Chapter 78: Chapter 78
The White Dragon Squad Leader’s heart felt much lighter.
Through the distribution network of the orchard his family operated, he had conducted business alongside the Unorthodox Path, who brought in contraband goods from the Western Regions.
He had indeed handled quite a lot of money. The intelligence a headquarters squad leader of the Martial Alliance could access was far deeper and more vast than ordinary unorthodox martial artists could imagine.
With the combination of the White Dragon Squad Leader’s distribution network and intelligence power, and the business acumen of the Unorthodox Path, the enterprise had grown day by day.
However, having gone through this incident, he had severed it all. Naturally, the unorthodox scoundrels had reacted as if to die together, asking if he was abandoning them now, but…
The White Dragon Squad Leader had requested mediation from Venerable Byeok-san, an executive of the Black Overlord Castle whom he had become acquainted with during a past mission. Unorthodox scoundrels merely dealing in smuggling could not dare refuse Venerable Byeok-san’s mediation.
‘Though I spent quite a lot of money in that process…’
Considering that he would have been dusted off down to a single speck by Cheol Ji-ak once he became Inspection Hall Master in the future, it was a wildly profitable trade.
Consequently, everything had turned out well. Zhuge Seong was dead, and the mouth of the sinister Inspection Hall Master was stopped with money.
He had severed ties with the Unorthodox Path, and the orchard would soon be reborn as a legitimate business. Because it had already expanded in scale, it would not compare to when dealing in contraband goods, but he would still be able to earn by no means a small sum of money.
Above all, his heart felt exceedingly light.
‘Yes, a man who has committed a sin cannot sleep with his legs stretched out. Still, being a squad leader of the Martial Alliance, I couldn’t keep doing that forever.’
Of course, until the danger of being caught arose, he had fully intended to leech off it for his entire life.
Brushing his hair back neatly with a satisfied face, the White Dragon Squad Leader spoke.
“Courier Hall Master, it has been a long time.”
“Oh, if it isn’t the White Dragon Squad Leader. Let’s see…”
Adjusting his spectacles, the Courier Hall Master rummaged through a mountain of documents for a good while before taking out a single letter.
“Here, here it is. It is a letter from Heyang. It seems the orchard is doing well these days as well?”
“Haha, it is merely an enterprise operated by my family members, so I do not know well. I simply think that as long as they send plenty of apples, they are not starving.”
The White Dragon Squad Leader played dumb. At that sight, the Courier Hall Master wore a faint smile and spoke.
“Indeed. If they are the family members of a fellow Alliance member, they are no different from the family of us all, so it is a good thing if they do well. By the way, does something good seem to have happened?”
“Pardon? To me?”
“Your face was very dark these days, wasn’t it? Today, you seem somewhat unburdened?”
The White Dragon Squad Leader smiled bitterly. He had tried to hide it in his own way, but his emotions seemed to have shown outwardly.
“Yes, a matter that gave me a headache for a few days has been resolved.”
“That is a good thing. Do drop by often. Well, then please stamp your seal confirming you received the postal delivery here…”
The Courier Hall Master smiled brightly. The gentle wrinkles that formed seemed to represent his life.
Just as the White Dragon Squad Leader stamped his seal with a much lighter heart and was about to turn away.
“Ah, Squad Leader!”
“Yes?”
“You are close with the Black Tortoise Squad Leader, right? Could you deliver this?”
“Yes, well.”
The White Dragon Squad Leader received the letter. His eyes naturally went to the contents, where it was written that Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon belonging to the Black Tortoise Squad had gone on an outing.
The reason was a request from the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.
Representative, Plum Blossom Swordsman Jin Un.
Instantly, the White Dragon Squad Leader’s face froze stiff.
“Seeing how those rascals carry themselves, it’s obvious without looking that they didn’t even report properly to the Black Tortoise Squad Leader.”
“…Yes, I shall deliver it well.”
Barely holding back a curse that almost slipped out on its own, he struggled to compose his expression and bowed his head.
Immediately turning around, the White Dragon Squad Leader hurried his steps and left the Courier Hall.
* * *
“Damn it, what the damn hell!”
Why would the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect suddenly ask to see Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon?
It was an obvious lie just by looking at it. Unless the Courier Hall Master was a complete idiot, he would have known as well.
‘That bastard of a Courier Hall Master owed a debt to the Mount Hua Sect, didn’t he? For that reason, he found that Plum Blossom Swordsman fellow endearing and let himself be fooled.’
Jin Un was the very picture of an upright Daoist even in the eyes of the White Dragon Squad Leader, who did not know him well. He was by no means a person to go around causing trouble anywhere. That was probably why the Courier Hall Master had half played along.
The Courier Hall Master’s judgment was correct. Far from causing trouble, Jin Un was a Daoist who would return after performing righteous deeds.
Of course, that righteous deed could become a bolt from the blue for the White Dragon Squad Leader.
What reason would those three fellows have to go to Shaanxi even while telling a lie? It was unconditionally the orchard.
“Fuck…”
Unable to endure it in the end, he spat out a curse.
Anger and urgency simultaneously gathered in the White Dragon Squad Leader’s eyes.
Checking the letter that had arrived from the orchard, it said that thanks to Venerable Byeok-san’s mediation, the unorthodox scoundrels would recover the contraband goods and wrap things up within seven days.
Seven days was a tight amount of time for Cheon Woo-jin’s party to reach Shaanxi, but if they hurried, it was not impossible either.
‘Especially considering that bastard’s execution speed…’
The White Dragon Squad Leader’s complexion turned pale.
Perhaps those bastards had already arrived.
Throwing on his long robe immediately, the White Dragon Squad Leader dashed out blindly.
He executed his lightness art so urgently that his qi and blood slightly tangled, but he had no leeway to care for each and every such thing.
‘Let’s stay calm. Calm down. The more this happens, the more composed I must be.’
There was no way those unorthodox scoundrels would betray him. Under whose mediation had they received, so how could they play cheap tricks?
Moreover, because they were bastards who had rolled around and survived in the rough Unorthodox Path for decades, they would be quick on the uptake.
The real problem was his own family members, who had amassing large sums of money in a short time while normally running an ordinary orchard.
“Please, please don’t do anything. Nothing!”
* * *
Cheon Woo-jin, Song Yi-yeon, and Jin Un.
Before the three young martial artists stood dozens of seasoned unorthodox martial artists.
Just as the White Dragon Squad Leader anticipated, they were quick on the uptake. Furthermore, fitting for martial artists, a hierarchy existed, and as long as their leader kept his wits about him, there would be no foolish moves.
Fortunately, their leader was a shrewd man. What need was there to say more, considering he was someone of the caliber to boldly connect lines with an Alliance squad leader and conduct business?
Struggling to suppress his bewilderment, he observed the three young martial artists with calm eyes.
Gallant. They were handsome to the point where the word gallant was insufficient. Two of them were rising stars of the Righteous Path even if viewed while doing backflips, and one fellow was ambiguous, yet looked the strongest.
If those fellows had come from the Martial Alliance, things would become troublesome. Carts transporting contraband goods such as gunpowder and salt were scattered carelessly all around.
‘Did the White Dragon Squad Leader stab us in the back?’
For a moment, such a thought arose, but he shook his head. He knew that quite a large sum of money had been paid in exchange for entrusting the mediation to Venerable Byeok-san.
The possibility of that fellow stabbing them in the back now was slim.
If so, was it an independent move by the Martial Alliance?
Yet that was not it either. When performing a mission head-on like this, the Martial Alliance was supposed to reveal their identities.
However, those three fellows were not revealing their names, let alone their affiliations. Rather, as if their opinions did not align among themselves, they were engaged in a heated debate.
“We must make them lay bare their crimes in detail immediately and ensure they receive punishment corresponding to their sins!”
“Agh, Young Hero! Stop spouting such frustrating talk. Look at how those bastards look. They don’t look like guys who rolled around in the Unorthodox Path for a day or two, so would they reveal it meekly?”
“Let’s just smash them.”
The opinions of the three men did not easily coincide.
Cheon Woo-jin knew the clearest method, but because he did not consider the other two as subordinates, he tried to respect their opinions.
Because of that, the conversation was dragging on somewhat.
Roughly grasping the situation, the leader of the unorthodox scoundrels spoke.
“I do not know what the reason is, but if you happen to need traveling expenses…”
The three men looked at him simultaneously.
He could tell instinctively. Those were people of the sort where bringing up money and attempting to appease them would instead worsen the situation.
Rolling his brain in a brief instant, he made a decision.
‘It is certain they came from the Martial Alliance. They have no connection with the Squad Leader, and this is not an official mission either. Merely vigorous fellows who discovered something strange and charged in of their own accord. Even so, our side’s martial strength is insufficient to face them.’
There was only one choice.
Meekly admit their crimes and be escorted away. Afterward, receive help from the White Dragon Squad Leader. If that fellow didn’t want his head smashed by the Alliance Leader’s iron hammer, he would help with all his might.
It was a plausible judgment. Having derived the result in an instant, he stepped forward and dropped to his knees.
“I shall admit all crimes. As you can see, we plundered an innocent orchard and conducted smuggling.”
Of course, simply admitting it would be awkward.
For that reason, he attached a condition.
“Since we admit our crimes like this, please allow us to undergo investigation at the Alliance without anyone being injured or killed.”
When the man came out like that, the faces of Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon crumpled at the same time. On the other hand, Jin Un brightened up and spoke.
“Look at that. Didn’t he admit it?”
“No, because of Young Hero Jin Un, they found out we came from the Alliance. Why on earth won’t you take off that hero headband?”
“Hey now, how could a Daoist go around letting his hair hang down untidily?”
Song Yi-yeon pointed at Cheon Woo-jin. His untied hair hung down like silk.
“…I retract that. In any case, since they admitted it, all we have to do now is proceed according to procedure.”
The man was convinced his judgment was correct. As long as they were fellows who came from the Martial Alliance, if he admitted his crimes first, they could not use martial force rashly.
It was because, in terms of morality, excessive suppression provided an excuse to be condemned by the common people.
Therefore, there was also no chance the hidden true ledgers would be seized through torture or force. Fortunately, what was seized would merely be all the contraband goods on the scene.
‘It is quite a painful loss, but there is no helping it.’
Just as the man was thinking so.
“No, what on earth is all this!”
A harsh, booming roar echoed sonorously through the area.
It was Jang Seo-woon, the owner of the orchard and the younger brother of the White Dragon Squad Leader.
Startled by the mess, Jang Seo-woon, who had come running, glared at the three rising stars, including Cheon Woo-jin.
At that, the man’s expression twisted violently. Jang Seo-woon was a person with no tact. He had been a rustic peasant running an orchard in a rural corner, but because they had bowed appropriately out of consideration for the White Dragon Squad Leader, he was drunk on that flavor and was of the sort who mistook himself for a man of the Unorthodox Path.
‘No. If he runs his mouth recklessly, everything is over. Even if it means knocking that fellow unconscious…’
Just as the man was about to raise his body to block Jang Seo-woon’s mouth.
“Ugh…”
His body did not budge in the slightest, as if crushed by Mount Tai.
Flustered, the man raised his head.
The moment he met Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes, he realized the identity of the oppressive pressure.
‘A master who has reached at least the Peerless Realm…!’
Being able to unfold such Formless Qi and crush an opponent was a symbol of the Peerless Realm alongside Sword Gang.
What was a master of the Peerless Realm? An absolute master of whom there weren’t even ten in a great sect or a colossal clan.
It was said that even in the Black Overlord Castle, where countless unorthodox figures gathered, masters who had crossed the wall of the Peerless Realm did not amount to even thirty.
Yet that young fellow had ascended to that realm.
Something, something was going wrong.
“You bastards! Where do you think this place is to dare act like this! Looking at you, you seem to be fellows who came from the Martial Alliance, but…!”
“N-No!”
The man shouted urgently even while barely maintaining his body, which was on the verge of collapsing to the ground. However, nothing could be heard by Jang Seo-woon, whose eyes had rolled back.
Having rushed over in surprise, his opponents were three young Alliance members. Who was he? He was the family of none other than a headquarters squad leader of the Martial Alliance.
A headquarters squad leader of the Martial Alliance was an existence treated with extreme reverence once one stepped just slightly outside Hubei.
Even these rough unorthodox scoundrels would bow their heads once his older brother glared at them once, so in whose presence did such young brats dare glare with their eyes peeled wide!
Excited, Jang Seo-woon spoke to the unorthodox martial artists.
“Drag those bastards over and make them kneel before me at once! What are all of you doing, acting so unmanly? Aren’t you embarrassed of what you carry between your legs?”
The unorthodox martial artists watched the mood. Their leader was still tightly shutting his mouth.
For that reason, Jang Seo-woon ran wild all the more.
“Did you forget who my older brother is, and what an incredible person took charge of mediating this affair? Or are you ignoring me because I am not a martial artist? Solve the situation immediately, whether you beat those bastards to a pulp or kill them!”
Jang Seo-woon was already a man heavily drunk on the high of the Unorthodox Path. It was only natural, as unorthodox martial artists were adept at worldly conduct. Fundamentally, not offending the temper of the older brother they served was ingrained in their bodies.
Due to the halo of the White Dragon Squad Leader, they had also bowed diligently to his younger brother, Jang Seo-woon. When a person who hadn’t learned a shred of martial arts lived while being treated with respect by unorthodox martial artists, they ended up harboring such an illusion.
The illusion that they themselves had become quite a high-ranking person in the Unorthodox Path.
The illusion that they had become a man making a big name for himself in that rough world.
Because of that, he ended up blurting out words that should never have been spoken.
“Murder to silence witnesses?”
Jin Un spoke in a low voice.
Though he was a Daoist who pursued openness, fairness, and honorable justice.
If the opponent truly crossed the line, the story changed.
Murder was one of the greatest sins even in Daoism. Furthermore, silencing witnesses was a crime whose weight was by no means treated lightly in Alliance law either.
Viewed by the standards of the two organizations he belonged to, the owner of the orchard had crossed a line that must never be crossed.
Song Yi-yeon was slightly different. Originally, he had argued that they should secretly kidnap the chief manager to reduce the burden of risk, but the situation had changed. It was a situation where they no longer needed to shoulder risk.
Rather than burning with some noble conviction like Jin Un, as a result of thoroughly flicking his abacus and calculating, using martial force now was profitable in many ways.
Cheon Woo-jin was a person who had argued to smash them from the very beginning.
Consequently, Jang Seo-woon’s single remark gathered the diverging opinions of the three men into a single point.
Because they were three people whose stubbornness was exceedingly strong, it was not something just anyone could achieve.
In that regard, Jang Seo-woon was a person worthy of being called a master at digging his own grave.
Since the wills of the three men had converged after such a long time, only one task remained.
Noticing the situation, the unorthodox martial artists drew their sabers and swords one by one as well. However, the three men calmly shifted their steps toward them.
“Still, let us not kill, shall we?”
Jin Un suggested.
Regrettably, no answer came in return.