Byeok Ae-rin shook her head.
"He doesn't seem to be doing anything else."
But Kang-hyuk still felt as though that something wasn't quite right.
"Is there anyone he met with recently?"
"If I think about an interesting person, there was a Gyoro he met with."
"Gyoro?"
"Yes, he met with a Gyoro member, but had no suspicious activity following the meeting."
"Who was the Gyoro?"
"Eun-san of the Hwasanpa Sect."
Kang-hyuk nodded. Eun-san was one of the Gyoro Elders he trusted and acknowledged.
'Was he giving Oh-Tae Seonsaeng some advice?'
Kang-hyuk felt that the probability of this was very high, considering Eun-san's character. This was the cause of his change of heart.
"I'm sorry, but I think we should sc.r.a.p the plan for now. I don't want to ruin Eun-san's efforts of advising him."
Byeok Ae-rin promptly replied, "I understand but still…."
"You know what I'm worried about. If he happens to ignore the advice, and still attempts to attack me, you can move in any way you want without informing me."
"I understand."
Having finished eating his dumplings, Kang-hyuk stood up.
"I'll be off now. I have some books I need to find."
Baek-gap immediately spoke up, "I'll accompany you."
***
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g sighed.
He had finally ran out of his food provisions.
Hacheon was a village close to the Hwacheon Clan Headquarters that was in the opposite direction to Sangchon, where the majority of the Clan Members lived.
It was a place where low-level warriors and the poor resided.
Close to the district where the poor of the village lived was a shabby cottage. This was the residence of Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g.
He turned around and gazed upon a sword hanging on the wall.
Everything, from the sheath of the sword to the edge of its blade, was silver. The name of the sword was the Silver Ice Sword.
The sword was so conspicuous in its appearance, that it had been smeared in charcoal, just so that it would be completely black.
The only possession the man had left to continue his livelihood was this sword, but it wasn't something he was prepared to sell.
The sword had been left to him by his deceased father, and was the only weapon he possessed.
The man's stomach rumbled.
Clutching his stomach, the man went into his kitchen, and drank some lukewarm water that was in a cauldron. The water moved about in his empty stomach.
"Phew."
The thought that he would be receiving his paycheck the next day kept him going.
He took the sword off the wall and slung it over his back. His work began as the sun set — as the guard of a brothel.
His family was ruined, but it was a well-known family, and he himself had reached a peak level of cultivation at the tender age of twenty-four.
With his skillset, it was shameful that he was the guard of a brothel, but Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g had already abandoned all sense of shame.
Many wondered why he didn't join the Hwacheon Clan to gain honour and prestige as a warrior.
In truth, it was because he couldn't do so.
If he joined the Hwacheon Clan, his existence would become known. One day, an unknown power had attacked his family. Thus, only he remained.
The issue was that he had a strong suspicion that those who attacked his family were on the Baek-do side. If they became aware of Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g's existence, they would most definitely pursue him to hide their dishonourable act.
This was the reason as to why he had to abandon all honour.
To simply survive.
"Father…Mother….Ah!"
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g shivered as he recollected the tragedies of that fateful day.
Due to his parents, nanny and personal guard having held off the attackers, he alone was able to escape, and after a lot of trouble, was able to finally settle down in Nakyang.
His one and only reason for coming was to find information on his family's attackers.
This was also why he had chosen to work as a brothel guard.
He knew that there wasn't any other place that would have such a vast collection of shady information as a brothel.
His only issue with being a brothel guard was the stingy pay. He would always run out of food on the eve before his next pay-check.
'If I worked anywhere else, I'd have to give details of my ident.i.ty. I guess this is good enough….'
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g had soon arrived at his workplace.
The brothel was known as Hyangwooru, and its prices were fairly reasonable. Therefore, many people visited. This allowed the brothel to be a place where much information was gathered.
However, the job also had its issues.
It was a job where one had to deal with vicious drunkards.
"Right, let's get ready to work!"
At the voice of his superior, Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g quickly headed over to his position.
"Ah! The smell is terrible today as well!"
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g nodded in agreement at the words of his fellow guard.
The smell of oil from the cooking of drinking snacks permeated the air. His empty stomach turned at the aroma.
"d.a.m.n it."
He cursed under his breath.
"Ahem!"
Suddenly, someone strutted into the brothel, and the server rushed to usher them in.
"Welcome!"
"This is Hyangwooru!"
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g's work now began.
One of his jobs was to escort the customers back home.
Due to the vulnerability of travelling home whilst being drunk, there was a high probability of being robbed. Therefore, customers often paid five coins extra to be escorted home safely.
"I was telling you right! About my former years!"
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g sighed at the man's drunken ramblings. This kind of behaviour was quite normal.
The only difference in his journey of escorting customers were if they vomited and urinated on the way back or not.
He had managed to escort the customer back to their house, which happened to be in a rather secluded location.
"Have a comfortable night, and I invite you to visit our Hyangwooru once again!"
He bowed to the customer, and turned around in preparation for heading back to the brothel.
"Hey, look here!"
As he turned his head at the customers call, the sound of something bursting echoed through the night air, accompanied with a white smoke that flew towards his face.
"Ah!"
His eyesight began to become foggy.
Judging by his symptoms of sudden drowsiness, he was sure that the smoke was Sleep Smoke.
It was likely that they had used a large quant.i.ty of the substance as even his mind, as a warrior with peak cultivation, was beginning to become hazy.
He had fallen to the ground in a daze, and could barely hear the voices of his attackers.
"Hey! Search his pockets!"
The voice was the voice of the customer he had just escorted. Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g gritted his teeth.
This was the reason as to why the man's house was in such a secluded location- so that he could rob the guard.
Even as a warrior of peak cultivation, he couldn't have predicted that he would be attacked with Sleep Smoke, and be in such a helpless state.
He could hear the voices of the attackers once more.
"Huh? There's nothing? Boss?"
"What? Nothing?"
"Yes. His pockets are completely empty."
"d.a.m.n it! Do you know how much Sleep Smoke costs, and this beggar has nothing? Hey! Steal his sword at the very least!"
"Yes!"
"No, don't!"
He desperately held onto to the Silver Ice Sword, as he was kicked by the attackers.
"No! You can't do this!"
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g didn't let go of the sword despite the repeated beatings he was receiving. He was concerned that if others got their hands on the sword, due to its unique features, his own ident.i.ty could be revealed.
"This tenacious b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Why aren't you unconscious yet?"
"What do you want me to do? Should I kill him?"
"That would be good."
He could hear the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and could feel death at his doorstep. He was sad that he wouldn't be able to complete his purpose of avenging his family before his departure from the world.
All strength had left him, so he couldn't even run. He could no longer continue the energy technique he had been using to resist the Sleep Smoke, and so, he could feel himself slowly losing consciousness.
Suddenly, a dull sound rang out through the air.
But Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g could hold on no longer, and blanked out.
***
"Ah, what are we going to do about this?"
Kang-hyuk sighed at the sight of the half-dead young man lying on the ground in front of him.
***
Kang-hyuk had dropped by the book-shop when he had a sudden craving for noodles. Thereafter, he headed over to Ilmibanjeon, accompanied by Baek-gap, and ordered two bowls of noodles.
After having eaten noodles with Kang-hyuk, Baek-gap soon found that his pet peeve was soggy noodles.
"Ah! This was delicious."
"It's been a while since I've last had some delicious noodles. Hahaha."
After having filled their bellies, they stepped out onto the street. Kang-hyuk chose a path that was a shortcut to the Hwacheon Clan Headquarters.
Most people would have avoided that path. It was fine in the day, but at night, it became a hotspot of criminal activities.
As he was walking, Kang-hyuk happened to come across a young man being kicked by thugs.
Most people that witnessed this would have pa.s.sed by, thinking it was none of their business.
But Kang-hyuk saw something that caught his eye.
"Huh? Isn't that sword the Silver Ice Sword?"
He recognized that the sword the young man was desperately clinging onto was definitely the Silver Ice Sword, despite it having been painted black with charcoal.
His suspicions were further confirmed when he saw silver beads emitting a silver glow, which were attached to the hilt of the sword. Those beads were known as Ice Crystals, and were a treasure of the Northern Ice Palace.
He remembered the man's wide smile, as he said his son would pa.s.s down the Silver Ice Sword he had acquired to him one day.
'You've really pa.s.sed it down now, haven't you.'
He knew that the true owner of the Silver Ice Sword had died tragically.
Kang-hyuk took himself out of the daze of thought he had fallen into. The thugs were just about to stab the young man clutching the sword.
Suddenly, something fell out of his sleeve onto the ground. It was a black attendance book.
'Ah, I forgot to leave it at my residence!'
But he felt that it was perhaps a blessing in disguise.
He was in the need of something to throw.
Picking the book up, he first covered the book in a protective energy so that it wouldn't be defiled. He then hurled the attendance book towards the thug that was about to stab the man.
It flew through the air like an arrow, and hit the thug's arm.
The single strike of the flying book managed to dislocate his arm.
"Ahhhhh!"
Baek-gap, who was spectating at the side, laughed at the renewed purpose of the attendance book.
'How is it even possible that a person's arm can dislocate from being hit by an attendance book. Well, it is the Invincible Warrior after all!"
However, Kang-hyuk didn't feel good at having to spill blood.
"d.a.m.n it! Who are you!"
Kang-hyuk unblinkingly turned his head to look at the thug that had just cried out.
The man was wearing fine clothes, and after hearing the other thugs refer to him as 'Boss', he ascertained he was the so-called leader of the group.
"I'm going to take that lad."
Kang-hyuk pointed at the unconscious man on the ground.
"Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What kind of c.r.a.p are you…"
The thug was unable to finish his sentence. Kang-hyuk had picked up the attendance book, and used it to strike his face.
"You should have just let it be when I said I was going to take him. What was the need for making extra noise?"
The Boss fainted on the spot.
The remaining thugs, horrified at the unfolding situation, immediately fled the scene.
The only people remaining at the site were Kang-hyuk, Baek-gap, and the half-dead young man still clutching the Silver Ice Sword.
"Ah, what are we going to do about this?'
Kang-hyuk scratched his cheek.
Baek-gap looked at the man and tilted his head to the side.
"Hey, Seonsaengnim. The man's sleeping."
Kang-hyuk took a deep breath, and realized what he had been bothering his intuition.
'It's Sleep Smoke.'
The issue was that this Sleep Smoke seemed to be particularly strong, and had a somewhat familiar energy to it.
'The Dark Medicine Valley.'
