Chapter 143
"Damn it, damn it, damn it... I'll never, ever forgive them."
A man was continuously muttering in a voice filled with hatred.
He was the member of the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit who had picked a fight with the White Wolf Unit during the day and ended up with a severely injured shoulder after swinging his dagger at them.
When everyone was too afraid of the Black Emperor, the leader of the Demonic Alliance, to touch the White Wolf Unit, he led the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit to confront them, thinking his unit would show them something this time.
But now he was on the verge of being expelled from the Black Gate.
And it was by direct order of the Ghost-Ghost-Eyed Demonic Monarch, after personally examining him.
Not only is your shoulder bone shattered, but your tendons, nerves, and muscles are all damaged beyond recovery. Moreover, I see you're right-handed. You've lost the use of your dominant arm, so you're no longer of any use... You are expelled from the Black Gate as of today.
To make matters worse, when he tried to argue, the irritated Ghost-Ghost-Eyed Demonic Monarch knocked him out with a punch and had him dragged away.
Once things turned out this way, his comrades, as if they had never known him, dumped his unconscious body at the Medical Bureau and disappeared.
Those bastards.
His teeth ground together at their attitude.
Well, what loyalty or expectations could he have in a place like this?
This was a place where you'd be torn apart or abandoned the moment you showed any sign of falling behind.
He himself has done the same until now.
But experiencing it firsthand made him feel miserable, wretched, angry, and resentful.
They had all committed the act together, but he alone, being the most severely injured, was left to take all the blame.
He had recently been recognized for his skills and was about to be promoted to the upper ranks of the Black Gate.
He thought only a brilliant future would lie ahead of him from now on.
But all of that vanished like a mirage.
He felt thoroughly abandoned.
It was truly maddening how unfair it all felt.
But beyond grinding his teeth like this, there was nothing else he could do.
What could he possibly do now with this body?
The Ghost-Ghost-Eyed Demonic Monarch had ordered his expulsion from the Black Gate not because of what he and the Thirteenth Unit had done to the White Wolf Unit, but because of his current state that made him unable to fight anymore.
He wanted to say he would recover somehow, but even he could feel it.
It was impossible.
The doctor at the Medical Bureau had said the same thing as the Ghost-Ghost-Eyed Demonic Monarch.
In reality, even lifting his arm just a little caused tremendous pain.
Naturally, a stream of harsh curses flowed endlessly from his mouth.
Damn it! Damn it all! I'll, I'll kill them all! Aaargh!
It was then.
Ah, seriously, shut up already!
Another member of the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit sharing the room with him spat out irritated curses at him.
You're about to leave anyway, so why are you making such a racket?
What?
Just keep your mouth shut and disappear quietly. If you don't want to die, that is.
Are you talking to me like that now?
The man with the injured shoulder stared blankly for a moment at the guy who used to be his lackey in the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit, now growling at him as if he had eaten something wrong.
Seeing this reaction, the other man got up from his seat with a sneer and approached him.
Then, with gleaming eyes, he said:
What, you got a problem? Did you think I'd still grovel to you now that you've become a cripple? Huh?
You son of a bitch, you've really gone cra-
Slap!
The injured man's head snapped to the side.
His cheek swelled up red.
Watch your mouth. If you call me 'son of a bitch' one more time, I'll beat you to death with my own hands today. Consider this a warning.
Ha, look at those eyes. Still haven't grasped the situation? Or what? Should I finish breaking your other shoulder too? Want me to make it so you can't even eat by yourself for the rest of your life? Don't you get it?
In fact, the injured man had been the strongest among the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit.
At least, that was true before he injured his shoulder.
But with the injury he sustained today, he was no longer a match for his fellow Black Gate Thirteenth Unit members.
He couldn't even properly grip a sword, let alone anything else.
With the roles completely reversed between him and the one he used to bully, he had no choice but to accept reality.
He eventually averted his gaze and quietly nodded.
That's right, that's how it should be. Kuk kuk.
The other man laughed mockingly at his now submissive attitude and went back to lie down in his own spot.
The injured man soon got up and left the room.
Cripple.
He heard the mocking voice behind his back once more.
Grind.
His teeth clenched at the unbearable insult and humiliation.
'Damn it!'
The place he soon found himself was the now dark and empty training ground.
It was a place used exclusively by the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit.
Aaaaarghhhh!
There, with bloodshot eyes, he hurled curses into the empty air.
His body trembled with the overwhelming sense of injustice.
How did it come to this? I just...
Now that things had turned out this way, there wasn't just one thing he resented.
The Ghost-Ghost-Eyed Demonic Monarch who ordered his expulsion, and his Black Gate Thirteenth Unit comrades who turned their backs on him as if they had been waiting for him to end up like this, were all figures from his past.
And even the Alliance Leader who invited those damned Orthodox faction people into the Demonic Alliance!
Above all,
Grind.
Those bastards are the ones who reduced him to this state.
'The White Wolf Unit...'
Among them, he could never forgive those twin bastards who shattered his shoulder.
Even though he and the Black Gate Thirteenth Unit were the root cause of everything that happened, he was instead blaming and resenting the White Wolf Unit for it all.
Well, if he had been capable of such discernment, this situation wouldn't have occurred in the first place.
But even so, there was nothing he could do in his current state now.
All he could do spew curses in a place where no one else was around, just like now.
I really want to kill them all! Everyone. I want to tear them all to pieces and kill them! Aaaaargh!
And so he was pouring out all sorts of curses like a madman in the empty training ground.
But then,
Hmm. You've built up quite a lot of poison, haven't you?
Huk!
Suddenly, someone appeared behind him.
He hadn't even felt them approach.
This is perfect.
Y-You are...
When he turned his head, there was a face he knew very well.
No, it was a face that everyone belonging to the Demonic Alliance would know.
The man spoke to him as the latter stood there with a blank expression for a moment.
It was with a smile so chilling it could be called eerie.
Do you desire power?
The man's pupils immediately dilated.
Yeo Un-hwi was secretly strolling through the city after sneaking out of the Demonic Alliance building.
Hunan. Yueyang.
Though it was late at night, the beautiful cityscape still filled his eyes.
It was such a beautiful city that he thought he'd like to bring his wife and daughter here someday to see this scenery.
As Yeo Un-hwi-hwi was walking through the streets as if on a stroll, soon he stood at one side of a quiet street.
Then, as if that person had been waiting, someone appeared and naturally struck up a conversation with him.
It was a middle-aged man with a round face.
It's an honor to meet the person I've only heard about in rumors.
Yeo Un-hwi smiled slightly and said:
You know me?
Of course. How could I not know our Hao Sect's most valued client?
The man smiled good-naturedly.
But the sharp glint visible between his small eyes suggested that his round appearance wasn't all there was to him.
He continued speaking:
Moreover, didn't you make our Hao Sect deploy Heaven's Net and Earth's Snare not too long ago, which doesn't suit us at all?
You seem to know quite a lot.
Well, I was urgently mobilized for that too. As an aside, there were no small number of complaints at the time. Of course, in an instant, everyone's mouths stretched to their ears when they learned that compensation would be given to all participants.
Yeo Un-hwi chuckled.
That was understandable.
A not insignificant amount must have gone to each individual.
But he didn't mind the money.
Jin So-baek and the Hao Sect were doing their job even better than Yeo Un-hwi had expected.
Haha, look at me going on with the introduction. Here it is.
Soon, he handed Yeo Un-hwi a letter.
Thank you.
It's nothing. Please use our services anytime.
I will.
With those words, Yeo Un-hwi disappeared in an instant.
Like the wind.
My goodness...
The man's mouth fell open without his realizing.
It was such an astonishing lightfoot skill.
It was on a completely different level from any other lightfoot technique he had seen in his life.
At this point, he was simply curious about who this person really was.
So much so that he wanted to ignore the Hao Sect's first rule that no one except the Sect Master should be interested in a client's information.
Of course, that was out of the question.
Yeo Un-hwi was now standing in a place where he could overlook the entire cityscape at a glance.
He sat down on a rock of suitable height and began to read the letter he had received from the man.
It was a letter sent by Jin So-baek.
The letter contained various pieces of information that Yeo Un-hwi had asked him to look into.
As always, it detailed the suspicious movements of the Murim Alliance, the recent somewhat unsettled atmosphere in the Demonic Cult, and as much information as could be gathered on the Ten Great Masters and the Twelve Venerables of the World.
Additionally, Jin So-baek reported that he was continuously observing whether anything was happening to the Hebei Peng Family.
And he briefly conveyed the image of the Hebei Peng Family as he had observed.
Just reading those short lines was enough to paint a picture of them in his mind.
Yul-i was running around in the beautiful garden, his wife and mother-in-law watching with pleased smiles.
His father-in-law and Elder Gu are still bickering over Yul-i. Peng Seo-jin is in the middle, trying to mediate with a troubled expression.
As he imagined the Hebei Peng Family warriors and household members smiling warmly at him, a smile naturally spread across Yeo Un-hwi's face.
He wanted to return quickly.
To Hebei.
No, he had felt that way from the moment he first set out on this journey.
For Yeo Un-hwi-hwi, Yul-i and his wife Peng Seo-yeon were the kind of existence he missed even when he was looking at them.
And now, to Yeo Un-hwi, everything about the Hebei Peng Family that loved and embraced Yul-i and Peng Seo-yeon was precious and appreciated.
He had come to understand the meaning of 'precious' so deeply.
In truth, Yeo Un-hwi hadn't particularly wanted to come to the Demonic Alliance either.
However, Yeo Un-hwi had felt many things through his encounter with the Namgung Family over the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon incident.
And he felt a strange sense of kinship with Black Emperor Dokgo Yeong, who had requested to meet the White Wolf Unit even at the cost of putting himself at its disposal, despite having nothing to gain from it.
Though their ways of commemorating and remembering their departed family members were different, one thing was the same:
They loved and cherished their families more than anyone.
It was that sense of kinship that had brought him on this long journey.
Besides, it would have been difficult to refuse when one of the Twelve Venerables of the World, the Black Emperor, had pleaded so earnestly.
He was someone Yeo Un-hwi would have had to meet eventually anyway.
But he couldn't help wanting to return quickly.
Yeo Un-hwi thought that after this matter was settled, he should spend some time staying close to his family for a while.
Yes. It wouldn't be long now.
Yeo Un-hwi smiled softly as he stood up.
And soon he returned to the Demonic Alliance.
But at this moment, he couldn't have imagined.
What awaited him and the White Wolf Unit in the near future?