Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 425 (Part 1)



425 (Part 1)

”’〈 Episode 426 〉 It’s been a while.

Fortunately the answer to the request I made to the Poison King was a permission.

It wasn’t anything material; I simply wanted to see the famous lake of their clan so there was no real justification for refusal.

The Poison King looked puzzled as to why I was making such a request but in the end he granted it.

However since the lake itself was treated as a treasure of the Tang Clan…

Given that the lake was made of poison it could be quite dangerous so he added that a servant would be assigned to me.

‘Danger? Nonsense it’s just for surveillance.’

This was something I had anticipated.

Having a watcher would be a bit of a hassle but it was within my expectations.

Creak.

As I approached Dang Deok who had been sitting against the wall stood up.

It was due to the command to not act foolishly and to stay crouched.

“Sit down.”

“…”

Following the order Dang Deok slowly sat back against the wall.

“Nothing strange happened?”

-…Nothing.

“Did you see any demonic beasts?”

-None.

Hearing Dang Deok’s brief responses I let out a slight snort.

The demonic beasts that had been overflowing during the day were nowhere to be seen at night.

‘It seems that earlier was indeed a peculiar situation.’

Why had such a situation occurred?

I still couldn’t grasp it.

If I had to guess…

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

‘It must be because of the red demonic beast.’

That enemy that had been in the water. It was highly likely that it was due to that creature.

“Hmmm….”

Every time I tried to do something it never went smoothly.

It was quite frustrating.

Suppressing my irritation I looked at Dang Deok.

His eyes were still filled with rage.

Even after becoming a demonic practitioner and turning into my slave that temper of his seemed unyielding.

Of course it could be that he hadn’t fully fallen since he was a martial artist of the Hwa-gyeong.

I remembered that when he was the Poison King he couldn’t move an inch against the Heavenly Demon.

As I quietly stared into his eyes I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You seem quite aggrieved.”

“…”

“Well you should have lived a bit more decently.”

Crack.

Upon hearing my words Dang Deok gritted his teeth and sharpened his demeanor but at that moment the control that arose from his body pressed down on him.

“Grrr…”

The pain he felt in his heart seemed considerable as Dang Deok let out a suppressed groan.

Watching him I thought to myself.

‘In the end he’s not choosing death.’

Even after enduring such harsh treatment Dang Deok was still not opting for death.

Was he yearning for revenge that much?

Or was he simply afraid of death?

Whether it was the former or the latter it wasn’t bad for me. If he had rather chosen to die I would have let him go.

Ah to let go means to leave him to die.

While it was true that Dang Deok was a useful force I would need in the future I had no intention of stopping him if he was going that far.

However looking at him now it seemed he wasn’t easily contemplating death either.

He would probably be waiting for the right moment to escape from me.

From this perspective he was quite a determined fellow.

‘This guy is one thing but… I need to set up one more plan before we arrive at the Tang Clan.’

The eyes and ears that Dang Deok had sent to the Tang Clan.

I had been pondering when to deal with them…

As I recalled that fellow a useful idea suddenly crossed my mind.

A good method had just come to me.

******************

Four days had passed since we started crossing the river.

Originally it should have been a distance that could be covered in two days but due to the incident with the demonic beasts and the need for safe transport we had taken various detours causing it to take longer than expected.

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

If it weren’t for this we would have already arrived at the Tang Clan.

Upon reaching the land I boarded the carriage that had been prepared in advance by the Tang Clan.

From here on since there were no carriages prepared by the major clans the Tang Clan and the other factions provided the carriage support.

Perhaps it was because we had properly arrived in Sichuan an area under the influence of the Tang Clan.

The size of the carriage felt significantly larger.

It probably meant we had entered a safe zone. That wasn’t a bad thing.

“About five more days left I suppose.”

The girl Mo Yong-hui who was in the same carriage said while gently waving her fan.

“Roughly that much I think. If we’re lucky it could be three days.”

“…You seem familiar with this?”

“Just a hunch.”

Leaning back in my seat I closed my eyes.

Having traveled around so much in my past life I had a rough idea of the geography. At this distance it should be just a few days left.

If we rushed we might arrive even earlier but I probably wouldn’t do that. Given the Poison King’s personality even if it was urgent he seemed to prefer handling things properly.

Since I was using time that wasn’t originally planned I wasn’t in a hurry so it was fine.

‘…No to be honest I am short on time. But what can I do?’

I had to at least pretend to be relaxed.

As I contemplated taking a little rest with my eyes closed I continued to hear Mo Yong-hui’s voice.

“Young Master.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think will happen next?”

“Hmm….”

At her words I opened my eyes slightly and looked at Mo Yong-hui.

Occasionally she would ask me such questions.

The reason was that asking other characters…

…Wouldn’t help.

I don’t know.

Well I’m not sure!

It was obvious I would give such answers and only the smart Cheol Ji-seon would be able to have a conversation at her level.

However it felt like Mo Yong-hui was keeping a bit of distance from Cheol Ji-seon.

When I asked her why she treated him so poorly she replied with a somewhat cold expression.

– I don’t really like pathetic people.

“…”

Her firm words made me feel hurt as well.

When I heard this Cheol Ji-seon wasn’t nearby but for some reason I felt sorry and later brought him some sweets.

When I suddenly offered him food Cheol Ji-seon made a disgusted face and said.

– Why…? Are you going to throw me somewhere again!?

He said that and then ran away.

After I went out of my way to bring him something that brat…

‘I should tell him to be more humble to Pae Woo-cheol.’

It seemed he was feeling a bit better since I hadn’t bothered him lately.

This needed to be addressed.

Huh? Aren’t we friends?

Friends usually fight and get along right?

‘It’s just that I’m the one doing the hitting unilaterally.’

Putting aside the trivial matters.

Anyway since Mo Yong-hui had no one else around to have such conversations with she occasionally brought up these topics with me.

Of course…

‘…It’s not like these conversations are easy for me either.’

Mo Yong-hui is a smart woman.

While she may not be as brilliant as Cheon Yu-rang the brain of the Demonic Cult she was certainly talented in this area.

Conversations with her were somewhat challenging for me.

‘If I hadn’t had the experiences of my past life I wouldn’t have had anything to share.’

I didn’t think of myself as ignorant but my mind was lacking when it came to engaging in progressive conversations with such intelligent individuals.

Still the reason I didn’t refuse her when she wanted to talk was.

‘How could I stop her when she enjoys it so much?’

Every time Mo Yong-hui brought up such topics she seemed unusually excited which was the problem.

“What do you think will happen next?”

“Yes.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The red demonic beast has appeared. So what do you think will happen next?”

Mo Yong-hui spoke to me with curious eyes.

The emergence of a red-grade demonic beast.

Moreover it was the moment when the Poison King sent a letter regarding this to the Murim Alliance.

“Hmm….”

What do I think will happen then?

“There will be chaos.”

It was the natural order of things.

Unlike blue demonic beasts red demonic beasts have a more complicated hunting method.

Moreover their power must be at a peak level to match in speed or strength.

Of course if they are skilled individuals a group of elite martial artists could hunt them down but…

That was something only those who had been rigorously trained to hunt demonic beasts could do.

Typically it was standard for several peak martial artists to take them down.

‘That’s precisely the problem.’

From the peak level they are commonly referred to as masters.

While there may be a considerable number of them they are not common.

In reality unless you are in a place like Henan if a peak martial artist appears in a county people would gather from afar to watch.

Would it be possible to hunt if several of them gathered?

It would likely bring about significant changes to the established hunting methods.

This would be akin to a restructuring of the sword faction.

As the necessity for martial artists especially masters rises the value they held would change.

The framework of the Central Plains which had been maintained for hundreds of years would soon undergo a transformation.”’