Two days later.
“Hmm.”
Yeon Wi’s eyes sank deep, like a lake.
“So that is what happened?”
“Yes.”
He was managing his expression because he was having tea with his father. Even so, Yeon Wi saw that a layer of frost had settled over his eldest son’s face.
“The Divine Fla Cult’s final intelligence base is near Xuchang. Given that the third was Cheonja Mountain, in an ergency, they must have at least two more places to send information besides Xuchang.”
Contacts who stole and relayed information operated countless bases.
Among those bases, the most important were the first base and the final base. It was safest to leave the regularly used bases as they were, while preparing several locations for the first and final bases.
When information theft was being done properly, it was common to have more than ten bases. In that sense, four could be considered few.
“They must have built them under the assumption that the Martial Alliance side did not know of their existence.”
“Probably. But each base looked flimsy. They were likely built as temporary bases, and as ti passes, they will start establishing them properly one by one.”
“Yes, they likely will. More importantly...”
Yeon Wi clicked his tongue.
“You an to say you caught up to every ssenger pigeon in flight?”
“Yes.”
He had swept everything, from Mount Daebyeol where the Martial Alliance stood, through the second base, to the third at Cheonja Mountain, then from Cheonja Mountain to the final base at Xuchang, before returning.
Before even discussing the depth of his internal force or stamina, this was a matter of willpower. Unless one had the extre will to catch them no matter what, even superb stamina would not be enough.
And on his way back, he had even checked each location again in reverse order.
Yeon Wi knew his son was fierce, but he had not known his tenacity went this far.
Perhaps it is only natural.
His son had said he had lived for decades, then returned to the past for reasons unknown.
Yeon Wi did not doubt that his son’s confession was true.
Regardless of how absurd the story sounded, Yeon Wi did not doubt that his son’s confession was true. And when he thought back to those words, his son’s tenacity was not so difficult to understand.
“You worked hard. Get so sleep today.”
“I’m fine. This much is nothing.”
“You brat. You traveled that far and still have not rested properly, have you?”
Yeon Hojeong smiled bitterly.
“Rather than regret the past at a decisive mont, it’s better to run until the soles of my feet sweat, even if I feel like dying now.”
“......”
“For now, the situation inside the Alliance is quiet. If Venerable Gonggong gives us his answer soon, I think we can move after that.”
“Mm.”
“For the ti being, I will focus on this side. Father, please do not take your eyes off the flow of the political struggle.”
The words were a request, but his tone was firr than ever. When Yeon Hojeong had truly made up his mind, a terrifying driving force radiated from him.
Thinking back, his son had been involving himself in far too many places at once. While checking Mo Yonggun and minding the Evil-Smiting Corps, he had also predicted the Martial Alliance’s future and watched the stirring of the Three Creeds.
It was not sothing one person could do. Though only barely, his son had held on to all of it until the end.
Yeon Wi’s eyes shone.
“I think I have placed too great a burden on you while concerning myself with people. From now on, it will be different. This father of yours will properly watch the flow of the political struggle, so run without any worries.”
“Thank you.”
“But before that.”
Yeon Wi nodded.
“Unless soone’s head is about to fly this very mont, I still want you to rest today.”
“Father.”
“This is not an order as Clan Lord, nor advice as your father. It is a request.”
“......”
“As you said, it is better to do everything you can while you still can than to regret it at a decisive mont. But as this father sees it, your complexion is far too poor right now.”
It was not rely because he looked tired.
Was it because he was chasing one of the Three Creeds in earnest after so long? Yeon Hojeong was sowhat excited.
Yeon Wi could feel all of it: that excitent and killing intent, worry and anger, resolve and conflict.
“The eldest son I know is a genius who can see one move ahead, two moves ahead, even when he is in a state of extre excitent. But I do not see that in you right now.”
“......!”
“Rest just for today. While resting, cool your head.”
“...Understood.”
Yeon Hojeong let out a sigh.
“If you put it that way, Father, I will not roam around outside today.”
Yeon Wi rose with a satisfied smile.
“I hear the rchant world south of the Yangtze is shaking quite a bit. A Service Council eting happens to be scheduled for that matter, so I likely will not be able to return before midnight. I will attend the eting and check on the Service Lords while I am there, so rest well.”
“Understood. Work hard.”
“Yes.”
With that, Yeon Wi left the quarters.
Yeon Hojeong sighed in frustration.
“Rest, is it?”
He had used Gi Uhui properly for the first ti, and at the sa ti, he had discovered the Divine Fla Cult’s intelligence bases.
And now he had to lead the work of setting up watchtowers using formations around those intelligence bases. Naturally, there was no ti to rest.
But.
“Yes. Just today.”
He trusted his father. He trusted his father’s eyes, and he trusted his heart.
That father had said he was different from usual. If his father said so, then it was true. So gap or carelessness he himself had not noticed must have been visible to his father’s eyes.
Of course, resting for one day did not seem likely to make this urgency vanish, but he intended to calm his mind as much as possible.
Yeon Hojeong lay down on the bed.
He was so excited that the sound of his heartbeat rang like thunder. Yet once he actually lay down, his eyelids grew strangely heavy.
Even so, Yeon Hojeong’s mind was still spinning quickly.
The political struggle is in Father and the Strategist’s hands, the information is with Hu Gae, Mo Yonggun is with Brother, and the Evil-Smiting Corps is with Mookbi. They’re all people I can trust, but people are never perfect. Sowhere, sothing will creak in the near future.
Yeon Hojeong bit his lip.
One minor problem can collapse an entire organization. That is not common, but in the current situation, where I cannot neglect a single thing, there is no way I can relax.
It had truly been a long ti since his head felt as though it might split.
His heart kept turning toward the Three Creeds, but if he focused there, it felt as though a gap would open sowhere else.
It was not that he could not trust people. It was because he knew so well how the world worked.
Of course, there was no guarantee that his involvent would solve the problem. Thinking of it that way, his current worries could be called useless worries.
After turning matters over in his head for quite so ti, Yeon Hojeong finally sighed.
“This is not resting.”
He deliberately resolved to empty his mind.
When one tried to forcibly empty the mind, distracting thoughts instead beca endless. Even so, Yeon Hojeong focused.
How much ti passed like that?
“......”
Yeon Hojeong’s breathing gradually evened out.
He truly must have been tired after all. Yeon Hojeong’s expression as he fell into a deep sleep looked strangely exhausted.
Half a day later.
BANG!
“Jeong!”
The door opened, and Je Gal Ahyeon ca in.
She seed to have had quite a rough ti, because the shadows under her eyes were dark as well. Even so, her eyes were sparkling, enough to show that she had achieved sothing.
“I found it! There happens to be a formation in the clan that is perfect for—huh?”
Je Gal Ahyeon frowned.
“He gives soone work to do, and then he sprawls out and sleeps? What kind of rotten superior is this?”
After huffing and puffing for a while, Je Gal Ahyeon eventually sat down on the chair by the window.
As she looked at Yeon Hojeong with a twisted face, her expression gradually turned blank.
Well.
She knew Yeon Hojeong’s personality. Though he spoke that way, Yeon Hojeong was not the type to hand work to his subordinates and then pull back to laze around himself.
If anything, he must have done even harder work.
Besides, if she had co in making such a loud noise, it would be normal for him to wake up. No, he should have sensed her presence and woken before she even shouted.
The fact that he was still asleep without a care in the world ant Yeon Hojeong’s fatigue was beyond imagination.
Scratching her head, Je Gal Ahyeon took several neatly folded sheets of paper from her robe.
“Tch. I worked hard to find this. Well, it is not extrely urgent.”
The enemy bases would not disappear imdiately anyway. As for formations, if the environnt was right, they could be built within a few days, so it would be better to let him rest properly while he could.
Enemy.
Je Gal Ahyeon’s expression grew serious.
There is so force targeting the martial world?
This was the first ti she had heard such an organization existed.
Of course, she did not bla Yeon Hojeong for only telling her now. If Yeon Hojeong and her father had held back their words until now, there had to be a reason.
If Jeong and Father are that tense, then they definitely aren’t an ordinary enemy.
She was spreading her imagination wide about that “enemy” for a long while.
“Um...”
A cautious voice ca from outside the door.
Je Gal Ahyeon blinked.
“Who is it? Oh? Is that you, Jipyeong?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Co in, co in.”
Yeon Jipyeong carefully opened the door and entered the room.
Je Gal Ahyeon smiled and waved.
“We’ve both been so busy that we hardly see each other.”
“That’s true. Have you been well, Sister?”
“Of course. Wow, seeing you again, Jipyeong really is so kind. I wish my foul-mouthed little brother would look at you and learn a thing or two.”
“Cough.”
“By the way, Jeong is asleep. Did you co because you had business with him?”
“Ah, yes. But he is sleeping.”
“So he is. I ca because I had business with him too, but he was completely dead to the world.”
“......”
“......”
“...Ahem! Are you waiting here?”
“Hm? Oh, of course. If I co back later and he wakes up and starts wandering sowhere again, it’ll be a headache trying to find him.”
“I-I see.”
It was truly strange to sit beside soone who was sleeping and wait.
Je Gal Ahyeon beckoned with her hand.
“Why don’t you co sit too? Since it’s co to this, keep company.”
“Yes? Pardon?”
Yeon Jipyeong was flustered. No matter what, chatting beside his sleeping older brother did not seem quite right.
“There is a platform outside. Would it not be better to talk there?”
Je Gal Ahyeon wagged her finger left and right.
“I shouted from the diaphragm, and he still kept sleeping. That ans he’s really deep asleep. Look. Even though you ca in, not a single breath has changed.”
“T-That is true, but...”
“Oh, don’t be like that. Co sit here.”
With no other choice, Yeon Jipyeong sat across from her.
Je Gal Ahyeon smiled and said, “By the way, I didn’t notice when I saw you a while ago, but you’ve improved trendously, haven’t you? If we fought seriously, I might lose too.”
“How could that be?”
“No. You don’t seem to feel it yourself, but your presence is almost...”
The two of them talked more comfortably than expected, laughing as they went. Of course, Yeon Jipyeong occasionally glanced at Yeon Hojeong and lowered his voice.
Like that, half a shichen flew by.
Perhaps because it was winter in the mountains, the sun set quickly. Before they knew it, the scenery outside the window was gradually being dyed a deep orange.
Je Gal Ahyeon laughed brightly and said, “It’s been a long ti since I t such a pleasant conversation partner. I feel like all the fatigue I built up until now has flown away.”
Yeon Jipyeong smiled solemnly.
“If talking with eased your fatigue, then I am glad as well.”
“You’ve really beco an adult. Sohow, you seem more mature than your brother.”
“Cough! N-No! Absolutely not.”
“What do you an, no? That is how I feel.”
“Cough, cough!”
“Did you catch a cold?”
“...No.”
Je Gal Ahyeon giggled.
“Co visit our ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) quarters from ti to ti. I’ll serve you so good tea.”
“I will visit often from now on, Sister.”
As Je Gal Ahyeon smiled in satisfaction, she suddenly looked at the sunset light shining in through the window.
“It’s red. It looks like there’s a fire sowhere.”
“It does.”
“Ugh, I hate fire.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you rember when we first t? The heart thod I learned is a divine art based on Wood energy, so that damned pervert almost overpowered by force.”
“Ah!”
“Ever since then, just looking at fire makes sick of it. They say I just need to cultivate my divine art until Fire energy can’t overco , but who knows when I’ll ever reach major completion?”
“Your perception is so outstanding, Sister, that faster than anyone...”
That was when it happened.
“That’s it.”
The two of them were startled and looked at the bed.
At so point, Yeon Hojeong had woken up and was rubbing his chin.
“The ones sensitive to Fire energy are Wood energy and Water energy... Yes. That is true. It would be the sa before Divine Fla as well.”
“Gah! When did you wake up?”
Yeon Hojeong smiled brightly and grabbed her arm.
“Let’s go. I had a good idea.”
She had no chance to ask where.
PAAAAANG!
The two of them imdiately launched themselves out the window, becoming distant dots in an instant.
Yeon Jipyeong could hear Je Gal Ahyeon’s voice rapidly fading into the distance.
“Hey, you damned bastard! Not once, but twice—get your hand off— I’m going to kill you...!”
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