo-saeng, you really…!”
“Jagae-chu! I…!”
Just as Jagae-chu was about to charge at Sul Mo-saeng, Sun Woo-jin spoke coldly,
“Do you still deny that the Hainan faction is my enemy? What do you say, Jagae-chu?”
Jagae-chu looked flustered.
“No, Duke In! That was all the work of Jin Tae-do and his followers! There are still those in the Hainan faction who await you…!”
Sun Woo-jin smiled bitterly and looked at Myeo Cheong-ju.
“So it was just Jin Tae-do and his followers’ scheme… What about you, Myeo Cheong-ju? Are you one of Jin Tae-do’s followers?”
Myeo Cheong-ju had been watching the situation unfold with a grave expression.
He was convinced that In Parang was genuine and was pondering what lay ahead.
But suddenly, with In Parang’s accusation directed at him, he looked startled and replied,
“W-what are you saying, Duke In? I am not a follower of Jin Tae-do. I have taken a neutral stance here…”
Sun Woo-jin sneered and spat,
“Neutral, huh? Were you neutral when you recommended Hyungsan to my father? Why don’t you try saying you didn’t know Hyungsan and Jin Tae-do were already conspiring behind the scenes?”
“T-that’s…!”
Myeo Cheong-ju couldn’t bring himself to lie and swallowed hard.
He couldn’t lie with his daughter’s piercing gaze fixed on him.
After a moment’s hesitation, he closed his eyes tightly.
Sun Woo-jin was right.
When In Gye-woon struggled under Jin Tae-do’s political pressure and sought advice, it was Myeo Cheong-ju who suggested seeking Hyungsan’s help.
And that advice was clearly influenced by Jin Tae-do.
After a brief pause, Myeo Cheong-ju opened his eyes, weary, and said,
“I never imagined it would come to this…”
Jagae-chu, shocked, shouted,
“Myeo Cheong-ju! Even you?!”
Myeo Cheong-ju had long claimed neutrality between Jin Tae-do and the other faction heads opposing him.
With four of the remaining ten faction heads already siding with Jin Tae-do, most decisions hinged on Myeo Cheong-ju’s stance.
In other words, the Hainan faction’s meetings were largely decided by his will.
Yet he had actually been on Jin Tae-do’s side all along…
Come to think of it, wasn’t he the one who had vehemently denied the rumors that Jin Tae-do had killed In Gye-woon?
He dismissed it as mere conspiracy theory.
Because of his reputation as the wisest man in the Haenam faction, no one had dared to contradict him—until now, when it turned out he was actually the key player behind that incident.
Jagaechu was so shocked and betrayed that he couldn’t even speak.
He simply glared at him, trembling with rage.
Then, suddenly, a loud explosion rang out.
Boom!
Everyone jumped, turning toward the source of the noise.
They saw thick red smoke billowing up into the sky.
It was a firework shot into the air by Sulmosaeng, the head of the Sulga family.
With a careless laugh, he said, “Hahaha! Don’t worry, Myogaju! None of them will be able to tell anyone else what really happened!”
From his words, Jagaechu sensed something—he understood what the firework really was, and what Sulmosaeng had prepared.
With a fierce, biting glare, Jagaechu shouted at Sulmosaeng, “You, Sulmosaeng, you scoundrel!”
At that moment, Son Irang, who had been watching the chaotic scene unfold, whispered to his grandfather, Son Daesu.
“What’s going on, Grandfather? What’s with that firework?”
Before Daesu could answer, Sun Woojin spoke up with a cold smile, addressing Sulmosaeng.
“So you’ve brought reinforcements. I suppose Jintae-do must have ordered you to wipe out Inparang clean, right?”
Sulmosaeng chuckled darkly. “Heh heh, you know your stuff. But you noticed too late. My apologies to Jaga, but I’m afraid this is where you die.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than black-clad warriors appeared from all sides, swords drawn, surrounding them.
There had to be at least two hundred of them.
They encircled the group, pointing their blades at the center—Inparang.
Jagaechu turned his head, looking around in disbelief.
“Could it be…?”
Sulmosaeng grinned. “That’s right. They’re the elite warriors of the Black Dragon Fleet, the finest of the Haenam faction’s naval forces. Master Jin graciously sent them along this time.”
“The Black Dragon Fleet warriors?!”
The Black Dragon Fleet was one of the few ships in the naval force crewed solely by pure Haenam warriors, unlike the others mostly made up of former pirates.
They were the absolute elite of the Haenam faction. There were ten Black Dragon ships in total, and judging by the numbers, it seemed like warriors from three of those ships had been deployed.
Hearing this, Son Daesu’s face darkened.
If these were truly Black Dragon warriors, the situation was dire.
“The Black Dragon Fleet…”
The Black Dragon warriors were said to be first-rate martial artists, the cream of the Haenam faction.
Moreover, each ship’s captain was rumored to be a master with eighty to ninety years of internal energy cultivation, and many others were seasoned experts with seventy or more years.
To have over two hundred of such warriors here, and considering the current situation, it seemed even the Sulga family head Sulmosaeng—rumored to be at the pinnacle of martial arts—and the Myoga family head Myocheongju, a confirmed top-tier master, were not their equals.
In contrast, on their side, there was the aged but still formidable Jagaechu, the young Inparang Gongja, and then Jin So-eun, himself, and his granddaughter Son Irang—none of whom seemed capable of turning the tide.
It was an overwhelmingly unfavorable situation.
In a worried voice, Daesu whispered to Sun Woojin, “What do we do now, Gongja?”
But for some reason, Sun Woojin’s gaze was fixed not on the Black Dragon warriors, but on Jagaechu’s side.
After a moment’s consideration, Sun Woojin let out a faint, almost amused smile and answered Daesu’s question.
His calmness was oddly out of place given the urgency of the moment.
“I think you should just stay still.”
“Huh?”
Daesu looked at Sun Woojin, puzzled.
At that moment, Sulmosaeng laughed loudly.
“Hahaha! Any last words? Of course, I won’t be listening! Hahaha!”
Hearing Sulmosaeng’s carefree laughter, Myocheongju’s expression darkened as he apologized to his daughter.
“I’m sorry, Aran. I couldn’t tell you sooner. But things have come to this…”
Myo Aran, however, was focused intently on Sun Woojin’s face.
Without looking away, she murmured, “You’ve changed a lot.”
Myocheongju sighed. “Hoo… I suppose you might think that. But your father hasn’t changed.”
Aran gave her father a meaningful look. “Not you, Father. I mean Parang oppa. I’ve suspected for some time that you might be connected to the disappearance of Ingaju.”
“What did you say?”
Myocheongju was taken aback by her words—and by the cold look in her daughter’s eyes.
Then it all made sense.
Come to think of it, this clever daughter had always given him pointed looks and questions whenever he spoke about the Haenam faction’s affairs.
Perhaps he had suspected it all along but didn’t want to admit it.
That his daughter knew his darkest secrets.
As Myocheongju looked at his youngest daughter with a complicated expression, Aran followed Sun Woojin’s gaze toward Jagaechu and whispered, “And… maybe this isn’t over yet.”
At that moment, Jagaechu, who had been glaring coldly at Sulmosaeng, suddenly raised his right arm and shouted, “Attack!”
Sulmosaeng clicked his tongue, watching Jagaechu’s bold move.
“Tsk tsk.”
Jagaechu had only brought about twenty attendants with him.
That was nowhere near enough to face the two hundred Black Dragon warriors surrounding them, let alone the combined forces of himself and Myoga’s attendants.
But the moment Jagaechu ordered the attack, something happened that Sulmosaeng hadn’t even imagined.
Pipipipipipip!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
“Arrgh!”
“Ahhh!”
“An ambush!”
The attack didn’t come from Jagaechu’s attendants, but from outside the Black Dragon warriors’ encirclement.
Hundreds of warriors had appeared from nowhere, striking the Black Dragon warriors from behind.
Pipipipipip!
“It’s Gangjeon! Aaah!”
“Take cover! Aaah!”
The arrows flying toward the Black Dragon warriors weren’t ordinary—they were Gangjeon, powerful bows crafted by the Haenam faction.
Designed for use against martial artists, their devastating power, combined with the surprise rear assault, caused the Black Dragon elite to crumble helplessly.
“Arrgh!”
“Take cover!”
“No place to run! Aaah!”
Caught off guard, those at the center scrambled in confusion, looking around frantically.
Only two remained calm—Jagaechu, who had ordered the attack, and Sun Woojin, who was watching him.
Son Daesu suddenly asked Sun Woojin, “Gongja, did you predict this?”
Sun Woojin simply smiled.
There was no need to answer.
He had always expected that the Haenam faction members opposing Jintae-do would be the most desperate to appear once Inparang, the heir of the Inga family, showed up.
They wouldn’t miss the perfect chance to gain a legitimate reason to oppose Jintae-do, who was currently overpowering them.
But surprisingly, they hadn’t appeared until the arrival of the Liuhap Swordmasters from the Hyungsan faction.
Their response had been much slower than expected.
Which was understandable—being a maritime force, it would naturally take time for the Haenam faction to reach Sun Woojin.
Still, Sun Woojin was certain of one thing: they would never arrive later than Jintae-do’s men.
So from the moment the Haenam faction arrived, Sun Woojin had been watching Jagaechu, the unmentioned Jaga of the family, closely.
And as expected, his prediction was correct.
Clang!
Sun Woojin drew his White Tiger Sword.
He shouted at the stunned Sulmosaeng, who was still turning his head in confusion.
“Sulmosaeng! Haenam is here! And now it’s time for the Haenam warriors who fell that day to take their revenge!”
Sulmosaeng swallowed hard as he stared at the pure white White Tiger Sword pointed at him—the sacred weapon of the Haenam faction.