Chapter 88 : Chapter 88

Chapter 88. The Scramble (4)

Through his conversation with the blacksmith, Jin Yuseong was able to obtain various pieces of information.

The Underworld trash who had originally settled here were called the Iron Chain Gang.

Although they controlled Lianzhou and the small surrounding villages, they had not been able to expand their influence any further.

This was because the Taeul Sect, which was based in a town called Yangshan a few days away, had been blocking them.

Just as the conflict between the Iron Chain Gang and the Taeul Sect was reaching its peak, an incident occurred where an herb gatherer discovered the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass on a nearby mountain.

“Thanks to that rumor spreading, all the martial artists in the vicinity are flocking there.”

After hearing all of the blacksmith’s explanation, Jin Yuseong asked.

“Then what happened to that herb gatherer?”

“Well… I haven’t heard any separate rumors, but it’s likely…”

Jin Yuseong nodded with a bitter expression and said.

“For now, I would like to request the production of the iron needles. We will be back in a few days.”

On the way out of the forge after finishing the conversation with the blacksmith, Jin Yuseong opened his mouth.

“While the iron needles are being made, let’s leave this place and chase after the Iron Chain Gang.”

“Are you also interested in the spiritual medicine?”

At Dang Sopyeong’s question, Jin Yuseong snorted.

“Do you think the Underworld trash will turn over a new leaf just because they obtain a spiritual medicine? It’s obvious they’ll commit even worse atrocities once they gain power, so we need to clean them up beforehand.”

Dang Sopyeong nodded with a convinced expression.

‘Well, for that crazy bastard, killing the Underworld trash would probably take precedence over a spiritual medicine.’

At that moment, Baek Hyang cautiously opened her mouth.

“Senior Brother, if we chase after the Iron Chain Gang, won’t our path to the Black Market get a little complicated?”

“It’s fine. We have a few days to spare until the Black Market opens anyway, so we just need to get there in time.”

“That’s unexpected. With your temper, I thought you’d fall into a Mental Demon and flip out if you were even a day late.”

“That was the case, but I’ve changed my mind.”

What could he have changed his mind about? As Dang Sopyeong looked at him with a puzzled face, Jin Yuseong added.

“I’ve gone ahead a few times before, but it was always just Black Market trash there. Only by going on the day the Black Market opens can I wipe out all the nearby trash who came for the market in one fell swoop.”

At the answer that he was taking his time in order to kill more people at once, Dang Sopyeong nodded as if he had expected it.

‘Crazy bastard.’

On the other hand, Nam Geon and Baek Hyang had expressions of admiration.

“B-Bro is smart.”

“There will be no need to wander around to various places. I will keep that in mind, Senior Brother.”

Dang Sopyeong was starting to get confused.

‘…Could it be that I was the strange one?’

***

A forest located several tens of li southwest of Lianzhou.

Between the bushes, hundreds of people were packed tightly together.

From a distance, they might have looked like a single group, but they were divided into several factions and were clearly wary of each other.

They were people who had come after hearing the rumor of the spiritual medicine called the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass.

There were those who had come leading forces of several tens, those who had come in small groups, and many who had come alone.

In the center where hundreds of people had gathered.

Dozens of martial artists dressed in black martial arts uniforms with the character embroidered on them. The Iron Chain Gang was located there.

No, it was more like they were surrounded by the other hundreds of martial artists.

At that moment, an old Daoist priest pushed his way through the martial artists surrounding the Iron Chain Gang members and stepped forward.

The old Daoist priest spoke to the Iron Chain Gang in a leisurely tone.

“Hehehe. Gang Leader, how about you just give up?”

To this, the Iron Chain Gang Leader, Gwak Sul, snorted and replied.

“Hmph. You should be the one to give up. What are you people who claim to be cultivating the Dao doing, blinded by a spiritual medicine?”

“Heo. What are you saying, Gang Leader. Blinded by a spiritual medicine? Our Taeul Sect simply believed that it would not be right for you to possess the spiritual medicine.”

The Taeul Sect Leader, who said so, slightly turned his head and shouted to the surroundings.

“It’s the same for everyone gathered here! The notoriety of the Iron Chain Gang is well-known in this area, isn’t it? How can we just stand by and let such a heinous man consume a spiritual medicine!”

“That’s right, Sect Leader! If that man consumes the spiritual medicine, the lives of the common people will fall into ruin!!”

As the sect members responded to the Taeul Sect Leader’s shout, the Taeul Sect Leader smiled broadly and added.

“Therefore, fellow martial brothers of Guangdong, how about we first defeat the Iron Chain Gang and then discuss the matter of the spiritual medicine separately?”

In his eyes, hidden behind a kind smile, greed was surging.

“Hahaha. The Taeul Sect Leader has spoken truly wise words!”

“Of course. We can’t just hand over a spiritual medicine to such a heinous person!”

Was it because the Taeul Sect Leader had provided them with a justification?

The people in the surroundings also began to readily accept the Taeul Sect Leader’s proposal.

The flames of greed were surging in their eyes as well.

At the sight of the pack of hyenas all around, the Iron Chain Gang Leader let out a furious roar.

“The moment any one of you moves first, I will kill that one with my own hands, I swear it!”

The Iron Chain Gang Leader, who had shouted as if threatening them, glared at the Taeul Sect Leader as if to kill him and said.

“Do you think things will go according to your scheme!! If I die, then you too will suffer the same fate!!”

A corpse lying near the Iron Chain Gang group.

A man who was fleeing with the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass hidden in his bosom. Just like the martial artist who was killed by the Iron Chain Gang Leader, Gwak Sul.

This place was like a hell of hungry ghosts, where they constantly preyed on each other.

At the Iron Chain Gang Leader’s shout, the hungry ghost named the Taeul Sect Leader snorted.

“Heo. Did you think this Sect Leader would be frightened by a mere threat of that level?”

The Taeul Sect Leader, who had replied so, suddenly closed in on the Iron Chain Gang Leader in a surprise attack.

The Taeul Sect Leader’s sword and the Iron Chain Gang Leader’s blade clashed, and a metallic sound echoed.

Clang!

This was no different from a signal announcing the start of a battle.

“Kill them!!”

“Hand over the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass!!!”

The members of the Taeul Sect, and the third-party martial artists who had been watching, began to charge towards the Iron Chain Gang one by one.

“Block them!!”

“Break through somehow!!”

The Iron Chain Gang also responded by swinging their weapons in return.

When the battle first began, it was a situation where the Iron Chain Gang was pushing back their enemies.

This was because the people who had formed the siege were not a single force.

Their coordination was completely off, and just as the saying goes, ‘sharing the same bed but dreaming different dreams’, their hearts were not aligned at all.

It was not over after dealing with the Iron Chain Gang.

After that, they had to prepare for the future where they would fight amongst themselves over the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass, so they could not help but engage in the battle passively.

But that was only the flow of the battle in the early stages. The difference in numbers was so great that they were outnumbered.

As the fight continued, casualties began to appear one by one from the Iron Chain Gang, and the Iron Chain Gang Leader’s eyes became bloodshot.

“I will definitely kill you!!!”

With a furious face, he madly swung his blade at the Taeul Sect Leader.

His blade, enveloped in blade qi, flew towards the Taeul Sect Leader.

“Hehehe.”

But the Taeul Sect Leader only moved defensively, deflecting or dodging the blade.

He did not try to recklessly attack his opponent.

His calculation was that if he just dragged out the time, the Iron Chain Gang would collapse on its own. To prepare for what came after, there was no need to waste his strength recklessly.

Just as the Iron Chain Gang was slowly collapsing.

From somewhere, a flurry of screams, shouts, and cutting sounds erupted in succession.

The Taeul Sect Leader thought it was the sound coming from the Iron Chain Gang’s side.

But after listening a little more, it was somewhat strange.

‘From behind?’

The direction the sound was coming from was different.

Moreover, the sound was gradually getting closer.

Swish!

“Kuaaaargh!!”

Soon, a cutting sound along with a scream erupted from a fairly close distance, and a group of about a dozen men in black appeared.

They had literally broken through a bloody path from the outskirts of the siege to this point.

The Taeul Sect Leader felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding and quickly took a step back, shouting.

“By the Primordial Lord of Heaven! Who are you to commit such an atrocious act!”

But the group of men in black seemed to have no interest in the Taeul Sect Leader’s question.

A middle-aged man from the group of men in black pointed at Gwak Sul’s side and said to the old man at the very front.

“That is the Iron Chain Gang Leader, Gwak Sul, Elder. According to the information we gathered on the way, it seems he has the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass.”

The old man, who had nodded, took a step forward.

He had a slender build, was quite tall, and strangely, his complexion was as pale as a sick person’s, as if he had lived his life as a martial artist with almost no exposure to sunlight.

The wrinkles unique to an old man were on his face, and perhaps because of the shape of those wrinkles or his pale complexion, his impression was quite cold.

The old man who stepped forward said to Gwak Sul.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you like this, Iron Chain Gang Leader.”

At the sudden intrusion of a new force, the battle naturally entered a lull, and Gwak Sul asked with a suspicious expression.

“Do you know me?”

“Would it be an answer if I said I came from Great Ridge of Color?”

At a glance, it might have sounded like a bandit, but there were no bandits at Great Ridge of Color.

Before long, Gwak Sul’s eyes widened as he realized something.

“Ah!”

As the leader of an Underworld group, Gwak Sul had experience visiting the Black Market at Great Ridge of Color a few times.

He had even bought a woman with a pretty face as a slave there and played with her as a toy for a few months.

As it seemed Gwak Sul and the old man knew each other, the Taeul Sect Leader quickly shouted.

“What are you all doing! Those people are also with the Iron Chain Gang Leader! We must attack at once!!”

At his shout, the old man frowned.

“Tsk. When adults are conducting a transaction.”

The old man, who had clicked his tongue, suddenly used his movement technique and closed in on the Taeul Sect Leader.

His speed was so fast that it looked as if his body had stretched like a piece of taffy.

It was a perfectly mastered Bow Body Ejection Shadow.

As the old man thrust his judge’s pen, the Taeul Sect Leader quickly swung his sword in response.

Clang!!

“Keuk.”

With a stifled groan, the Taeul Sect Leader was pushed back a step.

He had even formed sword qi to deal with it, but he could not withstand the force.

The old man relentlessly wielded his judge’s pen at the Taeul Sect Leader, who had blood on his lips.

Clang!

Clang!

The Taeul Sect Leader was instantly pushed into a defensive position.

“S-Sect Leader!”

“Protect the Sect Leader!!”

The members of the Taeul Sect quickly moved to help their leader, but.

Crack.

Each time, a corpse with its vital point pierced by the judge’s pen would just fall to the ground.

Soon, as the old man’s subordinates joined in, the Taeul Sect was pushed back one-sidedly.

Crack.

Finally, the old man’s judge’s pen pierced the Taeul Sect Leader’s heart.

“Kuh…! Gah…!”

The old man, who had dealt with the Taeul Sect Leader so easily, looked at Gwak Sul with a blood-stained face.

“We can’t reduce the number of guests who visit our Great Ridge of Color.”

The old man held out his left hand towards Gwak Sul.

“Hand over the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass. Then I will personally spare your life.”

An attitude as if asking for something that was rightfully his.

While the Iron Chain Gang Leader was making a dumbfounded expression, the old man frowned and opened his mouth.

“Wait. I’ve miscalculated. Isn’t this pseudo-Daoist the Taeul Sect Leader, who was your enemy? Since this old man has killed your enemy for you, you should prepare ten gold ingots in addition to the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass.”

At the unexpected words, the Iron Chain Gang Leader let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.

“Heo. Heoheo……”

At that moment, from the side, someone with a deathly pale face shouted as if screaming.

“Q-Qingliang Xueshang!”

Thanks to the judge’s pen the old man was using and his bizarre calculation method, someone who recognized the old man’s identity had appeared.

“Hehehe. To think you recognize this old man.”

Qingliang Xueshang, who said so, slowly turned his head and said to the people in the surroundings.

“Blame that smart young man. Since you have learned what you should not have, you must pay the price with your lives, mustn't you.”

The man, who had passed judgment as if he were a judge of the underworld, suddenly launched himself.

Clang!!

“Keuk……”

Gwak Sul, who had barely blocked one exchange, let out a stifled groan and was pushed back.

Since there were not many members of the Iron Chain Gang left, there were almost no one who came forward to help Gwak Sul.

As befitting the Underworld, as the tide of battle turned too unfavorable, they were all busy looking for their own way to survive.

Crack!

Finally, the old man’s judge’s pen pierced Gwak Sul’s neck.

“Krrrk……”

Gwak Sul wanted to spit out some curse words, but his throat was pierced, so no voice came out.

Thud.

Qingliang Xueshang looked down at Gwak Sul, who had become a futile corpse, and clicked his tongue as if mocking him.

“Heh heh. You could have lived if you had settled the bill early. Children who are slow at calculating always live at a loss like this.”

Qingliang Xueshang bent down and rummaged through Gwak Sul’s corpse, and was able to find the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass without difficulty.

At that moment, while Qingliang Xueshang was searching Gwak Sul’s corpse, a martial artist who had secretly closed in thrust his sword at him.

“Die!!”

Crack!

But instead, the one who lost his life was the martial artist who had launched the surprise attack.

The blood that spurted from the throat of the martial artist who had died right in front of him stained Qingliang Xueshang’s pale face red.

“Tsk. I will kill you all in order, so don’t be impatient.”

He took the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass and tucked it into his clothes, then looked around.

Over a hundred martial artists were still surrounding them.

All of them had faces full of greed.

Fwoosh!

Qingliang Xueshang, who had suddenly launched himself at them, relentlessly wielded his judge’s pen, and with each strike, screams filled the air.

“That senile old man has the spiritual medicine!!”

“Kill him!”

How long had it been since he had sent the hungry ghosts mad with greed to the underworld?

Qingliang Xueshang, covered in blood from head to toe, clicked his tongue with a displeased face.

“Tsk.”

There were no more hungry ghosts charging at him.

But there were no one running away either.

There were only gazes mixed with fear and greed.

Hungry ghosts who were too scared to step forward themselves but had not abandoned their greed.

They seemed to be waiting for someone to step up and drain his strength, or to create an opening.

For a very brief moment, a strange standoff continued between the old man standing alone on a mountain of blood and corpses and the people who had formed a siege.

A young voice from behind the siege broke the heavy silence.

“With so much trash gathered in one place, the stench is piercing my nose.”

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