Chapter 14: Chapter 14
Energy gathered at Muk-gaek’s fingertips.
His supreme technique was the Low Quick-Draw Saber.
Literally speaking, it was drawing his long saber with overwhelming speed while simultaneously slashing at the opponent’s lower body.
The opponent would die, or lose his manhood even if it merely grazed him.
Naturally, it rendered them incapable of continuing the fight.
It was a practical supreme technique befitting a man who had immersed himself in the Unorthodox Path his entire life.
Shring!
The moment the long saber began to be drawn from the fingertips of the resolved Muk-gaek.
Thud!
“…”
The room froze completely.
Muk-gaek’s saber hilt was blocked before it could even be drawn halfway.
By a dark iron staff.
‘I missed his movement.’
The staff of a mere junior was completely blocking his saber hilt. He tried to muster his energy and resist, but it was in vain.
Muk-gaek channeled his internal energy even more roughly.
Rumble!
The floor trembled faintly.
His face flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead.
His hands were trembling violently, but…
The long saber still remained undrawn.
Cheon Woo-jin smirked.
“What are you doing? Draw it.”
Muk-gaek cursed inwardly.
The fellow had merely rested the iron staff lightly, yet no matter how he struggled, he could not overcome that physical strength.
Cheon Woo-jin peered into Muk-gaek’s eyes.
Muk-gaek felt as if his breath had stopped. Like an herbivore standing before a beast of prey, the muscles throughout his entire body tensed stiffly.
He had the illusion that those unfathomably deep eyes were looking starkly into his inner mind.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the resistance blocking the saber hilt disappeared.
Naturally, the long saber was drawn out, but at the same time, the world was dyed in darkness.
To be precise, the pitch-black Crescent Moon Staff rushed right before Muk-gaek’s eyes.
Thwack!
Along with the sound of impact, horrific pain struck his left eye. Dropping the saber from his hand, Muk-gaek collapsed while clutching his left eye.
He could tell instinctively.
That with just a single strike, he had lost sight in one eye.
At the same time, bewilderment crept in.
For it was an attack far too brutal and practical to have been displayed by a rising star of the Righteous Path.
However, before his bewilderment could continue any further.
Crack!
The Crescent Moon Staff mercilessly fell upon the back of his head.
Muk-gaek’s skull split open with a crack, spurting blood.
Muk-gaek, having collapsed on the floor, trembled violently as if struck by lightning energy, then soon went completely limp.
Watching this with a terror-stricken face, Gu Jin-seok pointed an accusing finger at Cheon Woo-jin and suddenly shouted.
“Y-You madman! How dare you k-k-kill someone in the Martial Alliance…”
“I didn’t kill him.”
That cold voice froze the room in an instant.
Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes, which had been staring dryly at Muk-gaek, turned toward Gu Jin-seok.
Gu Jin-seok’s entire body flinched and shuddered.
“I shouldn’t kill him. He is a witness.”
“…”
They were true words. However, it sounded as if he could kill Gu Jin-seok and anyone related to Gu Jin-seok without hesitation at any moment, as long as it was not within the Martial Alliance.
Gu Jin-seok’s head spun. The fellow named Cheon Woo-jin did not fear him, the eldest son of the Gu Clan.
No, far from fearing him, he did not care in the slightest. Had he cared, Muk-gaek would not be lying there bleeding like that.
“W-Who on earth are you…”
Gu Jin-seok asked with a pale face.
Cheon Woo-jin pondered for a moment, then calmly replied.
“Cheon Woo-jin.”
“No, you bastard! Who asked for your name…!”
Smack!
Gu Jin-seok collapsed from the excruciating pain in the back of his knee. Before he knew it, the Crescent Moon Staff had struck his knee.
Cheon Woo-jin looked down at Gu Jin-seok with a cold gaze, then took out a book from his robes and tossed it.
As soon as Gu Jin-seok saw it, he realized. That book was the ledger of that place where that damn Muk-gaek had conducted transactions.
It was then.
A noisy commotion arose outside, and someone’s footsteps rapidly approached.
Soon, the door swung open, and…
“Wow, totally screwed.”
Song Yi-yeon looked into the room with a dumbfounded expression.
Gu Jin-seok’s escort whose head was already split open, and Gu Jin-seok who was right on the verge of having his smashed.
And even Cheon Woo-jin, who looked ready to smash it right this instant.
Song Yi-yeon wanted to turn a blind eye to this dreadful situation, but since he had already decided to be friends with Cheon Woo-jin, he could not do so.
Unlike Zhuge Rin’s assessment of him being slick and lazy, Song Yi-yeon was a man who valued loyalty in his own way.
“Young Hero Cheon, it is not too late even now. Since you haven’t shattered Gu Jin-seok’s skull yet…”
Thump!
Gu Jin-seok’s forehead was split open. Blood flowed profusely between the fingers clutching his forehead.
Song Yi-yeon shook his head from side to side.
“Good grief…”
In Song Yi-yeon’s family as well, there were many men who were hearty if put nicely, and hot-tempered if put harshly. Most of them did not consider the consequences, but at least they would not smash the skull of the Gu Clan’s eldest son without a second thought like Cheon Woo-jin.
“Young Hero, just what are you planning to do? Are you going to kill him?”
The only fortunate thing was that both men were still alive. If one killed someone inside the Martial Alliance, their name was immediately placed on the public enemy list. This held true even if Cheon Woo-jin’s master could exert any kind of influence in the Martial Alliance.
Song Yi-yeon grabbed Cheon Woo-jin’s sleeve.
Cheon Woo-jin looked at Song Yi-yeon nonchalantly.
“They tried to kill me and failed. So it is my turn to kill them.”
Seeing that tone and gaze, goosebumps rose along Song Yi-yeon’s spine.
He caught a glimpse of that side of him from when he slaughtered the men in black during the mission, and when he tortured their leader.
Usually, Cheon Woo-jin was an easygoing and jovial person like White Elder, but when facing villains, he was the spitting image of Black Elder.
For that reason, Song Yi-yeon found it utterly impossible to open his mouth right now.
Gu Jin-seok, who was squirming on the floor in agony, suddenly spoke.
“…not me.”
“What?”
Crouching down, Cheon Woo-jin grabbed Gu Jin-seok by the hair and yanked his head up.
“I can’t hear you, so speak clearly.”
“It wasn’t me…”
“Then?”
Gu Jin-seok strained to point at the fallen Muk-gaek.
Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes narrowed.
In fact, the ledger only contained traces of Muk-gaek, with no trace of the Gu Clan or Gu Jin-seok.
However, unless one was a fool, there was no way not to know that Gu Jin-seok had given the order, and that Muk-gaek was now cutting off the tail.
“Is that so?”
Cheon Woo-jin asked nonchalantly.
Watching that look from the side, Song Yi-yeon’s face turned pale.
Because it was the exact look he had when torturing the Tiger Hunt Unit Leader.
Sure enough, Cheon Woo-jin gripped his Crescent Moon Staff and stood up again. Song Yi-yeon held onto his sleeve and asked cautiously.
“Y-Young Hero?”
“It is fine.”
“No, what is fine…”
Song Yi-yeon felt like crying.
It had not been long since he met Cheon Woo-jin. However, thanks to him, he passed the first examination, and in the second examination, he owed him his life.
Although he had not conversed much with Cheon Woo-jin, they connected well in many ways, so he thought they could remain friends for a lifetime.
He did not want the first friend he made after entering the martial world to spend the rest of his life locked in the Martial Alliance prison.
The long corridor was already packed with juniors who had come out to watch the commotion. All of them would become witnesses.
Cheon Woo-jin stared down quietly at the fallen Gu Jin-seok, then spoke in a dry tone.
“I will have to ask.”
“It really wasn’t me…”
Gu Jin-seok said in a crawling voice.
However, it did not reach Cheon Woo-jin’s ears. He saw no need to listen intently to a voice laced with lies.
Cheon Woo-jin knew two ways to draw the truth from someone who told lies.
Master White Elder had said that sincerity always gets through, capable of moving anyone’s heart.
On the other hand, Master Black Elder often said that if you strike, the truth will open.
Cheon Woo-jin recalled the advice of his two masters, set down the Crescent Moon Staff, and grabbed Gu Jin-seok’s shoulder.
At that sight, Song Yi-yeon’s face brightened. However, as strength gradually poured into the hand gripping the shoulder, Gu Jin-seok let out a groan.
He had chosen Black Elder’s teachings. The reason was simple: in Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes, Gu Jin-seok was an evil person.
Cheon Woo-jin did not even bother asking any further.
With his left hand, he firmly secured Gu Jin-seok’s shoulder, and his right hand moved toward his collarbone.
Gu Jin-seok tried to pry Cheon Woo-jin’s hand away with a terrified face, but it was in vain.
The moment Gu Jin-seok suddenly raised his head and met Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze.
“…”
He could do nothing.
Those pitch-black, deep, dark pupils felt as if they were merely announcing his death.
Soon, Cheon Woo-jin’s elegant right hand seized Gu Jin-seok’s collarbone. It did not stop there, digging deeply inward.
Plunge!
Cheon Woo-jin’s five fingers tore through Gu Jin-seok’s flesh and dug inside. As his fingers closed together once more, Gu Jin-seok’s entire collarbone was seized.
“Y-Young Hero?”
Song Yi-yeon looked at Cheon Woo-jin with disbelieving eyes.
He had seen this scene before. When he followed his father to a butcher shop selling meat during his childhood.
An eerie-looking butcher used to rip out pig bones with his bare hands.
That very scene was unfolding before his eyes once more.
The only difference was that right now, it was a human, not a pig.
Just as Song Yi-yeon reached out to grab Cheon Woo-jin’s arm.
Crunch!
Craaunch!
A breath faster, the gruesome sound of tearing flesh rang out first.
Immediately following, Gu Jin-seok’s desperate scream erupted.
“K-Kaaagh!”
His scream filled the entire pavilion.
Yet Cheon Woo-jin did not bat an eyelid.
“I-I did! I ordered it! I told them to kill you! So please, please…!!”
Despite Gu Jin-seok’s desperate cries, Cheon Woo-jin did not loosen the strength in his hand.
Snap!
The collarbone, which should have been ripped out entirely, snapped in half.
It was because Gu Jin-seok’s bones were far too fragile compared to the villains Black Elder used to torture.
Cheon Woo-jin smacked his lips in disappointment, then flicked the blood on his hand into the air.
“Why.”
At that brief question, Gu Jin-seok looked up at Cheon Woo-jin with a face smeared with tears and snot.
He was asking why he had done such a thing.
“When I… when I look at you, I feel jealousy…”
“I see.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded nonchalantly.
Both of his masters had said that the human heart was boundlessly weak, often allowing minor emotions to devour reason.
That was precisely how Gu Jin-seok was right now.
To try to kill someone merely out of jealousy.
Cheon Woo-jin stared at Gu Jin-seok with a dry gaze, then picked up the Crescent Moon Staff he had set aside.
‘A fellow who deserves to die.’
That was Cheon Woo-jin’s assessment of Gu Jin-seok.
It was then.
“Out of the way!”
“Won’t all of you get back to your rooms?!”
Along with urgent footsteps, a group shoved their way through the juniors and approached. They were several squad leaders and vice squad leaders in charge of the Martial Alliance member selection examination.
Naturally, Black Tortoise Squad Leader Cheol Ji-ak was among them. Although Vice Squad Leader Zhuge Rin was nowhere to be seen as she was under a three-month suspension.
“What on earth is this outrage?!”
A pale-faced man roared in fury.
It was Jang Seo-hwi, the White Dragon Squad Leader of the Martial Alliance.
The Martial Alliance members stepped between Cheon Woo-jin and Gu Jin-seok in an instant. A few of them were checking whether the fallen Muk-gaek was dead or alive.
The White Dragon Squad Leader walked toward Cheon Woo-jin with a truly furious expression.
“Explain yourself.”
Cheon Woo-jin wordlessly pointed at the ledger lying on the floor.
At that sight, the White Dragon Squad Leader’s eyebrows twitched.
“How dare a mere applicant act so insolent? Pick it up and bring it here.”
“…”
Cheon Woo-jin and the White Dragon Squad Leader’s gazes clashed in midair.
It was then.
“Haha. I’ll pick it up, then.”
Black Tortoise Squad Leader casually picked up the ledger and began reading it slowly.
“Oh, isn’t this the secret ledger of the Western Sky Society that was under investigation? Where did you find this?”
“I picked it up.”
At Cheon Woo-jin’s reply, the Black Tortoise Squad Leader burst into hearty laughter and pointed his index finger.
“Is that so? You have good luck.”
Drained of his momentum by that sight, the White Dragon Squad Leader sighed and stepped back. Of course, he did not forget to glare at Cheon Woo-jin once.
Soon, as Cheol Ji-ak read through the ledger, his expression gradually hardened.
“Is that fellow Muk-gaek?”
“Yes, that bastard tried to kill our Young Hero Cheon.”
Song Yi-yeon tattled immediately.
He thought that given Cheon Woo-jin’s personality, he would not be able to provide a proper explanation. By rights, a statement should be made to one’s own advantage, but Cheon Woo-jin was not of such disposition.
Since he had confidence in wagging his tongue, he intended to testify diligently for his friend.
However, the Black Tortoise Squad Leader spoke.
“Why are you cutting in?”
“Pardon? Because I am Young Hero Cheon’s friend…”
“A friend is just a friend. Are you applicant Cheon Woo-jin’s guardian?”
“That is not it, but…”
After pondering for a moment, Song Yi-yeon spoke.
“Actually, I am from the Anhui Song Clan…”
He intended to sell his father’s name a bit for the sake of his friend.
However, seeing the Black Tortoise Squad Leader’s expression harden rigidly, the quick-witted Song Yi-yeon shut his mouth.
Soon, the Black Tortoise Squad Leader pointed at Song Yi-yeon and the fallen Gu Jin-seok in turn as he spoke.
“Whether it is the Anhui Song Clan or the Gu Clan, neither can intervene in the affairs of the Martial Alliance. We will take care of it ourselves.”
“…Yes.”
Song Yi-yeon smacked his lips in regret.
Just then, a White Dragon Squad martial artist who was examining Muk-gaek came over and reported.
“Squad Leader, Muk-gaek is alive.”
“Any aftereffects?”
“His condition is severe, but whether he was lucky or not, there are no irreversible injuries.”
“Lucky, my foot.”
The White Dragon Squad Leader looked at Cheon Woo-jin with fresh eyes.
“If something like this happened, you should have reported it to the Alliance. To dare harm someone in the Martial Alliance without fear. This will never be overlooked easily.”
Cheol Ji-ak, the Black Tortoise Squad Leader standing beside him, also nodded his head.
“Right, this was a bit excessive. Regardless, we will take responsibility and investigate, so everyone disperse. Applicant Cheon Woo-jin, follow me. Take these two to the Medicine Hall.”
“Yes, Squad Leader.”
Thus, the incident was settled.
No, so it seemed.
* * *
The investigation did not take very long.
As soon as the results came out, Black Tortoise Squad Leader Cheol Ji-ak visited Ji Mak-pyeong, the Benevolence Division Head who was his superior and the person in overall charge of this examination.
Bang!
Roughly throwing the door open and stepping into the division head’s office, Cheol Ji-ak roared in anger straight away.
“Division Head! Are you joking right now?”
The Benevolence Division Head calmly filled a teacup and spoke.
“Yes, I knew you would come. Would you like to drink some tea and calm yourself?”
“Do I look like I can calm down? You cannot find a connection between this incident and the Gu Clan?! Do you know how many years that bastard Muk-gaek has been sponging off the Gu Clan? How could that bastard pull off such an act on his own authority?!”
“Suit yourself if you won’t drink.”
Downing even Cheol Ji-ak’s teacup, the Benevolence Division Head continued.
“Look here, Cheol Ji-ak.”
“…”
“You do know you are committing insubordination right now, don’t you? Nor would you be ignorant of the fact that insubordination is strictly prohibited in the Martial Alliance.”
Marching forward with a completely flushed face, Cheol Ji-ak slammed his hand down onto the division head’s desk with a thud.
“Hey, Ji Mak-pyeong.”
“My, do I still look like your peer to you?”
“…Isn’t this going too far? Just how far did the Gu Clan intervene? You? Or your superiors?”
“Hey, Cheol Ji-ak!”
The Benevolence Division Head sprang up from his seat.
Glaring at Cheol Ji-ak as if ready to kill him, he spoke.
“That is precisely why you can never escape the fate of being a perpetual squad leader while all our peers occupy positions at the division head or hall master rank. Because you have no loyalty to the Martial Alliance! None at all!”
“…”
Poking Cheol Ji-ak’s solar plexus with his index finger, tap, tap, the Benevolence Division Head continued.
“Is the Martial Alliance an organization that would bow its head to the Gu Clan? The investigation results simply turned out that way! The results! Who are you to doubt the Martial Alliance?”
“…”
Cheol Ji-ak clenched his fists tightly. He clenched them so hard that blood was nearly dripping to the floor between his fingernails.
Even while his peers climbed to high positions in the Martial Alliance, Cheol Ji-ak had little interest in promotions.
Yet at this very moment, he felt regret.
‘If only, if only I had been in a higher position…’
He would not have had to watch the corruption of the Martial Alliance and the injustice suffered by a blossoming talent so helplessly.
Seeing this, Benevolence Division Head Ji Mak-pyeong spoke.
“Stop talking nonsense and get out. If you doubt the Martial Alliance that much, you are welcome to leave far away altogether.”
Boom!
Cheol Ji-ak slammed his fist down onto the division head’s desk.
The desk instantly split in half with a loud crack and collapsed.
Soon, Cheol Ji-ak stormed out of the office while fuming, and watching his retreating back, Ji Mak-pyeong chuckled heartily.
“Such great strength. That fellow alone is still in his youth.”
* * *
There were two people just as indignant as Cheol Ji-ak over the investigation results announced by the Martial Alliance.
“The world is rotten!”
Zhuge Rin, whose face had flushed red, shouted as she raised her liquor cup.
Chiming in with her, Song Yi-yeon clinked his cup against hers.
“I suppose it was decided at a level much higher than Black Tortoise Squad Leader?”
Zhuge Rin nodded her head.
“Probably at least division head rank. By the way, I hope our squad leader doesn’t beat up the Benevolence Division Head again.”
“A squad leader beating up a division head? Has the Martial Alliance’s hierarchy always been such a mess?”
Zhuge Rin chuckled.
“The truth is, our squad leader and the Benevolence Division Head entered the alliance in the same batch. In fact, all the current figures of division head and hall master rank were our squad leader’s peers.”
Cheon Woo-jin, who had been listening quietly to their conversation, spoke.
“Why is that? He seemed to possess skill.”
At least in Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes, Black Tortoise Squad Leader Cheol Ji-ak was a man several cuts above the other squad leaders.
Zhuge Rin offered a bitter smile.
“Because of his personality. By nature, he can’t flatter others, and his own convictions are more important to him than regulations. Even now, while the White Dragon Squad Leader and other squad leaders merely curse without accepting the investigation results, he went to protest in person. Things like that accumulated over decades, completely getting on their bad side.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head.
Although it was slightly different from the Martial Alliance Master White Elder had spoken of, it was a place where people lived nonetheless, so such things could certainly happen.
Suddenly, Song Yi-yeon spoke.
“Ah, but doesn’t Young Hero’s master have connections with someone of fairly high rank in the Martial Alliance? Still, would reaching a division head or someone above be too much?”
At the same time, Zhuge Rin’s eyes flashed as well.
“Right. You said you came to find someone. Who knows? It might be someone exceedingly high up.”
Zhuge Rin knew that Cheon Woo-jin was Black Elder’s disciple.
If someone had ties to such a prominent figure, they had to be quite an extraordinary person in the Martial Alliance as well.
‘No, but would that even be fine?’
The more she came to know about Cheon Woo-jin, the more complicated Zhuge Rin’s head became.
Cheon Woo-jin calmly spoke.
“I told you last time as well. I don’t even know his name. Only the moniker ‘The Sword Slower than a Turtle’…”
It was then.
Bang!
Through the door that burst open with tremendous force, Cheol Ji-ak’s menacing face popped out abruptly.
“What? What did you just say?”
Seeing the blood still dripping from his hand, Zhuge Rin sprang up in shock.
“Squad Leader, what is wrong with your hand? Just how badly did you beat someone up…”
“…What nonsense are you talking about? No, applicant Cheon Woo-jin, what did you just say? Say it again.”
“The Sword Slower than a Turtle?”
Cheol Ji-ak’s eyes widened as large as lanterns.
‘To think someone other than me would know that nickname.’
Cheol Ji-ak burst into hollow laughter.
“It is a nickname, not a martial moniker. Who would use such a moniker?”
“Huh? Is it someone you know, Squad Leader?”
“I know him, all too well.”
Standing frozen in place, Cheol Ji-ak recalled memories of the past.
– Ji-ak, come over here.
– Pardon? Yes, Squad Leader!
Back in his youth, not long after he joined the Martial Alliance.
He had spent time in the same martial unit with that esteemed person, if only for a fortnight. That person was a squad leader, and he was the youngest recruit who had just entered.
– Ji-ak, is my sword that slow?
– Pardon…? You are faster than any swordsman I know.
– Right? I am not someone who would hear such words anywhere.
The squad leader, who was already renowned in the martial world back then, was unusually downhearted that day.
Unable to contain his curiosity, the young Cheol Ji-ak asked.
– Just what kind of words did you hear?
– “A sword slower than a turtle,” he said.
– …Just who said that?
– There is someone. The person I respect most.
Just like the young Cheol Ji-ak, Zhuge Rin could not contain her curiosity and broke his reverie as she asked.
“So just who is that sword slower than a turtle?”
“The Alliance Leader.”
“…?”
An awkward silence hung over the room.
Cheol Ji-ak alone smiled meaningfully to himself.
‘Ji Mak-pyeong, you bastard…’