Chapter 108: Chapter 108
“Young Hero Cheon, could you first set this down?”
Song Yi-yeon politely suggested. It was a tone befitting a rising star of the Righteous Path in its own way. However, speaking while dangling in Cheon Woo-jin’s hand was not cool at all.
Having set Song Yi-yeon down, Cheon Woo-jin looked at the three people with narrowed eyes.
Song Yi-yeon with an awkward expression, Zhuge Rin looking embarrassed, and Dok-ra-su, who was somehow carrying a triumphant attitude.
“Nephew! We came to save you!”
“We?”
Cheon Woo-jin looked at Song Yi-yeon and Zhuge Rin.
He was asking if they agreed with the ‘we’ Dok-ra-su was talking about.
The two coughed dryly and avoided his gaze. Cheon Woo-jin grasped the ongoing situation in an instant.
“Senior Dok-ra-su. Did you coax the two of them into coming here?”
“Goodness, calling me ‘you’! I merely came to save you…”
“Answer what was asked.”
Meeting Cheon Woo-jin’s dry gaze, Dok-ra-su flinched. It was likely because the monstrous sight of him trading blows even with the Poison King was still vivid in his mind.
“Ahem! Rather than coaxing, the two were so worried about you that I merely suggested going together.”
“Mhm.”
Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes narrowed even further.
Even without looking, the situation was drawn clearly in his head.
Everyone must have worried about him and the Black Tortoise Squad Leader. But due to the relationship between the Martial Alliance and the Black Overlord Castle, they could not have entered recklessly.
There was a procedure for everything. Especially for an alliance member to communicate with the Black Overlord Castle, that procedure would be even more stringent.
“Using their anxious hearts, Senior Dok-ra-su satisfied his own selfish desires. Since you wanted to visit the Black Overlord Castle from before.”
Dok-ra-su did not deny it now that he was already caught.
Cheon Woo-jin’s words were correct. The reason he went out of his way to use the two was to prepare for when he was caught scaling the wall, just like now.
Because no matter how ruthless the Black Overlord Castle was, they would not kill the eldest daughter of the Zhuge Clan without asking questions.
Cheon Woo-jin let out a small sigh as if he understood, then turned his head. A thin beam of light poured from far away. Treading on it, a man was approaching.
He wore black armor fashioned from weaving hundreds of iron pieces resembling dragon scales, but unlike his rather sternly equipped attire, his face wore a smile as if he found this thoroughly amusing.
Soon, Ha In-seong approached, looked at Zhuge Rin and Song Yi-yeon, and spoke.
“Well now, they were stray cats sent by the Martial Alliance.”
Unlike his smiling lips, his eyes had sunk coldly. Since it was the first time seeing such an expression on him, Cheon Woo-jin also looked at Ha In-seong with renewed eyes.
Zhuge Rin, who had been biting her lower lip slightly, forced herself to speak.
“…I am Zhuge Rin, Vice Squad Leader of the Martial Alliance’s Black Tortoise Squad.”
“I am Ha In-seong, Young Castle Lord of the Black Overlord Castle.”
“…!”
The three people excluding Cheon Woo-jin were startled. They had not expected such a prominent figure to appear out of the blue.
Zhuge Rin’s pupils trembled even more.
“It is not the alliance’s intention. It is merely my own arbitrary action.”
“Is that a relief? I thought the Martial Alliance was trying to wage a war against our Black Overlord Castle.”
When the word ‘war’ came up, Song Yi-yeon and Zhuge Rin sucked in a sharp breath. It was not that they had not considered being caught. Even so, there was a reason they had pulled off such a reckless act.
Ha In-seong also thought that while he was not sure about that sleek fellow, Zhuge Rin at least would not be so stupid.
Thus, he asked.
“Why did you pull this stunt?”
“Because I was worried about Youngest Cheon and the Black Tortoise Squad Leader.”
“I understand that. But would there be any Martial Alliance members who wouldn’t worry about the two? Everyone would be waiting according to procedure, so why did you arbitrarily pull something like this?”
Ha In-seong’s voice was distinctly different from when he dealt with Cheon Woo-jin. It was low and calm, yet contained an indescribably rough oppression.
Cheon Woo-jin watched Ha In-seong with curiosity. Did he not feel rather similar to his master Black Elder and the Lord of the Black Overlord Castle?
Perhaps people who carried the true Unorthodox Path within their hearts exuded this kind of aura.
Meanwhile, Zhuge Rin’s words continued.
“Because I am one of the people who knows Youngest Cheon’s personality best. Everyone said that no matter how wicked the Black Overlord Castle is, they would not easily kill a Martial Alliance member, so we should wait first, but Youngest Cheon is not an ordinary alliance member; he’s a madman.”
Zhuge Rin had been genuinely worried. She had even imagined Cheon Woo-jin waging war all by himself against the Black Overlord Castle Sichuan Branch when his demand to bring out the Divine Physician was refused.
Astonishingly, even while having such an imagination, not the slightest sense of incongruity arose. To that extent, Cheon Woo-jin in Zhuge Rin’s eyes was a man who could smash anyone’s skull if he took a disliking to them, no matter who the opponent was.
Thus, she recklessly climbed over the wall. While there was Dok-ra-su’s coaxing, it was purely Zhuge Rin’s own judgment.
She had resolved not to spare her own life if Cheon Woo-jin and the Black Tortoise Squad Leader were by any chance embroiled in misfortune.
In fact, she had also been somewhat confident she would not be caught. The Black Overlord Castle Sichuan Branch was the place with the lowest martial power among all their branches. It was only natural since the Mount Emei Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, and the Sichuan Tang Clan firmly held ground here.
Yet who could have known that such an enormous formation would be set up, let alone that the son of the Lord of the Black Overlord Castle would be here?
Once Zhuge Rin’s explanation finished.
Ha In-seong, who had been rarely calm and dignified, burst out laughing with a snort.
Soon, without even trying to hold back his laughter, he pointed at Cheon Woo-jin and spoke.
“Look at this. I wasn’t the weird one, was I? Even your comrades think of you as a madman.”
“…”
Cheon Woo-jin looked back and forth between Ha In-seong and Zhuge Rin with a sour face. Meanwhile, Song Yi-yeon spoke in a small voice.
“Could it be that a Great War between Orthodox and Unorthodox will break out over this…”
“Who knows?”
Ha In-seong grinned and looked at Song Yi-yeon. He already knew from encountering much intelligence about him. The eldest son of the Anhui Song Clan and Cheon Woo-jin’s closest friend.
He had wondered what kind of fellow would be close with a madman like Cheon Woo-jin, but surprisingly, he looked quite handsome. No, he was among the top few handsomest men he had ever seen.
‘Almost on my level?’
Having thought that, Ha In-seong brought out words contrary to his inner thoughts.
“Crossing into deadly territory out of concern for a comrade is admirable as a fellow martial artist, but the problem is that you were caught. A Martial Alliance member fearlessly scaled the walls of the Black Overlord Castle and was caught by the Young Castle Lord; do you expect this to pass without anything happening?”
“…”
Song Yi-yeon and Zhuge Rin swallowed dryly.
The two had a premonition. At the very least, they would be expelled from the Martial Alliance. It would be fortunate if it ended at just that. This incident could become the starting point for catastrophic events.
Because justifications were originally something to be concocted.
“What do you think?”
Ha In-seong asked Cheon Woo-jin casually.
Staring into Ha In-seong’s eyes for a moment, Cheon Woo-jin let out a low sigh.
“I originally intended to visit the Lord of the Black Overlord Castle anyway. In any case, he was also close friends with my master. So leave it at that.”
“You should have said so earlier. I strained my eyes for nothing.”
In the first place, he had no intention of making this incident an issue.
If another alliance member had been caught climbing the wall, Ha In-seong would have severed their wrists immediately and sent them to the Martial Alliance. In any case, the justification lay on this side, so the Martial Alliance could not wage war over that much either.
Thoroughly calculating the aftermath before meting out the harshest retribution was Ha In-seong’s original personality.
But were they not Cheon Woo-jin’s friends?
That was enough. What did letting go of a few anchovies matter in order to catch a whale?
However, there was one thing.
“First, after we get out of here, Senior Dok-ra-su, you and I should have a little talk.”
Glancing briefly at Dok-ra-su, Ha In-seong turned around and walked back in the direction he had come from.
* * *
Getting out of the formation was not difficult.
Ha In-seong arrived by following the formidable energy left behind by Cheon Woo-jin, and the formation masters opened the way by tracking Ha In-seong’s energy.
They were able to simply trudge out along the opened path.
Ha In-seong no longer mentioned this matter to Song Yi-yeon and Zhuge Rin. Instead, he even provided them with a separate room to rest.
‘To win over a fellow like him who lacks nothing, attacking his surroundings is standard practice.’
Ha In-seong was drawing the big picture at every moment.
In this way, still dazed, Zhuge Rin and Song Yi-yeon sat across from Cheon Woo-jin in the room provided by Ha In-seong.
A brief silence fell between the three.
The one who spoke first was Cheon Woo-jin.
“The Black Tortoise Squad Leader will be fine. Elder Divine Physician told me so directly.”
In an instant, bright smiles bloomed on both of their faces.
They had worried about the Black Tortoise Squad Leader just as much as they had worried about Cheon Woo-jin.
Furthermore, to Song Yi-yeon, the Black Tortoise Squad Leader was his savior. Had it not been for him, his face would have been mutilated by Tang Bi-cheon and he would have met a gruesome death.
As the atmosphere brightened considerably, this time Zhuge Rin explained in detail the situation of the Tang Clan without even being asked.
Even though she was his superior, for some reason, it took on the appearance of making a report to Cheon Woo-jin.
Listening to the explanation for a long time, Cheon Woo-jin nodded.
“So the factions that were trying to establish the Righteous Heavenly Alliance together with the Tang Clan were the Hebei Peng Clan, Murong Clan, Qingcheng Sect, Zhongnan Sect, and Ten Thousand Gold Manor?”
“Yes, only the ones confirmed so far.”
Cheon Woo-jin fell into thought for a moment.
Three of the Five Great Clans.
Two of the Nine Great Sects and One Clan.
On top of that, even the Ten Thousand Gold Manor, called one of the four great banks under heaven.
Tang Bi-cheon’s skill was quite impressive, wasn’t it?
No, those respective factions might also have merely been using Tang Bi-cheon, and once the Righteous Heavenly Alliance was established, they might have changed their attitude.
In any case, the important point was that the factions involved in this incident were considerably colossal.
‘If my master White Elder had seen this spectacle, he would have been extremely enraged.’
Would he merely have been enraged? He would have marched straight into the Tang Clan and inflicted severe punishment upon Tang Bi-cheon on charges of driving a wedge through the righteous martial world.
But when he suddenly thought about it, what Cheon Woo-jin himself had done amounted to that in the end. He felt mildly gratified, as if he had unintentionally inherited his master’s will.
“At any rate. You said the one who gave that information was the First Elder, but he should not be trusted.”
According to Zhuge Rin’s explanation, Tang So-yeon had seized power in the Tang Clan backed by the Martial Alliance reinforcements.
The First Elder of the Tang Clan had pretended to take Demon Physician’s pill, later ingesting a toxin that induced vomiting to escape the effects of the medicine.
Only after the incident was over did he apologize to Tang So-yeon, claiming he had succumbed to coercion at the time, and provided a stream of information he possessed.
“In the end, though he apologized saying he yielded to threats to survive, is it not the same as confessing that unlike others intoxicated by medicine, he committed those deeds in a completely sober state?”
During the war triggered by Tang Bi-cheon’s tyranny, the First Elder had opportunities multiple times. If he were a prominent figure of the Righteous Path, stabbing Tang Bi-cheon in the back to stop the war would have been the right thing to do.
But the First Elder did not do so. He submitted to Tang Bi-cheon and merely stood by watching young martial artists of the Righteous Path perish.
When Cheon Woo-jin pointed this out, Zhuge Rin also nodded.
“My thoughts are the same. Fortunately, So-yeon seemed to think so too, as she extracted only the information from the First Elder, immediately crippled his dantian, and handed him over to the Martial Alliance. Since the matter is grave, the Alliance Leader will likely pass judgment on him personally.”
Given the personality of Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon, the First Elder would never see the light of day again and would end his life inside the dungeon.
“There will be no need to worry about the Tang Clan.”
Cheon Woo-jin spoke so. The most impressive person in this incident was unexpectedly Tang So-yeon.
When he first heard that she passed the selection examination in fifth place, he had merely considered her a reasonably good rising talent.
Even after that, unlike Jin Un or Namgung Jin, he had had no particular contact with Tang So-yeon.
However, in this incident, Tang So-yeon showed considerable tenacity.
Realizing Tang Bi-cheon’s atrocities and throwing herself in at the risk of her life, obtaining permission for her brother’s death from the awakened Poison King, and coldly meting out severe punishment to her uncle, the First Elder.
Moreover, the situation was favorable.
Once such a major incident occurred, peace would usually continue for at least ten years.
As the sole remaining direct heir, Tang So-yeon would establish herself as the head of the Tang Clan backed by the Martial Alliance.
‘The Tang Clan will be quiet for a while. Then next is…’
The Hebei Peng Clan and Murong Clan.
The Qingcheng Sect and Zhongnan Sect.
Down to the Ten Thousand Gold Manor.
Cheon Woo-jin suddenly recalled the time he was summoned to the Martial Alliance council in the past. At that time, there was much talk regarding how to handle Cheon Woo-jin over the matter of beating Elder Zhuge Seong to death.
The person who had argued with the loudest voice that Cheon Woo-jin had to be severely punished was none other than Daoist Master Cheong-hyeon of the Qingcheng Sect.