Chapter 47
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Settlement (2)
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The Wandering King and Cheon Seonhak raced frantically toward the Cheon Family estate.
The children's condition was still poor, and even with their internal energy, the limits were clear.
They came to a fork in the road.
"By the way, isn't that Supreme Elder fellow still around?"
"He is. I intend to expose his crimes as soon as we return."
"Hmm... You should, of course, but no matter how I think about it, if that bastard is a pawn of the Demonic Cult, he won't just sit back and take it."
It was a genuine question.
It was a grand plan thirty years in the making, after all.
There was no way a man who had infiltrated the Cheon Family for so long would collapse so futilely.
"He must have something up his sleeve, don't you think? He might have made a move while you and that arrogant brat were away."
"..."
His words made perfect sense.
*'He's level-headed.'*
Despite seeming to act on simple impulses, the Wandering King was surprisingly astute.
*'Then again, he couldn't have reached the Transcendent Realm without such judgment.'*
The thought occurred to him that the Third Elder setting a trap on Mount Putuo might not have been a coincidence.
"So, are you saying we shouldn't return now?"
"Exactly. In fact, these children's lives could be in even more danger."
Cheon Seonhak nodded.
He was right.
With everything so uncertain, he couldn't push the children he had just saved back into a deadly situation.
"So?"
"Ah, it's nothing much."
The Wandering King chuckled.
At the same time, he sensed unfamiliar presences.
"You are..."
"Commander, why did you leave us behind!"
Led by a thoroughly miffed Woryeong, Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak were waiting for them.
"We greet the Commander."
"Why are you here?"
*Swish!*
There was no need to ask.
The Wandering King must have called them.
Cheon Seonhak glared at the Wandering King.
"What are you thinking?"
"Don't misunderstand, I didn't call them. I spoke with the Family Head."
"The Family Head? My brother?"
"Yes."
"...?"
"It seems he didn't tell you either."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, that arrogant brat..."
"The Great Young Lord!"
Woryeong's sharp voice cut off the Wandering King.
At this, the Wandering King chuckled.
"Your tongue is sharper than your sword."
"Sir!"
"Hey now, I told you I'm not an 'elder'."
"Whatever!"
"Anyway, before that brat called for me, I was meeting with the Family Head."
Cheon Seonhak's expression darkened.
He had a bad feeling.
"What did you talk about?"
"He said he was going to meet that Supreme Elder fellow alone."
"Alone..."
The implication was significant.
Why would he meet the Supreme Elder alone?
Cheon Seonhak wondered.
"Don't tell me..."
"Yes. I only understood after hearing the Demonic Lord's final words."
"The Family Head too?"
"I don't know if it's physical evidence or just a hunch, but he seems to have figured it out. That the man who is now the Supreme Elder might not be the man he knew."
"..."
"He said that if it's a trap, he'll walk right into it himself."
*Shing.*
Cheon Seonhak drew his sword.
And immediately, he pointed it at the Wandering King.
"What is your motive for telling me this only now?"
*Chuckles.*
The Wandering King laughed.
"Don't you get it? The reason I called these kids separately?"
"..."
"Since they follow that boy, it means they're the most trustworthy people in the Cheon Family."
Starting with Woryeong, not only Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak, but even Cheon Seonhak himself were Cheon Muryang's people.
The Wandering King continued, still smiling.
"You see, a trap..."
"..."
"...can sometimes be surprisingly easy to break if you just shake it from the outside."
Understanding what the Wandering King meant, Cheon Seonhak finally sheathed his sword.
"I see. That's just like my brother."
"Do you understand?"
Cheon Seonhak clenched his fists.
Always, Cheon Wigang threw himself into the fire.
It was all for the sake of the Cheon Family, but in the end, it was also to protect Cheon Seonhak.
"If that is the Family Head's will, then I must follow, even if it's the path to hell."
"Good. Before that, getting these children to a safe place is the top priority."
The Cheon Family estate was dangerous.
Therefore, they couldn't take the risk of bringing the children there.
"Where in Zhejiang can we possibly avoid the Cheon Family's eyes?"
"There's one place."
"...?"
The Wandering King gave a clear answer.
"The Wandering Inn in Hangzhou. Go to the Wandering Inn. It'll be safe there."
"Can you be sure?"
"Of course. The owner there is no ordinary gentleman."
Hearing the Wandering King's conviction, Cheon Seonhak nodded.
There must be a good reason for it.
"But, will five be enough?"
Even with two masters of the Transcendent Realm.
If someone like the Yama Demonic Lord was in the trap Cheon Wigang walked into, there were no guarantees.
"Ah, about that, that arrogant... Great Young Lord gave me a solution."
At Woryeong's sharp glare, the Wandering King corrected himself, calling Cheon Muryang the Great Young Lord.
"What is it?"
"Do you know of the Heavenly Watch Corps?"
"I know the gist of it."
The ones who were once the Anti-Cheon Ghosts.
Not just Cheon Seonhak, but Cheon Wigang too knew of their existence.
As well as the fact that Cheon Muryang had resubordinated them as the Heavenly Watch Corps.
"Right. That arro... no, the Great Young Lord seems to have mobilized them."
"..."
"The leader of the Heavenly Watch Corps, was it? He's quite skilled, so he won't hold you back."
The silent Cheon Seonhak nodded.
"It's worth a try."
"So, you guys take the children and move with that Heavenly Watch Corps or whatever."
"And what about you, Commander, and the Wandering King?"
"Are we at the level to be traveling with a bunch of lackeys? Right?"
"We'll move separately."
"Understood."
"Hey, when I was talking, you made it obvious you didn't want to go, but why is your reaction so different now?"
"..."
Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak lowered their heads, and Woryeong retorted in their stead.
"Wandering King-sir, you're a guest retainer. Our Commander was the Grand Commander."
"So?"
"The weight of your words is different, is what I'm saying."
"..."
Leaving the speechless Wandering King behind, Woryeong also hoisted the children onto her back.
Then, Woryeong bowed her head.
"Still, thank you. For helping the Young Lord."
"*Tsk...*"
The Wandering King clicked his tongue, watching Woryeong who didn't even give him time to get angry.
Cheon Seonhak hurried the Wandering King along.
"Let's go."
"Mm. Right. Let's do that."
As if by agreement, the two of them headed off in the same direction.
"Then we'll get going too!"
"..."
Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak followed behind the energetic Woryeong.
***
*Drip!*
The metallic taste of blood lingered on the tip of his tongue.
*Ptui!*
Cheon Wigang spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
But the foreign sensation clogging his throat did not disappear.
*Swishhh!*
Dozens, hundreds of swords rushed madly toward Cheon Wigang.
Each one was a lethal attack, flying toward his vital points.
*CRASH!*
A single strike from Cheon Wigang sent dozens of swords reeling back at once, but it couldn't stop the flow of blades that immediately filled the gap.
"How long do you think you can last? It would be better to die with honor."
A sneering voice was heard.
The Supreme Elder, Cheon Jungho, who had revealed his true colors.
No, it was a figure from the Demonic Cult wearing his face.
"As of today, the Cheon Family will belong to our cult."
Cheon Jungho scoffed at Cheon Wigang.
The sound of his scoff somehow began to sound different.
"..."
Cheon Wigang saw it clearly.
His height, bone structure, skin, voice—everything began to change.
"As of today, I will become the head of the Cheon Family."
*Grit!*
Cheon Wigang bit his lip.
Adding a few more drops of blood to a mouth already full of it didn't change the taste.
"Since when?"
"When do you think the thirty-year grand plan began?"
"Surely not..."
"That's right. It didn't start with your father's death, but with Cheon Jungho's."
So, the one who took his place after Cheon Jungho died was the mastermind and culprit behind everything.
"I believed that even if our paths diverged, you, of all people, would not harm the Cheon Family. Was all of that a lie?"
Seeing the lamenting Cheon Wigang, Cheon Jungho laughed maniacally.
The end of his thirty-year plan was right before his eyes, and he wanted to point out the foolishness of those who hadn't noticed for all those long years.
"It was all a lie. Your father was the prey who, after suffering internal injuries, walked into the tiger's den himself, saying I was the one he could trust most."
At that time, the head of the Cheon Family had been mysteriously ambushed.
The ambushers were a group from the Demonic Cult wearing the Cheon Family's uniforms, and the previous Family Head, Cheon Daeho, suspecting an internal traitor, went to see Cheon Jungho.
"Kekeke. So, the next part was easy. The Tang Clan's poison worked splendidly."
The Tang Clan had many poisons besides those known to the public.
Among them were poisons that could affect even those who had reached the Transcendent Realm, yet leave no trace.
"A death of unknown cause."
The death of the previous Family Head, Cheon Daeho, was still shrouded in mystery.
But the truth behind it was so simple, yet so devastating.
"That alone was the best possible outcome, but what do you know, the Great Young Lord fell for it too."
Perhaps to shake the disheartened Cheon Wigang, he laid out the entire story.
It was likely because he saw Cheon Wigang's swordsmanship visibly crumbling.
"The Great Young Lord..."
"Things just went so smoothly."
He revealed the whole truth, hoping Cheon Wigang would fall into despair.
*Stab!*
It was after he confirmed that Cheon Wigang's iron wall had been breached, and a sword had pierced through to lodge in his side.
"Becoming the Supreme Elder, Cheon Jungho, was the core of the entire plan."
"..."
"Then the Great Young Lord came to me himself. Asking for my help."
It was said that the Cheon Family had three pillars supporting it.
Two of the pillars were Cheon Seonhak and Cheon Wigang. The last of the three pillars was the Supreme Elder, Cheon Jungho.
Who would have known?
That the third pillar was actually the mastermind, the root of all evil.
"Do you know about the Anti-Cheon Ghosts?"
"I... do."
"They supported the Great Young Lord."
Cheon Wigang's older brother.
The previous Great Young Lord, Cheon Mugeuk, was a martial arts prodigy born with a Heavenly Martial Body.
As such, he was a man who lacked nothing to become the head of the Cheon Family.
That was why Cheon Mugeuk, who judged that there was something suspicious about the Family Head's death, also sought out Cheon Jungho.
"But when that Great Young Lord came to me asking for help, it was so ridiculous. Even I had a hard time holding back my laughter."
Who was loyal to Cheon Mugeuk.
After grasping everything in detail, Cheon Jungho eliminated Cheon Mugeuk as well.
Under the pretext of him going missing.
"Do you understand now?"
All of this was done to make everyone in the family suspect Cheon Wigang.
Through this, he weakened the Family Head's authority and increased the power of the Council of Elders, to the point where now, no appointment was made without the elders' influence.
"The one who ambushed my father?"
The previous Family Head, Cheon Daeho, was a master who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
It was hard to understand how he could have been ambushed.
"The Yama Demonic Lord."
"..."
"Aren't you curious about who eliminated the Great Young Lord?"
Cheon Jungho gave a sneering smile.
"It was me."
Immediately after those words were spoken.
From the body of the profusely bleeding Cheon Wigang, the aura of a steadfast iron wall blossomed once more.
"...!"
As if it had never happened.
The bleeding stopped.
The countless wounds all over his body were, in fact, nothing more than shallow cuts and scrapes.
"You, you bastard...!"
"Finally, all my questions have been answered."
Cheon Wigang was expressionless.
His aura was as solid as a rock, but the fury burning deep within him was like lava.
"In return, I will kill you miserably."
*Fwoooosh!*
Cheon Wigang's sword was imbued with a dominance that surpassed mere weight.
The strongest shield, paradoxically, was the strongest sword that could shatter the opponent.
"You had better prepare yourself."
The Sword of Steel, Cheon Wigang's sky, greedily devoured the hundreds of surging swords.
*KABOOM!*
A deafening roar echoed.
"...!"
Around the devastated Cheon Wigang, no one dared to remain standing.