Empty Stone Milk (2)
"Bastards! If it weren't for the boss, I'd have smashed their heads in."
As Cheol-woo gulped down his liquor, his face flushed red and blue.
"Forget it. Didn't they say before that it's too small to fetch three hundred taels of gold anyway? They said you'd need to meet the right buyer for there to even be a chance."
Sima-Jian tried to calm Cheol-woo, satisfied that they had obtained the Azure Clear Stone Oil regardless of the price.
"Anyway, I'm sorry. It was money from both of us."
"What are you talking about? Whose money matters when we're saving the youngest's life? I'm just pissed at how those bastards, knowing the situation full well, still tried to drive the price down."
Despite having sworn to keep the matter secret, Hwang Zheng had leaked the information. Worse, the Suryong Trading Company realized that Sima-jin desperately needed the Azure Clear Stone Oil for treatment. As a result, Cheol-woo had been forced to hand over not only the Night-Glowing Pearl but also most of the gold ingots he had with him, and his anger refused to subside.
"Should we go back and take it from them now?"
When Cheol-woo couldn't suppress his resentment and let murderous intent leak out, Sima-Jian frowned deeply.
"What nonsense is that? Are you saying you'd stain a precious medicine meant to save our youngest with blood?"
"…Now that you put it that way, I guess not. Sorry, boss."
Flustered, Cheol-u waved his hands and let out a sigh.
"Things turning out like this keep making me think of the old days."
"What about them?"
"That Azure Clear Stone Oil you got from the Guimun family and gave me. If I'd used it sparingly back then, wouldn't we have avoided all this trouble?"
"What's there to be sparing? It wasn't that much to begin with."
Sima-Jian snapped sharply.
"Is that so? Still, it felt like more than what we got this time. I did manage to complete the Diamond-Body Indestructible Technique thanks to it, but still…"
"If we're talking like that, I drank far more than you. And look at your size. With any less than that, you wouldn't have seen proper results. Anyway, we got it—even if it was expensive. Stop spouting nonsense and drink. At this rate, I'm tempted to run back right now and snatch back every Night-Glowing Pearl and gold ingot."
"Heh heh! That's more like it, right?"
Cheol-woo grinned slyly.
After sharing a laugh, Sima-Jian and Cheol-u finished their meal with some simple dishes and drinks, then immediately left Hangzhou.
Eager to treat Sima-jin as soon as possible, the two ran without resting a single moment until darkness fell.
Around dusk, when they had reached roughly the midpoint between Hangzhou and Shaoxing, Sima-Jian suddenly stopped.
"Why?"
Cheol-woo looked puzzled as he saw Sima-Jian halt without warning.
Despite having run for over two shijin (about four hours), not a single bead of sweat formed on Cheol-woo's forehead.
"It seems there are people in a hurry," Sima-Jian said, glancing behind them.
"What—"
Feeling a faint vibration rumbling through the ground, Cheol-woo shut his mouth.
More than ten horses were charging toward them in the distance, kicking up clouds of dust.
"What are those guys up to?"
"No idea. I've got a bad feeling about this, though. We'll know once we check."
Murmuring quietly, Sima-Jian stepped aside so the horses could pass.
Seeing the charging horses abruptly slow down, Sima-Jian let out a sigh.
As over twenty horses reduced speed with loud snorts, burly men leapt down from their saddles. Every one of them had sinister eyes, murderous intent pouring from their entire bodies.
"Damn beggars—why do they walk so damn fast?"
"Seriously. Thought we'd lose them."
"Shall we start by cutting off their legs?"
The men surrounded Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo, cackling.
"Idiots. Ugh, the smell of blood. Filthy vermin. They're practically demons."
Cheol-u scoffed, then frowned as the stench of blood carried on the wind reached him.
"Did they follow us?"
At Sima-Jian's question, a man who was still mounted yanked roughly on his reins and spoke.
"If you hand over the item quietly, we'll let you die comfortably. If not, we'll make sure you suffer the torments of hell, neither living nor dying."
"What item?"
Sima-Jian asked as if genuinely confused—though he had a rough idea of what they wanted.
The leader sneered and pointed at Sima-Jian's chest.
"What you got from the Suryong Trading Company."
From the man's confidence, Sima-Jian realized information had indeed leaked.
So it really wasn't something to trust.
The old face of the Suryong Trading Company's master, who had sworn absolute secrecy, flashed through his mind. Though a seasoned merchant, he hadn't seemed like the type to lie.
Or maybe it leaked from somewhere else.
As Sima-Jian pondered briefly, the leader continued.
"Don't even think about playing dumb. We confirmed you obtained the Azure Clear Stone Oil and came after you."
"If it were me, I'd hand it over without hesitation. You have no idea how worried our big brother was that the old man might swallow it himself."
"Right. If we'd dragged this out just a few more days, protection from the authorities or not, we'd have climbed the walls ourselves."
"You're dead either way, so wouldn't it be better to die comfortably? Hurry up, hand it over, and let's die quickly."
"And what's with that big bear over there? Ugly face, too."
"Looks like he's had some fun fights. This should be entertaining."
"I've already marked that one. Touch him and you die."
The men waved their weapons as they mocked Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo.
"A bear, huh? Interesting. So, what exactly are you guys?"
Cheol-woo asked with an amused expression.
"Do we need to tell you?"
"You're going to die anyway. No harm in it."
"True. Easing a dying man's curiosity is the duty of heroes."
After chattering among themselves, their voices suddenly dropped.
"You've heard of the Thousand-Kill Faction that rules Hangzhou's nights, haven't you?"
"We are the heroes of the Thousand-Kill Faction."
Certain of Sima-Jian and Cheol-woo's deaths, the ruffians openly revealed their identity.
"Shut up."
With an irritated shout, the faction leader, Ga-deung, pointed his sword at Sima-Jian.
"I'll count to three. Decide. A comfortable death, or pain worse than death."
Cheol-woo, clearly bored, picked at his ear and blew away the earwax on his finger.
"Can't you just die instead?"
"What did you say?"
Ga-deung and his men froze in shock at the completely unexpected response.
Ga-deung's face twisted like a demon.
"You dare mock me? Get them!"
"Yes, Leader!"
"They want to taste hell—grant their wish. Gouge out their eyes and rip out their tongues. No, start by cutting off their limbs."
At Ga-deung's command, his already ferocious subordinates grew even more savage.
Seeing the men's eyes gleam with beast-like killing intent, Cheol-u snorted.
"These bastards. The smell of blood, the killing intent—look at the power in their eyes. Definitely the look of men who've killed plenty."
Smiling coldly, Cheol-u cracked his knuckles and stepped forward.
"Wait."
Sima-Jian stopped him.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, Sima-Jian gestured subtly behind them with his thumb.
"Tch."
Cheol-u glanced back, smacked his lips, and quietly retreated.
"And who are those now?"
Ga-deung frowned as he noticed people approaching from behind Sima-Jian.
"What should we do, Leader?"
Ilgyeon, Ga-deung's right-hand man—infamous even within the Thousand-Kill Faction for his cruelty—stepped up and asked.
Ga-deung calmly examined the newcomers.
One woman and two men. The men each carried weapons.
Bodyguards?
The two men walked half a step behind the woman.
If she traveled with guards, her status might not be insignificant.
His deliberation was brief.
After all, this was about obtaining the Azure Clear Stone Oil.
How much money had been spent just to confirm the news about the Azure Clear Stone Oil through the chief manager of the Water Dragon Trading Company?
With such an overwhelming number of men brought along, backing down was no longer an option. Even if they passed without a direct clash, leaving witnesses behind would have been foolish.
"Kill them all."
At Gadeung's order, Ilgyeon grinned and signaled to his subordinates.
"Are they bandits?"
The woman who had approached unnoticed, Hwang Zheng, asked.
"Yes. They're people who operate in Hangzhou's underworld."
Sima-Jian replied flatly, but Hwang-Zheng and her escorts misunderstood his calm tone as fear.
The members of the Cheonsalbang revealed their killing intent and surrounded them.
Gok Ja-yu, who was guarding Hwang-Zheng, stepped forward and said,
"It looks like they intend to attack us as well, my lady."
"Those trash dare to show killing intent in front of us?"
Yoo Sa-ha sneered as he drew his sword.
"What should we do?"
Gok Ja-yu asked politely.
Unlike Yoo Sa-ha, he had not yet drawn his weapon, and despite the urgency of the situation, he remained composed.
After observing Gok Ja-yu, Cheol-u sent a voice transmission.
[He's fairly skilled.]
[Yes. He's quite a master.]
[Well, maybe not that much of a master. Still, he could wipe those guys out.]
Sima-Jian suppressed a smile at the hint of disappointment in Cheol-u's voice and glanced at Hwang-Zheng.
But the real master is right here.
At a glance, Sima-Jian could tell that Hwang-Zheng's skill far surpassed that of her two guards.
She never needed escorts in the first place. Even Cheol-u, who realized this a moment later, looked quite surprised.
Unaware that Sima-Jian and Cheol-u were measuring her strength, Hwang-Zheng decided to give Gadeung one final chance.
"If you retreat now, no one will be hurt. We'll also let everything that's happened so far go. Withdraw."
Facing numerical inferiority and being surrounded, Hwang-Zheng's calm demeanor made Gadeung hesitate for a moment. But his greed for the Azure Clear Stone Oil was far too great to turn back now.
"Kill them!"
At Gadeung's shout, Ilgyeon and his men—who had been waiting for an opening—launched their attack all at once.
"You vermin!"
Yoo Sa-ha sneered coldly as his sword traced a smooth arc through the air.
Though Ilgyeon's sword carried force, it was crude, utterly different in movement and presence from Yoo Sa-ha's.
Energy as soft as clouds and as fierce as wind swept through the area.
"AAARGH!"
"Ghk!"
Shrill screams rang out from all directions as the attackers who struck first collapsed helplessly to the ground.
"Oh? Not bad."
Cheol-woo murmured quietly.
To the untrained eye, it looked like a single swing, but Cheol-woo had perceived the countless variations hidden within the sword's movement.
The Cheonsalbang thugs, whose strength differed from their opponent's by the distance between heaven and earth, had their throats cut without even understanding what had happened.
Only Ilgyeon—who had experienced more real combat than anyone else—managed to twist his body on instinct and avoid a fatal wound.
"Boss! They're masters…!"
Clutching his chest as he fled, Ilgyeon took only a few steps before the sword Yoo Sa-ha hurled pierced straight through his chest, ending his life.
The blade that impaled Ilgyeon's heart traced an elegant arc through the air and returned to its original owner.