Originally, the Azure Star Escort Agency’s business could not go beyond Henan Province.

That was a natural thing. In the vast Central Plains of today, to conduct an escort mission to another province was not something that an escort agency of an ordinary scale could easily do.

At the time when Cheon Mubaeck had awakened, the Azure Star Escort Agency had been on the verge of bankruptcy due to a failed escort mission.

The Azure Star Escort Agency, which had been like that, had grown to a considerable scale, to the point of coming all the way to Hubei Province for an escort mission, while Cheon Mubaeck was wandering the martial world.

“Young Master!”

“It’s the youngest Young Master!”

“Young Master!”

Among the porters and escort warriors who were managing and guarding the carts, those who recognized Cheon Mubaeck shouted.

They were not unfamiliar faces.

They were faces he had often seen since he had first received martial arts training from Old Man Jang.

The old porters who had just watched him with a pleased look, whatever he did.

Of course, they were not all familiar faces.

There were also many unfamiliar people, as if they had been newly recruited while Cheon Mubaeck was traveling the martial world.

Although the unfamiliar faces were all dumbfounded, not knowing what the situation was, the familiar ones all ran to Cheon Mubaeck.

“My lord!”

Among them, the one who had run first was Heo Seong.

Cheon Mubaeck also felt quite happy.

“It’s been a while. Chief Heo.”

“My lord, to see you here in Jingzhou, I really didn’t expect it!”

Instead of a serious face, Heo Seong’s face was full of happiness.

Neung-heo, who was quite familiar with Chief Heo, also pretended to be happy.

“Hey, Chief Heo.”

“…Master Neung?”

Unlike Neung-heo, Heo Seong was a little flustered when he saw Neung-heo.

The prayer he had seen before was too different from the Neung-heo he had seen before.

Heo Seong had not neglected his training even after Cheon Mubaeck had left and had remained at the escort agency.

He had even been proud, thinking of showing his training results to the returned Cheon Mubaeck.

But Heo Seong could not hide his bewilderment because the prayer of Neung-heo, who was on a similar level as him, and whom he had looked down on compared to himself who had learned orthodox martial arts, was amazing.

And the moment he saw Gwak Cheon-hu behind him, a dull shock struck his head.

‘What on earth…’

Neung-heo’s changed prayer was surprising, but the momentum felt from Gwak Cheon-hu, whom he was seeing for the first time, was shocking.

It was a momentum as if he were seeing a young male lion.

When his gaze finally reached Cheon Mubaeck, he felt a shock of a different dimension.

Even before Cheon Mubaeck had left the martial world, he had not been able to read his prayer. Because the gap was too clear. But Heo Seong had thought that by now, he would be able to get a glimpse of Cheon Mubaeck’s level.

But that was a really absurd thought.

‘It’s dark.’

What he felt was just silence and overwhelmingness.

It felt like he was facing the Tai-shan Bei-dou, which was shrouded in fog. It was quiet but grand, silent but overwhelming. Although admiration came out, he did not dare to raise his head and look up.

If what he had felt from Gwak Cheon-hu was a young male lion, what he felt from Cheon Mubaeck was an atmosphere that had transcended something.

“Are you so happy to see me after so long? Why are you so stiff?”

“Ah, no. I’ve heard of your activities. The reputation of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero was spreading not only in Henan but also here in Hubei Province.”

“It’s just an empty reputation. Is Chief Heo the person in charge of this escort mission? To come all the way to Hubei Province for an escort mission, it must be a pretty big escort mission.”

“Yes. We are on our way back after delivering the goods at the request of the Wudang Sect. Fortunately, we finished it successfully. And I can’t lead such a big escort mission.”

“Did my father come?”

“No.”

Heo Seong smiled as if he knew something.

It was then. Cheon Mubaeck, seeing the woman who was running out of the inn, smiled without even realizing it.

It was a reaction that came out so naturally that Cheon Mubaeck himself did not even realize it.

“Mubaeck!”

It was Cheon Yuhwa.

Perhaps because she had just washed up and was resting, she was not in her usual neat appearance.

A somewhat disheveled appearance. Not a formal attire, but casual clothes she wore when she was resting comfortably at home, and her hair, which was still slightly wet and stuck to her forehead. She, with a white face like Cheon Mubaeck, ran out of the inn and hugged Cheon Mubaeck without a second thought.

“My, Mubaeck… how much you must have suffered! Look at your sister. Huh? Oof! You’ve lost so much weight! My younger brother!”

It was an attitude as if she were dealing with a young child. Cheon Yuhwa, who was holding Cheon Mubaeck’s cheeks and looking into his eyes, and letting out a voice full of worry.

Cheon Mubaeck was also quite flustered by this attitude.

Neung-heo and Gwak Cheon-hu, who were watching from behind, also had strange expressions.

Cheon Mubaeck, noticing their gazes, gently pushed Cheon Yuhwa away.

“It’s been a while, sister.”

“Hey! Are you going to act so grown-up even after seeing me after so long?”

It was not the grown-up Cheon Yuhwa he had seen before.

Cheon Mubaeck could only laugh with a somewhat awkward expression. At Cheon Mubaeck’s awkward reaction, Cheon Yuhwa also became inwardly sulky, but she quickly changed her expression, conscious of the eyes around her.

In any case, she was the person in charge of this escort mission, and wasn’t she the Vice Chief who would lead the escort agency in the future?

She had always shown a confident and calm appearance in front of people.

Cheon Yuhwa’s face turned red inwardly, as if she had shown a briefly disheveled appearance.

Perhaps because she had removed her makeup, a blush was clearly visible on her white face.

“Right, are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. Nothing special happened.”

“Nothing special! I’ve heard all the rumors! You really…”

Cheon Yuhwa bit her lip and then, seeing Neung-heo who was behind her, greeted him.

“Thank you, Master Neung. My Mubaeck has always enjoyed only arts and music, so he’s weak. It must have been hard for him to overcome the hardships… To leave the Lotus Pavilion to someone else and to follow and help him, thank you.”

“Ah… no.”

Neung-heo put all his effort into managing his expression. He forcibly straightened his expression, which seemed like it would contort strangely at any moment.

He wanted to shout, ‘Your weak younger brother has taken the head of the Blood Demon Sect Master, has fought with Mount Hua and Zhongnan, and has broken all the black-way and the river bandits!’ but he managed to hold it in.

He saw Cheon Mubaeck’s eyes. It seemed he would not be able to return to the Lotus Pavilion safely if he said so.

Since the Lotus Pavilion had now become a representative business of the Azure Star Escort Agency, Neung-heo was also a member of the Azure Star Escort Agency, if you were to be precise.

So Cheon Yuhwa had treated Neung-heo with respect. Neung-heo, who was used to Cheon Mubaeck’s rough attitude, felt a little ticklish when Cheon Yuhwa spoke so kindly.

“The Lotus Pavilion is running well. On the contrary, it’s thriving. Because the plague is also over. The lady named Seol-yeong has a good hand.”

“Haha, then that’s a relief.”

Neung-heo smiled broadly at the news that the Lotus Pavilion, which would be responsible for his retirement life, was doing well.

“The lady Seol-yeong is eagerly waiting for Master Neung to come.”

“Pardon? Me? Why?”

“Well? I think Master Neung would know that well.”

Cheon Yuhwa laughed. Neung-heo had a look of not knowing what was going on. Cheon Yuhwa did not answer and just laughed. She soon saw Gwak Cheon-hu next to her and looked at Cheon Mubaeck.

“Ah, he’s a guy named Gwak Cheon-hu. He’s a child of the Flying Sword Sect in Chongqing, and we’ve formed a connection.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m the Vice Chief of the Azure Star Escort Agency, and the older sister of Mubaeck here, Cheon Yuhwa.”

Cheon Yuhwa smiled brightly.

As if to emphasize that she was not Cheon Mubaeck’s sibling for no reason, the surroundings seemed to brighten at Cheon Yuhwa’s smile.

“…Ah, I’m Gwak, Gwak Cheon-hu. Miss.”

A very late reaction. It was unlike Gwak Cheon-hu, who had always reacted immediately like a sharply honed sword. His tone of voice was also slightly high. And a strange sense of unease was felt from his appearance of hastily bowing his head.

In an instant, Cheon Mubaeck and Neung-heo’s gazes were entangled in the air.

Neung-heo’s gaze was as if he were about to die of laughter, and Cheon Mubaeck’s eyes were as if he were dumbfounded.

‘Huh? Look at this?’

Cheon Mubaeck’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at the back of Gwak Cheon-hu’s bowed head.

* * *

Cheon Mubaeck shared his reunion with Cheon Yuhwa.

They talked about their respective situations, and Cheon Mubaeck was quite surprised.

The scale of the Azure Star Escort Agency had become larger than he had thought.

“All the existing factions have been reorganized into halls. One hall, three halls. Three altars. I’m in charge of the overall command as the Vice Chief and the hall master.”

The Azure Star Escort Agency had originally been composed of two factions of escort warriors.

But three halls had been established above them, and one hall had been established to oversee all of them.

In other words, the scale had not just doubled, but had become almost three or four times larger.

“We’ve also recruited famous warriors from Henan as escort warriors. We’ve also supplemented the porters. But we’re still short of people.”

Cheon Yuhwa straightened her shoulders with a proud face.

And then she suddenly started to massage Cheon Mubaeck’s shoulders as if she were giving him a massage.

Although it was just an ordinary grip because she had not learned martial arts, Cheon Mubaeck felt his fatigue being relieved.

“This is all thanks to you, Mubaeck!”

“Thanks to me?”

“The escort agency of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero! Don’t you know how big of an asset this is?”

The Azure Star Escort Agency, which had gained a reputation by receiving a security request from Shaolin.

On top of that, as the reputation of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero soon shook the martial world, the number of requests coming to the Azure Star Escort Agency had increased countless times.

The Azure Star Escort Agency, which protected Shaolin and had the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero.

Naturally, requests poured in like a tide.

Cheon Mungyeong and Cheon Yuhwa had rowed when the water came in. They had expanded the scale, had hired new escort warriors, and had reorganized the escort agency.

Having grown rapidly, the Azure Star Escort Agency had now become the number one escort agency in Henan.

So it was extending its hand beyond Henan to the nearby Hubei and Shaanxi provinces.

The reason why it was possible was the reliable source of funds and information network called the Lotus Pavilion.

There was also a martial arts group called the Black Heart Gang, which was a kind of mercenary.

Since all of that was what Cheon Mubaeck had arranged, how pretty would Cheon Mubaeck look to Cheon Yuhwa?

“You’re really amazing.”

But Cheon Mubaeck, on the contrary, thought that Cheon Yuhwa and Cheon Mungyeong were amazing.

Even if an opportunity had arisen from Cheon Mubaeck, it was they who had fully utilized that opportunity.

Cheon Mubaeck was inwardly pleased at the sight of the escort agency, which had acquired a scale and had begun to possess martial power, even though he had not stepped forward himself.

On the one hand, he was also worried.

‘The Blood Ghost Valley might target them directly.’

The Black Heart Gang was a decent martial arts group, and he had heard that the hall masters who were in charge of one hall were also quite skilled warriors. Wasn’t even Heo Seong a peak master?

The level of the escort warriors had also become quite high.

But if the Blood Ghost Valley were to target them with a determined mind, there was no answer.

They were guys who even attacked Shaolin, so would they think of the escort agency as difficult?

It didn’t matter when Cheon Mubaeck was staying at the escort agency.

At that time, it was rather what he wanted.

Because he could just kill them as they came.

‘Hmm. I’ll have to use a few tricks.’

A minimum countermeasure for when Cheon Mubaeck was not there.

‘For example, a formation…’

What came to mind right away was the Medicine Immortal.

But the Medicine Immortal’s formation was specialized in hiding one’s appearance, rather than a formation for defense.

A representative example was the Red Buddha Hermitage. The reason why he had lived a forgotten life in the martial world as a hermit was also because of that.

Because of his tendency to hate fighting itself, and to just avoid it if someone picked a fight.

Of course, he was also skilled in other formations, but it was not the best weapon.

‘Still, if I prepare to that extent, it should be okay to some extent.’

Since he had shared his reunion, he could just follow the return journey of the escort mission comfortably.

Unless something special happened.

For example…

“Vice Chief! The great young master of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Seohu, has come for a request!”

Something special like this.

Cheon Mubaeck sighed slightly. In fact, he had felt it for a long time. The gaze that had been following him since he had entered Jingzhou. Since there was no hostility, he had just ignored it. But when he had met Cheon Yuhwa, that gaze had become more intense, and his presence had become clear.

A momentum and presence that was at least on par with Gwak Cheon-hu.

He was a master who was not to be taken lightly.

The great young master of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Seohu.

He had come in person.

(End of Chapter)

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