Sword God Reborn

Chapter 99 : But How Old Are You?

"After the Red Dragon Faction, it's the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance this time?"

Gwak Cheon-hu's face crumpled. Whether Gwak Cheon-hu frowned or not, Cheon Mubaeck was nonchalant.

"Right."

"You said you came to investigate the culprit, so why are you picking fights here and there?"

"Because there's a high probability that it's them."

"Hmph. The culprit who annihilated the Sacred Fire Sect is related to the Red Dragon Faction, and this time it's the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance?"

"It's not certain."

"I'll tell my father first. But... they're not guys you can just touch like the Red Dragon Faction."

It was as Gwak Cheon-hu had said.

The Yangtze River Waterway Alliance was literally an alliance of waterway fortresses.

The Yangtze River was a huge river. How could there be only one or two waterway fortresses? The Yangtze River Waterway Alliance was a kind of alliance formed by dozens, hundreds of scattered river bandits.

Even if the waterway fortress that had kidnapped Tang Jun-pa was just one place, as Cheon Mubaeck had expected, if he struck that place, he would eventually have to face all the river bandits of the Yangtze River.

"So let's use the Flying Sword Sect's hand."

"My goodness... are you trying to bring our Flying Sword Sect to the brink of annihilation?"

"Your father is strong, isn't he?"

"Even if we win the battle, we can't win the war."

Gwak Cheon-hu ground his teeth.

As he had said, the Flying Sword Sect had a high probability of winning in battle.

Gwak Yong, who was not inferior even when competing with the Nine Sects One Gang, and who was evaluated to be close to the Ten Great Masters of the world.

But war was different.

War was a fight where the sect risked everything. What would happen if they won a few battles? If the warriors were exhausted, the sect would eventually collapse.

Cheon Mubaeck also knew that fact well.

"I mean, that's in the worst-case scenario."

"The worst?"

"Right. In the worst-case scenario, get ready to have a big fight with the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance."

"You have a plan?"

"Well, I'll have to handle it quietly this time."

"What's the plan?"

"It's not really a plan, but even if we destroy one waterway fortress. If they don't know who did it, they can't take revenge, can they?"

Cheon Mubaeck grinned.

* * *

"Regarding Tang Jun-pa's whereabouts, neither the Hao Faction nor the Beggars' Sect could give a definite opinion."

Neung-heo, who had returned after meeting with the Beggars' Sect, reported as it was.

"But they said that Tang Jun-pa's last whereabouts were cut off while crossing the Yangtze River. So there was a rumor that he might have been caught by the river bandits of the Yangtze River."

"It's not certain, is it?"

At this point, Cheon Mubaeck also took a step back. It was a really foolish thing to make an enemy of the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance with just a simple suspicion.

Although there was a clear possibility that he had been kidnapped by the river bandits, the uncertainty was great.

"Then are you not going to strike?"

Cheon Mubaeck paused for a moment and then turned his gaze to Chae Ga-ryeong.

"Eum. Ga-ryeong."

"Pardon? Yes."

Chae Ga-ryeong was greatly flustered by Cheon Mubaeck, who had suddenly called her name.

Because Cheon Mubaeck had always called her 'you' or 'there', not her name.

When he suddenly called her name, Chae Ga-ryeong, without even realizing it, became tense and her voice cracked.

Chae Ga-ryeong blushed, thinking she looked like a fool. But Cheon Mubaeck, as if he didn't care at all, asked indifferently.

"Is Tang Jun-pa's martial prowess so weak that he would be caught by river bandits?"

"Well. I heard that he is at least at the first-rate level. On top of that, since he is a person who is good at using poison..."

First-rate was ambiguous. Although he didn't know the level of the river bandits, there was a possibility that he could be kidnapped on a boat. If they cast a net and repeatedly submerged him in the water and then pulled him out, wouldn't even a peak master lose his mind?

Was it a false rumor, or was it the truth?

It was probably a false rumor.

"But, my lord."

"Why."

"The Water Dragon Fortress, which is active around the Jialing River, is famous here."

"Famous?"

"Because they use the eel poison of the Yangtze River amazingly well."

"You mean the poison of the ten-thousand-mile Yangtze River?"

Cheon Mubaeck said, fumbling through his mind.

"Do you know?"

"I do. It's a creature that has poison, an eel, not a pufferfish. Among them, the one that has lived for dozens of years has a poison pill like an elixir, like a spiritual creature, so it is treated as a spiritual creature by poisoners."

"It's a common thing for the black-way to use poison... but after investigating, I found out that the ten-thousand-mile Yangtze River poison is not that easy to handle, and that they can't secure a large enough amount to use it in battle."

At Neung-heo's words, Cheon Mubaeck slowly nodded his head. Although poison was not his specialty, Cheon Mubaeck had more knowledge than most poisoners.

"A deadly poison that is said to kill an elephant in Yunnan with just one drop, and they use it freely?"

"Yes. So the reputation of the nearby Water Dragon Fortress is soaring to the sky. Not only that. I heard that its position within the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance has also risen sharply."

"Since when?"

"It hasn't been that long. Since a month ago."

Chae Ga-ryeong tilted her head.

"My master disappeared about two years ago."

Cheon Mubaeck turned his head to Neung-heo again.

"Did they use the eel poison before?"

"That, before that, it was just one of those ordinary river bandit fortresses. I heard that it was almost destroyed once by a government raid."

Neung-heo lowered his voice.

"It smells fishy, but if they kidnapped him two years ago and started using the poison a month ago..."

"I'll have to find out the detailed circumstances, but the fact that they use the poison of the ten-thousand-mile Yangtze River freely bothers me."

Cheon Mubaeck smirked. Even if it was too much to kidnap him, for example, they might have taken something like a secret manual for handling Tang Jun-pa's poison. Perhaps the two years were a time to figure out how to handle the poison.

A minimal connection was seen.

"Then we have to move."

"But, my lord. Are you really going to fight with the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance?"

"Why."

What was revealed on Neung-heo's face was clear worry.

"No, of course, I don't think my lord will lose... but it's the Waterway Alliance. It's now well known that my lord is the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero and the son of the Azure Star Escort Agency. Even if they can't take revenge on my lord, it would be a piece of cake for the surviving river bandits to interfere with the escort agency's escort missions."

That's right.

It wasn't just the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance. The black-way guys were surprisingly good at getting along in things like this. Even if they usually fought over one interest, when an external enemy appeared, they strangely combined their strength well.

And it wasn't just about stirring up one waterway fortress, but about making an enemy of the entire Yangtze River Waterway Alliance...

"It's a damn troublesome thing."

Cheon Mubaeck muttered so and then asked Chae Ga-ryeong.

"When you first saw me and Neung-heo here, what kind of relationship did we seem to have?"

"Pardon? Ah..."

A question without context.

Chae Ga-ryeong quickly looked back and forth between Cheon Mubaeck and Neung-heo.

Then she glanced at Neung-heo and said as if she were muttering.

"An escort warrior and a rich young master?"

"An escort warrior? Really?"

"Eum. No. Actually... like a servant..."

"Heo!"

Neung-heo let out a sigh as if he were dumbfounded. Although he felt like his insides were turning upside down, he seemed unable to vent his anger at Chae Ga-ryeong and looked frustrated.

Cheon Mubaeck smirked.

"Alright, then what about now?"

"Pardon?"

"Just tell me what you see now."

Chae Ga-ryeong tilted her head and looked at Cheon Mubaeck again.

Chae Ga-ryeong, who had thought that there was nothing to change, flinched for a moment.

There was no change in their appearance. But a strangely different atmosphere was felt.

Until now, what Chae Ga-ryeong had felt from Cheon Mubaeck was something noble.

So there was definitely a soft and comfortable atmosphere, but at the same time, there was a coexistence of a pressure that made it difficult to approach him easily.

That was the strange feeling that Chae Ga-ryeong, who was of the same age, found difficult.

But now...

"Uh, a rich young master who was kidnapped by the black-way?"

"...Miss. Why did you suddenly change like that?"

Neung-heo let out a deflated sound.

"That's just how it feels."

"It's fine. I've controlled my momentum."

Cheon Mubaeck said with a smirk.

"Neung-heo, get me a human-skin mask through the Hao Faction."

"Pardon? A human-skin mask?"

"Or should I fix your face a little? I know about bone-shrinking art."

"Phew, no. That painful thing. Yes. I'll get it."

"With a moderately gentle impression."

Although Neung-heo narrowed his eyes, he obediently followed his will.

Because Cheon Mubaeck was not a person who moved without a plan.

He must have come up with some plan again.

* * *

In order to strike the Water Dragon Fortress, there was the biggest obstacle.

"We don't know the location. There's a story that it's an island on the Yangtze River, and there's also a story that it's built on a riverbank."

They did not know the exact location of the Water Dragon Fortress.

Whether they were shouting that they had hidden Tang Jun-pa, or whatever they were doing, they had to first clash with the Water Dragon Fortress.

But since they did not know the location, it was an obstacle from the start.

Although the Beggars' Sect had said they would release the beggars, if a beggar appeared on the Yangtze River, it was obvious that they would be suspected of being a Beggars' Sect member, so it would take time to gather information.

Although Cheon Mubaeck had investigated in various ways through the Flying Sword Sect and the Hao Faction, it was not easy.

So he decided to find it himself.

"Look for a fishing village that has not been harmed by the river bandits."

"A fishing village?"

"Right. The river bandits usually rob merchant groups that are on escort or business trips, but when business is bad, they rob fishing villages, right? There must be a fishing village among them that has never been robbed or has been almost safe."

Indeed, it was as Cheon Mubaeck had said.

"There's a fishing village called the Yu-ga-chon, but it has never been plundered."

"We're going here."

It just took some time to set a goal.

When he was convinced, Cheon Mubaeck moved faster than anyone else.

"Neung-heo, you wear the human-skin mask."

"What about my lord?"

"I don't need it."

Cheon Mubaeck turned his head. A ripple appeared on Neung-heo's face.

"Uh... there's no change, but it has changed?"

"Even if just the corners of a person's eyes change, or just the bridge of the nose changes, and just the corners of the mouth change slightly, a person's impression changes."

Cheon Mubaeck had changed to an impression that was a little more gentle than usual, and on the contrary, an impression that emphasized a much younger feeling.

How could it be, when even Neung-heo, who had always been by his side, had tilted his head for a moment?

"And let's go together."

Cheon Mubaeck said to Chae Ga-ryeong and Yeon So-un.

"Us too?"

"Who else here knows Tang Jun-pa's face?"

"Yes! I'll go!"

Chae Ga-ryeong, as if she were happy that she could be of some help, nodded her head quickly. For her, it was a wish she had not dared to ask for. He was the benefactor who had led her on the path of a physician. He was another father who had protected her despite the rules of The Odorless Medical Hall and the numerous oppositions.

If he were alive, it was her duty to visit him. She did not believe that he had spread the poison himself. She believed that he was suffering from the threats of the river bandits.

So she wanted to see it clearly with her own two eyes. Not only that, she wanted to be of help in catching the culprits who had annihilated her family and sect.

She was realistic. She did not believe that she could take revenge herself. But she believed that she could at least be of help in the revenge, and she was thinking of acting so.

"First, we'll move to that fishing village. But, we'll disguise ourselves here."

"A fishing village? Can we find out if we go there?"

Cheon Mubaeck grinned.

"A fishing village that has never been plundered by river bandits. Isn't it funny?"

"...?"

"A fisherman and a river bandit are a hair's breadth apart. If you're hungry, you become a river bandit, and if you're full, you become a fisherman. Even if they are not the Water Dragon Fortress, they will have a connection, secretly doing river banditry."

"Ah..."

"And in the meantime, what would their reaction be if they were told that the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero had appeared? They would hide it thoroughly."

Chae Ga-ryeong looked at Cheon Mubaeck with an admiring gaze.

"So we'll disguise ourselves. Neung-heo, you're the uncle who is taking the young kids who have come out of some house and showing them around."

"Me?"

"Right."

"Alright. Call me uncle."

"..."

"Then what about me?"

Chae Ga-ryeong's eyes sparkled. Neung-heo answered instead.

"A brother and sister would suit you two. Just right. The role of an uncle who is taking the brother and sister who have come out on a trip from a rich family far away and showing them around. You, uh, the role of an escort warrior would be good. Because your impression is cold, it's just right."

"Aha."

Neung-heo was the uncle, Cheon Mubaeck and Chae Ga-ryeong were the brother and sister, and Yeon So-un was the escort warrior.

Chae Ga-ryeong nodded her head and then looked at Cheon Mubaeck.

Perhaps because his impression had changed, Chae Ga-ryeong was not as difficult as before.

On the contrary, her eyes were full of curiosity.

"Excuse me."

"What is it?"

"But how old are you?"

"...!"

"Shouldn't I be the older sister?"

Cheon Mubaeck was silent, and Neung-heo held his stomach and laughed.

(End of Chapter)