Chapter 91 - Turbulence in the Iron Blood Clan (1)
Song Gyeom despaired. His internal energy refused to gather. He tried once more, but agony like his dantian tearing apart surged through him, cold sweat breaking out all over his body.
'To think that I, Song Gyeom, would fall to mere poison...'
Despair gave way to uncontrollable rage. The betrayal by his trusted guards and Eom Tak, whom he had served alongside for decades, was something he had never even imagined.
"How long have you been plotting this?!"
"I'd say it started after that whelp returned."
"...What?"
"More precisely, from the moment the Elder Lord openly showed his favoritism toward the whelp. That's when we began slipping tiny doses of poison into your tea—amounts so minute even a martial god wouldn't notice. Heh heh heh."
Song Gyeom's eyes trembled.
He had never dreamed they would move with such meticulous precision.
"Do you truly believe your foolish dreams will come true?"
"Foolish dreams? The position of lord has always belonged to Lord Jang. The whelp's unexpected return merely disrupted things temporarily."
Eom Tak kept his smile to the end, but his face was drenched in sweat. In truth, he hadn't been entirely certain the poison would work on Song Gyeom. He'd prepared a backup plan for any contingency, and now he could finally breathe a sigh of relief that it had succeeded.
"Considering the years of loyalty we've shared, I don't wish to be any ruder. Come quietly."
"You fools. You entered as you pleased, but do you think you'll leave so easily?"
Swish.
Song Gyeom raised his hand and grasped the cord dangling from the ceiling down to his head. It was a device prepared for emergencies; pulling it would sound the alarm bells throughout the entire Elder Council hall.
"Go ahead and pull it."
"...!"
Song Gyeom yanked the cord. With a snap, it broke limply. No bells rang.
"...Even those in charge of emergencies have joined you?"
"Joined us? They've been with us from the start. They simply hid it, knowing the Elder Lord's shrewd nature."
"Urk!"
Song Gyeom vomited blood. He couldn't bear the shock of even that last shred of hope vanishing.
"The Elder Lord's authority will be used for Lord Jang, not the whelp."
"In your dreams, you scum!"
"Resistance is futile. It will happen regardless of the Elder Lord's will. Take him."
As the guard approached, Song Gyeom flung his hand wildly.
"Keep your filthy hands off me!"
"Why make this difficult? If you don't want to suffer, just come quietly."
"No. I still have strength enough to walk. Step back."
The guard retreated, and Eom Tak pointed to the door with both hands, smirking vilely.
"Then be on your way."
Song Gyeom closed his eyes. Self-reproach for ruining Yeon-hoo's future burned in his chest; he felt like shedding bloody tears.
'My lord, what are we to do? Alas...'
Tears streamed down his cheeks. They were the final tears heralding the end of the old retainer who had wielded immense power from the shadows across three generations of lords.
Jo Yeong was so furious he couldn't sleep. He tried forcing himself to rest for tomorrow morning's training, but it only stoked his anger further.
'I was utterly toyed with.'
It wasn't just losing to Song Yeong that enraged him—it was how overwhelmingly he had been crushed. And with a wooden sword, no less.
'Damn it...'
To calm his boiling gut, Jo Yeong stormed out of his quarters without even throwing on an outer robe. His destination was the pavilion on the ridge behind his lodging, where he often went alone to vent when rage built up.
"Off to the pavilion again?"
"Mind your own business and sleep."
"Want company for a drink?"
"I said no."
Song Yeong strode toward the pavilion. Glancing back absentmindedly at the Elder Council hall, he halted. People were emerging from it—three figures. Too distant, and with all the torches oddly extinguished tonight, he couldn't make them out, but something felt off.
'That gait is strange.'
One person's steps were especially sluggish.
'Even untrained civilians don't walk like that... Who is it? Who's leaving the Elder Council at this hour?'
One of Jo Yeong's strengths—and flaws—was that once curiosity struck, no one could stop him. This was such a moment. His face, flushed red with anger just moments ago, now sparkled with keen interest as he watched the figures, instinctively ducking behind a tree.
'That's the direction of the Thunder Prison...'
His curiosity intensified. The group was heading into the darkness toward the Iron Blood Clan's greatest forbidden zone, the Thunder Prison. Nothing else lay in that direction.
Then it happened. The rearmost figure turned toward Jo Yeong's hiding spot.
"...!"
Jo Yeong instinctively held his breath and pulled back. A hollow laugh escaped him. He felt ridiculous acting like a thief caught in the act. This was the Iron Blood Clan, after all.
'Probably just Elder Council business at the Thunder Prison. Forget it and head to the pavilion for some air.'
Jo Yeong shook off his curiosity and walked toward the pavilion. At that instant, a chilling energy sliced through the darkness toward his throat.
"...!"
Jo Yeong twisted reflexively, reaching for his sword. His hand grasped nothing—he'd left it in his quarters.
Thwack!
The sinister energy sheared off a few strands of his hair by a hair's breadth. Before he could relax, the shadow assailant unleashed another barrage.
Jo Yeong threw himself backward with all his might, thrusting out both palms.
Boom!
An explosion erupted with sparks. In that flash, Jo Yeong glimpsed his attacker charging at him.
'That guy's...'
Jo Yeong blinked in disbelief. The man was unmistakably from the Iron Blood Clan.
"I'm Jo Yeong of the Jo family, training here in the Iron Blood Clan! Stop this at once!"
Did his desperate shout work? The attacker lowered his sword.
"Phew..."
Jo Yeong exhaled in relief.
"My apologies. I mistook you for an assassin."
"No, who would dare infiltrate the Iron Blood—"
Mid-sentence, Jo Yeong's eyes widened; he hurled himself backward with all his strength.
Thwack!
Blood sprayed from Jo Yeong's shoulder.
"You've seen what you shouldn't. Time to die."
"You mad bastard...!"
Flash!
Krunch!
Dust exploded where Jo Yeong had stood. Dodging by a razor-thin margin again, he realized something was gravely wrong and summoned all his internal energy to flee.
His sole thought was survival; he didn't even consider shouting for help as he blindly unleashed his lightness skill.
Whoosh!
Jo Yeong's lightness skill was remarkable. His forms had flaws, but thanks to the elixirs his father Jo Chung had fed him since childhood, his internal energy surpassed that of a thirty-year veteran.
He didn't look back.
Scree!
Several sinister energies flew at him but couldn't match his speed, slicing only air.
'Definitely an Elder Council guard. But he knew who I was and still tried to kill me... Damn it, what's going on?'
Scree!
The air whistled. Jo Yeong twisted his body based on sound alone to evade the hidden weapons.
Thud!
One embedded in a tree to his left. He needed to reach the instructor. In that moment, Jo Yeong's mind held only the resolve to get to Baek Mu Yeong.
"Damn...!"
The face of Jo Yeong's pursuer twisted in frustration. He was the very guard who had poisoned Song Gyeom's teacup.
Bang Tae—named as such—had been escorting Song Gyeom somewhere with Eom Tak when he noticed someone watching. Approaching stealthily, he identified Jo Yeong and decided to eliminate the potential loose end.
But Jo Yeong's movement and lightness skills, which he'd dismissed lightly, exceeded expectations, leading to this mess.
"If that brat talks, it could blow up. We have to kill him no matter what."
Bang Tae chased with all his might, but the distance didn't close. Unaware of Jo Yeong's profound internal energy beyond his years, Bang Tae found the situation bewildering.
Yet he didn't give up. Knowing Jo Yeong was wounded from his attack, he believed time would allow him to catch up.
Drip drip!
A strange sensation on his face made Bang Tae wipe it.
'Blood...'
Jo Yeong's blood.
Smirk.
Bang Tae finally smiled.
'Without his movement and lightness skill, he's nothing.'
'Damn this injury...'
Jo Yeong grew increasingly anxious. The wound was making his internal energy harder to control.
Glancing back, the distance was still about thirty jang. Without the injury, he was confident he could reach the forge district unscathed.
"If you don't care if your Jo family head suffers clan annihilation because of you, keep running!"
"Shut up, you dog!"
Jo Yeong gritted his teeth and fled. But feeling his speed drop clearly, he sought another way.
Fighting head-on meant death. Evasion seemed difficult in his state. Running indefinitely wasn't viable either; he'd eventually be caught and killed.
Then, a sound reached his ears.
Roar...
'A waterfall?'
Faint but unmistakable. Jo Yeong recalled a deep river nearby.
He veered toward the sound. After twenty jang, the fishy river scent hit him, revealing sheer cliffs.
He looked back. Bang Tae was leaping right behind.
"Heh heh heh. Running into a dead end yourself. Your luck ends here, whelp."
Bang Tae's sword gleamed blue. The gap between them was now three jang.
"A... rebellion?"
"Rebellion? Lord Jang was always next in line for Northern lordship. The whelp just delayed it briefly. Now things are back on track. Heh heh heh."
"The person you were dragging from the Elder Council... was that the Elder Lord?"
"Sharp eyes. Yes. That's why you die."
Sizzle.
Bang Tae's sword grew denser with sword energy. But Jo Yeong bared bloodied teeth in a grin.
Smirk.
"I don't like the old man much, but you picked the wrong opponent... Wait and see what happens next, you bastard!"
"Why worry about that? Just head to hell and meet King Yama. Heh heh heh."
Bang Tae wasted no more time. His sword erupted in brilliant blue sword force.
Thud!
"Argh!"
Darkness swallowed Jo Yeong amid a scream. Moments later, a splash echoed.
Bang Tae peered into the shadowy river below, grinning whitely.
"Your father will follow soon enough. We have no intention of sparing anyone allied with that second young master. Heh heh heh."