The Ruler of Darkness

“If anyone wishes to converse with this Eldest Young Master, step forward.”

After Yeon So-hyeon blew up the Red Armored Boar of the Three Five Passageways, no one hastily came forward right away.

“…”

The advance base personnel were equally shocked by the martial prowess Yeon So-hyeon displayed.

[The Eldest Young Master possessed such martial arts? Did you know about this?]

As Taengjung transmitted his thoughts, Mal-ko shook his head with a frightened face.

[I didn’t know either.]

Taengjung took off the prayer beads hanging around his neck and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

[…Amitabha. As the priestesses said, could the Eldest Young Master really be ‘that person’ referred to in the ‘Cliff Leaf Pottery Shard Edition^[1]’?]

Taengjung and Mal-ko, high-ranking executives of the House of Compassion and the leaders of the academy in the Valley of Sin, swallowed their dry saliva as they recalled what the priestesses had said.

“Great Monk. Great Taoist Priest.”

At that moment, those who had escaped the impact of the martial prowess the Eldest Young Master displayed gathered around the two men.

“Please explain the situation to us as well.”

“What did they mean earlier when they said they were agents of the House?”

Mal-ko, commonly referred to as the Great Taoist Priest, sighed.

As the leader and pillar of the House of Compassion, Yeon So-hyeon, had already acknowledged it, they also had no reason to keep their mouths shut.

“…I’m sure you all know that Luoyang is teeming with slums, and slums inevitably come with the underworld.”

Taengjung, called the Great Monk, chimed in.

“And among those slums, the five worst ones known as the Five Sins each have their own reasons why the poor constantly flock to them.”

“In such Five Sins, underworld organizations are bound to be even more rampant.”

It was the same for this place, one of the Five Sins.

“I’m sure you all now know why the poor keep increasing in this Valley of Sin, and why the underworld organizations are causing this chaos.”

Those who had worked at the base for a few weeks after its construction nodded their heads.

Drugs.

The Valley of Sin was famous not only in Luoyang but throughout the entire Southern Province as a mountain region that produced the raw materials for the drug ‘Young Maiden’s Millet^[2]’, as well as its processing area.

That processing was a dangerous and low-grade job where many lost their lives.

The same went for distribution and sales.

However, from processing to distribution and sales, the poor endlessly flocked to it, calling it a job.

“After the Northern War, as the poor overflowed in unprecedented numbers, the problems caused by the underworld also reached their peak.”

Mal-ko spoke in a gloomy tone.

“…Then one day, someone from the House had this thought.”

If the underworld couldn’t be eliminated, wouldn’t it be better to take the lead in controlling and utilizing it instead?

“…!”

Chanting the Buddhist prayer ‘Amitabha’ bitterly, Taengjung closed his eyes and said,

“And so, in Luoyang, the underworld began to run rampant under the Sword House’s tacit approval.”

***

The underworld organizations had been exchanging thoughts among themselves or whispering for a while.

“Ahem, ahem!”

In the end, having seemingly reached a conclusion, in place of the Three Five Passageways who had lost their vice-leader, the vice-leader of the Black Steel Faction loudly cleared his throat.

“I humbly dare to speak!”

Perhaps frightened by the sight of the Red Armored Boar of the Three Five Passageways exploding, he shouted from behind his subordinates, not content with just being far from Yeon So-hyeon.

“Permission granted.”

As Yeon So-hyeon replied from atop the flag, he carefully shouted while wiping his cold sweat.

“If you happen to desire a separate tribute, our Black Steel Faction is willing to offer any amount!”

Wasn’t he saying he would try to get on Yeon So-hyeon’s good side separately?

At those words, executives from the other two organizations also hurriedly raised their hands and shouted.

“U-us too, the Three Five Passageways…!”

“The White Bone Faction as well!”

Yeon So-hyeon burst into laughter, then soon snorted.

“Tribute, you say?”

The heads of the executives from the two organizations who had shouted after him exploded.

“…Hiiik?!”

The vice-leader of the Black Steel Faction, who had been the first to shout about the tribute, screamed and hid behind his subordinates.

But wasn’t Yeon So-hyeon visible through the body of the subordinate he had hidden behind?

“Huh?”

Because there was a hole the size of an adult’s fist pierced through the subordinate’s body.

And the vice-leader of the Black Steel Faction could see that a hole of the same size had been punched through his own chest.

Had he felt relieved thinking the distance was quite far?

“Phew…”

Yeon So-hyeon retracted his extended fist and took a deep breath.

It was the Shaolin’s special technique, the Hundred Steps Divine Fist.

“Gah, gasp?!”

The sight of the organization members near the fallen executives screaming in fright and retreating entered Yeon So-hyeon’s downward gaze.

“Tribute, how unpleasant!”

Yeon So-hyeon’s voice resoundingly echoed through the square.

“Did you think this Eldest Young Master was someone fallen enough to accept gold coins from back-alley thugs like you?!”

As the divine sonic blast collided far beyond the square and reverberated off both cliff walls, those with weak courage collapsed on the spot.

“It seems there is no one of sufficient caliber to even engage in conversation.”

Yeon So-hyeon ridiculed them and spoke.

“Previously, someone named the Sovereign of Dark Heavens had swept through this valley, making it a masterless public mountain.”

Yeon So-hyeon continued.

“And you bastards must be aiming to take that position.”

Yeon So-hyeon glanced around at the crowd and smiled meaningfully.

It was time to poke at the gap.

“In the end, what you desire is this young master’s ‘Sword House Bronze Plaque’, isn’t it?”

“…!”

There was no answer.

However, just the stiffening faces of those who were clearly executives among the crowd filling the square was sufficient.

‘So it was true.’

Yeon So-hyeon never referred to the 2nd Young Master as a name or younger brother.

To him, 2nd Young Master was just 2nd Young Master, not acknowledged as a family member or considered second, and he had even less intention of needlessly calling him by name.

“…I have no idea what the Eldest Young Master is talking about!”

When no one answered, someone gave a belated response as their feet went numb.

Yeon So-hyeon cast his fishing line once more.

“I know that 2nd Young Master promised the Sword House Bronze Plaque to the last surviving organization in this valley in exchange for loyalty.”

“…”

“…”

At those words, the gazes of some executives stealthily turned fierce.

They were clearly high-ranking executives who knew the inside story.

And Yeon So-hyeon, who had observed all their reactions, gained certainty.

In the past, the head of the Black Bone Faction who suddenly possessed the Sword House Bronze Plaque.

No matter how rotten the Luoyang Sword House was, when he saw a massive underworld organization that dealt in human flesh possessing the Sword House Bronze Plaque, even the skeptical Yeon So-hyeon had clicked his tongue inwardly.

And Yeon So-hyeon had been gathering information from the Crescent Moon Pavilion to verify the hypothesis he had established so far.

And through today’s interrogation, he now saw the whole story.

‘…This way of operating the underworld could have only come from ‘that woman’, not anyone else.’

After the Northern War, it was clear that the woman was behind the establishment of the Luoyang Sword House’s doctrine of controlling and utilizing the underworld.

“…If you know that fact, I don’t understand why the Eldest Young Master is oppressing us so much!”

It was a shout filled with internal energy coming from the rooftop of a building at the far end of the square.

“Does the Eldest Young Master not fear the wrath of the 2nd Young Master?!”

“The Sword House will remember this!”

Shouts filled with internal energy were also heard from the rooftops of buildings at the ends of the square in different directions.

‘They’re the field commanders of this conflict.’

Location identification was complete.

Yeon So-hyeon’s fingers flicked three times in an instant.

The field commanders of the three organizations, each in a safe location, shouting with their internal energy while taking cover behind the thick parapet walls on the stone building rooftops.

Holes simultaneously pierced through the heads of the field commanders of the three organizations who had been in separate safe positions.

As their corpses slumped against the parapet walls they had been taking cover behind, the blood flowing from their hole-ridden heads drew long lines.

On each parapet wall, holes the size of fingernails had identically appeared.

The Hundred Steps Divine Fist and one of the Seventy-Two Special Techniques of Shaolin, the Divine Flicking Finger.

“C-Commander has been hit!”

A commotion arose from the rooftops of the buildings used as field command posts by each organization.

“…”

The organization members filling the square could now only swallow their dry saliva and break out in cold sweat.

Yeon So-hyeon on the flag laughed heartily.

“Is there anyone else who wants to bark?”

“…”

At that moment, a high-ranking executive had a sudden realization.

“…T-that guy didn’t want a conversation from the start!”

He shouted as if screaming.

“From the beginning, his target was the organization’s execu-!”

His head exploded.

A vicious smile curved along Yeon So-hyeon’s lips.

“You only realized that now?”

As he raised his hand, Tang Baek’s subordinates, who had melted into the square through concealment and stealth, simultaneously revealed themselves.

In their raised hands were daggers.

At the tips of those sharply curved blades, long spurts of blood continued from the victims’ carotid arteries.

There were executives who had barely escaped fatal injuries due to their considerable self-cultivation, but the lethal poison that embraced death was already running through their blood vessels.

“R-retreat!”

An executive from a surviving organization shouted as if wailing.

“Retreat!”

He had given an order to his own organization, but the reaction erupted from everyone filling the square.

“R-run away!”

“Fall back! Fall back!”

Some stumbled, some rolled.

There were even those who threw away their weapons and fled.

Regardless of the organization, the members began running towards the upper regions like a swarm of ants.

And there was someone who had been waiting for that moment.

Above the heads of those rushing onto the road leading to the upper regions for retreat, the Grim Reaper appeared.

It was the middle-aged man with a cold face, Tang Baek.

Secret Technique of the Sichuan Tang Clan,

Blooming Flowers Raining from the Sky.

A rain of death poured down from the sky.

Hundreds, perhaps over a thousand ox-hair needles showered down.

It didn’t matter if the ox-hair needles grazed the fingertips, pierced the thighs, or ripped through the forehead.

The poison coursing through the blood vessels paralyzed their muscles, constricted their windpipes, and stopped their hearts.

The lives of the countless enemies who had entered or were about to enter the road from the square vanished in an instant.

And stepping over the corpses and walking into the square, the chain sickles in his hands began to rotate.

[We will charge in!]

Along with the sound transmission of the maidservants’ leader, Hyang, the armored fortress rushed into the square.

It was the Eldest Young Master’s procession that had found a detour with the guidance of Il-ryeong’s scouting.

“——!!”

What could stop the armored fortress?

Blood-armored spirit beasts roared and created a long river of blood in the square.

“Engage! Engage them!”

“Don’t turn your back!”

Only then did some executives come to their senses and shout, but the square, having already lost too much command power, was chaos itself.

The convoy of armored carriages that followed the armored fortress circled around the advance base and stopped, pouring out iron weapons.

The maidservants who sprang out from the procession mercilessly cut down the backs of the enemies retreating in confusion.

Nevertheless, there were far too many enemies, and the Valley of Sin had countless alleys.

They began hiding in every alley and corner like cockroaches.

They fled by seeping into underground passages, underground waterways, and maze-like back alleys.

[Pursuit beyond the square is prohibited!]

At Yeon So-hyeon’s order, everyone focused on slaughtering those who had not yet escaped the square.

Listening to the screams of the enemies plunged into pandemonium, Yeon So-hyeon cast his gaze far away, towards the upper regions of the Valley of Sin.

“…”

As they passed the mid-regions and entered the upper regions, the slope became steep.

The scenery of the streets resembled not mere slums but fortresses at first glance.

Beyond that was the massive rocky cliff of Mount Eunhyeong, and beneath the rocky cliff were countless rock caves like anthills.

Those rock caves, protected by the fortress-like terrain, were the main bases of the underworld.

‘Today’s victory is definitely a great achievement, but…’

But tomorrow, their forces would begin to swell again as if it were a lie.

There were tens of thousands of poor people here, and the influx of the poor to this place was ceaseless.

The gaze of the man standing on the flag narrowed.

‘The Sovereign of Dark Heavens cannot solve everything.’

Where the Black Bone Faction disappeared, the White Bone Faction grew, and in the Valley of Sin where the Sovereign of Dark Heavens had swept through, vice pooled again.

The Sovereign of Dark Heavens could pass judgment, but he could not change the world, the system.

‘Now that this Yeon So-hyeon has come here, there will be no next time for the underworld in this Valley of Sin.’

At that point, the Sovereign of Dark Heavens’s cleanup of the Valley of Sin was an essential part of the plan, and as always, his plan was still in progress.

‘But for now, this is enough for today.’

Stepping down from the flag, he turned around without hesitation.

1. 巖叶陶片本[↩]
2. 목속(妹粟)[↩]

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