Chapter 213: Sleeping on Brushwood and Tasting Gall (1)
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Yeon Ho-jeong, who came out through the back door of the inn, said to Murong Jun.
“It will be fine since it’s the first time, but from next time onwards, there won’t be many occasions to come directly.”
Murong Jun nodded his head.
“If Yang Cheon likes you that much, he will plant eyes on you that are hard to shake off.”
“It’s like that even now. I caught them off guard today, but I don’t know if this trick will work next time.”
“Even if it works, do not overdo it. Listening to your words, it seems Yang Cheon is also not an ordinary fox. Make sure you don’t arouse suspicion with unnecessary actions.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Should I contact you through the Beggars’ Gang?”
“That would be the safest.”
“I understand. I wish you good luck.”
“You too work har…”
It was then.
An alley far to the northwest from the inn came into Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.
And in the middle of that alley, one person wearing a pitch-black cape.
‘…!!’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s expression changed abruptly.
It was an emotion that could not be suppressed by consciousness. Surprise naturally appeared in his eyes.
Murong Jun’s eyes shone.
His gaze followed Yeon Ho-jeong and turned.
‘…?’
In the gloomy alley, there were only three or four beggars sitting leaning against the wall.
Murong Jun asked.
“What is the matter?”
“…Nothing.”
Yeon Ho-jeong painstakingly adhered to a calm expression.
A strange light flashed in Murong Jun’s eyes.
‘Oho?’
It was his first time seeing it. Yeon Ho-jeong acting to painstakingly hide his flustered appearance.
Of course, he must have put on countless acts during his fights with him so far. But he had never seen such an awkward expression like this before.
Murong Jun’s peculiar gaze. Yeon Ho-jeong realized that he had read his panic.
‘Damn it.’
He momentarily showed an opening. It was meaningless now even if he painstakingly tried to manage his expression.
Even so, he couldn’t openly reveal his flustered heart.
“Then I will take my leave now.”
“Yes, take care. Let’s contact each other immediately when the information is completed.”
“Then.”
Yeon Ho-jeong moved his steps. He felt Murong Jun’s gaze chasing his back.
‘It can’t be helped.’
The opponent must not take an interest in this side. But since Murong Jun is also not an ordinary person, he would somehow try to dig into this opening he had revealed.
Srrk.
Yeon Ho-jeong mixed into the crowd of people coming and going.
And a moment later, his presence disappeared.
The corners of Murong Jun’s mouth went up.
“It’s an amazing stealth technique.”
It wasn’t that he used internal energy to kill his presence, nor was the martial art itself an assassin’s martial art specialized in stealth.
He merely slowly hid his qi and then disappeared by mixing into the crowd. It was one of the highest-grade stealth techniques that toyed with a person’s cognitive ability.
“Where on earth did you learn such a technique? I am truly curious. Even your discernment and martial arts, which don’t suit your age.”
Murong Jun, who was quietly smiling and observing the northwestern alley, opened his mouth.
“Mu-yeon.”
A low voice was heard from inside the inn.
“Yes, my lord.”
“You saw it too, right?”
“That is correct.”
Mu-yeon was the best stealth expert in the Murong Clan, precisely, under Murong Jun’s command.
He was a talent who couldn’t easily be utilized within the Murim Alliance. Because there are so many experts, it was obvious they would be interrogated the moment his existence was discovered.
However, now that they were out in the world, there would be no existence that gives as much strength as Mu-yeon.
“That guy Yeon Ho-jeong must have noticed your presence as well. He merely didn’t bring it out of his mouth.”
“…”
“However, if you move carefully, how could even the number one rising star under heaven see through your stealth technique.”
A chilling cold energy momentarily poured out from Murong Jun’s two eyes, which had been full of laughter.
“Follow him.”
Hwiiing.
A strand of wind blew and fluttered Murong Jun’s sleeve.
Murong Jun realized that Mu-yeon had disappeared the moment his order fell.
Because he also knew of Mu-yeon’s existence, he could feel his presence. But like now, when he resolvedly unfolded his stealth technique in a wide-open space, even he often forgot Mu-yeon’s presence.
No matter how great Yeon Ho-jeong was, he would not be able to notice Mu-yeon’s tailing. He believed so without a doubt.
“Heoheoheo, as expected, a person needs to smell the air of the secular world once in a while. Because you can feel unexpected fun.”
Murong Jun grinned and entered the inn.
Now it was time to work hard. Who knows, if he works hard, he might receive an unexpected gift.
“The weather is really nice!”
* * *
Srrk.
The walking of the person in black was unique.
Of course, that was a fact that only those who were well-versed in martial arts and had outstanding discernment could notice.
It looked plain without anything special, but the tips of his alternating feet struck the ground with a unique rhythm.
It was the footstep of an expert capable of producing explosive movements anytime, anywhere. However, because his gait was so light and the baggy cape covered his whole body, one’s gaze didn’t fall on the walking itself.
A gloomy appearance, if one had to say. However, ronin warriors in such attire were far too common in the Jianghu.
A person who is unique, but at the same time doesn’t stand out at all.
‘I’m sure they said it was ten li southwest from here.’
He escaped the central part of the crowded Changsha and entered the outskirts.
Even just the outskirts had many people. However, rather than the people, the wide-open scenery and the beautiful mountains stood out more.
The eyes of the person in black shook.
‘Mount Yuelu!’
Mount Yuelu was not very high. Was it because of that? It was a mountain where one felt a somewhat relaxed yet neat and leisurely feeling.
That neatness, that leisureliness.
The quiet appearance that embodied the history of the Central Plains, and furthermore the Murim, caused a ripple in the heart of the person in black.
Ssss.
An unusual energy wavered from his body.
It was a rough, very rough qi wave. He was painstakingly suppressing it, but the unbearable turbulence was fanning his soaring murderous intent.
‘…’
The person in black gritted his teeth and turned his body.
The murderous intent that had risen roughly quickly calmed down. He couldn’t suppress the momentary turbulence and even emitted murderous intent, but that was only for a moment.
‘I am sorry, Father.’
If only he were stronger than this.
No, if only he had learned the best secret technique of the Sword Sect in advance according to his father’s words.
If he had done that, he would have been able to slice off the necks of those subordinates and release even a ten-thousandth of this resentment before catching the enemy commander.
‘Mother, please wait a little bit. I will definitely kill the enemy so that the path you two take will not be harsh.’
Trickle.
Tears eventually flowed from his eyes.
The one who killed his parents and brothers, so to speak, a mortal enemy.
He pledged over and over again that he would shed these tears after killing the bastard he couldn’t live under the same sky with.
But how could a person’s heart be only that cruel? When he thought of his dead parents and brothers, and when he realized the reality that he couldn’t step forward even while looking at the place where the one who killed them was hiding, his misery reached its peak.
‘Still, it is enough that I saw it once.’
It was a path he intentionally took, shaking off the dissuasion of his subordinates.
It was to steady his mind. Some might say ‘is that all?’, but it was a matter the person in black could not yield even an inch on.
He recalled his father’s words.
‘You must see to know, hear to understand, and feel to embody. That is not a truth confined only to martial arts. Later, when you go out into the world and do what you want to do, you must prioritize seeing and hearing with your eyes and ears, and furthermore, do your best to put what you have seen and heard into your heart and feel it.’
Thinking about it now, his father’s teachings were all important things that he couldn’t miss a single one of.
Intoxicated by his innate talent, he hadn’t carried out a significant part of his father’s teachings. Because even if he didn’t necessarily follow them exactly, his pace of development was fast.
But only now did he realize.
His father’s teachings and his mother’s advice were treasures that couldn’t be replaced by something like talent. They were precious teachings that a martial artist should always engrave in their heart and practice, regardless of whether they had talent or not.
‘I am sorry.’
He was only following those precious teachings now, after actually losing his parents.
He felt regretful. And that regret multiplied his hatred toward the enemy exponentially.
‘I will come back again. The day I come back again and draw my sword, I will tear down everything you have built up so far.’
The person in black, who ground his teeth fiercely, slipped out to the eastern outskirts of Changsha. He was intending to head to where his subordinates were.
How long had he walked like that?
It was when he pushed his way out of the forest and entered the entrance of a small valley.
‘…’
The steps of the person in black stopped.
Chirp. Chirp chirp.
Birds chirped. The sound of murmuring water offered a refreshing feeling.
The cool blowing wind was perfect for calming a person’s mind. The weather was good, and the scenery was good.
However, the person in black felt it. The intense malice focused on him.
Like the foul smell of a beast, he felt a sharp murderous intent flowing on the wind.
Clack.
The left hand of the person in black grabbed the scabbard on his waist belt.
“Come out.”
Chirp.
When murderous intent is strong, beasts are the first to react. There was no way birds would be chirping.
However, the person in black could tell. That even the sound of these birds was part of a false staging.
Srrk.
The person in black lowered his posture.
It was a posture where he could strike out with his sword anytime, in any direction. Furthermore, the stability of the posture was incredibly high, so it seemed he could endure for days in that low posture.
At that time, a strand of voice was heard.
“As expected.”
Rustle, rustle.
Admiration arose on the face of the man approaching across the northern bushes.
“They say you are the greatest genius in the history of the Ghost Iron Sword Sect, and you remarkably read the murderous intent.”
The person in black, Gang-ryang, asked.
“Did you come from the Black Dragon?”
“…Black Dragon?”
The face of the smiling man instantly turned expressionless.
Gang-ryang felt a chill at that fast change.
Was the previous expression wearing a mask? It was a sudden change of expression as if peeling off a layer of skin.
An expression and gaze from which it was hard to read emotions.
Just with that expression, Gang-ryang could tell that the man was a burdensome opponent.
“The name of the Black Dragon is something let heard only to those permitted. Now that an unpermitted person has spoken the name of the Black Dragon, the only thing left is death.”
“Bullshit.”
Srrk.
The expression changed once again. It was an expression with a smile all over his face.
There was no such thing as an intermediate process in the change of expression. It was like watching a face-changing performance.
He didn’t reveal his qi, nor were his eyes exceptionally sharp, but he was a man who gave off a bizarre sense of incongruity. It even seemed like he wasn’t human at all.
“But relax. If you obediently kneel, I don’t have any intention to kill you.”
Tststs.
Bloodthirsty sharpness rose from Gang-ryang’s body.
The sound of chirping birds could no longer be heard. Instead, those wearing black martial arts uniforms and masks revealed themselves from all sides of the forest.
All of them were people wearing sheep masks. The black sheep masks were strangely chilling.
The man, Heuk-jang, said.
“Kneel.”
Gang-ryang bit his lip.
“Let me ask just one thing. Where is the traitor, no, Yong Hwa-myeong…”
“It’s the last offer. Kneel.”
There was no room for compromise, nor any intention to provide information.
Then the only thing left was a fight.
Wicked murderous intent spewed from Gang-ryang’s two eyes.
“I also offer for the last time. Please attack all at once. Because going around slicing your necks one by one is annoying.”
Heuk-jang’s eyes spewed fire.
“Kill him.”
Paaaak!