Scholar Demon Venerable

Everyone gathered nodded their heads.

In Kaifeng, Yeom-ak's presence was not great. He was no different from an ordinary beggar. No, looking at his bad temper and his acting as he pleased, he was a mad dog that could be called a profligate.

That was why his nickname was the Mad Dog Divine Beggar.

He always held a dog bone and begged, chewing on the flesh that wasn't even there. Anyone could see that he was a beggar among beggars. He didn't look like the leader of the Beggars' Sect, the number one gang in the martial world.

So people sometimes made mistakes.

But it wasn't that Yeom-ak was the type to pick on such mistakes.

From some point on, the people living in Kaifeng treated the leader of the Beggars' Sect, Yeom-ak, as if he were their subordinate. Hadn't he himself made a mistake just a little while ago? Moreover, the subordinate he had sent might have made a mistake.

"I have no choice. Prepare a gift, and wait until I return."

"I understand, master."

A quarter of an hour later.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo entrusted the back to his executives and hurriedly headed to the Beggars' Sect headquarters.

* * *

On the main road to the Beggars' Sect headquarters, beggars were lined up. As if they were going to war somewhere, they were holding various weapons and emitting a fierce light.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo unknowingly swallowed dryly.

Gulp.

'Crazy, were these guys really going to attack the Hyeokryeon Manor?'

Suddenly, fear washed over him.

As he entered, the beggars emitted a killing intent. He thought that even if he met his mortal enemy, it would be softer than this.

Hundreds, no, thousands of beggars were holding weapons, and the leader was sitting on the foundation of the building in front.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo, who had stepped forward, politely cupped his hands in a fist and asked about his well-being.

"Leader, it's been a long time."

Although he wanted to kill him with one blow, he couldn't.

Yeom-ak said in an indifferent voice.

"F*ck, how much did you talk sh*t about our Beggars' Sect that the kids are clinging to me? How do you educate your kids?"

"How could that be? There must be some misunderstanding. That's why I came running like this."

"You're talking about a misunderstanding. Hey!"

At Yeom-ak's words, Hyeokryeon Jongdo swallowed dryly.

It didn't matter if Yeom-ak spoke carelessly or cursed. He was the master of a mere manor, and the other was the leader of the Beggars' Sect, the number one gang in the world.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo answered even more politely.

"Please speak."

"Do you think I'm a joke too?"

Hyeokryeon Jongdo's complexion turned pale.

Yeom-ak's cold words sounded like the call of the grim reaper.

Yeom-ak asked again and got angry.

"I'm asking if you think I'm a joke!"

"How could that be?"

"Then why are you acting up? Do you think I'm afraid because I'm pretending not to know?"

"Leader, it's absolutely not like that. It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

He didn't know what it was about. What was certain was that it was not because his subordinate had done something wrong.

Yeom-ak said in a slightly softened voice.

"Are you sure?"

"That's right. In what safe place would I talk nonsense?"

It was the appearance of a demon from hell. There was no other vicious demon. The guy still had a panda-like face and said as if urging.

"Then stay put as if you're sealing the gate for a while."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"Damn it! You should understand when I say it once!"

"Leader, I really don't know what you mean."

"This gentleman is going to die!"

A single dragon stretched out from Yeom-ak's left hand and struck the floor.

Shuung, kwaang!

Hoodoo-dook.

Right next to Hyeokryeon Jongdo, with a roar, stone powder flew up.

The dragon struck the stone floor and made a dent.

It was the Divine Dragon Sweeping its Tail, one of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

A move that attacks by extending the hand back and striking down.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo, who was covered in stone powder, was frozen. His two hands, which were of a first-class martial artist, trembled. He clenched his trembling hands and gritted his teeth.

Absolute martial prowess, he felt the energy of death from the tremendous divine might that he could never approach.

At that moment, a voice of salvation was heard.

"Leader. What would the Hyeokryeon Manor master know?"

"Who is it? How dare you speak when the leader is talking... it's the Third Elder. But does it make sense that he doesn't know?"

"I will persuade him well. Still, since he is a person connected by blood to the Hyeokryeon family, it is a little difficult to treat him too harshly."

The person who had stopped the leader was the Third Elder of the Beggars' Sect, the Iron Abacus, An Dal.

He used an iron abacus as his main weapon, and his iron abacus was known as a number one in the martial world.

He was one of the few members of the Beggars' Sect who could appropriately control the mad dog, Yeom-ak.

Although the Third Elder had stepped forward, Yeom-ak still expressed his dissatisfaction.

"The Hyeokryeon family again? Should I just stomp on them at the meeting this time?"

"I don't think the previous leader would like that."

"Keung. That old man, he won't just die somewhere."

Yeom-ak, who was groaning, stood up abruptly from his seat.

At the same time, Hyeokryeon Jongdo let out a sigh of relief.

'I'm alive.'

He had almost died just a little while ago. In particular, when he encountered the strong and fierce martial arts unfolding from Yeom-ak's hands, he thought that he had been underestimating Yeom-ak too much.

As Yeom-ak left his seat, the Third Elder approached Hyeokryeon Jongdo with a good-natured impression.

"Master. Why did you make that mad dog's mood uncomfortable?"

"Th-that's..."

Hyeokryeon Jongdo couldn't finish his words. He couldn't just curse along with the elder who was cursing the leader of the Beggars' Sect, the number one gang in the world.

As he hesitated, the Third Elder said as if he knew his heart.

"Calling a beggar a beggar is not a curse. No one will curse you for calling a dog a dog."

"Still..."

"Hahaha. How can the master of the Hyeokryeon Manor of the world be so timid? We also sometimes curse the leader. In fact, his actions are far from those of a leader, aren't they?"

"..."

No matter how much, Hyeokryeon Jongdo could not agree. It was better to just listen without saying anything at times like this.

Fortunately, the Third Elder did not pick on him for not agreeing with him.

"By the way, you shouldn't take the story the leader told you a little while ago lightly."

"What do you mean?"

"These days, there are many people who look down on our Beggars' Sect. Of course, the problem is that the leader is a dog. Haha. Anyway, don't move for three days and stay put. Because the leader says he's going to sweep through Kaifeng."

The Third Elder pointed to the surroundings with his chin.

He saw the members of the Beggars' Sect emitting a fierce killing intent.

Everyone knew that the largest sect in Kaifeng was the Beggars' Sect. Everyone had been forgetting that fact these days.

He himself had also done so, so he had nothing to say.

"Keep my words in mind. I somehow managed to stop him this time, but if you ignore the warning, there will be no next time."

"Thank you."

It was the tyranny of a huge sect. But it wasn't that they had done anything particularly well either. They had just treated a beggar like a beggar as usual.

'I was going to attack the Black Sword Gang.'

He had to retreat for a few days. If he started a fight like this, it was obvious that he would be smashed by the Beggars' Sect.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo gritted his teeth and returned to the manor as quickly as possible. He didn't even want to think about meeting Yeom-ak while loitering on the street.

* * *

Two days later.

Thump!

"These bastards who deserve to die!"

Hyeokryeon Jongdo got angry and shouted.

His reddened face turned like a ripe persimmon.

"Where is it this time! Where!"

"It's the Red Turban Gang guys."

The evil faction guys had been running wild in Kaifeng for the past two days.

In particular, they had appeared at every business place run by the Hyeokryeon Manor and smashed them. If they cleaned it up, they would appear again, smash it again, and disappear leisurely, repeating this.

Hyeokryeon Jongdo asked the general manager with a reddened face.

"What about the losses? How much were the losses?"

"It is said to be one thousand two hundred taels of silver."

It was not a small amount of money. A loss of one thousand two hundred taels of silver in half a day was an enormous amount.

The problem was that they couldn't even move the warriors because of the Beggars' Sect. So they had placed additional warriors at each business place, but it was all in vain. There was a limit to the number of personnel they could deploy.

"The problem is that there is not enough space for the warriors to wait. And if we try to wait nearby and attack, the members of the Beggars' Sect rush in and interfere."

"What does the Beggars' Sect say?"

"That's."

"Can't you speak quickly?"

"They say they don't know anything about it."

"What kind of nonsense is that..."

Hyeokryeon Jongdo lost his strength and collapsed in his seat.

When a righteous faction was being attacked, the same righteous faction should have helped, but instead they were interfering.

But he couldn't just act rashly either. Since he had received a warning, he had to keep it. If he didn't, that mad dog might really attack them.

"I shouldn't have allowed it no matter what..."

Late regret washed over him.

He should have received help from the Hyeokryeon family or contacted the Shaolin Temple to ask for mediation.

Although it would have cost money, it would not have been as miserable as now, and he would not have just watched with his hands tied like this.

As he was having late regrets, one of the men who had been sitting on one side put down his teacup and broke the silence.

"Master."

Hyeokryeon Jongdo's head turned quickly.

The person who came into his eyes was a man who looked to be about thirty.

A person dispatched from the Zirong Palace. He was now the teacher who was teaching the eldest son, Hyeokryeon Hui.

"Speak."

"Assets can be gathered again. So please wait."

At his words, which were cut off, Hyeokryeon Manor's master bit his lip. In any case, he was in a position where he could not ignore his words.

"I will do so."

* * *

Three days.

Exactly three days had passed.

In the meantime, Kaifeng had become a mess. The evil faction had been running wild.

If they blocked their way, the members of the Beggars' Sect who had appeared at some point would pick a fight, and after a little while, the leader, Yeom-ak, would appear and bite them mercilessly.

Thanks to that, the righteous faction in Kaifeng held its breath. They also had a severe reprimand from the leader of the Beggars' Sect.

The only fortunate thing was that they were not touching the ordinary commoners.

Cheongun, who was neatly dressed in white, unfolded the report sent by the Jinyiwei.

"Three inns and two pawnshops have been smashed. The damage must have been severe since even the cloth store and the salt merchant were smashed."

"Yes. The Hyeokryeon Manor must have suffered a loss of about twenty thousand taels of silver in the city from this incident."

Twenty thousand taels of silver was a huge sum that could not be easily touched. Since the Hyeokryeon Manor had earned one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver in a year, the blow would be quite large.

Cheongun asked the tenth group leader, Baihu Yun Seok-pyeong.

"Did you get any information from the ones you caught?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. We got some. But they also didn't know his identity accurately."

"What did you find out?"

"It's in the scroll tied with this black thread."

Cheongun picked up one from the pile of reports.

Jwareureuk.

As he unfolded the scroll, the details about him and a portrait were drawn.

It was a portrait with half of the face covered because he was wearing a bamboo hat.

'It's him.'

It was the man in his memory.

The portrait was drawn quite elaborately. Since the captured people had compared it with each other, it was almost similar.

"Did you find out what the tattoo on his neck is?"

"Yes, fortunately, one person remembered. He said he had seen him changing his clothes by chance. He said it was the tail of a scorpion that continued from his back."

Cheongun's eyes lit up, and he nodded his head.

He had gotten one step closer to the guy.

"It must have been difficult to get cooperation, but you did well."

"When I said he was related to a rebellion, they rushed to give information."

"A rebellion... I had forgotten. We are investigating a rebellion right now."

Cheongun nodded his head and then said to Baihu Yun.

"Is the eldest son, Hyeokryeon Hui, still in seclusion?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. And we have found out who is teaching Hyeokryeon Hui."

(End of Chapter)