Chapter 104: The Snipe-and-Clam Stratagem (2)

To think a Daoist from Wudang would move personally—and one of Wudang’s old monsters, at that.

The Dark Emperor watched the entire situation from atop a tree.

Clever ideas and elaborate schemes?

Those had never suited him to begin with.

He was confident.

No matter what formations or mechanisms the Zhuge Household had, he could break through them.

The reason he had gone out of his way to drive a Zhuge sword into Wudang and force the issue...

was a request from Namgung Hyeong, the Family Head of the Namgung Household.

That was the price of information.

The price of being told who his enemies were.

“I kept my promise, Namgung Hyeong.”

His gaze turned far away, beyond Mount Longzhong.

One of them was there.

One of the two he sought revenge on.

There was nothing strange about him naming Little Divine Monk Gong-eop and Cheon Soyak as his enemies.

That was what Family Head Namgung Hyeong believed.

How could he possibly have known that Namgung Byeok—his own half-brother, the bastard son erased from the family register—had appeared there instead?

Besides, Little Divine Monk Gong-eop had already passed the midpoint of Transcendent Apex and was advancing toward full maturity.

And if that girl’s sword—though she was only known to have just stepped into Transcendent Apex—had been added to the mix...

that was enough to kill One Sword of Extreme Night Byeoksagok, who had already reached the mature stage of Transcendent Apex.

“Then I’ll kill them both.”

If he could infiltrate the Zhuge Household,

why would he be unable to infiltrate Shaolin at Mount Song?

In terms of individual martial skill, Shaolin might surpass the Zhuge Household.

But when it came to the security of a stronghold, the Zhuge Household was superior.

The Dark Emperor’s figure vanished into the darkness.

*****

The Second Young Master’s office.

Word had already come that Zhuge Yeon was on her way.

He stopped Nan Hyeyeon just as she was about to excuse herself and made her sit back down.

“Let me say this again, I—”

“Listen. Hear what my sister has to say. You are one of my people. It will help you decide how you are to move from here on.”

That was an extremely double-edged thing to say.

How she was to move from here on.

With the conflict between the First Young Master and the Second Young Master already this severe, for him to tell one of his own people to decide how she would proceed from here...

Nan Hyeyeon’s eyes narrowed.

“Young Master.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think I would betray you?”

“No.”

He knew who his elder brother Zhuge Cheokwol’s most precious friend was.

His brother likely knew the same about him.

Those who carried Zhuge blood were clever...

but when people lost someone dear to them, they often sought revenge by making others lose someone dear in return.

“You would not be betraying me. You would merely be seeking a way to survive.”

“What in the world are you trying to say right now—”

At that moment,

three shadows fell across the papered door.

Before either of them could continue, the metal ring struck against the door.

“Come in.”

The instant the words left his mouth, the door swung open.

Zhuge Yeon did not even bother with a greeting. She came into the room half like a storming intruder.

The two Mount Hua martial artists following her were much the same.

“Yeon. This is the office of the Zhuge Household’s Second Young Master. So how could you bring outsiders into—”

“They are comrades.”

“...I see.”

Zhuge Yeon flicked a glance at Nan Hyeyeon.

Then she looked back at Zhuge Sakhyeon.

The meaning was clear: was it safe to speak with her present?

Zhuge Sakhyeon slowly nodded.

“I know you didn’t kill Gu Jang-il.”

“...Do you?”

“Yes. It’s been proven that the sword that pierced Gu Jang-il’s throat carried Kill Veil martial arts.”

“Kill Veil?”

Zhuge Sakhyeon’s brows rose.

*****

“Kill Veil... Father?”

“Yes, Cheokwol. Kill Veil.”

The office of the First Young Master, Zhuge Cheokwol.

Zhuge Won was informing his eldest son of the situation.

“There was thick murderous intent clinging to the wound in his neck. If not for a few coincidences, the conflict between the two of you would already have exploded.”

“I am not so devoid of feeling that I would suspect my younger brother of murder.”

“Really? You never doubted him at all? Not even for a single instant?”

Zhuge Cheokwol fell silent.

That... was not true.

Ever since Zhuge Won had entered six months of closed-door training,

he and his younger brother had clashed and fought at every turn.

It was about the future path and revival of the Zhuge Household.

His younger brother insisted they should devote themselves, as they always had, to raising strategists and formation masters.

Cheokwol believed that now that they had even developed formations that accelerated qi accumulation and suppressed deviation, they had to move aggressively and increase the number of top experts.

His younger brother kept at his side a woman gifted in the arts of calculation.

He himself kept at his side a friend gifted in swordsmanship.

“...I did.”

“Yes. That was what they were aiming for.”

“What were these ‘coincidences’ you mentioned?”

“The two Daoists from Mount Hua who came here.”

*****

“So you’re saying the child here—no... this young swordswoman survived a Kill Veil assassin?”

“She is my disciple.”

Zhuge Sakhyeon moistened his dried lips.

Then he nodded again.

From his seat, Eunsong watched him in silence.

“I know things are moving quickly, Brother, so just accept it. Eunsong came to the Zhuge Household to bring Soyak into the Society as a comrade. In the middle of that, he discovered Gu Jang-il after he had been murdered by a Kill Veil assassin, and from the murderous intent left in the sword wound, he determined that Kill Veil was the culprit. Once I learned Kill Veil was involved, I broke Father out of closed-door training and told him everything, and Father...”

“...inferred that it was the Dark Emperor.”

“That’s right.”

“And in the middle of all that, a young Wudang expert was found dead with Gu Jang-il’s sword driven through his neck.”

Zhuge Sakhyeon ran a hand back through his hair, his expression complicated.

The situation was tangling.

What had started as an internal matter of the household was becoming a matter involving the Wudang Sect.

“The Dark Emperor’s revenge...”

Zhuge Sakhyeon stared at Soyak.

So the information had spread—that this small girl had killed the Dark Emperor’s disciple, Byeoksagok, the Hall Lord of Night-Heaven Hall.

Byeoksagok, master of the Myriad Ghost Heavenfall Sword.

Byeoksagok, One Sword of Extreme Night, who had nearly reached the full maturity of Transcendent Apex.

“Then the Dark Emperor really believed that report, didn’t he, Daoist Eunsong?”

“He did. In truth, it is a conclusion one could reasonably reach. Little Divine Monk Gong-eop was there as well.”

“...And your disciple is a Transcendent Apex master.”

“She is.”

“That is the most unrealistic part of all this, but I can no longer deny it.”

*****

“You’re saying a third-generation disciple of Mount Hua is a Transcendent Apex master, Father?”

“Yes, Cheokwol. That is why the Dark Emperor believed it. If two Transcendent Apex martial artists attacked together, they could defeat One Sword of Extreme Night.”

“When in truth it was Namgung Byeok, the Sky-Burning Sword Tiger of the Reverse Heaven Society.”

“That’s right.”

Zhuge Cheokwol nodded.

Namgung Byeok would have been sent by Zhuge Yeon.

He was the sharpest blade his younger sister could wield.

But he was not a blade sharp enough to gouge out the Sword Sovereign’s throat.

The Reverse Heaven Society needed something sharper. Something keener.

Eunsong had been entrusted with selecting someone who possessed the talent to become that blade...

and he had found it brilliantly.

A blade fit to murder heaven.

“...Then this is a matter for our Zhuge Household. No matter what it takes, we must protect that girl Soyak.”

“Your head turns quickly.”

“Not as well as my younger sister’s, perhaps, but I am still a member of the Zhuge line, Father.”

Zhuge Cheokwol rose from his seat.

Then he fastened his sword at his waist.

That was when it happened.

The commander of the Zhuge Household’s armed force, the Red Sleeve Corps, Danmok Il, burst in, dropped to one knee, and bowed.

“Family Head! Urgent news!”

“What is it?”

“Someone has arrived from the Wudang Sect. Gu Jang-il’s sword... has been found at Wudang Mountain, run through the neck of a Wudang disciple.”

“Goddamn it. Someone has truly set their mind on tearing my household apart!”

Zhuge Won exploded in fury.

If this had been a matter confined to the Zhuge Household alone, then formations and mechanism devices could have resolved it.

But another of the Nine Great Sects—

and not just any sect, but that Wudang Sect spoken of alongside Shaolin itself—

was another matter entirely.

And yet, amidst all these outward complications, he must not forget the essence of it.

That was exactly what the Dark Emperor wanted.

What the man truly desired was this—

that they would become so consumed with internal strife and friction with Wudang

that they would neglect protecting Cheon Soyak.

Because his purpose was revenge.

Because what he wanted was Soyak’s life.

“Cheokwol. Go to Sakhyeon at once. Yeon, Eunsong, and the young Mount Hua disciple will all be there.”

“...Understood.”

“I need to meet the people who came from Wudang. Danmok Il, who came?”

“Well... that is...”

Danmok Il hesitated.

Zhuge Won could not bear the frustration.

“Out with it!”

“It is Wudang’s elder, Elder Cheongpyeong... and his disciple, the Wudang Fist Adept Jonggwon...”

“...And who was the dead one?”

“It was Jo Seung, one of Master Jonggwon’s disciples.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

*****

Elder Cheongpyeong.

A Wudang elder, and a master who had stepped into the opening stage of the Transformation Realm, now stood before the Zhuge Household’s main gate.

Why was he known as the Empty-Fist Elder?

Because he had solved every problem in his life with his bare hands.

The Sect Leader, Elder Cheongjang, had mastered the Taiji Wisdom Sword and become Wudang’s foremost swordsman.

Elder Cheongpyeong, however, was different.

He dug deeper and deeper into Taiji Fist, Wudang’s foundational art.

Because he believed its subtle truths were every bit as excellent as any divine art or peerless technique.

And in fact, within Wudang, there was no fist art higher than Taiji Fist.

Yet in the end,

the world had come to acknowledge that the Taiji Fist he displayed with his bare hands rivaled even the Taiji Wisdom Sword.

A man who was now organizing that enlightenment and those insights into a secret manual—the Taiji Divine Fist—to stand as a pair to the Taiji Wisdom Sword.

That man was Elder Cheongpyeong.

And the Wudang Fist Adept Jonggwon was his direct disciple.

No wonder the gatekeeper standing watch at the main gate had frozen stiff.

“C-could you please wait just a moment?”

“Don’t stiffen up like that. I’m old, for heaven’s sake. What, do you think I’m about to snatch you up and eat you whole?”

“Please stop frightening him, Master. You’re always too mischievous.”

“At my age, I need some fun left in life. Better that than just throwing a punch straight out, wouldn’t you say?”

But neither man’s face was smiling.

Not in the slightest.

What shone in their eyes was a resolve for vengeance, bleak and absolute.

The hatred of men who had lost a beloved disciple and grand-disciple lay there like a shadow.