Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: It Seems Like Things Have Gone Wrong, But...
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“You are—”
“Lowly Fox Ri, why are you—”
The Iron Palm Trio flinched.
Gong Son-beom, apparently not expecting to run into us in a place like this, let out a deep sigh.
“…It looks like the operation has gone completely south, Clan Head.”
It was a side of him different from the sleazy or cold demeanor he’d shown until now.
Somehow, even the way he grumbled at the Dark Venerable felt oddly familiar.
I let out a hollow chuckle.
Finally, I had pieced together the true identity of Gong Son-beom, who had been nothing but a mystery.
It also made sense now why the Dark Venerable had stayed so quiet all this time.
“You planted a double agent?”
“!”
“!”
“!”
The Iron Palm Trio turned to me with shocked faces.
I kept my eyes on the Dark Venerable.
His smile deepened further. Meanwhile, the furrows around Gong Son-beom’s eyes grew even deeper.
Bingo, huh?
“More like a triple agent. To turn this guy into a proper tail for the South Palace Clan, you had to route him naturally from the Hao Clan through the Phantom Sect and into the South Palace. That took a fair bit of time and effort.”
Now I understood how Gong Son-beom had mastered both the Phantom Sect’s fleshly threads and the South Palace Clan’s thunder ropes.
But Hao Clan to Phantom Sect, Phantom Sect to South Palace Clan? And then back to the Tang Clan stronghold from there?
How many twists and turns did it take to get here?
「Since he mastered the secret arts of both the Phantom Sect and the South Palace Clan, it means he earned exceptional trust in each faction, right?」
「Even the Divine Cult struggles to cultivate top-tier agents like this—」
Namgung Oh, hit hardest by the shock, was trembling violently.
Gong Son-beom sighed once more, walked over to him, and smacked the top of his head with his palm.
Thwack!
As I watched Namgung Oh’s skull crumple, I asked,
“Then you knew from the start that I suspected this guy, Clan Head.”
“Something like that.”
“Then why didn’t you give me a heads-up beforehand—”
“What’s the basics of being a spy?”
“……”
“To fool snakes like the South Palace lot, you’ve got to fool your own house first, right?”
The Dark Venerable smirked and continued.
“Especially this one—he thinks he’s got people on his side in both Heavenly Mountain and the South Palace. Thanks to that, info from both places flows straight to us nice and quiet. He’s a precious treasure, hidden even from the young master. So we had to be extra careful.”
“……”
“Even when you were tailing him, I figured it’d just stir up the South Palace. Well, you did too good a job, and here we are.”
The Dark Venerable turned to Gong Son-beom as he spoke.
“With Mourning Wanderer dead too, they’re probably in an uproar over there, right?”
“Uproar doesn’t cover it—they’ll be scorched earth. The branch we barely established in the Tang Clan stronghold is wiped out root and stem. A direct lineage member died too… A powerhouse like the Mourning Sword Emperor is a rare asset even for them. As the culprit, I’ll face reprimands or suspicion too.”
“Is that so?”
Despite the tangled mess, the Dark Venerable grinned ear to ear at me.
Was he trying to mess with me for flipping the board, or did he genuinely find it amusing?
Probably the latter.
「But if the Dark Venerable is the true mastermind here, doesn’t that mean word of the young cult leader holding the Northern Fate Tablet reached his ears too?」
I nodded inwardly.
I still couldn’t read the Dark Venerable’s depths.
If I’d snatched the Northern Fate Tablet midway, you’d think he’d grill me or something.
But he didn’t seem to care one bit.
Was this part of that bald geezer’s calculations too?
Gong Son-beom shot me a glance laced with resentment, then scratched the back of his head.
“Half-wicked lad, I won’t lie—I don’t hate the guy, but he was just doing his job diligently, so no real grudge there. The real issue starts now.”
Gong Son-beom’s face soured as he lapsed into thought.
Still, he didn’t lash out.
If anything, he was calm.
It gave a glimpse of how he’d earned the trust of two sects—regaining composure and seeking new paths.
I racked my brain too.
I’d started this to rack up merits, but in the end, I’d trashed the Dark Venerable’s setup.
If I played this right, though, I could turn it into something advantageous for me.
“Gong Son—”
“Just call me Ho-ri. We were beating the tar out of each other just hours ago—what’s with the formalities.”
“…As you heard from Ho-ri, the Northern Fate Tablet—sacred relic of the Demonic North Sea Sect—is in my hands.”
Gong Son-beom twitched at “uncle,” but when I opened my palm wide and summoned the Northern Fate Tablet, his face filled with surprise.
He hadn’t expected me to pull out a weapon I’d kept hidden.
But I had my reasons.
「If the Clan Head already knows, isn’t it better to stop hiding it and show it openly?」
‘Exactly.’
Fwoosh!
The Northern Fate Tablet spun in my palm, scattering beautiful pale frost.
“Whoa, you—”
Tang Gyu-jin looked like he had a million questions.
Sama Seon stared blankly at the frost, and Yu Su-min wore an uncharacteristically flustered expression.
“…I thought handling a Heavenly Mountain sacred relic like the Northern Fate Tablet required mastering the sect leader’s secret arts too, but how did you, Young Master Tang—”
I shook my head.
“No, that’s a misunderstanding that got twisted around. In reality, as long as your internal energy’s attributes and traits roughly match, you can use it to some degree. Lucky for me, it did.”
“But the Demonic North Sea Sect is an ancient Heavenly Mountain lineage—your demonic arts shouldn’t match—”
“They do. Thanks to the poison art I cultivate.”
“Ah! Curse Poison!”
“Right. North Sea Sect techniques are mostly yin-cold energy systems, aren’t they? Depending on how you use it, Curse Poison gets close to yin-cold energy.”
“…I see.”
Yu Su-min looked a bit uneasy but nodded.
No one in the Tang Clan besides me had properly mastered Curse Poison.
Even those who had only scratched the surface. It was that dangerous.
So no one could nitpick what I said.
Jealous? Go learn Curse Poison yourself. Sure, you might drop dead, but. Heh heh heh!
The Dark Venerable narrowed his eyes.
“I wondered if the Northern Fate Tablet didn’t turn up no matter how much we searched Dead North Fate Demon’s corpse, so maybe you left it at Heavenly Mountain… Turns out it was in your hands the whole time?”
“I found and recovered it by chance while mopping up their remnants.”
“You planned to hide it from me till the end?”
“To fool demonic cult snakes, you’ve got to fool your own house first.”
I threw his own words back at him, and a look of exasperation crossed the Dark Venerable’s face.
Still, I stood tall and confident, like it was no big deal.
“I figured it could stab them in the back someday, whether North Sea Sect or another faction shows up.”
“Stabbed good, alright. He got stabbed, I got stabbed. Speaking of—how’d you figure out this guy was a spy?”
“As you know, Clan Head.”
“Know what?”
“I’m just that damn good. That’s how.”
“…So you won’t spill easily. Sly fox, as always.”
Who’re you calling sly fox, you shiny-headed snake.
“That spot your eyes just hit feels like pretty irreverent territory.”
“Misunderstanding.”
“I’m one of the Ten Masters of the World, you know. A sacred vessel peak expert. You saying my eyesight’s off?”
“Don’t folks get presbyopia with age? Probably that.”
“I’m one of the Ten Masters!”
“But you’re over ninety.”
“You little shit?”
Gong Son-beom and the Iron Palm Trio’s gazes turned strange as they watched me casually rib the Dark Venerable.
Talking like that to the head of the almighty Tang Clan?
And living to tell the tale?
Yeah, that kind of look.
“Argh. My mistake for bantering with you. Anyway, back to square one. What’s the plan with that Northern Fate Tablet in your hand?”
“I pulled it out originally to snag Ho-ri uncle’s tail, but since it’s out, leak it to the South Palace too. And the Demonic Cult if possible.”
“…I see. That’s your angle.”
The Dark Venerable’s eyes darkened deeply in that instant. He got it.
Gong Son-beom’s expression showed he understood too.
The Iron Palm Trio looked a bit confused, faces saying they half-got it.
Tang Gyu-jin tilted his head.
“No need to hand it over there, right?”
“Two birds with one stone.”
“Two?”
“Yeah.”
I withdrew the Northern Fate Tablet for explanation and folded one finger.
“First, it gives an excuse for the branch planted in the Tang Clan stronghold blowing up. They confirm I have the Northern Fate Tablet, investigate, and get ambushed by the clan’s elites protecting me in the shadows—boom, branch gone. Good cover for the South Palace, right? Plus, Ho-ri uncle loses the branch but survives and shares valuable intel, becoming a star asset.”
Gong Son-beom nodded gravely.
His gaze at me grew complicated, recalling how we’d been at each other’s throats just hours ago.
Tang Gyu-jin nodded in agreement, then frowned.
“That’d clear suspicions on Gong… Young Master Gong, sure. If word leaks to the Phantom Sect, Heavenly Mountain will freak out even more to recover the Northern Fate Tablet.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“But that puts you in too much danger, doesn’t it? Target for both South Palace and Heavenly Mountain!”
My rep had spread too far already from the Nine Dragons Great Battle.
South Palace Clan and Phantom Sect both saw me as a thorn in the eye.
And now I had the Northern Fate Tablet?
Oh, they won’t stand for that.
Phantom Sect would use the North Sea relic to subsume or unite North Sea under them, and South Palace would leverage Heavenly Mountain as a card.
Bonus for South Palace: stealing Heavenly Mountain secrets to patch their flame-yang art weaknesses.
I grinned and nodded.
“That’s the second play. South Palace and Heavenly Mountain will lose it trying to grab me, right? They’ll overreach, show openings. Perfect setup for us to strike hard.”
“Hey now!”
Tang Gyu-jin paled.
Ignoring him, I turned to the Dark Venerable and politely cupped my fists.
His smile was now thicker than ever.
He liked how I’d turned a potentially disastrous long-term plan into something even better.
The way he looked at me now dripped with honey.
No, greed.
—You’re mine! No escaping my slave ranch for life!! Kuhahaha!!
…I could practically hear the bald geezer’s black heart.
Felt like I’d dug my own grave, but no choice.
Hiding the Northern Fate Tablet from the Clan Head could be a grave crime.
To secure ownership, I needed a massive merit everyone would nod at.
Plus, solidify my rising fame.
Above all.
I saw this as an opportunity.
With Heavenly Mountain and South Palace about to rampage. The Tang Clan forming new Stormwind Troops to crush them.
And… Master’s traces appearing in Kongdong Mountain.
Now was the time to weave it all into one ‘board.’
“I’ve heard forming the alliance has hit snags from Kongdong Sect interference. And shadowy hands that look like South Palace or Heavenly Mountain behind it.”
The Dark Venerable gave me an odd look.
Where’d I get that intel?
But I had my ways.
Gui Je-gal.
Through Tang Gon, I’d been in constant contact, monitoring the war clouds over Kongdong Mountain.
Like Jeongpung Pavilion, Punghwa Pavilion were old Stormwind Troops remnants too.
They were my eyes and ears.
Plus, confidential docs Namgung Oh hadn’t burned.
—White Thunder Sword Division, moving covertly to Kongdong Mountain. Shadow Thunder Division escorting in secret.
—Confirmed sighting of Heavenly Mountain Demon-Slaying Phantom Sect. Contact scheduled.
“For the second trial, dispatch me and Half-Wicked Punisher to Kongdong Sect. I’ll smash their heads and prove the Central Plains’ bulwark is none but Western Hegemon.”
“!!”
“!!”
“!!”
“!!”
“And show you, Clan Head, that the Stormwind will is with me.”
Gong Son-beom and the Iron Palm Trio’s eyes widened like saucers.
Grin!
The Dark Venerable smiled broadly without a word.
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