The ink fragrance wafted faintly from the paintings hanging densely on the walls, and the porcelain pieces placed in every corner of the room gleamed with a glossy sheen—clearly expensive items at a glance. The ornate jewelry box was piled high with glittering gold ornaments to boot.
"You've scraped together quite the haul."
"Yes! Yes! Boss Lu Ju did have a bit of an excessive greed about him!"
Jin Muhon, who had been surveying the room, turned his head to look at Oepari standing by the door.
Cold sweat beaded on Oepari's forehead.
"This isn't all of it, is it?"
"Ah, no! There's a separate warehouse in the back garden of the pavilion! As far as I know, there's also valuable stuff at the arena and the gambling den!"
"So the other two are at the arena and gambling den, respectively?"
"The other two...?"
Oepari blinked his dull eyes, and Jin Muhon tapped his own arm.
Only then did Oepari realize, letting out a light exclamation and nodding.
"Ah! Yes! The three of us always stuck together!"
"So you tried to do something vile to our Hayeon yesterday too. Thinking about it again pisses me off. Come here. I'll cut off something other than your arm."
"Eek! F-Forgive this sinner! We didn't really mean to! We were just, j-j-just threatening the Jin young miss! I swear! On my mother—"
Thwack!
"Oof!"
Oepari flew out of the room. A dull crashing echoed from the hallway.
"Go fetch the other two. Bring an ox cart when you come back."
"Ugh... Wh-what do you need the ox cart for?"
Oepari crawled along the hallway and poked his head through the door.
"I said bring it, so bring it. What, you gonna pull it yourself?"
"N-no! I'll bring it right away!"
Oepari leaped to his feet and dashed down the hall.
"Oh, right. Oepari."
"Eek!"
Crash!
Oepari, sprinting at full speed, skidded to a halt and tumbled several times before jumping back up.
"Yes! My lord! What are your orders?"
Jin Muhon stepped into the hallway with his hands behind his back.
"No total manager or anything around here?"
"Pardon? Ah! There's Ha Chonggwan, the woman in charge of the pavilion's affairs."
"Call her over."
"Yes! Right away!"
Oepari turned toward the inner pavilion and sprinted off again, bellowing.
"Ha Chonggwan! Where the hell are you hiding! Get your ass out here! Fuck! Hurry!"
Jin Muhon watched him for a moment, shook his head, and entered the office.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Swish. Scratch. Swish.
The sound of turning ledger pages and brushing ink mingled softly like a lullaby. Warm sunlight streamed through the open window, illuminating the desk.
Jin Muhon sat in Lu Ju's chair, feet propped on the desk, dozing off with his head nodding.
Dada. Da-da-da.
A fluffy-haired child toddled toward him. Behind, a gentle-faced woman smiled warmly at Jin Muhon and the child.
A natural smile curved Jin Muhon's lips.
But it was fleeting.
The idyllic scene soon erupted in roaring flames.
"Soyeon!"
Jin Muhon leaped up, drawing his sword.
"Eek!!"
The woman diligently sorting ledgers dropped her brush in fright. Black ink spread like blood across the white paper.
"Hm."
Jin Muhon stared blankly at the ledger, sword still in hand.
Was it the blood?
Another nightmare.
"Um... my lord. It's all sorted."
Then, the woman's terrified voice whispered in his ear.
Jin Muhon shifted his gaze.
The woman flinched and bowed her head deeply as their eyes met. She was the total manager of Unbong Pavilion.
"All sorted?"
"...Yes. Just need your signature here."
Tears welled in Ha Chonggwan's large eyes.
Jin Muhon sheathed his iron sword with a clink and signed the document she indicated with swift strokes. On paper, Unbong Pavilion's owner was now Jin Muhon.
Falling asleep, huh. Must be from pushing too hard without inner energy.
Even the world's Sword Demon had limits without qi.
Lucky the foes were third-rate riffraff. In his current state, even a Nine Great Sects elder would be tough.
Guess I need to recover my inner energy after all.
Jin Muhon's dantian was destroyed. Decades of cultivated qi had scattered.
If he were still wandering aimlessly, purposeless, it might be different.
But now he had someone to protect.
And to protect someone, he needed power.
"Hm..."
Yet even as the Demonic Cult's vice leader, Jin Muhon knew no method to rebuild qi with a shattered lower dantian.
Rumor had it Taoist sects like Wudang or Huashan had upper dantian methods. But for one who'd trained demonic arts his whole life, it was laughable.
Still, I need to find a way.
Thud thud thud thud!
"Hm?"
"Gasp!"
Footsteps pounded down the hall.
Ha Chonggwan startled and backed against the wall.
Jin Muhon drew his sword again. A cold metallic ring sliced the air.
"Ha Chonggwan. Watch closely. This is what happens without good instincts."
"Pardon? Yes! Yes!"
Ha Chonggwan's face paled with fear.
Then the office door exploded inward with a boom, and a gang of sword-wielding men poured in.
"You bastard! Revenge for Boss Lu Ju!"
"We'll kill you and take that Hayeon bitch as a concubine!"
Two one-armed men at the front swung their blades.
Jin Muhon's lips curled faintly.
And he drew his sword in a single, concise stroke.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Half a shichen later.
Clop clop. Clop clop. Clop clop. Clop clop.
Three ox carts rumbled and jolted along the bumpy road.
The first was loaded with expensive jewelry glittering in the sun. The second carried meat, rice cakes, and various foodstuffs. The last held building materials, trailed by a dozen laborers with deathly pale faces stumbling along.
"Hey! You boil slugs for breakfast or what? Why so slow! Move it! You starving or something?!"
Oepari berated the laborers with a furious face.
One older laborer whispered lowly to him.
"Black Wind guard. This right? With Lu Ju down, Ghost Soul Sect'll move. We gonna get splashed?"
"Yeah yeah. He's right, bro. What'd we do? Just let us go."
The former Black Wind, current Oepari, glared with bulging eyes.
"Suck it up! Who you calling Black Wind? I'm Oepari! Shut up and follow if you wanna live!"
"Fuck. Shaking so bad I can't saw straight."
He put on a fierce front for the laborers, but cold sweat still poured down Oepari's back.
The Yama-like Lu Ju and his capable comrades—all dead. He survived only because he hadn't drawn a blade on Jin Muhon.
One slip in that moment, and he'd be buried under Unbong Pavilion's garden now.
Fuck. This is precarious.
Oepari glanced at the first cart where Jin Muhon lay.
He was walking a cliff's edge. One misstep, and death. Whoever this madman was, he'd do it without blinking.
Then Jin Muhon sat up and looked back.
"M-my lord! You're awake!"
Oepari and the laborers startled and bowed deeply.
Jin Muhon spoke in an emotionless voice.
"Oepari."
"Yes!"
"You just cursed me."
"Yes?! Wh-what do you mean! Why would I curse my respected lord! Preposterous!"
"Hm. My ear was itching."
Jin Muhon dug into his ear with a finger.
"Dust in your ear, my lord! Everyone, tiptoe carefully!"
"No, fuck. That make sense?"
"I said tiptoe! You wanna die by my hand?!"
At Oepari's crazed rant, the laborers sighed and stepped gingerly.
Oepari dashed forward and bowed to Jin Muhon.
"Sorry! My lord! These uneducated fools can't tell shit from soy paste."
"Hurry. Our Hayeon's waiting."
"Yes! We'll hurry!"
Oepari ran back, bellowing again.
Jin Muhon chuckled softly and looked ahead.
Far off, the crumbling mansion came into view.
Ghost Soul Sect, huh.
The laborers were right, really.
Even third-rate riffraff—hurt the underlings, the bosses move. That was murim's way.
He'd told Ha Chonggwan to keep tribute and contact with Ghost Soul Sect as usual, but it was only a matter of time.
Word that Jigangpa had fallen to Jin Muhon would reach the sect leader soon enough.
Doesn't matter to me...
Uncleeee!!!
Jin Hayeon spotted him from afar and ran over, arms waving.
A mix of smile and worry crossed Jin Muhon's face.
Where'd you go so early morning!!!
Watching her breathless approach, Jin Muhon resolved inwardly.
I need to teach Hayeon martial arts too.
By now, the sun floated high, scattering warm rays.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Bang! Bang! Bang! Rumble! Bang bang bang!
The haunted-looking mansion buzzed noisily. Hammering and sawing filled the air.
The laborers Jin Muhon brought had started repairs, sweating profusely.
"My lord. Too much to fix. Won't finish in a day or two."
An older laborer wiped sweat from his brow and looked at Jin Muhon on the porch.
Jin Muhon chewed grilled meat Hayeon had prepared, eyeing the busy workers.
"I'll pay generously, so take your time and do it right."
"Yes! Thank you, my lord!"
The laborer's face brightened for the first time in ages as he turned sharply.
No doubt he'd worried about dying unpaid.
"Hold on."
"Yes?!"
The laborer, eager to share the good news, halted and bowed politely.
"Speak."
"Work runs on food. Eat first, then work."
"R-really?!"
"Of course. You think I'd starve you? Bring cooks from Unbong Pavilion too. Speak up for anything else."
"Yes! Thank you, my lord!"
Grinning ear to ear, the laborer ran lightly to his comrades.
Jin Hayeon, who had listened quietly, asked cautiously.
"Uncle. What happened? How's that guy here?"
She glared at distant Oepari with venom in her eyes.
Jin Muhon spoke casually, as if no big deal.
"I explained it so he'd get it, and he saw the error of his ways."
"...Pardon?"
Jin Hayeon blinked her big eyes at him.
No way. No one would buy that unless an idiot.
Yet Jin Muhon showed no change, starting on his late breakfast.
"And all that jewelry and people?"
"You know Unbong Pavilion's owner?"
"Yeah. That fat uncle?"
"Turns out he's Jigangpa's boss."
"Gasp! Really? I had no idea!"
With the trio out front, she'd never suspected Unbong Pavilion's owner.
Jin Muhon placed a piece of meat in her bowl. Glossy fat melted into the rice.
"The debt you borrowed came from his pocket too. I called out the excessive interest, he admitted the mistake, wanted to compensate."
"...So all this... is that fat uncle's apology...?"
"Yeah. Knows shame, unlike his looks."
"I... see."
Jin Hayeon let out a wry chuckle and picked up her spoon.
Steaming rice topped with beef.
She couldn't recall the last time. Saliva pooled naturally.
"Praying before eating? Dig in."
"Yes, Uncle. Thank you."
"For what?"
Jin Muhon looked puzzled.
Jin Hayeon smiled brightly.
"For coming back."
She stuffed her mouth full with rice and meat from her spoon.
Her puffed cheeks were adorable.
"Saying odd things. Of course I'd come home."
"Hohoho! Yes!"
How hard life had been. She knew better than anyone the world's favors weren't generous.
This miracle? All thanks to her sole uncle.
He's no ordinary man.
Jin Hayeon recalled her late father's words.
If something happens to me, find your uncle. That guy's bound to have made a name somewhere. Tougher temperament than me.
Munch. Nom. Chomp.
Watching Jin Muhon eat heartily, a broad smile spread on her face.
Doesn't seem that tough, Father.
Thud thud thud.
Then a laborer came running from the garden.
Jin Muhon set down his spoon and turned.
"What?"
"M-my lord!"
The laborer panted, bowing deeply.
"Found something! You gotta see it yourself!"
"...?"
Jin Muhon furrowed his brow slightly.