All Matters Return to Righteousness (4)
Their footsteps halted before the iron bars of the prison cell, and Yi Mu-myeong raised his head.
Standing before him were Jeong Hwi-ji's subordinates, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.
A sinister smirk curled across his face as he spoke.
"Get up, prisoner."
"……."
Yi Mu-myeong stared at him in disbelief.
They had clearly said there would be an internal family trial.
To treat the direct heir of their in-laws like a criminal before the verdict was out?
He didn't want to believe that his lord, Hanbin, had failed.
Yet Jeong Hwi-ji's subordinate wore an oddly confident expression.
Yi Mu-myeong furrowed his brow without realizing it.
Noticing this, the subordinate's lips twisted upward.
With evident satisfaction, he barked at his men.
"Drag him out!"
As Yi Mu-myeong and Seol-hwa rose, the subordinate said with a friendly smile.
"We should at least give you a chance to defend yourself, so we'll release the pressure points."
He released the acupoint as if bestowing a great favor.
Pop!
A faint groan escaped Yi Mu-myeong's lips.
"Mm."
The subordinate kept up his affable demeanor.
"Don't take it personally. We don't want to treat a young master of the Paeng Family like this. Just nod along to whatever my lord asks. That's your only way to survive."
"Do you really think you'll get away with this?"
Yi Mu-myeong channeled his lord Hanbin's fury, shouting in outrage.
The subordinate shook his head slightly at the outburst.
"Looks like we'll have to release the pressure points again once we reach the family head's hall."
Pop!
He resealed Yi Mu-myeong's acupoint.
With his pressure points struck, Yi Mu-myeong stared blankly toward the end of the dark corridor.
As he was slowly dragged along, he glanced sideways.
Seol-hwa walked beside him, her face expressionless.
* * *
Yi Mu-myeong was brought to the family head's hall of the Henan Jeong Family.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning the room.
Everyone gathered there had eyes alight with hunger.
They looked like a pack of hyenas eyeing fresh prey.
But their gazes held subtle differences.
Each coveted something else.
Some sought gold and wealth.
Others lusted after power.
A few seemed to be pondering which side to back.
In the strange atmosphere, Yi Mu-myeong gritted his teeth.
Where the hell is my lord?
Yi Mu-myeong ceaselessly observed the people.
Then, murmurs rippled through the hall.
"Looks like it's starting."
"Quiet, everyone."
Before the chatter died down, heavy footsteps echoed.
Thud, thud.
The steps, infused with inner power, made the entire hall tremble in rhythm.
They headed straight for the head seat. Their owner was Jeong Hwi-ji.
It was a flashy entrance proclaiming him the star of the day.
He ascended to the upper seat slowly, glancing at the empty family head's throne.
But he didn't sit.
His eyes radiated leisure—he had all the time in the world.
Standing beside the throne, Jeong Hwi-ji swept his sharp gaze over the hall.
Flanking the hall were the elders and division heads of the Henan Jeong Family.
Those who met Jeong Hwi-ji's eyes bowed lightly.
Some hid faint smiles.
After eyeing the elders and division heads, Jeong Hwi-ji turned to the upper seats.
There sat Yi Jinmyeong of Kunlun Sect and Jeong Changmyeong of Jeomcheong Sect, guests with impassive faces, lost in thought as if awaiting something.
As Jeong Hwi-ji looked their way, they snapped out of it and offered small smiles.
For once, Jeong Hwi-ji softened his expression, nodding politely in return.
Yi Jinmyeong of Kunlun and Jeong Changmyeong of Jeomcheong would witness everything that transpired here.
They would also vouch for the fairness of Jeong Hwi-ji's actions to the entire righteous faction.
The stage Jeong Hwi-ji desired was set.
The grand feast of generational change in the Henan Jeong Family lay just ahead.
Of course, appetizers were needed first.
Jeong Hwi-ji planned to mince the finest ingredients: Paeng Hanbin and Jeong Inji.
Stroking the throne cautiously, Jeong Hwi-ji adopted a mournful expression.
The others nodded in sympathy.
Watching his face, Yi Mu-myeong let out a quiet sigh.
"Hoo……."
It was the day all his illusions about the Henan Jeong Family, where he'd grown up, shattered.
Then Jeong Hwi-ji turned and bellowed with inner power.
"Bring in the eldest young master!"
At his command, warriors opened a side door to the hall.
Jeong Hwi-ji's men dragged in someone bound.
Though subdued, the man's eyes burned with life.
The captive stood before Jeong Hwi-ji.
A tense air crackled between them.
Everyone in the hall swallowed dryly, watching the silent pair.
The silence broke first from the captive.
He spoke in a reproachful tone.
"What is the meaning of this, second brother?"
The man was Jeong Inji, Jeong Hwi-ji's elder brother and the acting heir of the Henan Jeong Family.
An hour ago, he'd returned to the family and received a report that the Qingming Pill from the Hebei Paeng Family had arrived. That's when Jeong Hwi-ji ambushed him.
Off guard, Jeong Inji had fallen easily.
To his brother's angry question, Jeong Hwi-ji replied flatly.
"That's what I want to ask. Why did you do it, brother?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The Qingming Pill from the Hebei Paeng Family was poisoned."
"What nonsense is this?"
"Father's condition is now irreversible because of it."
"What happened to Father?"
Jeong Inji's eyes widened, forgetting his own plight.
"Why pretend you don't know? Paeng Family's fourth young master has already confessed everything."
"Paeng Family's fourth young master?"
Jeong Inji narrowed his eyes, scanning the hall.
No one from the Hebei Paeng Family he recognized was there.
And why would he? He hadn't even known there was a fourth young master of the Paeng Family.
Paeng Hanbin's existence had been that insignificant in Hebei.
He was infamous as the greatest coward there, but such notoriety wouldn't reach Henan.
Moreover, Jeong Inji had been racing between Wudang, Huashan, and Shaolin for elixirs to treat the family head.
In his frenzy, he'd missed all the rumors swirling in the martial world.
At that moment, Jeong Hwi-ji clapped.
Clap, clap!
In sync, warriors dragged out a man in red martial robes from the back.
They dumped him in the center of the hall.
Surrounding the red-robed man, Jeong Hwi-ji pointed with his index finger.
"Are you seriously claiming you don't know this man, brother?"
Jeong Inji cried out in shock.
"What are you saying, second brother?"
"You conspire with Paeng Family's fourth young master and now feign ignorance? Is the family head's seat that tempting?"
"What on earth……."
"Just wait a moment."
Jeong Hwi-ji approached Yi Mu-myeong slowly.
Standing before him, he spoke in a low voice.
"No need to answer. Paeng Hanbin, do you admit to conspiring with Henan Jeong Family's eldest young master Jeong Inji?"
His thunderous shout, laced with inner power, hung in the air. Everyone watched without blinking, awaiting the response.
Yi Mu-myeong hadn't expected Jeong Hwi-ji to be such a two-faced viper.
He openly scorned his benefactors.
The family head who saved Yi Mu-myeong from death in his youth and took him in.
The eldest young master who supported him to reach the Peak realm.
Even Hanbin, who recognized his swordsmanship.
He was toying with them all.
Forgetting his own peril, Yi Mu-myeong shouted.
"You bastard! How dare you wear a human skin and slander like this? Do you forget how the eldest young master cared for you? He yielded every elixir to make you Henan’s Greatest Sword, and this is how you betray that grace?"
The elders and division heads quietly averted their gazes at his outburst.
His words held not a shred of falsehood.
But Jeong Hwi-ji smirked oddly.
At the end of that smile, he spoke.
"Exactly. That's your confession. You claim no acquaintance with the eldest young master—how else would you know our family affairs so intimately? Isn't that proof enough?"
Jeong Hwi-ji's sly rhetoric choked Yi Mu-myeong.
He'd played right into it.
He had to act as Hanbin, but in losing his temper, he'd revealed his true feelings.
As Yi Mu-myeong opened his mouth again—
Jeong Hwi-ji thrust out his hand.
His index finger shot toward Yi Mu-myeong like a snake.
Pop!
Yi Mu-myeong's eyes widened.
Jeong Hwi-ji had struck his mute acupoint—no more words needed.
Yi Mu-myeong could only blink.
Scoffing disdainfully, Jeong Hwi-ji pulled a letter from his bosom.
As all eyes fixed on the document in his hand, he hardened his face and continued.
"This letter is irrefutable proof of the conspiracy between the eldest young master and Paeng Family's fourth young master. I request that Jeong Changmyeong, esteemed hero of Jeomcheong Sect here present, verify its authenticity."
Finishing, Jeong Hwi-ji walked quietly to Jeong Changmyeong and placed the letter before him.
Jeong Changmyeong skimmed it briefly and nodded.
"The circumstances of the plot between Paeng Family's fourth young master and Henan Jeong Family's eldest young master are clear. See for yourself."
He handed the letter to Yi Jinmyeong of Kunlun beside him.
After examining it, Yi Jinmyeong added.
"This handwriting matches the eldest young master's exactly."
"I thought so too. It details the plan to tamper with the Qingming Pill and assassinate the Henan Jeong family head."
Murmurs erupted at their exchange.
"What? It's real?"
"Why would the eldest young master harm the family head? The seat would come to him anyway."
"No, the family head's still vigorous—why relinquish it?"
"And Kunlun and Jeomcheong guests wouldn't lie."
With masters from great sects testifying, Jeong Hwi-ji's claims solidified as truth.
Then—
Eldest young master Jeong Inji shouted.
"You scum! Slandering your own blood brother wasn't enough—you'd kill Father too……."
Before he finished, Jeong Hwi-ji interjected.
"That's my line, brother."
He clapped again.
Immediately, a physician he had summoned entered carrying a Cold Iron Box.
The physician set it down before everyone and opened it silently at Jeong Hwi-ji's gesture.
"Show them, physician."
At Jeong Hwi-ji's signal, the physician inserted a silver needle into the box and withdrew it.
He displayed it to all.
All eyes locked on the tiny needle.
Suddenly, elders and division heads buzzed again.
"It's turned black. Then……."
"If the silver needle changed, poison was definitely inside."
"The letter mentioned poison…… The evidence is clear."
As martial artists, they spotted the subtle change instantly.
At their whispers, Jeong Inji's eyes widened.
He was trapped beyond escape.
Seeing his expression, Jeong Hwi-ji flashed a triumphant smile.
"Now, we judge the sinners!"
With that, he drew his sword from its sheath.
Shing!
Everyone held their breath at his action.
Then—
Someone burst through a side door, shouting.
"The family head! The family head!"
It was a young man in faded blue robes.
His attire marked him as a servant of the Henan Jeong Family.
Thinking the expected outcome had arrived, Jeong Hwi-ji feigned sorrow and asked.
"What happened to Father?"
The blue-robed servant looked up.
But his expression was peculiar—like he was looking down on Jeong Hwi-ji.
With that odd look, the servant replied.
"What do you think happened?"
Jeong Hwi-ji's eyebrow twitched at the sudden retort.