Chapter 74: Like the Waves of the Yangtze, We Meet and Part (3)

Eakyang was laid out like a Go board. Thanks to this, even first-time visitors found it easy to navigate.

Dam Ho was no different. He located his destination without difficulty.

It was a place the people of Eakyang called Dongming Road.

Pleasure houses lined Dongming Road in a long row. Though it was still broad daylight, beautifully adorned courtesans leaned from the windows, beckoning passersby.

"Come in, gentlemen! We'll treat you well. Ho ho!"

"This way, darling. I, Jin-hong, will melt you to the bone."

The courtesans made no secret of their bawdy invitations.

Some passersby blushed, but most men succumbed to the courtesans' allure and entered the pleasure houses.

The courtesans extended their invitations to Dam Ho as well. But Dam Ho walked on in silence.

As he ventured deeper into the district, the courtesans' solicitation became more brazen.

"This way! Our Jeonghyang Pavilion is the finest here."

"What nonsense! Honghwa Pavilion is the best."

The women rushed at Dam Ho and seized his arms.

Dam Ho shook off their hands and continued walking. The courtesans' faces twisted with displeasure. Their pride had been wounded.

"What a eunuch."

"What's wrong with us?"

The courtesans he had rejected behind him seethed, but Dam Ho's expression did not change in the slightest.

The deeper he went into the district, the more courtesans tried to hold him. Though they offered seductive smiles, Dam Ho did not so much as blink.

Most of the courtesans eventually gave up from exhaustion, but one was different. She was a young courtesan who appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years of age.

With round eyes and a captivating smile, she seized Dam Ho's wrist.

"You seem to have very high standards, sir. Then how about our Cheonsang Pavilion? In all of Eakyang, there is no pleasure house that can rival ours."

Though young, she spoke with a bold and spirited tone. For a fleeting instant, a glint of interest flickered in Dam Ho's eyes before vanishing, but the courtesan did not notice.

"I'll go to the Cheonsang Pavilion."

"Really?"

The young courtesan looked surprised.

She had not expected that Dam Ho—who had rebuffed all the other courtesans' advances—would so readily agree to enter the Cheonsang Pavilion.

The courtesan broke into a wide smile.

"You've made a wise choice. I'll lead you there."

The courtesan guided Dam Ho to the Cheonsang Pavilion.

True to her boast, the Cheonsang Pavilion was extraordinarily lavish. The courtesans awaiting inside were also stunningly beautiful.

Creak!

When the courtesan opened the door, an opulent interior was revealed.

Antique yet lavish furniture was arranged throughout, and red lanterns cast a soft, warm glow.

"If you wait here, the finest courtesans of the Cheonsang Pavilion will come to attend you. Is there a particular courtesan you desire?"

As she spoke, the courtesan thought it unlikely.

She had gone out to the streets every day to solicit customers. Surely anyone who had visited the Cheonsang Pavilion even once would remember her.

And if he had never visited, he could not possibly know any of the courtesans.

Yet Dam Ho's reply exceeded her expectations.

"How about you?"

"Pardon?"

"I want you."

"Me—me, sir?"

The courtesan stammered. Her face was clearly flustered. She had never expected Dam Ho to request her.

"I—I…"

"Why not?"

Dam Ho suddenly produced something from his robes and placed it on the table.

A fist-sized object resembling a cat's eye—a Myoan Stone.

"Will this suffice?"

The young courtesan's pupils trembled.

Though young, she knew how rare a treasure the Myoan Stone was.

A priceless relic that no amount of money could procure.

The other party had presented such a treasure.

She could not refuse simply because she was a junior courtesan.

"I—I…"

The young courtesan stammered.

She stumbled backward. Dam Ho watched her in silence.

Their eyes met.

In that instant, the courtesam felt her entire body go cold.

Dam Ho's gaze was terrifyingly deep and still. Not a single fragment of emotion reflected within it.

Only then did she realize that the customer she had solicited was nothing like an ordinary patron.

She had never once seen a man with eyes like Dam Ho's. For a young courtesan, his gaze was simply too terrifying to bear.

Then—

"So Unjeong has brought back a frightening guest."

A woman's voice came from behind the young courtesan.

The courtesan called Unjeong quickly turned around. A woman in magnificent robes had already entered the room.

The woman's face was veiled, with only her eyes exposed. Her gaze was deep and alluring.

Unjeong quickly bowed her head.

"L-Lady."

"Unjeong, leave. He is not someone you can handle."

"Yes!"

Unjeong withdrew immediately.

Once they were alone, the woman looked at Dam Ho. An extraordinary aura emanated from her entire being.

She spoke.

"Where do you come from?"

"Is that important?"

"It is important to me. Very much so."

"It's not important to me."

"Then what is important?"

"That this place is a branch of the Ha-o Gate."

In that instant, the woman's eyes, which had been tracing soft curves, went rigid.

"How did you know?"

A faint killing intent laced her voice.

Her intent was clear—depending on Dam Ho's answer, she would decide how to deal with him.

"Is that important?"

"The location of the Ha-o Gate being revealed so easily is a problem."

"That girl."

"Yes?"

"That girl Unjeong—she has trained in martial arts. Unlike the other courtesans."

He had sensed internal energy in the grip that seized his arm. It was not the level of energy a common courtesan could possess. So he had guessed that she might be connected to the Ha-o Gate.

The woman shook her head.

"Sending her out to cultivate her eye for people appears to have been a mistake. You are correct. This is the Ha-o Gate's Eakyang branch."

A faint gleam of admiration shone in her gaze as she regarded Dam Ho.

Few people knew that this was a branch of the Ha-o Gate. Most assumed only that certain courtesans were tangentially connected.

The woman's gaze shifted to the Myoan Stone resting before Dam Ho. It was clearly a first-rate specimen.

In the martial world, displaying such a treasure carelessly could easily cost one's life.

Dam Ho was the kind of man who could produce such a stone without a second thought—or else he was reckless.

The woman sat down before Dam Ho.

"My name is Gi Ye-hwa. And your name, sir?"

"Dam Ho."

"An unusual name. Once heard, it's not easily forgotten."

Gi Ye-hwa's eyes glimmered.

Dam Ho struck her as a thoroughly fascinating man. His striking features and intense aura were notable, but above all, it was his eyes—dark as the deepest night.

It was commonly said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

Gi Ye-hwa believed this as well. She had met countless people and peered into their hearts through their eyes.

But through this man's eyes, she could see nothing at all.

'Either he has completely sealed the doors to his heart, or he is supremely skilled at concealing his emotions.'

Whichever it was, he was a type she had never encountered before.

"What brings Master Dam to our Ha-o Gate?"

"I'm looking for someone."

"I'm not sure where you heard such rumors, but…"

"Seventeen or eighteen years ago, bandits operating in Shaanxi Province. Thirty-seven in number—no, one died, so thirty-six. All mounted. Their leader was a man in his early thirties who used a wolf-fang blade. He should be approaching fifty by now. He bears a long scar on his left cheek."

A furrow appeared between Gi Ye-hwa's brows.

"Why come to us with this…"

"Find them."

"Master Dam!"

"I don't care how long it takes. Find them."

In that instant, Gi Ye-hwa felt a chill as though she had plunged into ice water, and her body trembled.

She instinctively understood.

She could absolutely not refuse this man's request. And that what he had spoken was not a request at all—it was a command.

"Sigh."

Gi Ye-hwa let out a soft sigh.

From the moment Dam Ho had entered, she had been surrendering the initiative and being led along. She did not like the situation, but she could see no way to turn it around.

'How vexing.'

Gi Ye-hwa realized the time had come to make her decision.

"I understand. We'll look into it. But the price of the Ha-o Gate's services is exceedingly steep."

Dam Ho silently pushed the Myoan Stone toward her. At this, Gi Ye-hwa sighed once more.

"Sigh! I suppose this will do. But only this once, Master Dam. If you commit such rudeness again, I will not let it pass."

"Remember that."

With those words, Dam Ho rose from his seat.

He turned his back on Gi Ye-hwa and walked away. His leg dragged ever so slightly. Seeing this, Gi Ye-hwa's eyes sparkled like stars.

Click!

Dam Ho finally closed the door and disappeared.

Alone, Gi Ye-hwa spoke.

"Seol-hui."

"Yes! My lady."

In response, an antique piece of furniture in the corner of the room shifted slightly, revealing a hidden passage. From within it emerged a petite woman.

As small as she was, she possessed an endearing face.

The woman's name was Cho Seol-hui. She had been with Gi Ye-hwa for many years.

"What do you think, Seol-hui?"

"I can't tell. He's completely inscrutable."

"Truly?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Gi Ye-hwa's face.

Though small in stature, Cho Seol-hui was a formidable martial artist. Among those Gi Ye-hwa knew, few surpassed her in martial prowess.

"What if you fought at full strength?"

"I'd have to try to know. But I don't think it would be easy. Did you see those ice-cold eyes? More menacing than a venomous snake."

"I see!"

Gi Ye-hwa nodded and gazed out the window.

Dam Ho was walking away. Still limping slightly.

"Two days ago, incredible news arrived. It was about a crippled martial artist."

"What?"

"A crippled martialist single-handedly decimated the So Cheonsan Manor, which had dreamed of becoming the Overlord of Xinjiang."

"No!"

"It's a tale no one could believe. When I first heard it, I thought the rumors were exaggerated. But then a second rumor came—from Hongam Mountain Manor in Gansu Province. In front of over a thousand martial artists, he mercilessly crushed Nam-hak, the Grand Disciple of the Tong-gong Sect."

"Nam-hak—one of the Nine Dragons? Did he truly defeat him?"

"I couldn't believe it either. That's why I felt verification was necessary."

"Nam-hak is a powerful man. His true strength is far greater than what is publicly known. To say a crippled martialist defeated him is absurd."

"That's why most who heard the rumor dismissed it as exaggerated. I did too."

Dam Ho's figure had completely vanished from sight. Yet Gi Ye-hwa could not tear her eyes from the street where he had disappeared.

"The Blood Star who descended upon Xinjiang."

Simply speaking that name conjured the stench of blood.

"From this moment on, the Ha-o Gate's Eakyang branch will devote all resources to fulfilling that man's commission as our highest priority. And Seol-hui—find out everything about him. His homeland, where he grew up, his sect, what he likes, what he hates—down to the smallest detail."

"Understood, my lady."

Gi Ye-hwa bit her lip.

Wind blew in through the open window. The breeze, which should have been refreshing, felt inexplicably stifling.

Only then did Jin Ja-gang speak.

“Does your stomach hurt?”

“Shut up, you bas-“

The warrior stopped mid-sentence, his face contorting. A foul smell of urine filled the air.

“What the hell? When did you piss yourself?”

The spot where Jin Ja-gang had been lying was soaked with urine. It was so much that a small puddle had formed.

“Hah, filthy b*st*rd. To think my sworn brother died to someone like this…”

The warrior stomped on Jin Ja-gang’s head, pressing down hard and grinding it into the ground.

“Die, die. What’s the point of a filthy thing like you living? Aren’t you ashamed? How could someone like you infiltrate us with the intent to kill?”

But Jin Ja-gang showed no sign of shame. With his head still under the warrior’s foot, he spoke.

“I may have wet myself, but you will soon be pissing blood.”

“What?”

The warrior’s face twisted in confusion.

A persistent, gnawing pain tugged at his stomach.

“Urgh…”

He let out an involuntary groan, and at that moment, Jin Ja-gang suddenly sat up.

“Whoa!”

The warrior flailed and fell backward onto his rear. But that wasn’t the important part.

How had Jin Ja-gang, who was completely bound, managed to get up?

The warrior wanted to stand as well, but a strange, tight pain in his abdomen made it difficult to rise. Even moving his body felt burdensome. He couldn’t uncurl himself, hunched over like a pill bug!

“Urgh, ugh! Urghhh!”

In an instant, the warrior’s face was drenched in sweat.

Jin Ja-gang fully stood up, towering over the warrior as he looked down and spoke.

“There’s no need to struggle to stand. Whether you stand or sit, you’re going to die anyway.”

Suddenly, Jin Ja-gang kicked the warrior’s stomach with the tip of his foot, as if stabbing with it.

Thud!

The warrior clutched his stomach and collapsed forward.

“Arghhh!”

His stomach felt tight, as if something inside was about to burst. He had barely been holding it in, but now it felt like something had exploded within him.

Drip, drip, drip.

Urine soaked his pants.

But it wasn’t just yellow urine-it was bright red blood!

Hematuria-blood in the urine!

“I told you. You’ll be pissing blood.”

“Urghhh!”

The warrior, too overwhelmed to feel shame, looked up at Jin Ja-gang in despair. Jin Ja-gang was already untying the ropes that had bound him, as if they were merely draped over his body.

“Urgh, ugh! H-how, how…?”

The warrior wanted to speak, but strangely, his pronunciation faltered.

Even so, Jin Ja-gang understood his words and answered.

“They say fasting usually works.”

“…?”

“This time, I needed to bulk up my body quickly, so I drank a lot of water and then expelled it.”

The warrior seemed to understand why Jin Ja-gang had urinated so much. It appeared he had anticipated being captured and bound, so he had deliberately bloated his body with water and then released it to loosen the ropes.

Since the ropes were tied very tightly, this would have created only a slight gap, but even a small gap could be enough to wriggle free.

But why? Why go to the trouble of deliberately getting captured and bound?

The warrior’s eyes were filling with blood, obscuring his vision, but Jin Ja-gang, reading his expression, explained.

“I wanted to make sure you were convinced I was securely captured.”

But why?

“Thanks to that, you ate my poison without suspicion, didn’t you? Just like you.”

The warrior’s eyes widened in shock.

So that’s what it meant!

“Urgh… ugh!”

The warrior writhed, letting out barely audible sounds.

He realized he wasn’t the only one who had been poisoned!

No! If this continued, the entire Shadow Bureau would be poisoned like him!

But there was nothing the warrior could do. His limbs were already stiff, making movement impossible.

Jin Ja-gang searched the warrior’s body and found a sharp dagger.

Seeing what Jin Ja-gang intended to do, the warrior widened his eyes and shook his head.

“No, no…!”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t listen further and slit the warrior’s throat with the dagger.

The warrior’s breath ceased almost instantly.

After confirming his death, Jin Ja-gang looked toward the open door of the storage shed.

Noisy sounds were coming from outside.

Jin Ja-gang stepped out of the shed.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang’s plan had been a complete success.

The inside of the village hall was nothing short of a scene from hell.

“Arghhh!”

“Urk, ugh!”

“Save… save me.”

All sorts of screams and groans echoed through the air.

Some were flailing their hands while bleeding from their eyes, others were soaked in blood from urinating red, and some lay collapsed, frothing blood at the mouth…

All fifty or so members present at the Shadow Bureau’s main base were there, poisoned and fighting a losing battle against death. Even those who had been standing guard outside had eaten the shared Shaobing (flatbread) and were now collapsed from poisoning.

When Jin Ja-gang entered, it was the chaotic and tumultuous moment when the poison had just taken effect.

“Lucky for me, I’m not too late.”

If he delayed, the experts might use their internal energy to expel the poison.

Thus, he needed to barge in at the right moment to finish them off before they could comfortably purge the poison.

Of course, the poison Jin Ja-gang used was far more potent than ordinary poisons, so by the time most realized they were poisoned, it was already too late to reverse the effects.

However, for someone with extremely deep internal energy like Guai Song, recovery might still be possible. That’s why Jin Ja-gang hurried to the village hall.

“You… you b*st*rd…!”

Guai Song, upon seeing Jin Ja-gang, let out a groan-like utterance. Those still alive and conscious raised their heads to look at Jin Ja-gang standing at the entrance of the hall.

Guai Song, with one eye bloodshot from burst vessels, leaned against a wall and stared at Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang stood as if blocking the doorway, looking inside and speaking.

“Did you enjoy the Shaobing?”

Only then did Guai Song realize the source of the poison. It wasn’t the liquor or the water.

“Shaobing. Shaobing, you say…?”

But it couldn’t be the Shaobing. The buckwheat Yang Gong had taken to wash had all been discarded.

Thus, the buckwheat brought to make Shaobing was collected after Jin Ja-gang had been captured. And the water from the well used for the dough had been tested for poison and found to be clean.

They had stopped Jin Ja-gang before he could poison the well, after all.

So why…?

Jin Ja-gang’s gaze briefly shifted to a carrying frame placed in a corner. The sack of glutinous rice that had been on the frame was gone.

“That carrying frame was brought by me.”

“…!”

Only then did Guai Song understand how things had unfolded.

“You… you…!”

A chill ran down his spine. This was something he hadn’t considered at all.

Jin Ja-gang had casually carried a sack on the frame, and it must have been glutinous rice.

Shaobing is made by mixing glutinous rice or millet flour with buckwheat flour.

And that sack of glutinous rice was none other than the one Jin Ja-gang had brought.

Guai Song had watched from hiding as Jin Ja-gang carried the sack out of the storage shed on the frame. But he hadn’t thought it held any significant meaning.

He had assumed Jin Ja-gang was simply pretending to work, carrying any random sack on the frame.

But to think that the contents of that sack had already been laced with poison!

In other words, all of this was calculated-knowing that the Shadow Bureau would make Shaobing and that glutinous rice would be used in it.

Ultimately, it was no different from deceiving the Shadow Bureau by pretending to poison the well.

And to make matters worse, Guai Song, feeling triumphant after capturing Jin Ja-gang, had eaten five head-sized pieces of Shaobing. By the fifth piece, he sensed something was wrong and couldn’t finish it.

Grit!

Guai Song ground his teeth so hard it seemed they might break.

Meticulous. This guy was incredibly meticulous.

So meticulous that he had deliberately let himself be captured to lull them into a false sense of security.

How did he know Jin Ja-gang had deliberately been captured?

The fact that he had escaped the storage shed and was standing here, perfectly fine, made it obvious!

Guai Song’s eyes welled with bloody tears. It wasn’t out of frustration or grievance, but actual blood seeping from his eyes.

To think that the Shadow Bureau would be annihilated overnight because of this mere brat.

There were still a few members dispatched across Yunnan, but what use were they after the main base was destroyed!

“Hah, hahaha!”

Guai Song, initially furious, now laughed.

After laughing for a while, he abruptly stopped and looked at Jin Ja-gang.

“Who are you?”

Jin Ja-gang did not refuse to answer and responded immediately.

“A descendant of the medicinal sects.”

Guai Song had faintly suspected that someone with such animosity toward the poison sects might be from the medicinal sects.

“Which faction of the medicinal sects do you belong to?”

“Hundred Flower Valley.”

Guai Song shouted.

“I’ve never even heard of that faction!”

He might have heard of it once, long ago. However, Hundred Flower Valley and the Shadow Bureau had almost no direct interactions. In fact, the Shadow Bureau had not attacked Hundred Flower Valley.

Guai Song’s outcry was both a protest and an expression of grievance.

But Jin Ja-gang remained cold.

“Is that so? Then, what about Medicine King Sect, Bosam Sect, Five Pine Sect, Mulberry Valley, Silkworm Cultivation Sect, Heavenly Path Sect, Nine Immortals Sect, One Day Valley, Four Crafts Sect…”

After naming over twenty factions, Jin Ja-gang asked.

“How about now? Surely you’ve heard of some of these factions.”

Guai Song knew them, but admitting it was difficult.

Most medicinal sect factions were generally weak in martial arts. However, among them, there were always experts, some with exceptional martial skills.

The Shadow Bureau, just before the poison sects attacked the medicinal sects, had specifically targeted and assassinated those troublesome experts.

And yet.

The Shadow Bureau, which had sent so many of those experts to the afterlife, was now on the verge of annihilation.

All because of a young man who seemed barely worth a single strike.

Jin Ja-gang spoke.

“Judging by your lack of response, it seems you do know the factions I mentioned.”

Guai Song swallowed the blood rising in his mouth and forced himself to speak.

“I know them. How could I not? We killed so many of them…”

“Enough.”

Jin Ja-gang cut off Guai Song’s words.

“What?”

You’re the one who asked if I knew them! So what do you mean, enough!

Guai Song looked at Jin Ja-gang with a dumbfounded expression, to which Jin Ja-gang responded.

“I only needed to confirm that you have a reason to die. What use is it for me to know your past deeds?”

“You wet-behind-the-ears brat…!”

Guai Song tried to unleash his anger, but the scene that followed left him unable to even express his rage properly.

Jin Ja-gang ignored his words and drew a blade.

“Even if you’re poisoned by morning glory seeds, your hearing should still be intact, so you all must have heard. I am a descendant of the medicinal sects, and that is the reason you must die.”

With that, Jin Ja-gang began killing the Shadow Bureau warriors one by one, starting from those nearest to the entrance.

“Urk!”

“Arghhh!”

It was an extremely cruel and chilling sight.

Stab, slash, confirm the kill.

He meticulously killed each one with care.

Guai Song had never seen anyone like this before.

Guai Song himself had killed countless people, but he had never confirmed someone’s death with such dedication.

But he couldn’t just stand by and let this happen.

Guai Song clenched his teeth.

Looking around, he saw a few who still had the strength to move.

“Brothers!”

At Guai Song’s call, the Shadow Bureau warriors turned their attention to him.

“If we don’t kill him, today will be the end of our Shadow Bureau!”

The warriors understood what Guai Song wanted to say.

Those with some skill were still suppressing the poison with their internal energy. Moving and using internal energy would prevent them from holding back the poison’s spread, leading to death. But since they were doomed to die anyway if they did nothing, they had no choice. Even if it meant sacrificing their lives, they had to save the Shadow Bureau.

Ten of them stood up.

Among them were those who vomited blood and collapsed again, and others who, despite urinating blood, stood resolute.

They locked eyes with Guai Song.

Guai Song shouted.

“Kill him!”

While they bought time, Guai Song would expel the poison. If he survived, the Shadow Bureau would survive.

Six experts, prepared to die, circulated their internal energy and approached Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang stopped killing the Shadow Bureau warriors.

The Shadow Bureau experts each threw out a taunt.

“Heh heh heh. Are you scared?”

“Will we die first, or will your head be torn off your body first?”

But Jin Ja-gang just stared at them blankly, then turned and walked out of the village hall, closing the door behind him.

“Uh… huh?!”

[TL Note- The manhwa was never this hilarious lmaoo.]