Cheonyeong, who had come outside, walked inside the Black Scorpion Clan's branch to meet Uta.

His head clears as the wind comes and brushes past his hair.

Just as he was enjoying the night wind, the whispering of the Black Scorpion Clan warriors on guard duty reached Cheonyeong's ears.

He couldn't understand their language, and although they tried not to show it, how could he not know that what was in their eyes and expressions was fear?

It was probably because they had seen the fight with Baihe.

His expression and the momentum he emitted at that time must have seemed as if he would really kill their young chief.

Anyway, this personality of his, of always seeing a fight to the end once it starts, is a problem. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He wasn't going to kill him in the first place, so he should have just fought him enough to win.

But it would have been difficult.

Although he had been defeated by him, Baihe was not an easy opponent to face casually.

If he hadn't been close to the state of a loyal subject after passing through the Body Transformation, or if he hadn't remembered all his combat experience from his previous life, it would have been a difficult fight.

And there was a bit of luck. Since the sword had shattered at just the right time and obscured his vision, he had been able to aim for a gap.

What if the sword in his hand had been an unbreakable treasured sword and he hadn't gotten that lucky break?

"It wouldn't have been easy."

Cheonyeong smirks, thinking of the fight at that time.

Well, they are the Black Scorpion Clan, the mainstay of the Five Poisons Gate, one of the powerhouses of the outer world.

Baihe was the young chief there. He was a punk in a position where he couldn't be weak even if he wanted to.

After approaching the second stage of the Samyang Divine Art, the state of a loyal subject, he had thought that there was no one as strong as him among his peers...

Of course, if he had used hidden weapons from the beginning, the aspect of the fight would have been a little different.

But it was nothing to be proud of.

Baihe would become stronger. He didn't seem like a punk who would collapse after one defeat.

He would work hard, tenaciously.

So as not to lose again.

"Hoo, I have to get stronger than I am now. I have to be strong enough to win without using hidden weapons. As it is, I'm far from enough. Both me and the Tang family."

Cheonyeong suddenly looks up at the night sky.

There are many stars.

In the Central Plains, and all over the outer world, there will be many strong people like those stars.

Kku-uk.

Cheonyeong clenches his fist tightly.

He will become strong.

He will achieve the state of a loyal subject, a transformed body, and reach the realm beyond that to open the middle dantian.

The Samyang Divine Lord had left in his secret manual.

When the middle dantian, that is, the internal energy, reaches the Gang Gung and is activated, one can discuss being the best in the world.

"But it won't be the best in the world. Discussing and being are different."

Isn't this a life he had come back to and was living again?

Revenge against the Jinkagu is now just a part of life.

He becomes strong.

To the point where no one dares to look down on him.

He will make them strong.

So that no one can stand above the name of the Tang Family's estate.

Like that star that shines brighter than any other.

Cheonyeong clenches his fist and makes a vow several times. But a commotion reached his ears.

...The sound of horse hooves?

It was a sound coming from outside the fence.

What? Who at this time of night?

Just as he was looking around with narrowed eyes, the warriors of the Black Scorpion Clan who were staying inside the branch began to move busily.

Although they were only wearing lower garments, they still adjusted their clothes and tidied their disheveled hair.

The main gate was thrown wide open even before the sound of horse hooves had completely approached.

Seeing the warriors who had gathered in an instant line up in front of the main gate with tense expressions.

"Is someone important coming?"

Just as Cheonyeong was tilting his head.

"Huh? Uta?"

Baihe's subordinate, Uta, came running out with an urgent expression.

He had been looking for him because of Baekta's request.

"U..."

But Cheonyeong couldn't bring himself to call him.

Because he had a tense expression as if he shouldn't be called.

Uta was the hands and feet of the young chief Baihe, so his status would by no means be low.

If such a person is so tense?

"Someone much more important than I thought..."

Finally, the sound of horse hooves reached the front of the gate and stopped.

Even before the rider had set foot inside the branch.

"Chung!"

The warriors inside the branch, who were lined up on both sides, all kneel and bow their heads to the ground.

Uta was the same.

Uta, who was waiting in the middle of the two rows, right in front of the gate, bangs his head on the floor and shouts thunderously.

"Uta greets the chief!"

"...Huh?"

The words Uta shouted at the top of his lungs.

Although Cheonyeong did not know their language, was a genius a genius for nothing?

One word in Uta's words was clearly heard.

Seeing that it was similar to the title used to call Baihe...

"Wait a minute! Don't tell me? Ch-chief?"

Cheonyeong's eyes widen as he looks at the main gate.

This is a pair!

Why did the chief suddenly appear?

Don't tell me his son got hit, so he called his dad?

As if an ominous premonition always comes true, a middle-aged man with a sturdy build walks confidently along the wide-open path that Cheonyeong was staring at.

He must be angry. Or how could he be so expressionless?

He asked Uta, and Uta banged his head on the ground several times and said.

Dammit, I have to be able to understand what he's babbling about.

But suddenly, Uta jumps up and points his finger at him.

It looked as if he were tattling, saying, 'It's him. Him! He did it.'

The chief of the Black Scorpion Clan slowly turns his head and looks at Cheonyeong.

What should I do?

I'm the one who beat up your son... should I at least greet him?

Yes, as they say, if you're bright with your greetings, you look polite.

"Keuk!"

But the moment Cheonyeong met the indifferent gaze of the Black Scorpion chief, his breath caught in his throat, and his body felt as if it were freezing.

Even though he was just meeting his gaze without any intention of restraining his body, it was an enormous pressure.

Is he really the chief?

The Black Scorpion chief was one of the top powerhouses in the Five Poisons Gate, a confederation of five tribes, and he was a person who could be compared to the leaders of the Nine Factions, the Five Great Martial Families, or the famous powerhouses of the Unorthodox Faction.

But he did not avoid his gaze. Cheonyeong, who had gritted his teeth, endured the Black Scorpion chief's gaze.

And he slowly bowed his head.

Politely...

The Black Scorpion chief, who had been looking at Cheonyeong with a strange gaze, turns his head and walks, guided by Uta.

It was the place where Baihe was being treated. And behind him, the subordinates who had come with the chief followed in a line.

None of them fell behind Baihe's momentum.

It felt as if a pack of scary beasts had passed by all at once.

"Heo-eo..."

After everyone had disappeared from his sight, Cheonyeong finally lets out the breath he had been holding.

"He's not a chief for nothing."

Father and son, or adult and child.

The difference between the chief and the young chief, whom he had met in person, had that much of a gap.

And Cheonyeong.

"Rather than an adult... I guess I'm on the child's side."

As expected, the world is wide and there are many strong people.

Cheonyeong thought that he had to get stronger again.

And after a long time.

"Family Head Tang! Family Head Tang!"

Uta, who had guided the chief, came running in a hurry.

"You punk! You tattled on me..."

"You must follow me quickly."

"Pardon?"

"The chief has called for you, Family Head Tang."

"The chief?"

"Yes."

"...Why?"

"Because you defeated the young chief."

"Ah..."

It seems it's starting now.

The reprimand for the culprit who had turned his son into a bloody mess.

Dammit. What should I do?

From his expression and gaze, it seemed he was very angry with him. Should I just run away... I can't.

Aren't his party members remaining in the building where they were eating?

Moreover, Danya had been drinking until he was dead drunk.

"Hah."

Cheonyeong, who was unable to go either way, lets out a deep sigh.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked because your sigh was deep."

Uta asks with a puzzled expression.

It's because of you, you punk.

I was about to ask you earlier, but you tattled, didn't you?

You kept us with alcohol and food, and told the chief to come quickly and see the punk who beat up your son!

That's what it was, right?

Uta tilts his head as Cheonyeong glares at him.

"Why... are you looking at me with such unkind eyes?"

Would they be kind? You damn Baihe loyalist punk!

I saved you, but you repay my grace with enmity?

"First, let's go quickly."

"Do I have to go?"

"Yes. You must."

"Hah."

Unable to run away, Cheonyeong lets out a sigh and follows Uta powerlessly.

It's a tiger's den. It's a tiger's den.

I must be crazy.

I beat up someone else's son and was eating happily.

I should have beaten him a little less, gently.

The chief's personality doesn't seem ordinary, and his skills are good...

Cheonyeong fumbles with the flying needle stuck in the inner lining of his outer garment in preparation for a possible situation.

"I didn't know the chief would come in person."

"...Pardon?"

Cheonyeong, who had been walking ahead, raises his bowed head at Uta's words.

You didn't tattle?

"Perhaps he heard the news while patrolling a nearby branch."

"Of all times?"

"Pardon?"

"Ah, no. I was just talking to myself."

Cheonyeong quickly changes the subject.

It really was of all times.

Why on earth is a person who is a chief patrolling?

If you're a high-ranking person, you should use your subordinates like a high-ranking person!

"Anyway, I was also surprised. I didn't know the chief would come, so I sent all the prepared food and wine to the distinguished guests' quarters..."

His head goes blank at Uta's words.

It really was one thing after another.

This is a pair!

I should have saved some. Why did I do that!

The glutton and the drunkard have already eaten everything!

What on earth should I do?

Not only did he beat up his son, but he also ate all the wine and food of the branch.

There is no situation that is helpful.

It was Cheonyeong, whose shoulders were constantly drooping and whose sighs were only getting deeper.

"The chief seems to have a very active personality. He even patrols himself."

"Ah! That's because of a problem that has recently arisen in our Five Poisons Gate."

"Problem?"

"Hmm. Although it's an internal matter, it's an open secret, so I'll tell you, distinguished guest."

"What is it?"

"Actually, smuggling has been rampant lately."

"Smuggling?"

"Yes. The tribes belonging to our Five Poisons Gate originally control the poisons used strategically."

"I've heard that. It's a natural thing."

He had already heard it from the merchant he had first met upon entering Yunnan. And he had already known it when he was living as an assassin.

"But, some punks are secretly smuggling poisons to the Central Plains and trading them."

"The item of smuggling is then?"

"Yes. It's poison. And it's the highest quality poison that the Five Poisons Gate is managing. In the case of our Black Scorpion Clan, our main poison, the Black Scorpion, was stolen."

"Such a thing..."

"Moreover, whoever they are, they completely destroyed the habitat of the Black Scorpion, so the damage is enormous."

It couldn't be a more serious problem for Yunnan.

Not only smuggling controlled poisons, but to the extent of destroying their habitat...

At that moment, a thought flashes through Cheonyeong's mind.

"Then perhaps the Five Poisons Gate moved its branch forward to the border of Sicheon because of that?"

"How did you know that, Family Head Tang?"

"I'm a little close with the Beggars' Sect."

"Ah, I see. The Central Plains must also be watching the movements of Yunnan, just as we are."

"Yes."

"That's right. We moved forward because of the smugglers. But these punks are so meticulous that they're not easily caught, so the chief is also leading the elite and patrolling himself. The young chief was in Yeongin for that reason."

"Ah..."

Baekta's mission was resolved in an unexpected place.

If that was the reason, it was worth moving the branch forward and increasing the troops. From the perspective of Yunnan, which used poison as its main weapon, it was something they could never neglect.

And because of that, the Central Plains was on high alert.

What's left is to appease the scary dad who's angry because his son got beaten up... damn it.