Chapter 167 :

<The Blood Sea Spreading Across Sichuan (3)>

When Cheol Sunjik heard that Jin Sowoon had applied for leave, he found it strange.

The semester had just begun. Where could the academy representative possibly be going?

'He really is an unpleasant man I can never predict.'

Cheol Sunjik was about to dismiss the thought when he heard that Jin Sowoon's destination was Sichuan, where the Righteous Path Association had gone on a field trip.

He'd been completely unruffled even while people were dying inside the Soul-Destroying Formation.

Now he was hurrying after the Righteous Path Association on what was little more than a rebellious excursion?

And he was bringing the Blue Dragon Pavilion's assault unit, too?

'He's unpleasant in so many ways.'

Cheol Sunjik disliked anything he couldn't predict, so Jin Sowoon was an uncomfortable presence to say the least.

That was why he had volunteered to join the journey.

He wanted to find out what kind of person Jin Sowoon was, since he always defied Cheol Sunjik's expectations.

'Is he just an impulsive brat who acts on his feelings, or...?'

Cheol Sunjik's thoughts, as he watched Jin Sowoon ahead of him, came to a halt.

"Anyone who falls behind will be left behind! Follow me to Chengdu, Sichuan, with all your strength!"

At Jin Sowoon's booming shout, Cheol Sunjik tightened his grip on the reins without realizing it.

The people from the Twelve Peaks Fortress who had joined the journey were all elite among elites.

They weren't the sort to struggle with this pace.

"Brother Cheol, why did you insist on joining this man's trip?"

At Nam Hwaseong's question, Ha Yeongyeong, Sang Muhon, and the others moved closer to Cheol Sunjik and began talking to him.

Their movements were nearly as skillful as a martial art, but not one of them found it difficult.

Nam Hwaseong frowned, as if he couldn't understand it at all.

"And you even gave him the authority to command us."

Cheol Sunjik couldn't help chuckling at that.

Just before they set out, Jin Sowoon had readily accepted Cheol Sunjik's offer to join them, contrary to his expectations.

He had set only one condition.

Absolute obedience.

The elite members of the Twelve Peaks Fortress, including Nam Hwaseong, had objected.

But Cheol Sunjik had ultimately accepted the condition.

His companions were only now voicing the questions they'd been holding back.

"To be honest, didn't you all come because you were curious about Jin Sowoon?"

"..."

No one answered Cheol Sunjik's question.

"I... came because I want to see Jin Sowoon fight the Nine Great Sects. That man always charges ahead without a thought for what comes next."

At Nam Hwaseong's words, Cheol Sunjik nodded.

"I feel the same."

"Really?"

"There's always a reason behind his actions."

He was a man whose actions couldn't be predicted.

Unpredictable actions were, for the most part, things people didn't do.

And if most people didn't do them, the chances of a good outcome were low.

Yet that didn't seem to apply to him...

His unpredictable actions always produced the best possible outcome for him.

As if he already knew the answer hidden beneath the surface.

It had been that way at Maling Plateau.

It had been that way at the Murim Examination.

And it had been that way during the Soul-Destroying Formation incident.

"Brother Cheol, you still don't get it? That guy's a lunatic. Just a lunatic with a screw loose."

At Nam Hwaseong's words, the members of the Twelve Peaks Fortress burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! You think so, too?"

Some people underestimated Jin Sowoon.

They called him crazy, or said he was a heretical martial artist who'd lost his mind and thought he was one of the righteous faction.

Those judgments probably came from envy, from people who couldn't accept that his unexpected choices always produced the best results.

"That's why I'm curious."

Was he really just a reckless lunatic with nothing to lose?

Or was he a new kind of person, walking a different path that others wouldn't choose?

Cheol Sunjik thought his generation in the martial world had already lost.

That belief had become certain the first time he met Yong Soa.

No one of his generation could surpass Yong Soa.

As long as Yong Soa was alive, Cheol Sunjik's generation could never rule the murim or the Central Plains.

No matter how powerful the Twelve Peaks Fortress became, or how many experts emerged, no one would surpass Ilmyeong of Shaolin or Yong Soa of Wudang.

In the end, they had to wait for the next generation.

They had to wait until those two were no longer in the martial world.

"If someone can defy that firm prediction of mine..."

Cheol Sunjik's sharp gaze fixed on Jin Sowoon's back as he raced ahead.

If Jin Sowoon really wasn't just the kind of lunatic people thought he was—

If he was the kind of person Cheol Sunjik imagined—

Then perhaps a hopeful figure had appeared in their generation, someone who could open up a new era that Cheol Sunjik himself couldn't predict...

"Hey! You people from the Twelve Peaks Fortress! What are you muttering about? Are you going to hurry up or not?"

"..."

Jin Sowoon, who had interrupted his thoughts, glared at them with a face like a demon.

Cheol Sunjik tried to stay calm as he answered.

"Representative Jin Sowoon, are we going to keep riding at this pace? Everyone will be exhausted before long."

"What?! You asked to come along! If you're going to move this slowly, why did you follow me? Go back to the academy!"

"..."

Was he really just riding without thinking?

At this rate, not only the Twelve Peaks Fortress but even the formidable Shenghu Hall wouldn't last much longer.

"...Brother Cheol."

Nam Hwaseong spoke quietly.

"Pick up the pace. We're getting yelled at by that lunatic because you keep slowing us down."

"No, I..."

"Didn't you ask to come? Then hurry up."

"...Sorry."

Perhaps he had simply been lucky all this time, if he could drive people this hard without thinking.

Cheol Sunjik felt his opinion begin to shift.

"We'll cut straight through Chongqing."

At Jin Sowoon's words, Gu Jeongryong's brow furrowed deeply.

Most people traveling from Hubei Province to Sichuan went by the Yangtze River, passing around Shaanxi on the way.

Traveling by river was efficient in many ways.

Compared with a land route, it could carry much more cargo, and, above all, it was more comfortable.

That was why most people heading to Sichuan took this route...

But he wanted to cut through Chongqing.

That was a route suited only to someone traveling fast with a light pack.

If a group fully armed and leading horses like theirs tried to cut through Chongqing, people would call them crazy.

Yet less than a day after Gu Jeongryong had handed over command, Jin Sowoon had said something insane.

"Are you out of your mind? Cutting through Chongqing? Forget the warriors—the horses won't be able to handle it."

Gu Jeongryong had given Jin Sowoon command because Maeng Juwon had pleaded with him.

He had owed Maeng Juwon a favor from the past, so it would have been easy enough to grant his request.

But he couldn't refuse when a department head of the Intelligence Department had pleaded in front of his own people, saying, "Please, just this once, for my foxlike wife and rabbitlike child..."

'Wasn't Maeng Juwon still a bachelor?'

In any case, moved by his desperate plea, Gu Jeongryong had decided to support him and even handed over command.

But that didn't mean he had to blindly follow such unreasonable orders.

"This is the only way to catch up with the group ahead."

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"The best time to catch them is before they reach Mount Emei. But if the Yangtze is flowing as fast as usual, they'll reach Badong before we do, and we'll arrive even later. The only way to catch up is to cut through Chongqing."

It made sense, but only in theory.

People and horses couldn't move according to theory alone.

"Even if we set Hubei Province aside, there's no Martial Alliance branch in Chongqing, our midway stop. And the rest of the journey will be a problem, too. Where will we feed and house a hundred people, and replace our horses, on the way to Chengdu?"

That was the most important issue.

There wasn't a war underway.

They were deploying the Shenghu Hall just to stop a field trip that was really more of an excursion.

The hall members would be furious.

"You don't need to worry about that."

"What?"

"I've already asked for help. You don't need to worry. I don't know what that person will ask for later, though..."

Jin Sowoon's words made no sense to Gu Jeongryong.

He had no choice but to give him a stern warning.

"You understand the responsibility that comes with command, don't you?"

"Of course."

"That includes the Shenghu Hall members' complaints. Overworking warriors without a good reason will make them rebel."

"..."

"If we ride all the way to Jingzhou, the Martial Alliance branch there will already be closed. Can you keep their complaints under control?"

Despite Gu Jeongryong's scolding, Jin Sowoon looked completely at ease.

"Hmm. I don't know, but it should be better than trying to sleep in the Jingzhou branch."

"Hmm?"

Gu Jeongryong didn't understand what he meant, but decided to wait and see.

Ignoring Gu Jeongryong's warning that they needed to rest before reaching Jingzhou, the group rode until the moon was high.

They finally arrived in Jingzhou near the end of the Hai hour, around eleven at night.

"Haa... haa... damn it."

"I knew this would happen."

"Damn it, what is that Bloodflame Dragon thinking?"

And, just as expected, the Martial Alliance branch in Jingzhou was already closed.

The Shenghu Hall members' complaints began to spill out one by one.

"Hall Master, what are we doing? We're not even going to war. Do we really have to be worked this hard?"

"Even if this was a request from the Intelligence Department's head, this is too much."

"Hall Master, if we keep going like this, everyone will collapse before we reach Sichuan. Please make a decision."

Just as Gu Jeongryong was about to take back command in response to their angry complaints—

"This way."

Jin Sowoon stopped in front of the largest inn in Jingzhou.

"Young Master Jin! We've been waiting for you."

The Shenghu Hall members and the people from the Twelve Peaks Fortress, who had been complaining, all gaped.

The head manager of Jingzhou's finest inn, Golden Pavilion Manor, stood in a line with his servants to welcome Jin Sowoon's group.

"Attend to the warriors!"

The servants hurried to the warriors, took their horses, and brought out cool, damp towels so they could wipe their hands and faces.

"We've prepared dinner and baths. You said you'd be leaving early tomorrow, right?"

At the manager's question, Jin Sowoon nodded as if this were routine.

"We'll leave before the Chen hour. Have the horses been arranged?"

"Every branch in Hubei Province is ready. The horses in Chongqing and Sichuan will be prepared before you arrive, Young Master."

"I'm sorry to have asked so much of you."

Jin Sowoon bowed.

The middle-aged manager of Golden Pavilion Manor was so overwhelmed that he tried to stop him.

"Don't mention it. Thanks to you, I'll earn even more favor with the Lord of the Wang Family Estate. I should be thanking you."

Everyone stared at Jin Sowoon in a daze at the unfamiliar sight.

The Lord of the Wang Family Estate?

Did he mean Wang Geumsan, the man said to have piled up mountains of gold?

What was more surprising was that the disciples of the Taeul Sect, along with Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran, who were always by Jin Sowoon's side, accepted this treatment as if they were used to it.

'Could Jin Sowoon be one of Wang Geumsan's children?... But they have different surnames.'

After washing the dust off in the bath and coming out to the dining hall, everyone's eyes widened at the feast that had appeared in front of them, as if it had been timed to the minute.

"I'll limit everyone to one bottle of liquor. We still have a long way to go."

At Jin Sowoon's words, the Shenghu Hall members cheered.

The same men who'd been complaining now began praising the Bloodflame Dragon as if nothing had happened.

"Black Flame Dragon! Bloodflame Dragon!"

"Junior Brother! You're a real man!"

"You really need a good commander!"

Gu Jeongryong was dumbfounded by how quickly the Shenghu Hall members had changed their tune.

"..."

Gu Jeongryong had hardly been able to tell whether the food was going into his mouth or his nose.

Unable to hold back any longer, he asked Jin Sowoon:

"Are you perhaps Wang Geumsan's secret son or something?"

"Pardon? What are you talking about?"

"If not, why would Lord Wang Geumsan go to such lengths for you?"

They were the only guests in the inn's enormous private residence.

In other words, the manager had given up not only the day's income for Jin Sowoon, but was even willing to take a loss.

"Lord Hwal and the Taeul Sect have always been close. His daughter is my junior sister, too."

Jin Sowoon said it as if it were obvious.

Gu Jeongryong was left with even more questions.

'If he isn't Lord Wang's son, why would Lord Wang go to such lengths for a Taeul Sect disciple? Is he secretly the Wang family's son-in-law or something?'

His questions remained unanswered, but for some reason, Gu Jeongryong decided he ought to become closer to Jin Sowoon.