Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 60
>Chapter Title: Secret Mission (2)
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“If we need exactly the right number of people, why not just reduce it by one right here?”
‘!!!!!!’
Ok Gi wasn’t the only one who couldn’t hide her shock at Mok Kyung-un’s casual smile as he said this. Even Gan Yang, the leader of the vanguard team, was at a loss.
‘What the hell is this guy?’
Was he really sent by the Society?
How could he say something like that so nonchalantly?
That was when it happened.
-Grip!
“Gurk!”
“Hey, boss. Then we kill this guy and have the monk join instead, right?”
The renegade monk Ja Geum-jeong tightened his grip and sneered.
Ok Gi, her face turning beet red from lack of air, flailed wildly trying to pry his hand off, but it was no use.
The gap in internal energy was too vast; he didn’t budge an inch.
“Gah!”
Ok Gi’s eyes began to roll back.
‘I’m... really gonna die!’
Gan Yang, seeing she was on the verge of suffocation, panicked and tried to intervene.
But before he could step in, someone else spoke up.
“Having one extra person won’t be a problem. So please stop.”
It was Yu Bong, one of the vanguard team members.
Ja Geum-jeong raised one eyebrow, annoyed by Yu Bong’s makeup-laden face and effeminate tone.
“What kind of sissy act is that from a man?”
“Hohoho. I’m not exactly a man.”
“What? You saying you’re some woman?”
“Not a woman either. In any case, I know you’re a Black Demon Fist Master, so if you’d just release your grip now?”
Ja Geum-jeong snorted at Yu Bong’s words.
“That’s not for you to decide.”
With that, his gaze shifted to none other than Mok Kyung-un.
Seeing this, Yu Bong’s eyes gleamed.
He had been observing the situation from the start.
As a result, Yu Bong had learned something puzzling: the leader of the rear guard was the youngest among them, Mok Kyung-un, not even in his twenties.
‘That one’s the core of the rear guard.’
He didn’t know why they’d chosen the weakest in martial prowess as leader, but if they bowed to these people here, they’d be under their thumb from then on.
With that in mind,
-Whoosh!
Yu Bong launched his body toward Mok Kyung-un to subdue him.
If he could take him down, the entire rear guard would have no choice but to follow their control.
Especially that crazy renegade monk.
-Papapak!
In an instant, Yu Bong closed in right up to Mok Kyung-un’s face and reached out to wrap his hand around his throat.
But before his hand could touch,
“Where do you think you’re going!”
-Slash!
Seop Chun’s Gwangmu Sword was already slicing toward Yu Bong’s wrist.
Yu Bong pulled back his elbow, channeling dark energy to deftly deflect the Gwangmu Sword’s blade.
-Clang!
The light, thin Gwangmu Sword bent temporarily from the force.
-It trembled wildly!
The vibrations reached even the hand gripping the sword hilt.
‘Tch.’
Seizing that split-second opening, Yu Bong kicked toward Seop Chun’s abdomen.
-Thud!
But Seop Chun wasn’t one to fall easily to such an attack.
Instead, he kicked upward at Yu Bong’s incoming foot, then,
-Thwack!
Struck a palm against the opposite side of the rebounding Gwangmu Sword’s blade, dissipating the energy.
Using the recoil from the upward kick, he leaped up, leaning his head back to dodge Yu Bong’s spinning back kick.
-Thwack!
The kick barely grazed Seop Chun’s hair.
Without missing a beat, Seop Chun unleashed the second form of the Folding Sword Technique with the now-free Gwangmu Sword: Returning Round Butterfly Guard.
-Slashslashslash!
“Huh?”
As the sword swept in a wide arc toward his throat, Yu Bong urgently twisted away with bizarre footwork, hopping like a fox to evade.
-Tatattat!
‘What kind of footwork is that?’
‘His swordsmanship is no joke.’
After exchanging several blows in that brief moment, Yu Bong and Seop Chun, impressed by each other’s skills, backed away more than four paces to create distance.
But there was one more person shocked by their clash: Gan Yang, the vanguard leader.
He had thought himself the strongest in martial arts among the vanguard.
Yet he never imagined this guy, who’d supposedly spent nearly two years as an inner servant in the palace, possessed such astonishing prowess.
‘He hid his true strength?’
Gan Yang clicked his tongue inwardly.
At that moment, Yu Bong glanced at Seop Chun with a troubled look.
Breaking through this one wouldn’t be easy.
With that,
‘Too bad, but no choice.’
He pulled something from his bosom and hurled it at Seop Chun like a hidden weapon.
-Swoosh!
Assuming it was a projectile, Seop Chun swung his Gwangmu Sword to knock it away.
But the moment the blade met what Yu Bong had thrown,
-Papapapak!
‘Gunpowder?’
It was none other than gunpowder.
The explosion sent red and blue flames bursting out, blinding Seop Chun momentarily. He swung his sword wildly to defend as Yu Bong closed the gap.
But Yu Bong wasn’t targeting him.
It was Mok Kyung-un.
Amid the flames, he aimed to subdue the weakest—but central—figure.
What he didn’t know, however, was this.
“You’re making a bad move.”
‘What?’
-Thud!
‘Huh!?’
Mok Kyung-un casually swatted away Yu Bong’s outstretched Capturing Hand and grabbed his face, slamming him straight into the ground.
-Boom!
“Argh!”
Yu Bong’s body shuddered in pain as his head hit the floor.
With that one move, Yu Bong realized.
Among the rear guard—no, everyone here—the strongest was this guy.
‘To have... such a misconception...’
Thinking this one was the weakest and targeting him had been the fatal mistake.
“Groooan.”
Air hissed from his lungs like a deflating bellows, and Yu Bong’s consciousness didn’t last long.
A concussion hit; his eyes rolled back, foam bubbled from his mouth, and he passed out.
Releasing Yu Bong’s face, Mok Kyung-un smiled and said,
“Let’s end this pointless intimidation game here. I’m sure you’ve realized by now it’s meaningless to continue?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Gan Yang, the vanguard leader, swallowed dryly without realizing it and nodded vigorously.
* * *
Inside the watchtower with its lanterns lit.
The vanguard trio’s demeanor had shrunk compared to before, their spirits crushed.
What made them shrink even more, however, was this.
“I am Mong Mu-yak, deputy hall leader of the Direct Envoy Office under the Chief.”
“I am Seop Chun, leader of the Third Escort Team of the Inner Castle Office.”
“I am Mok Kyung-un, disciple of the Shadow Sect Leader.”
Hearing their identities.
‘These crazy...’
They already knew from messenger birds that the Society would send rear guard members of a certain caliber at ‘that place’s’ request.
But this mission had a low success rate and was highly dangerous, so they figured disposable pawns would be sent in case of emergencies.
Learning their true identities left the vanguard unable to hide their shock.
The deputy of the Direct Envoy Office under the Chief—wasn’t that the Chief Deputy’s son?
Moreover,
‘The Inner Castle’s escort leader means one of the Chairman’s direct guards. Ha!’
These weren’t people they could treat lightly just based on status.
On top of that, weren’t these two among the Five Tigers, the top young talents of the Society?
Surprisingly, Mok Kyung-un was the only one they hadn’t heard of before.
‘The Shadow Sect Leader took a disciple?’
As the Shadow Sect Leader’s disciple, he was direct kin to an executive.
They had been dispatched outside for missions, long ones up to two years, short ones nearly one.
So they didn’t know much about recent internal affairs.
Hearing Mok Kyung-un was the Shadow Sect Leader’s disciple shocked them inwardly.
‘Then he must be a recent disciple—why is he this strong?’
Especially Yu Bong, who’d been taken down in one move.
At this level, it was hard to believe he hadn’t trained under a Five Kings executive, let alone a sect leader.
‘And the Chief Deputy’s son and the Inner Castle escort leader both call this one their lord.’
What was his real identity?
Was the Shadow Sect disciple title just for show, and he was actually the Chairman’s disciple?
Doubts deepened.
In any case, thanks to the rear guard revealing their statuses, the vanguard learned two facts.
First, the rear guard included heirs to two departments managing intelligence and spies.
They’d likely use spies planted in the palace.
Second,
‘...We absolutely cannot fail.’
Sending such promising future heavyweights on a secret mission didn’t mean “failure is an option”—it meant success was mandatory.
Realizing this, Mok Kyung-un asked,
“Alright! Now, can you tell us what our mission is?”
Gan Yang, the vanguard leader kneeling, answered in a much more respectful tone.
“Then allow me to explain the mission. First, may I ask how much the rear guard members already know?”
Seop Chun replied.
“We know it involves rescuing someone detained in a certain place and bringing them back to the Society.”
“You’ve only heard the bare outline, then.”
“We assumed it was to prevent info leaks before reaching the rally point.”
“Seems like it. Then I’ll explain the mission. Our first destination is the imperial capital, Kaifeng.”
‘...As expected.’
Seop Chun nodded at his words.
He’d suspected as much since the rally point was Anrak in Henan Province near Kaifeng.
Of course, Mok Kyung-un and Mong Mu-yak, who had received precise mission details beforehand from the Shadow Sect Leader and Chief Deputy, showed no reaction.
On the other hand,
“Kaifeng? You’re not saying the mission is to barge into the palace without a care, right?”
Ja Geum-jeong, who had pledged loyalty to Mok Kyung-un but knew nothing, asked jokingly.
Gan Yang nodded in affirmation.
“Correct.”
“What? The palace? So we’re really going into the palace?”
“Yes. Our mission is to infiltrate the palace, rescue a prisoner from the underground Golden Prison, and extract them.”
‘!?’
Ja Geum-jeong looked dumbfounded at his words.
He’d been shocked learning they were from the Heaven-Earth Society, but he never imagined the mission was to brazenly infiltrate the palace.
Ja Geum-jeong clicked his tongue.
“Completely insane. Do that, and no matter the ‘untouchable’ whatever, we’ll be branded rebels?”
Even he, a madman called out by Shaolin as one of the Three Lights, saw this as pure lunacy.
The palace wasn’t just where the emperor lived and handled state affairs.
It was where the full might of the nation converged.
Stealing from there wasn’t just unthinkable—it was impossible.
“Rebels? Nah, you’re all suicidal maniacs.”
At his incredulous reaction, Gan Yang said,
“Of course, failure would bring those consequences. But we’ve planned the operation thoroughly, accounting for numerous variables.”
“Hah, never thought I’d live to hear we’re robbing the palace.”
Ja Geum-jeong still seemed reluctant, clicking his tongue again.
Ignoring him, Mok Kyung-un asked,
“Fair enough, but we’re not just charging in blindly. How do we get in, and how do we extract the prisoner?”
“We called you to the rally point with some strain precisely because of palace entry. Exactly three days from now, the Palace Guard Bureau holds its martial trials.”
“Palace Guard Bureau martial trials?”
The Palace Guard Bureau housed the emperor’s close palace guards.
But what were these martial trials?
As they puzzled, Gan Yang explained.
“The Palace Guard Bureau martial trials are essentially promotion exams within the bureau.”
“Promotion exams? How does that relate to infiltrating the palace?”
“It does. Passing the trials leads to promotion into the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
“Ah!”
The Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Like the Palace Guard Bureau, they protected the palace.
But crucially, they were the emperor’s direct personal guard and a special task force.
They audited the Six Ministries in the emperor’s stead, wielding extralegal authority.
And the Embroidered Uniform Guard managed all the palace’s Golden Prisons.
‘So that’s it.’
The picture finally formed of how they’d infiltrate and extract the prisoner.
At that moment, Seop Chun nodded in understanding, then soon frowned.
“Wait, but we’re not even Palace Guard Bureau warriors. How do we take their trials?”
Yu Bong, not Gan Yang, answered the question.
“Hohoho. Sharp one, aren’t you? Of course, we have a plan for that.”
“A plan?”
“Yes. From now on, we head to Kaifeng to meet a certain esteemed person and seek their aid.”
“Who? Who is it?”
Someone with enough power to get them into the Palace Guard Bureau?
As they wondered, Yu Bong smiled and replied.
“Consort Seo of the West Palace, Your Highness.”
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