Chapter 432
Chapter 432
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 112
>Chapter Title: Situation (4)
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“Chief Strategist! Chief Strategist!”
In the Justice Alliance’s guest quarters.
The First Strategist of the Justice Alliance, who oversaw both the military affairs division and the intelligence department, Zhuge Do-yang, opened his eyes and regained consciousness.
The sight that greeted him was the Justice Alliance Leader, Jeong Hyeon-mun, covered in wounds as he stanched the bleeding from Zhuge Do-yang’s severed leg.
“L-Leader…”
“Are you alright? Are you with us?”
“I’m… fine. How in the world… How…”
Zhuge Do-yang clutched his throbbing occiput.
His head must have been cracked open, as his hand came away sticky with blood.
As he touched it, Zhuge Do-yang suddenly recalled what had happened.
-Slash!
[D-Deputy Leader? What is the meaning of this?]
[Who knows? What could it mean?]
They had been in the midst of hosting the envoy from the imperial palace in Kaifeng.
The moment the door closed, the Deputy Leader of the Full Moon Regional Sword, Wi Tak-hyeon, had abruptly beheaded the envoy.
Not content with that, he had overpowered Zhuge Do-yang—who had been right beside him—with overwhelming martial prowess in an instant, severed his leg, and struck the back of his head.
That was why he had lost consciousness.
Having remembered it all, Zhuge Do-yang cried out in agitation.
“Deputy Leader! The Deputy Leader killed the envoy…”
“Calm yourself. I hurried as much as I could, but subduing him took time, and you’ve lost a lot of blood. You need to circulate your qi right now.”
At these words from Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun, Zhuge Do-yang realized his own condition was dire.
He was indeed dizzy from the severe blood loss, and even breathing was labored.
But more pressing than his state was the sudden murder of the envoy by the Deputy Leader.
“Leader. This isn’t the time to worry about me. The Deputy Leader…”
“I know. I’ll move you somewhere safe, then head straight to the grand assembly hall.”
“You could call for someone. This incident could…”
“Spark a clash between the imperial palace and our alliance, yes. It seems the Deputy Leader—no, Wi Tak-hyeon—aimed for exactly that.”
Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun appeared to have foreseen this to some extent.
Zhuge Do-yang’s face grew grave as he replied.
“Why on earth would the Deputy Leader do such a thing…”
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
Deputy Leader Wi Tak-hyeon had long been a comrade-in-arms and a hero who helped run the Justice Alliance.
For someone like him to do this—it was incomprehensible to Zhuge Do-yang.
To him, Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun showed something soaked in blood.
“What’s that?”
Zhuge Do-yang’s eyes widened.
It was a wooden plaque used by Heaven-Earth Society spies.
These easily destructible tokens, designed to be destroyed at any moment, had been discovered while capturing Heaven-Earth Society infiltrators in the Justice Alliance.
“…Wi Tak-hyeon tried to stuff this in his mouth and swallow it whole before he died.”
“Then the Deputy Leader…”
“It seems he was connected to the Heaven-Earth Society.”
“Hah… How could this… The Deputy… Deputy Leader, a Heaven-Earth Society spy…”
“We need more investigation, but for now, the odds are high that he was acting on their orders.”
At Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun’s words, Zhuge Do-yang’s complexion darkened.
There had occasionally been high-ranking officials in the alliance tied to the Heaven-Earth Society, but this was too shocking.
For the Justice Alliance’s own Deputy Leader to be their spy…
‘Hold on.’
Unable to accept it, Zhuge Do-yang suddenly remembered how Deputy Leader Wi Tak-hyeon had always opposed clashing with the Heaven-Earth Society whenever opportunities arose.
He had taken a hard line against the Evil Alliance but pushed for reconciliation with the Heaven-Earth Society.
At the time, they’d chalked it up to his having lost family in the war with the Evil Alliance, fueling greater resentment toward them.
But highlighting it now made it hard to deny his close ties to the Heaven-Earth Society.
Zhuge Do-yang spoke up.
“Leader. Even if it’s not certain, we have physical evidence. There’s no other choice.”
“No other choice?”
“…We’re not in a position to determine whether the Deputy Leader truly had contact with them or not.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The only way to avoid immediate conflict with the imperial palace is to deliver the Deputy Leader’s head and that plaque, proving this was the work of Heaven-Earth Society spies sowing discord.”
“…So, rather than uncover the truth, we use the dead Deputy Leader to put out the fire?”
“That won’t be enough. The imperial court won’t be appeased by that alone. To show our sincerity, we must brace for a clash with the Heaven-Earth Society.”
“With the Heaven-Earth Society?”
“Yes.”
“But colliding with them now won’t end in a minor skirmish.”
Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun voiced his concerns.
If they used the pretext that the Heaven-Earth Society had planted a spy as Deputy Leader to provoke war with the palace, it would inevitably lead to full-scale war.
To his worries, Chief Strategist Zhuge Do-yang shook his head helplessly.
“Clashing with the imperial palace would negate all the friendly ties we’ve built with the government over the years.”
“…So that’s the only way to prevent it? If we fight the Heaven-Earth Society, the Evil Alliance might move too, escalating to a righteous-evil war.”
“Then we have no choice but to persuade the palace first with the Deputy Leader’s corpse. If their anger persists even then, we’ll have no options left.”
At these words, Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun closed his eyes and groaned.
They had reached the point of choosing between the imperial palace and the Heaven-Earth Society.
How had things come to this?
After a moment of deep thought in silence, he opened his eyes and stood.
“Understood. You’re right. If the palace and our alliance clash, the ones to profit most would be villains like the Heaven-Earth Society and Evil Alliance. We must prevent that.”
“Exactly. They’re after the fisherman's profit. We can’t let that happen. Leader, make haste.”
“First, you…”
“Call for someone. I’ll handle things here, so you must oversee the meeting and resolve this as quickly as possible.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“I’m fine. Go, quickly.”
“…Very well. I’ll send people, so focus on circulating your qi.”
“Understood.”
Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun moved to leave the guest quarters but paused.
He then drew the sword embedded in the floor, its ornate hilt gleaming.
“What’s that?”
“The demonic sword Tiger Sparrow. It has lost its master now.”
“Ahh.”
Zhuge Do-yang let out a sigh of regret.
As Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun sheathed the Tiger Sparrow Sword, he said.
“We should secure the demonic sword for now. Leaving it here would only cause more trouble.”
“Do so. But… are you alright?”
“With what?”
“…The sword.”
Zhuge Do-yang had found it odd how nonchalantly Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun held the demonic sword.
Any non-owner who grasped it paid a heavy price.
Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun shrugged.
“I’m suppressing its sword spirit with my qi. Don’t worry.”
Zhuge Do-yang nodded, accepting this.
A mere swordsman might struggle, but Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun was one of the Seven Heavens, the pinnacle of the current martial world, a peerless grandmaster.
His profound qi could surely suppress even a demonic sword.
“Then I’ll hurry off.”
“Please do.”
Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun left the guest quarters.
Once he was gone, Chief Strategist Zhuge Do-yang straightened to circulate his qi.
His gaze fell on the corpse of Deputy Leader Full Moon Regional Sword Wi Tak-hyeon, who had breathed his last.
The fierce fight had left the body a bloody mess.
Having had the plaque he tried to swallow snatched away by the Leader, his jaw was dislocated, and one eye…
‘Did he gouge out the eye?’
Zhuge Do-yang frowned.
Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun was known as a righteous sword hero, a man who upheld justice.
He never crossed lines even with enemies, never striking excessively.
Yet he had gouged out the eye of a comrade he had shared righteousness with until moments ago.
Was his betrayal-fueled rage that intense?
Even so… it didn’t seem like him.
* * *
Looking down revealed an endless abyss, like peering into an infinite pit.
Atop that sheer cliff lay a massive middle-aged man, lounging casually with one arm pillowing his head.
His clothes hid it, but his body was a fortress of rippling muscle.
The middle-aged man, dozing with eyes closed, opened them at a faint tremor.
-Swish!
He turned only his head slightly, gazing down into the abyss.
Filled with nothing but darkness.
Then, from that void, a blue light flickered.
And then,
-Rumble!
The cliff where he lay began shaking as if struck by an earthquake.
One might leap up in alarm at the quaking earth, but the man remained utterly still, simply watching the abyss.
Yet the blue light from within grew brighter.
At that moment,
-Roooaaar!
The ground shook with unprecedented violence.
The unmoving man pressed a hand to the ground, rose fluidly, and strode to a pile in the corner.
There lay over twenty sharpened wooden pillars, each inscribed with red scriptural runes.
-Thud!
He reached for one.
A solid log that four or five grown men couldn’t lift,
-Crack!
His fingers warped it, then hoisted it effortlessly aloft.
An astonishing sight.
Gripping the pillar, the middle-aged man marched steadily across the shaking cliff and peered down.
Then,
“Huuu.”
He inhaled deeply. His body flushed red, steam rising from his skin.
Exhaling and inhaling again, his skin darkened to black.
Then,
-Boooom!
He hurled the red-runed wooden pillar into the abyss.
As it flew, it tore through layers of air, sending powerful ripples in its wake.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
The middle-aged man watched as it shrank to a dot.
Soon, it vanished from sight.
At that instant,
-KABOOOM!
A massive roar erupted from below, red lightning bursting forth.
With it,
-Roooaaaarrr!!
Immense wind pressure surged upward, accompanied by a deafening roar from the depths that threatened to split eardrums.
The watching man’s eyes narrowed, his gaze sharpening.
‘It’s getting stronger.’
It was growing harder to suppress.
Few red-runed greenwoods remained, yet the imprisoned entity’s power swelled relentlessly.
It barely awakened once a decade, yet twice in a single month.
The cycle was accelerating.
‘Since that time?’
The middle-aged man recalled the ominous three-eyed intruder, the first outsider to breach this place besides his clan.
Phenomena like this had begun after it entered.
Not a good sign.
It could lead to the worst possible outcome.
Then, hurried footsteps approached.
A young man of matching massive build—it was Yu Mu-jin, the monster who had clashed with Mok Kyung-un at the Sichuan Tang Family.
“Father!”
At his son’s cry, the man called father—Yu Mu-jeok—furrowed his brow.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay put until that baleful energy in your heart is fully dispelled?”
“That’s not it, but at the valley entrance right now…”
“What is it?”
“You need to see for yourself.”
Yu Mu-jeok hurried to the valley entrance with his son, Yu Mu-jin.
Upon arrival, his expression hardened.
An formation barred entry to the valley, yet countless bizarre entities—goblins and demons—were arrayed there in formation.
Yu Mu-jin spoke gravely.
“What in the world is going on?”
Never before had such a thing occurred since their clan guarded this place.
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