CLS-Chapter 422

Chapter 422:

“……Go and bring So-ryeo-gun.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t make me say it twice—go and bring So-ryeo-gun, I said!”

When Zhuge Wu raised his voice, those guarding behind him startled and rushed off.

‘Damn bastards.’

Zhuge Wu found those who couldn’t understand better than Wei Yan-ho even more irritating. To bear the surname Zhuge yet have such poor comprehension.

Wei Yan-ho watched this scene and shook his head left and right.

“Um… sorry, but could you bring me a chair? My legs hurt.”

“That, that bastard!”

“That shameless fool doesn’t know heaven from earth!”

Outcries erupted from all directions, but Zhuge Wu wasn’t shaken in the least.

“Bring it to him.”

“Elder!”

“Can’t you hear my words!”

Zhuge Wu shouted, infusing his voice with internal energy. Though more people looked at Zhuge Wu with dissatisfied eyes, none had the confidence to refuse his command, so someone quietly got up to fetch a chair.

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho wore a strange smile.

“Impressive.”

“What would be impressive about me? You’re the impressive one.”

“Hehe, I’m grateful if you think so.”

Zhuge Wu ground his teeth as he watched Wei Yan-ho grinning foolishly.

‘This young bastard has a thousand vipers in his belly.’

Zhuge Wu wasn’t afraid of the strong.

The martial world was crawling with strong people. Among them, there were countless strong ones that the Zhuge Family couldn’t handle. But never once had he thought they were frightening.

Those he feared weren’t the strong, but the strong who were aware that they were strong.

What does that mean?

It means he wasn’t afraid of those with power, but of those who knew that their power was a threat to others.

The martial world demanded many things from the strong.

Maintain face, keep to agreements, protect the weak and be a model for others.

Those who had consistently received such education from childhood would later come to read others’ expressions. Even if their hearts were pitch black, they would at least try to maintain minimal face in front of others.

A strong person covered in hypocrisy had nothing to fear. They had clear weaknesses.

The kind of strong person Zhuge Wu feared was exactly like this bastard.

No face, no agreements. Therefore, nothing held him back.

‘When things go wrong, he probably thinks he can just beat everyone down.’

Then what should the Zhuge Family do?

Go to Guangdong Wei Family and say our sons got completely destroyed so give us some compensation? With his own mouth? Should he boast that their family couldn’t stop one Wei Yan-ho and got beaten up as a group, developing chronic injuries?

That couldn’t happen.

A great family that lost its dignity was no longer a great family.

“Urgh.”

A groan finally escaped from Zhuge Wu’s mouth.

Why on earth did such a bastard have to appear?

“Is something bothering you?”

“No.”

“You don’t look well. Be careful. You’re getting on in years too.”

“……Thanks for the concern.”

“Not at all. Well, it’s nothing much.”

Wei Yan-ho chuckled.

And watching this scene, Wu-il couldn’t help but think differently than before.

‘This person……’

One doubt arose.

Had this person really come here to save her younger brother?

Until just moments ago, she had definitely believed so. But now her thoughts had changed a bit.

‘Maybe it didn’t matter as long as he could come here?’

No, perhaps…….

Maybe it didn’t even have to be here. Perhaps he thought anywhere would be fine as long as it was a sect hostile enough to send spies to him?

But why?

What reason could there be to deliberately seek out such places and cause trouble?

Wu-il thought Wei Yan-ho was someone she couldn’t understand at all. Honestly speaking, that assessment of him as incomprehensible was mostly filled with his eccentricity and unconventional aspects.

But now…….

‘Maybe this person is extraordinarily intelligent?’

Destroying the Geop-geop-man-hon-jin, then confidently calling in Zhuge Wu afterward—was all of this predicted for such a situation?

No, that was going too far.

But…….

One thing was certain: everything was flowing according to Wei Yan-ho’s will right now. In this Zhuge Family, where the smartest people under heaven lived.

A groundless eeriness crept into her.

Maybe she was a shrimp caught between whales. Just a shrimp that happened to become an excuse for one whale to ram into another whale’s back.

“So-hyeop.”

“Do you know my age?”

“Dae-hyeop.”

“I’m not quite there yet.”

“Anyway.”

Zhuge Wu quietly opened his mouth.

“I’ll grant what you want. But we also have one request. It’s not too difficult, so won’t you listen?”

“……What is it?”

Zhuge Wu looked quietly at Wei Yan-ho and opened his mouth.

“Let’s have a talk.”

Dawn was breaking in the east.

Wu-il could see this scene clearly. Because the place where she now stood was the roof of the highest pavilion in the Zhuge Family.

Wei Yan-ho had accepted Zhuge Wu’s proposal.

However, he didn’t want to go inside a building and get annoyed by troublesome formations again, so he designated this place as the meeting location. Of course, Zhuge Wu also readily accepted Wei Yan-ho’s proposal.

So they had climbed up here, but…….

‘Why am I here!’

She felt like screaming would relieve this frustrating feeling.

Wei Yan-ho and Zhuge Wu.

These were giants who moved the martial world having a conversation, so why was she stuck between them?

Of course, staying below alone and receiving resentful stares wouldn’t be comfortable either, but it would be a hundred times better than being caught between these two whales.

‘Say something!’

It seemed like quite some time had passed since they climbed onto the pavilion roof, but neither of them was opening their mouth. Zhuge Wu was one thing, but even Wei Yan-ho, who had a talkative nature, not opening his mouth was very strange.

Perhaps understanding Wu-il’s feelings, Zhuge Wu spoke first.

“So-hyeop.”

“I told you I’m not So-hyeop.”

“There’s no one listening, so let’s speak comfortably. We all know who So-hyeop is anyway.”

“Hmm, but you shouldn’t know……”

“If we know but pretend not to know, isn’t that the same as not knowing?”

“You’re clever.”

Wei Yan-ho’s lips curved up under his mask.

“What do you want?”

“I already said, didn’t I?”

“……I’m asking about your real purpose.”

Zhuge Wu sighed and said.

“With So-hyeop’s abilities, sneaking in silently and taking one person would have been nothing. If you had decided to, there would have been no need to make such a commotion. Isn’t that right?”

“Hey, you’re overestimating me.”

Wei Yan-ho waved his hand dismissively with exaggerated gestures.

Zhuge Wu looked quietly at Wei Yan-ho with sunken eyes and opened his mouth.

“If you don’t wish to speak, I won’t ask anymore. I’ll just accept it as I think, is that alright?”

“What do you think?”

“Exactly what So-hyeop is thinking.”

Wei Yan-ho chuckled.

Sly fox.

There was a sly fox here.

“You’d better take it easy.”

“But isn’t this the natural way of the martial world?”

“What if the Demonic Cult interferes?”

“……”

Zhuge Wu’s expression didn’t change. But his words were cut off.

“I’m not saying infighting is bad. I’ve often charged at my older brother trying to get one more piece of candy and got beaten to death. People learn their place that way. But…… if there’s a vicious wolf growling nearby and you fight among yourselves, you’ll both get eaten.”

“We should join forces for now?”

“That would be natural.”

“But So-hyeop.”

Zhuge Wu sighed and said.

“We don’t dislike joining forces. We’re not that stupid either. But if an alliance is formed haphazardly like this, we’ll end up having to follow the commands of the Divine Miracle Hand Master.”

“Is pride the problem?”

“It’s a matter of practical benefit.”

Zhuge Wu was firm.

“We’ve already experienced war. And we’ve vividly experienced what kind of discrimination those friendly with the Divine Miracle Hand Master and those not friendly receive.”

“Mm……”

“Think about it. If the Righteous Martial Alliance were a fair and humanitarian organization, why would the Nine Great Sects try to escape the Righteous Martial Alliance’s influence, and why would the Heavenly Doctor Alliance be created?”

Wei Yan-ho put his hand inside his mask to scratch his cheek.

They say you should listen to both sides, and unexpected stories were coming out.

“Please don’t think that the Heavenly Doctor Alliance and the Nine Great Sects keeping distance from the Righteous Martial Alliance is simply a power struggle. Of course, I acknowledge that the Divine Miracle Hand Master and Gwon-geuk are not bad people. But the Divine Miracle Hand Master as an individual and the Divine Miracle Hand Master as military leader of the Righteous Martial Alliance are different people.”

“Ah…… there’s definitely that aspect.”

“I understand well what So-hyeop’s show of force means. I’ll report this situation as is to the family head. But So-hyeop, please understand one thing. We are not the Righteous Martial Alliance’s dogs. But if we submit like this, we will become the Righteous Martial Alliance’s dogs.”

Zhuge Wu stretched out his hand to point below.

“It’s those children.”

“……”

“When the Demonic Cult pushes in, Sichuan has always been a shield. This time too, when the Demonic Cult attacks, those children will stand at the front and die. Taking advantage of that time, the Righteous Martial Alliance will reorganize their system. Look, Sichuan is crumbling. Everyone gather under the Righteous Martial Alliance.”

“Hmm……”

“I acknowledge that it’s not a bad thing strategically. But you must understand our position of having to become sacrificial lambs. When the Demonic Cult attacks, it’s always been Sichuan that stood at the front and suffered the greatest damage. And no preparations are being made. In such a situation, does Sichuan’s martial world uniting to prepare self-defense measures look like a power struggle?”

“Mmmmm.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head roughly.

“I understand one thing.”

“Yes?”

“My master said so. Every person in the world has their own position, and to them, that position is their cause. It’s fine to force your cause on others, but if you think your cause is necessarily right, you’re no different from a Demon Lord.”

“……Your master was an open-minded person.”

“No. He was a completely narrow-minded person.”

“Yes?”

“But then he would force his way. When I asked if his words and actions weren’t contradictory, he said he was someone who could never be wrong, so shut up and follow.”

“……”

“He deserves to be struck by lightning. Anyway, the things that man said were mostly not wrong. I hadn’t thought much about it, but after hearing what you said, I should give it some thought.”

“Please do.”

“Mm……”

Wei Yan-ho nodded heavily.

‘This is difficult.’

It had started as a simple matter. It would have been very simple to resolve if the Zhuge Family had acted hostilely toward him. But Zhuge Wu instead wanted to talk with him, and had even somewhat convinced Wei Yan-ho.

‘This is why they say Zhuge Family, Zhuge Family.’

Looking back, this seemed to be the first time Wei Yan-ho’s position had been shaken by listening to someone since coming out into the martial world.

“Then I’ll make a proposal.”

“Yes?”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Zhuge Wu with slightly cold eyes and said.

“Stay out of the Tang Family matter. Then I’ll accept the Zhuge Family’s sincerity. If not, I’ll just consider it sweet talk.”

At Wei Yan-ho’s firm words, Zhuge Wu could only sigh.