Chapter 65
Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Stench or Fragrance (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Whoosh.
A cool breeze blew in from the bamboo grove, brushing past the hair at their ears, only to scream out in the midst of a strange heat.
Hah! Hah!
The swordsmen's shouts grew even fiercer and sharper.
Murong Bi turned his head to look at the swordsmen.
"Now they're finally putting some real power into it."
"……."
"Good. A bit of proper tension is just what people need, after all."
Hong Junak slowly set down his cup, but his eyes never left Murong Bi's face.
A creeping silence wriggled awkwardly between the two men.
It was Murong Bi who rescued the pitiful silence.
"I think about it sometimes. How terrifying war really is."
"……."
"When the war with the Holy Blood Palace finally ended, a lot of people must have cheered. Relieved that this endless nightmare was over, that they could finally live in peace."
"……."
"But I think they might have been even happier that they didn't have to turn into monsters themselves to keep their peaceful daily lives."
"……Monsters."
"But even after the war with the Holy Blood Palace ended, people can always become monsters."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Are foreign invaders the only enemies? Anyone trying to steal your rice bowl, anyone who killed your brother, anyone who screwed over your friend—they're all enemies."
"That's why they say life is war."
"Exactly. That's why people always have to prepare for war. No one lives to old age without facing some major conflict at least once."
Murong Bi turned his head again and refilled his own cup.
"Everyone carries a monster inside their chest."
"……."
"When you need it, you just slip on the monster's skin. But what happens if you keep wearing it even when you don't need it?"
"What happens?"
"You become a real monster."
Murong Bi drained his cup in one gulp.
His flushed face returned to its normal color.
"Once you get used to wearing that monster skin, you even forget you were born human."
Hong Junak laughed coldly.
"How do I look in your eyes?"
"Like someone who wants to be a monster."
"Not that I am one, but that I want to be?"
"You could just live like a human, but you insist on becoming a monster. Why?"
Unlike Hong Junak's, Murong Bi's eyes turned clear and colorless.
His tone suddenly shifted.
The tense atmosphere boiled over like heated water.
"Because it makes you look strong. You want to rampage around as a monster the size of Mount Tai. You want to gaze at yourself, unstoppable by anyone, and jerk off to the idea that you're something special."
"……."
"Do you know what that means?"
"What?"
"It means you're weak."
"……!"
"You're weak and inadequate, so you keep trying to become a monster. You look inside and see you're nothing but a tiny bowl, but you want to fill it with a lake."
"……."
"You'll obviously drown in the overflowing water and regret it, but you live deluded by the fantasy that somehow you'll overcome it."
Hong Junak no longer wore the mask of the generous sword clan lord.
"Sometimes, a tiny bowl can grow big enough to hold the sea."
"Delusions of grandeur without foundation always require reason as collateral."
"Even grounded confidence is sometimes sustained by sacrifice as collateral."
"Don't you think the moment you use sacrifice as collateral, it stops being confidence and becomes a limitation?"
Hong Junak's lips twitched faintly.
Murong Bi, who had been staring silently at his face, smiled again.
"Think we've had enough to drink?"
"……."
"I'll eat dinner at home. Pack me some jerky. As much as you can."
Hong Junak, who had been watching Murong Bi wordlessly, spoke to Hong Myeong.
"Pack two bundles."
"Yes, Father."
Murong Bi burst into loud laughter.
"Now that's what I call magnanimous. Should've come earlier."
Hong Junak smiled again.
"If you like big-hearted people, come help out the main house from now on."
"What could I possibly help with? With the Ten Sword Sect in such a mess, aren't you the unrivaled best of the Hong Sword Clan?"
"There's such a thing as appearances. We're already poking around the Ten Sword Sect gently. I'd love to swallow them in one bite, but too many eyes watching makes it tough."
"Greed can give you indigestion. You did well holding back."
"Since it came up, let me ask. If you were me, how would you swallow the Ten Sword Sect?"
"I'd make them offer up their plaque to me with their own hands."
"How?"
"Lady Hwang Inhwa might be the sect leader's blood kin, but her pride is too strong, and with the sect leader and finance elder already down, the elders will start getting greedy too, right?"
"You see things clearly."
"I'd recruit one elder."
Hong Junak's eyes widened.
"With her experience, she can't override the elders, so wouldn't it be better to eliminate the elders and control Lady Hwang instead?"
"What are you talking about? You want to keep Lady Hwang alive?"
"Huh?"
"Recruit one elder to kill the others, Lady Hwang included, then kill the recruited elder right after. Only then will the dimwits with no real skill try to rise up."
"……?!"
"Of course, we'd frame their deaths as mutual destruction from a power struggle."
"Heh."
Hong Junak was genuinely impressed.
"You're ruthless, aren't you?"
"I'm a real man, not a slouch like Old Liang Ye." (Translator note: Wuliangye likely a pun or reference, rendered contextually) Wait, no notes. Actually, Wuliangye isn't in glossary, perhaps "five liang of silver" meaning cheapskate, but translate as "I'm no five-tael weakling."
Wait, accurate: Wuliangye probably "five yang fluid" or slang, but in context "big man not inferior to O-ryang-ak". Perhaps leave as is, but translate naturally: "I'm a proper man, every bit the equal of that five-liang hack."
Better: from context, it's a boast. "I'm a big shot in my own right, no less than Old Liang Ye or whatever."
Upon check, likely "Oryangak" character, but translate: "I'm a real man who wouldn't lose to a five-tael wonder."
"Honestly, I hadn't thought that far. We were just planning to take out Binggeom Han Kyung."
"Looks like he's the strongest there right now?"
"Spot on."
"If you miscalculate, won't you end up dead?"
"Anyway, you plan to recruit an elder?"
"If you're confident, a night raid would work fine. Cleanest way."
Hong Junak let out a hearty laugh.
"I invited you to see what kind of guy you are, and I got an unexpected gift. Want more jerky?"
"Two bundles are plenty. Don't get greedy or you'll choke."
"Ouch, you got me. Hahaha!"
A moment later, Hong Myeong brought two heavy bundles.
Murong Bi grinned happily and skewered both bundles on the end of his shoulder pole.
Hong Junak asked.
"You practice staff arts?"
"Just picked up a bit of everything."
"Can't say you have a strong affinity for any one thing. Impressive. Mastering martial arts with even a single weapon is hard enough."
"Depends on your approach. You're a master of the long spear yourself, aren't you, Clan Lord?"
Hong Junak nodded without changing expression.
"My palms are pretty vicious too."
"I can see that."
"What's your strongest suit?"
"If this guy gets his hands on something, tense up right away. It'll be spicy no matter what."
"Hahaha!"
"I'll be off then."
"It was fun."
Murong Bi turned and strolled away leisurely.
Two heavy bundles dangled from the end of the shoulder pole on his back, swinging merrily. His gait even seemed cheerful, like someone off on a trip.
Hong Junak watched him with impassive eyes, hands behind his back.
Rumble.
And the moment the main gate closed.
Whoosh!
Hong Junak's energy flooded outward like a raging river.
It was so murderous that even the swordsmen who overheard it stopped their training.
"Myeong-ah."
"Yes, Father."
"We can't just let that one go."
Hong Myeong's face hardened grimly as well.
"Seems that way."
"I said we'd bring that girl at dawn, right?"
He meant Murong Sujing.
"Yes."
"I've changed my mind."
Hong Junak lifted his chin.
"Tonight, we strike the Murong house."
It was a momentum too radical for words like "decisive."
But Hong Myeong didn't try to stop his father. It wasn't the situation for it, and he didn't want to anyway.
"How shall we prepare?"
"That guy's martial arts aren't ordinary. So I'll ask: can you handle him alone?"
"I don't know."
It wasn't pride talking.
Hong Myeong couldn't properly gauge Murong Bi's level. He seemed weaker at a glance, but also like there was an uncrossable gap.
One thing was certain: the guy was dangerously unpredictable.
"You'll probably have a hard time alone. It's not about internal energy or anything. His senses are just too sharp."
"Yes."
With Crimson Serpent Qi Technique unleashed, Hong Myeong could easily crush even Hong In, the pinnacle of infinite supremacy, like twisting a child's arm.
Yet his father said even he might struggle, and Hong Myeong remained calm.
He acknowledged the opponent's skill.
"Do we need to call out the Three Serpents...?"
Hong Myeong flinched at the musing words.
Three Serpents.
If the Crimson Sword Squad was the Hong Sword Clan's publicly displayed elite, the Three Serpents were their secret masters, never revealed to the world.
Though only three, each surpassed Hwang Gyu in skill.
High enough to leave their names anywhere they went.
"Father, the Three Serpents..."
"You use them when you need them. You know I can't stand anything shady."
That was why he'd invited and tested Murong Bi himself—to figure out what kind of upstart this young expert was, if he had backing.
But in the end, he'd been the one exposed.
His pride was hurt, but his vigilance heightened even more.
"Better this way."
Hong Junak's lips curled up.
"Finish the Murong house tonight, then hit the Ten Sword Sect tomorrow."
He'd held back for over fifteen years. Once resolved, he couldn't wait any longer.
"Be ready by midnight."
"With the Three Serpents?"
"I'm going too."
"What?!"
A thick greed colored Hong Junak's face.
"The Murong house's secret stash... don't we need to check if it's real?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After crossing the bridge, a shadowy figure emerged from the forest ahead. He'd scaled the east wall the moment the gate opened and slipped into the woods unnoticed.
"You're back."
"Yes."
"Kid's got loyalty."
"Couldn't just leave without even getting a chance to see if she suits my taste."
Murong Bi chuckled.
"How do those guys look in your eyes?"
The shadow glanced back, narrowing his eyes.
"Dangerous."
"Because it's the Hong Sword Clan?"
"That's part of it, but... the clan lord felt strangely dangerous."
"Where exactly?"
"His nature. Felt like he was hiding something."
The shadow turned to Murong Bi.
"Just like you, young master."
It wasn't from high martial attainment.
An assassin's keen instincts had sent danger signals. And they weren't far from the gate.
"Your senses are sharp. Even trained assassins don't get that sensitive."
"So the clan lord definitely has something?"
"Father and son both practice demonic arts."
"What? D-Demonic arts?!"
"Half-baked, but still."
The shadow was extremely flustered.
Demonic arts? Where did the Hong Sword Clan lord learn that?
"Anyway, perfect timing. Might've been tricky alone, but with you here, it's great."
"Huh?"
"Now I've got an opening to worm my way into their hearts."
"What...?"
Murong Bi stopped walking and looked back at the Hong Sword Clan.
"He spilled that he practices demonic arts, and even openly talked about killing a Ten Sword Sect elder. That's info that'd cause a huge uproar if it got out."
The shadow's eyes lit up.
"He'll definitely silence us."
"They'll come tonight."
"Then...?"
"Gotta snap their leg bones before they do. If they barge in, it'll turn Big Sis and Suhyang's world upside down."
The shadow panicked.
"J-Just us two? Can we handle it?"
"Who said we'd push back the whole lot? Just pick off a few key pieces."
"How...?"
Murong Bi grinned slyly.
"Let's see if our Hong Clan Lord can tell stench from fragrance."