Chapter 38

Chapter 38

I was complacent and arrogant like a child who is late again.

I thought my plans were coming true.

I became lazy because of it.

I thought I was good enough, even though I hadn’t yet reached the supreme state, or even seen the edge of it.

In a daze, I wandered through my dreams. I faced an enemy I had never faced before and fought it with all my might. It was stronger and faster than Namgung Sun.

It was hard. It was hard, just like when the walls of the Southern Palace in my previous life were soaked with blood from the battlefield.

He swung his sword frantically. Like a madman.

I wondered if something would go wrong.

I swung my sword with all my might.

Or else, now that I have people who finally believe in me, who believe in me.

I subconsciously thought that I would disappear like dust.

So, in my dreams, I operated the Thunderbolt as if it were a paroxysm. He fed the germinated firewood of the Great Yan Gong to a flame called the Thunder Emperor Divine Gong.

The Thunder King God devoured the Great Lianyungong with a voracious appetite, sweeping away all the torn vessels. The tattered ducts and veins seemed to have too many problems to do their job.

And then, every time.

The pounding.

A pounding.

One of the auras entering his pulsating body held the promise of healing.

“Elixir.

He began to move through the traces of his overuse. The healing aura from the outside and the Thunder King Divine Spirit became one, and the familiar aura guided him whenever his strength dropped.

His blood vessels and veins, which he hadn’t thought would ever recover, began to heal visibly, and he gradually picked up the pace.

Like the ground hardens after rain.

The veins and veins expanded, and the thunderbolt’s operation became more relaxed. Although there was no outward difference, the speed at which it traveled through his body was different from before, and the strength it carried was different.

The small Zhu Tian had become a large Zhu Tian, which meant that the Thunder Emperor Xin Gong had grown.

From a mere three-star divine Kong to a five-star divine Kong.

I involuntarily shivered.

At the same time, the Thunder King Divine Duke who had reached the fifth star was drained of energy. Perhaps it was due to his depleted innate energy.

I slept like a log. When he groggily opened his eyes, he ate a spoonful of rice and slept again. Sleeping for a full day and night, dissolving the reishi in my mouth, and swallowing the golden pills became my daily routine.

The after-effects of using the zhenxin zhiqi were quite severe. As if a day or two of recuperation was not enough, all of his muscles and five organs were twisted.

Nevertheless, as I spent day after day after day sleeping and resting, my body gradually recovered.

With this throbbing body, I grasped a sword.

No, I tried to grab it, but I was stopped by two nagging naggers.

The naggers were relentless.

They refused to leave my side, only snarling at me with their axe eyes.

But.

“……What are you smiling about?”

I couldn’t hide the smile on my face. The old man, who was looking at me with a stern expression, sighed heavily.

A sigh of relief that the troublemaker had come to his senses, and a sigh of frustration.

“I can’t help but laugh that we’re all still alive and well after that crisis.”

“Two crises and you’re not going to be able to keep a straight face.”

“……Yes. If you throw me into one more such crisis, be prepared. I’ll tie you up limb from limb and lock you away.”

The words were murderous. I shuddered. I opened my mouth, not liking the simultaneous stomping of the two men.

“Okay, that’s enough. You guys don’t even talk to each other normally, but only when I say something……!”

“Only if you get into trouble.”

“That’s right, stop getting into trouble.”

Let’s not talk.

I clamped my mouth shut and changed the subject.

“But tell me more about that story from earlier.”

“What story?”

“The Guangdong Seven Killers. I didn’t say we met.”

“When have you heard of it again? You’ve got a good ear.”

“If that’s what it sounds like to a dying man, I’m done talking.”

As if it were no big deal, the old man slowly unraveled the story of his encounter with the Guangdong Seven.

“He showed up when we had captured the leader of the first group that attacked us. He was probably commissioned by someone to stop Elder Eight when he approached you.”

“How do you know it’s the Guangdong Seven?”

“I knew that there were some of the Black Islanders who would take a man’s life for money and treat it like a fly’s, and it’s not common to find seven of them together.”

“It’s ……wonderful, An Dae-hyeop.”

I murmured to the black tiger, who gazed at his uncle in awe.

Was it really so great?

I vaguely recall that the old man had appeared in a blur of blood armor.

“It’s not just black and seven.”

In response to my question, Black Ho tells me a story he knows.

“The shaman, Master Qingwu, the Ami’s Zhu Jin, and quite a few others from the political factions.”

“And why?”

The old man continued.

“Anomalies, the Seven moving as one, and decisively.”

“Decisively?”

“They used the True Law, and in a very dazzling and dirty way.”

Jinsen, jinsen.

I was surprised that the Black Swords practiced jinjutsu, but it made sense.

On the battlefield, it’s what you do when you charge at each other in hand-to-hand combat. Depending on how it was organized, it was capable of infinite power.

“Of course.”

Huh?

I looked at my uncle, wondering if he had anything more to say.

“It didn’t work for me. Huh.”

……I rolled my eyes at the way she was bragging about me. Why is she puffing out her chest.

Anyway.

Based on the facts, I could only assume that Nan Gongsun had commissioned the Guangdong Seven.

“I don’t think so.”

But Black Ho disagreed.

“The Elder Eight I know has no contact with the Black Dao.”

“Can you be sure?”

“I am certain. Even the last time he sprinkled his sword on the Grand Duke, he was focused on appeasement. Even if he had thought of committing suicide, it would have been a later story.”

Black Ho listened to Mrs. Ping and Elder Eight’s discussions about the plan. Of the group, he was the one who knew Elder Eight best, so he shook his head at his words.

“He probably decided that he would rather kill the Grand Duke because of his stubborn attitude.”

At Black Lake’s words, I laid back down on the futon, which was filled with the scent of medicinal herbs and somehow soothed me.

“That would mean that there were people who approached the Guangdong Seven and drew up this situation.”

“I suppose so.”

I gulped and looked at my uncle.

“Uncle.”

I opened my mouth to the old man, who clenched his jaw and looked troubled.

“Do you think of anything, or suspect anything?”

It had been a long time since he’d appeared in the stronghold, so he needed to clear his cluttered head, but it was Eunuch who had been chasing after Guangdong Seven, and the leader of the Masked Men.

* * *

“You failed?”

“……Yes, Mrs. Tang.”

“Do you even realize what that means now, Elder.”

A woman with mesmerizing eyes, dressed in a robe beautifully embroidered with green watermelon in the shape of flowers, looked at Elder Elder Nan Gongbon.

“Yes, Elder Eight has been captured.”

Tang Miyan frowned as she looked at Elder Li’s puzzled expression. It was an expression of incomprehension.

“Was his sword strength really that strong, far beyond your expectations?”

“…….”

Tang Miyan’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper as she looked at the silent Namgungbon. However, she quickly straightened her face and opened her mouth to speak to Namgungbon.

“If we don’t destroy the evidence and witnesses, we’ll be in danger, you know what I mean?”

Elder Lee nodded. Destruction of evidence, and destruction of witnesses.

It was not only important to Tang Miyan, but also to Elder Li himself.

“Don’t worry.”

Elder Li said, “Don’t worry. He had spent a long time in the Southern Palace Family. He knew what sins the Southern Palace would punish, or who would cause trouble for whom.

This elderly man knew the ins and outs. Even key positions were in his hands.

“It’s in the palm of my hand. I can see it clearly.”

“I trust you, but not as much as the poison.”

The Namgung family had already gotten into trouble for using poison, so they were extremely sensitive to it. Not in a good way, and not in the way of the poisonous Tang family.

It could have been misunderstood.

“I’ve heard that you’ve broken your wires, so even if you become a criminal, you’ll never be as strong mentally as you once were.”

Namgungbon’s eyes lit up at that.

“You can’t be serious.”

“If there’s trouble around you, what can you do?”

“You’re talking about using the Eight Elders’ blood relatives.”

“Just mention it. Elder Eight wouldn’t be that stupid, so he’ll make his own choice.”

Hearing those words, Elder Nan Gongbon clicked his tongue inwardly.

Without using poison.

Without drawing attention to himself.

Just by mentioning the name of my granddaughter, whom Elder Eight loved as a human being.

“Bite your tongue or hang your head. It’s up to you.”

It was a ruthless statement, and Nam Gung-bon stood up with his mind made up.

Human decency took precedence over preventing their position from becoming dangerous.

He was about to open the door.

“They won’t know that we’re involved, will they?”

“I don’t think so. We didn’t use the Cantonese Seven for nothing.”

“And if they do find out that the Tang Family is involved…….”

“They’re a powerhouse, and Swordsman Sheng has only been in the Southern Palace for over five years. And he wouldn’t stand out too much as a Tang family figure, since I told him to avoid Tang family martial arts as much as possible.”

Tang Miyan was relieved to hear that.

Although they were disappointed that it was a failed strategy, they had to hide the fact that it was not their doing. They could always come up with a new strategy, and they were still in a strong position.

While he was thinking about it, the elder Namgungbon could only stiffen his expression with a feeling of frustration that felt like a lump of lead in his chest.

* * *

The elderly man thought long and hard before he spoke up.

“It’s strange,” he said, ”I used to memorize whenever I was in danger.”

Skilled at memorization.

“The others seemed to have studied my sword enough to assume they were from the Southern Palace, but the last one seemed different.”

Those skilled in the art of the dark arts are few and far between. Even if they were, it wouldn’t be the only thing.

If there’s one thing everyone overlooks.

It’s their instinct, their sixth sense, their touch.

It’s the subconscious part of their mind that allows them to see the world with a subtlety that makes them wonder, ‘What if?

Because of it.

“……danga.”

Black Ho pondered the words of his aunt and came to one conclusion.

“You mean the Sichuan Danga.”

“I’d like to believe not.”

“Sichuan danga…….”

All three of us, including me, clenched our jaws. There was only one part that had anything to do with the Southern Palace.

“……Dangmiyan, the poisonous flower.”

The last words out of my mouth caused the elderly man and Black Lake to stiffen.