Chapter 166: Lee Kangchan Part II
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
I walked over to the officers of the four factions standing off to the side.
“Thank you for today.”
“It wasn’t much.”
“I’m just glad we could pay you back, as small a chance this was.”
“We feel the same way. We still owe you much more.”
“Please feel free to come to us again. We’ll be more than glad to help you again.”
It was more obvious for Sunbin. They were working together with me today as this was their problem they’d had a hard time solving.
The other factions, on the other hand, had come here knowing it wasn’t an easy decision for them. They had to face Cheng Long, one of the top five guilds in the world. There was no doubt they knew this was a politically difficult decision but what was important was that they helped me nonetheless. What they just showed to the rest was that they would ally themselves with me, even if it meant facing a potentially much more powerful enemy. They probably knew I would be disappointed in them had they said no.
Either way, we had all helped each other with good intentions.
“How does a nice party sound to end the day?”
“Sounds good. Nothing’s completely finished yet, but we could do with a small party.”
It was too early to celebrate. Over the next week, we had to make sure the Yung Gong Guild knew that it no longer had any influence over Gyeongsang Province and that it couldn’t do whatever it wanted anymore. We also had to let all of its past and current victims know that Yung Gong would no longer hurt them or anyone else any longer.
Another group from Sunbin was heading this way to help us prepare for the small party so those who fought could rest. Maintaining Gyeongsang would be difficult for me and Sunbin. All Gyeongsang had was a single low-grade dungeon and Sunbin would have to pick up the slack in clearing the surrounding fields. There were no feasible methods to bring in profit and Sunbin couldn’t employ Yung Gong’s tactics.
We decided instead to use the Yung Gong’s building and the low-grade dungeon and attract smaller guilds to pick up the slack for us. If they could divide up the land among themselves and maintain their territory, we would allow them to use the low-grade dungeon free of charge. We would even allow them to move into Yung Gong’s old building and use it as a base of operations.
“What do you think?”
“Yeah, it sounds perfect. We’ll go with that plan.”
Things couldn’t have turned out better for us. Sunbin gained more supporters in Korea and I finally got to have my revenge and punish Yung Gong like I had always dreamed about.
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One week later…
I and ten thousand others from Sunbin, Myth, Ravi and the Werewolf Clan moved to Gongju City in Chuncheong Province. I wanted to fulfill the promises I had made to Lee Kangchan and my mother.
Some would ask if I really had to go to this extent, but I had to. I had always dreamt of making Lee Kangchan pay for what he did to me. I also wanted my mother to really see what I was capable of and who I really was.
Ten thousand elite devas marched behind me. These devas had just defeated the ‘mercenaries’ from Cheng Long and Nayuta; no one stood in our way. With Sunbin at my side as well, I marched confidently towards our destination.
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The Sojung Guild base…
“Shit! Everything was going so well. Lee Jiwon ruined everything!” Lee Kangchan was furious when he heard what had happened to the Yung Gong Guild. The only good thing that came out of the battle was Sunbin’s vow to leave the smaller guilds that joined Yung Gong alone. Had they not, Sojung’s guild master would have never forgiven him for making the one mistake he shouldn’t have.
“By the way, young master…”
“What?” Lee Kangchan replied, annoyed.
“Do you and Lee Jiwon have history together?”
“What?”
“Back then, Lee Jiwon walked right up to and said something before…”
“No… no, we don’t! There’s no way we do! Lee Jiwon is a world-level being. What would he have against me?”
“I suppose you’re right.”
Lee Jiwon was no doubt the star of the battle, and to not be in his good graces was the worst possible situation for them.
-He said he was going to see me again…did he really mean that?-
Lee Kangchan couldn’t forget Lee Jiwon’s smiling face. He really didn’t want to see the man ever again.
It was then that Lee Kangchan saw Lee Jiwon on TV, marching with a huge army behind him. He seemed ready for another battle even though everything was supposed to be over. Everyone in the room turned to watch, wondering if he was just now returning to Seoul. Lee Kangchan, however, broke out in a cold sweat. Lee Jiwon had the same expression on his face when he walked over to Lee Kangchan a week ago. It was almost as if Lee Jiwon was coming for him again.
Lee Kangchan kept telling himself that there was a chance Lee Jiwon was on the way to Seoul but he couldn’t convince himself. Somehow, he knew Lee Jiwon was coming for him again.
-Fuck! Why is he doing this to me? There were other smaller guilds that joined Yung Gong, so why me?! Fuck!-
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I marched to the Sojung Guild slowly on purpose, so that he could feel the extent of the impending doom that was coming for him. Lee Kangchan probably knew by now where I was headed.
“You must really have it out for this Lee Kangchan person. I never saw you go to this extent for one person before,” Ebonene said.
“Yeah, quite a bit. I do have a couple of other reasons, though.”
“I’m beginning to feel a little sorry for this Lee Kangchan,” Ebonene said while laughing.
“I’m just giving back as I got.”
It didn’t take us long to reach Chuncheong Province, even though we took our time. By now, everyone knew we weren’t headed for Seoul, and a sizeable crowd had been following us since Gyeongsang.
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“What’s going on? Where are they headed?”
“From what I hear, Lee Jiwon decided the destination.”
“He wanted to come here? Why? He’s from Seoul, isn’t he?”
“I have no idea. Maybe he’s here for some sightseeing.”
“With ten thousand soldiers? It looks like they’re headed for war.”
“I don’t know. Let’s keep watching. Sunbin tagged along as well.”
Now that Yung Gong, the number two guild of South Korea, had been toppled by Sunbin, there were no longer any guilds that could contest Sunbin’s influence over Korea. Everything Sunbin did right now was a huge issue in South Korea and would be for some time.
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We arrived shortly at Sojung’s base once we entered Chuncheong. The entire guild was outside, waiting for us. Among them were Lee Kangchan and my mother.
“Holy shit. They’re actually here.”
“This was their destination?”
“Why?”
“Is it because we ended up siding with Yung Gong? There’s no other reason for them to be here.”
“There’s no way. Sunbin already said they didn’t care about that.”
“We don’t know the truth to that. Maybe they need an example or something.”
“Shut it!” a much older man shouted, silencing the Sojung guild members. That was Lee Taejung, the Sojung guild master, who my mother had told me about. He was my grandfather.
I ignored him for now, however, and walked over to my mother, who was still in the same raggedy clothing, and hugged her.
“I said I’d be back soon, Mom.”
My mother burst into tears and hugged me tightly.
It wasn’t that I had developed affection for the mother that I never had out of nowhere, but it was the least I could do for her, after all I had learned from the Gnosis Guild. She had lived her life without her husband, parents, and child, believing this whole time they had all died because of her. Returning to her in-laws didn’t help either, once they decided that she was no longer a part of their family.
I wanted to show her that all wasn’t lost and I could make her proud to be my mother. I couldn’t give her everything, but I wanted to make the rest of her life easier. I even wondered to myself if I always had these feelings, but it was the least I could do as her son.
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“What the…that’s Lee Jiwon’s mom?”
“Wasn’t he an orphan?”
“Hey, isn’t that lady our cook…?”
“You idiot, that’s the guild master’s only daughter-in-law!”
“Huh? Really? Then why was she always dressed like that and always doing menial labor? She always bowed to all of us, didn’t she?”
“You don’t need to know why! You just need to know there was a reason for it.”
“I always thought she was a guild employee…”
“Wait. Then if she’s the guild master’s only daughter-in-law and she’s also Lee Jiwon’s mother…then that means Lee Jiwon’s the guild master’s grandson?”
“Whoa! Then that makes Lee Jiwon the rightful heir to Sojung!
“Then what’ll happen to Lee Kangchan?”
“Well…”
Lee Jiwon had just created a huge issue not just for Sojung, but for his allies as well. His allies needed to keep Lee Jiwon on their side no matter what, and had followed him here to appease him. However, the biggest problem they had was that he was alone. There was no way for them to really hold on to him until now. Finally, they had something they could use.
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I tightly held my mother’s hand and walked over to stand in front of Sojung’s guild master.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lee Jiwon,” I said calmly.
“Yes…it’s good to meet you, too. I am Lee Taejung, guild master of Sojung,” the man who was supposed to my grandfather replied equally calmly, but couldn’t completely hide how much he was shaking. Only I could see it, though. “Would you do me the honor of sharing a cup of tea with me?”
“I would be more than happy to.”
“Then let’s head inside.” Lee Taejung led the way inside.
I turned to my allies before following him in. “Please wait for me out here. I won’t be long.”
“Hahaha. You’re finally meeting your family. We can wait as long as you need.”
“Don’t worry about anything and go on.”
My allies’ elite soldiers quickly surrounded the Sojung Guild’s base to make sure no one would interrupt.
I held on to my mother’s hand and followed Lee Taejung inside, passing Lee Kangchan on the way.
“I said I’ll see you very soon. Wait a little longer. We’re not done yet,” I whispered to him so that only he could hear.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺