Two hundred warriors from the main branch of the Blue Serpent Sect.

Among them, a hundred Saman-gwi were said to have left Seongdo to greet the Tang Family's estate.

In two hours, the Saman-gwi would meet them at Sapyeong.

Sapyeong, the dancing land.

It was a name given because the reed forest that filled the vicinity swayed in the wind as if it were dancing.

"It must be awkward for them to fight near Seongdo."

No matter how much they talked about the 'invulnerability of government officials to martial law' and how the government did not intervene in the fights of the martial world, what would happen if a large-scale battle broke out in the place where the lord of the castle resided?

What about public order, and so on.

There would be a lot of talk.

The lord of the castle would not look favorably on this.

The damage to the common people was a secondary matter; the problem would be the lord's face and prestige.

So the Blue Serpent Sect had decided to come out and greet them.

Unless they were Taoists or Buddhists, martial artists also belonged to the world. And the one who ruled the world was the emperor.

So, the martial families called the secular faction, and all the unorthodox factions except for the water bandits and green forest bandits who were already branded as criminals, could not help but be mindful of the government officials who moved under the emperor's command.

It was for the better.

"Yongcheon-ah!"

"Yes! Family Head."

"Summon the leaders." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"I understand."

Cheonyeong, who was looking at the reeds of Sapyeong, which were faintly visible below Marutjae, gathered the five leaders of the Tang Family's estate who were deployed throughout the procession.

***

"Pardon? You're going to divide the forces?"

"Yes."

"Why? Didn't you say you were going to break through head-on?"

"I did, but the situation has changed."

"The situation has changed? But didn't you say the enemies were coming here? A hundred of them."

The family members look at each other and tilt their heads.

The reason Cheonyeong had planned to break through head-on was because he had set the battlefield inside Seongdo.

A fight where you have to be mindful.

In a case like this, the homeowner is bound to be much more intimidated. The bigger the incident, the more they would have to worry about the lord's displeasure.

If worse came to worst, he was planning to use some of his old skills to grab the Blue Serpent Sect Leader's neck and threaten him.

Although he was concerned about the Ghost Hand.

But they had divided their forces.

"Over two hundred in the main branch, and five hundred including the fifteen branches. If they only sent a hundred of them..."

They were looking down on them.

The Tang Family's estate...

It was a letter of declaration of war that was no different from a provocation.

Even though their anger must have reached the heavens because he had brazenly asked for their son's life, they were ignoring them.

So it was a hundred.

Vagrants who had only been training for a few years, a young age, just a hundred warriors. Anyone would have thought so, given the publicly known strength of the Tang Family's estate.

No, on the contrary, they would think they had sufficiently saved face.

That they had sent a warrior unit with the name 'Saman-gwi' against the riffraff-like Tang Family's estate.

If the Tang Family's estate collapsed without even being able to overcome that, they would become a laughingstock of the world.

So it was even better.

Because being looked down on leads to carelessness.

"Inner Hall Master."

"Yes, Family Head."

"Lead the Hoyeon Unit, the Green Warrior Unit, and the Blue Warrior Unit and take charge of this place."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes."

"Then what about you, Family Head?"

"Me, the Vice-Family Head, the Outer Hall Master, and the Martial Arts Master. We will go ahead and observe the Blue Serpent Sect."

"Pardon? Then what about the hundred enemies that are coming?"

"You two, and a hundred warriors are enough to deal with them."

"Family Head, but the opponent..."

Sanghui's face contorts.

She was not confident.

"Sanghui-ya."

"Yes."

"The outcome of a battle is not decided by strength alone."

"I don't quite understand what you mean..."

"If you use the terrain and utilize your forces efficiently, you can defeat even the strongest enemy."

"..."

"Look at Sapyeong over there."

The reeds are dancing.

Lying down and getting up repeatedly in the strong wind.

"For punks whose confidence pierces the heavens, there will be only one path they can see. They will surely rush along that path."

"..."

"To the left and right of that wide path, there are reeds taller than a person."

At Cheonyeong's words, Sanghui looks at Sapyeong with a still-hardened expression.

One path, reeds...

"Ah!"

Sanghui's eyes widen in surprise, as if something had just flashed through his mind.

"You understand what I'm saying, right?"

"Yes."

"You know why we had to come slowly, right?"

"I know."

Sanghui's gaze turns to the carts placed throughout the procession.

Tuk.

Cheonyeong pats Sanghui's shoulder and smiles brightly.

"Don't leave any behind, use them to your heart's content."

"Yes! Family Head. The hundred from the Blue Serpent Sect... we will wipe them out without leaving any behind and will follow you."

"I trust you. I'm counting on you."

"Yes!"

Sanghui answered forcefully.

Cheonyeong looked at Sapyeong, where the reeds were dancing in the distance, and smiled coldly.

Sapyeong, the dancing land.

A place where even if human corpses were scattered everywhere, they would be hidden by the reed forest and no one would know. Today, the blood shed by the Blue Serpent Sect and their rotting corpses would become the nourishment that would make those reeds grow even taller.

Thus, Sapyeong, the land of death.

For the punks called the Saman-gwi, that place would be considered as such.

***

The sound of the hooves of about a hundred horsemen running in a long line vibrated the earth, and the dust that rose followed them like a yellow cloud that had settled on the ground.

The person at the forefront, even though the running horse could have been in danger, was not even holding the reins and had his arms crossed. He stares straight ahead with his back straight.

The leader of the Blue Serpent Sect's Saman-gwi, Ban Myo-saeng.

"Ik-seo."

"Yes! Leader."

"Did Jin-rip of the Lee family lose?"

"No one saw it directly, but the rumors say so. Listening to the words of those who had accompanied the young master to the Assembly of Elders, it doesn't seem to be a completely false rumor."

"Hmm."

At Ik-seo's words, Ban Myo-saeng's brow furrows.

The young master, Jeokseong.

He had returned on a stretcher.

Although the physician had said he would recover, even if it took a long time, his current state was no different from being half-paralyzed.

The culprit who had done that was Tang Cheonyeong.

He had heard that he had done it with overwhelming martial force. That the young master had not even been able to resist.

What's the big deal about that?

It's just because he was showing respect to the young master's status; I can do that too.

But Jin-rip, the leader of the Lee family's Jeolyeong Unit, was different.

He knew him well.

Although they were divided by Orthodox and Unorthodox, there was a time when he had admired him after seeing him fight from a distance.

A height of over six feet.

Even in front of hundreds of enemies, he did not retreat, but on the contrary, he had the spirit to charge in alone.

He didn't know for sure, but he thought Jin-rip's martial prowess would surely be within the top hundred in the southern region of Sicheon.

But Tang Cheonyeong had defeated such a Jin-rip?

It was hard to believe.

Wasn't he at a level that a mere family head of an insignificant family could not handle?

He had heard he wasn't even twenty yet.

"Whatever, it'll be fun."

Whether he was strong or weak, he was alone.

If he was a person with skills so great that it was hard to even look at him, then numbers would be meaningless, but for those with skills below that, they had great power.

"Let's see his skills, the skills of the one called the Thirteenth Dragon of Sicheon."

Ban Myo-saeng, who did not have even a speck of thought that he, no, they, would be defeated, hurries on his way.

"Speed up! We'll trample the punks at Sapyeong!"

"Yes!"

After a long while of the sound of whips hitting the horses' sides, the Saman-gwi finally entered the wide and straight road that passed through Sapyeong.

And they stopped at the end of the road.

No, they had no choice but to stop.

A road so wide that two carriages could pass each other.

Peol-leok!

A flag, planted on the road, flutters.

The pattern of a black dragon soaring powerfully into the sky was clearly visible even from a distance.

The Tang Family's estate.

And.

"A woman?"

It was a woman.

The Inner Hall Master of the Tang Family's estate, Tang Sanghui, stood with a medium-length knife of about a foot in each hand, held in a reverse grip.

And there was no one around.

She stood confidently in the middle of the road, looking at the forefront of the Saman-gwi.

"Heh! What's this?"

It was absurd.

Not only was she a woman, but she was alone?

The joke had gone too far.

Wasn't it obvious?

One road, reeds that grew tall and hid a person's appearance.

It was a trap.

They must have hidden a lot of warriors in the reeds on the left and right, with the intention of attacking them.

But to be so obvious.

Where on earth was a punk who set a trap so that the enemy would notice all his intentions?

He was young.

He was so lacking in combat experience that he couldn't even set up a proper tactic.

"Ik-seo."

"Yes, Leader. I will order them to be wary of the left and right."

Ik-seo had also noticed their obvious trap.

Their intentions had been revealed, and since their martial prowess was far superior, this trap was useless.

But he was curious.

That the one who had blocked the road to draw their attention was not the Tang Family's head, Tang Cheonyeong, but a woman.

Da-gak, da-gak.

Ban Myo-saeng, who had ordered his subordinates to be wary of the left and right, slowly rode his horse towards Sanghui.

The thing she had done was so pathetic that it was even cute, so he was planning to exchange a few words.

But she had a rather pretty face.

"My, my. You're so pretty you could be a courtesan in the red-light district."

"..."

"Hoho, now that I see it, it seems that punk, Tang Cheonyeong, has some manners. To greet a guest so politely. So, what did the Tang Family Head say? Well, he must have been scared. By now, he must have realized what a big mistake his actions were. So he sent you to offer your lower body to appease my anger. Isn't that right?"

Although the long speech was full of low-quality provocations, Sanghui's expression did not change at all.

"I am Tang Sanghui, the Inner Hall Master of the Tang Family's estate."

"Hoo? A pretty-faced woman with some manners. Of course, when you see an adult, it is proper to reveal your identity."

Sanghui, who was staring intently at the satisfiedly nodding Ban Myo-saeng, glances behind him and asks.

"Is the leader of the Saman-gwi not here yet?"

"What?"

"I don't want to exchange low-quality jokes with a punk who doesn't even have a name to reveal himself, so bring the leader."

It was a calm statement, and a clear disregard.

Ban Myo-saeng's eyes twitched slightly, but he soon corrected his expression and retorted with a smile.

"My, my, a woman who wouldn't be enough even if she took responsibility for both the drinking party and the night, you have a sharp tongue. How about it? It seems you've set a trap on the left and right... leave the fighting to them and play with me."

"..."

"Do they say only a barley field is a famous place for lovemaking? The reeds are so tall..."

"Hah."

Before Ban Myo-saeng's words were even finished, Sanghui, who couldn't hold back, let out a deep sigh.

"Damn it, I heard the fame of the Blue Serpent Sect was quite high. I was secretly looking forward to and was nervous about what kind of warrior would come. But a punk with a shit-smelling mouth came."

"Wh-what did you say?"

"If I had known this would happen, I would have followed, damn it."

"Y-you woman..."

"This woman, that woman. Stop the nonsense and go bring your leader. You punk with a shit-rag in your mouth."

Sanghui frowns as if his head is throbbing and waves his hand. As if shooing away a fly.

It goes without saying that Ban Myo-saeng's face flushed.

"You X-bitch! I am Ban Myo-saeng! The leader of the Saman-gwi is..."

"Ah! Is that so?"

Looking at Ban Myo-saeng, who was shouting and revealing his identity, Sanghui smiles brightly, revealing his even teeth.

"I thought you were just some riffraff who had come to check the situation, since you have not even a speck of dignity."

"You damn woman, just because you have a mouth!"

"Anyway, since you're the leader, it's fine."

"What?"

"If the head is missing, it's a ridiculous thing to grab the snake's tail."

"What does that mean?"

"Perhaps, even if you know it's a trap... it'll be hard to block."

The moment Ban Myo-saeng couldn't hide his bewilderment, Sanghui shouts, with the veins on his neck clearly visible.

"Attack!"

(End of Chapter)