Chapter 189
Yeo Un-hwi thought this worked out perfectly.
It was the perfect opportunity to briefly test the strength the White Wolf Unit had cultivated.
They were already itching for a fight anyway.
They would serve as suitable warm-up opponents.
Before anyone realized, the owner of the Cheonghyang Inn had come out to the entrance, standing there with his mouth hanging wide open.
With his own eyes, he clearly saw what just happened.
To think they could beat down the Vice Palace Lord of the Evil Love Palace so easily.
What kind of place was the Evil Love Palace?
Wasn’t it a place whose infamy echoed throughout the entire Murim?
Whether they chose not to subjugate them or simply couldn’t was unclear, but the Evil Love Palace’s prestige was so immense that even the Murim Alliance hadn’t been able to do anything about them for a long time.
Yet, far from fearing them, these people had wiped them out in an instant with overwhelming power.
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of hesitation in their actions.
They truly were on another level - as expected of people from the Peng Family, one of the Five Great Families.
It also felt simply amazing that Do-gyeong was traveling with such formidable individuals.
A long time ago, when she had impulsively made up her mind and left so suddenly, he had been worried sick.
But looking at her now, he realized it had been a truly excellent choice.
To think that young girl set out to find her own path and returned looking so grown up.
He couldn’t be prouder of her.
The owner looked at Do-gyeong with eyes that had grown inexplicably misty.
That was when it happened.
Yeo Un-hwi approached him.
“owner, I have something to ask. Do you happen to know where the Evil Love Palace is?”
“A-Ah, why do you ask?”
“I’m planning to make your business a little easier from now on.”
“Pardon?”
The owner put on a blank expression.
Then, belatedly understanding the meaning behind Yeo Un-hwi’s words, he stammered a question in return.
“You don’t mean to say you’re going to seek out the Evil Love Palace right now, do you?”
“What else? Why else would I ask where those rotten bastards are?”
Yeo Un-hwi let out a soft chuckle.
When I thought about it again, it was a foolish question.
There was no way the people who had just beaten down the Vice Palace Lord of the Evil Love Palace so easily were just asking to avoid the place.
However, the owner wanted to stop them no matter what.
No matter how astonishing their martial prowess was, it was a well-known fact in the region that the Evil Love Palace’s stronghold was swarming with a massive number of warriors.
That wasn’t all.
They occasionally spent large sums of money to hire renowned masters and have them stay at the palace.
Because the atrocities committed by the man known as the Palace Lord of the Evil Love Palace were so heinous, he had many enemies, which meant he paid a great deal of attention to protecting himself.
Furthermore, the Palace Lord himself was a figure who had made a name for himself early on with his outstanding strategic mind and martial arts skills.
In his opinion, heading to such a place with only the White Wolf Unit seemed far too reckless.
However,
“I know where that is.”
One of the guests readily stepped forward and informed them of the Evil Love Palace’s location.
With that, Yeo Un-hwi and the White Wolf Unit began preparing to leave the Cheonghyang Inn.
“What a shame. We were right in the middle of a delicious meal.”
“We can just come back. And if you want to eat more, wait here and take your time. I’ll be back.”
“Hey now. No way. I absolutely can’t miss out on something that fun.”
“Right. Ugh! I’m so excited. I’ll finally get to warm up properly.”
“We’ll be lucky if that’s all it is. Don’t get too excited and end it too quickly, guys.”
The owner was at the point of doubting whether he was hearing them correctly.
Surprisingly, these people were acting as if they were just heading out for morning calisthenics.
No, they actually looked like they were going on a fun picnic.
He needed to stop them somehow, but the atmosphere made it feel like he would be the weird one for worrying, so he couldn’t easily bring himself to speak.
Do-gyeong smiled brightly at the owner, who was at a loss for what to do.
“mister, I’ll be going now. It was nice seeing you again after so long.”
“Do, Do-gyeong.”
Could they really handle what they were about to do?
Unable to let go of his worries, the owner looked at her with an incredibly anxious expression.
At that,
“Don’t worry.”
Do-gyeong flashed a grin.
“We’re strong, you see.”
With those final words, the White Wolf Unit left the Cheonghyang Inn.
The last thing the owner saw was Yeo Un-hwi briefly glancing toward a certain spot before flashing a smirk.
A short while after Yeo Un-hwi and the White Wolf Unit disappeared.
A man sat blankly on one side of the stairs outside the Cheonghyang Inn.
It was Munho, who would no longer be called the One-Eyed Fist Demon.
A hollow, deflated chuckle spilled endlessly from his lips.
“Heh, hehehehe…”
He simply couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.
They had dispatched the opponent he had struggled so hard against in the blink of an eye.
What exactly is this situation?
Wasn’t I definitely quite strong?
I’m sure I was?
Suddenly, Munho looked far off in the direction of the mountain he had come down from.
“master. Do I really have talent? This place is swarming with terrifying monsters like them.”
Far from a spectacular first step to begin his journey through the Jianghu, he truly felt like hiding in a mouse hole right now if he could find one.
Hah… Ten Great Masters my ass.
Munho wanted to throw it all away and return to the mountain.
However,
‘Didn’t they say they were going to the Evil Love Palace? Those people?’
Why was it?
Contrary to his thoughts, Munho began to chase after the White Wolf Unit as if possessed.
“Hah. The weather is especially nice today, and the tea is delicious. Haha.”
An endlessly clear sky.
Around the time Yeo Un-hwi and the White Wolf Unit were heading somewhere to beat someone to a pulp on a rainless day.
Under the same sky, laughter was flowing through the garden of the Peng Family.
For the first time in a while, Peng Mugang had gathered the family together to share a cup of tea.
A smile never left Peng Mugang’s face as he watched Peng Seo-yeon and Yul-i, who had quickly finished their tea and were already playing together in the garden.
The same went for Peng Seo-jin.
However, unlike those two, there was someone whose expression had been gloomy for a while now - it was Dan Hee-young.
Soon, she let out a deep sigh.
“Hm? What’s the matter?”
“Phew. I’m just worried about whether they’re making their way to the Murim Alliance safely. I hope nothing bad happens. The world is quite dangerous these days, isn’t it?”
At Dan Hee-young’s words, Peng Mugang and Peng Seo-jin let out hollow laughs. The thought, “Even that dangerous world needs to watch out for your son-in-law; do you know what kind of man your son-in-law is!” rose right to the tips of their tongues.
The words “Even that dangerous world needs to watch out for your son-in-law; do you know what kind of man your son-in-law is!” rose right to the tips of their tongues.
But they didn’t bother saying it out loud.
She already knew that fact very well too.
It was just that, despite that, in Dan Hee-young’s eyes, Yeo Un-hwi was still nothing more than a son-in-law to worry about.
In truth, Peng Mugang’s feelings wavered back and forth as well.
Sometimes he seemed incredibly reliable, but other times, he worried about how many incidents he would get tangled up in because he possessed such immense strength.
However, he couldn’t just join in on the worrying and leave his gloomy wife like this.
To ease his wife’s worries, Peng Mugang laughed heartily and spoke.
“Don’t worry. No matter how much we’ve been through recently, the world isn’t always filled with blood-splattering events. Isn’t that right?”
“Haha. Of course. Don’t worry, mother. They’re probably well on their way without any issues right about now.”
“You think so?”
“Of course.”
Peng Seo-jin nodded confidently and gave a refreshing smile.
However, for some reason, Peng Seo-jin couldn’t smile genuinely.
It was likewise due to his worry for Yeo Un-hwi’s group.
Of course, unlike Dan Hee-young’s, it was the exact opposite kind of worry.
More like… who was wailing in agony because of his older brother this time.
“T-They’re definitely on their way without any issues. Absolutely. Ha, haha. Hahaha…”
One thing was certain: even if the world split in two, Yeo Un-hwi and the White Wolf Unit would absolutely be safe.
Halfway up a certain deep mountain.
Massive buildings stood on a wide plot of land, looking out of place amidst the deep mountain terrain.
And the single giant gate leading inside was guarded by countless warriors.
This place was none other than the Evil Love Palace.
Clatter. Clatter.
Right now, there are people passing through there one after another.
At their appearance, the warriors - who normally wouldn’t bat an eye at most things - couldn’t hide their surprised expressions.
Starting with the Rakshasa Demonic Woman, the Black-faced Asura, and the Lustful Dream Young Master, numerous bigshots of the Unorthodox Faction were arriving.
Watching their backs as they just passed through the gate, one of the warriors, who had been marveling inwardly the whole time, quietly opened his mouth.
“Man, what day is it today? All those bigshots are gathering here.”
“From what I heard, it’s for the meeting tomorrow.”
“What kind of meeting is it?”
“They must finally be starting something.”
The squad leader commanding the warriors guarding the gate nodded.
He was a man known for having quite a wide network within the Evil Love Palace.
Furthermore, he prided himself on knowing how things ran in the Evil Love Palace better than most executives.
The problem was that he was the type of person who only felt satisfied when he was showing off how much he knew and blabbing about it to others.
From his subordinates' perspective, it was simply great because they got to hear all sorts of stories.
“Starting something?”
“Yeah. Do you know what the bigshots visiting here today all have in common?”
“Hmm. I’m not really sure… What is it?”
“Every one of them has been marked by the Demonic Alliance and the Black Emperor.”
“Ah! Then could it be?”
“Yeah. Those within the Demonic Path who walk a different road from the Black Emperor have now decided to unite as one.”
The man, who had been laying out the story in a somewhat boastful manner, shrugged his shoulders.
“The Black Emperor is the weird one to begin with. He says there’s no reason to live as evil just because you were born into darkness and raised in darkness. Where else would you hear such bullshit? So do you think there are only one or two people harboring complaints?”
“That’s true.”
“Well, even so, trying to survive on our own like we have been until now isn’t viable with the way the Murim is turning out lately. So they decided to create a new Alliance. I heard the Ghost Divine Lord was originally supposed to take the position of alliance leader, but who could have known he’d be killed by a mysterious master who suddenly appeared.”
“Then who?”
“Tsk, tsk. Think about it. Use your head. Why would they gather here?”
Soon, the eyes of one of the subordinates widened.
“Gasp. D-Don’t tell me the Palace Lord is going to be the alliance leader?”
“You could pretty much say that, right?”
“Will some of the benefits then trickle down to us too?”
“Of course, we’re the direct subordinates of the man who will become the alliance leader, so isn’t that a given?”
The gatekeepers' faces brightened significantly.
“So our world is truly beginning from now on. Because of the Black Emperor, we’ve lived without being able to swing our swords to our hearts' content or see blood, but now we’ll be able to run wild as much as we want.”
Before they knew it, everyone’s eyes were gleaming.
They are able to run wild to their hearts' content.
They knew all too well how enjoyable it was to cut down and kill people without reason.
Of course, they had committed enough evil deeds to gain widespread infamy, but even so, they couldn’t help but always be mindful of the Black Emperor and the Demonic Alliance.
But if they could completely escape the shadow of the Demonic Alliance, then it would truly be their world.
That was when it happened.
Hm?
From far away, an unfamiliar group on horseback was leisurely approaching the entrance of the Evil Love Palace.