Chapter 89: One Who Possesses Money (3)
Chapter 88 – One Who Possesses Money (3)
“How do you know all that?”
Cho Rip-pyo asked the question that everyone was curious about.
Namgung Cheon shrugged his shoulders.
“What else could the official pushover of the Dragon Heaven Academy do? I just stayed cooped up in the library all day reading books. Since I dug into things that caught my interest day and night, it ended up like this.”
“That…”
Cho Rip-pyo could not continue speaking, his mouth gaping open.
Even so, to realize it this quickly?
It was not that there were no suspicious parts, but what could he do when the person himself said so? He had no choice but to believe it.
At that, Paeng Su-hyeok stepped forward abruptly and urged.
“That’s not what’s important right now, is it? Didn’t you say the Gold King’s daughter is captured over there? Shouldn’t we check the real entrance first, just as Namgung Cheon said?”
Since it was not wrong, Cho Rip-pyo put aside his doubts for now and gave orders to the members of the Gale Squad.
The members of the Gale Squad moved nimbly, making changes such as cutting or moving the parts Namgung Cheon had pointed out.
Surprisingly, as the surrounding terrain and objects changed, the scenery around the waterfall also gradually changed.
Watching this vividly, Yu Hyeon admired it sincerely.
“Amazing. Truly amazing.”
“Indeed. I didn’t know the optical illusion would be this extreme.”
“If Cadet Zhuge Gi had been here, I feel like he would have explained all the principles to us. What a pity.”
“Senior Brother, are you only thinking of learning even in this situation?”
“To a martial artist, knowledge is like a lifeline. In that sense, Cadet Namgung Cheon is truly…”
“He looks like someone who would survive no matter where he is thrown.”
At Ju Yeon-hwa’s words, Yu Hyeon nodded silently.
It was exactly as she said.
No matter how terrible the environment he fell into, was it because of the feeling that a path would somehow appear as long as he was with Namgung Cheon?
Could this be his true charm?
A person who gives trust.
A person who makes others want to share their fate with him.
A person who makes one feel reassured just by looking at him.
‘I still have a long way to go. Indeed, the Jianghu is truly wide.’
While the two were conversing in low voices, the scenery around the waterfall returned completely to its original appearance.
Although it somewhat resembled before, there was a sense of disparity, as if they had come to a different place.
Among them, what stood out by far was another cave revealed inside the waterfall.
Instead of having a cave only in the front like when they first saw it, another cave had revealed itself on the right.
“Just as Cadet Namgung Cheon said, another cave has appeared.”
At Cho Rip-pyo’s report, Murong Sin nodded with a stiff expression.
‘Impressive. I thought he was trying to achieve it without lifting a finger.’
He turned to Namgung Cheon and asked.
“Since the real escape route has appeared just as you said, do you plan to go in now?”
“Corps Leader!”
For a moment, Cho Rip-pyo was surprised and stopped him.
Until now, he had thought that the Blue Wave Corps Leader was merely trying to scare the cadets to prevent them from acting rashly.
However, looking again, was Murong Sin’s expression not dripping with sincerity?
Murong Sin turned to Cho Rip-pyo with a nonchalant expression.
“Why?”
“Are you serious?”
“Did it look like a joke?”
“Corps Leader, sending a cadet is too dangerous.”
“Didn’t you see it too? Namgung Cheon is the cadet who ranked first in the preliminaries. If worst comes to worst, he can just escape using lightfoot techniques. Isn’t that right, Namgung Cheon?”
“Corps Leader! This is too reckless. Please reconsider!”
Before Namgung Cheon could even answer, Cho Rip-pyo shouted with a tense face.
However, Murong Sin’s expression was still as cold as ice, and he did not seem to have any intention of changing his mind.
“They are cadets who will have to experience real combat someday. He said himself that he would willingly follow.”
“But they are even holding a hostage…”
“I will go.”
The moment Namgung Cheon stepped forward, Cho Rip-pyo turned to him with a fierce expression.
“You step back!”
“Gale Captain.”
As Murong Sin rebuked in a stiff voice, Cho Rip-pyo lowered his head and spoke politely.
“I apologize, Corps Leader. Even so, he is still a young cadet. Entrusting him with a task after he gains a little more experience would be…”
“Do you intend to disobey orders?”
“Of course not!”
“Then step back quietly. Didn’t he say himself that he would go in?”
The moment Cho Rip-pyo met Murong Sin’s eyes, he flinched.
It was an gaze and voice that made it impossible to resist.
‘Could it be that Corps Leader Murong was aiming for this from the very beginning…? Why?’
Cho Rip-pyo looked back and forth between Murong Sin and Namgung Cheon with an incomprehensible expression.
Murong Sin let out a soft sigh and spoke.
“Namgung Cheon has enough talent that it wouldn’t be a problem even if he were selected as a Gale Squad member right now. Moreover, his current status is that of a cadet. It’s the perfect status for those bastards to feel safe negotiating with.”
“Ah…”
“Of course, I won’t just send him. I plan to shoot a letter inside. He might be in danger, but he is the person who will achieve the best effect.”
‘He might be in danger, but he will achieve the best effect.’
Cho Rip-pyo chewed over the last words, winced, and looked at Murong Sin.
Murong Sin’s eyes were completely calm.
‘Could it be… is he taking into account that Namgung Cheon might die?’
What if Namgung Cheon went in to negotiate and ended up dying?
Even without this, Namgung Cheon was recently drawing attention as the birth of a new dragon through the Joint Conference.
If he died so absurdly, the heat of mourning would surely spread like wildfire across the Jianghu.
‘That would serve as an opportunity to unite under the Martial Alliance once again.’
For orthodox sects that loved justifications, where else could there be such a justification?
If he had really thought this far…
‘Isn’t the Blue Wave Corps Leader a truly terrifying person?’
While Cho Rip-pyo could not control his bitter feelings, Namgung Cheon drove the wedge in.
“I will go. Do not stop me anymore.”
“There is no one to stop you. However, enter after I send the letter. That will be much safer than entering blindly.”
Namgung Cheon nodded at Murong Sin’s cold reply.
“Understood.”
“What you have to do is very simple. Find out what they want. That’s all. Don’t think about acting like a hero.”
“I will do that.”
At Namgung Cheon’s reply, Murong Sin glanced at Cho Rip-pyo.
Cho Rip-pyo could not stop him anymore either.
Murong Sin walked over with long strides and began to write in tiny letters on a piece of paper brought by the Vice Corps Leader.
Afterward, he folded the paper neatly, tied it to an arrow, stepped onto a rock, and drew the bowstring.
*Paeang!*
*Swoosh!*
In an instant, the arrow with the letter attached flew quickly into the darkness.
The arrow that pierced through the waterfall disappeared, as if being sucked into the entrance of the cave on the right.
Murong Sin turned around and smiled faintly.
“Let’s wait for an answer first.”
* * *
A bald man walked with heavy footsteps along the dark cave passage.
The passage he walked along looked as natural as a natural cave.
However, as he went a little deeper, traces of artificial construction were clearly revealed in places.
As those artificial traces gradually grew stronger and the feeling of a natural cave almost disappeared, the man stopped in front of an iron door on the side of the passage.
*Creak, clank!*
As the iron door opened with a heavy sound, a woman tightly bound in ropes inside struggled.
She had a murderous look that seemed ready to kill the bald man at any moment, but as her entire body was bound, she could do nothing.
As the bald man approached and removed the woman’s gag, a face covered in freckles was clearly revealed.
She was none other than Jin So-hong.
“Drink.”
As the bald man held out a canteen in a blunt voice, Jin So-hong glared at him coldly before bringing her mouth to the canteen’s spout and drinking the water in large gulps.
The bald man slightly twisted his lips.
“Smart. Yes, there’s no use losing your temper for nothing. You have to act rationally.”
“Who are you guys? What do you want?”
The bald man stared at Jin So-hong before twisting his lips.
“You speak as if you can give us anything as long as we speak.”
“Shouldn’t we at least talk to see how it goes?”
“Fufu. As expected of the Gold King’s daughter. Does that mean you have quite a knack for negotiation?”
At the bald man’s reaction, Jin So-hong flinched.
‘He knows I’m the Gold King’s daughter?’
Well, there might have been someone who noticed it during the Joint Conference. Especially if they were observant martial artists.
The problem was that they had done such a bold thing despite knowing that.
One of two things.
Either they were fools who could not tell heaven from earth, or they had a truly large and terrifying backer behind them.
‘Either way is not good.’
It was the worst situation.
However, judging by the bald man’s attitude, he did not seem like a fool.
The bald man said with a sneer of sorts.
“You might think he can grant anything, but even the Gold King cannot accomplish everything. Just like how he cannot even find his own child right now.”
“Nonsense. The reason you are keeping me alive, even giving me water, is that you plan to use my identity in the end, isn’t it?”
“Indeed, you are smart. Certainly clever.”
“Then tell me. What you guys want…”
*Slap!*
In an instant, Jin So-hong’s cheek whipped around.
The bald man grabbed Jin So-hong by the hair.
“But you are arrogant. As I said, there is nothing you can give us.”
Having finished speaking, the bald man gagged Jin So-hong again and turned around without regret.
Jin So-hong struggled with a groan, but she could not budge.
It must have been a specially made rope that was difficult to break even if one used internal energy.
The bald man said indifferently as he walked out of the iron door.
“Have sweet dreams.”
“…”
Hardly had his words fallen than Jin So-hong flinched and soon closed her eyes gently, falling asleep.
The bald man locked the iron door and walked along the passage again.
As the passage felt more and more like a natural cave, he arrived at a fairly wide cavern, where quite a few martial artists dressed in light black clothing, just like him, were gathered.
There were eight people in total, including him.
Among them, a one-eyed man grinding a sword in a corner glanced at the bald man and asked.
“Did she drink?”
“Yes.”
“A smart child.”
The one-eyed man said no more and began to grind his sword again.
*Shhh. Shhh.*
In the middle of everyone’s silence, only the smoothly ground blade made a low cry.
How long had he ground the sword in silence like that?
*Swoosh!*
Suddenly, an arrow flew rapidly through the air.
*Slash!*
In an instant, the one-eyed man’s sword, which soared into the air, cut the arrow clean in half.
The arrowhead part soared and got stuck in the ceiling, while the tail side lost its power and fell to the floor.
Just then, a letter slipped from the arrow shaft stuck in the ceiling and dropped below.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the letter.
Without showing any sign of surprise, the one-eyed man pulled out the letter and unfolded it.
After reading the text for a while, he let out a smirk and instantly burned the letter using the Samadhi True Fire technique.
Just then, the bald man approached and asked.
“What does it say?”
The one-eyed man’s expression twisted strangely.
“It says to kill the kid if one comes in.”