Chapter 120 : Jang Wonso, Makes a Move

Chapter 120: Jang Wonso, Makes a Move

Jang Wonso stood in his office, looking out the window. From there, with the Murim Alliance spread out below, it felt like he owned all of Jianghu.

But he knew well that this was an illusion. What he held was only the shell of Jianghu.

The ones who had taken the true core were the forces behind the scenes. People said Ban Yeo had siphoned off plenty, but he couldn’t compare to Jang Wonso. Jang Wonso had embezzled far more.

Even so, that money was nothing but a drop in the bucket compared to what had flowed to them.

He could understand why. They were the ones who had raised him to the Alliance Leader’s seat after all.

But many years had passed.

Seeing them issue the order to eliminate Ban Yeo, he realized they didn’t understand that.

‘They still think of me as a puppet, don’t they.’

A chilling gleam flashed in Jang Wonso’s eyes.

‘And that’s your limit.’

At that moment, someone appeared behind him. Jang Wonso had cleared everyone out in advance, expecting this man. He was the only one permitted a private audience, the man marked with the character Earth.

The man started shouting the instant he arrived.

“You appointed Seop Mu-pyeong as head of Virtuous Heroes without our permission! Are you out of your mind?”

One of Jang Wonso’s cheeks twitched as he continued to gaze outside. He forced down the rage rising within him. A man like this Earth marked envoy was well within his power to erase.

But for now he had to endure. The true enemies were the ones behind this man. He was nothing more than a flunky who bullied others by leaning on a tiger’s authority.

Turning around, Jang Wonso spoke in a gentle tone.

“As you know, the pressure from the Council of Elders was tremendous. Public opinion in Jianghu was the same.”

“Nonsense!”

No one knew Jang Wonso better than the Earth marked man. Jang Wonso was not the type to bow to outside pressure. This had been Jang Wonso’s will.

In that same pleasant tone, Jang Wonso asked again.

“Why are you making such a fuss? Is there a reason we must not choose Seop Mu-pyeong?”

The Earth marked man didn’t say that Lee Jaseung’s name had been placed on the organization’s kill list. What belonged to the organization stayed with the organization. There was no reason to inform Jang Wonso.

“Cut the chatter. Eliminate him at once.”

“I cannot. If, so soon after Ban Yeo’s death, the head of Virtuous Heroes died again, everyone’s attention would be drawn to this affair.”

With an impatient air, the Earth marked man snapped back.

“Enough. We make the decisions. You follow orders.”

Jang Wonso fixed him with a stare. His eyes grew colder and more composed than before.

“Withdraw the order to eliminate him.”

“What?”

“And from now on, when you push any matter concerning people within the Alliance, you will consult me first. Go and deliver that message.”

It sounded very much like “you, go carry the message,” and the Earth marked man’s face twisted with menace.

“What are you trying to do with me right now?”

“Deliver the message.”

“Jang Wonso!”

“Silence!”

Jang Wonso roared. His voice rang like thunder, and the Earth marked man flinched. It was the first time Jang Wonso had ever shouted at him like that.

“Can you truly claim you are more important than I am?”

“What?”

For a moment the Earth marked man was struck dumb. He too had been fretting over his standing within the organization.

Jang Wonso pressed him harder.

“Do you think it would be better to depose me and raise a new Alliance Leader, or to remove you and send someone with a different character mark? Either of us can be thrown away.”

The Earth marked man’s face contorted hideously.

Tension crackled.

Slowly, the twisted expression eased. With icy eyes, he glared at Jang Wonso and said,

“Pull a stunt like this again, and I won’t forgive you.”

Jang Wonso said nothing more. He had heard the slight quaver in the man’s voice.

But Jang Wonso had also seen the venom in the envoy’s eyes just before he turned away. He was a man who couldn’t process such matters politically, who treated them as a personal grudge.

The kind Jang Wonso despised most, those who lived years without learning a thing.

‘It’s about time.’

The time had come to show he hadn’t spent the years merely enduring.

‘You’ll learn that what you raised wasn’t a dog.’

* * *

Crack!

A huge boulder shattered.

The man standing before it was the Earth marked man. His eyes blazed.

“How dare he look down on me!”

He had always been ambitious.

But he had never received proper recognition in the organization. He hadn’t been chosen as one of the Mountain’s hands and feet.

That was already getting on his nerves, and then Jang Wonso had jabbed hard at his reverse scale.

Bang! Crash! Crack!

Stones and trees around him were smashed to pieces.

Even after he reduced the area to ruins, his anger hadn’t cooled.

“Fine. Say we’re both disposable.”

With a frigid gaze, he added,

“I’ll show him there are ranks even among expendables.”

* * *

Virtuous Heroes numbered three hundred in all.

As the warrior army that represented the Murim Alliance, their force was formidable. They were the chief reason Ban Yeo had stood as the Alliance’s second-in-command.

By seizing Virtuous Heroes, Lee Jaseung had risen to the position of the most powerful man in the Murim Alliance. On top of that, he had the mighty Northern Sky Clan at his back. Perhaps thanks to that…

“Public opinion of the Alliance Leader within the Murim Alliance is very favorable. In particular, Yeo Beom is steering the Council of Elders’ mood in your favor.”

Lee Jaseung smiled at Dan Woobin’s cheerful report. But of course, Yeo Beom was nothing but a rotten politician. The one happy note was that he at least delivered what he was paid for.

Lowering his voice, Dan Woobin said,

“It seems you must choose now.”

“Choose what?”

“Whether to begin drawing in the Demonic Cult, or to deal with the powers behind the Alliance Leader first.”

“What is your view?”

“The latter.”

“Why?”

“In Jianghu, the trickiest enemies are those who hide their identities.”

Lee Jaseung nodded. Even so, his expression didn’t seem the most satisfied, so Dan Woobin asked again,

“Does something weigh on your mind?”

“Would the Demonic Cult truly not know of their existence?”

“I’ve thought about that too.”

And he had reached a conclusion.

“I personally believe they don’t know.”

“Why do you think so?”

Curious, Lee Jaseung waited for his answer.

With confidence, as if to say the reason was obvious, Dan Woobin replied,

“Because we didn’t know, right?”

For a second, Lee Jaseung looked blank, then burst out laughing.

“Hahaha.”

It was very much like Dan Woobin. An answer brimming with confidence that the Black Way Alliance’s intelligence was not inferior to the Demonic Cult’s.

“Besides, as you know, the Asura Demon Sect has long been torn by a power struggle between the Grand Elder, the Great Demon, and the Vice Leader, the Elder Demon Lord. I believe their intelligence network actually falls short of ours. If we didn’t know, they wouldn’t either.”

Lee Jaseung decided to trust Dan Woobin’s conviction, though colored by subjectivity. In truth, the Asura Demon Sect was divided, its strength unable to gather into one under the mutual checks within.

Dan Woobin added,

“Thinking in reverse, I believe that same division is why the Alliance Leader’s backers were able to dig so deeply into the Murim Alliance.”

At those words, a thought flashed through Lee Jaseung’s mind.

“Everything arose because of that?”

Dan Woobin looked impressed at his reply. Lee Jaseung had grasped the heart of what he’d wanted to say.

“Exactly. The split within the Asura Demon Sect caused a great shift in the balance between Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic forces. In the end, tensions slackened. If a truly capable man of the Orthodox Faction had been Alliance Leader then, he would have seized the chance and moved to strike the Asura Demon Sect. But the former Alliance Leader, to put it kindly, was a moderate. To be blunt, he was incompetent. He focused only on self-cultivation.”

Lee Jaseung knew that history too. Thanks to it, Jang Wonso had easily taken the new Alliance Leader’s seat.

“That was when the Alliance truly began to rot too.”

The Black Way Alliance’s history was similar. If the former Black Way Alliance Leader, Cheon Yeombaek, had been a man of ambition, he would have used the chaos to pursue unification of the world.

But he too had chosen stability. More precisely, he had chosen to seek personal safety and amass power and wealth.

Thus a Jianghu where petty politicians thrived had taken the stage.

“And it’s all because the Asura Demon Sect split.”

When Dan Woobin finished, Lee Jaseung fell silent for a moment, then, grounded in that analysis, decided on his course.

“If the Demonic Cult doesn’t know of them…”

His eyes sharpened.

“If those backers were tricky for us to handle, they should be tricky for the Demonic Cult too, shouldn’t they?”

“Do you mean?”

“We set the Asura Demon Sect and those backers on each other, however we must. In the meantime, we take over the Orthodox Faction entirely.”

“Ah!”

Dan Woobin let out a breath of admiration. If they could pull it off, it would be the best path.

Calmly, Lee Jaseung said,

“Draft a plan related to that and report to me.”

Inwardly, Dan Woobin sighed after hearing the order.

‘You know that won’t be as easy as it sounds, right?’

Of course, he knew Lee Jaseung understood. He gave such an order without hesitation because he trusted him. So Dan Woobin answered with vigor,

“Understood.”

Just then, Mook Young brought startling news.

“The Alliance Leader is here to see you.”

When Lee Jaseung went out to the front gate, Jang Wonso was truly there. He had only a small escort. It had to be a secret visit.

“What brings you here?”

With a hearty laugh, Jang Wonso answered,

“I heard, as I was passing by, that you’d bought a new residence. I hope I’m not an uninvited guest barging in.”

“Not at all. Your visit is a great honor. Please, come in.”

“Thank you.”

Stepping inside, the first thing Jang Wonso did was look for Baek Seolyoung.

“Where is Lord Baek?”

“My wife has stepped out for a while.”

He had no desire to parade her in front of him. He had no wish to see the greasy lust that would light up that man’s face.

“That’s a shame.”

Jang Wonso made no effort to hide his disappointment.

“I’ll extend an invitation one of these days. Do come along with her.”

“I will.”

After a brief introduction to the estate, Lee Jaseung led him to the guest hall.

On the way, Jang Wonso surveyed the manor with a sharp eye. But the personnel stationed here belonged to the Northern Sky’s Four Dragons and the Raging Dragons. No matter how keenly he looked, he would find nothing amiss.

Baek Seolyoung and the Guard Hall’s warriors had already moved to the adjacent manor.

A secret passage ran underground between the two. Thanks to that, they could shift without being seen.

Seated face to face in the guest hall, Jang Wonso wore a friendly smile and asked,

“How are the Virtuous Heroes?”

“I’m still getting used to it.”

“You’ll do well, I’m sure.”

“Thank you for the confidence.”

Lee Jaseung did not believe he had dropped by on his way somewhere. Nor had he come to see Baek Seolyoung.

Had he truly wanted to see her, he would have invited her to the Alliance Leader’s Hall as he’d said before, rather than arriving unannounced like this.

Only when the pleasantries and small talk wound down and they were about to rise, did Jang Wonso reveal the real reason for his visit. He hadn’t dropped by. Nor had he come to meet Baek Seolyoung.

“I came seeking you on urgent business, to deliver a secret order.”

At the word secret, Lee Jaseung feigned a shock, then schooled his face into loyal gravity.

“Please command me, whatever it may be.”

With a cautious gaze, Jang Wonso looked at Lee Jaseung. Then he spoke words far more shocking than that gaze.

“I need you to kill someone.”

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