The Strong Survive (4)
“Vice Lord.”
“Hm?”
Yang Cheon, who had been sharing drinks with Mak Won, tilted his head in mild curiosity.
“What is it?”
He had made it clear that he would accept no further reports today unless the matter was truly urgent. Especially for Baek Seo, who had served him faithfully for many years, routine affairs would be handled without needing to ask. Yet here he was. It could only mean the issue was too delicate for Baek Seo to resolve on his own authority.
Baek Seo’s lips moved silently. He had sent a sound transmission.
A moment later, Yang Cheon’s eyes flashed with interest.
“So that’s what happened.”
“How should we proceed?”
“Leave it alone.”
Baek Seo asked with careful hesitation.
“Are you certain that will be wise?”
“Of course. In fact, I’m more curious why you seem so concerned.”
“It is because the person involved is not one of ours…”
Not one of ours. In other words, Yeon Hojeong.
Yang Cheon shook his head.
“That bastard walks the line better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Even if he crosses it, there will be a damn good reason.”
“But still…”
Yang Cheon continued in a languid, almost bored tone.
“And honestly, part of me hopes the bastard does cross the line by mistake. If I get to use that as an excuse to knock his head around a few times, it would be rather refreshing, wouldn’t it?”
Though the words were spoken in jest, Baek Seo could sense the sincerity beneath them. In other words, Yang Cheon firmly believed Yeon Hojeong would never actually cross that line. It was an extraordinary level of trust.
Baek Seo bowed his head.
“Understood. Then I will simply observe without taking any action.”
“That’s how it should be. What’s the point of adults stepping into children’s fights?”
Once Baek Seo had withdrawn, Mak Won asked bluntly.
“Did Vice Commander Yeon stir up some kind of trouble?”
“Your instincts are sharper than I gave you credit for. You realized immediately that it involved that Yeon Hojeong fellow.”
“You said it was someone not on our side. That leaves only Vice Commander Yeon.”
“It could have been one of the men he brought with him, couldn’t it?”
“I doubt there is anyone else the Vice Lord trusts to that degree besides Vice Commander Yeon.”
Yang Cheon let out a short laugh.
“You’re not wrong.”
Mak Won, who had been quietly studying Yang Cheon, silently refilled his cup without another word. Whatever the matter was, it concerned the internal affairs of the Black Dragon Department. He had no desire to pry.
Yang Cheon drained his cup in one smooth motion, smacked his lips, and spoke again.
“Do you have any disciples?”
Mak Won smiled bitterly.
“There are a few I’ve taught a couple of moves to, but I wouldn’t call them disciples. I never taught them internal energy or the proper mindset of a martial artist.”
“I see.”
This time, Yang Cheon refilled Mak Won’s cup himself.
“Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my own methods.”
“……?”
“I don’t raise my disciples with affection. I select those with useful talent, but more than seventy percent of them have gone astray. Some even fell into qi deviation from their obsession with martial arts and became worse than beasts.”
Mak Won tilted his head.
“Why not raise them with affection?”
“That was simply my way. I still have no desire to change it, but I can see now that it has its problems.”
He would teach them martial arts, then observe until they reached a certain level of strength. He would assign them tasks, send them out into the world, and watch the results. A hands-off approach. He would keep those who succeeded and discard those who strayed.
Of all the disciples he had taught and observed in this manner, only three had remained upright: Yeop Seong, Bu Seon, and Jeon Hong.
“Then the third lost an arm fighting a fellow named Kang Liang. Whether a swordsman or a fist fighter, losing an arm is fatal for any martial artist.”
“……”
“But I thought it was actually for the best. The third is talented in many ways, but far too arrogant. He has been out of my favor for a long time, yet that single talent of his kept him afloat.”
“No matter how arrogant a disciple may be, if they lose an arm, shouldn’t you at least offer them some comfort?”
“Comfort? What is that? Something you eat?”
“……”
“There have been many masters with a single eye or a single arm throughout the history of the Murim. There was even an absolute expert who attached a prosthetic leg and continued to roam the world. You know of the One-Legged Divine Demon, yes?”
“Wasn’t he the absolute master from a hundred years ago?”
“Correct. The One-Legged Divine Demon lost a leg at the age of thirty. Surviving was heavenly fortune, but what came afterward was truly terrifying for a martial artist. Every person who held a grudge against him swarmed like a pack of hyenas.”
“That is truly a cowardly thing to do.”
“Cowardly? Why is that cowardly? If you are weak, you get eaten. That is the natural order of things.”
“But we are not beasts, are we?”
“You must first acknowledge that you are a beast before you can become a better man. Everyone who truly understands the world admits their own shortcomings.”
“……”
“Losing an arm is fatal, but losing an eye is even worse. And losing a leg is more fatal than losing an eye. At least for martial artists, that is the case.”
Yang Cheon emptied his cup.
“If you are not eaten, and losing a single arm allows you to reflect on your own arrogance and past mistakes, then I believe that is worth more than a thousand words of teaching.”
“You are a terrifying master.”
“Yet the third did not do so. At least, not yet. He never once reflected on why he lost. He has been too busy simply hating and hating the one who severed his arm.”
“Anyone would react that way.”
“Which is precisely why I have been treating the third with indifference. Not just anyone can become the disciple of the King of Combat.”
“That makes sense.”
“The one Yeon Hojeong took as his sworn brother is that Kang Liang. And it was I who destroyed his sect. Knowing all of that, I still accepted the boy into the Black Dragon Department. He, understanding that he cannot defeat me, has been quietly devoting himself to training.”
Mak Won was inwardly astonished.
Both Kang Liang, who had calmly entered the camp of his enemy to train, and Yang Cheon, who knew everything yet chose not to touch him, were remarkable. The Dark Faction was truly a difficult world to understand. He could not decide whether this should be called great boldness or simply mutual insanity.
“Let us say we have discarded the third. That leaves the first and second. The second earned my recognition through vicious, almost poisonous effort. But the first has not yet done so.”
“Is the first the disciple connected to Vice Commander Yeon?”
“Who knows.”
The corners of Yang Cheon’s mouth curved upward.
“He may be entangled with all of them.”
“Hm?”
“Whatever the case, I knew that bastard Yeon Hojeong would cause all sorts of incidents.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? No matter how outstanding he may be, Vice Commander Yeon belongs to the Martial Alliance. Even if he is a witness to the alliance between our two departments, if he causes trouble inside the Black Dragon Department, it will not be easy for the Vice Lord to simply overlook it.”
“It may turn out to be the opposite.”
Yang Cheon smacked his lips.
“Thanks to that fellow, the main department may become far cleaner than before.”
“……”
“There is something, isn’t there?”
“The main department is a newly formed alliance. It hasn’t been highlighted much, but if you examine it closely, it is riddled with problems.”
“And Vice Commander Yeon can clean that up for you?”
“At the very least, he can make the leadership realize exactly what the problems are.”
Mak Won tilted his head once more.
“Isn’t that risky?”
“What is?”
“I know your presence is overwhelming… but if you simply watch quietly while Vice Commander Yeon runs wild, won’t discontent rise from below?”
Yang Cheon readily admitted it.
“That could happen.”
“And you are willing to accept that risk?”
“Risk? Unfortunately, I am not merciful enough to worry about such things.”
“Then…?”
“If they don’t like it, I’ll simply round them all up and crush them.”
“……!!”
“I am a man with great ambition. But to realize that ambition, I must first win this war. And to win the war, I need subordinates who trust me absolutely. An organization that is merely large in size has far too many weaknesses.”
Yang Cheon filled his own cup again.
“It is rough, but the value is worth the sacrifice.”
Mak Won thought to himself, He truly is a frightening man. The Black Dragon Department was a colossal monster sustained by the Vice Lord’s absolute authority.
Yet it was still new and riddled with issues.
It seemed Yang Cheon had decided Yeon Hojeong was necessary to solve those various problems. It was also proof of just how much he trusted the young man.
If those dissatisfied with Yang Cheon’s methods stepped forward to question him?
At that exact moment, Yang Cheon would gather every dissatisfied faction together and bury them all at once.
The overall power might decrease slightly, but it was the Dark Faction’s way of forging a stronger, sharper, and more loyal organization.
It was an extremely dangerous method, yet perfectly in line with the ways of the Dark Faction.
“By the way, what should we do about those three?”
Yang Cheon smiled as he stroked his beard. His expression was one of genuine interest.
“It seems the first one has scratched the pride of the second and third quite thoroughly… Once those two learn that the first has ended up in such a state, I wonder if they will join forces?”
“Huk! Huk!”
Yeop Seong had not returned to the Black Dragon Department headquarters.
There were many skilled physicians inside. His internal and external injuries could have been healed within ten days.
But that would have been far too dangerous.
The mere fact that he had been injured spreading throughout the department would itself be a problem. Beyond mere pride, if his reputation took a hit, he would lose the trust of everyone who had aligned themselves with him.
In the end, that was how it worked. Just as third-rate thugs in the back alleys never showed their wounded sides to their underlings, Yeop Seong had no intention of revealing his injured state to anyone else.
The world of the Dark Faction was remarkably similar in that regard, differing only in scale.
“Cough!”
After circling around the main entrance and slipping into another stretch of forest, Yeop Seong continued to vomit blood.
“Damn it…!”
He had already coughed up blood several times on the way here. The blood he had spat then had all been bright red.
But this was different. The dark, almost black blood pooling on the ground carried a foul, rotten stench.
His internal injuries were worsening rapidly. They had already been severe, but forcing his body to move had accelerated the deterioration at an alarming rate.
“Ugh!”
It seemed he had lost too much blood. His vision suddenly spun.
Leaning his back against a tree, Yeop Seong began circulating his Blood Lion Qi.
Woooong.
The ferocious energy seeped into every corner of his five viscera and six bowels. For a moment, he nearly screamed despite himself.
The Blood Lion Qi was a supreme divine art and excellent for treating internal injuries. However, the energy itself was so violent that the pain of using it for self-treatment surpassed imagination.
The agony was enough to make one panic. How long had it been since he last felt pain like this? Fucking hell.
Crack! Crackle!
He used his qi to painstakingly realign the shattered bones of his right hand one by one.
The pain was beyond description. It was only possible because he had reached a high enough realm to move his muscles and bones with true qi. Had an ordinary martial artist suffered such an injury, their right hand would have been permanently crippled.
Still, it was fortunate. Though the pain was excruciating, he had managed to prevent his internal injuries from worsening further and had hardened the crushed bones of his right hand back into their proper alignment.
For now, this was enough.
“You son of a bitch!”
Yeop Seong could not contain his killing intent.
“You dared to touch me? You’ve made a mistake, Yeon Hojeong.”
He had not expected Yeon Hojeong to be that strong. Honestly, his pride had taken a severe blow.
But now was not the time to dwell on such feelings.
He had never once left someone who harmed him alone. He had even succeeded in taking revenge on those stronger than himself.
This time would be no different.
He would make sure the bastard paid the price.
“First, I need to treat this body.”
He could not enter the department looking like this. At the very least, he needed to heal himself enough that it would not show on the surface. If I head another thirty li southeast from here…
It was then.
…?!
Yeop Seong’s eyes flashed.
He turned his head to the right.
Rustle. Rustle.
A single person emerged, pushing through the underbrush.
Bu Seon stood there.
“Oh my, Big Brother.”
Bu Seon smiled sweetly.
“Are you badly hurt?”