Rebirth of The Heavenly Demon 78

Chapter 78: Some Things that can’t be Caught in the Web (3)

Translator: hwarang

Editor: Klaurem

Ho Yeon Tak was kneeling in the middle of the Ho Yeon School’s Grand Pavillion. Behind him were all the disciples who went to San Dong together with him. Some of them had bandages but no one was seriously injured or killed.

Since Ho Yeon Nam died and Yeom Hwa was gravely injured both sides didn’t know what to do. As this happened so suddenly, neither side had the opportunity to wipe the other out.

Since Ho Yeon Tak was a descendant of Ho Yeon Sae he was different from ordinary disciples.

Looking down from the master’s seat was Ho Yeon School’s Master Ho Yeon Sae. The person that died at San Dong was his third brother Ho Yeon Nam.

He had on a white martial artist robe with a drawing of a tiger on the back. Although his beard was white, he was full of energy showing his power and authority over his school.

Ho Yeon Sae had his eyes closed suppressing his anger. In truth however, he was just pretending that he was suppressing his anger. Although Ho Yeon Nam was his relative he wasn’t too close to him so he wasn’t deeply saddened.

But he needed to act like he was saddened right now so that it would justify to the world what he was about to do next.

The person standing next to Ho Yeon Sae was his second brother Ho Yeon Choon. His eyes were cold as if he was about to punish the disciples.

Aside from the disciples who just came back from San Dong these two were the only other people who were inside the room.

Ho Yeon Sae slowly opened his eyes and asked, “How did this happen?”

“Even your disciple doesn’t know. Master suddenly drew his blade and attacked Yeom Hwa.”

“You punk!” As he said this, his ki filled the whole room.

And Ho Yeon Tak, as well as other disciples, were very uncomfortable, others were having a difficult time breathing.

“What kind of nonsense are you spewing?”

“How can I report some lies to you Master?”

“So Ho Yeon Nam truly attacked first?”

“Yes, that’s how it is Master.” All the other disciples replied.

Ho Yeon Sae looked at Ho Yeon Choon next to him. And Ho Yeon Choon gave a single nod without changing the expression on his face. Meaning that he agreed that it was within Ho Yeon Nam’s character to act in such a way.

Deep inside, Ho Yeon Choon hated Ho Yeon Nam. It was because he couldn’t let go of his hate from back when they were still struggling for power. Although Ho Yeon Nam was the eventually winner Ho Yeon Choon couldn’t accept it.

Ho Yeon Sae gave a deep sigh.

When he first read the report, he thought it was false. However, if Ho Yeon Nam truly was the first to raise his blade, then this would turn into a bigger issue. The problem was that he raised his blade first at an official meeting between the two parties.

There was no way that the Decimator, Yeom Hwa, of Heavenly Dao Gate who was famed for his pride and cruelty would overlook this.

Rather than being rewarded for their service they were in a situation where they were about to pay the compensation fee.

“You are dismissed. Take care of your injuries.”

“Yes, Master.”

Although all the disciples left Ho Yeon Tak remained and said, “Gaju-nim, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

He told him about the time when Ya Chun came over to bribe them.

After finis.h.i.+ng the story Ho Yeon Sae’s face grew darker. If things came to light then it would seem as if Ho Yeon Nam attacked Yeom Hwa after taking the bribe of the Dark Guild. It could impact the dignity of the school if it was found out.

“Do the other disciples know about this as well?”

“No, only me.”

“Make sure you never tell to another soul.”

“I will obey Master.” And Ho Yeon Tak left the room.

Now only Ho Yeon Sae and Ho Yeon Choon were left in the room.

Ho Yeon Sae said with an ugly expression, “Idiot. I should have known, he was the one who even volunteered to do this.”

He had no other choice but to send Ho Yeon Nam to do this since no one else was willing. He also didn’t want to give up on the two hundred thousand nyang.

“I guess we must meet them to salvage anything from the situation.”

Hearing Ho Yeon Sae’s word, Ho Yeon Choon nodded, “I will get in contact with them.”

“Then do so.”

“But…” Ho Yeon Choon stopped as he looked at Ho Yeon Tak leave, “What will you do with him? If it gets revealed that we took a bribe…”

Ho Yeon Sae just silently looked at Ho Yeon Choon. Although he didn’t say anything, he knew what he meant.

***

Manager Kong was in his room all day working, and Kw.a.n.g Du started training again.

Hearing that Kwan He vastly improve must have motivated him. This friendly compet.i.tion was a very good thing for a martial artist.

Kw.a.n.g Du was training very hard.

I left him to his own accord. Although there were some parts that caught my attention, I didn’t do anything since it could do more harm than benefit for him.

It was better to allow him to realize it on his own and come to me for help himself. Then when he does so I would help him unhesitantly.

I started my own training a distance away from Kw.a.n.g Du since I knew that my training would interrupt him. He was still at a very crucial point where he needed to focus on himself.

I sat in a lotus position on the peak of the mountain meditating.

Since I was cultivating with my Heavenly Protection Cultivation Technique all the time except when I slept I was constantly building up my energy. Now it would take me less than a year until I reached the hundred and twenty years worth of ki. Although I could shorten this length with cultivation medicine, I decided not to do so.

There were other places where I needed to spend my money, and since now I can freely use my fourth technique I don’t need to be in a rush to unlock the fifth.

Today’s training was image training. Although I gained enlightenment in these couple of months through my interaction with others, it wasn’t the only way I could progress. I was image training the Practices of the White Crane Art. I was imagining each movement as I battled my imaginary opponent.

My opponent was the leader of the Demonic Alliance since he was the strongest opponent that I had ever fought in my life.

Since we had exchanged blows on many different occasions, I clearly knew how strong he was and what he was capable of.

So I visualized him as my opponent as I used the White Crane art to attack him.

On our first exchange, my skull was busted open.

On our second exchange, I was cut in half.

This was to be expected since I knew that I couldn’t fight against him with the White Crane Art yet.

However, could I kill him if I fully master the White Crane Art? I didn’t know yet.

This time I used the combination of the two styles to fight against him.

It was a very difficult fight since I used a combination of sword arts and weaponless arts.

This exchange showed how futile it was fighting a true Saint Level Master with a combined art.

But I didn’t give up. And I would not give up. I would find a way to perfectly merge these two together.

After Kw.a.n.g Du finished his training I took him out to eat.

We didn’t go to the restaurant near where we stayed, but went to a restaurant near the Alliance’s Headquarters. It was a good opportunity to listen to the current news as well as get some air.

“Food tastes the best after a very hard training session.”

“Eat more, I’ll order some more for you if you want.”

“Young master, lets have a drink.”

“Sounds good.”

I ordered some wine and snacks.

After finis.h.i.+ng his gla.s.s Kw.a.n.g Du said in a happy tone, “Kaa, there is nothing more that I need. The drink after training is a real drink.”

I agree. It was truly fun being around Kw.a.n.g Du.

“It seems that the buzz in town is about what happened.”

The whole restaurant was bustling with the talks about the Ho Yeon School and Heavenly Dao Gate. Since it was a clash between two very strong forces, it was the center of attention.

However it seems that everyone had a different take on it.

Some were saying that it was Ho Yeon Nam’s fault for attacking first, others were blaming Yeom Hwa for killing him.

Some were even saying that the Ho Yeon School would be wiped out, while others did not.

Then Kw.a.n.g Du asked me with a worried expression, “Will Ho Yeon School really be wiped out? It is one of the Four Great Powers of Kang Ho.”

“Who knows?”

“What young master?”

“It is difficult raising a clan but taking it down is a very easy task.”

Big clans were just like big building. Shake their foundations and everything will crumble by itself.

Then a man suddenly rushed into the restaurant and spread a new, “Have you all heard? One of the disciples of Ho Yeon School committed suicide.”

“What? If you mean the disciple do you mean Ho Yeon Nam’s disciple?”

“Yes, him. I heard his name was Ho Yeon Tak. Anyway, it seems like he felt ashamed for not being able to protect his master so he committed suicide.”

This new surprised me. From what I can tell from seeing him once, he didn’t seem like a weak person who would break that easily. He could feel ashamed for the death of his master but to take his own life? A cold breeze swept through my heart.

Others in the restaurant were mourning his death.

“That’s too bad.”

“It’s sad to see a youth who was still blossoming in his springtime take his own life.”

“He seems like a real disciple of a famous school.”

They all said something about him.

And Kw.a.n.g Du added, “Isn’t it a waste?”

I also poured down a drink on the floor to mourn his death.

Then I said after filling up my gla.s.s, “Did he really take his own life? What if he didn’t?”

Seeing my expression Kw.a.n.g Du said, “Eh, why are you saying such thing?”

I looked into my cup. Its seems that famous clans and schools would become so inhumane as to kill off their own members to maintain their reputation and dignity.

“He could have taken his own life, but he could also not have.”

By killing off one their own disciple who wasn’t even fully blossomed they were able to place the blame away from them. Although it was Ho Yeon Nam who first attacked Yeom Hwa, now all the blame will be placed on Yeom Hwa.

“Since you don’t know which side is right … all the more reason for you to train.”

“Why?”

“To know the truth, you must be strong.”

Since this is a place where the strong ruled and weak become their food.

Kw.a.n.g Du looked at me with a stern face and said, “Yes young master, I will train diligently.”

If the Ho Yeon School truly killed him and disguised it as suicide… then they went over the line.

They will one day pay the price for going over that line.

***

A single youth was sitting beside a riverbank.

It was the Number One who received the report from Number Seven months ago.

He was just looking at the water cras.h.i.+ng into the bank when he finally raised his fis.h.i.+ng pole.

Then another man with a straw hat approached him. Surprisingly, the person who visited him was Ho Yeon School’s Ho Yeon Choon.

“Is there good catch today?”

“I was here since the morning, but it seems today isn’t the day.”

“I heard that fis.h.i.+ng can also be considered training.”

“There is such a saying."

“But I am not very good at sitting down like this.”

“But fis.h.i.+ng is just like training.”

Ho Yeon Choon looked at him with a weird look, “What do you mean?”

“There is calmness in the stream of water. Within that calmness is the flow. Just waiting and watching patiently for the right time to attack with the fis.h.i.+ng pole just like a sword.”

“So that’s how it is.” But Ho Yeon Choon didn’t really care what he said. ‘If you think of it like that, whatever you do isn’t it training?’

Ho Yeon Choon stopped his banter and moved onto to the real talk. “I don’t know if you know it or not but we had a little conflict with the Heavenly Dao Gate.”

Then Number One coldly said, “Didn’t you say you were going to get two hundred thousand nyang from the Dark Guild of San Dong?”

Ho Yeon Choon felt bad. He didn’t have to bring out the talk about money but it seemed like he was stabbing at where it hurt.

“Although we minimized our losses I don’t know how the Heavenly Dao Gate will respond. Especially Yeom Hwa.”

Everyone knew what sort of person Yeom Hwa was. Even by killing Ho Yeon Tak they knew that this matter wouldn’t come to an end.

“I heard that he is headed to Mu Han to meet Ma Bong Gi.”

Then Number One nodded as if he already knew about the matter. He gave an impression that he knew everything that was happening.

“I understand. We will take care of this matter in our end.”

“Thank you.”

Then Number One said, “It's only this time. Make sure this never happens again.”

With a cold gaze Ho Yeon Choon asked, “What are you trying to imply here?”

Number One’s sight was back into the river. Then he coldly said, “It’s just a warning.”

Then Ho Yeon Choon left without saying anything.

After some time someone else approached him and Number One said, “Do you know the reason why I love water?”

The person who he was saying this to was Number Seven.

“I do not.”

“It was because my father drowned in water.”

Then Number Seven said emotionlessly, “So that’s how it is.”

Number One was smiling at her response. Since it was him who trained her to become like this.

“Take Midget with you and take care of this.”

Without a word Number Seven left the place.

After watching her leave Number One’s eyes were back on the river.