Chapter 230: Chapter 230

Bloodstains stretched long across the room.

The scent of blood stabbed at the nose.

It was a gruesome murder scene, but no one moved rashly.

‘So it ends up like this after all?’

I had more or less expected it from the moment Ak Byeong-bi started raising hell in the great hall.

In the end, our Envoy Delegation would be used as the opening shot of war—

“Cough…….”

Huh?

What? Why is he alive?

Judging by the amount of blood flowing around him, the situation was serious enough that he should have died at least twice.

Perhaps a huge body had good durability too.

“Wait.”

I grabbed Il-myeong’s shoulder as he tried to approach.

“Let’s leave it to Senior Dang first.”

If we all rushed in at once, the scene would not be preserved.

Understanding my intention, Il-myeong nodded.

Dang Seo-hui stepped lightly around the bloodstains and examined Ak Byeong-bi’s wounds.

“His condition is not very good.”

“What got him?”

“The wound is rough……. Like a saw blade? He was struck by that kind of weapon.”

Dang Seo-hui blocked Ak Byeong-bi’s wound with one hand, then took out a long acupuncture needle with the other, inserted it into his abdomen, pulled it out, and checked it.

“There is no poison.”

“Was it an attack?”

I examined the room again.

I thoroughly compared it to my memory of when we had left and searched for what had changed.

Judging from the long trail of bloodstains, Ak Byeong-bi seemed to have counterattacked too, yet strangely, I could not see any broken furniture inside.

Moreover, this intruder.

Boldly enough, they had left directly through the door.

I had thought that no matter how much this was the Black Thought Alliance, they would not openly do such a thing.

……Or should I think that someone inside had acted independently?

There were too many points to consider, and my head was on the verge of bursting.

“……First, urgent treatment is needed. He will not…… die immediately, but we cannot leave him like this.”

Dang Seo-hui had given him emergency treatment, but the bleeding did not stop.

By the way, in a certain sense, it was amazing that he would not die immediately even after losing this much blood.

Even an ox would probably die after bleeding this much.

In any case, if he needed emergency treatment right away, we would have to entrust him to people inside the Black Thought Alliance.

Would this be all right?

“There is no time to consider another option.”

If Dang Seo-hui said so, then there was no helping it.

“Let’s call someone first.”

At my words, Il-myeong nodded and quickly moved.

He flung the door open and went outside, only to walk backward in again.

No, he was made to come back in.

Rumble—

A group of men pushed Il-myeong and entered.

Among them was an especially eye-catching, massive man in iron armor.

I looked straight at him and asked,

“What brings you here?”

Hwang Bu-sik looked down at Ak Byeong-bi with the same emotionless eyes he had shown when we first met at Four Emperors Peak.

I followed his gaze and pressed him.

“You came at just the right time. You will need to explain this situation.”

Looking at him, who still did not turn his gaze toward me, I warned him.

“Otherwise, you will have to be prepared for war with the Murim Alliance.”

“…….”

Hwang Bu-sik, who had been looking down at Ak Byeong-bi with emotionless eyes, turned his gaze to me and was about to open his mouth.

Crash.

A commotion broke out outside, and a group of people rushed in like madmen.

Hwang Bu-sik turned back and spoke shortly.

“Block them.”

“Yes.”

When the iron-armored warriors who had come with Hwang Bu-sik blocked the intruders, vicious words poured out.

“Move, you bastards!”

“You bastards are in league with them too!”

“If you don’t move, I’ll kill you!”

Hwang Bu-sik muttered lowly toward the uninvited guests.

“If you do not restrain yourselves, I will arrest all of you.”

The uninvited guests, who had drawn their swords and stormed in with murderous energy, flinched for a moment under Hwang Bu-sik’s icy might.

“Those who need to be arrested are not us, but those bastards.”

A man pushed through the group and stepped forward.

It was a face I had seen until just a while ago.

“Those bastards killed our Sect Leader…… They dared to murder our Sect Leader!”

Jegal Cheon-gi of the Yellow Sand Sect.

He ground his teeth and shouted.

“A person calling himself a disciple of a righteous Orthodox Path sect dared attempt an assassination!”

“Restrain yourself! This is not the Yellow Sand Sect, but the Black Thought Alliance!”

When Hwang Bu-sik released his inner arts and shouted thunderously, the warriors of the Yellow Sand Sect who had been causing a commotion all stopped moving at once.

However, that did not seem to be because they were afraid. It seemed only that they had calmed their excitement in order to prepare for a full-fledged fight.

Hwang Bu-sik let out a small sigh, turned to me, and said,

“Do you roughly understand now?”

“…….”

Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone around to hear, he announced,

“I hereby arrest Envoy Delegation Leader Ak Byeong-bi on suspicion of murdering the Yellow Sand Sect Leader.”

“…….”

I looked at Ak Byeong-bi, who was still lying there.

Ah, so he was not attacked. He went and did it?

Impressive.

“For now, you will have to comply with the investigation.”

At Hwang Bu-sik’s words, the iron-armored warriors tried to surge into the room at once.

Slash—

I drew a line across the floor with the Black Dragon Sword and said,

“If you cross any farther than this, I cannot guarantee your lives.”

Hwang Bu-sik furrowed his brow deeply.

“……What are you doing?”

“For now, we are an Envoy Delegation. Unless you are truly declaring war, you cannot forcibly detain an Envoy Delegation.”

“You can forcibly detain them when the suspicion is certain.”

“…….”

I did not know why, but leaving aside the Yellow Sand Sect bastards, even Hwang Bu-sik was certain that Ak Byeong-bi had carried out the assassination attempt.

Why? How?

“Do you have evidence?”

Hwang Bu-sik answered immediately.

“I can show you the wounds on the corpse.”

Was he saying it was undeniable evidence?

Even so, I had no intention of backing down easily either.

“The damage on our side is not exactly light for this to be called an assassination attempt.”

The answer came from Jegal Cheon-gi instead of Hwang Bu-sik.

“Fuck! Of course, even if Orthodox Path bastards tried an assassination, that’s all their skill could manage!”

Well, considering the long bloodstain left in the room and the fact that the furniture was not broken despite that, the assumption that he had returned after carrying out an assassination attempt did seem more plausible than that he had been ambushed.

I asked Hwang Bu-sik,

“For now, treatment is urgent. Will you treat him?”

“……We need to hear his account, so I will assign him the best physician.”

“Then I will attach one of our people as well.”

Instead of answering, Hwang Bu-sik nodded.

When the iron-armored warriors took Ak Byeong-bi and Dang Seo-hui out of the inner room, Jegal Cheon-gi rolled his eyes and nearly foamed at the mouth.

“Fuck! What are you doing right now?! Don’t you know those bastards are all in league together?! Why aren’t you arresting them?!”

“Nothing has been revealed yet. And they are still members of the Envoy Delegation.”

“You call that an explanation……!”

I offered words of comfort to the aggrieved Jegal Cheon-gi.

“You idiot, we were with you. Of course we’re outside the list of suspects. Try using the thing sitting above your neck to think a little.”

“…….”

However, perhaps because he had lost the honored leader of his sect, Jegal Cheon-gi’s expression was not good.

“Damn Jin So-un! I will definitely kill you!”

I had gone out of my way to comfort him, and what came back was a death threat.

Tsk, this is why I hate even exchanging words with ferocious Black Path bastards.

“How did this happen?”

Il-myeong let out a long sigh.

“Well, even if we are outside the list of suspects, they will not think we are innocent. That is why they are trying to monitor us under the excuse of guarding……”

“Benefactor Jin…… I know that much too.”

I knew that was not the intent behind Il-myeong’s question.

I might look like a madman, but if I did not at least joke in an atmosphere like this, I could not endure it.

This was a habit from my Sojeong Squad days.

In hopeless situations, if I did not make jokes, I would sink into even deeper anxiety.

That was why a joke that did not suit the situation popped out without my realizing it.

The current situation was hopeless enough that it did not lose out even compared to my Sojeong Squad days.

Il-myeong, whose scalp had turned pale, let out a groan.

“Did the Delegation Leader ultimately…… do it?”

“He is certainly someone capable of it.”

“Benefactor Jin…….”

“Understood.”

This is why flowers raised in greenhouses are no good.

I cannot say anything.

By the way, in a situation like this, I did not have any particular answer either.

Even if we were not in the same space when Ak Byeong-bi caused the incident, that did not prove our innocence.

To put it bluntly, every bastard here had been so desperate to take our heads that they were drawing lots with bloodshot eyes.

And now, a justification had been handed to them.

Moreover, Shanxi Province was a place where the Murim Alliance’s influence was weak.

To escape the Black Thought Alliance’s influence, we would have to flee at least as far as Henan Province.

“Henan Province is rather far……”

“Benefactor Jin…… Are you perhaps thinking of running away?”

Il-myeong overheard my mutter and could not hide his shocked expression.

In any case, aside from whether we would flee or not, the most important question was whether Ak Byeong-bi had really killed Gu Gye-ak…….

“Senior Il-myeong, can you be certain that the Delegation Leader did not kill him?”

“…….”

See, you cannot answer.

I hope and hope that he truly did not do it, but honestly, I cannot declare that he did not.

Even Il-myeong, who had learned Immovable Mind, could not easily say he would not take revenge in the same situation.

Ak Byeong-bi, moreover, was a man who despised Black Path people.

It was entirely possible that he had unleashed the resentment he had nurtured so well in his heart all this time.

In any case, what we had to worry about now was who would lead the Envoy Delegation from here on.

Why was that important? One might ask, but it was more important than expected.

If we made the wrong decision here, not only Ak Byeong-bi but all of us would die.

Since the Delegation Leader had been arrested on a murder charge, in order of succession, it would be right for Il-myeong to lead.

“If the Delegation Leader really did kill him, what will you do?”

“Benefactor Jin……. That would never……”

I firmly shook my head.

“We have to assume the worst-case scenario too. If we only hope for an optimistic situation, all of us will die here.”

I could understand Ak Byeong-bi’s thirst for revenge, but that did not mean I wanted to throw away my life for him.

The same would be true for Dang Seo-hui and Il-myeong.

Il-myeong thought for a long time, then eventually nodded.

“……I will follow Benefactor Jin’s will.”

Like this, I ended up leading the Envoy Delegation.

Procedurally, I should also obtain Dang Seo-hui’s permission, but in the first place, Dang Seo-hui did not seem especially greedy for the position of Envoy Delegation Leader.

If she sulked, I could just let her play chivalrous hero once on the way back.

Of course, that was if we returned alive.

Even through the night, the presence of the guards outside the door did not disappear.

When morning came, I sensed them being replaced by new people.

In addition, I felt presences not only at the front door, but also near the windows and in the garden.

‘This is not very good.’

The bigger problem was that the sounds of the banquet that had been heard until dawn had abruptly stopped.

There was no longer the voice of a drunken man shouting at the top of his lungs.

Nor were the voices of people fighting with fists over gambling.

This was no different from saying that Gu Gye-ak’s death had become known throughout the Black Thought Alliance.

And probably the name of the culprit, Ak Byeong-bi of the Orthodox Path Envoy Delegation, had become known as well.

Once the atmosphere was created, voices calling for punishment would grow louder.

At this rate, before we even had a chance to resist, we might be beheaded and have our heads mounted on poles.

‘Should we run now after all?’

If it were up to me, we would have left the Black Thought Alliance last night already, but if we had done that, regardless of whether Ak Byeong-bi lived or died, war between the Murim Alliance and the Black Thought Alliance would inevitably begin.

‘But even if I want to do something, there has to be something I can do.’

Originally, starting today, I had planned to meet the leaders of the Black Path Alliance one by one, beginning with the Four Emperors Peak Lord.

But in a situation where one member of the Envoy Delegation was suspected of being an assassin, who would meet me?

We were not even that close to begin with.

At that moment.

Thump, thump—

Making a heavy presence, Hwang Bu-sik strode inside.

“Will you go confirm the corpse?”

I rose and said to him,

“May I ask why the surveillance has increased?”

“It is to protect you.”

“To protect us……”

I did not know whether those words were truly sincere, but in any case, the urgent priority was to confirm whether this was really something Ak Byeong-bi had done.

We were escorted(?) by ten iron-armored warriors and guided to the place where Gu Gye-ak’s corpse was located.

And then.

“…….”

After seeing the wounds on Gu Gye-ak’s corpse, Il-myeong’s expression showed no sign of easing.

“Phew…….”

It was the same for me.

There was a fist-sized hole near the corpse’s heart, and the area around the wound was burned black.

A clear spear wound, along with traces of flame.

Even an outsider who knew nothing about martial arts would be able to tell it was the trace of the Ak Family’s Raging Fire Spear Art.

“This…… cannot be denied.”

At Il-myeong’s words, I also nodded.

If one had to count the people who had seen more corpses than me at this point, one would need to be an undertaker.

In particular, when it came to wounds caused by martial arts like this, I had probably seen more than even undertakers.

Even in my eyes, there were no traces of manipulation on the corpse.

If one had tried to make this kind of wound after the person died, it would have taken on a different shape.

What had taken Gu Gye-ak’s life was definitely this fist-sized hole.

Hwang Bu-sik looked at Il-myeong and me, who were at a loss for words, and explained.

“The physician treating Ak Byeong-bi said the shape of the Yellow Sand Sect’s sword appeared in the traces of his wound.”

Right. Of course.

How many people used a weapon that tore wounds like a saw blade?

It was impossible not to know.

I barely swallowed a sigh.

“It certainly looks like our Delegation Leader was injured while attempting a surprise attack.”

Now, forget agreements or anything else. We had reached the level where we had to worry first about whether we could keep our lives.

I looked back at Hwang Bu-sik.

“What happens to us now?”

“You will have to wait until the investigation is over.”

“In our lodging?”

If it was in the lodging, and with this level of surveillance personnel…….

Once Dang Seo-hui, who had gone along to protect Ak Byeong-bi, returned, the three of us might somehow be able to leave the Black Thought Alliance.

As I was retracing the route we had taken to the Black Thought Alliance in my head and forming an escape plan.

Two familiar voices reached my ears.

“Keh-heh-heh, you caused quite a major incident.”

“Young Master, we ended up meeting again very quickly, did we not?”

No, why are Blood Battle and Flame Ghost Consort coming out here?

Hwang Bu-sik’s voice drove in the wedge.

“Those two will be with you.”

Ha, so they are telling us not to even dream of escaping?

Just as Gun Yu-hyeon had said, drawing the Five Heavenly Kings hand must have meant I was extremely unlucky.

Somehow, in my previous life, every bastard I had made draw the Five Heavenly Kings hand died the next day.

Damn it.

Hwang Bu-sik spoke with his still blunt expression.

“……It is regrettable.”

He had probably offered comfort in his own way, but it did not comfort me at all.

Was this how Jegal Cheon-gi felt?

Even so, I had to find a way somehow.

Was I not someone who had struggled to the end even in my previous life?

“Then may I ask one favor?”

However, Hwang Bu-sik shook his head without a moment of consideration.

What a firm man.

I could not back down easily either.

“It is not such a difficult matter. Please just hear me out first.”

In the end, Hwang Bu-sik let out a groan and allowed it.

“Say it.”

“When our Delegation Leader wakes up, can you let us meet him first?”

“…….”

They say even the wishes of the dead are granted, so surely you can grant a request from someone who is about to die.

Right?