Chapter 213 Secret Mission (2)

“If we need to match the exact number of people, why don’t we just reduce it by one?”

Mok Gyeong-un spoke with a nonchalant smile, leaving not only Ok-gi but even Gan-yang, the leader of the advance team, unable to hide their bafflement.

‘what the .... is up with this guy?’

Is he really the one sent by the Society Leader?

How can he say such a thing so casually?

Just then…

“Kkugh!”

“Hey, mister. So if I kill this kid and take his spot, will that work?”

The Demon-Subduing monk Ja Geum-jeong tightened his grip around Ok-gi’s neck and sneered.

Suffocating with his face turning beet red, Ok-gi flailed about, desperately trying to pry off Ja Geum-jeong’s hand to no avail.

The gap in their martial arts was too wide for him to budge an inch.

“Kugh!”

Ok-gi’s eyes were about to roll back.

‘D-Damn, I’m really going to die!’

Sensing that Ok-gi was on the verge of suffocating, Gan-yang hastily tried to stop this.

But before he could intervene, someone else stepped in.

“Adding one more person won’t be an issue. So please stop.”

It was Yoo-bong, one of the advance team members.

Irked by Yoo-bong’s effeminate tone and mannerisms despite his made-up face, Ja Geum-jeong raised an eyebrow.

“And who are you to say that, boy?”

“Hohoho. I’m not exactly a ‘boy’.”

“What? Are you saying you’re some kind of wench then?”

“I’m not a wench either. Anyway, now that I know you’re a Demon-Subduing monk, I kindly ask that you release him.”

At Yoo-bong’s words, Ja Geum-jeong scoffed.

“That’s not for you to decide.”

As he spoke, Ja Geum-jeong’s gaze fell upon none other than Mok Gyeong-un.

Seeing this, Yoo-bong’s eyes sparkled.

He had been observing and assessing the situation from the start.

As a result, Yoo-bong found it strange but learned that the youngest member who had yet to even reach his twenties, Mok Gyeong-un, was the de facto leader of the rear team.

‘That kid is the core of the rear team.’

He wasn’t sure why they had chosen the member with the weakest martial arts as the leader, but if they were to submit here, they would continue to be pushed around.

Thus…

“Paat!”

Yoo-bong sprung into action, aiming to subdue Mok Gyeong-un.

If he could just bring him under control, the entire rear team would have no choice but to follow their lead.

Especially that crazy Demon-Subduing monk.

“Papapak!”

Instantly reaching right in front of Mok Gyeong-un, Yoo-bong reached out to grab his neck.

However, before his hand could even touch him…

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Chwak!”

Seop Chun’s Wind Demon Blade was already slicing towards Yoo-bong’s wrist.

Yoo-bong quickly bent his elbow and infused hidden force into it, skillfully deflecting the blade.

“Taeng!”

The thin and light Wind Demon Blade momentarily curved from the rebound.

“Parararar!”

The blade trembled wildly.

The impact of the hidden force reached even the palm gripping the sword handle.

‘Kuk.’

Not missing that brief instant, Yoo-bong kicked towards Seop Chun’s abdomen.

“Pak!”

However, Seop Chun was not one to easily fall for such an attack.

Instead, he lifted Yoo-bong’s kicking leg upward and…

“Ppeok!”

He struck the opposite side of the curved Wind Demon Blade with his fist, dissipating the hidden force.

Using the rebound from lifting the leg, he lightly leaped and tilted his head back, easily dodging Yoo-bong’s roundhouse kick with his other leg.

“Ppaak!”

The roundhouse kick narrowly grazed Seop Chun’s hair.

Not missing a beat, Seop Chun executed the 2nd stance of the Folding Blade Technique, Rotating Butterfly Warning, with the Wind Demon Blade that had its hidden force dissipated.

“Chwahchwahchwahchwak!”

“Huh?”

As the blade rotated in a wide trajectory towards his neck, Yoo-bong hastily dodged with a fox-like movement using a mysterious lightness skill, hopping over it.

“Tatatatatak!”

‘What kind of lightness skill is that?’

‘His blade wielding is no ordinary feat.’

Seop Chun and Yoo-bong, who had exchanged several attacks in a brief moment, marveled at each other’s skills and distanced themselves by more than four steps.

But there was another person surprised by their duel – Gan-yang, the leader of the advance team.

He had thought himself the most outstanding in martial arts among the advance team.

However, he never expected Yoo-bong, who was said to have spent nearly two years as a eunuch in the imperial palace, to possess such astonishing prowess.

‘He was hiding his martial arts?’

Gan-yang clicked his tongue inwardly.

Just then, Yoo-bong glanced at Seop Chun with a troubled expression.

Breaking through this person seemed far from easy.

Thus…

‘It’s a shame, but there’s no other way.’

From his bosom, he took out something and threw it towards Seop Chun like a concealed weapon.

“Seuk!”

Naturally assuming it was a dart, Seop Chun swung his Wind Demon Blade to deflect it.

However, the moment the blade’s edge sliced the object Yoo-bong had thrown…

“Papapapak!”

‘Gunpowder?’

It was none other than gunpowder.

As the gunpowder exploded, red and blue sparks flew, causing Seop Chun to momentarily lose sight, frantically swinging his blade to prevent Yoo-bong from closing in.

But Yoo-bong’s target wasn’t him.

It was Mok Gyeong-un.

Amid the flying sparks, Yoo-bong aimed to subdue the one he considered the weakest but the core of this group.

However, there was a fact Yoo-bong was unaware of.

“Resorting to underhanded tricks, I see.”

‘What?’

“Pak!”

‘Huh!?’

Mok Gyeong-un lightly deflected Yoo-bong’s hand that was reaching out to perform the Golden Silk Hand technique, grabbed his face, and smashed it straight into the ground.

“Kwang!”

“Ack!”

Yoo-bong, his head slammed against the floor, trembled in pain.

With this single move, Yoo-bong realized it.

The strongest one among the rear team, no, among everyone present, was none other than this guy.

‘To…to think I made such a mistake…’

It was a grave error on his part to consider this guy the weakest and attempt to subdue him without knowing that fact.

“Kkeueung.”

The sound of deflating lungs flowed from Yoo-bong, but his consciousness didn’t last long.

Perhaps suffering a concussion, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out, foaming at the mouth.

Mok Gyeong-un released his hand from Yoo-bong’s face and spoke with a smile.

“Let’s put an end to this pointless power struggle. I believe you’ve sufficiently realized that further attempts are meaningless, no?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Gan-yang, the leader of the advance team, unwittingly swallowed his saliva and nodded his head vigorously.

***

Inside the Guan Yu Shrine with lanterns lit.

The attitude of the dejected advance team trio was now shrunken, unlike before.

But there was something that made them shrink even further.

And that was…

“Mong Mu-yak, Vice Commander of the Headquarters’ Direct Oversight.”

“Seop Chun, Third Captain Commander of the Internal Affairs Headquarters.”

“Mok Gyeong-un, disciple of the Shadow Clan Master.”

Upon hearing their identities, the advance team was stunned.

‘Damn, these crazy…’

There was also a request from ‘that place’, so they knew some high-level pinnacle-stage grandmasters would be sent as the rear team through the communication talisman.

However, they thought expendable pawns would be sent for this mission, considering its low success rate and potential dangers.

But learning the identities of these individuals, the advance team couldn’t hide their astonishment.

Wasn’t the Vice Commander of the Headquarters’ Direct Oversight the son of the Vice-Leader?

Moreover…

‘A Captain Commander of the Headquarters? That’s the Society Leader’s personal guards. Ha!’

These people couldn’t be treated recklessly based on their status alone.

Furthermore, these two belonged to the Five Tigers, considered the best among the Heaven and Earth Society’s young pinnacle-stage masters.

On the other hand, the only one they learned about for the first time was Mok Gyeong-un.

‘The Shadow Clan Master took on a disciple?’

A disciple of the Shadow Clan Master meant he was a direct successor of the executive.

They had been dispatched for missions outside for as long as two years or at least nearly a year.

As such, they weren’t well-informed about internal affairs during that time.

Hearing that Mok Gyeong-un was the Shadow Clan Master’s disciple, they couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘If he’s a recently accepted disciple, why is he so powerful?’

Especially Yoo-bong, who had been subdued by Mok Gyeong-un in a single move, felt that way even more.

With this level of martial arts, it would be hard to believe even if he had learned under an executive of the Five Kings level, let alone a Sect Leader level executive.

‘Moreover, everyone from the Vice-Leader’s son to the Headquarters’ Captain Commander addresses him as their lord.’

Just what is his true identity?

Could it be that being the Shadow Clan Master’s disciple is merely a front, and he’s actually the Society Leader’s disciple?

The mystery deepened further.

In any case, thanks to the rear team revealing their identities, the advance team could also discern two facts.

The first was that this rear team included the successors of the two departments in charge of information and spies within the Society.

That likely meant they would utilize the spies embedded within the imperial palace.

The second was…

‘…We absolutely must not fail.’

Dispatching such individuals, who have a high chance of becoming major figures in the future, on a secret mission meant that failure was not an option – it had to be accomplished no matter what.

Realizing this, Mok Gyeong-un asked them.

“Well then, can you tell us what our mission is now?”

Gan-yang, the leader of the advance team, answered while kneeling.

“Allow me to explain the mission. But before that, may I ask how much the rear team members are aware of?”

To that, Seop Chun replied.

“We know it involves infiltrating a certain location to abduct an imprisoned individual and bring them to the Society.”

“You were only told a rough outline.”

“I presume it was to prevent information leaks until we reached the gathering point.”

“It seems so. Then, I will inform you of the mission. First and foremost, our destination is the capital, Kaifeng.”

‘…As expected.’

At his words, Seop Chun nodded.

He had already guessed as much when the gathering point was Annak, Hanam Province, near Kaifeng.

Of course, unlike Seop Chun, Mok Gyeong-un and Mong Mu-yak, who had already been briefed on the exact mission by the Shadow Clan Master and Vice-Leader, showed no particular reaction.

On the other hand…

“Kaifeng? Don’t tell me this mission involves recklessly entering the imperial palace?”

Ja Geum-jeong, the Demon-Subduing monk who had pledged loyalty to Mok Gyeong-un but knew nothing, asked jokingly.

To this, Gan-yang nodded in affirmation.

“That’s correct.”

“What? The imperial palace? So we’re really going to infiltrate the palace?”

“Yes. Our mission is to enter the imperial palace and abduct an individual imprisoned in the underground Golden Jade of the palace.”

‘!?’

At his words, Ja Geum-jeong made a dumbfounded expression.

He was quite surprised to learn they were from the Heaven and Earth Society, but he never expected the mission to be so bold as to infiltrate the imperial palace.

Ja Geum-jeong clicked his tongue and spoke.

“They’ve completely lost their minds. Doing such a thing will brand us as traitors, no matter what they say about being untouchable.”

Even Ja Geum-jeong, known as a lunatic and one of the Three Lights of Shaolin, considered this an utterly insane act.

The imperial palace wasn’t simply a place where the emperor resided and conducted state affairs.

It was also a place where the power of an entire nation was concentrated.

Attempting to abduct someone from there was beyond unthinkable – it was virtually impossible.

“Traitors? No, they must have a death wish.”

Gan-yang responded to his reaction, finding it absurd.

“Of course, that would be the outcome if we fail. However, we have sufficiently planned the operation, considering numerous variables.”

“Hah, seriously. Never in my life did I expect to hear about robbing the imperial palace.”

Ja Geum-jeong clicked his tongue again, still seemingly unwilling.

Regardless of his reaction, Mok Gyeong-un asked.

“That’s all well and good, but I assume we’re not just barging into the palace. How are we going to enter, and what’s the plan to abduct that person?”

“The reason we hastily summoned you all to the gathering point is precisely because of the issue of entering the palace. In exactly three days, the Guard Trials will be held.”

“Guard Trials?”

The Guards, or Siwibu^[1], are the palace guards.

But what exactly are the Guard Trials?

Puzzled, Gan-yang explained.

“The Guard Trials are essentially a promotion assessment conducted within the Guards.”

“A promotion assessment? What does that have to do with infiltrating the palace?”

“It does. Because if you pass the Guard Trials and get promoted, you’ll be elevated to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

“Ah!”

The Embroidered Uniform Guards^[2].

Like other Guards, they are also palace guards who protect the imperial palace.

However, there is a crucial difference – the Embroidered Uniform Guard serves as the emperor’s personal bodyguards and a special agency.

They even possess extralegal powers as they act on behalf of the emperor to inspect the Six Ministries.

And the Embroidered Uniform Guard manages all the Golden Jade prisons within the imperial palace.

‘So that’s it.’

Now the picture was clear on how they planned to infiltrate the palace and abduct that person.

Just then, Seop Chun nodded as if understanding but soon furrowed his brows.

“Wait a minute. We’re not even members of the Guards, so how are we supposed to take the Guard Trials?”

Yoo-bong answered that question instead of Gan-yang.

“Hohoho. You’re perceptive. Of course, we have a plan for that.”

“You have a plan?”

“Yes, from now, we will head to Kaifeng and meet a certain esteemed individual. And we will request their assistance.”

“Who is this person? Someone with enough authority to get us into the Guards?”

Puzzled, Yoo-bong smiled and replied.

“It’s Her Highness, the Imperial Concubine Seo.