Chapter 46 :

Chapter 46. The Fog Cleared (3)

Perhaps, the elder lord and the family head might even point their swords at each other.

It was not a formation one could resist with just profound internal energy.

Every time he saw the elder lord and the family head, his insides twisted with resentment.

‘If my father had been the family head, the position of young lord would have been mine!’

There were those who extended a hand to him, and when he grasped it, he resolved himself.

To annihilate such a petty family, and seize the world in his grasp.

The Vision-Blurring Bewilderment Formation before him was the beginning of it.

He spread both hands, infused his internal energy, and activated the formation.

Wooooooong—!

A harsh sound rang out as a mad wind rose all around.

And in that instant,

Rumble! Kwoa-kwa-kwang!

Thunder and lightning roared down from the skies above the Zhuge Family.

And then, from all directions, a fog that could only be described as dark began to surge in.

He grinned.

***

Zhuge Yul could not understand what in the world was happening.

It was in the midst of seizing those who had sided with Zhuge Dong-Woo.

But then,

Thunder and lightning resounded, and a dark fog began to wrap around the family estate.

And the family’s martial men began to raise their weapons against each other and fight.

“Damn it!”

At once, he realized this was no natural occurrence.

Before becoming the Zhuge Family Head, his position had been the study of formations.

Of course, he excelled in other skills as well, but the field in which he showed the most outstanding talent was formations.

That was why he could immediately recognize that all of this was the effect of a formation.

‘Uncle prepared even something like this?’

But as far as he knew, Zhuge Dong-Woo was hopeless with formations.

They merely kept quiet for the sake of his honor.

The problem was, if this continued, it would become dangerous.

If it went on, deaths would begin to occur.

What was worse, even he himself was gradually being affected by the formation.

The only reason he could endure at that moment, was thanks to the sword passed down through the generations of the family head.

The Evil-Cleaving Sword, one of the divine weapons, allowed its wielder to maintain clarity of mind.

But from the trembling of the sword, he could feel that even the blade itself was struggling.

‘I must hurry and break this formation! If I tarry, even I might run rampant and slaughter the members of the family!’

He knocked out those charging at him, and pressed on toward the formation’s source.

Subduing without wounding, was far harder than cutting an opponent down.

At last, he reached the formation’s core.

He was, after all, the Zhuge Family Head.

The position of family head was not something one could win in a game of chance.

“This place is…….”

He could not help but be shocked.

It was none other than the quarters of his nephew, Zhuge Gyeong.

Just then, his father, the elder lord, arrived, dragging the bound Zhuge Dong-Woo along.

“Father!”

Calling out thus, he immediately stepped back.

For his father, under the formation’s influence, might very well attack him.

But then the elder lord spoke to him.

“Ah, I am fine.”

“What? Are you truly all right?”

“Fortunately, I know a method to maintain clarity of mind.”

“That is a relief. But this formation, could it be…… the Vision-Blurring Bewilderment Formation I know of?”

“It is.”

In truth, the Vision-Blurring Bewilderment Formation had been discarded as soon as it was created.

It was a formation that betrayed the bonds of Heaven, forcing one to slaughter one’s own fellow disciples or even family.

How it yet remained, and why it had been set up within the Zhuge Family, was a mystery.

“In any case, we must quickly break this formation!”

But the situation was not easy.

For the family’s warriors were charging at them with weapons raised.

“Father! I will hold them off. Please hurry and break the formation.”

A melee soon broke out.

Family Head Zhuge Yul desperately blocked the warriors, while the elder lord too subdued those who barred his way, pressing on toward the source of the formation.

But, as the saying goes, numbers overwhelm strength, and they gradually grew exhausted.

It was then.

“Everyone, come to your senses!”

A great shout resounded from somewhere.

A lion’s roar infused with profound internal energy.

At that sound, the warriors of the family faltered, then looked around with bewildered expressions.

“Huh? Wh-why am I here?”

The members of the family were beginning to regain their senses.

That lion’s roar rang out again and again, and soon the owner of that voice appeared together with Zhuge Yua.

It was Eun Seoho.

***

I recalled what I had been overlooking.

It was about formations.

It was said that half of the Zhuge Family perished due to a formation secretly being tested.

And I knew a little more about that incident.

At the time of the Zhuge Family’s blood calamity, a child who survived gave testimony.

They had mistaken one another for enemies, and swung their weapons.

But that testimony faded from people’s memory.

However, I had a good memory, and so I had not forgotten those words, and I expected that this very formation would be used in this incident.

The problem, was how to break the formation.

Normally, the fastest way to break a formation was to destroy the core, the nucleus that sustained it.

Which meant, in the end, that one had to break through all the way to the center……

Could I do that, with my martial skill?

Though I was close to the peak, I was still only at the level of a first-class martial artist.

But there was no time to waste.

If I went, I might find some way.

As I hastily mounted my horse, my master approached and said a word.

“That formation, it will not harm you, young lord.”

“What?”

“You only need to shout, using the technique of the lion’s roar.”

“……?”

“You will understand once you try.”

Thus I spurred my horse at full speed, and upon arriving at the Zhuge Family estate, I could immediately tell something had gone terribly wrong.

The Zhuge Family was shrouded in dark fog, and was utter chaos.

Fighting, shouting……

The sounds of weapons clashing rang from all directions.

“Th-this is!”

The elder lord’s servants and personal guards were bewildered by the unexpected scene.

But even breaking through looked difficult.

In that moment, I remembered my master’s counsel.

I clenched my stomach tight, and shouted with the technique of the lion’s roar.

“Come to your senses!”

Thankfully, I had recently learned the lion’s roar.

I could now see why my master had given me that counsel.

The martial men who heard my lion’s roar began to regain clarity.

One of the abilities of the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Arts was the power to clear the mind, and it was not limited to the self.

That function of the internal energy spread outward as well.

But my master had indeed said, ‘that formation.’

That meant, did Master already know about this formation?

No, did it mean he knew in advance that this formation would be used?

My head suddenly grew complicated, but soon I cleared away my thoughts.

In any case, I no longer needed to break through that chaos.

Since once would not be enough, I shouted several times, and as a result, my internal energy drained out all at once, leaving me somewhat exhausted.

I felt like I was going to go mad from the strain.

My hands and feet trembled.

It wasn’t the first time I had felt this emptiness of drained internal energy, but I could never get used to it.

On top of that, the nauseating sensation pressing in from all sides twisted my insides even further.

I looked around.

Fortunately, there were not many casualties.

At that moment, Lady Zhuge Yua came running toward me.

“Eun Gongja!”

“Ah, you are safe.”

“What in the world is this…….”

“More than that, shouldn’t we hurry to the elder lord and the family head?”

“They should be over there.”

My companions and I followed her, and soon arrived at Zhuge Gyeong’s quarters.

Fortunately, the elder lord and the family head also appeared unharmed.

“Are you all right?”

At my words, they looked at me with surprised expressions and asked.

“How did you come here?”

“That, I will explain later.”

It was then.

Creeeeak.

The door opened, and Zhuge Gyeong came out.

The true mastermind who had orchestrated the Zhuge Family’s destruction had appeared.

He looked at us standing before him and laughed.

“Well, you realized it quicker than I expected.”

But from his trembling hands, his eyes, and the sweat dripping down, I could tell.

He seemed extremely flustered.

Well, it was only natural.

The people were no longer under the formation’s influence.

He was only pretending to laugh with composure, to hide his discomposure.

“What is the meaning of this?”

At the elder lord’s question, he answered.

“I was ordered from above, to erase this place.”

“On whose orders did you commit this deed?”

“Did I not warn you in my letters? That if you continued to refuse the proposal, there would be consequences.”

At that answer, the faces of the elder lord and the family head darkened.

Letters?

I recalled the letter I had seen at the elder lord’s quarters.

Could it be the one bearing the seal of the Murim Alliance?

The elder lord shouted.

“How can you, wearing the mask of a man, commit such acts!”

“Already, many within the Alliance have joined in.”

Though I did not know all the details, I could discern the culprit’s identity.

This was the work of the Murim Alliance.

For aside from the Alliance, there was no organization one would call a ‘meng.’

“Then you, in exchange for erasing this family, what were you to receive? This family?”

“No. Do you think I would do such a thing for the sake of a petty family like this?”

“Then what is it?”

“What do you think? Care to guess?”

Watching the conversation, I thought that Zhuge Gyeong was aiming at something.

It was as if……

He was stalling for time?

Was he waiting for someone to come rescue him?

But then, why was the elder lord dragging things out?

Could it be, he was waiting in order to cut down whoever came to help this man escape?

The conversation between the elder lord and Zhuge Gyeong continued.

“Then it was you who supplied Dongwoo with poison?”

“Yes. It was difficult to procure, and you wasted it…… tsk tsk.”

At those words, the bound Zhuge Dong-Woo cried out.

“Then it was you, who approached me and told me to kill my elder brother and drive my nephew mad?”

“Yes.”

“Y-you! How, how!”

“You and I are no different, both of us dreaming of usurping the family headship.”

“Had I known you were the Murim Alliance’s filthy dog, I would never have grasped your hand!”

Ah, so he too despised the Murim Alliance.

That must be why, though he seized the family, the Zhuge Family yet perished.

“So then, after all that, what were you to receive? You still have not answered.”

“I told you, guess.”

“……”

“You look as though you don’t know?”

Feigning composure, he stalled for time.

“What I was to receive……!”

Suddenly, he coughed up blood.

“Kurgh…… what is this…….”

“Did you think someone was coming to rescue you?”

From his eyes, I could tell the elder lord had struck true.

The elder lord clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, the Murim Alliance as it is now has already abandoned righteousness! Such men would never go out of their way to save you.”

With a twisted face, he shouted.

“N-no! That cannot be!”

“There are still many sects and families the Alliance has yet to seize. They cannot allow it to be known they moved their hand. Thus, to leave no evidence, cutting off their tail was inevitable…….”

Indeed.

The Alliance had discarded Zhuge Gyeong like a worn-out pawn.

And the elder lord knew no one would come to save him.

“How could you, bearing the name of Zhuge, fail to see their true nature? You are a disgrace to this family!”

At the elder lord’s words, Zhuge Gyeong sneered.

“Do you say that, even as you look upon your own granddaughter? The true disgrace of the family is Yua.”

“Yua, a disgrace? Hahaha! Do you hear this, Yua?”

The elder lord had already known that Lady Zhuge Yua had been acting.

That was why he had looked upon her with pity.

“Oh my? Is that so?”

Zhuge Yua stepped forward.

“For him to say such words, I must have acted quite well.”

At the sight of her so utterly different from usual, Zhuge Gyeong was aghast.

“A-an act?!”

Regardless of his shock, the elder lord continued.

“So, just as you stalled for time hoping for rescue, I too deliberately stalled. To make you realize that hope was in truth despair, that was the great punishment I deemed fitting for you.”

What a frightening man he was.

Well, he had led an entire family. It would be strange if he had no such cruel insight.

“Guh…….”

Zhuge Gyeong clutched his throat in agony, and as he writhed, the elder lord spoke with a bitter smile.

“Another reason that formation was discarded, was because it feeds upon the innate true qi of the caster to activate. And you, ignorant, set it off?”

In that moment, the elder lord raised his sword and hurled it toward him.

Shoooosh—!

Like a shooting star, the sword flew past Zhuge Gyeong and smashed into the wall behind him.

The blade struck dead center into the formation, painted in dark crimson lines.

Crackle! Crackle!

Kwa-kwaang—!

Sparks burst, and the formation was broken.

At last, my chest felt light, and the nausea that had tormented me vanished.

The dark fog hanging over the Zhuge Family cleared away.