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< Cheonma Shingyo Road (1) >
The head of the Namgung Sega clan was surprised to see Namgung Jeongcheon return to Sega.
“My lord!”
Namgung Jeongcheon was wounded all over his body. His black uniform was torn in many places, and his face was as pale as a sick person.
“My lord! What is this!”
“Stop making a fuss and bring me some elixir.”
The general personally applied the golden ointment to Namgung Jeongcheon’s body and wrapped it in bandages.
When the treatment was roughly finished, Namgung Jeongcheon opened his mouth heavily.
“The ambush failed.”
Although he had expected it to some extent when Namgung Jeongcheon returned in this state, the general could not understand how he could fail.
“The lord himself went there? And there were fifty masters there too…”
“Pacheon Sword Master. He was hiding his true strength. He is… much stronger than me.”
“Huh?!”
The general’s eyes widened.
Who is Namgung Jeongcheon, the Heavenly Sword?
Excluding the Three Great Masters of the World, who are now almost legendary, he was one of the top ten masters in the martial arts world.
‘But is the young green magpie of the terms stronger than the lord?’
This is ridiculous.
But the evidence was right before his eyes. His master, Namgung Jeongcheon, had returned looking like a defeated soldier.
“Well, then now···.”
Gulp. The general swallowed hard and had difficulty continuing his speech.
Pacheongeomje knew full well who had surprised him.
If that’s the case, then isn’t it possible that he will soon storm into Namgung Se-ga?
This is the fearsome master who reduced the world’s top ten masters to this state and annihilated fifty elite masters.
‘But seeing as you didn’t chase after me right away···.’
The governor spoke hopefully.
“Is Pacheongeomje seriously injured? If so, mobilize the warriors immediately…”
Namgung Jeongcheon shook his head with a dark expression.
“He’s fine. He killed all the warriors I brought with me and let me go alive.”
“Yes? Why···.”
Namgung Jeongcheon said, gritting his teeth.
“···We decided to negotiate.”
“Tongue, what do you call negotiation?”
The general asked with an anxious face. Namgung Jeongcheon closed his eyes as if he was ashamed and said.
“We decided to fully support the reconstruction of Geomhwangmun with all resources, transfer some of our family’s business premises, and dispatch our family’s warriors to Geomhwangmun for 20 years.
“My lord! That can’t be!”
The general’s face turned red.
I heard that Geom Hwang Moon is trying to treat Nam Gung Se Ga like a slave.
Even when a black hole breaks under another hole, such an absurd condition is not imposed.
‘How much more so the Daenam Palace family…’
However, Namgung Jeongcheon’s will already seemed firm.
“If he wanted to, Pacheongeomje could destroy his family. He… is truly a monster.”
Namgung Jeongcheon’s eyes were filled with fear. It was conveyed more vividly because it was sincere and not an act.
“Master?”
A question appeared on the face of the general who saw that sight.
The governor served Namgung Jeongcheon longer than anyone else.
Because of that, he knew all about Namgung Jeongcheon’s personality, habits, and mannerisms.
‘Is your lord someone who would be so easily frightened by someone and give everything to them?’
And Namgung Jeongcheon also noticed that the governor was suspicious of him.
To be exact, Biyoung noticed that he was wearing Namgung Jeongcheon’s shell.
‘Oh, if we’re not careful, the director might notice.’
Biyoung also knew Namgung Jeongcheon better than anyone else, and was also secretly acquainted with the commander-in-chief.
That is why Biyoung was the perfect person to play Namgung Jeongcheon.
Biyoung immediately became angry and said, gritting her teeth like Namgung Jeongcheon.
“Of course, I will bow my head to him only now. Now is the time to be patient. One day, I will kill him with my own hands.”
“Ah···. Yes. Of course.”
The general looked a little relieved at those words. Well then, that’s right. There was no way that the lord who had destroyed the Geomhwangmun Gate would be swayed by a single child.
“We must endure now. Just as we beheaded Namgung Sangin after much patience 15 years ago, we will need time this time as well.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Of course, Biyoung had no plans whatsoever to kill the man.
The general doesn’t know that, though.
“Then I’ll go now. I want to rest.”
“Jeonmyeong!”
The general withdrew from the room. Bi-yeong waited until his presence had completely disappeared, then knelt down against one of the walls.
“Even though it was just an act, please forgive me for insulting my lord.”
Swish.
A man appeared in the darkness. He had been listening to the conversation between the two from the beginning.
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“Hmm.”
At that short response, Biyoung shuddered.
Biyoung was afraid of Daein.
The man who killed the cunning and cruel Namgung Jeongcheon by setting a trap. He also tried to swallow up the entire Namgung family by making himself out to be a fake.
‘Is your lord offended? I shouldn’t have sworn at you…’
To Biyoung’s eyes, the man did not seem human. Fear fueled his imagination.
‘I might have to cut off at least one arm. No, my arm is obvious, so I’ll have to cut it off somewhere that can’t be seen. In that case, go, gogan···’
While Biyoung was sweating profusely and lost in her terrifying imagination, Daein was just thinking.
“Do you think the General was fooled?”
“···Yes. There was no sign of suspicion.”
Biyoung nodded desperately.
If the general could be fooled, no one in the Namgung family would suspect Namgung Jeongcheon’s true identity.
“If there is a real problem, we can remove the general, but… that might make the problem even more troublesome.”
At least not for now.
“But, I···.”
Biyoung hesitated to speak, looking at the master’s expression. The master nodded, telling her to speak.
“My martial arts skills are only at their peak. I can use my injuries as an excuse to deceive you now, but I can’t deceive you forever.”
Although his appearance and voice were perfectly deceived by the doppelganger mask given to him by the Great Man, the same could not be said for his martial arts skills.
The martial arts skills of Namgung Jeongcheon and Biyoung are literally like heaven and earth.
Biyeongdo was by no means a weakling, but his martial arts skills were not enough to imitate the ten best martial artists in the world.
“Especially when the Great Battle of Jeongma breaks out and you go out to the battlefield… the probability of being caught is very high.”
When you become one of the top ten martial arts masters, you will have to go to an important battlefield, and if you can’t use your strength then, no matter how similar your face is, it’s useless.
After all, a warrior proves himself through his martial arts skills.
“Don’t worry about the Jeongma War.”
The man spoke to Biyoung casually.
“The Great War of Jeongma will not happen. Even if it does happen, it will end before it becomes an all-out war.”
“Huh? How···.”
“You don’t have to know the details.”
At the cold gaze of her master – which was actually too much of a bother to explain – Biyoung lay flat on the floor.
“I’m sorry! I asked such a presumptuous question… Please kill me.”
Daein tilted his head at the sight of Biyoung hitting her head on the floor.
‘Did he eat something wrong?’
Haven’t you been sweating profusely since a while ago? Haven’t you been shivering even though you’re not cold?
It seems that when I removed the loneliness earlier, there were some side effects left behind.
‘I guess it’ll get better with time. In reality, being in a little pain will help with acting.’
The man decided to just think about it and move on. The man said.
“Namgung Jeongcheon was lightly possessed by a demon during his training last night. He used that as an excuse to not be able to use his martial arts skills for a while.”
“Jeonmyeong!”
“And from tomorrow onwards···”
The man gave various instructions to Biyoung about what to do next.
“Oh, and the Demonic Cult’s advance will come sooner than the Murim Alliance expects. Prepare in advance.”
“Yes? How could your lord···.”
“There is a way to know everything.”
“Sorry, sorry! Another useless question···.”
“······.”
The more she listened to the story, the less Biyoung felt like Daein was human.
How could you know about the affairs of the Demonic Cult that is a thousand miles away?
‘Could it be that my lord is a monster in human skin?’
In this way, Biyoung’s fear and awe grew with time.
‘I must never even dream of betrayal until I die.’
In that way, the entire Namgung family fell into the hands of the great man.
***
The next day.
The Murim Alliance was turned upside down from the morning.
“How dare those demonic bastards-!”
The leader of the martial arts world, Yaulgi, personally visited the inn where the Daein party was staying. He opened his eyes wide and checked the scene.
The guest house was broken here and there, as if it had been a fierce fight, and the walls and floor were covered in dried blood, giving off a bloody scent. The corpses were gathered on one side.
“Are you sure this is the work of the demonic cult?”
Gongsun Ilgi, the head of the Biryongdang, answered Yul-yul-gi’s question. Cheongun, the vice-chairman, was also present at the scene.
“A scripture of the Demonic Cult was found in the corpse. As you know, they don’t separate scriptures from the body.”
From the beginning, Namgung Jeongcheon had planned to frame this attack as the work of the Cheonma Sect, so there was ample evidence that the masked men were Cheonma Sect members.
“Where is the Pacheon Sword Master?”
The group of Daein was being investigated a little away from the inn. As Yulgi approached, Daein took the ticket.
“Meet the leader.”
“I heard you were attacked at dawn. Are you hurt anywhere?”
The man showed a few minor scratches on his forearm. Of course, they were intentional.
“Fortunately, we were all awake at the time.”
“There’s no way the Demonic Cult would’ve come all the way to the center of the Murim Alliance and made a reckless attack. It wasn’t luck that stopped them, it was your skill. Aah. They chose the wrong opponent!”
After showing off his skills in front of many people, Yul-gi asked them about various things again.
“Did they say anything?”
“They attacked us out of the blue.”
“Who was captured?”
“Because the situation was so dire, I didn’t pay much attention to them. Some of them committed suicide when their injuries got worse.”
“What a pity…. Who were the victims? Were you the only ones in the guest house?”
“After advancing to the finals of the Yongbongbimu competition, we rented an entire guest house. Yesterday, we asked for the owner’s understanding and had a small drink among ourselves.”
“There was not a single death, so it is truly a blessing in disguise.”
Yul-gi believed everything the man said without much doubt.
Since the circumstances clearly showed that the winner of the Yongbongbimu was attacked by the Demonic Cult, the investigation proceeded by examining the bodies and exploring the surrounding area.
But on one side, the heads of the five great families were exchanging messages with anxious faces.
[Namgung Gaju! What is this!]
[Didn’t you say you would definitely handle it!]
[I wondered why the warriors didn’t come back···.]
[What are you going to do now!]
The four of them simultaneously poured out their messages to Namgung Jeongcheon. Of course, they could not have imagined that Namgung Jeongcheon’s contents had changed.
[Calm down, everyone. I’ll explain everything.]
Biyoung repeated the conversation she had with the general yesterday with a pale face, and added a little more to it.
[I told Pacheongeomje that only Namgung Se-ga’s warriors attacked Geomhwangmun. So they won’t attack other Se-ga.]
First, Biyoung reassured the other heads of the Odaese family.
The family members were shocked to hear that Pacheongeomje was a master beyond imagination, but they also seemed relieved to hear that they would not be harmed.
Biyoung laughed inwardly at their appearance.
‘You fools. Do you think your lord will just leave you alone?’
Biyoung couldn’t sleep a wink all night and was worried.
His master was a man with more depth and cunning than anyone else in the world.
‘My lord is the one who will unite the martial arts world. He will place the martial arts alliance and the demonic cult under his feet and command the world.’
This was the conclusion that Biyoung reached after pondering all night and developing a fear and awe of interpersonal relationships.
Plus, he got a new goal.
‘From today, I will become Namgung Jeongcheon and stand at the forefront of my lord’s unification of the martial arts world.’
If I misunderstood, I misunderstood for a long time. It was like drinking kimchi stew first without even thinking about who would give me rice cakes.
The Great One was just thinking of setting up a guild branch in the martial arts world.
Namgung Jeongcheon, if you die right now, things will get worse, so they hired a substitute.
However, Biyoung thought that all of this was a plan that Daein had been preparing for a long time. He quietly clenched his fists and made a pledge.
‘First, we must take over the Five Great Families one by one to create a foundation for our lord to unify the martial arts world.’
The Great One did not give any such orders, but Bi-yeong, like a capable subordinate, decided to act on his own without being told.
Several years later, a huge force with an unknown mastermind appears in the world of martial arts.
That’s a story for later,
“Hey-!!”
From a distance, a horse could be seen running towards them, raising a cloud of dust. They both looked like they had been running for a long time without stopping, and their appearance was quite unusual.
“Urgent news! Urgent news from Xinjiang!”
Yul-gi, with a hardened expression, stepped forward.
“Xinjiang? Is it the work of the Demonic Cult?”
The warrior on horseback jumped down from his horse, performed a flying feat, and prostrated himself before Yelüqi.
“Ugh, gasp···.”
Musa took a deep breath for a while, as if he was out of breath. Yalyu-gi, who was getting impatient, urged him on.
“What the heck! What the heck is going on!”
Musa presented the letter he had brought to the leader. The leader broke the seal on the letter, unfolded it, and read it in one breath.
After a while, Yul-gi’s expression hardened into a frightening expression.
“The devil’s bastards are already···”
Others, who had not yet grasped the situation, were only watching the leader’s expression.
But the man knew what was going on.
‘It looks like they’re starting to move too.’
Every night, Daein would talk to Lily and hear information from the Cheonmasin Church.
[My grandfather said that. He said he would leave for Murim after a week.]
The letter the Murim Leader received would have contained similar content.
< Cheonma Shingyo Road (1) > End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
