Chapter 154: Black Ghost (1)
Chapter 153 – Black Ghost (1)
“Lord, be careful.”
Namgung Cheon chuckled at Black Line’s warning.
“Don’t worry. I’ve become a master at infiltration, escape, and spying by now.”
“How many times have you even done it…”
Black Line, who was speaking thoughtlessly, shut his mouth when he saw Namgung Cheon glaring at him.
He put the ledger back on the bookshelf and asked.
“What shall we do about the medicine?”
“Is there by any chance a fellow in Wuhan who is best at making strange medicines?”
“It’s just that distributing deadly poison is hard, but there is indeed one person who manufactures all kinds of medicines.”
“That would be fine too.”
As Namgung Cheon nodded while lost in thought, Black Line asked carefully.
“But are you really not going to tell me what is going on?”
“What?”
“Why you are suddenly asking about Guilin…”
“Do you want to know? You have a lot of curiosity, don’t you? Our Leader Black Line.”
When Namgung Cheon smiled somewhat bloodthirstily, Black Line quickly corrected his posture and grinned.
“No. Curiosity in the Jianghu is always close to death. There is also a saying that ignorance is bliss, isn’t there?”
“Don’t you think you know too much to say such a thing?”
Namgung Cheon glanced at the ledgers filling the surrounding bookshelves.
Certainly, it was the place where the saying “ignorance is bliss” suited the least.
Black Line smiled and said.
“Knowledge is power.”
* * *
Son Ji-baek, a gate guard at the Im Family Estate, was patrolling today without fail, walking along the wall.
Trudging along, he asked the young warrior walking beside him as if throwing a question.
“How much longer until the shift change?”
“There is still one double-hour left, brother.”
As the young warrior replied with a grin, Son Ji-baek let out a long sigh and shook his head.
“Why is there still a double-hour left?”
“Because you ask ten times before even half a quarter-hour passes, brother.”
“Did I ask that frequently?”
“Yes, brother. You asked precisely twelve times.”
“Damn, time is slow today of all days.”
“Well, do you have some urgent business?”
“Urgent business, my foot. I just want to finish quickly and rest. Boring, boring.”
The young warrior chucked and replied.
“Still, there is no job as good as this. Moderate high salary, no risk of getting hurt. Isn’t this quite a sweet job?”
“You kid, you have no ambition as a young fellow. In my days, punk, I tried so hard to succeed somehow, enter the Martial Alliance, and hold power once.”
“You tried that hard, and now you are here.”
Son Ji-baek stopped abruptly and raised his eyebrows.
“Are you picking on me now?”
“Ayy, why go that far. I just know my limits well. My motto is to go thin and long. Hehe.”
“Sigh, you frustrating youth. By the way, my stomach is starting to hurt slightly.”
“Are you alright? Shouldn’t you take some medicine?”
“I know. Did the grilled fish I ate for dinner cause trouble?”
“I guess it caused trouble because you ate it alone without me. Still, for someone whose stomach was strong, what’s going on?”
“You will see when you age too. Something is bound to break one by one. Ugh…! I can’t hold it anymore. You go ahead first. I’ll drop by the outhouse and go.”
“Yes, brother. Don’t take too long.”
“I cannot guarantee that.”
Son Ji-baek clutched his stomach and ran quickly.
Son Ji-baek, who passed the corner and was heading to the outhouse, stopped when he entered between the pavilions where no one was seen.
In that instant, his gaze turned sharp.
‘No presence…’
Son Ji-baek, who checked the surroundings by spreading his sensory qi, turned his steps, bypassed the outhouse as it was, opened the kitchen door, and went in.
Closing the door from the inside, he began to hover in the darkness.
‘It’s time he arrived. Why isn’t he coming?’
He received an instruction from the Obscurity Society Leader.
That the Lord would infiltrate the Im Family Estate through the Path Under the Lantern, so prepare in advance.
Just then, a sound of someone talking was heard outside.
Quickly killing his presence and listening, two servants were passing by while chatting.
He let out a sigh of relief and turned around,
“Gasp!”
The startled Son Ji-baek fell flat on his back while retreating as it was.
“Keuuugh…”
A hand that suddenly poked out of the black furnace!
Subsequently, that hand pressed the floor, and did a being covered in ashes not crawl out?
‘Whoa, I almost wet my pants. I can’t get used to this no matter how many times I see it.’
Finally, the opponent who emerged completely from the furnace was stained black all over with ashes, looking truly like a starving ghost.
That starving ghost was none other than Namgung Cheon.
Namgung Cheon grumbled constantly while shaking his clothes.
“Ptooey, ptooey! Ah, damn! Why on earth did they make such a place the exit! Just the soot I ate is enough to fill my stomach! Damn it!”
“L-Lord…?”
Namgung Cheon, who flinched, saw Son Ji-baek and threw the password.
“When the carriage parts the darkness and crosses the Milky Way?”
“Yes? What crosses what?”
“You bastard, weren’t you from the Obscurity Society?”
When Namgung Cheon raised his killing intent, Son Ji-baek quickly waved his hands and said.
“Y-Yes, that’s right! I am Son Ji-baek. The Obscurity Society member in charge of the Im Family Estate!”
“But why don’t you say ‘starlight pours down on the Im Family Estate,’ you punk?”
“Ah… that… since there was no need for it, it has been quite a while since we stopped using it.”
“You don’t use it? Why?”
“Because an ordinary person has no reason to crawl out of a furnace.”
“Ah…”
Leader, that bastard. Let’s wait and see.
Namgung Cheon huffed, shook off the ashes once more, and asked.
“Where is Im Tae-pung’s quarters?”
“Go straight out, go straight ahead, and the large building on the left is the room where the family head stays.”
“Understood, good job.”
“Ah, going just like that…!”
However, Son Ji-baek could not finish his words.
Because Namgung Cheon’s figure had already vanished.
He muttered to himself in the empty kitchen.
“‘Starlight pours down on the Im Family Estate’… should I have said it? Sigh.”
* * *
The Lord of the People-Protecting Pavilion Im Tae-pung was having a sweet dream after a long time in his room.
Gold and silver treasures were scattered throughout the world, and naked women clung to Im Tae-pung, whispering sweet words.
‘Excellent, very good.’
But suddenly feeling a chilling sensation, when he looked down, did a woman’s face not distort hideously?
Soon, the woman’s appearance gradually changed, taking the shape of the one he never wanted to recall again.
“You, Great Killing Star!”
Before he knew it, the opponent with Jin Cheon-rang’s face licked the dagger with his tongue and pressed the dagger against his ankle.
“Did you think you could keep your limbs intact even after showing killing intent to me?”
‘N-No!’
However, the Great Killing Star Jin Cheon-rang slashed Im Tae-pung’s ankle with the dagger without a sliver of hesitation.
Slash!
“Huff!”
Im Tae-pung, who reflexively opened his eyes wide, breathed heavily and looked at the dark ceiling.
‘A dream…?’
As his chest calmed down little by little, he could tell he had a bad nightmare.
He thought he wouldn’t dream of it anymore.
The nightmare that had plagued him terribly for a while after losing one of his ankles.
The despair of having one’s ankle cut at the very best moment.
‘Damn…’
A sigh mixed with unpleasant emotion and relief flowed out.
Im Tae-pung, who was about to close his eyes, flinched and opened them wide again.
‘Who is it…?’
Someone is in the room!
Because the presence was so faint, he almost failed to feel it.
Perhaps the nightmare he just had was precisely due to this heterogeneous presence.
Gulp.
Im Tae-pung, who swallowed his dry saliva, opened his mouth as calmly as possible.
“What kind of expert of old are you?”
“Deceased, my foot. Get up, you bastard. If you knew a guest came, don’t just lie down and flap your mouth.”
Im Tae-pung flinched at the unhesitating speech and slowly got up.
Gazing into the darkness, he spread his sensory qi to the maximum.
‘The bodyguards…’
The presence of the bodyguards was not felt.
Just then, the voice was heard again in the darkness.
“Don’t bother groping. Because I’ve put those three kids to sleep nicely.”
“…!”
The three kids must refer to the three bodyguards guarding the patriarch’s hall.
‘How can this be…’
The Im Family Estate must be guarded by layers of gate guards, and each of the bodyguards is a Peak expert.
Seeing that the outside is quiet, doesn’t it mean they don’t even know this uninvited guest visited his bedchamber?
The voice was heard again.
“Having as many as three guards. You’ve earned a lot of money. Or did you become more cautious because you limp on your leg?”
“…!”
The voice knew about him well.
Well, if he could enter this place, he would have come knowing who he was and what he did, so it was nothing new.
“You must have been dreaming a good dream before waking up? You were grinning and making strange sounds.”
Although the voice deployed a provocation, Im Tae-pung did not fall for it and replied bluntly.
“What is your business?”
“First, come here. We should talk after seeing each other’s face.”
Disclosing his face?
Does he intend to kill him?
Swallowing hard once again, Im Tae-pung carefully reached out.
It was to grab the sword leaning next to the bed.
However, the voice did not permit even that.
“Don’t do anything useless. Unless you want your remaining leg broken too.”
“Keugh.”
In the end, giving up on the sword, Im Tae-pung stood up limping and slowly walked.
Just then, the voice also slowly walked out, and his face was revealed by the starlight permeating through the window.
“Gasp!”
Startled in that instant, Im Tae-pung took a step back, lost his balance, and staggered.
That was because the face revealed by the starlight was completely covered in black soot.
With only his white eyes blinking, it was as if a ghost had appeared right before his nose.
The identity of the Black Ghost was none other than Namgung Cheon.
The moment the startled Im Tae-pung lost his balance and was about to fall, Namgung Cheon rushed like the wind and pulled his wrist.
“Gasp!”
Im Tae-pung, who was reflexively pulled out, felt something slip into his mouth.
‘What is this…?’
However, before he had time to carry his thoughts further, Namgung Cheon tapped Im Tae-pung’s chin upward with his palm.
Im Tae-pung, who suddenly swallowed something of unknown identity, retreated hesitantly with a pale face.
“Wh-What… did you just feed me!”
“It’s nothing much. Shall we say it’s medicine that is bad for the body?”
“You despicable! Keugh, cough!”
Im Tae-pung coughed to spit out the medicine quickly, but it was of no use.
Namgung Cheon shrugged his shoulders and said.
“Still, you can hold out for a month, so don’t worry.”
“A-A month…?”
“I will visit again in a month and give you the antidote.”
“Why on earth are you doing this to me? Who are you?”
“Who I am is not important.”
“What do you want?”
Im Tae-pung asked, sweating coldly.
“Recently, there must have been a support request from the Guilin Branch.”
“Guilin Branch?”
Im Tae-pung rolled his eyes as if searching his memory and soon nodded.
“Do you mean the request of the Flying Leap Sect? Did you happen to come from the Flying Leap Sect?”
“You have a lot of curiosity.”
“…!”
“Don’t ask further. Dispatch the apprentice cadets to the Guilin Branch.”
“The apprentice cadets?”
Im Tae-pung showed a bewildered expression.
He soon erased the Flying Leap Sect from the list of suspects.
Because if it were the Flying Leap Sect, they wouldn’t ask to send mere cadets.
Namgung Cheon continued.
“If you do just as you are told, you will live after a month.”
In the darkness, Namgung Cheon’s white teeth shone.