Nano Machine c 151 to 160

 Chapter 151 - Worth of a heir (5) Chapter 151: Worth of a heir (5) ‘So… it’s true that the leader of the Poison Clan really died.’ The guard was really shocked. The death of the Poison Clan’s leader, Baek Oh, was already widely known throughout the cult. When people heard that Baek Oh died from participating in the sixth test of the academy, they were curious as to who this Chun Yeowun was. ‘He’s merely a teenager and already at the superior level…!’ It was hard to believe. This young man in front of him was either equal to or was a stronger warrior than Huan Yi the Thousand Faces. But why was Chun Yeowun, who should still be at the academy, standing here? One of other guards spoke. “I’ll let the elder know. Can you wait here please?” “Yes.” The guard opened a small door on the right next to the giant door and walked in. Hu Bong whispered to Ko Wanghur, “This place is creepy… it feels like a ghost might come out.” “I know.” Even Ko Wanghur seemed to grow tense from the creepy atmosphere beyond the small door. He was large and muscular, but he had a weakness for creepy things like this. ‘It’s been a long time… but it’s still creepy.’ Mun Ku visited this place with her grandfather Mun Yun before so she didn’t realize it back then, but it was much more creepy than she remembered. Huan Yi was known for his weirdness even among all 12 elders. ‘I hope the Prince can persuade him.’ The reason they were here was to get support from Huan Yi. He was the leader of one of the highest ranking clans and few elders along with Mun Yun who did not side with any of the six clans. ‘It would’ve been better if gramps were here.’ With Baek Oh’s rank falling down to the 12th rank, Mun Yun’s rank had gone up automatically from 9th to 8th, which put him in a spot where he needed to go out of the cult with the Lord. Even if Mun Ku was granddaughter of Huan Yi’s friend, it didn’t seem like it will help much unless Mun Yun himself came with them. The sound of someone coming over was heard beyond the giant door. There were two people who came over a small door on the right. One was the guard who walked in to notify the arrival of a guest, and another was handsome man with his hair pinned up. He wore red silk clothes with yellow butterflies sewn on it. It was a man, but he had makeup on his face like a female, and that gave him a feminine look. ‘Is there anyone who’s normal here?’ Hu Bong almost spoke out loud but he held back. The red-clothed man bowed to them politely and greeted them. “Greetings. I am Nhu Yayen, advisor of the elders. I heard the 12th elder was here… are you the elder?” He even talked like a woman. But he was looking at Ko Wanghur, not Chun Yeowun. Ko Wanghur’s large body was enough to draw attention from people who saw them first. “Uh… no. He is my master.” Ko Wanghur pointed at Chun Yeowun. Nhu Yayen then covered his mouth femininely and laughed. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I have made a mistake. Welcome, 12th Elder.” “I’m Chun Yeowun.” Chun Yeowun bowed without any change in expression. Nhu Yayen then ordered the guards to open the giant door and spoke to Yeowun. “My master is waiting for you in the guest room. He asks you to join him for tea. Please come in.” “Thank you for greeting us at such an hour.” And when Yeowun tried to go in with his members, guards blocked them. Yeowun narrowed his eyes and turned to Nhu Yayen. “Oh! My bad. My master only wants to see you alone.” “…They’re my people.” “I’m sorry, but Master is very shy person… please be considerate.” He spoke politely, but it was apparent that he wouldn’t allow anyone else to enter. But Yeowun was in no place to complain as it was him who needed to ask for a favor here. “Excuse me, but how can you be sure that my master will not be in danger if he goes in alone?” Ko Wanghur first voiced out his complaints. Nhu Yayen then smiled and answered, “It’s rare to see a great man like you with such great honor! Rest assured, my master will not be rude against elders of our cult. Hehe… why don’t we do this? I’ll let one person come. I can’t take any more or my master will be angry at me.” “Hah!” Hu Bong scoffed dumbfoundedly. It didn’t seem like having one would change anything, but it was better than nothing. As people were not sure of who to go in, Mun Ku volunteered. “I’ll go.” She was the only one who had seen Huan Yi, so everyone agreed. “Hmm…” Nhu Yayen watched Mun Ku weirdly. Soon, Chun Yeowun and Mun Ku followed Nhu Yayen into the courtyard of the Ghost Illusion Clan’s mansion. As they walked past the giant door, they were greeted with the courtyard full of rocks and dolls made from haystacks that had red clothes. All of these dolls also had masks over them which gave a more creepy vibe to the place. ‘What a taste.’ Yeowun thought it was weird from the outside, but it looked much weirder on the inside. As they moved past the small building toward the rear, there was lavishly-decorated guesthouse. “Master, here’s the guest.” Chapter 152 - Worth of a heir (6) Chapter 152: Worth of a heir (6) Nhu Yayen shouted at front of the guesthouse. There was large table on the open area inside the guesthouse, where seven middle aged man with blue silk clothes were sitting down. They all had same faces. ‘Masks?’ He heard Huan Yi was best craftsman for creating such skin mask, but didn’t think it would be this precise. All of them looked natural and even felt like if they were the same person. As Yeowun got up to the floor, one man sitting on the highest ranking seat got up and bowed. “Welcome. I am Huan Yi, leader of the Ghost Illusion Clan.” Mun Ku then became confused. The face wasn’t what she saw before. With the nick name of ‘Thousand Faces,’ it was known that no one other than the Lord saw real face of Huan Yi. ‘What is he doing? I know he was weird but this is…’ Mun Ku heard lot about Huan Yi from her grandfather already. She knew Huan Yi was weird person, but didn’t think he will do something weird in the first visit. [Prince, his face is different than last time I met.] Mun Ku sent telepathic message but Yeowun didn’t respond and just bowed. “I am Chun Yeowun, new 12th elder.” “I know. Come on and sit down. We’ll talk while we drink some teas.” The table was filled with sweet snacks and hot teas. Mun Ku then looked at Huan Yi suspiciously and bowed. “Long time no see, Uncle Huan. I’m Mun Ku from the Demon Dragon Clan.” At Mun Ku’s introduction, one of the man who was sitting down with Huan Yi’s face slightly turned to look at Mun Ku. But Huan Yi who greeted himself to Yeowun looked back as if he had seen Mun Ku for first time. But the word that came after relieved Mun Ku. “Oh! Long time no see. Was it before you entered the academy, that we met with Mun Yun? So you’ve been taking good care of it, I see.” “Oh! Yes. You remembered, uncle.” Mun Ku’s face brightened at that. [He sure is Huan Yi!] Only person who knew she was wearing a mask was Huan Yi the Thousand Faces who created the mask. ‘Hmm…’ But unlike Mun Ku’s relieved telepathic message, Chun Yeowun didn’t seem all that satisfied. Huan Yi then offered Yeowun to sit down. “What are you doing? Come sit down.” “Can I ask you something first?” “What is it?” “Do you know why I came here to meet with you?” Mun Ku became surprised as Yeowun brought up the question already. Unlike her thought, that he will talk with Huan Yi to create good mood before going into the important matter, Yeowun just brought it up ricetly. And at the question, Huan Yi answered casually. “Of course. You came to take my medal.” And surprisingly enough, Huan Yi too knew why Yeowun had visited him. There were two ways to become the heir of the throne. One was to have clan leaders of twelve high ranking clans to support him. And another was to be approved by three current elders. The proof of such approval was to receive the medal. By giving this medal to the candidate, it meant the elder had acknowledged the prince as a rightful heir and pledged allegiance. “So… you knew then.” “You, who have came victorious over at the competition, come out of the academy and visits me… will there be other reason?” Huan Yi was able to guess that Yeowun would not have come straight to himself if Yeowun had found twelve suppoerters already. This was best time for Yeowun to persuade other elders, while the Lord and elders from six clans were missing. “Good. Then I will not talk to you as an elder. I request to be treated as candidate to the heir.” This meant much. As an elder, they were equals but as for a candidate, it meant that Yeowun was here to receive support from Elder Huan Yi. Huan Yi then smiled and spoke. “I’ve been treating you as such from the beginning.” “Pardon?” “Didn’t you know? Elders are allowed to test the person if he is worthy to receive the medal of allegiance.” “Meaning?” “I am already testing you if you are worthy to the throne.” Huan Yi had been waiting to meet Chun Yeowun, a candidate not from six clans since long time ago. Candidate who had passed the sixth test in 70 years. He was also very curious as to what kind of man Chun Yeowun was, who had defeated Baek Oh the Poison Man who was known for his ability to kill. “I want to test you regarding two things. One is to see your perception. I was going to give you some time by drinking tea, but since you dive right into the topic, I’ll get to mine too. Can you find the real Huan Yi in this place?” Huan Yi then pointed at other six men sitting down next to him. There were total of 7 Huan Yi’s here. ‘Huh?!’ Mun Ku frowned. All seven Huan Yi had almost equal power and energy that was hard to differentiate one from another. ‘This is too difficult.’ And the mask that Huan Yi created was too detailed that even wrinkles to the beard was exactly same that it was impossible to tell the difference. ‘I trained years for such charade, not to mention about the mask. No one will recognize this me.’ It was definitely enough to have confidence in the test. “I won’t make you just pick right now. We can drink some tea and take time to…” “I found you.” “What?” Chun Yeowun was looking at somewhere. But the person he was looking wasn’t among seven Huan Yis sitting down at the table. “Huh?” The person Yeowun was staring at was Nhu Yayen, standing toward the entrance of the guesthouse. Chapter 153 - Worth of a heir (7) Chapter 153: Worth of a heir (7) “Huh? Me?” Nhu Yayen widened his eyes and pointed at himself. He was a man, but had red silk clothes with butterfly patterns and make ups that made him hard to be imagined to be one of 12 elders of the Demonic Cult. [Prince Chun. Didn’t Uncle Huan… I mean the Elder asked you to find him among these people?] Mun Ku quickly sent the telepathic message to Yeowun. Huan Yi pointed at six people sitting down around him. It was hard to recognize who was the real Huan Yi here, but Mun Ku was suspicious of the man who turned slightly at her while ago to be the real Huan Yi. She was going to let him know after spending some time, but she didn’t expect Yeowun to appoint someone entirely out of context. “Hmmm… this is shocking. I didn’t think you will say I am the master.” Nhu Yayen frowned as he touched on his lips. Chun Yeowun then pointed at seven Huan Yis sitting down on the desk. “Elder Huan told me to find him while pointing at these people, but he just said to find him in ‘this place’ when he spoke. He didn’t say real him was within these seven people.” “OH!” Mun Ku then reminded what Huan Yi had said also. ‘Can you find real me in this place?’ Thinking about it now, Mun Ku didn’t remember Huan Yi saying he was among those people. But that was too far fetched to think Nhu Yayen was Huan Yi. “But that’s not enough to be a proof. Aren’t you throwing away your chance with such quick decision?” Nhu Yayen shook his head and spoke but Chun Yeowun smiled. “There is easier way to find out.” “Easier way?” “Please excuse my rudeness.” “What?” And at that moment, Chun Yeowun bolted out like lightning toward Nhu Yayen. His hand that wielded blue force qi of blade struck down on Nhu Yayen’s neck, trying to cut it down. It was so quick to dodge it. “Ah-!” Mun Ku’s eye enlarged. Nhu Yayen, who should have been only an advisor, stood in his place and created blue force qi over his hand to block Yeowun’s attack. Yeowun smiled and spoke to Nhu Yayen. “Will you still say you are not Huan Yi?” “…This is unexpected.” Huan Yi the Thousand Faces’s test. It was test that was actually set up to be almost impossible. No one other than the Lord has seen Huan Yi’s real face. Not even Mun Ku, daughter of Huan Yi’s friend had saw Huan Yi’s real voice or face. It was impossible to find out the real answer when they didn’t even know what the answer was. Huan Yi had weird personality. The reason of the first test was to have Yeowun become surprised and look at his reaction to it, not to make him find the answer. He was going to be satisfied if Yeowun calmly tried to find the answer. But he didn’t expect Yeowun will really find him. “How did you know?” When Nhu Yayen revealed his power, the entire air around the courtyard was filled with strong power that pressed down. Even Mun Ku, super master level warrior had shivered from the energy. It seems the internal energy had dark energy that made it feel creepy. “You wouldn’t say you just picked one, wouldn’t you?” “It was telepathic message.” “Telepathic message?” Yeowun remembered while ago. When he first saw Nhu Yayen, he didn’t even think he was Huan Yi, as Nhu Yayen hid his energy perfectly. His feminine action also played a part too. But when Yeowun saw seven Huan Yi up on the table, he felt something was strange. Huan Yi, who had been talking naturally, began to speak with some time after being questioned, after Mun Ku introduced herself. ‘Why is he doing that?’ Yeowun who thought it was weird, then noticed Mun Ku’s neck shaking faintly when she sent telepathic message to him. Yeowun then changed the subject quickly so that fake Huan Yi cannot react. And as expected, the Huan Yi that spoke with him took some time to answer. ‘No one… is shaking on their neck.’ Yeowun who thought if his guess was wrong, thought maybe it was possible to send telepathic message even without shaking the neck and asked Nano. ‘Nano, can you find out how the sound is made, when Mun Ku sent me that telepathic message? On how it works?’ He only asked just in case, but unexpected answer came back. [It is possible. Detected different frequency of vibration. Adjusting it to make user able to hear it.] With Nano’s word ending, Yeowun had weird faint whistling sound coming through his ear, and heard something he had not heard until now. [I’ve been treating you as such from the beginning.] When the voice heard, the Huan Yi on the table spoke the same thing. “I’ve been treating you as such from the beginning.” Chapter 154 - Worth of a heir (8) Chapter 154: Worth of a heir (8) ‘Oh!’ Someone was talking in telepathic message and Huan Yi was just copying it through his mouth. [Didn’t you know? Elders are allowed to test the person if he is worthy to receive the medal of allegiance.] “Didn’t you know? Elders are allowed to test the person if he is worthy to receive the medal of allegiance.” He now knew why none of seven Huan Yi’s neck was shaking. It was because none of them were sending telepathic message. The message was clearly coming from the back, at the entrance of the guesthouse. ‘Wow… so I can tap into telepathic messages!’ It was more shocking that Nano can hear other people’s telepathic message. But Yeowun couldn’t explain that Nano’s ability made him tap into telepathic message, and he didn’t need to reveal this either. “You have been taking time to answer ever since Mun Ku introduced. I thought someone might be sending telepathic message then.” “?!” “But I saw no one among these seven people was shaking their neck to send the telepathic message. Then it meant there was only one who can sent the message.” “Oh…” Nhu Yayen’s face turned weird. He had recognized Mun Ku moment he saw at the giant gate in front of the mansion. It was the mask he made himself, so there was no way he would not recognize. He didn’t plan on taking other people, but changed his mind. ‘No. Let’s use her.’ If Mun Ku was here to help Yeowun, then he thought Mun Ku will try to help Yeowun on trying to figure out who was the real Huan Yi. So, if he fools Mun Ku, only one acquainted with Huan Yi, Nhu Yayen thought it would make more hard for Yeowun to find him. “I allowed her to join in, to make it more confusing but it actually worked against me. You are amazing.” Nhu Yayen accepted Yeowun’s perception on the matter. He didn’t think a teenager just before adulthood can think it through this rationally. Nhu Yayen then smiled femininely at Yeowun, still with his force qi blocking Yeowun’s force qi and spoke. “I am Huan Yi, the leader of Ghost Illusion Clan.” “I’m Chun Yeowun.” “You passed the first test, so shall we move onto the next?” “What’s the second test?” “We are the Demonic Cult. If you want my approval, prove yourself with your power as a martial artist.” And at that moment, Huan Yi’s hand released strong power and threw Yeowun’s hand to the back. ‘He’s powerful.’ Yeowun tried to react quickly, but Nhu Yayen’s hand created many shadows as he charged in. Yeowun blocked it with Butterfly Dance blade, but he was struck from quick kick onto his chest and was thrown out to the yard front of the guest house. “Ugh!” And as he set down on his foot, The energy that came into him through the kick was sent out of his body, and the ground that he set his foot cracked. “Prince!” Mun Ku shouted in shock. She thought Huan Yi was strong as he was one of 12 elders, but she couldn’t even follow Huan Yi’s movement as he was too fast. Huan Yi walked out of the guest house and came over to Chun Yeowun. “I figured we might damage the guest house if we fight in there.” ‘Art of Ghost Spirits’ Yeowun remembered the formation that Huan Yi just performed. It was the formation of the Art of Ghost Spirits that Yeowun saw at the fifth floor of the library at Demonic Academy. Difference was that it was more precise and had fixed many of its problems from that of the library. ‘So, even if I think it’s the formation I saw at the library, I shouldn’t think it is the same thing.’ Martial artist with such power was sure to increase and evolve his martial art over time. Yeowun became serious and Huan Yi smiled. “I looked forward to this after I heard you beat the Poison clan leader. That old man walked with a staff, but he was a real monster.” Huan Yi had never fought against Baek Oh himself, but he saw Baek Oh’s power multiple times at the war. Huan Yi was strange man, but he too was martial artist. He couldn’t fight Baek Oh as they were same elder,s but he had imagined of fighting Baek Oh many times. But even after trying many times, the result of his imagination was always losing to Baek Oh. ‘If you defeated him, you can be my alternative.’ He wanted to test through Chun Yeowun. If he was going to defeat Yeowun, then it meant he overcame Baek Oh too. “I heard that you are skilled in blade? And that you were taught by Right Guardian Submeng?” And as he spoke, one of fake Huan Yi from the table came up and gave red blade to Huan Yi. As he pulled it out, decorated blade revealed itself. It was created with cold steel, that colored in dark metal. It looked like very fine weapon. “Good. My specialty is with the blade too.” Chapter 155 - Worth of a heir (9) Chapter 155: Worth of a heir (9) Huan Yi’s martial art was Ghost Illusion Blade. Yeowun was surprised as he knew that the Art of the Ghost Spirit was not the strongest martial art of the clan. It was long time since Yeowun fought warrior using blade skill. But unlike Chun Yuchan who Yeowun fought back then, Huan Yi was much more powerful. Yeowun then pulledout White Dragon Blade. As the white blade revealed itself, Huan Yi grinned. “That is amazing blade. This will be a good fight. Do your best like when you fought old man Baek Oh.” Huan Yi then charged at Yeowun. As his hand flashed, the blade unleashed countless tracings as it came down upon Yeowun. “Hah!” Yeowun then unleashed the second formation of Butterfly dance blade to defend himself. The White Dragon Blade quickly spun and struck against Huan Yi’s blade. With powerful force qi wielded around two blades collided against each other, large sound of metal clashing spread through. It was so large that even members of Chun Yeowun was able to hear it. Ko Wanghur frowned and complained to the guard. “What’s happening inside?!” “We wouldn’t know.” Guards were staying outside the gate, so they had no way to find out either. But the sound of metal clashing was certain that people were fighting inside. Yeowun’s members who thought something happened to Yeowun couldn’t stay back anymore. Baekgi walked forward. “We’ll have to go in.” “No, you can’t- ARGH!” Guards tried to stop him but it was no use. Bakgi instantly kicked them made them pass out and walked in. Sama Chak mumbled with a frown. “Can we do this?” Even if this was emergency, they were still at the mansion of 11th elder of the Demonic Cult. Bursting in by defeating guards like this was same as challenging the Ghost Illusion Clan itself. “Master might be in danger. Who cares about that!” Hu Bong spoke and ran in. “Master’s safety is first. Let’ sgo.” “Y-yeah, okay.” Ko Wanghur also ran in and Sama Chak had to follow them too. And at the yard in front of the guesthouse, Chun Yeowun and Huan Yi was already fighting through ten formations. Both of them used very fast blade formations that made Mun Ku who watched to become dizzy. ‘So, this is fight between supreme level warriors.’ The yard had full of damage from blades. If they fought inside the building, then it surely would have destroyed the place. ‘He’s strong. To be this strong at such age… but this isn’t enough to kill Baek Oh.’ Huan Yi was astonished by Chun Yeowun, but he thought it wasn’t enough. He heard from Sama Yi that Yeowun had defeated Baek Oh with tremendous power, but it didn’t seem like Yeowun was at that level. “This won’t be enough to receive my approval!” Huan Yi shouted disappointingly as he struck his blade against Yeowun. But Yeowun didn’t seem to budge. There had been many who taunted him in the academy, and if he were going to be taunted, he would not have survived until today. ‘I can’t overpower him with Butterfly dance blade.’ Huan Yi, who had hands on experience in battle saw Right Guardian fighting many times, so he knew weakness of Butterfly dance blade that made him harder to defeat with using of that skill. Yeowun needed to show his best. ‘Then should I try it?’ Sword Force of the Sky Demon was very similar to the Sword Art of the Sky Demon so there was no way for Huan Yi to not know what it was. Then two best martial art that Yeowun had was left with two. Counter sword skill – Twenty Four Demon Sword or the Blade skill from Blade God. Yeowun chose the latter. When Yeowun quickly took steps to put distance, Huan Yi became surprised. Yeowun’s stance had changed entierely from that of Butterfly dance. ‘Huh? What is this?’ Huan Yi who had many experiences never saw such stance. But there was no way for warrior like Chun Yeowun to use weak martial art, so Huan Yi calmly sent energy into his blade. Yeowun warned at Huan Yi with quiet voice. “I might not be able to control it. Make sure you defend it with all of your power.” “Huh?” At that moment, Chun Yeowun charged in with powerful manner unlike before. ‘W-what is this?!’ Huan Yi quickly unleasehd the last formation of his blade skill to defend himself. With two blade striking against each other, lout sound of metal clashing filled the area. But Huan Yi frowned. His rapid blade movements were countered from Yeowun’s blade that came from weird angles. ‘What formation is this?!’ Huan Yi was talented blade user who knew that such weird angle of blade usage will destroy the user’s muscle. But Yeowun was managing to do it easily. Huan Yi tried to defend the blade as much as he can, but the power that wielded in Yeowun’s blade was so powerful that it made Huan Yi lose his grip over his blade. But Yeowun still had last of his formation on the blade. ‘N-no!’ And as the last movement struck down at him, Huan Yi became frightened and closed his eyes. Large sound of explosion struck his ears. Huan Yi, who feared for his life became tense and his face were drenched with sweat, sending down his make ups with it. “Ugh… hu….” Huan Yi panted and opened his eyes. The White Dragon Blade that came down at him as if it would cut him in half was pushed down next to him. The last movement that Yeowun struck down with the blade had cut through the ground and even to the wall. It was beyond shock to see such power that Huan Yi had lost for words. ‘He… is really a monster.’ Chapter 156 - Worth of a heir (10) Chapter 156: Worth of a heir (10) Bakgi quickly found where the sound of metal clashes coming from. It was beyond the small building to the right after the main courtyard. Bakgi quickly tried to ran toward the place, but he had to stop in few steps. Man with blue silk clothes suddenly appeared and attacked Bakgi. It was an ambush, but Bakgi was quickly able to counter back with his kicks. After fighting against each other for one formation, two of them distanced themselves from each other. Middle aged man looked surprised at Bakgi, a young man with such power. But the young man shouted right after. “Young man. How dare you break into this place?!” And at that word, over fifty warriors with black clothes and arms came out of the building and tried to circle them. “Bakgi!” Hu Bong, Ko Wanghur and Sama Chak then followed and placed their back at Bakgi’s back. “Hmm. This is what I expected.” Sama Chak mumbled as he pulled out his sword. He busted in, thinking Yeowun was in danger but there was no way highest ranking like Ghost Illusion Clan would not be ready for any intruder. All warriors with black clothes had two daggers in their hands with similar mask as those guards, but their faces were like distorted monsters. “IT’s creepy.” Hu Bong spoke as he readied in Sword of Illusion. The creepy mask made enemies to feel scared. But even without that, all of these warriors seems to be they were highly skilled warriors. “Four of you… what clan are you from that makes you so rude?” Middle aged man with blue silk clothes shouted with anger. If the mansion wasn’t inside the cult, they would have defeated these young men already, but this was inside the cult, where everyone was a cultist. “You people first…” “Wait a second.” Bakgi, who was frustrated at these people blocking their way while their master was in danger, but Ko Wanghur stopped him. ‘We can’t make more problem.’ Ko Wanghur then brought out two medals from his pocket and showed it to them. “Huh?” One was the medal that proved him as a Master rank within the cult, and one was the medal that said ‘Demon Fist’ which showed what clan he was from. “I am Ko Wanghur from Demon Fist clan.” “Demon Fist?” Demon Fist clan was known for being powerful fist user and one of high ranking clan. The middle aged man spoke with frown. “Are you son of Ko Wanghen?” “Yes, sir.” “A son of high ranking clan busting into another clan’s mansion at this hours? Did your father teach you to do such thing?” It didn’t feel good to hear the man talking about his father, but Ko Wanghur responded calmly. “I’m sorry, but we thought something had happened to our master who entered here while ago, so we had to come in.” “Master?” “It’s Prince Chun Yeowun, the 12th Elder.” At the name, man became surprised. The name Chun Yeowun was most famous within recent days. There were no one who have not heard of the name of man who passed 6th test of academy, and son of the Lord who was not from six clans. ‘Was the guest while ago, prince Chun Yeowun then?’ The man’s name was Ou Gung, one of leader of the Ghost Illusion clan. He thought the guest was just one of Huan Yi’s acquaintance when Huan Yi himself went out to meet him, but it seems Huan Yi, the weird leader had done something again. Ou Gung also heard the swords clashing against each other. The sound was enough to prove that whoever fighting was at equals. ‘Why is the leader fighting against Prince Chun Yeowun?’ Ou Gung became curious and Ko Wanghur spoke to him. “There is problem with our master, so how can we, as a servant just wait outside? Please allow us to see what is going on inside.” Ko Wanghur was right, but this was home of the Ghost Illusion clan. Ko Wanghur and his friends were not allowed to walk freely. “I’m sorry, but we cannot interfere with what our leader do.” And when Ou Gung spoke, fifty warriors blocked the way to the guesthouse. They were given no choice. Ko Wanghur, who figured there was no time to waste, clenched his fist and readied. Ou Gung also raised his energy to ready and gave final warning. “You are young men, so I will warn you last time. If you fall back now, I will tell our leader to not harm Prince Chun Yeowun and…” But before Ou Gung can finish speaking, a tremendous energy that even made them become chilled came out from the guesthouse. Everyone turned to the direction and at that moment, the wall that covered the guest house struck down, with blue force qi shooting out from it, leaving clear mark even at outside of the wall. “L-Leader!” Ou Gung and warriors of Ghost Illusion clan figured something bad had happened and quickly ran into the guest house. “We should go too!” Ko Wanghur, Bakgi, Sama Chak and Hu Bong then took this chance to follow into the guesthouse. And when they ran in, they saw warriors of Ghost Illusion clan standing with shock. “Ah-ah!” They gasped with astonishment. They saw Chun Yeowun standing with his White Dragon Blade, and Nhu Yayen with one of his knee on the ground, giving something to Yeowun. It was the medal that proved to be 11th elder. “11th Elder, and Leader of Ghost Illusion clan. Huan Yi acceps Prince Chun Yeowun as the rightful heir to the throne. Please take this as my proof of allegiance.” ‘He wasn’t an advisor!’ Members who didn’t know Nhu Yayen’s true identity was shocked. And from looking at the destroyed yard, they realized Chun Yeowun had won the duel against Huan Yi. Hu Bong grinned and spoke to Ou Gung, who was looking at his leader dumbfondedly. “Hehe, thak you. So, I guess no harm did come to our master then.” Chapter 157 - Worth of a heir (11) Chapter 157: Worth of a heir (11) After everything had been settled, a new tea table was set up at the guest house. This time, even Chun Yeowun’s members were allowed to enjoy the warm tea inside. Huan Yi, who had his make up erased from the sweat, returned with new make up. But even this face, was still a mask, not his real mask. The reason why Huan Yi covered his face with a mask was because his clan was one of covert operatives of the cult. For this reason, Huan Yi who was leader of such group was allowed to never show his face other than the Lord himself. “If you become the future Lord, then I will show you my real face.” “…Understood.” Maybe this feminine act was also result of fake identity. Chun Yeowun, who was sitting at the highest ranked seat on the table, asked to Huan Yi on his right. “Is Huan Ya not your real son?” “Oh… so you knew then.” Yeowun actually thought it was better to meet with Huan Ya and persuade him to join, instead of meeting with Huan Yi himself. Huan Ya, who looked hideous, never joined anyone. ‘A mask?’ With Nano, Yeowun was able to see right away that Huan Ya had a mask over his face. But Chun Yeowun did not care how Huan Ya looked anyway, so he offered Ya to join him. Huan Ya did shown some interest, but he refused in the end. He insisted that he needed his leader’s consent to side with anyone. And while they talked, Huan Ya always said his father as his leader. Yeowun then thought it weird that Huan Ya cannot choose his own master and gave up on recruiting Huan Ya. That’s why he had to visit Huan Yi himself. “I can’t have a baby.” “What?” Yeowun became confused and Huan Yi covered his mouth and explained embarrassingly. “Our clan’s unique breathing skill… Yin of the Ghost have too much energy of Yin that requires us to castrate at young age.” “Hiiiek!” Hu Bong and Ko Wanghur glanced down at their own genital area and frowned. ‘W-what?!’ Mun Ku also became blushed and flapped her hand as if she was hot. It seems Huan Yi’s feminine action was from being castrated, not with his intention. Also with the Yin of the Ghost, it gave more feminine energy into the body that makes user become more feminine. Huan Ya covered himself with a mask since young age to distance from others due to this reason. “So, our clan always require us to adopt a son. It’s actually more like a teacher and apprentice.” Yeowun nodded. Huan Yi never revealed this to others than the Lord, but he liked Chun Yeowun so he explained this. “You all should forget what you have heard today.” And that only applied to Chun Yeowun. Hu Bong became tense at authoritative sound. Huan Yi then relaxed his face and turned to Ko Wanghur with alluring look and smiled. “Our trusty, Master Ko Wanghur is allowed.” “…I’ll stay quiet too.” Ko Wanghur became tense in another way. And as they talked while drinking tea, Huan Yi suddenly became curious and asked Mun Ku. “So, when are you going to reveal it?” “Huh?” “…You are out of the academy now, so…” “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! U-uh, we will go to Demon Dragon Clan when my gramps comes back, so I-I’ll talk then.” Mun Ku quickly stopped Huan Yi from talking. Only one who knew her real gender among these people were Chun Yeowun. There was reason to keep it secret when they were at the academy, but she too knew that there was no more reason for her to keep it a secret from his members. But it felt embarrassing to reveal to others now, so she was postponing it. “Hahaha, okay. I understand.” And when they finished the tea time, Huan Yi offered to Yeowun and his members. “If you are okay, you can stay at our guesthouse for a while if you’d like/” He knew that Yeowun had no clans to stay for now, so he offered it as so. Yeowun needed place to stay while staying away from six clans. It was thankful for such offer. “Thank you so much for your hospitality. If it is okay, can we take one more person…?” “Of course.” Huan Yi agreed. When coming out of the academy, Chun Yeowun wanted to return to his old home and meet with Guard Jang, but he had to come to this place first. Huan Yi told Yeowun that he’ll fetch Jang by sending someone, but Yeowun said he’ll go himself. He wanted to visit his old home too. Chun Yeowun then went toward the southern side of the Demonic Cult where his original home was at. He thought lot of things might have changed, but his home was still clean. Guard Jang used to wake up early in the morning and cleaned up the yard after his morning practice was done. ‘He’s still the same.’ He had stayed at the small house with Guard Jang until he was 15 years old. Guard Jang was like a parent to him. Yeowun became excited to see Guard Jang in a long time and quickly opened the gate and walked in. ‘So, this is where he grew up… hehe.’ Mun Ku and other members followed him in with curious look. But Chun Yeowu, who walked into the yard, was just standing there with grim look. “Prince?” Chun Yeowun was looking at Guard Jang’s room with shaking eyes and mumbled. “I don’t feel anyone inside.” Chapter 158 - Into the snake’s mouth (1) Chapter 158: Into the snake’s mouth (1) “Huh?” Ko Wanghur, Mun Ku, Bakgi, And Sama Chak also were super master level warrior so they opened their detection sense and felt it but surely there were no one in. It was either of two. It was either one was really powerful warrior who can hide, and another was that the house was really empty. Yeowun quickly opened the Guard Jang’s room but it was empty. ‘What is this? He’s not here at this hour?’ It was bit after midnight, so Jang should have been asleep. It was not time for him to be walking around. The room still had Guard Jang’s stuff init, so it was sure that he still lived here, but it was weird. ‘No heat…’ Yeowun then realized there was no heat in the room. It was cold winter, so Jang would have heated the house with a pit stove at t he kitchen, but there was no heat. It seemed the house had been empty for at least three or four days. When Yeowun went out, all of his members who checked other rooms came out with disappointed look. “There’s no one, master.” They can see that Chun Yeowun was not pleased from this and Hu Bong reported calmly. “Prince, maybe Guard Jang had went to visit somewhere? Like his own clan?” Mun Ku asked just in case, but Yeowun shook his head. He heard that Guard Jang was an orphan who had no home. ‘Let’s be calm… let’s look this through.’ Yeowun then came out of the yard and looked at the ground. He first thought the yard was cleanly swept that it had no problem, but if Guard Jang was empty at this hour, it meant there had been something that happened. ‘This is weird. It’s too clean.’ There was no person, but it was weird to see entire house cleanly organized. If there was trace of any fight, he could have guessed from there, but there was no trace of anything. Yeowun bit on his lips and looked around but it was too hard to find. It seems any trace were erased intentionally. If that was the case, it was someone who had planned it for long time. Yeowun then ordered Nano. ‘Nano, scan the entire house and find any mark of someone breaking in or fight.’ [Yes, master. Scanning every visible area of the house.] With Nano’s voice, Yeowun saw white light scanning through the entire house. And after a while, Nano’s voice spoke to him. [Activating augmented reality over user’s sight.] And on Yeowun’s eyes, a red dot was placed over at where Yeowun was seeing, with white lines and writings describing on it. ‘Oh.’ The dot was located on above the pillar, right above the cornerstone of the house. It was toward the bottom that Yeowun did not know at first, but he found something that looked like a sword mark on it. ‘Sword?’ It was more like a trace left by sword qi. If there were more, then it would have allowed him to figure out what formation it was used, but this was too faint. Even Nano couldn’t analyze what it was. “A sword mark? Hmm…” Ko Wanghur moaned as he checked the mark with the torch light. It seemed Guard Jang was ambushed. Problem here was if Guard Jang was alive or not. Chun Yeowun became grim as he began to think something had happened to Guard Jang who raised him. He was more grim then any time he had been in the academy. “If it’s a sword, then we can narrow down who’s behind this.” Sama Chak looked at the sword marking and spoke to Yeowun. Everyone here knew who Yeowun’s enemies were. “There are three clans who use swords among six clans.” Sword clan, Wise clan and the Lust clan used swords. Lust clan wasn’t techinally best at the sword, but they still used it. Ko Wanghur also nodded agreeingly. “I guess they have erased most of the trace. It looks like they’ve planned this through.” Even with Nano’s scan, it was only possible to find one tracing left. ‘Which clan is it?’ Yeowun tried to narrow it down, but all three clans seemed very likely to do this. As with Sword and Lust clan, Yeowun had cut down their prince and princess’ arm off, so they must be angry at him. ‘Should I remove Wise clan from the suspect list?’ He had made him suspect as a killer, but there was no way for Wise clan to know that it was work of Chun Yeowun. And with Chun Muyun and Mu Jinyun arrested, and with other four clans being hostile, it seemed it was not likely that Wise clan will do something like this. But Yeowun felt like he had to be suspicious of the Wise clan. ‘What should I do?’ As Chun Yeowun thought, Hu Bong made an idea. “Master, why don’t we search each clans? I heard Lord and elders are not back yet, so it might be easy to sneak in.” He was offering to attack while Lord and Elders were not here. Sama Chak answered. “That’s not easy as you think. You cannot underestimate power of six clans even without their leaders.” Ghost Illusion clan, who was not one of six clans too quickly reacted to intruders. If Yeowun and his members needed to search the entire mansion, then it was hard for them to be not noticed. “Sama Chak is right. Hu Bong, there’s reason why six clans rule our cult. And for these people who did such thing, they must be standing heavy guard at…. Oh! Master!” Ko Wanghur then struck up a good idea while talking. “Master, why don’t we do this?” Chapter 159 - Into the snake’s mouth (2) Chapter 159: Into the snake’s mouth (2) And the day had passed. At dark, swampy place, there were just one candle that lit up the place. The room was covered with iron bars that it was only possible to be opened from outside. Inside of the cell, smell of blood filled the entire room. And on the wall, there was man bound by chain on both of his arm, hung up on the wall. He was naked, but his body was bloody from severe torture. He had no nails, and his fingers and toes were cut down, that it was wrapped with linen wrap. Every of his wounds were spilling puss. The man’s head fell from passing out due to severe torture. The middle aged man who seemed to be torturer then placed heated metal stamp into the man’s cheset. “AAAAAAARGH!” The man then woke up with painful scream. His face covered with hairs were revealed. It was the guard, Jang Gageng who was missing. He was already destroyed inside out with three days of torture. “Who told you you can go to sleep? You are not allowed to sleep until you answer all my questions.” “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” This time, the man placed the metal over at Guard Jang’s thigh. It was so painful that he even wanted to die. His internal energy was sealed so he cannot commit suicide and all of his teeth were pulled out so he can’t bit on his tongue either. “He’s tough, for a mere guard.” Woman’s voice came from outside the cell. It was woman with lavish clothing and a red veil over her head. IT was Lady Mu. “Let me ask you this for last time. Did the Lord teach him any kind of martial art?” “Nnngh… N….no… t…there… ish…nt…” Guard Jang barely answered. He had been answering the same thing ever since he was taken in here, but Lady Mu kept on torturing him. “Hah, you still insist even with your dying breath. Go on.” “Yes, Lady.” Torturer tried to start on the torturing again, when someone bursted into the cell. It was middle aged man with long beard. As Lady Mu looked at him, the man bowed and reported. “Lady, he is out.” “He is out? What do you mean?” “Chun Yeowun is out of the academy.” Lady Mu then rose up immediately from the chair with surprised look. She had waited so long for Chun Yeowun to come out of the academy. “Ha… hahaha. That is good. He is unfortunate that he came out of the academy at this time. So, where is he?” “He is…” Lady Mu was surprised to here whereabout of Chun Yeowun. Guard Jang, who was being tortured, became filled with despair as he heard news of Chun Yeowun. ‘Prince…’ And after an hour… There were two most crowded streets inside the castle of Demonic Cult. One was the center of the cult, street of Bijak where the Lord’s palace was located at, and one was street of Waho on the northern side of the castle. Two streets were most crowded place that people always busily walked through. And at the largest restaurant of Waho street, three guest were eating at a table of first floor. It was Chun Yeowun, Mun Ku and Hu Bong. They were eating quietly, but it had been two hours since they sat down here and waited. Hu Bong asked to Mun Ku quietly. “Do you really think this will work?” “I’m not sure. But if what Ko Wanghur guessed is right, then they will try to contact us in any way.” Mun Ku wasn’t really sure if their plan will really work. They came to Waho street intentionally where people can find him easily, but it wasn’t sure if the person behind kidnapping of Guard Jang will really try to contact them. ‘They are after you, not Guard Jang. If they find out that you have came out of the Demonic Academy, they will try to contact you. But I’m sure they will not try to do something fishy in front of every people of the street.” That was Ko Wanghur’s plan. The reason why Ko Wanghur, Bakgi and Sama Chak wasn’t with other three was because they were hiding near three suspect clans’ mansions to watch them. All of this was to find who was behind kidnapping of Guard Jang. There was risk to this, but Ko Wanghur’s plan seemed to have a chance of finding it, and Yeowun agreed to follow it. That was why he was staying at a restaurant, revealing himself to everyone like this for hours. And after a time, a telepathic message came through Yeowun’s ear. [Stay still if you can hear my voice. If you turn your head or even give slightest sign to your friends, something you will not want to happen will come true.] Chapter 160 - Into the snake’s mouth (3) Chapter 160: Into the snake’s mouth (3) If whoever sent the telepathic message was able to see what Yeowun was doing and seeing, then it meant that whoever it is was inside the restaurant. Chun Yeowun then heed the threat from telepathic message and pretended if he was focusing on the meal. Mun Ku and Hu Bong was talking to each other for any sign of enemy who they weren’t sure when they will contact them. Yeowun thought if he should let Mun Ku or Hu Bong know through telepathic message, but changed his mind in case the enemy can see him sending telepathic message through looking at his neck moving. ‘…They aren’t just any enemies.’ Level of threat was much different from that of cadets from the Academy. As Yeowun stayed silent, another message came to him. [I’ll warn you. Don’t try to even find me through your senses. If you try anything stupid, ‘he’ will die.] They were threatening Yeowun as if they already knew Yeowun found out that Guard Jang had gone missing. ‘Dammit!’ Yeowun’s eye turned cold. He had never been threatened with someone he know kidnapped, and he didn’t realize it would feel this devastating and furious. But Yeowun was not going to abide by the threat. ‘Nano, can you locate where this telepathic message is coming from?’ [Yes, master. Scanning the frequency of the energy wave. Changing the ear function to hear another frequency.] And with Nano’s word, Yeowun heard weird whistle sound ringing through his ear and heard the telepathic message again. [Today…] ‘I found you…!’ Yeowun didn’t move so it would not be noticeable, but the sound was coming from entrance of the restaurant. Yeowun couldn’t see him correctly, so he couldn’t see the man’s face. The message continued. […at midnight, come to mansion of the Poison clan.] ‘Poison clan?’ Yeowun became confused as the name he didn’t expect popped up. He thought it was either Sword, Wise or the Lust clan, so the Poison clan’s name was unexpected. [You must come unarmed. If you bring that blade or sword that you have on your back or waist, your arm will be cut down even before you enter the mansion.] Yeowun tried hard to hold back, but he clenched his fist from holding back his anger. [And you must come early. If we find even shadow of anyone within 300 feet around the mansion, the person will be killed. And there are no one walks around the mansion at the time, so don’t try to play tricks.] This was a trap set up to put Yeowun alone. It was a situation where Yeowun had to enter the snake’s mouth himself. It was sure what was going to happen if he goes there. In some way, it wasn’t needed for Yeowun to take this condition if it wasn’t for Guard Jang. ‘Jang…’ But for Yeowun, Guard Jang wasn’t just anyone. For other princes, guards were just form of protection set upon by the Lord, but for Yeowun, Guard Jang was like his parents. [If you don’t appear at the appointed time, we will think you have gave up on him and we will kill him. I’m sure you will choose wisely.] These enemies too knew how important Guard Jang was to Chun Yeowun, and thus was threatening with such condition. Chun Yeowun was angered so much that he wanted to jump out and cut down the neck of the man who was sending the telepathic message to him. [I’m done here. And don’t even try to track me down.] And with that as the last word, the man disappeared from the entrance. Yeowun then got up, thinking he should do something before the man’s presence really disappears from the area. But when Yeowun got up, four men got up from other tables and glared at Yeowun. Yeowun then charged against those who glared at him. “Argh!” Yeowun appeared in front of each men and struck them with his fist to make them pass out, except one man. “Argh!” Middle aged man was held up in the air as Yeowun held him by the neck. It was hard to believe that Yeowun can just hold him up easikly. “Kek! H-help! D-don’t kill me!” “What clan are you from? Huh?” “C-clan? Hiiiek!” The hostile aura coming out from supreme level warrior Yeowun was something that not even most top class warriors can handle. But the man that Yeowun was holding on was merely a third class warrior. The man wet his pants from fear, and passed out. “Prince!” “Master, are these the one?” Mun Ku and Hu Bong quickly came over with shocked look. Yeowun then looked at the man with a frown and mumbled. “…I got the wrong men.’ These men were just low class warriors, not likely from any of six clans. With people in the restaurants focusing them, Yeowun had to get out of the place with men who Yeowun struck down. He took them to his home at southern gate of the castle. After asking them questions when they woke up, the result was what Yeowun expected. “W-we were just paid to look at you people!” “D-don’t kill us! It’s the truth!” Four of them all spoke of same thing. They received silver coin and were told by a certain man to just look at Yeowun’s group. Yeowun asked who he was, and they all said the man covered his head with bamboo hat so they weren’t really sure. Yeowun also checked these men’s tag, and they were from ordinary families. “I won’t kill you guys, but you must stay here for two days.” “Huh?” Yeowun needed to make sure, so he sealed their blood points and locked them up in the storage. ‘I’ll have to wait for Ko Wanghur, Bakgi and Sama Chak to return