The next day, afternoon.

"Huh? Huh?"

A merchant selling jewelry from a stall on the lower streets of southern Dongting Lake looked puzzled at the end of the main road, then his eyes widened.

And it wasn't just him.

Passersby also jumped in alarm and moved to the sides of the street.

Men filling the main road, each carrying weapons in their hands, approaching.

"G-Gongbaek Faction?"

It was the faction of Gongbaek, a vicious ruffian.

But why were they here?

Judging by the numbers, it seemed like nearly fifty or more, with the entire faction mobilized.

"Damn, there's trouble. If something happens, it'll be big."

The merchants on the street quickly packed up their stalls with furrowed brows.

Wasn't this happening every few days?

When ruffian factions fought, they destroyed everything.

And weren't these people who didn't value human life?

With blind blades flying, no one knew who would die, so it was better to close shop on days like this.

The possibility of losing goods and losing one's life was too high.

The other merchants seemed to have similar thoughts, as they hurriedly began packing up.

"Huh? What's that?"

Just as they were closing up, commotion arose from the upper street, and people turned their heads to look.

"Bisa Faction?"

They appeared too.

"Gasp! Even Cheol-young's faction?"

The people on the street couldn't hide their surprise.

No one had expected all the factions of southern Dongting Lake to appear in one place.

Didn't each of them have their own territories?

These bastards had been fighting and causing trouble, but they had never brought out their entire factions like this.

Could it be?

Because of the Heukgal Faction that was destroyed recently?

It might be.

Wasn't this street originally the territory of the Heukgal Faction that ran the gambling den? 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Surely the remaining ones were trying to devour that territory.

But even knowing that trouble would come soon and getting involved would only mean loss, people couldn't leave the street.

Wasn't watching others fight the second most enjoyable thing after watching a fire from across the river?

The merchants who had closed their stalls and the standing passersby all maintained a safe distance and kept their attention on the movements of the three factions.

"Huh? What? Gongbaek, why are you here?"

"What about you?"

"You damn bastards, why are you here causing trouble?"

As everyone had expected, the three factions that had gathered at one point exchanged curses toward each other.

It was a critical situation.

It seemed like a fight could break out at any moment.

But strangely, they only glared at each other; no one stepped forward.

"Hey, I don't know what you came here to scavenge, but you should just leave. Your older brother has important business today, okay?"

"Ha! That's funny. Gongbaek, my business is much more important than whatever you have."

"You bastards, look at this."

Lim Cheol-young laughed and pulled out a letter from his bosom.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Gongbaek and Gong Han-su looked puzzled.

"You know the Zhuge family, right?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

At Lim Cheol-young's words, Gongbaek and Gong Han-su jumped in surprise, their eyes widening.

"This is a letter sent directly to me by the Second Young Master of that place."

"What?"

"By Zhuge Wuhui?"

"Yes, you bastards. You're finished now. That person said, ahem!"

As Lim Cheol-young proudly unfolded the letter, Gongbaek spoke as if he already knew its contents.

"Could it be? You were also summoned by Zhuge Wuhui?"

"...What?"

"Then you two as well?"

The three who had been staring blankly blinked and hurriedly unfolded their letters.

"I am Zhuge Wuhui, Second Young Master of the Zhuge family. As the main family expands its territory to Dongting Lake, I commend you for heroically protecting Dongting Lake's security all this time. Come meet me at the Green Blue Pavilion. I will treat you with respect and employ you importantly."

The contents of each letter were identical.

"What is this?"

"All three?"

"This damn..."

Their faces contorted.

Early this morning, a powerful martial artist had come directly to their sleeping quarters and delivered the letter.

They had no choice but to believe him when he identified himself as Zhuge Wuhui's messenger.

He had the skill to cleanly subdue four or five subordinates who rushed at him at once.

For those who had lived as ruffians, it was a level only dreamed of.

And when they read the letter, they were first puzzled, but soon overwhelmed with emotion.

Ah, the Zhuge family...

They saw their potential.

It was an opportunity.

There was no case of such a great faction extending its hand to ruffians.

Though they had lived at the bottom of the unorthodox sects, hadn't they always yearned for the lives of orthodox martial artists respected by people?

Why had they become ruffians?

Because there were no opportunities.

No opportunity to learn, just that they were better at fighting than others, so they became ruffians.

Such was their life.

The bottom, the lowest place.

But if they could learn even a line of martial arts from the Zhuge family?

Wouldn't their lives change?

Thinking that this was what dreams of rising fortune meant, they gathered all their subordinates to look better and headed to the Green Blue Pavilion.

Mocking the rival factions they had fought over the southern streets of Dongting Lake day after day...

But all three were summoned?

"This damn!"

Lim Cheol-young was fastest.

He suddenly turned direction and started running toward the Green Blue Pavilion.

"That bastard? Everyone, run!"

"Huh? Who said we'd lose?"

Gongbaek and Gong Han-su chased at full speed.

Nearly two hundred ruffians filled the main road of southern Dongting Lake and began a running race.

That's what greed is.

Sometimes it takes priority over all other emotions.

They were now, more than the fact that all three had been summoned by the Zhuge family, prioritizing arriving first and catching Zhuge Wuhui's eye.

"W-What is this?"

"Right? The Zhuge family?"

"The Zhuge family is absorbing ruffians? Those damn bastards?"

"No, but they were staying at the Green Blue Pavilion? Even knowing those damn bastards were tormenting us every night?"

"Ha! The chivalry of the martial world has fallen to the ground."

The expressions of the spectators who were chewing over the loud words of the three faction leaders were serious.

"But you know?"

"Huh?"

"Isn't it strange?"

It was a young man's words.

He, standing among the gathered spectators, tilted his head.

"Isn't it? That Tang Family recently?"

"Ah, that unorthodox faction?"

"Huh? Was it unorthodox?"

"Yeah, I heard it was unorthodox."

At the people's words, the young man spoke.

"Unorthodox? I heard that he saved Gongsun Cheok at the gambling den?"

"That Gongsun family head bastard?"

"I heard from a Gongsun family servant that the person who bought the Gongsun family was very close with someone named Gongsun Seung?"

"What? The young family head who died?"

"Died? That's strange. He's not."

"Huh?"

"I heard that Gongsun Seung is alive."

"What? Alive?"

People began to gather around the young man with murmurs.

"Is that really true? Is the young family head really alive?"

"That's what I heard!"

As the young man spoke firmly, the expressions of those who were surprised changed immediately.

It was longing.

They remembered Gongsun Seung.

A victim of unfortunate death, a name that recalled the old virtuous governance of the Gongsun family.

"It was the Tang Family that saved him from being killed by his uncles' cunning schemes."

"What? Is that true?"

"Yes. I heard he's returning to the family."

"Returning?"

"That's what I heard. The reason they bought the Gongsun family's estate... was because they couldn't bear to watch its collapse."

"Ah..."

"Now, because of fraternal strife, a dog-like bastard has become the family head, making this place a lawless region, but I heard the old family heads of the Gongsun family had great virtue."

"Right, right. How could I not know? I've been doing business in Dongting Lake for over ten years. I even met the young family head of the Gongsun family directly. His smiling face telling me to sell well is still vivid in my memory."

People who remembered Gongsun Seung began to add their words one by one, and memories of the good deeds the Gongsun family had done began to surface in people's minds.

Not a collapsing family, but as it was back then, called the Venerable and Virtuous Great Achievement...

The young man watching people's reactions smiled. Of course, it wasn't his real face but one changed by disguise techniques.

Who would recognize him?

Just commoners.

Now, it was time to slowly change the rumors about the Tang Family.

"Ah! Earlier, didn't I say that the Tang Family head's attack on the gambling den was to save Gongsun Cheok?"

"You did. That damn family head."

"I also heard... that the Gongsun family head went to the gambling den with the money from selling the estate, and knowing this, he did that. He said that gambling dens that devastate people's spirits should disappear. And he destroyed it?"

"What? Then the rumors were wrong?"

"I also heard it..."

Just as Cheonyeong trailed off.

"That's right, that's right. Now that I think about it, my neighbor who was addicted to gambling also quit gambling that day."

"Huh? I heard that too. I was constantly troubled by gambling debts, with Heukgal Faction bastards coming to bother me. But after the gambling den was destroyed, I'm no longer bothered."

Testimonies continued from here and there.

"Then? The Tang Family did something good?"

"Of course! Didn't they save the young family head? And even saved that damn bastard."

"And now that I think about it, Gunsan Faction being quiet is also because of the Tang Family?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I also heard that after the Tang Family made a contract with Gunsan Faction, people like us are no longer bothered."

"What?"

"Well, it was strange. Destroying a gambling den because of money?"

"Anyway. Actually, isn't it a bit strange to call them unorthodox just for that one thing?"

Now there was no need to add more words.

That's how rumors are.

Once you open the floodgates, they swell and spread on their own.

Whether true or false doesn't matter.

What's important is that they flow in a good direction.

Evil rumors about the Tang Family?

Rumors are buried by bigger rumors.

Now, the final nail.

"But what is the Zhuge family doing?"

"Huh?"

"Didn't you all see and hear? They're bringing into their faction human dregs who have been tormenting people all this time to dominate Dongting Lake."

"Ah!"

"I heard the Green Blue Pavilion is full of Zhuge family martial artists... they've been staying there for a while. Tsk tsk. The Tang Family head came alone and destroyed a gambling den, but the Zhuge bastards... sigh, who knows who the orthodox faction is?"

With those words, Cheonyeong shook his head and slipped away through the crowd of spectators.

What remained could be left to the people.

There was no need to interfere further.

Until now, rumors about the Tang Family were just hearsay, but rumors about the Zhuge family were something people had directly witnessed with their own eyes.

He had merely added a light seasoning.

A spoonful of greed for the ruffians, a spoonful of false rumors for the people.

That's how sowing discord is done.

Make it clearly visible to the eyes.

That's how people believe.

"Well, let's go see how our Second Young Master accepts this situation now."

Cheonyeong turned his steps toward the Green Blue Pavilion.

His steps were so light.

Though he wasn't wearing new shoes.

(End of Chapter)