Chapter 100: The Master Level's Scheme (3)
“So, the authority of the Clan Heir, is it.”
Ordinarily, even if she was his daughter, such insolence would have been punished severely, just like the elder lying over there.
But now, Sa Biyeon was essentially saying she would drink from a poisoned chalice.
“W-what nonsense is this!”
“Biyeon! How dare you spout such outrageous nonsense!”
Sa Bimun and Sa Bijun, who stood beside Sa Bihwan, instantly exploded with rage.
And then—
Crackle! Zzzzap!
“Aaargh!”
“Forgive us! Forgive us, Clan Leader!”
The two of them paid a horrific price for opening their mouths without permission.
It was a pain like having their teeth ripped out and the nerves inside them scraped raw—without anesthesia.
Even as they foamed blood from their mouths and lost consciousness, their bodies continued to convulse, unable to escape the agony.
“Remove them.”
“Yes, Clan Leader.”
The elite guards of the Clan Leader, waiting nearby, dragged the unconscious Sa Bimun and Sa Bijun out of the room.
“There was a slight commotion.”
“……”
“So, my daughter, are you truly asking me to give you the seat of Clan Heir?”
At those words, Sa Bihwan’s shoulders trembled noticeably.
But Sa Biyeon ignored it and answered swiftly.
“I do not dare hope for such a thing. I merely believe that, to resolve this issue, I need temporary authority equivalent to the Clan Heir.”
“And what solution could possibly require that?”
Sa Biyeon straightened her back and spoke confidently.
“If you grant me that authority, I shall tell you.”
“What?”
Even Sa Myeongrin and the surrounding elders widened their eyes in disbelief.
To show such audacity before the Clan Leader?!
Sa Myeongrin narrowed his eyes with a flicker of anger as he glared at Sa Biyeon.
“Hmph, even as my daughter, your impudence knows no bounds.”
Boom!
In an instant, a massive pressure bore down on both of Sa Biyeon’s shoulders.
“Ugh?!”
It was a murderous pressure that someone at the late-stage Qi Refinement realm could never endure.
Everyone in the hall expected it.
That Sa Biyeon would soon have her forehead smashed to the ground, forced to bow.
However—
Crunch! Crack!
Even though her bones and muscles were surely being twisted under the pressure, Sa Biyeon faced the Clan Leader with the same proud demeanor.
“A true merchant never gives away her goods and knowledge for free. That was the very first lesson I received from you, Clan Leader.”
“Oh?”
A glimmer of intrigue shone in Sa Myeongrin’s eyes.
Even if he hadn’t used his full power, the fact she endured his mental pressure so well!
“Does that apply even to family?”
“You said it yourself, Clan Leader. Transactions with family, relatives, and acquaintances must be even more meticulous.”
“……”
Whoosh!
The pressure pressing down on Sa Biyeon vanished.
“Yes, I did say that.”
Muttering softly to himself, Sa Myeongrin looked at Sa Biyeon with a trace of pride.
“I like your guts. Were you always this bold?”
“I had an excellent reference nearby.”
“Reference? Ah, you mean the Young Cult Leader?”
Sa Myeongrin nodded to himself, convinced.
His anger had subsided considerably, and his demeanor had returned to reason.
“The authority of a Clan Heir… If you can truly resolve this matter, then of course I cannot refuse such a request.”
“……!”
“But I detest people who only talk and do nothing. Speak—how exactly do you plan to resolve this?”
In effect, that was as good as an agreement.
Sa Biyeon was quietly surprised.
‘Looks like the situation was worse than I expected.’
Just as there is opportunity in crisis, this solution might prove even more effective.
“Simply pushing all the blame onto Sa Cheongmun isn’t enough.”
“Not enough?”
“No matter how cleverly we manipulate the evidence, in the end it’s just a game of blind man's bluff—a vain attempt to hide the sky with a palm.”
Hearing her echo the same words he had heard hours earlier from someone else made Sa Myeongrin’s gut twist.
“So, what do you propose?”
“We need merit. Only with merit can we cover a fault.”
Sa Myeongrin’s face grew clouded at the seemingly ordinary solution.
“Do you think I haven’t considered that? This was a setup orchestrated by the Cult Leader. No ordinary merit can undo it. And there’s no way to earn such merit in just a week.”
Even if they forged merit, it wouldn’t be enough to convince the Cheon Clan.
But then—
“There is a way.”
“There is?!”
Sa Biyeon pulled out her trump card, which she had received earlier from a certain ‘someone’.
“The former Seventh Elder—Jan Hyeol, the Yin-Yang Fist Demon—was connected to the remnants of the Heaven-Defying Society seeking to overthrow our cult. Since even the Cheon Clan failed to catch them, capturing those remnants would be more than enough to erase our faults.”
“I-is that true?!”
Even the elders, not to mention the Clan Leader himself, were stirred.
It worked. This would definitely work!
With a trembling voice, Sa Myeongrin asked:
“H-how did you come to know this?”
“I used the intelligence network of Black Market that I oversee. After identifying them, I kept them under watch in case something like this happened. I’m glad I can be of help to the clan.”
“Then… the authority of the Clan Heir…”
“I want to command our clan’s martial forces directly to ensure their capture.”
Indeed, since she had prepared this thoroughly, entrusting her with the operation wasn’t unreasonable.
In fact, giving her this much command was necessary to ensure all the merit would be hers.
Instead of the silent Clan Leader, it was the elders who became frantic, urging her forward.
“Clan Leader!”
“We must act quickly!”
“……”
Although Sa Myeongrin had just gained an unexpected solution, for some reason he didn’t seem ready to make a decision right away.
Sa Biyeon grew tense at the Clan Leader’s indecisiveness.
‘Could it be… he’s suspicious?’
After all, Sa Biyeon was a close confidante of the Young Cult Leader.
And the Young Cult Leader was not only a member of the Cheon Clan but also the daughter of the Cult Leader.
It was entirely possible for him to suspect that this was part of the Cult Leader’s ploy to subjugate the Sa Clan.
But fortunately—
“Biyeon.”
“Yes, Clan Leader.”
“I’ll assign you five elders and three armed units. Handle this matter thoroughly.”
With the Clan Leader’s decision, Sa Biyeon’s expression brightened.
“I will carry out the mission you’ve entrusted me with, thoroughly and without fail.”
She quickly bowed her head before the Clan Leader.
Which was why she failed to see it—
That the face of her older brother, the first son, Sa Bihwan, had turned ashen and grim.
***
“Young Master.”
“What is it?”
“Lady Sa just sent a signal. She said it was a success.”
I, who had been leisurely chewing on some jerky somewhere in a mountain valley, finally stood up when I received Sa Biyeon’s success signal.
“Ughh! Took her long enough, didn’t it? It’s already been half a day!”
“For a major clan like the Black Gold Sa Clan, that’s actually incredibly fast. You should know that well.”
“We’re even faster than that. We don’t even hold meetings to begin with.”
“…Well, I can’t argue with that.”
With an absolute monarch like Jin Gun-ak in charge, family meetings were no more than formal announcements at best.
“Myeong-oh, are we ready?”
“Not even worth calling preparation. These guys are too easy.”
Myeong-oh waved a letter she was holding in her hand.
“And since it wasn’t just suspicion but fact, it’s even simpler than the accounting work at the Thousand-Day Pass.”
“Right. Who’d have thought that at a time like this, Sa Bihwan would be in collusion with those bastards.”
I looked at the letter in Myeong-oh’s hand with a face of disbelief.
It was none other than a secret request that Sa Bihwan had sent to the Yin-Yang Fist Demon.
“Sa Bihwan, huh? He’s far more rotten than I imagined. With this level of content, even if it’s not outright treason, it’s enough to raise red flags about collusion with outside forces.”
Only the Yin-Yang Fist Demon and his direct subordinates had access to that letter, which was why even Myeong-oh hadn’t known about it.
In other words, right now, inside that wooden building in front of us were direct subordinates of the Yin-Yang Fist Demon.
“He clearly didn’t care what happened to the cult as long as he could protect his own position. Thanks to that, we can cut out the rot before the infection spreads.”
I skimmed through the letter again, tilting my head slightly.
“Even if we hand it over like this, it’ll definitely ruin him—but there’s one uncertain part.”
At the time this letter was sent, Sa Bihwan probably hadn’t known the Yin-Yang Fist Demon would later be branded a traitor.
Which meant, technically speaking, he could claim it was just backdoor dealings with a cult elder, not treason.
“So let’s make it airtight.”
“How?”
“Forge the handwriting. You can replicate the seal too, right?”
“There’s no way someone would stamp a seal on a letter like this. Forging the handwriting alone is more than enough.”
“Perfect. Then change the contents as I say and slip it back in.”
We left the part about the deal with the Yin-Yang Fist Demon intact.
What changed was the content—now it implied clearly that Sa Bihwan knew about the existence of the Heaven-Defying Society.
‘That should be more than enough to bring him down.’
We were merely preparing the stage.
From here on, it was up to the lead actor, Sa Biyeon.
“It’s done, Young Master.”
As expected of Gu Chil. As a top-class assassin, he was a master at all things involving forgery and infiltration.
“Alright. Then just put the letters back where they were.”
“Should we seal it too, just in case?”
“Good idea. If someone tries to burn them, it’ll be a pain.”
Chuckling, we completed the final step of the plan.
Just as we were about to wrap up the operation neatly—
“Oh ho? What a delightfully interesting little scheme you’ve cooked up.”
A playful voice came from behind us.
…Huh?
…What?
A chill ran down my spine.
A figure who had completely evaded the senses of two top-class assassins and my own, someone whose perception had surpassed even the peak of the Master Level.
Like machines, Gu Chil, Myeong-oh, and I slowly turned our faces toward the voice.
And there—
“Well, well. Such familiar faces in such an unfamiliar mountain valley.”
A beautiful man clad in an elaborate white scholar’s robe that didn’t suit this remote setting at all.
The first to recognize him was Myeong-oh—and her expression twisted like she’d seen a ghost.
“De-De-De…!”
“Myeong-oh! Calm down!”
Gu Chil came to his senses a second later and urgently tried to stop Myeong-oh.
But it was too late.
“Demonic Gentleman!”
Boom!
With explosive speed like a cannon shot, Myeong-oh charged straight toward the handsome man.
Despite facing Myeong-oh’s fierce and vicious energy head-on, the man didn’t even flinch.
“My, my. It’s been over ten years, and you still can’t control your emotions?”
He calmly struck his own palm with the folded fan in his hand.
“Well, I suppose having such rich emotions is what allowed you to escape the Killing Spirit back then. Isn’t that right?”
“I’ll kill you!!”
“With your skills? You could die ten times and still not touch me.”
The handsome man thrust his folded fan directly toward Myeong-oh.
From the fan, a devastating wave of demonic energy burst forth, spreading like a tidal wave to swallow Myeong-oh whole.
“Damn it!”
Gu Chil was horrified.
The difference in level was just too much.
No matter how they fought, even if all three of us attacked together, the chances of victory were near zero.
And just then—
Whoosh!
A burst of pitch-black Sword Qi flew from behind Myeong-oh, ripping through the demonic energy like tearing apart cloth.
“Oh?”
A glimmer of interest flickered in the man’s eyes.
“To dismantle the form of Wind Demon Cloud Fan so easily?”
I stepped forward, past Myeong-oh, and stood in front of the surprised man.
Then I held my sword in a reverse grip and respectfully bowed with a clasped fist.
“What brings you here?”
Hiding my killing intent as best I could, I stared at the man who stood before me—the brain of the Cheon Clan.
Cheon Jumyeong, the Demonic Gentleman of the Heavenly Thunder Corps.