The night before the storm (6)
“It’s been a while.”
“That’s right. “We’ve only kept in touch through letters, but it feels like it’s been several years since we’ve seen each other face to face.”
“How many years? “That’s too much of an exaggeration.”
“That’s what the heart is like, the heart.”
Zhuge Munho burst out laughing.
“Anyway, you’ve become very spiritual, haven’t you? “I can’t even tell him where he went and became a beggar.”
Full-sang chuckled.
“No matter what, I can’t smell it when I come to see the soldiers of the Murim Alliance. “I shaved off all the dirt for half a day.”
“Since when did you care about such things?”
“Actually, I washed it thoroughly once before, and it felt really good. Why is it that I’m getting itching that hasn’t been there since then? From then on, I wash it regularly.”
“That would be welcome news to ordinary people, but aren’t you a little master of openness? “It’s Mungyu who doesn’t wash, but the Lord somehow tolerated that?”
“I’m going to inherit it anyway.”
“You’ve gone too far with your free-spiritedness. Speaking of which, is Lord Yongdu Ark okay?”
Full Sang laughed bitterly.
“You’re not feeling well.”
“Where? “Your body?”
“You’ve been lying down all day. “I probably won’t live long.”
He was the one who said such things calmly.
Zhuge Wenhu was surprised.
“Hey man, then why didn’t you contact me sooner!”
“There is no way to contact them. “Master also told me not to spread disturbing stories to busy people for no reason.”
“Even though!”
“And what… … “It’s not like I have a serious illness.”
“What if I’m not sick?”
“It’s old age.”
senility, aging.
Zhuge Wenhu could not understand.
“Of course, Lord Yongdu Ark is said to be older, but hasn’t he already started a family? He has mastered Gangryonggyeol (降龍訣), and his physical strength is completely different from that of ordinary people. … .”
“Even if you learn the best martial arts in the world, aging is inevitable.”
Full-sang quenched his appetite.
“Soldier, you know this, but when I deal with information, I feel like my life is slipping away every day. Moreover, Master was one of the most active members of the Ark in history, so he must have had many things to consider.”
“Hmm.”
“He himself was satisfied. She’s had a good enough life. “When he left, he said that he had no regrets about leaving and that he felt refreshed.”
Zhuge Wenhu let out a sigh.
As he said, Yongdu Ark Hwajincheon was an adult of the martial arts group who lived a strong and powerful life more passionately than anyone else.
Since I have lived that hard, I can agree with the statement that I have no regrets in the world. It would have been different if it were him, but considering Hwa Jin-cheon’s personality, he was a person who would survive that.
“But that’s not right. “I’ll have to come see you sometime.”
“Do whatever you want with that. “He won’t stop that.”
“okay.”
As we talk about the Dragon Head Ark, the atmosphere is very turbulent from the beginning.
Full-sang changed the topic.
“By the way, when do you leave?”
“You mean the ice palace side?”
“Of course.”
“I will leave tonight at the earliest, or early morning at the latest.”
“Um, I see.”
“why? “Do you have anything else to say?”
“no. but… … .”
Full-sang took out a neatly folded letter from his arms.
“Look at this first.”
“What is this?”
Zhuge Wenhu opened the letter and read it.
After a moment, his eyes widened.
“already?!”
“That’s right.”
Full Sang chuckled.
“It’s really fast, right? “No matter how much we prepared in advance, I had no idea it would happen this way.”
The letter stated that the Mukryongbu changed its name to Heukjeseong and declared a new Black Island Alliance.
Zhuge Wenhu could not contain his admiration.
“Yeon Sobuju, or now I should say Yeon Seongju. “I knew it had good momentum for a long time, but I never thought it would be this fast.”
“I am a person who wants to see the end as soon as possible. Even if it doesn’t have to be that way, wouldn’t it be better if organizational change were quick and clear?”
“That’s right. How come you, it must have been a while since you’ve seen Seongju’s face, so why don’t you come visit once?”
“I’m thinking about it. Well, like you, we can contact you by letter, so there is no need to go right away.”
“I see.”
“Oh, and about the ice palace thing, Heuk Je-seong also noticed it.”
“already?”
Heukje Castle was quite south of the Murim League. It won’t be easy to first find out what’s happening in the north.
“You know, right? The information power of the dark island. In fact, in some ways it is more than open. “They are very specialized in survival.”
“I know that, but… … That’s amazing. “I didn’t know it would be that fast.”
“I am Buju, or rather, I should say Taesang. It is said that Yang Tae-sang has been putting a lot of effort into developing information power for a long time. “Most of the money earned was passed on to Seongju.”
“That’s amazing.”
“I think I had a hunch from then on. “The most important thing when transferring the position of Vice President to a successor is information.”
“Anyway, if Black Emperor knew about the Ice Palace incident, he would have tried to take action in his own way.”
“So I already sent someone.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I am Kangryang, one of the five great gods of the Black Emperor, the Sword Demon.”
Geomma Kangryang.
Rumors about the five masters representing the Black Emperor have been circulating for a month.
Among them, rumors about Kang Ryang spread particularly quickly because he was the successor to the extinct Black Island First Swordsman.
Although it was a town where betrayal was rampant, it was rare for a successor to join the organization that led the destruction. Of course, I had no choice but to become famous.
So to speak, it could be said to be a bad rumor, but the bad rumor turned into shock 15 days ago.
Even though he was the successor to the Black Island First Swordsman, Kang Ryang was too young. Since such a person is said to be the representative master of the Black Island Alliance, all the black sword masters, who are hot-tempered and full of competitive spirit, asked Kang Ryang to challenge him.
Kang Ryang completed all seventeen challenges in one day.
All seventeen masters were killed by Kang Ryang’s sword, and the strongest master among them collapsed under Kang Ryang’s three swords and was beheaded by the fourth sword.
In other words, in a life-or-death battle with the most powerful masters of the Black Island, he did not cut more than four times.
Countless people who saw the match were astonished and fearful of Kang Ryang. Even though Yeon Ho-jeong was a character outside the standard, he did not expect that the younger Kang Ryang’s skills would surpass the level of a long-time writer of the Daemun faction.
In this way, Gangryang’s nickname became Sword Demon. What was noteworthy was that the name was first raised by the Black Island faction rather than the White Island political faction.
“Hmm.”
Zhuge Wenhu’s eyes sparkled.
“The Sword Demon is leading the troops and moving… … If possible, it would be better for us to keep pace together.”
“Why not just communicate in the middle?”
“Yeah, that would be better.”
“Anyway, I really don’t know what’s going on. A person was sent from the North Sea Ice Palace, which had not been seen before… … .”
Full Sang frowned.
“How can this be so annoying?”
“Me too.”
Zhuge Wenhu sighed.
“Hwasan and Jongnam are also taking action, so even if a fight breaks out, it won’t be a big deal. However, if they really joined hands with the Three Religions, they may use a plan to attack Seongdong, so please focus the intelligence power of the opening toward the imperial palace and the East Sea.”
“of course.”
* * *
Hee hee hee!
White steam rose from the horse’s mouth as it toured.
The great dragon leader asked.
“Why do you stop?”
Mo Yong-woo said calmly.
“Someone is coming.”
“yes?”
It was then.
Doo doo doo.
There was a slight tremor in the ground.
The sound of horse hooves pounding the ground. The great dragon leader looked south in surprise.
After a while.
“… … !!”
The Great Dragon Lord’s eyes wavered.
There was a group of people running, bathed in the red sunlight setting on Seosan.
Among them, I felt an indescribable force from the person leading the horse.
‘dark.’
It seems as if a ghost wearing a huge shadow like a blanket is running along with it.
Although dark and eerie, he was still an expert with intense vitality. Although he was as sharp as the divine sword of the world, he gave a strangely strong impression that he was a vicious thief.
“Whoa, whoa.”
Kang-ryang slowly stopped talking and looked at Mo Yong-woo with a smile.
“Long time no see.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Speak comfortably as before.”
“You can’t do that. Besides, this is official business, so we should be more polite.”
“Haha, it’s still the same.”
“It’s the same with Kang Xinjiang.”
“The personality is the same, but the martial arts skills are different. “He felt it from afar, but in that short period of time, he made remarkable progress.”
Mo Yong-woo smiled.
“I learned good martial arts, but my strength has also improved just as much as mine. “Now, even if it’s a life-or-death battle, I’m not sure if I can win.”
“What weak words. “I can immediately see the picture of So Mengju’s lightning-like sword piercing my heart at once.”
“Haha, that’s too much praise.”
Mo Yong-woo looked behind Kang Ryang.
Behind Kang Ryang were three hundred masters, all with crazy eyes.
“The Ink Dragon Club, no, the Black Emperor’s Dragon Order.”
“That’s right.”
The strongest unit in the Black Island Alliance was the Yongah Iron Team, but there were three units that rose to fame along with the Iron Team.
One of them was the Doryongdan. It was a crazy unit that was notorious for chopping up the enemy without caring for their own lives when fighting broke out.
“We don’t have time, so let’s leave first.”
“That’s right.”
Just like that, the units of the Murim Alliance and the Black Emperor ran in line.
Although it was noisy and the postures were not comfortable, Mo Yong-woo and Kang Ryang did not feel the slightest discomfort while talking to each other.
“What about Seongju? How are you?”
“I’m so busy. However, I am so good at handling my subordinates that things are running smoothly now.”
“It would be nice if we could take it easy.”
“That guy, doesn’t it make it more difficult to rest? Still, I sleep well these days. “I think I sleep for more than three hours.”
“It’s a nice sound to hear. “Even if you are an expert, if you don’t sleep, your body will be ruined, so I’m glad you are sleeping comfortably.”
“How are you all doing over there?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I heard that Zhuge Commander couldn’t stop smiling every day at the taste of controlling his members.”
“haha.”
Kang Ryang, who made the atmosphere comfortable with a few jokes, asked in a serious voice.
“Why did Binggung come here at this point?”
“Even Meng’s side isn’t sure. “If you look at the position they entered and the speed of their advance, it doesn’t look like they are going to fight.”
“On our side, we thought it was a little more likely that it was an alliance rather than a fight or a plan.”
“At least they won’t be coming to fight right away. Even though Binggung’s reputation is great, he wouldn’t be reckless enough to fight where Hwaseong and Jongnam were standing.”
Kang Ryang’s eyes deepened.
“first… … “You’ll find out when you meet them.”
In this way, the organization representing black and white reached the vicinity of Xiaoshan Mountain in Shaanxi in just a few days.
And that’s when they realized they were wrong.
The all-white warriors camped near Sohwasan Mountain.
The energy radiating from them was horrifyingly cold and incredibly powerful.
And I felt a particularly terrifying force coming from one of them.
An inhuman strength that can only be felt by those who have shed their human shell.
Mo Yong-woo muttered in a low voice.
“No pole water… … .”
