It was the first day of the ninth month.
At midday the air baked under the high sun, but morning and evening a cool edge had begun to seep in — the threshold of autumn.
The escort party transporting the Namgung Clan's prisoners to Mount Huang took a leisurely breakfast.
It was not until around the Hour of the Snake that they departed, sent off with fervent cheers by the Namgung Clan members and the citizens of Hefei.
Amid the fanfare, a declaration deliberately leaked into the martial world had naturally set tongues wagging.
Wang Gyeong-jong — brother of Huizhou Merchant Guild master Wang Hyeon-jong — had been imprisoned for the crime of infiltrating the Namgung Clan.
And Black-White Impermanence, captured while attempting to rescue him, would be escorted all the way to the Huizhou Merchant Guild's doorstep, where the Namgung Clan would negotiate directly with Wang Hyeon-jong.
The Blood Sand Wind's dominion!
The Blood Sand Wind of the Great Desert had risen as the ruling power over the Central Plains.
Yet for now, it only exerted its influence sporadically and did not meddle in every affair of the martial world.
That said — if anyone refused to fall in line and ran wild, or if other reasons demanded it, direct intervention was not off the table.
And now, the Namgung Clan — which had fought the Blood Sand Wind to the bitter end and been devastated by their invasion — was embarking on a bold, public march through the martial world!
Nothing in recent memory had drawn the martial world's interest and attention more than this.
As that tantalizing rumor spread like wildfire, another slipped in alongside it, stoking curiosity even further.
The Namgung Clan's true objective, the rumor said, was not negotiation with the Huizhou Merchant Guild — it was to find rare treasures hidden within the Flower Mountain Labyrinth Caves.
The secret, supposedly, lay concealed within the "Sword Venerable Absolute Invincible Namgung Changhae's Martial World Travelogue" left behind by the clan's revered patriarch.
Countless masters from orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions alike set out for Mount Huang, while others began heading toward the escort party itself.
The martial world trembled.
This incident would plunge the martial world into an upheaval of staggering proportions.
***
An iron-barred cart pulled by four horses.
A three-horse carriage loaded with provisions, cooking gear, and bedrolls.
Two mounted warriors leading the procession.
Such was the modest appearance of the Namgung Clan escort party that had set the martial world abuzz.
At the front, the Second Young Master Namgung Byeok rode the white mare on the left, and Seventh Elder Namgung Pil-su the black horse on the right.
On the cart's driver's seat sat Hyeol-u, with Golden Swordhand So Se-gi riding shotgun.
Inside the cage, Wang Gyeong-jong and Black-White Impermanence sat shackled in chains, their bodies swaying with every rattle of the cart.
At the rear, So-i and Yang Gye-dong drove the supply carriage, drenched in sweat.
The formation was loose enough — and the personnel thin enough — that a sudden ambush could throw them into chaos in an instant.
"What kind of a joke is this?! How am I supposed to sit cooped up like this for a thousand li?!"
When they had first dragged Wang Gyeong-jong from the dungeon, bound him, and tried to load him into the cart, he had clutched the bars and dug in his heels, flat-out refusing to enter.
Black-White Impermanence's faces were twisted as though they had bitten into rotten bile root, stubbornly resisting alongside him.
SNAP, SNAP, SMACK—!
The instant Wang Gyeong-jong opened his mouth, Hyeol-u's dark cane danced.
The sting of a cudgel striking bone was sharp and vicious.
Wang Gyeong-jong's eyes rolled back, tears and snot streaming down his beard into a wretched mess.
"Hoo-hoo-hoo......"
When had Wang Gyeong-jong ever taken a beating like this?
A pitiful whimper escaped his lips.
"Get in. Keep this up and I'll make you a corpse first and haul that instead."
The hundred-odd Namgung Clan members who had come to see them off went wide-eyed as lanterns.
Namgung Seong, handling Wang Gyeong-jong and Black-White Impermanence without an ounce of mercy.
The rumors of the Namgung Clan's resident demon were well earned, it seemed.
But when the escort party bowed deeply and the First Young Master Namgung Ryong raised his voice in a ringing cry—
The crowd erupted in applause and cheers.
"Safe travels, everyone! Namgung reigns supreme!"
"YEAAAH! Namgung reigns supreme!"
By the time the Namgung Clan's main gate had shrunk to a speck of dust in the distance, the Second Young Master Namgung Byeok drew alongside Seventh Elder Namgung Pil-su.
"Seventh Elder, I don't understand this at all."
"What don't you understand?"
"I only came along because I was afraid that fool would run wild and disgrace the clan, but what is the point of all this? We could simply negotiate with Wang Hyeon-jong over the punishment of the intruders — a straightforward matter. Why go to all this trouble......"
"Goodness, you don't understand even that? As the boy said — we are proclaiming to the world that 'the Namgung Clan lives.' But words alone won't do it. We have to show our strength."
"Sigh, exactly. And who is going to show that strength? You, Seventh Elder?"
"......?"
"Or me? Or Golden Swordhand So Se-gi?"
"Hmm......"
"Speaking frankly — if I fought that bastard, it would be over in a single breath. Surely you don't put your faith in someone like him?"
'This brat is spitting in my face.'
Even whispered, the words would have been perfectly audible — but blurting them out at full volume crossed a line.
He had been scowling from the moment they left, and now, once clear of Hefei, he was venting his complaints openly.
'Has he finally snapped?'
"Heh heh, well......"
Even Namgung Pil-su could not bring himself to scold him.
In truth, he wanted to say 'You're the one who wouldn't stand a chance against that boy,' but doing so would amount to goading children into a fight.
The preparations for the march had proceeded at lightning speed, true — but even Namgung Pil-su himself felt as though he had been bewitched, so hastily had the escort been assembled.
"Enough. The arrow has already left the bowstring. We can only trust that the Third Young Master has a plan."
"Sigh, this is maddening. I'm going to ride ahead and clear my head!"
Before anyone could speak, Namgung Byeok broke from the column and galloped off, kicking up a cloud of dust.
But moments later.
Namgung Byeok came tearing back through the dust, screaming.
Gasping for breath, barely able to speak.
"We have a problem!"
"Goodness, what is it? Calm down."
"Y-yes. Huff, huff...... the thing is."
He had noticed an unusual number of passersby carrying sabers, swords, and other weapons, and just as he was thinking it odd—
He had caught wind of every wild rumor circulating about the Namgung Clan's march.
"What......? They're saying we're going to the Flower Mountain Labyrinth Caves for rare treasures? That the secret is hidden in the revered patriarch's 'Travelogue'?"
Absurd.
Hearing this, every member of the party turned their attention not to the two speakers — but to Hyeol-u.
The entire march had been nothing more than Hyeol-u's spur-of-the-moment proposal.
So why were rumors about the Flower Mountain Labyrinth Caves and the Travelogue suddenly floating around?
"Third Young Master, did you spread those rumors?"
Even at Namgung Pil-su's blunt question, Hyeol-u showed no sign of alarm, merely tilting his head.
"Have you read the Travelogue?"
At that, the Second Young Master Namgung Byeok snorted and answered instead.
"Only someone with as much free time as you would read that. I started it and gave up — too absurd for words."
"And you, Seventh Elder?"
"Same here. It's three hundred years out of date and bears no resemblance to reality. Have you read it?"
Namgung Pil-su asked in return.
"Whatever else may be in it, the Travelogue mentions that Namgung Clan ruins from its days as a merchant house still exist near Mount Huang. Abandoned now, but......"
"Hmph. You talk as though you've been there."
Namgung Byeok sneered openly.
"Not me — but someone actually went. And what if that someone was Namgung Tae-seok?"
"Namgung...... Tae-seok?"
"Could you mean the man who left the Lone Soul Single Sword a hundred years ago?"
"What? The Lone Soul Single Sword?"
Namgung Byeok had already wiped the sneer from his face and was growing visibly alarmed.
"Let me be clear. The Travelogue contains a reference to the Flower Mountain Labyrinth Caves, and the Lone Soul Single Sword text contains a record of someone surveying those very caves — that is, the Namgung Clan's ruins."
"Then......?"
"The rumors are not entirely groundless. So — who could possibly know all this?"
"You're suggesting...... that some of the disciples who left during the crisis joined the Huizhou Merchant Guild?"
"It's possible. Pine caterpillars survive by eating pine needles, after all."
"Then what is their objective? What do you think they're after?"
Namgung Pil-su was not asking because he did not know.
He simply wanted to verify whether his own suspicions were correct.
"Killing with a borrowed blade. Blowing your nose without using your hands, as they say."
"Hmm, killing with a borrowed blade. A frightening thought."
Only then did Namgung Byeok's expression harden.
"The target could be us, or the prisoners. Or both......"
Namgung Pil-su's words hung in a heavy silence.
If they continued on this road, the danger would compound with every step, snowballing in the blink of an eye.
"Hmph! And you didn't foresee any of this before dragging us into danger?"
"If you're scared, go back. It's not too late."
"Tch, why would I?!"
Namgung Byeok exploded at Hyeol-u's words.
He was narrow-minded, impulsive, and had nothing but pride.
"If you can't handle it, you turn around! I won't stop you."
The moment their tongues loosened was the moment a vast encampment, spread along the banks of the Ryeo River like an army's bivouac, came into view.
'Quite a crowd.'
Several hundred people at minimum — standing or seated, watching the Namgung Clan's procession intently.
Among them were more than a few whose presence alone marked them as pinnacle-class masters.
On par with Seventh Elder Namgung Pil-su himself.
"A lot of people. Let's stop and rest a moment."
"Agreed. They seem to be here because of us — we should gauge their reaction."
Namgung Pil-su readily agreed to Hyeol-u's suggestion.
But then.
Among the spectators, beneath a thick weeping willow some ten paces away, a set of eyes glittered.
The handsome young man in white with his landscape-painted folding fan — seen at the Yangtze Tower inn in Ma'anshan.
Beside him, an average-looking young man of medium height in yellow.
And—
'Still traveling together.'
Unlike before, Jegal Su-ran wore a chestnut martial arts uniform with a white star emblem embroidered on the chest.
She was subtly advertising her affiliation with the Jegal Clan.
Three horses tethered to the willow tree suggested they had ridden here.
She was busily raising something to her lips and chewing.
"Miss Ran looks elegant even when eating pastries."
Jegal Su-ran glanced sideways at Sanggwan Hyeok, who had been staring openly, crunched through her confection, and turned her eyes toward Hyeol-u.
"Master Danri Myeong, that fellow seems to be Namgung Seong. Doesn't he look familiar?"
"Hm? Ah...... you're right! The one from the Yangtze Tower in Ma'anshan — with the big fellow?"
"That's him! Hoho, they say the world is vast yet small. To think that kid is the eye of the storm that's swept through the Namgung Clan — isn't it hilarious?"
"Haha, right. The penniless wretch who could barely scrape together a meal. And an illegitimate son born to a servant woman, no less?"
Sanggwan Hyeok mocked loudly and openly.
At that, Hyeol-u's brow twitched.
'If I let an insult like that slide, I don't deserve to call myself human.'
Danri Myeong seemed to notice Hyeol-u's gaze and quickly changed the subject.
"Um, Miss Ran. You said you received permission for the Ma'anshan matter?"
"Of course. Hmph! But then the Namgung Clan suddenly shut its gates, so now we're stuck chasing after these people. Then again, they're essentially the Namgung Clan's representatives now, so it doesn't matter. And if those rumors turn out to be true......"
She set down her half-eaten pastry, dusted her hands vigorously, and let her eyes gleam.
'Step out of line and I'll crush you to crumbs, just like that pastry.'
At that moment.
SCURRY—
"Oh......?!"
Geum-a burst from Hyeol-u's robes, narrowed its eyes at Jegal Su-ran's direction, and scampered away on stubby legs.
PECK, PECK-PECK.
A tiny bird that had appeared from nowhere began pecking enthusiastically at the pastry crumbs near Jegal Su-ran, who cocked her head.
"Oh my? Where did this chick come from?"
The instant the word "chick" left her lips, Geum-a stopped eating, its eyes flashing scarlet, and glared at her.
KYEE-EE—!
"Oh my? Ohoho! What a feisty little thing! What, you're angry because I called you a chick?"
"Haha, there are plenty of chicken breeds, but I've never seen a chick with a crown-shaped bump on its head."
SQUAWK, FLAP-FLAP!
When Sanggwan Hyeok doubled down, Geum-a let out a shriek and began beating its tiny wings furiously.
The repeated "chick" comments had genuinely enraged it.
"Hey, do you think it actually understands us?"
"Oh please, a chick?"
"No, really. I think it does understand...... here, do you want some more?"
She pulled a palm-sized pastry from her robes and held it out. Geum-a made a cooing noise and nodded its head.
"See! It under— oh my!"
In that instant, Jegal Su-ran cried out in surprise.
Geum-a had knocked the pastry out of her hand with a claw, snatched it up in its beak, and bolted.
"Look at that little glutton! How adorable."
Jegal Su-ran chased after the creature as it fled, stubby legs pumping and tail bobbing frantically.
Then she stopped short.
"......?"
The fleeing bird had scurried between someone's legs and hidden there.
Jegal Su-ran had been bending down, but when she saw the person's feet, she slowly straightened.
"No......"
Every trace of the doting expression was gone, replaced by a coldly upturned gaze.
She glared at Namgung Seong standing before her.
"Your thieving little chick...... hand it over."