Chapter 90

Pyo Wol spent a long time at the Min River after that.

When the sun rose, he would take a boat out on the Min River and spend his time doing nothing.

The fishermen working nearby found Pyo Wol strange. To them, it seemed he was wasting his time for no reason. But Pyo Wol himself did not think so.

He was living the most fulfilling time of his life.

He was perfectly content just lying idly on the boat, watching the clouds drift by.

But every beginning has an end.

One day, Pyo Wol suddenly thought it was time to leave this place.

There was no reason to hesitate, no reason to stay.

As soon as he made up his mind, Pyo Wol left the Min River.

He had come empty-handed, and he left empty-handed.

Pyo Wol left the Min River and returned to Chengdu.

He hadn’t returned to Chengdu with any particular purpose. He had simply walked where his feet took him, and naturally ended up entering Chengdu.

Pyo Wol found an inn.

Although a major incident that shook Chengdu and Sichuan Province had occurred just a few months ago, people already seemed to have forgotten it.

In a peaceful atmosphere, people were gathered in small groups, sharing drinks.

Pyo Wol also took a seat.

“Hic!”

Suddenly, the complexions of a few people changed drastically. They had recognized Pyo Wol.

They were all martial artists registered with the martial arts academies of Chengdu.

To others, it might have been just a memory of a bygone day, but to those who had seen Pyo Wol in person, he was imprinted as the worst kind of terror.

To them, who had experienced the cruelty and formidable cunning hidden behind that inhumanly beautiful face, Pyo Wol was the very embodiment of fear.

They stealthily rose from their seats. Then, glancing nervously at Pyo Wol, they went outside.

Pyo Wol was aware of this. But he didn’t pay them any mind.

Pyo Wol ordered food from the waiter and then looked out the window.

The streets that had been destroyed a few months ago were now completely restored. Just by looking at the exterior, one would never know such an event had taken place.

The incident that day had brought about a great tectonic shift in the power structure of Chengdu.

The fall of the Geumcheon Gate and the Hundred Flowers Room, who had actively cooperated with the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect, was an example of this.

They had suffered a major blow from the Celestial Net that Pyo Wol had deployed, and above all, they had lost their strong backers, the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect. As a result, their standing had noticeably shrunk.

The Crimson Dragon Clan, which represented the interests of the artisans, had also suffered great damage and had completely halted its external activities.

People chattered that a period of stagnation had come to the Sichuan Murim. It was only natural, as the sects that represented Sichuan Province had all suffered great damage and were refraining from external activities. However, most people were living their peaceful daily lives, unrelated to the Jianghu.

Such a contradictory atmosphere coexisted in Chengdu.

The atmosphere inside the inn was the same.

The martial artists belonging to the martial arts academies had all gone outside, but most of the customers were laughing and talking, unaware of Pyo Wol’s identity.

A moment later, the waiter brought out the food.

It was a proper meal, the first he’d had in a long time.

Pyo Wol chewed thoroughly, savoring the food. Eating so slowly, it took him a long time to finish his meal.

It was when Pyo Wol had almost finished his food.

“Young Master Pyo Wol! Is that you?”

Someone approached the table where Pyo Wol was sitting.

He was a man with an impressive, gentle cast to his eyes, which curved like a half-moon.

He was Hong Yushin, the Surveillance Chief of the Hao Clan.

Pyo Wol raised his head and looked up at Hong Yushin.

“Who are you?”

“I believe I asked first.”

“It is.”

“Seeing you in person is even more intimidating. Your face is like…”

“You didn’t come here to talk such nonsense, I presume.”

“Ah! My apologies. I expended so much energy trying to find Young Master Pyo that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hong Yushin.”

“Hong Yushin?”

“It’s probably the first time you’ve heard it. This is the first time I’ve revealed my real name to someone who isn’t a member of the Hao Clan.”

Hong Yushin grinned. His eyes, already curved like a half-moon, formed an even sharper arc.

Pyo Wol asked.

“What business does the Hao Clan have with me?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

Hong Yushin asked, as if dumbfounded.

For the past ten days, he had gone through hell trying to find Pyo Wol.

At first, he had wasted his efforts searching for an old artisan. Then, after obtaining more information, he concluded that there was a high probability the artisan was actually young.

He searched for a young artisan with outstanding skills, and as a result, he was able to find an artisan named Tang Sochu.

Finding Tang Sochu did not solve the problem. He was extremely taciturn and had no intention of selling information about Pyo Wol to the Hao Clan.

There were ways to force his mouth open, but that was not Hong Yushin’s style.

Hong Yushin sought out the martial artists from the small and medium-sized martial arts academies who had been trapped in the Celestial Net that day, and through their mouths, he found out about Pyo Wol’s existence.

Although he learned Pyo Wol’s name and appearance, finding him was a trial of another dimension.

He mobilized all the Hao Clan members to search every inch of Chengdu, but no trace of Pyo Wol was found anywhere.

Just when he was about to give up, thinking Pyo Wol had left Chengdu, information came in that he had reappeared in the city. And so, Hong Yushin had rushed over in a flurry to confirm Pyo Wol’s presence himself.

“This is unbelievable.”

“Don’t change the subject. If you have business, state it.”

“You really don’t know how scary the world is. It’s a grave miscalculation to think that everyone will fear you just because you’ve made a name for yourself in Sichuan Province.”

“You have a long tongue.”

“I won’t beat around the bush. Did you kill Oh San-kyung?”

“Oh San-kyung?”

“The head of the Hao Clan’s Chengdu branch.”

“I did.”

“You bastard!”

Hong Yushin shot to his feet.

He hadn’t expected Pyo Wol to admit it so readily.

He glared at Pyo Wol with fearsome eyes. But he couldn’t shake Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol stared back at Hong Yushin without a single change in his expression.

The smile completely vanished from Hong Yushin’s face.

The pupils hidden within his half-moon eyes glinted sharply.

“You really killed him?”

“Yes! I killed him.”

“Why did you kill him?”

“Because he gathered and sold my information.”

“For such a trivial reason… Don’t you know that gathering information is the Hao Clan’s main business?”

“So?”

“What?”

“Are you saying that because it’s your main business, I should just stand by while my information is gathered and sold?”

Pyo Wol’s voice grew chilling.

In that moment, Hong Yushin felt goosebumps rise all over his body. But he tried his best to remain calm.

“It seems you don’t know how vast the Hao Clan is. Do you think you can live comfortably after getting on the Hao Clan’s bad side?”

“I don’t think about such things.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I don’t even think about living comfortably.”

“Hah! So you’re an uncontrollably crazy one. A pup that doesn’t know to fear a tiger. If I give the order now, every Hao Clan member in Chengdu will attack you. Are you saying that’s fine?”

“Your head will fall before that. Next will be the Hao Clan’s Sect Leader.”

“You don’t really think that’s possible, do you?”

“It is possible.”

Pyo Wol said without batting an eye.

In that instant, Hong Yushin felt a chill run down his spine.

He instinctively knew that Pyo Wol’s words were sincere.

‘This bastard!’

Before coming here, he had investigated Pyo Wol’s past actions. And he had found out what a huge incident he had caused.

Because of that one man, the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect had each lost an Elder and a Sect Master and had taken measures close to being closed-off, and countless people had died or been injured.

The vitality of the Sichuan Murim had been greatly diminished.

It was to the point where it was utterly unbelievable that a single individual had done it all.

He couldn’t even begin to guess how strong his martial arts had to be, or how deep his cunning, for such a thing to be possible. That was why Hong Yushin was still in a state of half-belief.

Hong Yushin’s threats didn’t work on Pyo Wol either.

He couldn’t grasp how great a loss they would have to endure to actually kill Pyo Wol.

If they attacked Pyo Wol and let him escape, the repercussions would be endless.

‘The problem is that the guy is an assassin.’

According to what he had gathered so far, Pyo Wol did not hesitate to escape, despite possessing formidable martial arts.

If it seemed disadvantageous, he would escape and lie in wait for an opportunity.

Pyo Wol had a completely different system of thought from the martial artists who reigned at the current peak of Jianghu.

In the current climate of Jianghu, which shamed cowardice and revered frontal confrontation, Pyo Wol was clearly an anomaly.

That made him feel even more troublesome.

Because the existing methods of response would not work.

‘It might be better to eliminate him now…’

It was when killing intent flickered in Hong Yushin’s eyes.

Pipipit!

Something whitish shot out from Pyo Wol’s waist.

It was the Ghostly Rain.

“Keuk!”

“Gack!”

A series of screams was heard from outside.

The Ghostly Rain had pierced through the inn’s ceiling and struck the Hao Clan martial artists hiding on the roof.

Kukukung!

Like falling hail, the Hao Clan martial artists crashed down to the floor where Pyo Wol and Hong Yushin were facing each other.

“You bastard!”

It was when Hong Yushin, startled, was about to attack Pyo Wol.

Suddenly, Hong Yushin’s throat tightened.

Kwang!

Without even being able to scream, Hong Yushin was slammed face-first onto the table.

“Kkeueueu!”

Hong Yushin’s face turned beet red.

Something invisible was squeezing his neck so tightly he couldn’t breathe.

Hong Yushin tried to draw up his internal energy to sever the object constricting his neck. But the object strangling him didn’t budge.

It was the Soul Restraining Thread, the thread of death that reaps souls.

Pyo Wol tightened the Soul Restraining Thread around Hong Yushin’s neck and opened his mouth.

“It’s best not to show any killing intent in front of me. I’m a bit sensitive.”

“Kkeueueu! I, I underst…”

In that moment, the Soul Restraining Thread strangling his neck loosened slightly.

Only then could Hong Yushin take a full breath. But that didn’t mean Pyo Wol had completely released the Soul Restraining Thread.

Pyo Wol kept the Soul Restraining Thread in place and continued.

“How the Hao Clan is maintained, or how it survives, is none of my business. I’m not interested, and I don’t care. But if you keep hovering around me like this and bothering me, I swear I will take your Sect Leader’s head. Do you think you can stop me? It won’t matter if you post a hundred or a thousand guards. I’ll hide and wait for an opportunity, whether it takes a year or ten years. And when everyone lets their guard down, I’ll take his head in an instant. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to test it.”

Cold sweat trickled down the cheek of Hong Yushin, who was still slammed against the table.

He instinctively knew that Pyo Wol’s words were true.

The men he had hidden on the inn’s roof were all experts belonging to the surveillance team. Each one was an expert who could not be ignored. Yet such men were groaning, struck by flying daggers, without being able to put up much of a fight.

An unbelievable thing had happened.

Only then did Hong Yushin realize that Pyo Wol was far stronger, and far more radical, than he had thought.

Perhaps the unbelievable information he had obtained himself was actually true.

‘To react like this just because I harbored killing intent.’

Hong Yushin would never know, not even if he died and came back to life.

The kind of environment Pyo Wol had survived in. And thus, why he was so particularly sensitive to the killing intent of others.

Hong Yushin’s pupils trembled.

His face was still slammed against the table.

It was a humiliating posture. But he couldn’t even feel the humiliation. He was too busy making intense calculations in his head.

He was racking his brain, trying to figure out what decision would not harm the Hao Clan, and how he could escape safely.

‘Now is the time to retreat.’

The opponent’s momentum was too fierce.

It felt like watching an untamed wild wolf, no, a ferocious bear.

“Keuk!”

At that moment, the Soul Restraining Thread once again squeezed his neck tightly.

“You’re having other thoughts.”

“Keuk! N-no, that’s not it.”

“Then answer me now!”

“I-I understand. I-I will do as you say.”

“Whatever I do, however I live, stay out of it. If you’re caught gathering my information again, it won’t end like this.”

Sreuk!

Pyo Wol withdrew the Soul Restraining Thread.

Only then was Hong Yushin able to free himself from the humiliating posture.

His face was flushed red, and a distinct line remained around his neck.

Hong Yushin touched the line left on his neck with his hand.

If it had dug in just a little deeper, his head would have been separated from his body. The chill down his spine still hadn’t subsided easily.

Hong Yushin looked at Pyo Wol with bloodshot eyes.

His handsome face now looked like that of a demon.

In all his life, Hong Yushin had never seen anyone more radical and cruel than Pyo Wol.

Hong Yushin clenched his fists in humiliation.

That day, Hong Yushin sent a message to the main headquarters.

[Target—Pyo Wol.

Martial Arts—Supreme.

Danger Level—Incalculable.

Disposition—Decisive, Cruel.

Overall Judgment—Requires far-sighted surveillance in daily life rather than close monitoring.]