Chapter 377

Chapter 377

The monks’ expressions became serious.

“The Righteous Alliance probably didn’t completely trust King of Hell. They likely wanted to confirm what content of letter was sent to us.”

Mu-gak answered.

“That’s right. Just as King of Hell tested the Righteous Alliance’s intentions by telling them to fight with our temple, the Righteous Alliance acted the same way. While sending people to Sichuan, they also sent Ham-geun to our side to investigate the situation.”

“The Righteous Alliance is a target for purification.”

“I informed Ham-geun of that fact. Therefore, if Ham-geun had returned alive, the Righteous Alliance would inevitably have had no choice but to board the same boat as King of Hell.”

Mu-gak raised his trembling finger.

“Yet for the Poison Sect to kill Ham-geun doesn’t make sense front to back. King of Hell wants to buy time. He’s not someone who would throw away the opportunity to use the Righteous Alliance as a shield.”

In that sense, Leper Mound acting contrary to King of Hell’s decision had great significance.

Hui-neung said.

“Within the Poison Sect…”

Beom-bon picked up Hui-neung’s words.

“An upheaval has occurred.”

The monks looked shocked.

If that was true, then as Mu-gak said, the situation had changed greatly.

Hui-neung asked Mu-gak.

“Do you think the Poison Sect’s Six Cliques are disintegrating?”

“If it weren’t disintegration, how could such a thing happen? Leper Mound has rebelled against King of Hell. If they cause problems with the Righteous Alliance, King of Hell’s position will be that much more constrained.”

“Would rebellion have meaning at this point?”

Then Beom-bon said.

“For example, if they intend to enthrone a new king, that could be the case.”

Hui-neung’s eyes flashed.

Enthronement!

It meant the five cliques of the Poison Sect excluding the Tang family intended to stage a revolt.

A monk from Beom-ja’s group asked.

“Then would the Poison Sect destroy itself without us even needing to eliminate King of Hell? Even if we do nothing?”

Beom-bon showed his thick hand.

“No. I believe that’s all the more reason we must send an envoy.”

Hui-neung said.

“Even if the opposition faction tries to eliminate King of Hell or exclude him from the Poison Sect’s affairs, the situation won’t improve. Whether they offer King of Hell’s head to us is a problem, or whether they unite firmly among themselves is also a problem. Either way will result in our righteous dharma hesitating.”

“Let me say once more, the purpose of righteous dharma should be to find and annihilate the source of evil. If King of Hell is involved in any way, they will reveal themselves.”

“We have already failed many times in cutting grass and removing roots. We cut the grass and dug out the roots, but they hid even deeper and reached this point. The movement to exclude King of Hell might be what they want. But if we again take a complacent attitude and wait for them to appear, what meaning would the Righteous Dharma March have?”

“Then what are your thoughts, Master Uncle? What will you send as a reply?”

Hui-neung answered resolutely.

“As you said, we’ll accept the Tang family’s surrender. And in exchange, we’ll demand King of Hell. However, the result will not be the same as your thinking.”

“It sounds like you won’t mind the movements of the five Poison Sect cliques.”

“That’s right. We go only our way. We won’t consider political situations anymore.”

“Please reconsider.”

“Since we failed once, we accept advice but don’t interfere with methods. Don’t forget that this is the thousand-year agreement between Breaking and Embracing!”

“Namo Amitabha.”

Beom-bon chanted Buddha’s name and stepped back. He had no choice but to accept Hui-neung’s will.

Hui-neung looked at Mu-gak. Mu-gak answered.

“As you wish.”

Soon Hui-neung shouted in a low voice.

“Beom-hae! Step forward.”

A gaunt old monk came out holding a Buddhist staff and bowed his head.

“Master.”

He was Hui-neung’s disciple who had to live without distinguishing himself due to the Embracing Sect’s dominance.

Hui-neung commanded.

“Take the Stone Vajras and go to the Tang family to bring back King of Hell’s head.”

“I understand.”

“And if King of Hell refuses…”

Hui-neung’s eyes blazed intensely.

“Turn the Tang Family Main House into ashes.”

The old monk bowed while holding his Buddhist staff stoically without any expression of fear or difficulty.

“Great compassion and transformation, Bodhisattva breaking and subduing. Namo Amitabha Guanyin Bodhisattva. We shall purify the Tang Family Main House with immeasurable merit.”

* * *

Munch munch…

“Take the Tang family.”

“…”

“I’ll support you.”

Stopping mid-bite of boiled chicken, Jin Ja-gang looked at the middle-aged man before him.

“Did you also come for that matter?”

The middle-aged man, Thousand Face Blade Master Ro-gwan, stared at Jin Ja-gang and answered.

“That’s right. That’s why I came.”

Yuk Ha-seon drank a cup of alcohol and laughed lightly.

“Have you finally changed your mind, Thousand Face Blade Master?”

Ro-gwan replied.

“I’m not talking about something like a successor.”

“Then?”

“Poison Dragon took the Tang family’s daughter as his wife and she conceived the Tang family’s seed. All necessary conditions are met.”

Yuk Ha-seon’s brow furrowed.

“Don’t tell me…”

Ro-gwan answered.

“On the way here, I eliminated Mount Hua Sect’s Ham-geun.”

Yuk Ha-seon’s expression hardened.

“You’ve eliminated the path back. Entering as a successor to take a position is different from aiming for King of Hell’s seat from the start. Why are you being so forceful?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? Our Leper Mound has suffered enough damage to make it difficult to remain in the Poison Sect’s Six Cliques any longer. Soon King of Hell will try to disband Leper Mound, and we’ll eventually be used as mere tools and then discarded.”

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“If you came to survive, didn’t you come to the wrong place?”

“I worried and waited until the end. If you had died at the Demon Exterminating Monk’s hands, I would have given up and returned. But you eventually survived. Not only that, you survived even in a place with Benevolent Hero Bulgi, Beom-mong, and Funeral Parlour’s Yeong Hyeon-sa together. That’s enough.”

Jin Ja-gang had already grown too large to be treated as junior generation based on age alone. Moreover, he had proven himself by surviving countless battles in the martial world.

“It’s true that fighting King of Hell is burdensome. But if we join forces, it’s not impossible.”

But Jin Ja-gang directly denied Ro-gwan’s words.

“That’s not what I meant when I said you came to the wrong place.”

“Then?”

“Piercing Ghost traded his own life and Leper Mound’s safety. Yet you’re hovering around me again.”

Killing intent flickered in the eyes of the old man behind Ro-gwan.

“This arrogant… Leader, I cannot accept this. This person is our enemy. We cannot entrust our people to someone like this.”

Jin Ja-gang looked at the old man.

“Who said anything about entrusting?”

“You…!”

The old man’s voice changed to a slightly shrill sound. His bent back straightened and a dagger appeared in his hand.

Jin Ja-gang’s expression suddenly changed.

“I remember those eyes.”

“What?”

The voice became increasingly sharper.

Jin Ja-gang said.

“We’ve already faced each other many times. Isn’t that right?”

Flinch.

Ro-gwan looked impressed while Yuk Ha-seon watched with great interest.

The old man twisted his lips and sneered at Jin Ja-gang.

“Are you making a guess? That would be something you say knowing we’ve been watching you.”

“Strange. I only learned about Leper Mound after Piercing Ghost. But I remember seeing your eyes from before that.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! How could you have seen me from before…”

“Once when evacuating villagers from Zhuge family warriors in Namga Village.”

At those words, the old man closed his mouth as if almost frozen. Jin Ja-gang continued.

“Once on Medicine Shop Street on the Tea Horse Road. After that… I remember you being among the leper assassins Piercing Ghost employed. And you seemed to be mixed among the crew on the boat to Wuhan.”

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“Isn’t that right?”

The old man’s hands trembled. His hair was standing on end.

Ro-gwan laughed low like a sigh.

“Hehe, truly amazing. Poison Dragon… This is the first time in my life I’ve been so impressed. You remember the entire path you’ve walked?”

But the old man gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the dagger, taking a stance as if about to attack Jin Ja-gang at any moment.

Ro-gwan said without concern.

“Poison Dragon, forgive this one’s rudeness.”

This one?

Ro-gwan said.

“She’s the family member of our person you killed. That should make you understand this one’s attitude.”

“Who is it?”

“The assassin sent to kill Brave Phoenix. He was this one’s older brother.”

Jin Ja-gang remembered too. The assassin who tried to kill Zhuge Yeon had ultimately chewed face-melting poison and committed suicide.

He had wondered why such suicide was necessary, but there was a reason.

“I remember. The Poison Sect was already involved from then. Was making the face melt to hide that she was a leper patient?”

Ro-gwan nodded. Then he commanded the old man.

“Yeong-gwi. Tear off.”

Tearing off meant revealing one’s identity as slang. But for Leper Mound, tearing off in front of someone implied a different meaning.

Startled Yeong-gwi resisted.

“Leader!”

“Yeong-gwi. Do you intend to make Piercing Ghost’s death meaningless?”

Yeong-gwi gritted her teeth then brought her hands to her face.

Rip! The human skin mask tore off and the face inside was revealed.

Surprisingly, the face inside was a young woman. She appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties, looking even younger and more beautiful than expected. But like Leper Mound assassins, Yeong-gwi also had no nose due to leprosy, it having rotted away.

If her nose had been properly attached, she would have boasted tremendous beauty.

Even Yuk Ha-seon was quite surprised by Yeong-gwi’s identity.

“She’d be pretty with just a little care?”

Yeong-gwi clenched her molars hard.

“Don’t… mock me.”

Ro-gwan said to Jin Ja-gang.

“I’ll give you Yeong-gwi. Yeong-gwi will serve you as a subordinate.”

“So that’s what tearing off meant.”

For Leper Mound, revealing one’s face meant acknowledging the other party or serving them as master.

“Telling me to employ as a subordinate someone who wants to avenge family. I’m not inclined. It would be very uncomfortable.”

“Hehe. If you don’t keep her as a subordinate, it will become even more uncomfortable in the future.”

But Jin Ja-gang answered coldly.

“Haven’t you been caught by me several times already? Now that I know your identity today, I won’t let you live next time.”

Yeong-gwi gritted her teeth hard. Sparks flew even more from her eyes.

Ro-gwan nodded and said.

“In case you misunderstand, let me tell you. Yeong-gwi is Leper Mound’s successor who will follow after me and currently the most outstanding expert in Leper Mound.”

Handing over the successor as a subordinate.

That was a radical proposal no different from handing over all of Leper Mound to Jin Ja-gang after Ro-gwan’s death.

But Jin Ja-gang immediately refused this time too.

“I need neither subordinates nor servants. Moreover, I can’t trust the skills.”

“Is that so?”

Ro-gwan said.

“Yeong-gwi has been dispatched six times to monitor you. Of those, she was discovered only three times. Of course, even that is amazing.”

This time Jin Ja-gang’s eyebrow twitched. He had thought he had perfectly detected her, but there were more.

But thinking about it, accepting her as a subordinate in this state was an even more absurd story.

Jin Ja-gang asked incredulously.

“No, then isn’t that even more dangerous?”

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The monks’ expressions became serious.

“The Righteous Alliance probably didn’t completely trust King of Hell. They likely wanted to confirm what content of letter was sent to us.”

Mu-gak answered.

“That’s right. Just as King of Hell tested the Righteous Alliance’s intentions by telling them to fight with our temple, the Righteous Alliance acted the same way. While sending people to Sichuan, they also sent Ham-geun to our side to investigate the situation.”

“The Righteous Alliance is a target for purification.”

“I informed Ham-geun of that fact. Therefore, if Ham-geun had returned alive, the Righteous Alliance would inevitably have had no choice but to board the same boat as King of Hell.”

Mu-gak raised his trembling finger.

“Yet for the Poison Sect to kill Ham-geun doesn’t make sense front to back. King of Hell wants to buy time. He’s not someone who would throw away the opportunity to use the Righteous Alliance as a shield.”

In that sense, Leper Mound acting contrary to King of Hell’s decision had great significance.

Hui-neung said.

“Within the Poison Sect…”

Beom-bon picked up Hui-neung’s words.

“An upheaval has occurred.”

The monks looked shocked.

If that was true, then as Mu-gak said, the situation had changed greatly.

Hui-neung asked Mu-gak.

“Do you think the Poison Sect’s Six Cliques are disintegrating?”

“If it weren’t disintegration, how could such a thing happen? Leper Mound has rebelled against King of Hell. If they cause problems with the Righteous Alliance, King of Hell’s position will be that much more constrained.”

“Would rebellion have meaning at this point?”

Then Beom-bon said.

“For example, if they intend to enthrone a new king, that could be the case.”

Hui-neung’s eyes flashed.

Enthronement!

It meant the five cliques of the Poison Sect excluding the Tang family intended to stage a revolt.

A monk from Beom-ja’s group asked.

“Then would the Poison Sect destroy itself without us even needing to eliminate King of Hell? Even if we do nothing?”

Beom-bon showed his thick hand.

“No. I believe that’s all the more reason we must send an envoy.”

Hui-neung said.

“Even if the opposition faction tries to eliminate King of Hell or exclude him from the Poison Sect’s affairs, the situation won’t improve. Whether they offer King of Hell’s head to us is a problem, or whether they unite firmly among themselves is also a problem. Either way will result in our righteous dharma hesitating.”

“Let me say once more, the purpose of righteous dharma should be to find and annihilate the source of evil. If King of Hell is involved in any way, they will reveal themselves.”

“We have already failed many times in cutting grass and removing roots. We cut the grass and dug out the roots, but they hid even deeper and reached this point. The movement to exclude King of Hell might be what they want. But if we again take a complacent attitude and wait for them to appear, what meaning would the Righteous Dharma March have?”

“Then what are your thoughts, Master Uncle? What will you send as a reply?”

Hui-neung answered resolutely.

“As you said, we’ll accept the Tang family’s surrender. And in exchange, we’ll demand King of Hell. However, the result will not be the same as your thinking.”

“It sounds like you won’t mind the movements of the five Poison Sect cliques.”

“That’s right. We go only our way. We won’t consider political situations anymore.”

“Please reconsider.”

“Since we failed once, we accept advice but don’t interfere with methods. Don’t forget that this is the thousand-year agreement between Breaking and Embracing!”

“Namo Amitabha.”

Beom-bon chanted Buddha’s name and stepped back. He had no choice but to accept Hui-neung’s will.

Hui-neung looked at Mu-gak. Mu-gak answered.

“As you wish.”

Soon Hui-neung shouted in a low voice.

“Beom-hae! Step forward.”

A gaunt old monk came out holding a Buddhist staff and bowed his head.

“Master.”

He was Hui-neung’s disciple who had to live without distinguishing himself due to the Embracing Sect’s dominance.

Hui-neung commanded.

“Take the Stone Vajras and go to the Tang family to bring back King of Hell’s head.”

“I understand.”

“And if King of Hell refuses…”

Hui-neung’s eyes blazed intensely.

“Turn the Tang Family Main House into ashes.”

The old monk bowed while holding his Buddhist staff stoically without any expression of fear or difficulty.

“Great compassion and transformation, Bodhisattva breaking and subduing. Namo Amitabha Guanyin Bodhisattva. We shall purify the Tang Family Main House with immeasurable merit.”

* * *

Munch munch…

“Take the Tang family.”

“…”

“I’ll support you.”

Stopping mid-bite of boiled chicken, Jin Ja-gang looked at the middle-aged man before him.

“Did you also come for that matter?”

The middle-aged man, Thousand Face Blade Master Ro-gwan, stared at Jin Ja-gang and answered.

“That’s right. That’s why I came.”

Yuk Ha-seon drank a cup of alcohol and laughed lightly.

“Have you finally changed your mind, Thousand Face Blade Master?”

Ro-gwan replied.

“I’m not talking about something like a successor.”

“Then?”

“Poison Dragon took the Tang family’s daughter as his wife and she conceived the Tang family’s seed. All necessary conditions are met.”

Yuk Ha-seon’s brow furrowed.

“Don’t tell me…”

Ro-gwan answered.

“On the way here, I eliminated Mount Hua Sect’s Ham-geun.”

Yuk Ha-seon’s expression hardened.

“You’ve eliminated the path back. Entering as a successor to take a position is different from aiming for King of Hell’s seat from the start. Why are you being so forceful?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? Our Leper Mound has suffered enough damage to make it difficult to remain in the Poison Sect’s Six Cliques any longer. Soon King of Hell will try to disband Leper Mound, and we’ll eventually be used as mere tools and then discarded.”

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“If you came to survive, didn’t you come to the wrong place?”

“I worried and waited until the end. If you had died at the Demon Exterminating Monk’s hands, I would have given up and returned. But you eventually survived. Not only that, you survived even in a place with Benevolent Hero Bulgi, Beom-mong, and Funeral Parlour’s Yeong Hyeon-sa together. That’s enough.”

Jin Ja-gang had already grown too large to be treated as junior generation based on age alone. Moreover, he had proven himself by surviving countless battles in the martial world.

“It’s true that fighting King of Hell is burdensome. But if we join forces, it’s not impossible.”

But Jin Ja-gang directly denied Ro-gwan’s words.

“That’s not what I meant when I said you came to the wrong place.”

“Then?”

“Piercing Ghost traded his own life and Leper Mound’s safety. Yet you’re hovering around me again.”

Killing intent flickered in the eyes of the old man behind Ro-gwan.

“This arrogant… Leader, I cannot accept this. This person is our enemy. We cannot entrust our people to someone like this.”

Jin Ja-gang looked at the old man.

“Who said anything about entrusting?”

“You…!”

The old man’s voice changed to a slightly shrill sound. His bent back straightened and a dagger appeared in his hand.

Jin Ja-gang’s expression suddenly changed.

“I remember those eyes.”

“What?”

The voice became increasingly sharper.

Jin Ja-gang said.

“We’ve already faced each other many times. Isn’t that right?”

Flinch.

Ro-gwan looked impressed while Yuk Ha-seon watched with great interest.

The old man twisted his lips and sneered at Jin Ja-gang.

“Are you making a guess? That would be something you say knowing we’ve been watching you.”

“Strange. I only learned about Leper Mound after Piercing Ghost. But I remember seeing your eyes from before that.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! How could you have seen me from before…”

“Once when evacuating villagers from Zhuge family warriors in Namga Village.”

At those words, the old man closed his mouth as if almost frozen. Jin Ja-gang continued.

“Once on Medicine Shop Street on the Tea Horse Road. After that… I remember you being among the leper assassins Piercing Ghost employed. And you seemed to be mixed among the crew on the boat to Wuhan.”

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“Isn’t that right?”

The old man’s hands trembled. His hair was standing on end.

Ro-gwan laughed low like a sigh.

“Hehe, truly amazing. Poison Dragon… This is the first time in my life I’ve been so impressed. You remember the entire path you’ve walked?”

But the old man gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the dagger, taking a stance as if about to attack Jin Ja-gang at any moment.

Ro-gwan said without concern.

“Poison Dragon, forgive this one’s rudeness.”

This one?

Ro-gwan said.

“She’s the family member of our person you killed. That should make you understand this one’s attitude.”

“Who is it?”

“The assassin sent to kill Brave Phoenix. He was this one’s older brother.”

Jin Ja-gang remembered too. The assassin who tried to kill Zhuge Yeon had ultimately chewed face-melting poison and committed suicide.

He had wondered why such suicide was necessary, but there was a reason.

“I remember. The Poison Sect was already involved from then. Was making the face melt to hide that she was a leper patient?”

Ro-gwan nodded. Then he commanded the old man.

“Yeong-gwi. Tear off.”

Tearing off meant revealing one’s identity as slang. But for Leper Mound, tearing off in front of someone implied a different meaning.

Startled Yeong-gwi resisted.

“Leader!”

“Yeong-gwi. Do you intend to make Piercing Ghost’s death meaningless?”

Yeong-gwi gritted her teeth then brought her hands to her face.

Rip! The human skin mask tore off and the face inside was revealed.

Surprisingly, the face inside was a young woman. She appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties, looking even younger and more beautiful than expected. But like Leper Mound assassins, Yeong-gwi also had no nose due to leprosy, it having rotted away.

If her nose had been properly attached, she would have boasted tremendous beauty.

Even Yuk Ha-seon was quite surprised by Yeong-gwi’s identity.

“She’d be pretty with just a little care?”

Yeong-gwi clenched her molars hard.

“Don’t… mock me.”

Ro-gwan said to Jin Ja-gang.

“I’ll give you Yeong-gwi. Yeong-gwi will serve you as a subordinate.”

“So that’s what tearing off meant.”

For Leper Mound, revealing one’s face meant acknowledging the other party or serving them as master.

“Telling me to employ as a subordinate someone who wants to avenge family. I’m not inclined. It would be very uncomfortable.”

“Hehe. If you don’t keep her as a subordinate, it will become even more uncomfortable in the future.”

But Jin Ja-gang answered coldly.

“Haven’t you been caught by me several times already? Now that I know your identity today, I won’t let you live next time.”

Yeong-gwi gritted her teeth hard. Sparks flew even more from her eyes.

Ro-gwan nodded and said.

“In case you misunderstand, let me tell you. Yeong-gwi is Leper Mound’s successor who will follow after me and currently the most outstanding expert in Leper Mound.”

Handing over the successor as a subordinate.

That was a radical proposal no different from handing over all of Leper Mound to Jin Ja-gang after Ro-gwan’s death.

But Jin Ja-gang immediately refused this time too.

“I need neither subordinates nor servants. Moreover, I can’t trust the skills.”

“Is that so?”

Ro-gwan said.

“Yeong-gwi has been dispatched six times to monitor you. Of those, she was discovered only three times. Of course, even that is amazing.”

This time Jin Ja-gang’s eyebrow twitched. He had thought he had perfectly detected her, but there were more.

But thinking about it, accepting her as a subordinate in this state was an even more absurd story.

Jin Ja-gang asked incredulously.

“No, then isn’t that even more dangerous?”

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