Chapter 37: 54

Rumors that Go Seong-ak and the Blue Moon Association had been smashed by just one person spread throughout the city in an instant.

At that time, the stories of the guests who stayed in the guest house spread like wildfire. Chengdu was the largest city in Sichuan Province, but it only took one day for the rumors to spread throughout the country.

The name of the man who gave the Blue Moon Association disgrace or even the sect he came from remained unknown.

Only one thing is certain. 

It was that his martial arts were very strong. 

And even though he was a man, it was said that he had an extremely beautiful appearance. 

Bang!

The thick desk made of rosewood was shattered by the punch of the Qingming Room’s Ki Joo-han.

“So, you’re saying that you came back from being beaten and humiliated by someone whom you don’t even know nor from which he’s from.”

“So, sorry, Master!”

Go Seong-ak knelt in front of Ki Joo-han and trembled.

Ki Joo-han looked down at Go Seong-ak with contemptuous eyes.

Rumors that the successor of the Qingming Room had been defeated by an unknown young martial artist had already spread throughout Chengdu.

It was extremely rare for a warrior to fight ten times and win all those fights. Such people who can do so eventually stand out, rise to the top and become a powerhouse.

Go Seong-ak wasn’t like that.

If it’s a matter of ten fights, he will win around three or four times, and if you struggle for days or days, it is a description at the level of understanding one or eight.

In fact, the Qingming Room could not afford to write more than that. As such, Ki Joo-han’s expectations for Go Seong-ak were not very high.

He simply hoped that he would follow in his footsteps and lead the Qingming Room without problems. However, Go Seong-ak could not even act in accordance to his simple hope.

“To be defeated by an unknown scoundrel and damage the reputation of the sect.”

“I’m sorry, Master! But he was by no means a nameless fool.”

“Shut up! Are you calling that an excuse?”

“It’s true, Master! He is by no means a simple warrior. It is clear that he approached us for some purpose.”

“For what purpose?”

At Ki Joo-han’s question, Go Seong-ak shook his head.

In fact, his words were just uttered haphazardly to defend himself. There was no evidence or fact behind his words at all. However, as long as Ki Joo-han showed interest, he had to make up and say something. 

“That guy must be connected with the Qingcheng sect. Since we’re helping the Emei sect, it’s possible that the Qingcheng sect sent him to interfere in our affairs.”‘

“Qingcheng sect…”

Ki Joo-han thought there was a reason.

The Qingming Room has been completely neutral until now. 

It was only purely because of Go Seong-ak that the Qingming Room became affiliated with the Emei sect. Because he likes Seon-ha, he has no choice but to follow them.

‘It’s dangerous if the Qingcheng sect really intervened.’

The reason why Qingming Room has been able to prosper so far was because they have been exquisitely riding a single tightrope while keeping an eye on both sides.

Ki Joo-han felt his heart grow cold.

“Until I have ascertained all the details, you should take care of yourself. Approaching the Woo Seonha is also prohibited for the time being.”

“Master! I’m fine with everything else, but please don’t forbid me from seeing Woo Seonha! She is my everything.”

“Quiet.Are you just going to endanger the security of the sect because you’re blinded by a girl?”

“It’s not like that…”

“Okay. Be careful as I said. I’ll take care of the rest. You should know that if you break my orders, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Yes…”

Go Seong-ak barely answered. The expression on his face shows that he couldn’t accept the orders of his master. But he wasn’t stupid enough to express any more dissatisfaction.

As long as the master orders something, he has to pretend to listen. But that didn’t mean the anger in his heart was gone.

‘That bastard! I will never let you go.’

He vowed to take revenge on Pyo-wol who’s responsible for putting him in this situation.

* * *

Pyo-wol came out of the guest house.

Because of the rumors that a deity had appeared in Chengdu, many people came to visit.

Some tried to confirm whether Pyo-wol was as handsome as rumored, while others tried to figure out if he really was capable of exhibiting strong martial arts.

Pyo-wol left the guest house altogether as things became more and more troublesome.

The first thing he did when he came out on the streets was to buy a long scarf. The scarf covers his neck and up to his lips, revealing only his eyes and nose.

That didn’t completely hide his handsome face, but at least it prevented people’s attention.

Pyo-wol walked through Chengdu with his face covered with a scarf.

His destination was the Thunder gates.

Thunder Gates was located in an area called Jintang County to the east of Chengdu. Jintang County itself was a big city that was just a short distance from the capital.

Thunder gates was said to have perfect control over Jintang County.

To kill the Young Master Nam Ho-san, Pyo-wol had to figure out the topography of the area first.

Securing a perfect infiltration route and a safe escape route was the first step in assassination. Pyo-wol studied assassination techniques for seven years, while another seven years were spent learning the Aguido. 

That didn’t mean that his assassination skills have rusted.

The road to Jintang County was well paved. The traffic between the two cities was so heavy that many people filled the streets.

There were a lot of wagons being pulled around and many people carrying different kinds of goods.

Many people in particular came from Jintang County. Since Chengdu is the larger city, the amount of goods coming in towards Jintang County is much higher.

There were so many people moving along the street that no one paid any attention to Pyo-wol. Thanks to this, Pyo-wol was able to arrive in Jintang County with ease.

The first thing he did after arriving at Jintang County was to directly examine the Thunder gates.

The Thunder gate was huge in scale, as if boasting about its prestige.

There were more than two hundred fences surrounding it on all sides, and over a dozen or so huge full-angled roofs above the high fence.

The main gate was large enough to accommodate three or four wagons at once, and at the entrance, about a dozen soldiers stood guard.

At a glance, it was clear that the security was tight.

Pyo-wol slowly walked around the wall, as if he had come out to view the spectacle. There were a lot of people watching with him because the scenery around the Thunder Gate was rumored to be beautiful.

Thanks to this, Pyo-wol was able to look around the Thunder gate without feeling out of place.

‘The north looks the most lax, but in truth its security is the tightest. In comparison, since the west border looks perfect, there are a lot of soldiers being carefree. If I want to infiltrate, going through the west side is better.’

He simply didn’t choose the west side just because it was easy to penetrate. It was also a good side for securing an escape route because it was directly connected to the downtown area where there were many small mansions. These buildings would make it easy for him to find a place to hide.

Pyo-wol changed his clothes. It was a garment made of cheap cotton cloth, which was mainly worn by the people of the mansion. He also changed his face a bit.

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It is an application of the face changing art he learned from So Gyeoksan a long time ago.

He didn’t even touch his face much. Just a few minor tweaks to change his overall atmosphere.

When Pyo-wol changed his eyes, the atmosphere was completely different from a little while ago.

In his new state, Pyo-wol walked around every corner of the mansion.

The alley was very dirty. Because there are so many people living together, various kinds of filth were overflowing resulting in a bad smell lingering around the area. 

Still, Pyo-wol moved on without a change in his expression. To him, such a smell could not be called a stench.

It took Pyo-wol almost half a day to fully understand the alley.

The thing he cared about the most was the ability of staying inconspicuous. When people feel someone is an outsider, they pay them more attention. That way, these outsiders would be imprinted in people’s memories.

To prevent such a situation, Pyo-wol created the same atmosphere to blend in with the people living in the mansion. This was so that no one walking in the alley could feel the fact that Pyo-wol was actually not from their place.

After familiarizing himself with all the alleys, Pyo-wol returned to his original form and stayed in a guest house near the Thunder gates.

The front door of the Thunder gates was clearly visible from the guest house.

Pyo-wol sat by the window and carefully watched the people entering the front door. As if to show its power and influence, many people visited the Thunder gates.

Pyo-wol carefully examined the faces of the people coming out of the Thunder gates. He was trying to infer the mood of the people from the sect through their facial expressions.

The facial expressions of those who came out of the sect were all rigid. It meant that they felt a lot of pressure while they were inside the Thunder gates.

“Damn! I can’t trade properly! What kind of amount is that?”

“It’s said that if you trade with the Thunder Gates, you will lose all of your profit.”

As if to prove Pyo-wol’s conjecture, the merchants who had traded with the Thunder gates entered into the guest house and complained. Even as they sat in their seats, they continued on with their conversation. Pyo-wol quietly listened to their stories.

“How the heck can they squeeze so much…”

“Ugh! It looks like you’ve lost your soul. Did you see it too? Two large warehouses full of grain. For them to  pile up grain like that and still try to buy grain at a low price. Did they lose against their enemies because of grains in their past life?”

“Who isn’t it? After all, there are more people.”

The information coming out of the mouths of the merchants was just normal chatter. Still, Pyo-wol listened to them without missing a single word.

In the guest house, where Pyo-wol was located, there were many people who traded with the Thunder gates. Probably because it was close to the sect.

While Pyo-wol was learning about the Thunder gates, an unexpected person entered the audience.

It was a Go Dosa who went with Heo Ran-ju.

Go Dosa also found Pyo-wol and made an expression of surprise. He then came closer with a smile on his face.

“Now, who is this? What are you doing here? To see you here, what a great coincidence.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Heh heh! There are many things to see in Jintang County, so I came to see it for a while.”

Go Dosa sat down in front of Pyo-wol as if it was natural.

“Oh, can I sit down?”

“As you please.”

“Heh heh! Thank you. It was boring to go alone, but it’s nice to see a familiar face like this.”

Go Dosa chuckled and laughed. His face was glistening with sweat, as if he had been running out a lot. Go Dosa called a waiter and ordered food and drinks.

Pyo-wol asked Go Dosa.

“Are you together with the rest of your party?”

“Everyone’s been separated for a while because of work. Well, don’t worry, we’ll get back together soon. How about you, what are you here for?”

“I have a job.”

“What is it?”

“Just something personal.”

“Is that so? I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope everything works out well for you.”

Go Dosa fanned his hands and secretly observed Pyo-wol’s whereabouts. He was secretly collecting information about the sects in Sichuan under the orders of Zhang Muryang.

He could have directly asked for information about the movement of the sects, but if he did, information that the Black Cloud Mercenary group was slowly making a move could leak out.

The most important to Zhang Mu-ryang, the leader of the Black Cloud Brigade, was the control of information. They had to quickly obtain any information that could be considered as a threat, and prevent this information from leaking out.

The person who did this best job was Go Dosa. For that reason, Zhang Mu-ryang entrusted Go Dosa with the task of collecting information.

“Oh! Ran-ju really wants to see you. She has a little bit of a temper, but she’s not that bad. If we see each other again later, we’ll give you a treat.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again.”

“As long as you stay in Chengdu, we will surely meet again.”

“So will you be staying in Chengdu for a long time?”

“I don’t know if it’s going to be months or years, but I’m planning on staying here for quite some time this time.”

“Looks like you’ve caught a big bottle of water.”

“Water? What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing. Just nonsense.”

Go Dosa frowned and looked at Pyo-wol.

‘Interesting, does he know something?’

He suddenly had his doubts. From the moment they first met, he was somehow vigilant towards Pyo-wol. Aside from his non-human-like appearance, his pessimistic aura and eyes made the viewer feel strangely wary.

‘And we still don’t know anything about his true identity and objective.’

After entering Chengdu, Go Dosa moved around more than anyone else.

He intensively delved into the powers and trends of the sects in Sichuan Province. Because he was dealing with too many things at once, he had no choice but to neglect researching the identity of Pyo-wol. 

But seeing Pyo-wol again like this, he felt that he should have known about him more than anything else.

“How long do you plan to stay in the Thunder gates?”

“It won’t be long.”

“Are you going to go back to Chengdu again?”

“Why are you asking so much? Do I have to tell you every move I do?”

“Why are you talking so harshly? I’m just asking because I’m curious. It’s not normal to meet again like this, so can’t I know that much?”

“I disagree, you think differently.”

“Heh heh! I’m usually a bit broad. As I get older, I get more curious. I hope you understand.”

If it had been anyone else, he would have been furious or embarrassed by Pyo-wol’s words, but Go Dosa just smiled and replied. 

Pyo-wol looked at Go Dosa with deep set eyes.

‘It won’t be easy to shake him off.’

Go Dosa’s eyes were insistently following him. 

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