Lord Of The Black Alliance, Black Cloud Demon (3)

From the moment he arrived at the Black Alliance, it had been heaven. Wherever Neung Je-gang went and whomever he met, he was treated like a hero.

He deliberately pretended to be practicing breathing cultivation for his injuries and spent four days like that. Now he just had to go back to Cho-ung, take Old Man Gang home, and then return to Kuaiji Mountain.

Yang Wi-ryeong’s family seat, that is, the site of the Iron-Blood Sect, had been reduced to ashes, and all his household had been put to death. Sin was that terrifying. It came back as punishment many times over.

The Hwanam Merchants’ Union had also been blown to pieces. The merchants and caravan masters who had belonged to it were dragged to the Black Alliance, interrogated, and then released; but if it was revealed that they had even the slightest connection to the Necromancer Cult, they were beaten with cudgels and all their assets were confiscated.

Those assets were not taken by the Black Alliance but were all turned over to the imperial court.

“Let’s leave tomorrow.”

He told Majil that in the morning.

“I’m glad to hear you’ve made a full recovery.”

The Lord of the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds came to see him.

“But I heard you said I was suspicious?”

He asked bluntly. He had probably come to press him about having been suspected.

“Ahahaha!”

He could only laugh; since what he had suspected had turned out to be true, he really had nothing to say. To be honest, he was still harboring suspicions even now…

‘Cheon Jang-myeong! That bastard really has a loose tongue…’

For no good reason, he cursed the Master of the No-Poison Sect in his heart.

“The reason I did not tell you about Banwon was because that information came from Yang Wi-ryeong,” he said. “Frankly, at the time I could not trust any of the three Sect Masters. So if it was information that had not been obtained here at the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds, I had no choice but to treat it as suspect and possibly fake. That was why you ended up suspecting me, so you could say it was my fault. I apologize.”

“No. Well, that’s hardly something to apologize for…”

“The women who died in the dungeon last time—that was Yang Wi-ryeong’s doing as well. There were spies planted even in the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds.”

The Pavilion Lord’s words sounded like an excuse. It probably was one. The fact that, on his orders, innocent women had been cruelly tortured did not change.

“And the matter you mentioned last time has been properly handled.”

“Pardon? What… ?”

“Have you forgotten? I mean the inspection of the Wokou Suppression Forces in Fujian and Zhejiang.”

“Ah, right. I did ask you for that, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Here are the documents.”

The Lord of the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds took something from his robe and handed it over. It was a single scroll of documents inside a tube and a heavy badge.

“What is this…?”

“The document is your letter of appointment, and the badge is the Military Inspector’s identity tablet. With that, the commanders of the Wokou Suppression Forces will not be able to so much as twitch.”

“Oh, for you to get something like this so quickly… Thank you.”

“Not at all. You went through all that hardship for our Black Alliance, and this is all we can do for you—I can only feel sorry. Then, please rest. I’ll take my leave…”

“Yes.”

After the Pavilion Lord left, Neung Je-gang felt a warm sense of satisfaction. He had not realized it would feel this good to finally do something for his long-suffering master.

After the Lord of the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds left, another visitor came.

“Captain!”

It was Cheong Yeon.

“I heard you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Right. I have to go check on Old Man Gang, and I need to go back to Kuaiji Mountain where I live.”

“Please allow me to come with you.”

“You want to follow me?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Isn’t it better here? Unlike me, you’re free. Now that you’ve become a hero, no one is going to criticize you for once having served under Yang Wi-ryeong.”

“This is not a place where I should stay. I have not forgotten the oath I made when I first entered the Depot Martial Academy.”

“Ah, the oath to live for the nation, the Emperor, and the people, right?”

“Yes. When Yang Wi-ryeong saved me, I was able to forget it for a while—because of that favor. But that veil is gone now. This is the demonic path. Once the fight with the Necromancer Cult is over, the Black Alliance will return to its original nature. Do you think I can live in a place like that?”

It was certainly impossible. The demonic path was called demonic for a reason. How could one live while honoring the nation and the Emperor in such a place?

But the idea of living for the people was something only a die-hard orthodox man would cling to—or perhaps an official of the court, like those of the Eastern Depot.

“Do you think you can live for the people if you follow me?”

“At the very least, there won’t be any tormenting of the people. And perhaps… I might even be able to return to the Eastern Depot someday…”

“So that’s what you want—to go back to the Eastern Depot.”

“Only if possible, if possible… But it will probably be impossible. I know that, and still I hope for it, so please don’t mock me.”

“Mock you? Hardly… I sometimes find myself missing those days too. At any rate, if you truly mean to leave with me, then do so.”

There was no need to talk him out of it. Cheong Yeon was someone who would be a help, not a hindrance.

After Cheong Yeon left, it seemed like things were finally going to quiet down a little.

“The Alliance Lord requests to see you.”

But of course, this time it was the Black Cloud Demon who came looking for Neung Je-gang.

Neung Je-gang sprang to his feet at once. A private meeting with the Black Cloud Demon was something to remember.

Sllrp.

The Black Cloud Demon’s face looked utterly ordinary, just like Neung Je-gang’s original face.

He looked to be only in his forties, but he was surely much older than that. He must have undergone a body-recasting rebirth.

He accepted the teacup the man poured for him.

“He was a child I had when I was not yet a martial artist. I should have just let him live out his life reading books…”

Neung Je-gang could tell whom he was talking about. It was the story of the Black Cloud Demon’s dead son.

“On a whim I let a foolish idea get to me and called him here. Once my son learned who his father really was, he fell into dissipation. He must have felt he had nothing to fear—after all, he had the strongest father. But in the martial world, your own strength is the only real strength; the boy never understood that. So he went crooked, sunk into debauchery… Heh. I never knew raising a child could be so hard.”

…

Neung Je-gang simply listened.

The Black Cloud Demon held something out to him. It was the very club disguised as a sword that had killed Yang Wi-ryeong.

“This fellow is called Wind and Thunder.”

Instead of looking at it, Neung Je-gang looked at the Black Cloud Demon. He wondered why he had brought it out.

“My martial arts came from this very thing.”

Only then did Neung Je-gang stare at Wind and Thunder in surprise.

“Before I leave the martial world, I wanted to entrust this to someone. But I could not find anyone suitable—once they learned the martial art within, they might grow greedy… And then I saw you. Would you not like to learn the martial art contained in this?”

He let out a faint snort.

Neung Je-gang laughed. The martial arts of the greatest master of the age—of course he coveted them. He was curious too.

But…

“I’m still floundering because I haven’t even finished mastering what I already have.”

“Exactly. I knew you would say something like that. Which is why you should take this.”

“No, what I meant was that I don’t need it. I’m not lacking in martial arts.”

“Later, if you find a truly promising youngster, you can pass it on to them. It will be of no use to you anyway. The arts you’ve mastered are not inferior to mine. And if there is no destined affinity, no one will be able to draw the martial art out of it here in the first place.”

“If what you want is a successor, you could just…”

“I’m going to leave the martial world soon. I had planned to do it after eradicating the Necromancer Cult, but it seems they’ll manage well enough without me… I intend to cut all ties with the martial world completely. I’ll live as someone who has forgotten martial arts altogether… So I’m asking this favor of you.”

Neung Je-gang was truly in a bind. Honestly, if he ever found a good child, he ought to take them as his own disciple—why would he make them the Black Cloud Demon’s successor instead?

If he agreed, he would have to hand over any worthy kid he met. And even if that child learned the art, they would not necessarily become much stronger, so it was basically just baggage. Baggage with very demanding conditions attached.

But with the man clinging to him like that, he could not bring himself to coldly refuse…

“Well, if you put it that way…”

In the end, Neung Je-gang took Wind and Thunder in his hand.

“What do you feel?”

The Black Cloud Demon asked.

“Yes, it’s heavy. A little cold…”

“Heh-heh. Someone with a destined affinity for it feels a sharp tingling when they touch it. As I thought, you and it have no such bond.”

His words annoyed Neung Je-gang for no real reason.

‘Then why are you dumping this on someone who doesn’t even have that affinity?’

But he could not say it out loud. If he provoked him into “fixing his bad manners” with a duel, that would be bad. He still was not confident he could win.

‘Master was right—time really does cure everything. He said my world would only come after all these old monsters disappeared, didn’t he?’

Neung Je-gang finished his tea and stood up.

“I’m leaving tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll see each other again.”

He offered his final farewell and left the room.

When he returned to his room and sat there blankly, yet another visitor came.

“You’re leaving tomorrow?”

“That’s right.”

It seemed Majil had gone around broadcasting the news to every corner of the place. How was it that there was no one who didn’t know he was leaving tomorrow?

“I’m leaving tomorrow too.”

‘Yikes! Is this woman trying to latch on again?’

Neung Je-gang flinched. It felt like the sensation still lingered—the feeling of her hand stroking his face.

“Please give my regards to your father, young lady.”

By taking the initiative, he steered her into going to the Martial Alliance instead.

Go So-jeong’s face seemed to show a hint of disappointment, but it put his mind at ease to send her off like that. Only after sending off even Go So-jeong could Neung Je-gang finally rest comfortably.

The next day, Neung Je-gang set out on the road with Cheong Yeon and Majil. He had taken more than enough funds for the journey from the Black Alliance.

They had even acquired a carriage. Now that he no longer needed to buy and sell carriages, he could travel at an easy pace.

When they arrived at Cho-ung, they met Old Man Gang. Fortunately, nothing had happened.

They took Old Man Gang and hurried to Sinpyeong. If anything had happened to the old man’s family, he had been ready to cut down every “Yang Family Manor” in the world. But disappointingly (or perhaps luckily), they were unharmed.

Feeling pained by the shabby state of Old Man Gang’s house, Neung Je-gang went to the Yang Family Manor. But some random fellow was playing lord there. The original steward had fled with the valuables after hearing of Yang Wi-ryeong’s downfall and the Iron-Blood Sect’s destruction. A rich man from Sinpyeong had taken his place.

That night, the home of that wealthy man received a visit from the legendary chivalrous thief, Blazing Flame Master. The house burned to the ground, and the family fortune vanished.

Of course, the one who handled the assets was the legendary problem-solver, Secret Shadow. The former Eastern Depot man Cheong Yeon, who claimed he wanted to live for the people, drove the carriage as the hauler, so you could say they were a dream-team trio of bandits.

“From now on, you can live here.”

They took down the plaque reading “Yang Family Manor” and replaced it with one reading “Gang Family Manor,” then moved Old Man Gang’s family in. The old man’s uneasy expression and his grandchildren’s joy stayed with Neung Je-gang for a long time.

They also left them a hefty sum of money stripped from the rich man—enough that they would never again have to go climbing Mount Aenoe for a living.

‘If only that incident had never happened to our Neung Family Manor too…’

Old memories suddenly rose up. If not for that incident, three generations could truly have lived happily.

‘Should I pay the Martial Alliance a visit sometime? It feels awkward because of Lady Go, though…’

Suddenly he remembered that he had commissioned an investigation into Dam Ja-cheon and his daughter Dam Yeo-yeong. To hear the results, he would have to seek out Go Won-gi.

‘I’ll go later. The urgent thing now is to get to Kuaiji Mountain and rescue So-yeon.’

Neung Je-gang quietly laid his hand on the Ice Essence Crystal in his robe, which was giving off a cold aura.

They drove on tirelessly, passing through Jiangxi Province and Jiangdong Province, and entered Fujian Province, which suffered greatly from Wokou raids. It was the perfect chance to make full use of the Military Inspector’s eosa-tablet.

Neung Je-gang arrived in Joan County on the coast. He planned to contact the local authorities and see what the Wokou Suppression Forces were doing. But…

Bang.

Neung Je-gang’s two palms slammed down on the table. The sight of him in a rage looked truly terrifying. The Black Alliance warrior from the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds trembled.

“Say that one more time. What happened, exactly?”

“Kuaiji Mountain is under attack by the Necromancer Cult…”

It was news sent to him by the Lord of the Hall of Ten Thousand Sounds. Kuaiji Mountain was in danger.