The Cheon Clan's Darkness (1)
Fortunately, Cheon Muyang returned without being caught by anyone, washed himself cleanly, and changed his clothes.
"Hmm...."
The sleeves fluttered loosely.
Not only that, but the waist was wide as well.
Yet the length above and below had grown shorter.
Just then, Wol-yeong arrived carrying food and saw him.
"Young master."
"Yes."
Wol-yeong looked at him with newly stirred emotion in her eyes.
"Is it because you went hungry for ten days? You've lost an incredible amount of weight."
It wasn't just fat he had lost.
His muscles had grown as well, and he even seemed taller.
"Seems like it."
"I think you'll need new clothes made."
"Hmm... I suppose so?"
Not only everyday clothes, but even his martial attire would need to be replaced.
The place in charge of that was the Cheongeum Pavilion (天金閣).
"Are you going to the Cheongeum Pavilion?"
"Is there really a need to go through that trouble?"
"Then?"
"I was thinking of stepping outside the clan for once."
Wol-yeong's expression darkened.
She remembered all too well the eldest young master who used to cause trouble whenever he went out.
"Hey, was I banned from going out or something?"
"Ah, that restriction was already lifted."
"That's a relief."
"But still, make sure you eat your fill before you go."
Steam rose in soft plumes.
At the sight of the food, Cheon Muyang's appetite surged, and he bowed his head and ate heartily.
"Hoo... I really can't hold back."
"Yes. You can eat it all!"
He ate until his stomach bulged.
Feeling full and satisfied, Cheon Muyang headed outside wearing the somewhat uncomfortable clothes.
He forcibly stopped Wol-yeong when she tried to follow him.
"Then have a safe trip!"
"Alright."
"And don't cause any trouble!"
"...."
"No street food either!"
Wol-yeong's nagging had noticeably increased.
Taking it for granted by now, Cheon Muyang stepped outside.
"It won't take long."
Though it had been a while since he last left the clan, he had no intention of causing trouble.
It was merely a form of rest before devoting himself fully to training again.
"Hangzhou...."
The Cheon Clan was located near Tianmu Mountain (天目山).
As such, it was close to Hangzhou.
"It's been a while since I last went."
He had always yearned for Hangzhou's light.
Unlike himself, a firefly-like existence, Hangzhou endlessly radiated unfading brilliance, and he envied it.
"Because I was a shadow."
Light did not suit a shadow.
But now, things were different.
He could become the owner of that light.
"I've changed."
Everything had changed.
Only now did he acknowledge and accept that altered reality.
"I am Cheon Muyang."
The hooligan eldest young master, Cheon Muyang.
After a long time, Cheon Muyang headed toward Hangzhou.
Hangzhou's streets were wide.
They were filled year-round with people seeking to enjoy elegance and leisure (風流).
Step.
Suddenly, Cheon Muyang came to a halt.
He looked toward the bridge.
"Shall we go to Hongmaeru today?"
"That sounds great!"
"Drinks are on me today!"
"Ooooo!"
People staggering about, drunk even in broad daylight.
They were loafers, but clearly young nobles raised in luxury, so no one dared to touch them.
'Once upon a time, I would've belonged among them too.'
Cheon Muyang as well.
He had been one of that group.
"...."
They were the ones who possessed.
So they only ever saw Hangzhou's light.
They would never see its shadows.
The brighter the light,
The deeper the shadow.
Swoosh.
Not above the bridge—
Cheon Muyang looked beneath it.
There, he saw someone repeatedly bowing low.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Before him stood martial artists exuding vicious killing intent, brandishing their swords arrogantly.
"If you're sorry, does money just appear out of nowhere? Huh? Where's our money? Who took your money? We're telling you to return the money you borrowed from us!"
"B-but... I already paid back the principal...."
"Hah! How frustrating. Listen here—if we lent you money when you were desperate, there has to be something in return."
That "something" had long since exceeded the principal.
It was a textbook case of usury.
"Should we sell you off as a slave, and sell your only daughter to that brothel over there? Huh?"
With eyes wide and gleaming, they threatened him, waving their blades back and forth.
"P-please... at least my daughter... please...."
Beneath the bridge, he begged until his knees wore raw.
"Kkehehehe! The booze tastes especially good today!"
Above the bridge, the hooligans were too busy indulging in talk of pleasure and revelry to care about anything else.
"...."
It was merely the space above the bridge, and the space below it.
Yet what was this starkly contrasting scene?
Cheon Muyang was swept by an indescribable sense of nausea.
"So I'm telling you to hand over the money!"
The one begging until his knees wore raw—
That was Mu-myeong from his childhood.
Mu-myeong was someone who belonged beneath the bridge.
"Let's drink today until our mouths go crooked!"
Those loafers stumbling about with crooked legs were hooligans—Cheon Muyang.
Cheon Muyang had been someone who belonged above the bridge.
'Then where do I stand now?'
Was the current Cheon Muyang someone above the bridge, or below it?
Pausing to ponder that answer, Cheon Muyang soon found it.
'I am someone who breaks the bridge.'
At that moment—
The bridge disappeared.
Only people remained.
He would no longer avert his eyes from the shadows.
"This won't do. Looks like we'll have to cut off an arm."
They swung real blades.
It was to sever an arm.
Swoosh!
"Stop that hand."
However, Cheongwang had already moved.
Kaang!
Cheongwang tore through the space between them.
"What was that?"
They were momentarily flustered.
"Who are you?"
"Me? I'm the eldest young master of the Cheon Clan—Cheon Muyang."
"What?"
They burst out laughing.
The clothes were clearly high-quality, but they were far too large and hung loosely.
Worse still, the length was short, making Cheon Muyang look ridiculous.
"Ah, you're that Cheon Clan hooligan? Then I must be the Beggar King!"
"Kkeheh. Then I'm the Bandit King! You idiot, why would that hooligan bastard be in a place like this? He's probably busy guzzling booze over there!"
Blatant mockery.
They didn't believe a word Cheon Muyang said.
Which was only natural—Cheon Muyang was a notorious hooligan, famous enough in Hangzhou that no one didn't know his name.
So how could such a hooligan possibly be here?
"You probably stole that fat bastard's clothes somewhere. Where do you get off acting all high and mighty? Want to die?"
Whooong!
They clearly had no intention of leaving Cheon Muyang alive.
Carrying vicious killing intent, they charged at him.
"...That sword."
It was a familiar sword path.
Their swords hadn't reached full maturity, but they were undeniably blades Cheon Muyang recognized.
"Aren't those the Cheon Clan's swords?"
A sky locked into rigid form.
Yet even that had been stained dark.
From their swords, he sensed greed.
"What a joke."
Cheon Muyang let out a deep breath.
Wol-yeong's earnest warning surfaced in his mind.
『Don't cause any trouble!』
Cheon Muyang shrugged.
'Looks like I can't keep that promise.'
But what could he do?
Cheon Muyang came up with an excuse.
This wasn't an incident he had started of his own accord.
"Fine then—how dare you interfere in the Cheon Clan's enforcement!"
"...."
Whoooong!
Cheongwang gleamed.
Cheon Muyang recalled one of the skies he had encountered in the Cheonryong Repository.
Slash.
In that instant, deep wounds were carved across their throats.
"Ghk!"
Yet not a single one of them had managed to perceive Cheon Muyang's sword.
"Cheon Clan enforcement, huh. I'm curious about what comes after that."
An aura erupted from Cheon Muyang's entire body.
Driven by the newly transformed Cheonyang Divine Art, it carried even a chilling sharpness.
"Go on. Say the rest."
"W-who are you really?! W-we're warriors of the Cheon Clan!"
In a single exchange, they realized they were no match for him.
Cunningly, they immediately invoked the Cheon Clan's name.
It was a survival tactic.
It might have worked on someone else.
But not on Cheon Muyang.
"Tsk."
It was laughable.
The Cheon Clan's prestige was never meant for trash like this.
It seemed necessary to carve that fact deeply into them.
"I told you already."
"...."
"I am the Cheon Clan's eldest young master—Cheon Muyang."
Whooong!
Cheongwang hung loosely at his side.
From it, razor-sharp killing intent poured forth.
Chkk!
Cheongwang touched the neck of the one who had mocked him most openly.
Blood was already flowing, soaking the blade as it dripped onto the ground.
"Ghk!"
"And the Cheon Clan's name is not something trash like you can bandy about."
They could only blink.
They couldn't help but believe it.
How could the eldest young master once called a hooligan possess such overwhelming martial prowess?
"Speak. Who's backing you?"
They were a pack of jackals.
There had to be someone behind them, pulling the strings.
He needed to know who it was.
"A-ah, young master. Please, just spare us this once. We'll all die! Please!"
"You die if you don't speak. You die if you lie."
"W-we only did what we were told!"
"What exactly?"
"T-that is... they said they'd pay us if we helped with a usury business... we only did a bit of threatening, that's all."
Cheon Muyang smiled faintly.
Perhaps thinking the tension had eased—
It was the moment their shoulders relaxed.
Slash.
Along with the chilling sound of flesh cutting into bone, an arm fell to the ground with a dull thud.
"Kyaaaargh!"
Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Yet Cheon Muyang did not move an inch, staring coldly without a hint of emotion.
Only after sufficient pain had been inflicted did Cheon Muyang strike the neck of the man who had lost his arm.
"I told you—you'd die if you lied."
"H-hiiik!"
It was a lie.
The stench of blood emanating from them was anything but shallow.
A thick, deeply soaked blood-scent.
They must have killed countless people.
"Speak. Who's behind you?"
"H-hiiik!"
Thus, Cheon Muyang showed not the slightest mercy in cutting them down.
Slash.
Another neck was severed.
"...."
The one who met Cheon Muyang's gaze was frozen stiff with terror.
"I-I'll tell you everything! P-please, just spare my life...!"
"Speak."
"T-that is...."
The story was short.
After hearing everything, Cheon Muyang killed them all.
"W-why?!"
"I never said I'd spare you."
Glance.
The man who had been oppressed by them was still trembling in the corner.
"It's alright now."
"Th-thank you. I-I don't know how I could ever repay this kindness...."
It was a somewhat familiar face.
Cheon Muyang stared at him closely.
"Have you perhaps worked at the Cheon Clan?"
"H-how did you know that...!"
He was certain.
Cheon Muyang had grown much more gaunt, but he remembered that face.
"Weren't you at the Cheongeum Pavilion?"
"Yes. I don't know how you remembered someone as lowly as me, but yes, y-young master."
Cheon Muyang was dumbfounded.
This was the man who, back when Mu-myeong had not yet been appointed as a personal guard and was still training, would always bring replacement training swords when they broke and larger clothes as he grew.
At some point, he had disappeared.
"Uncle Geumsan."
"...!"
"That's right, isn't it?"
"H-how do you know my name...!"
"Well, that's not something you need to know. I heard it was usury. How does someone from the Cheon Clan end up involved in loan-sharking?"
"T-that is...."
"Could it perhaps be related to why you can no longer work at the Cheongeum Pavilion?"
"...."
Geumsan fell silent.
That alone was answer enough.
Realizing his mistake, he repeatedly bowed his head toward Cheon Muyang, pleading earnestly.
"Y-young master, please, you must not dig any deeper. I'm grateful that you saved me, but… th-this must end here."
"That won't do."
"Pardon?"
"The Cheon Clan is my family. How could the one meant to become its master ignore corruption and wrongdoing once he's learned of it?"
"...!"
"You don't need to say anything more. I've already obtained the information I need."
According to what the now-dead men had said, after collecting the money they were to meet someone at a specific location.
Cheon Muyang intended to go there.
Geumsan, who had been nearby, had also heard that information.
"It's dangerous."
Cheon Muyang smiled, unconcerned.
"I know."
"...."
"But I need to know. What exactly is going on. I'll leave the aftermath to you."
Step. Step.
Cheon Muyang left the area.
Left alone, Geumsan looked indifferently at the corpses strewn about.
"What in the world...."
Watching Cheon Muyang's retreating figure, Geumsan was filled with doubt.
Ssssizzle!
He took out Bone-Melting Powder from his robe and scattered it over the bodies.
Along with a foul stench, the corpses began to melt away, bones and all.
"Was that really the hooligan eldest young master?"
Geumsan stared in the direction Cheon Muyang had disappeared.