Signs of Collapse (8)
“Hah!”
Songha Sinni’s face drained of color, shock etched across her features.
“S-Senior Sister!”
Deunghwa Satae’s face twisted into something demonic.
“Shut your mouth.”
The low, snarling voice carried a lethal edge.
Kang Liang turned to Yeon Hojeong.
“Who is that woman?”
Yeon Hojeong drove his foot straight into Deunghwa Satae’s back.
Thud!
“Guh!”
She crumpled where she stood. She could not move. Yeon Hojeong had sealed her internal energy and struck her vital points; everything below her neck was paralyzed.
“She used to be an elder of the Emei Sect.”
“An… Emei elder?”
Kang Liang’s face went slack with disbelief.
“……She doesn’t look like one at all.”
It was understandable. The Emei Sect was a monastery of nuns who served the Buddha and studied the Dharma. Yet Deunghwa Satae had grown out her hair, painted her face, and wore gaudy robes. Years of martial training had preserved her youth; aside from her face, she could easily pass for a young woman.
At a glance, she resembled a former courtesan who had become the concubine of some high official. She no longer looked like someone who belonged in monastic robes. Kang Liang, Pae Yul, and Hwang Seok-tae were all visibly shaken.
Yeon Hojeong downed a bowl of water and let out a thunderous belch.
“I already told you. She used to be an elder. She isn’t anymore.”
“Huh?”
“Look at her. There’s nothing Emei left in that appearance. She might still hold the title, but she stopped being one of them a long time ago. She even came to hate the sect.”
He delivered the damning words in a perfectly calm tone.
Pae Yul muttered, “This is going to be a night that calls for drink.”
He masked his own shock with a grim remark.
Yeon Hojeong looked at Songha Sinni.
“You called her senior sister?”
“……”
“Songha Sinni.”
“Y-Yes?”
“If she’s your senior sister, tell me everything you know about her.”
Deunghwa Satae glared up at Songha Sinni with venomous eyes. Songha Sinni squeezed her own eyes shut; the shock made it hard to think clearly.
“……Her name is Deunghwa. She is my senior sister… and the Second Elder of our main temple.”
There was no strength left in her voice. She barely seemed aware of what she was saying.
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Second Elder. One of the representative elders, then. Her martial arts were certainly impressive.”
“……”
“Was she the one you were chasing?”
“……No.”
Tears streamed down Songha Sinni’s cheeks.
“I… I never imagined Senior Sister Deunghwa could be involved in this…”
“Shut up!”
Deunghwa Satae suddenly screamed.
“You worthless bitch! Because of you alone, children who didn’t have to die are dead! You’ll never die cleanly!”
The outburst was vicious and sudden. Kang Liang’s brow furrowed.
“I don’t know the details, but can I stuff a club in that foul mouth?”
“Why a club? Give her a blade to bite on.”
“I’d rather do that.”
“The mouth’s one thing, but I’m thinking about other parts too.”
Yeon Hojeong grabbed Deunghwa Satae by the scruff of her neck and hauled her upright.
“Ghk!”
The strength was monstrous. He lifted a grown woman without using a shred of internal energy. Deunghwa Satae’s face flushed crimson—whether from blood rushing to her head or sheer humiliation was unclear.
Yeon Hojeong hurled her onto an empty chair.
Crash!
He roughly righted her slumped form, then pressed a pressure point on her neck. Veins bulged along her throat. She could neither speak nor move, no matter how desperately she tried.
Yeon Hojeong extended a hand toward Kang Liang.
“Blade.”
Kang Liang drew his sword from his belt.
Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
“Not that. A dagger.”
“This one?”
Kang Liang produced a short hunting knife from his robes—the kind used for skinning game or cutting meat while traveling. Yeon Hojeong took it and drove it straight through the top of Deunghwa Satae’s foot.
Thud!
Her face turned from red to a sickly purple. The blade had pierced clean through from instep to sole. The unprepared agony threatened to shatter her mind.
Not only Deunghwa Satae was stunned. Songha Sinni and the other three stared at Yeon Hojeong in shock. He stripped off his outer robe and tossed it over her.
Whoosh!
It covered her face and upper body. Yeon Hojeong picked up the Flood Dragon Chain and the Black Dragon Axe.
“Step outside for a moment. This won’t take long.”
The implication was unmistakable.
Songha Sinni cried out involuntarily.
“N-No! You can’t!”
Yeon Hojeong did not answer or even glance her way. Songha Sinni pressed on.
“She is still my senior sister! An elder of the Emei Sect! No matter what she’s done, this… this is too much!”
At that moment, Pae Yul placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“Pae Yul, Elder!”
“She may be your senior sister and an Emei elder, but she could also be one of the ringleaders dragging Sichuan into a swamp of madness.”
“B-But!”
“Righteousness and sentiment matter, but this is the time to set personal feelings aside.”
“……!”
“Trust us. Frankly, there’s nothing you can do right now, is there?”
That struck home. It was a harsh truth, but undeniable. Songha Sinni lacked the power to resolve this crisis.
“And remember this: he is the commander of the Martial Alliance’s special forces and its official representative dispatched to the unorthodox factions. The Alliance does not hand out such authority and responsibility to just anyone.”
Ultimately, Songha Sinni lowered her head in defeat. Pae Yul spoke to Yeon Hojeong.
“You understand the implications, don’t you?”
“……”
“Whatever the circumstances, she is still the Second Elder of the Emei Sect. Even if this goes smoothly, the Emei Sect may voice complaints.”
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“I know.”
“Can you accept that risk?”
“Do I look like the kind of person who weighs every little consequence before acting?”
“That’s exactly your problem, you bastard.”
“Don’t worry. Even if the entire Central Plains comes to hate me, I’ll still do what must be done.”
The words revealed, in a single line, how Yeon Hojeong had lived and what drove him now. Pae Yul gave a short laugh and led Songha Sinni out. Hwang Seok-tae shrugged.
“Need any help?”
“Just make sure no one comes in.”
“Leave that to me.”
Hwang Seok-tae looked at Kang Liang. Kang Liang clicked his tongue.
“That dagger’s expensive. Don’t break it.”
“I’ll see.”
“Tch.”
The remaining two also left the room. Yeon Hojeong raised the Flood Dragon Chain.
Clink!
The metallic sound had never seemed so chilling. Even Deunghwa Satae had not imagined it could feel this terrifying.
“I have far too many questions, but I don’t know where to start.”
Crunch!
Yeon Hojeong stepped on the dagger’s hilt.
“I won’t kill you.”
Somehow, the promise not to kill sounded far more frightening than a threat of death.
“Think carefully about what you should tell me. We’ll start with one leg.”
He swung the Flood Dragon Chain into Deunghwa Satae’s knee.
Clang!
Half an hour later.
“Come in.”
Hwang Seok-tae opened the door. A thick stench of blood and sweat hit them at once. He and Kang Liang hurried inside and shut the door behind them.
Pae Yul and Songha Sinni did not enter; the scene inside was not something anyone would want to witness. It was fortunate they had prior acquaintance.
“Here. The dagger.”
Yeon Hojeong handed Kang Liang the now-clean blade. Kang Liang accepted it with a reluctant expression. The weapon itself was undamaged, but after seeing Deunghwa Satae’s state, he felt uneasy taking it back.
Hwang Seok-tae glanced at the unconscious woman and spoke casually.
“Why not just kill her?”
“I promised I wouldn’t. At least not today.”
“She looks like she’d be better off dead.”
Both of Deunghwa Satae’s legs were soaked in blood. Even after hasty bandaging, the blood loss was severe. Bones were shattered, chunks of flesh torn away. The fact that she had not gone mad or died from shock was remarkable in itself. She lay foaming at the mouth, unconscious.
“We didn’t hear a single sound from outside.”
“I put up an internal-energy barrier to muffle everything. Just in case.”
“Thorough as always.”
“Enough talk. Let’s wrap this wretched woman up tight.”
His tone remained as calm as before, yet Kang Liang could feel it—Yeon Hojeong’s mood was at its worst. It was not merely because he had interrogated her. Whatever information had come out of Deunghwa Satae’s mouth had pushed him into cold fury.
‘He’s so angry he’s become eerily calm.’
Kang Liang stared at Deunghwa Satae with icy eyes.
‘What in the world did she do?’
It was clearly not about the Three Sects. His anger seemed directed at everyone involved in this affair, not simply because of their connection to the foreign sects.
He was curious—what exactly had she revealed?
A short while later, Yeon Hojeong finished binding Deunghwa Satae in a large cloth and slung her over his shoulder.
“Tell Pae Yul it’s time to move.”
Hwang Seok-tae tilted his head.
“Move? Where to?”
“Somewhere quiet, but not hard to find.”
“……Hm?”
“We had a proper fight in the back alleys. By now some of them will have woken up. Naturally, they’ll come looking for me and this wretched woman.”
Hwang Seok-tae’s jaw dropped. Kang Liang clicked his tongue.
“You could have warned us earlier.”
“Would it have changed anything? Why make such a fuss between fellow fighters?”
“It’s just… Anyway, why leave them alive? If you wanted to lure them out carefully, wouldn’t it have been better to make them disappear completely?”
“I didn’t charge straight into that ‘Nakwonso’ place with Deunghwa in front because I couldn’t be sure how many troops they had.”
“Ah. So this decoy is to gauge their numbers?”
“At the same time, it’ll reduce their forces.”
“That makes sense. Assuming none of us die.”
“Dying would be pointless.”
“In real combat, anything can happen, can’t it?”
“Are you going to keep whining?”
“Cold bastard. I’m ready.”
“Good.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.
“The night’s going to be long. Let’s go.”
* * *
“Huff… huff!”
“Elder!”
The warriors of the Qingcheng Sect were horrified to see their elder, Pung-gok Jinin, staggering in while bleeding profusely.
“W-What happened?!”
“Quickly—assemble the Three Wise Unit!”
“What?!”
“Move! Now!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“And shut this place down temporarily! Have everything moved out!”
The warrior leader’s eyes narrowed.
“Elder.”
“Can’t you follow orders faster?!”
“The Three Wise Unit can be gathered immediately, but we cannot close Nakwonso’s third branch. ‘That person’ is still here.”
“Shut up and do as you’re told! Deunghwa’s been captured. It’s only a matter of time before this place is exposed!”
“……Deunghwa—you mean the vice-branch master?”
Pung-gok Jinin seized the warrior leader by the throat.
“Ghk!”
“Since when do you low-ranking dogs talk back to us?”
“Krrk!”
“Close this place immediately! Spread a net across the area! We must capture them!”
For the first time since Nakwonso’s founding, they faced a truly dire situation. Dark clouds were gathering over Sichuan’s skies.
At that very moment, Dang Gwan and his son Dang Yang-seon entered Sichuan.