Chapter 3

Gu Ak turned exactly thirty this year, making him six years younger than Baek Mu-ryang and twenty-two years older than Yang-hwi.

In other words, he was hardly of an age where he should be called “brother” by a wet-behind-the-ears brat.

Yet Yang-hwi pressed on, using the very same address with an impudence that bordered on innocence.

“Brother Gu! This humble younger brother greets you!”

“You brazen little pipsqueak, who the hell are you?”

“I am Yang-hwi, soon to be the son of the First in Dispensing Chivalry, Hero Baek Mu-ryang!”

“What?”

“And until barely an hour ago, I was just a pitiful boy on the verge of being sold into slavery by the Naheuk Faction—scum who committed atrocities worse than beasts under the noble banner of the great Honggyo Gang.”

Gu Ak’s brow twitched.

Yang-hwi’s words cut two ways.

Either the Naheuk Faction had gone rogue, deceiving the Honggyo Gang to commit outrages behind their backs;

Or those flying the Honggyo Gang’s colors had committed sins the righteous sects could never turn a blind eye to.

“This Blood Axe takes no pleasure in slaughtering whelps, pipsqueak. But if you’re thinking of playing witness, don’t expect to leave this place alive.”

“Hahaha, how could I ever do anything to harm Brother Gu?”

Chuckling breezily, he threw out the title “Brother Gu” once more while quietly gauging the man’s reaction.

“I’m old enough to be your elder by a good twenty years, so cut the ‘brother’ nonsense.”

‘His tone softened. He knows I have no intention of threatening him.’

With that reassurance, Yang-hwi offered a brazen grin.

“Isn’t it said that all men within the four seas are brothers? In a way, that makes us family.”

“By that logic, wouldn’t it be more fitting to call me uncle?”

“If I did that, Brother Gu would become a brother to my father.”

“…….”

Gu Ak stared at him, dumbfounded.

‘…And you becoming a brother to me is fine?’

Was this kid completely mad? Where did he get this kind of nerve?

“You audacious little runt, spit out whatever it is you have to say.”

“It’s simple. I wish to repay a grudge with a favor.”

“A shrimp like you intends to bestow a favor on our gang to offset today’s grudge?”

“Spot on, Brother Gu.”

Gu Ak snorted derisively.

“If you can pull that off, I’ll gladly call you brother.”

“Truly? A man of honor never goes back on his word, you know.”

A sly smirk curled the corners of Yang-hwi’s mouth, and he dropped a single, pointed question.

“You’re looking for the Cheongsa Gang’s mole, aren’t you?”

At that instant, the expressions on Gu Ak and Bugaksin froze rock-solid.

“Pipsqueak… how do you know about that?”

The Cheongsa Gang was an underworld syndicate currently locked in the bloodiest turf war against the Honggyo Gang.

“Until two hours ago, I was a wretched beggar boy destined for the slave market, but until three days ago, I was wandering every corner of the city begging for scraps. That means I’ve picked up an earful here and there.”

“Get straight to the point, pipsqueak.”

“Very well. Er… could you come a little closer to your younger brother?”

Gu Ak’s lips curled in an instant scowl.

“I’ve humored you enough, but you’re pushing your luck, you little runt. Who do you think you’re ordering around?!”

Yang-hwi remained utterly unfazed.

“Then order your sworn brother to step far back, and I shall come to you.”

“What kind of damn trick is this?”

“Just listen first. If my words sound like nonsense, you can slit my throat right then and there—I won’t complain.”

Gu Ak stared intently at Yang-hwi, surprised to find no trace of fear in the boy’s eyes.

“You really do have guts of steel. Fine. Bugaksin, step back thirty paces.”

“Big Brother, do we really need to play into this brat’s games?”

“Why not? It’s amusing. The kid is betting his life on it.”

“…….”

An unreadable shadow crossed Bugaksin’s face as he slowly drew backward.

“All right, pipsqueak. Come here and tell me what you know.”

Yang-hwi scurried over and leaned close to Gu Ak’s ear, whispering.

“Isn’t it strange how, whenever a clash erupts, the Cheongsa Gang maneuvers as if reading your mind? That’s why you’ve been racking your brains to root out the spy. By the way, Brother Gu, that tattoo on your arm looks quite magnificent.”

Etched upon Gu Ak’s shoulder was an elaborate red sedan chair.

It was the brand identifying him as Honggyo Gang blood. Outlaws of the underworld invariably bore such marks.

Given the rampant treachery and sudden betrayals that defined the wicked factions, leaders made sure their men were permanently stamped like livestock.

“Pipsqueak, I told you to cut to the chase.”

‘Impatient brute.’

Yang-hwi immediately dropped the pleasantries.

“You know every operative of the Cheongsa Gang bears a blue serpent brand. Check Bugaksin’s body.”

Gu Ak’s already fierce features twisted in fury as he seized Yang-hwi by the collar.

“You’ve crossed the line. Are you accusing my sworn brother of being a spy?”

“I am.”

“Then your life is forfeit. I’ve already inspected my brother’s body myself.”

“The last time you looked was probably over a year ago. Most likely when he received his gang tattoo upon induction.”

Gu Ak sneered.

“Wrong. I inspected every single member barely a month ago. My brother even stepped forward first, baring his flesh to prove his loyalty.”

Yang-hwi remained completely serene.

“Is that so? He stripped down his trousers, surely—but did Bugaksin strip off his breeches as well?”

“…….”

‘Of course he didn’t. Bugaksin volunteered early precisely because he knew no one would make him strip down to his skivvies.’

Struck speechless by the realization, Gu Ak could only gawk. Yang-hwi pressed his advantage seamlessly.

“The Cheongsa Gang required certainty that their spy wouldn’t waver, while the spy wanted a brand where no one would ever look. And so they settled on the groin—deep along the inner thigh, to be precise.”

It was neither an obvious location like the scalp mentioned in lurid tavern tales, nor a place one man would ever show another.

An exquisite blind spot.

“…How could you possibly know that?”

‘Because in the future, one of the turncoats will squeal and sell out every other plant in the syndicate.’

Naturally, he couldn’t speak the truth aloud.

“Who gets to see the inner thigh of a grown man? While begging outside a brothel, I overheard courtesans gossiping about a patron who had a blue serpent inked so high up his thigh no ordinary person could ever spot it.”

Yang-hwi cast a brazen glance at Bugaksin and smiled knowingly.

“Knowing what the blue serpent signifies, I made sure to see who the man was. It seems he had the spine to play a spy, but not the discipline to rein in his lust.”

“…….”

Gu Ak turned and walked toward Bugaksin, raising a discreet hand to signal his men.

Finding himself abruptly surrounded, Bugaksin cried out in alarm.

“Big Brother! I don’t know what lies that little bastard fed you, but what is the meaning of this?!”

“Bugaksin. Strip. Everything, right down to your breeches.”

Bugaksin’s frame shuddered as if struck by lightning.

“Big Brother! Would you inflict such humiliation upon your own brother?!”

“A quick glance is all it takes. If there is nothing, I will drop to my knees and beg your forgiveness.”

“…….”

Trapped in silence, Bugaksin chose to run.

‘Fast thinker, I’ll give him that.’

Now that matters had reached this point, an inspection was inevitable whether public or private.

Realizing his cover was blown, he saw that fleeing was his only hope of survival.

‘Too bad he’s slower than Gu Ak.’

Before the traitor could even breach the perimeter, the very axe that had earned Gu Ak the moniker Blood Axe cleaved into Bugaksin’s calf.

“Aaaargh!”

Bugaksin’s agonizing shriek was drowned out by Gu Ak’s thunderous roar.

“Bugaksiiin! You treacherous dog! I cherished you like blood, and you betray me?!”

The axe ripped upward through Bugaksin’s trousers. The vicious strike tore deep into his thigh, sending blood splashing across the stone tiles, but there was no mistaking the coiled blue serpent revealed beneath.

“It really is there.”

“Big Brother! Big Brother, have mercy! Please, listen to your younger brother—Aaaagh!”

A spray of broken white teeth burst from Bugaksin’s mouth.

Silencing him with an iron fist, Gu Ak set about securing the rest of him.

‘He won’t kill him on the spot. Now that his identity is exposed, they have to drag him back for interrogation.’

As Gu Ak ruthlessly broke Bugaksin’s limbs so he could neither fight nor flee, Yang-hwi’s vision suddenly went dark.

A calloused palm. Baek Mu-ryang was shielding the boy’s eyes.

“This is far too cruel a sight for a child.”

“…….”

Savoring the warm touch for a fleeting moment, Yang-hwi gently lowered Baek Mu-ryang’s hand with both of his own.

“I am fine, Clan Leader. Besides, I still have matters left to discuss.”

With that, he took a step forward.

“Brother Gu.”

Gu Ak, who had been venting his lingering fury even after crippling the traitor, snapped his head around.

“Little brother.”

His address had shifted from “pipsqueak” to “little brother.”

“Surely this is enough to offset the grudge from wiping out those Third-rate ruffians. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“…I acknowledge it. I owe you a debt, little brother.”

For a split second, Yang-hwi nearly slipped into his old habits from his wanderer days and called him “Younger Brother Gu.”

Cracking that kind of joke right now, however, would be suicidal.

‘I’ll save that one for later.’

“Allow me to ask once more. Since the grudge has been canceled out by a favor, is it agreed that all bad blood between the Honggyo Gang and our clan is settled?”

“As the son of the Great Honggyo Gang Leader and Commander of the Red Tiger Squad, you have my word. The grudge is wiped clean.”

The retainers of the Baek Manor, who had been holding their breath in terror, exhaled in visible relief. Baek Mu-ryang, too, maintained his noble composure, though a faint glint of ease softened his eyes.

However.

Yang-hwi had no intention of stopping there.

“In that case, we must settle the accounts again.”

“Settle accounts? What accounts are left, little brother?”

“The debt and the grudge balanced out, but there remains one more grievance. This time, belonging to our Baek Manor.”

Yang-hwi pointed toward the splintered main gate.

“How does Brother Gu intend to settle this?”

A manor’s gate was the very face and dignity of a clan.

To smash such a gate to splinters and trespass without leave was an insult far graver than the slaughter of a few Third-rate scoundrels.

‘In terms of sheer insult, this is far worse. It’s more than enough reason to wage a blood feud to the death.’

The gang had acted brazenly because they believed they held the moral high ground, but the tables had turned.

“I believe you are well aware that our Clan Leader, much like Brother Gu, possesses a sworn brother of his own.”

Baek Mu-ryang’s sworn brother was a direct descendant of a towering martial clan—an unshakeable pillar incomparable to scum like Bugaksin.

As Yang-hwi recalled the sworn brother he had met in his past life, Baek Mu-ryang gave him a bewildered look.

“Hwi, how did you know I had a sworn brother?”

“When you make the roadside and wild fields your bedroom, you hear many things. I also know that your bond is so deep he would roll up his sleeves and charge in the moment rumors of today’s affront reached his ears.”

Having answered respectfully, Yang-hwi turned his gaze back to Gu Ak, whose face was now dark with gloom.

It seemed Gu Ak was well aware of who Baek Mu-ryang’s sworn brother was.

‘He knew all along, but gambled that the man couldn’t intervene as long as the Honggyo Gang had cause.’

“Indeed. The favor erased the first grudge, leaving only this one behind. What would you have me do, little brother?”

“Our Clan Leader is not one to dwell on petty matters. A generous purse to repair the front gate would be more than enough for him to laugh it off and let bygones be bygones.”

Money to repair the gate. Grasping the true intent behind the demand, Gu Ak let out a rueful click of his tongue.

“Little brother… you are far too shrewd for your years.”

“I shall take that as a compliment.”

Releasing a heavy sigh, Gu Ak turned to his men.

“Every one of you, drop your coin pouches on the ground.”

Unfastening his own hefty money pouch and tossing it down, Gu Ak even stripped the purse from the unconscious Bugaksin before clasping his fists toward Baek Mu-ryang.

“First in Dispensing Chivalry, I apologize for the offense committed today. As a gesture of atonement, I leave behind all the gold we carry to cover the repairs of your gate.”

If word of today’s incident spread, how would the martial world tell the tale?

They would say the Honggyo Gang smashed the Baek Clan’s gate only to be thoroughly stripped of their coin and sent packing with their tails between their legs.

‘The clan’s dignity won’t be trampled into the dirt like it was in my past life.’

Watching the pile of gold grow, Yang-hwi smiled with deep satisfaction.

He had completely flipped the tragedy of his past life on its head.

“With this, the slate between our gang and the Baek Clan is clean. We shall take our leave. Everyone, fall in!”

As Gu Ak and the Honggyo Gang retreated like an ebbing tide,

Yang-hwi turned toward the head steward with a broad grin.

“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Baek Yang-hwi of the Baek Clan.”

“…….”

Silence fell over the courtyard. Not a single soul among the household dared contradict him.