Chapter 17
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Stomping the Venom Dragon
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"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Yun Merchants all of a sudden?!"
"Our own clan backing an evil sect?! And interfering with obtaining the Narrow Tip Sword—what kind of bullshit is that?!"
Two thunderous roars erupted simultaneously.
Gwang-il's response to them was ruthlessly discriminatory.
Kwak!
"Keuk!"
"Where does a mere Sichuan Tang flunky dare butt in while an elder of Great Point Cang is speaking? Shameless cur."
Gwang-il stomped viciously on the fallen Venom Dragon Captain's throat, then bowed politely to Gwan-ho with a calm tone utterly at odds with his brutal action.
"Truth be told, I was heading to guard their secret hideout but worried my own inexperience might leave us short-handed, so I requested aid from the Beggars' Sect's proxy division."
"The Beggars' Sect?"
Sharing his sect's affairs—ones that could utterly ruin their reputation—with outsiders?
Disappointment surged abruptly, thick reproach clouding Gwan-ho's eyes. But right then...
Gwang-il's steady voice followed, flipping his thoughts entirely on their head.
"No matter what fortune this disciple stumbled upon, taking on the vile hordes of the Sichuan Tang Clan single-handed was deemed impossible."
"Hmmm."
"With the Venom Dragon Captain here, surely his entire Venom Dragon Squad has gathered too? I feared my own shortcomings might tarnish Point Cang's name, so..."
"No need. Upon hearing it, your decision was the right one, Gwang-il. I failed to consider that far."
Indeed, with the captain present, there was no reason to assume his subordinates weren't swarming in as well.
'Gwang-il facing the Venom Dragon Squad alone? Absurd.'
Even a supreme expert at the pinnacle had limits.
Especially against poison wielders, where one had to constantly seal airways and pores or wrap oneself in protective aura throughout the fight.
And if it was the infamous Venom Dragon Squad of the Sichuan Tang Clan, boasting their vicious joint poison techniques? The sheer malice and tenacity were beyond imagination.
"Requesting the Beggars' Sect's help was very wise. Especially here, where they have a full division rather than a mere branch—even the Venom Dragon Squad won't move lightly."
This wasn't about the squad lacking the edge in a straight fight against the proxy division's beggars.
It went beyond that: a warning of the horrific calamity that would descend if they dared touch a Beggars' Sect beggar.
As a seasoned veteran who knew the tales of the "hundred thousand Beggars' Sect" were no exaggeration, Gwan-ho could say this with certainty.
And if the Beggars' Sect, harboring grudge over a beggar's death, deliberately spread damning rumors across the land?
For the Sichuan Tang Clan, rooted at the western edge of the Central Plains, mounting any proper counter would be exceedingly difficult.
'Because those vicious rumors would all be rooted in cold, hard truth.'
The Beggars' Sect didn't fabricate lies against demonic cults or ancient villains—that would tarnish their self-proclaimed title as the world's greatest righteous sect.
But what group in the world was spotless if you shook it hard enough?
Humans, banding together with purpose, inevitably accrued dirty deeds knowingly or not—that was the truth of the world.
Thus, a more accurate description: they relentlessly dug for info they hadn't bothered with before, draining their target's blood dry.
Thanks to swiftly recalling these facts, Gwan-ho could praise Gwang-il's handling.
The division's own formidable force was rare even across all of Yunnan.
But above all, he realized the Sichuan Tang Clan couldn't dare act recklessly against them due to the Beggars' Sect's symbolic weight.
In truth, it was simply that the half-blackmailed division leader had frantically mustered his beggars to protect his own honey pot.
'But good results are all that matter.'
He had long grasped that the division leader would have no choice but to cooperate going forward.
The shocking truth of the Iron Sword Gang's brutal kidnappings backed by the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Plus, their covert extortion of the Yun Merchants, long disrupting Yunnan's commerce.
That alone was enough to strip the man of his post and drag him to headquarters with no grounds for protest.
Knowing the Beggars' Sect's inner workings so well, Gwang-il had forced compliance with a threat wrapped in the guise of persuasion.
"When this reaches headquarters, it'll be quite the show, eh? The law-enforcers glaring daggers and charging in en masse, I wager?"
"?!"
"Ah... With one of the Eight Great Clans nurturing an evil sect in the Nine Great Sects' domain—an unprecedented scandal—elders might even join them...?"
"H-How do you know about our sect's...!"
"Is that the priority right now? Those cushy days under our sect's tacit approval are one step from turning into a hellish ordeal, aren't they?"
"!!!"
"Utterly oblivious, lolling about... You'll be hauled to HQ for severe discipline, then shipped off to some far~ southern secret branch beyond the Yangtze, no doubt."
"Uh, ughhh!"
"They say beggars drop dead left and right amid those vicious, ruthless evil sect bastards while scraping for intel, right?"
"N-No! Nooooo!"
'Definitely the type that's easy to exploit.'
Different from the second-generation disciple and sect leader's disciple he'd met in his previous life.
But this one's far more naive and green, making him perfect to roll around like a toy in his palm.
'Dared peddle half-baked info to my master here in the proxy division—for a whopping two taels of silver, no less?'
He'd squeeze the man thoroughly from here on out.
For the division leader, currently combing through the hideout with its nine scattered corpses, eyes blazing—this was the harbinger of endless misfortune.
"Gwang-il. So what exactly was that about the Yun Merchants earlier?"
"...Ah."
He'd slipped up while name-dropping the Beggars' Sect as an excuse.
Gwang-il slicked his lips with saliva and launched smoothly into his prepped tale without hesitation.
"I happened to overhear it while seeking their aid. They were quietly probing odd trends in Yunnan's commerce from the proxy division and discovered an evil group called the Iron Sword Gang pulling strings behind the scenes."
"What?! You mean the Sichuan Tang Clan has extended its claws even into Yunnan's trade world?!"
Gwan-ho was usually stoic as stone, but once his tiger-like rage ignited, no one could easily quell it.
Like a mountain lord tiger, in fact.
His master had seen that fiery temper early and named him "Tiger" upon his entry to Point Cang.
"Have you ever seen such heaven-defying scum?! How dare so-called righteous sects of noble fame lay hands on innocent civilians outside the martial world?!"
Now, tempered by age and layered with unyielding stubbornness, only the sect leader Gwan-hae and two or three others could rein in his fury.
For Gwang-il, who knew this well, it was yet another boon.
"Even the Beggars' Sect was unaware the Iron Sword Gang answered to the Sichuan Tang Clan. It had to have been that covert and cunning a scheme."
"Precisely! You're absolutely right, Gwang-il! I'll slaughter these damned—"
"Elder! Please, hold steady!"
As Gwan-ho's hand shot to his sword hilt in a radical motion, Tong-cheon leaped forward with a tense expression to block him.
"We must first complete the sect leader's orders. May this disciple divide the junior brothers to assign the tasks?"
"Very well. See to it. I'll head straight to this so-called Sichuan Tang hideout."
He snorted roughly, very much primed to butcher any Venom Dragon Squad remnants lurking there.
Gwang-il inwardly cheered at that blazing wrath.
'Perfect. Yun Merchants' suspicions fully cleared, and the division leader won't dare defy me now.'
Of course, the Yun Merchants would need meticulous evidence fabrication to pin all their past crimes squarely on the Sichuan Tang Clan.
But that was the Yun Merchant Leader's job.
Likewise, the division leader wouldn't bother correcting Gwang-il's lies unless he was eager for a thrashing at HQ over negligence.
'He'll desperately hunt proof of the Sichuan Tang Clan's extortion of the Yun Merchants to make it "truth"—even more fiercely now.'
And that proof would come easily, aligning with the Yun Merchant Leader's desire to use the safe, verified Beggars' Sect channel.
'All neatly tied up.'
Not only expelling the Sichuan Tang Clan—long-time schemers from ancestors to present—from Yunnan.
He had a firm grip on the Yun Merchants' vital funding lifeline, and even Yunnan's sole pair of Beggars' Sect divisions firmly in hand.
And amid it all, he hadn't yet revealed info on their biggest weapon, the Beast Palace...
'Sichuan Tang Clan or Beast Palace—both trash will have to watch their step even more.'
The Tang Clan, unsure if their Beast Palace pact was exposed, couldn't easily probe Yunnan for truth—leaving them to suffer in frustrated silence.
The Beast Palace, too, wouldn't dare scheme this way if Point Cang burst aggressively beyond its gates, fangs bared.
'This is plenty for now.'
The massive Beast Palace invasion slated for nine years hence wouldn't be delayed by this much, recalling their overwhelming scale and might.
Still.
'Disrupting their covert machinations alone exceeds expectations.'
For now, making it crystal clear that Point Cang had its eyes wide open on Yunnan would suffice.
After that, naturally.
'Everyone from me on down must train with life-or-death resolve.'
As his senior uncles dispersed briskly to their tasks, Gwang-il's expression had somewhere along the way frozen into a chill evoking the eternal snows crowning a lofty peak.