Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Relocating the Branch
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The night passes.
The hours within it are no different from the day's, a time when many things can happen.
But it was a moment when everyone was asleep, and even if one were awake, no one could see through the shrouding darkness as if it were day.
Thus, if things look the same as the day before after the sun rises, or if the changes are in places not carefully watched, no one pays mind to what happened during the night.
“Young Master Neung!”
“…Put him to sleep.”
*Crack!*
As the day began with the enraged Un Hak being knocked unconscious, the Waning Moon Unit returned, their hands full of the night's findings.
“Huh? Is Daoist Un Hak still in this state?”
Wang Cheon, who had just returned, tilted his head as he looked at Un Hak sprawled on the ground.
“I just put him back to sleep. Must’ve been about three times throughout the night?”
“Ah, I see. I was wondering why he was sleeping for so long.”
Nodding at Neung Un-bi’s words, Wang Cheon sensed something was off and blinked.
Un Hak was one thing…
“My lord.”
“Yes?”
“Was there an attack of some kind?”
“No.”
“Then why…”
Wang Cheon looked puzzled.
And for good reason; Neung Un-bi’s appearance was completely different from the previous night.
The clothes he wore were torn to the point they could be called rags, and his skin was covered in fine cuts.
His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were so sunken…
He looked as exhausted as someone who had walked a thousand li without rest.
“…I trained all night.”
“Trained?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean, what kind of training leaves you looking like that?”
“…The kind you bet your life on.”
“Pardon?”
“About five times, I genuinely thought I was going to die.”
Wang Cheon couldn't hide his bewilderment at Neung Un-bi’s seemingly choked-up expression.
But he was serious. He really had almost died.
It was training that tested the limits of not only his body but also his mind.
The Three Nothings Footwork? That crap was meaningless.
He had personally come to understand the meaning of “a heaven beyond the heavens.”
Hyang-i’s movements were like those of a formless ghost, and Neung Un-bi had to overcome his own limits just to survive.
Thanks to that, hadn't he reached the state of the Three Nothings Footwork?
And… he had heard it.
The sound of the air being thinly sliced was still vivid in his ears. Even when standing still, the sound of the wind seemed to echo like an auditory hallucination.
When the training ended, Hyang-i was smiling with a dagger aimed at Neung Un-bi’s throat.
But she couldn’t get any closer.
Neung Un-bi’s Flying Swallow Sword was barely touching the nape of her neck.
And then she spoke.
-You know I was holding back, right? Still, you barely caught up. Congratulations.
He knew she had held back. Unlike his own desperate struggle, she had been overflowing with composure from start to finish.
“Where did the Maid go?”
“To sleep.”
“Sleep? At a time when everyone else is waking up?”
“We trained together.”
“…Ah!”
Only then could Wang Cheon understand why Neung Un-bi looked the way he did.
If he had trained with Hyang-i… this condition was actually quite good, all things considered.
“What about the task I sent you on?”
“Ah! Here.”
“…”
Wang Cheon took a book out from his robes and held it out.
“This is prime information that was sleeping in the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild’s secret library.”
“Prime information?”
“You’ll see when you read it, but they had created a ledger to use as their lifeline in case something happened.”
“Hm.”
Neung Un-bi smirked as he looked at the book in his hand.
Why do all bad guys act the same way?
It’s not like they all took a class on how to make a secret ledger…
“Turns out they’re real scumbags, you know? They colluded not only with the government officials but also with nearby sects and ripped everyone off big time.”
“…”
Neung Un-bi was reading it too. How much they had bribed whom over the years.
“My lord.”
“Ah, you’re here?”
Just then, Joo Seung also arrived.
But his expression looked incredibly sly.
He had clearly dug up something good.
“What’s with that look?”
“Hehehe, I’ve found something truly tremendous.”
“Tremendous?”
“Yes.”
Joo Seung glanced around furtively before secretly pulling something from his robes.
It was a neatly folded piece of paper and a small golden key, wrapped in a silk cloth.
“What’s this?”
“Unfold it and see.”
Neung Un-bi couldn’t help but chuckle at Joo Seung’s excited expression, complete with a wink.
When did you become so playful?
You were once the leader of the Black Panther Unit that dominated the northern Tian Shan.
What in the world is this?
“Huh?”
“Ta-da!”
The unfolded paper was filled with numbers.
“That, sir, I found out it’s an anonymous account.”
“Anonymous?”
“Yes. It’s money stored in an anonymous safe secretly managed by the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild. It’s an incredible amount, isn’t it?”
“…”
Just as he said, it was a truly enormous sum.
How on earth did they manage to gather this much money?
And it was anonymous.
Meaning it has no designated owner.
As is often the case with illegally acquired funds.
Which means…
“Anyone can withdraw it?”
“Yes. They said all you need is the token I brought with it.”
“Hoh? Is that so?”
Neung Un-bi fiddled with the golden key that had been wrapped in the paper, a smile similar to Joo Seung’s on his face.
No, it was far more sinister.
After that, a stream of information from the Waning Moon Unit followed.
The Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild. These guys were truly evil bastards.
Hadn’t they committed all sorts of corruption by cleverly exploiting legal loopholes?
No, there were even things that broke the law.
Each time, it seemed the government office and nearby martial sects scrambled to help them. Of course, all the damage fell upon the powerless.
They were bastards in a slightly different way than the Heavenly Pillar Gate they had encountered before.
“Hmm…”
“What will you do?”
“Well…”
As Neung Un-bi seemed to be contemplating, Wang Cheon and Joo Seung exchanged glances, sharing their thoughts.
By now, their way of thinking had changed considerably.
Hadn’t they already learned through the Heavenly Pillar Gate incident?
Exposing bad guys raises one’s reputation.
Wasn’t it thanks to that, that the Demonic Cult’s branches were able to be officially established in the Central Plains?
Thus, the two of them thought it would be the same this time.
The connection to the Zhongnan Sect was a bit concerning, but it wasn’t just one or two instances of corruption, was it?
“Should we strike immediately, like we did with the Heavenly Pillar Gate?”
“What?”
“Don’t we already have all the information? It seems we can secure a large number of witnesses as well. Let’s punish them for the sake of justice.”
Neung Un-bi let out a dry laugh at their proactive attitude, so different from before.
Did you guys forget you’re the Demonic Cult?
Why have you become apostles of justice?
But this couldn’t be the same as with the Heavenly Pillar Gate.
The Heavenly Pillar Gate is a martial sect. Even if a fight breaks out, the government will never intervene.
And they had committed sins for which being torn to shreds wouldn’t be enough…
But the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild was different. They weren’t a martial sect but belonged to the merchant world, so if handled wrong, there was a high chance the government would get involved.
Furthermore, although they had done many bad things, there was nothing legally problematic.
The ledger Wang Cheon brought? The numerous witnesses secured by the Waning Moon Unit?
They probably wouldn’t have much effect.
Would the people named in the ledger just sit still?
If it were recklessly brought to light, it could easily backfire.
And above all, the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild’s backer was the Zhongnan Sect.
A member of the Nine Great Sects, the backbone of the Orthodox Murim Alliance.
There was nothing to be gained by rashly provoking them.
It wasn’t for nothing that they boasted a long history and tradition. If they were to get involved, it would be dangerous even with Hyang-i in their group.
And weren’t they already furious because of the Demonic Cult branches that had begun to be established in the Central Plains due to the Heavenly Pillar Gate incident?
They wouldn’t be willing to concede any further.
Then what should be done? The Sinpyeong Brewery couldn’t suffer any damage either…
Damn it, the agreement with the Orthodox Murim Alliance is weighing on my mind.
Wasn’t there a clause that we couldn’t use coercive force to invade the territory of the Orthodox Faction?
Furthermore, the scope for seizing interests was limited to the vicinity of the branch…
“Huh?”
In that moment, a brilliant idea struck him.
Vicinity of the branch, non-coercive force.
And the ledger from Wang Cheon and the anonymous account from Joo Seung.
All of it intertwined, and in an instant, a plan was born.
“Ah, that’s right! That’ll work!”
“…?”
Neung Un-bi, shouting as if in admiration of himself, called for Wang Cheon.
“Wang Cheon.”
“Yes?”
“You, send a message to the main cult immediately.”
“To the main cult?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of message?”
“We need to adjust the location of the branch being established in Shaanxi.”
“Pardon? To where?”
“Right… here.”
“…”
At Neung Un-bi’s words, Wang Cheon and Joo Seung stared blankly.
Move the branch? To here?
…What does that mean?
“No. Give me a brush and ink. I must write a letter to the Cult Leader myself.”
“…”
“I will absolutely move the branch. Kuhuhuhu.”
The face of Neung Un-bi, laughing through his teeth, looked somehow sinister.
Changing the branch location.
That’ll do it.
I don’t care about the Zhongnan Sect or the Orthodox Murim Alliance.
There was no clause in the agreement stating that the location of a branch could not be moved.
“Um, my lord.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“…Sending a letter to the Cult Leader is one thing, but will the Orthodox Murim Alliance permit it?”
“They will.”
“They will?”
Wang Cheon and Joo Seung tilted their heads at Neung Un-bi’s confident smile.
On what grounds?
“Look over there.”
“…?”
Where Neung Un-bi gestured with his chin, Un Hak was sleeping soundly, spread-eagled on the ground.
“From now on, he will help us in every way possible.”
“In every way? What power does Daoist Un Hak have? No matter how well-regarded he is in the Orthodox Faction, he’s still of the younger generation. I doubt his influence is that great…”
“Who said Un Hak would be doing it?”
“Pardon?”
“Un Hak is just the messenger.”
“A messenger?”
“Yes. The ones making the move are above him.”
“Above him…?”
“Mount Hua. From now on, they will roll up their sleeves and help us change the branch’s location.”
“…”
Not just Un Hak, but Mount Hua is going to help?
Wang Cheon and Joo Seung could only tilt their heads, not understanding the reason.
But it would definitely happen.
Mount Hua. A Daoist sect that was practically the mortal enemy of the Demonic Cult.
While not to the extent of Kunlun, who started conversations with swords, would a Daoist sect like having the Demonic Cult enter their territory?
They probably only accepted the existing Demonic Cult branch because it had been secretly established long ago.
In such a situation, what if the Demonic Cult offered to move its location on its own?
It was a sure thing. They would probably agree with both hands and feet in the air.
“Come on, even if Mount Hua steps in, will Zhongnan just stand by and watch?”
“They won’t. But it doesn’t matter.”
“…?”
“History, tradition, and even their influence in the Orthodox Murim Alliance. In every aspect, Mount Hua surpasses Zhongnan.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
To Wang Cheon’s question, Neung Un-bi simply smiled.
He was certain. Having originally been from the Orthodox Faction, he knew all too well about the friction between them.
Even though thirty years had passed since his death, the power of a prestigious house does not break easily.
In the meantime, although he hadn’t heard the specifics about Un Hak’s master, wasn’t he called the Sword Saint?
The Sword Saint. An absolute being who has reached the realm of an immortal through the sword.
Such a title isn’t given to just anyone.
One’s martial arts must be fundamentally incredible, their reputation exceptionally high, and they must be the object of both respect and admiration to be called that.
And that Sword Saint was firmly established at Mount Hua.
The prestigious house had not died. It had not weakened.
Far from weakening, it was much stronger than he remembered.
Therefore! The Demonic Cult’s branch will be established right here!
“Kuhuhu, khahahahaha!”
“…”
As Neung Un-bi suddenly burst into roaring laughter at the heavens, Wang Cheon and Joo Seung stared at him with baffled eyes.
“Wang Cheon!”
“Yes?”
“As your lord, I command you. Bring me a brush and ink at once, and convey my will to the Shaanxi branch manager of the Demonic Cult.”
“…Your command.”
“The Shaanxi Demonic Cult branch is to pack up all its warriors and assets and move here.”
“Hah, I understand.”
Though Wang Cheon was still uneasy, he had no choice but to obey the command.
How could he say no when his lord was shouting with such excitement?
Well, I'm sure he'll handle it himself, just like always.
“Joo Seung!”
“Yes!”
“From this moment, find and bring all the carpenters who left the Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild on bad terms. Those with deep-seated grudges against the Guild are even better. I will meet them myself!”
“I accept your command.”
Having received their orders from Neung Un-bi, Wang Cheon and Joo Seung hastily departed.
“Blue Cloud Carpentry Guild, you just wait. From now on, I’ll give you a gift of painful days. And it’ll all be legal!”
Left alone, Neung Un-bi’s eyes gleamed menacingly as he looked at Un Hak.
Of course, all the while, the oblivious Un Hak was fast asleep, breathing softly.