Chapter 229: Return of the King (4)

The two of them entered the room and sat across from each other at the table.

“.......”

A heavy silence settled.

Yeon Hojeong asked, like he was tossing it out,

“Can you drink?”

“I can.”

His tone was noticeably duller than when they’d first met. He must have suffered a lot over the last few days.

Yeon Hojeong got up himself and brought back alcohol and two cups. He abruptly filled Kang Ryang’s cup and said,

“Have a drink.”

“Before that.”

Kang Ryang opened his mouth with a stiff face.

“Tell me. What exactly are you—who are you, why did you bring me back here, and why did you save me in the first place. Everything.”

Yeon Hojeong snorted.

“You’re a little clumsy, but you at least have enough caution not to swallow whatever cup someone hands you.”

Yeon Hojeong filled his own cup as well and drained it clean.

“Looking at you, it seems you’ve got a rough idea who we are.”

Kang Ryang’s eyes sharpened.

“You people... are you from the Orthodox Path’s martial world?”

Hearing that, Yeon Hojeong suddenly felt a strange, faint nostalgia he couldn’t quite name.

The Orthodox Path’s martial world.

Back when he’d rampaged as the Dark Path’s king, the one who’d raised his thumb and called him the hope of the Dark Path was Kang Ryang.

And now Kang Ryang was asking if he was someone from the Orthodox Path.

It felt... odd.

“That’s right.”

“As I thought....”

Kang Ryang’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“So that’s why you saved me? To pull me in as an ally?”

Yeon Hojeong shook his head. He wasn’t denying Kang Ryang’s words.

“Why don’t you empty your head first?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were like this before, and you’re the same now. You live too much inside your own little world. It’s a bad habit—forcing something through with certainty when it isn’t even an answer.”

“.......”

“If you’re going to doubt, then stop at doubt. If you call it doubt but you’re actually convinced of something you can’t confirm, then conversation can’t even happen.”

Kang Ryang’s eyes wavered.

Yeon Hojeong spoke seriously.

“The world isn’t as easy as you think. Things you couldn’t even imagine are happening all over the world—things neither you nor I ever expected.”

“.......”

“Look at the situation coldly. Like you said—I’m the benefactor who saved your life.”

“...I know.”

“Then we start from there.”

“......?”

“The one who saved your life—an unmatched benefactor. But whether you’ll see that benefactor as a benefactor, or ignore that debt because you walk a different road—that’s up to you.”

“......!”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“I’m your benefactor. And I belong to the Orthodox Path’s martial world.”

“...As I thought.”

“So. What will you do now? You, born of a prestigious Dark Path sect, had your life saved by me, someone from a prestigious Orthodox Path house. Will you repay that debt? Or will you ignore it and keep walking your own road?”

“If I keep walking my road...?”

Kang Ryang’s eyes were shaking uncontrollably. He’d wondered—yet it really was true. Yeon Hojeong was truly someone of the Orthodox Path.

“If I say I’ll keep walking my road... do you intend to let me go like this?”

“That’s right.”

“......!”

“Why? Surprised?”

“...I am.”

Yeon Hojeong laughed—genuinely, without meaning to.

You haven’t changed.

One of Kang Ryang’s countless strengths was that honesty.

He wasn’t someone who fought with his head. But he wasn’t a fool who walked straight into an enemy’s schemes, either.

Heavy and bold.

A blood-and-iron swordsman who faced the world head-on with straightforward pride, without lies.

That was Kang Ryang—the strongest swordsman of the Black Emperor’s Citadel, the true face of the Dark Path’s First Sword.

“You haven’t harmed me—or us—in any way. Honestly, if we part today, we might never see each other again. If someone like that wants to walk out on his own feet, why would I stop him?”

“But you’re from the Orthodox Path’s martial world.”

“So what?”

“...I thought you wouldn’t just leave someone like me—Dark Path-born—alone.”

“That’s another hasty certainty. Sure, that’s how it usually is. But if I meant to kill you, I wouldn’t have bothered saving you.”

“You could’ve saved me for a purpose.”

“Sorry, but I’m the type to look at the person himself more than where he comes from.”

Kang Ryang’s eyes deepened.

More than his origins—he looked at the person himself. That plain, unremarkable line was shaking Kang Ryang’s chest hard.

Yeon Hojeong spoke openly.

“That was a long preface. I’ll be honest. I want you to come with me.”

“......!”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m telling you to defect to the Orthodox Path’s martial world. Even if it was wiped out, you’re still the heir of Ghost-Iron Sword Gate. No—at this point, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it’s more accurate to say you represent Ghost-Iron Sword Gate.”

Kang Ryang’s eyes went slightly bloodshot. The fact that his sect had been annihilated—and his family was dead—hit him again, fresh.

“The real issue is your goal.”

“Goal?”

“Yeah. You want to erase Fighting King Yangcheon—and Ink Dragon Manor with him, don’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m the same.”

“...?!”

“More precisely, I want to clean up this Dark Path that’s nothing but this kind of garbage—and make a Dark Path that actually looks like something.”

Yeon Hojeong filled his cup again as he continued.

“This is something even my companions don’t know. Those people—no matter their personalities—they’re Orthodox Path people down to the root. They’re not like me.”

“......Then are you saying you were originally from the Dark Path?”

Yeon Hojeong didn’t answer that question.

“Either way, that’s why I saved you. It wasn’t a pure intention.”

“I have something I want to ask.”

“You must have a lot.”

“I do. But there’s one thing I want to ask no matter what.”

“Ask.”

Kang Ryang put strength into every word.

“What exactly are you trusting in me to ask me to come with you?”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes deepened.

He knew Kang Ryang—no, not just Kang Ryang, but all Five Great Divine Generals—well already.

“Ghost-Iron Sword Gate is clearly a prestigious Dark Path sect. I can swear it—within the Dark Path’s martial world, there’s no sect as exceptional as Ghost-Iron Sword Gate in both ultimate arts and law.”

“I’ll admit that much.”

“But even if I’m the heir, different people have different beliefs, different talent, different strength. So what are you seeing in me that makes you say ‘come with me’? Did you investigate me?”

It was a fair question.

Yeon Hojeong rolled the cup between both hands. Now that he’d been asked so directly, he didn’t have an easy answer.

“......I don’t know.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled bitterly.

“Call it a gut feeling.”

“A gut feeling?”

“Yeah. A gut feeling.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I know that’s how it sounds, but right now, it’s all I can give you.”

Yeon Hojeong put force into his eyes.

“I’ll make one thing clear. Not everyone in our group watched you. I did.”

“.......”

“In other words, they don’t know yet. Why I saved you.”

“So it means the Orthodox Path’s martial world didn’t scheme something.”

“Honestly, you’re not worth that much. Not yet, at least.”

Kang Ryang let out a short laugh.

“You’re excessively honest.”

“Didn’t you want an honest conversation?”

Only then did Kang Ryang lift his cup and drink.

He frowned.

“Was this white liquor?”

“What were you expecting?”

“It’s too harsh.”

“Life is bitter. The truth is more bitter.”

Kang Ryang let out a quiet sigh. He seemed to sink into thought for a moment—then filled Yeon Hojeong’s cup.

Yeon Hojeong accepted it with a familiar motion.

Kang Ryang spoke.

“I don’t think I can.”

“Is that so?”

“I will never forget that you saved this man’s life. Normally, I would have done anything for you.”

“Mm.”

“But....”

Kang Ryang spoke in a self-mocking voice.

“Sorry. I’m going to kill Yangcheon and bring down Ink Dragon Manor. It might take my entire life. And I might die halfway.”

“.......”

“You did me a great favor, but I don’t think I can repay it properly.”

“You’re wrong.”

“...?”

Yeon Hojeong filled Kang Ryang’s cup and said,

“To begin with, it isn’t something that takes a lifetime. But as you are now—even if you work your whole life, you can’t smash Yangcheon and Ink Dragon Manor.”

“.......”

“Admit it honestly. If you’re lucky, you might gather people. But that’s all. You’ll never achieve your goal.”

Kang Ryang clenched his teeth.

“How can you be so sure?”

“And what are you trusting in to be that sure? Have you even investigated Ink Dragon Manor’s forces or finances in detail?”

“I haven’t, but....”

Yeon Hojeong’s gaze turned icy.

The soft mood sharpened in an instant, like a blade. Kang Ryang flinched at the sudden change.

“Don’t act like a brat, Kang Ryang.”

“......!!”

“You really want revenge? Then learn how to hide your emotions first. How am I so sure? I have to be. Because I can see your end without even looking—when you’re full of that comfortable thought that ‘if I just try hard enough, it’ll work out somehow,’ without even knowing the enemy’s strength.”

“.......”

“If you walk out like this, you’ll die before a month passes. And that’s if you’re lucky. Honestly, looking at your personality and your skill, you won’t last ten days.”

Life was bitter. The truth was even more bitter.

The tone was brutally naked. But Kang Ryang couldn’t get angry at Yeon Hojeong—couldn’t even argue back.

Even if his head didn’t fully understand, his chest did.

That revenge was impossible like this. That he might die without even catching a single expert of Ink Dragon Manor—let alone Yangcheon.

“I’ll ask again. Do you want revenge?”

“...I do.”

“You have a plan?”

“No.”

“Reliable helpers?”

“...No.”

“Funds to move people? Can you gather troops using your reputation? Are you such a gifted merchant that you can rake in money? Or are you so brilliant you can bring down the enemy with some breathtaking scheme?”

“.......”

He truly had nothing to say. Having it picked apart like this, he realized just how completely he had no answer at all.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned savage.

“Murim is a place where one mistake takes your head. That doesn’t care whether it’s Orthodox Path or Dark Path. And with the entire Dark Path’s martial world burning to kill you right now, do you think you can push back all those difficulties and achieve your goal?”

“.......”

“It’s absolutely impossible.”

“Then what do you want me to do?!”

Kang Ryang’s eyes reddened.

A violent emotion loaded itself into his eyes, now wet with tears.

“Yes! I’m a brat! All I can do is swing a blade a little, and even that isn’t at a level that works on real masters! So what—are you telling someone this worthless to give up on revenge?!”

“Give up.”

“W-what?!”

“I said give up. If you’re going to live with that kind of empty head, you’d be better off going into the mountains and living while tending your parents’ spirit tablets.”

“Ghk!”

“But if you change your mind, revenge isn’t impossible.”

“...What?”

“Come with me.”

“......!”

“I’m not telling you to become my subordinate, and I’m not telling you to throw yourself into the Orthodox Path’s martial world. Just travel the world with me—learn, train, and experience.”

Yeon Hojeong laughed coldly.

“At least I’ll make sure you don’t wander aimlessly until you die alone in some roadside ditch.”

“.......”

“Of course—you’ll have to risk your life, too.”

Yeon Hojeong held his hand out toward Kang Ryang.

“What will you do? Will you come with me?”

As if enchanted, Kang Ryang stared at Yeon Hojeong’s hand.

He couldn’t not take the hand of this terrifying man.