Chapter 216

Pyo Wol suddenly looked back.

The colossal Mount Wudang, too vast to be taken in at a single glance, came into view.

It was a mountain he had already climbed twice.

Once for Daoist Master Cheongjin’s birthday banquet, and again when he went up to Daoist Master Ilgeom’s residence.

The first time he climbed Mount Wudang, he hadn’t felt anything special, but now it was a little different.

Perhaps it was because he himself had changed.

The meeting with Daoist Master Ilgeom had changed something within Pyo Wol. It wasn’t a dramatic change in personality, nor had his Martial Arts changed, but it was certain that something had shifted. And Pyo Wol could clearly feel this change in himself.

Pyo Wol felt he owed a great debt to Daoist Master Ilgeom.

It was human nature to repay a debt of gratitude.

Pyo Wol vowed to one day repay the kindness he had received and started walking.

Without Soma, who was always by his side, it felt strangely empty. But this, too, was something he would have to experience someday.

Pyo Wol couldn’t take responsibility for Soma forever.

Neither an adult nor a child, but something in between.

That was Soma.

He couldn’t know how Daoist Master Ilgeom would teach and change Soma. But he believed that he would at least guide him in a positive direction.

Pyo Wol tried to shake off his thoughts and moved on.

Now, Woo Jang-rak’s group, the Wanderer, and Soma were no longer by his side.

He had to go to his destination alone.

What was fortunate was that he had heard a detailed explanation of the current state of Jianghu and its geography from Woo Jang-rak, and had obtained a considerable amount of information from the Wudang Sect’s Scripture Depository.

Pyo Wol’s knowledge of Jianghu now rivaled that of any seasoned veteran.

Because of that, even though he was alone, he didn’t feel particularly lost. He was confident he could find his way to Mount Tianzhong, where the Jin Clan was located, all by himself.

Pyo Wol sought out the horse market on the outskirts of Balanced Mystery.

The horse market of Balanced Mystery was larger than any other he had seen. The number of horses being traded was just as immense.

Countless horses, tied by their reins, were snorting, and many people were haggling with the horse sellers.

“This one will cost you at least ten Gold Tael.”

“Hey! At best, its lifespan is only about fifteen years, so ten Gold Tael is too much. Let’s make it seven Nyang.”

“Where do you see this one as a fifteen-year-old? It can easily go for at least twenty.”

“Since ancient times, a lot of white hair on the forehead means…”

The horse market was a fierce battlefield.

The sellers tried to get even a single penny more, and the buyers mobilized all sorts of knowledge to cut the price even a little.

When Pyo Wol, who looked like a novice, entered such a place, many merchants approached him.

“You look like it’s your first time here. How about this horse? It’s mixed with the blood of the Daewan Horse, a famous horse from the Western Regions…”

“Just give me ten Gold Tael, and I’ll give you a world-renowned horse.”

“Hey! Come over here. If you go anywhere else, you’ll just get ripped off. I’ll sell it to you very cheaply.”

Some spoke as if they would give him their liver and gallbladder, while others made subtle threats.

A dozen merchants surrounded Pyo Wol, spewing all sorts of sweet talk and threats; it was a pandemonium.

This was how they would daze first-timers and sell them horses at exorbitant prices. In reality, none of the horses they showed were any good.

Pyo Wol’s response to this was simple.

“Where is Sang Gwan-yeok?”

“What?”

“Don’t tell me… you mean Young Master Sang Gwan?”

The color drained from the faces of the merchants who had surrounded Pyo Wol.

Sang Gwan-yeok was the young lord of the Military horse ranch. And the Military horse ranch held immense influence over this horse market.

The repercussions of swindling a guest of the Military horse ranch were too great, so the merchants were momentarily speechless. One wrong move and they could be kicked out of the horse market.

“Ahem!”

“O-On second thought, the horse I have seems a bit lacking to sell to you.”

The merchants receded from Pyo Wol like an ebbing tide.

Thanks to them, Pyo Wol was able to break free from the merchants and leisurely look at the horses.

It was then.

“Who’s been impersonating an acquaintance of mine?”

Suddenly, a young man’s high-pitched voice was heard.

The young man approaching imposingly with a dozen Subordinates was none other than Sang Gwan-yeok.

“Who dares…”

His words were suddenly cut short.

It was because he recognized Pyo Wol’s face.

Sang Gwan-yeok stared at Pyo Wol, his body frozen like a stone statue. His complexion had turned deathly pale.

“H-How are you here?”

Sang Gwan-yeok unknowingly stumbled backward.

Last night, he had received some unbelievable information.

It was an intelligence report that Jang Mu-yeon of the Righteous Sword Manor and the White Tiger Sword Unit had been annihilated by a single man.

The Righteous Sword Manor was a massive power comparable to the Wudang Sect.

The Martial Arts of the second young master, Jang Mu-yeon, were formidable, and the White Tiger Sword Unit also possessed a strength that was no less than the elites of a great Sect.

For such formidable people to be annihilated by a single person. And the man who had massacred them was Pyo Wol, the one he had gotten into a dispute with at Daoist Master Cheongjin’s birthday banquet.

The incident had occurred at the entrance of Mount Wudang.

Naturally, it was the Wudang Sect’s responsibility to handle it.

One of the Wudang Sect’s Taoists who was collecting the bodies had let this fact slip, and the news had reached the Military horse ranch.

It was an unbelievable story, but since it came from the mouth of a Wudang Taoist, there was no choice but to believe it.

Only then did Sang Gwan-yeok realize that the man he had picked a fight with was actually a terrifying being, and he had breathed a sigh of relief. But now, meeting Pyo Wol again, his knees trembled on their own.

“What brings you to the horse market?”

“I need a horse.”

“What?”

“I need a horse to ride. Bring me a decent one.”

“Why are you asking me for that?”

“The other merchants were spouting all sorts of lies to rip me off.”

In that moment, a fire lit in Sang Gwan-yeok’s eyes.

“Are these bastards trying to get someone killed?”

The faces of the merchants who heard Sang Gwan-yeok’s voice turned pale.

‘I’m dead.’

‘I’m screwed.’

The merchants who had surrounded Pyo Wol and tried to swindle him squeezed their eyes shut.

Pyo Wol spoke without giving them a single glance.

“I’ll pay the price, so bring me a decent horse.”

“Phew! I understand. I’ll bring you a good one.”

Only then did Sang Gwan-yeok realize that Pyo Wol hadn’t come to harm him, and he let out a sigh of relief.

He immediately ordered his Subordinate to fetch a decent horse.

A moment later, the Subordinates brought a horse with a glossy coat.

With its faint red fur, large build, and well-developed muscles, it looked like a fine steed.

Pyo Wol shook his head.

“I don’t need such a good horse.”

“It’s a token of my sincerity. Just take it. I’ll only take the minimum price.”

“Hmm!”

“Ahem! I was sorry about what happened at the Wudang Sect. Let’s forget the grudge from that day with this. Just give me ten Gold Tael.”

“Alright.”

Pyo Wol nodded.

Since he hadn’t forced it, there was nothing to feel guilty about.

Pyo Wol took out ten Gold Tael from his pouch and threw them to Sang Gwan-yeok.

Sang Gwan-yeok received the gold and wore a complicated expression. But he soon put on a calm face and tucked the gold into his robes.

He had taken a big loss, but just resolving the old grudge with Pyo Wol was worth the price.

This was a Martial Artist who had single-handedly defeated the elites of the Righteous Sword Manor. Not only that, but circumstances suggested he was under the protection of the Wudang Sect.

Because without the Wudang Sect’s protection, one couldn’t roam around Balanced Mystery so freely.

He didn’t know what Pyo Wol’s relationship with the Wudang Sect was, but it was clear they were very close.

Right now, not many people knew of Pyo Wol, but Sang Gwan-yeok thought his fame would soon shake All Under Heaven.

Even if it was a trivial grudge, resolving it was better for the future of the Military horse ranch.

Pyo Wol mounted the horse.

He was used to riding horses, having ridden them to exhaustion while traveling with Woo Jang-rak.

He galloped away without a word of farewell.

Watching Pyo Wol’s receding back, Sang Gwan-yeok muttered.

“Anyway, the Righteous Sword Manor won’t just stand by. I wonder if he’ll be okay.”

＊＊＊

“Phew! I thought I was going to die.”

A woman in a red silk dress muttered, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Her entire body was stained with blood and sweat.

The woman’s name was Hong Ye-seol.

She was one of the beauties who had been invited to the Wudang Sect.

The place she had arrived at, in such a disheveled state, was an abandoned house.

In front of the house, which had been abandoned for so long that it barely maintained its shape, there was a well.

As soon as Hong Ye-seol arrived at the abandoned house, she threw off her clothes. A dazzling naked body was revealed.

Hong Ye-seol drew water from the well and poured it over her head. The cold water touched her skin, giving her goosebumps, but she paid it no mind and poured more water several times to wash her body clean.

At a glance, she looked flawless and clean, but her naked body was etched with numerous scars. And now, a few new scars had been added.

Hong Ye-seol found some Golden Wound Medicine in her discarded clothes and applied it to the wounds. The bleeding from the wounds stopped.

“Ouch.”

Hong Ye-seol wrinkled her nose and looked at the new wounds.

They weren’t light enough to be laughed off. It was only because she was inured to pain that she could brush it off like this; if an ordinary person had sustained such injuries, they would surely have made a fuss about dying.

Hong Ye-seol was no ordinary person, and she didn’t bat an eye at wounds like these.

“Damn Taoists. How could they do this? To leave such scars on a woman’s body.”

Hong Ye-seol cursed the Wudang Sect Taoists who had scarred her body.

Daoist Master Sangjin, along with the Seven Swords of Wudang, had pursued her.

Facing them head-on was impossible.

The Seven Swords of Wudang were already a handful, but facing Daoist Master Sangjin, who could be called the First Sword of Wudang, was truly a suicidal act.

She had fled with all her might.

Fortunately, she had a knack for the art of Escape.

After overcoming several near-death crises, she was finally able to shake off Daoist Master Sangjin and the Seven Swords of Wudang. She had sustained minor injuries as a price, but this was something she had to endure.

After all, for turning the great Wudang Sect upside down, she had paid a cheap price.

Hong Ye-seol entered the abandoned house naked.

In a corner of the house, a bundle of clothes she had prepared in advance was hidden. When she untied the bundle, a simple, light attire was revealed.

After changing into the light attire, Hong Ye-seol went outside.

She sprayed a specially made perfume on her body, completely erasing her unique wild chrysanthemum scent.

In the Jianghu, there were sometimes people with the crazy talent of tracking people by smell. That’s why she completely eliminated her scent to remove any possibility of being tracked.

Hong Ye-seol’s atmosphere had completely changed after she changed her clothes.

Cool eyes, tightly closed lips, a blank face—it was a completely different appearance from the demeanor of the beauty she had shown on Mount Wudang.

The last thing she took was a book that had been inside her discarded clothes.

Devil Subduing Energy Art.

It was the item she had risked her life to steal from the Wudang Sect’s Secret Depot.

Now, all that was left was to deliver this Secret Manual to the client.

Hong Ye-seol wrinkled her nose and muttered.

“But something smells fishy.”

It wasn’t a request she had taken on directly.

It was a request that had come to her through several people.

It wasn’t an official request received as an Assassin of the Hundred Wraith Union, but a request she had taken on as a hobby.

In her experience, in cases like this, problems arose with a fairly high probability.

Hoping it wouldn’t be the case this time, Hong Ye-seol walked towards the meeting place.

The rendezvous point with the client was a riverside far from Mount Wudang.

A place with a large turtle-shaped rock was the rendezvous point.

As soon as Hong Ye-seol arrived, a fat man appeared from behind the turtle rock. He was the client.

The client said.

“The book?”

Hong Ye-seol silently held up the Devil Subduing Energy Art. The client grinned.

“As expected, you’re reliable. Hand over the book.”

“Give me the fee first.”

Hong Ye-seol said bluntly.

“The Secret Manual comes first.”

“Hmph! Who would give the goods without receiving payment? Give me the payment first.”

“Woman, you’re courting disaster.”

The client casually raised his hand. From all over the riverside, martial artists holding weapons revealed themselves.

“Ha! I knew it would be like this. I shouldn’t have taken on a request like this.”

Hong Ye-seol let out a sigh.

It had been shaky from the start, and now the expected catastrophe had arrived.

The client had no intention of paying her from the beginning.

If she failed, so be it, and if she brought the item, he would just take it by force.

The client looked Hong Ye-seol up and down and muttered.

“A usable wench, what a shame.”

“Pig! No matter how starved I am for a man, I wouldn’t sleep with a pig like you.”

“What?”

“I’d rather fuck a pig.”

Hong Ye-seol raised her pale white hand.

It was the Great Yin Hand, the symbol of the Seven Blood Killers of the Ten Blood Assassins.