Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 120 - The Moment of Decision (2)
Chapter 120 – The Moment of Decision (2)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
“Young Master Yeon?”
“Huh?”
“I asked what’s wrong. Is there something bothering you?”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
“It’s nothing. The back of my neck suddenly throbbed.”
“An assassin?”
“As if that would be the case.”
“Why? Listening to people talk, they say the Yeon Clan is one of the most famous clans in the Jianghu.”
“Not exactly the most, but it is famous.”
“If you are the eldest son of such a clan, wouldn’t there be many people targeting you?”
Yeon Ho-jeong blinked.
“It’s not a wrong statement… but how did you think that far?”
Muk Bi grumbled.
“Aren’t you looking down on me too much?”
“I’m not looking down on you. Not knowing is not a crime.”
“No matter how much I don’t know about the ways of the world, I’m not to that extent.”
When even just three people gather, factions divide. And they wage a war of nerves to stand above each other.
The Jianghu was a world that expanded that by tens of millions of times. A sect with high fame and strong influence would inevitably become a target of check.
Muk Bi had learned that from the Gathering of Rising Stars.
“Anyway, a month has already passed.”
“Indeed.”
It had also been over a month since they stayed at the Lake Fresh Great Joy Tower.
It was now completely autumn weather. Fallen leaves scattered and the wind was cold. People’s attire also gradually became thicker.
Murong Yu, who came to visit twenty days ago, returned right away that day. After that, Yeon Ho-jeong looked around the maritime affairs of Zhejiang and finished his market research.
It was now slowly time to return.
“Anyway, is it okay not to meet that person anymore?”
“Who?”
“The person named Murong Yu.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled bitterly.
“The talk is over. Now it’s that person’s turn to move. If he follows my proposal, he will contact me again then.”
He recalled Murong Yu’s words.
‘However, since I have also made my decision, I don’t want to move lukewarmly.’
They were merely people who had just met. People who hadn’t even synchronized their hands and feet didn’t need to stick together from the beginning, nor could they.
If you just sucked your thumb because there was someone helping you, it would become neither porridge nor rice. The subject of life is always oneself. Murong Yu knew that fact well.
‘Try breaking through well on your own. I believe you will show that level of ability.’
Muk Bi asked.
“Then we can just return right away?”
“That’s right.”
“You aren’t going to stop by Moganshan?”
“Moganshan? Ah, Ji-pyeong?”
“Yes.”
Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.
“Would he be there until now? Besides, Moganshan is also a mountain. How would we know where Ji-pyeong is in that vast place.”
“If there’s nothing to do for a while anyway, we can just consider it as roaming the entire mountain while practicing our lightness arts.”
“Oh? That’s not a bad idea.”
“Hehe.”
Yeon Ho-jeong let out a chuckle.
“Do you want to see Ji-pyeong that much?”
Muk Bi scratched her cheek.
“It’s the first time.”
“What is?”
“He’s the first person, other than you, Young Master Yeon, who approached me without any ulterior motives.”
“That’s something my father would be sad to hear.”
“Ah, it’s different from your father. I mean, um…”
“Well, anyway, your words have a point. Even if we return, there’s nothing to do other than train, so let’s look around Moganshan… Gasp!”
“Why?”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s complexion turned pale.
Muk Bi became tense naturally. She had never seen Yeon Ho-jeong’s face this serious.
Woooong.
Muk Bi, who had drawn up the Bow-String Strong True Qi, looked around and asked.
“Is there any problem? Could it be an enemy…?”
“I didn’t send a letter.”
“Yes?”
Yeon Ho-jeong gulped down his saliva.
“I didn’t send a letter of regards to my father. Not even once.”
“…”
“D-Damn it.”
Muk Bi, losing her enthusiasm, said.
“Do you know that you’re truly baffling sometimes?”
“Hey! It’s because you don’t know my father! Do you know how much I suffered that day?”
Yeon Ho-jeong clutched his head without realizing it.
People are scarier when they are silent than when they talk a lot. That day, his father had only glared at him wordlessly until he flawlessly memorized and recited the Chapter on Filial Piety of the Mind-Clearing Mirror in a loud voice.
It was a moment almost comparable to the shock of his first murder. Having suffered a massive blow to his mental energy, Yeon Ho-jeong couldn’t even sleep properly.
Muk Bi was dumbfounded.
‘What in the world is this person’s true appearance?’
She remembered her first meeting with Yeon Ho-jeong.
The eye light of a general looking down at her while recklessly spewing out a red and blue, white yet dark aura.
After subduing her in a single breath, Yeon Ho-jeong’s martial arts that drove Baek So-gyeong into a corner were a shock in itself.
Her spine chilled at the majesty of a fierce general who didn’t have even a speck of mercy. Afterwards, in the appearance of him comforting her, she saw the shadow of a blunt sage.
As time passed and they shared a friendship, she saw the mischievousness of a somewhat playful young man, and when he conversed with Murong Yu, she saw the aspect of a resolute strategist.
And now?
‘Isn’t he a complete idiot?’
She didn’t know exactly how many appearances he had kept hidden.
However, she could know one thing.
“Do you know that you are truly frank and plain in a certain sense, you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing.”
Muk Bi turned her head.
The appearances Yeon Ho-jeong showed were shocking without exception, but at least there was no falsehood. He never wore a mask if he considered someone his person.
Perhaps that might be Yeon Ho-jeong’s greatest charm.
“Let’s not stand there like an idiot and slowly set off.”
“An idiot!”
“I’m setting off first.”
Paaaang!
Muk Bi dashed along the mountain path at a fast speed.
Yeon Ho-jeong smacked his lips.
So cold-hearted.
Taaaang!
Yeon Ho-jeong followed behind Muk Bi in an instant.
He seemed to be following behind, but before she knew it, he had caught up right next to her. Muk Bi clicked her tongue.
“You’re getting faster day by day, aren’t you?”
“Because I try to be different every day.”
“How many stars have you mastered?”
“Something like that is meaningless.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know about other martial arts, but in lightness arts at least, I don’t think calculating how many stars it is holds any meaning.”
The lightness art that Yeon Ho-jeong thought of was merely a study that deepened endlessly.
In a sense, it was also similar to internal energy cultivation methods. Looking at accomplishments by saying how many stars or how many stages regarding the deepening of internal energy was merely a shell.
‘I just need to place my body according to my body and my realization, and that’s all.’
Huuuk!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s body became faster.
Even though he got faster, his posture didn’t have a single point of disarray. It was a posture like a noble crane, but a fighting spirit of facing battle, seemingly able to swing an axe at any moment, could be seen.
Muk Bi’s eyes deepened.
‘He is a person with much to learn from.’
It is a natural thing to forget what was learned in the past while acquiring various studies.
Yeon Ho-jeong was different. He trained while not forgetting and taking care of everything he had learned and mastered so far.
‘It’s not simply because he’s smart or his talent is outstanding.’
Only now could Muk Bi know. How that solid foundation for Yeon Ho-jeong’s growth was made.
‘His attitude towards life is different.’
He carried along everything he realized with his head and acquired with his body. He seemed to think it was a world where he couldn’t live without doing so.
Setting aside whether that was actually possible, he would first crash into it and see. Even if it was impossible, he crashed into it.
Because there was no meaning if he didn’t pursue it just because it was merely an ideal.
Hook!
“Still, you are still slow.”
“You are just too fast.”
“Hmph.”
Papapapang!
Muk Bi stepped with a tremendous Springing Step and advanced rapidly.
It was a terrifying lightness art. Yeon Ho-jeong, who was blankly looking at Muk Bi’s back, inwardly laughed.
‘She changed well.’
When he first saw Muk Bi, she was like a wall right before collapsing.
But not now. Within the fence of the Yeon Clan, she felt the affection of people living, and coming out to Zhejiang, she saw an aspect of the Jianghu.
Even though it would be confusing, Muk Bi was maintaining a steadfast heart.
Yeon Ho-jeong found that commendable.
“Hey! Let’s go together! Reduce your speed a bit!”
“Come quickly!”
“That damn girl!”
The two people, who crossed over the mountain paths like that, arrived at the foot of Moganshan before even a day had passed.
It was the result of frantically executing their lightness arts, one person in order not to lose, and the other person in order to surpass. The two knew how to fill in each other’s lacking parts.
“Phew, aren’t you hungry?”
“I feel like dying.”
“Here, take this.”
“Oh? Is it rice balls?”
“Yes. Minced pork is inside. It’s well-seasoned.”
“…It seems I am destined not to be able to distance myself from rice balls.”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, it’s big. Just eating one would fill my stomach.”
The two people earnestly chewed the rice balls.
“I think it has gone a bit bad.”
“You won’t die.”
“I won’t die, but.”
Both Yeon Ho-jeong and Muk Bi were people who had lived extremely rough lives. Catching and eating rats or snakes was a common occurrence, and there were also many times they dug up and ate tree roots.
The two people, who possessed steel-like digestion, quickly digested even the sour-smelling rice balls.
Yeon Ho-jeong stood up from his seat.
“Now, shall we slowly try finding Ji-pyeong?”
“Shall we?”
It was the moment when Yeon Ho-jeong, having loosened his body here and there, hung his axe on his shoulder and was about to run out.
‘…’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
Muk Bi looked at him with questioning eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
“Is there something else you missed besides the letter of regards?”
“Shh.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s face was much more serious than expected.
Muk Bi’s face naturally became serious as well.
Yeon Ho-jeong examined the surroundings with eyes as sharp as a hawk.
‘…What is it?’
The Jade Gauze True Formula soared, and the Three Divine Qi of the Four Gods burned quietly.
‘There’s nothing getting caught in my energy sensing?’
Only trees and dirt, grass and fallen leaves were visible. The flowing mountain landscape was noble, and the blowing wind was beyond cool and was cold.
He felt everything that could be felt in an autumn mountain. Other than that, nothing else could be felt.
‘But this air…’
Amidst the refreshing air, an unpleasant smoke as pointed as a needle and as sharp as a razor was felt.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who looked around for a long time, said.
“How many shots do you have?”
“Yes?”
“Arrows.”
Muk Bi looked down at her quiver.
“Twenty-four shots.”
“Twenty-four shots…”
Woooong.
He, removing the Crazy Dragon Axe from his shoulder, circulated the Jade Gauze True Formula.
The center of his body became sturdy, and his entire body’s senses became extremely sensitive.
“Just in case, save your arrows.”
Strength entered Muk Bi’s hand holding the Red Lotus Bow.
“Are they enemies?”
“Assassins.”
“Assassins?!”
“I don’t feel any human presence. But this unpleasant air… they are probably assassins.”
One of the things where the Unorthodox Path was superior to the Orthodox Path was precisely the existence of assassins, killers.
The assassins intentionally raised in the Unorthodox Path did not leak any murderous intent whatsoever. Their arts were great enough to deceive even peak masters.
If so, how did one fight them?
There was no such thing as a method. One had to somehow survive and eliminate them. If one didn’t notice, they would just die as is.
When experiences accumulated like that several times, later on, one would capture something other than murderous intent.
It was precisely the change in the atmosphere.
‘It’s strange.’
Yeon Ho-jeong could gradually become certain.
There were assassins targeting this place, exactly targeting him. The increasingly stuffy air proved that.
‘Is there something else besides the assassins…?’
It was then.
Muk Bi’s eyes flashed.
“I saw them.”
“What?”
“Below the mountain, there are two men wearing clothes the color of an old tree.”
She captured a distance separated enough that even the current Yeon Ho-jeong found it difficult to see.
An archer’s eye power was more outstanding than any martial artist’s. It was to the extent that they separately learned specialized eye techniques.
Muk Bi’s eye power, as sharp as a hawk, captured the existence of the assassins.
‘If so…?’
Yeon Ho-jeong, who examined the surrounding terrain, shouted.
“Go up!”
“Yes?!”
“It’s the Siege Killing Formation! They’re trying to push with numbers!”
Pararararak!
At that moment, over two hundred assassins charged from the bottom of the mountain.
It was not assassination. They had adopted a strategy of forming a formation and sweeping them away in one fell swoop.
The most radical attack method even among the tactics of assassins. Realizing that Yeon Ho-jeong and Muk Bi had noticed their existence, they had immediately set out to attack.
Pabababak!
They openly revealed their presence. The murderous intent creeping up was a bonus.
At a behavior completely unbefitting of assassins despite being obvious assassins, Yeon Ho-jeong ground his teeth.
“What are you trying to do, you sons of bitches!”