Chapter 529: Side Story 29

Chapter side_29

Look at this.

Didn’t I say so?

“…”

“Uhm…”

Namgung So-hye, looking around, was speechless. Also, as if it was the same for those with her, they were looking around and letting out deep sighs.

The village Jang Sam-tae had found was there.

However, only its form remained; the buildings had burned down and disappeared, and sword marks were everywhere as if reminiscent of a battlefield.

Moreover, several corpses could be seen scattered about.

Namgung So-hye hurriedly stood blocking Dan So-mi’s view, but bizarrely Dan Woo-hyun opened his mouth calmly, seemingly having no intention of hiding this situation.

“It’s the doing of Murim people.”

“Heo… It seems quite a big fight broke out. Were they attacked?”

Namgung Cheon examined the traces seen around one by one and recreated the situation in his mind. Against a small village, someone launched an attack, and people took up swords to stop it.

“Huh?”

“It seems it wasn’t an ordinary village.”

With a chuckle, Dan Woo-hyun shook his head side to side. The dead were all Murim people. Both those who attacked and those who were attacked.

But wouldn’t it absolutely not be an ordinary village?

From the fact that the villagers could all use martial arts, there were many things that stood out. Therefore, they never thought that they were attacked by thieves or bandits.

“Hoho, that’s right. The sword marks, the traces… there isn’t anyone who hasn’t learned martial arts.”

“No, that doesn’t matter anyway, so let’s find a place to rest. Let’s go quickly, alright?”

Looking back at Dan Woo-hyun and Namgung Cheon, who were wandering around here and there with interested expressions like investigators digging into a case, Jang Sam-tae let out a long sigh.

The sun would set in just a little while.

Since the village they originally planned to stay in was laid to waste, they would barely avoid sleeping outdoors if they drove the carriage again towards the next village even now.

But they didn’t want to listen at all.

He was sick and tired of sleeping outdoors by now.

“Look here! This is a place you shouldn’t enter recklessly!”

At that time, someone shouted loudly and ran over hastily. From the embroidery reading Sword Sect on their blue uniforms, it seemed they were disciples of a certain sect.

As he hurriedly ran over and kept an eye on the group with a wary expression, Namgung Cheon, who had been observing the surroundings, stepped forward with a Buddha-like smile.

“Hohoho, I apologize. It’s a place we came to spend the night, but this happened… We were just taking a look around.”

“Leave at once! If you don’t want to be misunderstood unnecessarily!”

The man, seemingly filled with what confidence, raised his sword with a loud voice. He seemed to be appealing that if they didn’t listen, he would have no choice but to draw his sword.

Dumbfounded by that sight, Jang Sam-tae tried to step forward, but Namgung So-hye blocked him and shook her head, as if telling him to watch.

“Yes, yes… But what happened?”

“It’s not something you should know!”

“Hoho, it’s just an old man being curious, couldn’t you tell me?”

Namgung Cheon gently stroked his pure white beard and smiled. Perhaps because of an appearance and aura that wouldn’t be strange even if called a descended immortal, the man’s expression loosened in an instant.

But perhaps facing reality soon, he hurriedly shook his head and put his hand on his sword hilt.

“If you don’t back down right now, I will inevitably have to strike! Don’t regret it!”

“Hohoho, do you really have to do that?”

“This place is being managed by the Sword Sect! The matter is serious, so I’m telling you to go without further damaging the scene of the incident. Do you understand?!”

The man was confident.

He didn’t know what circumstances brought them to such a place, but if they tried to damage the scene, it was something he could never tolerate.

Because important traces could disappear.

Therefore, the man fiercely drew his sword and aimed it at Namgung Cheon.

“Hohoho-“

* * *

“Ugh…”

The man lying down couldn’t come to his senses.

He thought it would be enough to draw his sword coolly, aim it at the opponent with a triumphant expression, and say threatening words. Since they were disciples of the Sword Sect with no match nearby, he thought they were the best.

But?

The moment he pulled his sword slightly, he lay down.

Suddenly, tremendous shock and pain rushed into his abdomen, and without even having time to come to his senses, he was smashed to the ground and lay down. He couldn’t figure out at all what had happened.

“Erai, you bastard. Using your hands against such a guy…”

“Hoho, I repaid a threat with a threat. Using my hands?”

Namgung Cheon laughed heartily and sat down in front of the man. As if he didn’t even feel sorry for his groaning figure, he slowly reached out with a benevolent smile and grabbed his hair, pulling it up.

“Ugh…!”

“Hohoho- Do you know what this old man just asked? Or do I have to ask one more time?”

“Ah… I know… I know…!”

“Hoho. Yes, yes, no, that’s a relief. I thought I had to twist at least one wrist for your mouth to open.”

Chill-!

At the words so chilling that his knees went weak, the man trembled violently and hurriedly hid his wrists. Even though it was just words flowing from his mouth, he fell into the illusion that his wrists were already shattered.

To think someone with an appearance that one would believe even if told he was a descended immortal would do such a thing? The man resolved never to believe in immortals or whatever even if he died.

“G… grandpa…”

Even Namgung So-hye covered her face with both hands at that sight.

For the Sword Emperor of the world to… beat a person up.

Moreover, wasn’t the act of grabbing and lifting the fallen person’s hair something Sado Hak would do? Who would look at that human and call him the Sword Emperor, the pillar of the Righteous Faction.

She couldn’t lift her face out of embarrassment.

“Hoho, so must I ask again for your mouth to open?”

“No… I won’t. I, I will tell you.”

“You should, indeed. Don’t make an old man struggle.”

The man nodded vigorously.

Strength entered Namgung Cheon’s grip holding his hair. As if threatening that he would never let it go if he lied.

Therefore, the man hurriedly opened his mouth.

“This place was a branch of the Heaven and Earth Cult… So, it’s a place our Sword Sect subjugated, but…”

“Heaven and Earth Cult? Are you talking about those guys who are acting in secret in the Central Plains these days?”

A power that dug into the gap of the Righteous Faction, which had split into two factions.

That was the place called the Heaven and Earth Cult.

Acting in secret in the darkness, they instantly expanded their forces, and it was said that no one even properly knew how many cultists there were or how many branches had been established.

Therefore, not only the Heavenly Dao Society but even the Murim Alliance were moving desperately to catch them.

“Guys who turn a whole village into a branch… How interesting. But by the looks of it… you succeeded in destroying it but failed to achieve your goal.”

Dan Woo-hyun grasped the situation quickly and opened his mouth. If they had solved everything, they wouldn’t have needed to leave people behind to preserve the scene.

They didn’t even clear the corpses.

It meant there was still something left to investigate.

“Y… yes, we tried to catch the villain Chu Jak-han, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heaven and Earth Cult here… but we lost him.”

“Villain? Quite a rare nickname. Hohoho.”

“Ah, calling him a villain is another nickname given by men… his real one is called Maseongja (Demon Natured Son).”

“Hoh, Maseongja? Interesting.”

“No, more importantly… What’s a Four Heavenly King, Four Heavenly King…”

Namgung So-hye wrapped her arms around her shoulders and trembled violently. She thought she wouldn’t want to step into Murim if she was called something like a Four Heavenly King or one of the Five Heavenly Kings.

Namgung So-hye glanced at Namgung Cheon and Sado Hak.

Unknowingly, she shook her head side to side.

“Anyway, you’re staying behind alone to find traces in order to catch him?”

“Yes, yes. Because I am best at that… The other disciples should be searching the surroundings.”

The man appealed that there were other comrades nearby, preparing for a possible situation. Did he mean to ask to spare him since there were comrades?

However, they didn’t care about that in the slightest.

“But Maseongja… Maseongja, haven’t I heard that somewhere?”

“Ah… me too.”

At that time, Jang Sam-tae and Namgung So-hye racked their brains.

Since the two of them went to Yueyang or Changsha the most, information about the Central Plains Murim reached them faster than the others in the family.

Maseongja was also one of those things.

“What kind of guy is he?”

“Ah, they probably gave it because… he instantly captivates women?”

“That’s right. I heard that too. The moment I heard it, I thought, ah… he’s a guy with an enviable ability.”

Recalling the rumors he heard in the market, Jang Sam-tae tightly clenched his fists. Wasn’t it an ability that anyone born a man would envy?

He wondered why he wasn’t born with such a thing.

“He captivates women?”

“Yes! He captivates women and brings them along, turning them into their believers. And he uses those women to toy with men and turn them into believers again.”

“He’s truly a villain to men. Now I know why they call him a villain. Haha.”

Dan Woo-hyun laughed as if he had heard a quite interesting story. If this was true, wasn’t he practically an enemy to all men in the Central Plains?

“But if it’s such a matter, shouldn’t the Murim Alliance or the Heavenly Dao Society step forward? It shouldn’t be a matter for a small-to-medium sect to step forward for, right?”

At that time, Sado Hak asked with a strange expression.

It was an act of attacking a branch of a secret organization called the Heaven and Earth Cult. It should have rightfully been a matter for the Murim Alliance, called the pillar of the Central Plains Murim, or its successor, the Heavenly Dao Society, to step forward for.

It was practically impossible for a never-heard-of place called the Sword Sect to step forward directly.

“That’s… that… In our Sword Sect too… the Sect Leader’s favorite concubine fell victim and left home. So…”

“Puhaha-“

Jang Sam-tae burst into a loud laugh.

He wondered how poorly he managed his household for that to happen, but also felt his resentment as a man was justified. Also, while getting angry at a guy who captivates women, the guy himself left his main wife and brought in a concubine, so he thought they were one and the same.

The man from the Sword Sect also knew it was embarrassing, so he blushed bright red and bowed his head deeply.

“Hoho, anyway, it’s a relief you survived. But next time something like this happens, borrow the hands of the Murim Alliance or the Heavenly Dao Society. You were just lucky this time.”

The man nodded.

Even without being told, there were quite a lot of casualties. He prided himself on being somewhat skilled, but the opponent’s skill was higher than expected, so more than ten people were killed.

The words ‘you were lucky’ flowing from Namgung Cheon’s mouth were by no means words he could listen to in vain.

“Well, anyway, let’s let this person go now… We should…”

At that time, Namgung So-hye stealthily stepped forward and opened her mouth. Talking about villains, Heaven and Earth Cult, and whatnot all day was useless since they wouldn’t go catch them anyway.

Right now, they just.

“Let’s find a place to sleep outdoors. Haa…”

She was annoyed by the fact that they had to sleep outdoors again.

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