King Shura

Chapter 25. The Hidden Truth

The Chasing Blood Demon, Sang Dong Ha.

He was a member of the 15 guests, and was also the strongest member of the Dark Moon Guild. Right now, he was in a confused state.

“Who did you say you came here to meet?”

“Grandpa.”

“The Night Emperor?”

“Yes.”

Sang Dong Ha sweated a bit when he heard Neng Ha Young’s calm reply.

The Night Emperor? What was this nonsense? Didn’t the man go into hiding a long time ago?

“Didn’t you come here because of what’s going on in the Qilian mountains?”

Neng Ha Young simply stared at Sang Dong Ha.

“Why would I come all the way here for that?”

“Because……..”

Elder Sang Dong Ha couldn’t say anything. She was right. There was no reason for her to come here. And right now, that wasn’t the real problem here.

“So, did you meet him?”

Neng Ha Young didn’t answer the elder’s question. She simply smiled, and looked behind Sang Dong Ha. Elder Sang Dong Ha, when he saw the girl’s actions, felt a cold chill run down his spine.

When he slowly looked behind himself, he could see an old man leaning on a table. A seemingly ordinary old man, who didn’t really exude any kind of aura.

But the moment their eyes met, Elder Sang Dong Ha froze like a frog that encountered a snake.

‘Just when?’

Elder Sang Dong Ha never allowed anyone to get behind his back, once he had become a harmonious expert.

But there were always exceptions. Especially when it came to the old man in front of his eyes.

“It’s been a while.”

“S, sir.”

Elder Sang Dong Ha stumbled backwards with a pale face. He soon realized just what he was doing, and and quickly greeted the old man.

“Elder Sang Dong Ha greets the manager.”

“Manager, yeah right. You’re being too polite to a retired person.”

A completely white hair, combined with a pair of bored eyes. This was one of the three sovereigns in the martial world, the one known as the messenger of death, the Night Emperor Neng Mu Gi.

“You look well, Sang Dong Ha.”

“I, it’s all thanks to you worrying about me this much.”

Sang Dong Ha was looking at Neng Mu Gi with a timid face. He let out a suppressed moan, and ground his teeth. The old monster here didn’t change at all from the past. It was still strong.

And that unique presence. That presence of the old man, which was being exuded out the body like mist, was pressuring Sang Dong Ha greatly.

“Did you come here because of the Heavenly Demon Church?”

So he knew?

Sang Dong Ha carefully answered with an anxious face.

“…….Yes.”

“You made a wrong move.”

“What?”

When Sang Dong Ha made a confused face, Neng Mu Gi took a seat and spoke.

“I said you made a bad choice.”

“What does that mean…….”

“Why did you come here?”

“That’s…….”

When Elder Sang Dong Ha didn’t answer, Neng Mu Gi answered the question for him.

“You came for the Moon Edge Blade Technique, I’ll bet.”

“Huk!”

How did he know? Especially when it was an information he acquired with great difficulty?

“An excessive greed can only bring harm, Sang Dong Ha.”

Sang Dong Ha bowed.

Neng Mu Gi always made the right decision. Not once did the man make a wrong choice, and not once did the man lie. But not this time.

‘It’s the Moon Edge Blade Technique! That legendary technique is at stake here!’

There are many martial artists that became famous in the martial world. But there are few that gets remembered for a hundred years. And out of all those famous experts, there’s one that stands out the most: The Sword Devil, Ak Jung Pae.

The ridiculous sword technique he showed the world. That technique was still known as the strongest sword technique to date. How could Sang Dong Ha give up on that? Even if that technique resided in the pits of hell, he would still jump down without a moment’s hesitation.

“It looks like you aren’t willing to give up.”

“……..”

It seemed that greed sometimes brought courage to people. If Neng Mu Gi told Sang Dong Ha this in the past, Sang Dong Ha would’ve given up immediately. But not now.

‘I’m not the me from the past.’

Sang Dong Ha, whilst sweating profusely, never said that he would go back. Neng Mu Gi, after observing Sang Dong Ha’s attitude with a dull face, said something.

“It wouldn’t be too bad for you to be greedy, for once.”

Sang Dong Ha’s face brightened considerably. It seemed that Neng Mu Gi agreed with his decision.

“Thank you.”

Neng Mu Gi looked at Sang Dong Ha with a calm face, and opened his mouth.

“Be careful of the Heavenly Demon Church.”

“Yessir.”

Sang Dong Ha would’ve been careful of them, even without Neng Mu Gi’s warning. Even though the Black Moon Guild was quite big, their inner framework wasn’t set properly, unlike the one of the Heavenly Demon Church. Sang Dong Ha knew that well.

“I warned you.”

Sang Dong Ha smiled faintly. It seemed that even an old monster turns tame after a long time. Neng Mu Gi’s warning only served to make Sang Dong Ha feel at ease.

Sang Dong Ha, satisfied with Neng Mu Gi’s current self, quickly said his goodbyes.

“You must have a lot to talk about with your granddaughter. I will take my leave here.”

Neng Mu Gi didn’t respond. Sang Dong Ha knew that was Neng Mu Gi’s own way of giving permission to people. He quickly walked out the door.

Neng Ha Young, who was staying quiet all this time, opened her mouth.

“What does that mean, grandpa?”

Neng Mu Gi loosened his stiff face, and smiled a little.

“What does what mean?”

“The thing you said about being careful of the church.”

“It means exactly what it sounds like.”

Neng Mu Gi spoke while pouring some tea to his cup.

“That guy’s on the mountain.”

“That guy?”

“Gongson Chun Gi.”

The Pope of the Heavenly Demon Church.

He was here?

Neng Ha Young’s eyes sparkled when he got ahold of this information.

“The Pope? But the Dao Emperor from the Alliance is coming, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Hm? This is the first time the three sovereigns actually got this close, right?”

Neng Mu Gi smiled.

“That is true, huh.”

“Right. Huh? Could it be, did grandpa meet the other sovereigns before?”

According to the official records, the three sovereigns never met each other face-to-face. All the ‘official’ records said that. This fact always managed to get on Neng Ha Young’s nerves.

‘They never met once for forty years?’

Forty years. That is not a short amount of time. Therefor, it was understandable for a person to become suspicious about it. Unless the three sovereigns all tried to steer clear away from each other, this feat was almost impossible.

Neng Ha Young researched this subject out of curiosity. She soon reached a conclusion. Surprisingly enough, it seemed that the three sovereigns didn’t avoid each other. It’s just that since each of their territory was so different, they never really encountered each other.

There was never a case where, in the history of the martial world, great martial artists with different alliances didn’t clash with each other. That alone made this case unprecedented.

Neng Ha Young found this relationship of the three sovereigns quite amazing. That’s what made this so suspicious.

The three sovereigns. Did none of them ever wonder about the strength of the other sovereigns? They were, in the end, human. Did they really never get curious about others?

‘But…….’

If any one of them moved in to meet the sovereign from a different party, the balance between the three powers would’ve been broken. That was because a meeting between two sovereigns had to develop into a conflict. That was where Neng Ha Young got stuck.

Then, her grandfather, Neng Mu Gi, spoke.

“What do you think? Do you really think we never met each other?”

If they met each other before, one out of the original three would surely die. But that didn’t happen. That’s why Neng Ha Young couldn’t answer.

“I don’t know, grandpa. Did you meet any of them before?”

Neng Mu Gi didn’t answer, and just smiled. He was admitting something. Neng Ha Young narrowed her eyes. She was getting curious.

“How was it, grandpa?”

“What do you want to know?”

“I want to hear about how you felt.”

“You always want to know the most difficult things.”

“This has to do with why I visited you, grandpa.”

“The reason you visited me?”

“Yeah. I actually managed to get myself an annoying job.”

Neng Ha Young told her grandfather about the Martial World Sequence Records. Neng Mu Gi’s face turned serious when he heard about it.

“The Martial World Sequence Records……. It is a dangerous idea.”

“Really?”

Just what about it was dangerous?

While Neng Ha Young was trying to think of an answer, Neng Mu Gi sipped on his tea. And after thinking about something for a while, he began talking with a tone of hesitation, which was unusual for him.

“Right now, there are only two people who clearly know the rankings of the martial world.”

“Who’s that?”

“Me, and Gongson Chun Gi.”

Neng Ha Young paused a bit. She had felt that she missed something huge from her grandfather’s response.

‘What would that be?’

What did she miss? When she carefully went over her grandfather’s words again, a thought struck her mind. At the same time, Neng Ha Young trembled.

“G, grandpa, could it be?”

The Night Emperor, Neng Mu Gi.

He looked at his granddaughter and smiled.

The girl’s only flaw from the past was her own intelligence. She always managed to learn things better off not knowing. Because of that trait, Neng Mu Gi had no choice but to speak the truth.

“Right. I met all three of the sovereigns in the past.”

It was an unofficial meeting. And that meeting was the reason why Neng Mu Gi decided to go into hiding.

After observing the man’s face, Neng Ha young carefully opened her mouth.

“Could you perhaps tell me about it?”

Neng Mu Gi hesitated for a moment. He then spoke.

“Are you sure that you can take it?”

Neng Ha Young nodded with a serious face. Surely, this ‘secret’ of grandpa’s was a ‘truth’ no one else in the martial world knew about.

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But that was why she wanted to know about it so badly. She knew that she could only survive in the martial world by relying on information.

And that hidden truth actually had a very clear, distinct form, unlike what Neng Ha Young had suspected.