CHAPTER 05

The maids waiting outside the room were startled by the sudden barrage of blows coming from inside, like an unexpected rain shower.

What is that sound?

What on earth is happening?

They wanted to hurry inside and check what was going on, but because of Heo Cheon’s earlier order, all they could do was nervously fidget where they stood.

Just then, a group of people arrived.

They were the martial artists of the Heo Family Manor, led by Chief Steward Im Ho-pil.

“What is going on here?”

“Chief Steward, the thing is…”

One of the maids explained the current situation.

After hearing the entire story, Im Ho-pil stared at the room with a grim expression.

“The Young Master…”

“Chief Steward, shouldn’t you go inside and stop him, even now?”

One of the martial artists standing behind him spoke up.

Even now, the only sound coming from inside was an unnatural barrage of blows that was far too violent to be called medical treatment.

Honestly, if Im Ho-pil had not been there, they would have already gone inside to check.

The other martial artists felt the same way, even though they said nothing.

Im Ho-pil glared at them.

“Did none of you hear him? The Young Master ordered everyone not to enter, did he not? Surely you don’t intend to defy the Young Master’s orders?”

“Well…”

“Everyone, just do as you were told and wait quietly. Surely… surely the Young Master has a reason for doing this.”

The last part was something Im Ho-pil was saying to reassure himself as well.

He knew that Heo Cheon had returned as a martial arts master of an unbelievable caliber.

However, he had only confirmed that fact indirectly. He had never personally witnessed Heo Cheon’s martial prowess, so he could not help but feel uneasy.

Still, thanks to his long experience and the years of wisdom he had accumulated in the martial world, Im Ho-pil could make a rough guess about what Heo Cheon was doing inside.

This must be the Circulating Qi and Passing the Acupoints Technique!

The Circulating Qi and Passing the Acupoints Technique was considered the best method for treating someone who had suffered internal injuries and fallen unconscious.

However, the practitioner had to regulate their qi precisely, neither using too little nor too much. Moreover, because the process took quite a long time, it consumed a considerable amount of internal energy.

But is that really how the technique is supposed to be performed?

The Circulating Qi and Passing the Acupoints Technique that Im Ho-pil knew involved gently rubbing and striking the entire body, pushing and tapping to clear blocked qi and blood pathways, loosening tense muscles, and stimulating the blood vessels and acupoints to return displaced internal organs to their proper positions.

He had never heard of anyone beating a person as noisily as if they were a stray dog.

There must be… there must be some unique method known only to the Young Master. Yes, that must be it.

He desperately tried to reassure himself, but as time dragged on, Im Ho-pil grew increasingly anxious.

Please… please let there be no problems…!

Meanwhile, Heo Cheon’s treatment continued.

The barrage of blows that seemed as though it would never end finally stopped after an hour and a half.

A heavy silence descended upon the corridor.

The tension was so thick that no one dared speak.

Then Heo Cheon’s voice suddenly came from inside.

“Come in, Chief Steward. Everyone else, continue waiting outside.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Heo Cheon’s call, Im Ho-pil immediately entered the room.

The first thing he noticed was Heo Jung-man’s complexion.

Perhaps because of his long confinement to bed, his complexion had usually been dull and dark, beyond merely being pale.

Now, however, it had improved remarkably.

His breathing had also become much steadier than before.

He certainly did not look like someone who had just spent an hour and a half being mercilessly beaten.

As I thought! It really was the Circulating Qi and Passing the Acupoints Technique!

After confirming that his guess had been correct, Im Ho-pil inwardly breathed a sigh of relief before turning his attention to Heo Cheon.

Despite having performed the technique for such a long time—a process that should have consumed considerable mental energy and internal power—Heo Cheon looked perfectly fine.

He had not even broken a sweat.

It was impossible to tell whether the treatment had been easy or difficult for him, but one thing was certain: Heo Jung-man’s condition appeared to have improved.

Im Ho-pil cautiously asked,

“Did the treatment of the Manor Lord go well?”

“More or less. We’ll have to keep an eye on him for a while longer, but he’s made it past the worst of it.”

“When you say he’s made it past the worst… could that mean…?”

Heo Cheon nodded.

“He’s no longer in danger from qi deviation.”

“Ahhh…!”

At Heo Cheon’s firm declaration, Im Ho-pil immediately let out a cry of relief.

For the past four years, how much had he worried that Heo Jung-man, lying unconscious, might never wake up?

Knowing how much suffering Im Ho-pil had endured during those years, Heo Cheon quietly patted him on the shoulder as if to say he had done well.

“Uegh—!”

Suddenly, Heo Jung-man let out a retching sound and vomited more than a bowlful of dark, congested blood.

It was stagnant blood that had accumulated inside his body due to the internal injuries caused by qi deviation.

Heo Cheon quickly brought over a clean cloth and wiped away the blood, while Im Ho-pil helped from the side.

In the midst of this, Heo Jung-man vomited another mouthful of dark blood.

Worried that the blood might block his throat, Heo Cheon and Im Ho-pil quickly and carefully raised Heo Jung-man’s upper body.

Not long afterward—

“Umm…”

“Master!”

“Father!”

With a low groan, Heo Jung-man slowly opened his eyes.

“Ch-Cheon…”

“Yes, Father.”

Heo Cheon immediately answered his father’s call.

Heo Jung-man stared at him for a long while, his eyes filled with a complicated mixture of emotions.

Then he asked,

“…Have you eaten?”

“Say that again. What happened to that Yeo fellow?”

The leader of the Golden Tiger Gang, Jeon Baek-gwang, tilted his head in confusion.

In response to his question, the subordinate kneeling before him said,

“He is currently being detained at the Heo Family Manor along with his men.”

“How did that happen? Isn’t the Heo Family Manor nothing more than a gathering of old geezers and a bunch of mediocre martial artists at best? Even the Heo Family Manor Lord, supposedly their strongest fighter, has been secluded for several years now for some unknown reason.”

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason Yeo Chang-hae, who had reached the middle stage of the First-Class Realm, should have been captured.

“According to what we found out, the eldest son of the Heo Family Manor returned this morning.”

“The eldest son? The one who disappeared more than thirty years ago and was said to have died? Huh. He actually managed to come back alive. Then was he the one who defeated Yeo Chang-hae?”

“Yes. Judging from the circumstances, that seems highly likely.”

“Tch. An unexpected variable. This is becoming troublesome.”

Hangzhou did not have a single dominant sect that could be called its absolute ruler. Instead, numerous small and medium-sized martial organizations each controlled their own territories while keeping one another in check.

Because of that, if one organization attacked another without a proper justification, it was likely to attract the attention and opposition of the others.

Jeon Baek-gwang had made his living in the dark side of the martial world before bringing his followers together and establishing the Golden Tiger Gang five years ago.

He had succeeded in expanding his influence to some degree through gambling houses and loan-sharking, but he had been unable to grow any further because of this peculiar deadlock.

For someone like Jeon Baek-gwang, who dreamed of someday monopolizing the night of Hangzhou, the situation was intolerable.

That was why he had decided to use Yeo Chang-hae.

Jeon Baek-gwang’s plan had been simple.

Yeo Chang-hae’s ancestor and the founder of the Heo Family Manor had been fellow disciples.

Therefore, even if a conflict arose between them, it could be regarded as an internal family matter, making it difficult for outside forces to interfere.

But Yeo Chang-hae was actually affiliated with the Golden Tiger Gang.

More precisely, because of his extreme extravagance and gambling debts, he had recklessly borrowed money from the Golden Tiger Gang’s loan-sharking operation and failed to repay it, leaving him forcibly bound to the gang through a debtor-creditor relationship.

Regardless, putting Yeo Chang-hae at the forefront was convenient in many ways.

If he won?

They could simply absorb the Heo Family Manor’s influence.

But what if Yeo Chang-hae was defeated?

Then the Golden Tiger Gang could intervene under the pretext of preventing further conflict between the two sides and take a share of the spoils.

Either way, there was nothing for the Golden Tiger Gang to lose.

Yet an unexpected variable had appeared in their otherwise smooth plan.

“Should we mobilize the men right away?”

“Stay put for now. Although that Yeo Chang-hae fellow is crazy about gambling, he was still quite formidable, wasn’t he? If someone was strong enough to subdue him, then his opponent must be no ordinary person either. It won’t be too late to act after we first find out exactly who we’re dealing with.”

His subordinate nodded at Jeon Baek-gwang’s cautious words.

“Yes. Then I’ll immediately contact the Hao Sect…”

BOOM—!

Before he could finish speaking, the subordinate was struck by the debris of a wall that had been smashed apart with a tremendous crash.

He slammed his head against the rubble and passed out on the spot.

Meanwhile, a figure wearing a black robe and a bamboo hat slowly walked through the collapsed wall.

Instead of panicking at the sudden situation, Jeon Baek-gwang quickly drew the willow-leaf saber that had been resting beside his chair and shouted,

“Is there no one here?!”

“You can shout all you want, but no one’s coming, so stop wasting your breath.”

Flinch!

Did he take them all down?

For a moment, Jeon Baek-gwang wondered if he had heard correctly.

Even Jeon Baek-gwang himself would have found it difficult to defeat all one hundred or so members of the Golden Tiger Gang by himself.

To have disposed of them all this quickly was simply inconceivable.

He’s a master! An extremely powerful master!

With his throat dry from the overwhelming tension, Jeon Baek-gwang swallowed hard and asked,

“Who are you? No… just who in the world are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am. You’re the gang leader here, right?”

“Judging by your voice, you sound younger than me, but your manner of speaking is rather disrespectful.”

“You’re the one who’s younger, not me. You piece of trash.”

“What?”

Thud!

“Hngh?”

The instant the man in the bamboo hat disappeared from in front of him, a sharp sensation shot through Jeon Baek-gwang’s back, and his entire body stiffened.

Clang—

The willow-leaf saber in his hand fell to the floor.

Then, as he helplessly collapsed onto the ground, the man in the bamboo hat—Heo Cheon—placed his palm over his head and said,

“No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like that Yeo Chang-hae—or whatever his name was—could have planned this whole thing by himself. No matter how easy our Heo Family Manor might look to outsiders, we’re not exactly a target that someone like him could casually mess with.”

Target?

Jeon Baek-gwang flinched at the unfamiliar expression, but Heo Cheon continued without paying it any attention.

“There’s definitely someone else behind this. I figured that much out, and when I squeezed a few of his men for information, your name came up immediately.”

Damn those useless gamblers…!

Yeo Chang-hae was severely addicted to gambling and frequented gambling houses as casually as someone might eat a meal.

Naturally, most of the men who followed him were gamblers addicted to the same vice.

Faced with the threat of death, such people had probably revealed everything they knew just to save their own lives, regardless of loyalty or honor.

“I’ve only just returned to my hometown after a long time. It would be rather unpleasant to just stand by while filthy trash like you scurries around nearby, wouldn’t it? So…”

Squeeze—

“I figured I might as well clean everything up while I’m at it.”

The moment he finished speaking, the pressure against Jeon Baek-gwang’s head increased.

Sensing that his life was in danger, Jeon Baek-gwang hurriedly pleaded for his life.

“P-Please spare me! I’ll never do anything foolish against the Heo Family Manor again, so please, just spare my life! If you want, I’ll even hand over my entire fortune!”

“You’re really scared, aren’t you? Do you think I’m some heartless murderer without an ounce of compassion? I once dreamed of becoming a chivalrous hero, so I’ll make a special exception and spare your life. Don’t worry too much.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course.”

At Heo Cheon’s confident assurance, Jeon Baek-gwang’s expression brightened considerably.

“Thank you—no, thank you very much, sir! I will never forget this kindness!”

“Hey, don’t be so grateful. It might actually be better for you if you were dead.”

“What?”

RUMBLE—!

Before Jeon Baek-gwang could even voice his confusion at Heo Cheon’s cryptic words, a blinding pain exploded inside his head, accompanied by a thunderclap that seemed to shatter his skull.

It was caused by Heo Cheon’s internal energy, which had entered through the Baihui Acupoint and violently ravaged his mind.

The brain was the most sensitive and important organ in the human body.

There was no need to explain what it meant for that organ to be damaged.

“Guaaahhh…”

With an incomprehensible groan, Jeon Baek-gwang collapsed face-first onto the floor.

Heo Cheon silently looked down at him as he writhed weakly on the ground like a worm.

Then, at some point, Heo Cheon vanished like smoke.

And not long afterward—

CRASH—!

With a tremendous roar, the building collapsed completely.

The next day, news spread throughout Hangzhou that Jeon Baek-gwang, the leader of the Golden Tiger Gang, had been reduced to an idiot overnight.

Since the Golden Tiger Gang’s base had been completely devastated in the middle of the night, there was no way the incident could remain a secret.

With its leader gone, the Golden Tiger Gang was immediately dissolved, and all of the gambling houses and loan-sharking businesses they had operated also closed down.

Countless arguments broke out over who could have been responsible for the incident, but no one could easily reach a conclusion.

At first, the Heo Family Manor’s name was briefly mentioned, but it was soon pushed aside.

Although Yeo Chang-hae, who had recently clashed with the Heo Family Manor, was affiliated with the Golden Tiger Gang, few people knew that fact.

Moreover, the martial prowess of the Heo Family Manor Lord, who was known as the strongest fighter in the manor, was at best around the middle stage of the First-Class Realm.

By contrast, Golden Tiger Gang Leader Jeon Baek-gwang had already surpassed the late stage of the First-Class Realm and was approaching the Peak Realm.

It simply made no sense for someone like him to have been defeated by the Heo Family Manor Lord and reduced to an idiot.

Thus, the Heo Family Manor was naturally eliminated from the list of suspects.

Meanwhile, Heo Cheon shared the joy of reunion with his family, whom he had finally met again after so many years.