Shake. Slam!
“Eupp! Upppp!”
A chilly and cold feeling covered his face. Dujin struggled and opened his eyes.
Cough!
After letting out a sharp cough for a while, a voice which was heavy and sharp like an awl pierced his ears.
“If you slept well, then get up now. We have a business with a reputation to uphold, so things need to be cleaned up.”
“…”
Dujin’s eyes rolled back.
The first thing he felt when he came to was his arms were bound tightly.
Why was he like this?
Even though he thought about it, he could not understand the situation, so he blinked a couple times. And it did not take long to realize whether this was a dream or reality.
Rather, he came to his senses to be greeted with heavy pain on his face and stomach.
“Uhhh. Upppp…”
Next was the feeling of his mouth being gagged.
“Ah, right. Relax your mouth.”
Tuk! Crack.
He heard the voice of a man and felt pain as if his entire mouth was being ripped out.
“Huk. Huk. Uhh…”
Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.
Steadying his foggy mind, he looked around.
Fuck. I am gone.
There were five men and women, with expressionless faces, containing icy gazes that did not regard people as human beings, to which he sensed his own fate.
And the memories slowly came back.
What he experienced before he fainted.
A crushing blow at the moment of being hit.
Damn, I should’ve saved just myself. I should have taken something before…
Dujin was regretting it later. If you thought about it, it was something that could have been adequately prepared for.
When he heard that there were some rude new people making money around here—
Could it be that they had contacts which were not disclosed? Was this not a family business of a retired warrior who has given up on the world?
They should have suspected that an unknown warrior was trying to build a place like that.
At the end, the moment the head of the guy flew out in front of him, they should have noticed right away and fell flat on their face. If that were the case, it would have ended up at least slightly.
Maybe? No. Did he not just attack the opponent without knowing their skills and lose around three to four teeth?
“Hmm?”
Thud. Thud.
The man with an indifferent expression in front of him—
From the atmosphere around, Dujin knew that this man was the leader.
He is a great warrior. There was this intuition that he was a powerful being which should not be mistreated or treated with antipathy.
Although his memory was vague, he remembered that at the moment it all exploded, his hands could not be seen.
He was probably a third rate warrior. In the world, where people were second best to all, there was no way anyone could fight so well. In other words, the opponent was a real warrior, a man who lived in Kangho.
He was not sure why such a person came to this remote land…
“Who are you?”
“…Uh?”
Seol-Hwi was there looking at Dujin.
“Where are you from?”
“…”
His voice was cold and carried no emotion.
Dujin’s gaze wavered as his eyes were cold.
Should he say he was part of the forces of evil?
But what if they caught his lie?
He was hit on the head so hard that it was vague, but he remembered it a bit.
What he said—
Demon.
And so, after some hesitation he decided to answer honestly.
“…We came through the Ten Families”
“Ten Families? From the First Disciple’s side?”
“…Uh!”
Dujin looked embarrassed at the response.
Ten Families.
It was a family consisting of around 100 warriors who followed the First Disciple, the End Demon.
The Ten Families were made of ten such places.
In a way they are like the key members who worked in silence. Therefore, the fact that the First Disciple’s people were being directly called here meant that things were being carried out.
This was information which even high ranking members of the sect were not aware of.
Who is this?
Seol-Hwi nodded in front of Dujin, who was eagerly thinking.
Right, now if the Demon Lord had the sorcerers and the First Disciple had the Ten Families. I wondered how they immediately began to dominate the Central Plains at the moment of being cornered, but it turns out they always had forces placed around…
He remembered the time when he was under the Fourth Disciple, which was slowly turning distant.
Well, it was not that important now.
Seol-Hwi saw the man desperately shaking his head and spoke vaguely.
“Then how far have you come?”
“H-how far have we come?”
“Didn’t the First Disciple send you out? Just to take the region over? I don’t want to have a clash.”
“Ah.*
The face of Dujin brightened. It was clear that this man was from the same sect, so there was no need to hide things anymore.
Above all, if Seol-Hwi himself said he did not want to clash…
“…I don’t know about the others, but around here, people are gathering around Sichuan.”
“Sichuan? Not here yet?”
“Yes. First, it seems like the plan is to take control of the large lands and then gradually go after the small and medium sects. We prioritize sending low level people like me in advance to understand the situation in these areas first.”
“Well, I guess it is a procedure.”
Seol-Hwi briefly recalled the memories of the past, in terms of the overall timeline. By now, the First Disciple must already be taking control of some areas.
Demons were appearing all over the Central Plains and Mount Hua was stopping them. Is this not the time when their reputation was starting to rise?
Although he was just now learning that the Ten Families were involved in it.
“Captain. What should I do?”
Seol-Hwi got up when the subordinate asked about his intentions. Then, he looked at the guy trying to think his way through his next course of action.
“Let us make him a double agent.”
“Uh?”
Double agent? It was a tactic used against spies by recruiting them. At those words, Imugi asked back with a different thought,
“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill him?”
“I think the same,”
Jeok Song responded.
Persuading the spies to become a double agent and spread wrong information in an area within enemy lands — If one succeeded it would be the optimal result, but it was not as easy as suggested.
“Normally, someone who betrays once can betray twice. Is there any need to take such a risk?”
“I feel the same,”
Seo Ryeong, who had stepped back, had responded too.
The head of the man who was cut in the same room was looked at. The atmosphere had been good just a moment back, but somehow it had suddenly turned into a potential execution.
“Hmm.”
Seol-Hwi rested his chin in thought. And he asked Yong Jin, who was seated,
“What about you?”
“I agree with the captain.”
“Uh, why though?”
When Imugi asked, he said,
“It is known to be darker under the lamp.”
“…”
This was how the settlement of a new life began.
He bought fields and rice paddies in the villages of Guizhou and Chengdu, and brought houses for the subordinates to live in.
A comfortable bed, nice meals, and a cup of tea on a cozy evening, the loan business was a business in name, but it was just the appearance of collecting money.
The reason Dujin was accepted was because, as Yong Jin said, it was darker under the lamp. Anyway, soon the Central Plains would fall into the chaos of the Demonic Sect and Mount Hua.
If they could not be avoided so they could live safely, it was not a bad idea to openly pretend to be one of them and live with them.
In particular, since it involved collecting money, and forcing people to pay, it was good for releasing hidden funds. Of course, it might be a bit hard to make the group look normal on the outside.
Because of this, the value Dujin possessed had increased. Was he not now working as a loan shark who ran the lands?
If he scared them enough to convert them, this was a good enough disguise and they would have a separate information network that could be obtained through loan sharks.
Demonic Sect and Justice Sects, for those who have to be wary of either side, the only place they could get information would be the Lower District Sect. It was dangerous to seek biased information.
This was probably because movements were very restricted. Thanks to that, Dujin escaped with his life.
After threatening him a bit and telling him that martial arts would be taught to him, the man teared up and swore his loyalty.
And so, several days passed.
Wheik
On a sunny day, Jeok Song was standing in the yard swinging his sword. Some of the others were watching him, and Seol-Hwi stood ahead, guiding him.
“Again.”
After taking a deep breath, Jeok Song took up his stand and soon performed the first form of Taiji Three Divine Palm.
It was not the original martial arts of the Wudang sect, but one improved by Seol-Hwi. It had both the hands and body which moved with the will of Taiji.
And it was created while coordinating with the feet.
“Again.”
As the three forms continued, Seol-Hwi pointed out the movement.
“Hmm!”
Jeok Song took the stance again.
His limbs were shaking, perhaps because he was doing the same movements for an extended period of time.
If it is done any less harmoniously, then it would not reach the next level.
Jeok Song wanted to get stronger, stronger than the guards and stronger than the captains.
If it were in the past, only his Demonic Arts would be on the rise. It would have been some explosive arts, but things changed.
For Seol-Hwi right now, the best martial arts were ones which held endurance and stamina. And enlightenment.
Harmony of these things was the priority. If there were anything ahead, they would gather harmoniously around it. Then just by doing that, they would be able to take one or two steps ahead.
Harmony, the core of everything.
Whether it was Peak Demon or Supreme Demon—
Seol-Hwi felt it.
Everything should happen naturally in harmony with nature and its energy.
Techniques were a way to get there. No matter which way one goes, the final goal should to be one with nature.
“Let’s work harder then,”
Said Seol-Hwi and slowly took his position to watch.
Laughter came up from behind. Perhaps each member who had their own understanding had something to say.
Maybe it was because it felt like a familiar sight, and Seol-Hwi’s expression turned brighter.
Seol-Hwi climbed to the roof as he was deep in thought.
In this life he decided to create the life his subordinates wanted. In fact, the biggest reason for engaging in usury of money was because the extra funds would help his subordinates.
He hoped that money would be acquired in huge quantities for Imugi so they would get a nice life to live.
The same went for Yorim. He also thought it was right to leave the place for a better future.
Because his life would be too bland to be tied down to one place, Jeok Song focused on improving the martial arts.
He knew that he was that kind of person. He had no doubt that improving their abilities was of the top importance.
When he asked Yong Jin what to do next, he said he wanted to be together. The reason was that he did not want to move anymore.
“How should he live…”
The lives of subordinates. After achieving their dreams, what kind of life should they live?
This was what Seol-Hwi’s thoughts were as he watched the red sunset.
