The Beginning of the Cleanup (1)
Yeon Wi stepped into Jegal Mun-ho’s office.
“Strategist.”
Jegal Mun-ho broke into a wide grin. Yeon Wi’s expression alone told him everything he needed to know.
“Did they catch him?”
“They did. The Tang Family Head emerged victorious.”
“That is a relief.”
Though he had told them not to worry before sending them off with bold confidence, how could he truly remain unconcerned? Their opponent was an unknown expert, a subordinate of an organization whose true strength and nature remained shrouded in mystery.
Yet Dang Gwan was still Dang Gwan. The King of Poison Darkness who ruled Sichuan as its unchallenged tyrant had proven himself formidable once again.
“However, while they caught him…”
Yeon Wi clicked his tongue.
“They were unable to take him alive.”
“I see.”
“I never expected a live capture from the start, but it seems he was killed outright.”
Jegal Mun-ho let out a dry chuckle.
“You know the Tang Family Head’s temperament. If you had truly wanted the man captured alive, Lord Yeon, you would have made that clear beforehand.”
“You are right.”
“Given how little we knew about the opponent’s strength or martial style, attempting a reckless capture could have led to a counterattack. We might have lost a comrade. This outcome is better.”
“I agree.”
“Now, the real issue is…”
“Patriarch Moyong.”
“Exactly.”
Yeon Wi’s eyes gleamed.
“Patriarch Moyong’s skill in handling matters is exceptional. I am certain he wrapped things up nicely.”
“I trust his abilities, but the problem is that we have no information on the current state of Lord Yeo Sang-do, the Provincial Military Commander. If he has sided with them…”
“Do not worry. I have already considered that possibility.”
Jegal Mun-ho’s eyes widened.
“Have you? I had my own thoughts on the matter as well.”
Yeon Wi smiled.
“It is not widely known, but Lord Yeo Sang-do’s integrity and loyalty are extraordinary. Moreover, his strategic insight is outstanding. He would not have joined hands with the Shinwha Sect. Unless, of course, he is currently enduring hardship in preparation for a counterstrike.”
“You know Lord Yeo Sang-do?”
“I met him a couple of times in the past. We never shared personal conversations, but it was enough time to gauge the man’s character.”
“People can always change.”
“Sometimes there are values that never change.”
The fact that Yeon Wi spoke with such certainty suggested the man was no ordinary person.
Jegal Mun-ho gave a light nod.
“For now, I will have the Tang Family Head remain on standby with the Rear Beggar until we hear from Patriarch Moyong. If the plan shifts toward drawing them in, then at that point…”
“We will need to deploy forces.”
“Precisely.”
Who exactly would they deploy?
Jegal Mun-ho smiled as he rose from his seat.
“In that case, I shall go speak with Abbot Gong Gong.”
“Do so.”
Three days later.
“We have received word from Patriarch Moyong.”
Yeon Wi read the letter Jegal Mun-ho handed him. Lightning flashed in his eyes.
“As expected.”
He had turned what could have been a difficult negotiation into a splendid success.
“Once we lure them in and capture them…”
“We will strike straight into Kaifeng.”
“Excellent.”
Yeon Wi tapped the hilt of his sword.
“I will head to Kaifeng first. I leave the rest to you.”
“Understood. Ah, by the way, have you received any separate messages from Commander Yeon? Things have been unusually busy lately, so I have not yet read the letter he sent.”
Yeon Wi smiled.
“You mean Hojeong?”
A wild mountain not far from Xuchang in Henan Province.
“Just standing around here like this brings back old memories.”
Yeon Hojeong, warming his hands by the campfire, spoke out of nowhere.
Muk Bi tilted her head.
“Old memories?”
“The Myeong family.”
“Oh, the one they called the greatest family under the heavens?”
“Yes. Their estate was near here. It’s practically a ruin now, though.”
“I heard the area was designated as part of the Martial Alliance’s territory?”
“They are in the middle of construction. No final decision has been made on its exact purpose, but the terrain and existing walls are nearly perfect for defense. It would be a waste to leave it as is.”
“I see.”
Muk Bi smiled faintly.
“How does it feel to return to the territory of the organization you once crushed?”
“Nothing much. It just brings back a few memories from that time.”
The firelight danced in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes, making them appear deeper than usual.
“I really tore through them without thinking. Looking back, I was reckless. I charged in because I was confident it was possible, but now that I reflect on it, I went way too far.”
“You joined hands with Patriarch Moyong and brought them down, right?”
“That’s right.”
What was he remembering?
Yeon Hojeong gave a small chuckle.
“Well, it was always like that. I would come up with grand plans every time, but things rarely went according to plan. In the end, I spent most of my time struggling to make sure the choices I made led in the right direction.”
“Isn’t that how everyone lives?”
People said that Yeon Hojeong’s insight and wisdom had reached the very peak of the world.
Yeon Hojeong denied it.
Of course, he was quick-witted and excellent at striking at weaknesses. He did not deny his own strengths under the pretense of humility.
However, he was not at the level where he could be called a divine strategist. Once he decided, “I will do it this way,” he simply never looked back.
It was a trait that could be called reckless, or perhaps unstoppable drive.
“No matter how smart you are, you cannot see through everything in the world. In that regard, Young Master Yeon is impressive. You seem to know exactly when to use your head and when to trust your instincts.”
“Instincts, huh.”
“Was it the same back then?”
“During the Myeong family incident?”
“No. During the time of the Black Emperor Citadel.”
Black Emperor Citadel.
To Yeon Hojeong, it was the past—and in the future that had now been rewritten, a place that would never exist. It had been the strongest alliance of the dark factions.
It shared no similarities with the current Black Dragon Department in origin or purpose. In a way, it had also been the brightest moment of Yeon Hojeong’s life.
“I’m not sure.”
Yeon Hojeong took a sip of water and smacked his lips.
“I was running around frantically then too. It wasn’t an organization created with any clear intention from the start. In the beginning, it was nothing more than a small gang.”
“Black Emperor Citadel… That’s quite a grandiose name. You took it from your own title, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Black Dark Emperor.
Heukam meant utter, impenetrable darkness. At the same time, it referred to the Black Darkness Hell.
The Black Darkness Hell was the realm ruled by the Five Paths Wheel-Turning King, an abyss where not a single ray of light could enter.
It was the final hell among the ten great hells of Buddhism, where one would either enter reincarnation or fall into darkness according to the final judgment.
The Black Darkness Hell was the place where those who did not produce children would fall.
At first glance, it might seem absurd, but in truth, the inability to have children was also the result of karma from a previous life, and the darkness served as the place that judged that karma.
In other words, the Black Darkness Hell was the realm that punished evil men who had been stripped of the biological instinct to propagate their bloodline.
That was why it was the final hell. It existed at the crossroads of the final judgment that decided the cycle of life.
And Yeon Hojeong had traversed the world under a title modeled after that terrifying hell.
He was a man who had lived as the final hell that his enemies would have to pass through.
“Everyone is like that. Anyone who lives in this martial world.”
The crackling of the campfire became the instrument accompanying Yeon Hojeong’s calm, steady voice.
“When blades clash, someone dies. In a battle of life and death, the victor becomes the final gateway for the defeated. Not a single person who has died by my hand has ever surpassed me. To them, I was simply the final mountain they could never climb.”
“……”
“It wasn’t a title I gave myself, but that is how I have lived. After the title Black Dark Emperor was born, I never lost a single battle, even if I lost wars. It was only possible because I had suffered countless defeats before then.”
Yeon Hojeong smiled.
At a glance, the smile seemed bitter. Looked at another way, it seemed filled with anticipation.
“It is different now. I no longer wish to be called by such a fearsome title. No matter how I think about it, the title of Byeoksan Patriarch sounds far more respectable than the gloomy Black Dark Emperor, doesn’t it?”
Muk Bi let out a small laugh.
“That’s true.”
“Thinking about it now, the title Black Dark Emperor is ridiculous. The final gateway? What nonsense. In the end, I’m only human. I ended up getting stabbed in the back and killed, so what kind of Black Darkness is that?”
“You said you were killed by a hidden weapon from the Tang Family Head—at the time, I mean, from Lord Dang Gwan?”
“That’s right. If he had just left me alone, I would have died on my own. Well, if I died that way, I suppose it was a fitting end for the Black Dark Emperor.”
Listening to Yeon Hojeong, Muk Bi thought that no one could predict how a person’s life would unfold.
She believed his confession. She completely believed the unbelievable story that he had lived for decades, then returned to the past.
That was why she thought: Even someone as outstanding and experienced as him could not help but feel powerless before the massive flow of fate.
Life was a race through darkness where one could not see even an inch ahead. In that case, it was probably more comfortable to live like Yeon Hojeong—ignoring the eyes of others and burning everything into what one could do.
The look in Muk Bi’s eyes as she gazed at Yeon Hojeong deepened.
What about me?
There had always been one thing she considered truly remarkable while watching him.
He always had a goal. The moment he achieved it, he set a new one and ran toward it without pause.
Some might call it an excessively harsh life. But to Muk Bi, apart from the harshness, Yeon Hojeong was a man who truly knew how to live his life like a human being.
At the very least, even if he worried about those left behind when he died, Yeon Hojeong would not leave behind any regrets about his own life.
That was how one should live.
I am satisfied with how things are now. But will I feel the same later? Will the day come when I leave everything behind to live my own life?
And in such a situation, what expressions would Yeon Hojeong and Yeon Wi show?
Muk Bi, lost in thought, let out a soft, meaningless laugh.
“You’ve grown too, Young Master Yeon.”
“In what way?”
“The Young Master Yeon I knew was the type to repay whatever was done to him. Twofold. No, tenfold.”
“That hasn’t changed much even now.”
“But you’ve become quite close with the Tang Family Head who ended your life back then.”
Yeon Hojeong scratched his head.
“Mm, that’s true. But well, I can’t exactly hold it against him now, can I? From his perspective, it never even happened.”
“That’s true as well.”
“Besides, even though I was stabbed in the back, I never thought of the Tang Family Head as purely evil. At the very least, he was a trustworthy ally when it came to going to war.”
“And now?”
“Of course. He’s far more trustworthy than he was back then.”
It was then.
“Are you talking about me?”
Neither Yeon Hojeong nor Muk Bi were startled. They had already sensed Dang Gwan’s presence.
“You’ve arrived?”
Dang Gwan, who had revealed himself, snorted.
“When exactly did I ever fight a war with you, you rude brat?”
Yeon Hojeong laughed cheerfully.
“It was just a figure of speech. Please don’t pay it any mind.”
“Sly bastard.”
“Anyway, you’ve brought us news of victory, as expected.”
“He was only half a warrior who didn’t even understand the virtue of a life-or-death duel. He was nothing special.”
“For someone who was nothing special, you burned quite a few sleeves.”
“Shut up.”
Dang Gwan sat down in front of the campfire.
His eyes flashed as he asked.
“So, has there been any word from that Moyong bastard?”
“Yes. He succeeded. It seems he plans to lure the Shinwha Sect members in.”
“Is that so?”
Dang Gwan revealed a savage smile.
“I wonder if somewhat decent opponents will show up this time.”
“You could die.”
“The weak die. But I am not weak.”
It was tremendous confidence, as always.
“Did you handle your own business properly?”
“Of course.”
Yeon Hojeong looked toward the north.
“Now all that remains is to enjoy the show.”