“This is all thanks to the sister-in-law and the priests.”
“In reality, we are just stepping stones. That stepping stone will never be removed until the death penalty becomes the number one person in the entire world. However, isn’t he the only one with Chihwa Falling Water amounting to a level of ten stars?”
“Yes. The martial arts of the other three priests also increased slightly.” Geom Woo-bin was being humble, but no one could miss the sparkle in his eyes.
“How long will you be in the basement training room?”
“I will leave in three days at the earliest, or in five days at the latest.”
“I’ll wait. This time, I am the first one to do the secretarial work.”
Geum Hong went to the brewery with light steps. The three of them were pouring the sage liquid from the cast iron jar into their respective cups.
“Where are you going?”
“Isn’t that why I put a small amount of Oseonam in my Yeogeumju?”
“I knew you would be suspicious, so I left yours behind.”
At this, he poured three drops of five sage liquid into the jar containing thirty bottles of this wine. When she squeezed the stamen liquid, she was able to put it in a total of ten jars.
“Now we only have to wait two months.”
A proud expression came to mind on everyone’s face, but Yeon Jeong Hong’s face was particularly bright. “Aren’t you in love with me?”
“Heh heh… There are things that are a hundred times better than making the Wu Seon Amulet.”
“What?”
Jeon Yeong Hong talked about Geom Woo-bin’s undefeated state. Sharing information about Geom Woo-bin, no matter how small, was the promise of the Blood Wind Lion. “Alas, you are the greatest genius of all time, so you will be the best!”
“Of course! At this rate, I could become the best person in the world by the age of 30!”
“It’s easy to find out. If you defeat us, you are the best in the world,” Do Pyeong-su said as he left the brewery. “I think only really good things are happening these days. Well, what bad will happen to us?”
As soon as those words were finished, the other three stood still. “What’s the matter?”
“Pyeong-su, shut your mouth.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you remember that Master disappeared three days after you said that?”
“That… Was it?”
Those memories were not unique to Seoksan Mountain. Jeon Yeong Hong was also offended by Do Pyeong-su’s words.
“When you say or do something, you tend to repeat what happens next.”
“Hey, there’s no way the dead master will go missing.”
“But Master…”
Jeon Yeong Hong, who glanced in the direction of Geom Woo-bin, then spoke quietly. “Watch your mouth.”
* * *
Kang Chansik swallowed back his saliva. He had spoken about what kind of reaction he would have if he made a move. The smart Jo Ja-myung had said so. However, the reaction he expected turned out to be far more intense than he had initially thought.
“A guest has arrived, wouldn’t you like to recommend a seat?”
A young-looking man did the ceremony, but Kang Chansik bowed politely. “Sit this way.”
“Unlike the black society that unified Hangzhou, the corps is small.” Kang Chansik’s residence was a much shabbier house compared to before.
“Ah… I see you have to save to live well.”
“This isn’t the black society, but I believe that this is also wise. Did I tell you what I came for?” Jeong Pyun-ho, the head of the Cheolhyeokbang, asked, seemingly forgetful.
Kang Chansik replied, “You said you came because of Wolhagiru.”
“Yeah, I guess I should talk about it first.”
Judging from the fact that they said it first, it seemed that that wasn’t their only purpose. “This time, the Cheolhyeokbang moved to Zhejiang.”
“Yes? What about Ha Nam-seong?”
“You have to be able to live with the dazzling heads of middlemen.”
He was pushed away by Shaolin Temple and fled. “Jarongmun, which has a large land and many buildings, gave up its base to us and settled there.”
He could see why the Iron Blood Chamber had come to visit Jaryongmun. “The first customer of our Cheolhyeokbang is Wolhagiru, so it cannot be neglected.”
Jeong Pyun-ho glanced at Soo-ha Oh Seong-gil, who was with him, and continued. “I can send him alone, but I came here because it was not polite to send Suha alone to the black society that unified Hangzhou.”
If Wolhagiru had hired an Iron Blood Room, then that meant that the battle was over. No matter how strong the anti-drugs were, they could not deal with the Iron Bloods. “It seems to have been sorted out since I came.”
“Of course.”
“Should we talk about the protection fee?”
“You say that you are going to be paying for protection…?”
“Iron Blood is a black society… Didn’t you say that your name is Oh Seonho?”
“That’s right.”
“I will protect Wu Seon-hui from the Black Swordsman faction, so I have to pay a reasonable price for it. As far as I know, Jaryongmun did the same. We are better than Jaryongmun, so of course we should pay more.”
“Yes? In the past…”
“Are you saying you don’t like it?”
“Oh, no.”
He much rather preferred to live, so he had no choice but to answer that. “It may seem like a loss right now, but as long as you have the Cheolhyeokbang supporting you from the back, your path ahead is solid.”
“And this is like a special request from General Wolhagiru. Do you know about Oseonjangwon?”
* * *
“Yes? Are you here to work?”
Sangnamje answered Sehwa’s question with another question. “Since you can’t be anatomized, shouldn’t you do something?”
The old-fashioned individual that came with them harbored a look of dismay. “In the manor, there are only chores left to do, so you can’t make Sangnamjae do those things.”
Although Sehwa was a brother-in-law, he found that he couldn’t do it. Anyhow, there were no complaints because the younger Sehwa also got along with them. “I’m fine with chores.”
“The husband should save some face, you shouldn’t do that to your wife.”
“Are you able to do anything else?”
At this, Sangnamjae looked around. “I will do anything you ask.”
At that time, Kwak Bong and Kang Chansik came up to the second floor where they were. “Sir.”
“Yes?”
It was quite difficult to get to know Kwak Bong since the first meeting was to take revenge, which was not like revenge against Kang Samak. “I have something to discuss with you.”
“Do you have anything to discuss with me?”
“Do you know about Oh Seonho?”
“It is said that the Cheolbyeokbang has come to Oh Seonho.”
The name of the Iron Blood Room made his ears widen. “The Iron Blood Room in Hanam?”
“Yes. It is said that the Iron Bloods were kicked out by Shaolin Temple and moved to Zhejiang Province.”
At this point, Kwak Bong introduced Kang Chansik. “I am the owner of Oh Seonho, and I have acquaintances with the general owners.”
“Nice to meet you. It’s called Kang Chansik.”
After greeting Kang Chansik, he unpacked the entire story.
“I came here not because of Oh Seonho, but because of Oh Seon Manor. It seems that he is aiming for the Oseon Manor at the request of Jo Hwang-se, who is within the Iron Blood Room.”
“Sabaek-nim was worried, but that’s how it ended up going.”
“Please be careful.”
“You speak like a man traversing on a long journey.”
“I’m still going.”
“Why?”
Kang Chansik had a rather puzzled expression on his face. “You can’t fight even though your opponent is an iron-blooded person, right? But I don’t want to be a minion under him. At the very least, I could go back to dealing with the poor merchants and work in illegal gambling houses and loan business like I used to, but I don’t want to do that anymore.”
“Are you going to try and live a good life?”
“Like Hangzhou Wu Seon, even if you can’t live a good life, you shouldn’t live a bad life. Well, these days, I am acutely realizing it. And so, I am retiring from the Black Society. Tell the Hangzhou Sai Ship to bow down and enter if possible. I know they are masters, but their opponents are iron-blooded. There is no chance of winning.”
Kang Chansik did not know the identity of the Blood Lion, so he naturally thought so. Go Seobang then said to Kwak Bong, “I have to go back now, so you have to deal with it.”
“I thought so, anyway.”
Sangnamjae also came out. “I will go too. I think we need it there rather than here.”
“It’s not necessary, but if you really want to go, then I won’t stop you.”
Kang Chansik then asked with a puzzled expression. “Did you not hear me? It’s an Iron Blood Room, isn’t it?”
“It would have been nice if the ark had come directly, but it’s a pity that it’s Dangju.”
“It seems that you don’t know what the Cheolhyeokbang is like. Although it does not reach the five generations, it has a power comparable to that of the Dong family, the rookie of Anhui.”
The old west room murmured. “Isn’t the Dongsi Doga only that much? I thought I was a little stronger. Anyway, it’s about the head of the family, so the two of you can handle it, right?”
“I am enough all by myself.”
Then, Kwak Bong turned around and said to Kang Chansik, “Let’s go.”
“I… Are you really going? I’ve packed all my stuff. I thought that only Lee Gak was going to go out and just run away. I also told Do-bong to run away as it is.”
Kang Chansik had no choice but to follow him with his hips pulled back.
As he proceeded to enter the house, Wang Do-bong rushed to him. “Lord! Why are you back? You shouldn’t have run this way!”
“Then why are you still here?”
“Lord, I have to buy time for you to be able to run away.”
“I’m grateful, but it seems it’s already too late.”
After a glance at Kwak-bong and Sangnamjae standing behind him, Kang Chansik spoke. “Now it is out of our hands. I have no choice but to leave it to fate.”
Kwak Bong stepped forward. “It should be left to skill, not fate. Where is the one from the Iron Blood Chamber?”
At this, the door opened and Jeong Pyun-ho and Oh Seong-gil came out to the Daecheong. “Kang Hoi-joo, it looks like someone brought you along.”
“Yes? Ah, I… That…”
“Are you the head of the family from the Iron Blood Room?” Jeong Pyun-ho’s face hardened at this.
“You know who I am and you show me that way, you’re crazy.”
“These are people who are going to beat you and kick you out… and yet you show this attitude.” Jeong Pyun-ho’s gaze was painfully focused on Kang Chansik.
“You’re saying you’re going to give up drinking alcohol and drink punishment alcohol. It’s too slow for a black society. You don’t fit in with the Black Society in so many ways.”
“That’s such a lot of talk. Come on down. If you get hit quickly, the volunteers can be brought in quickly.”
Sreung!
As Jeong Pyeon-ho descended, pulling out the sword from his back, another sword was also held in Kwak Bong’s hand.
“I think my opponent is that guy.” Sangnamjae pointed to Oh Seong-gil, following after Jeong Pyeon-ho.
“It would be.”
“You don’t really need a weapon. Well, the fact is I didn’t bring mine.”
With that, Kang Chansik asked carefully, “I have a useful knife or sword, can I give it to you?”
“Fine. It will be over soon.” Sangnamjae, who was a sniper, focused more on stealthy attacks, but a regular warrior of the Cheolhyeokbang would be able to deal with this even with both hands tied.
The impatient Kwak Bong then ran to Jeong Pyun-ho first. Kwak Bong was well aware of the fame of the Cheolhyeokbang, and if he was the head of that clan, he would be able to heal himself after a long time.
Kaang!
Jeong Pyeon-ho, who had blocked the sword wielded by Kwak Bong, retreated and slammed his back against his pillar.
“What is this…!”
“I felt that the momentum was unusual, but I did not know that the sword had this level of power.”
“Don’t end it blandly, use your strength properly!”
However, even if he tried to use it properly, it didn’t come out without power. Jeong Pyun-ho couldn’t even make a proper attack. The difference between the two in the first place was too great. It was only because he did his best to survive that he was able to stand his ground for the first ten seconds.
However, ten seconds was his limit. With an exceptionally sharp sound, Jeong Pyeon-ho lost his sword as his mouth was torn apart.
Puck!
Kwak Bong then spoke to Jeong Pyun-ho. “Next time, tell them to make a stronger person come rather than a weak person like you. With that skill, you want to go over the Oseon Manor? Even a passing bird would laugh.”
Jeong Pyun-ho stood up, clutching his torn and bleeding hands. His beaten chest made it hard to breathe, but he tried not to show it. “Boy… Who are you?”
“I am but a manor worker.”
“What… What…?”
Kwak Bong scratched his head. “I’ll do whatever it takes to be a handyman.”
“Are you kidding me?!”
Right!
“Ugh!” Jeong Pyun-ho, who had his head hit by the sheath of Kwak Bong’s sword, sat down again.
“You should be grateful to me for saving your life. It can kill you.”
He felt humiliated enough to die, but it was better than dying, so he refrained from speaking any further.
“Get your hands off that. This is the first and final warning.”