Chapter 312

When they returned to the Inn, Yul Ayeon and Tarha looked at the two of them.

Tarha asked.

“Who is that young friend?”

“A younger brother I know.”

“Isn’t this your first time here as well? But you have a younger brother you know?”

“We just happened to meet.”

“Is that so?”

Tarha’s gaze fixed on Tae Musang.

His eyes seemed ordinary, but they were not light enough for a common person to bear. Even so, Tae Musang clenched his teeth and did not avoid his gaze.

Seeing Tae Musang glaring back at him, his eyes bloodshot, Tarha couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Hah! That one has some serious Poison Qi.”

Tarha had met his fair share of talented individuals. Among them were many children who harbored Poison Qi. But none of them had given off as venomous a feeling as Tae Musang.

Tarha couldn’t take his eyes off Tae Musang.

He seemed to like Tae Musang’s venomous look.

“Have you ever learned Martial Arts?”

“No.”

Tae Musang shook his head.

“Hmm! To have such a look in your eyes without ever learning Martial Arts?”

Tarha rose from his seat and approached Tae Musang. Then, he began to knead Tae Musang’s body as he pleased.

“Keuk!”

Tae Musang’s face contorted as he tried to break free from Tarha’s hands. But a immense pressure, as if he had entered the deep sea, pressed down on his body, rendering him immobile.

Only then did Tae Musang realize that the foreign old man before him was a great Expert.

“Keuheuk!”

A suppressed groan escaped his lips.

It was because he felt an immense heat from the areas Tarha was kneading.

The pain was so excruciating that an ordinary person would have already lost consciousness. But Tae Musang never let his mind slip.

Instead, he clenched his teeth and glared at Tarha. Tarha seemed to like that side of Tae Musang even more.

He removed his hands from Tae Musang’s body and said.

“Your bone structure is very good. You’re a bit old, but if you learn Martial Arts, you’ll progress quickly.”

“Fuck! What the hell are you doing?”

But Tae Musang, having experienced extreme pain, cursed and glared at Tarha instead.

“Hehe! I really like you.”

Tarha paid no mind to Tae Musang’s harsh reaction. Instead, he looked at Tae Musang as if he liked him even more.

Tae Musang clenched his fists tightly, looking as if he would charge at Tarha at any moment. Then he saw Yul Ayeon behind Tarha and his eyes went wide.

Tae Musang had seen quite a few women here, but he had never seen one as mysteriously beautiful as Yul Ayeon.

The young boy fell in love in an instant.

Tarha noticed the change in Tae Musang’s heart.

“Hehe! It seems you’ve taken a liking to my granddaughter.”

“Granddaughter?”

“Yes! My maternal granddaughter, to be exact.”

“Ah!”

“You there.”

“Yes?”

“Have you any thought of becoming my Disciple?”

“I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“I said I’ll be your Disciple.”

“If you become my Disciple, you’ll have to go to the Western Regions.”

“I’ll go. To the Western Regions!”

Tae Musang answered without taking a breath.

At Tae Musang’s response, Tarha wore a look of disbelief.

Tae Musang soon realized what he had said and was dumbfounded.

“The Western Regions?”

“Yes! The Western Regions.”

“That place far away, across the sea?”

“That’s right! That place.”

“I don’t want to go. I won’t do it, I won’t be your Disciple!”

“Too late. A man’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. To retract it now is no different from denying you are a man yourself.”

At Tarha’s words, Tae Musang looked at Pyo Wol, not knowing what to do.

Ignoring his pleading gaze, Pyo Wol spoke to Yul Ayeon.

“Did you just get back?”

“Yes! We returned about half a quarter-hour ago.”

“You’re moving busily.”

“We don’t have much time. But thanks to you, Great Hero Pyo, we’ve saved a lot of time.”

“The Crimson Sword Society?”

“That’s right. They were a great help. Very useful, indeed.”

Yul Ayeon gave a slight smile.

Seeing that, Tae Musang’s expression crumbled again.

Tarha put his arm around Tae Musang’s shoulder and asked.

“So, you’re not going to be my Disciple?”

“No, it’s just…”

“Your inability to speak clearly shows you are not a man.”

“I’ll be your Disciple. But…”

“But?”

“Give me time. I have to get revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes! I have to avenge my younger brothers.”

Tae Musang’s relaxed expression hardened once more.

Though he had been momentarily enchanted by Yul Ayeon, he had not forgotten the deaths of his younger brothers.

The final moments of his brothers, who had died so horribly because of him, still haunted him, refusing to be forgotten.

“What happened?”

At Tarha’s question, Tae Musang looked at Pyo Wol.

He was asking for permission to speak.

Pyo Wol nodded silently.

Only then did Tae Musang tell Tarha what he had experienced.

“The truth is…”

After hearing his entire story, Tarha’s expression turned serious.

“Twenty Martial Artists secretly entered the area?”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure you didn’t mistake them for fishermen?”

“I’ve lived here a long time, and I know there are no fishermen here with such a frightening aura.”

“Hmm!”

Tarha’s gaze turned to Pyo Wol.

“Do you happen to know who they are?”

“…”

Pyo Wol did not answer.

From his attitude, Tarha realized that he was not trusted.

Tarha suddenly let out a sigh.

He, too, did not yet fully trust Pyo Wol. But they couldn’t continue on like this, with walls between them.

“At this point, I think it would be best for us to be honest about our purpose for coming here. If we are to build trust between us.”

“You first.”

“I suppose so. We came to this distant land of the Central Plains to retrieve a lost treasure. During a war, one of the treasures of the Mara Dharma Hall, the Devil Soul Diagram, was lost. At first, we thought it was simply misplaced, but we later found out. That someone had systematically smuggled it out. So we searched everywhere, and the trail led us here.”

“Is the Devil Soul Diagram an important item?”

“From its appearance, it’s nothing more than a beautiful work of art. Moreover, since its shape is not that of a typical blade but extremely curved, someone whose hands are not used to it cannot properly utilize its functions.”

“You wouldn’t have come all this way to find a mere work of art. There must be a hidden function?”

“Precisely. The Devil Soul Diagram is an object used during rituals. It has almost no utility as a weapon, but its political and symbolic meaning is great. After the Devil Soul Diagram disappeared, strife broke out within the Mara Dharma Hall. To quell the chaos in the Mara Dharma Hall, we must retrieve the Devil Soul Diagram. That is the reason my granddaughter and I came to this faraway place. Now it’s your turn.”

“My reason for coming here is nothing special. I just wanted to see the sea. Then I met this kid and got swept up in this affair.”

“You mean it’s just a coincidence?”

“That’s right!”

“Hah!”

Tarha looked dumbfounded, but Pyo Wol, without any change in expression, looked at Tae Musang.

“They’re called the Phantom Ship Fleet.”

“What do you mean?”

“The ones who killed this kid’s brothers. The Martial Artists who secretly infiltrated the port.”

“Wait! Did you just say the Phantom Ship Fleet?”

Suddenly, Tarha’s face hardened. It was the same for Yul Ayeon.

“Don’t tell me?”

“That Phantom Ship Fleet?”

The two looked at each other’s faces.

Pyo Wol asked them.

“Is it a group you know?”

“Well…”

“I don’t know if it’s the same group, but there was a group in the Western Regions that also used the name Phantom Ship Fleet.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never seen it myself. I’ve heard stories from time to time for decades, but I’ve never met anyone who has actually seen the Phantom Ship Fleet. So I dismissed it as a mere legend.”

Naturally, the place where stories of the Phantom Ship Fleet were most often heard was the coast. To the coastal people of the Western Regions, the Phantom Ship Fleet was an object of terror.

Many would tremble at the mere mention of the name Phantom Ship Fleet. But people in the inland regions did not believe in the Phantom Ship Fleet.

Not only was the story too fantastical, but more importantly, they never had the chance to confirm its existence with their own eyes.

The Mara Dharma Hall was also located deep inland.

Therefore, they dismissed the Phantom Ship Fleet as a baseless legend, or a false existence created by people’s imaginations.

It was the same for Yul Ayeon and Tarha.

Although they had heard of the Phantom Ship Fleet several times, they had mostly heard it in passing and hadn’t paid it much mind. But hearing the name Phantom Ship Fleet again here, their thoughts couldn’t help but change.

Even if the Phantom Ship Fleet here and the Phantom Ship Fleet of the Western Regions were different entities.

“It seems I’ll have to check them out myself. If they really are the same group as the Phantom Ship Fleet of the Western Regions, then the Mara Dharma Hall’s treasure flowing all the way here is definitely no coincidence.”

A menacing Qi already clouded Tarha’s eyes.

The effort he and his granddaughter had put into finding the Devil Soul Diagram was beyond words.

They had killed and tortured all the smugglers, fences, and Bandits of the Western Regions to barely find out that the Devil Soul Diagram had been smuggled out. And that the ship carrying the Devil Soul Diagram had left for somewhere in the Central Plains.

At that time, dozens of ships had left the Western Regions for the Central Plains. They checked the routes of all those ships one by one, and the last one remaining was a ship that had come near this Haimen. But when they arrived and checked, no such ship existed. So, while they were at a loss, the name Phantom Ship Fleet had reached his ears.

“Where are they hiding? I’ll go and confirm it myself.”

Tarha was ready to charge in at once.

“Calm down.”

“How can I be calm? It took almost a year to get here. A whole year…”

“I know. I was with you. But to move now would be to make the mistake of Startle the Snake in the Grass. And there’s no guarantee that the Phantom Ship Fleet is the culprit. We need to investigate more thoroughly.”

“That’s…”

At Yul Ayeon’s gentle words, Tarha had no choice but to swallow his anger.

It was then.

“Ack!”

Suddenly, a scream was heard from outside.

The first to react was Tae Musang.

“Geom-yeon!”

He shot up from his seat and ran outside.

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize the voice of Geom-yeon, whom he had known since childhood. Although it was just a short scream, it was clearly Geom-yeon’s voice.

Tae Musang ran out of the Inn and looked around, spotting Geom-yeon leaning against a wall.

“Geom-yeon!”

He rushed to Geom-yeon’s side.

“Hyung?”

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“Keuk!”

Suddenly, Geom-yeon’s face contorted.

Tae Musang quickly examined his entire body. And he found a cut on his shoulder.

Blood was pouring from the long gash on his shoulder.

Tae Musang quickly staunched the wound with a cloth.

“Damn it!”

“A… suspicious person was loitering in the backyard.”

“Then you should have shouted inside.”

“Hah! Fuck. I approached and asked who they were, and they attacked without warning. It must be one of them.”

“Fuck! I’m sure I erased our tracks…”

Tae Musang looked around with bloodshot eyes. But the attacker was nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had already made their Escape.

Yul Ayeon, who came out late, said to Tae Musang.

“Move.”

“But…”

“If you’re not going to treat the wound, move. I’m much better at treating people than you are.”

“Yes!”

Eventually, Tae Musang stepped back, and Yul Ayeon examined Geom-yeon’s wound instead.

Tae Musang suddenly realized that Pyo Wol and Tarha were not in sight.

“Where are those two?”

“They’ve already gone in pursuit.”