Seolhwa drew her sword.

Yu Gang tightened his grip on his saber.

Since when?

When had they surrounded them like this?

[Be careful. These ones know how to deal with martial artists.]

They were adept at masking presence and had loosed arrows before closing for melee.

Encircling from range on all sides, too.

As the Imoogi said, these were no pushovers.

“Come out.”

Yu Gang raised his saber, pointing at the brush off the roadside to the left, his voice dropping a notch.

The bushes in his line trembled, and half a dozen men emerged.

The frontmost man swung a massive axe—whung, whung.

“Heh-heh. Higher caliber than I expected. Usually a volley like that drops one or two. Hah, what a hit to our pride.”

“Who are you?”

“If we say we’re the Sha-Slaying Gang, does that ring a bell?”

The man chuckled, ticking his axe.

Seolhwa knit her brows.

‘Sha-Slaying Gang.’

She’d heard it before.

Not from her past life—fairly recently.

‘Where was it...?’

As she traced her memory, the man raised a thumb and jabbed it at himself.

“For reference, we’re a sub-gang under the great Sado Union.”

A self-satisfied smile spread over his face.

Yu Gang’s and Seolhwa’s expressions, by contrast, went hard.

“The Sado Union... you say?”

Yu Gang knew Seolhwa was the Sado Union Lord; he tried to keep his face neutral, but a trace of alarm slipped through.

“If you understand, then hand over what you’ve got and don’t do anything foolish.”

Perhaps mistaking that for fear, the self-proclaimed Sha-Slaying man sniggered.

At that moment, Seolhwa stepped in front of Yu Gang.

When he glanced at her, he couldn’t help the slight start.

Her gaze on the Sha-Slaying Gang was cold enough to tighten even his nerves.

“Seolhwa.”

“Let me handle this.”

“...”

Yu Gang nodded.

“Don’t worry about our rear.”

Meaning he would safeguard their party and horses—she could move as she pleased.

“...Thank you.”

Leaving Yu Gang and the others behind, Seolhwa walked up on the Sha-Slaying Gang.

Her chill expression held no emotion at all.

“You said you were the Sha-Slaying Gang?”

The vague memory snapped into clarity the moment they named the Sado Union.

They were indeed a Sado Union-affiliated gang.

Not impostors borrowing the name like Green Forest had—but a real black-path force under the Sado Union.

They were among those who, in the Union’s early days, had come on their own to kneel and offer up their weapons.

“The Sado Union doesn’t stoop to filth like this.”

“You don’t know a thing! You just haven’t heard of the Shadowless Demon God who turned the Martial Alliance tournament into chaos!”

“Turned... the tournament into chaos...?”

“Yeah! Those Alliance bastards were so scared they couldn’t lay a finger on a single hair!”

Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh!

Seolhwa’s face went blank with disbelief.

She didn’t trust the Sha-Slaying Gang.

In the black world, trust was never to be handed out lightly.

Still, in her previous life they had not bowed to the Blood Sect, and they were a fairly sizable black force—so she’d returned their weapons and accepted them into the Sado Union.

What “chaos” at the tournament? And what was this about the Alliance trembling in fear?

“Are you... sure about that...?”

“Sure as steel! So don’t bother resisting! Cross us and you make an enemy of the entire Sado Union!”

“...”

“You don’t want the Sado Union as your enemy, do you?”

His mouth curled in a mean smile.

Clack—

Seolhwa slid her drawn sword back into its scabbard.

“That’s enough.”

The Sha-Slaying thugs’ faces were just starting to split in greasy grins, thinking their threats had worked—

“You lot need a beating.”

Seolhwa swung her sheathed sword—whung, whung—and advanced on them.

A dense killing aura rose off her body.

****

“Ghh—ghh...”

“Urgh...”

Pained groans leaked from here and there.

It didn’t take Seolhwa long to deal with the Sha-Slaying Gang.

Their leader’s axe displayed the skill of a peak expert—but that was it.

For all their bluster, their actual force was pathetic.

Those pummeled under Seolhwa’s sword howled for mercy on the verge of death; only when Yu Gang stepped in to stop her did they keep their lives.

While the others bound the broken gang and three stood guard, Tang Hojin ran to the nearest county office.

Tap—

He was back in under half a quarter-hour.

A sheet of paper was in his hand.

“Certification that we’ve captured the Sha-Slaying Gang. There’s even a bounty posted on them. Apparently they’ve been strangling these mountains and robbing travelers.”

Not just money, surely.

Given they’d opened with a storm of arrows, they’d no doubt taken many lives.

“This is my mistake.”

Tang Hojin bowed to the party.

He’d guided them onto a shortcut instead of a safe road; guilt showed on his face.

Yu Gang took his shoulder and raised him.

“It’s fine. No one could predict black-path raiders. More importantly...”

He looked to Seolhwa and Golden Lotus Rain.

Even after flattening the gang, Seolhwa still looked far from settled.

“We’ll rest in the nearest town tonight. We should hand them over to the authorities and report this to the Alliance.”

Tang Hojin spoke up.

“The magistrate’s men are on their way. I’ll take responsibility for turning them over and seeing it through.”

“Please do.”

Yu Gang started to say more, then closed his mouth.

He turned to Seolhwa.

“Lady Namgoong, will you stay here with Tang?”

Seolhwa nodded.

“Yes. I will.”

“...And.”

Yu Gang addressed Golden Lotus Rain last.

“Golden Lotus Rain, come with me to town. While I report to the Alliance, please find us an inn to stay at.”

“All right.”

Thus Tang Hojin and Seolhwa remained to await the county men, while Yu Gang and Golden Lotus Rain rode on ahead.

Already in the saddle, Yu Gang glanced back at Seolhwa and Tang Hojin before leaving.

“We’ll go on and wait.”

Seolhwa nodded.

His gaze lingered on her for a breath; then he turned his horse with Golden Lotus Rain and headed for town.

Clop— clop—

The hoofbeats receded.

Seolhwa let out a low sigh, sat on a rock, and waited for the magistrate’s men to arrive.

****

The constabulary arrived only after an hour to the place where the Sha-Slaying Gang lay bound.

Sensing their approach, Tang Hojin spoke to Seolhwa.

“I’ll handle it alone from here. I told them at the county office I was en route to a branch house, so there won’t be suspicion.”

The four of them were a covert investigation team dispatched under the Martial Alliance’s seal to secretly look into the Beggar’s Union.

If the Beggar’s Union—swift as it was with information—caught wind that the Alliance had sent investigators, complications might follow, so it was best to keep their tracks hidden.

They’d guarded the captives together in case of risk, but now that the constabulary had arrived, there was no need to remain at his side.

“Just in case, I’ll shadow you until you reach town.”

“Understood.”

“See you at the inn.”

Tap—

Seolhwa slipped up into a tree before the constables reached them.

Presently, several dozen constables arrived; they recoiled at the sight of the Sha-Slaying men bound hand and foot and writhing in pain.

The county magistrate who led them recognized Tang Hojin and exchanged a few words.

Then he issued orders, and they hauled the gang away toward town.

As promised, Seolhwa trailed them to town, and once they reached a secure place, she peeled off at once.

Tap— tadat—

Their lodging for the night was at Shinyang, the southernmost tip of Henan.

Wearing the mask of the Shadowless Demon God, Seolhwa headed to a small inn tucked on one side of town.

It was a hidden Sado Union branch.

****

Shinyang’s largest inn.

On the first floor, the clamor of dinnertime conversations buzzed around every table.

A server approached as Seolhwa stepped inside.

“Will you be dining only, or shall I prepare a room?”

“I have companions.”

Just then—

“This way!”

Someone waved her over from a table toward the back.

Golden Lotus Rain.

Seolhwa nodded to the server to indicate her party and walked to the seats Golden Lotus Rain had secured.

“You’re later than I expected.”

“The constables took longer than I expected.”

“Was it hard to find this place?”

“You left a marker at the village gate.”

An apple skewered by an arrow sat on a roof by the gate.

With Golden Lotus Rain’s energy on it, it would have been impossible to miss.

“The arrowhead pointed to this inn.”

“So you noticed!”

Beaming, Golden Lotus Rain looked delighted.

She poured water and slid the cup to Seolhwa.

“What did you do with the marker?”

“I removed it. Leaving a sign to indicate the spot was a good thought, but it was a bit risky. Don’t leave one next time.”

A marker imbued with internal energy?

What if someone trained in the arts had found it?

Of course, a single apple wouldn’t cause trouble—but still.

Lifting the cup, Seolhwa paused a beat and added,

“...There’s no harm in being careful.”

Golden Lotus Rain nodded.

“Right. I’m sorry.”

It was advice that might have rubbed someone the wrong way, but she accepted it with an easy smile—unfussy and positive by nature, it seemed.

After a drink of water, Seolhwa set the cup down and asked,

“Where’s the Commander?”

“He hasn’t come yet. He’ll {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} probably arrive with Tang.”

“That makes sense.”

Tang wouldn’t have seen the marker.

Yu Gang would see him safely in, surely. Then, out of the blue, Golden Lotus Rain asked:

“Could I ask you something?”

Seolhwa looked at her.

“Go ahead.”

“What are you to the Commander?”