Chapter 322 – Responding from Within and Shaking from Without (1)

Tang Sa-il's eyes trembled violently.

His bloodshot, wide-open eyes and tightly pressed lips showed how angry he was.

Tang Sa-il had run on a smooth road since birth. Born as the eldest son of the previous clan head, he became the Tang Clan's successor without much difficulty. Moreover, his talent and intelligence were exceptional, so his martial arts improved day by day.

It was natural for Tang Sa-il to become the Tang Clan's head. Even after becoming the head, he didn't neglect training in martial arts and hidden weapons. His achievements rose day by day, and before he knew it, he broke through the high wall and set foot in the realm of absolute mastery.

Until then, Tang Sa-il had never fought properly even once. Not only within the Tang Clan, but martial artists from the Qingcheng Sect and Emei Sect also didn't try to fight him.

The Tang Clan head was tacitly acknowledged as Sichuan's greatest martial artist, and no one had the courage to challenge the current head Tang Sa-il.

The only recent opportunity he had to fight was when they forced the Qingcheng Sect to close its gates. But since Master Hoguang, the sect leader of the Qingcheng Sect, gave up fighting, he didn't get a chance to properly display his martial arts.

Because of this, until meeting Dam Ho, he had been in a very restless state. But such feelings were shaking mercilessly like a quaking aspen the moment he directly faced Dam Ho.

It wasn't because of the level or strength of martial arts. The human being called Dam Ho himself made Tang Sa-il sick and afraid.

In his eighty years of life, he had never been this afraid. Tang Sa-il really never expected he would come to fear another person like this.

Shuffle!

Dam Ho walked forward, dragging his left foot on the ground.

Thump!

His right foot struck the earth. That resonance traveled through the ground and reached Tang Sa-il.

Dam Ho's entire body was torn and ripped like a rag, with blood flowing down. Even with wounds that would have killed an ordinary person, Dam Ho was still moving.

That's why he dragged his feet more than usual. He dragged them because he didn't even have the strength to lift them. But Dam Ho's eyes still shone brilliantly.

Fierce, rough eyes full of fighting spirit. Tang Sa-il's face reflected in them showed undeniable fear.

Though over eighty years old, his body was still as solid as young people's, but his mind was that of an old man.

"Kreuk!"

A groaning sound flowed through Tang Sa-il's lips.

Dam Ho's momentum pressed down on him.

Thump! Shuffle! Thump! Shuffle!

The sound of dragging feet was particularly loud. And that sound made Tang Sa-il's heart pound. It felt like his heart would jump out of his mouth.

Dam Ho's mouth opened.

"Coward!"

"How dare! No… no one can call me that."

CRASH!

At that moment, Dam Ho charged straight into Tang Sa-il. Instead of deploying Explosive Star Strike, he rammed with his body.

"Kreuk!"

Though he drew up protective energy and didn't suffer physical damage, Tang Sa-il's spirit was greatly shaken instead.

He made the mistake he should never have made. He allowed Dam Ho to close the distance.

Like most hidden weapon techniques, the Tang Clan's supreme technique Myriad Heavens Flower Rain required a certain distance to deploy. But overwhelmed by Dam Ho's momentum, he lost the distance needed to deploy Myriad Heavens Flower Rain.

Tang Sa-il eventually gave up Myriad Heavens Flower Rain and deployed the Tang Clan's ultimate technique Nine Ring Soul Connection Palm.

Nine Ring Soul Connection Palm was one of the Tang Clan's supreme techniques, with the subtlety of deploying nine palm strikes consecutively in a single moment. If struck by Nine Ring Soul Connection Palm, nine different forces would each work to completely collapse the human body's interior.

Swoosh!

Tang Sa-il's Nine Ring Soul Connection Palm was very perfect. So it seemed to strike Dam Ho's body very cleanly.

Snap!

At that moment, Dam Ho's hand grabbed his wrist. Because the trajectory was too clean, it was rather easily caught.

Tang Sa-il frowned and tried to shake off Dam Ho's hand. But Dam Ho's grip strength was too strong to shake off.

Whoosh!

Tang Sa-il felt his feet leave the ground and experienced a dizzying floating sensation at the same time. The positions of his head and legs changed instantly, and the ground expanded rapidly. Dam Ho's Earth Crushing Strike had entered.

Until now, countless people had died with their heads bursting from Dam Ho's Earth Crushing Strike. Among them were many masters who had made names for themselves in the martial world. But Tang Sa-il was a master of a different dimension from them. Naturally, his response was also extraordinary.

Snap!

He quickly pressed one hand to the ground to cushion the impact and twisted his body to try to escape from Dam Ho's grip.

CRASH!

At that moment, Tang Sa-il's head was flung away with intense impact. Dam Ho's fist had struck his temple.

He drew up internal energy to prevent his head from bursting, but his consciousness became momentarily distant. Tang Sa-il quickly bit his lip to prevent his consciousness from flying away.

"Bastard!"

CRASH!

At that moment, a second strike burst forth.

Dam Ho's fist had struck Tang Sa-il's torso.

"Kreuk!"

Tang Sa-il's face naturally contorted.

He tried to counterattack while enduring the pain. Though his reason judged he should retreat, his pride as the Tang Clan head was holding his ankle.

Crack!

"Kek!"

But when the third strike hit his shoulder, Tang Sa-il realized something was wrong. Tremendous pain spread from his spine throughout his entire body.

He stopped counterattacking and tried to create distance first. But his body was unbearably heavy as if he had fallen into a swamp. A strange attractive force generated from Dam Ho was holding his body.

"What?"

The moment he opened his eyes wide, Dam Ho's fists struck consecutively.

CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH!

Six Harmonies Blood Mountain River.

The final chapter of Solitary Path was deployed.

The fist that had struck first was merely the prelude. Tang Sa-il's body shook as if a leather drum was being beaten.

He quickly deployed protective energy to protect his entire body. But Dam Ho's Six Harmonies Blood Mountain River tore through the protective energy like paper.

"Kraaak!"

A tragic scream burst from Tang Sa-il's mouth.

His arms broke and muscles ruptured. Broken bone fragments dug into flesh, and his internal organs were crushed, making him vomit blood.

In an instant, his body was crushed like a rag.

"Heu!"

When Dam Ho stopped while exhaling rough breath, no human form could be found in Tang Sa-il.

Dam Ho's body, having poured out everything in an instant, was glowing red as if it would explode at any moment. Blood and sweat were evaporating into vapor, and his roughly exhaled breath was full of heat.

His heart felt like it would burst. All the joints in his body were acting separately as if they would break at any moment. But Dam Ho endured and stood.

He used all the energy in his body. The internal energy that had filled his dantian was exhausted, and though he felt like he would collapse from extreme pain and emptiness, he still endured and stood.

Standing tall like that, he looked down at Tang Sa-il who had collapsed like a rag. His appearance was not just eerie but terrifying.

"Uu!"

"The clan head…"

The Tang Clan martial artists who had barely been enduring had to shed tears of blood seeing that scene.

"Kereuk!"

Tang Sa-il struggled. But his movements were merely the trembling that naturally came from the end of life.

Soon Tang Sa-il's movements subsided, and the rough breathing sounds no longer flowed out. He had died.

It was the Tang Clan, Sichuan's greatest family. It was the shocking death of the clan head who stood at the peak of such a Tang Clan. Because he was killed by Dam Ho, the shock was even greater and caused tremendous ripples.

"This can't be!"

"How?"

The Tang Clan martial artists covered their mouths with both hands. They only wanted to deny the unbelievable reality. But what happened before their eyes was certainly reality.

"See? I told you he was a coward."

At that moment, Dam Ho's muttering was heard.

It was an insult to Tang Sa-il whose breath had already been cut off. Yet no one present could dare step forward to refute Dam Ho's words.

He was swaying precariously as if he would collapse at any moment. But even before killing Tang Sa-il, he had been like that.

Dam Ho's lingering presence dominated the battlefield.

The Tang Clan martial artists felt fear before revenge.

Then Black Ghost approached Dam Ho.

Dam Ho, who had been breathing roughly for a moment, barely got on Black Ghost. He didn't have the strength to lift both arms and couldn't properly hold the reins. Black Ghost carried such Dam Ho and escaped the battlefield.

"Ah!"

Only then did a sigh that had been suppressed burst from someone's mouth. The sigh spread like a plague to all the Tang Clan martial artists and soon became crying.

"Clan head!"

"Kreheuk!"

Where Dam Ho had left, only people's despair remained.

***

Yueyang in Hunan Province, where the Martial Alliance was established, was always full of vitality with countless people.

The Martial Alliance wasn't simply a place where many people gathered. True to its name as the Martial Alliance, it was the center of the martial world, and all the leaders of the Martial Alliance were people whose fame resounded throughout the martial world. Naturally, their influence had to be tremendous.

Under the pretext of protecting justice in the martial world, countless martial artists came, and many others entered to support them.

As people gathered, many materials were needed, so merchants came. Goods circulated, people gathered, and a series of cycles continued endlessly. With things being like this, Yueyang's system completely changed to center around the Martial Alliance. Everything was decided and done centered on the Martial Alliance. It had truly become the center of the martial world.

Countless ships came and went daily on Dongting Lake near the Martial Alliance. Previously, it was mostly poets and common people who came to see Dongting Lake, but now many merchants who came to trade with the Martial Alliance visited.

"Wow!"

People walking along Dongting Lake suddenly exclaimed. No ship entering Dongting Lake was small. But the ship now entering was unimaginably large.

A massive ship that looked two or three times larger than the biggest ship anchored in Dongting Lake was entering. A flag with "Chenghuo Merchant Group" written on it was fluttering from the ship's mast.

"It's the Chenghuo Merchant Group."

"The world's number one ship of the world's number one merchant group is entering."

The Chenghuo Merchant Group was a massive merchant group that everyone counted among the top in the world. The money they earned was truly astronomical, so no one knew the exact scale, not even Won Hoe-sang, the owner of the merchant group.

The Chenghuo Merchant Group had numerous ships under its command for smooth commerce, and the largest ship among them was called the World's Number One Ship.

The World's Number One Ship only moved when there were deals that ranked among the best even within the Chenghuo Merchant Group. That meant the Chenghuo Merchant Group had come here to make a big deal with the Martial Alliance.

"What kind of deal did they come to make?"

"Who came as the person in charge?"

People who recognized the World's Number One Ship murmured. Their faces were full of anticipation.

The appearance of a massive ship like the World's Number One Ship was enough to attract the interest of gossips.

At the dock, laborers mobilized to unload goods from the World's Number One Ship were waiting. Finally, when the World's Number One Ship docked, they boarded under the leader's guidance.

"Everyone move carefully."

"There are many precious goods, so be especially careful."

The voices of merchants and workers who came on the World's Number One Ship mingled, making the deck noisy like a marketplace.

Then two people came out of the cabin.

A woman of striking beauty and a middle-aged man in splendid attire. The Chenghuo Merchant Group's merchants all bowed their heads upon seeing them.

"Miss!"

"Vice leader!"

The beautiful woman was Won Seol-hwa, daughter of Won Hoe-sang, the owner of the Chenghuo Merchant Group. And the middle-aged man in splendid attire was Vice Leader Lim Oh-yeon.

Won Seol-hwa's existence was well known to people, but Lim Oh-yeon was barely known. However, to people within the Chenghuo Merchant Group, Lim Oh-yeon was more famous than anyone.

He was a legendary figure who had practically built up the Chenghuo Merchant Group together with Won Hoe-sang. Though his activity was sparse now, in the early days of the Chenghuo Merchant Group, he had stepped forward and pioneered numerous trade routes.

The nickname given to him then was Cloud-Breaking Sword.

Cloud-Breaking Sword Lim Oh-yeon.

Though he looked like he was barely middle-aged, he was actually over sixty years old. He was just suppressing aging with strong internal energy.

Wherever he appeared, the Chenghuo Merchant Group's flag always flew high.

Lim Oh-yeon raised his head to look at the group of buildings standing tall on Dongting Lake's shore.

"That place is the Martial Alliance."

"That's right."

The woman Won Seol-hwa nodded. A gentle smile hung on her lips.

The merchants stirred uneasily.

It wasn’t just one or two, but ten coffins being brought onto the ship, which couldn’t help but be ominous.

“Don’t tell me there are actually corpses inside…”

The hooded men not only had gloomy expressions that were ill-omened, but even the smell emanating from their bodies was nauseating.

Some of the merchants felt nausea rising from their stomachs and went to the ship’s rail to vomit.

When people showed uncomfortable faces, Jeong Dae-su stepped forward.

He blocked the plank bridge connecting the ferry to the ship and asked.

“Hey. What are you people?”

The twenty hooded men stopped in unison and looked at Jeong Dae-su. Then they looked at the captain beside him.

The captain smiled awkwardly and said.

“It was originally scheduled to load coffins here. I’m sorry, but please understand…”

The merchants protested.

“Damn it, encountering coffins during business brings bad luck.”

“You want us to travel with corpses while transporting goods? If people knew this, who would buy our merchandise?”

The captain asked for understanding with a truly sorry face.

“This is the ship owner’s decision, not something I can do anything about. Please bear with us just until Wuhan.”

“Ah, if I had known this would happen, I would have taken the next ship.”

“Really, this is ridiculous.”

As the merchants grumbled, a particularly dark-faced, square-jawed hooded man spoke in a low voice.

“All people are destined to die.”

Though it was a low tone, it was a voice that made everyone turn to look. The black-eyed hooded man spoke stoically.

“The people here will also die someday and be put in coffins to be buried in graves. Life and death are not special matters and are always beside us.”

It was obvious talk, but it was so matter-of-fact that it was rather eerie.

The black-eyed hooded man looked at Jeong Dae-su blocking the way and said.

“We have already paid the proper fare, so please step aside now.”

Jeong Dae-su frowned. If they had paid the fare, he should step aside. However, it seemed suspicious.

“I’ve lived on the Yangtze River for ten years, but I’ve never seen people like you. Reveal where you’re from.”

The black-eyed hooded man stared at Jeong Dae-su with indifferent eyes. But he gave no answer. Jeong Dae-su’s expression hardened further.

“If you can’t speak, I’ll have to see what’s in the coffins. If they’re corpses with diseases, they can’t be brought on board.”

The black-eyed hooded man’s gaze changed. His lips twisted as he tried to say something. Jeong Dae-su also flinched and grabbed the handle of his ghost-head sword.

Then.

“Corpses with diseases… That’s possible. But since you’re blocking the way in front, we can’t board. You can’t take the boat fare and then not let us ride.”

Jeong Dae-su looked toward the back of the hooded men’s procession with a ‘what are you?’ expression and was startled.

It was a martial artist with crescent-shaped eyebrows and thin eyes, smiling.

He wore a Taoist cap and dark blue martial robes, carrying his sword turned around his waist as if clasping his hands behind his back.

A gentle impression and the posture of holding his sword turned around.

Jeong Dae-su tilted his head and asked.

“Could it be…”

But the answer came from elsewhere.

“It’s Benevolent Hero Bulgi of Zhongnan Sect!”

It was a voice that came from far behind Benevolent Hero Bulgi.

Benevolent Hero Bulgi also looked back.

There was sound but no person.

A moment later, a monk in yellow robes appeared as if dropped from the sky.

Thoom!

As the monk landed, tremendous dust rose and spread in all directions. It was impossible to tell from where he had leaped and flown.

Benevolent Hero Bulgi narrowed his eyes and looked at the monk.

“What about you, Great Master…?”

His right ear was cut off, and his shaved head with tonsure marks had dark scars as if burned.

“Namo Amitabha. I am an insignificant old monk from Shaolin. Fortunately, I’m not late for the ship’s departure.”

Jin Ja-gang, who was watching from far at the stern, felt strength enter his eyes.

It was Beom-mong from Shaolin Temple.

Mysterious hooded men, Zhongnan Sect, and even Great Master Beom-mong.

Naturally, this couldn’t be a coincidence.

Woon-jeong, who seemed to have noticed something, looked at Jin Ja-gang and asked quietly.

“Poison Dragon… this is the situation you wanted, right?”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“No.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know they would all rush in at once like this either.”

Woon-jeong showed a flustered expression.

“Then what should we do? Should we get off now? Then those people probably won’t follow us.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because if we said we’d ride but then immediately get off without riding, it would be embarrassing.”

Jin Ja-gang almost laughed at innocent Woon-jeong’s idea.

“I wish that were the case.”

Woon-jeong sighed deeply.

“Primordial Heavenly Venerate, Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate, Moral Heavenly Venerate. Please illuminate my path so there will be no misfortune ahead.”

Woon-jeong recited Taoist scriptures while shaking his head.

With masters from Zhongnan Sect and Shaolin Temple appearing, neither Jeong Dae-su nor the hooded men could continue their confrontation. Jeong Dae-su stepped aside, and the hooded men deliberately dragged the heavy coffins all the way to the bow and stacked them on deck. Then they settled around them.

It was positioned so the coffins were visible from anywhere, making the merchants very uncomfortable. However, with monks from Zhongnan Sect and Shaolin Temple present, they felt inwardly relieved that even if those people had strange intentions, nothing serious would happen.

But.

The captain spoke in a troubled tone to Great Master Beom-mong from Shaolin Temple as he crossed the plank to board the ship.

“I’m sorry, Great Master. The fare…”

Beom-mong answered.

“As you can see, I’m a monk so I have no wealth. But don’t worry. One lump of cold rice per day is sufficient. There will be no other troublesome matters.”

After finishing his words, Beom-mong stamped his foot.

Then he stepped on the ropes binding the mast and climbed to the very top of the mast.

“This old monk will be here, so pay no mind.”

But to anyone watching, that was more distracting and uncomfortable. The merchants who couldn’t stand it suggested.

“We’ll donate the boat fare and provide a room, so please come down.”

“Namo Amitabha. This old monk is comfortable here, so don’t mind me and achieve enlightenment.”

He politely clasped his hands toward the merchants from atop the mast, but Beom-mong’s eyes were directed at Jin Ja-gang and Benevolent Hero Bulgi.

The ship departed.

A strange standoff formation had formed on board.

The bow was occupied by mysterious hooded men and coffins, the house’s cabin held merchants and Benevolent Hero Bulgi from Zhongnan Sect, Beom-mong was on the mast, and Jin Ja-gang was at the stern with Woon-jeong.

At the stern was a small lifeboat, so they could lower the boat and escape if necessary.

Only the innocent merchants were in danger of death.

They had to travel at least fifteen hundred li to Wuhan. Since the ship was slow and would take at least five days even with good wind, they had to endure extremely uncomfortable companionship during that time.

When night came, the merchants prepared a banquet on the second floor to lighten the mood.

They generously brought out food to serve.

“Everyone, please have dinner!”

Benevolent Hero Bulgi came up, and Beom-mong also came down from the mast.

The hooded men declined. They decided to guard the coffins at the bow and eat provisions they had brought themselves.

Then Bulgi smiled and said a word.

“That’s possible. But if you know this isn’t just a call to eat, you’d also know that at least one person should come to avoid trouble later.”

At those words, the black-eyed hooded man dusted off his bottom and came up to the second floor.

Bulgi looked at Jin Ja-gang and Woon-jeong at the stern.

“Same for you over there.”

Woon-jeong grabbed Jin Ja-gang’s arm, but Jin Ja-gang nodded to show it was okay.

When Jin Ja-gang went up to the wide space on the second floor of the house, interestingly, the seat of honor was empty.

Jeong Dae-su had already moved aside and was standing respectfully to one side. Then he offered the seat of honor to Bulgi.

“Please sit, Great Hero Benevolent Hero of Zhongnan Sect.”

Bulgi declined.

“Since Great Master Beom-mong is present, I’ll yield to the Great Master.”

Beom-mong stroked his beard and shook his head.

“I’m in the position of hitching a ride without paying fare, so the seat of honor doesn’t suit me at all.”

“Then…”

They couldn’t leave the seat of honor empty, nor could they seat the black-eyed hooded man. The black-eyed hooded man had already gone to the very end of the seating, showing his intention to eat food as if present yet absent.

Inevitably, when the oldest among the merchants was wondering if he should sit there himself.

Someone suddenly stepped forward.

“I’ll sit.”

Along with a clear voice that would never be suitable for the seat of honor, Jin Ja-gang took the seat of honor.

Bulgi’s expression slightly hardened, the corners of Beom-mong’s mouth turned up as if smiling, and the black-eyed hooded man raised his eyes to look at Jin Ja-gang while slightly bowing his head.

“…!”

The merchants looked at Jin Ja-gang in shock.

A handsome-faced young man who looked no older than twenty at best had taken the seat of honor, pushing aside Benevolent Hero Bulgi, Beom-mong… no, even Jeong Dae-su!

“Hey, hey. What are you doing? Qu, quickly get up.”

Even Jeong Dae-su glared at Jin Ja-gang.

“Hey! There are so many elders here, what kind of nonsense is this? Can’t you get up right now?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t budge and answered.

“Since all those people came to see me, it should be fine for me to sit in the seat of honor.”

“What?”

Bulgi snorted and took his seat.

“That’s possible. Well, if it’s the guy I’m thinking of, that’s possible.”

Beom-mong also sat in the seat across from Bulgi and said.

“Keke keke. It’s not wrong. If it’s that fellow, he’s qualified.”

It was a strange arrangement with Jin Ja-gang in the seat of honor and Bulgi and Beom-mong on either side.

Jeong Dae-su rolled his eyes left and right, reading the situation.

What was this young man called Jin that masters from Zhongnan Sect and Shaolin Temple yielded their seats to him?

The merchants also watched Bulgi and Beom-mong’s expressions, not knowing how great Jin Ja-gang was.

Jeong Dae-su couldn’t even sit down and asked carefully.

“Elders, who is this friend that…”

“Oh, you don’t know? Well, just looking at his appearance, that’s possible. But he’s the most famous friend in the martial world right now. Don’t you know Poison Dragon?”

“Poison Dragon? Poison Dragon? Poi…”

Jeong Dae-su, who had repeated the name several times, was horrified.

“Poison Dragon!”

At that moment, the merchants also froze.

It was a well-known fact that Poison Dragon had been in Chongqing. Since the ship came from that direction, it was sufficiently convincing.

Jeong Dae-su and the merchants swallowed dry saliva. It seemed better to quickly get up and leave based on the atmosphere.

But Jin Ja-gang, sitting in the seat of honor, offered food to the people.

“Please eat.”

Though it was the natural thing for someone in the seat of honor to say, Jeong Dae-su and the merchants flinched.

Eat food in front of Poison Dragon?

Jin Ja-gang went further.

“I’ll pour a cup of wine for each of you.”

Jeong Dae-su and the merchants’ faces turned pale.

Cold sweat poured out.

Jin Ja-gang poured wine into cups.

“Hero Jeong, please distribute them.”

Jeong Dae-su, with a forced smile, distributed the wine cups that Jin Ja-gang had poured to each person.

The merchants received the wine cups.

But they couldn’t not drink, nor could they drink.

It was difficult.

Jeong Dae-su and the merchants had no choice but to hold their wine cups and watch others’ expressions.

Jin Ja-gang offered again.

“No poison. You may drink.”

However, the moment he mentioned poison, they really didn’t want to drink anymore.