Chapter 13 - The First Mission (2)
Namgung Jun descended Mount Huang together with a senior from the Heavenly Sword Hall.
He had heard that the swordsman, named Heo Il, had now reached the halfway point of his twenties. In an ordinary sect, he was of an age to still be treated as part of the younger generation.
But perhaps because he had joined the Azure Sky Society early and undergone countless experiences, his bearing and aura were refined to a clean polish that did not match his age.
‘They said he is a talent who could challenge for the Three-Cloud rank advancement if he just accumulates a little more meritorious deeds and martial prowess.’
Namgung Jun, thinking of the first mission he had been assigned, struck up a conversation.
“It seems it would have been fine for me to go alone.”
“Full of vigor, are you? It is the age for it. But since you are a newcomer, we must go together. There are various things I must teach you.”
Namgung Jun did not say much and just nodded his head.
Although he had shown off his martial prowess, to the Heavenly Sword Hall, he was merely a newcomer with outstanding talent.
Naturally, the upper echelons must have felt that a senior was needed to act as a guardian, and they likely also wanted to grasp his patterns of behavior by seeing how he thought and moved in a real battle.
“It is not that I find Young Hero Namgung untrustworthy, so please do not misunderstand. This is a process that all newcomers go through.”
Heo Il’s slit eyes drew a deep arc as he let out a good-natured laugh.
Though there was a considerable age gap, Heo Il treated and respected Namgung Jun as a complete swordsman in his own right.
“Since Young Hero Namgung is a newcomer, for the time being, most of the missions assigned to you will be within Anhui Province.”
As the topic of the mission location came up, Namgung Jun asked about something he had been curious about.
“Senior Heo. I have heard that the Azure Sky Society is active not only in Anhui Province but throughout the entire Martial World. Is that possible with only the Ten Halls?”
The Martial World of the Nine Provinces and Eight Wastelands was vast.
No matter how large an alliance was, there was bound to be a limit to how far its power could extend.
As if it were a good question, Heo Il raised the corners of his mouth with satisfaction.
“The Ten Halls are not the entirety of the Azure Sky Society’s military might. We have branch offices spread throughout all corners of the Martial World. The Ten Halls of the main fortress tend to handle the cases that the branch offices cannot resolve with their own strength.”
Heo Il used the Placement Test as an example and added.
“In the last Placement Test, only five newcomers entered the Ten Halls. The rest of the personnel were all scattered and assigned to the various branch offices.”
“In that case, the main fortress also serves the role of the Anhui Branch.”
“Precisely.”
In other words, the Ten Halls of the Sword Scent Division were the elite of the Azure Sky Society.
The system was likely one where cases that the various branch offices could not handle were forwarded to the main fortress, and these then became the missions for the Ten Halls.
‘Even so, it can’t be easy.’
Heo Il, as if he had seen right through Namgung Jun’s thoughts, smiled gently and added.
“Of course, there is a limit to striding through the entire Martial World with only the Azure Sky Society. There is another secret organization that helps us from the shadows, which Young Hero Namgung will also come to know of someday.”
“I understand.”
Namgung Jun fiddled with the bamboo hat on his head.
The martial arts uniform embroidered with cloud patterns, and the bamboo hat.
This was the common attire of the Azure Sky Society.
“It seems you are fond of alcohol, Senior Heo.”
As Namgung Jun asked while looking at the gourd bottle tied to Heo Il’s waist, Heo Il scratched his head.
“Ah. You mean this? I’m not fond of it, but it’s necessary when I grip my sword.”
Why would one need alcohol when using a sword?
Though a question arose in Namgung Jun’s mind, he saw a faint look of trouble in Heo Il’s smile and did not ask further.
Namgung Jun, who lifted the brim of his bamboo hat and looked beyond the mountain peaks, naturally changed the topic of conversation.
“I can see the mission location over there.”
Dongling, in Anhui Province.
Because it was adjacent to a tributary of the Yangtze River and a significant amount of logistics passed through it, it was a fairly prosperous area.
“You are familiar with the mission details?”
“Yes. It is to investigate the Bae Gong Union.”
The Bae Gong Union was an Unorthodox Faction group that had taken root in Dongling.
They are people who primarily make their living by collecting tolls from merchants passing through the river, or by extorting wealth from civilians under the name of protection money.
But lately, a strange rumor had been circulating in Dongling.
‘They said that commoners who have had contact with the Bae Gong Union have been disappearing.’
Namgung Jun stroked the hilt of the sword at his waist.
‘I have a rough idea.’
They were likely forcing people to use a high-interest loan, a so-called "King Yama's Debt".
Then, using the interest as a pretext, they would continuously extort money, and when they deemed there was nothing left to suck out, they would sell off the people themselves.
It wasn't even that surprising.
Since it was a traditional method of the Unorthodox Faction.
‘Even though time has passed, the filthy deeds of the Unorthodox Faction are still the same.’
A coldness began to form between Namgung Jun’s slightly lowered eyelashes.
A martial artist who has learned the Martial Arts has the responsibility of the strong. If a blade lacks its due responsibility and righteousness, then it is not Martial Arts, but merely villainy.
If the Bae Gong Union had shirked their responsibility and brandished their martial arts indiscriminately, he intended to make them face the price for abandoning that responsibility.
Directly, with the sword held in his hand.
Power entered the soles of Namgung Jun's feet as he strode forward.
***
In a corner of the Dongling docks, a group of roguish-looking men were gathered. They were the disciples of the Bae Gong Union.
Among them, a middle-aged man standing askew was staring intently at the surface of the water, which was furiously bubbling up.
He was the Vice-Leader of the Bae Gong Union.
“Pull it up!”
At the Vice-Leader’s command, the other disciples pulled on a rope, and a fishing net that had been submerged in the river was raised.
“Keuk!”
Inside the fishing net, instead of fish, was a person.
The middle-aged man inside the net thrashed his whole body violently and spewed out water. It seemed he had struggled wildly inside the net, as his entire body was covered in wounds.
The middle-aged man, who was thus barely able to breathe, coughed violently before going limp.
“Hey. Get a grip. Choose whether you’re going to pay back the money, or hand over one of your family members.”
“How… could you?”
“Let’s do this. If you hand over your daughter, I’ll waive the interest for the next three months. Then you can catch your breath and pay back the principal, no?”
“I cannot…”
The Vice-Leader grinned as he looked at the middle-aged man, who was trembling as he barely managed to answer.
Not a single shred of pity could be seen in the Vice-Leader’s smile. It was merely mixed with the interest and amusement of a child playing with a toy.
“Seems you haven’t drunk enough water yet.”
As the Vice-Leader flicked his hand, the disciples of the Bae Gong Union once again loosened the rope to dunk the middle-aged man in the river.
“Stop.”
A low voice that pierced precisely into the ears of the Vice-Leader and the other disciples of the Bae Gong Union.
At the end of everyone’s gaze was a single boy.
Though he had a skinny, small frame, the person himself was not considered insignificant.
A cerulean gaze flowing from inside his bamboo hat.
A leisurely and natural posture with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
He was not a frail boy, but a definite swordsman.
While the disciples of the Bae Gong Union were staring blankly at Namgung Jun’s appearance, only the Vice-Leader thoroughly scanned Namgung Jun’s attire.
“The Azure Sky Society?”
The Vice-Leader’s face lit up as he confirmed the number of white clouds embroidered on Namgung Jun’s sleeve.
‘A One-Cloud! Looking at his appearance, he must be a brat who just joined the Azure Sky Society!’
The Vice-Leader, who had quickly finished his assessment, urgently reached out his hand. It was toward the middle-aged man trapped in the net.
“Keuk!”
As if he had some expertise in Geumnasu,* the Vice-Leader locked the middle-aged man’s neck with his left arm, then pulled out a dagger and held it to his throat.
[N: It is a martial art style focused on joint-locking, grappling, and seizing techniques designed to control or incapacitate an opponent rather than striking them.]
“I heard you guys, funnily enough, care the most about the lives of worthless nobodies like this?”
“Worthless, you say?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking at this?”
The Vice-Leader’s dagger lightly pierced the middle-aged man’s neck, and blood seeped out.
“If you want to save this bastard, drop your sword and kneel!”
As if this situation were familiar, the Vice-Leader naturally threatened Namgung Jun. Only then did the other disciples of the Bae Gong Union stand by their side, letting out sneering smiles.
It was to be on guard in case Namgung Jun tried anything else. If they stalled for time like this, other disciples would hear the news and swarm in.
Then they would be able to capture the naive boy before them without any trouble.
“I said, kneel!”
Though the Vice-Leader raised his voice threateningly, Namgung Jun did not even pretend to listen.
He merely asked with an indifferent tone.
“Can you even see it?”
“What…”
The Vice-Leader could not finish his words.
Spurt!
From the dead center of the foreheads of the Vice-Leader and the other disciples of the Bae Gong Union, blood burst out all at once.
Click.
As the life vanished from their eyes and the bodies of the Vice-Leader’s group began to slowly tilt, Namgung Jun was already sheathing the sword he had, at some point, drawn.
The Thirteen Sword-Thunders of the Lightning Flash.
Third Form. Three Points.
Namgung Jun, who had unfolded Three Points in succession, had struck down the Vice-Leader and the four other disciples of the Bae Gong Union in a single breath.
The Vice-Leader’s group had their heads pierced without even being able to properly react.
“Huh.”
The middle-aged man who had been held in the Vice-Leader’s grasp let out a dazed breath. It was because the hand of the Vice-Leader that had been choking his neck was slowly loosening.
When he had felt the coldness of the dagger on his neck, he had sensed his death was imminent. But in an instant, he had been liberated from the hand of the Vice-Leader that was choking him.
The middle-aged man felt a sense of liberation, if only for a moment.
He felt as if he had escaped from the glances and the touch of the Vice-Leader that had endlessly bound his mind and body.
Was it because the tension had been released?
The strength left the middle-aged man’s body, and he collapsed into a half-sitting posture, unable to move.
Namgung Jun helped the middle-aged man up and asked.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, thanks to you, I am alright, Young Hero.”
The middle-aged man, who had been staring blankly at Namgung Jun, now seemed to be coming to his senses and repeatedly bowed his head.
“Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can ever repay this grace.”
The middle-aged man, even while expressing his thanks to Namgung Jun, looked worriedly at the Vice-Leader’s corpse. His gaze was a chaotic mix of relief and worry.
Namgung Jun, who read the fear of future repercussions in the middle-aged man’s eyes, spoke in a gentle voice.
“Do not worry about what comes next.”
“Pardon?”
“As of today, the Bae Gong Union will disappear from Dongling.”
Namgung Jun, who sent a single stream of his Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art’s internal energy to drive out the middle-aged man’s chill, rose from his spot.
Heo Il, who had been watching this from behind, narrowed his slit eyes. His right hand, which had been inside his pocket, had at some point slipped out again.
‘There is no hesitation in his actions. And he is composed.’
Normally, when one encounters such a vile hostage situation for the first time, one’s judgment is bound to be shaken.
The heavy pressure of another’s life depending on one’s actions was not something a boy making his debut in the Martial World could easily handle.
For that reason, Heo Il had deliberately refrained from stepping in.
While preparing to step in and save the civilian at any moment, he had watched to see how Namgung Jun would respond.
But Namgung Jun did not show any sign of panic. And his judgment and execution were swift.
‘He accurately gauged his own and his opponent's level of martial skill and boldly put his plan into action.’
Because he had watched Namgung Jun’s duels in the Heavenly Sword Hall, he knew that the Swift Sword he had just shown was not his full power.
Which meant, in other words, that he had precisely controlled his strength just enough to subdue his opponents.
‘He is proficient. His actions are not those of a young newcomer. He makes one marvel in so many ways.’
Heo Il, who had at some point taken a spot next to Namgung Jun, fiddled with his bamboo hat and smiled.
“For this mission, I will move according to your judgment, Young Hero. If you need help, tell me at any time.”
Originally, Heo Il had intended to lead the mission himself, giving Namgung Jun appropriate tasks one by one and observing the situation.
But at his proficient handling of the situation just now, Heo Il had changed his mind. He felt that the newcomer before him would be fully capable of handling this mission.
“Then there is something I must ask of you.”
“Oh?”
Interest swirled in Heo Il’s slit eyes.
Usually, a newcomer with outstanding talent would try to handle their first mission alone to prove their ability.
For that reason, they would not ask for help unless it was absolutely necessary, so he had not expected him to ask for help so readily.
Furthermore, because it was Namgung Jun, who possessed an extraordinary talent, he became even more curious as to what help he wanted.
“Tell me what it is.”
As Namgung Jun and Heo Il conversed while walking, the hanging sign of the Bae Gong Union grew gradually closer in the distance.
Despite this, the steps of the two men were unhindered.