Chapter 37

"If you're looking for Tiger Fang Manor, go towards the North Gate main road of Nanchang Castle and ask any passerby. It's the largest and most famous manor in the vicinity, so you should be able to find it easily without much difficulty."

"Really? Thank you. Then shall we be on our way? Thank you for your trouble."

"What, are you leaving already?"

Na Jung-hae said, his face full of smiles, a polite farewell that was the complete opposite of his true feelings. He was worried that these ignorant fools, who didn't even know the courtesy of declining, might actually sit down again and leave later, but fortunately, the two showed no intention of staying any longer.

"Well then, take care."

After finishing these words, Bi Ryu-yeon stood up from his seat, and Yeomdo, who had been sitting silently with a scowl, followed suit. Soon, the two opened the door and disappeared quietly, unlike when they had arrived. Watching the backs of the two departing figures, Na Jung-hae shouted.

"If you ever need anything, please feel free to call on this humble servant at any time. I am always on standby, so please use me as you please."

He shouted the nonsense, which he didn't mean even half as much as a speck of sleep in his eye, so loudly that the sound echoed throughout the room, making his ears ring. Na Jung-hae had spoken lightly, not thinking of the proverbs 'the mouth is the root of all evil' and the advice of the ancients that 'words become seeds'.

The two had come like a storm and left, leaving only the scene of a disaster behind. After confirming that the two figures had completely disappeared from sight, Na Jung-hae's face hardened coldly. He felt as if all the strength had drained from his body. His complexion, which had been pale and cold at first, gradually turned redder, and one by one, veins began to pop out, until it finally turned as red as heated iron.

It was a grotesque sight, as if the veins on his forehead would burst from the pent-up anger and spew blood at any moment. With his face as red as it could get, Na Jung-hae, using his surging anger as fuel, shouted at the top of his lungs towards the outside. The pent-up resentment that had been building up burst out all at once in a wave of sound.

"You damn bastards who deserve to be struck by lightning and die! You damn sons of bitches who deserve to be cursed! You will surely receive the judgment of heaven. Just you wait, just you see. Hahaha..."

Unlike a leader responsible for an organization, Na Jung-hae spewed out curses that were too vulgar to even say or write down, and after he had poured them out, his mind calmed down a little. Moreover, when he thought about the work he had set up, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

The detestable two bastards who had come like a sudden storm and left, leaving only the scene of a disaster behind. There was one thing that Gyeongsuni Na Jung-hae had not told the two punks, whom he wouldn't feel satisfied even if he beat them to death. It was the fact that if Yeomdo wanted to enter the Cheonmu Academy as a martial instructor, he could demand Bi Ryu-yeon's special exam qualification right as a condition. For the Cheonmu Academy, which was in absolute need of even one more master due to the severe shortage of martial instructors, it was an offer they could never refuse.

The price of obtaining a great figure like Yeomdo as a martial instructor was nothing more than a trivial price. But Na Jung-hae had not taught them this easy and simple method. If this were true, there would be no need for Bi Ryu-yeon and Yeomdo to hold hands and go to Tiger Fang Manor. Na Jung-hae had deliberately hidden this fact and intentionally sent the two to Tiger Fang Manor. In fact, objectively speaking, it was correct to say that the probability of Tiger Fang Manor being able to stop Yeomdo was zero.

Nanchang's number one martial manor, Tiger Fang Manor!

Of course, it was not a place to be taken lightly. The fact that they could proudly hang their sign and act as a sect in the front yard of the Cheonmu Academy, which could be called the temple of martial arts, was more than enough to prove that Tiger Fang Manor's potential was not ordinary. However, that was not because of the master of Tiger Fang Manor, the Tiger Fang Fierce Sword, Ho Cheon-sang.

'Fierce Tiger Flying Strike Sword Method, 26 Forms'. Of course, it was a powerful sword method, but even if the manor master Ho Cheon-sang had mastered it to its peak, he had never thought, not even for a speck of a picked booger, that he could block Yeomdo's signature ultimate technique, the Fire Spirit Flame Heaven Saber Stance, Crimson Seventeen Flames. Yeomdo, with his own personal true strength alone, was more than enough to be evaluated as equal to, or greater than, a first-class sect of the Jianghu. Na Jung-hae, who collected and handled a vast amount of information scattered throughout the Jianghu, knew this fact better than anyone.

Yeomdo was a person worthy of that. Of course, please note that in this qualification evaluation, personality and character were excluded from the judging criteria. Therefore, if Na Jung-hae had only thought of Tiger Fang Manor as the force to deal with Yeomdo and the unlucky brat attached to him, he would not have lured Yeomdo and Bi Ryu-yeon there in the first place.

But Na Jung-hae had something to believe in. That person, who could be called an unexpected variable, was currently staying at Tiger Fang Manor. The real existence that had made the current Tiger Fang Manor possible. There was an existence who was the master of the Tiger Fang Fierce Sword, Ho Cheon-sang. The existence who had passed on the truth of the sword to the Tiger Fang Fierce Sword, Ho Cheon-sang, and had allowed Tiger Fang Manor to establish itself and act within Nanchang Castle. He was confident that his Frozen Ice Sword, which was said to freeze even the moonlight, could sufficiently block Yeomdo.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that only he in this Jianghu could stop Yeomdo. That's why Na Jung-hae had lured Yeomdo and the rude brat to Tiger Fang Manor with the feeling of 'You punks, let's see you get a taste of your own medicine!'. The only person who could stand against Yeomdo. An existence who was called one of the five great swordsmen of the world, alongside the five great saber masters of the world, and who received the praise and admiration of the martial artists of the Jianghu at the same time, was currently staying there.

Just thinking about it made him excited and his mood lifted. His heart, which had been like a rough wave, calmed down in an instant. Yeomdo would probably suffer a great defeat this time. Na Jung-hae firmly believed so. But after sending the two punks to Tiger Fang Manor, he felt a strange sense of unease, like a half-picked nostril, and a vague anxiety began to creep in. So Na Jung-hae prayed to the heavens. He prayed and prayed with all his heart that the two would be beaten to a pulp. Whether the heavens would grant his prayer or not, and heartlessly cast it aside, was something only the heavens would decide...

Only then did Na Jung-hae call for his youngest disciple, Heuk-sam, who had been restlessly pacing outside, and gave him an urgent task. It was a very important and urgent matter.

"Heuk-sam."

"Yes, Master."

"Go and quickly bring me a sack of rock salt!"

"Yes? Rock salt?"

For a moment, he couldn't understand what Na Jung-hae was saying. Why salt all of a sudden? And especially emphasizing the word 'rock'.

"Yes, and a very coarse one at that."

Heuk-sam, as the youngest disciple, was currently in charge of all the chores at Sunpungdang. Even if he doubted the normality of his master's mental state, he couldn't dare to say it out loud. He had no choice but to do as he was told.

Na Jung-hae had initially ordered Heuk-sam to bring one sack of rock salt, but after giving the order, he felt it was a bit insufficient. Considering what he had been through today, it wasn't something that would end with just one sack of salt. So Na Jung-hae shouted outside again.

"Heuk-sam, that won't be enough. Bring another sack of rock salt. And, call a Taoist priest too. I need to have a big exorcism today. I've got bad luck stuck to me, bad luck. And a very big, damn bad luck at that!"

Gyeongsuni Na Jung-hae, feeling that one sack of salt was not enough, ordered another one. And then, he meticulously sprinkled the coarse rock salt in every nook and cranny himself. And then, he spent a regrettable amount of money to call a famous Taoist priest to perform an exorcism, chanted spells, and plastered the entire place with expensive talismans.

But even if he sprinkled salt by the sackful, performed an exorcism, and put up talismans, would the ill-fated relationship between Na Jung-hae and the two, who could be called walking disasters, end with this...

---

• The Tiger Fang Manor Intrusion Incident

The sun is warm, the wind is calm, and the air is quiet.
In the silent wind, the sky is high,
And the flow of clouds across the high blue sky is endlessly leisurely.
The witnesses all said in one voice.
That it was a very warm afternoon.
That the weather that day, though it was winter by the season, was not like winter,
But was a clear and bright day like a warm spring day...

It was a warm afternoon with the sun shining down silently, just like any other day. If that incident hadn't happened, it would have been remembered as just a peaceful and nice winter afternoon. But an incident that made that day a very special day for the warriors of Tiger Fang Manor occurred due to the visit of two people. It was a sudden thunderbolt that no one had expected. Uninvited guests who broke the peaceful afternoon meditation. It was Bi Ryu-yeon and Yeomdo. Although there were only two of them, the effect they produced was comparable to a disaster.

Due to the visit of the two, the warriors of Tiger Fang Manor were left with an indelible disgrace and an unforgettable sense of defeat, and it was deeply engraved in them like a clear brand, a nightmare that would not be forgotten for a long time.

---

"You promised."

Bi Ryu-yeon said in a playful voice. Yeomdo nodded as if he understood.

"That being said, I won't tolerate informal speech. We have to keep what we have to keep."

Yeomdo nodded curtly again. A satisfied smile hung on Bi Ryu-yeon's lips.

"Then let's go."

Bi Ryu-yeon turned and walked ahead, and Yeomdo followed silently behind him. In the direction they were going, a martial arts manor named Tiger Fang Manor was located.

The main gate of Tiger Fang Manor should have been wide open, as if to welcome all people. But now it was not. It was firmly and tightly closed and showed no sign of opening. Originally, for a first-class sect like this, unless there were special circumstances—such as women being forbidden, the sect being sealed, a special ritual being held, being located in a secret place, or contact with the secular world being strictly forbidden by the sect's rules, etc.—it was the principle to keep the main gate wide open and receive guests from the time the sun rose until it set beyond the western mountains.

Usually, there were two guards guarding the main gate and one disciple in charge of receiving guests, who would greet the guests at the main gate, write their names on the visitor's register, and then guide them to the guest hall or the place of their business. That was the law of the Jianghu. Therefore, it was impossible for a first-class sect like Tiger Fang Manor to refuse guests in the middle of the day. In principle, for the sake of maintaining face, it was an unspoken law that one should not refuse a guest visiting the sect, even if that guest was a beggar.

But the reality of the current Murim was that even general customs were not well observed. It was troublesome to care for dirty and troublesome beggars, and it was also difficult to bear the enormous expenses that went into entertaining guests. So, they were selectively accepting only a portion of the invited visitors. If they accepted and entertained every guest who came, the fortune of Tiger Fang Manor would be depleted in an instant, and all the family members would easily be out on the street. So, uninvited guests were not welcomed, and invited guests were treated with utmost care. Conventionally, such things were now taken for granted in all sects.

Even so, this was Nanchang, where one of the largest factions in the Murim was located. It was a place where one had to suspect even passing beggars of being masters. This was because more than half of the beggars here were Murim beggars belonging to the Beggars' Sect.

In such a reality as Nanchang, a first-class sect like Tiger Fang Manor has a constant stream of guests every day. That's why the Tiger Fang Manor side could not be negligent in entertaining guests and was doing its best to entertain them as long as circumstances allowed. Until a few days ago, that was certainly the case. Any guest who visited this place received a grand reception. But for some reason, it was not so now.

Then this means that there is something special going on. The reason was for the preparation for the Cheonmu Academy entrance exam, for the second disciple of the Tiger Fang Manor master Ho Cheon-sang, Gam Un-su, who was about to take the entrance exam soon. That's why Tiger Fang Manor had been firmly locking its main gate and shrouded in silence for the past few days. It was a small consideration from the master Ho Cheon-sang, who wished for his disciple Gam Un-su's success. For someone facing a big exam, noise was an absolute taboo, as it distracted the person's mind and weakened their concentration, making it more harmful and fatal than poison.

So Ho Cheon-sang had firmly locked the main gate and maintained silence as a way of requesting self-restraint and quiet from those around him, for the sake of his beloved disciple's preparation for the Cheonmu Academy entrance exam. At the same time, he had also asked the villagers around the manor to be quiet and self-restrained in their actions. Since there was no one in the vicinity with the guts to firmly refuse Tiger Fang Manor's request and make a fuss by singing loudly, Gam Un-su was able to steadily prepare for the Cheonmu Academy special entrance exam in a quiet and tranquil environment. No matter how special the screening was, it was not without dropouts, so he could not be neglectful in his exam preparation at all.

The firmly locked iron gate of Tiger Fang Manor was a silent pressure demanding the utmost quiet. It clearly showed that refusal and rejection were not an option. This silent pressure was very effective, and now the surroundings of Tiger Fang Manor were as quiet as if a horde of rats had been wiped out. This meant that the senses of all the people in the manor were sharpened, and because of their sharpened nerves, the disciples who had to stand guard at the main gate were inevitably suffering from an excessive workload.

Today's main gate guards were two members of the Tiger Martial Hall, the main martial group of Tiger Fang Manor. The Tiger Martial Hall was the largest and most powerful martial group within Tiger Fang Manor, consisting of 2 divisions and 6 squads under the hall master, with each division having 3 squads. These two were from the 1st squad, the Sword Tiger Squad, which was notorious for being rough even among the squads under the Tiger Martial Hall, where tigers were said to run rampant. Their names were Lee Gwan-jeong and Son Gon-u, respectively. The two were inseparable friends and rivals in the Sword Tiger Squad, secretly competing in martial arts and intelligence for the position of the next Sword Tiger Squad leader. But even those two were not on duty now with a good mood and a strong sense of mission. It was just that they had no choice because it was a punishment duty. Otherwise, who would want to stand this tedious main gate guard duty?

The daytime main gate guard duty was not only about guarding the main gate, but also about checking each and every visitor to the manor, relaying their business to the inner court, and even running errands for the guests, so it was a common thing that everyone found troublesome and tiring. This fact was a universal and very general thing that applied to most other sects as well. So, the duty in such a place was mostly performed by people without a position in each squad, or by those who had caused trouble and were on punishment duty here.

These two were figures who were competing for the position of the next leader of the Sword Tiger Squad, and were among the seniors in the Sword Tiger Squad, but a few days ago, after drinking too much, they had a drunken martial arts match in their excitement, which was unfortunately discovered by the Tiger Martial Hall master who was on patrol. As a punishment, they were sentenced to stand guard at this main gate for a whole month. It was a so-called punishment duty.

Still, the two had to be grateful that they had gotten off with just this much punishment after having a drunken martial arts match, which was strictly forbidden by the sect's rules. Although they received a month of main gate punishment duty and the punishment of repeating the basic training form of the Fierce Tiger Sword Method a thousand times, it was truly a blessing that their punishment ended there.

That's how severe the punishment for a drunken martial arts match—and a drunken martial arts match using real swords at that—was, because even a moment of carelessness could instantly take a life. Nevertheless, the reason Lee Gwan-jeong and Son Gon-u ended up with just this much punishment was because of the mediation of the Tiger Martial Hall master, who cherished the two. However, even though they had managed to avoid a major punishment, being in this situation, their nerves couldn't help but be on edge. So both of them were in a state of extreme low pressure.

At such a time, not one, but two uninvited guests visited Tiger Fang Manor. This party was, without a doubt, Bi Ryu-yeon, with his unremarkable appearance, and Yeomdo, who was all red and stood out wherever he went.

Yeomdo, with his intense impression like the blazing sun, and Bi Ryu-yeon, in his ordinary black clothes with his long black hair tied up carelessly, were certainly an mismatched pair. Silently, the two's footsteps stopped right in front of the main gate.