Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Prove Your Value
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"Once, huh..."
Neung So-hwa muttered with a bitter smile.
Jeok Muryong shrugged his shoulders.
"That's seriously impressive."
"I see."
"Yeah. If you two went all out in a deathmatch, it'd be hard to call who comes out on top against that monk Baek Un."
"You mean..."
"Basically, he's the second strongest after old man Hong Gak. Out of everyone I've met since opening my eyes."
Jeok Muryong stated flatly before adding,
"Well, that's just by this era's standards."
"What if you include the past?"
"He wouldn't crack the top seven hundred. But that's no flaw. Old man Hong Gak barely scrapes into the top fifty, if that."
"...Sir Jeok must have lived in an age swarming with absolute monsters."
"You think? It's weird when you put it that way. Martial arts shouldn't be regressing over time."
"Um, excuse me, but what are you talking about? What's this 'Sir Jeok's era'?"
"You don't need to know."
Jeok Muryong brushed off Im Seohyuk's question in one go and turned to Neung So-hwa.
"Explain it to him properly later."
"Got it, Sir Jeok."
"Good. So, have you decided what to do?"
"Sorry, can I have just a bit more time to think?"
"Take your time."
Jeok Muryong readily agreed and returned to the drinking table.
Black Orchid, who had been keeping watch with Jin Choyoung, hurried over and bowed deeply.
"Do you have orders for me?"
Jeok Muryong let out a hollow chuckle.
"Black Orchid, right? That's some quick turnaround in attitude."
"My life belongs to you now."
Black Orchid replied calmly.
"Besides, I originally swore loyalty to True Heaven Palace before the Yellow River Society. Serving the one the Young Palace Lord trusts most is nothing to be ashamed of."
"Fair enough. That's a solid mindset. Keep thinking that way—for your own sake, not mine."
"...Yes."
Jeok Muryong then turned to Jin Choyoung.
"Why don't you learn from her?"
"Ugh."
"Your martial arts are middling at best, and you're no good as a maid either. You should take Black Orchid here as your master and learn step by step."
"F-From a junior?"
"Forget junior. In this world, the strong one is the senior, the big brother, the big sister. Right, Black Orchid?"
"If you're ordering me to help Senior Jin Choyoung grow, I'll devote myself fully."
"Not an order... Anyway, it's not my business. Sort it out between yourselves."
"Yes."
"Now go rest."
Jeok Muryong waved her off casually and plopped down on the railing with a bottle of liquor in hand.
Gulp, gulp.
He downed the premium baekju to his heart's content, then tore into some perfectly grilled meat pancakes.
It made for a decent meal, perfectly in tune with the riverside ambiance.
"Burp."
Akju Division, Red Cliff Hall, and Yellow River Society.
True to their straightforward names, these were the three factions based in the regions encircling Wuhan.
The Akju Division handled all management of ships for river transport and loading operations.
Red Cliff Hall oversaw overland trade routes toward Hunan Province, True Heaven Palace's biggest trading hub.
Both organizations stuck to roles tied to their home turf.
Akju bordered the Yangtze's main channel east of Wuhan, while Red Cliff lay along the key highway south of the city.
Yellow River Society was different.
Geographically, it was north of Akju—practically across the river.
But their duties had nothing to do with location.
They specialized in covert operations of every kind.
Stealth infiltration, tailing targets, bribery, assassination—their bread and butter.
There was some overlap with White Eyes Hall, but while White Eyes operated in the open, Yellow River stuck to the shadows.
Black Orchid was proof enough of that.
Still, that didn't make them the strongest.
They were short-staffed.
The nature of their work made raising a single proper agent incredibly tough.
They had no choice but to go elite few.
Unlike the other two, who could rake in side cash beyond their funding to hire hordes of warriors and stockpile supplies, they were in a different boat.
Akju Division and Red Cliff Hall had their own subtle differences too.
Most murim folk preferred land over water travel.
Red Cliff Hall, weaker on funds than Akju, compensated by drawing in top-tier hires.
Akju knew it, so they doubled down on weapons, supplies, and gadgets.
Rumors even swirled they'd commissioned all sorts of traps and mechanisms from Sichuan's Tang Clan for their Akju branch.
In summary:
Elite few: Yellow River Society.
Overwhelming funds: Akju Division.
Superior manpower: Red Cliff Hall.
Any faction had the means to chase ambition.
Until recently, Palace Lord Neung Ju-won's oversight kept the balance.
But after he vanished?
They bared their fangs for power without hesitation.
"Only for Ung Yeol and Man Hwa-ryong to head to the afterlife together, pathetically enough."
Whoosh...
A woman murmured while staring out at the downpour.
Yellow River Society Leader White Orchid's mind was a whirlwind.
"Maybe True Heaven Palace only held together because of Neung Ju-won."
The massive cornerstone propping up the entire structure.
No wonder it crumbled overnight.
"That aside, something feels off."
White Orchid frowned and muttered to herself.
She was at the Yellow River Society's headquarters in Wuhan.
It was nominal at best—the real HQ work fell to their branch across the Yellow River.
Red Cliff Hall, Akju Division, and most True Heaven Palace affiliates worked the same way.
Still, the Wuhan HQ rarely emptied out, but today was special.
"I knew those Akju Division idiots were money-grubbers, but I didn't expect them to spark a civil war like this."
Akju Division Leader Man Hwa-ryong and Deputy Leader Yo Seok-cheol.
Brothers thicker than blood, calling each other by name—now fighting tooth and nail over a few coins.
The infighting that erupted.
Man Hwa-ryong dead, Yo Seok-cheol critically wounded... or so the reports went.
Akju Division's head lopped off in an instant.
No surprise the others, Red Cliff Hall included, cheered and rushed to Akju.
Snag it all if they played it right.
That could flip the power struggle overnight.
Red Cliff Hall and Yellow River Society couldn't ignore it, so they'd dispatched major forces.
"But... something still feels off."
White Orchid grumbled, face scrunched.
Unlike Red Cliff Hall Leader Ung Su-cheon, she hadn't gone to Akju herself.
She'd sent her trusted aides ahead, planning to follow—but her feet wouldn't move.
One reason.
Black Orchid hadn't returned.
"Did something happen to her? No, impossible. Dealing with a bookworm like Im Seohyuk should be child's play."
White Eyes Hall.
Yellow River overlapped enough that she knew them well.
Their intel outstripped even Yellow River's.
Im Seohyuk was their leader.
He knew too much.
White Orchid knew plenty herself, but handing him to Red Cliff or Akju left a bad taste.
So she'd sent Black Orchid to eliminate him.
She should've been back ages ago. That was the issue.
"...Hm?"
White Orchid, watching the rain, suddenly tensed.
The hairs on her arms stood on end.
A weird dissonance. She turned to call the guards outside—just then.
Bang!
The door to the leader's quarters exploded inward toward her.
"...Tch!"
She hand-chopped the flying door to splinters and scanned ahead urgently.
Akju Division strike team? No—the intruders were unexpected.
Two men, three women.
Two of them caught her eye.
"Black Orchid! And...!"
"Long time no see, Yellow River Society Leader."
"...Young Palace Lord."
White Orchid's eyes shook violently at the sight of Neung So-hwa.
'How in the world?'
Questions swirled in her head.
No strike team could slip her senses—let alone an untrained Neung So-hwa.
Im Seohyuk alive and well, traveling with them. Black Orchid too.
For a split second, betrayal? But no—White Orchid was certain otherwise.
They were one of a kind in the world...
"Sister."
"...Yes."
Her half-sister's voice snapped White Orchid back to calm.
"No guilt in your voice at all. You must've been close to death."
"Yes."
"Surrendered to save your skin?"
"Yes."
"Good girl. I drilled that into you myself—always put your life first."
"I followed your words, but... that wasn't the only reason."
"I get it. Hold on."
White Orchid cut off Black Orchid and scanned the other three, excluding Neung So-hwa.
Her gaze locked on Jeok Muryong.
"You're the one."
"The one what?"
"The one who subdued Black Orchid and sneaked them all into Yellow River Society HQ."
White Orchid's eyes narrowed.
"No way the pale scholar Im Seohyuk did it, nor that scatterbrain Jin Choyoung. Leaves you."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Then let me ask—who are you?"
"Jeok Muryong."
White Orchid quickly cross-referenced the name in her mental roster.
Nothing, as expected.
'Jeok Muryong? Who the hell? A master like this, unknown?'
"I can hear your brain churning from here."
"...!"
"Drop the identity hunt. Focus on how you're gonna save your neck."
"Kuh!"
White Orchid bit her lip.
"You gonna kill me?"
"Idiot."
"What?"
"If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't bother talking."
Jeok Muryong replied indifferently, crossing his arms.
"So prove your worth. To the True Heaven Palace Lord—not me."