Chapter 63:

Chapter 63:

Paedobang (3)

Just before a dozen or so enemies surrounded Mu-jin and Hye-gwan.

“I’ll handle that guy.”

Hye-gwan blurted out such nonsense and then soared into the air, using his movement technique.

Instead of dealing with the small fry, he moved to strike directly at the head, the leader. It was quite a good decision.

“Crazy!?”

Thanks to that, Mu-jin ended up fighting surrounded by a dozen or so enemies.

However, he couldn’t just resent Hye-gwan.

While the enemies’ attention was focused on Hye-gwan flying overhead, Mu-jin charged towards the guy on the far left.

Mu-jin’s straight punch buried itself into the man’s abdomen with a heavy thud, and the man collapsed to the ground, vomiting.

“Attack!”

“A sneak attack, you dirty bastard!”

It was laughable that they called Mu-jin dirty while they themselves were ganging up on him.

But there was no time to leisurely laugh. Mu-jin stepped back immediately after knocking one down.

The enemies charged at Mu-jin to chase him down.

When one of them lunged forward, Mu-jin changed direction and rushed into the man’s space.

The man swung his oddly-shaped sword at the suddenly charging Mu-jin, but Mu-jin easily dodged by twisting his upper body and then punched the man squarely on the jaw.

As soon as he knocked the man down with a single blow, Mu-jin leaped sideways again.

Mu-jin knew what was most important in a battle against a group. It was that he must not get surrounded.

But even though he had taken down two, the number of enemies was still large.

The enemies seemed to catch on, and this time two of them attacked Mu-jin simultaneously from the left and right.

Mu-jin dodged their spear and sword attacks for a moment. If he dragged this out, he would get surrounded, so he decided to close the distance with the man wielding the sword.

As Mu-jin approached, the man on his right thrust his spear, but Mu-jin barely twisted his upper body to avoid a vital spot. He trusted in his Iron Skin technique.

Sure enough, when the spear hit Mu-jin’s back, there was a dull thud, and while it left a mark, it didn’t penetrate or cause a serious injury.

In contrast, Mu-jin’s palm strike aimed at the man with the sword hit his chest, and with that blow, the man collapsed.

‘In a chaotic fight, it’s more important to reduce the number of enemies with one hit than to worry about minor injuries.’

From that perspective, Mu-jin’s Iron Skin was a very useful weapon in chaotic battles.

After dealing with the man with the sword, Mu-jin leapt sideways again to avoid being surrounded.

Two more men chased after Mu-jin.

When Mu-jin saw an opening in the man swinging the sword, he ignored the sword flying at him from the side and went to finish off the swordsman.

However, sensing the ominous energy from the sword flying at his side, Mu-jin twisted his body urgently.

Because of his hurried movement, he couldn’t completely avoid the sword, causing a shallow line to be drawn on his side.

‘Just because they are from the Black Path doesn’t mean they’re all small fry.’

Even a mere graze from the blade of this skilled opponent was enough to strip Mu-jin’s skin, proving that he was at least more formidable than Kang Geo-wan, whom he had faced earlier in the day.

‘I need to take him out first.’

This opponent was a serious threat, capable of inflicting fatal injuries.

Mu-jin charged towards the man wielding the sword instead of the one swinging the saber at him.

However, the swordsman was skilled enough to penetrate Mu-jin’s Iron Skin, making it difficult for Mu-jin to close the distance easily.

And, annoyingly, while the swordsman stalled for time, other Black Path members began to surround Mu-jin.

Weapons flew at Mu-jin from all directions, distracting him, and amidst this, the swordsman’s sharp blade struck repeatedly.

As the situation worsened, with more wounds accumulating on his skin, Mu-jin’s eyes grew calmer.

‘I’ll use their encirclement to my advantage.’

These opponents hadn’t mastered proper formation techniques.

While withstanding the minor attacks with his Iron Skin and focusing on dodging the swordsman’s strikes, Mu-jin bided his time.

“Ugh... Ugh!”

Awakened by the vibration on his cheeks, the Black Snake Sect leader saw Hye-gwan’s face and let out a peculiar scream.

“W-Who are you, sir, to oppress us like this?”

“Oppress? That’s an odd choice of words. Didn’t I ‘kindly’ tell you that if you answered truthfully, I wouldn’t harm you?”

“...”

Barging in suddenly and knocking out the five guards at the entrance—how was that kind?

Of course, the Black Snake Sect leader wasn’t foolish enough to voice such thoughts.

He simply bowed his head submissively and opened his mouth.

“W-What do you want to know? I will confess everything I know.”

“Have you ever heard of a sect called Paedobang?”

“I-I have never heard of such a sect in my life.”

At the Black Snake Sect leader’s answer, Hye-gwan stared at him suspiciously, prompting the leader to frantically insist that he really didn’t know.

His desperate and sincere appearance led Hye-gwan to turn his gaze to Mu-jin this time.

Responding to Hye-gwan’s look, Mu-jin stepped forward and asked the Black Snake Sect leader, “If not Paedobang, then any Black Path sect or external force that has been rapidly growing recently?”

Mu-jin, who was only fourteen, spoke bluntly to the middle-aged Black Snake Sect leader.

The Black Path was akin to gangsters or hoodlums in the modern era. Mu-jin felt there was no need to show respect to a gangster boss.

Although the Black Snake Sect leader’s face twisted at being spoken to disrespectfully by such a young brat, he quickly composed himself under Hye-gwan’s gaze.

As the Black Snake Sect leader wracked his brain, a certain sect came to mind.

“Ah! There’s a place where some unfamiliar people have recently entered in Nanchang!”

“Tell me about it.”

“It’s a place called Honginmun. They’re street thugs who used to extort money from the poor in the slums.”

“Aren’t you guys also just street thugs?”

Barely managing to control his expression at Mu-jin’s question, the Black Snake Sect leader responded.

“Ahem. We at least protect inns and merchants in the busy areas and collect ‘protection fees’ or lend money to merchants and collect interest! We don’t harass the poor!”

“There’s no one who went bankrupt paying your protection fees or borrowing money and ended up in the slums?”

“...Ahem. N-no, there isn’t.”

As the Black Snake Sect leader awkwardly turned his head, Mu-jin contemplated how to half-kill him.

But that was for later; for now, they needed more information about this Honginmun.

“So, you say that new faces have been frequenting Honginmun lately?”

“Yes! Despite their increased power, they strangely continue to operate only in the slums.”

Mu-jin and Hye-gwan’s eyes gleamed simultaneously at the Black Snake Sect leader’s words.

Paedobang was said to be involved in human trafficking. The slums were the best place to erase traces, kidnap, confine, and sell people.

“Then we should head to this Honginmun.”

“Going alone would be dangerous.”

Mu-jin stopped Hye-gwan, who was about to move.

“Hmm? Are you saying you don’t trust me?”

“If what the Black Snake Sect leader said is true, outsiders have likely taken over Honginmun. They’re operating covertly and engaging in human trafficking. There could be several skilled individuals hiding there.”

If Honginmun was indeed the predecessor of Paedobang, going alone would be very dangerous.

Although Paedobang hadn’t grown to the size it was in the novel, the recent influx of outsiders suggested that its leaders were actually agents sent by hidden forces. It would be a mistake to regard them as just an ordinary Black Path group.

Moreover, the leader of Paedobang, as described in the novel, was a considerable martial artist.

While it was uncertain how many skilled individuals the hidden forces had dispatched to the current Paedobang, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

“Therefore, let’s go with those who remain at the clinic.”

This was why they had asked the head for reinforcements in the first place.