Chapter 296

Rumors that the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe had arrived spread throughout Runan.

The entertainers played instruments, sang songs, and performed tricks.

“Woooah!”

“They’re the best.”

The people cheered for the entertainers.

The atmosphere, which had been somewhat subdued due to the fight between Jin Clan and Snow Blade Sword Manor, heated up with the arrival of the entertainers.

On top of that, news of a gathering for the Golden Sky Society, a social group for young martial artists, was also announced.

These two pieces of news became a source of vitality for the people of Runan.

Whenever two or more people gathered, they would chatter about these two topics.

“The Golden Sky Society is meeting in Runan because of Young Master Jin Geum-woo, right?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s the one who founded the Golden Sky Society.”

“Wouldn’t it have been great if he were still alive?”

“If he were here, Snow Blade Sword Manor wouldn’t have even dared to challenge the Jin family.”

“Still, it’s a relief that the Jin family won. The Golden Sky Society must have deliberately gathered in Runan to honor Young Master Jin Geum-woo, don’t you think?”

“That must be it. And the Jin family, knowing they were coming, probably invited the entertainers to liven up the atmosphere.”

The people misunderstood that the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe had come to welcome the Golden Sky Society. Their misunderstanding deepened, and in turn, their cheers grew louder.

“Hmph! Fools.”

So Gyeoksan sneered at the people.

He was walking alone down the street, his bamboo hat pulled down low.

While his subordinate entertainers captured the public’s attention, he was moving alone to a certain location.

The place So Gyeoksan headed for was a back alley of Runan.

After a brief look around, So Gyeoksan approached a shabby mansion.

It was a house with a small black flag hanging next to its red gate. The flag was so small that it was hard to spot unless one looked carefully.

Thump, thump!

So Gyeoksan knocked on the gate. The gate opened without a sound.

So Gyeoksan stared at the wide-open gate for a moment before stepping inside.

The mansion he entered had a typical northern-style structure. With a courtyard in the center surrounded by the mansion, it was perfectly shielded from outside gazes.

It was a structure chosen out of necessity to block the harsh northern cold, but there was no better structure for maintaining secrecy.

So Gyeoksan stood in the middle of the courtyard and looked around.

It was then.

“Are you the Blood Bat?”

A coarse voice came from the main hall connected to the courtyard.

So Gyeoksan focused his Eye Power and looked toward the hall.

He could see a man sitting in a chair, looking at him.

Like So Gyeoksan, the man was wearing a bamboo hat. Because of it, his true face could not be seen.

So Gyeoksan nodded and said,

“That’s right! I am the Blood Bat.”

Blood Bat was another of So Gyeoksan’s identities.

Whenever he took on a request as an assassin or handled matters in the shadows, So Gyeoksan used the alias Blood Bat.

The fact that he did such work in the shadows was a secret even to his troupe members. The only person who knew this fact was Yi Ok-ran.

So Gyeoksan focused his Eye Power intently, trying to see the man’s face. But even with his Eye Power, he could not see through the bamboo hat.

Thwack!

Just then, the man threw something at So Gyeoksan’s feet.

It was a paper envelope containing a letter.

“Your task is simple. Take the person named inside to the Jade of No Regret.”

“You mean the Jade of No Regret actually exists?”

So Gyeoksan looked at the man in surprise. But the man’s voice, when he replied, was utterly cold.

“I’m giving you the request because it exists, wouldn’t you say?”

“Good heavens!”

“There’s a map to the Jade of No Regret inside. Memorize it, then burn it.”

“Ah, I understand.”

So Gyeoksan replied, but he couldn’t relax his stiff expression.

‘I’ve gotten myself into something bad. The Jade of No Regret…’

There was a rumor that had been circulating in the Jianghu for a long time.

It was about a Thunder Prison from which one could never escape.

No one knew who built it, nor was it known when it was built.

They didn’t even know for what purpose the Thunder Prison called the Jade of No Regret was created.

Only the rumor that such a place existed circulated.

The Jade of No Regret was a place whose very existence was doubtful.

The most frightening rumor about the Jade of No Regret was that once you entered, you could never get out. That was why it was even named the Jade of No Regret.

Occasionally, people would mysteriously disappear in the Jianghu.

People who vanished completely, as if their very existence had been erased without a trace.

Some said they were all taken to the Jade of No Regret. But with no evidence whatsoever, it was just a story that circulated like a legend.

So Gyeoksan clenched his teeth.

‘I had a bad feeling about this for some reason…’

The fact that he was told to come all the way to Runan to receive the request.

The fact that the client’s identity was unclear.

And above all, the bad feeling he had.

For these reasons, he had tried to refuse this request. But it had come through a channel he could not refuse, so he had no choice but to accept.

Because of that, he had tried to pass the request on to Pyo Wol as a backup plan. But the handoff had failed, and he was now in a situation where he had to carry out the request himself.

The Jade of No Regret had been kept a complete secret until now.

There must be a good reason why it was kept so secret.

For example, to kill and silence, or to put on Shackles that could never be removed.

Either way, it was not a good thing for So Gyeoksan.

In the worst-case scenario, he could lose his life. But refusing the request now was even more impossible.

So Gyeoksan ground his teeth, thinking he had been thoroughly ensnared.

He picked up the envelope that had fallen to the floor.

When he opened the envelope, someone’s name was written inside.

The moment he saw the name, he swore without realizing it.

“Damn it!”

He lifted his head and looked at the client.

But the client had already vanished and was nowhere to be seen.

While So Gyeoksan was distracted, the client slipped out of the mansion.

It was a mansion rented for just one day under someone else’s name.

Even if an investigation was conducted, his identity would not be revealed.

Once he was some distance from the mansion, he took off his bamboo hat and outer coat and threw them over the wall of another house.

He was a Jang Han in his early forties.

He was a man with a striking impression, with coppery skin, a well-trained body, and a strong presence.

He walked without hesitation.

The place he headed for was the largest inn in Runan.

The three characters for Celestial Origin Tower were written on the inn’s sign.

When he arrived in front of the Celestial Origin Tower, a woman came out to greet him.

The moment he saw the woman, who had a beautiful face and impressive blue-tinged eyes, the man performed a fist-palm salute and said,

“I have returned.”

“What about the request?”

“I’ve entrusted it to a reliable person. You don’t need to worry.”

“Are you sure?”

“On whose orders am I acting that I would dare be negligent?”

“I’ll trust you.”

Only then did the woman’s expression soften.

A look of relief flashed across the man’s face.

Some might curse him for being wary of a delicate woman, but if they knew even a little of her true nature, they would never say such a thing.

The Sea Demoness, Eom So-so.

She was the terror of the South Sea.

The man, who had witnessed how Eom So-so had made Dokgo Hwang the undisputed successor of the Swordless Union, had a fear of her etched deep into his bones.

The man was none other than Il-geom, one of the three swords of the South Sea and Dokgo Hwang’s trusted subordinate.

Just then, Dokgo Hwang opened the inn door and came out.

“What are you two talking about that’s so interesting?”

“You’ve come out?”

“What were you two talking about without me?”

“We were talking about the third young master.”

“Ah! That? Did you manage to find a good hunting dog?”

“Yes! Fortunately, I was able to find a stray hunting dog.”

“And its abilities?”

“Its reputation is not bad.”

“That’s a relief.”

Dokgo Hwang grinned.

Pyo Wol left the inn and headed for Jang Noya’s gambling den.

“You’ve arrived?”

As soon as Pyo Wol entered the gambling den, Jang Noya came running out barefoot.

A faint light of terror flickered on Jang Noya’s face as he looked at Pyo Wol.

It was Jang Noya and his subordinates who had cleaned up the aftermath of Pyo Wol’s bloody battle with the Black Cloud Corps and others.

They had disposed of the bodies that hadn’t been dealt with, dumping them in a swamp or burying them in a secluded spot on the outskirts of Runan to erase the traces.

As they took on the task of handling the bodies, they came to realize anew just how terrifying a being Pyo Wol was.

The men who died at Pyo Wol’s hands were all martial artists who could be treated as experts in the Jianghu. Over a hundred of such formidable martial artists had been massacred.

Jang Noya and his subordinates trembled in terror.

Though several days had passed since they disposed of the bodies, the terror had not yet faded and remained deep in their hearts.

As Pyo Wol sat down, Jang Noya hurriedly reported.

“No unusual movements have been detected in Runan yet. Most of the martial artists who sided with Snow Blade Sword Manor have left Runan, and the Jin family is busy cleaning up the mess.”

Pyo Wol listened to Jang Noya’s report in silence.

Now, if he wanted, he could get information from Hong Yushin of the Hao Clan at any time. But Pyo Wol never made the mistake of relying on only one source for information.

The more channels for information, the better.

In terms of the sheer volume of information, they could never match the Hao Clan, but Jang Noya and his subordinates had built a denser information network, at least within Runan.

At the very least, in terms of information power in Runan, Jang Noya and his subordinates surpassed the Hao Clan.

By using Jang Noya and his subordinates, he could thoroughly scan even the places the Hao Clan couldn’t see.

That was the reason Pyo Wol had come to the gambling den.

After hearing all of Jang Noya’s report, Pyo Wol opened his mouth.

“From now on, focus on the Golden Sky Society.”

“The Golden Sky Society? You mean the prodigies staying at the Celestial Origin Tower?”

“Yes.”

“But we don’t have enough people to monitor all of them.”

“There’s no need to monitor everyone. Focus on Jang Mu-guk, Dokgo Hwang, and Jang Ho-yeon.”

“Understood.”

Jang Noya replied, bowing his head deeply.

Pyo Wol was planning to leave Runan soon. But the Golden Sky Society and So Gyeoksan were holding him back.

‘Is it a coincidence?’

Coincidentally, the timing of their arrival in Runan overlapped.

It could have been a coincidence. But Pyo Wol believed that there was no such thing as coincidence in the world.

Even things that seemed like coincidences had reasons that were inevitably intertwined if one dug deep into their origins.

Moreover, So Gyeoksan was someone he had been deeply entangled with since childhood.

The fact that So Gyeoksan and the Golden Sky Society had arrived at the same time and become involved with Pyo Wol pricked at his heart like a thorn under a fingernail.

Others might not think much of it, but to Pyo Wol, a feeling like this was received as a danger signal.

One of the secrets to Pyo Wol’s survival until now was that he never overlooked even the slightest sense of unease.

Pyo Wol thought of Jang Mu-guk.

‘An Overlord.’

When he first saw him, it was hard to define him, but now he felt he knew for sure.

Jang Mu-guk’s eyes held an intense craving.

For someone with such a craving in his eyes, the peaceful and static atmosphere of the current Jianghu must have brought an unbearable boredom.

He might have felt like a fish out of water, slowly drying up and dying.

To such a man, the fight between the two sects that had occurred in Runan must have been a golden opportunity to breathe.

A golden opportunity to witness with his own eyes a crack forming in the once-solid order of the Jianghu, and to widen that crack with his own power.

Watching him convene the Golden Sky Society and become its second Society Leader, Pyo Wol’s conviction deepened.

Pyo Wol thought that it didn’t matter to him if Jang Mu-guk spread his wings of ambition, even if the world became chaotic as a result.

As long as it had nothing to do with him.

So he tried not to pay attention. But at that very moment, So Gyeoksan had entered Runan.

Pyo Wol absolutely did not think this was a coincidence.

Some unseen force might have been at work.

A force called fate…