Chapter 70: Chapter 70
Hubei Province, the Zhuge Clan.
Befitting one of the Five Great Clans, hailed as the top five families among the countless clans under the heavens, the scale of the manor was truly large enough to be called a village.
Enclosure walls high enough to seemingly touch the sky, and dozens of buildings.
Over a thousand kin resided here, and with the number of martial artists of second-rate or above exceeding five hundred, it was truly worthy of being called a powerful clan whose influence spanned the entirety of Hubei Province.
Even within such a Zhuge Clan, situated in the deepest depths was a grand pavilion, the Patriarch Hall.
The patriarch of the Zhuge Clan was a position that boasted authority ranked among the fingers of one hand in Hubei Province, alongside the Sect Leader of the Wudang Sect.
However.
“Let us proceed with this agenda as I say.”
“Ahem, do so.”
Patriarch Zhuge Min merely nodded meekly at the words of Zhuge Seong, his younger brother and clan elder.
The others attending the patriarch’s council were the same.
Against whose word could they dare raise opposition?
Even the waiter of a neighboring inn knew that the real power of the Zhuge Clan was Elder Zhuge Seong.
Not only was he inherently brimming with ambition, but in his youth, he had expanded his influence while serving as an astronomer in the Imperial Palace, and his marriage to a daughter of the Hebei Peng Clan solidified Zhuge Seong’s standing as though giving wings to a tiger.
The agenda of this council concerned the treatment of the eldest daughter, Zhuge Rin.
Zhuge Rin, active as the Vice Squad Leader of the Martial Alliance’s Black Tortoise Squad, was under investigation by the Disciplinary Hall under suspicion of colluding with the Unorthodox Path.
It was naturally a matter where the clan ought to step forward and provide support.
However, citing the honor of Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon and the Disciplinary Hall Master, Zhuge Seong declared that the Zhuge Clan would not step forward.
The powerless patriarch merely nodded his head, and those following Zhuge Seong even concurred, claiming it was entirely correct.
Around the time the council, where Zhuge Seong proposed the agenda and Zhuge Seong concluded it, neared its end.
KABOOOOM!
A tremendous explosion that truly shook heaven and earth erupted.
The thick pillars supporting the massive building trembled wildly, and the clamorous voices of martial artists rang out from outside.
The collision of colossal qi was continually felt.
The faces of the retainers, including Zhuge Seong, hardened stiffly.
“Wh-what is this commotion!”
When Zhuge Seong shouted, a man sitting at the lowest seat in the council room hurriedly stood up and approached the door to check outside.
Simultaneously, the door opened.
A council attended by all the top leadership of the clan. Opening the door without permission was a matter to be governed with severe punishment.
However, due to the urgent expression of the martial artist who burst through the door, no one could scold him.
The martial artist, with blood streaming from his head, spoke.
“A-a demon… A demon has appeared!”
Zhuge Seong’s expression crumpled furiously.
What era did he think this was, babbling about demons?
Unable to watch any longer, the retainers stood up one by one and poured outside.
* * *
“Ha…”
Zhuge Seong let out an incredulous laugh.
The spectacle unfolding before his eyes was that unrealistic.
A typhoon was blowing across the large front courtyard of the Zhuge Clan. A bloody wind accompanied by blood at that.
The martial artists of the clan firmly gripped their unique soft swords and Judge’s Brushes to resist, yet they merely scattered like fallen leaves in that colossal gale.
At the place where that wind originated stood a cold-looking man. His age was at best slightly past twenty.
To say he had stormed one of the Five Great Clans single-handedly, rampaged, and was facing hundreds of martial artists, his expression was far too dry and nonchalant.
The moment Zhuge Seong saw this, he knew instinctively.
‘Cheon Woo-jin. That bastard is Cheon Woo-jin!’
While Zhuge Seong was observing Cheon Woo-jin.
From among the martial artists of the Zhuge Clan, a man with an unusually large build and bold facial features stepped forward.
Soon, he bellowed a furious roar toward Cheon Woo-jin.
“You bastard! Just where did a wretched dog like you roll in from to dare look down upon the Great Zhuge Clan!”
That bold shout was infused with internal energy. Ordinarily, it should have thundered through the courtyard and suppressed the opponent’s momentum.
Yet even that voice imbued with internal energy was swept up in the gale and scattered powerlessly.
At that sight, the eyebrows of Zhuge Hyeon, who had roared, twitched.
He was Zhuge Seong’s son, the man aiming to be the next patriarch. Perhaps because he inherited the blood of the Hebei Peng Clan, unlike typical Zhuge Clan martial artists, his stature was large and his bones were dense.
A genius who possessed both the physique of the Peng Clan and the intellect of Zhuge.
The Celestial Martial Physique who had caused the eldest daughter, Zhuge Rin, to fall into despair.
Drawing the slender sword characteristic of the Zhuge Clan, Zhuge Hyeon surged toward Cheon Woo-jin just like a tiger.
“N-no!”
Zhuge Seong shouted, but it was already too late.
That was how impulsive and sudden Zhuge Hyeon’s movement was, and his speed was as swift as a flying tiger.
With lightness art difficult even to track with the eyes for most martial artists, he crossed the battlefield in an instant. Furthermore, the energy loaded into his soft sword was as fierce and heavy as the great saber of the Peng Clan.
Certainly, considering his age, he was a martial artist worthy of the modifier of genius.
However.
“…”
With merely a tranquil gaze.
Still standing in that spot, Cheon Woo-jin looked at Zhuge Hyeon.
The distance between the two was merely ten paces.
Zhuge Hyeon drew back the hand holding his sword.
He also knew that with this incident, Zhuge Rin would completely lose her justification, and the day he would formally become the young patriarch was not far off.
It was truly a fine opportunity. He would discipline this reckless fool who dared look down on the Zhuge Clan, firmly establishing his legitimacy.
Thinking so, Zhuge Hyeon’s aura exploded outward.
Now, the distance between the two was merely three paces.
No matter how high a martial artist’s prowess was, at this distance, they had to react in some way.
Yet the fellow looking like a gigolo before his eyes merely stood still.
Zhuge Hyeon sneered.
‘He cannot even react.’
Though he raised a gale in the Zhuge Clan through bizarre sorcery, it seemed his personal martial prowess was not high.
Indeed, that was how heretics and evil practitioners using sorcery always were.
Soon, Zhuge Hyeon’s sword fell right above Cheon Woo-jin’s head. He intended to cleave him in two from his skull down to his groin.
Other martial artists of the Zhuge Clan could not execute such an attack. That was because they fundamentally lacked raw physical strength.
Zhuge Hyeon let out a laugh, thinking he could once again flaunt his uniqueness.
However…
Crack!
The sword Zhuge Hyeon had been bringing down firmly fluttered like a butterfly in spring. Because all strength had drained from his legs, he could not even swing the sword properly.
With disbelief in his eyes, Zhuge Hyeon looked at his leg.
His left leg was bent. However, it was bent in a direction it should never bend.
The moment he recognized this, excruciating agony ensued.
“Aaaaargh!”
Throwing away his sword, Zhuge Hyeon clutched his leg and rolled on the ground. It was truly an unsightly display. Even while rolling on the ground, he continually looked up at his opponent with incredulous eyes.
The fellow had not even drawn the iron staff strapped to his back. That meant he had struck him with that fan.
He could not believe that a fan made of stitched crane feathers had broken his steel-like leg.
Looking down at him with a dry gaze, Cheon Woo-jin spoke.
“A fellow inferior even to the vice squad leader.”
Hearing that he had made the vice squad leader fall into despair, he had wondered how strong he might be.
Yet he was truly pathetic. Had Zhuge Rin not suffered from Severed Meridians Disorder, a fellow like this would never have been her match.
Cheon Woo-jin took his eyes off the fellow rolling unsightly on the ground and steadily gazed at a man across the battlefield.
An aura different from the others drifted from him.
The Zhuge Clan was, at any rate, one of the Five Great Clans of the Righteous Path. Even those who committed evil deeds inevitably exuded the atmosphere peculiar to the Righteous Path.
However, that man was different.
‘A consummate villain.’
It was just like seeing those men of the Unorthodox Path who had come seeking revenge against Master Black Elder.
Muddy pupils as though he indulged in drugs, wrinkles steeped with his disposition, and above all, blatant and primal murderous intent.
“That man is the culprit.”
Cheon Woo-jin’s voice was low, yet among the martial artists present, not a single one failed to hear it.
Even amid the tumultuous gale, the voice infused with profound internal energy reverberated magnificently across the entire Zhuge Clan.
It was neither a personal deduction nor a question, but a resolute declaration and sentence.
Naturally, everyone looked at Zhuge Seong.
Zhuge Seong’s expression crumpled furiously.
‘You cunning viper of a punk.’
Regardless, the Zhuge Clan was of the Righteous Path. Though he held all power as the true authority, many among the individual martial artists harbored Righteous inclinations.
They, too, knew that Zhuge Seong’s heart was far from pure.
What would such people be thinking right now?
‘Ah, that pitch-black elder has finally committed some deed.’
Zhuge Seong did not desire that sort of agitation.
Deliberating for a moment, Zhuge Seong let out a smirk and spoke.
“So you were the fugitive of the Martial Alliance. I heard the Disciplinary Hall has formed a Pursuit-and-Kill Squad to hunt you down; can you truly bear the consequences of committing such an act?”
At that, the martial artists’ gazes shifted back toward Cheon Woo-jin once more.
The Disciplinary Hall was, without room for doubt, an organization of virtue. If they had formed a Pursuit-and-Kill Squad to chase him, it meant that person was an undeniable criminal.
Watching the atmosphere shift at Zhuge Seong’s single remark, Cheon Woo-jin held a hollow smile.
“Is this what one of the Five Great Clans is?”
Was it not far too disappointing? The Five Great Clans and the Righteous Path he had heard of from Master White Elder were not like this.
Cheon Woo-jin felt no reason to drag out time.
When Cheon Woo-jin gestured, the man who had been trembling outside the clan flew in as though dragged by something.
At that sight, astonishment colored the martial artists’ faces.
Telekinetic Attraction was originally a qi art that freely pulled or pushed objects out of reach.
Even merely opening and closing doors through this was enough to be hailed as a master in the martial world.
Yet that young monster pulled a person, not an object. If he applied that technique in real combat?
Novices lacking the internal energy to resist would be slaughtered unilaterally without even putting up a fight.
Fitting for martial artists of the Five Great Clans, they instantly perceived that the opponent’s level was in an entirely different dimension from theirs.
At that, their overall momentum plummeted, and seeing this, disappointment once again colored Cheon Woo-jin’s face.
Pointing at the dragged man, Cheon Woo-jin spoke.
“Elder Zhuge Seong. I encountered this person in the secret cave of the Three Eccentrics of the Righteous Path. Black Tortoise Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader Zhuge Rin are under investigation on charges of colluding with the Unorthodox Path to sell off the relevant treasure map. What do you think of this?”
Martial artists of the Zhuge Clan were fundamentally intelligent.
The moment they heard Cheon Woo-jin’s words, they deduced the entire situation.
Some looked at Zhuge Seong with disbelieving eyes, some with contemptuous gazes, and some with the realization that the ship they boarded would soon sink.
In that atmosphere, the man dragged in by Cheon Woo-jin knelt and bowed his head before Zhuge Seong.
“…I-I am sorry, Elder.”
Zhuge Seong looked down at him with a dry expression.
A shred of displeasure hung upon his face.
“And who might you be?”
“Pardon?”
The man looked up at Zhuge Seong with wide, rounded eyes.
Elder Zhuge Seong’s eyes were colder than anything. He had completely abandoned him. He knew what kind of man Zhuge Seong was. At this rate, he would take the blame for all the crimes and die, or suffer torture bordering on death.
Pale with horror, the man hurriedly rushed toward Zhuge Seong and kowtowed once more.
“Elder! I, I have committed a crime worthy of death! So please…”
“Ah, it was you.”
Only then did Zhuge Seong pretend to recognize him.
The moment a sliver of hope flickered in the man’s eyes.
Plunge!
Zhuge Seong’s sword cleanly pierced straight through the back of the prostrate man.
While bowing before Zhuge Seong, the man died with his internal organs impaled by the sword. Blood spread out around the man.
Everyone watched this with stunned eyes.
Yet Zhuge Seong met their gazes with a calm expression and spoke in a low tone.
“So it is Zhuge Bi of the collateral branch. Since seeing you briefly in your childhood was all, I failed to recognize you.”
“…”
Zhuge Seong’s judgment seemed reckless, yet it was rational.
His action just now would incur suspicion. In truth, most would see through Zhuge Seong’s sinister scheme.
However, the evidence had now vanished. From ancient times, dead men tell no tales.
He could endure suspicion or criticism as much as needed. Turning alienated public opinion back toward himself was nothing difficult for someone like Zhuge Seong.
He merely needed to get past this situation.
‘Though it is not the best, I have also avoided the worst.’
Thinking so, Zhuge Seong looked at Cheon Woo-jin and curled the corners of his lips into a smirk.
“Now, the culprit is dead. It seems there was some misunderstanding. Member Cheon, shall you and I have a talk now?”
Simultaneously, the gale sweeping across the Zhuge Clan’s courtyard subsided.
At that sight, Zhuge Seong’s smile grew even thicker. Legitimacy had completely shifted to his side.
However, the reply that followed was far too cheeky. To the point where he could by no means be viewed as someone driven into a corner.
“A talk. Sounds good.”
Cheon Woo-jin let out a laugh for the first time in a while.
At that sight, Zhuge Seong’s eyes narrowed.
‘Does that fellow not know the situation he is in?’
The evidence was gone, and the justification lay on this side.
All that remained was the fact that this punk had dared commit atrocities against one of the Five Great Clans.
He would soon be locked in the Martial Alliance prison until death, perhaps unable to step out even when dead and his corpse completely rotted away.
As expected of someone still young, his martial prowess was outstanding, but he seemed unable to judge the situation maturely.
Around the time Zhuge Seong clicked his tongue.
Cheon Woo-jin strode toward Zhuge Seong.
A talk. In order to have a talk, that is.