Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 48
>Chapter Title: Proposal (2)
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Among the close retainers of Wi So-yeon, the third disciple of the Assembly Leader, if one had to name the one supreme in martial arts prowess, it would undoubtedly be U Ho-rang—the eldest disciple of Bright Blade King Son Yun and the Grand Unit Leader of the Grand Annihilation Squad.
His martial skill was such that he was included among the Five Tigers, hailed as the Heaven and Earth Society's finest later-generation talents, a fact recognized by all.
However, the one among her retainers with whom she truly let her guard down was Gi Ok-ryeon, the same woman who served as her closest friend.
Gi Ok-ryeon was the eldest daughter of Dark Rock Valley Lord Gi Hae, and she was as good as Wi So-yeon's real right hand.
-Swish!
Gi Ok-ryeon pulled out one of the needles embedded in the bare back of Wi So-yeon, who had her upper garments pulled down.
The sharp tip of the needle she extracted had turned black.
“As expected, a bit of poison lingered. Still, since only part of the needle has discolored, it looks like the detoxification is nearly complete. My lady, are you feeling better now?”
“Thanks to you.”
Dark Rock Valley Lord was skilled in medicine, and Gi Ok-ryeon had inherited that talent.
Thus, she had used acupuncture to help quickly expel the residual poison still lingering in Wi So-yeon's body.
“The Isle Poison King’s poisons truly live up to their reputation. Even your internal energy should rival his, my lady.”
“Not anymore, perhaps.”
“Ah... you’ve crossed the wall.”
It was truly a coincidence.
On the very day they had visited him, Isle Poison King Baek Sa-ha had ascended to the Manifestation Realm.
Because of this, his importance had risen dramatically.
If Isle Poison King Baek Sa-ha, now a Manifestation Realm expert, supported them, it would be as good as gaining a force of ten thousand heavenly troops.
The issue was how to bring him in.
‘Mok Kyung-un...’
Directly persuading Isle Poison King Baek Sa-ha had become difficult.
Thus, the only viable path left to secure Baek Sa-ha’s backing was through Mok Kyung-un.
That was because Baek Sa-ha had taken Mok Kyung-un as his disciple.
This had greatly increased Mok Kyung-un’s value.
As the shared disciple of both the Shadow Sect Leader and the Isle Poison King, bringing him under their wing would allow them to draw in both the Shadow Sect and the Baek family.
They absolutely had to bring him in, but inwardly, she was worried.
“I’m concerned the second senior brother might resort to some scheme.”
“The second young master?”
“Yes.”
“...This is about that incident, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. Second senior brother seemed utterly furious.”
“Even so, would he act so openly? To be fair, it wasn’t us who did it.”
“When the roots of suspicion run deep, it’s hard to see clearly ahead.”
“That’s true, but... sigh. What a bolt from the blue. Why did something like that have to happen out of nowhere, leaving us under suspicion like this...? Wait... My lady, could this be a wedge tactic?”
Gi Ok-ryeon raised the question.
At her words, Wi So-yeon’s eyes narrowed.
And for good reason—the left-hand man of the Five Evils Group, Yi-eok Wi Maeng-cheon, a retainer of second senior brother Jang Neung-ak, had been murdered by someone the night before.
This had enraged second senior brother greatly.
Though their master lay bedridden with eyes still sharp and piercing, none of the three disciples had crossed lines or clashed openly until now.
But that balance had now collapsed.
Given second senior brother’s temperament, losing a cherished retainer would drive him to seek vengeance in some form.
Crucially, however, this was not their doing.
“Why do you think it’s a wedge tactic?”
“Well, Wi Maeng-cheon’s death has put us under suspicion from the second young master. If things continue like this, conflict is inevitable.”
“So that’s why you think it’s a wedge?”
“If it’s not a wedge, then what is it?”
“If it is a wedge... whose doing do you suppose it would be?”
At Wi So-yeon’s question, Gi Ok-ryeon replied with firm conviction.
“Obviously, the eldest young master or his retainers.”
“Eldest senior brother?”
“Yes. He’s the only one who stands to gain from this.”
“...”
Wi So-yeon rested her chin on her interlaced hands at Gi Ok-ryeon’s words.
Circumstantially, her guess seemed highly plausible—it would most likely be eldest senior brother.
After all, it truly hadn’t been them.
But,
“...Is it really eldest senior brother?”
“Pardon?”
“It doesn’t quite match his methods.”
“How is it different? There’s no reason for anyone but the eldest young master to do this. It has to be a ploy to pit our faction against the second young master’s.”
Wi So-yeon shook her head slightly at Gi Ok-ryeon’s words.
Of course, she had a point.
The reason second senior brother suspected them rather than eldest senior brother over Wi Maeng-cheon’s death aligned with why Wi So-yeon herself found the situation suspicious.
That reason was,
‘Eldest senior brother... Eldest senior brother doesn’t even see us as rivals.’
If he had from the start, he would have checked them long ago.
Eldest senior brother was thorough to a fault—anyone he deemed an enemy would be crushed without mercy.
Yet he had merely watched as they gathered support to vie for succession.
He hadn’t interfered in the slightest.
Even though it must have irked him.
‘If eldest senior brother had truly meant to check us, he wouldn’t have left us alone this long.’
Eldest senior brother Na Yul-ryang was somehow different from ordinary men.
Conversing with him left an inexplicable tightness in the chest, even fear.
That was why, after their master took to his sickbed, she had avoided meeting him.
Second senior brother Jang Neung-ak likely felt the same.
Excluding their master, the one he feared most was eldest senior brother.
With that, Wi So-yeon cautiously broached the subject.
“Perhaps an unexpected variable has arisen... one we never foresaw.”
-Flinch!
At that moment, Wi So-yeon trailed off mid-sentence and glanced toward somewhere.
Gi Ok-ryeon looked at her in bewilderment and asked.
“My lady?”
“Something’s happening outside.”
“Something?”
“Quickly remove the remaining needles.”
“Yes, right away.”
Gi Ok-ryeon hurriedly extracted all the needles from Wi So-yeon’s acupoints.
Wi So-yeon swiftly donned her upper garments, straightened her attire, flung open the door, and rushed outside.
Gi Ok-ryeon followed close behind, of course.
Wi So-yeon, drawn by the noises from outside, couldn’t hide her shock at the scene unfolding before her.
‘!?’
-Thud! Boom!
Yang Il, the vice squad leader of the Chamhae Sword Squad, collapsed after taking Mok Kyung-un’s kick in an instant.
Gi Ok-ryeon, who followed, was equally stunned.
Who was Yang Il?
In terms of martial prowess, he was a peak early-stage transcendent expert, second only among Wi So-yeon’s retainers.
For such a man to go down in a single blow?
‘Impossible.’
How could this happen?
Then, Gi Ok-ryeon’s eyes caught sight of another figure.
It was none other than,
‘B-Brother U?’
It was U Ho-rang.
He lay collapsed in a pool of blood, gravely wounded.
‘Why is brother U...?’
Gi Ok-ryeon, who had long harbored secret affections for him, startled at the sight and nearly dashed forward.
Wi So-yeon reached out a hand to stop her.
Having restrained Gi Ok-ryeon, Wi So-yeon shouted loudly.
“Stop!”
Her resounding cry echoed far and wide.
At her shout, Mok Kyung-un, who had Yeop Wi-seon’s throat gripped, turned his head.
“Ah, there you are.”
“You... what is the meaning of this outrage?”
At her question, Mok Kyung-un shrugged and replied.
“Outrage? I merely came at your summons, but these people tried to block me.”
Mok Kyung-un gestured with his eyes first to Yang Il, unconscious on the ground, then to Yeop Wi-seon, whose throat he held.
“Gurk... Gurk...”
Yeop Wi-seon writhed, his face flushed beet red with bulging veins, on the verge of bursting.
Wi So-yeon pointed at him with her finger and said.
“Release him this instant.”
“Ah, this one?”
At her words, Mok Kyung-un grinned and relaxed his grip.
Yeop Wi-seon collapsed to the ground with a thud, falling on his rear.
Having been choked, he coughed violently and tried to say something to Wi So-yeon.
“Cough cough... La... La... Cough... This bastard...”
-Pak!
Mok Kyung-un lightly struck the nape of his neck.
The impact to the brain caused Yeop Wi-seon to pitch forward and collapse in that position.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
“Enough.”
Wi So-yeon restrained Gi Ok-ryeon, who could no longer contain her anger at seeing her comrades fallen and moved to intervene.
She then addressed Mok Kyung-un.
“You’d better explain exactly what happened. If not, I won’t forgive you, no matter who you are.”
At her words, Mok Kyung-un scratched his head as if troubled.
“This is awkward. I simply came to see you, my lady, but these two insisted I couldn’t meet you.”
“They blocked you?”
“Yes.”
“Why would they?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. Their liege summoned me, after all.”
“...”
Feeling as if he were prodding at her, Wi So-yeon’s eyes sharpened.
He had always been brazen in her presence, but this felt subtly different.
It wasn’t the boldness of facing a superior—it stemmed from genuine confidence in himself.
This sparked a question in her mind.
This man seemed to have advanced yet again in the interim.
‘What is it?’
Wi So-yeon couldn’t conceal her bewilderment.
She had already been quite surprised at how much stronger his martial arts had become compared to the report from Blood River Valley.
And now his prowess had advanced further?
She found his rapid progress eerie, but Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“If you truly can’t believe me, why not wake them and ask?”
“...”
With him saying this much, it seemed certain they had blocked him.
And the reason appeared to be that one.
Wi So-yeon nodded toward U Ho-rang, collapsed on the ground.
“Why is Grand Unit Leader U in that state?”
“Him? He fought me.”
“What?”
Wi So-yeon furrowed her brow at his words.
Fought? What nonsense was this?
“No way. Grand Unit Leader U went to fetch you on my orders. There’s no reason he’d fight you without my command.”
Moreover, U Ho-rang knew Mok Kyung-un’s importance.
He knew better than anyone that securing him would reshape the dynamics of this succession struggle, so why would he go to retrieve him and then fight?
It made no sense.
In that case, perhaps,
“...Did you challenge Grand Unit Leader U first?”
“No way. He demanded a duel with me for two reasons.”
“Two reasons?”
“Yes.”
“What were they?”
“The first reason is hard to mention due to a promise with him, and the second was that he had to avenge his fellow disciple, who got in trouble because of me.”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Gi Ok-ryeon cried out with a flushed face.
“Revenge? What nonsense! Why would brother U defy my lady’s orders to do something like that to you...”
“Ok-ryeon. Enough.”
“My lady. But this guy is slandering brother U with lies right now...”
Before she could finish, Mok Kyung-un interjected.
“If you can’t believe me, why not wake him and ask the same?”
“What?”
“You doubt whether he initiated the fight or not, don’t you?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Gi Ok-ryeon snapped back fiercely.
“Do you know why I can’t believe you? For one of the Five Tigers, brother U, to lose to the likes of you makes no...”
“Ok-ryeon!”
Wi So-yeon finally raised her voice.
Feeling her mistress’s displeasure, Gi Ok-ryeon trembled with her face flushed red before clamping her mouth shut.
“My apologies.”
“Calm down and step back. I know how you feel.”
She was the only one who knew of Gi Ok-ryeon’s affections for U Ho-rang, so she patted her shoulder comfortingly and gestured for her to withdraw.
Watching them, Mok Kyung-un shook his head side to side.
Seeing this, Wi So-yeon spoke in a chilled tone.
“What was that attitude just now?”
“Attitude?”
“Your demeanor seemed to mock me.”
“Hmm. Less mocking and more... you’ve only confirmed it further for me.”
“Confirmed what?”
“Yes.”
“What have you confirmed?”
At Wi So-yeon’s question, Mok Kyung-un sneered.
“I thought you had poor luck with retainers, but it seems you spoil them rotten too.”
“How dare you!”
Incensed at the insult to her lady, Gi Ok-ryeon raised her voice once more.
That was the moment.
-Swish!
‘!?’
Mok Kyung-un’s figure scattered like mist and vanished.
At the same time, Wi So-yeon whirled around in alarm, reaching out with her hand,
-Thud!
“Argh!”
But before her hand could reach, a dull sound rang out, and Gi Ok-ryeon’s eyes rolled back as she pitched forward.
Behind the falling Gi Ok-ryeon stood Mok Kyung-un, hand raised in a palm strike.
Mok Kyung-un clicked his tongue, sounding disappointed.
“One after another, ignoring their liege’s words.”
“You...”
“Conveniently perfect, though. I wanted to speak with you alone anyway.”
Gazing at the smiling Mok Kyung-un, Wi So-yeon opened her mouth in shock.
“...How do you know the Manifest Clarity Water Moon Step?”
The high-speed movement technique Mok Kyung-un had just used.
If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, it was Eldest Senior Brother Na Yul-ryang’s unique lightness skill, the Manifest Clarity Water Moon Step.