Chapter 77: Chapter 77
Cheon Woo-jin’s party ran toward the west.
Literally, they did nothing but run.
“No, Young Hero Cheon. Let’s fill our bellies first…”
“There is not much time.”
Gazing at the receding Cheon Woo-jin, Song Yi-yeon fell into despair.
Because this was an outing rather than an official mission, he had expected there would be plenty of time to spare. He had looked forward to enjoying leisurely travels along with delicious food and scenic sights together with Young Hero Cheon and his newly made friend, Young Hero Jin Un.
He had even comforted and coaxed Jin Un, who was in despair over having lied to the Courier Hall Master, by speaking in such a manner.
– Young Hero Jin Un, do not be so downcast. I know an incredible restaurant, and if we go there, your mood will improve considerably. The food is delicious, and the view outside the window is splendid.
Because Jin Un was also a man who knew how to enjoy wonderful scenery, his heart had seemed to soften somewhat.
However, after departing the Martial Alliance, their journey was to be viewed as extreme training rather than sightseeing.
There was no harmonious conversation. There was no talking about life before coming to the Martial Alliance, nor sharing aspirations of becoming righteous chivalrous experts of the Righteous Path.
They merely ran. The only sounds heard were the strong wind pressure battering their ears and the rough, ragged breathing of Song Yi-yeon and Jin Un.
Their calves pulled as if tearing apart and they felt as though water had filled their lungs, but if they slowed their speed even slightly, Young Hero Cheon became a distant dot and drew further away.
It was at that moment.
Color simultaneously returned to the faces of Jin Un and Song Yi-yeon, who were on the verge of losing their breath. It was because a steep cliff appeared ahead of them.
Under normal circumstances, they would have despaired at a cliff. However, the cliff visible ahead was not just any rock wall, but a precipice so high it seemed to literally touch the heavens.
Moreover, the mountain terrain was sheer and precipitous, and a large lake lay before it.
It was impossible. If one were human, one would never think of crossing such a cliff.
“Young Hero Cheon, I know a detour! In my youth, when I went out on an escort journey, I recall coming around this area.”
“As expected, there is nothing Young Hero Song does not know. Since you said there is no time, we must hurry around. Where is the path…”
However, Jin Un’s words could not continue to the end.
Whoosh!
Cheon Woo-jin dashed across the lake. Literally flying in a straight line like a skipping stone, he kicked up sprays of water to the left and right.
At that sight, Song Yi-yeon and Jin Un gasped in astonishment. They, too, possessed the skill to execute the Water-Gliding Art. However, running on solid ground and running on water were as different as heaven and earth.
Unlike ordinary lightness arts where one ran balancing on the balls of the feet, the entire sole of the foot had to touch the water’s surface. It was to increase friction and buoyancy even slightly.
Yet humans were fundamentally built to run on the balls of their feet. Having to forcefully ignore that through flexibility and internal energy made it several times more exhausting.
Of course, the two men had no other choice.
In any case, they were also martial artists who had been called geniuses. Even if the opponent was the monster-like Young Hero Cheon, dropping out from exhaustion while running was far too shameful.
“Hey, Young Hero Jin Un. A Daoist shouldn’t go around telling lies and such, right? The Courier Hall Master trusted you, so you shouldn’t do that. Ah, I shouldn’t have come out.”
“N-No! Didn’t Young Hero Song egg me on?”
Jin Un looked at Song Yi-yeon with a flabbergasted expression. However, Song Yi-yeon lightly ignored him and dashed across the lake.
Just as the two were dashing across the water’s surface, Cheon Woo-jin had already reached the edge of the lake.
Standing still, Cheon Woo-jin looked up at the cliff. Like a precipice that had plummeted straight down from the sky, its top could not be seen.
Gazing at his back, a thread of hope flickered across Jin Un’s face.
Jin Un nodded his head.
‘Yes. If he is truly human, that cliff is…’
Jin Un did not know yet. Song Yi-yeon, who had spent more time with Cheon Woo-jin, already knew.
Song Yi-yeon was already half suspecting that his friend was an inhuman entity.
Sure enough, Cheon Woo-jin lightly tapped the ground a few times, then soared straight into the sky.
“…”
With a single leap, he surged halfway up the cliff.
Watching that spectacle, Jin Un finally lost his balance and sank beneath the water’s surface.
Seeing this, Song Yi-yeon’s eyes sparkled.
“Young Hero Cheooon! Our friend Young Hero Jin Un has become fish food! Since we happen to be heading to Shaanxi, let us stop by Mount Hua and hold a funeral before we go!”
Song Yi-yeon’s voice soared into the sky like an echo.
A brief silence flowed.
Whoosh!
Cheon Woo-jin, who had flown up the cliff, descended at even greater speed and plunged right into the water with a splash.
At that sight, Song Yi-yeon nodded with a satisfied face.
‘Thanks to Young Hero Jin Un’s sacrifice, I caught my breath.’
* * *
After twists and turns, the three men arrived in Heyang, Shaanxi Province.
The faces of Song Yi-yeon and Jin Un were pale blue.
Seeing them, Cheon Woo-jin spoke nonchalantly.
“The lightness arts of both of you have improved.”
“Look at this crazy young hero. Do you know how many brushes with death we just crossed?”
“Three times.”
“…”
Song Yi-yeon shut his mouth.
It was because Cheon Woo-jin’s words were accurate.
Twice for Jin Un, including sinking under the lake and slipping while climbing the cliff.
Once for Song Yi-yeon, who almost died instantly upon crashing into a suddenly protruding tree while descending the cliff.
There had been a total of three brushes with death, and each time, Cheon Woo-jin, who had disappeared like a dot, appeared and resolved them.
Consequently, having completed extreme lightness art training under Cheon Woo-jin’s protection, the two had nothing else to say.
“Ahem.”
“Hmph!”
They tried to express their dissatisfaction by clearing their throats, but Cheon Woo-jin, like someone with entirely different emotional sensitivity in the first place, could not even understand why the two were acting like that.
Like that, the three walked along the marketplace.
Passersby stole glances at the three of them.
People who were captivated by Song Yi-yeon’s ornate appearance marveled at Jin Un’s gallant and handsome figure, only to meet Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes and hurriedly hasten their pace.
Just how many times had that repeated?
On the outskirts of the city, before a manor with quite a large floating population, Cheon Woo-jin stopped.
“Fortunately, it seems we are not late. Young Hero Song, Young Hero Jin Un, do you feel it too?”
When Cheon Woo-jin spoke abruptly, the two blinked and looked at him.
“Feel what?”
“The signs of human presence inside.”
“Mmh, quite a lot of people are caught by sensory perception. Among them, there are many martial artists who appear to be from the Unorthodox Path. But for a manor of this scale, isn’t it natural to have martial artists? Their caliber doesn’t look particularly high either.”
Jin Un also nodded in agreement beside him.
Under heaven, factions of the Unorthodox Path were countless.
Even counting only the fairly large ones among the Unorthodox Path factions led by the absolute hegemon, the Black Overlord Castle, there were over thirty.
Those thirty factions were said to each hold about fifty factions beneath them as well.
Thus, factions of the Unorthodox Path were as numerous as swarms of ants under heaven, and unorthodox factions of this manor’s scale were common enough to kick around.
Song Yi-yeon stroked his chin with his thumb and forefinger.
“Hmm, I doubt Young Hero Cheon came all the way to this distant place targeting such an unorthodox faction.”
“In the first place, this scale is a matter to be cleared out at the level of a branch rather than the headquarters’ martial artists of the Martial Alliance. Of course, if there is a problem, we should resolve it since we are here.”
Just as Jin Un and Song Yi-yeon were exchanging opinions.
Cheon Woo-jin spoke in a casual tone.
“This is the family of the White Dragon Squad Leader.”
“W-What…!”
“What does that mean!”
Jin Un and Song Yi-yeon asked back in shock. Unorthodox scoundrels were swarming within the fences. Yet how could this be the household of a Martial Alliance squad leader?
Occasionally, there were those from the Unorthodox Path who severed ties with their background and entered the Martial Alliance. Most were spies, but throughout the long history of the Martial Alliance, there had been quite decent members hailing from the Unorthodox Path.
However, in the thoughts of the two men, the White Dragon Squad Leader did not seem to be of that kind.
“Could it be that the White Dragon Squad Leader is a spy planted by the Unorthodox Path?”
Song Yi-yeon asked. Jin Un also waited for Cheon Woo-jin’s answer with a face full of doubt.
Cheon Woo-jin looked at the manor for a moment, then spoke.
“That wouldn’t be it. If so, there is no way the Black Tortoise Squad Leader wouldn’t know.”
“Indeed.”
“However, it seems clear that he colluded with the Unorthodox Path.”
Having said so, Cheon Woo-jin shifted his steps toward the manor.
Before he could take even two steps, Song Yi-yeon grabbed him.
“W-Wait! What do you intend to do?”
“I must go and ask.”
When Cheon Woo-jin answered so, the expressions of Song Yi-yeon and Jin Un turned completely opposite.
Jin Un thought, ‘That’s a more ordinary method than I thought,’ but Song Yi-yeon, who knew what Cheon Woo-jin’s ‘conversation’ meant, was truly horrified.
It was touching the family of a headquarters squad leader of the Martial Alliance. If things went wrong, it wouldn’t end with an ordinary backlash.
If they subjected them to torture and even a shred of unjust circumstances was revealed, matters would become exceedingly troublesome.
Touching family was an act to be condemned as a martial artist of the Righteous Path, and if headquarters members committed such an act against the family of a fellow member…
“Young Hero, let us discuss this among ourselves first.”
Song Yi-yeon, having turned pale, spoke so.
Jin Un asked with a bewildered expression.
“Can’t we just go in and talk as Young Hero Cheon said? Of course, even if they colluded with the Unorthodox Path, they won’t admit it meekly, but if we converse, we might catch a clue.”
After that, they could simply report suspicious points to headquarters and conduct an investigation.
Jin Un thought so with an innocent face.
At that sight, Song Yi-yeon shook his head left and right.
“Young Hero Cheon is the man who loves conversation most in the world. As a note, from what I have seen beside him, not a single one among the unorthodox martial artists who conversed with Young Hero Cheon has an intact head.”
Only then realizing the meaning of ‘conversation,’ Jin Un’s complexion turned similar to Song Yi-yeon’s.
In the meantime, Cheon Woo-jin had already stood before the manor.
Discovering this, the two ran toward Cheon Woo-jin in fright.
“Y-Young Hero Cheon. Do you happen to have physical evidence?”
“Naturally, I do.”
At the unexpected answer, the expressions of the two brightened.
“The Black Overlord Castle gave me the information.”
However, at the following words, even greater dismay set in.
The one who provided the information was none other than the Black Overlord Castle. Whether that information was true or false, it was problematic either way.
Gazing at the two men, Cheon Woo-jin asked dryly.
“So, what do you wish to do? In my view, it is certain that the White Dragon Squad Leader colluded with the Unorthodox Path to amass large wealth, and plotted this incident out of concern over the Black Tortoise Squad Leader’s promotion to Inspection Hall Master.”
“I-Inspection Hall Master? Weren’t you originally a candidate for promotion to division head? No wonder the White Dragon Squad Leader was shocked. No, that isn’t the problem…”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded calmly. In any case, the two men were not his subordinates. Since they were companions who had come here together, hearing their opinions was worthwhile.
As Cheon Woo-jin stood with an expression telling them to speak, Jin Un spoke first.
“I believe we should enter, lay bare their crimes in detail, and compete fairly and honorably in the name of the Martial Alliance.”
A truly standard answer.
The problem was how to lay them bare. If a squad leader of the Martial Alliance was truly involved, he would have hidden the evidence thoroughly.
Rather, as the White Dragon Squad Leader who had subjugated countless such people as a squad leader of the Martial Alliance, there was a high probability he had orchestrated matters even more thoroughly and flawlessly using that experience.
When Song Yi-yeon asked so, Jin Un replied that they merely had to state their affiliation and inspect the ledgers.
“In that process, if someone resists, we can compete fairly and honorably…”
“No, what fair and honorable! Do you think they will say let’s compete? No, definitely not. Rather, they will disclose the ledgers with confidence.”
“Then that’s a good thing…”
“Naturally, it would be a fake ledger. Is this your first day doing this kind of work?”
“In truth, it is my first time.”
Song Yi-yeon squeezed his eyes shut. Jin Un was truly an untainted Daoist through and through.
Hailing from a merchant family, Song Yi-yeon was certain. Those people would record false ledgers and prepare for the worst moments over and over again.
It was an unorthodox business involving an Alliance squad leader. As large as the profits were, the risks to be borne had to be equally large.
Song Yi-yeon tapped his index finger atop his saber hilt. It was his habit whenever thinking deeply about something.
After pondering for a moment, Song Yi-yeon spoke.
“We wait until night. When darkness is deep, we simply kidnap the chief manager who manages the ledgers and make him speak the truth.”
Song Yi-yeon knew the flow of business well. Fundamentally, martial artists were poor at calculation, so they often kept separate chief managers.
Because they were recognized solely for their ability to manage money, they had no reason to practice martial arts to the bone.
Naturally, their realm would be low, and if frightened just a little, they would tremble and speak the truth.
Because they wouldn’t harm him, even if a backlash blew, they could greatly reduce its scale.
Jin Un pursued a standard method fitting for a Daoist of a prestigious sect.
Song Yi-yeon thoroughly calculated profits and losses while considering various scenarios fitting for the son of a merchant. Anticipating the worst situation and preparing for risks in advance was like second nature to a merchant.
Just as the two were engaging in heated debate and displaying their respective distinct colors.
KABOOM!
A colossal explosion erupted from the side.
Cheon Woo-jin was also a man of equally vivid colors, by no means inferior to the two.
An alarm bell signaling an emergency rang out sharply from inside the manor.
– Attack! It is an attack!
Amidst that urgent shout, Cheon Woo-jin gave a thumbs-up toward the two men.
“The opinions of both young heroes served as good reference.”
“There isn’t a shred of soul in your words!”
“No, look at this crazy young hero!”
Song Yi-yeon and Jin Un belatedly rushed forward.
Cheon Woo-jin had already entered the manor long ago.