Chapter 234: Conflict (4)
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Black Sheep came to visit Department Head of Information Jeong with the intention of grasping his personality through the other party’s reaction.
The new Department Head of Information, the successor of the Martial Ancestor Sect, Jeong, was a dangerous figure.
He raided the Guizhou Merchant Association’s merchant group and snatched the goods being transported to the Murim Alliance?
It was a great merit, but thinking about it a little differently, anyone could do that if they just had ignorant guts.
‘Killing the merchant group and establishing a merit is, so to speak, not proving his abilities but merely establishing a justification.’
The real ability of Department Head of Information Jeong wasn’t such boldness or driving force.
‘This guy captivated that picky Yang Cheon at once.’
He didn’t know how he captivated him. The important thing was that he drew Yang Cheon’s interest in just one meeting and gained his trust in the second meeting.
He, who brought so much wealth, women, and various treasures, was still buying Yang Cheon’s suspicion.
That was, in a sense, a natural thing. Because Yang Cheon didn’t see him as Black Sheep, but as a warrior from the Evil Lust Cult.
‘What’s different about you?’
But considering that, there was no reason to easily trust Jeong either.
Rather, he was more suspicious. The Martial Ancestor Sect, which was exterminated in the past, was a sect dotted with mystery, and there was no way to even prove his origin in the first place.
However, instead of doubting this guy, Yang Cheon favored him. He had definitely done something that he himself couldn’t do.
‘This guy is dangerous. No matter what purpose he came with, there’s a need to know him fully.’
That’s right. He came with that intention.
If this guy’s personality and abilities were greatly dangerous, he had to thoroughly gather information about this guy and send it to the Cult.
‘But to just admit it?’
He hadn’t thought from the beginning that the guy would obediently admit it.
That was natural. Admitting to this incident was basically no different from raising a flag of rebellion against the Black Dragon Manor.
“That’s an interesting expression.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s smile was like the north wind of a midwinter wilderness where not a single blade of wild grass grew.
“Why? Did you think it wasn’t me?”
“…….”
“Ay, surely you didn’t. Does it make sense for a person of the Twelve Earthly Branches to come rob the Department Head of Information without any evidence.”
“…….”
“Hmm? What’s with your expression? Smile. I personally resolved your curiosity, so why are you so stiff?”
Black Sheep, who was glaring at Yeon Ho-jeong with a stiff face, finally opened his mouth.
“Did you really kill the Black Sheep Squad and the Black Leader?”
“If you mean those morons who specialized in trampling opponents with a cheap wheel battle tactic far from straightforwardness, yes. I swept them away.”
“……!”
“I mean those sheep masks. Why not change them while you’re at it? It seems they were made to scare people in their own way, but thinking about it now, they were too crude.”
Tsssts.
Killing intent arose from Black Sheep’s body.
“You bastard…….”
“Why?”
“……?”
“So, you found out everything you wanted to check, didn’t you? What more do you want?”
“You bastard, are you out of your mind?”
“Of course I’m in my right mind. Do you think a crazy madman could receive the trust of the Combat King Yang Cheon?”
Black Sheep’s eyes flashed.
‘Combat King Yang Cheon?’
Not Black Dragon Manor Lord Yang, nor the Manor Lord.
He said Combat King Yang Cheon. The new wind of the Black Dragon Manor, who received Yang Cheon’s trust in one body, the Department Head of Information who pledged loyalty to Yang Cheon, was saying Combat King Yang Cheon as if it were too natural.
At that surprising remark, Black Sheep was greatly flustered.
“If you didn’t come to check that matter.”
Fwooosh!
Firelight swayed in Yeon Ho-jeong’s two eyes.
The flame-like killing intent he had firmly suppressed finally boiled up. His two eyes, which heated up bright red like embedded rubies, transmitted a heat that felt like it would burn his whole body just by facing them.
“Did you come with the intention of confessing that you are still acting as a running dog of the Evil Lust Cult?”
“……!!”
He was already flustered.
The expression that surfaced on his face, which had turned pale blue, was perhaps a face he showed to others for the first time.
An appearance the usual Black Sheep would never show.
So that expression revealed the truth even more clearly.
“You guys looked down on Yang Cheon way too much. If you intended to deceive him deliberately, you should have sent someone more outstanding than you. Did you try to monitor Yang Cheon by sending a guy like you who only has strength and a stiff head?”
“……!”
“That’s why you’re still being swayed by Yang Cheon. No, with your head, you probably didn’t even know you were being swayed.”
Black Sheep’s face contorted noticeably.
He, who usually received evaluations of being cold-headed, was exceptionally helpless in front of Yeon Ho-jeong.
“What is your true identity?”
“A descendant of the Martial Ancestor Sect.”
“How do you know the name of the Evil Lust?”
“Because Yang Cheon told me.”
“……!”
“Of course, I already knew even before he told me.”
“What?”
In an instant, Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.
Bang!
The table flew towards Black Sheep’s face.
He struck the table and sent it flying from a distance of less than half a zhang. For Black Sheep, who had been flustered all along, it was a surprise attack worth being startled by.
However, Black Sheep was also not an ordinary master. He was a peak master who had broken through the Wall of the Martial Arts’ End, so no matter how much of a surprise attack it was, there was no way he would be hit absentmindedly.
Crack!
He had raised his elbow as if cutting with a blade and split the center of the table. It was the Cleaving Severance Strike, an absolute skill of the Evil Lust Cult.
It was then.
Swoosh!
‘……!!’
Urgency lingered on Black Sheep’s face.
A large hand that pierced through the split table aimed at his flank as if waiting.
It was a move that was too timely. It was as if he already guessed that he would split the table with his elbow.
‘Heup!’
Riiip!
He turned his body with all his might and dodged the strike flying towards his flank. His waistline was grabbed by Yeon Ho-jeong’s hand and torn long.
‘This guy is crazy…….’
In an instant, Black Sheep’s body stopped abruptly.
“Keuk!”
The clothes that had become hard like an iron plate strongly pressured his abdomen. The incarnation of Metal Qi, the White Tiger Qi of the West, had hardened the entire upper body clothing of Black Sheep that was torn off to the hardness of steel.
It was an unexpected method. Controlling movements by hardening someone else’s clothing? It was an incredible method that was hard to find not only in the Outer-territorial Region but also in the Central Plains Murim.
‘Eek!’
Trying to step back quickly rather choked him. The flustered Black Sheep quickly struck down with a hand blade over his clothes. He intended to cut Yeon Ho-jeong’s true qi along with the torn collar.
It was then.
Flap!
The clothes fluttered while wrapping around the hand blade. Yeon Ho-jeong, who had withdrawn the White Tiger Qi at some point, had taken a step closer to Black Sheep’s front.
‘He read it!’
Black Sheep couldn’t believe it.
‘Just what kind of guy is he?!’
Not only did he grasp the loophole of the elbow attack of the Cleaving Severance Strike, the Decapitating Organ Elbow Strike at once, but he also read the tempo of the Hand Sign Decapitation Blade.
This was something that couldn’t exist. The Cleaving Severance Strike was a martial art of the Outer-territorial Region, an art that Central Plains people could absolutely not know.
Thwack!
“Keuk!”
Black Sheep’s right knee touched the ground. Yeon Ho-jeong’s kick technique had slammed the outer side of his thigh.
Paaaak!
The back of Black Sheep’s right fist aimed at Yeon Ho-jeong’s temple. A fast and rapid strike, it was a killing move that could cost his life if allowed.
At that time, Yeon Ho-jeong’s arm bent like a snake and wrapped around his fist and elbow.
Crack!
“Keup!”
It was a move aiming at the reverse joint. Cartilage tore and the joint was crushed.
‘Eek!’
It felt like his entire right upper body was paralyzed by the terrible pain.
Even if treated, he wouldn’t be able to use his right arm ever again. Black Sheep’s eyes became heavily bloodshot.
Smash!
“Keuk!”
He was deprived of the chance of victory by the surprise attack. The upward knee strike folded Black Sheep’s upper body, and Yeon Ho-jeong’s two fists swung like hammers over the widely exposed back.
Crunch!
He probably couldn’t bear it anymore. Black Sheep involuntarily screamed.
No, he thought he screamed.
‘……?!’
Even while writhing in terrible pain, Black Sheep felt a chill down his spine at the opponent’s meticulousness. As soon as he crushed the bones with his two fists, he pressed the mute acupoint to prevent the scream from leaking out.
‘D- Damn it!’
Urgency arose on Black Sheep’s face.
His collarbone and ribs were broken at the same time. His spine wasn’t broken, but it was an injury to the point where it would be difficult to stand his body up for the time being.
However, his worries had no meaning.
Yeon Ho-jeong kicked his abdomen with an indifferent face.
Baaam!
Black Sheep vomited out a mouthful of bloody water.
Pssssssh.
The true qi that had filled every single strand of muscle vaporized at a terrifying speed.
Destruction of the Dantian. It was a terrifying kick technique that not only split the defensive barrier around the dantian but also the dantian itself with a merciless strike.
The match ended.
“Fun, right?”
Tssssts.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s killing intent dug into various parts of Black Sheep’s body.
Even in the midst of this, he somehow controlled the killing intent. If the Vermilion Bird Qi had exploded, his killing intent would have pierced through the thick stone walls and spread throughout the Black Dragon Manor.
“I’ve seen your bare-handed martial arts countless times. Among them, the Cleaving Severance Strike…… The Decapitating Organ Elbow Strike followed by the Hand Sign Decapitation Blade? Isn’t it too monotonous a combination?”
“……?!”
He didn’t know how much he had analyzed the martial arts used by the Three Cults of Fanaticism, especially the Evil Lust Cult.
And right now, there would be no one in the current Murim who knew the absolute skills of the Evil Lust Cult as well as Yeon Ho-jeong.
Even including Black Sheep.
“I was thinking about it anyway. I needed exactly one more bastard to be my sacrifice, but I didn’t know it would be you. I was thinking of Fire Ape, that bitch with a dirty temper.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled brightly.
“Thank you. For provoking me. It’s actually a relief that it’s you. Because it’s too easy to create a justification.”
He kicked Black Sheep’s jaw.
Smash!
The eyes of Black Sheep, whose jawbone was broken, rolled back. He passed out just like that.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes contorted.
“……I’m ending it at this level because my party’s lives depend on my hands. Consider yourself lucky, you son of a bitch.”
Yeon Ho-jeong was no longer an expert.
The Dark Emperor who threw away his dignity and started stepping into the mud. He, who had temporarily laid down the cultivation he had learned so far, was gradually returning to his meticulous and radical past self.
Half a day later.
Various people’s voices were heard in Yeon Ho-jeong’s ears as he crossed the underground plaza.
“Hmm? Lady Fire Ape?”
“Well? I didn’t see her?”
“She probably took on some secret mission again.”
“Probably.”
“The Twelve Earthly Branches are always like that. Or maybe they’re resting in their residence. Since they were so busy recently.”
As expected.
The Twelve Earthly Branches were those who only followed Yang Cheon’s orders. Until Yang Cheon gave a separate order, they didn’t involve themselves in the internal affairs of the Manor, nor did they have the authority to do so.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Yeon Ho-jeong intended to go to Yang Cheon like this. He intended to go and tell everything about Black Sheep’s identity.
Of course, he wouldn’t convey the truth as it was. Inside his embrace was a letter he had fabricated for half a day and neatly folded.
‘Yang Cheon won’t kill him right away either. He’ll lock him up in the underground prison first and wait until he regains his senses.’
That’s why he made Black Sheep into that state. So that it would be hard for him to regain his senses for at least a few days.
And around the time he woke up, Yang Cheon would be going to meet Murong Jun.
‘From now on, it’s a fight against time.’
It was then.
‘What’s this?’
Yeon Ho-jeong looked at the entrance of the Black Dragon Manor with questionable eyes.
The door of the Black Dragon Manor was wide open. And numerous people were coming and going through that door.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who stopped walking for a moment, soon discovered White Rat.
“Senior.”
White Rat was still expressionless. However, there seemed to be an urgency buried within somehow.
“What happened?”
White Rat spoke in a small voice.
“We’re in big trouble.”
“……?”
“The Manor Lord has collapsed.”
“……!”