"Yes, those children were imdiately put into assassination missions and had to survive on their own survival instincts. They didn't learn things like assassin arts, nor did they learn martial arts. However, they mastered the combat power for survival on their own, so they are frighteningly excellent in that area. They have a strong tenacity, and that is a part that even Senior Brother Pae has acknowledged."
Ya Socheong nodded as he listened to the story.
It was certainly an interesting part.
"But how did you et those children? What happened to the organization they belonged to?"
"The children ca to us. It seed that they recognized us first. They gave us the money they had collected and made a request. To dismantle their organization and kill the leaders."
It was sothing that Ya Socheong could not have imagined.
The oldest of those children did not seem to be seventeen.
"They recognized you well."
"It seems that such things can be felt."
"Are they children of the sect?"
"They are children of the unorthodox faction."
Ya Socheong nodded.
"Did Maseong go himself?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Pae chose a few people and went with them."
It was obvious that they had succeeded without even having to confirm it.
Ya Socheong looked at Dan Yujong with a pleased expression.
"Are those children all that's left there?"
"Yes, Senior Brother. The rest are all dead. Those people were people who considered assassination a ga. They didn't just do the requested assassinations, but they were people who killed people for fun. It seed that they had dragged the children into the assassination to have fun while watching it. The guys who went on the assassination mission said that it seed that they had never killed people with as little guilt as at that ti."
Ya Socheong thought that he could understand those words.
"Are they adapting well in the Nether Shadow Faction?"
"Yes, they are getting along very well. At first, they were full of poisonous aura, but they are changing day by day. It seems that they have realized that there is no need to be tense, and they are blending in well among us."
"But how did they collect the request fee?"
When Ya Socheong asked as if he were curious, Dan Yujong laughed.
"It wasn't much. It was twenty silver taels in total."
At those words, Ya Socheong burst out laughing.
It was because he thought it was funny that his junior brothers had accepted an assassination request for twenty silver taels.
What was even funnier were the children who had made an assassination request for twenty taels.
But he was laughing now, but he thought about how desperate they must have been at that ti.
Ya Socheong liked those children.
The children who did not just accept their fate but actively changed it.
The children who did not just watch the people who oppressed and bound them but got rid of them.
"Those children have also lived, looking forward to eting you, Senior Brother. It seed that they ca to respect you at a glance."
Listening to Dan Yujong's words, Ya Socheong laughed and nodded.
"My shoulders are getting heavier and heavier. I feel like I have more and more people to take responsibility for."
"Don't think like that, Senior Brother. We don't want you to take responsibility for us. We just think it would be good if we could share the burden that you are carrying. We want to make the path you are going on even a little more comfortable."
"Yes, you are just by existing. When I think that I have my junior brothers, I am always at ease."
Listening to Ya Socheong's words, Dan Yujong's expression brightened.
"How are the junior lords?"
"At first, I didn't know it would be like this, but they seem to be good people. I can't say that the people themselves are good, but I should say that my relationship with them is not bad. In any case, since we have no choice but to go the sa path now, we must get along well."
"It seems that such people keep appearing by your side, Senior Brother."
Ya Socheong thought that that was definitely right.
Ya Socheong, on a whim, told him about the things that the Danli family and the Baek family had taught and helped him with.
The reason he told Dan Yujong such things while he had ti was because he thought that Dan Yujong would tell the junior brothers of the Nether Shadow Faction that story from ti to ti in the future.
If he had ti, he wanted to tell them himself, but it was unknown when such a ti would co again.
"Senior Brother, I have waited a very long ti. When you see us again, I have tried to beco a person you can trust. We are all like that."
Ya Socheong knew how much they must have tried to keep those words.
That was also the reason why he could proudly and confidently talk about his junior brothers to the fifth prince.
"How is your martial arts achievent, Yujong?"
"I am looking forward to having a chance to show you soday, Senior Brother."
"You seem to be full of confidence."
Ya Socheong said with an expectant face.
Dan Yujong was cautious in everything and was not a person who spoke carelessly, and seeing him say that, it seed that he had certainly made an achievent in the anti.
So he was even more expectant of Dan Yujong's words.
"It would be good if things go well at Cheonbong Mountain, but we must also prepare for the case that they don't. You must never share this story with others, and even if soone who is not a mber of the Nether Shadow Faction tries to sound you out, you must not mix words with them at all. So only you and the junior brothers should know."
At Ya Socheong's words, Dan Yujong noticed that a serious story was about to co out and ca closer.
"No one knows how much more intense the fight for the throne will beco in the future. The emperor seems to be pushing the third prince more on the outside, but I think that the one who will eventually ascend to the throne is the fifth prince. The emperor seems to have put the third prince at the forefront, worrying that people's attention will be focused on the fifth prince and the checks from others will intensify."
Dan Yujong, despite his young age, listened to Ya Socheong's words carefully.
"That ans that in the eyes of most people, the third prince will seem more influential. Do you know what I'm trying to say, Yujong?"
"It seems you are trying to say that the martial artists of Cheonbong Mountain will not obediently follow the diation of His Highness the Fifth Prince."
"Yes, that's right. We must prepare for that."
"What should we do then?"
"If it were just our problem, we could give up the painting of the Demonic God. But if His Highness the Fifth Prince requests it and they refuse, what will happen to His Highness's face? Shouldn't we protect the face of His Highness the Fifth Prince, who has made a troubleso trip for us?"
At that, Dan Yujong smiled brightly.
"I understand, Senior Brother. I will tell them in advance that if we go up to Cheonbong Mountain, we may have to split the heads of the old n there."
Ya Socheong shook his head.
"Why do you have to talk like a demonic head?"
At those words, Dan Yujong burst out laughing.
"That sounds like a statent that despises demonic heads."
The two, after talking about the possibility of having to face the martial artists of Cheonbong Mountain, were exchanging jokes.
Ya Socheong found it strange that he was doing that.
It was strange that he was not very nervous even though he knew how strong the martial artists of Cheonbong Mountain were.
* * *
A long procession continued.
When they had co, Ya Socheong had been a little envious of the guards who followed the junior lords.
He had tried not to care, and he had not been aware of it himself, but it seed that it had been on his mind.
But now, a force that was second to none was following him.
Including the new mbers, there were ninety-six.
Excluding Pae Maseong, there were now ninety-eight mbers in the Nether Shadow Faction.
If there were two more, it would be a hundred, so he even thought about asking Baek Yuhwa and Pae Maling to join the Nether Shadow Faction and make it a hundred.
He was even thinking such things because the road was so peaceful.
The junior lords and the fifth prince had beco very close in the anti and were talking to each other without any formality.
The fifth prince's maternal granduncle and maternal uncle, and their bloodlines also set out on the road together.
They, who were deeply related to the Heavenly Demon Sect, had rushed to the manor after hearing that the junior lords of the sect had co.
Although it had taken ti to co from a distance, they had arrived very quickly.
The junior lords, who had been depressed at being abandoned by the Sect Leader, had their shoulders raised at their treatnt.
It was worth saying that their trip to the martial world was sowhat successful.
"That is Cheonbong Mountain, Your Highness."
When Ya Socheong, who had approached the fifth prince's side, pointed with his hand and said that, the fifth prince raised his head.
"If such people have settled there, it must be a very good place."
"I heard that it is a place full of ki."
At those words, the fifth prince looked at Ya Socheong as if he were strange.
"Faction Leader Ya has heard a lot of stories."
Then he looked at Pae Maseong and asked if he knew that story, and Pae Maseong laughed and shook his head.
"Socheong has always been like this, Your Highness. Socheong knew many things. It was like that wherever he was. Even when we entered Nether Shadow Valley together, he knew more about the instructors and the Valley Lord than others."
"Isn't it strange? To know such things, you have to move around more diligently than others and eavesdrop, and you also have to be close to people, but Faction Leader Ya is not like that."
"But it seems that it might be because people naturally gather around Socheong and chatter. Even I seem to be chattering naturally when I'm next to Socheong."
Ya Socheong found those words funny.
It wasn't just him; in fact, hadn't only Pae Maseong not been like that?
Cheonbong Mountain seed close enough to reach soon, but it took more than a shichen to actually arrive.
While going up the mountain path, the fifth prince quickly showed signs of getting tired.
"Your Highness, are you tired?"
When Ya Socheong asked, he shook his head and laughed.
"It's just because I've been moving for a long ti after a long ti, and I'm not particularly tired. Rather, I feel much more refreshed than at other tis. I feel like I know how much this body has suffered from the poison. Before, I would get really tired even if I moved just a little."
Ya Socheong had also asked, expecting that answer.
After moving for a long ti, they were able to et the people who had co from Cheonbong Mountain.
Ya Socheong had already felt their presence.
Several people were hiding in various places and watching their approach.
They must have been curious about who they were and why they had appeared here.
The fifth prince looked like a mber of the imperial family even on the outside, and the people who were attending to him were also not ordinary.
If it weren't for that, it would not have been strange even if they had roughly blocked the path.
Moreover, how strange it must have been, as they must have felt the demonic ki that was not completely hidden from the people who were coming with them.
Then, as the party advanced towards their base without hesitation, they eventually revealed themselves as if they had no choice.
(End of Chapter)
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