Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 149 - An Invisible Fight is Scarier (4)
Chapter 149 – An Invisible Fight is Scarier (4)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Heoheo, thank you for coming like this.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s a tea I brewed myself. I recently acquired top-grade Longjing, but I don’t know how the taste will be.”
The middle-aged man took a sip of tea.
Murong Jun smiled broadly.
“How is it?”
“Not bad.”
Longjing is considered the best among tea leaves. Moreover, if it was top-grade among Longjing, even high-ranking officials couldn’t easily obtain it.
Even after drinking such tea, it ended with a single phrase saying it wasn’t bad. From the perspective of the one who served it, it was inevitably disheartening.
However, Murong Jun’s expression didn’t change at all.
“That’s a relief. It’s a good thing it didn’t ruin your palate.”
Watching Murong Jun burst into laughter, the man asked.
“Come to Sichuan sometime. I will serve you a decent tea.”
Murong Jun’s eyes flashed.
Come to Sichuan? Doesn’t that mean he wants to hold hands with him?
“Have you made up your mind?”
The middle-aged man, Tang Kwan, the Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, spoke in a monotonous voice.
“Deliberate carefully, decide like a blade. That is my creed.”
“Hoho?”
“If I hadn’t intended to hold hands, I wouldn’t have come here.”
“Hahaha!”
Murong Jun laughed loudly for the first time in a while.
“I knew it before, but you really are magnanimous.”
“You and I merely joined hands for profit. It’s not like we expect anything particularly grand from each other, right?”
“That’s true. But you and I are both leaders who sway a family. Even after making a decision, we cannot help but consider various possibilities.”
“A family’s strength comes from the Clan Head’s confidence.”
With that single remark, one could tell how the Tang Clan was run.
In the Tang Clan, the Clan Head was like a monarch. Other martial families showed somewhat similar aspects, but especially the Tang Clan seemed unable to exert its power if the Clan Head’s capabilities were not outstanding.
‘It’s like the Black Path Unorthodox Path.’
However, the difference between the Tang Clan and the Black Path factions would be the martial arts and viciousness of their subordinate forces.
“I will be in your care from now on.”
Tang Kwan silently nodded his head.
Whether he was inherently a person of few words, or this seat was uncomfortable, was unknown. Murong Jun clearly thought it was the latter.
“By the way, your daughter…”
“How is Murong Yu?”
He cut him off without hesitation, but Murong Jun didn’t feel offended at all.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean whether he possesses the capabilities to be useful as the leader of an organization.”
Murong Jun smiled.
“Do you really think I seated an incompetent person as the Head of the Demon-Sweeping Squad?”
“Is that so.”
“I’m not saying this because he’s my younger brother. That fellow is a genius. Not to mention martial arts, he is a rare talent fully equipped with business acumen.”
“Hmm.”
Tang Kwan’s eyes shone.
“You said his age is thirty now?”
“That is correct.”
“I heard he still doesn’t have a match.”
Murong Jun’s eyes shone.
From the moment Tang Kwan brought up the topic of Murong Yu, he had felt something unusual. And his premonition was correct.
Murong Jun feigned ignorance and said.
“Because his work is so busy, he hasn’t been able to arrange a marriage even at that age. My heart aches, so I’m looking for a good maiden, but I haven’t seen a plausible match yet.”
“Is that so.”
“At least the eldest daughter of the Central Plains Bank seemed decent. After searching a little more, if there’s no better match, I plan to send him off cleanly.”
Tang Kwan spoke straightforwardly.
“How about forming ties with the master of Sichuan rather than the likes of the Central Plains Bank?”
Murong Jun’s eyes shone again.
“That means?”
“My eldest daughter hasn’t been married yet either. Her age is one year younger than the Demon-Sweeping Squad Leader.”
It’s a world where having a marriage at a blooming age is recognized as natural. No matter how much of a woman of Jianghu she is, it’s hard to find a match if she is twenty-nine.
Murong Jun spoke with a somewhat troubled face.
“I will speak honestly. For me, there would be nothing happier than forming ties with the Tang Clan, but shouldn’t we also hear the youngest’s thoughts?”
Even the great Murong Jun couldn’t help but be careful. Because it could give the impression that he was reluctant because her daughter’s age was too old.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
“Moreover, haven’t the men who married daughters of the Tang Clan from generation to generation entered as live-in sons-in-law? Whether Yu will accept that…”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Hmm?”
Tang Kwan looked out the window with a languid face.
“I have no intention of taking him in as a live-in son-in-law, so if you have the mind, let’s proceed with the marriage.”
A subtle fatigue lingered on the face of the Tang Clan Head, known as the most vicious under heaven.
It seemed there were circumstances he couldn’t speak of. Murong Jun didn’t bother to pry into that part.
“Since you say so, I will try to persuade Yu. I will give you an answer no later than midnight tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Murong Jun compared the Tang Clan and the Central Plains Bank in his mind.
Considering the influence cast over Jianghu, needless to say, he should choose the Tang Clan. Although they receive gazes of fear rather than respect, that is also a power that cannot be ignored.
However, the financial power of the Central Plains Bank could not be easily ignored either. The Central Plains Bank boasts the deepest history among banks. Martial artists, too, find it hard to manage their livelihood without a foundation called money.
‘A difficult choice.’
At least he knew one thing.
Tang Kwan was definitely overreaching right now. He too would use the Murong Clan, but he wouldn’t be unaware that the Murong Clan would also use the Tang Clan.
‘Moreover, to the point of giving up the custom of a live-in son-in-law.’
What kind of change occurred in the state of mind of the proud Tang Clan Head?
“How is that side?”
“Hmm?”
Tang Kwan asked as if to change the subject of the conversation.
“I mean the Evil-Annihilating Army’s side. Have there been any special movements?”
Murong Jun frowned.
“Unfortunately, there have.”
“…?”
“It hasn’t been properly confirmed, but it seems the Zhuge and Peng clans will give strength to the Evil-Annihilating Army.”
Tang Kwan sneered coldly.
“Half-baked scribblers and muscle-headed fools?”
It was a terrifying remark. No matter how much he was the Tang Clan Head, he was excessively disparaging the same Six Great Clans.
Murong Jun chuckled.
“You can’t just ignore them. The head of those scribblers is the strategist of the Murim Alliance, and the head of those fools is also a person who is called the supreme ruler of Hebei.”
“Even so, they are fellows who have no power to disrupt the general trend.”
“Your words aren’t wrong. But those two are becoming the wings of a single family.”
Tang Kwan’s eyes emitted a ferocious light.
“You mean the Yeon Clan?”
“That is correct.”
Murong Jun knew that Tang Kwan’s eldest son had been severely beaten by Yeon Ho-jeong.
Of course, it wasn’t a story worth mentioning in such a setting.
“There are two talents that surprised me the most in my life so far. One of them is the eldest son of the Yeon Clan, Yeon Ho-jeong.”
“Is that fellow that amazing?”
“Simply speaking, he’s a genius, and in my honest impression, a monster.”
Tang Kwan frowned.
He acknowledged Murong Jun’s martial arts. And what was even greater than that was his acumen.
A talent that a person who deserves to be called a fierce hero and a treacherous hero even calls a monster.
Just what kind of fellow is this Yeon Ho-jeong?
“Is he strong?”
“He is strong. Last winter, I’ve had a chance to exchange blows with him. Surprisingly, the guy’s martial arts surpassed the level of the elders of the Nine Great Sects and the Six Great Clans. He seemed more outstanding than the One Dragon and Three Phoenixes.”
“To that extent?”
“What’s more surprising is that the fellow has just barely reached his twenties. At that age, with such martial arts, I assure you, if he grows like this, he will become a monster that no one can handle and shake the Central Plains.”
This was absolutely not an exaggerated expression.
Tang Kwan read Murong Jun’s eyes. The emotions such as pure surprise and anger buried in those eyes told him that he sincerely admired Yeon Ho-jeong.
‘A monster of that level… So it’s no wonder Yang-seon ended up in that state.’
Tang Kwan inwardly ground his teeth.
The target was not Yeon Ho-jeong, but his son, Tang Yang-seon.
‘Even if the opponent is a ruffian who hasn’t learned a handful of martial arts, do not be careless.’
He didn’t think his son’s arrogant character was the problem.
He was the man who would become the master of the Tang family in the future. The master of the Tang family is soon the master of Sichuan, at that level of position, it doesn’t matter even if he is somewhat arrogant.
However, arrogance and conceit are different issues.
The Tang family is not strong because of poison or hidden weapons. It’s because of the venom and perseverance that kills the enemy no matter what.
And for that venom and perseverance to gain strength, one must never be careless.
His son overlooked that. Even though he had warned him not to be careless like that.
‘Father.’
Wrinkles formed on Tang Kwan’s forehead.
‘You should have paid attention to the child who will become the Head of the main family as well.’
Tang Kwan’s father, the previous Tang Clan Head, was a master recognized as a legend in the Murim of his time.
Dark King Tang Hyeong.
One of the ten Gods, Immortals, Emperors, and Kings, he was the greatest genius in the history of the Tang Clan who reached the ultimate state in both poison and hidden weapons.
Like most Gods, Immortals, Emperors, and Kings, Tang Hyeong had also stepped back from the front lines and was solely cultivating his martial arts. However, because he cherished his grandchildren so much, he occasionally gave them teachings.
And the grandchild that such Tang Hyeong cherished the most was Tang Kwan’s eldest daughter, Tang Sang-ah.
Tang Kwan recalled his father’s lamenting voice.
‘It is a pity. If Sang-ah had been born a man, she would have carved her name in history as the greatest Clan Head ever.’
Wherever those words leaked from, opinions suggesting giving Tang Sang-ah an important role, mentioning the previous Clan Head, gradually increased one by one.
That wasn’t all. Tang Sang-ah, with her outstanding beauty and strong character besides her martial talent, became an object of envy for the young martial artists of Sichuan. Within the Tang Clan as well, blood relatives who followed Tang Sang-ah steadily increased.
Tang Kwan, as the Clan Head, could not pretend not to know such a situation.
As a father, it was regrettable enough to shed tears of blood, but as a Clan Head, he had to protect the legitimacy and tradition of the family.
“If the fellow is such an outstanding person, we should pluck out his roots as soon as possible.”
Murong Jun wore a bitter smile.
“I intended to do so. However, the guy is not easy either.”
“What do you mean?”
“The real terrifying reason about that fellow Yeon Ho-jeong lies not in his martial arts but in his scheming.”
“Scheming?”
“That is correct. It’s embarrassing to say, but I too have suffered from him.”
This was a remark hard to just brush off.
In truth, Tang Kwan didn’t like Murong Jun that much, but he acknowledged his martial arts and scheming.
Doesn’t that mean such Murong Jun was dealt a blow by a young man who had just reached his twenties?
“If that’s the case.”
Bubble, bubble.
The tea in the untouched teacup boiled up. It was a tremendous mastery of internal energy.
“We should pull him out even faster.”
Murong Jun smiled.
“I think so too.”
“Do you plan to wait for the right time? Or do you plan to launch an active offensive?”
Murong Jun smiled.
“I planned to wait slowly for the time, but it seems your thoughts differ from mine.”
Tak!
Tang Kwan broke off the edge of the table. He easily tore off the corner of the solid wooden table with just his index finger and thumb.
“Do you know a little about poisonous weeds?”
“How could I dare discuss poison in front of the Tang Clan Head.”
Ooooong.
The piece of wood placed on Tang Kwan’s palm slowly rose.
“Among poisonous weeds, there are ones that easily die absurdly, but there are also monster-like ones that grow up drastically during the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”
Murong Jun’s eyes shone.
“Yeon Ho-jeong is that kind of fellow?”
“I wouldn’t know. But if you say it to that extent, he must not be an ordinary poisonous weed.”
“Hmm.”
Tang Kwan clenched his fist.
Psssssh!
The piece of wood floating in the air directly vaporized.
“My temper is too impatient to just watch this child’s play-like proxy war. Let us pull out the roots quickly.”