Pyo-wol and Dok Gohyang’s eyes met in the air.
Dok Gohyang’s gaze as he looked at Pyo-wol was not kind. His gaze was so sharp as if it would stab through Pyo-wol’s chest at any moment.
Dok Gohyang is a man with a strong desire to collect talented individuals.
So in the case of someone refusing his offer of not becoming one of his own men, he would rather destroy them, to relieve his anger and soothe his wounded pride.
Pyo-wol did not hesitate in rejecting Dok Gohyang and Jang Mugeuk’s offer of an alliance. He adamantly refused to be on the same side.
If Dok Gohyang had acted true to his nature, he would have immediately subdued Pyo-wol and brought him to his knees, condemning him. But there were too many eyes on him now.
No matter how reckless Dok Gohyang is, he couldn’t completely ignore the public’s gazes and criticism.
Reputation is very important in Jianghu, that those who are plotting something big have to be especially careful.
Dok Gohyang was no exception.
The reason he had come here in the Jin manor with the Golden Heaven Society was to manage his reputation. He couldn’t afford to clash with Pyo-wol right now since doing so would only damage his reputation.
Dok Gohyang looked away and tried his best to ignore Pyo-wol.
Seeing this, Jang Mugeuk smiled and said,
“You did good in being patient. There are many opportunities to deal with him in the future, so just focus on managing your reputation for now.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not stupid enough to let my personal feelings get the better of me and make a mess of everything.”
“Haha! I trust you.”
Jang Mugeuk smiled broadly, but his thoughts were saying another thing.
‘I’ll have to get rid of him someday.’
Pyo-wol is a hunting dog that could not be tamed. No, judging by his actions so far, he could hardly be considered a dog.
Pyo-wol is a wild wolf.
The time to tame him had long since passed.
Taming him now was downright impossible.
‘If we leave this wolf alone, he will someday eat the livestock in the house.’
Jang Mugeuk is a man who is obsessed with his possessions. His pride wouldn’t allow him to let a wolf eat what is his.
But now is not the right time to hunt.
He had more important matters to attend to than dealing with Pyo-wol. Those matters have to be taken care of first in order for him to paint the big picture he wanted.
Jang Mugeuk spoke to Dok Gohyang and the other members of the Golden Heaven Society,
“Let’s go and pay our respects to Master Jin Wol-myeong.”
“Okay!”
Dok Gohyang and the Golden Heaven Society followed Jang Mugeuk to Jin Wol-myeong’s residence.
Pyo-wol could only silently watch them as they walked away.
He could feel their hostile gazes. Dok Gohyang, in particular, was radiating a very strong killing intent that went beyond simple resentment.
Dok Gohyang might have thought he had hidden it well from others, but he couldn’t deceive Pyo-wol’s senses. While others may have been fooled, Pyo-wol could sense his murderous intent from miles away.
At that moment, someone quietly approached him.
“Are you okay?”
The person who spoke to him was Namgung Wol.
“Why?”
“You look like you’re in a bad mood.”
“Not really.”
“Is that so?”
Namgung Wol stood next to Pyo-wol. They stood side by side, looking at the backs of the Golden Heaven Society members.
Pyo-wol said to Namgung Wol,
“Don’t you have to go there too?”
“The reason I joined the Golden Heaven Society in the first place was because of Geum-woo, not because I have a special relationship with them.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t want to join them, especially not with that guy, Jang Mugeuk, around.”
There was a hint of displeasure in Namgung Wol’s voice.
There are people who instinctively feel repulsed towards a person even when meeting them for the first time.
For Namgung Wol, that person was Jang Mugeuk.
The first time he met Jang Mugeuk was when he followed his father, Namgung Yugum to the Heavenly Military Sect.
From the moment he saw him, Namgung Wol felt an inexplicable hostility toward him.
It wasn’t simply a matter of getting a bad feeling from him or disliking him.
It wasn’t such a dichotomous feeling.
He felt hostility so strong that it made him feel nauseous.
He didn’t know the exact reason why.
Everything about Jang Mugeuk and the Heavenly Military sect just irritated him.
He thought it was just because he was tired from the long journey at the time. But even after returning to the Heavenly Guardian Association, the unpleasant feeling did not go away.
From that moment on, Namgung Wol thought carefully about why he felt that way.
And he soon found the reason why.
It was because of the atmosphere the Heavenly Military Sect and Jang Mugeuk exuded.
They had this unique arrogant attitude in which they look down on everything in the world, as if everything was under their control.
Namgung Wol considered it a serious problem, since not just the head of the sect or its core members were like that, but the entire Heavenly Military Sect.
But his father, Namgung Yugom, didn’t think of their attitude as a problem.
In his opinion, such an atmosphere was natural for a sect that is competing for the title of the strongest sect, alongside with the Frenzied Warrior clan.
But Namgung Wol couldn’t accept his father’s words.
He had been to the Frenzied Warrior clan, yet the people belonging to that said sect were different from the Heavenly Military sect.
They were proud, but there was no arrogant air about them. On the contrary, they possessed a laid-back and relaxed atmosphere unique to the strong which made others feel envious.
“I don’t know Jang Mugeuk that well, but one thing is for sure. There’s no way I’ll ever work with him in the future.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“It’s not a feeling that has come about in a day or two. From the moment I first saw him, I knew that I could never go along with him, and I haven’t changed my mind since then.”
“So are you telling me to be careful?”
“You’re already more cautious than I am!”
At Namgung Wol’s nagging, Pyo-wol couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Namgung Wol’s gaze suddenly shifted to the Heavenly Flower Variety Theater Troupe performing on the stage.
“By the way, their skills are truly amazing. They’ve captured the attention of the audience from the start and maintained it up until now.”
He complimented with a sincere expression of admiration on his face.
“Wow!”
“You’re the best!”
The people kept on cheering for the troupe.
The troupe seemed to know well how to get people excited.
They captivated the people’s souls with their beautiful music and singing, while their performance took the audience’s breath away.
People were so engrossed in the performance that they focused on the troupe’s every move and word.
“The Jin family really thought it all out this time. I never expected that they would be able to attract the people to their side like this. If we ever find ourselves in the same position as the Jin family in the future, we should also invite that troupe.”
Namgung Wol exclaimed, truly impressed.
The performance of the Heavenly Flower Variety Theater Troupe was truly remarkable. Just the fact that they could capture the hearts of so many people made them deserving of respect.
Pyo-wol was also impressed by the troupe’s performance.
Ga Hyang, who’d been flirting with him last night, had an excellent voice, while Yi Okran, who was the vice-leader of the troupe, did a great job in leading the entire performance.
But, there was no sign of So Gyeoksan anywhere.
Although So Gyeoksan, as the troupe’s leader, did not need to appear in the performance, the fact that Pyo-wol hadn’t seen him in a while bothered him.
Although they had lived together for so many years in the underground cave, they felt no special affection for each other.
The children, who were raised as assassins by the Blood Shadow Group, saw each other as competitors, not comrades.
Although So Yeowol had managed to form a group out of the children, Pyo-wol was not included in it.
Pyo-wol remained an outsider, hovering on the periphery.
That tendency of his hasn’t changed after all these years. It was for that reason why Pyo-wol felt more guarded than happy when he met So Gyeoksan after such a long time.
The troupe performed tirelessly until late in the afternoon. They made sure to keep the flow of the performance uninterrupted by taking turns in resting and eating.
Their dedication was deserving of respect.
At the peak of their performance, the Golden Heaven Society martial artists, who had gone to see Jin Wol-myeong, appeared once again.
Jang Mugeuk had a satisfied smile on his face as if he had achieved his desired outcome.
Jin Wol-myeong said that Jang Mugeuk was a person who could succeed his son and become the head of the Golden Heaven Society.
It wasn’t an official statement, but it was enough to satisfy Jang Mugeuk.
With this, he has built up all the grounds and justifications he wanted.
All that was left was to enjoy the performance.
Jang Mugeuk and the martial artists of the Golden Heaven Society took their seats on one side of the stage and enjoyed the performance of the Heavenly Flower Variety Theater Troupe.
Pyo-wol scanned the faces of the Golden Heaven Society members one by one.
Then a light of realization crossed his face.
All of the people he had seen at the Celestial Origin Pavilion were here, except for one.
‘Um Soso.’
He couldn’t catch sight of Dok Gohyang’s subordinate anywhere.
Pyo-wol searched through his memories and realized that she hadn’t been here since the beginning.
His brow furrowed involuntarily.
Although she was said to be a subordinate of Dok Gohyang, her martial arts skills were no way inferior at all to the other members of the Golden Heaven Society.
And while she did her best to conceal her true abilities, Pyo-wol saw through her guise. He already knew that she was very strong.
Except for Jang Mugeuk and Dok Gohyang, there is probably no one else in the Golden Heaven Society who could defeat her.
Even Jang Hoyeon of the Rain Mountain Manor probably couldn’t guarantee that he could win against her.
‘Did she purposely not come here? Or is it that she is unable to come?’
* * *
Abok is a martial artist who worked in Jang Noya’s gambling hall.
His martial arts skills were nothing special.
He could pose a threat to the customers entering and leaving the gambling hall, but against a proper martial artist, he was simply too weak.
He had once dreamed of joining a reputable martial arts sect, but after clearly realizing his own limits, he gave up on the idea. He, instead, settled for working in Jang Noya’s gambling house.
Although Jang Noya was cruel to gamblers, he was a good boss to his subordinates.
Those who followed Jang Noya had no problems with making a living. The more loyal they were, the better he treated them, so Abok and Jang Noya’s other subordinates were blindly loyal to him.
“Oh! That woman is definitely from the Golden Heaven Society…”
Abok’s eyes suddenly lit up.
He immediately recognized the woman in the narrow alley.
With her beautiful appearance and mysterious blue eyes, Abok knew that the woman was none other than Um Soso, one of Dok Gohyang’s subordinates.
He was already familiar with her face since he had seen her once when he was spying on the Golden Heaven Society.
‘What is she doing?’
They were currently in a pretty remote back alley in Runan. The place was dirty and foul-smelling, making it an unsuitable environment for a woman as stunning as Um Soso.
‘Something’s going on here.’
For someone who had lived in the underworld for a long time, Abok’s intuition was very keen. He knew something was up, so he concealed his presence.
Fortunately, Um Soso didn’t seem to notice him.
Abok held his breath, and tried to hide himself as best he could while stealing a glance at Um Soso.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
His legs had already gone numb from squatting for a long time. His legs felt like they were about to fall off, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
Just when his patience was about to reached its limit,
Thump!
Along with the sound of carriage wheels rolling, someone appeared on the other side, walking towards Um Soso.
The person who appeared pulling a cart had a slightly curved back. He was also covered in blood, as if he had gone through something rough.
There was a fairly large box loaded onto the cart.
As soon as the person with the hunched back appeared, Um Soso walked up to him.
The hunchback person soon opened the large box and showed its contents to Um Soso.
Um Soso smiled, seeming to be pleased to see what was inside.
‘What’s inside?’
Abok tried to peek his head out, but he couldn’t see what was in the box from where he was. However, judging by the two people’s demeanour, it was clear that there was a pretty important item in the box.
After letting Um Soso confirm the contents of the box, the hunchback person soon disappeared down the other side of the alley, pulling the cart behind him.
‘I have to tell Noya about this.’
Abok thought his part here was done.
But just as he was about to slip quietly out of the alley, still holding his breathe,
“There’s a stray cat.”
He suddenly heard the chilling voice of Um Soso.
At that moment, Abok’s body froze like ice.
‘I’ve been caught.’
Abok’s heart raced.
There was no time to think.
He sprinted towards the other side of the alley as if his life depended on it.
He had to get out of the alley as soon as possible and go towards the main road. Once he arrived on the main road, there would be plenty of people there that she wouldn’t be able to harm him.
He took off at the fastest pace he had ever run.
He was already close to his destination.
Abok’s face lit up with joy.
But with a sharp cutting sound, his left leg was severed from his calf.
Thwack!
Um Soso had struck him with her sword qi.
“AARGH!”
Um Soso approached Abok, who was screaming and writhing on the ground.
“Why were you spying on me, you thieving cat?”
Um Soso’s cold voice made Abok freeze in place.
