“So that’s how it was.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“Well, it does sound like him.”

Yeon Wi shook his head.

“He is a snake of a man. To return and call a meeting at once, only to immediately try to sour the atmosphere. He truly is a nasty piece of work.”

“Isn’t that just how it goes? The stone that sticks out gets struck first. I also ran wild without thinking.”

“Do not think of it that way. If they truly gathered for the great cause of all under heaven, then even if they felt bitterness at seeing one of the younger generation who would become a pillar of the martial world in the future, they should never try to tear him down.”

“Is that how you see it?”

“It is. At the very least, I believe that is how an elder of the Orthodox Path ought to be.”

Yeon Wi let out a sigh.

“Even if reality is not like that, if one does not dream of an ideal, then nothing will ever change. One must acknowledge reality, yes, but one must always seek a better path. Is that not the only way anything improves?”

That was the difference between Yeon Wi and Mo Yong-woo.

Mo Yong-woo was at the stage of recognizing reality. Yeon Wi recognized reality, yet still dreamed of an ideal. And he believed that was only natural.

Yeon Hojeong agreed with his father’s way of thinking.

That’s right. If reality does not change at once and you choose to settle into it, then in the end you’ll only be buried by it.

Yeon Hojeong was the same.

He was not a man who settled for reality. He always thought about what came next, and he always dreamed of a better future.

Of course, the difference in their methods was enormous.

“In any case, so Mo Yonggun filed his report that way.”

“That’s right.”

Yeon Wi’s eyes gleamed.

“Now then, let me hear it. I want to hear every last detail of what happened there, and what kind of dirty tricks Mo Yonggun used to hound you.”

“Understood.”

Yeon Hojeong leaned forward.

“As for what happened there...”

Then it happened.

...?!

Yeon Hojeong turned his head toward the window.

Yeon Wi’s face hardened with cold displeasure.

“I did not expect this.”

“...Neither did I.”

“To come here first. What an utterly reckless man.”

The corner of Yeon Hojeong’s mouth twitched.

“Whether he’s reckless, or whether he brought every last thing with him, we’ll know once we meet.”

Yeon Hojeong’s gaze shifted outside the window.

Beyond the main gate of Warbreaker Pavilion, Mo Yonggun was walking toward them.

*****

“Hm.”

Mo Yonggun looked around the room.

“It’s very sparse. One bed, a table and chairs, and weapons. Nothing more.”

“I don’t need anything more.”

“That does sound like you. It looks barren at first glance, but you’ve kept only what’s absolutely necessary.”

“That’s right.”

“Why not put in a piece of porcelain at least?”

“I’ve never had much of an eye for beauty. And there’s the money.”

“Tch, as if it costs that much.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a quiet laugh.

“You came back alive and well.”

Mo Yonggun smiled back at him.

“That I did. To tell the truth, this time I really thought I was done for.”

“Then you should have behaved better.”

“How much better was I supposed to behave? That wounds me.”

“That’s not a funny joke.”

“Hahaha!”

Mo Yonggun looked toward the window.

“By the way, did Clan Lord Yeon have some urgent business? He left in quite a hurry.”

“He’s got a strong stomach, but not as strong as mine.”

Mo Yonggun shrugged.

“Do I smell that bad?”

It was a remarkably easygoing response. It did not suit a man as proud as Mo Yonggun.

Yeon Hojeong watched him with deeply sunken eyes.

He came to me first?

Mo Yonggun was not a man who went to others. He was far better at making others come to him.

That too was another kind of pride Mo Yonggun himself probably did not even realize he had. The one who moved first was the one who needed something more, and in politics, the side that needed something became the weaker side.

In that sense, Mo Yonggun had always been the stronger one. There had been a time in the past when he had approached first over the Anhui Blood Palace affair, but at that time, Mo Yonggun had not considered Yeon Hojeong a political rival worthy of matching strength against.

A political rival with whom a struggle of power was possible.

And now he had come first to that very kind of rival. Even Yeon Hojeong found it hard this time to read what lay inside Mo Yonggun’s head.

“But aren’t you being a little too much?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t I serve you good liquor before? I may have come without sending word, but do you really mean to offer me not even a cup of tea?”

Yeon Hojeong gave a faint laugh.

“Wait.”

A moment later, Yeon Hojeong returned with two bottles of liquor and two cups.

Mo Yonggun frowned.

“Fire liquor?”

“Try to understand.”

“I don’t usually say this sort of thing, but if you have money, spend it. Saving alone is not a virtue.”

“I’m pouring plenty of it elsewhere.”

“Huh.”

Mo Yonggun smacked his lips.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Pour me a cup.”

Yeon Hojeong filled his cup.

Mo Yonggun filled Yeon Hojeong’s as well.

“Come, then. Drink it down.”

The two of them emptied their cups at the same time.

Unlike the calm-faced Yeon Hojeong, Mo Yonggun’s face twisted without mercy.

“Strong. The smell is strange too.”

“You get used to it. Cheap, but good for getting drunk.”

“Is there more?”

“There’s plenty. I bought fifteen bottles or so...”

“There must be more information you never passed on to me.”

It was an abrupt turn toward the mission.

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.

“Information?”

“That’s right. Didn’t you say it yourself? That I should buy you some time. That you would steal top-secret intelligence and bring it out.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly.

“A smart man like you, and why are you suddenly acting this way? You know perfectly well. It was part of the scheme to smash the back of your head.”

“Hm.”

“And yet here you are, alive and well... To be honest, I expected Yangcheon to move personally.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes deepened.

So I was right after all.

This bastard had clearly seen even that far ahead. He had definitely foreseen that Yangcheon might move personally, and that he might bury Mo Yonggun on the spot.

What a monster.

Was he not truly a frightening bastard?

No one could have laid out such a scheme without perfectly understanding how things would unfold inside Ink Dragon Manor.

Just what the hell is he?

After going through this incident, one question had taken root.

Yeon Hojeong was unnaturally familiar with the Dark Path.

Mo Yonggun had not seen it from the side in person, but from Yeon Hojeong’s responses and the reactions of the Twelve Zodiac Gods, he could tell.

They might be dark-path scum, but they were still the leadership of an entire organization. And Yangcheon above all was a man whose martial prowess and judgment overwhelmed any master of the Orthodox Path.

Yet Yeon Hojeong had won Yangcheon’s trust after only a handful of meetings and taken one of the highest-ranking posts in Ink Dragon Manor.

If he had not understood Yangcheon’s temperament perfectly, he could never even have attempted such a thing. One misstep, and his life would have been in danger.

From the very moment he drew up that organizational chart, he was certain he could become Director of the Intelligence Division.

Yeon Hojeong had drawn in the dark-path intelligence agents and pulled the eyes of the manor toward himself. He had stamped Tang Sang-a’s existence into their minds and sparked their curiosity. Then he had met Yangcheon directly and laid the restructuring plan on the gambling table.

Every bit of it had flowed as naturally as water. Day after day must have been a chain of tension, and yet no one could have used such methods unless he was certain he would be entrusted with a position of that weight.

I have circumstantial proof, but no hard evidence.

Mo Yonggun smiled.

But there is one piece of evidence he absolutely must not let ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) anyone see.

It was instinct.

If Yeon Hojeong had instinctively realized Mo Yonggun would survive, then Mo Yonggun in turn had instinctively realized that Yeon Hojeong was hiding something.

They had both shown each other a great deal by now.

There was no longer any need for either of them to test the other’s limits. Their contest had moved on to something else entirely—to digging out exactly what the other wanted, and exactly what the other was hiding.

“So you already handed over all the information?”

“There was no reason to pull out any separate top-secret intelligence.”

“You never know. Maybe you took documents tied to business. Economic records are treasures in themselves. If the Yeon Clan moved first and took what Ink Dragon Manor had its eye on, it could make a fortune.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a faint laugh.

“Are you saying that seriously?”

“I am. Though considering your scale, I doubt you would stoop to something so petty.”

“You’ve judged me correctly.”

“I never imagined you’d try to kill me—the commanding authority over the mission and the clan lord of the Mo Yong Clan.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes turned cold.

“Do you think I crossed the line? No. I did not cross it. But you were different. This time, you most certainly crossed it.”

“I have no taste for talk that abstract. The only clear fact is that you did something you should never have done, and I could not forgive it.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly.

“Do you think I’m hiding something? Sorry, but what I’m hiding is nothing more than claws I haven’t fully shown yet.”

“...”

“I thought two or three claws would be enough to tear you to death, but you came back perfectly fine. So what can I do? I’ll just have to pull out the rest of them one by one.”

The corner of Mo Yonggun’s mouth lifted.

“So we’re taking this into the mud?”

“When has our fight ever been clean?”

“At the very least, there were unspoken rules.”

“You were the one who broke them first.”

“I see it differently.”

“Then you’d better stay a little more tense from now on. I never know when I might split your skull open with an axe.”

Mo Yonggun stared at Yeon Hojeong for a moment, then tapped his cup.

“My cup is empty.”

Yeon Hojeong refilled it.

Mo Yonggun smiled.

“This method of yours was quite impressive. I’m not a man who’ll fall for the same thing twice, so next time you’ll have to lay out something even more innovative.”

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“In a fight this filthy, there’s no need for innovative schemes.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“And dogfights are my specialty.”

Mo Yonggun lifted his cup.

“A drink, then.”

JIIIIING!

The two cups clinked, and both men emptied them.

Mo Yonggun rose from his seat.

“You treated me well. Just as you said, after a few cups you do get used to it.”

“That’s the charm of fire liquor.”

“The conversation had very little nutritional value, but talking with you is always entertaining. I like how the tension that had gone slack tightens right back up.”

“I’m glad it was useful in some way.”

“Hojeong.”

“Go on.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes turned icy.

“A politician never forgets what was done to him. That move of yours hurt quite a bit. I intend to repay it properly, so make your preparations and wait.”

Yeon Hojeong answered with a blank face.

“The back of my head still throbs from what I took from you. I was regretting not dealing with you more cruelly, so honestly, I should be thanking you for coming back alive like this.”

“You truly never change.”

“I could say the same to you.”

Mo Yonggun turned around.

“I’ll be going now. We’ll meet again.”

“Let’s.”

And with that, Mo Yonggun left the room.

Yeon Hojeong stared at the bottle for a moment, then turned his eyes toward the window.

Mo Yonggun’s back was gradually growing farther away. The long shadow trailing behind him looked like a ghost clinging to a man.

“...So they met.”

Yeon Hojeong frowned.

“That man met Yangcheon.”

What was even more astonishing was that he had met Yangcheon and still returned alive.

“He faced Yangcheon in a blind rage and still made it back alive... How? A man at Yangcheon’s level could kill a weaker opponent like him in three exchanges at most. So why did the Fighting King let him live?”

There was only one answer.

“They made a deal.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly.

“Yes. He came back after successfully closing a bargain that had already been shattered to pieces.”