Meanwhile, Seolyeon was still waiting for Dan Hyunwoo and Hyeong Pio to return, trying to understand exactly what he had done to her when he passed that energy into her before leaving. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard shouting coming from the tavern. A man was yelling that he had finally found his target, and asking whether he had been hiding there the whole time.
In the very next instant, someone was violently thrown into the tavern hall. The agency's porters were completely terrified. They had only sat down to drink and relax after the mission, but suddenly they found themselves in the middle of a bloody fight.
Realizing the danger, Jo Seolyeon ordered everyone to get inside and hide immediately. Neither Hyeong Pio nor Dan Hyunwoo was there, so anything bad could happen. She thought that at the very least the attack did not seem to be directed at them. Even so, the situation was absurd. They were committing murders in the middle of a crowded tavern.
The ones responsible were two young swordsmen from the Black Viper sect. One of the men who was still resisting asked if they truly believed they could do such a thing, and force the Thunder Sect to back down. According to him, the Tang clan would never let this slide. But one of the Black Viper youths merely mocked them, calling them all cowards.
Looking more carefully, Seolyeon realized that this was the same group that had previously tried to rob them. Then one of the Black Viper men explained that the sect leader had given them a chance to surrender. But since they had chosen to remain loyal to the Tang clan, they would all die right there.
Then a true massacre began inside the tavern. While the slaughter continued, one of the young men approached Seolyeon with a disgusting smile, asking what a flower like her was doing in a place like that. The others burst into laughter, commenting that apparently one of them had found yet another young lady to add to his collection, without showing any fear.
Seolyeon ordered them to move aside. One of the men placed his hand on her shoulder and asked if she did not know what happened when the Black Viper sect desired something. But at that exact moment she reacted. She grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back with terrifying force, snapped the limb, and slammed the man onto the ground.
Seeing that, one of the veterans laughed and commented that every flower had its thorns. Then he asked who exactly she was. She then introduced herself as Jo Seolyeon, the eldest daughter of the Jo clan and the current director of the Renan escort agency. The men behind her looked impressed and said that it had to be a joke, because how could they possibly fail to recognize such an impressive young lady. The veteran then remarked that they should treat her better, even while maintaining a firm expression.
Jo Seolyeon knew perfectly well that her abilities were nowhere near enough to face all of them alone, so she gathered her energy and shot out of the tavern using all the speed she had. She did not want to drag the porters into that conflict.
As she ran through the streets without knowing whether she would truly escape alive, the whole situation felt almost infuriating to think about. The agency's only truly powerful warrior had gone away, leaving the young leader alone in the middle of that chaos.
Meanwhile, far away from there, the atmosphere was completely different. Inside the Ak clan, everyone was calmly drinking tea while being welcomed by their hosts. During the conversation, Ak Biwan commented that Ak Sei would have been twenty years old if he were still alive, and he asked whether he and Dan Hyunwoo were the same age. Dan Hyunwoo respectfully answered that they were. At that moment Hyeong Pio noticed something amusing. If Dan Hyunwoo was twenty years old, then he himself was practically twice the age of that boy.
After that, Ak Biwan asked exactly how Ak Sei had died. The atmosphere instantly turned heavy. Then Dan Hyunwoo explained that Ak Sei had been his companion and friend. The two of them had made a promise while trapped in that hell. Whoever survived would find the others' families. According to him, Ak Sei often said that he might not make it out alive. But Dan Hyunwoo would always answer that they would both survive together, and visit the families of their fallen comrades side by side.
But before the end, Ak Sei had asked that if he did not survive, Dan Hyunwoo should tell everything to his father and apologize in his place. Then Dan Hyunwoo revealed that Ak Sei had sacrificed himself so that he could escape alive.
Hearing that, Ak Biwan fell silent for a few moments. Then he said that his son had died saving a friend, and that it was an honourable death. He commented that the last memory he had of Ak Sei was when he was still a small child. And while looking at Dan Hyunwoo, he realized that this child must have endured horrors just as terrible. That realization tightened the Ak clan leader's heart.
Then Ak Biwan declared that from that day onward, Dan Hyunwoo would also be his son. He could call him father from then on.
Everyone imagined that Dan Hyunwoo would never respond to that. The boy always seemed cold and distant. Even Wuan Hai thought that perhaps he would simply ignore the offer, or even strike someone with his sword before answering. But to everyone's surprise, Dan Hyunwoo calmly replied, "Yes, father."
That completely moved Ak Biwan, who began laughing as he said that he truly expected nothing less from Ak Sei's friend. According to him, such boldness could not be measured with words. Then he declared that after ten years, it felt as though his son's spirit had finally returned home. Because of that, he ordered drinks to be brought out, saying that this was a day for celebration.
With the Ak clan leader's order, the atmosphere became much lighter. During the conversation, Ak Wong ended up telling Hyeong Pio the entire history of the clan. Ten years earlier, before Ak Sei's disappearance, the Ak clan had been nothing more than a small martial clan without much fame in Sichuan. But after the tragedy, Ak Biwan desperately searched for his son until he practically abandoned everything else. Then at some point a martial master appeared and passed down Cheon Gija's martial arts to him. After that, Ak Biwan completely devoted himself to training in the Moon-Destroying Blade art, using all the pain of losing his son as fuel. That was how he built the Ak clan's current reputation.
But Ak Wong also explained that recently a sect had begun swallowing up several martial groups across Sichuan, without caring about their size or influence. Eventually the conflict reached the Ak clan, and now they were preparing for a decisive battle. So he apologized once again, explaining that he had mistaken Dan Hyunwoo and the others for members of the Black Viper sect.
After hearing that, both Wuan Hai and Hyeong Pio began to suspect that this was probably the same sect that had attacked the escort mission earlier.
While everyone was talking, Ak Biwan started getting worried after noticing that Dan Hyunwoo kept drinking alcohol straight from the jar without stopping. The problem was simple. He had never drunk alcohol before.