A hundred horsemen rushed out through the open castle gate.

A flag with a blue snake embroidered on it fluttered fiercely at the forefront, and a three-eyed viper was embroidered on the backs of the warriors.

"Sect Leader, the Saman-gwi have left the outer castle."

At the messenger's report, a cold killing intent formed in the eyes of Jeok Seohwa, who was sitting on the grand master's chair in the main hall.

Tang Family's estate, Tang Cheonyeong.

The punk who had turned his son into a cripple.

As if that wasn't enough, he had declared war with a letter, demanding his son's life, and was coming towards the Blue Serpent Sect.

"An arrogant punk."

The sneer on his lips turns bitter.

At first, it was anger, but then it was bewilderment.

The full strength of the Tang Family's estate, which was said to be heading to Seongdo.

Tang Cheonyeong and five of his top men, and a hundred vagrants who had only been training in martial arts for a few years.

How on earth did he look at the Blue Serpent Sect to declare war with such a force? It was to the point where it was even trivial to deal with them. He had checked again just in case, but he was told that was the Tang family's maximum strength.

"Sect Leader, is it not necessary to summon the warriors of the branches?"

"The warriors of the branches?"

"Yes, although it is a new family, the rumors are not to be taken lightly."

"What rumors are not to be taken lightly?"

"Didn't you hear, Sect Leader? The Changlim Sword Saint called him the benefactor of the Blue Green Sect..."

"Shut up!"

One of the vassals had said with a worried face, but he only heard an angry curse.

"So? If the Changlim Sword Saint says so, and some warriors who don't even look like warriors are coming, should our Blue Serpent Sect summon the warriors of all the branches and make a fuss?"

"That's not what I meant, but to prepare."

"I said shut up!"

"..."

"Just a few kids are coming, so it's enough to have sent out a hundred Saman-gwi. What more is needed?"

"But, he is the one who did that to the young master. His skills are not ordinary. And, don't the rumors say he is a punk who is as skilled in cunning as he is called a Flood Dragon? What if that punk..."

Ppa-a-ak!

"Keuk!"

The words were followed by a scream.

The teacup that Jeok Seohwa had thrown hit the vassal's face and shattered.

"You foolish punk! Do you just run your mouth because it's open? What did you say? So? Are you telling me to be afraid because he showed some promise in a kids' fight? Or are you saying I'll be fooled by that young punk's shallow tricks!"

"Sect Leader, that's not it."

"What are you all doing! Drag that damn punk out and throw him in the dungeon right now!"

"Yes!"

The warriors who had received Jeok Seohwa's order dragged out the vassal, whose face had turned into a bloody mess.

"What a moron. To think I had a punk like that as an elder. He's just gotten old and scared, tsk tsk."

The atmosphere became desolate.

"Is there anyone else who wants to speak?"

In front of the angry Jeok Seohwa, no vassal had the courage to speak a different opinion from him again.

"Hmm, I think the Sect Leader's judgment is right."

It was the Outer Hall Master, Ja Myeon-yang. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"No matter how good he is, isn't he just a country bumpkin? He's a punk who doesn't even know what a war between sects is like. No matter how much the matter of the young master is involved, what will the Sicheon martial world say if we greet them with too much force?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"A hundred is enough. No, a hundred is too many. Soon, the leader of the Saman-gwi will return with the head of the young punk of the Tang family. So, please calm your anger."

At Ja Myeon-yang's words, Jeok Seohwa finally calms his breathing.

He was right.

There was such a thing as face in a fight between martial artists.

No matter how angry an adult was, who would look favorably on him if he used both his hands and feet to fight a child?

He would just be ridiculed.

The Saman-gwi alone were enough for the Tang Family's estate.

In fact, it was more than enough.

"Pyeongsan!"

"Yes, Sect Leader."

"Where did they say the young punk of the Tang Family's estate was?"

"They said he has passed Marutjae."

"Just?"

"Yes. It's been about an hour since the messenger's report, so considering how far he has moved so far, he probably hasn't gone more than twenty li from Marutjae."

Marutjae was a mountain pass located at the midpoint between Ganyang and Seongdo. He hadn't come far.

To think his mobility is like that.

"Then he'll meet the Saman-gwi before he crosses Sapyeong?"

"That's right."

"That's good. It's perfect for street punks to die on the street. The reeds of Sapyeong will be soaked in blood for a change."

A sneer filled Jeok Seohwa's lips, his eyes blazing with a red killing intent.

"Sect Leader, may I say a word."

"Speak."

At the request of Ja Myeon-yang, who had just calmed him down, the softened Jeok Seohwa gives his permission.

"How about we take over Ganyang on this occasion?"

"Ganyang?"

"Yes, it was a place that could be called the territory of the Unorthodox Faction from the time the Yin Hand Chamber had settled there. And fortunately, the Tang Family's estate has not chosen either side."

"I heard that too. That the young punk declared himself in-between Orthodox and Unorthodox."

"That's right. That's why the Ghost Hand returned without getting further involved before, isn't it?"

"Hmm..."

"When the Tang Family's estate had a conflict with the Lee family, didn't they get the Ongjin Ferry as compensation?"

"They did. That's when the name 'Flood Dragon' came about."

"Sect Leader, no matter how much the Lee family was at fault, is the Ongjin Ferry a place that young punk deserves to occupy?"

"That's right. The Lee family went too far. To hand over the rights to the Ongjin Ferry to a punk like that. It's not a place to give up easily."

What kind of place was the Ongjin Ferry?

It was a place where the tributary of the Yangtze River headed north and split along the inland, so it was a resting place for many merchant ships.

Naturally, if you occupied that place, you would make a huge profit.

When the rumor that the Tang Family's estate had occupied the Ongjin Ferry had spread, the reason the Unorthodox Faction had not rashly touched it, other than a few ruffians who had poked around, was because of the Lee family.

Because if they touched what the Lee family had handed over and a fight broke out, it would be tiring in many ways.

And wasn't the Lee family a secular family of the Blue Green Sect?

"The anger you must feel, Sect Leader, over the young master's injury is beyond words, but in my opinion, it might be a good thing."

"A good thing?"

"Yes."

"Why is that?"

"Thanks to that, the Tang family has declared war on the grounds of a grudge. If we take Ganyang in that fight and swallow up the rights the Tang Family's estate had, what will they say?"

"Hmm."

It was a plausible story.

It was a sufficient justification.

"And fortunately, the Blue Green Sect has sealed its gates after the Assembly of Elders. According to the law, they will not be able to take an interest in external affairs, so take over not only Ganyang but also the Ongjin Ferry on this occasion. What will the Taoist punks do after the seal is lifted? By then, the Tang Family's estate will be gone, and Ganyang and the ferry will all be ours. We just have to bribe the government officials."

"Hmm..."

Jeok Seohwa strokes his beard, calms his anger, and thinks coolly. In the corner of his narrowed eyes, he saw the Ghost Hand sitting and drinking tea.

When his son had returned injured, how upset had he been that he had been stopped from rampaging?

But the opposite was so grateful now.

What if he hadn't stopped him?

He would have charged to the Tang Family's estate in Ganyang right away, and the Blue Green Sect and the Lee family would not have just watched.

"I see. I understand your words. Thanks to the punk declaring war first, we might be able to take over the Ongjin Ferry as well."

"Of course. I'm sorry to say this, but perhaps the young master had foresight."

"Foresight?"

"Yes. If the young master hadn't been the backer of the Yin Hand Chamber, how would there have been such an opportunity? If he hadn't said at the Assembly of Elders that he was involved in the death of the Mandeok Estate's master, the young punk of the Tang family wouldn't have declared war on the Blue Serpent Sect either."

"Heh, this person."

It was an excessive leap of logic, full of flattery.

It was nothing more than a coincidence.

But how could he dislike praise for his own child?

Ja Myeon-yang's words sounded so sweet.

"Perhaps, we can more than double the size of the sect in one fell swoop."

"Double?"

"Of course. If we take over Ganyang, it leads to Ziyang, Neijiang, and Rongchang along the waterway. If we do it right, our Blue Serpent Sect can swallow up the entire southeastern part of Sicheon. Perhaps in your generation, Sect Leader, we may be compared to the Nine Dragons and the Black Heaven. The two sects."

It was as if he had been struck by lightning.

The Nine Dragons and the Black Heaven.

Along with the Blue Green Sect and Emei, they were the ones who reigned as the sky of Sicheon. A great sect that encompassed the world, unlike them.

Who hadn't dreamed of being compared to them?

It was as Ja Myeon-yang had said.

The sects located in Ziyang, Neijiang, and Rongchang were similar in scale to the Blue Serpent Sect. If the Blue Serpent Sect took over Ganyang and increased its power, it would be able to occupy the three places right away.

The southeastern part of Sicheon would fall into the hands of the Blue Serpent Sect.

"Heh! I see! That's it!"

He hadn't thought of it.

Why had he left Ganyang, which was occupied by morons like the Yin Hand Chamber, alone all this time?

Although the Beggars' Sect branch had settled there, it was because he was concerned about the sects located in the three places below.

If a useless fight broke out and they suffered damage, who knew which punk would take Ganyang by taking advantage of the situation?

So Ganyang had been peaceful all this time. With the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions coexisting.

A plan gradually took shape in Jeok Seohwa's mind.

Now, he could take over Ganyang.

The Tang Family's estate, which had declared revenge for a grudge, had declared war, and since they were fighting because of this, no one could interfere.

That was the unspoken rule of the martial world.

No one interferes in a fight that is justified by revenge.

And that was the Blue Serpent Sect's opportunity.

Jeok Seohwa's eyes, from which the anger had disappeared, began to boil with greed.

"Myeon-yang!"

"Yes! Sect Leader."

"From today, you are an elder of the Blue Serpent Sect."

"Pardon?"

"If you have the ability, you should wear clothes that suit it. To think I had someone like you as an Outer Hall Master. I have made a great mistake."

"Sect Leader!"

"From now on, be my bag of tricks and help me by my side."

"Thank you. Sect Leader! I will do my best."

It was a promotion of a whopping two steps.

It was a truly amusing thing.

Someone was imprisoned in a dungeon for a single word, and someone else was promoted for a single word.

"Do Hak-seong, listen!"

"Please command."

"Prepare the Dokgak-gwi immediately! When the news arrives that the Saman-gwi have annihilated the punks at Sapyeong, I will personally head to Ganyang with the Dokgak-gwi. I will burn the Tang Family's estate, pull out the foundation stones, and let the entire Sicheon know what it means to oppose the Blue Serpent Sect."

"I understand!"

Do Hak-seong ran out, and in Jeok Seohwa's mind, Tang Cheonyeong had changed from a damn punk who had injured his son to a grateful punk who would open up his future.

***

"This is what Baekta-nim asked me to deliver."

Cheonyeong, who had arrived at Marutjae, was handed a note by a woman with a sinister impression.

He didn't know her name.

She had just introduced herself as a Wild Cat.

A Wild Cat of the Beggars' Sect.

She had not said anything else. The woman who had handed him the note had disappeared in an instant.

"Quite something. An outstanding stealth technique."

Cheonyeong smirked, following the direction the Wild Cat had disappeared with his eyes, and unfolded the note he had been handed.

By the way, a note from Baekta.

Cheonyeong, who was reading the contents inside, laughed out loud.

A hundred Saman-gwi, will arrive at Sapyeong within two hours at the current speed. And this is the last time, so you know!

It was the movement of the Blue Serpent Sect.

Would there be no eyes and ears of the Beggars' Sect in Seongdo?

"He said he would never care and left without looking back. Anyway, he's so affectionate."

Cheonyeong smiles and puts the note in his bosom.

It seems he'll have to treat him to some well-grilled dog meat, which he likes, later.

But before that.

"So the Blue Serpent Sect Leader is coming out like this? Then I should respond accordingly."

(End of Chapter)