Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

Chapter 37 – Into the Summer (4)

Through Kong Su-chan, I received the last job of this summer.

It was to escort the head of the Dongping Merchant Guild[1]. They asked for one day of protection during an important contract signing.

The payment was two thousand taels. It was a considerable amount for just one day’s work.

It seemed someone was likely targeting them.

Well, isn’t that why they’re paying us money to take on this job?

I decided to take the job.

Before leaving, my father only said this:

“Don’t be overconfident because of your previous success. Accidents always happen when you’re complacent.”

“Yes, Father. I’ll keep that in mind.”

My father is an upright person to the point of being old-fashioned. I like this aspect of him.

On the other hand, my mother was completely carefree.

“Make a lot of money, son!”

How could a mother not be worried? Rather, it was sad to see her trying to hide her true feelings with such a casual response.

“Yes, Mother. I’ll buy you a gift when I return.”

“Make it an expensive one.”

“Haha, alright.”

***

When I arrived at the Dongping Merchant Guild with the squad members, the atmosphere was very heavy.

Swordsmen and servants belonging to the Baek family were guarding the Yang family mansion, armed with weapons and clubs.

When we arrived, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Baek Yeo[2], the head of Dongping Merchant Guild who had called us, ran out to greet us in his socks as if heavenly gods had descended.

“Welcome. I’m so glad you’ve come.”

“Why is the security so tight?”

“Look at this.”

What he showed me was a threatening letter. It contained a brutal message saying they would kill his entire family if he didn’t stop the contract.

“Who sent this?”

“There’s someone who’s after this contract. They’re trying to push me out and steal the deal.”

“Could it just be a simple threat? To scare you into backing down.”

But Baek Yeo shook his head.

“That bastard’s cousin is the head of the Seo Jong Association[3].”

“The Seo Jong Association?”

“The Seo Jong Association is a well-known black society[4] in the area. They named themselves the Seo Jong Association because the group follows their leader, Seo Ryang[5].”

Black societies were groups of street thugs, not martial arts sects. They were people who mainly made a living by interfering with the rights of brothels and taverns and extorting money.

“Now that we’re here, you don’t need to fear a mere black society.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate a black society. They’re very cruel bastards. And there are a lot of them. Moreover, I’ve heard that some of them have learned martial arts.”

“I understand. Please prepare to depart.”

“I’m counting on you all.”

After leaving the room, I immediately called for Gwan Hwi.

“It seems we’ll be dealing with black society thugs. Tell everyone to prepare mentally, as they might come in large numbers.”

“Understood.”

The agreed place for the contract signing was about two hours away by carriage from Baek Yeo’s house.

The Dongping Merchant Guild’s swordsmen guarded the house, and only our sword squad escorted the carriage carrying the company head as we departed.

It was almost expected that there would be interference.

I concentrated all my senses. If they attacked from afar with arrows, there could be casualties.

The recent missions were experiences I couldn’t have imagined when I was the Alliance Leader. I had heard that black societies sometimes interfered in trading company contracts involving large sums of money, but this was the first time I was experiencing it directly.

Baek Yeo spoke to me through the carriage window.

“I heard you took care of the Wild Beast Squad.”

“That’s right.”

“Impressive. The Wild Beast Squad was a notorious bandit group.”

“So you don’t need to worry too much. The martial artist sitting next to you right now is the one who took down four of the Wild Beast Squad members.”

“Oh! Is that so?”

The person sitting next to Baek Yeo was Gwang-du.

“Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.”

Gwang-du deepened his voice.

“So you placed a master next to me.”

Gwang-du flinched. That wasn’t why he was riding in the carriage. He had started practicing horseback riding, but he wasn’t skilled enough yet, so we put him in the carriage.

Gwang-du had insisted on riding a horse with just a few days of practice. He wanted to show Do Soon a cool image of him riding a horse, but it would be fortunate if he didn’t fall off. Do Soon still hadn’t attached the tassel to her sword.

As we were crossing a wide plain, the ambushers revealed themselves.

At first, when about thirty men blocked our way, no one was surprised.

But they kept appearing. Ten more, twenty more, thirty more. They kept appearing from all directions.

They were holding all kinds of weapons. Their numbers exceeded a hundred, then two hundred, and reached three hundred.

We were surrounded by black society thugs on all sides. When three hundred men armed with swords and spears surrounded us, the pressure was truly immense.

Baek Yeo, who had been looking outside through the carriage window, was terrified.

“Oh no! We’re done for!”

“Don’t worry.”

Gwang-du’s voice trembled severely, which only heightened the fear.

Following Gwan Hwi’s instructions, the squad members formed a circular formation around the carriage. Though they had experienced a few real battles, they couldn’t help but be tense in the face of these overwhelming numbers.

There’s no way one black society could have this many members. They must have scraped together thugs from various places after hearing we had been called.

Still, Baek Yeo was a person with a conscience.

“I’ll give up the deal. There’s no need for you to die over this.”

Baek Yeo stuck his head out of the window and shouted loudly.

“I’ll give up the contract and go back, so please let us return!”

Then, the crowd of people parted left and right, and a man who looked like the leader walked out. Given that these were black society thugs, he must be Seo Ryang of the Seo Jong Association.

“How could such a wise person be so stubborn?”

“I was foolishly stubborn. Please just let us go back.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Seo Ryang walked forward. As he moved, the men surrounding us approached closer.

As the thugs came closer, the squad members tensed up. They wouldn’t be a match in one-on-one fights, but their numbers were too great.

Moreover, many of them were carrying long spears. The fear arose that if they all rushed in and stabbed wildly with those spears, martial arts skills wouldn’t matter, and we’d be helpless.

Seo Ryang, who had approached to about ten paces away, spoke intimidatingly.

“How can we trust you? You might just go back like this and set up another appointment tonight. These busy gentlemen can’t gather again, you know.”

“No, I’ll give up cleanly. I’ll even write a pledge if you want.”

“What use is a piece of paper?”

“Then what would you like me to do?”

“How about cutting off one of your hands before you go?”

“What?”

Baek Yeo turned pale.

Seo Ryang laughed loudly.

“Hahaha. I’m joking, just joking. You’re more cowardly than you look.”

Then Seo Ryang stopped laughing and coldly threatened.

“But if we have to come out again, it won’t end with just one hand. Now, you’re going back, right? Open the way for them.”

He didn’t forget to add a word to us as well.

“If you act arrogant carrying swords and calling yourselves martial artists, you’ll end up with your limbs cut off and dead. Get lost now! This gentleman is specially sparing your lives.”

The black society thugs laughed loudly from all directions.

The black society members who had surrounded the back opened a path.

Baek Yeo looked at me and said,

“Let’s go back quickly.”

When I showed no reaction, Baek Yeo became urgent.

“Let’s go, I said. If those bastards change their minds, you’ll all die too. Hurry!”

I finally opened my mouth.

“If you’re so afraid of those bastards, why didn’t you hire them in the first place?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you hired us, you should trust us.”

“What?”

I looked at Seo Ryang and spoke coldly.

“You dog-like scum of a thug. Do we look like people who’ll come and go as you say?”

You’re asking how a former Alliance Leader can use such language? Who were the enemies I faced? If I think about the curses I heard from all those evil people of the demon cult and evil sects… If I unleashed just those, I could make everyone shudder.

Seo Ryang looked at his subordinate next to him and asked,

“What’s this greenhorn is saying?”

“It seems he’s saying he wants to fight us.”

“Do you have dicks stuck in your eyes?”

Laughter erupted from the surroundings.

“If you wish to die, we should grant it.”

As Seo Ryang drew his sword, the black society thugs all aimed their weapons. He was thoroughly relying on the number three hundred.

I ordered Gwan Hwi.

“Form a semicircle using the carriage as a wall and protect Mr. Baek.”

“Yes.”

“Watch carefully. I’ll show you how to deal with scum like this. I’ll show you how real martial artists differ from such trash.”

Chang.

I drew my sword smoothly and walked out slowly.

The black society thugs tensed slightly at my composure.

How do you fight in a situation like this? It’s simple.

Tatattak.

I charged towards Seo Ryang. As always in many-versus-many battles, you need to take the enemy leader’s head first.

The men rushed forward in a group.

My sword cleaved the air cleanly.

Swish! Slash!

The neck of the man who blocked me first was cut off.

My sword slashed diagonally again.

The body of the man following was cut in that same direction. Seeing a person’s neck and body being cut right before their eyes, the surrounding thugs were terrified.

Spears flew in from all directions.

I dodged the spears by swaying my body this way and that.

My movements were precise. Dodge and cut, dodge and cut. One slash for each man.

In an instant, over ten men fell as corpses.

Rather, it was the thugs who were in chaos.

I dodged what needed to be dodged and cut only what needed to be cut. I was even more disciplined than when facing a single opponent.

Every time my sword swung, someone inevitably died.

Ten more fell, bringing the death toll to twenty.

Seo Ryang shouted in panic.

“Stop him! Kill him!”

The panicked voice of the leader further lowered the morale of his subordinates.

The order he should have given was this:

Kill Baek Yeo!

That would have divided my attention. Well, the result would have been the same anyway.

In any case, Seo Ryang wasn’t someone with such tactics. In his panic, he was half out of his mind now.

Thugs rushed in from all directions. But it was they who were dying.

No matter how many there were, they were just black society thugs after all. Even the better ones had at best learned martial arts at the level of our squad members.

However, I didn’t intend to kill them all.

Stepping on the back of a man who fell with his chest split open, I leaped powerfully.

I passed over dozens of men at once and landed.

Seo Ryang was visible about ten paces ahead. As I approached right in front of him, he shouted as if having a fit.

“Stop him! Stop him!”

The men blocking the front were only about ten. If those in front couldn’t stop me, how could these?

Swish!

Slash!

My sword sprayed blood in the air. As five of the men fell, the remaining five stepped back.

“Stop him! You bastards! Stop him!”

But no one dared to step forward. They all had faces filled with terror.

I wasn’t even breathing hard.

Seo Ryang stepped back and said,

“We’ll leave now. So…”

I threw myself towards him. To subdue the remaining men, I couldn’t leave him alive.

He drew his sword and swung it widely at me. It might have worked on his subordinates, but it was useless against me.

Swish.

Slash.

As I passed by him, Seo Ryang’s movement stopped abruptly. A red line appeared on his neck, and then.

Thud.

His head rolled on the ground.

Splash!

Seo Ryang, with his head cut off, fell while spurting a fountain of blood. Everyone froze watching Seo Ryang’s head rolling on the ground.

Slash.

Shaking the blood off my sword, I spoke softly.

“Put down what’s in your hands and kneel.”

Though my voice was soft because I infused it with inner energy, everyone heard it clearly.

They all looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

I walked steadily towards the man closest to me.

“Oh my! Please spare me!”

The man threw down his weapon and knelt.

That was the start. One after another, they threw down their weapons and knelt.

“Please spare us!”

“Please, spare our lives!”

Even if three hundred rabbits gather, they can’t catch a tiger. Moreover, these were back-alley thugs who valued their own lives more than loyalty.

I shouted to the squad members.

“From now on, cut down anyone who opens their eyes or raises their head!”

“Yes!”

The squad members shouted energetically.

The black society thugs all closed their eyes and lowered their heads at once. When nearly three hundred men knelt and bowed their heads simultaneously, it was quite a spectacle in itself.

I walked towards the squad members and said,

“This is what it means to be a martial artist. We are called martial artists because we are people like this. Understand?”

“Yes!”

The faces of the squad members were filled with pride and a desire to become stronger. Especially Gwang-du and Gwan Hwi had dreamlike expressions in their eyes.

Yes, this was the appearance I had hoped for. This was the influence I wanted them to receive. Even if three thousand of these thugs gathered, they should never be afraid of or turn their backs on mere black society scum.

Later, each of the squad members will be able to demonstrate this kind of power.

I sincerely look forward to that day.

Baek Yeo was staring at me with his eyes wide open and his mouth agape. He was so shocked he couldn’t say a word.

I smiled and said,

“Let’s go sign that contract.”

The man who died was Seo Ryang of the Seo Jong Association. Those who died protecting him at the end were the deputy leaders and executives. The Seo Jong Association was effectively destroyed.

We thoroughly frightened the remaining thugs before releasing them. It was a direct threat that if we heard they were involved in such evil deeds again, we would rush over and kill them.

Of course, most of them will probably return to the back alleys, but for the time being, they won’t even leave their homes.

That day’s contract was signed without incident.

Baek Yeo gave me money.

“I’ve put in extra as a special bonus.”

“I won’t decline.”

I accepted without hesitation, as it probably wasn’t money he was forcing himself to give. When I opened the envelope, there were five notes worth a thousand taels each. He had added three thousand taels more than the original amount.

“Thank you. We’ll be leaving now.”

“If there’s ever such a situation again, I’ll definitely call for you.”

“Please do.”

But by then, the same amount of money won’t be enough.

Our price will have increased at least tenfold.