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237: Side Story (4)
“Adults?”
Crown Prince Zhu Chi-yun thought it was absurd. He is the Crown Prince, the one rising in power and the next Emperor. But this man, a mere leader of a cult, was looking down on him.
“You bastard!!! How dare a mere cult leader with the post of a nation's religion act like this—”
“Shut up.”
Shh!
Chun Yeowun clenched his finger and placed it on the child’s forehead.
“You need to be kidding—”
Snap!
“Euk!”
He was lightly hit, but he bounced back hard and with a scream. It was as if a chestnut was hit, but the pain was like being hit with a hammer.
Papak!
Then someone came.
“Prince!”
It was Namjin, who was known to be the martial arts teacher of the Crown Prince. He moved to the prince in a hurry.
‘Huh?’
But the moment he reached the child, he bounced back along with him.
Bang!
Namjin, a warrior, was stuck in the throne room wall.
He thought that Chun Yeowun just hit them lightly, but he was wrong. Namjin shouted while looking at the prince, who would pass out at any second.
“How dare you harm the prince of the Empire! This is treason! Take that traitor down!”
“Treason!!”
Rumble!
As soon as the command fell, the eunuchs and the others surrounded Chun Yeowun. At that, the Emperor just touched his forehead.
‘They are all turning it into a mess.’
If it had been in the past, this would have been impossible. But recently, there were changes in the Imperial Palace. Many people had also left the palace, so the new ones didn’t know who Chun Yeowun really was and what he could do.
“Stop right now….”
The Emperor, who was trying to intervene, stopped his words and went silent.
Thinking about it, if he calls them back, they would misunderstand and think that he was afraid of someone below him, and his power would fall.
‘It cannot be much.’
It would be better for them to know about Chun Yeowun through this experience. That is what had to happen. And so the people went to suppress him.
“Take him down!”
Chun Yeowun, annoyed, flicked his finger.
Tak!
Then, a shocking thing happened. All the people here grabbed their heads and screamed. Lee Yun was no exception.
“Ackkk!”
“M-My head will explode!”
Thud!
And they soon fell to the floor after suffering tremendous pain. The only ones who didn’t were the Head Eunuch, the teacher of the Crown Prince, and the Emperor.
‘Oh.. my…’
They couldn’t speak at what they saw. Around 60 people of the royal guards and eunuchs passed out.
“…”
Even the Emperor was surprised. He thought there would be some screaming, but it ended right away.
This was incomparable to the Chun Yeowun whom he saw 20 years back.
“… Ha.”
The Emperor sighed. Chun Yeowun was a monster who could overturn the Imperial Family anytime.
‘What is this?’
Namjin and the Head Eunuch were shocked. If they knew he was this strong, they wouldn’t have rushed in. As they were confused, Chun Yeowun moved to the throne.
“P-Protect… His Majesty.”
Namjin, terrified at what would happen, reached his weapon.
Swish!
Bang!
“Kuak!”
“Ack!”
However, the weapon and the two leaders were slammed into the wall with just a gesture from Chun Yeowun. Leaving them to pass around, he approached the Emperor.
“Your Majesty.”
The chilly voice of Chun Yeowun stiffened his body. The intimidation increased after hearing Chun Yeowun’s voice.
“L-Lord…”
It felt like a fleeting moment, yet he was sweating.
“I hope you don’t say you are just Zhu Tae-gyeom and not the Emperor. If you do say that, that will be the day the Empire will disappear.”
Such arrogance and bold statements. It was too easy for this man to erase an Empire.
“Don’t forget what you promised during your coronation.”
At Chun Yeowun's words, the Emperor gulped. A secret no one but him knows about.
It was the non-aggression pact with Chun Yeowun: the oath to never deviate from the Sky Demon Order as the religion.
“Your answer is late.”
He opened his mouth in fear.
“I-I didn’t forget. Please forgive my rude son. I will fix him.”
“… I believe you will.”
Chun Yeowun turned around and went down from there and looked at the Emperor’s face, which aged. The Emperor felt relieved.
‘… I lived!’
Then Chun Yeowun pulled out the letter and said,
“Now, let me tell you about the letter from the Crown Prince.”
Early morning at the foot of a lush mountain, a group of people, including Chun Woo-myung, were preparing to go up.
The eight rogues were former Murim members and said to be living under false identities for a long time. Chun Woo-myung was happy to meet them, except for one thing.
“If it wasn’t for the Demonic Cult we wouldn't be suffering like this.”
“That is what it is.”
They were against his cult. Along the way, they constantly complained about it. Thanks to that, Hu Bong and Ko Wang-suk’s expressions weren’t good.
‘These ones!’
It felt like they would beat them down at any second, but since Chun Woo-myung requested, they stayed silent and continued to hide their identity.
[Be patient, uncle. You can’t kill them.]
Hu Bong wanted to beat them to death several times, but Chun Woo-myung stopped him when he was about to give up controlling his anger.
“Ah, I am sick of it.”
Ko Wang-suk would drink water each time, and the muscles in her throat would twitch.
“Really, virtuous man… no. woman.”
Because of her, Hu Bong’s mood changed again.
The man, Ho Jang-woo, complained about how his clan was destroyed.
“Haa… I still cannot forget it. The day the leader got his heart pierced by that monster together with the King of Muscles.”
“Puh!”
Ko Wang-suk spilled the water she was drinking.
“…”
Chun Woo-myung, who was walking ahead of her, touched his wet hair.
“Y-Young Master.”
“… from now on, walk to the side.”
He would have yelled if he didn’t understand it. The King of Muscles was her father, Ko Wanghur.
There were more than 30 clans that were destroyed in his hands. And the achievement was for the Sky Demon Order, but those suffering from that hate him.
‘I don’t feel good.’
Chun Woo-myung wondered if he was wrong in accepting their request. How could he know they hated his cult?
Chun Woo-myung decided to change the topic.
“But what is it that could have happened in the mountain that you all, too, didn't seem to know? Is there any information at all?”
At his question, a man smiled and said.
“Well. Neither do we know, except that none of those who went in there had returned.”
“Isn’t it one of the Three Banned Areas?”
Three Banned Areas.
Places that were told never to enter. Where were they heading now?
“Ehh, those are just empty words. If we go during the day we can come out without a problem.”
“The important thing is that we went in and didn’t find anything.”
“At night… hhm. All superstitions.”
“Why are you acting like the dead come out at night?”
“Ehhh. Don’t say that!”
Everyone had looks of concern as they spoke. The place they were heading for was the Mountain of Dead. A place where the dead are known to come out at night.
[Uncle, is that true?]
Curious, Chun Woo-myung asked to which Hu Bong snorted.
[You believe that, Young Lord?]
[Well? Where in the world could such a place be? I feel good to come out with my uncle in times like this!]
[Hehehe, right? Thanks to you, I will be going to the Mountain of Dead for the first time.]
[… Huh…. First… time?]
[Yes. This is my first time as well. Would I ever come to this side of the Jianghu? Hehe.]
[Ahhh…. Right.]
The credibility and reliability of Hu Bong fell.
Chun Woo-myung, who was looking at Hu Bong, turned his gaze.
“Is there any reason why you have to put yourselves in that place?”
One of the Three Banned Areas, just thinking about it was enough to scare others. Looking at their faces, they too seemed a bit concerned with it. Still, they were volunteering to do it.
“Well, some high ranking people said they would help rebuild our clan.”
“Rebuild the clan?”
Hu Bong narrowed his eyes. Currently, the Murim was under the Sky Demon Order. However, listening to them was like they were dreaming of their clan.
“Huhu. Who gave that amazing chance?”
Hu Bong asked with a smile. Hon Nae-gae, a member, laughed and said,
“That is why I said that it was a brilliant chance.”
“Chance?”
“I heard from an informant that the Golden Guards have some unusual quest.”
At that, Chun Woo-myung was puzzled.
“Unusual means high reward, right?”
He heard the Golden Guards commissioned them. However, he was curious about the fact of it. They were in the middle of their path with no one listening other than themselves, yet they whispered.
“It is warrior Namjin.”
“Namjin?”
“Right! I heard that he is the mentor of the prince who will be the next Emperor. At this point, you can understand, right?”
“Are you sure?”
If this was true, then this quest was from the Crown Prince. Hu Bong’s expression darkened. It was a coincidence at first, but now it doesn't seem so.
‘Then the Crown Prince and that warrior are trying to help rebuild the clan.’
It was a condition that even the current Emperor wouldn’t promise. But these people believed him. They thought that the power of the prince, who would be the Emperor, would rebuild the clan.
‘Tch. The Lord won’t allow it.’
Hu Bong laughed, looking at the people smiling. Well, he had no intention of telling them.
He was going to let it be for the sake of a good experience for his nephew.
Half a day since they were moving. It was a clear day, yet it began to turn foggy as they went up. The forest turned dark, making them hold torches.
“Huh. Strange.”
“It’s suddenly so foggy.”
It was sunny just half an hour ago. However, now that they were almost there, the mountain forest darkened with so much fog.
The gloomy mood made their anxiety rise.
[Strange.]
Chun Woo-myung found it strange. Hu Bong stayed silent.
[Don’t worry. You have me! Hu Bong is with you!]
Hu Bong made a proud face looking at him. Still, the anxiety didn’t go down. Not long after they walked, the atmosphere felt weird.
“I-is that a graveyard?”
There were abandoned tombs there. Headstones with old wood, which made it scarier.
Everyone felt uneasy.
“Ah. What can we find in this?”
One by one, they felt skeptical. The sun was about to go down. Yun Ja-seo, their leader, said,
“We look for an hour and then we retreat. The fog is thick. I don't want to risk it.”
“Right.”
Everyone agreed. This place was banned, and there was fog. They didn’t want to overdo it.
‘I don’t even feel any energy around.’
Chun Woo-myung frowned at it. Just because no people resided in that place didn’t mean no animals were living there, but the area felt empty. For him, it was weird.
Shhh!
“Master.”
‘… That was startling!’
Chun Woo-myung looked at the hand which came from behind. It was Ko Wang-suk’s hand, and she had a scared expression on her face.
“Young Master. This girl is…. scared.”
Clench!
His hand was hurting from her grip, her muscles were twitching in fear, and her eyes showed weird selfishness rather than fear.
Chun Woo-myung didn’t say anything but what he was thinking was…
‘Ko Wang-suk… I am more afraid of you.’
He quietly removed her hand and moved ahead and halfway in.
Ckil!
They suddenly heard a strange sound.
“What is that?”
He concentrated on that weird sound. Something hazy could be seen beyond the fog. The form looked human but a bit strange since the figure was dragging its feet.
“What is this smell?”
“Like rotten corpses?”
The others covered their noses.
‘What is that?’
Chun Woo-myung focused on it and was shocked.
Crik! Crik!
A being with rotting flesh was walking toward them by dragging its feet. One of the rogues who saw that shouted.
“T-the dead!”