Chapter 62: Darkness Under the Lamp (6)
Chapter 61 – Darkness Under the Lamp (6)
Thwack!
Namgung Cheon quickly kicked the table, causing the vice leader to trip and fall.
Crash!
As the vice leader, who had rolled unsightly, quickly struck the floor with his palm to get up, Namgung Cheon stepped on his flank and put his weight on it before he knew it.
Thwack, crash!
“Keugh!”
The vice leader vomited blood and glared with wide eyes.
“You bastard…!”
“You certainly have incredible bravado even when you’re about to die. Truly worthy of a vice leader. Very praiseworthy.”
“Yoooou!”
As the vice leader tried to rise while gathering his internal energy again, Namgung Cheon stabbed the Emerald Silk Sword straight down.
Thrust!
“Aaaaah!”
As the Emerald Silk Sword pierced through his dantian and embedded itself in the floor, the vice leader let out a desperate scream.
Namgung Cheon said with a nonchalant expression.
“You should have brought some water. Learn a thing or two from a waiter in your next life.”
“Who… cough… wh-what kind of bastard are you? Keugh!”
“The bas… gentleman who hunts down and kills bastards like you.”
“Are you someone from the Martial Alliance?”
“No. Or, am I? Ah, even I’m confused.”
“What…?”
“Whatever. It’s me, me. The Great Killing Star, who suffered for a long time because you bastards leaked information to the Martial Alliance.”
Namgung Cheon grinned down at the vice leader.
Instantly, the color drained completely from the vice leader’s face.
He certainly did not have the appearance of the Great Killing Star.
Yet, the vibe of the Great Killing Star was felt in his attitude, expression, and gaze.
Moreover, this energy filled with death!
This desolate energy, which made it clearly felt that he was someone who always stayed close to death, naturally brought the Great Killing Star to mind.
“H-how…? The Great Killing Star is definitely…”
“Did you think he was dead?”
The vice leader swallowed hard and could not continue.
As Namgung Cheon sat back down on the chair, he tapped the Emerald Silk Sword that was stuck upside down in the vice leader’s dantian.
“Aaaaah!”
When the vice leader screamed again, Namgung Cheon frowned.
“This bastard is exaggerating too much. Should I seal your mute acupoint? No. Then we won’t be able to talk.”
“Wh-what do you… want?”
“Chicken.”
“Chicken…?”
“Anyway, an ignorant guy like you wouldn’t understand, so let’s move on. I will ask the questions.”
Tap!
Because Namgung Cheon tapped the Emerald Silk Sword once more, the vice leader’s scream erupted again.
“Why was Black Line demoted?”
“H-how do you know that…?”
The vice leader’s eyes wavered.
Namgung Cheon waved his hand dismissively and said.
“I told you I’m the one asking questions. Get a grip. Do I need to stir your dantian a bit more for you to think that right now is comfortable?”
“I-it was because of insubordination!”
“Insubordination?”
Namgung Cheon frowned and fell into thought.
Indeed. Looking closely, he did seem to have a rebellious streak.
Namgung Cheon knew Black Line because he remembered seeing him when he had visited the Obscurity Society in his past life.
At first, he had been unsure.
However, after seeing the leader as well, the memory became clearer. Back then, when he was talking with the leader, Black Line had been standing upright next to him, waiting.
He did seem to be doing anything in particular, but if one had to classify it, he looked like a chief administrator assisting the leader.
If so, it meant he was just below the rank of vice leader… then why was he acting as a guide now?
This was the question he had asked to solve this curiosity.
“What kind of insubordination?”
“Why do y-you need to…”
Tap.
“Keuaaargh! You son of a bitch! Kill me! Just kill me instead, you fucking bastard!”
The vice leader screamed, gritting his teeth hard.
Since he was going to die soon anyway because of his shattered dantian and severe injuries, it was a truly bizarre sight to see him scream to be killed.
Was pain indeed scarier than death?
‘I gain another realization like this.’
That aside.
“I asked what kind of insubordination he committed.”
“Keugh… He insisted… that we should not receive… the kidnapped women… as the price for the information.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“That is the price… for acting up… without knowing… his place.”
Was that what his words meant when they were moving along the Path Under the Lantern?
Indeed, though they belonged to the unorthodox path, there were surprisingly wholesome guys among them. The ones who lived with a shred of conscience.
Although they naturally entered the unorthodox path because of their rough upbringing, they were still guys who actually thought.
Just like how I did not become the Great Killing Star because I wanted to.
Come to think of it, isn’t fate truly bizarre?
Even bastards whose thinking was worse than the unorthodox path ran rampant pretending to be descendants of prestigious orthodox sects, while a guy who lived with his own beliefs and relatively wholesome thoughts was stuck like that in the unorthodox path.
Making unfairness fair is the role of the Martial Alliance?
What nonsense, when they do not even know that dozens of tunnels run right beneath their soles.
What nonsense, when the Martial Alliance’s power itself is built upon unfairness.
What nonsense, when they commit all kinds of hypocrisy by putting forward a false sense of justice!
“Come to think of it, the higher-ups are all pathetic no matter where you go. Don’t you think so?”
“…”
“Are you defying me?”
Tap!
Even though he flicked the Emerald Silk Sword with his finger, there was no response.
“Oh, you endure well? Ah… you’re dead.”
Looking at his face, he was foaming at the mouth and his eyes were rolled back, showing only the whites. Feeling his pulse casually, he was already dead.
Namgung Cheon pulled out the Emerald Silk Sword and looked around.
The shattered desk was rolling around messily, and eight corpses were scattered about.
The poor women, who could neither hear nor speak, were gathered closely by the bed, trembling violently.
Even though such a disaster had occurred, the giant men guarding the door did not even think of coming in.
The unorthodox path was originally like this.
There is loyalty, but there is no devotion.
That was why once you took down the leader of an organization, it was often sorted out surprisingly easily.
The absolute rule of the strong.
It was also the unorthodox path to simply follow without complaints once a strong person reigned.
Although there were sometimes guys who imitated the orthodox sects and threw away their lives out of devotion, they were, after all, not common.
Perhaps by now, the giant men guarding the door had realized something went wrong and fled somewhere.
Turning his head casually, he saw a teapot sitting on the side table.
“There is water, so why the hell did he complain about having none?”
Namgung Cheon walked over with long strides, picked up the teapot, and gulped it down. As his thirst was quenched, his mind cleared up a bit.
Right at that moment, the door opened.
The one who entered this time was Black Line.
Speak of the devil.
He stopped in his tracks and blankly stared at the carnage that had taken place in the leader’s room. Soon after, his gaze flew to Namgung Cheon.
Namgung Cheon walked over holding the teapot and pointed to a chair.
“Sit. Though the table is broken and gone.”
Black Line knitted his brow slightly, then walked over and sat down in silence.
“Who on earth are you?”
Although blunt, he showed a modicum of politeness.
Namgung Cheon sat in the opposite chair and offered the teapot.
“Do you want to drink?”
“No, thanks.”
“I’m going to drink it all, then?”
“Do as you wish.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
Namgung Cheon completely emptied the remaining tea in the teapot and took a breath.
“Now I feel alive. You might not know who I am, but you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have.”
Black Line’s eyes turned toward the Emerald Silk Sword.
A smart bastard.
Namgung Cheon nodded.
“Yes, if you investigate, you’ll roughly figure out that I’m someone related to the Namgung Clan.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
Black Line was certainly smart.
Seeing how he clearly recognized that he stood no chance in a one-on-one fight.
Namgung Cheon shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Then?”
“Depends on how you behave.”
“What should I do?”
“Do you value your life?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t lived like a human being yet.”
“Not because you have lingering regrets about womanizing like a certain someone?”
Black Line chuckled.
“What do you take me for?”
“There are two paths. The first path is that I kill you here and leave. Then the Obscurity Society will disappear, and the unorthodox path will be turned upside down. Since the only way to obtain information on the Martial Alliance has been blocked, they will be desperate to find the culprit to vent their anger. However, I am confident in hiding my identity. Even if they make and distribute a portrait of my appearance, I won’t be caught.”
“Could it be a human skin mask?”
“Yes. If I kill only you, there will be no human left who has seen the Emerald Silk Sword.”
“Do you think this is a matter that will end so simply?”
“It will end simply.”
Namgung Cheon replied with confidence.
Of course, if a clumsy person had committed such an act, their tail would have been stepped on before long.
But who was Namgung Cheon?
He was a person who had escaped even while evading the Martial Alliance’s inescapable net.
Furthermore, he was now given a perfect human skin mask that he could not even dream of in his past life, along with a solid identity.
Under these conditions, it was a piece of cake.
Whether it was the Alliance Leader or the Emperor, killing someone was actually not that difficult. As long as one could get close, opportunities were more than abundant.
But no one could carry it out.
Why? Because they lacked the confidence to face the massive whirlpool of fate that would follow.
Therefore, one could not do such a thing in their right mind. It was a domain that required madness transcending courage.
‘And when it comes to that madness, I have it in spades.’
Black Line, who was staring intently into Namgung Cheon’s eyes, shook his head.
“You are out of your mind.”
“You recognized it well.”
“What is the other path?”
“A path where the unorthodox martial artists won’t be turned upside down, and you won’t die either.”
“So what is it?”
“You becoming the Obscurity Society Leader.”
“…!”
“The Obscurity Society is a highly closed organization. And there is significance in its very existence; the unorthodox martial artists do not care who becomes the leader. As long as you bring back the information properly.”
“How can you trust me?”
“Because I don’t feel any madness in you. It seems like you would live a steady life if only given the chance. And you don’t seem like you would run wild, crazed with lust like a certain someone.”
“The condition?”
“You are the leader, but I am your master. Naturally, what’s yours is mine.”
“…”
“If you feel wronged, there is also the option of dying honorably here…”
“I’ll do it.”
“Are you confident in reorganization?”
Namgung Cheon glanced around at the scattered corpses.
Black Line nodded.
“I can do it.”
“Good. Then organize the organizational chart of the Martial Alliance and the relationships of its leadership clearly, and hand it over to the owner of the Ghost King Eatery.”
“The deadline?”
“The sooner, the better.”
“I will give it to you within three days. Reorganizing the organization will take some time.”
“Good, that’s enough.”
As Namgung Cheon nodded and stood up, Black Line raised his gaze.
“Is this really the end?”
“It’s the end. Ah, where do you keep the funds or spiritual medicines you’ve received so far?”
“Most of it was sold and liquidated. The funds were deposited with a money plaza, but they are not very abundant. Gathering information costs a lot of money, after all.”
‘I knew it would be like this.’
Namgung Cheon clicked his tongue, feeling inward regret.
“Stop digging tunnels now. You’re not mole bastards.”
“Understood.”
“Then tidy things up well. I’m off.”
Namgung Cheon waved his hand and walked away with heavy steps.
Watching his retreating back, Black Line felt a part of his chest pounding.
“Are you not going to tell me your identity?”
“No need. You’ll naturally find out before long.”
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t do this for you.”
“Still, didn’t you give me an opportunity? Being grateful is only right.”
Just as Namgung Cheon was about to walk out the door, he stopped and glanced back.
“Kid, you only choose to say nice things. Keep that sentimentality as you live. I’m really leaving.”
Namgung Cheon left the room without any lingering regrets.