Childhood Friend of the Zenith -
Chapter 361: Gathering of the Orthodox Faction (2)
“What is your relationship with the Yeon Clan?”
The Dark King spoke quietly.
He spoke so softly that I had to strain to hear, yet his words sounded sharper than ever.
Yeon Clan?
I tried to grasp what the Dark King meant.
Yeon Clan, that’s what he clearly said.
There were a few clans with the name Yeon in the world, but only one came to mind.
“Are you perhaps talking about the Golden Sky Yeon Clan?”
The great clan that was wiped out after the Blood Demon’s calamity.
The same clan led by Yeon Il-Cheon, the Zenith and the regressor.
If that’s the Yeon Clan the Dark King was referring to…
What relations do I have with the Yeon Clan?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why he was asking me this.
Throughout, the Dark King kept his gaze fixed on me, silent.
“I…”
“Are you trying to play dumb?”
“…!”
The Dark King’s grip tightened around my arm.
I tried to pull free, but his strength was overwhelming.
Why is an assassin this strong?
“I’m not trying to play dumb…!”
“You dare lie to me about the curse of all things?”
“Curse…?”
Ignoring the painful grip on my arm, I was struck by his choice of words.
As I frowned, the Dark King shifted his grip.
He extended my arm, revealing the part of my skin where the color had completely changed.
“Will you keep lying, even with this as proof?”
From this, I was able to understand that the Dark King was mentioning Yeon Clan because of my skin.
I didn’t know how he knew about my skin,
But could the change in my skin be related to the Yeon Clan?
It was only thumb-sized, but it looked like the scale of a reptile.
Did the Dark King know something about this?
But even so…
It was hard to spill everything to the Dark King.
“I don’t understand it myself. One day, this just appeared and—“
Clench.
“Ugh…!”
The world spun as soon as I tried to give an excuse.
The Dark King’s grip on my arm loosened, only for him to push me against the wall, his hand wrapping around my neck.
Holy shit…!
The pain I felt on my neck was one thing, but I felt more horrified than anything.
I knew the Dark King was powerful, but I never imagined he could overpower me so easily, even with my Fusion Realm strength.
“Ugh…”
“Child. You may be able to trick others, but that won’t work against me. Do you truly wish to die?”
My body tensed in response to the Dark King’s killing intent.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
The killing intent was controlled but suffocatingly dense.
I didn’t know killing intent could be controlled to such an extent. Learning something in a situation like this was the last thing I expected.
…Learn something, my ass.
Apparently, even my brain was obsessed with martial arts after reaching Fusion Realm. I couldn’t believe this was my first thought in a life-threatening situation.
I could sense his intent to snap my neck in an instant if I didn’t respond.
God dammit, as if I wasn’t already dealing with enough, why did he have to pile on?
His grip around my neck tightened gradually. If I asked myself whether I could escape…
It might be possible if I Demonify myself.
Fighting him was out of the question, but I thought I could at least break free from his grasp.
But, of course, I held myself back, knowing the consequences.
But there was an even bigger problem.
…Why is this crazy man doing this to me?
From the way he accused me of playing dumb, he seemed certain of something.
What relations do I have with Yeon Cla-
…Wait?
Reptile’s skin that resembled a snake or a lizard…
That, and the Yeon Clan…
Oh, wait.
My brain decided to work perfectly in this moment.
The World Tree said this to me.
The beast had awakened because I’d received the marble from the giant snake in the Golden Sky Yeon Clan’s secret vault.
That means…
“…Secret… vault.”
The moment I managed to speak, his grip on my neck loosened.
At the same time, he released me, and I dropped from midair.
Thankfully, I was able to save myself from embarrassment as I was barely able to land.
“Cough… cough…”
As I struggled to catch my breath, I felt his intense gaze on me.
When I finally lifted my head,
His eyes…
The Dark King’s eyes had changed.
The black in his pupils had reverted to the white pupils I’d seen when we first met.
I wondered if it was because he took off the mask, but that wasn’t it.
I didn’t understand how, but he seemed able to control the transformation.
“What did you just say?”
“…Phew…”
“Child, I asked what you just said.”
An overwhelming wave of killing intent radiated from him as he repeated the question.
Jeez, I ignored you once because I was trying to breathe.
The Dark King’s eyes glowed intensely, but there was nothing kind in them.
Whether he knew my grandfather or not, that wasn’t the important part.
It’s cold.
Of all the people I have ever met, he felt the coldest and gave me the most chilling feeling.
How could someone like him exist?
Should I tell him?
I wasn’t sure if that incident was what changed my arm, but it was the only explanation I could think of.
…It’s strange to think that that would be the reason.
It had been years since I visited the secret vault.
A lot has happened since then. If this transformation was going to occur, it should’ve happened sooner.
I couldn’t understand why I was experiencing the change now.
Moreover,
He called it a curse, right?
The Dark King spoke as though he understood everything about the transformation in my skin.
Just what was this?
As I was thinking to myself about its purpose,
“Child.”
The Dark King called me once again.
“This is the third time.”
As he spoke, I felt something press against my neck.
It was his fingertip.
I didn’t bother questioning what he was doing.
It was clear it was dangerous.
“I don’t usually ask the same question twice. Torture isn’t something I enjoy, either.”
“…”
“It means that I don’t prefer going through hassles, as killing is much simpler.”
The expressionless way he said this made it all the more terrifying.
I’d killed many people myself, but I was nothing compared to the man before me.
Death.
He felt like death incarnate, wearing a human form.
“It’s unprecedented for me to ask the same question three times.”
No need to make such a big deal out of it.
That was my first thought.
Thankfully, I managed to keep from saying it out loud.
If I hadn’t, he would have killed me for sure.
“So, speak.”
Whether he knew my thoughts or not, he continued to urge me.
“There must be nothing I don’t know about that place.”
“…”
His fingertip pressed deeper into my neck.
It was clear he wasn’t willing to wait.
Should I just fight back?
I asked myself this at least four times in a single moment.
Resisting three or four times was already a lot for me, and I wondered if I should just give in and fight,
But I can’t let my pride take control here.
This wasn’t someone I could hope to defeat.
I had to hold back.
Swallowing my pride hurt, but I couldn’t afford to lose my life here.
There were too many things I needed to protect now.
In the end, I had to tell him everything that happened in the Golden Sky Yeon Clan’s secret vault.
“…”
After hearing my story, the Dark King happened in the Golden Sky Yeon Clan’s secret vault.
“…Secret vault, you say.”
When he asked me how I found out, I explained that I’d stumbled upon it ‘by accident’ while visiting the Tang Clan for their military exhibition.
Just as miracles happen, accidental coincidences do too.
The important part was what the vault looked like, what I’d seen, and what I’d taken from it.
When the Dark King finished contemplating, he glanced at my arm briefly before focusing on the spot where my Dantian was.
“It’s hard to say you are lying, as the energy inside your body is undeniably real.”
His words brought me a small sense of relief.
So, I wasn’t going to die here after all.
Killing someone here would be absurd for most, but the Dark King was more than capable of it.
“Energy, you say?”
I wondered what exactly he meant by that.
Was he referring to the power I’d gained in the secret vault?
But didn’t everything I gained from that place already disappear?
My Qi had indeed increased after receiving power there, but I hadn’t thought it was anything significant.
My Qi didn’t increase by that much.
Yet the Dark King sensed a distinct energy within me.
And not only that,
He also knew about the change in my skin.
That was probably why he was reacting like that.
“Senior.”
The Dark King turned his gaze toward me upon hearing my voice.
“…Is the change in my body related to the Yeon Clan?”
The Dark King’s eyes widened at my question.
I didn’t think my question was that remarkable, so why did he react like this?
“I didn’t expect you to ask me a question in this situation.”
Oh, so that’s what surprised you.
“…I was just curious. I didn’t expect it, and I wonder why you’re searching for traces of a clan that was wiped out long ago in the—“
“You are wrong.”
“Huh?”
The Dark King interrupted as I began listing my questions.
What was I wrong about? The Dark King answered.
“Yeon Clan was indeed annihilated. It happened very long ago in the past.”
It had already been a few centuries.
To this day, it remained a mystery.
In this era, there were the Four Noble Clans, but the Golden Sky Yeon Clan was once regarded as the greatest.
They stood alone.
They were a powerful clan, home to the Zenith, with strong ties to major mercenary clans across the Central Plains and yet, for some reason, they were annihilated in an instant.
No one understood how a clan of such influence could be destroyed so swiftly.
They simply believed it, because the records said so.
There weren’t many detailed records about the clan, and I knew little myself, having no interest in history.
“Then…”
Just as I was about to ask what he meant,
“They were annihilated, but they didn’t go extinct.”
I thought to myself after hearing his response.
It meant that the Golden Sky Yeon Clan was destroyed, but their descendants were still alive on this land.
I found it possible considering how there were still descendants of the Zhuge Clan alive.
“Huh?”
As the thought crossed my mind, I looked at the Dark King, eyes wide.
Only then did his earlier words echo in my mind.
-There mustn’t be a thing about that place I don’t know.
That was what the Dark King had said while threatening me.
And more importantly,
-They didn’t go extinct.
If he was so certain of that…
“Are you, perhaps…”
I asked the Dark King while suppressing my fear.
“…The descendant of the Yeon Clan?”
The Dark King remained silent at my question.
He simply stared at me.
Yet, somehow, his silence felt like confirmation.
A thought crept into my mind.
Oh, fuck… I might actually die here…
No matter how I looked at it, this was a dangerous situation.
******************
Flutter.
A bird with beautiful feathers softly landed on the windowsill of a mansion overlooking the Liaoning Sea.
A letter was tied on its leg, and a person gently untied it.
The person was the mansion’s owner, known as the Conqueror of Liaoning.
Rustle.
The man slowly unfolded the letter.
The first thing visible was a stamp, the mark of a direct bloodline of the Moyong Clan.
It was the special stamp that was only sent to the Lord of the Clan.
“…”
The man read a few lines in silence.
“Hmm.”
The man’s eyes were filled with interest after finishing.
But moments later, he frowned, clearly displeased.
Creak.
Swoosh…
A light breeze drifted into the room as the man rose from his chair.
“I sent my precious daughter there… yet they are treating her like this.”
His serious tone carried a note of anger.
A sharp aura surrounded him, the kind that only high-level swordsmen possessed.
As he stepped out of the room, those waiting outside lowered their heads.
“Steward.”
“…Yes! My Lord.”
“We are going to Henan.”
Hearing the Lord of the Moyong Clan’s words, the steward’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“But… We soon have business with the White Flowers merchant asso- “
“Cancel it.”
“M-My Lord…!”
“Inform them that we will compensate them.”
“But…!”
The steward tried to protest, but the Lord of the Moyong Clan brushed past him, ignoring his words.
Then, he abruptly halted.
“Oh, perhaps it might not matter.”
“Pardon…?”
The steward, following closely, asked in confusion.
“They will be the same as well.”
“My Lord, what do you mean by that…?”
“No need for carriages. My feet will carry me faster.”
“Wait…!”
“If anyone comes looking for me, tell them this.”
As the steward hurriedly tried to hold him back,
“I’m off to meet the bastard who dares lay claim to my precious daughter.”
After those words, the Lord of Moyong Clan flew outside the window.
The steward, horror etched on his face, leaned out the window, only to see the Lord of the Moyong Clan already reduced to a small dot in the distance.
"This translation was made by our team, to read more translated novels please visite www.readernovel.net"