Chapter 182: Woobin, Dreams

“Are you truly thinking of striking the Black Way Alliance headquarters?”

Before Rain could even rejoice that Mountain had returned safely, the new report left him stunned. 

Mountain had brushed death dealing with the Demonic Cult, yet he attached no special meaning to it. He considered it the natural outcome. He believed he bore a fate strong enough to overcome at least that much. 

“I am.” 

“It is far too dangerous.” 

“Leaving Lee Jaseung as he is would be even more dangerous. While we are still with the Demonic Cult, he has to be removed.” 

“But everyone you ordered out last time died. We lost half our strength.” 

“That was Lee Jaseung’s doing as well.” 

“What?” 

Rain was shocked. He had dispatched the designated men on Mountain’s orders, yet he did not know how they had been used. 

“The Asura Demon Sect’s Vice Leader and the Four Demon Leaders died with them.” 

“Gasp!” 

Rain had weathered many events of late, but this time he was genuinely shocked. Their own forces alone could have swept away a Murim Alliance branch with ease. 

And then the Asura Demon Sect’s Vice Leader on top of that! The Four Demon Leaders were as renowned as the Elder Demon Leader. If Mountain had not said it himself, he would never have believed it. 

“How bad were the losses to the Iron Cavalry Regiment and the Divine Sword Regiment? Were they wiped out, is that why you plan to strike the main base?” 

“No. They had nothing to do with this.” 

“If they were not involved… then, could it be?” 

When Rain’s eyes widened, Mountain nodded. 

“You mean this was Lee Jaseung’s work alone?” 

“Yes.” 

“I cannot believe it.” 

Mountain snapped his fingers, and a man stepped forth. Dressed in black with even his face covered, he was Eye. 

Mountain had used crows to watch Lee Jaseung fight, and the one who commanded those who controlled the crows was Eye. 

“It was a long battle. We lost five precious subordinates just to watch it to the end.” 

Seeing through a crow’s eyes was no easy art. Those versed in such sorcery burned immense inner power, and this fight was so long that five died in the attempt. 

Eye spoke low. 

“I saw it myself. Lee Jaseung killed them all alone.” 

Since Eye would not lie, Rain went limp with shock. 

“That cannot be!” 

Mountain spoke evenly. 

“He is one who has the right to covet the world.” 

Silence fell. 

In the end, Mountain decided that joining with the Demonic Cult this time had been the right move. With an opponent this strong, had he tried to face him alone, he would have been devoured. 

“We will sweep the Black Way Alliance headquarters.” 

* * *

“No!” 

Dan Woobin screamed and jolted upright. 

He let out a long breath and gulped the cold tea on the table. 

It was his first nightmare in a while. 

He wandered, lost. 

And there had been something unpleasant about it. 

Yet the instant he opened his eyes, it slipped beyond memory. The harder he tried to recall it, the faster it vanished, like a shred of a dream. 

Dan Woobin wiped his cold sweat away and opened a window. It was still a deep night. 

His chest felt tight for no reason. He doubted he would sleep again, so he stepped outside for a short walk. 

A face rose on the moon. 

Someone he missed dearly. 

The woman he tried so hard to forget. 

Songhwa. 

“Are you well?” 

He wondered if the dream he had just had was somehow about Songhwa. 

He tried to recall it. Right as he was about to remember something, a subordinate of the Three Eyed Pavilion came running. 

“I have an urgent report.” 

“What is it?” 

The man delivered quickly. 

“We’ve received a message from the Demonic Cult.” 

“What? What does it say?” 

“They propose talks to discuss the recent affair.” 

Since this had never happened before, Dan Woobin was taken aback. 

“Who are they sending? Is it the Great Demon?” 

At his question, the subordinate answered with a tense face. 

“No. It’s Yeo Su-in, known as the successor to the Demonic Cult Leader.” 

* * *

At first light a rumor spread across Jianghu. 

The Demonic Cult had proposed a conference with the Murim Alliance. 

The news had not leaked from the Alliance, so it was clearly something the Demonic Cult itself had floated. 

Everyone pricked up their ears. 

It had already been revealed that the Demonic Cult stood behind the deaths of Murim Alliance Leader Jang Wonso and the Black Way Alliance Leader. 

With war nearly at hand, a proposal for talks set opinions flying about their intent. 

“They want the Murim Alliance to let down its guard.” 

“Maybe they want to proclaim they had nothing to do with the two Leaders’ deaths?” 

“They mean to assassinate the new Leader.” 

“The successor has surely been given a new trial to prove he is fit to be Cult Leader.” 

Many such theories circulated, some of them quite plausible. 

The Chief Strategist Dan Woobin, however, could not grasp the truth of it. 

“Just what are they intending?” 

At his question, Mujin scratched his head. 

“That’s our question to you, and it’s your role to give the answer.” 

Sensing this was no time for jokes, Dan Woobin ignored him and spoke again, this time to Lee Jaseung. 

“The point is that the Demonic Cult’s representative is Yeo Su-in.” 

Baek Seolyoung asked. 

“Who is he exactly?” 

She did not know details about the successor. 

Dan Woobin answered promptly. 

“He was one of the Demonic Cult Leader’s nine disciples. Now that the rest are dead, he is the only one left.” 

Mujin’s face tightened slightly. 

“Those bastards are worse than beasts. Heartless bastards who carve up their own fellow disciples!” 

Ma Young-gi cut in. 

“The successor’s seat is at stake after all.” 

Mujin flinched for an instant. 

“And?” 

“What do you mean, and?” 

“So if you were in the same position, would you kill us and survive?” 

“Wouldn’t you, Captain Mu?” 

When Ma Young-gi asked with wide eyes, Mujin pulled a face. 

“You are not joking, are you?” 

Ma Young-gi replied. 

“No. I am.” 

“Gasp! That makes it even shadier!” 

Listening to their banter, Baek Seolyoung smiled, though inwardly she felt the Asura Demon Sect’s brutality. 

She could imagine strife among the Demonic Cult’s successors. But there was only one survivor out of nine?

Dan Woobin spoke gravely. 

“Cruelty is one thing, but that is not the problem. Yeo Su-in is said to be a born genius in martial arts. He shut himself in for three years of closed-door cultivation, so he will certainly be stronger. You two especially, be careful. A moment’s carelessness could be dire.” 

The pointed two were Mujin and Ma Young-gi. Mujin pouted. 

“Why tell us this? You should be telling the man who has reached the realm where carelessness is all he has left to do.” 

“Well our Lord would win even if he were careless.” 

After hearing that, Lee Jaseung replied.

“That’s uncertain.” 

“Huh?” 

“Geniuses often act beyond the bounds ordinary people can imagine after all.” 

Dan Woobin glanced at the two layabouts. 

“See that you lazypokes? He’s not letting his guard down even in this regard.” 

Mujin and Ma Young-gi grinned at one another. 

Then Dan Woobin looked back at Lee Jaseung and spoke. 

“And you are a genius yourself aren’t you, my Lord?” 

Lee Jaseung shook his head firmly. 

“I am in no way a genius.” 

“Our Lord is the master of hard work.” 

At Ma Young-gi’s words, Mujin chuckled. 

“So stiff as always. Even if he denies it, you should keep calling him a genius.” 

“Why?” 

“Because it will make him feel good.” 

Ma Young-gi asked again after hearing that. 

“Why?” 

“Because it feels good to be called a genius when you are not one, right?” 

Baek Seolyoung let out a small laugh. 

Lee Jaseung wore a look of disbelief. The target was not the prankster Mujin, but Baek Seolyoung. She held back her laughter and said, 

“It is funny, isn’t it not.” 

“Not at all.” 

When he didn’t react at all, she could not hold it back any longer. 

“Hahaha.”

She laughed, and the others laughed with her. 

Only then did Lee Jaseung relax the mock severity on his face. She now mingled with his subordinates naturally enough. It was a pleasant sight. 

After the laughter passed, the mood turned serious again. 

“What will you do?” 

At Dan Woobin’s question, Lee Jaseung answered, 

“They have made a proposal, so we shall accept it. Why? Is there any reason not to?” 

“Not necessarily.” 

The Demonic Cult had never made such an offer. For them to do so suddenly meant there was some scheme behind it. 

‘And what on earth would that be?’ 

Accepting while unable to guess their intent felt a little too much like dancing to their tune. 

“I will keep digging into their intentions. We will delay acceptance as much as we can.” 

“Do that.” 

Dan Woobin resolved to handle it properly, but his mind would not settle. 

‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’

He thought that perhaps it was because of the dream. 

* * *

At the same hour, a man rode hard on his horse. 

Rumble!

As if something were chasing him, he kept spurring his horse. 

In his eyes burned a killing aura that only a long-time killer could carry. 

Dust billowed under the horse’s pounding stride. 

An old man driving a cart along that road coughed as dust covered him. 

“Grandfather, are you alright?” 

The one who asked anxiously was a boy about ten. 

“I am fine.” 

“Thank goodness.” 

The boy smiled brightly. 

“Good lad you are.” 

The old man patted his head. He had met the child only a few days ago, collapsed at the roadside from hunger, and had brought him home to feed and shelter him. 

The child said his parents had died of a plague, and he had wandered from village to village begging. 

The old man could not turn him away, and the boy treated him like a real grandfather. The old man even thought of simply keeping the child with him. 

‘Foolish notion. How could I take care of a child?’ 

The old man shook his head. 

Yet where could he entrust such a young boy? The old man had many worries. 

Just then, another man sped past. Unlike the rider before, he was running with lightness movement technique. Though he had clearly come a long way, he did not sweat a drop. 

Swoosh.

The man raised a breeze as he streaked by the cart. 

The two were covered in dust again. 

“What is going on?” 

“I’m not sure.” 

After another hundred paces or so, a dozen martial artists ran in a pack in the same direction as the two before. 

“Where are they all rushing to?” 

Muttering, the old man took out something covered with a rag on the side of the cart. It was a wooden birdcage, and inside was a pigeon. 

“Wow! A pigeon!” 

“Cute, is it not?” 

“Yes, it’s very cute. May I hold it for a bit?” 

“Haha, of course. But in a moment, we will set this child free.” 

“Okay!” 

The old man lifted the pigeon out and placed it in the boy’s hands. 

Then he took out a brush and wrote something on paper. 

— Twelve men. Identities unknown. Investigation requested. 

He rolled the note and tucked it into the small tube tied to the pigeon’s leg. 

“Now, let it fly off.” 

It was then.

Crack. 

The boy broke the pigeon’s neck. 

The old man cried out after seeing what happened. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” 

Before he could finish his words,

Thunk! 

The boy stabbed a dagger into the old man’s throat. The old man could not evade the sudden strike. 

The boy yanked the blade free without mercy, and blood gushed from the old man’s neck. The old man tried to stem the flow with his hand, but it was no use. 

As he collapsed under the cart, he saw the boy. The child was eating the note he had written. 

Crouching on the cart, the boy looked down at the old man with an innocent face. 

“Farewell, grandpa.” 

But the old man’s breath had already ceased. 

In truth, the old man had been a Black Way Alliance martial artist. His mission was to watch for suspicious movements in the area. 

A masked man dropped down nearby. 

“All the other watchers have been eliminated.” 

The boy looked off into the distance. 

His eyes were no longer a child’s. They were the eyes of an adult who had roamed Jianghu for years. He was a member of the mysterious organization, bearing the codename Child. 

Far away in the direction he gazed stood the place the old man had guarded for decades. 

The Black Way Alliance headquarters. 

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