The other porters celebrated that Jung Chil had backed down to the newcomer, and everyone went to rest and sleep. Jung Chil, however, kept thinking about how he would make Dan pay for that humiliation, if it were not for the sword.
In the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, Jung Chil got up to look for the newcomer, and thought he must be sleeping somewhere nearby. But he came across Dan himself, and asked if he was not sleeping. He then noticed that Dan had his eyes closed. He was sleeping while standing.
Jung Chil tried to take the sword, but Dan opened his eyes, and instinctively the poor porter froze. It was only for an instant, but Jung Chil saw his own death, and felt overwhelming fear, like prey before a predator. He begged for forgiveness desperately.
Dan closed his eyes again, because he was simply circulating his internal energy to protect himself. That habit of sleeping while standing had started during the long period he spent in the cave, living in constant alert. Even while resting, eating or sleeping, he never lowered his guard.
The next morning, Dan woke Jung Chil, who ran away from him in fear.
The other porters got up early to start working, but they were impressed by Dan's abilities. He moved several boxes with his feet and hands, using the movement of the wind itself. He was extremely strong and agile, stacking all the boxes as if they were nothing. The porters told him to be careful, but he went on moving all the boxes again like that, taking all the work for himself.
The young lady heard about it from one of the porters, and during their break she remembered what Dan had said to her the day before. Maybe she had said something that upset him, and that was why she wanted to apologise, but without actually apologising. She also found it strange. She was so curious about the meaning of those words that she could barely sleep.
So when he passed by, she blushed. Dan said that he had started working as a porter. She asked if he liked the job, but that was not what she had wanted to ask, and she lost her courage. Dan replied that he liked peace, and that what he disliked was when that peace was broken. He also said that hearing a friend apologise was very unpleasant.
Seolyeon thought that meant he saw her as a friend, and replied that it was fine. She would never say that again.
Then Pang appeared, saying what a coincidence, and commented that Miss Jo had become even more beautiful than the last time he saw her. She asked what he was doing there, since he should be busy with Murim matters. He replied that he had received another mission, and that they had decided to provide maximum support to the escort agency.
Contrary to Dan's desire for peace and harmony, the Murim world was on the brink of a bloody whirlpool.
Meanwhile, the Lord of the Celestial Watch was receiving news that thirty members had been annihilated. One of the survivors begged for forgiveness, saying they could not find who had done it. The leader asked if the Celestial Watch force was strong enough to defeat the entire Black Tortoise unit of the Murim Alliance, and even so it had been annihilated.
Then, with his power, he made all the bodies levitate and drew the blood out of them, saying that they had all been defeated by a single person. It must have been Gija. It must have been one of the monsters he had created. But he did not know if it was enough to defeat the Blood Demon. He was eager to find out. He ordered his subordinate to investigate everyone who had travelled with the Murim Alliance at Mount Hangsan, saying that he would find the one responsible for destroying his Celestial Watch force.
Meanwhile, Jo Seolyeon was staring at the Flying Dragon group. Pang thought that woman was always breathtaking, but wondered why she was with that bumpkin, saying a porter carrying a sword was ridiculous.
Seolyeon thought that the Flying Dragon Corps had come as a representative of the alliance, and if they caused trouble, Dan might end up suffering there. So she told him not to mind what Pang had said. Pang asked what kind of closeness there was between them.
Mirang, Pang's sister, wondered if the reason he had come running the moment the leader gave the order was because of her, and called him a showoff.
But another person approached, asking if he was Dan, and said it was good that Miss Jo was there as well. He introduced himself as Hyeong Pio, an escort warrior from the agency who had come under the leader's orders to train the new porter. Seolyeon said he had just started working and was already going on an escort mission. Pang said that was their job, and thought it was a great opportunity to get closer to Jo Seolyeon.
Dan asked what an escort mission was, saying he did not know, but that he also could not give up his sword. Hyeong Pio told him not to worry, and that he just needed to follow him for now. The Flying Dragon group was already hoping the poor guy would get fired.
Mirang thought, men, for heaven's sake — even the vice leader of the corps could be childish when it came to women. But she noticed that this Dan did not even react when he was being provoked. Jo Seolyeon asked if he was really leaving already. Mirang thought maybe that guy was nothing special, since he had given in to the provocation. But Dan said he would follow Hyeong Pio, because he could not be fired.
Hyeong Pio remembered receiving instructions from Sima Chal, who said Jung Chil would teach Dan how to work as a porter, but that he had to make sure Dan did not cause trouble during the escort mission. Hyeong Pio also knew there was a need to make Dan give up before he got closer to Seolyeon, but he wondered why he needed to help with that. Sima Chal said he would understand when he met Dan.
Hyeong Pio thought he could ignore the way he spoke, since they said he had lived in the mountains, but a porter carrying a sword without a sheath was truly strange. He asked if Dan practised swordsmanship. Dan replied that he did the Art of the Three Energies.
Hyeong Pio thought he was a dreamer who wanted to be a warrior, and said the Three Energies Sword was the foundation of many martial arts, but that there were others that worked much better. Then he drew his sword to demonstrate his skills, and told Dan to show what he knew first with the Three Energies Sword.
Dan asked if that was a fight, and if Hyeong Pio would try to kill him. Hyeong Pio said no, it was just a duel to measure each other's abilities. Dan replied that he was much stronger than him, and did not need a duel to measure that. Hyeong Pio asked how he could say that, since he had trained his whole life and Dan was just a practitioner. Even so, he said he liked his confidence, and would show how he could become stronger.
Then Dan raised his arm, measuring something, and told his opponent it was the first time he would not kill someone with his sword. So he needed to calculate very carefully how to do it. After that he approached, measured where he should strike around Hyeong Pio, and said it was fine. Now he could avoid killing him. Hyeong Pio thought, so that was what the leader had meant, because that guy was truly strange.
When Hyeong Pio advanced, before he even struck, Dan had already recognised the movement he would make and predicted everything. So he dodged before it even happened, and brought down a strike from the heavens like thunder. Hyeong Pio was grazed, thinking that had not been the Three Energies Sword.
When he woke up a few seconds later, Dan asked if it had hurt a lot, sir. Hyeong Pio asked what kind of martial art had been used. Dan replied that it was the Three Energies Sword, and that the technique was the Heavenly Thunder.
Hyeong Pio said it did not look anything like the Three Energies, and could not understand what Heavenly Thunder meant. He did not expect that guy to be a martial master, and not even the agency leader must have known that. Dan said Hyeong Pio's skills were better, right? Hyeong Pio thought that was ridiculous, because he was so naive despite being so skilled.
He decided to report it to the agency leader. But first, he needed to teach Dan the rules of society. He extended his hand, but Dan did nothing. Hyeong Pio explained that when someone extended their hand like that, it was to help the other person get up. Then Dan helped him up.