novelraw Chapter 173 : The Stirring Darkness (1)
Chapter 173 : The Stirring Darkness (1)
Chapter 173: The Stirring Darkness (1)
"How is it? Do you like it?"
When Crown Prince Juyudo asked with a playful smile, Sewoon barely managed to steady the corners of his lips before opening his mouth.
"As Your Highness inquires… I simply fear whether I am truly permitted to accept such a momentous Divine Relic."
"Oh-ho, how could saving my life be something treated lightly? This is something that rightfully ought to return to you, so accept it without worry."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Sewoon offered the utmost courtesy and received the Danseocheol-gwon with trembling hands.
It was nothing more than a sheet of paper that would flutter in the wind, yet Sewoon felt as if he had gained the strength of a thousand armies.
The Danseocheol-gwon was the greatest favor bestowed by the Emperor.
Being granted three pardons was no different from gaining the chance to live again even after dying three times under heaven and earth.
But that did not mean Sewoon felt only joy.
As he observed Juyudo, Sewoon’s mind turned rapidly.
‘The changed Juyudo before my eyes surely did not bestow the Danseocheol-gwon merely to express gratitude to a lifesaver.’
There had to be a clear purpose behind giving such an unprecedented reward.
If he predicted correctly, it was likely to make Sewoon into a new blade to wield.
Although the law of non-interference with the martial world existed, the court clearly needed someone to keep watch over a murim now chaotically split between Baekdoryeon and the Murim Alliance.
Still, Sewoon was prepared to accept it to a degree even if the Crown Prince intended to use him.
‘Because I also want to use the Crown Prince as a blade.’
Their interests aligned.
Once he joined hands with Juyudo, Namgung Myeong and the Namgung Clan would naturally feel pressure as well.
At that moment, Juyudo reached the main point.
"Hmm, it feels inappropriate to call this the price for granting a Divine Relic, but… I also have one thing I wish to ask of you. Will you grant it?"
"……!"
So there was something he wanted.
Yet Sewoon brightened.
He preferred such bluntness—it made things simpler.
"Is it proper for a ruler to ask permission from his subject? If it is Your Highness’s will, I shall obey whatever it may be."
"Hooh, then this will be easy."
Crown Prince Juyudo immediately displayed a satisfied smile.
As though he had heard exactly the answer he wanted, his expression became very bright.
Sewoon held his tongue, carefully discerning the other party’s intent.
‘The most likely thing is that he wants to find and punish the one hiding in the palace who poisoned him.’
It naturally led to thoughts of whoever dared to poison the Crown Prince—or the force behind it.
Before his regression, no information Sewoon saw from the Blood Cult ever mentioned Juyudo being poisoned.
Which meant this had to be entirely an internal conflict within the Imperial Palace.
‘Hmm, I may have to borrow the power of the Beggars’ Gang.’
For something equivalent to the Danseocheol-gwon, he had to accomplish whatever impossible mission might be demanded.
Just then, as Sewoon was wrestling with his thoughts—
"You."
Juyudo slowly extended his hand.
"Become my friend."
"……Pardon?"
He dropped an unexpected bombshell.
Gansu Province.
At Cuiping Peak of Mount Kongtong.
Now belonging not to the Murim Alliance but to Baekdoryeon, the Nine Sects One Gang’s Kongtong Sect had settled there.
"Congratulations, Great Master!"
Two men were conversing in private.
But the surprising thing was that the one seated at the highest seat of the Kongtong Sect’s main hall, the Bokmadang, was not the Sect Leader but an outsider.
Yet not a single person of the Kongtong Sect dared to show displeasure.
"Thank you, Sect Leader."
For the man seated there was Lee Jamyeong, the master of the Lee Trading Company.
Backed by overwhelming financial power and martial force twice that of the entire Kongtong Sect, the Lee Trading Company was effectively the true ruler of Gansu.
The previous Sect Leader of Kongtong, Demon-Suppressing Sword Hero Gwan Muryang, had fallen into ruin when he suffered qi deviation after his beloved disciple was killed by Heo So-chang—this had been the turning point.
Since then, Kongtong had become so dependent that without the Lee Trading Company, the sect would collapse.
Thus, Myeongwolja, the newly appointed Sect Leader after Gwan Muryang—known as the Demon-Suppressing Charcoal Sword—kept glancing nervously at Lee Jamyeong with his ferret-like narrow eyes.
"To think you finally acquired the Northern Heaven Trading Company, one of the Four Great Trading Companies! It seems the Lee Trading Company becoming the world’s foremost trading company is not far off!"
"It was merely good fortune."
"Haha, to be so modest as well! Truly remarkable, Great Master."
Myeongwolja shamelessly showered Lee Jamyeong with praise.
A few days ago, the Northern Heaven Trading Company of the Central Plains had been utterly destroyed.
Those unaware of the truth believed it was due to a natural disaster—the river that carried their cargo freezing solid like an iceberg.
But in truth, it was because Lee Jamyeong had seized upon their weakness and mercilessly gouged into it.
The ice mountain crisis had been resolved, albeit belatedly, thanks to the Shrine Maiden Sect Leader.
However, while the Iga Trading Company was thrown into such chaos, they had already driven the Northern Heaven Trading Company to ruin through every kind of scheme and force.
Yet despite Myeongwolja’s continued flattery, Lee Jamyeong did not show even the slightest sign of being pleased.
It was because his interest was entirely fixed elsewhere.
“Dang Sewoon, that bastard was summoned to Emei.”
“……Ah, y-yes!”
Dang Sewoon.
Lee Jamyeong had never once forgotten the enemy who had turned his own son, Lee Hoseong, into a cripple overnight.
Even speaking Sewoon’s name aloud made a cold, razor-sharp killing intent surge in Lee Jamyeong’s eyes.
“It seems like a good thing for us. I assume he’s being punished by the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician, is he not?”
“Hmph, it’s true that no one called out by the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician ever met a good end.”
“Yes, while Geumhwa Satae may view him favorably, there were frequent rumors that the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician looked at him with displeasure.”
“…….”
“If that damned brat acted up in front of the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician the way he does now, he must have suffered greatly! At the very least, I imagine one of his four limbs must have been shattered?”
The moment Myeongwolja shifted from flattery to slandering their enemy—
“In that case, now truly is the perfect time.”
“……Pardon?”
Lee Jamyeong’s gaze suddenly turned far more brutal and vicious.
“If that bastard suffered misfortune at Emei, then now is precisely the best moment to strike him.”
“……!!”
Myeongwolja’s eyes widened as if they would burst.
—Destroy the Sichuan Tang Clan and kill Dang Sewoon.
That was the proclamation Lee Jamyeong made.
Even though Myeongwolja had always flattered him, this time he could not reply so easily.
‘This lunatic truly intends to go after the Blood-Thread Tyrant…….’
The Blood-Thread Tyrant, Dang Sewoon, was no longer someone the jianghu could take lightly.
Was he not a genius among geniuses, one spoken of as someone who should already be placed at the lowest rank of the Ten Great Experts despite his young age?
Thus Myeongwolja swallowed hard and answered with a trembling voice.
“Th-that, O Great One… is it not perhaps a little hasty to act right now……?”
“Why, are you afraid? Afraid that Kongtong will end up like Qingcheng?”
“T-that isn’t it, but it is true that our Kongtong Sect’s influence has recently fallen behind Qingcheng……”
Seeing the obvious fear all over Myeongwolja’s face, Lee Jamyeong looked at him with open disdain and spoke mockingly.
“You must not feel the slightest shame that your own power has grown weak. Seeing you so proud.”
“M-my apologies.”
“Enough. I expected this reaction, so I have already completed negotiations with another force.”
“Pardon? Then surely you don’t mean Emei is helping us……!”
“Hah, Emei would never help the White Path Union.”
“……T-then who?”
As if exasperated, Lee Jamyeong shook his head.
Then he spread open a map upon the table.
Lee Jamyeong’s index finger pointed to a certain place.
“There are plenty of people in this world who will do anything for money.”
“S-surely you don’t mean the unorthodox sects of Guizhou?!”
Yes. Lee Jamyeong was pointing toward Guizhou Province, southwest of Sichuan.
Myeongwolja was truly shocked.
The White Path Union publicly maintained an utterly incompatible stance with the unorthodox sects.
And for good reason—the Shaolin Temple and the Namgung Clan were waging war against the Waterway Alliance.
“B-but why would they cooperate with us when we’re at war?”
“The Demonic Alliance is internally split into numerous factions anyway. If the Guizhou faction—one of the weaker border powers—can gain even a sliver of Sichuan territory, they would welcome it with open arms.”
“Ah!”
A cry escaped Myeongwolja’s lips without him realizing.
And the fear that had filled his eyes slowly began to transform into greed.
If they devoured the Sichuan Tang Clan, a share of the spoils would surely fall upon the Kongtong Sect as well.
“……Then which of Guizhou’s Six Pillars will aid us?”
Although Guizhou was Demonic Alliance territory, it had no single representative sect.
Six small-to-mid factions, collectively known as the Six Pillars, were scattered across the region.
At his question, Lee Jamyeong answered without even a moment of hesitation.
“All of them.”
“……!!”
“And that bastard Dang Sewoon will be handled by the Golden Wave Dignitary.”
“!!”
Myeongwolja inhaled sharply in disbelief.
The news that all six Guizhou factions would help was shocking enough.
But what surprised him even more was the alias spoken from Lee Jamyeong’s mouth.
‘H-he actually hired one of the Ten Great Experts!!’
The Golden Wave Dignitary, Roh Gyeongmyeong.
He was a supreme master ranked ninth among the current Ten Great Experts.
Roh Gyeongmyeong, an idol and aspiration to every wanderer in the Central Plains, was evaluated as the strongest among the neutral powers.
‘……How in the world did he recruit that madman who refuses to move unless paid enough to buy an entire fortress?’
Just as Myeongwolja stared at Lee Jamyeong, stunned—
“With the Golden Wave Dignitary at the forefront, all our forces in Gansu will march south. At the same time, Guizhou will attack the Tang Clan’s rear. We will destroy the Tang Clan swiftly and take Dang Sewoon’s head.”
“……!!”
One of the Ten Great Experts.
An army at least twice the size of the enemy.
On top of that, unorthodox forces striking secretly at the rear.
‘Truly, this is the best possible way to use the power of money to kill one’s enemy!!’
There was now not a trace of worry or hesitation left in Myeongwolja’s eyes.
Even Emei—their only potential obstacle—had no justification to aid the Tang Clan, who were not even part of the Murim Alliance. No one could possibly block their plan.
“Haha! It is truly a perfect plan, Great One!! There’s no way the Tang Clan would find out and foolishly storm Guizhou first, so if we sweep everything from Gansu and strike first, how could they possibly stop us!!”
Ignoring Myeongwolja’s babbling—he was too excited to realize what he was saying—Lee Jamyeong fixed his gaze on the Sichuan Tang Clan marked on the map.
“You love acting all righteous and proper, do you? Then let’s see how you fare when enemies attack you from both sides.”
As he imagined Sewoon’s severed head soon to be before his eyes, Lee Jamyeong curled his lips into a vicious grin.