Chapter 211: The False King (5)
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Wicked murderous intent arose in the eyes of the Fire Ape.
“Where did you say he is?”
“I said I don’t know.”
“…”
“That gentleman originally wanders around well here and there without us knowing. It’s nothing new, really.”
Despite Ga Deuk-sang’s blunt reply, the Fire Ape’s expression remained the same. It was just that the murderous intent dwelling in her two eyes had become even deeper.
It was a gaze that even an expert of the world would naturally want to turn their head away from. One could truly kill a person with just that gaze.
However, Ga Deuk-sang also did not fall behind anyone in terms of boldness.
“Did you embed a Night-Luminous Pearl in your eyes? It’s really fascinating, you know?”
“…”
“Even if you glare at me so bloodthirstily, what I don’t know, I don’t know. Please leave now.”
Fire Ape opened her mouth.
Her low and cold tone, unbecoming of a woman, was merely chilling, unlike her alias Fire Ape.
“We have been ordered to escort and monitor you.”
“So what?”
“There is no escort and monitoring without a target. I ask for the last time. Where is Jeong of the Martial Ancestor Sect?”
At that time, Pae-yul, who was maintaining his sword on one side, opened his mouth.
“I will say this for the first and last time.”
Fire Ape, who had been glaring at Ga Deuk-sang, turned her gaze to Pae-yul.
Pae-yul did not even look at her. He was merely wiping the blade of his sword with a dry cloth.
“I’m exhausted enough, more than enough, even without your tongue. If you grate on our nerves one more time, I’ll slice off all your necks and then go complain to the Manor Lord.”
Fire Ape’s eyes emitted a terrifying gleam.
Pae-yul sheathed his sword.
Srrng! Tuk.
“If you understood, get lost now.”
Fire Ape, who looked at Pae-yul with terrifying eyes, turned her gaze back to Ga Deuk-sang.
Ga Deuk-sang shrugged his shoulders.
“He says so?”
“…”
“Let’s see each other again later, monkey human.”
Fire Ape turned her body.
Before leaving the manor, she said.
“If this happens again, I will kill one of you with the authority of the escort leader.”
Pae-yul laughed.
“Please do so. I rested from swordplay for so long that my joints seem to be rusting.”
Creak. Bang!
The door of the manor closed.
Ga Deuk-sang, who was blankly looking at the door, let out a deep sigh.
“It’s bloodthirsty.”
Pae-yul snorted.
“It’s a battle of spirit between beasts. The moment you are overwhelmed by the spirit, you get eaten.”
“But didn’t you provoke her too much?”
“Then are you saying to just ignore the tone of that rude bitch?”
“Well, maybe not to the point of ignoring her. I just wonder if you provoked her too much.”
“What provocation. Rather, if they ruin the work over these words, doesn’t that mean they are the lacking ones?”
That doesn’t exactly work like that though…
Ga Deuk-sang, who was about to say a few more words, just closed his mouth. It wasn’t like he was a gentleman who would listen even if he spoke. What would be the meaning of discussing etiquette with someone whose nature was rough?
Come to think of it, I don’t have the manners to talk about etiquette to others either.
“And that bitch, she didn’t step back because of me.”
“Eh?”
Pae-yul pointed at the roof of the manor with his chin.
Following the gesture of his chin, Ga Deuk-sang turned his gaze and saw the figure of Tang Sang-ah refining her daggers.
Tang Sang-ah smiled brightly.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“…I don’t.”
Ga Deuk-sang let out a dry cough.
‘Damn it, this is troubling.’
Whether it was Pae-yul, Tang Sang-ah, or Zhuge Ah-yeon, who was suffering a headache due to the structural reorganization of the Black Dragon Manor within the manor.
If it were Yeon Ho-jeong’s words, no matter how unreasonable it was, they would all accept it first. But he was not Yeon Ho-jeong.
‘How on earth am I supposed to soothe these crazy humans.’
Ga Deuk-sang sighed.
‘None of them are normal.’
He did not admit to the end that he himself was not normal either.
* * *
Walking along the streets of Changsha, Yeon Ho-jeong thought.
‘It’s lively.’
The Murim kept each other in check, calling themselves the Orthodox or the Unorthodox, but the ordinary commoners didn’t care about such things.
Living in the same world, they were absorbed in their respective roles on completely different stages. The Jianghu Murim, the Central Plains world was like that.
“The pelt of a large tiger caught on Mount Yuelu is twenty nyang of silver!”
“Good silk has come in! It’s the highest grade silk frequently sought by high officials of the Ministry of War!”
“Please come in! It’s a pig slaughtered at dawn today!”
The merchants shouted at the top of their lungs, and the people filling the street looked around with sparkling eyes.
It was a peaceful sight.
‘If only it were at least separated.’
If the blood-reeking world of the Murim and the lives of the commoners were thoroughly separated.
He thought how good it would be if that boundary was clear.
However, the world was not like that, and the wars of the Murim eventually shook the security of the people’s livelihood as well. No, more than that, countless commoners died unjustly.
‘It’s bitter.’
One of the countless reasons why he established the Dark Emperor Castle was precisely because of the safety of the people’s livelihood.
More accurately, he wanted to create at least minimal rules. Even if fighting was their job, the stage was different. It wasn’t something to talk about lines or territories.
However, the will of one person could not change the world. Because the will of another person was also just as steadfast.
‘As expected, I have to stop it.’
The invasion of the Outer-territorial Region, and the clash between Black and White.
So that no harm would come to those who vigorously ran and played on a different stage.
‘But well…’
Yeon Ho-jeong smacked his lips.
‘For now, I’ll have to resolve the matters in front of my eyes first.’
To put it bluntly, he hadn’t even resolved all the internal matters of the Murim Alliance. It wasn’t just that there was a little left, it was still a mountain.
‘I really chose an exhausting life too.’
It couldn’t be helped. Because if he didn’t move, his family would suffer harm.
As Yeon Ho-jeong was walking down the street with these various thoughts, a strand of sound transmission reached him.
[If you turn left at the branch fifteen zhang ahead, a shabby inn will appear. You just have to go in there.]
Following the words of the Beggars’ Gang member, Yeon Ho-jeong turned left at the branch.
‘That’s the place.’
It was said to be shabby, but looking at it, it wasn’t that shabby.
However, he felt it blended in well with the surrounding buildings. Yeon Ho-jeong only knew it because he was told, if he had just passed by and seen it, he almost wouldn’t have known it was an inn.
An exquisite location. It looked like neither the rich, nor beggars, nor martial artists would come to visit.
Yeon Ho-jeong unhesitatingly entered that inn.
Rattle.
As he opened the door, a faint smell of wood and a heavy scent of tea could be smelled.
The middle-aged man who seemed to be the owner was only dozing off even though someone had entered.
However, Yeon Ho-jeong could tell. The consciousness of that middle-aged man, who seemed to be sleeping no matter who looked at him, was actually focused on him.
And.
‘…’
Yeon Ho-jeong, who turned his eyes to the stairs in one corner of the inn, soon went up there without hesitation.
“Even if it’s a relationship where we growl and exchange curses that are unspeakable every time we meet.”
A smile was laden in the low-lying voice.
“Strangely, when we meet in a foreign land, we become so glad to see each other, is what I mean. Isn’t it really strange?”
The central table on the second floor of the inn.
Murong Jun was there.
Murong Jun smiled.
“Is that the case for you too? I’d prefer it if you were glad to see me.”
Glad my ass.
Yeon Ho-jeong muttered lowly.
“It seems our relationship was definitely not an ordinary bloodthirsty one. Seeing as I get a headache the moment I see your face.”
“Heo-eo, those are some disappointing words.”
“Is that so?”
“Didn’t you say so before leaving the Alliance? How about going together since we’re at it. Didn’t you say that if the commander and the operations group join forces, the success rate of the mission will also increase?”
“I think I did say something similar.”
“Heoheoheo.”
Murong Jun pointed to his opposite side with his hand.
“You’ve worked hard all this time. Take a seat first.”
“Let’s do so.”
Yeon Ho-jeong lightly sat on the chair.
Murong Jun’s eyes shone.
‘He’s changed.’
He could notice Yeon Ho-jeong’s change at a glance.
‘His energy is not fluctuating like before. He is extremely stable. It seems he has achieved some kind of balance.’
He didn’t know what martial arts Yeon Ho-jeong had learned. It seemed he learned the martial arts of the Yeon Clan, but also the ancient martial arts whose origin was hard to grasp, judging from when they exchanged blows.
Whatever it was, it seemed there had been development in that short time since he left the Alliance.
“As expected, you are amazing.”
“What does that mean out of nowhere?”
Murong Jun didn’t feel the need to hide his inner thoughts.
“You have changed again compared to before leaving the Alliance. Did you have some kind of enlightenment in the meantime?”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
“It’s not even enough to call it a grand enlightenment. An energy that hasn’t achieved balance is bound to rupture at any time. I just endlessly tried hard to avoid that.”
“If everyone achieved such fast accomplishments just by trying hard like you, there would be no one in the world who isn’t an expert.”
“I will take that as a compliment.”
“Go a little slowly. How can I live like this, scared of being caught up?”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes swept over Murong Jun’s sword.
“You are not ordinary either.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you excited about an outing after a long time? For the smell of blood to be so strong even though the sword is in its sheath.”
Murong Jun’s eyes flashed.
“Could you feel that?”
“I am very sensitive to such things.”
“Heo-eo!”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled brightly.
“If I don’t pay attention to these things, I wouldn’t know. However, you are currently one of the people I am keeping an eye on the most. Every time we meet again, I keep analyzing what has changed, what you are thinking, and what you are likely to do.”
“That’s truly an honor.”
“How many did you cut down?”
Murong Jun laughed.
“It’s not like I’m a rare demon of the era, and I don’t do useless killings.”
“A demon who only knows slaughter would rather be better. You are too dangerous.”
“Aren’t we the same? How did you become such a monster at that age?”
“Because the world is too harsh. I have to do whatever it takes to protect my people.”
Murong Jun burst into loud laughter.
“Do you know? Sometimes I really don’t even want to look at you, but at times like this, there is no conversation partner as fun as you. At least I like that fighting with you won’t be boring.”
“I will make it boring for you later.”
“Is that a declaration of defeat?”
“What are you talking about? I’m saying I’ll bury you.”
“Heoheoheo!”
Looking at Murong Jun laughing as if the inn would collapse, Yeon Ho-jeong asked calmly.
“What kind of change in state of mind is this?”
“Hmm?”
“Just as you said, I said it before leaving the Alliance. Let’s do it together since we’re at it.”
“You did.”
“Even if you accepted it immediately at that time, I would have suspected you, but to blankly stay behind and only come into the enemy camp now? I couldn’t not suspect you even if I tried not to.”
Murong Jun smiled.
A kind of seriousness was revealed in that smile that made one feel a chill.
“I told you before, but I plan to take this matter seriously. Because it’s an incredibly important task for me, and for you too.”
“I know that. But still.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s face turned expressionless.
It was a chilling change.
“The you that I know is a gentleman who can easily handle two or three tasks at once.”
“…”
“I’m sure you will take this mission seriously without any tricks, but what is the reason you bothered to come all the way to Hunan? Are you planning to cause a proper mess once this work is over?”
Murong Jun’s face also turned indifferent like Yeon Ho-jeong’s.
“We’ll find out if we wait and see.”
“You have an excellent talent for making people nervous.”
“The you that I know is not the kind of person who can’t do his own work just because he’s a little nervous. I have that much faith.”
Yeon Ho-jeong laughed.
“Today as well, we took one hit and gave one hit.”
“It really seems you and I are destined to live like this for the rest of our lives unless one of us is shattered to pieces.”
Yeon Ho-jeong waved his hand as if everything was bothersome.
“Enough. Let’s stop here for today. Just listen to the report.”
“I will listen attentively.”