Chapter 140 Summary-1

Chapter 140 Summary-1

The dark dawn, before the break of day.

The White Tiger Division and the Second Division of the Ha Clan arrived at the Black Bear Forest, located at the crossroads leading from the Seonwoo Clan to Dangajang.

“According to intelligence, Sunwoo Jung and Sunwoo Seong should pass through here in about an hour. You, Dae-ju, take up position on the left side of the forest. I’ll ambush them on the right.”

“Understood, First Captain.”

They planned to lie in ambush in the forest and pounce from all sides when Seonwoo Jung and his eldest son, Seonwoo Seong, passed through.

This Black Bear Forest, with its sparse population and only one path, was undoubtedly the perfect spot for an ambush.

According to intelligence, Seonwoo Jung, the head of the Seonwoo clan, was said to depart before dawn to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

But he probably never imagined that decision would lead to their deaths without leaving a trace.

Baekho Il Daeju, who had gone to the right side of the forest, spoke softly to his subordinates.

His voice, imbued with powerful inner strength, spread clearly into the ears of his subordinates.

“As you all know, the lifeblood of an ambush is concealing your presence! I trust you won’t make such a rookie mistake as ruining the operation by making noise!”

“Yes, Commander!”

White Tiger First Division Commander Gan Jong-chi smiled with satisfaction at the low but disciplined reply from his men.

As expected, they were the dependable elite of the Ha Clan, trained by his own hand.

Gan Jong-chi now gave a brief command.

“Everyone to your positions!”

Simultaneously, the White Tiger Unit members swiftly moved, spreading out into the bushes beside the road.

Their movements were both silent and swift.

But they did not yet know.

that far more stealthy and dangerous beings had already arrived in this forest before them…

***

Jang-i, the newest and youngest member of the White Tiger Unit, watched his seniors skillfully take up their ambush positions and suddenly felt a pang of envy.

Since every mission was his first, he naturally had never experienced an ambush like this before.

He went to the farthest spot, fearing he might catch the commander’s eye, and then, glancing sideways at the senior soldier ambushing beside him, copied him exactly.

Rustle!

His heart skipped a beat at the sound of foliage brushing against his collar.

Despite moving as cautiously as possible, it felt like he alone was making a racket.

He cautiously glanced around at the seniors nearby.

But fortunately, no one seemed to be paying him any mind.

A sigh of relief escaped him.

He cautiously slipped into the thicket, crouching low, wary of drawing the disapproving glances of his seniors.

It seemed he had completed his ambush.

Finding a moment of respite, Jang-i suddenly turned his eyes to survey his surroundings.

Outside the forest, dawn was slowly breaking.

But the dark forest where they lay in ambush remained pitch black.

The dense undergrowth blocked the light, allowing him to make out only nearby outlines. Even a slight distance away, only pitch-black darkness met his eyes.

‘So I have to just sit here and endure an hour in a place like this?’

Jang-i already felt a tightness coming over his chest.

Having feared ghosts since childhood, he found being in this darkness deeply uncomfortable.

He hated the pitch-black darkness that seemed to lurk with something sinister, and he hated the mosquitoes that had already begun buzzing around him.

‘Still, mosquitoes are better than snakes. I really hope no snakes show up.’

Suddenly, he remembered his senior boasting about how he hadn’t broken the ambush even when a snake had come and bitten his foot during a previous ambush.

I couldn’t bring myself to do such a thing, yet I suddenly worried it might happen.

And as those thoughts surfaced haphazardly in his mind, his whole body already felt restless.

It was an awkward situation.

So he looked toward his senior, who was lying in ambush a short distance away.

Then, unlike himself, the senior’s outline came into view, still as if turned to stone.

It seemed only he, being clumsy, was acting this way.

Jang-i composed himself and resolved to refocus his concentration.

That was when it happened.

‘Huh?’

Jang-i, who had been about to look ahead, suddenly turned her eyes back toward her senior.

It was because he thought he had seen something strange.

Then something caught Jang-i’s eye.

A shadow, a shadow that seemed to move slowly, as if it were alive.

It seemed the darkest shadow, already shrouded in the senior’s dim surroundings, was gliding smoothly toward the senior’s back.

At first, he thought he might be seeing things and tried to stare harder, but it seemed undeniable that what he saw was real.

His heart began to pound.

‘Ghost… a ghost?’

It was definitely a ghost.

And it seemed to be the very demon I’d only heard about.

If things continued like this, that evil spirit would completely overwhelm my senior.

I had to tell my senior about it.

‘But I mustn’t make a sound?’

A fierce internal struggle began raging within him.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jang-i finally gathered his courage and decided to approach his senior.

Just as he shifted his body slightly…

Jang-i, who had suddenly looked down at his feet, couldn’t help but stare in horror, his eyes wide.

Suddenly, the shadow beneath his feet reached out and pounced upon him.

It was an utterly unbelievable, unreal scene—like the demons he had only imagined as a child were now attacking him.

Jang-i forgot he mustn’t make a sound and tried to scream.

“!”

But no sound escaped.

It seemed the demon’s arm had wrapped itself around his neck.

And in the next instant, a sharp, stinging pain shot through the back of his head.

It was the last sensation Jang-i could feel while alive.

***

Unlike the others, Seon Woo-jin swiftly dealt with the distracted ambusher and sent a telepathic message to Jeok Mahyeok and Gyeon Jung.

– Continue.

Then, the two shadows that had paused momentarily began moving again.

And Seon Woo-jin sensed the ambushers’ presence gradually fading away.

Like ink seeping into paper, the lives of the White Tiger members were fading away, very slowly.

The ambushing White Tiger members remained completely unaware, but from the moment they had hidden in this forest, they were already halfway to the afterlife.

Over a century ago, the three who mastered the Heavenly Killing Technique of the Shadowless Assassin—once hailed as the supreme master of assassins—were like the Four Heavenly Kings in such an environment.

***

An hour later, Gu Xiangshan, the master of the White Tiger Inn, could see two figures on horseback approaching along the forest path as it gradually brightened.

Sunwoo Jung and Sunwoo Seong—today’s targets, without a doubt.

Clop, clop!

They were rapidly approaching their position.

And they were just about to pass right in front of where Guksang-hang was lying in ambush.

‘Yes, now!’

But no matter how long they waited, the signal from the head of the main force, Jang Jong-chi, never came.

‘What the hell? Why isn’t he giving the attack order?’

Guk Sang-haeng, who had been ready to charge out at any moment, began to get annoyed.

He always bragged about being the main man, yet he couldn’t even get his timing right at such a crucial moment.

Unable to hold back any longer, Guk Sang-haen shouted first.

“Attack!”

He charged forward at the very front, shouting.

“Seonwoo Jung! We’ll avenge our Dan Family’s grievance!”

Then, into Guk Sang-hyang’s eyes came the sight of Seonwoo Seong’s flustered face and, true to his reputation as a peak master, Seonwoo Jung immediately drawing his sword and leaping from his horse.

“Haah!”

Crash!

Seonwoo Jung’s purple energy blade and Guk Sang-hyang’s white energy blade clashed midair.

It was a dead heat.

Both being martial artists at the very beginning of their peak, a single clash was insufficient to determine superiority.

Ultimately, after exchanging just one move in midair, both had no choice but to retreat.

But as Guksang-hyang retreated, having fought to a draw, he was instead taken aback.

He hadn’t expected that when he attacked, Gan Jong-chi, the leader of the White Tiger faction, who he assumed would naturally appear to join the attack, did not show up.

No, not just Gan Jong-chi—the entire White Tiger faction seemed to have vanished somewhere, leaving only silence behind.

That wasn’t all.

The White Tiger Corps members who had followed him out were in an equally strange state.

“Wh-what the hell…?!

The number of White Tiger Corps members, who should have been fifty, was barely even thirty.

A mere handful of subordinates barely surrounded the two men, looking at each other in confusion.

Something was definitely wrong.

That was when it happened.

Seonwoo Seong, the eldest son of the Seonwoo family, shouted at Seonwoo Jung with a panicked expression.

“Ah, Father! It seems the Dan Clan has attacked us!”

Seonwoo Jung snorted derisively, pointing his finger toward the distance as he spoke.

“That’s ridiculous! If these are the Dan family, then who are those?!”

“Huh?”

Seonwoo Seong looked in the direction Seonwoo Jung pointed with a puzzled expression.

Then, from the direction of the Dan family, he could see over a hundred warriors charging fiercely toward them.

The warrior at the front shouted.

“Lord Seonwoo! We will assist you!”

Yellowish-brown martial arts robes and gray hero’s cape.

That was unmistakably the attire of the Dan Clan.

Already flustered, Baekho Edaeju, the commander of the Guksa Division, was now thrown into complete disarray.

How did they even know to come here?

Everything was in utter chaos.

Baekho’s men had vanished, his own subordinates were decimated, and now even Dan Gajang’s warriors were attacking.

That was when it happened.

Something suddenly flashed through Guk Sang-hyang’s mind.

‘Could it be… a trap?’

It seemed undeniably true.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the situation.

‘But who, and how?’

He was getting closer to the truth, but Kook Sang-hyun couldn’t continue his reasoning any further.

Seonwoo Jung had pounced on him.

“You bastard! Reveal your true identity!”

Shwaaah!

“Ugh!”

Startled, the national guard hurriedly drew his sword.

Escaping this situation seemed to be the top priority.

And he believed that much was possible.

After all, the Dan Family warriors were still some distance away, and nearly thirty of his own men remained.

But it was precisely at that moment.

Suddenly, three figures clad in black robes and masks burst out from the forest.

Pushushushush! Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

“Kwaaaaah!”

“Gwaaah!”

Guk Sang-hyang was thrown into confusion once more.

The hidden weapons thrown by the three black-clad figures flew like bolts of light, beginning to slaughter his men.

Even though it seemed like he was just spraying it on, the speed and accuracy were incredible.

‘Where did these memorization masters come from?!’

Judging by the flustered expression on Seonwoo Seong’s face, the eldest son, it seemed they were strangers to them as well.

And then, in that instant.

“Haah!”

Puhwaak!

“Guh!”

Guk Sang-hyang’s right arm, holding the sword, was severed.

Seonwoo Jung’s strike had struck without hesitation, exploiting the moment of confusion that had overwhelmed Guk Sang-hyang amid the succession of startling events.

Though both were at the beginning of their peak, Seonwoo Jung’s skill was slightly superior, and he had seized his opponent’s opening, leading to a swift conclusion.

After that, Seonwoo Jung immediately pinpointed the acupoints to secure his prisoner. He exchanged glances with Seonwoo Jin, one of the black-clad masked figures, and nodded.

Seonwoo Jin then sent a telepathic message to Jik Mahyeok and Gyeon Jung, signaling them to withdraw from the battlefield together and slip back into the forest.

The very next moment, the warriors of the Dan Family stormed in.

“You bastards!”

“How dare you impersonate our Dan Family!”

“We won’t forgive you!”

While the individual skills of the White Tiger Corps warriors from the Ha Clan might have surpassed those of the Dan Family warriors, the White Tiger Corps, having lost their focal point and with only a dozen or so remaining, stood no chance against over a hundred Dan Family warriors.

They were slaughtered in an instant.

“Kraaaah!”

“Aaaah!”

“S-spare me!”

Seonwoo Jung confirmed the scene and immediately approached the masked man he had captured, ripping off his mask.

Then, as if he had anticipated it, he shouted loudly.

“Baekhoi Daeju, Guksang-hang! So you bastards were part of the Ha Clan after all!”

***

“Baekhoi Daeju, Guksang-jang! So you bastards were part of the Ha Clan after all!”

Hearing my father’s shout, I let out a quiet chuckle.

Everything was unfolding exactly as planned.

Not long ago, during a conversation with my father, he asked me this.

‘After creating an atmosphere as if we’re submitting to the Zhuge clan, then declaring we’ll fairly select the successor based solely on martial prowess—the other wives wouldn’t dare raise objections. I understood that much, but I don’t quite see how that becomes a method to eliminate other factions.’

I grinned and posed a question to Father.

‘What they all want in common is to seize control of the Sunwoo Clan. So, Father, who do you think among them would consider themselves most advantageous in that situation?’

‘Hmm, it seems the Ha clan will likely inherit it. They’re in exile with us, and they wield the greatest influence over our clan as well.’

‘Indeed. Then, if by some strange turn of events the succession were to unexpectedly pass to the eldest brother, and even the Seonwoo clan—which we thought was almost entirely ours—were to fall into the hands of the Jegal clan, what do you think they would do?’

Father couldn’t answer my question easily.

But his expression made it clear he knew the answer well.

I spoke again.

‘They’d likely want to overturn the entire situation. Even if it meant killing you and my eldest brother.’

Then Father sighed deeply and nodded.

‘Yes, if it’s the Ha Gu-yang I know, he’d definitely do something like that. But Jin-ah. No matter how powerful the Ha family’s forces are, it would be a burden for them to attack our Seonwoo family head-on. So things won’t go exactly as he wishes….’

At that moment, I asked with a mischievous grin.

‘Of course it would be a burden to attack head-on. So how about just you and my eldest brother go out together? That way, they won’t feel burdened.’

Startled by my words, Father asked with a flustered expression.

‘…You mean just the two of us going out, even though we know what they’re after?’

‘Yes, and if we tell them our destination too, won’t they be delighted to ambush us in advance?’

‘…Isn’t that too dangerous?’

I replied to my father, who asked me this with a worried look.

‘An ambush we already know about isn’t really an ambush anymore.’

And so, to prevent other factions besides the Ha clan from interfering, we had departed swiftly—that was the whole story behind this situation.

They must have thought it was a covert raid no one knew about, but in truth, it was nothing more than a game played right in the palm of my hand—all along, I’d been receiving real-time intelligence from Hao Wen.

“Lord Seonwoo, are you unharmed?!”

“Thanks to your timely arrival, nothing happened. I’m truly grateful.”

The warrior from the Dan family exchanging greetings with my father was Dan Ha-seon, the elder brother of my deceased friend, Dan Ha-sang.

When he was alive, my friend Dan Hasang used to boast to me about his older brother, calling him the ultimate prodigy—unmatched in character, strategy, talent, martial arts, nothing lacking.

Back then, I was incredibly envious of him because, unlike me, he got along well with his brothers.

When I first arrived in Guizhou Province, after taking over the Haomen branch in Guiyang, I went straight to find Dan Jia.

And I asked Dan Ha-seon, who drew his sword with eyes filled with hatred, vowing to kill me,

‘Ha-sang always spoke highly of you, Brother. He said you were a very wise man. I believed that such a brother would surely know the truth, but it seems Ha-sang’s praise was exaggerated. Do you truly believe I killed Ha-sang back then? No, do you even believe I could have killed him?’

Then he froze in place.

Truth be told, he must have been suspicious too.

The idea that I, who had even arranged a match for his sister as his closest friend, had suddenly killed him one day while drunk. And the idea that I, who didn’t seem like a warrior at the time, could have killed him.

It was only natural for anyone with common sense to question it.

He asked me, his expression still fierce.

‘Are you saying… you didn’t kill Ha-sang?’

‘You’re saying I killed Ha-sang, my only friend back when I was an outcast at Sega? Why on earth would I do that? And was the Ha-sang you knew really such a weakling that he deserved to die at the hands of someone like me, who was nothing but a pig back then?’

He didn’t answer.

No, he couldn’t answer.

But I could tell from the fading glint in his eyes that he acknowledged my words.

To him, I had made this promise.

‘Help me. I will find the real killer who murdered Ha-sang. And I will hand him over to you. Also… I will raise the Dan-ga-jang for you.’

It took him a little time, but he finally agreed to join my plan.

So, Dan Gajang had actually been on board with my plan from the very beginning.

And from now on, he had to play an even more crucial role.

Father asked Dan Ha-seon in a booming voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I intend to punish the traitors within the Seonwoo Clan and bring retribution upon the Ha Clan for attempting to kill me. Might the Dan Clan lend me their strength?”

Dan Ha-seon answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Of course! We absolutely cannot forgive those who dared to impersonate our clan leader and try to frame us! We will be the strength of our clan leader!”

“Thank you!”

The two men clasped hands firmly.

It was a scene that couldn’t help but warm the heart.

…That is, if one hadn’t known it was a prearranged act.

Having witnessed that much, I sent a telepathic message to Jik Mahyeok and Gyeon Jung.

– Let’s go. From now on, it’s a race against time.

– Yes, Master!

– Understood.

We began racing toward the Sunwoo family estate before they could.