SYM 64
by Emerlyn“…Haa, Un.”
Hearing Cheong-un’s words, Eun-hyeon let out a deep sigh.
He thought he had made sure Cheong-un was well-educated in character, if nothing else, but what on earth had he done after joining the Demonic Sect?
“If you don’t want any trouble, I can disguise it so that no one knows a killer was involved. In Madam Hwang’s case, we can make it look like she hanged herself. No one will find it strange in this situation.”
Cheong-un was looking at Eun-hyeon and speaking seriously. It was easy to tell that Cheong-un was sincere in everything he said.
“How about saying Hwang Geum-san died of a heart attack after being shocked by the death of his beloved daughter? There’s a poison in our sect that can suddenly stop the heart. All I have to do is stick a small needle into the back of Hwang Geum-san’s neck. Hwang Geum-san won’t even know he’s been stabbed and will die just like that.”
“No. Don’t do that.”
“Master still needs to focus on Qi Circulation and take care of his body, but you keep wasting time on these useless things. I’m just worried because I know how weak Master’s body is. Do you not like the method of killing? Should I think of another way?”
Cheong-un spoke calmly in a quiet tone, but the content of his words was all about killing the bothersome Madam Hwang and Hwang Geum-san.
“Un. It’s alright. The Clan Lord will resolve it when he arrives anyway.”
“How much can that indecisive man resolve even if he tries? That Hwang Geum-san, you must get rid of him if Master is to become the Clan Lord of the Namgung Clan. Even if Madam Hwang has fallen, Namgung Eun-gwang still has Hwang Geum-san. What he can do with Hwang Geum-san’s money may be laughable, but it will still be annoying.”
“Un, no. Don’t do anything.”
As Eun-hyeon only tried to stop him, Ha Yeo-un pouted his lips like a duck. He was protesting to him that he was sulking.
“Why do you keep telling this disciple not to do anything, Master?”
Eun-hyeon forcibly suppressed the urge to grab his protruding lips and shake his head.
“Who said I wanted to become the Clan Lord of the Namgung Clan? I have no intention of doing so. With this body, it’s impossible to use Monarch Sword Art anyway. Do you want this Master to remain in the Namgung Clan as a Clan Lord in name only?”
“No, of course not.”
Cheong-un grinned. Eun-hyeon thought his expression looked like the smile of a well-fed beast.
“As expected of Master! That’s right, Master doesn’t need to be tied down by something like the Namgung Clan. I was short-sighted. I just thought that since Master was once involved in the orthodox Martial Arts world, you would do so again this time.”
“…Un. I was an inadequate and lacking person in the past, and I am still lacking now. Eun-gwang will inherit the name of the Namgung Clan.”
“Great, Master! This kind of talkative and shabby family doesn’t suit Master. How about we go to the Heavenly Mountain together on this occasion?”
“Heavenly… Mountain?”
Eun-hyeon flinched at the word Heavenly Mountain.
The Heavenly Mountain was once everything to Eun-hyeon.
The place where he lived when he first possessed the body of Ha Eun-hyeon was the Heavenly Mountain. On the Heavenly Mountain were Ha Eun-hyeon’s sect, Kunlun, and the Demonic Sect.
“Does that mean you want me to go with you to the place where you are, Un?”
Un smiled brightly.
What Un was talking about was probably not the small house in the mountains where they used to live together.
He was clearly referring to the main headquarters of the Demonic Sect on the Heavenly Mountain.
“Didn’t Master say you were curious about how I’ve been doing? That’s why I thought you wanted to go to where I am now and take a look.”
Eun-hyeon clicked his tongue briefly and sighed.
The Cheong-un he remembered wasn’t this eloquent and smooth. Was it because he had become the Sect Leader, or because he had aged? He was as smooth as a python.
“Alright. Let’s think about it after things here are settled.”
“Well, there are some guys playing around with Master’s body somewhere, so I can’t just stay put on the Heavenly Mountain.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been hearing stories of people seeing Master here and there for a while now. I’m sorry to say, Master, but you’ve become a celebrity in the world because this unworthy disciple has become a public enemy of the Martial Arts world.”
“…Me?”
At Eun-hyeon’s dumbfounded words, Cheong-un nodded, looking a little embarrassed.
“Some people even call Master the Great Teacher of the Demonic Sect, Cheonmaaksa (Heavenly Demon Evil Teacher), for educating a disciple to become the Heavenly Demon.”
“He-Heavenly Demon Evil Teacher…?”
He was so dumbfounded that he stammered.
Evil teacher, an evil teacher?
He didn’t even know how hard he had worked to educate this guy, Cheong-un, in character……!
“Ah, there are many Demonic Sect members who respect Master very much. They are very curious about how to educate someone to become the Heavenly Demon. Especially families within the sect who are enthusiastic about their children’s education are very interested in Master’s teachings.”
Eun-hyeon couldn’t tell if Cheong-un was trying to tease him or if he was telling the truth, but looking at his smiling face, it seemed like the former.
“So, what are you trying to say?”
“It means there are many people who recognize Master. I’ve been hearing stories of people seeing the Master who is already dead here and there.”
“That’s… Could it be Undead?”
Since it hadn’t been long since he had clashed with the Hongbaek Sect, the first thing that came to mind was Undead.
Strictly speaking, Ha Eun-hyeon’s body was also a body he had possessed, not his own. But the thought of a body that was once his walking around as an Undead made him feel very uneasy.
“Even after deploying the sect’s top informants, we repeatedly missed their tracks and couldn’t catch them. The Hongbaek Sect guys we saw this time were lacking, but the guys who stole Master’s corpse are not easy to deal with.”
“You couldn’t catch them even with the power of the sect…?”
“That’s right. No matter how much the Dark Shadows suppressed their presence and approached, they noticed it, and as soon as we thought we had caught them, they disappeared. There must be a force helping them.”
“But, who would help the Hongbaek Sect…? The Hongbaek Sect is a public enemy of the Martial Arts world. Who would join hands with the Hongbaek Sect?”
“Well, that’s something we can’t know. Even this time, didn’t Madam Hwang join hands with them? Madam Hwang is the Matriarch of the Namgung Clan. If the Matriarch of the Namgung Clan joined hands with the Hongbaek Sect, it wouldn’t be surprising if anyone else joined hands with them.”
“That’s, Great Hero Ha is right.”
At that moment, someone interrupted their conversation.
Eun-hyeon was startled, but Cheong-un simply rose from his seat and bowed his head briefly, as if he had known in advance.
“You’ve arrived.”
The ones who opened the door to the office and entered were Namgung Eun-gwang and Clan Lord Namgung Juwon, with tired faces.
“Is everything settled on your end?”
“We roughly cleaned up, and someone sent by the Martial Arts Alliance came and returned. Since the Matriarch of the Namgung Clan is involved in this matter, it didn’t seem good for us to be there.”
“Ah…”
That meant they could be misunderstood as trying to conceal or downplay the incident in the Namgung Clan.
Eun-hyeon nodded with a bitter expression.
From his perspective, as someone who knew nothing about this matter, it was unfair, but from the perspective of others, the entire Namgung Clan could be seen as suspicious.
“The Martial Arts Alliance will take care of the external matters from now on. Now we must govern the affairs within the family. Eun-hyeon, you have done a great job.”
“No. I didn’t do much. I only managed to save my life with the help of Great Hero Ha here.”
“Eun-hyeon, I’m really sorry. You must have had a hard time this time, but I have to ask you for another difficult favor.”
Looking at Namgung Juwon’s grave expression, Eun-hyeon seemed to know what Namgung Juwon was about to say.
“Father. I have something to say, may I speak first?”
“Yes, speak.”
Namgung Juwon felt guilty towards Eun-hyeon and found it hard to make eye contact. However, at the next words he heard, he couldn’t help but look at Eun-hyeon.
“Please remove me from the position of Eldest Young Master.”
“Eun-hyeon……!”
Eun-hyeon was smiling brightly at Namgung Juwon.