Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 237

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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 237

He was shocked.

As if he were naked, a strange feeling swept over his entire body.

Wang Jin-ming’s face became even paler.

His lips trembled.

“Wh… what do you mean…?”

“Since you’ve come here, blood must be spilled, and there must be a sacrifice.”

Any further conversation was meaningless.

At least there was nothing more to discuss with Wang Jin-ming.

Strength entered his grip.

Crack-!

As he released the strength from his hand, Wang Jin-ming with his broken neck collapsed to the floor.

Woon-hwi turned his head and spoke.

“That’s enough.”

At those words, all members of Cheon Rak Bu stopped moving.

As if by prior arrangement, they lined up behind Woon-hwi.

Woon-hwi was looking toward the entrance of the government office where blood had pooled.

He smiled.

“You’re a bit late, Senior Jang.”

Jang I-cheong, who had been glaring at Woon-hwi with a coldly hardened face, bit his lips hard.

* * *

He tasted blood in his mouth.

Jang I-cheong was truly angry at this moment.

Yet within that anger was mixed bewilderment and confusion.

And rightfully so.

The perfect plan had gone awry.

Originally, the plan was as follows.

First, to make Woon-hwi kill bandits disguised as government troops.

Nothing else was needed – this would provide justification.

The justification that Woon-hwi had touched government forces.

If they informed Woon-guk’s imperial court of this and made the nation itself reject Woon-hwi, even someone as reckless as Woon-hwi would have no choice but to retreat.

To put it clearly, Woon-hwi’s backing was the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.

Though it was an ambiguous organization that was neither a nation nor a sect, its power could not be ignored.

If justification was created that Woon-hwi had committed a crime, even the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace would be unable to do anything, and Woon-hwi would have no choice but to retreat considering the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace’s reputation.

That would become a leash.

Above all, the sect leader of Ihwageomseonchong was the actual owner of Cheon Rim.

Since news had spread that Yang Seol-jin, the former rim lord, had died, naturally the sect leader had taken over that position, and Cheon Rim’s connections reached deep into Woon-guk’s imperial court.

This was something even the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace couldn’t handle, so in this aspect alone, Ihwageomseonchong held absolute superiority.

From Jang I-cheong’s perspective, Woon-hwi’s current act of sweeping through the government office should have been extremely satisfying, but he hadn’t expected it to be to this extent.

He truly hadn’t imagined it would be this reckless.

No, it wasn’t just killing a few people – he had killed the magistrate too, and slaughtered more than eighty percent of all living beings in the government office.

This was truly insane.

Beyond whatever connections Cheon Rim had, this had become a major issue that could lead to war between Woon-guk and the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.

This wasn’t right.

This wasn’t the plan.

Certainly the direction of the ‘first plan’ shouldn’t have become this way.

“You seem bewildered.”

“Are you… in your right mind?”

“I think I’m in my right mind, but it seems Senior Jang doesn’t think so.”

“…”

“Are you surprised because it’s too excessive?”

“…Do you call that speaking? If things go this way, you’ll be in trouble too.”

Woon-hwi chuckled.

Yes.

He chuckled.

This wasn’t a situation to laugh about, yet this crazy bastard was grinning – it was bewildering what he found so amusing.

“You’ll be in more trouble than me.”

“…What?”

“Senior Jang. No matter how much I think about it with my head, only one thing comes to mind.”

“…One thing?”

“Yes.”

There was nothing surprising about it.

Woon-hwi had been thinking continuously.

When he received information from Ham Jang-sik of the Beggar Sect, and when he received a letter from Heuk Myeong of the Black Heaven Demon Prison Palace.

And before that, when he heard that the Green Forest Sect had hidden themselves.

He had thought endlessly, and from that situation, he had chosen a method that could catch everyone off guard and turn the situation around.

This was it.

Thinking fundamentally, why had the Green Forest Sect suddenly hidden themselves?

Im Cheong-san, the Green King, wasn’t that smart, so why did he specifically hide in the government office?

No matter how you looked at it, this had no real benefit. It was truly a stupid move.

No matter what weaknesses they held over the government’s military commanders or magistrates, those were only temporary weaknesses.

Just the fact that the Green Forest bandits had entered the government office would already devastate the area around the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance.

Cleanup? They would manage it somehow.

With Cheon Rim’s power, it would be strange if they couldn’t.

That was the problem.

What reason was there to go to such lengths?

It was because of Woon-hwi’s position.

To drive Woon-hwi out of the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance, put a leash on him, or pressure him in any way, the nation had to step forward.

After all, Woon-hwi was dispatched from the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.

“Do you want to control me?”

At Woon-hwi’s words, Jang I-cheong’s brow twitched.

“Seo Hyo must have clearly conveyed it. And ‘Muk Se-hoe’ must have clearly delivered their intentions too. If you didn’t receive that, it would be a matter of capability… but it seems you didn’t receive it.”

Woon-hwi didn’t miss the way Jang I-cheong’s eyes twitched.

It was interesting.

“So you knew about the existence of Muk Se-hoe too. That organization that even Seo Hyo didn’t know about.”

“…While it’s encouraging that you’re joining ‘us’, you are extremely violent. It’s only natural to conclude that we need means to control such a violent person.”

The distance between Woon-hwi and Jang I-cheong was very close.

Speaking in voices that no one around could hear, almost whispering, Jang I-cheong’s tone had changed at this moment.

“It must have been tiring wearing a mask.”

“Are you concerned about such things? More importantly, what will you do? How exactly are you going to clean up this mess?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“…”

“Yes. It was quite a decent scheme. Even if I join ‘your cause’, my current position is as a Polar Descendant of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace. If I were forced to leave this place not by my own will but by compulsion, I would lose face and be thoroughly humiliated.”

“…”

“I need to bring back results, but before that, if Woon-guk officially makes an issue of it… It’s a decent scheme. The direct intelligence network and connections of the rim lord, who is the owner of Cheon Rim, are certainly at a level I can’t dare to challenge right now. Even mobilizing the Beggar Sect would be difficult. They’re not really my people in the end.”

He smiled faintly.

“Do you know what the most certain method is for destroying someone’s scheme?”

“What?”

“It’s a frontal assault.”

“…What?”

“Just like now, you simply counter with a direct frontal attack.”

Jang I-cheong couldn’t understand.

This was a frontal assault? Counter with a direct attack?

What kind of nonsense was this…

“It’s simple. Just turn Ihwageomseonchong into an enemy.”

He thought he had misheard.

“I will publicly declare with my own mouth that Ihwageomseonchong has joined hands with Green Forest Sect. That’s why they attacked the government office and subjugated the Nokrim members wearing official robes. There’s plenty of evidence, but if it’s insufficient, I’m prepared to create more.”

“…You’ll manipulate and incite?”

“Something like that. Then think about what happens after.”

“…”

“In Murim, there’s a saying that when the truth is unclear, the winner’s words become the truth. While we fight over whose words are true, the relationship between Ihwageomseonchong and Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace will deteriorate, and so will the relationship between me and Cheon Lim.”

“…You bastard…”

“As you well know, I’ve never retreated from a fight I’ve entered. Let me tell you the predicted future. Eventually, senior’s scheme to put a leash on me will backfire, tarnishing Ihwageomseonchong’s reputation and only causing trouble with rumors of being associated with something like Green Forest Sect. And for quite a long time at that.”

Although Jang I-cheong had received secret orders from the sect leader, he didn’t have the authority to interfere in all of Ihwageomseonchong’s affairs. Jang I-cheong’s expression hardened.

“Clever and plausible, but below standard. This kind of thing shouldn’t even be called a strategy. Really.”

A sigh escaped.

“Is this petty scheme all that the person called Manhwa Geom-je of Ihwageomseonchong can manage?”

Woon-hwi’s voice was cold as ice, piercing like an awl boring into one’s chest.

“Even if this is a world where shame has been lost, as a martial artist who has reached the final stage of the Four Stages of Heaven and Earth, you should maintain basic dignity.”

At Woon-hwi’s appearance of stopping mid-sentence, shaking his head lightly, and even letting out a sigh, Jang I-cheong’s fists trembled with rage. But he didn’t resort to force. He couldn’t, and even if he did, it would be meaningless.

There were watching eyes, and those dispatched to the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance could at least officially oppose each other but couldn’t kill one another.

If they killed, it would immediately escalate into a fight with their home sects.

“There should be limits to treating someone as a senior, but this is very difficult. Senior Jang, I didn’t come all the way to Cheonsu to engage in such low-level fighting.”

Woon-hwi took another step closer and said.

“Do you understand?”

Manager Seong, who was watching from the side, showed an anxious expression, but surprisingly, Jang I-cheong maintained his silence.

He had nothing to say. More precisely, there was nothing he could say.

After a long silence, Jang I-cheong stepped back and opened his mouth.

“I, I fully understand what you’re saying.”

“Is that so.”

Jang I-cheong let out a deep sigh.

“It was all due to mutual misunderstanding. Heavens, how could Nokrim members infiltrate the government office? I am currently very shocked by that fact. Above all, Young Master Seol’s insight in being the first to notice and act is admirable.”

His tone changed, and his attitude changed.

Woon-hwi maintained his expressionless face as much as possible, but he wasn’t fooled.

Wearing such a mask meant he truly valued face.

He could understand that much.

The scheme Woon-hwi had grasped at least had an ‘end,’ and that end had not yet been reached.

“I will mobilize everyone I can to help in subjugating the Nokrim members. Of course, all this merit will naturally belong to Young Master Seol.”

“I’m grateful that Senior Jang says so.”

During this exchange, Jang I-cheong suddenly said something completely unexpected.

“Come to think of it, I heard the air around Bong Guk Mountain is very good. It would be perfect for mountain climbing in weather like this, how about taking a trip there?”

“Bong Guk Mountain, you say?”

“I heard the scenery there is so beautiful that kings used to visit personally in the old days. Haven’t you heard of it?”

Woon-hwi smiled.

“I’ve never heard of it, but if it’s that good, I should go take a look.”

This was obvious.

Bong Guk Mountain. That was where Green King Im Cheong-san was hiding.

It was an attempt to appease Woon-hwi’s anger by selling information at this point, and Woon-hwi accepted it.

But this couldn’t be everything.

No, it shouldn’t be everything.

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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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