Chapter 343
Chapter 343
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 351
Chapter Title: Ambush at Twin Dragon Valley
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Heavenly Kings Brigade under the Eight Divisions swiftly climbed the ridgeline.
Brigade Leader Hwangbo Gwang-u glared at the distant fleeing group, his eyes blazing with fury.
“We can’t let them escape! We must capture them no matter what!”
These were the culprits behind the bizarre incidents suddenly plaguing the Hwangbo Clan.
They had bored holes into the Yellow Dragon Line, stolen goods from the escort agency, and swept through the Heavenly Kings Sword Sect to plunder their wealth—thieving bandits!
‘To think our main house was toyed with by just these thirty or so rats!’
His anger gave way to sheer absurdity.
For the Hwangbo Clan, hailed as one of the Five Great Clans, to be shaken by pests worse than ants!
‘We must catch them for the clan to breathe easy.’
If they seized these thieves and extracted confessions, they could corner the other Five Great Clans.
It would also eradicate the strange happenings across the clan’s territories and stabilize everything.
‘Then I could rise above the Heavenly Kings Brigade to lead the Eight Divisions!’
So they had to be caught.
Hwangbo Gwang-u unleashed his movement technique.
“Drive them! Keep pushing! They must have a hideout!”
“Yes!”
“These rat bastards—damn, they’re fast as hell!”
Their lightness skill was extraordinary, despite no particular standout talent.
Even the well-trained Heavenly Kings Brigade couldn’t close the gap properly.
And one more fact could be inferred.
“Their lair isn’t far.”
He instantly saw how they navigated the terrain like it was their own backyard.
There had to be a bandits’ den nearby!
Hwangbo Gwang-u’s eyes gleamed as he pursued the thieves.
“They’re heading south!”
“Moving toward Deungyeon Village!”
“Twin Dragon Valley! They’re going to Twin Dragon Valley!”
Passing through a narrow ravine and over a village, two towering peaks rose on either side.
Seeing the dragon-like twin summits, Hwangbo Gwang-u sneered.
“To think you were hiding in a place like this!”
“There’s a cliff behind them!”
“Drive them! You idiots!”
Hwangbo Gwang-u and his hundred Heavenly Kings Brigade members stared at the bandits entering Twin Dragon Valley.
The thieves, cornered in an instant, flailed about in panic.
Hwangbo Gwang-u bared his teeth in a grin.
“You rat bastards! Is this your den?”
The lead masked man looked around in confusion, whipping his head left and right.
“Where? Is this the place?”
“I told you it is!”
“You fucker, didn’t I say to tell the Chief?”
“I said it is, fuck!”
“Yeah! But is it really? No, hurry up and call him. Those bastards are coming!”
“Damn it, you call him then.”
Hwangbo Gwang-u’s eyes narrowed.
These lowly thieves were bickering right in front of him?
“You must really be begging to die!”
The Heavenly Kings Brigade exuded killing intent.
“We’ll beat them senseless first, then interrogate! Seize them!”
“Yes, Brigade Leader!”
The hundred members of the Heavenly Kings Brigade unleashed their bloodlust.
The bandits panicked.
“Y-Young Master! Spare the Young Master! We brought you all!”
“Chief, do something quick!”
“You bastard! Isn’t this the wrong place?”
“What bullshit? It’s the right one!”
“Argh, those fuckers are coming!”
“That’s why I said it wasn’t the Hwangbo Clan, you fuck! You damn Chief bastard!”
Watching them flounder, Hwangbo Gwang-u’s face twisted in disbelief before he grinned savagely.
“Of course those losers couldn’t be the masterminds! Where are you, you filthy scum? There have to be those bastards behind you! Where are the Nangong Clan dogs, the Peng Clan whelps, the Tang Clan bastards? You dirty curs, using street trash like puppets...!”
Thwack!
A flying stone fragment struck his head.
Hwangbo Gwang-u’s head snapped up.
A slender masked figure appeared atop the Twin Dragon Valley peak.
“Here I am, you fucker.”
Do Dae-ung, the masked man below the peak, scrambled under Nangong Hyeok.
“Aiii! Young Master! I trusted you’d come.”
“Heh heh, knew you’d show!”
Hwangbo Gwang-u’s eyes flashed at the tail-wagging thieves.
“Just as I thought. The ringleaders have finally appeared!”
He directed his killing intent at the one who had plunged the Hwangbo Clan into crisis—their frontman.
Even all of them together were barely thirty.
And those below in Twin Dragon Valley only excelled in lightness skill; they were amateurs with no real martial prowess.
Capture that one, and it was over.
“Ready to meet your end? Stay right there. I’ll send these all to the afterlife, then drag you back like a dog to...”
Swoosh!
Flanking Nangong Hyeok emerged Tak Hyeok-dong and Peng Jung-hyeok, looking like bandits.
“Hmph, even if two more show up...”
Swoosh, swoosh!
Nangong Ryong, So Hye-yeon, the Tang siblings, and So Geol-gae lined up beside them.
“Still...”
Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!
As a black wall of figures filled the peak, Hwangbo Gwang-u and the Heavenly Kings Brigade’s pupils dilated in shock.
“W-What...”
“B-Briga...de Leader...”
“Didn’t you say Twin Dragon Valley wouldn’t have many...?”
Was that “not many”?
Hwangbo Gwang-u’s pupils trembled finely at the pitch-black horde descending, blanketing Twin Dragon Valley.
The ant swarm overwhelming the area numbered over a thousand.
His jaw dropped at the mass encircling Twin Dragon Valley.
“T-This can’t be...?”
How could the Hwangbo Clan not know of such a force in Twin Dragon Valley?
“What the fuck are these yellow bastards blabbering about?”
“Send us where? You shit-eating fucks. Want me to peel your guts and flesh?”
“Ferment them into fish sauce and sell at the market.”
The casually descending horde, radiating menace, looked nothing like orthodox warriors.
Do Dae-ung, who’d been wagging his tail endlessly at Nangong Hyeok, cracked his neck and bellowed.
“Hey, you Hwangbo Clan fucks! I’m the Chief of the One-Line Society, the Black Path King!”
What?
One... Line Society?
What the hell?
One subordinate’s eyes widened, mouth agape.
“T-The One-Line Society!”
Hwangbo Gwang-u turned in shock, and a Heavenly Kings warrior muttered.
“T-They’re black faction scum.”
“What?”
“They’re the black faction groups that suddenly expanded into Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu!”
A pale-faced warrior screamed.
“These bastards absorbed all the evil sects in Zhejiang and Jiangsu! They’re not just any scum!”
...What?
“Real evil sect?”
Not back-alley trash?
Not backed by the Nangong Clan or whatever?
Do Dae-ung grinned and turned; Nangong Hyeok gave a thumbs-up.
All eyes followed the thumb.
“Ferment them.”
Like a death sentence, Nangong Hyeok flipped his thumb downward.
Do Dae-ung’s mouth fell open.
“Uahaha! You fuckers, ferment them all!”
With his electrifying shout, the One-Line Society overwhelming Twin Dragon Valley charged ferociously at the Heavenly Kings Brigade.
‘...Evil sects stirring in Shandong...’
Hwangbo Gwang-u screamed.
“Arrrrgh!”
The dark cloud named One-Line Society engulfed them.
* * *
“The elders and aides sent to Hangzhou... vanished?”
Hwangbo Seong stared blankly at the sky.
The news that Oga Village in Hangzhou—his last lifeline—had collapsed before even starting development drained all strength from his body.
‘...How could this happen?’
He felt sunk in deep mire.
“Ah... ahh...”
“We’re done for. Done...”
“Kuheheh! Impossible!”
The Hwangbo Clan elders revealed despair beyond gloom.
Even the hardliners had accepted the gravity.
“Family Head!”
“W-What now?”
“No other way?”
Hwangbo Seong bit his lower lip.
A way?
Everything they tried was crushed before it began—what way?
If there was a breakthrough, he’d have done it himself.
‘To think things came to this...’
He’d anticipated the other Five Great Clans cutting ties, but the real fatal blows were these shadowy incidents.
The elusive acts, leaving no trace or identity, had the Hwangbo Clan on the brink of sinking.
‘To take this much damage without landing a single counter? Me? The main house?’
Helplessness surged.
Every attempt blocked at the source, no retaliation—just beaten down.
Not by force, but worn out by their schemes.
Steward Hwangbo Cheol spoke cautiously.
“...Brother, enduring isn’t the answer.”
Hwangbo Seong trembled, grinding his teeth.
“Now it’s one or the other. Bow at the conference or catch the Deputy and turn it around!”
“Brother, that’s...”
“Just the Deputy! If they’re in Shandong, we can catch him...!”
Then—
“Family Head!”
A booming voice echoed through the Heavenly Kings Hall as someone burst in.
People jumped at the intruder’s ragged state.
“I-Isn’t that the Heavenly Kings Brigade Leader!”
“What happened to him...?”
“Hmm?!”
Hwangbo Seong eyed him anxiously.
“What happened?”
Hwangbo Gwang-u, looking like a beggar, collapsed with a thud and cried out.
“Evil sects are rising!”
“What?”
“The One-Line Society—those evil sect bastards took over Twin Dragon Valley... no, they’ve swallowed the southern region whole!”
“What are you saying!”
Hwangbo Seong shot up; the rambling Hwangbo Gwang-u wailed bitterly.
“The culprits who ambushed the main house—they’re the One-Line Society evil sect horde!”
“What! Not the Nangong Clan, but One-Line Society?”
“Their numbers exceed thousands. I barely escaped alive, Family Head!”
Thud.
Hwangbo Seong slumped powerlessly into his seat.
Evil sects rising?
The incidents he thought would yield evidence—all evil sect work?
Then the conference?
No, the clan’s fate?
With his last hope blocked, crushing pressure like thousands of catties of rock bore down.
“Thousands... thousands...”
Hwangbo Cheol groaned.
“Family Head.”
“Heh, heheheh! My eldest to Hangzhou and the First Elder vanish, the youngest returns from the Orthodox Heaven Alliance battered, swears off food and sleep demanding discharge... and now evil sects?”
“Brother, you must decide.”
“Decide... decide... me!”
He blankly scanned the room.
The elders, gaunt in days, cheekbones protruding, dark circles like corpses.
‘...We’re out of breath.’
Hwangbo Seong’s face went vacant.
No hope.
Ties with other Five Great Clans severed, internal chaos uncontrollable.
Hangzhou, his lifeline—everyone sent vanishes; now unheard-of One-Line Society ravages Shandong.
To reverse it all, one path remained.
Accept the conference terms.
No, even harsher ones.
“Brother, accept the conference.”
“...We need pretext to bow and continue. We must save face.”
“No pretext left.”
Is this my brother?
Did ambition to elevate the Hwangbo Clan lead here?
Clutching his face in despair—
“I told you! Beware that cunning bastard! Everything happening is from that sly Nangong Hyeok’s mind!”
Nangong Cheong burst into the Heavenly Kings Hall, shouting.
Hwangbo Seong and the clan heavyweights glared fiercely.
Ignoring them, Nangong Cheong continued.
“There’s a way.”
“A way?”
“Round up all their young experts and negotiate!”
“...”
“I’ll help. My followers will capture those young ones and deliver them to you, Family Head! Just grant my colleagues’ and my requests!”
His voice rang through the hall.
Hwangbo Seong eyed him sideways.
“Why do you keep barging into our clan meetings?”
“Watching was frustrating, so I stepped in despite decorum. Entrust it to me. I’ll capture them and extract confessions!”
Hwangbo Seong scowled at the confident Nangong Cheong.
‘...Isn’t this wretch why everything twisted?’
Spreading Nangong Clan slander, sowing discord, inciting against absurd demands!
Thump-thump-thump!
Hwangbo Seong drummed thick fingers on the table.
His gaze shifted to Hwangbo Cheol, then the elders.
A strange tension flowed.
Hwangbo Cheol stepped forward.
“Brother, seize him and drag to the conference. He’s a rebel, isn’t he?”
Nangong Cheong blinked.
What are these bastards...
Hwangbo Seong rose.
“Make him kneel!”
“W-What?!”
“Announce we caught Nangong Clan rebels, set the conference date!”
Light flared in the elders’ eyes.
Nangong Cheong tried to flee in panic but couldn’t escape the Hwangbo elders.
“Gaaah! You dogshit Hwangbo Clan!”
A wretched scream echoed through the Heavenly Kings Hall.