A Striking Resemblance
Dongnyong was carried away by the guards to receive medical treatment.
With Dang Ye-ran also escorted away under house arrest by the Poison King, a heavy silence fell over the area. No one dared to utter a word.
As the uncomfortable silence stretched on, forcing everyone to keep their mouths shut, a sudden movement broke the tension.
Rustle.
The Poison King, who had been looking forward, turned around to face us.
To be precise, his gaze landed on the three of us from Cheongwol Gate and Moyong Yeong-sun.
His expressionless face made me flinch slightly.
"I apologize for ruining the banquet that you so graciously attended despite your busy schedules," the Poison King said, bowing his head.
At the sight of the Poison King bowing, Cheon Ui-jin and Do-hyeong widened their eyes.
"No, you don't—"
Do-hyeong hurriedly tried to speak, but I raised a hand to stop him.
"I accept your apology."
"..."
As I spoke calmly, the two of them turned their startled gazes toward me.
Their shocked expressions were quite something, but the current situation was too tense to pay them any mind.
I could see the surrounding people flinching at my words.
So what? They were clearly in the wrong this time.
Whether the opponent was the head of the Tang family or one of the Five Kings of the Realm, I didn't care.
What mattered was that they had handed me the moral high ground on a silver platter.
The Poison King must have known this too, which was why he remained unfazed by my blunt attitude.
"Lord Tang."
"Speak."
"Whether to continue the banquet or not is entirely up to you, and we are willing to stay if you wish to proceed."
This was a half-lie. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to escape this boring, uncomfortable banquet.
"However, after it is over, could you spare me a moment of your time?"
I was asking to meet in private once the banquet concluded.
Hearing this, the Poison King's brow furrowed slightly. He seemed to have realized.
Exactly what I wanted to talk to him about.
The Poison King narrowed his eyes.
Was he wondering how I knew? Or was he surprised that I had figured it out?
Either way was fine.
In fact, his reaction only made things easier for me.
"...A moment of my time, you say."
The Poison King pondered for a moment. No, he pretended to ponder.
It was obvious he had already decided on his answer the moment I asked.
Proving my theory, he nodded shortly after.
"Very well."
Right after giving his assent, he turned to the members of the Tang family and added,
"Continue the banquet. I hope our guests will enjoy the rest of the evening. However, I must excuse myself early due to urgent matters, so I ask for your understanding."
Having finished speaking, the Poison King offered us a polite gesture of respect and turned to leave.
Watching him walk away, I turned to my companions.
"I should follow him. I'll be back in a bit."
"...Will you be alright?"
Do-hyeong looked at my bandaged arm with concern. I let out a small chuckle.
"What wouldn't be alright? Don't worry."
To be completely honest, I was actually terrified.
But what choice did I have?
It's time to do what needs to be done.
I had my own agenda to attend to.
To put it precisely...
I'm going to squeeze him for all he's worth.
I was in a perfect position to extract some serious benefits from the Tang family.
I followed the Poison King into the building. As we stepped into a pitch-black hallway without a single lantern lit, the Poison King lightly waved his hand.
Instantly,
Whoosh!
...Whoa.
Flames burst to life in the lanterns lining the walls.
I stared in awe. Was that the legendary Samadhi True Fire?
I had heard that masters could conjure fire with their bare hands, and it turned out to be true.
Can't a guy be impressed? Seriously, what a nasty temper.
Creak.
We walked past the hallway and entered the Lord's study. Counting this time, it was my third visit.
The Poison King naturally took his seat, and I sat in the chair opposite him, facing him directly.
"Should I call you the Young Sword Saint now?"
Those were the first words out of his mouth the moment we sat down. I gave an awkward smile.
It seemed he had already heard the rumors.
"It's an undeserved title. The rumors will die down soon enough anyway."
"...?"
The Poison King stared at me with a strange look in his eyes.
Why was he looking at me like that?
"You think they will die down?"
"Won't they?"
"Hmm... I see."
He nodded. He didn't look convinced; his expression was rather peculiar.
"...Lord Tang?"
"I am curious as to why you requested this private meeting."
I was about to ask what was wrong, but the Poison King cut me off.
It was slightly annoying, but not worth pointing out, so I let it slide.
"...I believe you already know why I requested this meeting, Lord Tang."
"Do I?"
He feigned ignorance.
Just as I was thinking he was playing dumb, he spoke again.
"A few possibilities come to mind. Which one is it?"
Ha.
He wasn't playing dumb; he was throwing a straight pitch.
This man definitely knew.
He knew I had a lot to say to him.
His response suggested he didn't want to drag this out.
That was actually fine by me.
So, I spoke without hesitation.
"The Secret Vault, the Heaven-Destroying Palace, my compensation, and your recent attempt to test me using Dongnyong. Which of these four topics would you like to discuss first?"
"..."
I listed them off without a single pause. Out of the four topics, the Poison King naturally narrowed his eyes at the last one.
A brief silence fell over the room.
I waited for his response.
I didn't say a single word until then.
Time ticked by.
"...I see."
The Poison King finally reacted.
The problem was...
"I have been thinking about this since our last meeting."
The words that followed were completely unexpected.
"You certainly... bear a striking resemblance to your maternal grandfather, Young Master Bang."
"Excuse me?"
It was a far cry from the response I had anticipated.
I had heard plenty of times that I resembled my family.
I had been told countless times that I looked like my father or my grandfather.
"My maternal grandfather?"
Why bring up my maternal grandfather all of a sudden?
At my reaction, the Poison King tilted his head.
"Jegal Jin. You certainly resemble him far more than you do your father."
"...Huh?"
At the Poison King's words, both I and the silent Yoo Chun-gil suffered a collective mental short-circuit.
Splash.
An old man walked across a wet floor. The one-armed elder held his remaining hand behind his back.
He scanned his surroundings with eyes as cold as frost as he kept walking.
Splash. Splash.
A splashing sound echoed with every step he took, but it wasn't water.
The liquid soaking the dry floor was a deep, crimson blood.
The blood didn't just wet the floor; it pooled and flooded the ground.
The old man stepped through it without a care.
He didn't mind it in the slightest, nor did he pay it any attention.
It was only natural. After all, he was the one who had created this gruesome scene.
Just then,
"Ugh... cough..."
A man collapsed in a corner coughed up blood, letting out a faint groan.
At the sound, the old man's gaze shifted toward him.
Before the man could even realize it, the old man was standing right in front of him.
"Ah... ugh..."
The vast distance had been closed in the blink of an eye. Realizing his situation, the man's eyes filled with sheer terror.
"H-How... why..."
Why had such a monster suddenly appeared?
"The Sword Emperor... Why are you..."
"Shh."
As the man uttered his title, the old man raised a withered, wrinkled index finger to his lips.
"Quiet now."
At the warning, the man's mouth clamped shut.
It wasn't of his own free will. His mouth had been forced shut by the sheer weight of the old man's words.
"I have not yet permitted you to speak."
Rumble...
Following the old man's words, the blood-soaked ground began to vibrate.
The swords scattered across the floor rattled violently before slowly levitating into the air.
"...!"
The silenced man trembled violently at the sight.
It was an utterly bizarre and terrifying spectacle.
Dozens of swords abandoned their dead masters and floated into the sky.
They drifted and swirled through the cramped space.
With countless blades hovering in midair, the scene was indescribable.
The Sword Emperor.
Also known as the Heaven's Greatest Sword.
Though he had never claimed the title of the World's Greatest due to the godlike existence of the Sword Saint,
he was still recognized as the absolute best in the world when it came to wielding a blade.
A member of the Heavens Beyond Heaven from the Orthodox faction, rumored to have slaughtered demons while controlling hundreds of swords on the battlefield.
Facing him in person, the man could do nothing but succumb to absolute terror.
Every single one of his comrades who had filled this place was dead.
Only he remained,
but he already knew what his fate would be.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Amidst the floating swords, the old man spoke again.
"I shall ask you a question."
The invisible force binding the man's mouth relaxed.
"Where is the Palace Master?"
"..."
Even though he could speak now, it wasn't information he could share.
At this point, there was only one thing he could say.
"...Just... kill me..."
"..."
Perhaps displeased by the response, the old man's face grimaced slightly.
"Hmm."
But having expected this from the start, he quickly brushed it off.
"A pity."
Slash!
A sword flew forward and severed the man's neck.
The lifeless body collapsed onto the floor,
adding to the pool of blood.
Splash.
Having killed the last survivor, the old man turned around and walked away.
He headed toward a table in the room,
picked up the letters piled on it, and examined them.
"..."
After checking a few pages, he let out a dry sigh.
They were filled with codes.
As expected, they had made sure the contents couldn't be easily read.
His eyes gleamed as he attempted to decipher them, but he gave up shortly after.
A code of this complexity couldn't be deciphered on the spot, and besides, it was beyond his expertise.
"..."
Knowing this, the Sword Emperor tucked the letters into his robes.
Still, it wasn't a fruitless endeavor.
He had finally found the traces of those bastards who had eluded him for years.
It was a shame he couldn't gather more information,
but torture wouldn't have worked on them anyway.
As long as they were bound by a restriction spell, they would never reveal any information about the Palace Master he was searching for.
That was why he had killed them without wasting any time.
"Hmm."
Not bad.
"It seems accepting Wolseongeom's request was the right choice."
Yoo Chun-gil.
He had come all this way just to see the successor of that bastard.
Furthermore, even if the rumor was true, if the kid hadn't met his expectations,
I would have killed him.
The Sword Emperor would have severed his neck without a moment's hesitation.
But for now...
For now, he felt the kid was worth watching.
After all, the kid was the one who had enabled him to find these bastards in the first place. Even putting that aside,
He's hiding something.
There was more to him than met the eye.
Whether he was truly the successor or not, he resembled that old bastard in the most useless ways.
Yoo Chun-gil.
That guy had been full of secrets too.
Was his successor no different?
The old man chuckled at the thought.
At that moment,
Clang! Clatter! Clang!
The dozens of floating swords fell to the ground all at once.
Blood splashed everywhere, but miraculously, not a single drop touched the old man.
Without looking back, the old man walked out of the cave.
His mind was now entirely occupied by the letters.
It seemed he also had a new destination to visit.
If he couldn't decipher the code himself,
he just had to find someone who could.
The only problem was...
Do I really have to go see that annoying face?
The person he had to visit was someone he thoroughly disliked.
...Jegal Jin.
The old man recalled a name in his mind.
The **Thousand-Li True Eye**.
The current head of the Jegal Clan,
and the man who was once called the eyes and ears of the Sword Saint.