CLS-Chapter 449

Chapter 449:

“Suspicion…”

It was an extremely difficult word.

If there was something suspicious, there would have been no reason to keep their mouths shut until now. The one whose heart was most urgent right now wasn’t Wei Jeong-han. It was the Tang Family, whose children were collapsing one after another.

But would such a Tang Family have left suspicious matters unattended until now?

As if understanding the Tang Family’s feelings, Wei Jeong-han elaborated.

“Though it’s hard to believe, it seems the Demon Cult has discovered a method to forcibly inject Pokheoldan into opponents. The effects aren’t immediate, but appear to seep in gradually.”

Tang Cheon-gun’s face grew serious.

The phrase ‘not immediate but gradual’ meant there could be others whose symptoms were still progressing even now.

“And it seems there are no conscious symptoms for the person themselves. Otherwise, when Qi Deviation was approaching, they wouldn’t fail to inform those around them of their changes.”

“Hmm…”

Everyone nodded as if it made sense.

“When symptoms appear, they lose their reason for a while and rampage wildly. Then eventually the Qi Deviation worsens and they lose consciousness and collapse. The biggest problem here is…”

Wei Jeong-han spoke as if groaning.

“Resonance.”

“Resonance?”

“Yes. Exactly as it sounds. Everyone’s martial arts levels are different. So the timing of their seizures should all be different too. But once before, and once this time – twice the seizures occurred simultaneously. We must assume that when someone begins to have a seizure, those who are appropriately ripened nearby will have seizures together.”

“Damn it.”

Tang Cheon-gun rubbed his face.

The more that was said, the more it reminded them of just how terrible their current situation was.

“By what principle exactly?”

“I can’t say for certain, but seeing that all those caught in madness emitted demonic energy, I suspect that demonic energy serves as a medium.”

“Demonic energy…”

Suddenly, Tang Cheon-gun opened his mouth with a horrified expression.

“Wait. If that’s true, isn’t this a disaster!”

“Pardon?”

“If demonic energy serves as a medium for seizures, doesn’t that mean those with problems could all have seizures simultaneously the moment they encounter the Demon Cult bastards?”

“…Ah!”

Even Wei Jeong-han, who hadn’t thought that far ahead, couldn’t help but be flustered.

‘How on earth are we supposed to handle this?’

He had thought it was the worst. He had thought they’d hit rock bottom.

But beneath the bottom, there was a basement.

“We need to contact the Righteous Alliance.”

“You mean you haven’t contacted them yet?”

“No. It seems that person needs to come. I’ll bring the Divine Physician.”

Tang Cheon-gun let out a groan.

‘Just where are we headed?’

The dark clouds pressing down on the Tang Family showed no signs of lifting.

***

While tremendous dark clouds were gathering over the Tang Family, Wei Yan-ho was facing a different crisis.

“Where’s big brother?”

Shake shake.

“…”

There was such a thing.

The Tang Family’s atmosphere had been shattered, and his father was running around frantically claiming to prevent a crisis in the martial world, but…

‘What does any of that have to do with me?’

It wasn’t that he lacked will.

The Central Plains was like a great ship. When the waves were usually calm, people might point fingers and fight with each other, and there might be stowaways secretly hiding in corners, but when the storm grew fierce and the ship was in danger of capsizing, everyone without exception had to jump out and hold onto the ship.

Wei Yan-ho too, as one of the people aboard the great ship called the Central Plains, naturally had the will to work to prevent the ship from capsizing. If the ship capsized, everyone would die – he couldn’t just say he’d rather die because it was bothersome.

The problem was that right now, no one needed Wei Yan-ho.

From Wei Jeong-han’s perspective, Wei Yan-ho was very much like a white elephant of a son.

He wanted to stuff him in a corner because it was noisy to look at him, but when he actually did stuff him away, his stomach ached. When the father was running around desperately, who could look favorably upon a son lying in bed so much that it left marks on the mattress?

Realistically, leaving someone of Wei Yan-ho’s caliber idle was a waste for the Central Plains. This was an opinion not as a father, but as someone of the martial world.

The problem was that Wei Yan-ho was useless for anything other than fighting.

The plan to unleash Wei Yan-ho like a hunting dog to make the Heavenly Alliance feel the Righteous Alliance’s majesty deep in their bones had already crumbled. The situation had flowed in a direction where they simply couldn’t pressure the Tang Family.

Wei Yan-ho, who wouldn’t listen to words but was still somewhat threatening, had lost his value as a hunting dog. If the master was a good person, he would now live being pampered, and if a bad person, he’d have to go into the pot, but Wei Jeong-han, who was playing the role of Wei Yan-ho’s master(?), chose neither option. When he himself was out of his mind, how could he take care of Wei Yan-ho?

As a result, Wei Yan-ho was once again left alone in his room.

Up to that point, it was a result Wei Yan-ho was satisfied with.

He was already aware that he didn’t have much time left to rest comfortably. Whether something happened or not, thinking wasn’t his role, so when he could put everything down and rest, he should rest.

They said that Heavenly Alliance Leader or whatever was coming, but that was something to think about when the time came. Even knowing they were coming in advance, there was nothing he could do about it.

So now he should rest comfortably, but…

“…You don’t know where he went?”

Nod.

Wei Yan-ho looked at the small creature in front of him and shuddered.

‘Uncomfortable.‘

There weren’t many people in the martial world who could make Wei Yan-ho uncomfortable anymore. What would Wei Yan-ho, who had shown his boldness even before the Emperor, find uncomfortable?

However, even Wei Yan-ho couldn’t help but flinch before puppy-like eyes that held no intimidation or pressure whatsoever. Moreover, didn’t those eyes even contain subtle looks of admiration?

‘I said it’s uncomfortable!‘

The gazes looking at Wei Yan-ho were basically filled with irritation. That was natural – it would be stranger to expect kind looks when watching someone being lazy.

Wei Yan-ho had no complaints about that either. Rather, he took it for granted. To live life as a lazy person, he had to endure that much.

That’s why it was uncomfortable.

Such admiring gazes didn’t suit him. Like someone who had eaten only vegetables their whole life getting an upset stomach from eating meat for the first time, Wei Yan-ho couldn’t help but find the gaze full of blind goodwill that he was receiving for the first time in his life burdensome.

“D-did you eat?”

Moreover, he had never once had the experience of conversing with a girl much younger than himself. He had his younger sister Wei Su-ryeon, but Wei Su-ryeon had a completely different personality from this child. Besides, the age gap between Wei Su-ryeon and him wasn’t that large.

‘What am I supposed to do?‘

It was a moment when he resented Wu-il, who had left So Ryeo-gun here and brazenly left his post. Of course, Wu-il didn’t know anyone at the Tang Family either, and being an uninvited guest, he couldn’t have left So Ryeo-gun with anyone else.

Wei Yan-ho reluctantly got up and sat down.

‘This is impossible.‘

Though his desire to rest was desperate, he had to admit it now. In the current situation with that child present, it was impossible for Wei Yan-ho to rest comfortably. It seemed like it would be more comfortable to try sleeping on a hot iron plate.

Then what should he do?

Wei Yan-ho had no choice but to make a big decision.

“Want to go for a walk?”

Perk.

So Ryeo-gun’s ears perked up at the word ‘walk.’

‘Like a puppy.‘

Objectively speaking, So Ryeo-gun was quite cute. Though her body was emaciated from not eating properly. She was cute as a child, not as a woman. It was like looking at a puppy caught in the rain.

Even Wei Yan-ho, who had a strong appetite, would have handed over food without hesitation if he had something to eat in his hands right now. It made him willing to give up food he wouldn’t even yield to Wei Su-ryeon.

“Shall we go?”

So Ryeo-gun nodded her head vigorously.

Wei Yan-ho sighed softly and got up from his seat.

‘Since resting comfortably is out of the question anyway.‘

Lying uncomfortably versus walking comfortably.

For Wei Yan-ho, it was no different from the worst dilemma, but the conclusion came surprisingly quickly. If he couldn’t decide, he could let someone else decide.

Since So Ryeo-gun had decided to go out, Wei Yan-ho just had to follow So Ryeo-gun’s decision.

“Let’s go.”

Wei Yan-ho, who had hastily put on layers of clothes, trudged toward the door. So Ryeo-gun seemed to hesitate slightly, then quickly scurried to Wei Yan-ho’s side.

‘Really like a puppy.‘

Her behavior was exactly the same.

When he suggested a walk, her body got excited. If that bottom had a tail attached, it would be wagging vigorously left and right by now.

It was a strange feeling.

When he opened the door and went outside, the servants standing guard bowed their heads in greeting.

“I’ll be out for a bit, so please have your meals.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sir, sir…

Wei Yan-ho couldn’t help but chuckle.

Since when had he been a ‘sir’?

Maybe this was why people said you had to succeed in life.

Wei Yan-ho, who had come outside with So Ryeo-gun, looked around.

“Hmm.”

He had come out, but he didn’t know where to go. There were many places in the Tang Family he couldn’t enter. He wanted to just barge in regardless of prohibitions, but when the atmosphere was this bad, it was better not to get into unnecessary trouble.

If he caused trouble at a time like this, Wei Jeong-han would foam at the mouth and chase after him to kill him.

“How gloomy.“

No people were visible.

It seemed to starkly show just how great a crisis the current Sichuan Tang Family was facing.

“Still though.”

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.

What would change by holing up inside like that?

This wasn’t some infectious disease – would avoiding people solve anything?

If even the Tang Family, which should be the most rational about such matters, showed this behavior, it was clear as day what would happen when this situation spread to the Central Plains.

“It’s definitely no ordinary matter…”

But thinking about it wouldn’t change anything. Wei Yan-ho decided to just not worry about it.

The problem was now where to go…

Just then, a person caught Wei Yan-ho’s eye. Seeing the familiar figure trudging toward them, Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

“What are you doing?”

“That’s what I want to ask.”

When people disappeared from the streets, who would suffer the most damage?

Wei Yan-ho could now know the answer. The beggars who couldn’t get their meals would suffer the greatest damage. Perhaps that’s why Jang-il had a face like he’d been chewing on something bitter.

“I need to go out for a bit.”

“Why?”

“I should probably stop by the beggars’ den in Seongdu. There’s nothing particular for me to do here, and I need to gather some information from outside too.”

“There’s a beggars’ den in Seongdu too?”

“Do you think there’s a place where the Beggar’s Sect doesn’t exist?”

“The Demon Cult?”

“…Right, that’s true.”

Jang-il, who had tried to get one over on him but got hit back instead, looked at Wei Yan-ho with a sour expression.

“Where are you going?”

“The beggars’ den.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m going to play at the beggars’ den.”

“…”

Looking at Wei Yan-ho’s expression that said ‘perfect timing since I’m bored,’ Jang-il covered his face.

Ruined.

We’re ruined.