Chapter 61: Chapter 61
Just before dawn, the darkest hour of the day.
Having wrapped up the black market, the Black Tortoise Squad was returning to the Alliance while maintaining their formation.
The masked individuals who had come as guests, the merchants who sold stolen goods, and the martial artists of the Xiangyang Society who had overseen it were all sent to the Martial Alliance’s Henan Branch.
They had thoroughly examined the confiscated items, but there was nothing that looked like a treasure map.
At best, there were stolen goods brought over from the Western Regions and Tokyo, and strangely shaped weapons said to have been used by experts with monikers never heard of before.
A few bolts of silk and bizarre-looking medicinal herbs were all there was.
Indeed, there was no way an unorthodox faction at the level of the Xiangyang Society would handle the treasure map of the Three Eccentrics of the Righteous Path.
Thinking so, Cheol Ji-ak clicked his tongue.
Zhuge Rin, who was running alongside him, watched his mood before speaking cautiously.
“It wasn’t as if there was a guarantee that the treasure map was definitely there in the first place. The mission was to verify it since there was intelligence that it might be there.”
“Still, I can’t help feeling disappointed.”
“Well, one never knows yet.”
Having said that, Zhuge Rin turned her head to look at the rear of the formation. Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon, the youngest members, were running with massive bundles strapped to their backs, which were the items confiscated this time.
Originally, since treasure maps sometimes did not take the form of maps, the plan was to hand over the confiscated goods to the Military Strategy Department first and have them examined.
“By the way, shouldn’t we help them a little?”
Zhuge Rin spoke as if feeling sorry for them. Cheon Woo-jin was such a monstrous youngest member that he looked perfectly fine even while carrying that heavy luggage, but Song Yi-yeon beside him was breathing exceedingly heavily.
It even seemed like drool was trickling slightly…
As if he had heard Zhuge Rin’s words, color returned to Song Yi-yeon’s face.
However, Cheol Ji-ak shook his head firmly.
“When you’re the youngest, doing chores like that is just part of the job.”
“Oh, come on, you’re just making them train their lightness art.”
“Ahem, regardless.”
Zhuge Rin looked at Song Yi-yeon’s pitiful gaze for a moment, then squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.
In the meantime, Cheol Ji-ak lowered his voice and spoke so that only Zhuge Rin could hear.
“Rin-ah, take good care of your own body first. Don’t overexert yourself pointlessly, and if there’s any problem, speak up immediately.”
“Come now, I’m still doing fine. I am the vice squad leader, after all.”
Although she said that, Zhuge Rin’s cheeks were slightly flushed. Cheol Ji-ak, who looked at her with concern, soon let out a deep, complicated sigh.
As the two fell silent like that, stillness settled over them.
Cheon Woo-jin, who had been quietly listening to that conversation from the rear, gazed blankly at Zhuge Rin.
‘Is it Severed Meridians Disorder?’
Befitting a daughter of a prestigious clan, Zhuge Rin appeared to possess an ample amount of internal energy. However, the flow of qi continually snapping and breaking in the middle was a textbook symptom of Severed Meridians Disorder.
Normally, it was a fact that even decent experts could only ascertain by taking one’s pulse, but to Cheon Woo-jin, who was born with exceptionally sharp qi sensitivity, the inside of her body was clearly visible.
Yet there was something odd to consider it mere Severed Meridians Disorder.
Namely, the flow of internal energy was not completely blocked.
Originally, Severed Meridians Disorder referred to a constitution where parts of the qi meridians were blocked from birth, rendering one unable to circulate internal energy.
However, although unstable, Vice Squad Leader Zhuge Rin was somehow circulating her internal energy. While it was possible if one consumed spiritual medicine to pierce through with overwhelming internal energy, no matter how one looked at it, she did not seem to possess that level of internal energy.
Perhaps she had contracted an acquired form of Severed Meridians Disorder where the meridians gradually became blocked over time.
But that was not the only strange thing.
‘The speed of internal energy circulation is minutely slower than her footsteps.’
That was something no famed physician could perceive, a nuance that only Cheon Woo-jin could discern.
If it were Severed Meridians Disorder, the internal energy should simply be cut off entirely, or even if not completely blocked, the volume circulated should decrease; there was no reason for the speed itself to slow down.
And yet, compared to each footstep Vice Squad Leader Zhuge Rin took now, the reaction speed of her internal energy was minutely delayed.
To exaggerate, it was as if she were running underwater. In that manner, even if one executed the same lightness art with the same amount of internal energy, one was bound to grow far more exhausted.
As if…
‘Poison?’
It had similarities to when one was affected by energy dispersing poison and had their circulation of internal energy disrupted.
Suddenly, Jang Woo-pyeong, who had been running alongside Song Yi-yeon and slyly helping him hold his luggage, asked.
“Indeed, the vice squad leader is quite pretty, isn’t she?”
“…”
When Cheon Woo-jin looked at him as if bewildered, Jang Woo-pyeong shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, everyone is like that at first when they see the vice squad leader. But romantic feelings toward a comrade, especially toward a superior, are strictly prohibited by Alliance law, so keep that in…”
Even before those words could finish, Cheon Woo-jin increased his pace and headed for the head of the formation. As Cheon Woo-jin pulled ahead with truly light footsteps, the Black Tortoise Squad members let out exclamations of admiration.
Zhuge Rin also looked at him as if his agile movements were quite fascinating and asked.
“What is it?”
“Is it Severed Meridians Disorder?”
“Wh-what?”
Zhuge Rin stopped dead in her tracks.
Because there was no order from the squad leader to halt the formation, the Black Tortoise Squad members brushed past the two who had stopped.
The hair of both individuals fluttered about in the wind.
In the midst of that, Zhuge Rin looked at Cheon Woo-jin blankly before asking in a low voice.
“How did Junior Cheon know that?”
Even Zhuge Rin, who rarely showed emotion on her face, had a distinctly flustered expression at this moment.
Aside from the squad leader, no one else knew the truth about her Severed Meridians Disorder. That was because she merely grew exhausted much faster than others, but it posed no great hindrance to displaying her skills for short durations.
Cheon Woo-jin answered casually.
“I can see it.”
“What kind of nonsense is…”
She was about to ask what kind of nonsense that was, but upon reflection, since the youngest member Cheon’s actions had never made sense until now, she shut her mouth.
Soon, Zhuge Rin nodded slightly.
“Yes. It’s Severed Meridians Disorder. I’ve suffered from it since I was very young.”
Having said that, Zhuge Rin slowly moved her steps in the direction the Black Tortoise Squad members had run ahead.
Cheon Woo-jin also matched her pace.
After a moment of awkward silence, Zhuge Rin’s words continued.
“Thanks to that, I’m out here in the Martial Alliance now, and things became even harder for Father.”
Cheon Woo-jin tilted his head. Because he knew nothing about Zhuge Rin and her family circumstances, her answer sounded abstract.
Letting out a smirk at that sight, Zhuge Rin spoke in an intentionally spirited voice.
“The real power in the Zhuge Clan right now isn’t Father, who is the patriarch, but my uncle, Elder Zhuge Seong. It was always like that. Father had a weak-willed personality, while Uncle was resolute and possessed great ambition.”
“I see.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded calmly. It was something common in clans that wielded power.
“And yet, of all things, his only daughter ended up suffering from Severed Meridians Disorder. On top of that, of all people, Uncle Zhuge Seong’s son, that brat of a cousin of mine, was born with martial talent hailed as the Celestial Martial Physique or something.”
Just hearing up to here was enough to understand.
The position of patriarch was hereditary.
However, the Zhuge Clan was a proper martial family.
The patriarch’s only daughter had Severed Meridians Disorder, while the ambitious elder’s son had the Celestial Martial Physique. Such a reality would have poured even more oil upon the elder’s burning ambitions.
“Is that why you were kicked out?”
“Hey, what do you mean kicked out? I walked out on my own two feet. On my own feet.”
“I believe you said before that you were kicked out.”
Zhuge Rin narrowed her eyes and looked at Cheon Woo-jin.
“Quiet! But do you know what?”
“What?”
“That punk wasn’t a Celestial Martial Physique after all.”
It was certainly true that he was born with martial talent.
Uncle Zhuge Seong had married a woman of the Hebei Peng Clan.
While members of the Zhuge Clan typically featured petite builds and gentle dispositions, perhaps due to the mixed blood of the Peng Clan, her cousin was very large in stature and valiant in character.
The comprehension of the Zhuge Clan and the physique of the Hebei Peng Clan. Having inherited only the virtues of the two Great Clans, how could he lack martial talent?
Zhuge Rin had also once felt disheartened seeing that fellow grow day by day.
However, looking at it now, it was not the Celestial Martial Physique.
‘The real Celestial Martial Physique is right here.’
Beside her was the monstrous youngest member, blinking his eyes blankly with a dazed expression again. In the presence of such a fellow, how could one call someone like Zhuge Hyeon a Celestial Martial Physique?
Drawing a subtle smile, Zhuge Rin asked playfully.
“How is it? What are your impressions after hearing someone else’s deep family circumstances?”
“Well…”
He did not have any particular thoughts. However, if he said that, the vice squad leader’s eyes would narrow once again.
“It’s unfortunate.”
“Liar. You don’t have any thoughts at all.”
“…”
He felt a twinge of guilt inside. Indeed, perhaps because she was a daughter of the Zhuge Clan, she seemed very quick-witted. Master White Elder had also told him never to tell lies carelessly in front of someone who inherited the blood of Zhuge strongly.
Cheon Woo-jin casually turned his head.
Before he knew it, the Black Tortoise Squad members who had gone ahead came into view.
“Jang Woo-pyeong!”
When Zhuge Rin shouted, Jang Woo-pyeong, who had been discreetly helping hold Song Yi-yeon’s bundle from behind, started in surprise and let go.
At that, Song Yi-yeon’s center of gravity shifted sharply backward, and his waist wobbled as if he were about to fall over.
“Uh, uh…!”
He strained with all his might, but his balance did not easily return.
Seeing this, Cheon Woo-jin approached in an instant and gave Song Yi-yeon’s back a light shove. Then, as if nothing had happened, Song Yi-yeon’s posture became stable once more.
“Oh, thank you, Young Hero.”
Song Yi-yeon gave a thumbs-up.
Cheon Woo-jin nodded and spoke.
“Put down the bundle.”
“Hm? It’s fine. It’s training ordered by the squad leader anyway, so I must diligently…”
“Assassins.”
The moment Cheon Woo-jin’s words ended.
Swoosh!
From within the darkness all around, a sharp sound of breaking air rang out like someone’s scream.
“Hidden weapons!”
Cheol Ji-ak shouted, and the Black Tortoise Squad members skillfully drew their blades and swords. The martial artists, having assumed their stances in an instant, surveyed their surroundings with tense faces.
At the end of the prolonged screeching through the air, something began to glint.
For a moment, it looked like starlight embroidering the night sky.
“Damn it all…”
It was not one or two hidden weapons. There easily appeared to be dozens, if not hundreds. At this scale, it was safe to assume the Xiangyang Society had resolved to attack out of a grudge over the black market.
The Xiangyang Society was an unorthodox faction that used poison. Surely every single one of those countless hidden weapons was coated in poison.
The Black Tortoise Squad members each gritted their molars.
Facing the hidden weapons pouring down like rain, the thought struck them that returning safely to the Alliance tonight was completely out of the question.
Jang Woo-pyeong pulled Song Yi-yeon’s sleeve and stepped forward. No matter how much stronger the junior was than himself, the fellow still lacked real combat experience.
‘I will protect him.’
Jang Woo-pyeong’s eyes sank with greater solemnity than ever before.
It was also right around then that a chilly wind grazed past the side of his head and surged forward.
Swoosh!
As the wind advanced, its volume swelled, ultimately causing the wave of hidden weapons to surge and ripple. Beneath a stream of moonlight, the hidden weapons fluttered and glistened in all directions.
The scene looked as though waves swept up by a colossal typhoon were shattering helplessly.
“Wh-what is this…”
Jang Woo-pyeong, who had steeled his resolve for once, let the sword he was holding drop powerlessly.
Even after sweeping away all the hidden weapons, the gust of wind, as if unsatisfied, furiously gouged the dirt ground where giant trees and boulders were firmly rooted.
KABOOOOM!
It was truly a natural disaster.
There were no other words to describe it.
Centered around the ground where the Black Tortoise Squad stood, everything in all directions shattered and scattered. As the radius expanded, red blood gradually mingled within, and someone’s desperate scream rang out.
Naturally, the one who created this bizarre and terrifying sight was…
Jang Woo-pyeong turned his head slightly.
“What the? Where did he go again?”
The monstrous youngest member who was clearly the culprit behind the gust of wind.
Cheon Woo-jin had disappeared.