Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 81

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 81.
Yun Cheon stood before the collapsed Jeon Man Ho.
“I have only one question.”
Jeon Man Ho’s dantian was shattered, one arm severed, and Sura blood essence leaked steadily from his wounds. Yet his single remaining eye refused to release whatever it clung to, grasping at empty air.
“Why would the Blood Sovereign orchestrate such a thing?”
“….”
A brief silence.
Then a grotesque sneer twisted across Jeon Man Ho’s eye. His blood-soaked throat convulsed, and his fractured voice barely escaped.
“How could I possibly fathom… such lofty intentions?”
Jeon Man Ho released a bitter laugh.
“Heh… hehe… I merely… partook of the scraps.”
His manner suggested that the terrible atrocities he had committed were nothing more than picking up fallen crumbs.
Yun Cheon’s gaze turned glacial.
The Blood Sovereign.
One of the Five Sovereigns.
Before that name, even Jeon Man Ho was insignificant.
“What I tasted was… inferior goods unfit to present to the Blood Sovereign… a mere… frac….”
Jeon Man Ho’s words grew increasingly sluggish.
Eventually, his speech could not continue.
A faint rupture.
A subtle tearing sound emanated from within Jeon Man Ho’s throat.
His tongue was turning black.
“…What?”
Even Jeon Man Ho’s expression registered shock.
A black tide spread upward from his tongue’s tip. With each attempt to speak, the darkness crept toward his uvula.
“A seal of the Sura Blood Sect.”
Yu Ha stepped closer, observing Jeon Man Ho’s condition, and spoke in a low voice.
“It appears they’ve bound him—preventing him from carelessly uttering the Blood Sovereign’s name or anything entangled with it.”
Dark crimson saliva dripped from the corners of Jeon Man Ho’s mouth.
Yu Ha’s brow furrowed.
“There’s no point pressing further. His breath will fail before his words finish. This sort of matter is best left to specialists.”
Yu Ha struck Jeon Man Ho’s pressure points, rendering him unconscious.
“Specialists?”
“Is there anywhere more suited to this task than our sect’s Inspection Bureau? They are, after all, experts at prying open reluctant mouths. Besides, leaving this wretch in the Iron Shark Gang as things stand is dangerous.”
That assessment was sound.
With Jeon Man Ho subdued, command of the Iron Shark Gang had reverted to its original leader, Sa Hae Ryong. Yet not a few had shifted their allegiance to Jeon Man Ho. There was no telling where the remaining threads of the Jinguan Pavilion or the Sura Blood Sect still lurked.
Yun Cheon nodded briefly.
“That would be best. The Inspection Bureau will wring out every detail of what he’s done.”
The backyard of the Iron Shark Gang was already being cleared.
Those who had sided with Jeon Man Ho had long since discarded their weapons and lay flat against the ground.
“Phew…”
At that moment, Jin So Wol, who had been sitting in cross-legged meditation in the corner of the courtyard, exhaled a long breath of turbid qi and slowly opened her eyes. Thanks to the internal injury medicine that Saengsa Jjon had personally prepared, a faint flush of color had returned to her ashen complexion.
Yun Cheon approached her.
“It seems you’ve finished regulating your qi.”
Jin So Wol hastily rose to her feet and performed a deep bow with the courtesy of a subordinate to their lord.
“I have stabilized my internal injuries and now submit my formal report to you, Patriarch.”
Yun Cheon lowered his gaze briefly.
“Speak.”
“From the beginning, Jeon Man Ho set up Sa Hae Ryong as a puppet patriarch and used the Iron Shark Gang as a subordinate stronghold of Jinguan Pavilion. By the time I arrived, the Main Hall had been completely seized.”
Self-reproach tinged Jin So Wol’s voice.
“I apologize. I failed to see through the enemy’s schemes to the end. Fortunately, with the help of Sa Hae Ryong and his subordinate Woo Baek Hyeon, I managed to send a messenger bird to alert you to the crisis, but…”
Jin So Wol paused mid-sentence, her gaze rising cautiously toward Yun Cheon.
Her eyes were filled with bewilderment.
“However, there is one thing I simply cannot understand.”
Yun Cheon lowered his gaze.
“Speak.”
“Less than two hours have passed since I sent the messenger bird. The distance from the Black Dragon Gang to here would normally take at least half a day… How did you arrive so quickly?”
Yun Cheon answered matter-of-factly.
“I was already heading this way from the start. After receiving intelligence from Sa Do Myeong, I struck Jinguan Pavilion’s disguised inn first. I found traces of Jeon Man Ho there.”
At that moment, the sound of a fan opening came from behind—*whoosh*.
Yu Ha, who had been watching from the side, interjected as he snapped his fan open.
“The Patriarch rushed here as if he’d used some space-folding technique out of concern for you. Thanks to your messenger bird, we wasted less time finding our way. When we reached the ridge, the messenger bird happened to pass right over our heads. And that fire you started was quite conspicuous.”
Yun Cheon’s eyes glanced sideways at Yu Ha.
“Your words are unnecessarily long.”
“Long they may be. I merely stated the facts.”
Jin So Wol’s eyes widened.
The fact that the Patriarch himself had struck Jinguan Pavilion’s disguised inn to rescue her and then rushed here was astonishing.
Behind his terse response lay a weight that made her heart burn with warmth.
“I never imagined you would move for me alone, Patriarch. Your kindness is something I shall never forget for the rest of my life.”
“You endured and held the line, which allowed us not to be too late. The merit is yours.”
It was a brief statement.
Yet Jin So Wol’s fingertips trembled slightly.
Those words carried more weight than any reward.
Jin So Wol bowed deeply, then turned her gaze toward Yu Ha.
“But… if I may ask, who is this person?”
“You introduce yourself.”
At Yun Cheon’s brief approval, Yu Ha smiled with a cunning grin as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“I am Yu Ha. As for my relationship with the Patriarch… well, yes. We are quite close.”
Yu Ha offered his greeting smoothly, deliberately omitting the fact that he belonged to the Ilwol Trading Company.
Yalü Hee’s brow immediately furrowed.
“Don’t waste breath on unnecessary words.”
Yu Ha chuckled with casual ease.
“It’s not wrong, is it? Our fates have tangled more than once, and we’ve exchanged letters and tokens.”
Jin So Wol was momentarily flustered, but quickly composed herself with a bow.
“If you are the Patriarch’s cherished friend, then you are a noble guest to me as well. I apologize for the belated greeting.”
Yu Ha waved his fan with visible distaste.
“No, no, that’s enough. There’s no need for such formality. Treat me as you would Yalü Hee.”
Only then did Jin So Wol turn to regard Yalü Hee.
“Yalü… I was grateful for your protection earlier.”
Yalü Hee crossed her arms and let out a scoffing laugh.
“Hmph. All that boasting about being a spear instructor, and look at the state of you. Next time, just hide behind me.”
Her words were sharp, yet her eyes traced the bandages wrapped around Jin So Wol’s shoulder.
“…So, are you doing better now?”
The corner of Jin So Wol’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.
“Thanks to you.”
“Well, then that’s settled.”
In that brief exchange lay a peculiar warmth.
While they spoke, Yun Cheon turned his gaze toward Sa Hae Ryong.
“Sa Hae Ryong.”
“Yes, Patriarch!”
“I hear that in this matter, your decision to open Jin So Wol’s escape route and Woo Baek Hyeon’s courage in dispatching the letter despite the danger both proved invaluable.”
Sa Hae Ryong’s eyes widened, then his head bowed deeply.
“From now on, you shall oversee the Iron Shark Gang directly and reorganize it as before. I will not interfere. However, sever all ties with the sordid enterprises that Jeon Man Ho and Jinguan Pavilion were conducting.”
In essence, Yun Cheon had entrusted the Iron Shark Gang to Sa Hae Ryong and Woo Baek Hyeon.
In circumstances where they could have been subjugated like the Blood Axe Stronghold, Sa Hae Ryong and Woo Baek Hyeon simultaneously knelt, their faces radiant with gratitude.
“We are deeply grateful for your consideration!”
“We shall never forget the boundless grace of the Patriarch!”
Moments later.
Woo Baek Hyeon returned, carefully cradling a heavy object wrapped in black cloth with both hands, approaching Yun Cheon.
“This belongs to Miss Jin. We have been safekeeping it.”
Yun Cheon accepted it and silently extended it toward Jin So Wol.
“Unwrap it yourself.”
As Jin So Wol’s trembling hands peeled away the black cloth, beneath the cool moonlight, the dark spear blade gleamed brilliantly.
Her beloved weapon and her father’s legacy—the Black Iron Halberd, the Black Dragon Banner.
Jin So Wol’s eyes trembled.
“I… thank you!”
“It is nothing. It has merely returned to its rightful master.”
Yun Cheon’s voice cut through the night air with weighty finality.
“You have learned a harsh lesson this time. Henceforth, never be separated from your weapon. Especially that halberd—it is the banner that announces the vanguard of the Black Dragon Gang. It is not something to entrust to another’s hands.”
The cold touch of the Black Dragon Banner transmitted through her palm.
Jin So Wol gripped the window frame so tightly it threatened to shatter.
“…I shall engrave this upon my heart, Patriarch!”
Yu Ha glanced at the scene and let out a soft chuckle.
“A pleasing sight indeed.”
Then he suddenly turned his body toward Yun Cheon.
“I believe I should take my leave for now. I think I’ll remain at the Iron Shark Gang a while longer.”
Yalü Hee raised an eyebrow.
“You’re staying? What scheme are you plotting now?”
“A scheme? As a merchant, how could I simply abandon a place that reeks of profit?”
Yu Ha folded his fan with a smile.
“The Iron Shark Gang has just been overturned, and wherever there’s upheaval, there’s the scent of money. Staying here to manage the aftermath seems far more lucrative.”
Yun Cheon regarded him briefly before speaking tersely.
“…That’s not all, I suspect. I’ll instruct Sa Hae Ryong and Woo Baek Hyeon to cooperate with you. In exchange, if you uncover any useful intelligence, send word.”
Yu Ha’s lips curved upward slightly.
“Sharp as always. Very well then. Until we meet again soon, Patriarch of the Black Dragon Gang!”
“…Indeed.”
Yun Cheon replied curtly and gazed toward the northern sky.
“We depart now. It’s time to return to the Black Dragon Gang.”
* * *
At that same moment, deep within Tianshan. In the secret cavern of the Sura Blood Sect.
“…Gwak Tu is dead?”
The voice that emerged from behind the curtain was low and murky. Han Gyul, the Blood Scythe Squad Leader reporting the news, pressed his forehead to the ground, cold sweat streaming down his face.
“Indeed, Elder Hyeol Young. Not only the Blood Scythe Squad Leader but the entire escort unit has been annihilated. The sword marks discovered at the scene are extraordinarily keen, and the wounds are frozen solid. We suspect a master wielding an ice blade of unknown origin.”
“A master of the ice blade… Is it a sword sage from the Northern Sea, or perhaps remnants of the Snow Mountain Sect? Yet how is it they so conveniently interfere with our sect’s affairs?”
As Elder Hyeol Young clicked his tongue, urgent footsteps echoed from outside the cavern.
“R-Report! Urgent word from the Iron Shark Gang! Jeon Man Ho, the Qinghai branch director of Jinguan Pavilion, has failed to seize control and has been captured!”
“What?”
Han Gyul’s eyes widened. Jeon Man Ho was a man whose inner strength, built through secret techniques, surpassed even Gwak Tu. The news that such a man had been captured so pathetically was a shock to him as well.
“Tsk… Relying solely on secret techniques to inflate his power, yet in the end he couldn’t overcome his own limitations and fell flat. A man of mediocre talent—I only used him for transporting sacrifices, and now he causes trouble.”
Elder Hyeol Young’s cold sneer shook the curtain.
“Enough. We’ve gathered sufficient sacrifices anyway. But it’s clear there are forces attempting to obstruct our secret work.”
Hyeol Young’s voice dropped even lower.
“The Patriarch’s grand design has entered its final stages. For now, exercise restraint and investigate the full circumstances of the ice blade master who killed Gwak Tu and the Jeon Man Ho incident. The moment the tail is exposed, we shall wash it away in blood…!”
“Your will be done!”
* * *
It was Sa Do Myeong, unexpectedly, who greeted Yun Cheon and his party upon their return to the Black Dragon Gang.
“Patriarch.”
Yun Cheon halted his steps.
“…Sa Do Myeong? News travels fast.”
Sa Do Myeong offered a brief salute before raising his head. Yet his gaze soon shifted toward the space behind Yun Cheon.
The moment Sa Do Myeong caught sight of Jeon Man Ho being dragged across the floor, his expression hardened imperceptibly.
“…Is this not Jeon Man Ho? You’ve captured him alive?”
Yun Cheon answered matter-of-factly.
“Yes. Wasn’t that why you came? As it happens, I also have business at the Inspection Bureau, so this works out well. Let’s speak in the Administrative Office first.”

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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