Chapter 60: Darkness Under the Lamp (4)
Chapter 59 – Darkness Under the Lamp (4)
The giant who stepped out of the tavern walked ahead with long strides. He walked as if weaving through the alleys, and when a quiet road with few people finally appeared, he glanced back at Namgung Cheon.
“We are here, Young Master.”
The giant said kindly, pointing to the inside of the alley.
Namgung Cheon suddenly recalled the past and replied roughly.
“I got it, you bastard.”
“…….”
The giant raised his eyebrows as if displeased, but Namgung Cheon did not care in the slightest.
He recalled the memory of the Obscurity Society refusing to give him information a long time ago, and though he wanted to say even harsher things, he was holding back.
Turning the corner, a carriage happened to be parked on one side of the alley.
Namgung Cheon slightly twisted his lips.
‘These bastards are still the same.’
Indeed, on the surface, it looked like a carriage that some young noble would ride.
Namgung Cheon chuckled and approached the carriage, tapping on the door.
Knock, knock.
Creak.
The door opened, revealing a man sitting inside the carriage.
An expressionless face.
The man asked indifferently.
“Going under the lamp?”
When Namgung Cheon nodded, the man gestured for him to get in.
Once Namgung Cheon climbed inside, the carriage door closed.
Clop, clop……
The carriage slowly set off, moving along.
Since the windows were closed, it was impossible to tell where they were going.
The man sitting opposite stared intently at Namgung Cheon.
Having no good memories of them either, harsh words burst from Namgung Cheon’s mouth.
“What are you glaring at?”
“Heh. You are a new face.”
“Do you bastards know every person in the Jianghu? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Your mouth is rough.”
“I can be even rougher, but I’m holding back.”
“Haha. There is no need to show off so blatantly that you are an unorthodox martial artist. After all, just knowing of our existence means you are not exactly an honorable martial artist.”
“Do I look to you like I’m doing this to act like an unorthodox martial artist?”
“Or…… do you hold a grudge against our society?”
The man asked with a smirk.
His tone suggested it did not matter whether there was a grudge or not.
He knew that no martial artist would dare touch them.
But would he still make that face if I told him I was the Great Killing Star? What kind of expression would he make if I told him I ground my teeth in agony for three months because of them?
Of course, I was not stupid enough to say that.
“This is just how I normally talk, you idiot.”
Well, that was the truth.
The man chuckled, scanned Namgung Cheon from head to toe, and asked.
“What do you want?”
“Cut the crap and just guide me. This isn’t a matter for a bastard like you to butt in.”
Only then did the man’s expression become quite serious.
As if his pride was slightly wounded, he stared at Namgung Cheon and asked.
“Do you have the ability to pay the price?”
Namgung Cheon silently unwrapped the black cloth and revealed the Emerald Silk Sword.
Sssring.
As he gripped the hilt and drew it slightly, the man flinched and reached for his waist.
Namgung Cheon smirked.
“Don’t be scared, you bastard. I’m just showing it to you. It’s a precious sword that even you guys wouldn’t easily get to see. Should be enough, right?”
“Where did you get it?”
Namgung Cheon smirked.
The man did not seem to realize yet that the sword Namgung Cheon held was the Emerald Silk Sword.
However, being a martial artist himself, he certainly seemed to recognize that it was no ordinary sword.
“Found it on the way.”
This time, the man chuckled.
“Well, if you do not want to reveal its origin, I will not force you. However, those above might take issue with it.”
“I’ll handle that myself.”
“Well, suit yourself. Then, to what level should I guide you?”
“I need to meet the Society Leader.”
“……!”
“Why? Can’t I? This is a really good sword. You won’t get cursed at.”
“Mmh. Understood. Then, first…….”
“Give it to me. I’ll put it on.”
When Namgung Cheon reached out his hand, the man widened his eyes in surprise once again. As he blankly pulled out a black cloth from his robe, Namgung Cheon snatched it and pulled it over his head.
Darkness fell before his eyes.
The man looked at Namgung Cheon with an absurd expression.
“Have you ever dealt with our society before?”
“No.”
“Yet you know our methods well.”
“The antics of bastards who live in mouse holes are all pretty much the same……”
Namgung Cheon, who was speaking, soon lost consciousness and his head drooped down.
It was due to the sleeping incense pre-applied to the black cloth.
For experts with an excellent sense of direction had the ability to guess their location based solely on the sounds from outside, the direction the carriage turned, and the paving of the road.
Namgung Cheon fell into a deep sleep, even snoring loudly.
The man shook his head and muttered.
“Where on earth did this guy roll in from?”
* * *
He had a dream.
It was a dream where delusions were added to what he had actually experienced in his past life.
Namgung Cheon…… no, Jin Cheon-rang had visited the Obscurity Society and met with the Society Leader in private.
However, because he had no money, the Society Leader did not give him the information, and Jin Cheon-rang, in a fit of anger, was supposed to slap the Society Leader’s cheek, but……
Slap!
Instead, Jin Cheon-rang’s cheek was whipped to the side.
His cheek stung so badly that he felt as if his soul was leaving him.
When the enraged Jin Cheon-rang quickly turned back, was the Society Leader not slapping him again?
Slap!
This wasn’t right.
Originally, I was the one who did the hitting? Of course, the opponent wasn’t the Society Leader, but his underling.
And the moment the third and final strike flew toward him, Namgung Cheon snapped his eyes open and grabbed the opponent’s wrist.
Tak!
Inside a dark cavern.
A man holding a torch wore a fishy smile.
“Are you finally awake?”
Namgung Cheon frowned for a moment, separating dream from reality.
‘Is this underground?’
Namgung Cheon released the man’s wrist and awkwardly stood up.
“How long was I asleep?”
“About half an hour.”
Half an hour.
It felt as if he had slept for half a day, but only that much time had passed?
In the meantime, Namgung Cheon had been moved from the carriage to lie inside a cavern whose location he did not know.
The Path Under the Lantern.
He had been here before.
For when he had visited the Obscurity Society in his past life, he had passed through this Path Under the Lantern.
A subterranean passage intricately tangled like a cobweb.
If they knew that such a complex road was dug deep beneath Wuhan, wouldn’t the Imperial Court be surprised, let alone the Martial Alliance?
Namgung Cheon checked the Emerald Silk Sword at his waist and slapped the man’s cheek without warning.
Slap!
“What the fuck……”
Even the man, who had maintained his composure all along, glared with wide eyes and spat out curses, having found it absurd this time.
“Lower your eyes, you bastard. You’re the one who hit first.”
“That was……!”
“Wake me up like this one more time, and I’ll kill you.”
The man was about to argue back but shook his head inwardly.
For he felt a strange sincerity in Namgung Cheon’s glaring expression.
With those glinting eyes, he had a madness that made it feel as though he might cause trouble without even knowing what he was doing.
“Madman.”
Ultimately, the man coldly spat out a word and led the way.
Namgung Cheon grumbled as he followed behind.
“Why didn’t you just take me straight to the Society Leader? Why wake me up here just to get cursed at and make a fuss?”
“Because you’re heavy.”
“Yet you carry women just fine?”
The man flinched and glanced back.
When Namgung Cheon glared at him with a look that asked, “What?” the man resumed walking.
The Obscurity Society actually received young women kidnapped by unorthodox martial artists, using them as sex slaves or selling them off.
At any rate, they did every evil deed imaginable.
‘Though leaking my information to the Martial Alliance was the most evil deed among them.’
After walking in silence for a long time, the man spoke in a flat voice.
“I do not know how you found out, but the matter of the women is not the will of everyone in our society.”
Look at this guy?
Is he holding out because he has some semblance of a conscience?
Namgung Cheon sneered.
“Then? Is it the Society Leader’s will?”
The man only walked on instead of answering. How long did they walk through that complex Path Under the Lantern?
By the time they had traveled so far that even if he were told to turn back, he would get confused and lose his way, the man finally reached the end of the anthill.
At the end of the anthill, there was a staircase.
Of course, the stairs leading to the surface would not be in this place alone.
The reason the bastards of the Obscurity Society showed the Path Under the Lantern to their clients was simple.
To have their greatness recognized.
It meant that since they possessed the ability to create such an anthill under Wuhan, one could trust and leave matters to them.
“We are here.”
The man spoke bluntly and headed up the stairs.
Upon opening the door and stepping out, the strong sunlight made him frown involuntarily.
It was a manor surrounded on all sides by high walls, and it was impossible to estimate exactly where it was.
It was different from last time again.
The Society Leader seemed to have relocated.
Seeing how frequently he moved his residence, he thought that perhaps the Obscurity Society did not have that much money.
Passing through the inner courtyard and the corridor, and turning a corner, a room appeared.
Two stout men stood guarding the entrance.
When the man approached the stout men and said something, they nodded and opened the door.
Namgung Cheon followed the man into the room.
There was a place that looked like a reception room, and beyond a hanging bead screen in the distance, a shadow could be seen.
A shadow plump with fat.
And the shadows of women, seemingly naked, were constantly clinging to the fat shadow.
To live in the Jianghu and have the luxury to grow fat while surrounded by women like that—was it not truly a blessed life?
The fat shadow looked in their direction and spoke in a greasy voice.
“Wait outside.”
At the fat shadow’s words, the man bowed his head and turned around.
Namgung Cheon quickly called out to the man.
“Hey.”
“……?”
“What is your name?”
The man frowned slightly and looked back at the fat shadow.
Since the shadow remained still, the man answered in a tossing manner.
“Call me Black Line.”
“Right, Black Line. You had a hard time.”
“Madman……”
Hearing things that sounded like his past life’s moniker after a long time made him feel good. It was like recovering his lost self.
Namgung Cheon sat on a chair next to a round table and placed the Emerald Silk Sword down with a thud.
“It’s been a while, Society Leader. You’ve gotten even fatter in the meantime.”
“……!”
The fat shadow beyond the bead screen flinched.
Namgung Cheon twisted his lips and continued.
“In the past, you received me with your face fully exposed, but have you switched to a mysterious concept now? Or did you hide because you’re too embarrassed by how fat you got? But do you know what? An ugly bastard has an ugly shadow, too.”
As Namgung Cheon cackled, killing intent blew from the surroundings like a freezing wind.
Shortly after, four shadows fell from the ceiling and drew their swords all at once.
Cha-cha-chang!
Namgung Cheon quickly scanned the aura of the four individuals.
‘Let’s see…… four peak experts. There are still two guys remaining beyond the bead screen. And the Society Leader is also at the peak.’
In total, there were seven peak experts. Among them, the Society Leader was the strongest. Next in strength were the two closely guarding the Society Leader.
Although the four who appeared in front of him were the weakest, they were still individuals who had crossed into the peak realm.
As expected of bodyguards, they were a bit stiff, though.
A greasy voice came from beyond the bead screen.
“Are you…… someone who knows me?”
“I know you all too well, you motherfucker.”
Although he did not hold grudges, there were very rare occasions when a speck of resentment remained.