Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 194
>Chapter Title: Nancheon Society (6)
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Amid the arrows of criticism aimed at the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, an outer elder from the Namgung family spoke up.
“Come now, there's no need to blame the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord. He merely gathered and reported the information circulating in Shaanxi, didn't he? In my view, this seems like yet another case of those fanatic cultists idolizing their figure.”
A few of those present at the meeting nodded in agreement, as if convinced.
“Or perhaps the rumors have simply been greatly exaggerated. As the saying goes, rumors travel a thousand li on wings, growing with every person they pass through.”
This time, an elder from the Wudang Sect offered another perspective.
Either way, both opinions amounted to the same thing: no one was buying the rumors.
“Tch. As expected from those brainless Demonic Cult bastards.”
An elder from the Mount Hua Sect seemed to concur, clicking his tongue lightly while disparaging the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
True to form as an elder of Mount Hua Sect, where it was known that a descendant of Kunlun had established the sect, he revealed an absolute malice toward the Demonic Cult.
Yet subtly, that malice bordered more on contempt or disdain.
He wasn't insisting they march out immediately to wipe the bastards away.
In a way, it was only natural. It had been over six hundred years since Kunlun was razed by the Heavenly Demon of that era.
On top of that, with the Demonic Cult driven out of the Central Plains over two hundred years ago, vengeance had practically already been achieved.
The last direct clash between Mount Hua Sect and the Demonic Cult had been the invasion by the previous Heavenly Demon some ninety years prior, so their thirst for revenge had inevitably diluted over time.
It was so long ago that scarcely any participants from that battle remained.
Of course, the ideological indoctrination continued even now.
If you asked Mount Hua Sect disciples, “Who is our eternal enemy!”, every single one would roar back, “The Demonic Cult!”
But the ones Mount Hua Sect disciples truly wanted to devour weren't them.
They were their rivals, locked in endless struggles for dominance in Shaanxi Province day in and day out: the Zhongnan Sect.
Qingcheng Sect and Jeungcheong were in the exact same boat.
Qingcheng Sect looked upon their rivals in Sichuan Province with displeasure, while Jeungcheong had the three major powers of Sichuan above them and the Haenam Sect blocking the eastern paths.
“Tch. Wasted effort on pointless Demonic Cult nonsense.”
The rumors about the Demonic Cult's Eighth Young Master were so utterly absurd that those at the meeting quickly lost interest.
Instead, they began pulling out topics one by one related to their own sects' gains.
And so the pointless meeting dragged on for quite some time.
Right after the near-time-wasting gathering adjourned, Chief Strategist Gongsun Hyun called the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord aside.
“You've done well.”
At Gongsun Hyun's praise, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord forcibly suppressed his resentment and replied.
“I merely did what needed to be done, Chief Strategist.”
Revealing the rumors about Il-mok at today's meeting had been on the Chief Strategist's orders.
Though he'd endured insults from various elders because of it, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord neither questioned Gongsun Hyun about it nor asked why it had to be done that way.
He believed it was the duty of a subordinate to carry out a superior's orders without question.
Of course, he expected his own subordinates to do the exact same in return.
But Chief Strategist Gongsun Hyun was a little different.
“Aren't you curious why I specifically instructed you to relay those outlandish rumors exactly as they were?”
He believed that knowing the purpose allowed a subordinate to follow properly.
Of course, he only spoke because he had accurately gauged the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord's temperament.
“I am simply doing my utmost to carry out the Chief Strategist's orders.”
At the loyal retainer's steadfast reply, Gongsun Hyun smiled faintly and said,
“I did it on purpose. I wanted the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families to keep underestimating the Demonic Cult bastards.”
“!?”
It was reason enough to make even the devoted Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord struggle to maintain his composure.
“W-Wouldn't that be dangerous?”
“It will be dangerous. But isn't it a man's duty to embrace risk when pursuing a goal?”
With those cryptic words, the Chief Strategist grew solemn and continued.
“Think back on the current state of the martial world. The Martial Alliance's name is nothing but empty fame. In truth, it's the withered old bodies of the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families who decide everything, isn't it?”
“…….”
“What do you think? Do you truly believe they are righteous?”
“…….”
Faced with Gongsun Hyun's successive questions, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord could offer no reply.
Of course, among the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families, there were a few righteous ones, and some who genuinely sought to uphold justice.
But viewed as a whole, they were a scant minority.
“Aren't they just strutting around, trampling and mocking the justice of the jianghu simply because they were lucky enough to join prestigious sects as children or be born into great clans?”
“…….”
The Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, Jeong Yeong, recalled the earlier events.
He had risen to the position of Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord in the Martial Alliance, wielding power among the top five within it—yet today, he had been criticized by elders who weren't even sect leaders from the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families.
And Gongsun Hyun was in the same boat.
The Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families kept each other in check to prevent any one from seizing excessive power, which was how Gongsun Hyun—not affiliated with a massive sect—had claimed his current position.
Even with the lofty title of Chief Strategist, his authority was only half complete.
The Jeonmyeong Clan acted as if they were the actual strategists of the Martial Alliance.
Being in the same position, Gongsun Hyun precisely understood the resentment bottled up in the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, and thus willingly revealed his inner thoughts.
Of course, Gongsun Hyun was sharp enough to ascend to Chief Strategist despite not hailing from a great clan.
He knew full well how foolish it was to truly “trust” someone.
He simply knew how to maneuver others to move as he desired.
“Shall we push out those hypocrites and establish true justice in the jianghu under the banner of the Martial Alliance?”
Right now, he was wrapping the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord's resentment in the guise of justice, drawing him in.
“Then, Chief Strategist, do you intend to let the Demonic Cult invade the Central Plains? To lull the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families into complacency?”
“Exactly. Wasn't the Martial Alliance first founded precisely because of Demonic Cult invasions? When an enemy arises that can only be opposed by uniting all forces, power has no choice but to centralize. Right here. In the Martial Alliance.”
Just as he had lulled the elders of the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families into complacency during the meeting moments ago.
And as a capable man, he knew that realizing the vision he envisioned would require painstaking effort.
“So I'll entrust you with a secret mission. Deploy your most tight-lipped subordinates—several of them—and investigate the Eighth Young Master.”
“The Eighth Young Master?”
Why this figure from those outlandish rumors?
The Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord's eyes conveyed that sentiment, and Gongsun Hyun replied with a cold smile.
“As the saying goes, 'No fire without smoke.' The rumors themselves may be exaggerated, but there must be some reason they spread. Above all, if he's a disciple cherished by that terrifying Heavenly Demon, there has to be something to him.”
All Gongsun Hyun wanted was to upend the Central Plains' power structure, using a Demonic Cult invasion as the opportunity.
He had no intention whatsoever of handing the Central Plains to the Demonic Cult.
“Understood! When it comes to information on the Eighth Young Master, I'll uncover even the number of hairs on his head and report back.”
Inspired by Gongsun Hyun's words, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord cried out with eyes ablaze with a sense of mission.
* * *
Perhaps because silence had fallen with all the enemies lying dead and sprawled about.
Gulp.
The sound of Il-mok swallowing, upon hearing of Danbin's side effects, echoed unusually loudly.
Il-mok, wearing a somewhat tense expression, asked,
“Th-The side effects... are they manageable?”
To Il-mok's question, Danbin replied with her ongoing bewitching smile.
“Since escaping the Extreme Demon state, they've been tolerable enough these past few years.”
“I-I see.”
Il-mok answered in an awkward tone, and for a brief moment, an uncomfortable silence settled between them.
“Brother!”
Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a's voice shattered that silence.
She approached Il-mok with swift movements, looking up at him with watery eyes as she asked,
“Are you alright, Brother?”
Thanks to Seon-a's arrival, Il-mok escaped the awkward atmosphere and replied with a worried expression.
“I'm fine. More importantly, are you okay, Seon-a? How did you end up covered in blood like this?”
It was because of the blood splattered all over her clothes and face.
“Thanks to your worry, Brother, this girl is unharmed.”
Seon-a said it with a face begging for praise.
Il-mok reached out to stroke Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a's red hair but hesitated.
- Are your eyes just for show? It's covered in blood!
His germaphobia was too intense to touch someone drenched in blood, even if it was his cute little sister.
As Il-mok's hand approached her head and then stopped, Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a gazed longingly at it.
If those whose hearts and throats had been pierced by her nails, sending them from this world, saw that expression, they might have fainted on the spot.
In the end, giving up on petting Seon-a's head, Il-mok said with an awkward look.
“You've done well. And you too, Miss Jin and Young Master Baek—good work.”
Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a had suddenly dashed off alone, but Jin Ha-yeon and Baek Cheon, who had been with her, were now in the Nancheon Society leader's hall.
“I'm fine. You've been through a lot as well, Young Master.”
“Hahaha. This much hardly counts as hardship, Eighth Young Master.”
After the impassive Jin Ha-yeon's and the boisterous Baek Cheon's replies came one after another.
“Young Master!”
“No way!”
Two young rakes, no less scatterbrained than Baek Cheon, arrived at the hall.
Joo Seo-yeon and Gu Yang-mun stared at Il-mok with faces as if the sky had fallen.
The battle was already over, so their plan to get injured while trying to save him and end up in Jin Ha-yeon's arms had gone up in smoke.
‘Damn it. If only those last guys hadn't shown up!’
‘If I'd known, I should've taken a knife to the side and died quicker!’
Gu Yang-mun and Joo Seo-yeon thought the exact same thing.
On their way to the Nancheon Society leader's hall, the remaining two pinnacle experts of the Nancheon Society had blocked them.
But blocking Gu Yang-mun and Joo Seo-yeon, with Jeong-hyeon's covering fire, was a hopeless task for mere pinnacle experts, and in the end, the trio had dispatched them and arrived here.
While Gu Yang-mun and Joo Seo-yeon stewed in regret, Il-mok addressed the woman watching from a corner by herself.
“You've done well too, Miss Jeong.”
“I-I just d-did what I h-had to.”
Il-mok had no intention of praising Gu Yang-mun and Joo Seo-yeon.
‘They were hoping I'd be in danger. Crazy bastards.’
He could tell exactly what those mad young rakes had been thinking just from their eyes.
Confirming that everyone had gathered, Il-mok spoke.
“Have we taken care of all the Nancheon Society thugs we encountered?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Then gather the bodies. We need to burn them to eliminate any evidence.”
The evidence Il-mok referred to was the wounds on the corpses.
Wounds were traces of martial arts, and if mishandled, there was a risk their own techniques would be exposed.
He doubted the Martial Alliance goons would bother investigating a fallen faction in remote Gansu Province in detail.
‘But no harm in being thorough.’
For Il-mok, plagued by the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, destroying evidence was a matter of course.