The Black Serpent Gang Incident
This all began when Ma Jong-hwan, known as the Living-Dead Monster, one of the most renowned physicians of his time, prepared an elixir on commission from Go Ju-yong, the Black Serpent Blade, lord of the Black Serpent Gang and ruler of the southwest of Guizhou.
Promised a handsome reward, Ma Jong-hwan produced an elixir of excellent quality, true to his reputation. His skill was so impressive that Go Ju-yong invited him to join the Black Serpent Gang.
But to Ma Jong-hwan, who was hailed as the foremost of the wandering physicians of the martial world, the gang of a backwater ruler in Guizhou was beneath him. Naturally, he refused.
That refusal sowed a deep grudge in Go Ju-yong's heart.
While investigating Ma Jong-hwan's weaknesses, he discovered that the physician was secretly preparing a pill of his own unique creation.
In truth, Ma Jong-hwan had only accepted Go Ju-yong's earlier commission because he needed the money to complete this very pill.
Once Go Ju-yong learned this, he acted at once. He secretly stalked Ma Jong-hwan, waited until the pill was finished, then ambushed him.
Though not without martial skill, Ma Jong-hwan barely managed to escape with the pill. His children, however, were not so fortunate.
His two daughters (though some whispered it was a son and a daughter) were seized by Go Ju-yong.
Predictably, Go Ju-yong sought to use them as hostages. If Ma Jong-hwan wished to save them, he would hand over the pill.
A normal father might have wept, surrendered the pill, and exchanged it for his children. But Ma Jong-hwan was no ordinary father.
So eccentric was he that the word Monster was part of his epithet—the Living-Dead Monster, Ma Jong-hwan.
Enraged, not only did he refuse, he placed a bounty across the martial world, offering five of his pills—each surpassing even a Summoning Pill—to anyone who would kill Go Ju-yong.
Stunned, Go Ju-yong hastily mobilized the full strength of the Black Serpent Gang to hunt him down.
If he didn't, he risked drawing the eyes of powerful masters, far beyond his ability to handle.
Now, to survive, he had no choice but to capture Ma Jong-hwan quickly.
When I finished explaining this, Bi Sa-yeong frowned and asked,
"Alright, I get it. But what does any of this have to do with us sneaking around outside the Black Serpent Gang's walls on our hard-earned leave?"
I gave him a stern look and scolded,
"Sa-yeong! Don't tell me that as a disciple of the righteous and prestigious Bi Sect, you hear such an unjust tale and feel nothing? If so, I'm disappointed in you! I've always taken pride in training alongside someone learning the Bi Sect's noble arts, and yet—!"
At that, Bi Sa-yeong squeezed his eyes shut in surrender.
"Fine! Enough already! I'll do it, alright?!"
Before Bae Jong-gwan could speak up, I cut him off with equal solemnity.
"Surely you, Jong-gwan—practitioner of the Diamond Indestructible Art of the mighty Diamond Indestructible Sect—agree with me? Don't you?"
Deflated, he nodded weakly.
Beside us, Captain Seol Pung muttered with a resigned expression,
"…I was never part of any righteous sect."
"Anyway!" I declared. "That's why we're here—to set true justice against this injustice and cruelty!"
Of course, after justice was served, I wouldn't mind walking away with a few pills. But that wasn't the important part.
What mattered here was justice.
(When Captain Seol Pung muttered again, "I only came because someone promised me a feast afterward," I simply ignored it.)
Bi Sa-yeong pressed on,
"Even so, shouldn't we be looking for Ma Jong-hwan himself to help him? Why sneak here instead?"
I wagged my finger knowingly.
"Think. Why didn't Ma Jong-hwan trade the pill for his children? Why put out a bounty instead?"
"…Because he's eccentric?"
Bi Sa-yeong's answer wasn't entirely wrong. The entire martial world believed as much.
But with my memories of my past life, I knew better.
"If he gave up the pill, do you think Go Ju-yong would really let him and his daughters go? This man who could make such pills again and again?"
"…Huh?"
"Ah!"
"That makes sense!"
Exactly. Go Ju-yong, who had betrayed even a recent business partner, would never keep such a promise.
Bi Sa-yeong's eyes widened with realization.
"So Ma Jong-hwan already knew Go Ju-yong would never keep his word?"
"Precisely. And more—by doing this, he made his daughters seem worthless as hostages. He forced Go Ju-yong to lose interest in them."
"I see! That way, the focus shifts entirely to the pill and Go Ju-yong himself."
Captain Seol Pung and Bi Sa-yeong nodded in admiration.
Bae Jong-gwan still looked confused, but I let it slide. He didn't need to grasp all of it right now.
In my past life, Ma Jong-hwan's gambit had succeeded—halfway.
A master had come seeking the pill, annihilated Go Ju-yong and his men.
But afterward, in his rage, Go Ju-yong's son Go Mu-sang murdered Ma Jong-hwan's daughters.
The tragedy ended with Ma Jong-hwan vowing, in tears of blood, to serve for life the one who would wipe out the Black Serpent Gang.
And indeed, he fulfilled that vow—when the gang was utterly erased.
Captain Seol Pung's eyes hardened.
"Then our first task is to rescue Ma Jong-hwan's daughters."
As expected of our captain.
I smiled and nodded.
"Exactly, Captain."
Bi Sa-yeong frowned.
"But how? The Black Serpent Gang is one of the Eight Powers of Guizhou, among the strongest sects in the province. Just us? And how do we even know where the girls are being held?"
A good question. That was why I'd visited the Hao Sect branch earlier.
"Normally, yes, it'd be impossible. But right now, Go Ju-yong has taken most of the gang's forces out to chase Ma Jong-hwan. In other words, the headquarters is practically empty. And thanks to the Hao Sect, I narrowed down three likely locations: the dungeon, a storage building, and a secret chamber in Go Ju-yong's residence. We'll split up and search them all."
I sketched the gang's layout in the dirt, marking the three spots.
"The dungeon will be most heavily guarded, so Captain, that's yours. Sa-yeong, you take the storage—least guarded. I'll check the secret chamber in Go Ju-yong's quarters."
The captain and Sa-yeong nodded with determination. Bae Jong-gwan, glancing nervously at me, asked,
"Uh… then what about me? What do I do?"
I fixed him with a blazing look.
"A fine question, Jong-gwan. You will carry out the most important task—one only you can do."
"T-the most important…?"
At the Black Serpent Gang's front gate, eight armed guards lounged with yawns.
"Two nights in a row of night watch—my body's breaking down."
"And tomorrow again. If they don't catch that damn Living-Dead Monster, we'll be stuck here forever."
"Just thinking about it makes me sick. All this over that raccoon-looking bastard. They'd better catch him soon."
"Hmph. Strictly speaking, he's not the one in the wrong. Isn't it the Lord's greed, wanting to snatch his pill? And it was the Lord who dragged off all our men to chase him, too."
"Careful! Are you mad? What if someone hears you?"
"Who'd hear? Just us. Besides, I heard his kids are real beauties. Should we sneak a taste while no one's looking?"
"Heh heh heh! You're crazy."
While they muttered, a massive shadow loomed in the distance.
"What the—what's that?!"
"Huh?!"
They squinted—and saw a hulking, musclebound giant striding toward the gate.
His destination was clear: the Black Serpent Gang's front entrance.
One guard barked,
"Stop! State your name and purpose! What business have you here at this hour?!"
The giant halted and bellowed,
"I am Bae Jong-gwan of the Diamond Indestructible Sect! I have long admired the Black Serpent Gang, and upon descending from the mountains, I came here at once to join you! Take me to your Lord!"
The guards stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Diamond… what? Diamond Indestructible Sect?"
"You came to join? At this hour of night?"
"Meet the Lord? Are you insane?"
But Bae Jong-gwan, under Seonu Jin's strict orders to be as brazen as possible, paid no attention to their reactions.
Instead, he raised his voice even louder.
"I've come a long way on foot to get here! Take me to the Lord at once!"
The sheer volume of his booming voice made one of the guards scowl as he tried to reason with him.
"Look, if you want to join, come back in the morning. Showing up in the middle of the night like this only makes you suspicious. And besides, even if you were accepted, how could you meet the Lord? Even we rarely get to see him."
The guard's words were perfectly logical.
For Bae Jong-gwan, thinking up an answer on the spot would have been nearly impossible.
But Seonu Jin had already warned him—ignore all complicated questions.
So he did.
"I am Bae Jong-gwan of the Diamond Indestructible Sect! Take me to the Lord immediately! I said, at once!"
Now the gate guards finally realized something was wrong with this man.
Their faces hardened, their voices turning menacing.
"Shut your mouth! If you really want to join, come back in the morning. Make any more trouble, and we'll cut you down where you stand!"
At that, Bae Jong-gwan let out a genuine snort of laughter.
"Cut me down? You lot? Hah! Don't make me laugh!"
His derisive laughter pushed the guards past their limit.
As members of the Black Serpent Gang—a demonic sect—patience was not among their virtues.
"This bastard! He won't learn until he tastes blood!"
With that roar, one guard drew his blade and lunged at him.
"Haaah!"
But the next instant, he knew something was terribly wrong.
Kaang!
"Wha—?!"
The feel of the strike, the sound—it was all wrong.
His sword hand rang with pain, as if he'd just struck an iron pillar.
Bae Jong-gwan's eyes flared as he growled,
"You really meant to cut me down?!"
With that, he seized the man's body in one hand, hoisted him into the air like a doll—
"Uwaaagh! Y-you bastard!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The guard hacked wildly at Bae Jong-gwan's arm with his blade, but it was useless.
The clang was like striking metal.
Then, with a grunt, Bae Jong-gwan hurled him straight at the front gate.
"Uwaaaaaaagh!"
Kwaaaang!
The crash shook the gate violently.
The guard slid down to the ground, limp as a flattened frog.
A body harder than iron, strength enough to throw a grown man like a stone—
The gate guards no longer dared to take him lightly.
With a collective shout, they drew their blades and surrounded him.
Chaaang! Chaaang! Chaaang!
"Don't move!"
"How dare you cause trouble at the Black Serpent Gang's gate!"
Bae Jong-gwan shouted back indignantly,
"Cause trouble? Who? He's the one who swung at me first!"
Just then, the front gate opened, and Yo Jeok-sam, the Black Serpent Gang's patrol captain, came rushing out.
"What's all this noise?!"
The guards lit up with relief at the sight of him.
But Bae Jong-gwan spoke first, loud and clear.
"I am Bae Jong-gwan of the Diamond Indestructible Sect! I came to join the Black Serpent Gang, but these men cut me down without warning!"
This too was part of Seonu Jin's orders—if anyone important showed up, claim you'd been wronged.
Yo Jeok-sam's eyes widened. He turned to the guards.
"Is that true?"
The guards broke into a cold sweat, fumbling for excuses.
"N-no, it's not like that…"
In the quiet of the night, faint echoes of a booming voice and heavy crashes drifted through the air.
Bae Jong-gwan had begun his part.
Glancing around, I gave the signal.
"Let's move."
Dressed in black, we leapt like flying hawks, slipping over the wall with the silence of night cats.
Not a sound.
Exchanging quick glances, we split off toward our assigned targets.
My direction was the main quarters.
As I slipped through the compound, I barely saw a soul.
The Black Serpent Gang truly was deserted.
Dodging the few patrols I encountered, I finally reached a three-story hall under tight guard.
That had to be the Lord's residence.
Four guards at the front, four more patrolling the perimeter.
A heavy defense—better to avoid the front and slip in from behind.
I crouched in the shadows, watching.
But the patrol was tight, their routes interlocking without gaps, like meshing gears.
I recalled the books from my father's study.
Some of them described the techniques of assassins—stealth and infiltration methods.
What was it again? The best stratagem was to "strike east, then attack west." A diversion.
Silently, I slipped away, climbed the roof of a quieter building nearby, then returned.
And waited.
I'd loosened a roof tile, suspending it on a blade of grass. Soon enough, the grass would give way, and the tile would fall.
Plunk!
Like that.
"What was that sound?!"
"Who's there?!"
The patrolmen dashed toward the noise.
"Huh? Just a roof tile fell?"
"Why would it fall off like that?"
"Must've been cracked in the last windstorm. We'll report it later."
"Damn, gave me a scare. Especially with the commotion at the front gate."
By the time they returned, I was already inside, having slipped in through a second-floor window.
The latch had been no obstacle—one thin pulse of sword qi, and it fell apart without a sound.
The second floor was empty.
I crept upstairs.
The Lord's chambers were supposed to be on the third floor.
Silence there, too.
Go Ju-yong, I'd heard, despised visitors. No one was allowed near his quarters. Clearly, it was true.
Satisfied, I slid the chamber door open.
And froze.
Inside, sitting naked on the bed, was a young man.
Our eyes met.
"Wha—?!"
We both stared, eyes bulging in shock.