Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 58

Ga Deuk-sang stopped in his tracks.

He stared at Yeon Ho-jeong’s back with a look of utter dismay.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

His breathing was ragged. His upper body heaved with each breath.

But only for a moment.

“Hooo…”

The time it took for him to regulate his breathing was incredibly fast.

His exposed neck and forearms were flushed crimson. He had pushed his body to its limits using the Giant Soldier Technique [a martial arts technique that enhances physical strength], causing his muscles to overheat.

Whoosh.

A faint cyan aura enveloped Yeon Ho-jeong’s body. It was the Azure Serenity Qi [a type of internal energy].

Ga Deuk-sang asked with a stiff expression,

“Did you kill her?”

Thwack!

Yeon Ho-jeong pulled out his axe and rested it on his shoulder.

“Of course not.”

His face, which had been filled with murderous intent, was now expressionless.

Ga Deuk-sang hurried over to Myeong On-ji.

“Hah… Hah…”

Myeong On-ji’s condition was truly horrific.

Her upper body was covered in axe wounds. Judging by the depth of the cuts, at least half a dozen of her ribs were broken.

Her right arm was severed from the elbow, and her face was also cut by the wind of the axe.

And her face was frozen in extreme terror.

‘This is terrible.’

It would have been better to kill her than to leave her like this. Myeong On-ji might recover physically, but her mind would never be the same.

The only good thing was that she wasn’t bleeding much. She must have mastered some special martial art.

“You’ve turned her into a rag doll,” Yeon Ho-jeong said indifferently.

“What about the others?”

“They’re all captured.”

“That’s a relief.”

“It is a relief. For now.”

Ga Deuk-sang, who had been glaring at Yeon Ho-jeong, sighed.

“I know you’re angry, but you need to be more level-headed. You almost killed her, didn’t you?”

“But I didn’t, did I?”

Isn’t that all that matters?

Ga Deuk-sang was speechless.

‘…I suppose that’s to be expected.’

Both the Moyong family and the Myeong family were trying to destroy his family. From Yeon Ho-jeong’s perspective, they were clear enemies.

In fact, it was remarkable that he hadn’t killed her, given his personality.

“One of them couldn’t be helped.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“One of them died.”

“… !”

He had finally caused trouble.

Ga Deuk-sang gave up on scolding him. It was already done. The most important thing was to deal with the rest of the situation as quickly as possible.

“Let’s move them first. Damn it! I even called a doctor just in case, which is going to cost a fortune.”

Ga Deuk-sang had prepared a small manor as a temporary base. He had all the captured assassins tied up there.

After seeing Myeong On-ji being moved, Yeon Ho-jeong went to the entrance of the forest near the manor and sat down haphazardly.

Thump-thump.

His racing heart wouldn’t calm down. Similarly, the anger that had surged when he saw Myeong On-ji’s martial arts wouldn’t subside.

But apart from his anger, his mind was cold.

‘It’s getting serious.’

Myeong On-ji was the head of the Myeong family’s intelligence organization.

But even if she was the head of the organization, intelligence was just intelligence. She might be a Myeong by blood, but they wouldn’t send a direct descendant to an intelligence organization.

In other words, Myeong On-ji was not the head of the family’s child. Yet, she had mastered ‘that martial art.’

What did that mean?

‘They said they were raising a Death Sword [a highly skilled assassin]. Both the Death Sword and that woman are just disposable pawns. So, they must have made her learn it as an experiment.’

It was an accurate assessment.

It wasn’t because he knew the ways of the orthodox martial world, but because he knew the nature of greedy power-holders. The greed of power-holders knew no bounds.

Which meant.

‘They’re preparing.’

The Myeong family would attack the Yeon family. That was certain.

But unlike in the past, in this life, he had rooted out all the spies from the Moyong family. So, the Moyong family would try to bury the Yeon family before the world found out.

In that situation, the information from Jiangxi Province was controlled, and he had appeared in Henan.

And he had captured an entire intelligence organization of the Myeong family.

“I need to gather more.”

Yeon Ho-jeong raised his head.

Ga Deuk-sang was approaching leisurely. It seemed he had some time to relax after dealing with a big issue.

“You’ve worked hard, but we can’t stop here. The opponent is too strong to stop the Myeong family with just a rumor.”

“What do you think about the aftermath?”

Ga Deuk-sang’s expression turned serious.

“Well, they’ll probably realize it within five days at the latest. Considering that it’s their own backyard, we have about three days.”

“I suppose so.”

“I received a message that the Yeon family head has asked the Beggars’ Union [a large and influential martial arts organization] to investigate. To see if there are any organizations related to the Myeong family in the Jiangxi and Zhejiang areas.”

It was the right decision.

They wouldn’t try to destroy the Yeon family without any base in that area. It wasn’t just about destroying them, but also about establishing a foothold there.

There must be forces in Jiangxi that followed the Myeong family.

“But it’s too late.”

“That’s right. It will take at least a month just to investigate. And that’s the minimum.”

After thinking for a moment, Ga Deuk-sang asked,

“How about doing it this way instead?”

“What do you mean?”

“My master also knows about this. So, I think it would be okay to ask my master for help.”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.

Ga Deuk-sang’s master was the current leader of the Beggars’ Union.

“We weren’t planning to make a move right away anyway, were we? The Myeong family won’t be able to provoke us recklessly, so we talked about investigating their wrongdoings and exposing them later.”

“We did.”

“Actually, since the day we arrived in Shangqiu, we’ve been thoroughly investigating businesses and intelligence groups related to the Myeong family, but we haven’t found any useful information yet.”

“How long do you think it will take?”

“I don’t know. Something must have happened recently because it’s different from when we investigated last time. They’re suppressing information like iron.”

Ga Deuk-sang clicked his tongue.

“So, I’m going to ask my master to step in. He’s half-retired from the martial world and is preparing to hand over the leadership, but he wouldn’t refuse if we asked him to help with this.”

That was likely. The Beggars’ Union’s sense of justice was as famous as the compassion of the Shaolin Temple [a famous Buddhist temple and martial arts school].

‘But is that really okay?’

He didn’t have any information about Ga Deuk-sang’s master. He only remembered that he was a leader who had been praised as excellent.

‘That’s the problem.’

The modifier ‘excellent’ bothered him. In the orthodox martial world, being praised as excellent was synonymous with not being aggressive.

This matter shouldn’t be handled that way.

It had to be dealt with aggressively, thoroughly, and decisively, so that the opponent would never dare to raise their head again.

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had been lost in thought, suddenly asked,

“What do you think?”

“Huh? About what?”

“The Nine Provinces Myeong family and the Moyong family. Which one do you think would be harder to destroy?”

Ga Deuk-sang frowned.

“Why are you asking such a question all of a sudden?”

“Just tell me.”

“Hmm, it’s like asking which is harder to deal with, a tiger or a lion…”

“Then we should think about which one lives in a more precarious environment.”

“Geez.”

Even while grumbling, Ga Deuk-sang was lost in thought. The Yeon Ho-jeong he had seen so far wasn’t the type to ask such pointless questions.

‘Which one is harder to destroy?’

Ga Deuk-sang thought and thought.

Finally, he came up with an answer.

“In my opinion…”

“In your opinion?”

“Well, I think it’s the Moyong family.”

It was an unexpected answer. The Nine Provinces Myeong family had more power than the Moyong family, yet he said the Moyong family was harder to destroy.

“Why?”

“History, and public opinion.”

“I think the same.”

The Nine Provinces Myeong family had made a great contribution during the Blood Cult Disaster [a historical event] three hundred years ago.

But making a contribution didn’t mean that the family would grow significantly. They had built their power through hard work, and their martial arts had also improved dramatically.

That was the first two hundred years. After that, the Nine Provinces Myeong family became famous as a leading martial arts family in the Central Plains.

That history was a hundred years old.

“The Yeon family and the Myeong family have shorter histories compared to the other five great families. History is the foundation. No matter how big a force is, a force with a short history is relatively more vulnerable.”

“That’s right.”

“In that respect, the Nine Provinces Myeong family is easier to deal with. Besides, the rumors about the Nine Provinces Myeong family aren’t very good either.”

The Nine Provinces Myeong family had constantly sought to expand their power.

It was natural for a martial arts sect to grow its power, but they had gone too far. Moreover, they were orthodox, not unorthodox.

From the perspective of the orthodox martial world, the Myeong family’s expansion of power was too secular.

Even though they had a power that was not far behind the Shaolin Temple, the Myeong family was the most poorly regarded among the seven great families.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.

‘It’s impossible to destroy the Myeong family and the Moyong family at the same time right now.’

Of course. It would be difficult even if he regained his martial prowess from his time as the Dark Emperor. Unless he had the foundation of the Dark Emperor’s Castle.

‘Besides…’

Even if there was a way, it would be a bad move to bury both of them at the same time for the sake of the future.

‘The Three Cults!’

That’s right.

The Mad Faith Three Cults would invade the Central Plains someday. And to stop them, they needed an outstanding leader like Moyong Woo.

Of course, even after joining hands with Moyong Woo, he had no intention of sparing the Moyong family.

However, even if there was a way, it would be a bad move to destroy the Moyong family now, before he had even met Moyong Woo.

‘The power of just the Evil Sound Cult among the Three Cults turned half of the Central Plains into a sea of blood. To stop the remaining two, the existence of Moyong Woo is absolutely necessary.’

Revenge right now was important, but the future disaster was also important.

‘Then…’

A murderous intent filled Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.

‘I need to crush the Myeong family first.’

It was better this way.

It was the Moyong family that sent spies to the Yeon family, but it was the Myeong family that actually destroyed the family. Even though they were both equally deserving of death, the Myeong family was his top priority because he had seen the murderer of his family with his own eyes.

Both his personal anger and the future pointed to this being the right course of action.

Then?

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, they say.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Yeon Ho-jeong looked at Ga Deuk-sang with cold eyes.

Ga Deuk-sang flinched involuntarily.

‘This guy’s eyes are really something…’

It was a much scarier look than directly revealing murderous intent. It was as if he was digging into the depths of a person’s heart.

“I’m going to destroy the Myeong family.”

“I know. I don’t know if it’s possible, though.”

“You can do it if you help me.”

“What, what did you say?”

“It won’t be harmful to you either. The cause is clear, and it’s also good for enhancing the reputation of the Beggars’ Union.”

Ga Deuk-sang’s face turned red. He was suddenly angry.

“Did you think I was that kind of person? Someone who cares about reputation?”

“Is it bad to care about reputation?”

“…?”

“People all have desires. We’re not mountain ascetics. Is it a sin to desire reputation?”

“Well… it’s not, but… anyway, I’m not that kind of person.”

“I know.”

“You know, but you still said that!”

“I know, but reputation is necessary for the future. Even to catch more vicious people.”

“… !”

Ga Deuk-sang’s face became serious.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Let’s send a letter first.”

“A letter? To whom?”

“To Moyong Gun.”

“…!!”

“We need to send it right away.”

I’ll use everything I can.