Chapter 351: The Start of the Cleanup (1)
Yeon Wi came to Zhuge Wen-hu’s office.
“Strategist.”
Zhuge Wen-hu grinned. He could guess the result just by looking at Yeon Wi’s expression.
“Did he say he caught him?”
“That is right. He says the Tang Clan Head won.”
“That’s a relief.”
He left speaking confidently and telling them not to worry, but how could they not worry. The opponent was an unknown master, a subordinate of an organization whose true nature and strength they did not know for sure.
However, Tang Kwan was Tang Kwan after all. The King of Poison and Hidden Weapons reigning as the conqueror of Sichuan was indeed amazing.
“He did catch him, but.”
Yeon Wi smacked his lips.
“He said he couldn’t capture him alive.”
“Is that so.”
“I didn’t hope for a live capture from the beginning either, but it seems he just killed him outright.”
Zhuge Wen-hu let out a hollow laugh.
“You know the Tang Clan Head’s personality, don’t you? If Army Commander Yeon had hoped for a live capture, he would have clearly stated that part.”
“That is a correct statement.”
“In a situation where what we know, such as the opponent’s strength and type of martial arts, is extremely scarce, if we hastily try to capture them alive and suffer a counterattack, we could potentially lose a comrade. This is rather better.”
“I also think so.”
“Now, the problem is…”
“The Murong Clan Head.”
“That is right.”
Yeon Wi’s eyes shone.
“The Murong Clan Head’s capability is amazing. He would have somehow coaxed him well.”
“I believe in the Murong Clan Head’s ability, but the problem is that we do not know the situation of Lord Yeo Sang-do, the Provincial Military Commander. By any chance, if Lord Yeo is in cahoots with them…”
“Do not worry. Because I have thought of something regarding that part.”
Zhuge Wen-hu opened his eyes wide.
“Is that so? I also have something I thought of separately, though.”
Yeon Wi smiled.
“Although it is not well known, the integrity and loyalty of Lord Yeo Sang-do, the Provincial Military Commander of Henan, are amazing. Moreover, his resourcefulness is also outstanding, so he wouldn’t have joined hands with the Divine Fire Cult. Rather, it would be a different story if he is enduring hardships to plot a counterattack.”
“Do you know Lord Yeo Sang-do?”
“I met him a couple of times in the past. We didn’t have a private conversation, but it was enough time to grasp his character.”
“People are bound to change at any time.”
“Sometimes, there are also values that absolutely do not change.”
Seeing Yeon Wi being so confident, he was certainly not an ordinary person.
Zhuge Wen-hu nodded lightly.
“For now, until we get contacted by the Murong Clan Head, I will have the Tang Clan Head stand by with Successor of the Beggars’ Gang. If it is decided to draw them in, then…”
“We must dispatch them.”
“That is right.”
Who were they saying they would dispatch?
Zhuge Wen-hu smiled and got up from his seat.
“Then I will go see Master Kong-kong.”
“Do that.”
Three days later.
“We got contacted by the Murong Clan Head.”
Lightning struck in Yeon Wi’s eyes as he read the letter handed by Zhuge Wen-hu.
“As expected.”
He splendidly succeeded in a deal that could have been difficult.
“Now, after we lure and catch them…”
“We will strike and enter Kaifeng immediately.”
“Good.”
Yeon Wi tapped his sword hilt.
“I will go to Kaifeng first. I will leave the aftermath to you.”
“Understood. Ah! By the way, have you separately received contact from Army Commander Yeon? Due to being particularly busy lately, I still haven’t been able to read the letter sent by Army Commander Yeon.”
Yeon Wi smiled.
“You mean Ho-jeong?”
* * *
A small mountain not far from Xuchang in Henan Province.
“Waddling around here makes me think of the old days for some reason.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, placing his hands in front of the campfire, brought up out-of-the-blue words.
Muk Bi tilted her head.
“What do you mean by the old days?”
“I mean the Myeong Clan.”
“Ah, that Number One Clan under Heaven?”
“Yeah. The Myeong Clan used to be near here. Although it has practically become a ruin now.”
“I heard it was designated as the Murim Alliance’s territory?”
“It should be in the middle of construction. Although exactly what it will be used for hasn’t been mentioned yet, the terrain and walls are close to perfect when it comes to defending a castle. It’s too much of a waste to just leave it.”
“I see.”
Muk Bi smiled brightly.
“How does it feel to return to the territory of the organization you brought defeat to?”
“No particular inspiration. It just brings up some thoughts of that time.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes, flickering as they received the light of the fire, looked particularly deep.
“I really smashed them up frantically. Come to think of it, I was also reckless. I ran because I was certain it was possible, but looking back, I did act too recklessly.”
“I heard you joined hands with the Murong Clan Head to bring them down.”
“I did.”
What did he recall?
Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.
“Indeed, it was always like that. I set up grand plans every time, but they rarely went according to plan. In the end, I think I was busy struggling so that the choice I made could head in the right direction.”
“Isn’t that how everyone lives.”
People say. That Yeon Ho-jeong’s discerning eyes and wisdom have ably reached the pinnacle of the world.
Yeon Ho-jeong denied that fact.
Of course, he is quick-witted, and his ability to pierce through loopholes is outstanding. He also didn’t deny his own strengths under the guise of modesty.
However, it wasn’t to the point of being called a divine calculation. It was just that once he set his mind on ‘I will do it like this’, he didn’t look back.
It was a part that could be called reckless if viewed as reckless, or driving force if viewed as driving force.
“Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you can see through all the affairs of the world. In that aspect, Young Master Yeon is amazing. Because you seem to know when to use your head and when to see the outcome through intuition.”
“Intuition.”
“Was it like that back then too?”
“During the Myeong Clan?”
“No. During that Dark Emperor Castle.”
Dark Emperor Castle.
To Yeon Ho-jeong, it was the past, and the strongest alliance of the Black Path that would not be born in the now-altered future.
It had nothing in common with the current Black Dragon Manor from its origin to its purpose, and in a way, it was also the most shining moment for Yeon Ho-jeong.
“Well.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, wetting his throat with a sip of water, smacked his lips.
“I also ran frantically back then. Because it wasn’t an organization created intentionally from the beginning. At first, it was just a small gang.”
“Dark Emperor Castle… The name is quite grand. It was taken from Young Master Yeon’s title, right?”
“Yeah.”
Dark Emperor.
Black Darkness meant a terrible darkness. At the same time, it also meant the Black Darkness Hell.
The Black Darkness Hell is the hell ruled by the Five Paths Reincarnation Great King, and it means the abyss itself where not a single ray of light enters.
It is the last of the ten great hells of Buddhism, and depending on the final judgment, one either reincarnates or falls into the Black Darkness.
The Black Darkness Hell is the hell one falls into if they do not have children.
At first glance, it might seem nonsensical, but to be exact, failing to have children is also a result of one’s past karma, and the Black Darkness can be seen as the place that judges that karma.
In other words, the Black Darkness Hell is a place that punishes wicked people who have been castrated of the biological instinct of reproducing descendants.
That is why it is the last hell. It was also the reason it existed at the crossroads of the final judgment seat that determines the cycle of life.
And Yeon Ho-jeong traversed the world while being called by a title modeled after that very fearsome hell.
He was a man who lived as the final hell that enemies had to pass through.
“Everyone is like that. If they are someone living in this Murim.”
The crackling sound of the burning campfire became an instrument decorating Yeon Ho-jeong’s monotonous voice.
“When sword clashes with sword, someone dies. In a life-and-death battle, the winner becomes the final gateway for the loser. Everyone who died by my hands so far failed to surpass me. To them, I was just the final peak they ultimately couldn’t overcome.”
“…”
“It wasn’t a title I gave myself, but I lived like that. After the title of Dark Emperor came about, I don’t know about wars, but in combat at least, I never lost even once. It was possible because I had experienced numerous defeats before that.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.
At first glance, he seemed a bit bitter, and looked at differently, he seemed full of expectations.
“It’s different now. I don’t want to be called by such a scary title anymore. No matter how much I think about it, doesn’t the title Tiger General of Green Mountain look much better than a gloomy title like Dark Emperor?”
Muk Bi chuckled.
“That is true.”
“Thinking about it now, the title Dark Emperor is also funny. Final gateway? Bullshit. In the end, I am a person too. I actually died from being stabbed in the back at the end, so what the hell is Black Darkness.”
“You said you died by being hit by a hidden weapon from the Tang Clan Head, no, Tang Kwan of that time, right?”
“Yeah. I would have died on my own even if they left me alone. Well, if I died like that, I died well in my own way as the Dark Emperor.”
Listening to Yeon Ho-jeong’s words, Muk Bi thought. That one never knows how a person’s life will flow.
She believed Yeon Ho-jeong’s confession. She completely believed the unbelievable words that he had lived a life of several decades and then returned to the past again.
So she thought. That even such an outstanding and experienced strong person was inevitably helpless before the massive flow of fate.
Life is a race in the black darkness where one cannot see even an inch ahead. If so, as expected, living like Yeon Ho-jeong, burning through what one can do without caring about the surroundings’ glances, would put one’s mind at ease.
Muk Bi’s eyes looking at Yeon Ho-jeong deepened.
‘What about me?’
There was a point she had always thought was amazing while watching Yeon Ho-jeong so far.
He always had a goal. When he achieved a goal, he immediately set another goal and ran.
Someone might say it’s an excessively dry life. However, in Muk Bi’s eyes, separate from the dryness, Yeon Ho-jeong was a man who knew how to live his life truly like a human.
At least if it was Yeon Ho-jeong, he might worry about the people left behind before dying, but he wouldn’t leave any regrets in his own life.
Life should be lived like that.
‘I’m satisfied even now. But will it be like this later too? Someday, could the time come when I just leave abruptly for my own life?’
And in such a situation, what kind of expression would Yeon Ho-jeong and Yeon Wi make?
Muk Bi, who had been lost in thought, let out a silly laugh.
“Young Master Yeon has grown too.”
“What is?”
“The Young Master Yeon I knew was someone who returned what he suffered exactly. Twice, no, ten times.”
“It’s not much different now either.”
“But now you’re getting along quite well with the Tang Clan Head who ended your life.”
Yeon Ho-jeong scratched his head.
“Hmm, that is true. But well, I can’t quibble over it now, can I? From that gentleman’s point of view, it’s something that hasn’t even happened.”
“That is also true, but.”
“Besides, although I was stabbed in the back, I didn’t only view the Tang Clan Head badly even then. At least when heading out to war, he was a reliable ally.”
“Even now?”
“Of course. He’s actually much more reliable than back then.”
At that moment.
“Are you talking about me?”
Yeon Ho-jeong and Muk Bi were not surprised. It was because they felt Tang Kwan’s presence.
“Have you arrived?”
Tang Kwan, revealing his figure, snorted.
“When did I ever fight a war with you?”
Yeon Ho-jeong laughed pleasantly.
“It’s just something I said. Don’t mind it too much.”
“Gloomy bastard.”
“Anyway, you did bring news of victory as expected.”
“He was a half-wit who didn’t even know the virtue of a life-and-death battle. It was nothing special.”
“For that, you’ve burned quite a lot of your sleeves.”
“Shut up.”
Tang Kwan sat in front of the campfire.
He asked with shining eyes.
“So, did you get contacted by the Murong guy?”
“Yes. He said he succeeded. He plans to lure the Divine Fire Cult guys.”
“Really?”
Tang Kwan smiled murderously.
“I wonder if some plausible guys will come this time.”
“You could die.”
“If you are weak, you die. But I am not weak.”
It was indeed an amazing confidence.
“Did you handle your business well?”
“Of course.”
Yeon Ho-jeong looked to the north.
“Now, only having fun is left.”