Demonic spirits killed people.
And people also killed people.
It was a phrase Black Moon Leader Cheong Jin Myeong who had spent half his life hunting demonic spirits repeated habitually.
In this line of work, those who claimed to be demonic spirit hunters generally fell into one of two categories.
They either had no other way to make a living, or they harbored a deep-seated grudge against demonic spirits.
The former group mostly consisted of criminals, thugs, runaway slaves, and other rough individuals.
They often picked fights with civilians or, in the worst cases, resorted to robbery. Most of the bad rumors about demonic spirit hunters stemmed from these kinds of people.
The latter group was more varied in nature.
These were people who had lost their family, lovers, or colleagues to demonic spirits and made killing demonic spirits the sole purpose of their lives. Since they are people who have lived normal lives before switching, they appear more reasonable and sensible compared to the former group.
Some in the former group would give up demonic spirit hunting and return to their lives once their circumstances improved.
However, those who walked the latter path mostly continued to live by slaying demonic spirits as long as their bodies allowed.
Civilians preferred those who seemed normal and communicative like the latter group, but Cheong Jin Myeong who had lived as the Black Moon Leader did not think so.
Those whose purpose had become revenge rather than survival generally did not meet a good end.
The experience of meeting someone you had shared drinks with and who you became close to because both of you communicated well, only to find them with their limbs severed in a demonic spirit’s nest was not pleasant.
Rather, those who left to find their lives once they had the money were better companions to have for a long time.
Though rough and coarse, once they settled down, built a family, and rooted themselves in a good place, they often became upright individuals.
The companions who survived long enough to sit across from him at drinking parties were usually those whose goal was survival rather than revenge.
However, Cheong Jin Myeong himself was one whose goal was revenge. It was truly ironic.
Like many demonic spirit hunters who had stayed in this field for a long time, he was someone who had lost all his family and relatives to demonic spirits. He had endured a life driven by the desire for revenge against those mindless monsters.
If the demonic spirits swarming the borders of the imperial capital were the demons, he was a vengeful ghost who kept hunting them with his body covered in their blood.
And like most vengeful ghosts, he would one day die a terrible death. He would meet a powerful demonic spirit he could not handle with his skills. Many Black Moon Unit members died that way.
Cheong Jin Myeong had lived by merely postponing and postponing the moment of that inevitable death.
His past life flashed through his mind. It was like a revolving star.
His hometown in Anhyang Province.
He had a stern but responsible father, a mother who always embraced him, and even a younger sibling who knew nothing of the world’s harshness.
When he closed and opened his eyes, the image of his family would change to one covered in blood.
The demonic spirits would tear at their limbs and laugh with their faces buried in their innards.
He remembered his childhood, running away with a few coins, and wandering through the outskirts of various towns. Those memories passed by like a fleeting moment.
When he learned how to hold a sword from a demonic spirit hunter he met while wandering around, when he cut down and killed his first lower demonic spirit, when the number of demonic spirits he had cut down reached the hundreds, and when he had a group of people who regarded him as a master and followed him.
Eventually, the number of demonic spirit hunters following him grew and before he knew it…. they had formed a group known as the Black Moon Unit and became famous.
Why did all those scenes flash through his mind like a revolving star…
Bang, thud, bang.
Crack, whoosh, thud.
“Ugh, ugh…!”
“Hey, don’t turn your head like that, you’ll get seriously hurt.”
Bang, bang, bang.
That’s right.
It wasn’t “like” a revolving star… it was exactly a revolving star spinning on top of his head from all the beating …
***
“Sorry… I think I might have gone a bit too far…”
I was the one who got hit first, but when I came to my senses, I was the one apologizing.
When I saw Cheong Jin Myeong lying there beaten, my mind cleared instantly.
The white hood that the Black Moon Unit leader Cheong Jin Myeong had been wearing was completely gone.
He was a middle-aged man who had lived long enough, but his face was swollen like mine, probably because he had been beaten so much. Now, it was almost impossible to even see the face of a human being on him.
The sight of two men with swollen faces staring at each other in silence. From a distance, it might have looked comedic, but up close, it was a tragic sight.
A really miserable tragic sight.
“.……”
“I’m not someone who easily resorts to using my fists… but… it just happened that way… you know you had it coming, right?”
Somehow, I managed to set up a small wooden table and placed the cheap liquor I found in the corner of the cabin on it.
Then I helped Cheong Jin Myeong to his feet and sat him down in front of the table.
“.……”
“Let’s drink and forget.”
I felt ridiculous saying this, but I hadn’t come to fight with the Black Moon Unit leader Cheong Jin Myeong.
I just wanted to have a face-to-face conversation and talk about various things… but after getting beaten, I lost my sense of reason…
“It seems you’ve trained in martial arts for a long time… your movements were almost invisible when you subdued my subordinates…”
“Hey, watch your language.”
“…….”
Cheong Jin Myeong whose blood was dripping down looked at me in disbelief.
The same was true for his men who were groaning in pain and rolling on the floor.
“I am twice as old as you.”
“I hold the rank of an Upper Fifth Rank Commander. Do you have any official position?”
“…….”
“…….”
A battle of wills…!
– Black Moon leader Cheong Jin Myeong is not someone who can be easily brought under control. He’s lived through life-and-death situations, he killed demonic spirits for decades since his childhood, and as the Black Moon Unit leader, he’s gained great trust over a long period of time so he’s a man of considerable stature.
– I don’t know how he got involved in something as shady as the Crown Prince’s assassination plot… but if I can persuade him, I might be able to bring him to our side.
Indeed, just like Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun had said, his appearance alone gave the impression of someone experienced.
Because he has lived a wild life, he was never someone who would easily pledge loyalty to anyone.
Black Moon leader Cheong Jin Myeong and the numerous Black Moon members under his command were all the same.
“And consider your position. The Cheongdo Palace must be in an uproar now that I’ve been kidnapped. Do you think your head will remain on your shoulders if I drag you by the collar and throw you in front of the Emperor?”
“…….”
Cheong Jin Myeong’s eyes twitched slightly.
Yes, from the moment he realized that I had been deliberately beaten and captured, he understood that the situation had been set up to my advantage.
“Let me be straightforward. I’m managing a remote territory called Hwalseong District. We’re short on manpower and I could use people to be my eyes and ears.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Ah, your responses are still short. Anyway, the Black Moon members lost their hometowns to the demonic spirits and have been wandering without a place to settle, while hunting demonic spirits, right? I’ll give you a place in Hwalseong District and guarantee your status to some extent, so help me out. The situation seems to have gotten worse recently, so let’s help each other in times like this.”
I needed assassins who could move freely according to my will.
Compared to the ghost hands of the main palace, the Black Moon assassins felt raw and unrefined in their movements and martial arts. In one way, they seemed unorganised, but on the other hand, they could easily blend into the people.
They would live as Hwalseong District citizens by day and move as my hands and feet by night. Such people were hard to come by.
If I aimed to rise above the upper third rank, having a solid force of my own was essential. Otherwise, I would always be under someone else’s thumb despite my high rank.
The way to survive in Cheongdo Palace which has become a political battlefield was the same for everyone.
If you couldn’t control someone, you had to be controlled by someone.
That was the essence of politics.
“I refuse. We already have someone we are loyal to in the court.”
After saying this, Cheong Jin Myeong glanced at the tip of the sword sheath that was lying on the floor. This meant that I could reach out and pick it up at any time. He must have known that resistance was futile…
Though beating him further was an option, I didn’t want to exert myself unnecessarily.
“Under Councilor Shim Sang Gon is a rotten rope.”
“…….!”
“I don’t know what he promised you, but the Under Councilor will eventually fall. He’s losing the power struggle against Chief Councilor In Seon Rok.”
He must have been quite surprised that I knew the object of his loyalty even though he himself had never mentioned the name.
Cheong Jin Myeong caught his breath and then stood up abruptly. His eyes were wide with shock.
“Who told you?”
It must have been a closely guarded secret that the Under Councilor Shim Sang Gon was controlling the Black Moon Unit.
The Black Moon Unit members were like pawns brought in by the Under Councilor to keep Strategist Hwa An in check.
The palace’s political landscape had remained unchanged for years.
The momentum of Crown Prince Hyeon Won seemed unstoppable.
However, it wasn’t because Crown Prince Hyeon Won was a remarkable figure.
He was a puppet controlled by Strategist Hwa An who acted as his guardian and who was protected by numerous officials. He even had the Emperor’s favor so his position was simply impossible to challenge.
To bring them down, the key figure Crown Prince Hyeon Won had to be removed.
But how could one even consider harming the Crown Prince of a country?
Even if they succeeded, the investigation wouldn’t end until they found out who was behind it and sought revenge. Simply killing someone wouldn’t make the situation favorable for the Under Councilor.
Therefore, even if they were to kill, they had to frame someone else for the crime. Only by doing so would the plan be perfectly completed.
And that target was Chief Councilor In Seon Rok, the highest-ranking official among the three Great Councilors.
If they got rid of Crown Prince Hyeon Won, Strategist Hwa An would lose his political power. Additionally, if they eliminated the Chief Councilor as well…. the influence of the Under Councilor within the palace would rise significantly.
Of course, given the scale of the plan, it must have been prepared cautiously and in the utmost secrecy for years.
Recruiting the Black Moon Unit was possible because the Under Councilor’s attendant personally traveled to the Anhyeong Province. A person who had as little contact with Cheongdo Palace as possible but was good at stealth was needed, but it would not have been easy to find such a person.
“I don’t know what you hoped to gain from the Under Councilor, but if you lay a hand on the Crown Prince, you’ll live as a fugitive in a distant land for the rest of your life.”
“….…”
“Are you confident you’ll receive enough reward from the Under Councilor to endure such life?”
Cheong Jin Myeong couldn’t answer. Naturally, he couldn’t.
Few people knew who the Black Moon Unit was loyal to and what they were preparing for.
At least, the Inner Swords Commander who lived a life disconnected from the world outside the palace wouldn’t know.
However, the world was inherently unfair.
The Commander and the world’s unfairness aside… this was just a small tale from the Heavenly Dragon Love Story.
“So, just come to Hwalseong District and act as a double agent between the Under Councilor and me.”
***
Black Moon Leader Cheong Jin Myeong couldn’t help but doubt his eyes and ears.
The Black Moon Unit members sprawled around him felt the same.
Although an upper fifth rank military officer wasn’t considered a high official, he still held a position far above the common people.
The fact that such a person showed up in person, took a beating just to have a private meeting with the Black Moon Unit Leader, and even managed to subdue all the Black Moon Unit members in a single strike despite being beaten all night was ridiculous.
On top of that, after beating Cheong Jin Myeong to a pulp…. he told him to join his side.
Cheong Jin Myeong had heard many rumors about how the Inner Swords Commander was an unpredictable man, but he never imagined it would be to this extent.
Who on earth is this guy…?
Moreover, he seemed to know all the secrets that had never been disclosed to anyone.
He knew that Under Councilor Shim Sang Gon was behind the Black Moon Unit and that their plan was to assassinate Crown Prince Hyeon Won.
The Commander sitting on the wooden table seemed to have eyes like knives.
Just facing him felt like he was being seen through to his very core. And that made Cheong Jin Myeong swallow dryly.
A single wrong word from his tongue could lead to consequences he couldn’t handle. The Commander before him was not someone he could control.
Even so…. Cheong Jin Myeong calmed his breathing and slowly spoke.
“Can you trust and command a person who so easily changes his allegiance…. Inner Swords Commander?”
Even though they had degenerated into an unsightly group that killed people for money, he spoke the truth.
“If I decide to follow someone once, I never change that decision.”
He thought that even if a sword flew at him immediately, he had nothing more to say.
The rule was to kill those who failed to be swayed. From the perspective of the Inner Swords Commander, there should absolutely be no reason to keep Cheong Jin Myeong who might harm Cheongdo Palace alive.
The warrior before him was clearly on a level far above his own.
Even so, he couldn’t help but resist. Cheong Jin Myeong was ready to grab a nearby sword at any moment.
“…….”
Clap, clap, clap.
However, Inner Swords Commander Seol Tae Pyeong just clapped his hands with tears of emotion welling up in his eyes.
“……?”
“Indeed… The courage to stick to one’s convictions even in the face of death’s blade… definitely worthy of being called a man…!”
That was right.
Seol Tae Pyeong was a person Cheong Jin Myeong could not possibly fathom.
“Damn… I highly value the courage to maintain your principles even in this situation…!”
Cheong Jin Myeong had to struggle to hide his disbelief.
***
When the news spread in the inner palace that Inner Swords Commander Seol Tae Pyeong’s fate was uncertain, murmurs circulated among the maids.
As soon as she heard the terrible news that an official had been kidnapped right near Cheongdo Palace, Headmaid An Rim immediately checked the security around the Black Tortoise Palace once again.
The basic duty of a Headmaid was to strengthen internal security whenever such unsettling rumors arose.
“From now on, always make sure to close the central gate each time you pass through it. It might be a bit inconvenient, but also make sure to properly record and report the identities and descriptions of people going in and out.”
“Yes.”
“It’s a noisy time both inside and outside the palace, so let’s be extra careful.”
After giving clear instructions to the senior maids belonging to the Black Tortoise Palace, An Rim entered the inner chambers of Black Tortoise Palace to check the condition of the paper doors.
She then examined the building’s structure from the beginning to see if there were any other paths an assassin could use and requested the guards around Black Tortoise Palace’s walls to be particularly vigilant.
As for the crown princess consorts, every single one of them had serious expressions on their faces.
There were rumors that the Azure Princess had shut herself in her room and was preparing something. The Vermilion Princess seemed to have gone directly to pay a visit to Chief Councilor In Seon Rok. The White Princess had been somewhat quiet lately… but she also seemed to be having a hard time as well.
When it came to emotional turmoil, the same went for her mistress, Black Princess Po Hwa Ryeong.
From Headmaid An Rim’s perspective, it was a real headache since Black Princess Po Hwa Ryeong considered the Inner Swords Commander Seol Tae Pyeong her closest confidant in Cheongdo Palace and seemed to cherish him deeply.
Considering that she had jumped over the walls of the Black Tortoise Palace to chat with him even before he left to subdue demonic spirits… it seemed like she might take some unexpected action this time too.
First of all, I must report to the Black Princess that the security situation hasn’t been good lately and advise her to be extra careful.
After seeing Seol Tae Pyeong’s face at the Azure Dragon Palace for the first time in a while, Black Princess Po Hwa Ryeong’s condition had become unstable. She would occasionally stop and stare in the direction of the main palace while pacing the porch. This was a sign that a crisis was about to occur.
Headmaid An Rim already knew quite a bit about Black Princess Po Hwa Ryeong. Her mistress would surely want to meet with Seol Tae Pyeong alone and reminisce about the past.
A dog that’s been around a school for three years will recite poetry…!
There was no way Headmaid An Rim who had served as Po Hwa Ryeong’s maid for over three years would not have been able to properly understand even a single detail of her mistress’ behavior…!
The important thing here was preemptive action. Before Black Princess Po Hwa Ryeong did anything reckless, An Rim had to enter the inner chamber and give her a firm warning.
Creeak
– I’m sorry, An Rim! The moonlight is nice, and the night breeze is cool, so I thought it would be great to take a walk!
– I’ll be back before the morning sun rises!
– “Po Hwa Ryeong” who loves An Rim so much for always suffering and working hard on my behalf!
However, no matter how capable An Rim was, she couldn’t move ahead of the intelligent Black Princess Po Hwa Ryeong.
“…….”
The inner chamber was already completely empty.
The sage butterfly. Sage Butterfly Po Hwa Ryeong.
The agility she gained after overcoming her divine fever did not seem to be limited to just her movements.
The world seemed to be telling An Rim:
Can a clumsy human hand hope to catch a butterfly freely swimming among the flowers?
Impossible! Absolutely!
“Black Princess…”
An Rim had to cover her face and sit down on the floor.
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