Chapter 04
. The Strange Kidnappers (3)
The three warriors of Hyungdo Gate, whom Physician Heo had trusted, were subdued in the blink of an eye. His face turned deathly pale.
“Ah… ahhh…”
“No need to make that face. We didn’t kill them.”
“Didn’t… kill them?”
Heo turned to Baekryeong with a doubtful expression. A curt reply soon came, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Because it was the elder brother’s order.”
“What, did you think we kill anyone just because they say the word Sects of Evil by mistake?”
With a scoff, Gwangpae walked into the room and picked up the sleeping baby.
“Just in case, when they wake up, tell them not to pursue us. If they keep pestering, we might really kill them.”
“Ah… understood. I’ll pass that along.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“Yes, elder brother.”
“Uh… wait, please!”
“…What is it now?”
At Physician Heo’s sudden cry, Gwangpae and the Black Heaven Four Fiends turned their heads. At that moment, Heo wondered if he was doing something foolish, but soon mustered the courage to speak.
“Th-that child… couldn’t you return the baby to its parents?”
“……”
“B-babies are so fragile. To survive, they need their parents—”
“They’re dead.”
“…What did you say?”
“The one who entrusted the baby to us is already dead.”
Strictly speaking, it hadn’t been confirmed. But they didn’t know who the mother was, and as for the father—he had fallen into the Heaven’s Net orchestrated by the Martial Alliance. Surviving that was no easy matter.
A fleeting bitterness passed over Gwangpae’s face. Heo remained silent for a moment, then finally said—
“…A wet nurse.”
“Hm?”
“You men alone won’t find it easy to raise a baby. So first of all, get a wet nurse.”
“I thought you said the child had already outgrown breastfeeding?”
“Nursing isn’t the only role of a wet nurse. After six months, her role shifts more toward caretaking and rearing.”
“Hmm…”
“So, find a good wet nurse and listen to her advice. Then the child will be raised safely.”
Gwangpae nodded at the physician’s words and turned into the shadows.
“Well… I’ll think about it.”
Whoosh!
Tap-tap!
Without delay, Gwangpae and the Four Fiends leapt into the night. Soon, only Physician Heo, staring blankly after them, and the three unconscious Hyungdo warriors remained.
**
Whoosh!
“Elder brother!”
As they sped across the night with lightfoot techniques, Heukpa drew close to Gwangpae.
“The inn we stayed at is the other way!”
“We’re not going back there.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“You forgot about the Martial Alliance. Once they realize the Sword God’s manual and child are missing, what do you think will happen when they start searching?”
“Ah…!”
At Gwangpae’s reply, Heukpyo’s brows shot up. He wasn’t the type to fear the Martial Alliance—but if word got out that they had the Sword God’s child and secret manual, they’d become the target of not only the Sword God’s enemies, but the entire martial world.
The Sword God’s secret art, being the creation of the world’s foremost martial genius, was enough to set the whole Jianghu ablaze.
At that moment, Baekryeong sent a voice transmission to Gwangpae.
<If you’re worried, why not leave the baby with the physician? Offer proper payment, and he’ll raise it better than we could.>
Few in the world could overhear such a transmission, but as an assassin, Baekryeong was cautious.
Gwangpae, on the other hand, had no such caution. He snorted and replied out loud—
“Nonsense. You think the Martial Alliance couldn’t track down a baby left with a physician? The Beggar Sect has eyes and ears everywhere across the Central Plains.”
A physician suddenly raising a mysterious baby from an unknown martial man—such rumors would spread fast.
<Then why not hand the baby and manual over to the Martial Alliance? They’re…>
“Hey! Stop whispering with voice transmission! Speak so we can all hear you!”
“…Anyway, isn’t the manual useless to you? And even if the baby is troublesome, the so-called righteous sects won’t harm an innocent child.”
Heukpyo glared at him resentfully as Baekryeong continued. Gwangpae, still running forward, asked—
“You really think the righteous sects wouldn’t harm the baby?”
“……”
“Hah! If they were half as righteous as they claim, the Sword God wouldn’t have ended up like that.”
The Sword God had been born with supreme talent, transcending orthodox or unorthodox boundaries. Yet the so-called righteous sects branded his art as demonic and made him a public enemy.
To erase any future threat, they would surely try to kill his bloodline as well.
‘…He must have expected that, too.’
That was why he risked everything to escape with his child. He couldn’t trust anyone—neither so-called allies nor the so-called righteous.
‘Still… who would’ve thought he had a woman?’
They had known each other for over ten years, yet Gwangpae had never heard a word about it. To think he managed both love and peerless martial mastery—truly, the man had been extraordinary.
While Gwangpae mulled over this, Heukpyo spoke up again.
“So what will you do? Are you really going to raise that baby with a useless manual?”
“Why useless? It’s still the Sword God’s manual.”
“It’s useless if you can’t sell it or learn it. Unless you mean to take up the sword yourself?”
“I can’t just learn it as it is. That would be admitting I took his manual, making me an enemy of the entire martial world.”
“Then it’s all the more useless—”
“I’ll alter it. Not as sword techniques, but as fist techniques.”
“…What?”
Heukpyo blinked in shock.
“You’re joking, right? Altering the Sword God’s martial arts?”
“Why, think I can’t?”
“Of course not! It’d be easier to create your own martial art from scratch than to alter one made by someone stronger than you—urk!”
He was cut off mid-sentence as Gwangpae’s kick sent him flying. Picking himself up, Heukpyo muttered, “Now I get why loyal ministers die for speaking truth.”
Meanwhile, Baekryeong quietly added—
“Heukpyo has a point. You might alter the basics, but what about the advanced techniques in the latter half?”
“That won’t matter until twenty years from now. By then, I’ll be stronger.”
“…So you really do intend to raise that baby.”
“Of course. Have you ever seen me go back on my word?”
Baekryeong gave up trying to argue. He knew it wasn’t about manuals at all. The truth was—Gwangpae simply didn’t want to betray the last request of his lifelong rival and comrade, the Sword God.
“So then, where are we headed?”
“To Heungguk.”
“What? That backwater village in Jiangxi? Why there?”
“We’ve got an old manor there.”
“You mean the one you hid in fifty years ago after making trouble?”
“Right. You remember.”
“Remember? How could I forget! That rundown manor surrounded by nothing but mountains! That’s hardly Heungguk—more like the edge of Baekun Mountain!”
“Call it what you like. The place name is Heungguk.”
“Still, that doesn’t sound like a great idea…”
This time Baekryeong interjected.
“Wouldn’t Guangdong or Guangxi be better? If you want to avoid the Alliance’s reach—”
“No. That’s crawling with demonic sects and shadows. You’d raise the Sword God’s child there?”
“…Even so—”
“We’re going to Jiangxi. No more objections.”
Jiangxi was a neutral zone, caught between orthodox and unorthodox forces. The Alliance’s grip wasn’t strong there, but neither could the demonic sects run wild.
It was safer for the baby—but troublesome for the Fiends, since even the smallest stir there quickly became gossip.
Still, since Gwangpae had spoken, Baekryeong and Heukpyo held their tongues.
At that moment—
“Elder brother.”
It was Seokdu, who had been silent all this time, speaking solemnly.
“What is it, Seokdu?”
“The baby.”
“The baby?”
Gwangpae checked the child in his arms. Protected by an energy membrane and pressure points, the baby was calm despite their speed.
“What about the baby?”
“Why are you the only one holding him?”
“….”
“Let me hold him, too. Give him to me.”
Even while running, Seokdu held out his arms insistently. Gwangpae only smiled wordlessly.
‘First thing when we arrive—get a wet nurse.’
There was no way he’d entrust the baby to these idiots. With that thought, he sped up.
The Four Fiends ran day and night like the wind.
From Hunan to Jiangxi’s Heungguk was a long way. They paused now and then to brew medicinal herbs from the physician for the baby.
But soon, a problem arose—
“Waaahhh! Waaahhh!”
“…Elder brother, the baby’s crying again.”
“Come on, please… stop crying and drink this, hmm?”
They dipped cloth in sweet licorice water and pressed it to the baby’s lips. But after a few sips, the baby cried again.
They thought of knocking him out with pressure points, but feeding nothing before sleep could be dangerous. So they were stuck, flustered and helpless.
“Damn it… we can’t beat the food into him… what do we do…”
“Elder brother.”
“What?”
“Maybe… the baby’s hungry?”
All eyes turned to Heukpyo, filled with frustration, pity, and disdain.
“What kind of nonsense is that? You think we didn’t know that?”
“…Tsk.”
“Heukpyo’s dumb sometimes.”
“Y-you! Listen to the rest of what I’m saying! Do you think I just realized he’s hungry now?”
Even Seokdu was mocking him. Enraged, Heukpyo snapped back—
“If the baby were sick, that’s one thing. But if he’s hungry, the solution’s simple! Give him what he’s supposed to eat. That ‘baby food’ the physician mentioned.”
“And how do we get that? Inns don’t sell it.”
“Then we make it! It’s just porridge, right?”
“…That’s true.”
For once, Gwangpae looked convinced.
“Porridge isn’t complicated. Just boil rice with water. I’ll make it myself.”
