Cleanup (2)

Seonu Jung asked Seonu Jin again.

‘Assuming we crush the Ha Clan’s ambush, what should we do afterward?’

Seonu Jin answered.

‘Now that the Ha Clan has revealed its true colors, the justification lies with us. We must punish them immediately. Since it will still be early dawn, we can destroy the ambush and strike them while fully taking advantage of the element of surprise.’

Seonu Jung nodded in admiration.

‘So you had thought that far ahead when you said we should leave at dawn. Then should I return to the clan immediately, lead our warriors, and attack the Ha Clan?’

‘Yes. However, when you return to the clan, there is one matter you must handle as quickly as possible.’

‘One matter?’

At Seonu Jung’s question, Seonu Jin’s eyes gleamed sharply as he answered.

‘Yes. You must clean up the inside a little. Before striking an external enemy, should one not always put one’s own house in order first?’

By the time Seonu Jung, Head of the Seonu Clan, raced back without rest alongside more than a hundred warriors from Dan Manor, many people had already gathered in the training ground.

Several among them had even been tightly bound and forced to kneel in the training ground.

As though they did not know why they were being treated that way, they had been shouting and demanding to know what this was about. The moment they saw Seonu Jung, they began clamoring as though they had been waiting for him.

“My lord! Please save me! These people dared to do this to me!”

“Clan Head! Something is wrong! Never once in my life have I failed to remain loyal to the Seonu Clan! This is terribly unjust!”

“Father! Punish those who dared to do this to me! I will never forgive them!”

They were Lady Ha, Seonu Jung’s second wife; Seonu Hyeok, the second son she had borne him; Third Elder Gak Junggwang, who had aligned himself with them; and Son Wonjong, Captain of the Second Divine Eagle Unit.

All of them had been suddenly arrested early that morning by Grand Elder Heo Jinguk and the Fourth Divine Eagle Unit, then forced to kneel in the training ground.

Naturally, not only those who had been arrested but everyone else as well had been startled and tried to ask why.

However, Heo Jinguk and Captain Dam Muho of the Fourth Divine Eagle Unit merely said that it was the Clan Head’s command and offered no explanation.

In truth, they had also merely received instructions from Seonu Jin and knew nothing about the detailed circumstances.

Even so, they had not hesitated in the slightest to carry out Seonu Jin’s sudden orders.

After seeing Seonu Jin’s Vermilion Bird Manifest in the training ground last time, all of them had become completely devoted to him.

“My lord!”

“Father!”

“Clan Head!”

Clan Head Seonu Jung looked at the shouting people with cold eyes.

Then, without saying a word, he threw the two prisoners he had brought back before them.

Thud!

Thud!

The bound people and everyone around them stared at the two men with puzzled expressions.

“Who are those people?!”

“W-What is this?!”

The men appeared to have suffered terribly. Both their arms had been severed, and their bodies were battered beyond recognition.

After a moment, someone among those who had initially fallen silent in confusion finally recognized their faces.

It was Lady Ha, the second wife.

The moment she recognized them, her complexion gradually turned pale.

Seeing her expression, Seonu Jung finally spoke.

“These men are the captains of the Ha Clan’s White Tiger Units!”

At his words, the surrounding onlookers began to murmur.

Most wondered how the men had ended up in such a state and whether it was truly acceptable to treat them that way.

Seonu Jung said nothing else and quietly listened to their words.

Then Third Elder Gak Junggwang, who was bound, suddenly brightened his eyes and raised his voice.

“Clan Head! Please heed the loyal counsel of this Gak Junggwang! It is improper to treat the warriors of the Ha Clan, a family connected to you through marriage, in such a manner! Furthermore, even if you disregard propriety and fight them, our current strength could never withstand the Ha Clan! Please consider reality and apologize for your mistake before matters become completely irreversible! If you sincerely apologize to them, they will surely…!”

The onlookers were beginning to nod as though agreeing with Gak Junggwang.

At that moment, Seonu Jung abruptly interrupted him.

And his words shocked everyone into silence.

“Even though they tried to kill me?”

“P-Pardon?”

“They lay in ambush along the road to Dan Manor, disguised themselves as warriors of Dan Manor, and tried to kill Seong and me. Yet Elder Gak still thinks I should apologize to them?”

The faces of everyone who had been bound turned pale.

Even they had not known that the Ha Clan had attempted to assassinate Seonu Jung.

Gak Junggwang stammered as he tried to protest.

“Th-That cannot b-be true. There must be some misunderstanding….”

At that instant, Seonu Jung released the pressure of a Pinnacle master and shouted in fury.

“The Clan Head was attacked and nearly killed, yet you say that cannot be true?! What fitting words for a traitor! We departed at dawn according to a plan made several days ago! Yet they knew both our destination and our departure time perfectly and lay in ambush! What do you say? Will you claim that this, too, was a misunderstanding?!”

At those words, Gak Junggwang’s face turned deathly white.

Only now had he realized why they had been bound and brought there.

The Clan Head believed that they were traitors who had assisted with the assassination attempt.

Gak Junggwang hurriedly shouted.

“C-Clan Head! This is a misunderstanding! I would never…!”

“Silence!”

Along with the furious shout, Seonu Jung’s sword flashed.

Swoosh!

At that moment, everyone watching covered their mouths in shock.

“Gasp!”

Until then, Seonu Jung had been regarded as a benevolent but indecisive and incompetent Clan Head who was always pushed around by his wife’s family.

Yet now, that very Seonu Jung had cut off Elder Gak Junggwang’s head in a single stroke.

The people of the Seonu Clan could not believe their eyes.

Moreover, he did not appear inclined to stop there.

He now glared terrifyingly at Son Wonjong, Captain of the Second Divine Eagle Unit.

The deathly pale Son Wonjong hurriedly tried to speak.

“C-Clan Head! This is a misunder—!”

Swoosh!

His sword light flashed, and Son Wonjong’s head also soared high into the air.

A beat later, blood erupted and scattered like a fountain.

The onlookers could only squeeze their eyes shut.

The sight of two men who had long been among the true powerholders of the Seonu Clan being executed in an instant was simply too shocking.

At that moment, Seonu Jung muttered with a cold expression.

Though his voice was quiet, every word entered everyone’s ears clearly.

“It seems that the only word traitors know is ‘misunderstanding.’”

At last, Seonu Jung pointed the tip of his sword toward Lady Ha and his son, Seonu Hyeok.

Everyone watched without even daring to breathe properly.

Lady Ha trembled like an aspen leaf as she spoke.

“M-My lord, th-this is a misunderstanding. Th-This concubine would never….”

However, she could not continue when she saw Seonu Jung’s cold smile.

“Another misunderstanding? That is a word I have heard quite often today.”

“M-My lord!”

At that moment, Seonu Jung raised his sword high into the air.

Terrified, Lady Ha and Seonu Hyeok closed their eyes and screamed.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaagh!”

The onlookers reacted the same way.

Most squeezed their eyes shut at the horrific scene they expected to follow.

Yet even after some time passed, no further sound came.

The people swallowed hard and slowly opened their eyes to look toward them.

Seonu Jung, who had seemed ready to bring down his sword at any moment, had been unable to do so.

After holding it aloft for a while, he finally lowered it and ordered Dam Muho, Captain of the Fourth Divine Eagle Unit, who stood waiting nearby.

“Considering that he carries the blood of the Seonu Clan, and that she bore a child of my blood, I will not kill them! Captain Dam! Lock them in the dungeon immediately! Until I give further orders, give them no food, no water, nothing at all!”

“Yes, Clan Head!”

Lady Ha and Seonu Hyeok were immediately dragged to the dungeon by members of the Fourth Divine Eagle Unit.

They could no longer say anything.

At that moment, Seonu Jung shouted toward the gathered members of the Seonu Clan.

His powerful voice carried the inner energy of a Pinnacle master.

“Are there any other traitors among you who have colluded with outside forces?!”

His sharp gaze swept across Second Elder and the Captain of the First Divine Eagle Unit, who had aligned themselves with the Gaeyang Sect, the maternal family of his eldest son Seonu Seong, as well as Fourth Elder and the Captain of the Third Divine Eagle Unit, who had aligned themselves with the Un Clan, the maternal family of Seonu Yeonha.

The trembling Fourth Elder was the first to drop to his knees and shout.

“Th-This subject is loyal only to the Seonu Clan! I have never harbored any other intentions, Clan Head!”

Starting with him, the others also began to kneel.

Thud! Thud!

“The same is true of me, Clan Head!”

“As it is for me, Clan Head!”

“Please believe this subject, Clan Head!”

For a while, Seonu Jung merely watched them in silence.

Then he spoke in a low voice.

“I will be watching you from now on.”

At his words, those kneeling were able to secretly sigh in relief.

At that moment—

Seonu Jung shouted loudly once again.

“All warriors of the Seonu Clan, prepare for battle immediately! I will not forgive the Ha Clan for daring to assassinate the Head of the Seonu Clan and attempting to seize control of us!”

It was an extremely sudden command.

Confusion appeared on the faces of everyone gathered there.

“Th-The Ha Clan…?”

“Us?”

The Ha Clan possessed five Pinnacle masters and was the strongest force in Guiyang—perhaps even the strongest in all of Guizhou.

For the current Seonu Clan to confront the Ha Clan head-on could only be considered reckless.

At least, that was what they believed.

However, in the current atmosphere, there was no one who could possibly oppose the Clan Head’s command.

All they could do was lower their heads and answer in resounding voices.

“Yes, Clan Head!”

Zhuge Seoyul watched the entire sequence of events from one corner with a deeply fascinated expression.

Her face, which had remained dark due to the severe emotional distress she had suffered recently, sparkled with life for the first time in a long while.

A tremendous transformation was taking place before her eyes.

Most of all, she had never imagined that Seonu Jung, Head of the Seonu Clan, who had always seemed quiet and indecisive, possessed such a side to him. The powerful pressure with which he dominated everyone present could not have appeared more impressive.

She suddenly muttered regretfully.

“Ah, is there no other man like that somewhere? It would be wonderful if there were a forceful and impressive man like him among people my age. Anyway, if they are going to confront the Ha Clan head-on, what should we do, Uncle?”

Zhuge Jiyong, who stood beside her, let out a low hum and muttered as though to himself.

“Could it be… that the Seonu Clan Head intended to use us to clean up the inside of his clan?”

“Pardon?”

When she looked curiously at her uncle, who had spoken of something else instead of answering her question, Zhuge Jiyong shook his head and replied.

“It is nothing. Let us watch for now. Surely he will not formally make us an offer and then pretend it never happened.”

“…Pardon?”

When Zhuge Seoyul still seemed unable to understand, Zhuge Jiyong sighed with a slightly frustrated expression.

“Hmm. I will explain later. For now, let us observe the course of the battle. If the Seonu Clan is pushed back, we may be able to make them indebted to us by lending our strength. That would not be a bad result for us, either.”

Zhuge Seoyul still did not understand, but merely nodded.

It was her own family, yet the things spoken by members of the Zhuge Clan were certainly far too difficult.

Zhuge Jiyong muttered again with a grave expression.

“Still, to think they intend to attack the Ha Clan head-on. Could they be acting like this after including us in their calculations? If so, they would gain very little from it….”

From Zhuge Jiyong’s perspective, it seemed almost certain that Seonu Jung had made that offer to the Zhuge Clan previously in order to provoke the Ha Clan and purge the forces of his second wife.

The problem was what came next.

He still could not determine whether the offer had merely been a means to that end, or whether it had been a genuine proposal to submit to the Zhuge Clan.

However, it seemed more likely that it had merely been a tool.

If Zhuge Jiyong himself were Seonu Jung, he would have no reason to place the Seonu Clan under the Zhuge Clan once the Ha Clan’s influence had been erased.

‘Yet he intends to attack the Ha Clan?’

That was strange.

Attacking the Ha Clan with the Seonu Clan’s forces alone was unquestionably reckless.

Therefore, it seemed that Seonu Jung had acted after accounting for the Zhuge Clan’s support. However, if that were true, there appeared to be little benefit in it for Seonu Jung.

The more indebted he became to the Zhuge Clan, the less justification he would have for breaking his promise.

Zhuge Jiyong’s thoughts were becoming increasingly tangled.

While Zhuge Jiyong pondered such matters, three figures watched the scene from a rooftop.

They were Seonu Jin, Jeok Mahyeok, and Gyeon Jung.

Seonu Jin smiled and muttered.

“Once Father drew his sword, nothing could stand in his way. He was truly impressive.”

Before carrying out this plan, Seonu Jin had made one demand of his father, Seonu Jung.

Third Elder Gak Junggwang and Son Wonjong, Captain of the Second Divine Eagle Unit, absolutely had to be dealt with.

He could not tell his father, but in his previous life, Son Wonjong had betrayed the Seonu Clan and defected to the Ha Clan.

Third Elder Gak Junggwang had not defected to another faction, but he was a man so concerned with his own interests and so prone to causing internal strife within the Seonu Clan that it might have been preferable if he had.

How many times had Seonu Jin been driven to fury because of him in his previous life…?

Therefore, Seonu Jin had judged that eliminating them early was the best possible choice for the Seonu Clan.

And now, they had been cleanly dealt with at such an early point.

Seonu Jin muttered with a refreshed smile.

“Hmm, this is good.”

Seonu Jin felt as though a blockage in his chest had been cleared away.

That was especially true as he watched Lady Ha, who had long reigned like an absolute ruler over the Seonu Clan and committed all manner of abuses, being dragged away miserably.

As he watched her, Seonu Jin suddenly muttered.

“It is a sight I wish I could show Mother in heaven.”

Of course, of the two people directly responsible for his mother’s death, Lady Gok, Seonu Seong’s mother, still remained.

However, she would not last much longer, either.

Feeling refreshed, Seonu Jin rose and spoke to Jeok Mahyeok and Gyeon Jung.

“Now, let us go to the Ha Clan. I apologize for making you move so busily.”

Jeok Mahyeok smiled and answered.

“Not at all, Young Master. I had rested so much that my body had grown stiff. Only now am I finally beginning to feel excited.”

Gyeon Jung’s eyes also gleamed as he asked.

“Will I now be able to fight a Pinnacle master?”

At his question, Seonu Jin grinned and nodded.

“Yes. Fight to your heart’s content.”

Even after the captains of the First and Second White Tiger Units had been dealt with, the Ha Clan still possessed three Pinnacle masters.

Therefore, the Seonu Clan, which had only two Pinnacle masters, would inevitably be at a disadvantage in a battle against them.

Seonu Jin suddenly grinned as he thought.

‘But will they truly still have three Pinnacle masters when they fight the Seonu Clan?’

Seonu Jin had no intention of allowing that.