Volume 6 Chapter 17 – The Most Terrifying Warrior (2)

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The Luoyang Sword Family.

The Second Young Master’s camp, the grand conference chamber.

“As expected, our prediction was correct!”

A small cheer echoed in the grand conference chamber.

Elder Hahou laughed heartily and puffed out smoke vigorously.

“Information has come in confirming that the residence the Eldest Young Master visited definitely belongs to the Kong family!”

An elder mingled among the group of tacticians shouted.

“The expected scenarios that the Eldest Young Master could carry out with the Kong family are almost fully prepared!”

“Good! Good!”

Elder Hahou nodded, expressing his satisfaction.

Those exaggerated large movements and shouts were already instilling confidence in the tacticians of the grand conference chamber.

“Everything is going well!”

Turning slightly, he asked another elder in a low voice.

“But why is the transmission of information so slow? Wasn’t the Great Immortal Merchant Group also cooperating fully with our operation?”

The person he spoke to was Elder An, who was in charge of the Great Immortal Merchant Group.

“Of course. The Great Immortal Merchant Group is sparing no resources and is putting all its efforts into this operation.”

Was it because of the slightly provocative tone, or was it because Elder An’s origin was Gangnam?

“The Great Immortal Merchant Group is also currently looking into the cause of the delay, so please have a little patience.”

Elder An, who showed an agitated state instead of his usual composure, pushed up his glasses and turned his eyes back to the confidential documents.

“…What on earth is happening?”

At the sight of Elder An narrowing his brow deeply, Elder Hahou nodded slightly and diverted his attention to what he could do.

After all, the delusion that everything would go smoothly in the actual field was something only greenhorn tacticians, who considered themselves geniuses of the world, would indulge in.

“All right! Then next, it is time to draft our response scenarios based on the expected scenarios!”

A thunderous reply shook the grand conference chamber.

* * *

Luoyang, Mount Beimang.

A bustling street near the checkpoint.

“What did you say…?!”

Elder Kang, who had been dispatched to the field by the Second Young Master’s side, jumped up.

“What did you just say?!”

“Oh dear…!”

As his voice grew louder, the other party quickly looked around, lowered his body, and waved his hands.

“Elder…! Please lower your voice. If it is known to the family that I am conversing with you like this, my head will not remain on my shoulders…!”

The value of an informant within the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families was too precious to be dare converted into money.

“I-I am sorry.”

Coming to his senses, the elder cleared his throat and hid his body back into the shadow of the building.

“But is that true?”

The butler of the Kong family, who was hiding opposite him, nodded.

“Why would I take this risk to speak nonsense in front of the Sword Family’s elder?”

He quietly reminded Elder Kang of the information he had confirmed.

“The Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family definitely visited our Kong family holding an invitation card written by the former patriarch himself.”

With a dubious expression, Elder Kang repeatedly stroked his white beard.

“The Eldest Young Master did not make a request to visit, but received an invitation…?”

“Yes…! I saw it clearly with these eyes that the former patriarch came out to the main gate himself to welcome the Eldest Young Master.”

What on earth was this situation?

Elder Kang shook his head to clear his mind for now.

Once the information was delivered, the analysis was a matter to be processed by the collective intelligence in the grand conference chamber.

His role was to gather information on-site, and he had to focus on that now.

“Then, was it the same for the Hwang family, where the Eldest Young Master headed after leaving the Kong family? Did he enter holding an invitation card received from the Hwang family beforehand?”

“Since it is another family’s affair, I am not certain, but…”

The Kong family’s butler shook his head.

“From what I have heard, he entered the Hwang family’s residence without even an invitation.”

At those words, the elder’s mind momentarily went blank.

“…Without even an invitation?”

The Kong family’s butler sighed at his reaction.

It was because he himself had shown the same reaction when he heard that story from the Hwang family’s butler.

“Even if you do not believe it, there is nothing I can do.”

“No, it is not that I do not believe you…”

How many people in the Central Plains could go in and out of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families without an appointment or an invitation in the first place?

“Anyway, that is all I know. Farewell, then.”

As soon as he finished telling everything he knew, the Kong family’s butler hurriedly left.

“…The Eldest Young Master entered without even an invitation?”

Knowing how dangerous it was to pass information like this, the elder could not catch him as he vanished swiftly.

‘Just how on earth are things turning out?’

Determining the authenticity of the information was something to be done through additional investigation later.

For now, he sought a messenger of the Great Immortal Merchant Group to deliver the primary information he had obtained.

“Where is the messenger?”

A warrior who revealed himself from the darkness shook his head.

“Not yet.”

Before the elder could vent his anger, the warrior quickly continued.

“Instead, an intelligence agent from the Great Immortal Merchant Group is waiting on standby to directly receive and deliver the information.”

At those words, the elder swallowed the curse words that rose to his throat.

“…Good. As expected of the Great Immortal Merchant Group. They handle matters surely.”

* * *

Luoyang, the headquarters of the Great Immortal Merchant Group.

A manager struck the desk violently.

“Just what on earth is happening to the messengers?!”

His office was no different from a chaotic mess with people coming in and out to grasp the situation.

“The current whereabouts of the messengers are under investigation!”

“I have been hearing ‘under investigation’ since over an hour ago! Are you even doing your jobs?! What about the countermeasures? How are the countermeasures going?!”

Another employee answered.

“We have finished broadcasting to all branches that the alert level has been raised to Level 2!”

Checking the notes, she shouted hurriedly.

“According to the guild’s guidelines, all messengers are to withdraw! Instead, we are deploying our intelligence agents to respond to the unknown situation!”

The manager gnashed his teeth.

“Release more high-ranking investigation agents!”

* * *

It was while an intelligence agent of the Great Immortal Merchant Group, carrying a cylinder containing information from Mount Beimang, was rapidly passing through a narrow alley.

“Ugh?!”

Although he was moving while even using lightfoot techniques since he had heard the warning, that turned out to be his misfortune instead.

Failing to notice the Heavenly Silk suspended in the air, his body spun once in mid-air and crashed straight onto the ground.

‘Is it a trap?!’

Like a martial artist who had undergone professional training, he succeeded in executing a breakfall even in that brief, unprepared moment.

But that was all.

Amidst the impact that felt as if his entire body was shattering, a blunt blow was delivered to the back of his head as he tried to respond somehow.

“Urgh!”

In the fading vision of the intelligence agent who collapsed just like that, people revealing themselves like ghosts from all over the alley could be seen.

“Portrait confirmed. He is indeed an intelligence agent of the Great Immortal Merchant Group.”

That was the last voice he remembered before completely losing consciousness.

* * *

Another intelligence agent of the Great Immortal Merchant Group was moving along the main road, mingled among the common people.

“…Mmph?!”

What ambushed that intelligence agent were people wearing hemp clothes, moving while carrying a funeral bier.

Before he could even react properly, his carotid artery was mercilessly choked by a thick hemp rope soaked in water, and he lost consciousness with the whites of his eyes showing.

The people in hemp clothes threw the agent into the funeral bier and left the spot as if nothing had happened.

Nobody noticed anything unusual on the streets of Luoyang, where there was an extremely heavy flow of people passing by.

* * *

The Second Young Master’s faction, the grand conference chamber.

“Damn it…!”

Elder An, the manager of the Great Immortal Merchant Group, roughly threw the note that had just been delivered.

However, since it was merely a scrap of paper, it only fluttered powerlessly in the air.

“I must return to the Great Immortal Merchant Group!”

Toward Elder An, who stood up abruptly and began to move surrounded by a group of intelligence agents, Elder Hahou shouted.

“Shouldn’t you at least tell us what happened before leaving your seat?!”

Elder An shouted testily without even stopping his steps.

“I will return shortly!”

The door closed roughly behind him.

“Hmm.”

Elder Hahou picked up the note that Elder An had thrown.

‘Urgent. An operation against the Great Immortal Merchant Group is underway by an unidentified intelligence organization. Instruction from the upper echelon is required.’

* * *

Luoyang, a command safe house located somewhere.

All windows of the house were blocked, leaving the interior submerged in darkness.

“The Great Immortal Merchant Group has withdrawn all their agents and is replacing them with the warriors of the Sword Family as messengers.”

It was Elder An’s decision, which was precise, swift, and even clever.

“Is it indeed the famous Great Immortal Merchant Group? Fast, aren’t they?”

Receiving the report, Se-ah, the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion, smiled while puffing out a long trail of smoke.

“Withdraw all our agents from the field. We cannot touch the Sword Family’s warriors and cause friction with the Sword Family’s intelligence departments.”

The smoke she exhaled reflected the lamp light and shone white.

“Are you ordering the suspension of the operation?”

She waved the long pipe in her hand.

“No. The operation is as good as successful already.”

Her commander nodded.

“We have already been able to ‘kidnap’ the agents of the Great Immortal Merchant Group beyond what was targeted.”

“I understand.

At those words, the agent of the Crescent Moon Pavilion nodded and left to deliver the command.

“Commander.”

Sitting on the chair, Se-ah crossed her legs the other way.

“Just as my lord commanded, extract all information that can be squeezed out of them.”

“Loyalty!”

In the darkness, her single remaining eye formed a charming arc.

“Now, go ahead and keep resisting.”

She giggled, “Fufu.”

“Because the more violently you resist, the more your massive body will have no choice but to be revealed above the surface.”

* * *

Luoyang Sword Family, the Supreme Executive Council.

“So you are saying that is all the information we have on the person called the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion?”

At the words of the council member, a high-ranking agent of the Institution dispatched to the Luoyang Sword Family’s intelligence department bowed his head.

“Unfortunately, yes. In the first place, the organization called the Crescent Moon Pavilion itself was nothing more than a common information broker existing in Luoyang until not long ago…”

“You should have investigated properly at least after the Fourth Young Master’s Sword Family Bronze Plaque was granted!”

The newly appointed male council member scolded.

The high-ranking agent, who was kneeling on one knee, bowed his head even deeper.

“We completed the primary investigation according to procedure. An in-depth investigation was currently being carried out, but…”

Another council member picked up the words.

“Even so, you are saying this is still all the information about the person called Se-ah?”

“We discovered the family of origin, and even grasped that she shares a blood relation with the Eldest Young Master’s Maid Captain. …My apologies.”

“Although the process of becoming a self-made information broker in Luoyang is somewhat known, her activities prior to that are unclear.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

After a moment, as the high-ranking agent withdrew, the female council member sighed.

“I am truly curious about the identity of the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion. The current Crescent Moon Pavilion is not just at the level of a rapidly growing information broker.”

“To wage an intelligence war against the Second Young Master’s Great Immortal Merchant Group. That clearly exceeds the category of an information broker.”

“It should be seen as an intelligence organization now.”

The gazes of the newly appointed male and female council members turned toward the cave where the chairperson was.

“The rapid growth of the organization called the Crescent Moon Pavilion also began after meeting the Eldest Young Master.”

“Must we assume that the Eldest Young Master is also behind this organization?”

The chairperson smiled faintly.

“It seems you too are now gradually becoming able to grasp the influence from the Eldest Young Master’s traces.”

“….”

“….”

The two newly appointed council members fell silent in shock.

“Let us wait and see about the past of the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion. Now that the Main Family’s intelligence departments have entered a full-scale investigation, they will find some clue soon. Rather than that…”

The chairperson unfolded a newly arrived note.

“It says the Eldest Young Master has already visited a fourth family, even without an invitation.”