Chapter 36: The Difference in Class (2)
Yeon Hojeong surveyed the first floor of Juru. As expected, the place stood empty. The unusual desolation suggested everyone had been forcibly expelled.
'Hmm.'
Movement rustled from the kitchen direction. Judging by the absence of internal energy, it must be cooks and kitchen hands.
Dang Yangseon's lips twitched.
"What? Surprised?"
Surprised indeed. The killing intent Dang Yangseon had emanated at the banquet was genuine. Any competent martial artist would normally feel terror when exposed to such intensity.
Yet here this bastard waited for him at Juru. At the very least, his mental fortitude deserved recognition - something even Chang Eungjo members could learn from.
"Seems losing one arm wasn't enough for you."
"W-what did you say?"
Dang Yangseon's face flushed crimson instantly.
Yeon Hojeong ignored him cleanly and strode toward the kitchen.
"You there."
"Gah! Y-yes sir!"
Cooks and helpers trembled violently in the kitchen corner. Yeon Hojeong produced ten nyang silver coins from his robe.
"Prepare meals for thirty laborers. Whatever's quickest."
"...Eh?"
"Keep the remainder."
A shrill shout pierced the air.
"You fucking bastard!"
Yeon Hojeong turned.
CRASH!
Dang Yangseon kicked over a table, rising with his entire body rippling sinister poison energy.
"You gutter trash dare ignore ME?"
"Where did you drive everyone off to?"
Dang Yangseon spat.
"What's it to you, peasant scum?"
As observed at the banquet, Dang Yangseon's personality was fundamentally warped. He viewed everyone as inherently beneath him - extreme even for the heir of a top-tier noble house. One might suspect deliberate cultivation of this cruelty by his parents.
'Well.'
A clan specializing in poisons and assassination techniques inevitably warped its members' psyches. Living like royalty in such environment made his attitude almost understandable.
"So? Came for revenge?"
"Revenge?" Dang Yangseon sneered. "This isn't revenge - it's execution."
Execution?
HUMMM.
Dang Yangseon's eyes deepened to violet as he pushed Sanyang Gong to its extreme.
"Whatever trick you used last time won't work now. I'll make you scream for three days before dying."
Yeon Hojeong chuckled softly. This fool spoke of killing the heir to an equally prestigious house purely from petty irritation, not capability.
"You DARE laugh?!"
"Because you're pathetic."
Yeon Hojeong glanced at the kitchen staff still trembling.
"Order not taken?"
How could they possibly cook with the infamous Dang heir present?
With a sigh, Yeon Hojeong muttered,
"Need to clean up first."
Dang Yangseon, trembling with rage, suddenly laughed coldly.
"Brainless fool."
As Yeon Hojeong shifted stance, Dang Yangseon's body erupted with thicker poison miasma.
"You're already poisoned, idiot."
"Poisoned?"
"Changum Poison. Lowlifes like you can't even sense..."
THUD!
Dang Yangseon's jaw dropped. Yeon Hojeong had closed the distance instantly, fist buried wrist-deep in his abdomen.
KWEEEEK!
Dang Yangseon collapsed, vomiting blood. This explosive strike had damaged internal organs - had Yeon Hojeong not pulled back, intestines would've shredded completely.
"GACK! KAAAAH!"
The heir writhed on the floor, unmitigated agony defying inner energy suppression. Pure torture, not lethal intent.
Through excruciating pain, confusion gripped Dang Yangseon.
'Why?!'
Changum Poison should have combined with Sanyang's toxic energy to induce uncontrollable paralysis. Yet his opponent remained unaffected!
CRACK!
Dang Yangseon's eyes bulged as his splinted right arm snapped again under Yeon Hojeong's stomp.
Chaos erupted from the third floor.
"St-stop!"
BANG!
Han Homyeong of the Poison Dragon Iron Whip and twenty Red Spider Squad members descended - guards who'd reluctantly hidden upstairs per Dang Yangseon's orders.
"Save the Young Master...!"
THUD.
Yeon Hojeong's foot crushed Dang Yangseon's throat, turning it purple. One more ounce of pressure meant instant death.
"Come here."
Han Homyeong approached trembling. Yeon Hojeong's pupils glowed blue as Dang Yangseon's eyes rolled back, choking.
"STOP! We yield!"
Released, Dang Yangseon gasped raggedly. Han Homyeong tensed - at this distance, a sneak attack might free his master...
"Stop fantasizing. Hand over that thick iron whip at your waist."
When Han hesitated:
CRUNCH!
Dang Yangseon's right leg snapped.
"WE SURRENDER!"
Han threw his segmented iron whip. Yeon Hojeong immediately lashed out.
WHOOSH!
Han crashed into his own squad before they could draw hidden weapons.
SHIIING!
The whip became a living steel serpent, painting walls crimson as it shattered twenty guards in confined space. Han gaped at the inhuman display - this wasn't whip technique, but something far more brutal.
"Should've used chains," Yeon Hojeong muttered, casually discarding the weapon.
"You MONSTER!"
Han attacked from behind.
YANK!
Yeon Hojeong swung Dang Yangseon like a ragdoll. Han's palm struck his master's spine.
SNAP!
"GYAAAAH!"
Dang Yangseon collapsed with fractured vertebrae.
Tsk. Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
"First attacking allies, now crippling your lord? Understandable frustration after serving this trash."
To the shell-shocked Han:
"Want to live? Answer this: How did you know our route? You shouldn't have intelligence networks here."
"Great Young Master! Your clothes... blood...?"
"Nothing serious. Take these provisions - ah, our Second Young Master's already asleep."
Shinmo's eyes hardened.
"Was it Namgung?"
Yeon Hojeong chuckled.
"Don't fret. Do I look like a killer?"
A chill ran down Shinmo's spine.
"You didn't...?"
"Just left him disabled. Sometimes rumors cut deeper than swords."
