I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 84
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 84
Seonwu sneaked into Hangwol County just as he had declared.
He had considered disguising himself as a young master out for leisure by faking his identity, or perhaps seeking out an inn disguised as a peddler, but he even gave up on that.
Boldly, with Lee Jun’s help, they set up a stealth formation and literally braced themselves to sleep unsheltered, ensuring no one even knew they had entered the county.
The Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword spoke in admiration.
[Hey, you really are something else. After living pampered in the Imperial Palace, isn’t this hard for you?]
[Of course it’s a hardship.]
It wasn’t that the cold or heat mattered since he had learned martial arts, but putting that aside, the fundamental discomfort was unavoidable.
[But despite enduring this, we punish evil. Isn’t that what a chivalrous xia does?]
[Oh wow, if the play has reached this point, you’re dead serious. I completely acknowledge it.]
Even if a single demonic practitioner appeared here, it was a matter for the local magistrate and the Wulin to handle on their own, so how could this be something a king would do?
Whether they were caught or not, it wasn’t a level of matter for a king to worry about.
[Uh-huh, a play? I’m serious.]
[Right, you couldn’t do this if you weren’t serious. But couldn’t you at least use the secret branch office of the Feilong Sect?]
[Since we’re inspecting in secret anyway, it’s better if even one more person doesn’t know.]
[Thorough, truly thorough.]
While Seonwu was asking for trouble and suffering like that, a change occurred.
“Oh, look over there, the Huangbo Clan?”
Flouting the proud flag of Huangbo, about twenty martial artists entered Hangwol County.
“Besides, uh… with that kind of aura…. They’re in the Transcendence Realm? Hey, who exactly was in the Transcendence Realm in the Huangbo Clan? Who’s the leader of that group?”
Since Lee Jun and Dan Suyeong had lower martial arts than Seonwu, they hadn’t spotted the Huangbo Clan group yet and couldn’t answer.
However, after a little time passed, Lee Jun recognized them and replied.
“The family head and the Great Elder are the Transcendence Realm masters of the Huangbo Clan, but looking at that, it’s the family head.”
“The family head came personally? What’s going on? The Wolyeop Sect, who is the local ruler here, won’t like this.”
“Just as you said, there’s no way they’d like it…. The justification is probably the consecutive disappearances. Shall we watch for now?”
Coincidentally, not far from where the three were hiding, someone from the Wolyeop Sect side also came out to greet the Huangbo Clan.
“For what reason has the Huangbo Family Head taken the trouble to step into a place like this?”
“Oh, it has been a long time. Chief Cheon, it is because I heard that as many as five marriageable women have already disappeared from here.”
“That may be true, but….”
Since that itself was an undeniable fact, Chief Cheon of the Wolyeop Sect smacked his lips.
“Such a thing happened in the front yard of our Huangbo Clan, so how could we, who claim to be of the Orthodox Factions, just sit back and watch? If a demonic practitioner has appeared, we came because it is a matter that must rightly be rooted out and subjugated.”
“This is the territory of our Wolyeop Sect, and we can handle it on our own.”
“But aren’t there already seven victims?”
While Seonwu was coming after hearing the report, two more had increased.
“That is because the enemy is stealthy….”
“I heard you haven’t even caught a tail yet?”
“…….”
Seonwu’s group closely observed the two having the conversation.
The Huangbo Clan Family Head was truly a human who reminiscent of a solid rock.
Fitting for a family famous for the mountain-shattering Pasanquan, his entire body was incredibly muscular and his shoulders were extremely broad.
It wasn’t just his upper body; his lower body was also incredibly solidly developed, so his thighs were thick too.
‘Oh wow, look at those muscles.’
He was truly like a bear.
If hit by that fist, it seemed like an ordinary human’s bones and flesh would be separated.
‘Of course, in truth, how much inner energy one possesses is more important than the physical build seen on the outside.’
Even so, there was a threat felt from the physical build seen on the outside.
Besides, the aura he exuded was also more than enough to be called the Transcendence Realm.
Compared to him, the Munju of the Wolyeop Sect was exactly at the peak level.
A Jeoljeong Gosu is also called a master, but everything is relative.
In front of a Transcendental Expert, he could only be pushed back.
“Therefore, we have come here to find and execute the demonic practitioner. This is to care for the common people, so it can be called the duty of the Orthodox Factions.”
“…Then will you return once the matter is resolved?”
Are you not going to settle down like this, push us out, and take over this land?
“What we, a prestigious orthodox family, desire is simply to execute the demonic practitioner and protect the common people. How could we covet another’s territory? Those words right now are unpleasant.”
With that, the Huangbo Family Head unleashed a powerful internal power.
The energy that came out like that became a tremendous weight and pressed down on the Wolyeop Munju.
The Wolyeop Munju tried to endure, but his legs faltered.
With his face distorting, the Munju barely spat out a word.
“I will believe those words.”
After that, the Wolyeop Sect left the place as if fleeing.
“Since we have also received the consent of the Wolyeop Sect, we will investigate the crime from now on!”
“Yes.”
Noisily, the Huangbo Clan martial artists began to move.
Watching that, Seonwu felt a sense of incompatibility.
“The justification is like that, but in reality, shouldn’t we view it as they have an immense greed to expand their influence to this side?”
Lee Jun gave an explanation that backed it up.
“If they take only this place from the current Huangbo Clan sphere of influence, the shape becomes very pretty.”
“As expected….”
“Whether they install various formations or seize the circulating logistics. Overall, from the Huangbo Clan’s perspective, Hangwol County, which the Wolyeop Sect occupied, is wings to a tiger, and a Cintamani to a dragon.”
Seonwu nodded his head.
“They’d want to take it over whether they kick them out or push them out.”
In the world, there are some things that produce an effect greater than simple addition when gathered.
‘Originally, when one of the collected items in a bundle is missing, it’s natural to want to get the rest.’
Because depending on whether that one piece exists or not, the picture becomes completely different.
“But the Wolyeop Sect is also somewhat orthodox, and the Huangbo Clan is also orthodox. It’s difficult to flock over, beat them up, and take it over just because you covet their land without a justification.”
There was treatment received because they were orthodox, but there were also restrictions received because they were orthodox.
“People who say they have no interest in money often turn out to be crazy about money.”
Lee Jun also agreed with the words originating from Seonwu’s experience.
Particularly, they aren’t even the Nine Great Sects that pursue enlightenment, yet a noble family has no interest in expansion?
It’s a lie.
‘Every noble family is bound to wish for their clan to prosper more.’
That was the same for them too.
It’s just a matter of how far the means they choose for that prosperity go.
Whether there is a line they keep, or not.
That is also the line that separates the Orthodox Factions and the Unorthodox Factions, but….
Even if they are orthodox, how properly they keep it is a separate matter.
Seonwu marked the number of cases on the ground.
“We’ll have to think about both possibilities. The first is that a third force is involved in the disappearance of the seven people who have vanished now. That is, a demonic practitioner or a human trafficking organization. Anyway, the weight goes to a demonic practitioner rather than human trafficking. In any case, and aiming at the Wolyeop Sect being unable to solve this, the Huangbo Clan grabbed a justification and shoved their heads in.”
Dan Suyeong asked back.
“It certainly appears to be such a situation, but what is the second possibility that senior brother is thinking of?”
“The mastermind behind the disappearances is the Huangbo Clan.”
“……!”
What if it’s a self-directed play created by the Huangbo Clan, who wants to push out the Wolyeop Sect and take over this land?
Eliminate about seven civilians and spread the rumor to grab a justification for entry.
And they rummage through this area under the pretext of catching the criminal.
While doing so, they naturally win over the major influential figures of this place.
“The Huangbo Clan is still a fairly old prestigious family. Although they can’t get into the current Five Great Clans, they were also one of the Eight Great Clans at one time. Would they go that far?”
“I also hope they didn’t go that far….”
Seonwu didn’t put aside any possibility for now.
“Could taking over that place have been the cherished wish of successive generations of the Huangbo Clan?”
Lee Jun waved his fan.
“Not all of it. Because originally, it was the Huangbo Clan’s territory. It’s an area they lost as their power contracted due to the oppression of the Imperial Court during the previous Yuan Dynasty, and the Wolyeop Sect settled down in that empty space. They say that was about a hundred years ago from now?”
“If it’s barely a hundred years…. From the Huangbo Clan’s perspective, it would feel like recovering old territory.”
It would certainly feel like vomiting blood every time they look at it.
“Hmm, are the demonic practitioners luring the Huangbo Clan, who was only watching for an opportunity? Or is it a play staged by the Huangbo Clan?”
Which of the two?
‘Should I start making a fake identity and do some inquiries soon? No. Let’s stake out just a little more. It’s better to order the Feilong Sect branch leader to dig up what the Huangbo Clan is doing.’
* * *
And the next day.
An accident broke out immediately.
While patrolling, the Huangbo Clan felt a suspicious aura and headed toward it, and they said someone dashed out and fled.
“To lose the criminal right before our eyes!”
At the sound of the Huangbo Family Head roaring, the clan martial artists bowed their heads.
“We are deeply sorry. However, the terrain is unfamiliar, and the culprit was too fast.”
“Scoundrels! It is because you all usually lack training!”
As the family head erupted in a furious roar, the clan martial artists prostrated themselves flat.
But Seonwu’s judgment, watching it hidden, was different.
“Rather than truly being angry, it seems like he’s just getting angry for show?”
“Well, until now, even what its identity was was unclear, but at least it has been revealed that there is a criminal, right?”
“Besides, unlike until now, they also discovered a corpse.”
At the sound of the Huangbo Clan martial artists approaching, the criminal fled, unable to do something about the corpse in time.
And the left-behind corpse was different from a generally dead corpse.
In the typical appearance of a corpse that suffered from the Energy Absorption Art, its vital blood essence was all dried up and it was haggard.
At least it looked that way on the outside.
As the Huangbo Clan showed that gruesome appearance to several people, the residents of the county were also terrified.
“Oh dear, what to do about that….”
“I heard she lost her parents early and was raising her younger sibling well….”
“She was even engaged and would have gotten married next year….”
“Sigh, what an unexpected misfortune that is.”
With that, parents who had daughters were particularly afraid.
Seonwu also frowned heavily.
“I don’t know who the criminal is yet, but he’s truly an unforgivable fellow.”
Whoever it turns out to be, once revealed, he will make him pay the price.
Each and every one of those sacrificed were individuals who had their respective lives.
Trampling them in this manner is precisely evil and demonic.
Standing in a position claiming to be a ‘chivalrous xia’, how could he just leave such a fellow be?
“It’s frustrating that we couldn’t catch him because it happened to be a place far away from where we staked out….”
Lee Jun also agreed that they must stop this evil deed and judge it.
“However, the criminal’s behavior is, clearly speaking, not just learning the Energy Absorption Art. This feels too intentional.”
At the cold-headed pointing out, Seonwu also calmed his excitement and pondered.
“That’s true. First of all, the dead victims are one and all ordinary people without any particular inner energy.”
If it was something learned to truly become stronger, the victims had to be those who had learned martial arts to some extent.
But it isn’t so.
“To speak honestly, this is not an act to accumulate inner energy, but rather killing just to take away lives.”
“There would be two cases. One is murder for pleasure.”
It is said that the Energy Absorption Art itself accompanies intense pleasure while extorting the opponent’s true qi.
“The other would be murder to create victims.”
Why?
In the current situation, who is profiting the most?
The answer is the Huangbo Clan.
Of course, one has to see the matter to the very end to know, but at least the turning situation was so.
‘If they create one or two more victims like this, and the Huangbo Clan resolves it….’
They will return once the matter is finished?
They spoke like that, but what will happen if the influential figures of this place beg the Huangbo Clan to stay?
‘They might settle down after declining once or twice.’
Although the Wolyeop Sect would jump out of their skin.
The Huangbo Clan has power.
They only lacked a justification.
Seonwu caught the scent of a conspiracy even more thickly.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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