Chapter 186

Chapter 186: Night of the Long Sword (2)

The Yo family belonged to the ranks of mid-level bureaucracy, boasting a legacy of dedicated service within the Ministry of War in the imperial capital of Nakdo for three consecutive generations.

Yo Han-myeong’s father, Yo Jinsan, had successfully climbed the ranks to secure the influential post of Vice Minister of War. However, a dozen years prior, he was stripped of his position and power after backing the losing side in a volatile conflict over the imperial succession.

As a direct consequence, the household fell into complete ruin.

The sole act of leniency granted to them was that they were spared the ultimate sentences of total clan eradication and hereditary enslavement.

Instead, every member of the Yo family holding public office, Yo Han-myeong included, faced banishment to the furthest reaches of the empire.

That was the sequence of events that brought Yo Han-myeong to his current station as the Prefect of the River Capital, a volatile border territory.

Managing the River Capital Prefecture was a high-stakes tightrope walk; performing perfectly was merely the baseline expectation, while a single blunder could cost him his life.

If things took a turn for the absolute worst, every remaining member of his lineage could face execution.

Though he held the official title of Prefect, in truth, he was little more than a fragile fruit fly, utterly powerless and vulnerable to a sudden end at any moment.

Yo Han-myeong, the Fruit Fly.

This was the mocking moniker the high-born aristocrats back in the capital used behind his back to describe his pathetic situation.

● ● ●

Click.

Yo Han-myeong stepped back into his personal quarters within the River Capital Prefecture.

Securing the door behind him, he collapsed heavily into his wooden seat.

‘The Hero’s Sect…’

A hero.

In this day and age, encountering a wandering hero was a rarity on par with discovering a single bean during a devastating drought. Yet, a hero? And an organized Hero’s Sect?

Could such an idealistic concept truly persist within the borders of the Great Yue Empire, particularly amidst the harsh realities of the Murim?

“Hmm.”

Resting the back of his head against the wooden frame of his chair, Yo Han-myeong let his mind drift back to the conversation from moments earlier.

● ● ●

—You… tell me, what title will you bestow upon the organization you intend to build here?

—The Hero’s Sect.

—The Hero… Sect?

—Precisely. I, along with those beside me, will embody the role of a hero right here, and we intend to thoroughly cleanse this wretched Jianghu.

—What… do you mean by that?

—Exactly what the words imply.

—…

—A complete purification.

● ● ●

‘To wipe it clean.’

The treacherous Jianghu operating within this very River Capital.

Yo Han-myeong had occupied his post here for over a decade.

Throughout that span of time, he had maintained a fragile peace by cleverly balancing the opposing weights of the Iron God Gang and the Seven Star Immortal Society, alongside minor factions.

To state it more accurately, he had merely survived by managing the status quo.

Attempting anything greater was far beyond his limited resources, and this passive approach had been the standard operational procedure for several centuries.

Under normal circumstances, this delicate balance would have persisted for another few hundred years without change.

That is, until the unexpected emergence of Kim Rae-won and his Hero’s Sect shattered the established paradigm.

‘The Iron God Gang and the Seven Star Immortal Society. Both have been utterly wiped out…’

Evaluating the scenario on its face, the situation was so incredibly severe that the moment he forwarded a formal report to the imperial court, the meager existence of the fruit fly named Yo Han-myeong would likely be snuffed out instantly.

Yet, the critical factor in play was…

“The Hero’s Sect.”

The undeniable reality that the individual responsible, Kim Rae-won, chose to remain within the River Capital.

Furthermore, he and his followers in the Hero’s Sect claimed to…

Tread the path of the middle way.

Unfurl the banners of true righteousness.

Shield the borders from external hostiles.

Should their actions align with those lofty declarations, would this development not turn out to be incredibly advantageous?

To establish a lasting peace that none of his predecessors had managed to achieve over hundreds of years, and to have it happen precisely during his own administration?

It would stand as a historic triumph, perhaps even significant enough to restore the fallen honor of the Yo family name.

‘For the time being, it seems wisest to simply remain on the sidelines and observe the conduct of our new associate.’

That had been the exact sentiment conveyed by Bukgung Ri’s expression.

The notion that a ‘new associate’ had made his presence known in the River Capital.

Whether this individual would prove to be an asset or a catastrophic menace remained an open question.

What could not be denied was that the ultimate fate of Yo Han-myeong—whether the Fruit Fly would be abruptly squashed by a hand or transform entirely to take flight like an apex predator—was now irrevocably tied to Kim Rae-won and the future of the Hero’s Sect.

That was the solitary issue demanding Yo Han-myeong’s immediate attention.

“Is there anyone outside?”

Responding instantly to Yo Han-myeong’s raised voice, the subordinate who had been keeping watch just beyond the doorway stepped into the room.

“At your command, Your Excellency, the Prefect.”

The administrative directive was delivered to him without a moment’s delay.

“Effective immediately, the official forces of the River Capital will completely ignore any and all movements orchestrated by the Hero’s Sect.”

“By those words, you mean to say…?”

“Precisely what I articulated. We shall afford the Hero’s Sect every ounce of assistance we can muster, providing both concrete supplies and political validation, in order to re-establish stability throughout the River Capital.”

“Such an action would directly violate the long-standing mandate of non-intervention between governmental bodies and the Murim, Your Excellency.”

“It does not.”

Yo Han-myeong pushed himself up from his chair, strode purposefully toward the window frame, and let his eyes wander out toward the horizon.

His gaze settled in the direction of the Western Road, the territory where the demolished, or rather, currently transforming Iron God Gang—no, the Hero’s Sect—was situated.

“The Hero’s Sect adheres strictly to the middle way, rendering it quite similar to our own administration, which claims absolute neutrality. What major distinction lies between marching directly down a central path and taking a stand in the exact center? This approach does not violate the code of non-intervention; it merely crafts a fresh doctrine—the total alignment of government authority and the Murim.”

“Be that as it may, the imperial court back in the capital will never countenance such an arrangement.”

Yo Han-myeong pivoted on his heel to look his subordinate dead in the eye.

“And what if the imperial court objects?”

“…”

“The high officials in the capital do not care about the minutiae of this place in the slightest. Shipping down reinforcements and elite combatants to govern a remote frontier outpost like the River Capital? That is an expense they would find far more objectionable.”

“…”

“Provided we do not demand extra state funds to mobilize soldiers and do not lose any of their existing assets, they will sanction whatever path we choose to take.”

“But even so…”

“Furthermore, they have no logical grounds to object to the implementation of a peaceful status quo brought about by acts of public ‘heroism’. Do I make myself clear?”

“…Understood, sir. I will see to it that your directives are executed without delay.”

The subordinate bowed and exited the office immediately.

Yo Han-myeong turned his eyes back toward the distant location of the Hero’s Sect, whispering quietly to himself.

“I have played every card available to me.”

The mental image of Kim Rae-won from their recent meeting flashed across his mind.

The young man possessed an icy, detached countenance, yet the brief moment a trace of a smile touched his lips, his teeth had gleamed with an intense brilliance.

“A champion who champions the middle way.”

The middle way.

It was an expression that many superficially perceived as drifting to the left when it proved advantageous and veering to the right when it did not.

To put it another way, on the surface, it sounded like a highly flexible and appealing philosophy.

In reality, however.

The phrase carried an entirely contradictory weight.

This was doubly accurate within the unforgiving environment of the Murim.

Whether a faction belonged to the Orthodox camp or the Demonic forces, they demanded absolute submission; they would never tolerate a rogue element sitting comfortably on the fence, merely watching the world turn.

Consequently, attempting to walk the middle line meant setting oneself up to receive blows from both the Orthodox Faction and the lawless, dark paths simultaneously.

No faction permits a weak contender to hold the center ground unchallenged.

Which meant that declaring oneself neutral without the overwhelming martial power to defend that claim was nothing short of a death sentence.

Granted, considering he had dismantled the two dominant factions controlling the River Capital in a single stroke—even if the man himself disavowed any involvement in the demise of the Seven Star Immortal Society—his personal martial prowess was unquestionably terrifying.

Could an individual like him genuinely hoist the standard of virtue in a world so utterly depraved?

Truthfully, there were far too many variables that defied logic, but…

Whatever the case, the die is cast.

The future rests on your shoulders now.

Kim Rae-won.

● ● ●

The very moment Yo Han-myeong made his departure.

Dong Bongsu swung into motion immediately to lay the foundations for the Hero’s Sect.

He understood the necessity of reviewing the [Family Member Window] and the [Guild Window], alongside evaluating the individual capabilities of the youths under his care, but those tasks were forced to take a backseat to more pressing matters.

He instructed Jeon Rahwa and the group of youths to carry on with the physical labor of clearing out the estate belonging to the fallen Iron God Gang, which was now reborn as the headquarters for the Hero’s Sect.

Realistically, there were no alternative duties they could perform or be tasked with at this current juncture anyway.

He focused his attention entirely on the objectives requiring immediate resolution.

The first priority was structural restoration and rebuilding.

Stepping past the estate gates, he made a straight line for the 7th District.

Upon arrival, he tracked down the local merchant whose life he had preserved in an earlier encounter and contracted the absolute maximum quantity of manual laborers available, routing them directly to the Hero’s Sect property.

There was an immense amount of damage to repair, new infrastructure to erect, and debris to haul away.

Money was the least of his concerns.

He had confiscated a massive fortune from the vaults of the Iron God Gang, secured an abundance of wealth from the Floating Island, and systematically stripped the wilderness outlaws of their ill-gotten gains.

The second priority was the disposal of human remains.

He secured the precise coordinates of the local crematorium from the same merchant and walked over to the facility.

The operation fell under the jurisdiction of the local magistrate’s office, and since Yo Han-myeong’s official decree had already filtered down through the chain of command, the staff proved to be instantly accommodating.

He lost no time in ordering them to deploy teams to collect and incinerate the mountain of corpses littering the courtyard of the Hero’s Sect.

The third priority was cleansing.

Though Jeon Rahwa, the youths, and the massive workforce gathered from the 7th District were actively working on the property, a different tier of ‘cleansing’ was desperately required.

A purgation of a fundamentally distinct nature.

Cheongso.

The character ‘Cheong’ denoting clarity, and ‘so’ representing the act of sweeping away.

The entire River Capital had fallen into an absolute state of lawlessness, reaching a point where it needed to be violently purged of its corruption.

This specific style of sweeping could not be executed with a standard broom; it demanded the cold steel of a weapon’s handle.

Acting as the ultimate purifier, Dong Bongsu marched forward without a single moment of hesitation, moving continuously.

● ● ●

When an apex predator locks horns with another mighty beast.

This describes a scenario where two dominant forces clash on equal terms for absolute dominance over a single territory.

But what occurs when both the dominant predators suddenly vanish from that very territory?

Inevitably, the lesser scavengers and opportunists who had been kept in check by the alpha’s presence would begin to run rampant, while the lesser predators that once cowered at the alpha’s voice would emerge from the shadows, claiming the domain as their own playground.

Such was the undeniable reality of an environment governed strictly by the law of the untamed wild.

And.

Refusing to capitalize on an extraordinary opening like the present, where both dominant forces lay dead, would prove that one lacked the instincts of a true competitor.

In a lawless haven like the River Capital, being categorized as a predator was an exceptional compliment.

The Seven Star Immortal Society and the Iron God Gang had earned their status as the dominant forces simply because they possessed the sheer strength to back it up.

Any predator worth their salt would never allow such an extraordinary window of opportunity to slip through their fingers.

Jo Jung-heon, the reigning Chieftain of the Fire Bell Gang, was moving stealthily through the shadows alongside twenty of his most capable subordinates.

They had been forced to maintain a low profile under the oppressive dominance of the Iron God Gang, but with the current power vacuum on the Western Road, the only organizations capable of claiming greater authority than his own Fire Bell Gang were the One-Eyed Sect and the Black Wind Hall.

‘With the current layout, I can successfully crush both of them.’

Furthermore, both of those rival groups were currently burning through their manpower trying to seize control of the commercial assets left behind by the fractured Iron God Gang.

It was blindingly obvious that the security measures at their primary strongholds would be severely compromised during this distraction.

According to a detailed update provided by an informant embedded deep within the ranks of the One-Eyed Sect, a mere fifth of their total combat personnel were presently stationed at their home base.

Even their primary leader was nowhere to be found on the premises.

‘If I fail to strike right this second, a chance for a grand conquest of this magnitude will never present itself again.’

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-.

Though their boots created a faint rhythm against the tiles, their elevated route across the rooftops ensured that their advance went completely unnoticed by anyone below.

Jo Jung-heon alongside his twenty followers clad in crimson face coverings.

While their headcount was modest, they represented the absolute elite cadre of the Fire Bell Gang.

This strike team comprised roughly half of the total military capability the Fire Bell Gang could field in a crisis.

Granted, because Bo Geonhwi had failed to arrive at the designated rendezvous point on schedule, their ranks suffered a minor deficit in fighting power.

Even so, it wasn’t a severe enough loss to jeopardize the success of the operation.

‘Before the sun rises, the One-Eyed Sect will be completely wiped from the map of the River Capital.’

Even as they dashed forward.

The agonizing cries resulting from fierce skirmishes between the Black Wind Hall, the One-Eyed Sect, and various minor factions echoed relentlessly across every corner of the Western Road.

“Kekekeke.”

A surge of uncontrollable malice escaped his lips in a dark chuckle.

This was a glorious slaughter.

An operational theater on a scale unseen for centuries, with the governance of the entire River Capital hanging in the balance.

The chaotic symphony created by the rising shrieks of the dying provided an immensely motivating backdrop.

That dark music echoed through the night air without intermission, accompanying them all the way to the outer perimeter of the One-Eyed Sect’s territory.

But right then…