Chapter 356
Chapter 356
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 356
Chapter Title: The Shattered Teacup
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Was it because of the sound of the teacup breaking?
Im Mu-gwang, who had been waiting outside, entered the room.
"What happened?!"
"No, it's nothing."
Namgung Hwa-young hurriedly waved her hand.
"I just dropped the teacup from my hand."
"Pardon?"
Im Mu-gwang wore a baffled expression at the absurd response.
The Murim Alliance Leader had dropped the teacup she was holding?
It was an unbelievable explanation, but the situation was exactly that. Beneath Namgung Hwa-young's small table lay shards of the broken teacup and spilled tea.
Soon after, Im Mu-gwang left, and a maid came in to clean up the mess on the floor. She then brought a new teacup.
After the commotion passed, Namgung Hwa-young calmed her racing heart a bit and opened her mouth.
"That..."
She should have asked what that meant, but the words wouldn't come out.
Kill them all? Who did he mean?
No, it was a stupid question. Who else? It had to be those clinging to Jin Do-ha, the ones plotting to seize the Murim Alliance.
Instead of asking what he meant, Namgung Hwa-young posed a different question.
"If you kill them all, will it shake the entire Murim world?"
Soo-hyuk nodded.
"I think so. Things definitely won't stay as they are now."
"There are more of them than our side."
"Didn't you already know that?"
Soo-hyuk asked matter-of-factly. Isn't that why you called me? he implied.
She couldn't refute it.
But even so, she had never once considered it. The Murim world could fall because of this? They could all die?
"Looks like you haven't thought about it."
"......"
Namgung Hwa-young nodded silently.
"I figured as much."
"Are you really going to kill them all?"
"If you don't like that, just step down from the Alliance Leader position willingly. Of course, no guarantee Jin Do-ha would let you live even then."
The Jin Do-ha that Soo-hyuk knew wasn't the type to leave potential sources of trouble alive.
"I'm using you, Alliance Leader, for my revenge. You know what the Murim world means to me."
Sipping the fresh tea the maid had poured, Soo-hyuk spoke calmly.
"It's time for a cleanup."
The Murim world had been rotting since then. Amid the greedy masses built on rivers of blood, mold grew, emitting a foul stench.
That's how the Murim world became one of the top powers even among the towers.
Namgung Hwa-young fiddled silently with her new teacup for a long while before asking.
"What if I can't decide?"
"Then I'll head back."
Just give up like that?
To Namgung Hwa-young's surprised expression, Soo-hyuk drove the point home firmly.
"That doesn't mean I'll forgive them. Jin Do-ha and everyone there that day will pay for their crimes. Plenty of time even if not now."
From that response, Namgung Hwa-young could tell.
That Soo-hyuk was holding back for her sake. He wanted to wipe them all out but was restraining himself.
On the other hand, a thought crossed her mind.
'Do you really have the confidence to kill them all?'
She knew it was rude. Sitting across from her at this small table was Lee Soo-hyuk, after all.
But the Lee Soo-hyuk she first met clearly didn't have that level of skill. Back then, his power was even below hers.
For some reason, he had clearly lost his strength.
Of course, he must have grown much stronger over time.
But could he really defeat Jin Do-ha?
No, before that, she needed to ask this.
Was she herself excluded from the rotten Murim he spoke of?
Late at night.
Im Mu-gwang quietly slipped away and headed to the Cheonryong Pavilion.
The Cheonryong Pavilion had long served as the place to host the Murim Alliance's esteemed guests. But now, it had been used solely for one person for ages.
Arriving stealthily at the pavilion, Im Mu-gwang locked eyes with a man. Spotting him, the man nodded and stepped aside.
Entering the hall.
"You're here."
Jin Do-ha, who had prepared tea in advance, was waiting for him.
Im Mu-gwang, who had refused to sit at Namgung Hwa-young's table, naturally took the seat across from him.
She probably didn't know. Back when Jin Do-ha was Alliance Leader, the two often shared tea like this.
"Have some. Nice aroma."
"I saw a new face."
"Jealous? That I have another guard besides you?"
Jin Do-ha chuckled. At his joke, Im Mu-gwang placed the bottle of liquor he carried on the table.
"Brought your favorite liquor."
"Good. Let's have a drink."
The two clinked glasses. After exchanging a couple of light rounds, Im Mu-gwang spoke up.
"The Murim Alliance Leader called another guest."
Jin Do-ha had ordered reports on anything regarding the guest. Even without that, Im Mu-gwang was oddly fixated on the Leader's visitor.
"Bothering you?"
"Honestly, yes."
"Same here. But not this time."
"Why not?"
"If plotting something, they'd meet more secretly, avoiding my eyes. Or communicate via kit. Probably just had some tea."
"That's what I thought at first, but..."
Im Mu-gwang frowned, his face twisting oddly.
"The Leader broke her teacup."
"Teacup?"
Jin Do-ha, mid-sip, startled.
What could they have discussed to make the Alliance Leader drop her teacup? It must have been no ordinary shock. He could see why Im Mu-gwang was so hung up on that guest.
"Maybe the Leader's starting to respond."
"Hwa-young's been extraordinary since childhood. She won't just take it lying down."
"Shouldn't we move more discreetly too? Communicate via kit instead of meeting like this."
"That's riskier. Messages via kit could become evidence."
It was a disadvantage for those plotting in the shadows. If not aboveboard, even kit communication was off-limits.
"My thinking was shortsighted."
"That's the problem right there."
Im Mu-gwang flinched.
Problem? What did he mean? Was there an issue with him?
That thought crossed his mind, but fortunately, Jin Do-ha's "problem" wasn't about him.
"Discussing something that could drop a teacup in person? Knowing I'm here? Utterly baffling foolishness."
He himself would never do that. Probably Namgung Hwa-young, whom he deemed extraordinary, felt the same.
Fiddling with his glass, Jin Do-ha looked puzzled.
"What the hell is that guest thinking?"
His interest was gradually shifting to the guest.
The two continued drinking and talking. But throughout, Jin Do-ha's mind circled back to the Leader dropping her teacup.
Once the bottle was empty, Im Mu-gwang stood.
"I'll head out first."
"Go carefully."
Not mere words. A genuine warning to return undetected.
Im Mu-gwang bowed as if to say not to worry and left the hall.
Late at night, moving stealthily with muffled steps, he encountered no one.
Or so he thought.
"......A rat after all."
Someone hiding in the night's darkness had watched him leave.
"Squeak squeak."
Unhyang in the guest quarters was about to retire.
Sensing a presence, she sat up.
"You're here?"
Emerging from the darkness was Ye-ryeong. Having finished business at the Blood Shadow Sect, she had infiltrated the Murim Alliance and handled covert tasks from behind the scenes.
"Someone's working late at night, and you're off to sleep?"
The two had become like sisters. In the guild, Unhyang's favorite was Soo-hyuk, but her closest was Ye-ryeong.
Unhyang lit a small lantern. Ye-ryeong explained her visit.
"The guard captain's a rat. Cozied up with Jin Do-ha for drinks in the dead of night."
"Figured as much."
"On that note, shall we have one?"
Ye-ryeong jingled a bottle and cup. Sleepless anyway, Unhyang gladly drank.
Chilly air seeped through the window as they drank by lantern light.
Pouring the next round, Ye-ryeong said.
"Uncheon-geuk's coming too."
Seemed she brought the booze to say this.
But contrary to worry, Unhyang was calm.
"He will."
Uncheon-geuk was the biggest among those allied with Jin Do-ha.
"You okay?"
"He's not my real dad anyway."
"But you grew up thinking he was family for quite a while?"
Over drinks like this, they often shared old tales.
Unhyang's story was one she'd heard then. Ye-ryeong had even bawled her eyes out.
"Isn't this the line for times like this? Family's the enemy."
Not just words.
She truly believed it.
Uncheon-geuk? She shuddered at the thought. Far from father, she saw him as a wall to overcome someday.
"I'll take that enemy down."
Unhyang's eyes sparkled. Training at Jinwoon's estate, her skills had skyrocketed.
Inheriting the Heavenly Demon's arts, her potential alone rivaled the Demon himself.
"No need. Soo-hyuk's already itching for it."
"Soo-hyuk's itching, but I'm grinding my teeth. Grind grind."
Miming it with real chomping sounds, Ye-ryeong burst out laughing.
Fortunately, Unhyang's reaction was good. No trembling, quite bold.
She wasn't alone anymore.
Clink.
Draining their clinked glasses, Ye-ryeong glanced around the room.
"Speaking of, what’s Soo-hyuk up to?"
The nightcap loosening her tongue, Unhyang replied to the question.
"Said he had someone to meet."
The bright moon illuminated the training grounds.
Under pouring starlight and moonlight, Soo-hyuk's shadow stretched long. Gazing at the sky, he stood blankly in the center.
Then, footsteps stepped on his elongated shadow in the moonlight.
"You've come."
Sensing the presence behind, Soo-hyuk turned.
It was Jin Do-ha who sought him out. Meeting in the vast Murim Alliance was no coincidence.
Right after Im Mu-gwang left, he'd pondered nonstop.
Why did the teacup break? What was Namgung Hwa-young thinking? Just who was this guest she'd brought?
It felt like the Leader had summoned her trump card against them. Such a strong hunch couldn't be wrong.
There had to be a reason her trump card moved so openly.
"Heard you broke a teacup."
And Jin Do-ha interpreted it thus.
"Maybe you called for me?"
The moment he saw Soo-hyuk under the moonlight, he was certain.
His guess was right.
This guest had been waiting for him.