Chapter 42

“Stop... Stop what you're trying to do. Money...? I’ll give it to you. I’ll give it, so please just stop for a moment. Let’s talk a little...”

“We’ve been talking all this time, haven’t we?”

“...That’s why... I said I’d give it to you, didn’t I?”

Unwi stopped walking in front of Jeong Mugi.

“You’ve made me waste my precious time. So the price has gone up a bit.”

“Just... say it. I’ll give it. I’ll give it to you.”

“Two thousand nyang in silver has turned into twenty thousand nyang in gold. And three hundred geun of Cold Ridge Jade Essence has turned into thirty thousand.”

Jeong Mugi gaped, mouth wide open at the sheer absurdity of it.

“My time is more precious than anything in this world. If something like money could buy it, I’d have already bought it. Magistrate. What will you do?”

“T-That amount is unrealistic. How could I possibly...”

“I take that to mean you won’t pay.”

“...Who in the world would give you that!! Speak like you’re sane, you lunatic bastard...!”

“Then I have no choice. Since you won’t pay, I’ll take the rest of your time instead.”

He raised his sword.

By “taking his time,” he didn’t mean using him as a servant or anything like that.

He meant he would simply kill him—and Jeong Mugi clearly understood that.

“Wait! I am a magistrate! A magistrate of the Yang Empire! If you kill me, it’s no different from declaring war against the Yang Empire—”

“I’ll handle the consequences. That kind of thing.”

Puk—!

Unwi’s sword pierced Jeong Mugi’s heart.

He pulled it right back out. Jeong Mugi coughed up blood.

Srrk—!

And Unwi took his head clean off.

****

Everyone stared blankly at the magistrate’s head soaring into the sky.

No one thought he’d actually go that far.

No—he killed a government official?

It was as if time itself had ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) stopped.

“...T-Ta Lord...?”

They all understood what it meant to kill a magistrate.

Unwi surely understood it too, but surprisingly, he didn’t seem to care.

He adjusted his grip on his sword and kicked off from the ground.

Srrk—!

The head of a constable standing across from him flew into the air.

In the blink of an eye, the constable beside him also lost his head.

As Unwi spun his body and slashed—

Srrrk-gak—!

Three heads hit the ground.

Unwi had killed five constables in an instant, then spoke curtly.

“Kill them. All of them.”

Jin Sohyeop and Baek Myeonggaek were still hesitating, but the other three were not.

Wonyang was the first to start swinging her sword, followed by Cheonpung and Han Murin.

Exterminate and annihilate.

This was an alleyway. Even if countless eyes in Yangnyeong were watching the situation, if they killed everyone here, at least for now, they could blind and deafen this part of the city.

And so, it didn’t even take a full quarter of an hour for all the constables to be dead.

Unwi shook the blood off his sword and spoke.

“Jin Sohyeop, Baek Myeonggaek.”

The two men lifted their heads at his voice.

“You don’t want to do it?”

“...Ta Lord. There was just cause when we targeted the four great sects of Yangnyeong, but attacking the officials... that’s something else.”

That was Jin Sohyeop’s reply.

“I don’t believe this is the right thing to do.”

And that was Baek Myeonggaek’s answer.

Unwi quietly looked at the two of them. After thinking for a moment, he gave a small nod.

“We’ll need to have a longer talk, it seems. Once today’s work is done, I’ll arrange a time.”

“...Thank you.”

As he turned around, Unwi spoke.

“We’re heading to Juryung Sword Gate. Follow me.”

****

And so, Unwi’s party headed toward Juryung Sword Gate.

However, the one person not entering Juryung Sword Gate was Unwi himself.

“Was it Blue Dragon Rock where that Empty Clear Stone Milk or whatever was hidden?”

“That’s what Han Janggwang said.”

That was a conversation between Cheonpung and Wonyang.

Just as the two had said, Unwi was heading to Blue Dragon Rock—to find the Empty Clear Stone Milk Han Janggwang had promised.

That’s why only these five had come to Juryung Sword Gate.

There, the warriors of Iron Mountain Sword Sect and Yangso were present, and at the center of it all were the disciples, warriors, and overseers of Juryung Sword Gate, all forced to kneel.

Having lost their elite force at Snow-Cold Gorge, Juryung Sword Gate had fallen so far that they couldn’t even fend off the Iron Mountain Sword Sect. It was a bitter reality—but what could be done?

This was the martial world, after all.

Han Murin grinned lazily and asked Wonyang,

“By the way, aren’t you worried?”

Wonyang tilted her head at that.

“Worried? Me?”

“We messed with the authorities. This is definitely going to blow up.”

“......”

“No matter how thorough we are with the extermination, if the Yang Empire sends an investigation unit, it’ll be the best of the best. Ah, who knows...”

Wonyang thought for a moment at Han Murin’s words, then answered firmly.

“I believe he’ll take care of it. Somehow.”

“Wow... You must really trust Ta Lord, huh?”

“And you don’t, Han Murin-nim?”

“I trust him. But trust and faith aren’t exactly the same, are they?”

“......”

“That’s all I meant.”

Han Murin.

He was truly unreadable.

When Wonyang revealed she was a woman, he just chuckled like he expected it. And when Unwi gave the order to kill, he moved without the slightest hesitation—on par with Wonyang.

Earlier, Wonyang had killed the most constables, but that was only because she was in the Twin Radiance Manifestation realm. If Han Murin were in that same realm, he would’ve killed even more than her.

“You know what?”

“What do you mean?”

“You change a lot once you pick up a sword.”

Han Murin smiled again.

“Whether it’s that me or this me, it’s all still me.”

“...Don’t you think that’s a problem?”

“I don’t. But you seem to.”

“......”

“Then instead of me, maybe try doing something about those two over there.”

Han Murin pointed.

There stood Jin Sohyeop and Baek Myeonggaek. And approaching them was Cheonpung.

He hadn’t said anything, but Cheonpung had been visibly irritated for a while now.

Cheonpung spoke.

“Hey, you two out of your minds?”

Baek Myeonggaek, always the silent type, didn’t respond. But Jin Sohyeop did.

“What did we do so wrong that you’re this worked up?”

“Wow. You little shits. You think this scar on my shoulder just appeared out of nowhere? That cut on Wonyang’s calf? Han Murin’s torn side? All of that happened because you two hesitated like dumbasses. You don’t get that?”

Cheonpung was unusually serious now. While it wasn’t a secret that he had his eye on the now-vacant position of branch lord, this had nothing to do with that.

This was a matter of basic trust. And yet, Jin Sohyeop only snorted.

“Seems like you really don’t get who’s the idiot here. Fighting the four major sects? Killing all their disciples and warriors? Fine. That’s the martial world. But the government? No. Touching the government means not only making enemies of them—it means making enemies of the entire martial world.”

“You cowardly little fuck, aren’t you?”

“Maybe you don’t know the difference between cowardice and intelligence?”

“Goddamn... You son of a—”

As Cheonpung reached for his sword, someone grabbed his wrist.

It was Wonyang.

“What now?”

“Don’t.”

“What do you mean don’t? Did you not see the attitude on these bastards? Guys like them need to be half-killed at least—”

“Ta Lord knows.”

“......”

Wonyang turned her gaze toward Baek Myeonggaek and Jin Sohyeop.

What was it that Unwi desired most?

Absolute subordinates who would obey without question.

While those two had taken part in the slaughter of the four great sects’ warriors and disciples, when it came to the government officials, they hadn’t killed a single constable. That wasn’t a joke—they hadn’t killed even one.

They had only deflected swords or subdued them.

The only ones who killed were Cheonpung, Wonyang, and Han Murin.

From that moment, those two had already strayed far from Unwi’s ideals.

What more was there to say?

This wasn’t just branch business anymore. It had become Unwi’s business.

And Unwi knew.

He knew that the wounds on the bodies of those three were because of those two.

Regardless of one’s cultivation level, the Five-Snow Ice Formation had to move as one. If even one person—no, in this case, two—began to hesitate, the damage would naturally fall on the other three.

That’s why Unwi said he’d speak to them later. It would be inappropriate for Wonyang or Cheonpung to interfere here.

And so Wonyang turned away, and Cheonpung, as if sulking, jerked his head to the side in irritation that didn’t match his bulky frame.

Only Han Murin, arms crossed in the distance, was smiling like he found the whole situation amusing.

And before long, Unwi arrived.

He immediately sensed the fracture between the five of them and voiced his impression with a single blunt comment.

“What a fucking mess.”