Yeongho Bin's Moment to Shine
Late at night, two disciples of the Sun and Moon Sect met in secret, away from prying eyes. Both wore matching black martial robes and masks.
“The enforcement disciples of the White Tiger Palace are closing in on the truth.”
“Which is why we must strike tonight. The Sect Leader is in closed-door cultivation. There will never be a better opportunity.”
The two whispering in secret were Lim Gang-hu and Jo Chun-sa.
Standing slightly apart from them, Jo Cheong-ryu was staring at the Red Moon Palace, the residence of the Sect Leader's family, visible in the distance.
The eastern gate of the Red Moon Palace was the shortest route to the Young Sect Leader's quarters.
Jo Cheong-ryu stared intently, as if waiting for something, at the spot where two guards stood watch at the eastern gate.
Suddenly, the guard on the left staggered and collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.
“Hey, are you alright?”
The other guard, who rushed over at the sight, collapsed forward before he could even take a few steps.
“Now, brothers! Move!”
At that signal, Lim Gang-hu, Jo Chun-sa, and Jo Cheong-ryu moved in unison.
Before the two poisoned, unconscious guards could wake up, they drove daggers into their throats, ending their lives, and dashed forward.
Each had only one thought in mind.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This time, we will achieve our grand purpose!
These three were the last spies the Murim Alliance had planted inside the Sun and Moon Sect.
Not long ago, their plan to assassinate the Young Sect Leader at the Grand Assembly—under the watchful eyes of the entire Jianghu—had ended in failure.
The Young Sect Leader's skills—or rather, his talent—were far greater than they had feared.
If left unchecked, it was obvious he would grow into a great arch-demon of the Jianghu, surpassing even the current Sect Leader, Baek Mumyeong.
If that happened, the order of the Jianghu ruled by the Murim Alliance could no longer be maintained.
We must eliminate the Demonic Cult's Young Sect Leader to nip this threat in the bud!
Fortunately, because the assassin had died immediately, the identities of the other spies embedded in the Cult had not been exposed.
They hid their identities and bided their time.
The ironclad security around the Young Sect Leader did not loosen even with the passage of time.
However, after long preparation, they had managed to slip a delayed-onset poison into the meals of the Moon Shadow Guard on duty that day.
Now that a dozen or so guards had collapsed, the Young Sect Leader's defenses were practically non-existent.
Thwip! Thwip!
Crossing the rear garden, passing through the main hall and the corridors, daggers danced wherever the three trod. Each time, the guards died without even being able to scream.
Looking at the Young Sect Leader's quarters before his eyes, Jo Cheong-ryu smiled triumphantly at the sight of the two guards collapsed in front of the door.
The moment of achieving their grand purpose was right before them.
Jo Cheong-ryu prepared to plunge his dagger into the vital point of the guard foaming at the mouth.
Right then.
WHACK!!!
With a sudden, violent impact, stars exploded before Jo Cheong-ryu's eyes, and the world spun wildly.
Someone had delivered a devastating kick infused with immense internal energy, sending Jo Cheong-ryu flying.
Who is it?
We eliminated all the guards!
Lim Gang-hu and Jo Chun-sa didn't even have time to look back at the flying Jo Cheong-ryu before they threw themselves into combat stances.
Out of the darkness, a giant of a man who had kicked Jo Cheong-ryu stepped forward, blocking the entrance to the Young Sect Leader's quarters.
“To show up at my Master's quarters with bared blades... How troublesome. If you wanted to die so badly, you could have just asked.”
Drawing a longsword from the scabbard of one of the unconscious guards, the man slowly stepped into the light...
A servant?
Bizarrely, he was dressed in the clothes of a lowly servant.
* * *
I was lying in bed, staring at the moon through the window.
I don't know if it's the same for others.
But there are nights when you close your eyes, and thoughts just chain together, making your mind sharper and clearer the more you try to sleep.
Tonight was one of those nights.
Tomorrow is going to be another exhausting day, so I need to sleep... Wait, is something happening outside?
I sat up abruptly, gripped by a strange premonition.
It was incredibly faint, but for a moment now, I had been hearing the sound of someone running in the distance.
No, rather than a sound, it was more like sensing a presence.
Perhaps it was the effect of practicing the Abyssal Demon Scripture. As my sensitivity to qi developed, I had become able to perceive presences I couldn't before.
I was certain that right outside my room, three or four people were moving.
My sleepiness vanished instantly, and goosebumps broke out all over my body from a sense of impending doom.
Just then.
“Kill them!”
Following the bloodthirsty shout, the clashing of blades echoed.
It'll be fine, right? There are plenty of guards stationed outside...
But on second thought, the situation wasn't so optimistic.
The sound was coming from right in front of my room.
There should have been at least four or five guards constantly patrolling the vicinity. For someone to have penetrated this far meant...
Something is definitely wrong. If a fight is really happening right outside my door, I can't just sit here and do nothing.
Without hesitating any further, I took down the longsword hanging on one side of my room and gripped it.
Then, I strode toward the door where the noise was coming from.
My legs were trembling and my heart was pounding, but the more they did, the clearer my mind became, and I felt an inexplicable power welling up from deep within my chest.
Click.
When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was two guards lying unconscious on the floor.
Clang! Clang!
A short distance away, two men in the black martial robes typically worn by the Cult's warriors for night operations were swinging their swords.
And the one fighting against them was none other than Yeongho Bin.
“Young Sect Leader! Leave this to me and stay inside!”
Yeongho Bin shouted upon seeing me, yet he skillfully handled both men simultaneously without showing any signs of being pushed back.
The two warriors swung their swords at Yeongho Bin with terrifying ferocity.
But every time Yeongho Bin clashed blades with them, they were the ones forced back step by step.
Slash!
Soon, Yeongho Bin delivered a massive horizontal slash, and blood sprayed from one of the warriors' upper bodies.
The other warrior immediately raised his sword and lunged at Yeongho Bin, but Yeongho Bin nimbly dodged, deflected the blade, and drove his vertically held sword straight through the man's chest.
In that split second, as Yeongho Bin brought down the two men...
“Hyaaaah!”
“!!”
The other man in black robes, who had been knocked down earlier, suddenly sprang to his feet and charged straight at me with a monstrous shriek.
If I don't dodge, I'll die.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my body reacted on its own.
Whoosh.
I lightly pivoted my body and slid my right foot forward.
The black-robed man's sword grazed past my torso, and in that instant, his leg caught on my foot, sending him face-planting forward with all his momentum.
His longsword clattered loudly against the floor.
“Young Sect Leader!!”
Just then, a group of warriors rushed to the doorway. Leading them was Jang Hyeon-do, the Left Envoy of Light.
Jang Hyeon-do gasped in horror at the sight of bleeding men strewn all over the place.
“Urgh...”
The man I had tripped was groveling on the floor, reaching out for his dropped sword.
Jang Hyeon-do rushed toward me and shouted urgently.
“Kill him!”
I had a longsword in my hand, and for some reason, the man who had tried to kill me was crawling on the floor to grab his weapon.
In my head, I knew I should do exactly as he said.
Just like the original Young Sect Leader would have done before I possessed him, I felt I should run through the assassin who tried to kill me with a single stroke.
Because that was the image of the Young Sect Leader everyone here expected.
But I couldn't bring myself to do it so easily.
“Young Sect Leader!”
Hearing Jang Hyeon-do's shout, I walked toward the assassin.
I kicked the longsword he was trying to grab far away.
As I took a few steps back, Yeongho Bin quickly flanked me.
“My Lord, give the word. Shall I slay him?”
Yeongho Bin held a blood-dripping longsword in his hand.
If it was too hard for me to do, all I had to do was say the word to Yeongho Bin.
But before I could think deeply, my mouth opened on its own.
“Do not kill him. Take him alive.”
“Yes, My Lord!”
Yeongho Bin twisted the fallen man's arms behind his back, pinning him so he couldn't move.
Immediately, the warriors who had arrived with Jang Hyeon-do swarmed the assassin.
Some kicked him, others gagged him, and they bound his hands tightly with rope.
Unable to move, the assassin groaned and glared at me with murderous eyes.
Jang Hyeon-do approached me and asked,
“Young Sect Leader... Are you unharmed?”
“I am fine.”
“Thank heavens. You there! Inform the Sect Leader of this incident immediately, and issue the order to summon the Eight Demons of the Sun and Moon!”
“Yes, sir!”
* * *
The Sect Leader, who had been in closed-door cultivation, immediately came out to the Grand Hall's council chamber upon receiving the report from the Right Guardian.
There, Yeongho Bin, the captured assassin, and everyone else who had been at the scene were waiting for him.
Watching the Sect Leader walk in with an expressionless face, I felt the greatest tension I had ever experienced since my reincarnation.
While everyone remained silent, the Sect Leader sat on the high throne, rested his chin on his left hand, and spoke.
“I have heard what transpired. Young Sect Leader...”
“Yes, Father.”
Not long ago, the Young Sect Leader had been on the verge of death after being targeted by an assassin.
At that time, even after being stabbed, the Young Sect Leader had managed to slay the assassin.
Even then, the Sect Leader had told the Young Sect Leader, who had just survived a brush with death, that he was "disappointed."
His reasoning was that the Young Sect Leader had shown mercy when he had the chance to kill the assassin first, only to end up getting stabbed instead.
So, what would the Sect Leader think of this incident...?
“You did quite well this time.”
“...!”
Surprisingly, a hint of amusement lingered in the Sect Leader's voice.
I silently listened to his words.
“When you suddenly insisted on employing a man named Yeongho Bin as a mere servant, everyone questioned your actions. But so this was your play.”
The Sect Leader nodded as if impressed.
I wasn't the only one who had no idea what he was talking about; everyone else in the room looked just as bewildered.
“The traitors poisoned the guards' meals, causing them to collapse all at once. You foresaw this vulnerability in our security and disguised the highly skilled Yeongho Bin as a servant to guard your quarters. Yeongho Bin, am I correct?”
“Your servant Yeongho Bin reports to the Sect Leader! I, too, only realized the Young Sect Leader's profound intentions belatedly. However, it is true that a few hours before the incident, the Young Sect Leader commanded me, 'Keep your wits about you today and guard the quarters well.'”
“Then you noticed the presence of the spies and anticipated they would strike tonight. Young Sect Leader, is this true?”
No... how could that possibly be true?
The Sect Leader's absurd leap of logic was mind-boggling, but I answered immediately.
“It is as you say, Father.”
But on second thought, there was no reason to deny it, was there?
It was also true that I had told Yeongho Bin that evening, "Stop talking nonsense and guard the house well."
Looking down at the crowd murmuring in admiration with a satisfied expression, the Sect Leader added,
“Your decision not to kill the one named Jo Cheong-ryu was also an excellent judgment. Of course, we already knew the Murim Alliance was behind this, but we lacked the evidence to support it. Capturing a live spy is perfect. Soon, we will be able to hold the Murim Alliance accountable.”
Of course, one of the reasons I didn't kill Jo Cheong-ryu was my desire to avoid killing whenever possible, but I had also vaguely guessed this.
Fortunately, capturing him alive seemed to have been the right decision.
The Sect Leader made no effort to hide his good mood, a broad smile gracing his face.
At this point, my tension finally melted away, and I could breathe a sigh of relief.
I really pulled off a major win today.
“Furthermore, Yeongho Bin performed just as exceptionally as the Young Sect Leader. What do you think, Young Sect Leader? Since his loyalty and skill have been proven, why don't we promote him to your personal guard?”
“Yes, let us do so.”
“Are you satisfied with this, Warrior Yeongho?”
“It is the greatest honor of my life! Thank you, Sect Leader! Thank you, Young Sect Leader!”
Hearing the Sect Leader's words, Yeongho Bin was deeply moved, repeatedly bowing his head to the floor in gratitude.