They were one of the groups of young people who had yielded their food at the inn before boarding the ship.
A young man, wearing a sword at his waist but looking so thin and frail that he seemed more like a scholar than a martial artist, spoke, “Thanks to you, we were able to quickly satisfy our hunger earlier.”
“Don’t mention it.”
As Bu Eunseol turned calmly to leave, the young man spoke cautiously.
“This must be fate; would you care to join us?”
When Bu Eunseol and Hyeok So-jin looked puzzled, the young man continued without hesitation.
“If it’s alright with you, I would like to introduce my companions.”
In that instant, Hyeok So-jin furrowed his brow. Even aside from his status as a successor of the Ten Demonic Sects, building relationships in the Gangho felt bothersome above all else.
‘I am on a journey into the Gangho, not here to expand my social circle.’
However, Bu Eunseol, who had been listening quietly, nodded readily.
“Let us do so.”
“Haha, then please follow me.”
As the young man smiled brightly and led the way, Hyeok So-jin sent a telepathic message with an expression that screamed annoyance.
[Why are you trying to build a relationship with such drifters?]
[They are not drifters, but experts of the Zhuge Clan.]
[The Zhuge Clan?]
The Zhuge Clan.
Not only were they proficient in academics, calligraphy, painting, and mechanics, but they were also a martial family possessing the Thirty-Six Forms of the Six Harmonies Fan Art and the supreme footwork known as the Heavenly Energy Bewildering Footwork.
For the Ximen Clan, which delved solely into formations, the Zhuge Clan could be called the ideal family that mastered both literary and martial arts—the very thing they desired so much.
[So what of it?]
[It is clear they came down to the Gangho with a special purpose. There is no harm in finding out the reason.]
[Surely, it isn’t because the Mad Physician appeared?]
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol wore a faint smile. He had guessed that their reason for coming to the Gangho was not unrelated to the appearance of the Mad Physician of the Soul.
[It’s annoying. If you want to go, go alone, Brother Bu.]
“Why aren’t you coming?”
Just then, the young man turned around and looked at Hyeok So-jin. Bu Eunseol shrugged and pointed at Hyeok So-jin’s face.
“He is very shy. Furthermore, when he receives the gaze of many people, he suffers from hand tremors…”
“What are you…!”
As Hyeok So-jin flared up, the young man smiled broadly and extended his hand.
“You joke well. Come, let’s go together.”
At the young man’s good-natured words, Hyeok So-jin had no choice but to follow behind Bu Eunseol.
Leading Bu Eunseol’s party into a cabin, the young man gathered his hands politely.
“I am Zhuge Seo-woon. This is my younger sister, Zhuge Seo-rin.”
‘This person was the one called the Sick Zhuge among the Seven Chivalrous, Three Ingenious…’
Hyeok So-jin swallowed his astonishment. He had thought the man was merely a collateral relative of the Zhuge Clan. To think this thin and frail-looking young man was the eldest son of the Zhuge Clan and one of the Seven Chivalrous, Three Ingenious, representing the outstanding rising stars of the Eight Great Families?
“And these are my close friends, Hwangbo Cheon-gyeong and Hwangbo Je-gyeong. In the Gangho, they are known as the Heaven Collapsing Twin Fists.”
The twin young men with sturdy builds were none other than the third and youngest sons of the Hwangbo Clan.
Bu Eunseol calmly gathered his hands.
“I am called Bu Eunseol.”
In that instant, Zhuge Seo-woon and his companions wore puzzled expressions.
There were two people known by that name: the winner of the East Drifter, West Wanderer Martial Arts Tournament and the mysterious figure who killed Yang Myeong, a Hall Master of the Infernal Blood Fortress; and the terrifying Demonic master who cut down experts of great righteousness one after another, the Ten Demonic Successor of Wolf Fang Pavilion.
—Probably neither.
Bu Eunseol’s current appearance, altered by the Face Changing Bone Altering Art, looked somewhat older. His body appeared thin, and even his temples were flat; there was no trace of powerful internal energy cultivation anywhere. Moreover, wasn’t there a clumsy tassel attached to his sword, looking like something a child had made?
Looking at that alone, one could not think of him as the tournament winner or the Ten Demonic Successor.
—Must be someone with the same name.
Because he had reached the realm of Returning to Simplicity, they assumed Bu Eunseol’s martial level was merely average.
“What brings you here?”
At Hwangbo Cheon-gyeong’s question, Bu Eunseol answered calmly, “I am touring the mountains and rivers with my sworn brother.”
When stiff answers continued to return, Hwangbo Cheon-gyeong frowned slightly. Usually, when they revealed themselves as direct descendants of the Eight Great Families, whether young or old, people would show a polite attitude… However, because Bu Eunseol’s appearance looked older than them, he didn’t say anything specific.
“Then, your sworn brother is…”
Expectation flickered in Zhuge Seo-woon’s eyes. Leaving Bu Eunseol aside, Hyeok So-jin’s appearance and attire looked like a disciple of a large sect or a descendant of a prestigious family to anyone’s eyes.
“I am Hyeok So-jin.”
Again, a name they had never heard before.
Silence flowed for a moment, and Hwangbo Cheon-gyeong and Hwangbo Je-gyeong nodded perfunctorily as if their interest had cooled.
“We are tired, so us brothers will go in and rest.”
Turning away, the Hwangbo brothers glanced at Zhuge Seo-woon and sighed. Although they didn’t speak, their eyes said it clearly:
—There is no need to build relationships with such drifters.
‘Hmph, so they think we’re nobodies,’ Seeing this, Hyeok So-jin sneered inwardly.
Bu Eunseol and Hyeok So-jin were the orthodox successors of the Ten Demonic Sects, positioned to interact with the top figures of both the Orthodox and Demonic paths. Yet, the Hwangbo brothers, who were merely direct descendants and not even Young Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families, were putting on airs—it was laughable.
“Ahem.”
Zhuge Seo-woon, clearing his throat in embarrassment, broke the silence.
“While coming here, my sister and I procured a few catties of good liquor from Muha. Would you care to join us for a drink?”
“Liquor?”
Hyeok So-jin, who had been wearing a bored expression all along, opened his eyes wide.
“Sounds good. Let’s have a drink quickly.”
However, Bu Eunseol suddenly narrowed his eyes and frowned. His expression was so serious that Hyeok So-jin looked puzzled.
“You don’t want to drink?”
[Enemies are coming.]
When Bu Eunseol suddenly sent a telepathic message, Hyeok So-jin tilted his head.
[What do you mean?]
[Have you still not felt it?]
At those words, Hyeok So-jin immediately raised his Sensory Enhancement Technique.
Flap-flap-flap.
Then, he could hear the sound of wind tearing in the breeze. It was the sound made when sails swallowed the wind to the fullest.
‘Water bandits?’
Hyeok So-jin blinked. He sensed two enormous ships chasing the merchant vessel at high speed beyond the fog.
“Oh my.”
In the meantime, piercing through the fog, a massive sailboat approached fiercely like a beast that had spotted its prey.
“Th-those are…”
A crew member who spotted the black sword emblem on the flag fluttering on the main mast shouted loudly.
“It’s the Flood Dragon Stronghold!”
—Flood Dragon Stronghold? Is there such a water fortress?
—A group of water bandits without a lineage… we’re all going to die!
Hearing those words, the people could not hide their astonishment, for it was the name of a water fortress they were hearing for the first time in their lives.
Generally, water bandits maintain secret relationships with government offices and share the profits. Because of this, the Eighteen Water Fortresses of the Yangtze River, which claim the Yangtze area as their territory and demand tolls from merchant ships, can be recognized as martial world forces.
However, among water bandits, there are factions that care nothing for the Way of Thieves. These are the worst kind of water bandits, engaging not only in looting raided merchant ships but also in human trafficking.
And the Flood Dragon Stronghold was a group of bandits belonging to that category.
“Increase speed!”
The merchant ship tried to speed up as much as possible to shake off the approaching vessels. However, the sails of the two ships chasing like arrows were swollen tight, embracing the wind fully. The merchant ship, laden with cargo and passengers, could never outrun the warships cutting through the waves at high speed.
“Flood Dragon Stronghold? The name sounds plausible.”
Hwangbo Je-gyeong, watching the approaching ships from afar, wore a relaxed expression. Everyone here was a martial arts expert; a group of water bandits was nothing to fear.
“It is strange.”
However, Zhuge Seo-woon tilted his head and muttered, “How can water bandits without any lineage operate giant ships of that scale?”
The approaching sailboats were large enough to accommodate easily three to four hundred combatants. At that level, they were ships operated by the likes of the Eighteen Water Fortresses of the Yangtze or the Twelve Alliances of the Yellow River.
“Hmm.”
At that moment, Bu Eunseol, who had been lost in deep thought about something, approached Zhuge Seo-woon.
“By any chance.”
“Do you have something to say to me…”
Zhuge Seo-woon looked bewildered, for Bu Eunseol’s eyes, approaching closely, were burning like flames.
***
The ships speeding at full velocity eventually caught up closely to the merchant vessel. Surrounded on the left and right, a tense battle was about to break out any moment.
Thud!
At that moment, dozens of yellow-clad water bandits from the ship attached to the port side suddenly used movement techniques to land on the deck of the merchant ship. The bandits had sturdy builds and wore bizarre-looking yellow clothes, and the impression of the man standing at the very front was the most ferocious. He seemed to be the leader of these bandits.
“Ho, there are quite a few martial artists too.”
The man who appeared to be the leader scanned the passengers carrying weapons all over the ship and raised his left hand to the sky.
Snap.
Simultaneously, hundreds of water bandits on the left and right ships drew fire arrows soaked in oil. It was a threat to sink the merchant ship immediately if any sign of resistance was shown.
“I am Maeng Jung-ak, the Leader of the Flood Dragon Stronghold.”
Sweeping his gaze over those on the merchant ship, he chuckled low and spoke.
“Those who want to be heroes may step forward. That is, if you want to see innocent civilians buried at sea.”
At Maeng Jung-ak’s words, several martial artists stopped moving and clenched their fists. The level of movement technique displayed by this bandit named Maeng Jung-ak was worthy of being called a peak expert. On top of that, hundreds of bandits were aiming fire arrows at the ship. If they attacked rashly, the merchant ship would be burned immediately, and the civilians would suffer a mass death.
“Good. You thought well.”
Seeing no signs of resistance from the martial artists, Maeng Jung-ak nodded with a satisfied expression.
But then.
“Just one gak.”
Six shadows emerged from the cabin with leisurely steps.
At the very front were two pale-looking men. Behind them were a young man with an extremely poor complexion and a young woman of marriageable age. And behind them were twin young men with massive physiques.
They were Bu Eunseol, Hyeok So-jin, the siblings of the Zhuge Clan, and the twins of the Hwangbo Clan.
“What are you guys?”
Lightly ignoring Maeng Jung-ak’s question, Zhuge Seo-woon spoke in a low voice, “I wondered if there was a need to use something like this against a group of water bandits… but seeing the scale, innocent civilians could really get hurt badly.”
“There will be no need for civilians to get hurt.”
As Bu Eunseol answered calmly, Maeng Jung-ak, watching them, sensed something strange.
“You bastards. Do you intend to resist?”
Meeting Bu Eunseol’s cold eyes, Maeng Jung-ak felt an ominous foreboding and immediately raised his hand, signaling to shoot the arrows.
But it was strange.
The night sky had turned a deep blue color before anyone noticed. Yet, the expressions of his subordinates drawing arrows beyond the ship remained relaxed, as if they saw nothing?
“You bastard! What have you done!”
“It is the Heaven’s Ultimate Fate-Sealing Array.”
Zhuge Seo-woon, looking at Maeng Jung-ak, grinned.
“A formation of the Zhuge Clan.”
And he briefly recalled the situation from one gak ago.
***
“Can you unfold the Heaven’s Ultimate Fate-Sealing Array right now?”
Bu Eunseol stared at Zhuge Seo-woon with eyes burning like charcoal.
“Install it without the passengers knowing, but the effect of the formation must cover the entire ship.”
At the completely unexpected request, Zhuge Seo-woon opened his mouth. “Suddenly, what…”
Hwangbo Cheon-gyeong, who had remained silent throughout, smirked and stepped forward. “Brother Zhuge, it appears this individual is taken aback by the size of the ship.” With a slight sneer, he continued, “We are confronting an unidentified group of water bandits, a group that only the crew of a merchant ship would be familiar with. What kind of formation are you referring to that is unfolding?”
“Not at all.”
Then Bu Eunseol also wore a cold smile.
“They are not ordinary water bandits.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Even if they luckily obtained such ships, ordinary water bandits could never operate them.”
Bu Eunseol spoke decisively.
“They are people disguised as water bandits.”