Chapter 188 – The Thread is Not Broken (6)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The wind was quite biting. The wind flowing down the foot of the mountain was cool at night regardless of the four seasons.
On the way back to his residence.
Yeon Ho-jeong was lost in deep thought.
‘He has changed.’
He recalled Murong Jun.
The rare swordsman who concealed a terrifyingly brilliant lightning light in his sword just by looking at it.
And the deeply sunken eyes of that swordsman.
‘Just like Father or me, Murong Jun has also changed.’
Murong Jun is a person with outstanding abilities.
Be it martial arts, strategy, or politics, he was a person who lacked nothing in any aspect.
However, Yeon Ho-jeong also knew Murong Jun’s shortcoming.
‘The somehow leisurely atmosphere has disappeared.’
It was none other than arrogance.
That’s right. Murong Jun was arrogant. And he was a person qualified to be arrogant.
Of all places, the place he was born and raised was the Murong Clan, so he was a person who learned how to bring down opponents during the time he should have been building friendship with his siblings. Murong Jun, and furthermore the people of the Murong Clan, are fundamentally lacking in humanity.
Excluding Murong Yu.
‘The cold-heartedness coming from that lack. Thanks to that, he must have become the master of the Murong Clan and furthermore harbored the dream of standing at the peak of the Orthodox Murim.’
A life of riding the crest of success.
In such a life of Murong Jun, a person who could be a stumbling block appeared for the first time.
It was none other than Yeon Ho-jeong.
‘It must have been a new experience in many ways. While saying with his mouth that I am a target to be wary of, he was still looking down on me by one level.’
Murong Jun acknowledged Yeon Ho-jeong. But he didn’t think Yeon Ho-jeong was a person superior to himself.
If he had thought Yeon Ho-jeong was superior to him, he wouldn’t have suffered so much until now. He would have hidden himself more thoroughly and worn a mask until he gained the confidence to land a certain strike.
Of course, it’s not like Yeon Ho-jeong would have just sat back and watched, though.
‘Such a person went underwater from the point the Demon-Sweeping and Evil-Annihilating Army set out.’
Has he only now acknowledged Yeon Ho-jeong as a true adversary? Or does he think of him as a person superior to himself?
That is unknown. But one thing was certain.
Murong Jun had become more insidious and sharper.
‘He won’t be able to play any foolish tricks for the time being. But he is not the type of person to make no preparations just because he seems quiet on the surface.’
Yeon Ho-jeong involuntarily sighed.
‘My head hurts enough just from the Yang Cheon matter.’
Combat King Yang Cheon.
The person who had been the last stumbling block in conquering the Black Path in the past, and an extremely dangerous enemy counted on one hand in Yeon Ho-jeong’s life.
Surprisingly, that enemy was connected to the lands beyond the borders.
‘So that’s how it was.’
Naturally, the direction of his thoughts shifted from Murong Jun to Yang Cheon.
A fierce light surged in Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.
‘He was already holding hands with that side.’
It’s an unbelievable matter.
Not many facts are known about Yang Cheon. Actually, Yeon Ho-jeong also tried to dig into him in the past, but even with the intelligence power of the Black Path, he couldn’t find out more than a certain extent.
‘If so, beyond holding hands with the lands beyond the borders, the possibility that his place of origin itself is there cannot be ruled out.’
That was the reason he intended to personally jump into this matter.
He clearly had to approach him carefully. In reality, Yang Cheon was a person who possessed both a reckless and rough nature, as well as a cautious and cold-hearted nature simultaneously.
Moreover, his martial prowess.
Even with the terrifyingly swollen Jade Gauze True Qi and the extremely refined Four Gods Martial Arts, he almost lost his life several times. Yang Cheon’s martial prowess was that terrifying.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was emitting quiet killing intent while recalling Yan Cheon, suddenly tilted his head at a thought.
‘But did that guy Yang Cheon reveal his true colors this quickly?’
He did not.
In the past, Yang Cheon revealing his presence along with the Black Path was only after Yeon Ho-jeong had rolled around in the Black Path for a good few years.
‘It’s much faster than back then. No matter how much the situation has changed compared to then…’
History had changed.
The Murim Alliance was established much faster than in the past, and Yang Cheon’s appearance was brought forward by nearly seven or eight years compared to the past.
If so?
‘If we assume that Yang Cheon is truly a person belonging to the Three Cults.’
Strength entered his fist without him realizing.
‘It means the Three Cults had been closely watching the movements of the Central Plains since decades ago.’
He had expected as much. Without doing so, they wouldn’t have been able to secretly assassinate the top experts of the Central Plains and blow away half of the Central Plains’ military power from the very beginning with an exquisite surprise attack.
However, as it became clear that those bastards had been observing the flow of the Central Plains Murim, he felt a chill run down his spine anew.
‘They are cautious. Even with that kind of power.’
Even to smash just the Evil Lust Cult, the Orthodox and Unorthodox Paths joined forces.
Of course, if they had clashed with pure combat power from the beginning, there might not have been a need to go that far. The problem was that the Three Cults’ surprise attack was too sudden and fatal.
But the remaining two groups hadn’t even properly participated in the war.
‘It means that even if we properly prepare and launch a counterattack instead, it would be difficult to guarantee victory or defeat.’
Yeon Ho-jeong let out a sigh once again.
‘Murong Jun. What a pity.’
If he had used that outstanding ability for peace instead of power, they might have become closer than anyone else.
‘Hmm?’
For a moment, Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.
“It’s strange…”
One fact that he hadn’t found strange until now, thinking ‘it’s Murong Jun so of course he did that’.
That fact suddenly came to mind.
“Just what did he trust to kill me?”
Dark Emperor, Dark Emperor Castle Lord, Master of the Black Path.
The Supreme Sect Leader of the Evil Path who unified the Unorthodox Path for the first time, unprecedented and unrepeated.
The fact that someone who wasn’t even a venerable old expert, nor recognized as the Number One under Heaven, was called by such various titles means the person’s abilities were just that outstanding.
Murong Jun killed that very self. Right after killing the Cult Master of Evil Lust.
“With what confidence?”
Weren’t there two other organizations still going strong besides the Evil Lust Cult?
If so, there was no need to kill his ally, Yeon Ho-jeong. No, he shouldn’t have killed him. Because there were still common enemies remaining.
‘Just simple worry? Or…?’
It was then.
“When did you croak?”
Yeon Ho-jeong was startled and turned his gaze forward. Ga Deuk-sang was looking at him with blank eyes.
“When did you come?”
“I came a while ago. Even when I called out, you were mumbling something to yourself.”
“Ah…”
“But what do you mean croaked? When you’re perfectly alive and well.”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
Anyway, it wasn’t a problem that would yield an answer just by agonizing over it right now.
“No. But what brings you here?”
“What do you mean what brings me here.”
Ga Deuk-sang smiled broadly.
“My drinking buddy has returned, so shouldn’t we have a neat drink?”
Leaves fluttering along with the cool wind.
The moonlight was beautiful, and the starlight was mysterious. The faint radiances pouring from the cloudless sky created a wonderful elegance.
Yeon Ho-jeong looked around the pavilion.
“Was there a place like this in the inner castle?”
“There are many places like this. Since I haven’t been able to look around the entire inner castle yet either. Anyway, it’s disgustingly spacious.”
Ga Deuk-sang kept grinning. He seemed excited about drinking for the first time in a while.
“Here, receive a cup. You suffered a lot beating up those damn horse bandits.”
“Thank you.”
The two clinked their cups.
There were no special snacks, but there was good scenery, and a friend transcending age. That alone was enough to empty their cups.
“Keuh, it’s a strong one.”
“Strategist Zhuge gifted it to me.”
“The Strategist?”
“We’ve gotten quite close. When he drives people into a corner in meetings, he’s so cold-hearted and scary, but in private, he’s a very friendly person.”
“He looked like it.”
“This is why you don’t know a person unless you experience them. Clearly, from what I heard, it was said that his abilities are good but his personality is weak-minded and easily swept back and forth.”
Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.
“The martial families of the Central Plains are incalculably numerous. He is the leader of the Six Families chosen among them. There’s no way he’s an ordinary person.”
“That’s a correct statement.”
Ga Deuk-sang burst into a hearty laugh.
Watching him with a smile, Yeon Ho-jeong filled his cup and asked.
“So, what did Strategist Zhuge ask you to find out from me?”
For a moment, Ga Deuk-sang flinched.
Yeon Ho-jeong involuntarily chuckled. What an honest reaction.
“How did you know? Are you a ghost?”
“I took a guess.”
“No, there are so many things in the world to take a guess on, so why Strategist Zhuge of all people?”
“Originally, there are many cases where a person themselves doesn’t know their own personality and habits well. You too, Successor of the Beggars.”
“What’s wrong with my personality? And what habit?”
“Seeking me out of all people and treating me to liquor supposedly given by the Strategist? A person who is too busy to even take a vacation?”
Yeon Ho-jeong poured liquor into his own cup as well. To the brim.
“The Successor of the Beggars is someone who begs for food, not someone who entertains, isn’t he? You have to act in character to not raise suspicion.”
“Heo!”
Ga Deuk-sang clicked his tongue.
“You, at times like this, you’re really scary.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“Why is being scary a compliment?”
“So, what did Strategist Zhuge tell you to find out from me?”
Ga Deuk-sang’s face turned serious.
“Are you on your way back from meeting Murong Jun?”
“That’s right.”
“Although you and that son of a bitch are tangled up in this and that, you aren’t close enough to deliberately seek him out and meet him on the day you returned, are you?”
“Of course that’s true. Rather, we are anxious to eat each other.”
“Which means…”
“That’s right.”
“Huh?”
“Your thought is correct. For this operation to poke at Yang Cheon, I asked him to make me the general person in charge.”
Ga Deuk-sang, who was quietly observing Yeon Ho-jeong’s face, let out a deep sigh.
“Strategist Zhuge said so. That perhaps you might step forward for this matter.”
“For a strategist, intuition is just as important as vast knowledge. Looking at that aspect, the Strategist is an amazing person.”
Ga Deuk-sang, who quickly emptied his cup as if frustrated, spoke like a sigh.
“As you know, this operation is dangerous.”
“…”
“It’s dangerous for anyone. Even more so because it must not fail.”
“I know.”
“It seems you don’t know? Besides, you are a famous figure in the Orthodox Murim. Since you are a gentleman who goes around swinging an axe the size of a person’s body, the Black Path bastards must have surely heard rumors about you.”
“I think so.”
“What are you planning to do? Are you planning to leave the axe behind?”
“I have to.”
The image of Yeon Ho-jeong talking calmly in a sunken voice, unlike his usual self, looked somewhat transcendent.
Ga Deuk-sang, who was looking at him with trembling eyes, suddenly shouted in a fit of rage in an instant.
“You gentleman! No matter how much of a genius you are, the opponent is Yang Cheon, Yang Cheon! You’ll really die at this rate!”
It was a sudden rebuke, but that voice was full of worry for Yeon Ho-jeong.
“The Saintly Heaven Thirteen Seats are monsters evaluated to be on the same level as, or even higher than, the top experts from three hundred years ago, which was said to be the golden age of Murim! Furthermore, the opponent is the Combat King! You must know how toxic that bastard is from hearing about it?!”
“I’ve never picked and chosen my opponents.”
“What?!”
“Murong Jun is stronger than me. Not to mention the Nine States Myeong Clan. Still, I moved.”
“…!!”
“Do not worry. Because it is too unfair a life to die from something like this.”
“…Ugh, you crazy-like human.”
Ga Deuk-sang grumbled with a bitter face.
“You have to listen to people’s words for me to persuade you. Jeez, really.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.
“Are you that worried?”
“Then should I not worry?”
“…”
“Even though you are younger than me, lack manners, and are even reckless, you are still my friend.”
“…!”
“My friend insists on going to a deadly place, so how could I not stop you, you human with no answers.”
For a moment, Yeon Ho-jeong was flustered, not knowing what to say.
Ga Deuk-sang roughly grabbed the liquor bottle and poured it straight into his mouth.
“Keuheo-eo-eo! Cough! Fuck, that’s disgustingly strong.”
“…”
“I knew it would be like this.”
“What do you mean?”
“That you would probably jump into this matter, I did too.”
“Is that so?”
“So I took a vacation too.”
Surprise colored Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.
“Don’t tell me, you intend to join me?”
“Then should I be locked up in this frustrating Murim Alliance forever? Are you crazy?”
“…”
Ga Deuk-sang stood up from his seat.
Looking down at Yeon Ho-jeong, he let out a chuckle.
“We meshed quite well when we crushed the Myeong Clan, didn’t we?”
“…”
“I look forward to working with you.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was staring blankly at Ga Deuk-sang, soon put on a smile as if he couldn’t be stopped.
“Just don’t hold me back.”
“Bullshit.”