Chapter 304: Zhuge Clan (2)

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The conference room of the Zhuge Clan’s Clan Head Hall. The conference room, which had once been packed full, was now empty, leaving only Zhuge Gyeom and Zhuge Yan.

“My daughter. Do you know? We no longer have a path of retreat. It means we have our backs to the river.”

“……Yes.”

Zhuge Yan bowed her head. Meeting Zhuge Gyeom’s eyes had always been difficult from the beginning, but now he was far more terrifying.

From a certain point onward, a thick scent of blood emanated from Zhuge Gyeom’s surroundings.

Zhuge Yan already knew that purges were taking place. With the seats in the Council of Elders emptying one by one, there was no way she could not know. In fact, it was somewhat ambiguous to even call it a purge. Zhuge Gyeom had already lost his reason. That was Zhuge Yan’s judgment.

“What of the children?”

“They are growing well. They do not attempt to flee like before, nor do they resist.”

“Hmph, we should have done this long ago. We merely wasted time because of pointless vermin.”

The vermin Zhuge Gyeom referred to meant the orphans directly adopted by the Zhuge Clan.

If one asked orphans wandering the streets if they wanted to become adopted children of the Zhuge Clan, they would naturally cheer.

However, had they known they would be used as test subjects for dangerous martial arts and formations, would they truly have cheered?

Naturally, seeing the brothers and sisters around them disappear one by one, the adopted children noticed the signs and began to flee. That became the turning point that changed the ‘source of supply’ for the children.

“Excuse me, Clan Head.”

“Call me Father. Are there not just the two of us?”

Zhuge Gyeom spoke in a benevolent tone. Zhuge Yan would rather have had Zhuge Gyeom treat her coldly. Because every time she heard warm words, she felt confused and dizzy.

“By any chance, from where do these children come regularly like this?”

Zhuge Yan squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke. She thought she might die right now. To that extent, Zhuge Gyeom’s emotions seemed to fluctuate wildly.

“Why are you curious about that?”

Fortunately, Zhuge Gyeom did not immediately draw his blade to strike Zhuge Yan. He merely tilted his head and asked.

“……It is nothing.”

Zhuge Yan shook her head. There were indeed many things she wanted to ask.

From where had he brought the children that their eyes were all lifeless, they silently obeyed every order, and their martial physiques were so formidable?

However, Zhuge Yan saw Zhuge Gyeom’s hand trembling violently as it reached toward his waist. Zhuge Gyeom had barely been holding back drawing his blade. Having seen that, she had no courage to ask further.

“Step outside. From next time, do not ask about matters outside your jurisdiction.”

“Yes. I apologize. I misspoke.”

Zhuge Yan bowed deeply and backed out of the Clan Head Hall.

When she entered her own residence in the Outer Garden, her shadow guard Won was brewing tea.

“How did it go?”

“It is over. The Zhuge Clan.”

Won’s expression hardened. Zhuge Yan had asked Zhuge Gyeom at the risk of her life not out of some petty sense of justice, but for their own lives.

Had Zhuge Gyeom’s answer been acceptable, Zhuge Yan would not have tried to betray the Zhuge Clan. Because betrayal was inherently a choice with far too great a risk.

Even to decide whether to betray or not, Zhuge Yan had to ask that question.

It was all too clearly seen that whatever Zhuge Gyeom was hiding right now would lead the Zhuge Clan to ruin.

“What should we do, Sister?”

Won asked. Zhuge Yan had no proper answer either.

Even if they tried to betray, how could they betray?

Assassinating Zhuge Gyeom with a single shadow guard was absurd, and if they fled in the dead of night, the martial artists of the Zhuge Clan would surely give chase.

Whether they could even manage a nighttime escape in the first place was unknown. The Zhuge Clan’s formations were meant to keep outsiders out, but they were also meant to prevent insiders from leaving as they pleased.

“Won.”

“Yes.”

“Were the actions I took to survive wrong?”

Won fell silent. Being a shadow guard, he knew.

Just how coldly Zhuge Yan had treated people.

Yet it was not as though he could not understand. Because she had survived and achieved results that way, and had she not achieved results, she would have been cast aside by Zhuge Gyeom.

“No. You did nothing wrong, Sister.”

Won spoke at last. Even if others condemned her, Won had to say so. That was his duty as a shadow guard, no, his duty even before being a shadow guard.

Zhuge Yan and Won fell silent. A feeling of being unable to move an inch. They could neither remain on a sinking ship nor escape.

Even so, Zhuge Yan racked her brain fiercely. Her way of living had always been like this. Finding a breathing hole amidst despair, however small.

Just then, it grew noisy outside. Zhuge Yan stopped her thoughts and raised her head to look at Won. Won immediately went outside to check what was happening and returned.

“What is the matter?”

“They say the New Justice Association Leader has entered Xiangyang.”

At Won’s reply, Zhuge Yan sprang to her feet.

It was certainly shocking news. To think the New Justice Association Leader, the enemy among enemies, had entered the Zhuge Clan’s grounds directly. It was plain as day that Zhuge Gyeom’s eyes would turn bloodshot without even needing to look.

Why had he entered? She was curious. But there was no need to verify the curiosity.

Because the important thing was that he was the sole light that could deliver Zhuge Yan and Won.

* * *

The gates of the Zhuge Clan were tightly shut. There were no clan martial artists standing watch either. It was as if they had completely sealed their gates.

Since it was safe to say there was no place in Xiangyang where the Zhuge Clan’s eyes did not reach, they must have already known we had arrived. That was why they took such a posture.

“Hmph.”

“Ominous formations are lurking for anyone to see.”

To the point that even Peng Chae-hyang, who was unaccustomed to detecting energy, could feel it, the Zhuge Clan was truly a fortress of formations.

If it were merely martial artists, I would slash through and pass, and if it were ordinary formations, I would enter first and think later, but since it was none other than the formations of the Zhuge Clan, I could not simply charge in recklessly.

“Indeed.”

I now knew the power of formations. Gwan Seo-ye had said that it was entirely possible to strike down masters with lightning through formations.

I too had been able to gain time to grow stronger by utilizing the power of formations twice. In that respect, how could I recklessly enter the Zhuge Clan, which handled formations best in the Central Plains?

“This will not be easy.”

From the start, I instinctively felt it would not be easy. Regardless of what scheme the Zhuge Clan had, they were not opening the gates to us at all.

Or did they think I had not come alone? Indeed, thinking reasonably, that was quite plausible. Because if I had brought all the martial power of the New Justice Association, we could roast the opened Zhuge Clan within a single quarter of an hour.

Thinking of it that way, the Zhuge Clan coming out so cautiously was not entirely incomprehensible.

“I rather thought Zhuge Gyeom would welcome me instead.”

“Why?”

“Because right now, he will have nowhere to lean on. To create a variable somehow, there is no one better than me.”

“Is he not a definite adversary rather than a variable?”

“Well. Even with an adversary, one can request a brief truce.”

For now, it was regrettable that Zhuge Gyeom was not opening the gates. Because that meant time would be pointlessly dragged out in Xiangyang.

“Let us stay nearby for now, then.”

“Let us do so.”

Having no particular method, I decided to stay at an inn near the Zhuge Clan manor.

However, that was not easy either. When we tried to enter the inn closest to the Zhuge Clan to lodge, the innkeeper showed reluctance.

“I am sorry, but we receive quite a lot of favors from the Zhuge Clan. We cannot let you stay.”

“Ah.”

Thinking about it, the entirety of Xiangyang was our enemy.

Could it be that the Zhuge Clan aimed for this? It was hard to tell. Zhuge Gyeom was also a person of the Zhuge Clan, someone with countless schemes hidden within.

We continually inquired at inns. However, all the inns were reluctant to host us, and the people eating on the first floor of the inns all looked at us with hostile eyes. Among them were martial artists emitting murderous intent, so I had to raise my momentum and suppress them in turn.

“It is difficult.”

“It seems we will have to camp outside.”

“We cannot do that.”

If it were just me, I would do so, but I could not make Peng Chae-hyang, whom I specifically brought along, suffer such hardship.

I also considered simply returning to the New Justice Association, obtaining ten thousand taels of silver, and attempting a transaction. But if it were the Zhuge Gyeom I knew, he would surely do something while we stayed in Xiangyang. Having come all this way, it was better to wait for that moment.

Moving further and further toward the outskirts, we eventually settled at a shabby inn located quite far from the official road. The old man who was the innkeeper seemed to have no particular ties with the Zhuge Clan.

“As for rooms, well, shall I give you one?”

The old man said. I was naturally going to ask for two, but it suddenly bothered me that this was still Xiangyang.

The hostility of numerous martial artists encountered while moving toward the outskirts. The saying that even a dog gets a two-move advantage in its own home was not made for nothing.

What if some trouble occurred while letting Peng Chae-hyang sleep alone? Having such a thought, it was true that I felt needlessly worried.

“Yes.”

While I was deliberating, the one who answered was Peng Chae-hyang.

“Hm?”

“Because this is Xiangyang, it is dangerous. I thought it might be better to stay together.”

Peng Chae-hyang turned her head away from me as she spoke. Seeing that her ears had turned red, I could easily guess her face was a similar color. However, her logic matched what I was thinking so precisely that it was hard to deny.

“What a wonderful time of youth.”

As the old man muttered and showed us which room to enter, I felt unnecessarily embarrassed as well.

Entering the room, I suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. Come to think of it, was not the place where I first kissed Gwan Seo-ye when the two of us were in a single room? Of course, that was because Gwan Seo-ye played tricks on me, but regardless.

“……The bed is small.”

Peng Chae-hyang spoke first. Hearing those words and looking at the bed, it truly was small. A feeling that if two people were on it, the bed would be completely packed.

“You use it. I will sleep on the floor.”

“How could I do that? That cannot be.”

A strange atmosphere formed. I could not tell whether she said it out of loyalty or something else.

“Then what do you propose we do?”

“……Together.”

Peng Chae-hyang spoke in a creeping voice, as if looking for a mouse hole to hide in. If she was going to speak in such an embarrassed voice, she might as well not have spoken at all.

Yet it was also true that it was an equally embarrassing thing to say. I cleared my throat. Having no experience with women, I might just be getting ahead of myself needlessly.

Originally, among martial artists, sharing a room regardless of gender for safety like us was common. I was merely attaching meaning to nothing.

“All right. Understood.”

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

As if she had not truly expected me to agree, Peng Chae-hyang bit her lip with her fingers. With her acting like that, it became awkward for no reason.

For now, we sat on the same bed. Because there were no particular chairs to sit on.

“Gaga.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, how did you know I had demonic qi?”

Eventually, the time to receive that question arrived. Now that time had opened up, I could not make the excuse of being busy either.

“Remember when you slept on my lap, Chae-hyang?”

“Ah, yes.”

“At that time, demonic qi came out of your body.”

I explained simply. Peng Chae-hyang stared at the floor with serious eyes.

“So I truly possessed demonic qi.”

“Yes.”

Peng Chae-hyang’s expression turned gloomy. I could not even fathom how shocking it would be for an orthodox martial artist, and a member of the prestigious Hebei Peng Clan to the bone at that, to possess demonic qi.

However, apologizing inwardly, Peng Chae-hyang had to be surprised once more.

“I possess it too.”

“……Pardon?”

At my sudden confession, Peng Chae-hyang’s large eyes widened even further.