Chapter 151: There Is No One In The World I Can Trust (1)
Chapter 150 – There Is No One In The World I Can Trust (1)
“Y-Yes.”
“Hmm. So you went in to rob the house of the Regional Military Commissioner of Guizhou Province, and coincidentally checked the map of the Demonic Pill Valley.”
“Y-Yes. Since it was a map kept in a safe, I naturally thought it was quite important and stole it. But it turned out to be the map of the Demonic Pill Valley.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Wh-What do you mean?”
“Why does the Regional Military Commissioner have the map of the Demonic Pill Valley?”
A Regional Military Commissioner is a high-ranking official corresponding to the second rank. In short, he can be said to be the supreme authority governing the area of Guizhou Province.
Did the government decide to intervene in the affairs of the martial world, ignoring the custom of non-interference between the government and the martial world? Or did he just happen to obtain that map by chance?
Moreover, where is the Demonic Pill Valley?
It is a treasury where the elixirs collected or made by the Demonic Cult are piled up.
Originally, it was at the Demonic Cult headquarters, but it was said that the Cult Leader moved it to a place only he knew around the time of their downfall.
After the destruction of the Demonic Cult, how much slaughter did all the people of the Jianghu engage in to find that Demonic Pill Valley?
However, in the end, the location of the Demonic Pill Valley was not revealed.
Yet, to think that map came from the room of the Regional Military Commissioner of Guizhou Province.
While Namgung Cheon was lost in thought, the Thieving Ghost laid out his own guess.
“Th-That, I also do not know… but couldn’t someone have offered it as a bribe to the Regional Military Commissioner, or could he have acquired it by chance?”
“Hmm. The probability is low…”
“Because there are too many things that happen by chance in the world. And in this case, one thing is understandable.”
“What is the one thing that is understandable?”
“That the location of the Demonic Pill Valley has not been revealed all this time. Since the Regional Military Commissioner was keeping that map, no matter how hard the martial artists searched with eyes lit, they couldn’t find it.”
That seems to make some sense.
Because even in the Martial World, no one would have thought that the Regional Military Commissioner would possess the map of the Demonic Pill Valley.
“Fine, let’s pass that. But that map of the Demonic Pill Valley doesn’t exist now, right?”
“Y-Yes.”
“You definitely stole it, but you don’t have it?”
“Yes…”
The Thieving Ghost’s voice got smaller and smaller.
Whack!
“Keugh!”
In that instant, Namgung Cheon whacked the back of the Thieving Ghost’s head and glared.
“Hey, you bastard. Do you expect me to believe that now? Who are you taking lightly?”
Thud! Whack! Slap! Thud! Thud, thud!
“Urgh! Keugh! Argh! It-It’s true! Argh!”
“Look at this bastard’s tolerance for beating. Fine, let’s see how long you can hold out.”
Whack! Thud! Whack…!
“Urrgh! I said it’s true, you motherfucker!”
In the end, when the Thieving Ghost even spat out curses and went into a spasm, Namgung Cheon stopped his hand and glared.
The Thieving Ghost flinched, pulled his neck in like a turtle, and spoke.
“It’s true! Really!”
“Really?”
“I told you it is! If I kept the map, isn’t it obvious that I would be harassed by the guys targeting it? So I memorized it all and burned it.”
“No, then you should have said so in the first place. You just said you didn’t have it, so I thought you were lying that you lost it somewhere.”
“It wasn’t a lie! I said I didn’t have it because I really don’t have it!”
Whack!
“Argh! Why did you hit me again!”
“Where do you think you’re raising your voice, you bastard? And you cursed at me earlier, you bastard.”
“That…!”
The Thieving Ghost, who was flaring up, met Namgung Cheon’s cold gaze and immediately shrank back, muttering.
Damn fellow! What about him being a lot younger but constantly speaking informally and spitting out curses?
However, the Thieving Ghost had no intention of resisting Namgung Cheon anymore.
Because scratching a guy who didn’t even seem human would bring no benefit.
Moreover, Namgung Cheon recognized lies like a ghost. The problem was that even when he spoke the truth, there were times he mistook it for a lie.
“Anyway, the map doesn’t exist.”
“Hmm. Instead, you memorized it clearly?”
“Yes.”
“How can I trust your head?”
“Even if I look like this, my thieving career alone is forty years.”
“How old are you?”
“Forty-three.”
“This bastard, he lies whenever he opens his mouth.”
Swish!
When Namgung Cheon raised his hand again in a flash, the startled Thieving Ghost reflexively raised his arms and shouted.
“Heh! It’s true! I still vividly remember stealing dumplings from the market street when I was three!”
“Quite something to boast about, you bastard!”
Whack!
“Keugh! This f…”
“F…?”
“F… For ten… more years, I will reach the realm of the God of Thieves… is what I am thinking.”
Whack!
“Look at his quick-witted speech.”
Argh, he hits me no matter what I do, this son of a bitch!
Indeed, not only curses but even harsher words surged within the Thieving Ghost.
However, if he behaved according to his temper, he wouldn’t die at his natural age.
In the end, the Thieving Ghost continued his words with a resigned heart.
“Anyway, to build up forty years of career in thievery, one has to be well-versed in geography. I rarely forget a road I’ve walked once, and I can memorize a map I’ve spread out in less than half a quarter of an hour.”
“Oh. A fellow who would even enter the imperial palace.”
“I am also well-versed in the structure of the imperial palace. I just don’t enter because I have only one life. Hehe.”
Whack!
“Don’t laugh. Draw it.”
Namgung Cheon pointed at the ground and gestured with his chin.
The Thieving Ghost, who rubbed the back of his head, gritted his teeth inwardly.
Damn bastard. Talking as if he left it in my care.
However, what could he do? Bound in Qi-Suppressing Iron, he was in a situation where he couldn’t even use his internal energy as he pleased. Shouldn’t he first do as told and survive?
“You know, right? If you play tricks, you get a spanking.”
“Keugh. Th-Then…”
Clank… clank…!
The Thieving Ghost dragged the Qi-Suppressing Iron and began to move his hands. The drawing, which started with simple lines at first, gradually took shape.
Scratch… scratch.
Namgung Cheon narrowed his eyes and closely examined the internal energy flowing within the Thieving Ghost’s body.
The internal energy of the Thieving Ghost, who was bound in Qi-Suppressing Iron, was in an extremely sensitive state. Because of this, whenever he lied, the internal energy that was circulating smoothly would fluctuate.
With that alone, Namgung Cheon could determine the truth of what the Thieving Ghost said.
Whack!
“Ouch! Wh-Why!”
“I told you, if you play tricks, you get a spanking.”
When Namgung Cheon glared, the flinched Thieving Ghost smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, I made a brief mistake. Haha. It wasn’t this way, but here.”
“If you play tricks again, you die. I told you, right? I have a lie detector.”
Damn it, ghost-like bastard. How does he notice everything?
The Thieving Ghost rubbed the ground and drew the map again.
For the Thieving Ghost, it was truly driving him crazy. Whether it was a lie detector or whatever, he even suspected whether Namgung Cheon was really using mind reading.
Like that, how much time passed?
The Thieving Ghost, who had been drawing lines on the ground for a long time, wiped the sweat flowing on his forehead with his sleeve and said.
“I’ve drawn it all.”
Namgung Cheon extended the torch to light up the map drawn by the Thieving Ghost.
Indeed, it was a precise map.
‘This… is a real map.’
Namgung Cheon was someone who had fled across the entire Central Plains, treating it like his own courtyard. There was no place in the Central Plains he had not been to.
Moreover, if it were a map of this level of precision, it was clearly real. The flow of internal energy was also normal, so it was not a lie.
However…
“How are you sure this is the map of the Demonic Pill Valley? Have you been there?”
“Th-That…”
Whack!
“Keugh!”
When the Thieving Ghost, struck on the back of his head, tumbled forward, Namgung Cheon shook his hands and said.
“You’ve been there, you’ve been there. Didn’t you smuggle everything out, you bastard?”
“Keugh. No. To smuggle it out, it’s too…”
“Too?”
“…I heard it was a large amount.”
“Oho. Really?”
For once, Namgung Cheon smiled as if genuinely in a good mood.
“So?”
“I was just… looking for trustworthy guys to work with…”
“And you got caught?”
“Yes.”
“How unlucky. Tsk tsk.”
As Namgung Cheon clicked his tongue, the Thieving Ghost cursed inwardly.
You dog-like bastard, meeting you is the most unlucky thing in my life!
Swallowing such thoughts, he asked with a pitiful expression.
“A-Are you sparing my life now?”
“Of course I should spare your life. Since you left such a precious gift.”
“Thank you.”
“Anyway, if you die, it will leave a stain on my first apprentice life.”
“Ah…”
“Before that, I need to check one thing.”
“Check what?”
“Whether you really haven’t consumed a single elixir.”
“Really! If I ate it, would I be doing this here?”
“Indeed. That’s true. Still, just in case, let’s check once.”
Namgung Cheon walked closer and placed his palm on the crown of the Thieving Ghost’s head.
The Thieving Ghost furrowed his brow slightly.
“Why check in this way…?”
“How many children have you stolen all this time?”
“Why do you ask that? About… ten?”
“Fine. That’s enough.”
“What…”
“Reason to receive punishment.”
“Keugh!”
In an instant, the Thieving Ghost’s back arched like a bow.
The vast energy pouring from Namgung Cheon’s palm ruthlessly penetrated through the Thieving Ghost’s crown.
Soon, the Thieving Ghost shook violently and his eyes rolled back. Subsequently, fresh blood began to flow from his nose.
“Keuuugh! Aaaaaarggh!”
The Thieving Ghost’s scream echoed wretchedly in the cave.
Namgung Cheon muttered with an indifferent face.
“I am sparing your life. But if you babble about this in other places too, it will become meaningless, right?”
* * *
Namgung Cheon, who finished his recollection, slowly opened his closed eyes.
“Hmm. Since I made him completely brain-dead, one thing is resolved…”
“Who is brain-dead?”
“Keugh! Oh my, startle me! What? You!”
“Why are you so surprised? Lord.”
The Azure Eagle Squad Captain Son U-gon, who was asking right beside him, tilted his head.
Namgung Cheon sighed and shook his head.
“It seems I am too unmindful of you guys. In the past, this was something absolutely unimaginable.”
Needless to say.
In his past life, wasn’t he someone who even paid attention to ants passing under his feet?
Yet, to think he didn’t realize until Son U-gon approached right beside him.
“I’ve become too lazy. Damn it. To be this defenseless.”
Then Son U-gon showed a slightly hurt expression.
“Lord, you can be defenseless in front of us.”
“Forget it. Not trusting a single bastard in the world is my life’s motto.”
“For you to say that, just now… you were too defenseless?”
“Quiet.”
When Namgung Cheon clicked his tongue and turned his gaze away, Son U-gon smiled gently.
‘Lord, you can be defenseless in front of us anytime. We will protect you risking our lives.’
Son U-gon, who withdrew his thoughts, returned to a serious expression and asked.
“By the way, what were you thinking about so deeply? To the extent that you didn’t even know I came next to you. Do you happen to have any worries?”
“No. It’s nothing, so don’t mind it.”
“Hmm. Then may I ask one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Did you happen to be the one who made the Thieving Ghost a fool, Lord?”
Namgung Cheon, who was inwardly startled, opened his eyes wide and shrugged his shoulders.
“Huh? No? Absolutely not?”
You’re making it too obvious!
Son U-gon paused for a moment and then asked again.
“May I ask if you found out something?”
“Hey, hey! I told you there is not a single person to trust! Are you already targeting my stuff?”
“Yes? Yours? What is?”