Chapter 155: Black Ghost (2)
Chapter 154 – Black Ghost (2)
“May I ask you just one thing?”
As Im Tae-pung asked cautiously, Namgung Cheon nodded.
“You are free to ask. I am also free not to answer.”
“Why are you telling me to send the cadets to Guilin?”
“So you were curious about that. Should I answer you?”
In the darkness, only Namgung Cheon’s eyes seemed to flash bright blue.
Sensing a strange killing intent, Im Tae-pung swallowed hard and shook his head.
“Never mind. I will ask something else instead.”
“You are quite curious.”
“Because it concerns my life. How can I trust that you will give me the antidote if I do as I am told?”
“Because I have made up my mind to do so. Well, if you cannot trust me, it is not a bad idea to risk your life and gamble once.”
“Ugh.”
“We investigated you, and just the bribes you pocketed all this time would be more than enough to get you kicked out of the Alliance. You did a lot of devious things. If all of that is exposed, not only will you die, but won’t your remaining family be in danger as well?”
“……!”
Im Tae-pung wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and nodded with difficulty.
“I understand what you mean.”
“I am glad you understand. Well, I will be going now.”
Having finished speaking, Namgung Cheon vanished as if melting into the darkness.
After a moment, when he felt absolutely no presence, Im Tae-pung stared blankly into the darkness and called out softly.
“Did you… go? Are you gone?”
There was no response.
Only then did Im Tae-pung let out a sigh and spit out curses.
“Dog-like bastard! How dare you poison me? A bastard who wouldn’t be enough even if I tore him to pieces! Who on earth is he?”
“I haven’t left yet, you bastard.”
“Uhhck!”
Startled out of his wits, Im Tae-pung recoiled in horror.
He really could not feel even a trace of presence, but had Namgung Cheon not appeared like a ghost from the darkness?
“Ah, what a cunning bastard. Acting all nice and obedient to my face. What? A dog-like bastard? Tear me to pieces?”
“It… it was a slip of the tongue.”
“Don’t you know that a single mistake in the Jianghu means crossing the river to the underworld?”
“Please forgive me.”
“An insolent bastard who is even shameless.”
“But why haven’t you left… Ugh…! Kuueeegh!”
Suddenly feeling nauseous, Im Tae-pung bent over and began to vomit.
Namgung Cheon stared blankly at the vomiting Im Tae-pung before speaking.
“There was something I forgot, so I came back to tell you.”
“W-what is it? Ugh! Uuuegh!”
“The medicine you swallowed has some side effects. Should I say its flaw is that it causes frequent vomiting?”
“Such a… Ugh!”
“Hmm… it is not a very pleasant sight to watch, so I will leave now.”
“W-wait…! Uuuogh!”
Barely holding back the rising nausea again, Im Tae-pung rushed somewhere.
Im Tae-pung, who barely managed to find a bucket, buried his head in it and vomited repeatedly. After retching for a long time, Im Tae-pung barely regained his composure and called out.
“Did you… go? Are you really gone?”
This time, there was really no presence.
“Such a dog-like bastard… to give me such a dreadful poison…!”
“I haven’t left yet, you bastard.”
“Heck! No, why aren’t you leaving! Ugh! Uuuegh!”
“I was watching to see if you would curse at me. You really are an insolent bastard. You curse at me without fail whenever I’m not around, don’t you?”
“It’s a… a misunderstanding. I will absolutely not curse at you again. So please, at least let me stop vomiting, ugh…! Kuueeegh! Huff, huff…! Hey? I won’t even ask for the antidote, so please… Hey? Hey, don’t pretend you left again… Huh? I know you’re still here…”
Left alone in his quarters, Im Tae-pung’s sorrowful voice continued for a long time.
* * *
The short rest period passed.
The cadets gathered at the Ascension Pavilion training ground for the first time in a while.
The exploits of the cadets who had been dispatched to the Righteous Sword Squad had already become quite a famous story within the Martial Alliance.
Therefore, as soon as Jin So-hong saw Namgung Cheon, she ran over with a brightened face.
“Long time no see, Namgung Cheon! I heard you made another tremendous achievement during the Righteous Sword Squad’s escort mission?”
Jin So-hong’s expression as her eyes sparkled was like someone looking at a stroke of unexpected good fortune.
For she was someone who equated Namgung Cheon’s exploits with his value.
She clenched her fists and muttered as if to herself.
“If I had known it would be like this, I should have gone to the Righteous Sword Squad too!”
Then Yun Jong-seung, who was listening nearby, abruptly chimed in.
“It is not like you can go just because you want to. You have to be designated.”
“I suppose that is true.”
As Jin So-hong immediately wore a sullen look, Yun Jong-seung squared his shoulders and raised his chin.
“Still, it is a good thing you did not join the Righteous Sword Squad. If you had, it would have been extremely dangerous. That was truly a major incident.”
“Really? I want to hear the details! Tell me! Oh, come to think of it, I heard you also defeated an unorthodox martial artist?”
As Jin So-hong’s eyes sparkled, Yun Jong-seung’s face turned slightly red, and he suddenly assumed a solemn expression, lowering his voice.
“Mmh. The events of that day were so cruel that it is difficult to even recall them, but I shall tell you in detail for the sake of Lady Jin.”
“Uh… but why did your way of speaking suddenly change…”
“Shh. Listen carefully. I am not a man who speaks of bad memories twice.”
“Uh… okay…”
“I was purposely running a bit further back that day.”
“Why?”
“Because I foresaw that those bastards would target the backs of my comrades. I felt that if a chaotic battle broke out, someone would surely target the backs of my precious friends.”
“Ah! And then?”
“My prediction was correct! I saw one of the Three Killers of Guizhou trying to launch a surprise attack from behind Young Hero Paeng! At that moment, I dashed forward like a gale! The sound of the wind brushing past my ears felt like a blade! Perhaps I heard the bastard’s killing intent with my ears at that moment.”
“K-killing intent with your ears…?”
“Shh. That is not the important part.”
No, why did he keep shushing her?
“I unleashed a single punch without hesitation! No, to say there was no hesitation would be a lie. I hesitated. Was it really alright for me to kill someone? Even if this person is an evil-doer, is life not noble? In the end, I resolved not to kill him. Thus, I hurriedly withdrew my energy, but…”
“But…?”
“My blow was stronger than I thought. Hit by my strike, the fellow—who was a ferocious god of evil, the number one unorthodox martial artist of Guizhou, an evil man hated by the world, a public enemy of the martial world, and a creature like an asura or yaksha—flew away like a leaf in the autumn wind. He ended up dying instantly.”
Yun Jong-seung let out a bitter sigh and looked up at the sky with a sorrowful expression.
“I still cannot forget the sensation of that moment. To think I actually killed someone. I realized that with great power comes great responsibility.”
“I see. I wonder what it feels like to kill a person? It is still so unfamiliar to me.”
Suddenly, Yun Jong-seung grabbed Jin So-hong’s hand.
“Lady Jin, do not worry. As long as I am here, I will make sure your hands do not get stained with blood. I am already someone who has entered the path of blood. Now, punishing the wicked is my only mission. In fact, even when I killed the Three Killers of Guizhou, I was just as usual…”
*Whack!*
Yun Jong-seung, whose back of the head suddenly felt like it was on fire, bowed his head and rubbed it with his hand.
“You are truly full of nonsense.”
As Namgung Cheon brushed off his hand and clicked his tongue, Yun Jong-seung looked back with a feigned look of grievance.
“It is true! You were somewhere else that day. In my joy of truly resolving the villain and completing the mission…”
*Whack!*
The back of Yun Jong-seung’s head caught fire once again.
“Ack!”
This time it was Paeng Su-hyeok.
He clicked his tongue and continued.
“Cut the pathetic acting. What joy of completing the mission from a guy who was shaking the corpse and crying for it to wake up? Ugh, my fingers and toes are about to curl up and fall off, you bastard.”
“B-but it is true that I killed him!”
As Yun Jong-seung shouted with pouting lips, Jin So-hong, who was only listening, burst into a giggle.
However, Murong Gang, who had been silently listening from the side, sneered coldly.
“Making such a fuss just because you caught a few petty criminals.”
At that instant, Paeng Su-hyeok flinched and turned around.
“Hey, what did you just say?”
“Why? Did I say something wrong? Since when did the Three Killers of Guizhou become the number one unorthodox martial artists of Guizhou?”
“While being the number one unorthodox martial artists of Guizhou is just that guy’s exaggeration, there is no one in the Jianghu who does not know them. Is your nitpicking due to inferiority?”
“It seems you do not know the meaning of inferiority.”
“What?”
“Inferiority is an emotion felt by a lower human when looking up at someone superior to them. Just like what you feel when you look at me.”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
*Sliiiide!*
Unable to contain his anger, Paeng Su-hyeok drew the broadsword he was carrying on his back, and the surrounding atmosphere instantly turned freezing cold.
Murong Gang narrowed his eyes and muttered.
“Drawing a blade in the Jianghu means risking your neck.”
*Clang!*
Before long, Murong Gang also drew the sword at his waist.
The glares of the two tangled fiercely in midair.
It was a touch-and-go situation.
“Fine, let’s take this chance to clearly see which one of us is inferior!”
*Whoosh!*
Paeng Su-hyeok instantly kicked off the ground and flew forward.
Right at that moment.
*Clap, clap, clap!*
At the sudden sound of clapping, Paeng Su-hyeok hesitated and turned around.
Before anyone knew it, Bi Ryang had stepped onto the platform and was clapping his hands.
“My, youth is indeed wonderful. Training first thing in the morning. Well, sparring is fine, but shall we focus first?”
“Tsk!”
Paeng Su-hyeok clicked his tongue in regret and turned away.
Bi Ryang scanned the cadets and spoke.
“A new mission has been assigned to you again.”
“Are you designating people again?”
Paeng Su-hyeok abruptly raised his hand and asked.
Since he had performed well last time, he believed that he would be designated first this time.
But to his regret, Bi Ryang shook his head.
“No. This time, all of you will be taking on the new mission. You are going together.”
“All together?”
Paeng Su-hyeok frowned deeply and looked back at Murong Gang, Baek Mu-geuk, and the others.
They were cadets he never wanted to travel with if possible.
Whether he knew his inner thoughts or not, Bi Ryang smiled broadly and said.
“Yes. We are moving together this time. It will be fun, right? The Lord of the Homin Pavilion will tell you about the mission directly.”
As Bi Ryang stepped aside, the Lord of the Homin Pavilion, Im Tae-pung, walked out of the pavilion.
However, for some reason, Im Tae-pung was pale as a sheet and looked just like a sick person.
Im Tae-pung, who stumbled up onto the platform, scanned the cadets with hollow eyes.
Seeing that sight, Paeng Su-hyeok slightly frowned.
‘What is with him? Why is he like that? He looks like someone who barely survived.’
Im Tae-pung gently stroked his belly as he examined the cadets one by one.
‘Why did that Black Ghost tell me to send these fellows to Guilin?’
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand.
It was not like he was telling me to send elite units. To send cadets.
He had thought about informing the Alliance Leader and consulting him about this matter, but…
‘I cannot risk my life on a gamble for no reason.’
If the Black Ghost were to find out, the antidote would be out of reach.
Even now, nausea kept rising, driving him to the brink of death.
‘Could it be that one of these kids is related to the Black Ghost?’