Chapter 55: Vice Alliance Leader
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader’s eyes widened. The Cha Hui-myeong he knew was a rather clever man.
Although he sometimes flaunted his knowledge by pushing forward his theories on the Black Path, most of what he said was correct.
“Someone you can guess, you say?”
“The two who annihilated the Four Dragons River Gang Leader’s clan. And the two who stormed into Dark Sun Sect Sect in the dead of night. Even now, nothing comes to mind?”
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader’s large eyes rolled about for a moment. Soon after, an expression of realization dawned on his face. He then spoke in admiration of Cha Hui-myeong’s insight.
“By heavens! So the Four Dragons River Gang Leader also fell to Azure Wild Valley! Those vile vermin bastards!”
“……”
Cha Hui-myeong pressed his forehead.
Now that things had come to this, he felt the urge to beat the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader to death and share Deyang’s interests with Azure Wild Valley.
After all, Azure Wild Valley might have been just a group of assassins, but at least they acted with reason.
But it was no easy matter. The reason Dark Sun Sect Sect had survived in the world of the Black Path with such dim-wittedness was simple.
‘Brainless fools. Nothing but filthy strong.’
Dark Sun Sect Sect was powerful. If they only had competent tacticians, they could easily go beyond Deyang and spread their name widely.
It was only natural, since the Sect Leader himself had reached the realm of Mature Peak Master Level.
‘Of course, the tacticians would die long before that happened.’
Most likely, they would either die after offering honest advice and being beaten to death by the Sect Leader, or collapse from illness after struggling alone amidst the half-wits like the Bald Man.
In any case, Cha Hui-myeong neither had the resources nor the will to risk war with Dark Sun Sect Sect, so he spoke with extreme patience.
“If you act recklessly, remember that I cannot simply stand by. You must also consider my position. Do you understand?”
“……”
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader stared intently at Cha Hui-myeong.
A fierce exchange of gazes passed between them.
The surrounding subordinates held their breath as they watched. Though Cha Hui-myeong’s frame was far smaller by comparison, he did not appear small in the least.
For a moment, a strange tension flowed.
Then the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader grinned and replied.
“I know. I understand your heart well.”
Cha Hui-myeong never fully rid himself of his unease. But he realized he had no more business left here.
With a nod, Cha Hui-myeong gave a few final warning glances before leaving Dark Sun Sect Sect.
The next night.
Cha Hui-myeong, as usual, was reading in his office on the top floor of Twilight Pavilion. Even while keeping a close watch on Deyang’s situation over the past few days, he never abandoned his habit of reading.
“If you’re ignorant, you’ll perish.”
Cha Hui-myeong had seen many ignorant fools of the Black Path. Of course, if that ignorance was overpowered by overwhelming martial strength, it was tolerable, but such cases were exceedingly rare.
Just then.
Hurried footsteps echoed from outside.
With unease, Cha Hui-myeong closed his book.
“L–Lord of Twilight Pavilion!”
A subordinate barged into the office without permission. Cha Hui-myeong’s brows twitched. It was extremely rare for his men to forget their manners.
“So, the Bald Men finally made their move.”
“…Yes, they’ve already set out for Azure Wild Valley.”
“How many moved?”
“All of them.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Cha Hui-myeong grasped his brow. Seeing this, the subordinate cautiously asked.
“What should we do?”
Cha Hui-myeong fixed his subordinate with a steady gaze.
True Black Path organizations were fundamentally different from mere assassins, bald monks, or loan sharks. If he gave the word, all his men would take up their blades and march straight toward Azure Wild Valley.
But Cha Hui-myeong did not want to sacrifice his subordinates now, when something big was at stake. Above all, both Azure Wild Valley and Dark Sun Sect Sect were troublesome foes to deal with.
“Something feels off. The timing is far too coincidental. Could this be the work of the Heavenly Poison Alliance?”
“…What?”
“Where else would such masters suddenly appear from? Either the Heavenly Poison Alliance sent them to swallow up Hwa-un Trading Company, or Hwa Yeon-seol, the Trading Company Master, hired them herself…”
As he mulled over possibilities, Cha Hui-myeong rubbed his head roughly. With nothing certain, he could not reach a decision.
At last, Cha Hui-myeong draped the robe lying across his chair over his shoulders and spoke.
“There’s no choice but to see for myself. If I do not return by tomorrow evening, take the subordinates and hide far away for a time.”
Sichuan Province, Mount Shipang.
A rugged mountain range, filled with valleys, where travelers were extremely rare. Even wild beasts were strangely scarce, making it a perpetually silent place.
Fwoooosh—!
A colossal Fire Demon swept across the mountains and valleys.
“You fools!”
A heartfelt lament burst out.
A man cloaked entirely in black robes.
The Lord of Azure Wild Valley, the Ghost of the Valley.
He looked around with eyes filled with both rage and futility.
Countless corpses littered the ground.
Brawny Renegade Monks lay dead with their vital points pierced or slashed, while the black-clad assassins had most of their bodies torn apart.
“Hahaha, you wretch Ghost of the Valley! This is what comes of scorning and belittling us!”
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader roared with booming laughter.
His robe was torn to shreds, and his body bore countless sword and saber wounds.
Though blood streamed endlessly from his entire body, his eyes brimmed only with madness and exhilaration.
Waving toward the Azure Wild Valley Lord, the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader called out.
“What, are you so frightened of me? Come closer! I’ll snap that slender neck of yours in one strike!”
“I don’t know what wretch laid this scheme, but I understand why they chose you. Fool.”
The Ghost of the Valley truly lamented.
When the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader had first arrived, he had scoffed. But when they set fire to the mountain and began smashing everything in sight, he was horrified.
Never in his life had he encountered such crude and reckless men. Worse yet, their martial strength was not low.
There were limits to evasion. The assassins who fled all the way to the edge of the valley were eventually forced to fight against Dark Sun Sect Sect’s false Renegade Monks.
Naturally, talk and persuasion were meaningless.
“So be it. Let’s see this through.”
The Ghost of the Valley spat out in a grim voice.
No matter whose plot this was or what their purpose, he could not endure the sight of his assassins—nurtured with so much time and money—being slaughtered en masse.
‘If only I had succeeded in the great undertaking, I could have reached Deathshroud.’
The number one assassin organization in the Central Plains, Deathshroud.
To build an assassin organization that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them had been the Ghost of the Valley’s lifelong aspiration. He had believed that with Hwa-un Trading Company’s funds and his own experience, it was more than possible.
The plan he had prepared for so long had been ruined by those foolish bald-headed fools.
The Ghost of the Valley stomped the ground with fury. His figure skimmed forward low, sliding as if gliding.
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader burst out in boisterous laughter as he infused his fists with qi.
Just as the two figures crossed paths—
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader thrust out a punch.
The Ghost of the Valley’s form blurred and vanished.
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader was not unfamiliar with fighting assassins. Calmly rotating his stance, he threw another punch.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
The Ghost of the Valley, who had tried to flank him, was startled and leapt back into the air. The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader’s lips curled into a cruel smile.
To fight an external-arts master like himself in midair—this was why assassins were nothing once dragged out of the shadows.
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader stomped the ground with a boom and soared upward. He rose at twice the speed the Ghost of the Valley had leapt.
The distance between them closed in an instant.
With a grin that revealed yellowed teeth, the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader reached out a massive palm. He intended to seize the Ghost of the Valley’s ankle and snap it.
The moment his hand grabbed the ankle—
The Ghost of the Valley’s sleeve suddenly fluttered.
Swiishhh—!
With a sharp and menacing whistle through the air, thin silver needles shot forth. They were slender, but the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader saw them clearly—because they flew straight at his eyes.
Puk—!
A grotesque sound of flesh tearing burst forth.
Both men landed on the ground simultaneously.
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader clutched his left eye, blood gushing down.
The Ghost of the Valley’s ankle was also in bad shape. Though not completely broken, the joint was ruined enough to require recovery.
Both had suffered injuries, though the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader had fared slightly worse.
Yet the one who laughed was still the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader.
“Heh, now there’s no escaping me.”
He was convinced. If an assassin’s movements were hindered, victory was his.
The Ghost of the Valley’s face too showed that he knew his situation was grim.
Just as the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader prepared to leap at him again—
“Vermin.”
A chilling voice cut through the battlefield.
At once, both the false Renegade Monks and the assassins froze in place. Though the voice was not loud, it carried a weight that paralyzed all.
Even the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader and the Ghost of the Valley stopped. They too knew the owner of that voice.
Two men entered the field.
The Lord of Twilight Pavilion shook his head as if weary.
“So you finally caused trouble, you bald bastard. I should’ve killed you earlier. You were always bound to bring disaster.”
Even before the assassins of Azure Wild Valley and the masters of Dark Sun Sect Sect, the Lord of Twilight Pavilion stood proud. That was because the man at his side overwhelmed them all.
An emaciated old man, his cheekbones jutting sharply, swept his gaze across the field with disdain.
“What are you waiting for?”
It was a short question.
At once, the Ghost of the Valley dropped to his knees. His sharp-witted assassins also knelt beside their lord.
“We greet the Vice Alliance Leader!”
The old man was none other than Sa Ryeong-geuk, Vice Alliance Leader of the Heavenly Poison Alliance. His gaze, which had rested on the Ghost of the Valley and his men, slowly shifted to the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader.
Meeting Sa Ryeong-geuk’s eyes, the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader flinched. He was not a man easily cowed, yet within those pupils lurked a chilling gloom beyond words.
“Ah, Vice Alliance Leader… what brings you here?”
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader forced the words out.
At the same time, the Lord of Twilight Pavilion smirked inwardly. That fool’s arrogance, ignorance, and clumsy conduct had finally led him here.
Thud.
A low, eerie sound rang.
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader blinked. The man who had stood ahead was suddenly at his side.
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s straight saber cleaved into his shoulder like it was soft tofu.
By the time he realized it, the blade had already carved through to the bone. Agonizing pain flooded him.
“Ku—kruaaahhh!”
The Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader’s scream resounded through the valley.
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s thin brows furrowed.
“Too noisy.”
In a single stroke, he severed the Dark Sun Sect Sect Leader’s arm. In another calm motion, his saber sliced through the man’s neck.
Splat—!
Blood sprayed forth.
By then, Sa Ryeong-geuk was already ten steps away, watching with indifference. He despised even a drop of blood staining his robes.
The saber was back in its sheath, as though it had never been drawn.
“Move.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s voice was quiet.
The Lord of Twilight Pavilion and the Ghost of the Valley, both quick to adapt, sprang into action. Without a word, they joined forces and began slaughtering the remnants of Dark Sun Sect Sect.
Dark Sun Sect Sect had been abandoned. The Heavenly Poison Alliance had decided not to tolerate their reckless nature.
The arrival of an unchallengeable master.
The death of their leader.
The false Renegade Monks of Dark Sun Sect Sect had no way to reverse the already lost battle.
What followed was a one-sided massacre.
Blood and screams filled the valley.
.
.
.
In less than one incense stick’s time, the Dark Sun Sect Sect disciples were annihilated. The Lord of Twilight Pavilion and the Ghost of the Valley caught their breaths.
Sa Ryeong-geuk looked at them and spoke in a casual tone.
“Twilight Pavilion and Azure Wild Valley are now the two pillars of the Black Path in Deyang. The Hwa-un Trading Company will belong to you.”
It was a one-sided decree. But no one voiced objection. Such had always been the relationship between the Heavenly Poison Alliance and the Black Path of Deyang.
“Ah, before you proceed with the great undertaking…”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s gaze lifted into the void. His sharp eyes, like a serpent’s, seemed to pierce the darkness beyond.