Chapter 17
Hefei, in the heart of Anhui Province in the Central Plains.
Namgung Jin was going about his usual duties at the Murim Alliance.
Just then, a hawk flew in through the window, its wings beating loudly.
‘…A hawk?’
It was a messenger hawk (傳書鷹), used by the Beggars’ Sect only for urgent matters.
“…What could have happened for them to send a messenger hawk?”
He unfolded the paper tied to the hawk’s leg. A moment later,
Namgung Jin let out a sigh.
“Hah… Is anyone outside?”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“Summon the elders of the various sects currently at the Alliance to the meeting hall. It’s urgent.”
“…Yes!”
Namgung Jin watched the messenger hurry off to fetch the elders, then lifted his head and gazed at the sky.
The sky was so indifferent—whether it knew what was in his heart or not, it remained a clear blue.
“…Blood will spill again.”
With weary steps, Namgung Jin headed for the meeting hall.
Once the elders of the various sects had gathered, Namgung Jin spoke.
“…The reason I’ve called you all here today is that Senior Mukseon (默仙) made an urgent request, and I’ve had to trouble you all with it.”
“…What could the Beggars’ Sect Leader suddenly be asking of the Alliance Leader?”
“…He requested a kill order.”
“A kill order!”
At Namgung Jin’s words, the elders began murmuring among themselves.
“If the Beggars’ Sect Leader has made such a request, the man must be a villain indeed. Why haven’t you issued the order at once?”
“…I wanted to discuss the matter with the elders first.”
“What is there to discuss? And… who is this man that you’d even hesitate?”
“…Mad Demon Dokgo Jin and his daughter. Ice Emperor Baek Ryeon-hwi says the Ice Palace’s sacred treasure has been stolen.”
As soon as Namgung Jin mentioned Dokgo Jin’s name, an old man in green martial robes slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet.
Bang!
“Dokgo Jin, that son of a bitch, had a daughter?!”
“I can’t believe it… That wretched bastard has a daughter…”
“He must have raped some woman he met by the roadside and fathered her that way. No sane woman would ever marry him!”
“Exactly. That’s right.”
As the elders grew noisy at the mention of Dokgo Jin’s name, Namgung Jin infused his voice with a little inner energy and spoke softly.
“Please, everyone, calm down a little.”
“…Calm down?”
The others quieted at Namgung Jin’s words, but the old man in green martial robes was the only one who remained agitated.
“Calm down? After hearing the name of that bastard who wreaked havoc on our Tang Clan?”
“…Elder, please compose yourself. A kill order is a terrible power that can erase a martial artist from the martial world.”
“All the more reason to use it on a bastard like the Mad Demon!!”
The Tang Clan’s elder slammed the table again and addressed the other elders.
“Are we the only ones who’ve suffered at the Mad Demon’s hands? Our Tang Clan simply suffered the most, so I’ll speak on everyone’s behalf! Has the Murong Clan forgotten its grudge?”
“…Of course not. But I can only speak as the acting representative of our Clan Head.”
“And what about the Beggars’ Sect?! How many elders have died at that bastard’s hands?!!”
“…”
“Wudang, Mount Hua, Zhongnan, and even the Namgung Clan, the current Alliance Leader’s own family, have all suffered at his hands! Isn’t it a problem that such a vicious man is still roaming the martial world?!”
“…Please sit down.”
“Just tell me where he is! I’ll go there myself and melt that bastard into a puddle!!”
“I said, sit down.”
As Namgung Jin gradually raised his inner energy, the Tang Clan’s elder noticed the warning in his eyes and quieted somewhat.
Once the elder seemed to have calmed down a little, Namgung Jin spoke again.
“If we simply follow whoever speaks the loudest, there’s no need for the Murim Alliance. We might as well be like those Unorthodox bastards and settle things with a brawl, then follow the strongest martial artist’s opinion.”
“You know that’s not what I mean, Alliance Leader!”
“All the more reason to talk this through. I’ll say this in advance: I oppose this kill order.”
“Alliance Leader!!”
“What are you saying?!”
As the elders grew noisy again, Namgung Jin raised a hand.
“…Please calm down. I agree that a kill order should be issued for Mad Demon Dokgo Jin. But what crime has his daughter committed?”
“Isn’t a child of a demon likely to become a demon herself?”
“…Then isn’t it our duty to guide her onto the right path?”
“Amitabha… This humble monk agrees with the Alliance Leader as well.”
A monk with a freshly shaved head continued speaking.
“However, there are those in this world who cannot be reformed, no matter what we do. Patron Dokgo Jin is one such person.”
“…I agree. I doubt his madness will ever subside before he dies.”
“…”
The opinions in the hall seemed firmly set.
“Haa… Then what if we do this? I think it’s right to issue a kill order for Mad Demon Dokgo Jin, but only an order to capture his daughter.”
“This humble monk agrees with the Alliance Leader.”
“If the Mad Demon’s daughter is captured, we of the Emei Sect will see to it that she is thoroughly reformed.”
“…The Murong Clan will follow the prevailing consensus.”
“Mount Hua agrees as well.”
One by one, the elders voiced their agreement. At last, Namgung Jin asked the Tang Clan’s elder, the only one left.
“…What is the Tang Clan’s opinion?”
“Honestly, I’d like to kill them both. But I’ll go along with the other elders’ decision.”
“…I appreciate your consideration.”
After paying his respects to the Tang Clan’s elder, Namgung Jin addressed everyone in the hall.
“Then, effective today, we will issue a kill order for Mad Demon Dokgo Jin and a capture order for his daughter. Please inform your respective sects of this decision and ask for their cooperation.”
“Understood.”
“Then this meeting is adjourned.”
Namgung Jin left first, and the other elders followed one by one.
Once they were outside the meeting hall, the Tang Clan’s elder sent a voice transmission to the Beggars’ Sect elder.
[Heaven-Flying Beggar (天飛匃). Come see me before you leave.]
“…”
The Heaven-Flying Beggar elder glanced around, then approached the Tang Clan’s elder.
“…What is it?”
“Did Senior Mukseon really send that request?”
“…”
The Heaven-Flying Beggar elder looked around once more, then lowered his voice.
“…Of course not. Senior Mukseon retired from the day-to-day affairs of the sect long ago. His successor handles everything now.”
“I knew it… Given Senior Mukseon’s character, I couldn’t believe he’d ever request a kill order.”
“Heh heh. But that’s exactly why Senior Mukseon’s name carries all the more weight.”
The Heaven-Flying Beggar’s eyes gleamed with anger.
“I… can never forgive that bastard Dokgo Jin.”
“Nor can I. If you need anything, contact the Tang Clan. We’ll help you, too.”
“Now that the kill order has been issued, his corpse should be brought to the Alliance before long.”
Grit.
The Heaven-Flying Beggar ground his teeth.
“It’s such a shame… I dreamed of breaking that bastard’s legs myself and making him crawl all the way here…”
“…Does it still hurt? Your leg?”
“It does… Every night, it hurts…”
The Heaven-Flying Beggar felt over his missing right leg.
“I think seeing that bastard’s corpse would make me feel a little better.”
“…Have you finished the medicine I gave you before?”
“I still have a little left. But I’m about to run out.”
“I figured as much, so I brought you some more.”
The Tang Clan’s elder rummaged through his sleeve and handed over a small pouch.
“…Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. Our Tang Clan owes the Beggars’ Sect a great deal.”
The Heaven-Flying Beggar quickly pocketed the pouch.
“Heh heh… More importantly, this medicine is wonderful. Must be a Tang Clan secret—the pain disappears completely.”
“It’s nothing special… If you need more medicine, just ask me again.”
“Yes. I’ll be going, then. Farewell…”
The Heaven-Flying Beggar bowed his head and began limping away with the aid of his cane.
Watching him go, the Tang Clan’s elder clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk… To think someone who was once a candidate to lead the Beggars’ Sect has fallen so far…”
Once hailed as the ‘Heaven-Flying Beggar,’ a man who could ‘fly through the heavens’ and was famed as the second-fastest in the martial world, he had lost one leg to the Mad Demon and become a different person.
If he’d only avoided a head-on fight, he might have defeated the Mad Demon, whose movement skills were weak. But he’d insisted on confronting him directly and foolishly lost a leg. After crawling into the Murim Alliance, the Heaven-Flying Beggar met the Tang Clan’s elder and gradually began to fall further and further.
Watching him cling to him without even knowing that the medicine he supplied was a highly addictive drug was so amusing that the elder had to struggle to keep from laughing every time.
“…More importantly, that bastard had a daughter…”
The Tang Clan’s elder stroked his chin in thought for a moment, then a smile crept across his lips.
“If she happens to die by accident, there’s nothing to be done… Or she could make a good test subject.”
Excited at the thought of passing this news on to the main clan, the Tang Clan’s elder couldn’t hide his bouncing shoulders as he returned to his quarters.
*
After reading the letter delivered by the owl, Heo Gwan-yeong sighed.
“Haa… Miss Dokgo, we’re screwed.”
“…Why this time?”
“The Murim Alliance has put a bounty on your head.”
“…On me?”
“…Yes.”
“Shit, hand it over.”
“You won’t be able to read it. It’s written in code.”
“…Those needlessly thorough bastards. Read it.”
“…Yes.”
Heo Gwan-yeong took up the letter again and read it aloud.
“The Murim Alliance has issued a kill order for Mad Demon Dokgo Jin and a capture order for his daughter. The order was personally proclaimed by Murim Alliance Leader Sword Immortal Namgung Jin, and the person who requested it is believed to be Mukseon, the Beggars’ Sect Leader.”
“…Sword Immortal? Mukseon? Those bastards got involved?”
“…You make it sound like you know them well.”
“Ah… They’re just famous, that’s all.”
Dokgo Ryeong made up a vague excuse for Heo Gwan-yeong and swallowed hard.
Two of the ten strongest martial artists in the martial world were involved.
Sword Immortal and Mukseon.
One was Namgung Jin, the current Clan Head of the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Houses.
The other was Mukseon, the Beggars’ Sect Leader and the Shadowless Beggar Muyeonggae (無影匃), said to be the fastest man in the martial world, so swift that no one could even see his shadow.
But hearing those two names only made Dokgo Ryeong more suspicious.
‘…I can understand Namgung Jin. He just announces the elders’ opinions under his own name anyway. But why Mukseon?’
Mukseon was a master renowned throughout the martial world as a chivalrous hero.
He had built his reputation through countless acts of chivalry since his youth, and every word he spoke carried weight.
She couldn’t believe a man like that would be the first to propose something as vicious as a kill order.
‘…Those Beggars’ Sect bastards must have something going on, too.’
There were plenty of reasons the Beggars’ Sect might hold a grudge against her, so Dokgo Ryeong stopped thinking about it and spoke to Heo Gwan-yeong again.
“So what are you going to do?”
“…Pardon?”
“Doesn’t the Hao Sect have some plan for what to do?”
“…We’ll have to wait and see.”
“You two-faced bastards. No wonder people call you a gray sect. Honestly…”
“Come on… But the Mad Demon is a great fiend, isn’t he? This might actually be a good thing…”
“Do you want to die, saying that in front of me…?”
“Ah… I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
As Heo Gwan-yeong repeatedly slapped his own mouth, Dokgo Ryeong sighed at the sight.
“Haa… Shit. There’s no one around me I can trust. One’s a blockhead, one’s a Lust Demon, and one’s a total airhead…”
“…I’m sorry.”
“And you disloyal bastard, after all the benefits the Mad Demon gave the Hao Sect, you’re just going to abandon him now?”
“…I don’t know anything about that.”
“Make sure to ask your Sect Leader later. Half the brothels your sect owns were built by the Mad Demon, you idiot. Got it?”
“…Yes.”
Heo Gwan-yeong looked unconvinced. Dokgo Ryeong was itching to tell him what she and the Hao Sect had gotten up to back when she was the Mad Demon, but she held her tongue.
“You idiot, let’s get out of here first. Those Murong Clan bastards’ footsteps are getting closer.”
“…You can hear them?”
“I’m damn good at sensing things, too. Just move in the direction I point you.”
“…I’m the coachman, but I’m starting to feel like a horse.”
Back on Heo Gwan-yeong’s back, Dokgo Ryeong gave him a few pats on the head and said,
“That’s right, run! Giddy-up!”
“N-Neeeigh!!”
“Heh heh, you’re a funny bastard. Let’s go!!”
“Yes!”
Heo Gwan-yeong set off once more, moving his feet briskly.