The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 56

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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 56. The Same Thought
The three newcomers’ conflict stemmed chiefly from what the Jayeon Sword King had hinted at in his conversations with the Taeguk Sword King, Ryu, and the others.
“We’re not just imagining things, are we?”
Peng Gyeong’s question drew a shake of the head from Hwangbo Jang Seong.
“No. The Jayeon Sword King definitely froze when he saw Ryu. If we piece together the conversation and actions that followed, our thinking has to be right.”
“Ha! And we never noticed, even with a Hidden Realm master right in front of us.”
That was it. Their hesitation stemmed from realizing that Ryu had reached the Hidden Realm.
It was momentous news.
Not the sort of surprise that comes from nowhere—but rather, that the Cheol Hyeol Maeng now possessed another Hidden Realm master.
With three Hidden Realm experts in their ranks, the Cheol Hyeol Maeng could dominate both the Gunma Rim and the Baek Ui Ryeon.
It was a matter grave enough to shape the Cheol Hyeol Maeng’s future path in ways both profound and far-reaching.
“So that’s why the Taeguk Sword King suddenly clung to him.”
Hwangbo Jang Seong nodded at Peng Gyeong’s observation.
“He must have been uneasy about it. Ryu didn’t come from a famous sect or minor school—he reached the Hidden Realm entirely through self-study.”
“But why is Mudang staying silent? If the Taeguk Sword King knows, then Mudang must know as well.”
“He’s a benefactor to Mudang.”
“What?”
“Have you forgotten who calmed the Taeguk Sword King’s Demonic Heart in the cave?”
At Hwangbo Jang Seong’s words, Peng Gyeong let out a gasp.
“Ah!”
They had forgotten.
In truth, they hadn’t imagined that the Taeguk Sword King’s Demonic Heart had subsided because Ryu held his own against him so fiercely.
Ryu himself had even said that he’d been fleeing until the Taeguk Sword King regained his senses.
But now they understood differently.
Now they grasped that Ryu must have fought him directly—that was why the Taeguk Sword King’s Demonic Heart had calmed.
So Hwangbo Jang Seong’s claim that Mudang would regard Ryu as a true benefactor made sense.
The problem was…
“What do we do now?”
They would hide this truth.
Later, it would come to light.
When it did, what would the Hwangbo Family, the Peng Family, and the So Ju Cheol Bang do to them?
Their eyes met in empty space, all thinking the same thing.
Bitter smiles hung at the corners of all three mouths, answering the question wordlessly.
The thought gripped all three of them: if they were caught concealing this, they would be cast out without mercy.
Wasn’t that excessive worry?
Absolutely not.
Their families knew no forgiveness.
The Jeok Sa Jo didn’t seem likely to be any different.
So they had to weigh which organization’s rejection would cost them more…
“This won’t do. I’m hungry, so I’ll leave first.”
Cheol Ja Ryong was the first to push to his feet.
His excuse about hunger made no sense, but he had made his choice.
Not his own family, but the Jeok Sa Jo.
The So Ju Cheol Bang kept it quiet, but nearly everyone knew he was an illegitimate son.
And because he bore that stigma while possessing exceptional skill, he endured relentless harassment and ostracism from the legitimate sons—torment that was nearly unbearable.
Still, Hwangbo Jang Seong and Peng Gyeong were quite taken aback that Cheol Ja Ryong would abandon his own family so readily for the Jeok Sa Jo.
Cheol Ja Ryong flashed them a slight smile before leaving the Inner Affairs Division.
“He actually smiled, didn’t he?”
Peng Gyeong couldn’t help his astonishment.
Cheol Ja Ryong, whose stoic nature had earned him the nickname Stone Ryong, had smiled.
At Peng Gyeong’s words, Hwangbo Jang Seong let out a quiet laugh.
Then his expression hardened.
He was not one to yield to anyone in his own reserve, yet here he was.
Lately, he found himself laughing this way more and more.
Getting drunk and doing foolish things he’d never imagined.
When he was in the Hwangbo Family, he would never have dreamed of such behavior.
While there, his sole aim had been to prove his worth by any means necessary, to secure his position as the next family head.
But since joining the Jeok Sa Jo, he’d found himself drawn into amusing situations with increasing frequency.
“Fun, is it…”
Hwangbo Jang Seong rose to his feet, muttering those puzzling words to himself.
“I’m hungry myself.”
Hwangbo Jang Seong left those words behind, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth as he departed.
Peng Gyeong’s expression hardened at the sight.
He was taken aback that even Hwangbo Jang Seong, who stood closer to power than he did, had chosen the Jeok Sa Jo.
His shock was short-lived, though. Peng Gyeong rose from his seat as well.
“Yes. Let’s see how this plays out.”
Peng Gyeong, who would never have made such a decision in the past, departed the Inner Affairs Division.
His expression was unusually bright.
It was a look rarely seen on the face of Peng Gyeong, who had long struggled against the countless forms of discrimination his family leveled upon him for being an illegitimate son, much as Cheol Ja Ryong did.
The expression on the Taeguk Sword King’s face as he watched the Jeok Sa Jo members eating and laughing in the bustling restaurant was peculiar.
It was because of the sight of Hwangbo Jang Seong, Peng Gyeong, and Cheol Ja Ryong sitting among the Jeok Sa Jo members, laughing and joking.
It was entirely different from what the rumors had conveyed about them.
The rumors had described those three as typical masters of great sects—men concerned with prestige and propriety, obsessed with proving their own abilities.
Yet the ones he’d encountered directly were the sort who giggled over gossip that began with a colleague’s side dish containing a crooked hair, and who tossed ridiculous jokes without the slightest hesitation.
And yet it didn’t seem affected.
‘They really do seem to be enjoying themselves. Well, what do you know.’
Regardless of the Taeguk Sword King’s bewilderment, the Jeok Sa Jo’s meal proceeded in such harmony.
Once they’d finished eating, not a few people watched with displeasure as the Jeok Sa Jo members walked off giggling about grabbing a drink somewhere.
Most of those displeased observers were disciples of Mudang.
But they didn’t dare stare openly.
It was because of the Taeguk Sword King’s presence, walking among the Jeok Sa Jo members and giggling along with them.
Apart from those Mudang disciples, most members of the Maeng Ui Dan regarded the Jeok Sa Jo with reverent eyes.
It was because of their accomplishments in the Hwan Do Tournament.
Of course, there were many who had been saved by the Jeok Sa Jo before, but there had never been a battle where their achievements were displayed so clearly as in the Hwan Do Tournament.
Perhaps for that reason, the leadership of the Maeng Ui Dan was also consumed by concern.
“The revealed accomplishments are excessive.”
At Gong Chan’s words, Yi Hwan asked a question.
“Is that your conclusion even taking into account that the Taeguk Sword King was present?”
“Yes. Even accounting for that, the accomplishments are too great.”
Yi Hwan fell silent at Gong Chan’s answer.
Setting aside the others, Seong Hwa Pal Suk was the problem.
Eight masters of the Superior Realm, among the absolute highest, had been utterly crushed by him.
Honestly, the Taeguk Sword King was in the Transcendent Realm.
So even those two tiers below him—not Step Into Gods Realm, but Superior Realm—should have been entirely suppressible by him.
The problem was that Seong Hwa Pal Suk had attempted to escape the moment he saw the Taeguk Sword King.
Even for a Transcendent Realm Taeguk Sword King, eight men scattering and trying to flee were too many to pursue and annihilate completely.
Moreover, considering the Light Footwork abilities of the Superior Realm, no matter how vast the gap between Transcendent and Superior, it should have been difficult to explain.
Yet despite all this, the clash between the two sides ended with Seong Hwa Pal Suk’s death.
And he had been killed without even leaving the battlefield.
All the witnesses had spoken of it.
They said that Jeok Sa had seized half of the dead Seong Hwa Pal Suk’s body.
They said they had clearly seen Jeok Sa’s blade cleaving between them.
Until recently, Jeok Sa had been known as merely a slightly exceptional Peak Realm master.
Yet he had been witnessed capturing four Superior Realm experts.
Because of this, all the major commanders of the Maeng Ui Dan were currently demanding an explanation from the leadership regarding the matter.
And Gong Chan, who had come to seek out Yi Hwan and was staring at him intently, was no different.
Yi Hwan met the gaze of Gong Chan—a look that asked why the Taeguk Sword King had suddenly attached himself to the Jeok Sa Jo, and whether you don’t know the truth.
“First, I have something I wish to ask you, Military Strategist.”
“Please, speak.”
“The Hwan Do Tournament—why were you at its center? I still do not know the reason.”
At Yi Hwan’s question, Gong Chan opened his mouth after a moment of inner conflict.
“That is….”
A secret.
The meetings held twice yearly with the Blood Demon Corps Commander were.
In truth, the timespan was not so long.
The meetings had begun after a large-scale battle seven years prior, when thousands had fallen on both sides.
The purpose was singular.
The Military Strategist and Commander who oversaw operations for both the Maeng Ui Dan and the Hyeol Gwi Dae would meet to clear up misunderstandings where necessary and to suppress the escalation of future conflicts.
Neither side wished for another war like before, where thousands died in mere days.
On one hand, men killing and being killed; on the other, the architects of such operations meeting face to face.
It was something difficult to comprehend.
Had ordinary martial artists learned of it, they would have risen up in outrage at such a deed.
That’s why it had been kept hidden.
Only a handful of the highest ranks on both sides knew of it.
From the Cheol Hyeol Maeng, only the Alliance Leader, Vice Alliance Leader, and perhaps the Iron Lineage Patriarch were aware.
That’s also why the Military Strategist’s escort had been entrusted to a select few martial artists from their own alliance, deployed to the Black Night Unit.
No one else knew.
Not even the Sect Leader of the Maeng Ui Dan.
As Gong Chan explained the circumstances, Yi Hwan—his expression grown rigid—spoke.
“It’s absurd, certainly, but since I understand to some degree the transient machinations of politics, I won’t fault you, Military Strategist Gong. Yet I cannot help but ask.”
“By all means, ask. I’ve already broken the seal of secrecy—there’s nothing left I cannot tell you.”
“Your courtesy sets my mind at ease. Tell me: this Hwan Do Tournament seemed different from previous ones. Was it not?”
“Correct. In past instances, we’ve conducted our meetings with them modestly and discreetly.”
That would have been the case.
Secrets are kept best when they remain quiet.
“That’s precisely what troubles me. Why did this meeting require the mobilization of such massive forces? What was the true reason?”
“Because the alliance leadership believed something was different this time.”
“What… do you mean?”
Gong Chan answered Yi Hwan, who had asked with visible unease.
“Our leadership judged that now—having secured support from the Baek Ui Ryeon—was the perfect opportunity.”
“You speak of launching an offensive?”
“The primary aim of this meeting was not, as in the past, the resolution of mutual misunderstandings and appropriate deterrence.”
“Then what was it?”
Gong Chan replied to Yi Hwan’s question.
“The abduction of the Blood Demon Corps Commander.”
At Gong Chan’s answer, Yi Hwan’s eyes widened in shock.
It was a statement worthy of such a reaction.
The Blood Demon Corps Commander served the same role as the Military Strategist of the Maeng Ui Dan.
It meant he oversaw, planned, and commanded all operations of the Blood Demon Corps.
In other words, by abducting him, one could see the entirety of the Blood Demon Corps’ operations laid bare like something held in the palm of one’s hand.
Of course, extracting that information would require a separate process, but the Maeng Ui Dan possessed specialists capable of making it possible.
Yet the statement that truly startled Yi Hwan came afterward.
“Though it appears the Blood Demon Corps harbored similar intentions.”
Yi Hwan’s eyes grew even wider than before as he asked.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying that Seong Hwa Pal Suk, who appeared out of nowhere, was deployed to abduct me.”
Upon hearing that the Blood Demon Corps had entertained the same idea as the Cheol Hyeol Maeng, Yi Hwan was left dumbfounded.
No matter how much the Kangho was a world of the strong devouring the weak, the fact remained that both sides had sought to strike at each other’s back with identical intent.
That realization left Yi Hwan smiling bitterly, his head tilting slightly in puzzlement.
There was something that didn’t quite fit.
Yi Hwan posed this question to Gong Chan.
“I feel I’m missing something. We had reason to expect the Baek Ui Ryeon’s involvement, but what of the Gunma Rim?”
Gong Chan answered Yi Hwan’s question with measured calm.
“It suggests that the Gunma Rim holds something in its grasp equal in weight to what we gained by the Baek Ui Ryeon’s arrival.”
At Gong Chan’s reply, Yi Hwan’s expression grew troubled.

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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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