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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: What's Good is Good
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The hegemon of Sichuan.
The greatest family in the Central Plains.
Everyone in the Central Plains knew that all these titles referred to the Tang Clan.
Thirty years ago, after their battle with the Divine Demon, the Namgung Family sealed its gates for fifteen years, weakening its influence. Since then, the Tang Clan, led by the Poison Emperor, had claimed the top spot among the Five Great Families and had been hailed as the strongest in its history.
With one of the four greatest masters of the Central Plains residing there, how could it not be?
The conflict between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions had been a constant since the dawn of the martial world, but among the Unorthodox, the Tang Clan was the one place they never wanted to face as an enemy.
Especially the current Tang Clan.
"The Red Sword Sect has set foot in Sichuan. And to attack an Orthodox family? This must be a declaration of war from the Red Sword Sect, challenging my house, isn't it?"
The old man spoke as if all of Sichuan were his domain.
But since the speaker was the Poison Emperor, his words didn't sound arrogant at all.
"A-a-a misunderstand—"
Ju Su-gang couldn't finish his sentence.
He was so flustered that his mind went blank, and he couldn't think of what to say to escape this crisis.
If the Red Sword Sect, a part of Samu-cheon, were to fight the Tang Clan of the Poison Emperor—two of the Central Plains' Four Emperors—the conflict would never end as a simple clash between sects.
A war between the Orthodox and Unorthodox.
At the mere thought, a cold sweat broke out all over Ju Su-gang's body.
Even before a full-scale war could erupt, the Red Sword Sect would be annihilated by the masters of the Tang Clan and fade into history.
He had to resolve this situation, no matter what.
"A misunderstanding? Do I look like a fool to you? The name 'One Step, One Kill' was intriguing enough for me to remember. I just didn't expect you to become so drunk on that pathetic title that you'd dare to look down on me."
As the Poison Emperor finished speaking, a cold killing intent began to emanate from his body in waves.
It was a killing intent that felt like thousands of venomous snakes encroaching on the surroundings.
It was the moment a seemingly ordinary old man transformed back into the Poison Emperor, one of the martial world's supreme masters.
-Thud.
As soon as the killing intent began to permeate the area, Ju Su-gang dropped to his knees.
Not only that, but he also pressed his forehead to the ground.
He had decided that he couldn't let this escalate any further, even if it meant his own death.
One wrong move, and the Red Sword Sect would be wiped out, sparking a war between Samu-cheon and the Tang Clan.
It was obvious that the Nine Great Sects, who had lost influence over the past thirty years, would seize this as a pretext to expand the conflict.
Just as he steeled his resolve and was about to speak.
-Shhhk.
A sound like dry cloth being sliced echoed through the area.
At the same time, the Poison Emperor's aura, which had been pressing down on them and making them tremble, dissipated.
"Hey, there are children here. Take it easy, old man. Anyone watching would think you own this place."
It was Mujin, who had drawn his iron sword and cut through the Poison Emperor's killing intent with a single strike.
Had this happened outside, the Poison Emperor would not have let it slide, no matter how favorably he viewed Mujin.
But seeing the two children trembling in surprise behind Mujin, the Poison Emperor stepped back.
Since the host had drawn a line, declaring this was not his place to interfere, the guest could not intrude.
"It seems I've made a mistake. My apologies."
Watching the Poison Emperor obediently retreat, Ju Su-gang let out a sigh of relief.
Why the Poison Emperor was here was no longer important.
He had already given up on his plan to annihilate the failing Yeomhwa Family.
To end things here, one way or another.
To not let this escalate any further.
That was the most important thing.
"Elder Jo. Take Dojin and Soyeon and go."
At his unusually dry tone, the elder who had come out with the children quickly took them and disappeared into the inner quarters.
Mujin walked over to the prostrating Ju Su-gang and squatted down in front of him.
"Let's get this straight. You're some big shot from the Red Sword Sect, a bottom-feeder sect under Samu-cheon. And that thing from the So-sal Sect, neither man nor woman, brought you here dreaming of revenge. Is that right?"
"That is correct..."
-Stab!
Mujin picked up a small twig from the ground and stabbed it into Ju Su-gang's shoulder.
"You'd better choose your words carefully from now on. One wrong move, and you might never use this arm again."
Mujin twisted the twig, which he had shoved precisely into the shoulder joint.
If he pushed it just a little deeper and severed the tendons and ligaments, the promising swordsman would be crippled.
Watching this, Dongsalheukjo trembled, remembering the day a chopstick had been stabbed into his eye.
Ju Su-gang, who hadn't dared to lash out with the Poison Emperor present, let out a groan and spoke.
"Ugh! That is correct."
"Look. I can let other things slide. Someone who breaks a promise can just be killed, and that's that. But that shattered gate and collapsed wall... they hold the very breath of my grandfather."
At Mujin's words, everyone present focused on him.
"When my grandfather built this estate, he personally laid every foundation stone, every brick in that wall. Do you understand?"
"Ghk! I understand."
As Mujin twisted the twig in his shoulder like a child playing with a toy, Ju Su-gang's entire body was drenched in sweat.
His life as a swordsman, as a martial artist, hung on the tip of that twig. It was maddening.
Just moments ago, he had been prepared to die at the hands of the Poison Emperor, but human nature being what it is, once a path to survival appears, the desire to live with all limbs intact is only natural.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Compensation..."
"That's a given. I'm asking how, and how thoroughly, you plan to compensate me."
"...As compensation, I will offer three thousand gold nyang."
Mujin shook his head at Ju Su-gang's words.
"You see, the wood used for that gate was a rare oak tree, one that grew facing east, absorbing the energy of the Big Dipper. You'd be hard-pressed to find another in the Central Plains."
Ju Su-gang's eyes widened at the incomprehensible statement.
Mujin continued, regardless of his confusion.
"Steward Do. Can we find another lucky oak tree, one that grew facing east and absorbed the energy of the Big Dipper, the very kind that once fueled the Yeomhwa Family's fiery rise?"
Steward Do was momentarily speechless at Mujin's bizarre question, but he understood the intention behind it and replied.
"...No, sir. I have never heard of such a tree being available."
"See? Rarity doesn't come cheap. And besides, those walls... This is a matter of our martial family's pride being trampled. If an enemy smashed the main gate of the Red Sword Sect and tore down its walls, how would you handle it?"
"..."
Ju Su-gang couldn't answer.
There was only one possible answer he could give.
"You think you can settle a matter like this with a paltry three thousand gold nyang? The pride of the Yeomhwa Family and artifacts touched by my grandfather's own breath have been destroyed, and you offer a mere three thousand?"
"...What do you want?"
Seeing that Ju Su-gang was finally ready to talk, Mujin smiled and pulled the twig from his shoulder.
Looking at the twig, now coated in thick blood, Mujin spoke.
"Damages of ten thousand gold nyang."
"D-damages...! You said?"
As Mujin raised the twig again, Ju Su-gang quickly added the polite suffix.
"Is there a problem?"
Of course, there was a problem.
Compensation and damages were entirely different in nature.
Compensation could be given quietly, without a fuss, and the matter would be over.
No one needed to know, and it could easily be buried.
But damages were a different story.
If the Red Sword Sect were to pay damages to the Yeomhwa Family, it would be a public admission that they had been defeated.
As the general manager of a sect, it was not a decision he could make unilaterally.
"A warrior of the Red Sword Sect attacked the Yeomhwa Family, was defeated, and ended up in this state. Isn't it only natural to pay damages?"
Mujin's words were not wrong.
The problem was tying his personal defeat to the defeat of the entire Red Sword Sect.
"Just because I lost doesn't mean the Red Sword Sect..."
-Stab.
Mujin stabbed him with the twig again.
!!!
This time, everyone present was shocked by his action.
Because he had stabbed the twig into the man's neck.
"Just because you have a mouth doesn't mean you can run it. Should I make it so you can never speak again? It wouldn't be that difficult."
Feeling the twig poised just before his vocal cords, ready to pierce them, Ju Su-gang's face turned deathly pale.
Madness.
Looking at Mujin's face, who was doing this so calmly with glittering eyes and an unchanging expression, Ju Su-gang felt an extreme sense of madness.
'He's insane.'
Samu-cheon was filled with masters who committed all sorts of cruel and bizarre acts, but he had never encountered someone who harbored such madness.
An extreme madness that could only be felt by looking directly into his eyes.
"..."
Unable to speak with the twig in his throat, Ju Su-gang frantically moved his eyes.
Only after seeing his eyes darting back and forth in terror did Mujin remove the twig.
"Gack! Cough! Cough!"
He coughed violently, quickly pressing on his acupoints to stop the bleeding from his neck.
After coughing for a long while, he finally managed to speak.
His voice was completely hoarse, as if utterly worn out.
"Damages... Ten thousand gold nyang. I will give it to you. I guarantee it as the general manager of the Red Sword Sect."
"There. Isn't it much better to solve things with words? What would happen if you just went around melting people with blood arts and escalating things into a war between factions? All over something that could be settled with a few words and a little money. What's good is good."
Mujin's words sent a chill down Ju Su-gang's spine.
He was making a veiled threat.
Implying that if he didn't keep his promise, the Poison Emperor wouldn't stand by. And that he shouldn't forget who had stopped the Poison Emperor in the first place.
As Ju Su-gang nodded, his initial bravado was long gone.
More than the fear of the Poison Emperor behind him, he felt a deeper terror for Mujin, who was wrapped in an unfathomable madness.
'The rumors that his madness was cured were false. He's completely insane.'
Mujin passed by the thinking Ju Su-gang and moved next to the master of the So-sal Sect.
"I don't think we'll get far with conversation, so just listen. Nod up and down for yes. Shake your head side to side for no."
-Clang!
As he spoke, Mujin brutally slammed his massive iron sword into the ground next to the So-sal Sect Master's neck.
Hong Jo-hang, with the iron sword embedded right next to his neck, nodded his head up and down vigorously.
"Do you want to live?"
Nod, nod.
"Twenty thousand gold nyang."
Hesitation.
The vigorously nodding head paused for a moment.
"Not moving? Should I cut it off for you?"
As Mujin lifted the iron sword, Hong Jo-hang's head began to nod rapidly again.
"Alright, you're done too."
Passing Hong Jo-hang, Mujin approached Dongsalheukjo, who was kneeling and immediately pressed his head to the floor.
"If you just spare my life, I'll give you my entire fortune..."
-Swish.
"No second chances."
Mujin struck off his head without a hint of hesitation.
His strike was so fast and fluid that few people in the area even realized someone had been killed until Dongsalheukjo's head hit the ground.
Only the Poison Emperor watched with deep eyes as Mujin wielded his sword as unhesitatingly as when he had cut through his own killing intent.
"I'll give you two exactly seven days. Don't get any funny ideas. It'll be best for both of us if you bring what you promised quickly. Oh, and this eunuch bastard's assets are mine now. Liquidate everything and bring it with the rest."
At Mujin's words, Hong Jo-hang nodded his head ceaselessly.
Having witnessed the beheading of Dongsalheukjo, his companion of twenty years, he was gripped by extreme terror.
"Now, get the hell out of here. And clean up this corpse on your way out."
With those final words, Mujin turned away.
Behind him, the Poison Emperor and his granddaughter, Dang So-hye, watched with deep, somber eyes.
Not long after, rumors that the So-sal Sect and the Red Sword Sect had been defeated by the Yeomhwa Family spread like wildfire, not just in Seochang but throughout Sichuan and Guizhou.
With the news that the Hidden Dragon of Seochang had defeated Samu-cheon's 'One Step, One Kill' and received damages from the Red Sword Sect, his fame began to spread from Sichuan and Guizhou to the rest of the country.
The Yeomhwa Family, the hottest topic in the martial world recently, had completely transformed in just seven days since the incident.
The once shabby and dilapidated estate was now bustling with numerous carpenters and laborers undergoing extensive renovations, and an endless line of young men and martial artists had gathered to take the warrior's examination for the Yeomhwa Family.
The broken stone steps had been replaced with bluestone, and the main gate had been newly crafted from thick, oiled oak.
"My... you visit quite often."
Mujin furrowed his brow as he looked at the Poison Emperor sipping tea in front of him.
"The atmosphere of the family has changed a lot. Many people are coming and going, and with construction everywhere, it's quite lively."
"Then why do you keep visiting such a lively place?"
"I'm saying it looks good, like a place where people truly live."
"Old man, I'm a very busy person. As you can see, I have to interview the warriors who passed the test, and I'm falling behind on my own training. I also have to oversee my siblings' training and the instructors' training. I'm not some idle person who has retired to the back rooms like you."
Despite Mujin's words, the Poison Emperor ignored him, watching the warriors taking their test in the pavilion in front of the guest hall.
"I can feel their fiery passion. It's a good time for them."
"..."
Watching the man waste his time with idle chatter, Mujin shook his head and stood up.
He had given up on him, realizing that no amount of hinting would get through.
Just as he turned to leave, the Poison Emperor spoke.
"The Nine Swords of Dugu, was it?"
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