novelraw Chapter 151 : Chapter 151
Chapter 151 : Chapter 151
Chapter 151 - Blood Alliance
“Let go! How dare you lay your hands on me!”
Yi Hae-dong’s body twisted as if having a seizure, and he let out a roar.
However, restraining his flabby, overweight body was not a difficult task.
Yi Hae-dong and So Hyeon ended up with their limbs tightly bound by the escort warriors.
The eldest son of the Yi Family Clan, who was said to be able to make even flying birds fall, and the steward who was called the real power of the Yi Family Manor, had become as precarious as a candle in the wind overnight.
That was how quickly the situation was changing.
The surprising fact was that no one was paying any attention to Yi Hae-dong and So Hyeon.
This was because a storm, much larger than the wind that had just blown, was raging.
“I will enter the Diancang Sect.”
Sedong, who had just become the Young Family Head, made a statement that shocked everyone.
The wealth and fame he would gain as the Young Family Head were right before his eyes, so what was this sudden talk of entering a sect?
Even Yi Gwon-su, who had gone through all sorts of trials, including aerial battles, while leading the Yi Family Manor, couldn't help but stutter at this moment.
“W-w-what did you just say? You’ll enter the sect?”
“That is correct.”
Yi Gwon-su shouted convulsively.
“Absurd!”
His shock soon turned into a thick rage.
As Yi Gwon-su’s cheeks trembled, fear began to fill the eyes of the servants.
“Do you take this Family Head for such a fool? To cast aside the position of Young Family Head as soon as you obtain it?”
“I have no intention of abandoning the position of Young Family Head.”
“Then?”
Sedong’s answer was simple and plain, but it contained a rigid energy that no one could break.
“Family Head, you always taught me that ‘choosing one of two options is something ordinary weaklings do.’ You said that to achieve great things, one must think of taking both.”
Yi Gwon-su was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t say a word, and only Sedong’s voice filled the main hall.
“Therefore, I will take both. During the day, I will train on Diancang Mountain, and at night, I will fulfill my responsibilities as the Young Family Head of the Yi Family Manor.”
“Do you mean to say you will climb Diancang Mountain every single day? That rugged mountain?”
Yi Gwon-su shook his head as if he couldn't believe it.
Diancang Mountain was a place that even high-ranking escort warriors were reluctant to climb at once.
It was no wonder he couldn’t believe that Sedong would climb up and down such a treacherous mountain every day.
The gazes of the crowd were the same as Yi Gwon-su’s.
Wasn’t Sedong raised as a precious, precious young master?
“……”
After checking the expressions of those around him, Sedong suddenly threw the long robe he was wearing with all his might onto the roof.
“Huh?”
It was the long robe that Yi Gwon-su had personally placed on him, proclaiming him the Young Family Head.
People worried that Sedong might be giving up his position as the Young Family Head.
However.
That worry was unfounded.
Sedong stepped forward using a movement technique towards the long robe he had thrown with enough force to hang on a cloud.
Pababat!
“Whoa!”
An incredibly light and nimble movement.
While the crowd watched the scene with mesmerized eyes, only a very small number of people knew the true identity of that movement technique.
“Flying Eagle Steps.”
Hyeokri Hong watched Sedong’s movements with a fresh smile.
Sedong was a person who handled the Flying Eagle Steps so skillfully that he had even demonstrated it to the Diancang Sect martial artists himself.
For such a Sedong, snatching the long robe thrown onto the roof, and furthermore, climbing up and down Diancang Mountain, would be no problem at all.
Hwaak!
Sedong, standing tall on the roof, quickly snatched the long robe.
Then, with a fluid motion, he put it on.
It was truly an event that happened in the blink of an eye.
“Wow……”
“When did the Young… Young Family Head learn such martial arts?”
“He’s like a ghost. Such movements are hard to see even from the escort warriors……!”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Just then.
A man pushed through the crowd and stepped forward onto the platform.
His features seemed several times more splendid than the long robe Sedong was wearing.
The person who stepped onto the platform wearing a dark blue garment was none other than Biyoung.
“Wow. At that rate, he could go up and down the mountain dozens of times a day, right? Isn’t that right, Family Head?”
“Young Hero Biyoung……!!”
Yi Gwon-su’s face, looking at Biyoung, was filled with emotions that were hard to describe.
“I hear that the Young Family Head has the autonomy to proceed with one venture a year, even against the Family Head's opposition, right?”
“……That is so.”
“Looking back on the Young Family Head's words from a moment ago, it seems that very ‘business’ is entering the Diancang Sect.”
In other words.
No matter how much of a Family Head he was, he could not stop him from entering the Diancang Sect.
Wasn't it the right of the Young Family Head that the Family Head himself had mentioned just a few minutes ago?
But Yi Gwon-su had no intention of backing down.
“How can you put entering the Diancang Sect on the same line as business?”
“All merchant families strive to establish close relationships with the Orthodox Factions. Don’t you know from seeing Yi Hae-dong’s lackeys gathered here?”
“!”
At Biyoung’s words, the faces of the True Dragon Sect martial artists remaining at the scene turned red.
They had realized that those lackeys referred to them.
“What could be a more certain bond than the Young Family Head entering the sect? You have to go together even if you don’t want to. Like a three-legged race. Kekeke.”
Yi Gwon-su retorted with cold eyes.
“Do you really think the Diancang Sect is on the same level as the other Nine Sects One Union? A sect that has just overcome the past of annihilation and is only now trying to erect a new pillar?”
Depending on how one heard it, it could have been felt as an insult to the Diancang Sect.
However, Biyoung didn’t even blink.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“W-what?”
“You don’t seem to understand the situation, but the one who requested to enter the sect is Young Family Head Sedong. Not us.”
“That is……”
He was right.
The Diancang Sect had not mentioned Sedong a single word at this place today.
This was not a demand from the Diancang Sect, but Sedong’s independent choice.
Therefore, it was right to ask Sedong, not Biyoung, whether the Diancang Sect was worth that much.
‘The Diancang Sect… joining hands with the Diancang Sect?’
Yi Gwon-su’s mind became as hazy as a fog.
He had looked into the revival of the Diancang Sect as much as he could.
They had restored their main mountain in a short time, succeeded in their revenge, and even defeated Hojubang in one fell swoop.
‘They are certainly a group with a promising future, but…’
If the comparison was to the other Nine Sects One Union, the story was different.
It wasn’t that the Mount Heng Sect or the True Dragon Sect left Hojubang alone because they lacked power.
The distance was far, and there was simply no vested interest that would require them to go on an expedition.
Currently, Yi Gwon-su had formed friendships with numerous sects, including the Mount Heng Sect and the True Dragon Sect.
It was unlikely that their relationships would be shattered just because the Young Family Head entered a sect.
However…….
‘Even the flow of a great river has an upstream and a downstream…’
The flow of time could not be stopped, and one day, the Yi Family Clan would fall into Sedong’s hands.
Unless the other sects were fools, would they look favorably upon a Family Head who had entered the Diancang Sect?
That was what Biyoung meant when he described it as a three-legged race.
If Sedong were to enter the Diancang Sect, the Yi Family Clan would become the Diancang Sect, and the Diancang Sect would become the Yi Family Clan.
In the not-so-distant future, that is.
“I ask of you, Sect Leader.”
Was it because of the autonomy guaranteed to the Young Family Head?
Even before the Family Head’s permission was granted, Sedong went straight to Jeokseo and bowed his head.
“Sedong, the second son of the Yi Family Manor, wishes to request entry into the Diancang Sect.”
“…………!”
Everyone belonging to the Yi Family Manor had a dazed expression.
So many things had happened that their minds had overloaded.
‘This is really no joke.’
‘Is the Young Family Head really entering the Diancang Sect? For real?’
‘What on earth is going to happen from now on?’
The Diancang Sect martial artists themselves were just as confused, but two among them seemed to be enjoying the situation.
Biyoung, who was constantly chuckling next to Yi Gwon-su.
And Jeokseo, who was standing in front of Sedong, were those two.
“Hoholhol. You’ve learned the Flying Eagle Steps quite well.”
“I am ashamed. The proper order would have been to ask for permission and then learn the martial art……”
“I heard from Biyoung. At that time, it was before we even reclaimed our main mountain, so from whom could you have received permission? Therefore……”
Jeokseo showed a good-natured smile.
“It may be late, but I can grant you permission now.”
“Then……?!”
Could the joy and sorrow of a father and son be so divided?
Sedong’s face was filled with the light of ecstasy, while in contrast, Yi Gwon-su wore an expression as if he had been doused in sewage.
“I grant you entry. A formal initiation ceremony will be held soon.”
“Thank you! Sect Leader!”
Sedong’s heart pounded so fiercely it felt like it would pop out.
Others might think he was crazy, but the thrill of being granted entry was far greater than when he had won the Awl Selection Period.
Wasn’t he a man who had yearned for the Murim since birth?
His chest swelled as if it would burst with the fact that he was now officially a member of the Diancang Sect.
“What in the world is going on? If the Young Family Head joins a sect, what happens next?”
“I don’t know either. But isn’t it a good thing since the Young Family Head got what he wanted?”
“Ah, whatever. Let’s just clap!”
The servants stopped thinking and started to clap.
They were people who had lived their entire lives by reading the room.
Reading their master’s expression was easier and faster than complex calculations.
“Stop!”
However, the applause did not last long.
It was because Yi Gwon-su, with bloodshot eyes, had walked up in front of Jeokseo.
“Sect Leader! How can a sect with its roots in Daoism accept the Young Family Head of a merchant family as a disciple? In all my life, I have never heard of such a case!”
His panting appearance was reminiscent of an angry boar, but Jeokseo merely replied in a calm voice.
“While we were in hiding, we did things worse than business. We drew erotic art, engaged in usury, and even worked in a gisaeng house.”
“…………!”
“If the sect cannot survive, what use are all those good intentions? We endured those harsh years for the sole purpose of survival, and we will continue to do so.”
It was enough to make one go crazy.
He had confronted the Sect Leader with a sliver of hope, but instead, he ended up losing more than he had.
Yet, he couldn't reappoint Yi Hae-dong, who was locked in the prison house, as the Young Family Head either.
What on earth was he to do?
“Family Head.”
Just then, a clear voice came from behind him.
An ominous voice that seemed to twist his life every time he heard it……!
In Yi Gwon-su’s vision, he saw Biyoung with a sly smile.
“I suddenly remembered the Yi Family Clan’s family motto.”
“Family motto?”
Wasn’t he the head of the Yi Family Clan, of all people?
It was something he said like a habit, so there was no way he wouldn’t remember.
“You mean ‘The fool is judged at the final scene’?”
“Yes. That one.”
The smile on Biyoung’s lips deepened slightly.
“It means who is a fool and who is a pushover is determined at the end. It seems like that answer is slowly being revealed.”
A fight between brothers is nothing but self-destruction.
Biyoung had offered such advice to Yi Gwon-su, but Yi Gwon-su had turned a deaf ear, mentioning the family motto.
He had said that once the Awl Selection Period was over, the winner and the pushover would naturally be decided.
The fool is judged at the final scene.
The winner was, of course, Sedong, who became the Young Family Head.
Then did that make Yi Hae-dong the pushover?
‘No…….’
Only then did Yi Gwon-su realize his own situation.
The one whose relationships with other sects had become complicated, who had witnessed his eldest son’s shame and his steward’s betrayal.
The one whose self-appointed Young Family Head had been snatched away by the Diancang Sect.
The pushover was…….
‘It’s me.’
To think the family motto he had mentioned to Biyoung, telling him not to be cocky, would come back to him like this.
“Haha. Hahaha……”
A hollow laugh escaped Yi Gwon-su’s lips.
How long had it been since he had been made such a fool?
It was a sense of defeat he hadn't felt in a very long time.
“Haha……”
Yes.
He had forgotten because it was long ago, but whenever he was completely outdone by an opponent, Yi Gwon-su would laugh hollowly like this.
As Yi Gwon-su desperately tried to compose himself, Biyoung threw a nasty question.
“So, are we a blood alliance now?”