Neung-heo could not hide his bewilderment at the current situation.

‘They say life is full of ups and downs…’

It was heartbreaking that the boat he had bought with his own money had been split in half, but the bigger problem was that there was no boat to go to the Black Assembly.

Because it was very difficult to make it in time if he went by land.

But things suddenly worked out well.

Neung-heo smiled brightly and looked down at the thick forearm that was holding his hand.

“Welcome, you said you were the Black Heart Gang leader. Thanks to your help, that vicious brat ran away with his tail between his legs!”

Neung-heo’s back straightened.

Who was the opponent in front of him?

None other than the Yangtze River Waterway General Leader.

The giant of the Unorthodox Alliance who had unified the numerous river pirates of the Yangtze River.

Wasn’t he a great figure in the martial world who was called by the grand moniker of the River King? There were no martial artists in either the Orthodox Path or the Demonic Path who would look down on him as a mere river pirate.

But for such a great figure to not only invite him to his boat but also to come out on two feet and hold both his hands.

It was a hospitality he had never received before. Moreover, from such a great martial artist.

“Since things have turned out this way, come aboard this boat with your subordinates. Let’s go to the Black Assembly together from here.”

Only then did Neung-heo’s mind clear up. Everything was according to Cheon Mubaeck’s plan.

‘Don’t tell me he did this on purpose?’

The ramming charge towards Cheon Mubaeck at the end was not his will.

When he had barely come to his senses and was getting up with Subong’s help, Cheon Mubaeck’s telepathic message had pierced his ears.

‘How long are you going to lie there? Let’s wrap up the act, shall we? Huh?’

The moment he heard that telepathic message, he felt something hot welling up from deep inside.

The feeling of something suppressed that he had endured and suffered until now bursting in his head.

‘Right, an act? The best act is one where you don’t know it’s an act!’

Thinking so, Neung-heo had gritted his teeth and charged with the boat.

Whether the boat broke or not, he really wanted to see Cheon Mubaeck fall into the water.

Although it was an action driven by a sense of revenge, it was decisive.

How would it have looked in the eyes of Wang Jeonyu, who was watching?

“Of course! If you’re a member of the Unorthodox Alliance, if you’re a person who lives by the sword, you have to have that much guts!”

Wang Jeonyu’s face, which was patting Neung-heo’s shoulder, was full of goodwill.

‘That’s a relief. It was a good thing I disguised myself.’

Neung-heo had disguised himself so as not to reveal his identity as the One-Eyed Snake. He had attached a prosthetic to his severed left arm, and had made his missing eye look as if it had been disfigured by a burn.

It was the help of the Hao Faction.

If he hadn’t disguised himself like that, the probability of his identity being revealed later would have been high, as he was so close to Wang Jeonyu.

‘Wait, my identity being revealed?’

At the thought that suddenly pierced his mind, Neung-heo’s body stiffened.

‘It wasn’t just to save the cruise ship.’

Of course, at first, that would have been the original purpose.

Because he could not refuse Wang Jeonyu’s suggestion.

The Cheon Mubaeck he had seen was not a perfect good person, but he was a person close to a hero who could not watch those who had no connection with the martial world be sacrificed. It was right that his purpose was to save the cruise ship.

But the result was not just one.

‘It wasn’t just a matter of matching each other and acting…’

He thought he was going to die. Although it was brief, hadn’t an emissary of the underworld flashed before his eyes, gently shaking a death list?

He had sincerely sent a powerful blow to him. At first, Neung-heo had thought it was a scheme to vent his anger on him, but there was a deeper meaning.

‘In any case, I survived that powerful blow. In their eyes, that is.’

Neung-heo carefully looked at Wang Jeonyu. A gaze full of goodwill. But within it, there was a hint of him observing him sharply.

‘This is not a situation where he can take me lightly.’

Wang Jeonyu’s river pirates had died every time they clashed. Not only the captains of each boat, but also all the elites who were quite something.

On the other hand, Neung-heo had not only endured, but had also shaken off Cheon Mubaeck at a decisive moment. He had imprinted in Wang Jeonyu’s mind that he was a formidable master.

‘And right now, the River King’s subordinates have been greatly reduced.’

As Cheon Mubaeck had run rampant, Wang Jeonyu’s fleet had shrunk to less than half. Considering the injured, it was not even a third.

In this situation, Wang Jeonyu, who had to participate in the Black Assembly, must have coveted Neung-heo and his subordinates.

Neung-heo had naturally received Wang Jeonyu’s hospitality, and at the upcoming Black Assembly, it was highly likely that Wang Jeonyu would keep him by his side.

‘I can naturally find out more clearly what’s going on at the Black Assembly from Wang Jeonyu’s side.’

Even up to this point, the result that Cheon Mubaeck had created was surprising.

‘And I can cast off the suspicion that I am the One-Eyed Snake.’

If he had just disguised himself, the probability of being found out would have been high.

But he had clashed directly with Cheon Mubaeck. This fact would surely spread throughout the martial world soon. That was the reason he had revealed his identity on the cruise ship. Because the passengers of the cruise ship who had survived safely would spread the rumor that the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero had saved them.

Then, in the future, he would be able to deny the connection between the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero and the Black Heart Gang. No, it would be hard to even suspect it.

In an instant, his whole body trembled.

A plan that kills two birds with one stone.

It was surprising that he had achieved such a plan, but Neung-heo was thrilled for another reason.

Hadn’t he come up with such a plan as soon as the cruise ship appeared, for a very brief moment?

‘Crazy bastard, no matter how I think about it, I can’t meet this guy as an enemy!’

Neung-heo forcibly suppressed the complaint he had suddenly felt towards Cheon Mubaeck.

“Why are you suddenly trembling so much? Ah, what was your name again?”

“Well… I am Hwaung.”

“Hwaung! Hwaung. A name befitting a member of the Unorthodox Alliance.”

Since he couldn’t say the name Neung-heo, Neung-heo used the name of the vice-gang leader, Hwaung.

“Then, is the person next to you the gang leader’s guard?”

“What?”

Neung-heo, who had turned his head at the sudden words, was truly startled.

Cheon Mubaeck was standing quietly by his side at some point.

‘When on earth did he come again?’

How many times had his heart dropped today? He suddenly felt that he would not live to his full life expectancy.

Cheon Mubaeck was wearing a mask, and he had deliberately erased his presence so thoroughly that Neung-heo had not even noticed when he had come to his side.

Only someone like Wang Jeonyu had felt a sense of disharmony and was looking at Cheon Mubaeck.

Neung-heo hurriedly responded.

“Ah, yes. He is my guard.”

“Hmm. The level of the Black Heart Gang must be higher than I thought. Seeing that you are so fine after clashing with the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, the gang leader’s skill seems great. The guard also doesn’t seem ordinary.”

Wang Jeonyu’s eyes flashed, but there was no way to know Cheon Mubaeck’s expression behind the mask.

But Neung-heo somehow guessed that expression.

‘It must be an annoyed expression. Because he has to pretend to be a guard. Huh? Wait a minute?’

If he’s a guard, he’s under me, right?

Neung-heo grinned, and suddenly messed up Cheon Mubaeck’s hair.

“He’s a guy I consider my nephew. He’s good with a sword, but his personality is a complete mess. I’m taking him with me and educating him.”

Neung-heo said so and pulled Cheon Mubaeck’s earlobe.

“I’m worried because he has no manners. You bastard, the River King is here, and you’re just standing there without greeting him?”

When he pulled his ear, Cheon Mubaeck finally slowly took a fist and palm salute and greeted him. The River King, who had been observing Cheon Mubaeck without realizing it, burst into a hollow laugh and waved his hand.

“That’s enough, that’s enough. I felt a strange momentum for some reason, but looking at him like this, he looks just like a young friend. Teach him well.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. You brat, what are you doing not bowing your head quickly?”

Neung-heo said so and pressed the back of Cheon Mubaeck’s head.

At that moment, Neung-heo felt a pleasure welling up from deep inside his chest.

It was an intense pleasure that he could not feel even in the bedroom with a woman, and that he had not felt even when he had won a big game in gambling.

‘Shit. I finally feel alive.’

What was there to be afraid of about the consequences?

The road to the Black Assembly was still long, and he didn’t know what would happen inside the Black Assembly, so the consequences were a matter of the very distant future.

Of course, that feeling was only valid until Cheon Mubaeck’s telepathic message came.

‘Neung-heo, you’re really trying to commit suicide in a new way.’

‘What do you mean? Don’t you see that River King looking at you intently right now? I did it on purpose. On purpose.’

‘Rather than on purpose, your hand had emotion in it. It’s the first time in my life that someone has pulled my ear.’

‘Think of it all as an experience. Look. As I treat the Lord so lightly, doesn’t that River King also cast off his suspicion?’

It wasn’t a wrong statement.

Even if Cheon Mubaeck had very intentionally erased his presence, the River King had felt a sense of disharmony and was looking at him.

But as Neung-heo treated him so lightly, as if he were really his nephew, hadn’t that suspicious gaze been lessened?

“Well, your injury must be severe, but I’ve kept you for a long time. I’ve prepared a cabin, so please rest. Let’s move together with this River King, Wang Jeonyu, until the Black Assembly.”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

Neung-heo bowed his head so and left the cabin. Cheon Mubaeck’s telepathic message pierced him.

‘It’s such a plausible excuse that it makes me even angrier. From the ramming charge with the boat, you were planning to drown me and kill me, right?’

‘Weren’t you the one who was really trying to kill me?’

‘Me? Why would I kill you?’

Two wide eyes that really didn’t know. Neung-heo let out a hollow laugh.

‘An emissary of the underworld was shaking a death list in front of my eyes and calling my name, you know?’

‘Well. You must be low on qi these days. Get some medicinal herbs and eat them.’

‘Wow, you bastard.’

‘If I had tried to kill you, would you be standing on two feet right now?’

‘…!’

In an instant, Neung-heo stopped in his tracks. He felt a strange chill.

“I went easy on you. You brat.”

Well, it probably wasn’t a wrong statement. After finishing his work in Wudang, Cheon Mubaeck had reached a realm that far surpassed the peak, a realm that was like a monster, ‘entering the divine’, as Neung-heo saw it.

But even so.

‘Damn it. Should I be grateful for this or not?’

A stinging pain came from his broken nose bone.

Somehow, he felt wronged.

* * *

In the end, Neung-heo’s action was quite appropriate.

“Indeed, the Unorthodox Alliance lives by trusting their senses.”

He had worn a mask and had thoroughly erased all his presence. He had withdrawn the unique energy that flowed from his upper dantian. He had only opened his lower dantian to induce anyone to guess that he had learned ice arts.

But still, Wang Jeonyu had a sense of disharmony towards Cheon Mubaeck with the unique sense that the Unorthodox Alliance had, perhaps what was called a hunch.

“Even if he doesn’t think it’s the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, if he feels a sense of disharmony, he’s bound to be suspicious.”

But there, as Neung-heo treated Cheon Mubaeck like a close nephew, he was able to lessen the suspicion to some extent.

Of course, Cheon Mubaeck had not forgotten that his ear had been pulled.

But he was just enduring it here.

“But still, that guy Neung-heo, he’s doing a pretty good job.”

Without realizing it, Wang Jeonyu was also unconsciously exuding his momentum in that situation.

But Neung-heo had shown a figure that did not waver even while receiving that momentum.

He would think that it was not a coincidence that he had not only survived the clash with the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, but had also broken the boat and landed a blow.

The Great Dragon Gang leader, and the Great Strength King.

Wang Jeonyu, whose individual martial power was somewhat inferior compared to those two, had to rely on his power.

So Wang Jeonyu would try to keep Neung-heo by his side somehow.

“With this, I’ve at least found a way to dig into the center of the Black Assembly.”

The Great Dragon Gang leader, the Great Strength King, and the River King. It was clear that these three would become the leaders of the Black Assembly.

Cheon Mubaeck then planned to slowly check his martial arts on the boat until he arrived at the Black Assembly.

‘I thought the middle dantian was just a passage…’

The connection between the upper and lower dantians, and the passage.

But it was not just that.

The immortal energy that had taken control of the middle dantian did not just stop at connecting the two opposing energies.

He had keenly felt that.

‘Even if the River King is not a master of the realm of entering the divine, he is not weak.’

Especially the Joyangbi that the River King had used to cross the water was a secret art that was one of the best in Cheon Mubaeck’s eyes.

But the moment Wang Jeonyu reached his back, his body had reacted on its own and had deflected the attack.

‘The body’s reaction speed has far surpassed the previous one.’

Come to think of it, no matter how much of a Cheon Mubaeck he was, he could not shake off the pursuit of Wang Jeonyu, who had lived on a boat his whole life.

But it was possible. He had always moved a beat faster. The presence of Wang Jeonyu chasing from behind was not a problem, as it was caught by the kind of extrasensory perception he had gained after opening his upper dantian.

But even if he had felt it with his senses, for his body to react to that sensation was a different kind of thing. Although it was essential to train the body thoroughly, what Cheon Mubaeck had clashed with Wang Jeonyu this time was more than that.

‘My reaction speed has gotten faster.’

At those times, Cheon Mubaeck felt as if the band of immortal energy in his middle dantian was shining.

‘Following extrasensory perception, a reaction speed that has reached the extreme…’

Cheon Mubaeck was lost in thought as he looked at the rippling surface of the water.

The moonlight fell.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep