Chapter 86: The Plot to Divide and Conquer, Begins

At Lee Jaseung’s question, a smirk touched the corners of Yang Jo’s mouth.

“Of course I’m on the side that eats.”

The strange smile Lee Jaseung had been wearing now revealed its true meaning. It was a smirk that said, “Is that really so?”

Although Yang Jo had been startled by Lee Jaseung’s sudden appearance, he was at ease. He believed he was more than capable of handling him.

“So it was you behind it all. I knew it. You’ve been suspicious from the start. You must have been the one who stole goods from the Treasury.”

“At that time I was attending a banquet.”

“You must have sent someone else to do it!”

“Believe what you want.”

Yang Jo’s eyes narrowed.

‘So he has helpers I see. Well, he’s had years to prepare for his revenge after all.’

From the Golden Ant’s information, he believed Lee Jaseung to be a descendant of the Hainan Sect.

“I’m sorry for you, but you picked the wrong opponent.”

Yang Jo drew up his inner Qi and let loose an open killing intent.

The blade-like killing intent made Lee Jaseung’s expression look as though he were enjoying a cool breeze on a sweltering summer day. The killing intent before a fight always lifted Lee Jaseung’s mood.

Seeing that, Yang Jo’s expression hardened. He realized this was no empty display of bravado.

Just then, Lee Jaseung revealed the inner Qi he had been concealing.

Swoooosh!

Yang Jo’s killing intent vanished, swallowed up by Lee Jaseung’s immense energy.

With eyes wide in shock, Yang Jo flinched.

He tried pouring out his killing intent again, but it disappeared instantly, like water into a bottomless jar.

Yang Jo looked back at Lee Jaseung.

His presence felt different from when Yang Jo had first seen him. Just earlier, Lee Jaseung had clearly been weaker.

Now Yang Jo could not feel his depth at all.

‘What is this?’

Suddenly, unease rushed in.

‘Could he have been hiding his true skills all this time?’

Of course it was possible, but Yang Jo had dismissed the thought. Even if hidden, he had assumed the man could not be stronger than himself.

No one so young could surpass him in strength.

But that assumption now felt wrong.

The man before him…

There was no need to put it into words. Yang Jo’s body was reacting before his mind.

Yang Jo looked down at his legs in disbelief.

They were trembling.

The trembling rose up through his waist, into his chest, then his arms. Yang Jo clenched his shaking hands. He had never feared anything when his fists were closed, but now he was afraid.

“You bastard!”

Yang Jo barked the words out loud.

Then he realized what a shameful thing he had done. Out of fear, he had shouted to try to shake it off.

He struggled to calm himself, but regaining composure was not easy.

“What kind of dark art is this?”

That was the conclusion he reached. Having lost completely in spirit, he had already made his next mistake.

With a shaken mind, Yang Jo struck first.

Swaaaaash!

His sword sliced through the air, fast, but Lee Jaseung’s reaction was far faster.

The moment Yang Jo thought Lee Jaseung’s figure vanished,

Whirrr-!

Thud!

Yang Jo was slammed into the ground.

Thud! Tap!

Lee Jaseung sealed his meridian points as well.

It had taken only one move. The technique was from the body arts of the Limitless Iron Chest. It wasn’t normally a technique that was done in one stroke, but Yang Jo’s panic and agitation had let Lee Jaseung subdue him in a heartbeat.

Lying sprawled on the ground, Yang Jo’s face was dazed. His arms ached as if broken, and his back throbbed.

“What was that technique just now?”

He couldn’t even tell how it had happened. With his martial skill, it should have been impossible.

“I asked what kind of dark art that was!”

As he shouted, his eyes met Lee Jaseung’s cold gaze looking down at him.

In that instant, Yang Jo realized that Lee Jaseung was far superior.

‘Does the Hainan Sect really have this level of martial power?’

Yang Jo clenched his teeth and glared with venomous eyes.

“You’ll never make me talk.”

Lee Jaseung stepped closer.

“Don’t be so sure.”

It was the very same thing Yang Jo had once said to the Bear Tyrant.

The next moment, darkness swallowed everything.

When Yang Jo opened his eyes again, he was kneeling in the middle of a grand hall.

He thought he had only blinked, yet he was in a different place.

‘Where is this?’

He slowly raised his head. At the end of a red carpet sat a man he knew well, though his eyes now burned with anger. It was the Alliance Leader, Jang Wonso.

‘Why am I here?’

Yang Jo remembered being subdued by Seop Mu-pyeong. He turned his head and saw Lee Jaseung standing beside him, and next to him was Yang Seokwon.

Lee Jaseung addressed Jang Wonso.

“The West Wind Captain came to me for help. They threatened him using his son.”

Jang Wonso looked at Yang Seokwon.

“Why didn’t you come to me right away?”

Yang Seokwon bowed his head and spoke.

“It started because my son became addicted to gambling. I had no face to appear before you.”

That was understandable enough.

Lee Jaseung quickly continued.

“Together, we rescued his son. When we went to apprehend the Bear Tyrant and Baektong who had planned it, this man had just murdered them to silence them.”

At those words, Yang Jo tried to shout.

‘Nonsense! This is a false charge!’

But no words came out.

‘Damn it! He’s sealed my meridians!?’

If he could just get out of this crisis, Ban Yeo would protect him.

Lee Jaseung turned to him and asked sternly,

“Is it true you recruited Murim Alliance warriors on Ban Yeo’s orders?”

Yang Jo smirked to himself.

‘Idiot! With my meridians sealed, how could I answer? And even if I could, you think I’d confess?’

But before that thought finished, Yang Jo found himself speaking.

“Yes, that is true. On Master Ban’s orders, I had the Bear Tyrant and Baektong do it.”

Yang Jo’s eyes widened in shock. His mouth had moved against his will.

‘Aghhhh! What the hell is this?!’

Lee Jaseung asked again.

“What happened to the Bear Tyrant and Baektong?”

Yang Jo answered,

“I eliminated them.”

Inside, he screamed,

‘No! That’s not it!’

Words were uncontrollably coming out of his mouth. He tried to force his mouth to open.

‘That bastard caused everything!’

But he spoke words that completely contracted his thoughts.  

“Please forgive me! I only did as I was told.”

It was as if he were possessed. His mind was his own, but his body was not.

“Who ordered it?”

“Master Ban.”

“I will ask again. The Master Ban you speak of is Ban Yeo, correct?”

Lee Jaseung confirmed it once more.

“Yes.”

Yang Jo glared at Lee Jaseung.

‘You bastard! What have you done to me?’

He tried to look at him with pure hatred, but instead of killing intent, tears fell from his eyes.  

“Please forgive me.”

Yang Jo bowed his head low.

Jang Wonso rose from the throne and walked to him. Placing his hand on Yang Jo’s chest, he injected Qi inside his body to examine him.

Yang Jo’s heart leapt.

‘Yes, find the dark art that’s shackled my body! See that I’m under a spell! Hahaha, you fool, Lee Jaseung. Do you think the Alliance Leader will be tricked by such petty tricks!?’

But after checking, Jang Wonso’s face was grim.

“He’s not under any dark arts.”

Yang Jo was stunned at what he said.  

‘What? What nonsense is that! You can say such a thing even after checking my body!?’

He looked at Lee Jaseung.

The smile on Lee Jaseung’s lips was the same mocking one from when he had subdued him.

‘What trick did you use on me?’

What Lee Jaseung had used was not dark arts but hypnosis. It was an overwhelmingly powerful suggestion that could not possibly be refused.

A dark art would have interfered with his inner Qi and been noticed by the Alliance Leader, but hypnosis did not affect inner Qi.

That was why Yang Jo could still think clearly in his mind, even while speaking against his will.

If this had been the Dark Soul-Bewitching art he had once used on the Yoma last time, Yang Jo wouldn’t have even had that much mental clarity.

But that would have been discovered immediately if the Alliance Leader checked. Just as Lee Jaseung had predicted, Jang Wonso had examined him for signs of dark arts on him.  

After sitting back in his throne, Jang Wonso said quietly,

“But I cannot trust that man’s words without any evidence.”

At that moment, Yang Jo’s body moved without his will.

“There is evidence here.”

He pulled something from his robe.

‘What! That’s…!’

It was the very book from the Central Plains Treasury.

Lee Jaseung stepped forward to take it.

Against his will, Yang Jo handed it over meekly.

As Lee Jaseung took the book, he smiled coldly. That smile froze Yang Jo’s heart.

‘This man is terrifying!’

Far more than he imagined. Ten times, no, a hundred times more. It was him who messed with the wrong opponent.  

Jang Wonso’s expression hardened as he read.

The names included not only people known to be Ban Yeo’s men but also many he believed utterly loyal to himself.

The methods used to pull them in were cruel and vile. Page after page deepened his disgust.

Lee Jaseung spoke coldly to Yang Jo,

“How could this ever be forgiven?”

His eyes flashed. Jang Wonso, who was facing away, did not see.

In that instant, rage welled up inside Yang Jo, the rage he had been unable to express until now exploded.

“You son of a bitch! Because of you it’s come to this, but the great cause will never fall!”

At “great cause,” the Alliance Leader’s face hardened instantly.

Yang Jo panicked inside.

‘No, not that! That’s not what I mean!’

But he shouted again,

“You bastards don’t have much time left either!”

Lee Jaseung’s prepared final blow came with the last words.

“The one truly fit to be Alliance Leader is not you, but Master Ban!”

With that, Yang Jo started to scream. Agony ripped through him as his vital meridians snapped. He was committing suicide in the manner of martial experts.

‘No! Save me!’

But his meridians were severed one by one against his will.

In his final moments, Yang Jo saw Lee Jaseung’s cold eyes and remembered his earlier warning not to be so sure.

He had been right. This wasn’t mere torture to extract secrets.

As strong as the fear of death, was the burning curiosity.

‘Just who are you?’

But he died without ever hearing the answer.

Lee Jaseung rushed over and examined him, then spoke to the Alliance Leader.

“He severed his own meridians and took his life. What a truly ruthless man.”

Jang Wonso’s face was grim as he asked Lee Jaseung.

“How should we handle this matter?”

It was not something he should have asked Lee Jaseung, but Lee Jaseung gave the answer he wanted to hear.

“I was only caught up in this by coincidence. But I will follow your judgment completely.”

“Will you do that for me?”

“Yes. I understand this is a very sensitive matter. I will accept whatever decision you make.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Jaseung bowed politely and left the main hall.

Their expressions were opposites.

As Jang Wonso slowly climbed back to the throne, his face was twisted. Lee Jaseung, leaving the hall, wore a satisfying smile.

Their faces told the story.

The division had just begun.

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