Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 227

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 227

As a descendant of the renowned scholarly Zhuge Family, poetry and literature are natural, and the blood inherited from his maternal family cannot be ignored either.

His maternal grandfather was a well-known musician in Dangang District.

Mother is a master of the seven-stringed zither.

Naturally, there should be music.

But since there are no instruments, he’ll have to perform with something else.

Crash!

An instrument that flies away and smashes into a table.

Thud, thwack!

An instrument that writhes its entire body under pounding fists, creating diverse melodies.

“Gack!”

“Urgh!”

They even sing well in the midst of it all.

Sometimes sharp, sometimes desperate… how well they capture and cry out their anguish.

The chief leader and his advisor, the vice-leader, along with many bandits.

Each had different positions and their skills varied greatly, but from Zhuge Munhyeon’s perspective, they were all at the same level.

When distinguishing skills among inadequate fools, there’s no real difference to a vastly superior master.

They even knew how to use sword techniques, for what it was worth.

Crack!

But they collapsed with a single punch.

In the end, only Zhuge Munhyeon remained standing.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“Urgh…”

Han Bulhae, the leader of the Palgong Bandits whose throat was being trampled, let out a very satisfied groan.

“Want to try more? You all seem to be living earnestly, so I didn’t take your lives… but if you want, feel free to attack again right now.”

“Uh-uh-no. (No, sir.)”

He expressed his intention awkwardly, mixing in gurgling sounds.

What a pathetic fool.

There are people who pronounced things clearly even before their teeth came in.

Tsk tsk, just because his throat got stepped on a little.

Right, what’s the point of bullying weak kids?

If he had been born into the orthodox faction with a nature that pursued only righteousness, he would have cut off all their heads, stuffed them in sacks, and taken them to the authorities for bounty money…!

But half of him follows the demonic path.

They’re doing banditry to make a living, so let’s be understanding.

Besides, he came alone.

There’s no one to argue with him about why he’s forgiving the bandits.

As Zhuge Munhyeon quietly stepped away and sat in a nearby intact chair, Han Bulhae exhaled the breath that had been blocked and got up.

“Cough, cough!”

“You’re loud. Don’t show off how weak you are.”

“…Yes.”

Indeed, when someone commits a wrong, the fastest way to guide them is still through beating.

After getting thoroughly beaten, they might curse inwardly, but outwardly both people and beasts become respectful.

“Let’s clean this up. It’s messy.”

“Yes, great hero!”

Han Bulhae immediately shouted at his subordinates as soon as the words fell.

“You fools! What are you doing? A distinguished guest has personally come to our mountain inn to bestow teachings, so quickly clean up this place!”

“…Ugh, yes.”

The subordinates got up staggering, cleared away the broken tables and chairs, and brought a new table to place in front of Zhuge Munhyeon.

Han Bulhae clasped his hands politely together, slightly bowed his waist, and wore a fawning expression.

“Alcohol, meat.”

“You mean this?”

As expected of the unorthodox faction.

He’s quick-witted.

As soon as he realized the opponent was far superior to him and that even if the entire mountain inn attacked together they couldn’t win, he showed a perfect change in attitude.

“I don’t know who your former leader was, but you learned very well.”

“Thank you!”

“But why Palgong Bandits? Isn’t that in Anhui?”

“Ah, that is…”

Han Bulhae earnestly explained the history of the Palgong Bandits.

Why they came to settle here at Jeongyang Mountain, what happened in between.

How they planned to develop the mountain inn in the future, and so on.

“Hmm, I see. So you were driven out by the Namgung Family.”

“You could say that.”

Zhuge Munhyeon nodded and recalled his encounter with Gwak Chu.

Gwak Chu of Gaebangdo.

Someone who had helped Namgung in bandit subjugation in the past, only to be discarded after serving his purpose, harboring deep resentment.

During the battle with the Namgung Family, he played a key role and achieved remarkable military accomplishments, and now became a high-ranking officer managing and supervising branch offices in various regions.

‘I keep running into all sorts of connections.’

Who would have thought that the mountain inn guys eating meat in the mountains would be the ones who were subjugated back then.

“But may I ask which family our honored guest belongs to and who you are?”

“Why? Planning revenge later?”

“Oh my, that’s completely unthinkable. I just wanted to promise that if you could tell us your esteemed name, we would never set foot toward that family…”

“You really learned well. I feel like praising whoever your former leader was.”

“Thank you.”

Han Bulhae, having received praise, bowed his head.

The power of education.

“I am called Munhyeon of the Zhuge family.”

“Ah, from the Zhuge Family? No wonder… seeing you wear scholarly robes, I thought that might be the case.”

“Earlier you called me a crazy scholar bastard?”

“As expected, befitting the Zhuge Family’s excellent memory. I am once again amazed by the Zhuge Family’s prestigious reputation.”

“Pfft!”

He’s quite good at changing his words.

Indeed, people need to experience various things in difficult environments.

Perhaps because he started as a bottom-level bandit, his adaptability is remarkably fast.

“Oh right, I heard earlier that you’re going to Daebyeolsan? Sounds like you got wind of something good?”

“Th-that is…”

“Don’t go.”

“Pardon?”

“Zhuge is different from Namgung.”

“…”

“Smart and strong too.”

He corrected the story he’d heard from the two bandits while eating meat.

It bothered him.

The fact that even the youngest bandits who just grilled meat were looking down on the Zhuge Family.

“If you go to Daebyeolsan, you’ll probably all end your bandit careers.”

“Th-that’s… our situation is difficult.”

“Why is the situation difficult?”

“We’ve already made enemies with the Namgung Family…”

“What? With the Namgung Family?”

“If we don’t go to Daebyeolsan now, there’s no one who will take us in…”

Han Bulhae wore an extremely troubled expression.

This was utterly absurd.

What were these mountain bandits, who had been crushed by just one person, trusting in?

From what he could see, even ten martial artists from the Azure Sky Sword Unit would be enough to completely annihilate them.

‘Hmm, these guys must have had some scheme brewing?’

Come to think of it, this was strange.

He had heard that even the Zhuge Family’s Hyeonho Unit was quite concerned about escort duties due to the merchant group’s travel routes.

Daebyeolsan.

One of the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds.

They weren’t the type to accept a bandit group that had been driven from Palgong Mountain and was barely surviving.

There was a matter of face involved.

Originally, bandits might seem like one group, but each stronghold was separate and didn’t help each other.

They were only brothers when times were good.

The only time they united was when the Green Forest King brought out the golden gourd used for sworn brotherhood ceremonies and shouted ‘Everyone gather!’

The golden gourd was a sacred relic of the Green Forest.

Should I say it symbolized sharing drinks from a gourd when forming sworn brotherhoods?

That’s why the former Green Forest King was sometimes called the Chief Gourd Master.

Literally, the bastard leader who commanded the gourds.

It wasn’t entirely accurate.

It was just something he’d heard passed down among the bandits.

In any case, for the Palgong group to seek refuge with the Daebyeolsan group, they would need to offer something worthwhile.

“Tell me. What are you planning to offer to Daebyeolsan?”

“Th-that is…”

“Was the beating not enough? Want to have more fun this time?”

When he smiled and lightly clenched his fist, Han Bulhae jumped in alarm and hastily answered.

“Five hundred taels.”

“What?”

“In gold.”

“…”

The surroundings fell quiet.

Zhuge Munhyeon stared at Han Bulhae with narrowed eyes.

Was he insane?

Zhuge Munhyeon glanced at the mountain stronghold and could only furrow his brow further.

They looked desperately poor.

Their weapons looked like they hadn’t been repaired in quite some time, with some even showing rust.

Yet by what means could they offer five hundred taels of gold – enough to build an entire small village?

…Don’t tell me?

“You guys didn’t… demand five hundred taels from the Namgung Family, did you?”

“Something like that.”

“…No way, did you pick up some precious item the Namgung Family dropped?”

He had to ask this.

It was hard to imagine these guys had stolen something from the Namgung Family.

“To be precise, we didn’t demand it from the Namgung Family, but kidnapped the son of a certain family living in Hapbi County…”

“What?”

“That household is close friends with the Castle Lord…”

“…”

His head went blank.

This guy wasn’t just seemingly crazy – he was genuinely insane.

Wasn’t he saying they had kidnapped a descendant of a family close to the Anhui Province Castle Lord?

“Listen here, Chief.”

“Yes.”

“It seems like your problem isn’t the Namgung Family right now?”

“Pardon?”

“Aren’t you afraid of subjugation forces at all?”

“Of course I’m afraid, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Then why kidnap a young master from a family close to the Castle Lord?”

“Well, there’s a reason for that.”

“What kind of damn reason?”

“Because this is Hanam Province.”

“What?”

“The Hanam Province Castle Lord and Anhui Province Castle Lord are in political opposition…”

“Ah…”

He understood immediately.

While he didn’t need to know the complex affairs of government offices, if the two Castle Lords didn’t get along, they couldn’t easily send subjugation forces.

Managing each province’s security was the Castle Lord’s responsibility.

The Hanam Province Castle Lord could simply refuse entry to the subjugation forces.

Meanwhile, these guys were planning to become part of the Daebyeolsan bandit group in Hanam Province instead of returning to Anhui.

“You’re actually smarter than I thought, aren’t you?”

“Thank you.”

“So Anhui Province can’t act… and the Namgung Family stepped in at the Castle Lord’s request, is that it?”

“That’s right. And we figured that would be enough to collect five hundred taels and escape to Daebyeolsan. Haha!”

“…”

Watching Palgong Mountain Chief Han Bulhae scratch his head with an awkward laugh made him sigh involuntarily.

The man was out of his mind.

Having been beaten once already, he apparently didn’t understand the terror of the Namgung Family.

Geographical distinctions were meaningless to them.

What did it matter that the Daebyeolsan group was one of the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds?

But what could he do?

In this complex world, one had to live simply.

Only after dying with limbs severed by Namgung blades would he understand that terror…

“Huh?”

Suddenly, an exquisite idea flashed through his mind.

“What’s wrong?”

“What family does the kidnapped person belong to?”

“I heard he’s the son of former Hanlin Scholar Yi Yongbaek. He’s living in retirement in his hometown of Hefei.”

“A Hanlin Scholar’s son?”

“Yes. I heard he’s the son of the literary teacher who instructs the Castle Lord’s young master.”

“What?”

His eyes lit up.

So what they kidnapped was the son of a former Hanlin Scholar who teaches literature to the Castle Lord’s son?

And for political reasons, the Castle Lord couldn’t act, so he asked the Namgung Family for help.

‘Well, look at that? Am I lucky today? I didn’t even have any special dreams.’

A smile formed on his lips.

As the saying goes, government and martial arts don’t interfere with each other.

But that’s only nominally – martial families couldn’t ignore the government.

Because they lived on that land.

Therefore, martial families had to continuously maintain close relationships with government offices.

In other words, they mutually didn’t interfere but had an inseparable relationship?

That way, when power struggles occurred, they would turn a blind eye, and when problems arose, they would step back considering each other’s face.

But the Castle Lord made a request.

The Literature Teacher’s son has been kidnapped, so please find him.

What this means is that the Namgung Family must absolutely accomplish this task.

The moment they fail, their relationship with the Castle Lord will be ruined.

At least until the next Castle Lord takes office, they’ll have to operate the family like walking on a thorny path.

It won’t be easy.

Since Castle Lords are feudal lords, they don’t change as frequently as ordinary officials.

If things go wrong, the current Family Head of the Namgung Family might have to endure government interference in every matter until he dies.

In this situation, if I solve the problem for them?

“Hehehe, they say man proposes but Heaven disposes… Heaven is helping me this much?”

“Pardon?”

They gave alcohol, gave meat, and now they’re even providing help at such a perfect moment – truly generous bandits who give without reserve.

“Hey, Chief.”

“Yes.”

“Give me that guy you kidnapped.”

At the sight of Zhuge Munhyeon suddenly wearing a sinister smile, Han Bulhae flinched and shrank his neck.

Without realizing it, he clenched his fists tight.

Even if he refused to give him up, Munhyeon was planning to take him by force.

As they say, lucky people have soft blankets and pillows even when they fall backward.

That’s the kind of person I am.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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