Chapter 229

The Jin Clan was in an uproar.

Martial artists who had fought on Daoist Master Seol’s side in Runan were being carried in on stretchers one after another.

“Ugh!”

“Damn… it!”

Some had injuries so severe they couldn’t use their Movement Technique, while others had wounds minor enough to walk in on their own two feet.

With so many injured, the Jin Clan instantly turned into an Asura Field.

“Daoist Master Seol must have provoked them first.”

“If we let them get away with this, our morale will be broken.”

The martial artists who had joined the Jin Clan shouted in anger.

Their fury put pressure on Jin Si-woo.

With a hardened face, Jin Si-woo asked his subordinate.

“How many are injured?”

“Over seventy in total. Among them, twelve are so severely wounded that their lives are in danger.”

“Hmph!”

“If we stand by and do nothing, the morale of the martial artists who joined our clan will surely hit rock bottom. We absolutely cannot let this stand.”

At his subordinate’s words, Jin Si-woo closed his eyes.

The conflict with Daoist Master Seol was escalating, but Jin Si-woo had believed it could still be resolved through dialogue. That was why he had restrained the use of force as much as possible, but he could no longer do so.

If he showed any hesitation here, it was clear that many would begin to doubt his leadership.

“For now, dispatch an envoy to Daoist Master Seol and demand an apology.”

“But they will never apologize.”

“It doesn’t matter. It allows us to build a just cause.”

“Ah!”

“Regardless of the true circumstances, what’s important is that we showed our will to resolve the issue. That alone will make the comrades of Jianghu support the Jin Clan.”

“I understand. Then who would be best to send as the envoy?”

“Send Uncle Yu-sang. He is clear in his judgment and knows when to advance or retreat, so he will surely be able to handle it well.”

Jin Yu-sang was from a collateral branch of the family, making him Jin Si-woo’s uncle in terms of generation.

He appeared gentle, but in reality, he had a resolute personality and a brilliant mind, allowing him to assess situations quickly.

Jin Si-woo called him uncle, while others addressed him as Elder.

“I will do so.”

The subordinate retreated with an affirmative reply.

Left alone, Jin Si-woo let out a sigh.

“Haa! If only my brother were here.”

It was a day he missed his late brother, Jin Geum-woo, to the point of tears.

If only Jin Geum-woo were here, the Jin Clan would not be so shaken. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was not enough to fill the void his brother had left.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon two men.

Pyo Wol and Namgung Wol.

Both were people connected to his brother, Jin Geum-woo.

Namgung Wol was watching the flood of injured people with a worried expression, while Pyo Wol wore an inscrutable, emotionless face.

Seeing them eased his suffocated heart, if only a little.

As if sensing Jin Si-woo’s gaze, Pyo Wol turned his head to look at him.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Pyo Wol said nothing to Jin Si-woo. He simply watched him in silence. But that alone made Jin Si-woo feel a sense of reassurance in his chest.

It was a strange experience.

‘Was this it? Is this feeling why my brother tried to get close to him?’

He had thought Jin Geum-woo was the strongest in the world.

His brother had never shown a moment of weakness, no matter the circumstances. That was why so many people trusted and relied on him.

Jin Si-woo had thought that was only natural. But now that he was in his brother’s position, he felt he could understand how lonely and difficult the path Jin Geum-woo had walked must have been.

And so, his curiosity about Pyo Wol, the man Jin Geum-woo had sought to rely on, grew even stronger. Although they had talked all night, it had been entirely about Jin Geum-woo; there had been nothing about Pyo Wol himself.

Jin Si-woo thought he would have to talk more with Pyo Wol later, and turned away.

＊＊＊

Pyo Wol gazed at a martial artist groaning from a deep wound.

A physician had rushed over to tend to him, but he had lost so much blood that his condition was critical.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

The physician quickly applied Golden Wound Medicine for hemostasis and then bound the wound with a white cloth. But it wasn’t enough.

Blood continued to seep out, staining the white cloth red, and eventually, the martial artist, having lost too much blood, breathed his last.

“How can this be!”

When the martial artist died despite his efforts, the physician collapsed on the spot, dumbfounded.

No matter how accustomed one was to death in his profession, seeing a martial artist with such a youthful face die left a deep scar on the physician’s mind.

“Those vile bastards of Daoist Master Seol! I will never forgive them!”

The dead martial artist’s friend screamed, veins bulging in his neck.

“Blood for blood. Death for death…”

“Blood for blood. Death for death…”

The martial artists nearby echoed his cry.

Their shouts spread throughout the entire Jin Clan.

Pyo Wol silently watched as the madness spread like a contagion.

Madness makes one lose reason.

The madness emitted by a group erases even fear, making them reckless.

That was the situation now.

The people who had gathered to help the Jin Clan were dominated by madness, shouting that they must fight Daoist Master Seol at once.

Once it erupts, madness does not easily subside.

From young martial artists to the elderly, all were swept up in the frenzy. The few who maintained their reason could only watch with worried expressions, not daring to speak out rashly.

‘If this goes wrong, not just Runan but the entire Henan province could be swallowed by this madness.’

Having been raised as an assassin, Pyo Wol was accustomed to reading the flow of events.

The current flow was not good.

It was too fast.

It was leaning too quickly to one side, with no room for control. No opposing opinions were heard; only the one-sided cry to punish Daoist Master Seol was audible.

It was when opinions leaned so heavily to one side that major incidents tended to occur.

Pyo Wol shook his head slightly and returned to his quarters.

Even with the door closed, the people’s voices and madness seeped in.

Pyo Wol chose to close his eyes and perform Qi Circulation instead.

As he operated the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method, he was able to escape the clamor and sink into a world of his own.

Pyo Wol spent the night in Qi Circulation and fell asleep around dawn.

He opened his eyes when the morning sun had risen in the eastern sky.

“The Elder has returned.”

“Quick, inform the Young Clan Head.”

Urgent voices could be heard from outside.

Pyo Wol sensed that another incident had occurred.

He opened the door and went outside to see a middle-aged man being carried in on a stretcher. It was Jin Yu-sang, the man Jin Si-woo had sent as an envoy to Daoist Master Seol.

He had become a Blood Human, gasping for breath.

“Uncle!”

Jin Si-woo, having heard the news, rushed out.

Jin Yu-sang reacted to Jin Si-woo’s voice.

“Si, Si-woo!”

“Yes! I am here. What happened?”

“Keuk! I was attacked by those bastards.”

“What, you mean they attacked an envoy?”

“I don’t know how, but those bastards from Daoist Master Seol had a promissory note.”

“A promissory note?”

“Those bastards from the Golden Mountain Manor handed over a promissory note written by our clan to Daoist Master Seol. They used it as leverage to demand repayment.”

“How could they! The due date for the loan is the end of next month, and they’ve already handed it over to Daoist Master Seol?”

“That’s right! When I demanded an apology, they showed me the note and demanded I repay the money instead. That’s when the clash occurred.”

“Hmph!”

Jin Si-woo let out a groan.

The promissory note signed with the Golden Mountain Manor was the Jin Clan’s weakness.

He didn’t know why his grandfather, Jin Wolmyeong, had borrowed ten thousand Nyang from the Golden Mountain Manor, but by signing that note, he had placed their lifeline in the Golden Mountain Manor’s hands.

Of course, there was no guarantee the note was real. It might have been a forgery.

But now, the authenticity of the note was no longer that important.

The fact that Daoist Master Seol had obtained the promissory note from the Golden Mountain Manor meant he had gained a justification to pressure the Jin Clan.

“Damn it!”

Jin Si-woo cursed without realizing it.

He had never expected things to turn out this way.

No matter how money-grubbing the Golden Mountain Manor was, he truly hadn’t thought they would hand over the promissory note to Daoist Master Seol before the repayment date had even arrived.

Jin Si-woo forced himself to compose his expression and said to Jin Yu-sang.

“I will handle this matter, so please get some treatment, Uncle.”

“I have failed you. To return like this, beaten and without securing an apology.”

“Not at all. You did your best, Uncle. From now on, I will take care of it.”

“Keuk!”

“What are you doing? Hurry and take my uncle inside.”

At Jin Si-woo’s command, the Jin Clan’s martial artists quickly carried Jin Yu-sang inside for treatment.

Pyo Wol watched the entire scene unfold.

Beside him, Namgung Wol and Oh Ju-gang had approached at some point.

“The atmosphere isn’t good.”

“The tide has turned for the worse.”

As some of the most talented figures in Jianghu, their intuition was also exceptional. They sensed that the atmosphere had changed.

“Was the Jin Clan in such dire straits that they had to borrow money from the Golden Mountain Manor? Even so, to borrow from the Golden Mountain Manor of all places.”

Everyone in Henan province knew that Golden Mountain Manor’s Manor Lord, Geum Shinchung, was a heartless money-grubber.

He was a man who would collect more in interest than the one Nyang he lent, and he would squeeze even the poorest person like a dry rag until he got what he wanted.

For that reason, it was an unwritten rule that no matter how desperate one was for money, one did not seek him out unless truly cornered on the brink of death.

The Jin Clan’s finances had become a bit tight recently, but not to the extent that they needed to seek out the Golden Mountain Manor.

“Could there be some circumstances we don’t know about?”

“Is the Jin Clan really struggling that much?”

The people who had come to the Jin Clan seeking fame began to murmur.

They had joined thinking the Jin Clan would surely win; they had no sense of mission or loyalty.

It was not strange that their hearts wavered upon hearing that the Jin Clan was in trouble.

It was then.

“Come out here.”

A voice filled with internal energy echoed from the entrance.

“Keuk!”

“Ugh!”

The martial artists with weaker internal energy felt a pain as if their eardrums were tearing from the powerful voice.

“Who goes there?”

“Who are you?”

The martial artists with stronger internal energy rushed toward the entrance.

A man and a woman stood at the entrance of the Jin Clan.

One was a middle-aged man with a large spear slung over his shoulder, and the other was a slender woman.

The spear the man carried was so large and thick it looked as if it could hunt the legendary dragon.

The voice that had just struck the eardrums of the people gathered at the Jin Clan had also come from the middle-aged man.

Though surrounded by numerous people, the man and woman showed no signs of being intimidated. On the contrary, they even had the composure to look around with faint smiles on their lips.

Jin Si-woo pushed through the crowd and approached them.

“Who are you?”

“We are from Daoist Master Seol, young master!”

“Daoist Master Seol?”

“That’s right! My name is Jang Gwang-san. Have you perhaps heard of me?”

“The Dragon-Slaying Hunter?”

“Heh heh! So you have heard of me. That’s right! The Dragon-Slaying Hunter, Jang Gwang-san, is me.”

The middle-aged man looked around with an arrogant expression.

Dragon-Slaying Hunter.

It was an alias that literally meant a hunter who had hunted a dragon.

It wasn’t that Jang Gwang-san had actually hunted a dragon. The dragon was, as its name suggested, a legendary divine beast, and its very existence in the human world was unknown.

Jang Gwang-san had earned such an alias because of his weapon, the giant spear.

His comrades in Jianghu had given him the alias after seeing him wield the massive spear, large enough to hunt a dragon, with complete freedom.

Jin Si-woo’s gaze shifted to the woman next to Jang Gwang-san.

“Then you must be the Hyeonhyeon Demoness?”

“That’s right. I’m Sa Okyeon.”

The Hyeonhyeon Demoness, Sa Okyeon.

As the word ‘Demoness’ in her alias suggested, she was known for her ruthless methods. What made her most famous was that she was Jang Gwang-san’s wife.

The two always moved as a pair, and it was said that wherever the storms of Jianghu brewed, they were sure to be there, stirring up trouble.

Jin Si-woo spoke to them.

“Why have you two come to our clan? Are you planning to join us?”

“As if!”

Jang Gwang-san grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth.

In contrast, Jin Si-woo’s eyes sank deep.

“Then for what purpose have you come?”

“We came to collect money.”

“Money?”

Jang Gwang-san pulled a piece of paper from his robes and shouted.

“The money the Jin Clan took and hasn’t paid back.”

What he held out was a promissory note, clearly signed by Jin Wolmyeong.