Chapter 64: Chapter 64
Martial Alliance Headquarters, the Disciplinary Hall.
Inside the damp interrogation room, Cheol Ji-ak sat with both arms bound, and across the table, Disciplinary Hall Master Chu Pung-gae looked at him with a complicated expression.
He was called the “Mad Dog” because once he bit, he would not let go whether it was a hall master, the chief strategist, or even the alliance leader, yet for some reason, unlike his reputation, the Mad Dog was merely letting out continuous sighs.
“Did you really pocket that money?”
“Would I have pocketed it?”
Cheol Ji-ak replied curtly. The damp smell peculiar to the Disciplinary Hall’s interrogation room mingled with the thick scent of blood from whatever had taken place here, causing a strange sense of revulsion.
Chu Pung-gae sighed once again.
“Right. There is no way you would do such a thing.”
The problem was that the circumstances and evidence were far too clear.
If it had been anyone other than Cheol Ji-ak, Chu Pung-gae’s eyes would have turned wild like a mad dog and he would have forced a confession through this method or that.
However, the perpetual squad leader Cheol Ji-ak was one of the few people within the Alliance whom Chu Pung-gae viewed favorably.
His temper was so foul that far from committing corruption or fraud, one would be fortunate if he didn’t instantly smash the head of a bastard offering him a bribe.
“Where is Vice Squad Leader Zhuge Rin?”
“She is in the adjacent interrogation room. Hall Master No Un-sang will handle her.”
“Vice Hall Master No Un-sang is truly too much. Knowing full well that people were staring, did he have to bind her with arrest ropes and escort her away? She’s a kid who already suffers from useless rumors as it is.”
“…That is the regulation, so what can be done.”
Cheol Ji-ak exhaled a rough breath in annoyance.
At that sight, Chu Pung-gae’s anxiety deepened further. Even in the midst of this, this foolish fellow Cheol Ji-ak was worrying about his vice squad leader more than his own grievances.
“If you are truly innocent, nothing will happen. However, if by any tiny chance, one in ten thousand, or one in a thousand, it is revealed to be true…”
Chu Pung-gae swallowed his remaining words. Though it was only for a split second, madness subtly flashed in his eyes.
Newly reminded that the old man before his eyes was indeed the Mad Dog, Cheol Ji-ak groaned inwardly.
“I swear my innocence upon my several decades of life in the Martial Alliance.”
“Yes, you should…”
It was while Chu Pung-gae was nodding with a complicated expression. The door of the interrogation room opened, and Vice Hall Master No Un-sang approached with a grave expression.
“Hall Master. A slight matter has occurred.”
“What?”
Chu Pung-gae’s gaze momentarily sank low.
Seeing this, No Un-sang flinched and mumbled before finally speaking.
“That… one of the Black Tortoise Squad members has disappeared.”
“…”
Chu Pung-gae closed his mouth. In his eyes, the brilliant, piercing gaze unique to the Mad Dog had already settled.
Watching his reaction, No Un-sang continued his words.
“The one who vanished is Member Cheon Woo-jin, this term’s recruit. The other squad members also claim not to know his whereabouts. It is speculated that he acted unilaterally to clear the false accusations against the Black Tortoise Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader…”
Until No Un-sang’s explanation concluded, Chu Pung-gae did not open his mouth. He merely stared at the vice hall master with ominous eyes.
A brief silence arose.
Even Cheol Ji-ak, who rarely cared about others’ reactions, rolled his eyes this way and that and held his tongue.
In that instant, Chu Pung-gae’s gaze shifted toward Cheol Ji-ak.
Flinching, Cheol Ji-ak shook his head.
“Th-that, he isn’t a bad kid, but sometimes…”
“You useless pieces of shit!!”
Crash!
Under the fist Chu Pung-gae brought down, the table shattered into smithereens.
Internal qi of dense concentration filled the interrogation room.
With his eyes instantly bloodshot and veins bulging on his neck, Chu Pung-gae gritted out his words.
“Form a pursuit team right now and bring him back. Immediately.”
“Y-yes! Hall Master!”
No Un-sang exited the interrogation room faster than ever before. It felt as though if he stayed here any longer, the next thing to burst would be his own head rather than the table.
After No Un-sang left, Chu Pung-gae trembled as he exhaled a long breath. Soon, his flushed face very slowly regained its normal color.
“Fucking hell. These worthless bastards can’t even manage a single young kid…”
It was the Black Tortoise Pavilion, personally surrounded by the martial artists of the Disciplinary Hall. A member of the Black Tortoise Squad had vanished from that very place. And it was the youngest member who had just joined the Alliance at that.
It was truly nothing short of a disgrace to the Disciplinary Hall.
Watching Chu Pung-gae’s mood, Cheol Ji-ak asked cautiously.
“Hall Master.”
“What!”
“Whoa, that startled me.”
The benevolent-faced Chu Pung-gae was gone. There was merely a mad dog whose eyes had rolled half-back standing before him.
There was no way words would get through to a dog, but since it was something he absolutely had to ask, he opened his mouth cautiously.
“It’s surely not a Pursuit-and-Kill Squad, right?”
Pursuit-and-Kill Squad. It referred to an organization formed not merely to pursue, but with the intention of capturing and killing.
At Cheol Ji-ak’s question, Chu Pung-gae’s eyes widened as if dumbfounded, then gleamed with madness.
“Are you. In a position. Right now. To ask me something like that? Is that punk Cheon Woo-jin’s action not a blatant defiance of the Martial Alliance’s regulations? Depending on the circumstances, if the resistance is fierce, execution on sight is the rule.”
“Ah…”
Cheol Ji-ak repeatedly groaned. The problem was growing bigger than anticipated. If the escaped youngest member Cheon and the martial artists of the Disciplinary Hall clashed…
‘It’s a disaster. It will definitely be a disaster.’
* * *
The Hao Sect sent letters to places likely to possess information regarding the Shadowless Divine Thief.
Although a vein had slightly bulged on Hao Sect Leader Wild Flower’s forehead at Cheon Woo-jin’s frank confession that he lacked the commission fee.
Upon receiving a promise that he would assist with one task for the Hao Sect in the future, Wild Flower regained her smile.
The letter sent after such a dramatic agreement was delivered to a young man.
Long black hair, deep dark pupils, a pitch-black robe resembling the night sky, and even a dark-colored scabbard hanging at his waist.
His attire was truly pitch-black as though drenched in ink, yet the young man, who exuded an aura that suited it wonderfully, read through the letter with an intrigued expression.
“I wondered why on earth the Hao Sect Leader personally sent a letter.”
He read the letter with his right hand while gently swaying a fishing rod extended toward a large pond with his left.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a steadfast impression standing beside him asked.
“The Hao Sect Leader?”
“Yes. The Castle Lord told me that no good comes from getting directly entangled with the Hao Sect Leader.”
“Yes, the Castle Lord said that in his youth, he once suffered damages because of that woman Wild Flower. For that reason, since the Castle Lord refuses to meet her, she must have sent the letter to the Young Castle Lord. She is truly an insolent woman. If you give it to me, I will go burn it.”
“No.”
The man called the Young Castle Lord playfully waved the letter. To simply burn it, it felt as though something delightfully rare was about to occur in this tedious daily life.
“My thoughts are different. Wild Flower is an exceedingly fascinating woman. To begin with, her age is unknown. If she was active even when the Castle Lord was young, just how old is she?”
“Ahem, nothing is known regarding the age of the Hao Sect Leader.”
“I see. By the way, aren’t you curious about the contents of this letter?”
With a truly mischievous expression, the Young Castle Lord waved the letter before the middle-aged man’s eyes.
“How could I pry into a letter addressed to the Young Castle Lord?”
“Hey, Butcher Ma.”
“Ahem…”
The middle-aged man attending the Young Castle Lord groaned softly.
It was because when he fled from the Black Overlord Castle, he had briefly worked as a butcher and was called Butcher Ma.
Chuckling, the Young Castle Lord continued.
“No matter how we tried to drag you back, you kept fleeing, yet one day you returned on your own two feet. What did you say the reason was again?”
“A Martial Alliance member named Cheon Woo-jin saved my daughter who was afflicted by the plague… no, by poison arts. As a man and as a father, I naturally had to repay the debt of gratitude, but having nothing, I returned to beg for the Young Castle Lord’s forgiveness.”
The Young Castle Lord nodded. Even hearing it again, it was truly an audacious matter. His long-time escort, Ma Yong-seok, had fled one day. Hearing the reason now, it turned out a high-ranking executive of the Black Overlord Castle had coveted his daughter, Ma Hee-yeon.
‘Then he should have told me. Fleeing instead?’
Of course, it was likely the best judgment Ma Yong-seok could make in his own way.
The high-ranking executive who coveted Ma Hee-yeon back then was a political enemy of the Young Castle Lord. To avoid causing harm to the master he served, he had deliberately taken upon himself the plight of a fugitive.
‘Though that bastard is already dead, of course.’
After hearing the reason from Ma Yong-seok, the Young Castle Lord had personally paid a visit to that executive. Contrary to Ma Yong-seok’s worries, to the Young Castle Lord, it was a wonderful pretext to eliminate a political adversary.
Recalling the deceased executive, the Young Castle Lord chuckled once more.
“And yet, I am truly jealous. To think that what I, the Young Castle Lord, failed to accomplish despite striving so hard to retrieve should be resolved thanks to a mere low-ranking Martial Alliance member.”
“Ahem, I am sorry.”
Ma Yong-seok did not know why the Young Castle Lord brought up that story again. He merely lowered his head with an apologetic heart.
Looking at such a subordinate, the Young Castle Lord’s eyes curved into crescents.
“That name is written in the letter, you see. Cheon Woo-jin.”
“P-pardon?”
Ma Yong-seok’s eyes went wide.
Reading down the letter handed to him by the Young Castle Lord, Ma Yong-seok soon narrowed his brow.
“Of all people, the Shadowless Divine Thief…”
Ma Yong-seok felt inward distress. He had resolved to help Member Cheon Woo-jin once. But of all people, the opponent was the Shadowless Divine Thief. No matter how much Ma Yong-seok occupied a prominent position in the Black Overlord Castle, the Shadowless Divine Thief was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
Soon, Ma Yong-seok dropped to his knees before his lord.
“Young Castle Lord. Please grant me permission to go. As a man, how could I turn away from past kindness? Even if I must risk my life, I will wage a bloody battle against that fellow, the Shadowless Divine Thief…”
“Butcher Ma, you truly are a madman too.”
“Pardon?”
The Young Castle Lord clicked his tongue. His most cherished subordinate had barely returned, only to declare he was going off to die again.
Soon, the Young Castle Lord rose from his seat.
“Shall I go see the face of the benefactor who returned my treasure in person? Not to mention, after hearing what you said, I investigated that fellow named Cheon Woo-jin.”
The Young Castle Lord stopped mid-sentence and let out an incredulous laugh. That was because receiving the intelligence on Cheon Woo-jin from his direct information network, the Black Crow Squad, was truly absurd.
‘Castle Lord, wasn’t your story different?’
The foremost figure of the present Unorthodox Path and his father, the Lord of the Black Overlord Castle, had spoken clearly. He had said that among the rising stars of this era, there was no one who could match him, even including all of the Nine Great Sects and One Clan, the Five Great Clans, and the Demonic Cult.
But it was not so. A fellow no less monstrous than himself, or perhaps even more monstrous, was operating just fine. And as a low-ranking member of the Martial Alliance at that.
“Let us go. It will truly be entertaining.”
Ma Yong-seok continuously groaned. He knew better than anyone the disposition of the Young Castle Lord, whom he had served since childhood. Was it truly acceptable to let his benefactor meet the Young Castle Lord?
Yet whose command would he dare defy?
As Ma Yong-seok, with a complicated mind, watched his lord walk away with his black robe fluttering splendidly.
Jingle!
The bell attached to the fishing rod rang.
Simultaneously, the Young Castle Lord’s figure vanished as if sinking into the earth.
Having returned in an instant and grabbed the fishing rod, the Young Castle Lord swayed the carp caught on the bait and spoke. Surprisingly, it was a Fire Carp bearing golden scales.
Fire Carps lived in the pond of the Black Overlord Castle. It was a secret known only to the Lord of the Black Overlord Castle, his son the Young Castle Lord, and the direct escort Ma Yong-seok.
“Shall we eat this before we go?”
“…”
Right, whose command could he dare defy?
Ma Yong-seok pulled a small dagger from his bosom.