The Baek Family’s manor.

The manor of the top family in Xi’an is enormous, befitting its reputation.

Even if there were about a hundred followers of the Evil Cult in a single district, it was far from enough to fill the manor.

To keep watch, more than half of the personnel would have to be deployed.

Of course, that was impossible.

Therefore, the branch leader used the government troops.

He ordered the constables who patrolled the night streets to constable around the Baek Family.

Even the Baek Family did not abuse the government troops for personal use.

But the Evil Cult did not care about such taboos, and the government troops were corrupt enough to obediently follow those orders.

For Baek Do-yeom and Yo Yeon-bi, who tried to infiltrate the Baek Family manor, this was a headache.

They could avoid the patrols of the government troops.

But hiding the commotion inside was impossible.

If a constable noticed the internal conflict, he would immediately go to the government office and summon many constables.

Then it would become difficult to handle.

After long deliberation, a decision was made.

“Someone must capture the constable.”

“If we intervene, we must see it through to the end…”

“Who will do it?”

Someone raised their hand at that question.

“I will do it.”

They agreed that he would handle the task with the constables.

And that night.

The constable circling the Baek Family manor had a face full of irritation and fatigue.

It was understandable. The manor was not small, and it took a long time just to make one round.

Continuously circling the same place in the pitch-dark made irritation inevitable.

“Damn it. How long do I have to keep doing this?”

He was paid, but it was a humiliating job.

constable Jang had been working as a constable here for over ten years.

It was about time to be promoted to patrol chief, but the higher-ups stubbornly refused to step aside.

“No matter which side you side with, you’re still just cleaning up after others.”

He had no choice but to clean up after the Evil Cult followers and hope for some crumbs.

Then the junior constable he was with cautiously asked.

“I heard the money the Evil Cult followers give us goes to the patrol chief, who then gives it up the chain, and eventually it all goes back to the Evil Cult. Isn’t this a total loss?”

“Kid, who doesn’t know that?”

constable Jang glared at the junior constable.

He thought the kid was a bit smart, so he kept him around, but the more he looked, the less he liked him.

“Things were better before…”

“You mean five years ago?”

“Yes. That was better. Even though we extorted money, we didn’t have to act like lapdogs.”

constable Jang deeply missed those days.

The junior constable beside him didn’t know, but it was better when the world was normal and the Baek Family ruled Xi’an.

Back then, there were hardly any fights with the fierce martial artists.

The order of the martial world was maintained by martial artists.

“Government and martial forces shall not infringe upon each other”—what a beautiful phrase.

“Well, it’s useless talk. The Baek Family, who acted so proud, is all ruined now…”

The constable snorted.

Isn’t it pointless to argue now?

The junior constable tapped him to signal.

constable Jang looked ahead and was startled.

He held his lantern forward and shouted.

“Who the hell are you!”

There was a person ahead.

He was dressed in black.

The tense constable felt relieved that only one person appeared.

“What… some crazy bastard? On such a dark night.”

It was a dark night where even the moonlight shunned the earth.

Anyone walking without a lantern would probably be crazy or heavily drunk.

But the face reflected in the lantern’s light was pale to the point of coldness.

His gaze was eerie.

“Don’t you recognize me?”

The man in black, Ha-jun, asked.

Only then did constable Jang become tense.

“Huh, who the hell are you?”

“I am the owner of this manor.”

The constable’s face stiffened.

If by owner of the manor, then a member of the Baek Family.

And somehow, that young man’s face…

“You crazy bastard! Kneel immediately!”

Unlike the stiff constable Jang, the junior constable drew his six-spiked club and strode forward.

They say madness is the cure for madness, but constable Jang felt a prickling sense of foreboding.

“Wait a moment…”

At that sound, the junior constable abruptly stopped.

He dropped the six-spiked club and grabbed his own neck.

Blood dripped through his fingers.

The junior constable gasped and collapsed, never to rise again.

It was then that constable Jang realized Ha-jun’s identity.

“Y-You, can it be… Young Clan Head…”

Those with ambition memorize the faces of key figures.

But Ha-jun did not react.

He steadily approached constable Jang.

The constable startled and stepped back.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!”

“Don’t come closer! Do you know what you’re doing? I’m a constable of the Great Ming Constable…”

“I heard that it’s no longer Ming… but Shang now.”

The world, Ming, and the Baek Family have fallen.

And those who usually lived off the family’s charity are now aiding its destruction and cleaning up after its enemies.

Ha-jun had no intention of showing them any mercy.

The constable died without even a scream.

The constables met the same fate.

Ha-jun left no witnesses.

Only then did people slowly emerge from the darkness.

“…Indeed, impressive, Ha-jun.”

It was Baek Do-yeom and the family’s warriors.

They had fled this family half a year ago.

Though not long, the once splendid family had become desolate.

The expressions of the Baek Family people watching this were strange.

Melancholy, and the excitement that the time for revenge had come.

“Let’s go in!”

They all climbed over the wall at once.

The Evil Cult’s Xi’an branch leader.

Jong Eui-ji.

He was using Baek Ryu-san’s residence as his own bedroom.

The splendid decorations and precious furniture were either stolen or broken.

On a dusty chair, a tiger skin still remained.

Jong Eui-ji sat on that chair, scarred by sword marks and devalued.

Jong Eui-ji took off his black hat.

Then a hairstyle clearly different from that of a Central Plains native was revealed.

He was not actually Wa.

He was a Central Plains native from the Shandong Peninsula, kidnapped as a child by Wa pirates.

Perhaps because he was kidnapped so young, he survived as a slave.

He incurred the leader’s hatred while pirating and fled to the Wa islands to survive.

Then he was picked up by a wandering mendicant monk and saved.

He was a monk who wielded a sword better than a temple block.

He gave the boy the name Jong Eui-ji and taught him how to use the Wa sword. He was his master.

The master was probably not even a monk originally.

He had the unique faith of the Evil Cult and taught it to Jong Eui-ji.

Jong Eui-ji became a master swordsman and learned several unique arts passed down from the cult.

After many twists and turns, the new era his master spoke of finally arrived.

He was summoned and returned to the Central Plains.

Tired of the sea, Jong Eui-ji asked the Cardinal for an inland assignment.

The first Cardinal he met, Mang-hon, was a merciful person.

He ordered Jong Eui-ji to be stationed in Xi’an.

It was not a bad place. Jong Eui-ji carried out his duties excellently.

Sitting quietly, he muttered.

“Ryu-do, are you there?”

There was no one inside the room.

But after a while, someone slid down from the ceiling.

It was a man hanging upside down.

His face was masked. He was the most dangerous ninja of the East Sea.

Only the branch leader Jong Eui-ji knew of their existence.

They were extremely dangerous, assigned to him by Mang-hon.

“It seems there’s a commotion outside. Shouldn’t you intervene?”

“…We do not go to the front lines. I will intervene personally.”

“They might be quite strong. Is it okay to use Power Borrowing?”

Power Borrowing.

The word used by Honor Flower Disciples came from the Evil Cult branch leader’s mouth.

The ninja called Ryu-do answered.

“If necessary.”

Jong Eui-ji seemed to have been waiting for that answer.

He grinned, showing his white teeth.

“Good!”

He stretched out his sword and flicked his black hat.

The spinning black hat landed precisely on his head.

Without a top, his muscular body was fully exposed.

Without thinking of putting on clothes, Jong Eui-ji kicked and broke the long paper door.

Outside the door stood some sinister figures holding blades.

They were the demons of Yo Yeon-bi who had successfully infiltrated quietly this far.

“Attack!”

But the ambush was discovered. The demons swung their weapons with a shout.

At that moment, Jong Eui-ji drew his Japanese sword.

A swift sword draw technique rarely seen in the Central Plains.

In an instant, three demons became headless corpses.

Jong Eui-ji walked without avoiding the blood pouring on him.

His blood-soaked face was brightly smiling.

Every time, ‘I’m sick of the sea.’

‘I want to go to the peaceful inland of the Central Plains.’

Jong Eui-ji, who said that, realized only after coming to Xi’an.

He was a man who loved slaughter.

He was happiest when doing cruel piracy with the Wa pirates.

Kicking open another door and stepping into the inner courtyard, a fight was in full swing.

Some people who appeared from somewhere were fighting the cultists.

Someone shouted.

Jong Eui-ji sliced the waist of a charging Baek Family warrior, killing him.

Then he shouted loudly.

The target was a subordinate who hurriedly put on a black hat and came out.

“Report the current situation to the headquarters!”

That subordinate was the centipede handler in charge of the centipede jar.

He already had the centipede jar in his bosom.

It was the moment he turned his body.

As if waiting, a joyful voice rang out.

It was on the eaves.

It was Noh Shik, who had been holding back until now.

He descended with extreme power.

Though he lost his internal power, he had not forgotten the exquisite technique of the Dog Beating Staff.

The iron club rushed toward the centipede handler.

Three strikes with the club.

One hit the Evil Cultist’s head, another the arm, and the last smashed the centipede jar.

Noh Shik had been deliberately waiting from the start.

For the moment the Evil Cultist holding the centipede jar was identified.

Jong Eui-ji was furious.

“Damn! Cunning bastards.”

The opponent’s strength was not to be underestimated.

But he was not afraid.

Jong Eui-ji had reached the master level with just his swordsmanship.

When the blue sword energy covered his Wa sword, it was truly terrifying.

It was the moment he was about to split another Baek Family warrior in half.

An enraged Baek Do-yeom stabbed his sword between them.

Sparks flashed.

Jong Eui-ji twisted his blade and laughed.

“Who is this old man!”

“You filthy Wa bastard! I’ve been waiting for the day to take revenge!”

“Oh ho, so you are from this ruined family.”

Though Baek Do-yeom was a top master, he was already aged.

On the other hand, Jong Eui-ji was in his prime as a swordsman.

In the one-on-one fight, Baek Do-yeom seemed to be slightly losing.

“I will surely kill you and honor the vengeful spirits!”

But Baek Do-yeom gritted his teeth and crouched.

The sword energy on his blade flared up like flames.

That reckless attack was clearly a mutual destruction move.

Startled, Jong Eui-ji shouted in horror.

“This madness!”

There was no need to match such an attack.

If he stepped back one step, Baek Do-yeom would have an opening.

He quickly stepped back.

But that was exactly what Baek Do-yeom was aiming for.

The greatest power that had never moved until now.

Yi-gang appeared and slashed Jong Eui-ji’s back.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep