Chapter 12

It is often said that the dissolution of the Martial Righteous Alliance was an inevitable consequence of the fall of its archenemy, the Demonic Cult, from their stronghold in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Without such a powerful, unifying enemy, a massive coalition spanning the entire Central Plains was bound to collapse.

But that is merely the opinion of the common folk. The view of the learned is different.

The advancement of the era led to the sophistication of capital.

As a result, the clans, commonly known as the great houses, rose to prominence with economic power as their driving force. This change occurred so swiftly and precisely that the former pillars of the Martial Righteous Alliance, the so-called Nine Great Sects, were mostly left to drown in their past glory.

Times had changed, and those who could not keep up were left behind. The fall of the Martial Righteous Alliance was a story both that simple and that complex.

***

Many clans grew into colossal entities, wielding not just political and military might, but economic power as well. The transport of goods was handled internally by the merchant associations and guilds owned by these clans.

The Escort Agency.

For this reason, many scholars predicted that the escort agency was a profession doomed to extinction. Indeed, rather than simply going bankrupt, many agencies chose to sell their shares to the larger merchant associations and be absorbed.

But, as is often the case with the predictions of scholars, and as is often the case with the affairs of the world, words like ‘certainly,’ ‘unconditionally,’ and ‘absolutely’ are more often proven wrong than right.

On a deserted mountain path in the outskirts of Luoyang, the escort agencies that had chosen to fight desperately for survival instead of submitting had adopted a new strategy: specialization.

[This is a difficult situation. To think we would have witnesses to the transport,] an escort guard mumbled telepathically to his leader, his hand fidgeting on the hilt of his sword. [Escort Captain[1], what should we do?]

“…”

The escort captain scowled as he looked down at the figures kneeling before him.

“Oh, please! Just spare our lives!”

“We didn’t see anything!”

They were an old couple who made a living gathering medicinal herbs and wild vegetables. To think there would be people out here in the dead of night… Seized by the guards the moment their eyes had met, they were now begging for their lives, their hands and feet a blur of desperate motion. Their clothes were tattered, and the tears and sweat streaming down their unwashed faces left black rivulets in the grime.

“Just this once…!”

“We won’t tell anyone what we saw today!”

They were at least quick-witted. The weak and the slow-witted had all died long ago.

[Escort Captain.]

The escort captain’s deliberation was cut short by a telepathic message from a warrior the client had assigned to them. [Are you thinking of leaving witnesses?]

The professionalism the agency had cultivated could not be called into question. Their reliability could not be shaken. What the client had demanded of them was a transport that was swift, precise, and left no witnesses.

He had only seen the client once before, but he was certain the man’s surname was ‘Yeon.’ To live and do business in Luoyang, one had to avoid upsetting the Yeon clansmen. Was that not why they were here, with their own tight-lipped guards carrying and hauling the cargo themselves, without so much as a single hired porter?

[…Kill them.]

Having given the order, the escort captain turned his back.

“Oh, thank you!”

“Thank you, sir!”

The old couple, misinterpreting his action, prostrated themselves, their heads hitting the dirt in gratitude.

And behind them…

“…”

…the guards spat on the ground and silently drew their swords. This was hardly the first time they had done such a thing. The high wages they earned were directly proportional to how much they were willing to dirty their hands.

[Make it a clean death.]

Their blades flashed, aiming to sever the old couple’s necks from behind in a single motion. And at the exact same instant—

CRACK!

—their wrists shattered, and their swords flew into the air.

“Kugh!”

“Heuk…!”

Then, a thunderous voice echoed through the mountain pass. “Truly lawless fiends!” The owner of the voice seemed to be using some peculiar sound technique, as the words reverberated from all directions. “Do you think you can be forgiven for trying to slaughter innocent people like beasts?!”

The escort guards moved as one, drawing their weapons with practiced discipline.

[What were the lookouts doing?!]

[Ambush defense! Form up!]

[Pinpoint the location of the voice!]

Their movements were even faster than the frantic telepathic messages flying between them. Amidst the chaos, the captain calmly stepped forward, drawing his own sword. “From the sound of it, you must be a wandering hero who cannot turn a blind eye to injustice. Why don’t you show your face so we can talk?”

The escort captain casually removed the scarf covering his face and smiled, his eyes scanning the surroundings. “It seems there has been a misunderstanding. Wouldn’t it be better to resolve this with words rather than bloodshed?”

It was, of course, a lie. In his line of work, he was constantly running into these self-righteous vigilante types. He was well-versed in how to deal with them.

“If you are a man of honor, surely you would not be afraid to show yourself?”

Just as he expected, after a brief pause, a voice returned. “…I am coming out now.”

Figures emerged from all sides. Their attire was mismatched, but they all wore scarves to conceal their faces.

[There’s more than one of them.]

Five had revealed themselves, but there could be more still in hiding.

[On my signal, we attack as one.]

The expressions of the guards who received the escort captain’s order did not change.

“…”

Even so, the archers subtly checked the number and position of the arrows in their quivers, and those with hidden weapons slipped their hands into their coats. They were professionals.

“So there are five of you,” the escort captain said, stepping forward with a friendly smile to buy his men time. “From your upright bearing and righteous spirit, I can tell you must be renowned heroes in the martial world.” He spread his empty hands in a gesture of goodwill. “Might I be so honored as to hear your titles?”

“We are…!” The man who had met his eyes began to shout boisterously, then hesitated. He sheepishly glanced at one of his comrades.

“…Uh, well.” The second man faltered, then looked to a third.

Finally, the last man, upon whom all eyes had settled, let out a sigh. “We are…” He scratched the back of his head with the hand that wasn’t holding a hand axe. His voice was timid, almost a mumble. “…a band of highwaymen.”

A dead silence fell over the mountain pass.

One of the scarf-wearing ‘highwaymen’ cleared his throat and shouted awkwardly, “Th-that’s right! So if you value your lives, abandon the cargo and leave at once!”

“Your goods are ours now!” another one added.

“That’s right! And you will apologize to this elderly couple!”

What in the hell was this situation?

“…”

As the escort captain stood there, utterly dumbfounded, a figure strode past him. “Truly, a bunch of buffoons.” It was one of the Sword Clan warriors assigned by the client, and he was walking directly toward the highwaymen.

The sight snapped the escort captain out of his stupor, and he sent a frantic telepathic message. [W-wait! According to our contract, all engagements are to be handled by our agency…!]

“…”

There was no reply. The warrior simply raised his sword, still sheathed, and closed the distance to the axe-wielding highwayman. The chillingly sharp aura of the unsheathed blade seemed to be his answer.

Fair enough. The escort captain decided to relax. A warrior of the Sword Clan was on a different level from the common martial artists who roamed the land.

[Prepare. The moment they exchange a single blow, we launch our attack.]

The instant the escort captain’s order was given, the warrior’s body seemed to sink into the ground and vanish.

The Sword Clan’s Sword Style: Sword Heart, Sword Cry[2]. Drawing the Sword Stance[3].

He took a long, low step, and his sword shot from its scabbard like a projectile, a brilliant flash of light. It was a sword draw of such high quality that for a moment, even the escort captain was impressed. All eyes were fixed on the blade as it carved its beautiful arc.

But.

“…!”

The draw was never completed.

The warrior’s sword hand was caught, almost anticlimactically, by the highwayman.

CRACK!

The highwayman, using a grappling technique, seized the warrior’s arm and slammed his own head into the man’s face. It was a crude, but brutally effective, Iron Head Art[4].

“Kuk?!”

The terrifying impact shattered the warrior’s nose and orbital bone. But a warrior of the Sword Clan was a warrior nonetheless. Even as his arm was caught, his free hand snatched the falling sword.

Sword Heart, Sword Cry. Fast Sword Stance[5]. Ultimate Principle[6], Finely Sliced, Sharply Minced[7].

They say a true swordsman can fight with either hand. But his expert swordsmanship was cut short before it could even unfold, by the overwhelming power of another Iron Head Art.

CRUNCH!

His face, which he had protected with internal energy, completely caved in. And before the warrior could even think of a response, his head was sent flying into the sky.

“…!”

The sight was so unexpected that the escort captain and his men, who had been poised to attack, simply stood there with their mouths agape.

“If you’re skilled enough to use the ultimate principles of Sword Heart, Sword Cry, you should have led with it.” The vigilante—no, the highwayman—flicked the blood from his hand axe. “My apologies,” he said with a click of his tongue and a shrug. “But recently, I’ve had more than my fill of fighting against the Sword Clan’s basic sword styles.”

The elite martial artists of the Third Young Master’s new Martial Righteous Alliance, who used techniques from the Nine Great Sects refined with the Sword Clan’s power. The infamous hounds of the Martial Righteous Alliance, the Tamrang. And though he hadn’t fought them, even the terrifying Shadow Corps of Sichuan.

“Heh heh.”

It was just that his recent opponents had all carried such heavy, intimidating names.

“We may be fleeing Luoyang for now, but our names are worth just as much as theirs.”

The shame he had felt for his earlier boast to Yeon So-hyeon was finally beginning to heal.

“Do not let your guard down,” the remaining Sword Clan warriors warned, drawing their swords. “These are no ordinary men.”

Their voices jolted the escort captain back to his senses. “A-attack!”

Arrows flew, and hidden weapons sliced through the air. The escort guards charged with swords drawn. For a time, the quiet mountain valley was shaken by battle cries and dying screams.

***

“Hup…!” With a short cry, the vigilante recovered his axe, which was buried deep in a corpse’s skull. Thick blood and brain matter oozed from the wound, glistening in the moonlight.

[Whoa, look at this.]

[These are works of art.]

The exclamations of his comrades, who were examining the goods on the carts and A-frames, came through telepathically.

[…Look at this signature seal. There’s even a piece from the previous patriarch of one of the Sixteen Imperial Families.]

[And these look like celadon vases from the Haedong Kingdom.]

There were more than five carts piled high with goods, and over ten A-frames loaded with crates.

[This is an incredible amount….] one vigilante said, swallowing hard as he looked at the treasures. [How much would all of this be worth in gold?]

Another, who was bandaging a comrade’s arm, chuckled. [Well, it’s not our money, so it’s best not to even think about it, right?]

[True enough.] The man who had asked the question shrugged and stepped back, and the others did the same without a second thought.

[Alright, alright, let’s finish up with first aid and move to the rendezvous point!]

Those who were greedy for wealth would never have joined the Spring of Luoyang in the first place. They knew how to enjoy the pleasures of the world, but they were not ruled by them.

“Pl-please spare us!”

And then there was the old couple, the reason the vigilantes had been communicating telepathically.

“Shh.”

The vigilante standing before the trembling couple raised a finger to his lips.

“…”

“…”

The quick-witted couple immediately fell silent.

“Do you understand what you need to do now?” the vigilante asked, his voice low from behind his scarf. He didn’t offer them false comfort or easy reassurances. He was too seasoned a vigilante to act like a novice.

The old couple nodded rapidly.

“We’ll leave this place at once!”

“We won’t tell anyone a thing!”

“That much is obvious.” The vigilante’s hand casually caressed the hilt of his sheathed sword, and the couple’s minds raced.

“We have relatives in a village in Hubei!”

“It’s a small village deep in the mountains! No one will ever find us there!”

The vigilante was neither naive nor foolish. “Is that so?” he asked. He took out a small porcelain bottle, uncorked it, and sprinkled its contents on the couple.

“Cough, cough!” The white powder made them cough violently.

“This is Chasing Fragrance[8]. You’ve heard of it, I’m sure. It’s quite expensive, and it leaves a unique scent that will allow me to find you no matter how much time passes.” His eyes glinted in the darkness. “Do not even stop by your home. Head for Hubei at once.” He added, as the couple scrambled to help each other up, “I will come to Hubei myself later to confirm it.”

The old couple, their faces etched with terror, nodded. “Yes, yes! We understand!”

“We’ll leave right away!”

The vigilante gave a curt nod. “Then get lost.”

He watched them disappear into the bushes, then let out a low sigh. This way, they would surely flee far away, without any selfish thoughts of trying to use the information they had accidentally stumbled upon.

A vigilante must save people and help people, but they must also have a deep understanding of human nature. A vigilante who likes people, trusts people easily, and believes people are inherently good…

…is a dead vigilante.

After confirming the couple was far away, he turned to his comrades. “Everyone, help me erase the couple’s tracks.”

They began to meticulously wipe away any signs of the couple’s presence to ensure no potential pursuer would follow them.

“Good work. You handled that well.” An older vigilante approached and tossed him a small porcelain bottle. It was identical to the one he had just used on the couple.

“Thank you.” He opened the bottle and sprinkled the powder on his own wounds.

This bottle contained a hemostatic agent.