Chapter 273

It was during the most desperate time of Dokgo Hwang’s life.

That was when he met Jang Mu-guk.

Jang Mu-guk had been staying in Yunnan Province for three years and was on his way back to the Heavenly Martial Fortress. He could have returned to the Heavenly Martial Fortress much faster by crossing the mainland, but Dokgo Hwang had deliberately chosen a roundabout route.

He had planned to tour the southern part of Jianghu along the coast before returning to the Heavenly Martial Fortress.

Walking along the coast like that, he reached the Leizhou region, which bordered Hainan Island, and it was there that he met Dokgo Hwang.

Dokgo Hwang, who was recuperating from a serious injury, mistook Jang Mu-guk for a pursuer and attacked him.

That was Dokgo Hwang and Jang Mu-guk’s first meeting.

Because their first encounter was so intense, they developed a deep liking for each other.

Jang Mu-guk stayed in Hainan for another three months before returning to the Heavenly Martial Fortress.

Even after parting ways, they consistently inquired about each other’s well-being through letters. And today, after several years, they were reunited in Runan.

Although it was the first time they had seen each other in years, they treated each other as naturally as if they had been seeing each other all along.

Dokgo Hwang tilted his head as he looked at Jang Mu-guk.

“Your achievements seem to have grown even greater in these few years.”

“You seem to be no slouch yourself. It looks like you’ve done nothing but train since we parted.”

“Thanks to someone. I was properly stimulated.”

“Hahaha!”

Jang Mu-guk burst out laughing.

He knew that he was the one who had stimulated Dokgo Hwang.

Jang Mu-guk recalled the first time he met Dokgo Hwang.

Back then, Dokgo Hwang was truly like a wounded tiger.

That desperate face and gaze were still vivid in his mind.

Compared to then, his face was now truly gentle. But he knew that was just his outward appearance.

“It’s really good to see you like this.”

Dokgo Hwang nodded at Jang Mu-guk’s words.

Although it was a meeting after several years, there was no trace of awkwardness.

Dokgo Hwang looked around the inside of the Inn and said.

“How is there not a single customer in the Inn?”

“It was hard to find a decent place to stay, so I just bought it.”

“Well done.”

Dokgo Hwang smiled as if he was pleased.

Jang Mu-guk also smiled.

Both men were the successors to factions renowned throughout All Under Heaven.

This level of spending was no problem for them.

Jang Mu-guk asked.

“What are your impressions of Runan?”

“I like it!”

“You like it?”

“I like it. The atmosphere, like it’s about to explode at any moment…”

“Huhu! I knew you would say that. That’s also why I called you here.”

“You didn’t call me here just to show me around Runan, I’m sure. What’s your purpose?”

“Would it be too insincere to say it’s because I think something fun is about to happen?”

“No! That’s enough.”

Dokgo Hwang’s smile deepened.

He was the only one who knew why Jang Mu-guk had to wander All Under Heaven alone.

It was because he, too, had felt the thirst that Jang Mu-guk must have felt for a long time.

Dokgo Hwang looked out the window and said.

“Snow Blade Sword Manor and Jin Clan. At the end of the day, they’re just small Sects vying for regional dominance. To think their fight would garner this much attention from All Under Heaven.”

“Someone is diligently fanning the flames, aren’t they?”

“Who would that be?”

“I haven’t been able to find that out yet. They’re skillfully concealing their identity.”

“Even after mobilizing the Heavenly Martial Fortress’s information network?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s quite surprising.”

“It is surprising. Our fortress’s intelligence capabilities can be said to be the World’s best, along with the Radiant Martial Gate, yet we still haven’t found out.”

“What about the Hao Clan?”

“They were quite formidable in the past, but aren’t they past their prime now?”

“True… They still act high and mighty, but they’re riddled with holes and not what they used to be.”

“Exactly! So there’s not much to be gained from them.”

“People who move so secretly that even the power of the Heavenly Martial Fortress can’t uncover them?”

“That’s why I came in person. To see with my own eyes. To judge for myself if this is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.”

“And you called me here for that reason, I suppose.”

“Why? Are you displeased?”

“No, I’m happy! Thanks to you, I met an interesting person.”

“Who might that be?”

“Pyo Wol!”

The moment he heard Dokgo Hwang’s answer, a strange light flashed in Jang Mu-guk’s eyes.

“Did you meet by chance?”

“That’s right!”

“What kind of person was he?”

“He reeked of blood. I almost lost my self-control and swung my sword.”

“To that extent?”

“Even more so.”

“Is that so? That’s unexpected.”

“I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t met him myself.”

Jang Mu-guk knew well how stingy Dokgo Hwang was when it came to evaluating people.

He always wore the good-natured smile of a cheerful man, but his actual personality was extremely cold and calculating.

Dokgo Hwang was a man who was endlessly cold to those who did not meet his standards. For him to rate someone this highly meant that the person was beyond the rumors in Jianghu.

“I want to see him for myself.”

“I’ve already called dibs.”

“You’re as greedy as ever.”

“A sword like that is by no means common. If I can command him like my own limbs, he’ll surely be of great use.”

“Indeed!”

Jang Mu-guk nodded his head.

Jang Mu-guk was born and raised in the Heavenly Martial Fortress.

The military power of the Heavenly Martial Fortress was so mighty that it was classified as one of the Two Powerhouses of All Under Heaven, along with the Radiant Martial Gate.

It was perfectly equipped with not only various military organizations but also intelligence organizations. Among them, of course, there were organizations that operated in the shadows.

An invisible dark sword that officially did not exist, but was real.

It was the same kind of group as the Hundred Wraith Union.

On the other hand, the Swordless Union had no such organization.

This was because after the Great Demonic War ended, Sa Yeon-hui, who had risen to the position of leader at the time, had for some reason eliminated all such organizations.

Because of that, the Swordless Union had no organization to carry out secret missions.

Dokgo Hwang found that fact deeply regrettable.

Jang Mu-guk smiled.

“I suppose I’ll have to yield this time.”

“I’ll make sure the reward is not disappointing.”

“You’d better! He’s the man called the Reaper in Sichuan Province. His utility will be endless. I’m giving up such a man, so of course, the reward should be great.”

Although Pyo Wol’s existence was only just beginning to surface in Jianghu, the Heavenly Martial Fortress had been aware of his existence long before.

It was just that the distance between the Heavenly Martial Fortress and Chengdu, where Pyo Wol operated, was too great for them to make contact.

Pyo Wol was such an attractive asset that even the Heavenly Martial Fortress had tried to recruit him.

Jang Mu-guk asked.

“Is he really that handsome?”

“Enough to make you piss your pants.”

“I’m envious of that.”

“You’ll be shocked when you see him in person.”

“I’ll have to borrow him sometime.”

“Why?”

“I’m trying to entice a woman as cold as ice, but she won’t give me an opening.”

“So you’re going to use a pretty boy as a honey trap?”

“What’s there to lose? If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, I can just dispose of him.”

“Who said you can dispose of him?”

“I told you I’d make the reward worth your while.”

Jang Mu-guk nonchalantly raised his cup and offered it to Dokgo Hwang.

Dokgo Hwang clinked his cup against his.

Clink!

＊＊＊

So-ok slightly lowered her head and looked at the man sitting next to her.

He had a beauty and allure more captivating than any beautiful woman she had ever seen.

It was enough to make her, a woman, feel jealous.

The man sitting in front of So-ok was none other than Pyo Wol.

Even after his meeting with Hong Yushin ended, he did not leave and remained at the Brothel. No, it was Hong Yushin who stopped Pyo Wol from leaving. He had insisted that since Pyo Wol had come to the Brothel they operated, he should at least stay for dinner.

Hong Yushin’s intention was clear.

He was trying to recruit Pyo Wol using a beauty as a honey trap.

Hong Yushin wasn’t confident that the honey trap would work. Still, he thought it was better to try once, even if it failed, than to do nothing at all.

Entrusted with a grave mission, So-ok had no choice but to steel her resolve.

She forced a smile and filled Pyo Wol’s cup to the brim with wine. But Pyo Wol did not touch a single drop of the wine she poured.

So-ok asked cautiously.

“Do I not please you, my lord?”

“And you, do you find me pleasing?”

“Yes!”

So-ok answered without a moment’s hesitation.

Though she looked innocent on the outside, she was a Courtesan who had been through thick and thin. She had served all sorts of customers, and among them were many human scumbags she never wanted to deal with again.

Compared to such men, Pyo Wol not only had excellent looks but also good manners.

From So-ok’s perspective, who had to entertain other customers even if it wasn’t Pyo Wol, there was no reason to refuse him.

If she was lucky and could trap Pyo Wol in her skirts, it would be the icing on the cake.

So-ok moved closer and sat right next to Pyo Wol.

Having bathed in rosewater, her body exuded a faint scent of roses. Countless men had lost their senses after smelling this rose scent.

So-ok was confident that even if she couldn’t bewitch Pyo Wol in an instant, she could at least make him feel some degree of favor towards her.

But even with So-ok sitting so close, there was no change in Pyo Wol’s expression.

‘Is he a block of wood?’

Just as So-ok was thinking that.

“Get away from him while I’m asking nicely.”

Suddenly, a chilling woman’s voice was heard.

So-ok jumped in surprise and moved away from Pyo Wol.

At that moment, a woman appeared in the room like a ghost.

She was a woman whose clothes were torn in places, as if she had suffered considerable hardship, and her hair was disheveled.

So-ok asked with a bewildered expression.

“Who are you? No, how did you get in here?”

This Brothel was heavily guarded by the Hao Clan members. For a woman to suddenly appear, breaking through their security net, was nothing short of shocking.

Ssh!

At that moment, a sharply honed Flying Dagger touched So-ok’s neck.

The woman had drawn the Flying Dagger in an instant and aimed it at her.

‘An Expert!’

So-ok’s pupils trembled.

She herself was an Expert who had learned Martial Arts, yet she hadn’t even been able to perceive how the woman had drawn the Flying Dagger.

It meant her opponent was a far superior Expert.

The woman said to So-ok.

“Get out!”

“But…”

“I’m in a very bad mood right now. So don’t get on my nerves and get lost.”

The woman’s Killing intent was real.

So-ok almost wet herself.

Terrified, she scrambled out of the room without looking back.

Only then did the woman sheathe her Flying Dagger and pick up the wine cup placed in front of Pyo Wol.

“Kuh!”

The woman downed the cup in one gulp.

Pyo Wol silently watched the woman.

The woman, too, paid no mind to Pyo Wol and drank cup after cup of wine.

Only after drinking three cups did she seem to have quenched her thirst somewhat and put the cup down.

Thud!

“You, I’m going to kill you.”

The woman glared at Pyo Wol.

Her face was thick with sticky Killing intent.

The woman was none other than Hong Ye-seol.

She had just been tussling with the Black Cloud Corps and had barely managed to Escape.

The Black Cloud Corps had attacked her very persistently.

She had changed her appearance and switched hiding places several times, but the Black Cloud Corps had somehow tracked her down.

Eventually cornered, Hong Ye-seol had no choice but to reveal her true Martial prowess. But the Black Cloud Corps was by no means an easy opponent. After a fierce battle, she finally managed to break through the Encirclement and Escape, wounded.

As soon as she shook off the Black Cloud Corps, Hong Ye-seol tracked Pyo Wol to this place.

The man who usually concealed his tracks so thoroughly had not erased the traces of his entry into the Brothel.

Hong Ye-seol had followed the traces Pyo Wol left to get here.

She was currently very angry with Pyo Wol.

“I told you I’m going to kill you.”