Chapter 208 Haenam Sect Head Meeting – Part 2

Chapter 208: Haenam Sect Head Meeting – Part 2

Ultimately, the meeting could only conclude with Jin Taedo stepping down.

Even Miao Qingzhu, the head of the Miao clan who had tried to mediate somehow, could do nothing more now and demanded that Jin Taido yield. In response, Jin Taido stated he would reconsider his position on the naval forces, forcing the meeting to be postponed for a week.

As soon as the meeting ended, Jin Taedo, unable to contain himself any longer, stormed out of the conference room first.

Bang!

His departure was a stark contrast to his usual demeanor, where he would stay until the very end, smiling as he saw the other heads off.

An unbearable rage seemed to emanate even from his retreating figure.

Startled by his actions, the heads of the Chukga, Mika, Sulga, and Haega clans hurriedly called out to him and rushed after him.

“Hey, Headmaster!”

“Master Jin!”

“W-wait!”

Once they all vanished outside the conference room, leaving it quiet, Oh Ik-deok, who had been holding back laughter, finally couldn’t contain himself and burst out laughing.

“Hahahahahaha! I’ve never seen that snake lose his temper and reveal his true colors like that before! Among my recent meetings, today’s has been the most satisfying! It feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest, brother! Hahahahahaha!”

Shin Du-wol, the head of the Shin family with his small but sturdy build, joined in with a hearty laugh.

“Kekekekekeke! I feel exactly the same! Utterly exhilarating! I must return at once and hammer the iron! If I forge a sword while maintaining this feeling, it should become a truly remarkable blade! Kekekekeke!”

But not everyone’s expression was bright.

The eldest among them, Miao Qingzhu, the head of the Miao family, shouted at them.

“You lot! This is no time for smiling!”

He then turned to scold Ja Gaecheu, the head of the Ja family and the next senior figure under him.

“Jaga! I can understand those hot-blooded youths, but I never imagined even you would agree with this talk! What on earth are you thinking? Even if our views differ, can’t you see what will happen to the future of Haenam Province if we become divided?!”

Instead of Jagae-chu, who stroked his goat beard and avoided eye contact, Yoo Hae-eung answered his question.

“My Lord Miao. It seems the order has been reversed. It was not we who divided the Haenam Sect, but rather the Haejeon Corps—more precisely, Lord Jin—who divided us, was it not? I clearly stated I would serve under him and command the Haejeon Corps. Is that demand sufficient to split the Haenam Sect?”

At this, Lord Miao sighed deeply and spoke to him soothingly.

“Huh. Master Yu, isn’t he the leader we elected? It’s only natural for the leader to command the armed forces. But if someone like you becomes the naval commander, how could the leader freely move the armed forces? Isn’t that ultimately taking command of the armed forces away from the leader? How could that be…”

At that moment, Yu Hae-eung cut him off.

“Strictly speaking, we never actually elected anyone. For some reason, the person we were supposed to elect disappeared, so we never had the chance.”

At those words, Jagae-chu’s expression froze solid.

“…What are you trying to say? Surely you wouldn’t dare repeat the baseless conspiracy theories spread by those loose-lipped fools—that the late Grand Master Jin killed the head of the Jin family?”

Yu Hae-eung then looked at him with a peculiar expression and replied.

I’ve always felt this way, but you’re saying strange things. After all, doesn’t everything that hasn’t been revealed get called a conspiracy theory until it comes to light? And… what I want to say isn’t that he killed the Lord of the House, but that he isn’t the leader we elected. Who knows? If he had brought the sacred White Tiger Sword and issued an order, we might have had no choice but to obey. But now, even that is gone. I don’t know whose doing it was, but it’s gone.”

Yoo Hae-eung was telling Jin Tae-do that he now lacked not only the qualifications but also the authority to be the head of the sect.

So they were saying they would no longer recognize Jin Taedo as the head of the clan.

Upon hearing this, the other clan heads nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, the head of the Miao clan, Miao Cheong-ju, could only let out a deep sigh.

***

Miao Qingzhu’s youngest daughter, Miao A-lan, had been sitting in a small pavilion in the Haenam Sect garden for over an hour, reading a book while waiting for her father.

Many attendants glanced at her and whispered as they passed by.

Her appearance, sitting completely still for an entire hour reading a book, was like a painting.

Her elegant and dignified appearance, renowned throughout Hainan Province, was truly a beautiful sight.

Voices of admiration from the attendants could be heard here and there.

“Miss Miao’er is still as beautiful as ever!”

“How can she be so ethereal, like a fairy?”

“Who on earth will she marry?”

“Exactly. With the heir of the In family gone, she has no betrothed now, does she?”

“But still, she was destined to be the mistress of a household. Who else could easily marry a lady like her?”

At the height of her concentration, Miao A-lan could not help but hear their whispers all too clearly.

Yet she read her book without a flicker of distraction, as if she heard none of their admiration or murmurs.

A moment later, she suddenly lifted her head and looked outside the pavilion.

From where her gaze fell, her father, Miao Qingzhu, approached with a dark expression.

Miao A-lan then smiled gracefully and asked her father.

“You look troubled, Father. Did something happen during the meeting?”

Miao Qingzhu shook his head at her question.

“Work? No, nothing. Let’s go back now.”

Miao A-ran’s eyes brightened, and she asked cautiously.

“Could it be… that the head of the Yu family raised a rebellion?”

At those words, Miao Qingzhu looked at Miao A-lan in surprise.

While the world praised only Miao A-lan’s beauty, Miao Qingzhu knew well that his youngest daughter possessed wisdom far greater than her looks.

But even to him, who knew the truth, those words felt excessive.

How on earth could he have guessed that just by looking at his expression?

And to pinpoint Yoo Hae-eung’s name specifically, no less.

Myo Cheong-ju sighed and replied.

“Your eyes are impossible to deceive. How on earth did you figure that out?”

Then Miao A-lan smiled faintly and replied.

“It was just luck. I merely anticipated that if things continued this way, people would inevitably rise up against Master Jin. In fact, it happened a bit later than I expected. And I believed that among the family heads, only Master Yu possessed the stature to stand against Master Jin.”

At that answer, Miao Qingzhu slowly nodded.

“I see. Yes, your prediction was correct. Lord Yu said that if the naval fleet wasn’t entrusted to him or eliminated altogether, the Haenam Yu Clan would leave the Haenam faction. Then Lords Oh, Shin, and even Lord Ja agreed with him.”

“I see.”

Myo-a-ran smiled faintly and nodded.

Her expression seemed to say she had expected as much.

Seeing his daughter like that, Miao Qingzhu asked her with a slightly sulky expression.

“Why do you look so pleased? Surely you don’t think they’re right too?”

Miao A-ran smiled and asked Miao Cheong-ju in return.

“Do you think their actions were wrong?”

Miao Qingzhu snapped back at the counterquestion.

“Of course it is?! Even if Jin Jangmunin’s methods are extreme, division?! At this very moment, when we’re constantly clashing with the great enemy Ma Gyeong, do you truly not understand how reckless that would be?!”

But despite his furious tone, Myaoran looked at her father with calm eyes and answered slowly.

“If that premise is correct, then perhaps it could be so.”

At those words, Miao Qingzhu’s expression froze.

“…What did you say? If that premise is correct?”

Then Miao A-lan gazed intently at her father with an unfathomable look in her eyes and replied.

“But… is the premise that we’re constantly clashing with this enemy called the Demon Realm really accurate? Do you truly believe that, Father?”

At those words, Miao Qingzhu was momentarily unable to respond.

It was because Miao A-ran was looking at him with eyes that seemed to know something.

***

Jin Taedo, the leader of the Haenam faction, known as the Haenam Demon Sword or the South Sea Demon, had to summon superhuman patience as he stormed out of the meeting room and made his way back to his office.

The faint laughter of the masters echoing from behind made me want to turn around and swing my sword at any moment.

Crunch!

‘How dare they!’

He gritted his teeth until they nearly broke, barely suppressing the impulse.

Then he spoke coldly to the lords following him.

“I need some time alone to gather my thoughts. Everyone, return.”

At his words, the heads of the Chukga, Sulga, Miga, and Haega clans—who had been frantically chasing after him until now—looked flustered. They quickly bowed their heads and replied.

“Ah, ah, yes, Master, understood.”

“Please do not listen to such people…”

“Well, we’ll be going now.”

Jin Taedo watched their retreating backs, streaming out at his single word, with a cold gaze.

If the clan leaders who had rebelled against him were such men, he would have dealt with them immediately without hesitation. The fact that he couldn’t do so was deeply regrettable.

Unlike those useless fools, the clan leaders remaining in the meeting room all held crucial roles within the Haenam faction.

The Yoo Clan trained archers, the Oh Clan built ships and trained sailors, the Shin Clan crafted various weapons, and the Ja Clan managed finances.

There was not a single family that could be dealt with carelessly.

Finally suppressing his rage, Jin Taedo sat in his office, his eyes burning with suppressed fury for a long while.

But at some point, he let out a bitter chuckle and muttered as if spitting out the words.

“Yes, this is precisely why the Haenam faction won’t do. With this flimsy structure that cannot concentrate power in a strong leader, we absolutely cannot grow any further. Therefore…”

Having spoken only that far, Jin Tae-do suddenly laughed savagely and said.

“Get rid of the naval fleet? Fine, I’ll get rid of it. I’ll get rid of it for sure. Just wait a little longer, Yoo Hae-eung. The day my power is complete, I’ll do as you say.”

Jin Taedo had actually been thinking along those lines for quite some time.

As the leader of the Haenam faction, who had to constantly watch the other clan heads, there were limits.

To become the ruler of the South Sea, he needed his own forces—ones that would move solely according to his will.

That was why he had been steadily building his own power base on the mainland for some time now.

By secretly occupying small sects and then slowly developing them.

In truth, the story that the naval fleet’s ships had collided with the Demon Realm’s fleet and sunk was a lie.

Jin Taedo had informed people that the ships had sunk, while gradually withdrawing naval forces and transferring them to his own faction.

He used that excuse to keep pressuring for the naval fleet’s expansion.

All of this was Jin Taedo’s plan to cultivate his own direct forces.

And now, those forces had grown considerably, establishing themselves as major factions representing Guangxi and Guangdong provinces respectively.

They were none other than the Hapshan Sect of Guangxi Province and the White Sect of Guangdong Province.

Jin Taido stroked his chin and muttered.

“Come to think of it, I wanted to transfer all the naval forces to the White Bridge Sect if possible. But must I first move them to the Hapsan Sect?”

Unlike the Hapsan Sect, now undeniably the strongest martial arts sect in Guangxi Province, the Baekgyo Sect had yet to surpass the influence of the Guangdong Jin Clan within Guangdong Province.

Therefore, Jin Taedo was gradually shifting the naval forces’ strength toward Baekgyobang without drawing attention.

“Hmm…”

But Jin Taido, who had been murmuring like that, frowned as if displeased.

He wanted to properly build up Baekgyobang’s power rather than the Hapsanpa.

Unlike the Hapsan faction, formed through a merger with the Hyeongsan faction, Baekgyobang was entirely his own independent power base.

Moreover, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, where the White Sect was based, was a strategic stronghold offering access to the sea via waterways.

It was also convenient for relocating the naval fleet’s forces along that waterway.

He was in the process of gradually shifting the naval forces to strengthen Baekgyobang when, before that task was complete, Yoo Hae-eung rose up in rebellion.

Jin Taedo suddenly clicked his tongue and muttered.

“Tsk. If only we’d had a little more time…”

It was nothing short of a disappointment.

If only he had had about a year more, he could have handled the matter much more smoothly.

He was deep in thought about how exactly to transfer the naval forces to Baekgyobang when

Suddenly, his subordinate urgently knocked on the office door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Captain! It’s me!”

His voice was extremely urgent.

Frowning at his subordinate’s unusual fussiness, Jin Taedo said.

“Come in.”

The subordinate then rushed in, his face ashen, and hurriedly said.

“Captain, we’re in big trouble!”

“…A big problem?”

“Yes, the Hapsan faction, the Hapsan faction!”

Jin Tae-do’s eyes widened as he listened to his subordinate’s report.