Chapter 437: A Coincidence That Changes the Situation (5)

Once Mookbi left, only three people remained.

Yeon Hojeong turned to Mo Yong-woo.

“If anything comes up that needs separate orders, I’ll let you know. For now, Brother, smooth things over between the Demon-Sweeping Corps and the Evil-Smiting Corps.”

Mo Yong-woo looked puzzled.

“The Evil-Smiting Corps too?”

“Why not? You’re the second-in-command of the Righteous Justice Corps. Isn’t that much obvious?”

“Uh... well, yes, but...”

Being called the second-in-command out of nowhere left him oddly embarrassed, and he also felt a little apologetic toward Mookbi.

Yeon Hojeong continued evenly.

“Whatever the Demon-Sweeping Corps thinks of me, the two corps still haven’t truly become one. Of course, that isn’t something we can solve just by trying harder, but we should at least create the opportunity.”

“Mm. You’re right, Brother Yeon.”

“The two units have very different natures, but depending on the situation, they may have to operate together. One mission is over now. I think it’s about time they learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

Mo Yong-woo nodded.

“I’ve been thinking about that as well. I was only planning to push it forward once the strategist on the Evil-Smiting Corps side was present.”

“Sometimes it’s better to throw people together before they know anything. We seem to have some idle time anyway. Why not let them clash openly while we have the chance?”

“All right. I’ll do that.”

Mo Yong-woo rose from his seat.

“If nothing happens today, let’s have a drink later. What do you say?”

“If nothing happens.”

Mo Yong-woo gave a faint laugh.

“I’m saying this as your elder brother, but you need to learn how to rest too. No one can deny that you’re the kind of genius people may never see twice, but if you look around, there’s no shortage of capable people.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“That’s why I’m giving you authority over the Demon-Sweeping and Evil-Smiting Corps, isn’t it?”

“You really are something.”

With that, Mo Yong-woo left the room.

Yeon Hojeong looked at Sima Hyeon.

Sima Hyeon stared back, then asked flatly,

“What is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“What did you want to say to me badly enough to chase everyone else out?”

“I didn’t chase them out.”

“Whatever you call it, you clearly have something to say to me.”

“Plenty. Circumstances just haven’t allowed it.”

“I have things I want to ask you too, so this works out.”

“Really? Then ask first.”

Sima Hyeon’s eyes sank into a dull gloom.

“Why did you call me here?”

Yeon Hojeong chuckled softly.

“I thought you were going to ask something impressive.”

“To me, there is no question more important.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

“Then I’ll give you a simple answer. Join us.”

“I refuse.”

The proposal had been calm.

The rejection was like a blade.

Yeon Hojeong asked,

“Why?”

“Are you joking? I’m an assassin.”

“I know that, you bastard.”

“Hong Gwan—no, you said his name was Yayul Jeok. That bastard killed my parents, erased my memories, and raised me as an assassin. I spent more years living that way than I ever did living normally.”

“I know that too.”

“Then good. I became an assassin. The knowledge I saw and learned over the course of my life isn’t simply going to fall away.”

In other words, even if he wanted to cast it aside, he could not.

Yeon Hojeong understood what Sima Hyeon meant.

His enemy had raised him as an assassin. He had managed to kill that enemy in the end, but all he had left now were the skills and life of an assassin.

Telling him to throw that away and live some other life would change nothing. Sima Hyeon’s body and spirit had already been shaped for assassination.

At least, that was how Sima Hyeon saw it.

Yeon Hojeong did not.

“So what? Are you planning to keep living as an assassin? Become the next Yin God and carry on the fame of the legendary Yin God of the past?”

“...”

“Looks like you still haven’t decided.”

“That’s right.”

At the very least, Sima Hyeon knew how to be honest.

That was one of the reasons Yeon Hojeong thought highly of him.

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“You don’t have to join us. I’d be disappointed, since I’m the one making the offer, but if that’s your choice, I can’t force you.”

“...”

“Like I said, I wanted to recruit you. That’s why I told you to come here. I’ve just been so busy with official and private matters that I ended up keeping you here all this time.”

“You summon someone and then treat him with no small amount of discourtesy.”

“And what did you do with that time?”

“...?”

“You’ve had more than ten days. You still haven’t even decided what you’re going to do from here?”

Sima Hyeon’s gaze deepened.

“I don’t know whether you’ve ever gone through something like this, but I don’t think it’s a matter light enough to settle in a mere ten days.”

“A mere ten days? Don’t make me laugh. Deputy Commander Mook needed three days to move past the death of senior and junior siblings who were like family to her. She may not have decided the purpose of her entire life, but it didn’t even take her a day to decide to take the first step.”

“...!”

“Thinking deeply is fine. There’s no need to make your thoughts unusually complicated. If you’ve thought and thought and still can’t find an answer, then all you can do is start walking. Isn’t that life?”

“...”

“If you live simply because you were born, and because you have no reason to die, that’s your freedom too. But if you’re going to live that way, then at least stop being an assassin.”

“Why?”

“The moment you start killing people for money, you give yourself a reason to die.”

“...!!”

“I’ll kill you without hesitation. If you want to die, go ahead and do that work.”

Sima Hyeon’s eyes reddened slightly.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Did I sound like I was joking?”

“Ridiculous. Orthodox factions are no different. Give them the banner of some great cause and they’ll leave nothing but scorched earth behind in enemy territory.”

“Now that was well said. At least we have the justification of a great cause. What makes you so damn confident that you can take money and kill people? What kind of bastard are you, murdering others just to keep your miserable little life going without even a cause you’ve agonized over?”

Sima Hyeon’s cheek trembled.

Yeon Hojeong’s words amounted to a rejection of the very existence of an assassin.

“If you need to make a living, don’t kill people. Farm. Trade. Go work under a merchant as a laborer if you have to. Do ordinary work. You can feed yourself just fine that way.”

“...”

“What? Are you upset that you won’t get to use the assassination skills you learned? Or do those other jobs look easy to you?”

“Don’t speak so lightly.”

“I’m saying it simply because if I made it complicated, an idiot like you might not understand.”

“...”

“I’ll give you a few more words of advice while I’m at it. You were forced into the life of an assassin by your enemy? Then break free of it. If you spend your life using the skills of the assassin who murdered your parents and siblings against strangers whose names you don’t even know, then even if you die and come back to life, you’ll never escape Yayul Jeok’s shadow.”

“...!”

“On the other hand, if you decide that assassination was merely one thing you happened to learn among countless things you’ll learn in the future, then even if you can’t make the world a better place, don’t take the lives of people who have nothing whatsoever to do with you.”

A stern force entered Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

“Power is responsibility. And power comes, on the smaller scale, from civil and martial ability, and on the larger scale, from organizations and society. That is why no one who belongs to society can ever be free of the responsibility that comes with power.”

“...”

“If you want to use your assassination arts, use them for the world. If you want to seal them away, leave the martial world and live an ordinary life. That is the last gift I can give you—the indecisive bastard who has spent more than ten days unable to decide a single damn thing.”

Yeon Hojeong rose from his seat as he continued.

“I received a fair amount of public funds from the Alliance. Feeding one extra person is no problem. Join us, live an ordinary life, or go back to being an assassin. Stay here and think it over comfortably.”

“...”

“But I don’t know when we’ll be leaving. Make your decision before then.”

Sima Hyeon said flatly,

“You make everything sound remarkably simple.”

“If I don’t simplify things, I live in a world where my life is in danger every moment. You and I are no different in that regard. But...”

“...”

“Hey.”

“...?”

“Come to think of it, isn’t this my room? Why am I the one standing up?”

“...”

“If you’ve got nothing else to say, get the hell out.”

Sima Hyeon stared at Yeon Hojeong for a moment, then abruptly shot to his feet and stomped out of the room.

Yeon Hojeong smacked his lips.

“Did he sulk?”

He had to admit he might have gone a little too far.

Sima Hyeon was an honest man. His accomplishments were exceptional for his age, and despite having been raised as an assassin, he was capable of empathizing with others.

That was precisely why Yeon Hojeong had spoken so harshly.

He trusted that Sima Hyeon would not go astray from a provocation like this. If he could not make a decision, then the least he could do was start moving.

Still, Yeon Hojeong had grown frustrated while talking and probably snapped at him more than necessary.

“There sure are a lot of difficult bastards in the world.”

Yeon Hojeong sank back into his chair.

“Maybe I’m one of them too...”

An hour later.

Yeon Hojeong had his eyes closed, considering the power of the Yeon Clan Divine Core from several angles, when his sensory perception caught Ga Deoksang’s presence approaching.

The Successor really has improved.

Despite processing that enormous volume of information, his skill had risen again compared to just a few days earlier.

The increased density of his True Qi and the lighter quality of his footsteps proved it.

Yeon Hojeong opened his eyes and straightened his posture.

A moment later—

“Supreme Commander. I’m coming in.”

“Come in.”

The door opened and Ga Deoksang entered.

“How did it go?”

Ga Deoksang’s expression was grave and dark.

Yeon Hojeong’s own face naturally turned serious.

“This has become extremely troublesome.”

“What do you mean?”

“She says she wants to meet Supreme Commander Yeon.”

“...”

“I tried to brush her off, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Of course, as the Martial Alliance’s intelligence advisor, I could have refused her request outright. But...”

“You deliberately chose not to.”

“That’s right.”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes sharpened.

“Earlier, Successor, you said this. Yangcheon, Lord of Ink Dragon Manor, sent the letter to me first instead of the Martial Alliance headquarters because he knows I wield considerable influence.”

“That’s right.”

“And now another branch of Putuo Hermitage wants to see me as well. What do you think that means?”

“They know it too. Your influence.”

“Didn’t you say Putuo Hermitage was blind when it came to intelligence?”

“I did.”

Ga Deoksang frowned.

“I suspect the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor had a hand in this.”

Yeon Hojeong gave a faint laugh.

“So that letter was really saying, ‘I’ll send someone your way, so receive them properly’?”

That proved Yangcheon was deeply involved in the Putuo Hermitage affair.

And Yangcheon had probably anticipated that Yeon Hojeong’s side would see that far.

Fast and smooth. Much more so than before.

Perhaps he had gained some kind of insight while purging the toxins left behind by the Yin Desolation Divine Palm.

What mattered was that Yangcheon was fully committed to tearing Putuo Hermitage apart.

This is difficult to interfere with.

He could not simply tell Yangcheon to stop or demand to know what the hell he thought he was doing.

The Yangcheon of the present was no longer the Yangcheon of the past. Putuo Hermitage might be classified as an Orthodox Path sect, but its fiercely independent nature made it difficult for outsiders to intervene.

And if he’s dragging me into it too, that means he’s confident he can pull this off properly.

Ga Deoksang asked,

“Will you meet her?”

“You said you couldn’t refuse, didn’t you? Then I have to.”

“My apologies.”

“No. If anything, I’m grateful. It seems the Successor is finally starting to understand how I handle things.”

“...Just in case, leave the axes behind.”

“I’m not going to cause trouble.”

“I’d sooner entrust a wine jar to a drunk.”

“Then why did you tell me to meet her?”

“Damn it, that’s what I’d like to know.”

Ga Deoksang grumbled.

“I’ll set it for noon tomorrow.”

“Successor.”

“Go ahead.”

Yeon Hojeong thought for a moment, then spoke casually.

“Keep a close watch on how Ink Dragon Manor’s intelligence forces move.”

“Hm? Why Ink Dragon Manor all of a sudden?”

“You said Putuo Hermitage has three branches, didn’t you? If one went to Ink Dragon Manor and one came to us, what about the last one?”

“...!”

“I can’t predict how they’ll move. That’s why I’m asking you to watch them.”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned cold.

“I doubt they’ll do anything too outrageous... but it seems Manor Lord Yang has become quite the politician.”

A politician never forgot what had been done to him.