Chapter 552: Side Story 52

Chapter side_52

“What?”

A man wearing a golden robe frowned at the words he heard. Doubting if his ears were wrong, he looked back at the person who had spoken to him.

“C-Chu Jak-han and his subordinates have all been captured… They are currently being escorted to the Murim Alliance.”

“Haha… You want me to believe that?”

The man laughed with a dumbfounded expression.

Who was Chu Jak-han?

He was one of the Four Heavenly Kings that the cult boasted of. Although his martial arts were somewhat lacking, the charm arts he possessed were said to be unmatched in the world.

As the person who knew how to use it most freely was Chu Jak-han, he was a guy who could never lose as long as people, regardless of age or gender, couldn’t shake off his demonic charm.

But he was captured and taken away?

The expression of him, who had been laughing haha-, instantly turned fierce.

“Just what kind of bastards!?”

“Perhaps… they are the ones mentioned in the letter the Cult Leader received.”

“…….”

The man, no, the Cult Leader of the Heaven and Earth Cult, lost his words for a moment.

Soon, when he slightly raised his hand, a letter flew in from somewhere and was grasped in his hand. It was undoubtedly the state of empty-handed object retrieval, which was said to be something ordinary people couldn’t easily do.

“Then the contents of this might be true…?”

The Cult Leader quietly looked into the contents of the letter again.

It couldn’t help but be a laughable content from one to ten.

Someone was selling Chu Jak-han’s moniker, and a girl in that group was carrying around the divine beast Baek-ho. He didn’t pay much attention to it because it was filled with unbelievable words from beginning to end.

In this Central Plains, selling someone’s moniker happened more often than expected. So, leaving that aside, wasn’t Baek-ho, one of the four directional divine beasts, something completely unbelievable?

Although the Central Plains was a place where many stories about spiritual creatures and spiritual beasts existed, there were fewer people than expected who had actually encountered such things.

Thus, even the Cult Leader didn’t easily believe the report.

“I think it’s worth checking.”

“Baek-ho… Baek-ho, huh….”

The Cult Leader let out a smirk.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t trust Chu Jak-han, but it was still doubtful. But what if the real Baek-ho existed?

The Cult Leader slightly raised his head and looked around the room.

Inside that space, which seemed spacious enough even if hundreds of people entered at once, paintings of Baek-ho, which could be called the symbol of the Heaven and Earth Cult, were hung all over.

“I… might be able to embrace the true power of a divine beast.”

Even if Baek-ho actually existed, he didn’t have the thought of catching it and making it a symbol of the cult. The center of the cult always had to be himself, the Cult Leader, and he himself had to be the special human who inherited the power of the divine beast.

But before that, he had to confirm whether Chu Jak-han’s words were true.

“Where are they?”

“…Currently, we are tracking them from all directions.”

“Are you saying you haven’t found them?”

“Yes, their traces completely disappeared after leaving Wudang.”

“Hmm….”

The Cult Leader made a somewhat troubled expression.

To think their traces completely disappeared?

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the information network of the Heaven and Earth Cult was the best in the current Central Plains, so if they could avoid it and disappear to that extent, they definitely weren’t ordinary guys.

“Find them. Mobilize all the cultists and… chase after those bastards.”

“Understood…. But… that.”

“What is it now?”

The Cult Leader frowned as he looked at his subordinate who was hesitating. It was because the expression of that guy was what he often showed when there was a troublesome matter.

“T-The Saintess… is moving to find that divine beast.”

“That damn bitch….”

The moment he heard the story, the Cult Leader’s complexion became even more fierce.

The two powers that divided the Heaven and Earth Cult.

The power following the Cult Leader and the power following the Saintess.

When the Heaven and Earth Cult was first established, many people gathered based on these two, the Cult Leader and the Saintess. However, as the power gradually increased and strength and influence grew, from some point on, the faction split into two and the power was divided.

Of course, the Cult Leader’s power was so overwhelming that the Saintess’s power couldn’t do anything, but if that bitch got her hands on Baek-ho, the balance of power could change significantly.

“Where is that bitch?”

“…She is currently in Sichuan.”

The Cult Leader frowned.

If it was Sichuan, although it was quite a distance from Hubei, it couldn’t be called a distance that couldn’t be reached if one set their mind to it. Furthermore, as she might get her hands on the spiritual creature the Saintess desired most, it was certain that she would move in some way.

She was annoying.

She was extremely annoying.

He closed his eyes for a moment and thought.

She was a girl he had raised since childhood because she was useful. Using her exotic appearance and beauty, he, the Cult Leader himself, had directly made her into the Saintess and revered her, and thanks to that, she was also an existence that allowed him to command numerous believers and build a solid foundation.

But… she was annoying.

Was it because her head got big?

Or had she harbored such a mind from the beginning? Seeing as every single action of that bitch seemed to be coveting his position as Cult Leader, it seemed like it was slowly time to sort her out.

If that bitch died, the cultists would be even more enraged and bare their fangs at the Orthodox Murim.

The Cult Leader let out a smirk.

“Sichuan, huh… The Tang family was there, right?”

* * *

“Euuha, euhahaha-!”

“Kyaaak!”

The crazily runaway carriage was quickly rushing westward across the main road. Because it was speeding so much, a big accident would have occurred if passing people hadn’t dodged themselves.

Smack-!

“Kkuwek!?”

And instantly, Jang Sam-tae’s head couldn’t resist the fierce force and fell forward, and Namgung So-hye, who didn’t miss that moment, reached out and snatched the reins.

“Whoa- Whoa whoa-!”

Soon, as the carriage slowly lost its speed, Namgung So-hye only then let out a sigh of relief and sharply looked back at Jang Sam-tae.

“What are you doing?!”

“No, what do you mean! What if you hit someone’s head like that? I thought it was going to fall off!”

Jang Sam-tae touched his head while suppressing his anger.

The throbbing wasn’t a joke.

If it had been just a little stronger, his skull might have been crushed.

She couldn’t help but be a terrible bitch.

“If I hadn’t done that, you would already be dead.”

However, Namgung So-hye also had something to say.

Glaring with an extremely sharp expression, she glanced and pointed towards the carriage. There, the figures of Dan Wu-hyun, Namgung Cheon, and Sa Do-hak, with their eyes wide open with a blue tint, were seen.

They seemed to be feeling extremely offended because of the fiercely shaking carriage.

“Ah…! T-That… I just felt good so I did that. Hehehe.”

“Do it in moderation.”

“Understood!”

At Dan Wu-hyun’s coldly heard words, Jang Sam-tae answered vigorously and snatched the reins back again. Seeing as he wasn’t dispirited at all even though he was scolded, it was certain that something pleasant had happened.

Did he drink alcohol or something?

At that moment, Namgung So-hye grabbed between her eyebrows and shook her head.

“No matter how I look at it… I don’t think it’s something to be happy about.”

“I have to be happy! Yeah!”

Jang Sam-tae spoke brazenly with a smile on his face.

Although he hadn’t been able to recognize the guy, what about it? He had caught him even if it was late, and the wanted posters that had been distributed would also be retrieved, so hadn’t he gotten the chance to taste true freedom?

“It must be nice to be simple.”

“Hey! Let’s forget about what’s past! We have to live brightly in the world! How long are we going to live bound by the past?”

Namgung So-hye looked at Jang Sam-tae with a dumbfounded expression.

Who was it that was suffering inwardly just a few days ago?

It was none other than Jang Sam-tae.

But now that some time had passed, not thinking about his own mistake at all was truly an absurd situation.

How could a person be so simple?

The fact that a person was this simple was also something to think about.

“Heoheo- Don’t corner him too much. Either way, it’s true that we caught a large group of the Heaven and Earth Cult thanks to that guy, so we have to say he made a contribution.”

“That’s right! It’s a relief. We don’t have to go around hiding anymore, and I can go to the guest house together with mister too. Isn’t that right?”

“Right? Puhaha-! As expected, I only have So-mi. Everything you say is right. Now we’ll hold hands and go to the guest house, and go to the market street too! Let’s wander around excitedly!”

However, at Dan So-mi’s words heard from behind, Jang Sam-tae laughed loudly. Perhaps his mood that had hit rock bottom had soared up again, a lot of anticipation dwelt in his sparkling eyes and expression.

However, instantly, Dan So-mi’s expression changed.

An awkward expression was evident as if she was reluctant about something.

“H-Hold, hold hands? A-Ahaha…. Mister, please go alone.”

“What?”

“No… it’s nothing.”

Dan So-mi seemed unable to speak loudly, forcing a bitter smile and slyly turning her head. Even so, since she wasn’t a child anymore, she seemed reluctant to wander around holding hands.

Whether he knew her feelings or not, Jang Sam-tae looked at the large village visible far in the distance and opened his mouth with an excited expression.

“It’s the Sichuan provincial capital soon! Haha-!”

Sichuan, where the mainstream families and sects of the Orthodox faction were virtually gathered.

The provincial capital of that place was visible right before their eyes.

If they went forward just a little more like this, they would enter Qinghai, and from there they would exit to Xinjiang. If so, they could arrive at their destination, the Heavenly Mountain.

“We won’t stop by the provincial capital.”

“Yes?!”

At Dan Wu-hyun’s voice heard at that moment, Jang Sam-tae yelled out in startle. This was the same for the others too, because they couldn’t believe they wouldn’t stop by the most bustling place in Sichuan.

However, Dan Wu-hyun smoothly received their gazes with an indifferent expression.

“The sun hasn’t even risen to the middle of the sky. Just go like this.”

“A… no! Do you really have no intention of stopping by the Sichuan provincial capital?”

Sa Do-hak shouted in bewilderment.

What kind of nonsense was it to say they wouldn’t stop by the provincial capital while saying it was a sightseeing trip? It was already an arduous journey, but if there wasn’t even this kind of joy, how were they supposed to endure it?

“We have a long way to go.”

“Heo…. I-It is so, but… isn’t it too much? You have to give the old men time to rest.”

Even Namgung Cheon stepped forward and rebuked Dan Wu-hyun, but he remained motionless, not having the thought to change his mind. However, his words weren’t wrong because they still had to travel a long way from Sichuan to the Heavenly Mountain.

“Still… wouldn’t it be okay to stop by for a moment?”

At that moment, Dan So-mi threw a question while staring blankly. She thought it would be good to see it at least once since it was still the provincial capital of Sichuan.

“That’s right, Young Master Dan. I’ll ask for a favor too.”

Soon, as even Namgung So-hye pleaded with her eyes sparkling brightly, Dan Wu-hyun shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

“Just for one day.”

“Thank you!”

As Dan So-mi and Namgung So-hye burst into exclamations with radiant smiles, it felt like the atmosphere in the carriage had become much brighter.

However, the eyes of the men looking at Dan Wu-hyun were not like that. They made dumbfounded and absurd expressions and soon let out hollow laughs.

Jang Sam-tae, who glanced from the driver’s seat and watched the sight, frowned as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have and turned his gaze again.

“Anyway… since he’s a man too, keok?!”

Smack!

Soon, his vision was dyed pitch-black.

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