Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 35

Yeon Ho-Jeong scanned the first floor of the tavern.

As he expected, the place was deserted. It was unusually empty, as if everyone had been chased out.

‘Hmm.’

He sensed movement from the kitchen. Judging by the lack of internal energy, they were likely just cooks and servers.

Tang Yang-Seon’s lips twitched.

“Why? Surprised?”

He was surprised, indeed.

The killing intent that had pressed down on Tang Yang-Seon at the banquet was real. Even a seasoned expert would feel fear when exposed to that level of malice.

Yet, this guy was waiting for him here in the tavern.

At the very least, he had to acknowledge the man’s mental fortitude. He wished the Chang-Eung unit members would learn from him.

“Looks like one arm wasn’t enough.”

“W-what did you say?”

Tang Yang-Seon’s face instantly flushed red.

Yeon Ho-Jeong completely ignored him and headed towards the kitchen.

“Hey, you there.”

“H-huh! Yes, yes!”

The cooks and servers were trembling in the corner of the kitchen.

Yeon Ho-Jeong took out ten silver coins from his pocket.

“I need food for about thirty people, including drinks. Anything quick will do.”

“……Huh?”

“Keep the change.”

At that moment, a sharp shout erupted.

“Hey! You bastard!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong turned to look at Tang Yang-Seon.

Thwack!

He kicked over the table and stood up, clearly enraged. A terrifying, venomous aura surged from his entire body.

“You trashy bastard, how dare you ignore me?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong asked,

“Where did you chase all the people off to?”

Tang Yang-Seon spat.

“Who cares, they’re just commoners.”

He had sensed it at the banquet, but Tang Yang-Seon definitely had a problem with his personality.

He looked down on everyone except himself. He thought their social status made him superior.

Even for the eldest son of one of the most prestigious families in the world, this was too much. He wondered if his parents had deliberately raised him to be such a vicious person.

‘Well, I guess.’

They were a family that dealt with poison and hidden weapons. Ruthless actions had a huge impact on one’s mindset. And he had lived like a prince in such a family, so it wasn’t that hard to understand.

“So? Did you want to get revenge or something?”

“Revenge? Don’t make me laugh, you trash. This isn’t revenge, it’s an execution.”

An execution?

Whoosh.

Tang Yang-Seon’s eyes turned purple. He had pushed the Three Yang Art [a martial art focused on internal energy and poison] to its extreme.

“I don’t know what kind of sorcery you used, but it won’t work this time. I’ll make you scream for three days and nights before you die.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong chuckled.

He was going to kill the eldest son of a family that was also one of the Seven Great Clans [powerful martial arts families]. Not because he had the ability to do so, but simply because he was in a bad mood.

The whites of Tang Yang-Seon’s eyes were bloodshot.

“You’re laughing? How dare you?”

“It’s pathetic.”

“Y-you bastard!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked around the kitchen. The cooks and servers were still trembling.

“Has the order not been placed yet?”

How could they dare to cook? The infamous eldest son of the Sichuan Tang family was right there.

Yeon Ho-Jeong sighed.

“I guess I’ll have to clean up first.”

Tang Yang-Seon, who had been trembling, suddenly smiled coldly.

“You pathetic bastard.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong silently turned his shoulder. It wasn’t perfect yet, but his muscles were all relaxed.

Whoosh.

A thicker venomous aura spread from Tang Yang-Seon’s body.

“You’re already poisoned, you idiot.”

“Poisoned?”

“I released the Chang-Eum poison [a type of poison]. Lowlifes like you wouldn’t even be able to feel it…”

Thwack!

Tang Yang-Seon’s mouth fell open.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had approached him at close range, had struck him in the abdomen.

This blow was truly explosive. It was so powerful that Yeon Ho-Jeong’s fist had sunk into Tang Yang-Seon’s abdomen up to his wrist.

“Guh-weeeck!”

Tang Yang-Seon collapsed on the spot, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

But it didn’t end there. His internal organs were damaged with a single blow. If he hadn’t held back at the last moment, his large and small intestines would have been severed. He would have died in the true agony of a ruptured gut.

Of course, it was painful enough as it was.

“Cough! Kaaack!”

Tang Yang-Seon clutched his abdomen and rolled on the floor.

It was a pain that could not be controlled even with internal energy. It was a blow that was not intended to kill, but to inflict pure pain.

While writhing in excruciating pain, Tang Yang-Seon couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

‘Why?!’

The Chang-Eum poison was colorless and odorless. But by itself, it had no effect.

Three Yang Art.

The Chang-Eum poison, when combined with the extreme poison of the Three Yang Art, was supposed to throw the opponent into an uncontrollable state. But the opponent was fine, even after being exposed to the Three Yang Poisonous Energy.

‘Why the hell?!’

Crack!

Tang Yang-Seon’s eyes widened.

“Kuaaaack!”

The splinted right arm was broken again. Yeon Ho-Jeong had stepped on it and broken it again.

It was a cruel attack.

At that moment, urgent movements arose from the third floor of the tavern.

“S-stop it!”

Thwack!

The people who came down to the first floor were Dokryong Cheolpyeon Han Ho-Myeong [a title meaning ‘Iron Whip Dragon’] and one squad of the Red Spider Unit, who had been escorting Tang Yang-Seon.

They had been forced to hide on the top floor because Tang Yang-Seon had said he would handle it alone. Still, they were somewhat relieved because he had released the Chang-Eum poison.

But they never expected the fight to be decided in a single blow.

Han Ho-Myeong shouted.

“Release the young master immediately… !”

Thud.

Yeon Ho-Jeong stepped on Tang Yang-Seon’s neck.

Tang Yang-Seon’s neck instantly turned bluish. He couldn’t breathe on top of the pain he was already in.

No, it wasn’t just a matter of breathing. If he put more force here, Tang Yang-Seon’s neck would break and he would die instantly.

Han Ho-Myeong and the Red Spider Unit members’ faces turned pale.

Yeon Ho-Jeong pointed at Han Ho-Myeong.

“You.”

“……?!”

“Come forward.”

Han Ho-Myeong trembled.

A blue aura formed in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s pupils.

Thud.

“Gurgle.”

Tang Yang-Seon’s eyes rolled back. He was on the verge of suffocating to death.

“Stop! I’ll go! I’ll go, so stop!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong took his foot off. Tang Yang-Seon gasped for breath.

Han Ho-Myeong came in front of Yeon Ho-Jeong, extremely tense.

In that moment, he was overcome with a strong temptation. He was now within striking distance of his opponent, so he wondered if he could launch a surprise attack and get him away from Tang Yang-Seon.

Yeon Ho-Jeong reached out his hand.

“Don’t think useless thoughts, and hand over that thick iron whip you have on your waist.”

“……?!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong didn’t give him time to think.

Thwack! Crack!

“Ugh!”

Tang Yang-Seon’s right leg was broken.

Han Ho-Myeong’s face turned black.

“I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it to you!”

He hurriedly handed over the whip. It was an iron whip with sharp pieces of flexible metal embedded in it.

Yeon Ho-Jeong received the whip and instantly threw a punch.

Thwack!

“Cough!”

Han Ho-Myeong flew towards the Red Spider Unit.

It was a swift punch, a perfect surprise attack. No matter how skilled Han Ho-Myeong was, it wouldn’t be easy to block in this situation.

The Red Spider Unit caught the flying Han Ho-Myeong in an awkward position.

And then, Yeon Ho-Jeong moved.

Chiririring!

The iron whip in his hand unraveled, emitting a chilling sound.

“W-what is that?”

“Be careful!”

The rest of the Red Spider Unit members, except for the three who had caught Han Ho-Myeong, reached into their pockets. They were trying to take out their hidden weapons.

Killing intent flared in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Massive bloodstains splattered on the floor and walls.

There were no screams. The iron whip had become a living venomous snake, mercilessly coiling around the Red Spider Unit members and knocking them down.

‘Gasp!’

Han Ho-Myeong’s eyes widened like saucers.

Whir! Thwack! Snap!

The movement of the iron whip was beyond imagination.

He couldn’t even fathom how he was wielding it. He couldn’t tell if it was a martial art or what. It just looked like dozens of iron whips were writhing in the air.

Fwoosh!

The entire Red Spider Unit squad collapsed, spitting blood.

There was nowhere to escape in the confined space. But that made it even more impressive.

Controlling a difficult weapon like the iron whip so perfectly in a confined space to defeat the opponent was something even Han Ho-Myeong couldn’t do.

‘What am I even looking at?!’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s whip technique had reached a terrifying level. No, this wasn’t a whip technique. It was similar to a whip technique, but it was something much more brutal.

‘N-no way!’

No matter what kind of martial art it was, one could only be dumbfounded by this overwhelming power. The Red Spider Unit was completely defeated before they could even take out their hidden weapons?

A divine level of weapon mastery. But Yeon Ho-Jeong frowned, as if he wasn’t satisfied.

‘It would have been better if it was a chain.’

The martial arts he was most confident in were the axe and the chain. He had broken through enemies by tying the end of an axe with a chain, and he had even annihilated an entire enemy unit with just a chain.

‘I should get a chain later.’

In the blink of an eye, Yeon Ho-Jeong had incapacitated nearly twenty enemies and casually tossed the iron whip aside.

Killing intent flickered in Han Ho-Myeong’s eyes.

His own weapon had been used to defeat his allies. That alone was infuriating, but to throw it away as if it were something he couldn’t touch?

“You!”

Bang!

Han Ho-Myeong’s hand swung towards Yeon Ho-Jeong’s back. Now, it didn’t matter that the opponent was a member of the Yeon family.

At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong grabbed Tang Yang-Seon’s ankle.

Thwack!

Tang Yang-Seon’s eyes widened. Han Ho-Myeong’s face turned pale.

Han Ho-Myeong’s palm was touching Tang Yang-Seon’s lumbar vertebrae.

Crack.

“Kuaaaack!”

Tang Yang-Seon collapsed on the spot.

His lumbar vertebrae were cracked. Was it fortunate that it wasn’t broken? But if he didn’t get treatment soon, he would be crippled for life.

Yeon Ho-Jeong clicked his tongue.

“Not only did you knock down your own allies, but you were also about to cripple your own master? Well, I guess you must have been frustrated working under a guy like him.”

“……!!”

“I hope the Tang family head will still value you even after seeing these guys’ injuries. You must have suffered a lot.”

Han Ho-Myeong’s face went blank.

Tang Yang-Seon mumbled, half out of his mind.

“W-why, why are you doing this to me…?!”

Thwack!

Tang Yang-Seon lost consciousness from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s kick. He had fainted.

Han Ho-Myeong was the same. There was no need to knock him out. He was already out of it.

Yeon Ho-Jeong squatted down in front of him.

“Do you want to live?”

“……!”

“I’ll tell you how to live. If you answer my question first.”

Han Ho-Myeong looked at Yeon Ho-Jeong with vacant eyes.

“Come to think of it, it’s really strange. Unless you or your master have been wandering around the Central Plains [the heartland of China] your whole lives, it would have been difficult for you to know that we would be heading this way. It’s quite far from Hefei, too.”

“……?!”

“Did you perhaps hire a good informant? That wouldn’t be easy either? If you were determined, there’s nothing you couldn’t do, but like this idiot said, it’s only been two days?”

“T-that is… !”

“Let’s not make things difficult for ourselves.”

Killing intent flared in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes.

“Who told you that we were heading this way?”

* * *

“Gasp! Young Master?”

“Why?”

“Y-your clothes are covered in blood… ?”

“Ah, this? It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it and take this. There’s a lot. Oh dear, our Second Young Master has already fallen asleep.”

He couldn’t help but worry.

Shin-Mo’s eyes turned fierce.

“Could it be, Namgoong?”

He had belatedly heard why the Young Master had caused such a big incident yesterday. If someone was capable of doing such a thing, it was highly likely to be Namgoong Hyeon again.

Yeon Ho-Jeong chuckled.

“You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

In that moment, Shin-Mo felt a chill.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Hey, even so, would I have killed him? I’d rather make him a cripple.”

Wasn’t that even more terrible?

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked towards the tavern.

“Sometimes, the tongue can be more terrifying than a sword.”