Chapter 104

Chapter 104
## Chapter 104: Pear Blossom (1)

“Leader, the shade of the protection pass is incorrect.”

“You are right. It is supposed to be yellow, yet this one is crimson.”

Faced with the concerns of his men, Yuk Sung, the Chief of the Black Bone Stronghold, merely shook his head in a quiet gesture.

“Act as though you saw nothing.”

The subordinates surrounding him were filled with uncertainty, but they chose not to press the issue further.

Yuk Sung was among the most seasoned veterans and highest-ranking martial artists within the Yangtze River Water Alliance. Even at seventy, he maintained his position as chief, and the loyalty of his followers was unwavering.

Once they had moved off the trading vessel, Yuk Sung exhaled a long breath of relief, his hands trembling as he stripped off his perspiration-drenched garments.

“Are you alright, Father?”

Yuk Gwan, his firstborn—who remained a deputy chief even in his fifties—approached with a look of deep concern.

“I am fine.”

“You appear completely drained.”

“Drained?”

Yuk Sung managed a faint, weary grin, dabbing at the beads of cold sweat on his brow as he watched the merchant ship drift further away into the distance.

“This is not exhaustion. It is pure terror.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It is difficult for you to grasp, but we were just standing in the presence of the King of Hell.”

Yuk Gwan and the other nearby officers looked on with expressions of utter confusion.

“Mark my words for the future. Whenever you encounter women who hide their faces behind veils and carry blades, you must be cautious—unbelievably cautious.”

“But there were quite a few of them on deck…”

“Particularly if their attire and weapons are marked with the pear blossom crest. You must handle such encounters with the highest level of care.”

Yuk Gwan thought back to the trio of pear blossoms stitched onto the sleeves of the women they had just left.

“What would happen if we crossed paths with them the wrong way?”

Yuk Sung’s expression turned grim. A visible shiver ran through him as if the thought alone was a physical blow.

“We perish. Every single one of us would meet our end.”

—

“Just as I thought, the chief’s instincts were perfect.”

Standing among the petrified travelers who were cowering in fear, Geonwi—who had been suppressing his own anxiety—swallowed hard against a dry throat.

Following the instructions of the deputy chief, Geonwi had snuck onto the merchant ship at Gukou. Initially, he had been profoundly cynical about the warning.

If these women were truly as lethal as the chief claimed, he reasoned they wouldn’t have bothered paying a toll so submissively. Seeing them hand over money to the bandits of the Biwoong Stronghold without a fight had only bolstered his skepticism.

That confidence vanished in a heartbeat.

When the Biwoong Stronghold thugs tried to harass the women, only to have their heads severed in the blink of an eye, and even a fighter as famed as Gwanghae was pushed to his limits, Geonwi was left in a state of profound shock.

But that was merely the beginning.

While her companions engaged in the fray, one woman had remained perfectly still, observing. Finally, she made her move.

As the particularly graceful woman took her first step forward, Geonwi felt the air leave his lungs. The second she pulled her blade from its sheath, he collapsed onto the deck, his legs giving way.

Was this the paralyzing fear a prey animal felt when confronted by a predator?

As Geonwi’s eyes followed the trajectory of her sword in sheer horror, he saw Deng Ja-geol—who had been dominating the fight with his pair of axes—get sliced perfectly in two.

It required only one motion.

Deng Ja-geol hadn’t even managed to initiate a defense or react before he was killed in a pathetic display of helplessness. Following him, Gwanghae was struck down, and the rest of the bandits fighting the women fell almost at the same time. Among the dead were several legendary figures who had once been titans of the Yangtze alongside the former chief.

Geonwi couldn’t even process the movement of the woman’s blade. All he perceived were sudden glints of light, followed by a downpour of blood that painted the deck red.

Seeing the majority of the bandits slaughtered in a mere moment, Geonwi realized with terrifying clarity that the chief had not been exaggerating. He also finally understood why the chief had pretended not to notice the incorrect color of the token.

‘If the Biwoong Stronghold realized the token was wrong, they would never let it go. They would inevitably start a fight with those women. Why? Because they are arrogant and would be distracted by their looks. If I had spoken up… well, the moment Biwoong Stronghold touches them, the Biwoong Stronghold ceases to exist.’

Geonwi felt a surge of respect for Yuk Sung’s cunning. Even though the women had tried to pass through peacefully by paying the toll, the bandits—blinded by lust and greed—had invited their own destruction. The chief’s plan to use the women as a tool to eradicate their rivals had worked perfectly.

‘Now, the Biwoong Stronghold’s territory belongs to us.’

While Geonwi felt a thrill at the ruin of their enemies, Deng Ja-gon—who had been comfortably bargaining with the Namgyeong Merchant Association representative in the private cabin—burst onto the deck in a state of panic.

“……”

The sight of his brother and his subordinates lying in pieces left Deng Ja-gon paralyzed with shock.

‘I have failed.’

He had grown overconfident after seeing the massive man and his followers—the group he considered the only real threat—comply with the toll. He had assumed his brother and the elders could handle any minor trouble on deck while he handled the business below. His inability to recognize the true monsters on the ship had been a fatal oversight.

“Who are you people?” Deng Ja-gon screamed, raising his heavy axe.

“That is of no concern to you,” a voice replied.

It was a melodic, beautiful voice, yet it was chillingly hollow. Hearing it, Deng Ja-gon felt a wave of dread. Even after the massacre, her tone remained entirely flat.

“Why did you slaughter them?”

Before she could answer, a rough, mocking voice interrupted from the side.

“Are you some kind of moron?”

Both Deng Ja-gon and the woman turned to look at the speaker.

“Why? Bandits doing bandit things got killed for it. Is there really a need to ask why?” Cheol Woo sneered, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Do you wish to die?” Deng Ja-gon redirected his murderous intent from the woman toward Cheol Woo.

Even under that heavy pressure, Cheol Woo didn’t blink.

“Who? Me? Or is it you?”

Deng Ja-gon, unable to take the mockery, lunged forward with a roar, swinging his axe with everything he had. He never expected his massive weapon, fueled by his entire strength, to shatter against a human fist. He had been so terrified of the woman that he had failed to gauge the power of this new opponent.

Staring at his axe, which had crumbled like brittle wood, Deng Ja-gon threw himself to the side. Cheol Woo’s fist, having destroyed the weapon, whistled past his shoulder.

“Curse it!” he hissed. The sheer pain from a mere graze was staggering.

He had no time to recover as Cheol Woo’s next strike followed instantly. Seeing the raw energy radiating from Cheol Woo’s hand, Deng Ja-gon dared not block it and jumped away again.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The energy Deng Ja-gon avoided tore into the ship’s structures, shattering the masts and doors with thunderous impacts. The captain and the Namgyeong merchant, watching from the sidelines, looked on in horror at the destruction of the vessel.

“Ha! You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” Cheol Woo grunted, annoyed by the bandit’s evasion. The restricted space of the ship made it hard to finish the fight quickly, especially since Deng Ja-gon was a seasoned elder of the Alliance who was fighting for his life.

“Fine, the ship is falling apart. Time to end this.”

A mocking voice drifted through the air.

It felt like a lightning strike. Cheol Woo snapped his head toward the source of the comment and activated his Ink Gang Asura Qi to its maximum potential. A terrifying pressure surged from him, far greater than before. Deng Ja-gon, who had managed to grab his brother’s twin axes from the deck, turned pale. The energy in the air told him that if he stayed, he was dead.

‘I have to move.’

Space was running out on the ship. Realizing he needed a way out, Deng Ja-gon turned his sights toward the terrified travelers huddled in a corner.

“Aaaah!”

As Deng Ja-gon charged at them like a demon, the travelers panicked. Most scattered, but one was not fast enough.

“Stay right there!” Deng Ja-gon barked, grabbing a young woman who was shielding a small child. She was the perfect shield.

“Please… have mercy,” the woman sobbed, curling around her baby on the floor.

“Shut your mouth and get—”

As Deng Ja-gon began his threat, he felt a sudden, icy presence. A flash of light crossed his vision. That was the final thing he ever saw.

Blood erupted from his neck as his head rolled away. The woman, now covered in gore, let out a piercing scream.

“Hey! Why did you jump in?” Cheol Woo growled at the woman who had taken his kill.

Sheathing her blade, the woman looked at him coldly. “You were the one who interfered first.”

“You’re dead wrong. That trash came at me.”

“You were endangering civilians without a shred of remorse,” she countered.

Cheol Woo’s face twisted. “Endangering them? I promise you, even without your help, nothing would have happened to them.”

The other women nearby bristled at his tone. The one who had fought Gwanghae stepped forward.

“Close your mouth! How does a man who looks like a common mountain bandit dare speak to us like that?”

“Hmph! You’re as big as a bear but you hid away like a coward—now you want to talk?” another added.

“All you did was use clumsy strength to break the ship.”

Stunned by the sudden insults, Cheol Woo’s temper finally snapped.

“Ha! You women are truly insane!”

A massive, storm-like pressure erupted from him, making the women who had been mocking him turn white with fear.

“Mountain bandit? Coward? You’re all pathetic.”

As Cheol Woo stepped toward them, a figure moved to block him.

“That is enough.”

Sima Geon, who had been observing the chaos in silence, stood in Cheol Woo’s path.

“Boss!”

“Stand back.”

With a single command, Sima Geon neutralized Cheol Woo’s killing intent. He then looked toward the woman who had been ready to draw her sword again.

“All of you, stop as well,” Sima Geon said calmly.

His eyes met the lead woman’s in the air. For a fleeting moment, her icy composure wavered. A look of genuine astonishment crossed her face as she looked into his clear, steady eyes.

“Everyone, stand down,” she ordered. At her word, the other women lowered their weapons and retreated.

“You have my thanks,” Sima Geon said with a short bow before turning back to the fuming Cheol Woo.

“Are you trying to sink the boat?”

“What?”

“If you fight that woman, this ship will be splinters in seconds. This is enough.” Sima Geon pointed to the ruined mast.

“Why would it take that long? One hit and she’s done.”

“Do you truly believe that?”

Cheol Woo went silent at Sima Geon’s heavy tone.

“Heh… maybe not.”

Cheol Woo wasn’t blind; he knew she was incredibly powerful, which was why he had been so eager to provoke her. But her presence was even more formidable than he had initially calculated.

“Fine. She’s decently strong for a girl,” Cheol Woo muttered, though he couldn’t hide his lingering desire for a challenge.

Sima Geon gave a small laugh. “Decently strong? You still don’t get it. If you go into a fight with her thinking like that, you’ll be the one who ends up dead.”

As Cheol Woo stared in surprise, Sima Geon looked back at the woman and whispered under his breath:

“That woman is, at the very least, more powerful than the North Heaven Sword Demon.”

Cheol Woo remained silent for a long time after that.