Seeing that sight, Sin So Gyeong’s face hardened. She quickly ran towards the boy.

I put my hand on my sword.

[That guy attacked first.]

‘I know, but it seems there’s a reason.’

The girl said she was avenging her father.

The passersby watching the situation were also looking uneasily at the warriors of Jeokryong Faction.

Maeng Rip kicked the boy and then said threateningly.

“You must have a death wish. You dare to attack me here?”

A red aura flickered in his eyes. He raised his sword.

Seeing he was about to cut down the child at any moment, I stood up.

“Stop it.”

Maeng Rip didn’t seem inclined to listen to me.

Just as his sword was about to strike down at the boy,

I picked up the bowl of noodles Dang Hwa Ryeong was eating and threw it at Maeng Rip.

Unable to dodge the bowl I threw, Maeng Rip ended up covered in noodles.

“W-What is the meaning of this?”

He turned to me with a grim face. The martial arts world was truly full of all sorts of incidents.

Another conflict arising so soon after the previous one.

“I clearly told you to stop…”

“Are you insane?”

“I understand you’re angry, but I’d like to hear what that child has to say.”

Maeng Rip gritted his teeth.

“Do you think you can act like this towards me and get away with it?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t particularly think that, but I feel I’d regret it if I didn’t step in.”

Maeng Rip glared at me and said,

“It won’t be easy for you to leave this village.”

Ignoring his words, I looked at Sin So Gyeong. She had already rushed over to the fallen child.

The child was groaning and sweating profusely.

“You, get away from there right now!”

Maeng Rip looked Sin So Gyeong up and down. If she looked like a martial artist, he might have been more cautious, but right now Sin So Gyeong and I just looked like ordinary women.

‘And not particularly wealthy ones at that.’

Perhaps that’s why he seemed to be looking down on us so much. Even though he saw the swords at our waists.

“Young lady Sin, keep tending to him. I’ll handle this.”

Saying that, I looked around.

As the confrontation between Maeng Rip and me began, people were watching us with fearful gazes.

As expected, these Jeokryong Faction warriors were of poor quality.

“Do you really want to die?”

“Hmm, that’s what I want to ask you…”

The dagger uncle exclaimed in admiration at my words.

[That must really tick him off.]

The dagger uncle continued.

[By the way, this doesn’t seem to be the first time this has happened. He’s not even surprised that the boy rushed at him.]

The dagger uncle was right.

“That So Baek kid is in big trouble now…”

“It’s heartbreaking.”

It seemed the boy’s name was So Baek.

‘Judging by people’s reactions, it’s clear the boy isn’t at fault.’

Of course, I’d have to ask So Baek for more details later.

That’s when Sin So Gyeong shouted.

“Do you have no conscience at all?”

Her face was very cold.

The boy named So Baek seemed to be in worse condition than I had thought.

‘A child who hasn’t learned martial arts being hit by a warrior…’

My expression darkened involuntarily.

“Although this child rushed at you first, from the situation, it seems you are at fault.”

“Fault? What fault? What’s wrong with teaching a bug a lesson?”

Maeng Rip approached Sin So Gyeong threateningly.

“So, you’re saying you don’t know what you did wrong? You’re even angry at me!”

Sin So Gyeong snorted.

“Your current state seems to suit you perfectly, so why are you angry?”

Saying that, Sin So Gyeong glared at Maeng Rip with eyes full of contempt. His face reddened with anger.

He shouted, trembling all over.

“We’ll see if you can remain so proud later.”

As he shouted this, his gaze was directed at Dang Hwa Ryeong. Dang Hwa Ryeong’s hand was resting on his sword.

Maeng Rip was looking at Dang Hwa Ryeong with wary eyes.

‘He doesn’t know how skilled a warrior Dang Hwa Ryeong is, so he’s being cautious.’

Maeng Rip spat out some villainous lines and then left the scene.

“You’d better watch out!”

[This is the timeline separator]

After they left, Sin So Gyeong immediately came to me and apologized.

“Lady Nam Gung, I’m sorry. I was so angry I acted on my own.”

“No, you did well. Those guys would have caused more trouble if we’d just watched. I felt so relieved when you spoke up, young lady Sin!”

Despite my response, Sin So Gyeong’s expression remained dark.

She seemed sorry for provoking those guys recklessly. I comforted her, saying it was fine.

“By the way, I’m worried. About the people here.”

Sin So Gyeong was right.

For me and Sin So Gyeong, this was just a place we were passing through, but for the people here, it was their home.

Seeing the impoverished state of the residents made my heart heavy. Sin So Gyeong was still tending to the boy.

The boy couldn’t even get up, showing how mercilessly Maeng Rip had beaten him.

‘Father must have entered the martial world because of sights like this.’

Even though it had been a while since the Jeokryong Faction warriors left, people were still watching us cautiously.

Not a single person approached the boy named So Baek.

‘They’re wary of the Jeokryong Faction.’

An old woman approached me and Sin So Gyeong.

“Are you alright? You’ll be in danger. You’ve provoked them.”

“What do you mean?”

“They are cruel people. Not much different from vicious demonic sect members.”

The old woman whispered, looking around cautiously.

“They probably won’t leave you young ladies alone. They might try to kill you once you leave the village and there are no witnesses.”

The old woman trembled in fear as she spoke.

“We pay them protection money. They say they protect us, but that’s not true. They just treat us like slaves.”

I listened quietly to the old woman’s words.

“They weren’t originally like this…”

Sin So Gyeong asked the old woman,

“What kind of people were they?”

“They were bad people, but they knew their limits. Maybe they had no choice but to be that way.”

“What do you mean they had no choice?”

“Originally, it wasn’t just the Jeokryong Faction here. There was also a small sect called the Black Snake Faction. The two groups were about equal in power, but that changed in an instant.”

“…”

“One day, the Jeokryong Faction suddenly destroyed the Black Snake Faction. The Jeokryong Faction warriors suddenly became stronger. After that, they started behaving tyrannically.”

The old woman looked at the boy with pitying eyes and said,

“Recently, those guys even started kidnapping people. That boy’s father was taken too.”

“…”

“But the strange thing is, the people they take never come back. We don’t know if they’ve been sold off somewhere or killed.”

It was a common occurrence.

In the martial world, might comes before law. The government can’t watch over everyone. Disappearances were especially frequent in backward places like this.

[It’s strange.]

‘Yes, the Jeokryong Faction warriors suddenly becoming violent. And even kidnapping people. Even evil sect warriors have some limits, don’t they?’

[That’s right. They parasitize the slums but don’t kill them off. Just like parasites don’t try to kill their host.]

‘Then this is…’

[I think there’s a possibility the Blood Cult is involved.] [This is the timeline separator]

It was past midnight when So Baek regained consciousness.

I was taken aback.

As soon as the boy opened his eyes, tears started streaming down his face.

Sin So Gyeong comforted the child.

“Are you alright?”

So Baek muttered resentfully.

“I should have hit him at least once.”

Dang Hwa Ryeong gave some realistic advice while looking at So Baek.

“That’s not enough. You should have stabbed him properly.”

“Properly…?”

“Yes, if you’ve made up your mind to kill someone, you should have done it properly.”

“…”

“You only had one chance. You should have trained your body more. You should have lowered your stance and acted more cautiously.”

I sighed.

Those words Dang Hwa Ryeong was saying were probably what he wanted to say to himself.

In any case, it wasn’t appropriate to say to a boy who had just woken up.

After having the two step back for a moment, I stepped forward.

“I’ve heard the general situation.”

The old woman had told us, reluctant to go into details.

Everyone was busy watching out for the Jeokryong Faction guys. Even the old woman who spoke to us seemed to have gathered courage out of pity for So Baek.

“What happened here?”

So Baek began to tell his story in response to my question.

“There are rumors that the demonic cult is behind those guys.”

“Demonic cult?”

Dang Hwa Ryeong started staring at me intently.

“Yes, that’s why everyone is keeping quiet. Those guys have gotten stronger, and people are afraid they’ll all be killed if they say anything wrong…”

I narrowed my eyes.

I had thought it was the Blood Cult’s doing, but I was surprised when the name ‘demonic cult’ came up.

So Baek continued speaking, sobbing.

It was hard to believe this was the same boy who had fiercely rushed at Maeng Rip.

“My father, my father hasn’t come back. I haven’t seen him for five days.”

I asked So Baek,

“Why?”

“My father injured his knee while working and couldn’t earn money for a while. After that… he was taken away.”

“…”

“He had borrowed money from those guys but couldn’t pay the interest.”