‘He heard that?’
Ja Muk-hyun wasn’t the type who got shaken by anything, but this was giving him quite the shock. Although he hadn’t directly moved, he had constantly been monitoring the movement of Mumu and the others through other people.
‘Nonsense’
Only those who have reached a high level of awakening or profound internal energy could develop such extreme sensitivity in their five senses.
Ja Muk-hyun could listen to sound from a small distance away with enough concentration, but this was a different level.
The space between them was over a hundred meters. Moreover, this wasn’t an open space but inside a building.
‘… was he such a person?’
Mo Il-hwa too looked bewildered.
‘Of course, he wouldn’t be able to believe this.’
At first, Jin-hyuk and her had also said that it was impossible for Mumu. Mumu then turned the dial on both his wrists, which turned his skin black and allowed him to hear the conversation between Ha-ryun and Ja Muk-hyun.
They had been skeptical about the truth of this, but the results were surprisingly true.
‘Is he for real?’
These were questions often asked of Mumu.
Mumu’s physical abilities had easily surpassed human limits. It wasn’t just his strength but his senses too.
Ja Muk-hyun, unable to hide his surprise, managed to regain his composure and opened his mouth.
“We were so close, but we didn’t realize it.”
Mumu and Jin-hyuk couldn’t believe it. They were floor leaders of the same dorm, but they didn’t know about this.
Ja Muk-hyun had been in the middle of threatening Ha-ryun. Ha-ryun saw this as a chance and said.
“L-Lord, this man is…”
Kuk!
“Huk.”
“One more word, and you die.”
As the sword was pushed closer to his neck, he couldn’t speak anymore. Mo Il-hwa sent a glance at Mumu at this sight. What they were seeing was quite different from what they expected.
[Hae-ryang, who followed Ha-ryun, ended up like that because they had aimed for him. It must be because he realized you weren’t the real lord they were talking about.]
[Then there’s no need to act anymore?]
[Right. After all, Ha-ryun or that guy must have recognized that you aren’t the real deal.]
[It is good that I don’t have to act anymore. Huh.]
[Even so, we never know, let’s look at the situation and judge.]
[Situation?]
[Well, what we want to know the most is what this jade plaque is and how it relates to your parents.]
[Yes.]
[So. It would be better to take it slow.]
[Okay.]
That was what was said, but this atmosphere was stranger than they thought.
She couldn’t understand why Ja Muk-hyun was trying to kill Ha-ryun. But she could guess one thing.
‘Even if they are on the same side, they don’t trust each other.’
But it was difficult to judge the situation from this one thing alone. Mo Il-hwa opened her mouth and decided to lay the groundwork for Mumu.
“Isn’t it disrespectful to the person who will be the lord to threaten Ha-ryun, who was sent by his orders?”
‘Acting again?’
Jin-hyuk bit his tongue at this impromptu acting, but Mo Il-hwa was the best at this kind of trickery.
The whole setting was set over Hae-ryang’s life and death as well as expressing that they still had trust in Ha-ryun.
By talking like this, Ha-ryun will be on their side.
‘Will this work?’
Jin-hyuk looked at Ja Muk-hyun. Unlike before, he was expressionless. He had always been reading books with his face seemingly lost in deep thoughts. Then Ja Muk-hyun opened his mouth.
“That is what I am saying. If he is the owner of the jade plaque, he should give attention to the grand scheme of things. Why bother with other stuff?”
Mo Il-hwa shook her head at those words, and the conversation continued. The man seemed upset that Mumu’s actions had ruined their plans.
‘What do I answer with?’
She was a bit shocked.
Mumu did end up ruining most of their plans. It was difficult to find an excuse. Mo Il-hwa looked at Mumu, asking him to not speak out.
It worked well the last time, but now two enemies were here, so she had to be careful while weaving the lies.
So she had requested something from him in advance.
‘This is the sign.’
Seeing her lips being licked meant that there was something that needed to be said. However, this time around, Mumu was keeping himself calm.
Ja Muk-hyun pushed the sword further to Ha-ryun’s neck and said,
“If you don’t answer, your faithful servant dies here.”
“Tch!”
Mo Il-hwa bit her lip, making Jin-hyuk step forward.
“Do you think that taking Ha-ryun’s life will save senior’s own?”
At those words, Ja Muk-hyun’s eyes narrowed.
‘Good job!’
Mo Il-hwa thought that it was better to come out strong.
“Right, if you don’t let Ha-ryun go, you will have to get ready to fight.”
Mo Il-hwa added and Ja Muk-hyun snorted.
Then,
“I am ready to die at any point if I have to. But I don’t know if you people are prepared for it.”
“What?”
“Daughter of Mo Yun, Mo Il-hwa, the son of the former Hakjeong, Yu Yeop-kyung… you are people who have so much to lose, so many weaknesses.”
‘!?’
At his words, Jin-hyuk and Mo Il-hwa’s expressions turned stiff, because they knew what Ja Muk-hyun meant.
This was a threat to them. And Ja Muk-hyun continued.
“If I die, the people who sent me will kill your fathers and mothers and your other siblings too.”
“You!”
Mo Il-hwa couldn’t hold back her anger, pointed to Ja Muk-hyun and shouted. Jin-hyuk couldn’t help but be a bit shocked as well at what was said.
-Clench!
“How can you act like this!”
“Act like this? What do you mean? Attacking the enemy’s weakness is the most basic strategy to win the war.”
Clench!
Mumu clenched his hand.
While acting as Mo Il-hwa asked, he decided to hold back his words. But he couldn’t bear having his family threatened like this.
Ja Muk-hyun then said to Mumu.
“I recommend that you not move. I warn you in advance that even if you have the jade plaque, I do not consider you to be my lord.”
“… so annoying.”
Jin-hyuk was shocked at Mumu’s expression, which had lost his usual smile.
He had seen that face on Mumu just once till now. At the time, Jin-hyuk had been in trouble due to the powder Ha-ryun threw.
“Calm down!”
Jin-hyuk tried to hurriedly calm him down.
If he lost his calm in a situation where hostages were involved, things would go wrong. Feeling Mumu’s anger, Ja Muk-hyun smiled.
“Looks like it works.”
“Right now… if you don’t stop, I will break senior’s waist.”
“You sure are overconfident in your skills.”
“I am.”
Mumu wanted to break Ja Muk-hyun’s waist right away. But Ja Muk-hyun controlled the situation.
“It seems you’re still not judging the situation correctly, despite your subordinates being here. What will you do?”
“Uh?”
“You are of the same blood, the person who will become the lord, and you have a similar look. Soon, the descendant of the Ghost Blood Sect of the Eight Evil families will win over the daughter of the Tang family.”
“So-so?”
“Right. Tang So-so. You seem pretty close with that girl.”
“…”
Mumu’s expression turned cold at those words. This man had threatened not only his father but also Mo Il-hwa’s father, and now even Tang So-so, to whom he was close.
Mumu’s muscles expanded with anger.
“Mumu!”
Mo Il-hwa shouted to Mumu, who was not able to keep his calm. If he gets overly excited now, they could lose precious information.
‘Shit!’
Mo Il-hwa shook her head. Things were going bad.
It didn’t matter if Ha-ryun was killed. What mattered was that their families would get targeted.
‘Think! We have to find a way to dig some information out.’
There had to be something they could get from the guy’s words. Then she remembered one thing.
‘Same blood?’
If he was talking about another lord, it must be Kang Mui. And now he was saying he and Mumu were the same?
Then does that mean that Mumu was the brother of Kang Mui?
‘Why does everything sound so extreme?’
She didn’t understand it.
Mumu was the brother of Kang Mui and the owner of the jade plaque. Shouldn’t they be polite to each other?
‘Tch.’
First, she had to do something, so Mo Il-hwa said.
“Yah. Calm down a bit. The person who will become your lord is here. He will receive service from you and the sects in the future. Aren’t you crossing the line?”
“Line? Are you saying this now?”
“Y-yes!”
At Mo Il-hwa’s words, Ja Muk-hyun shouted.
“Aren’t you the ones who crossed the line first? No matter how much he wants to covet the position of the lord, he threw a plan with seventeen years of preparation into the trash! Who crossed the line then?”
‘…Seventeen years?’
At Ja Muk-hyun’s words, Mo Il-hwa and Jin-hyuk’s expressions stiffened. They were hoping that those words weren’t right.
However, things were becoming clearer at the mention of seventeen years of planning.
‘Forces of Evil!’
Seventeen years was how long it had been since the Dominating Hegemony of the Forces of Evil had been defeated.
To admit to a similar timeline for their whole plan meant that they were disclosing their identity.
Then,
‘… Mumu must be from there.’
It was clear that Mumu had been born into a family within the Forces of Evil. But that wasn’t a problem for them.
Ja Muk-hyun was angry that the person he was serving was in danger.
The reason why he was able to come out like this was that he knew that Mumu wasn’t normal.
‘He needs to be calmed.’
Right now, to trick the guy, they had to be calm. Mo Il-hwa, who was worried, said,
“So what will you do? Are you saying you will prepare for this great change yourself… and then fight us too?”
Ja Muk-hyun snorted at those words and spoke while looking at Mumu.
“Well, I will give you a chance. If you don’t want to lose your precious ones, you must do one thing.”
“… what are you saying?”
To Mumu’s question, Ja Muk-hyun said,
“Go to the headmaster and tell them that he, no, Kang Mui isn’t the culprit, but you and Hong Hye-ryung killed that guy together.”
“What!”
This time Jin-hyuk was angry at these ridiculous words, which made Ja Muk-hyun laugh and say.
“There is no way to undo all of this. No one will recognize this person as the lord as long as you have disturbed the plan!”
“So, you will do this?”
“No, I am giving you a chance to make a noble sacrifice for the greater times which will come.”
“Ha!”
Mo Il-hwa hated this.
In the end, they were asking Mumu to make the sacrifice and give up his position as lord.
And if he didn’t do this, his family and friends would be killed, so this was a dilemma.
‘Shit!’
Jin-hyuk had the same feelings as her. At this moment, they both shared the same emotions.
Mumu unconsciously tried to bring his left hand to the band on his right hand.
“Stop!”
Ja Muk-hyun shouted as he shook his head.
“If you touch those items on your hands, I will kill this guy regardless of the offer you are given.”
Ja Muk-hyun warned him and made Mumu pause, seeing that Ja Muk-hyun laughed bitterly. It seemed that Master Sa Muheo was right.
This item had been used to disrupt their plans.
[If that doesn’t work, then neutralize it. If we take them away or make them unusable, he won’t be able to use the power like before.]
And the time has come now.
He could take Mumu down without effort if those items were taken off. Ja Muk-hyun pointed to Mo Il-hwa and then to Mumu.
“Mo Il-hwa. Take the items off of your lord’s wrist.”
“What?”
“Did you not hear me? Remove them! Right now!”
‘!?’
Mo Il-hwa was a bit confused by this.
Was he doing this for real?