Chapter 133: Bribes (7)
It was a deep night.
Chui was quietly looking at the window of his official residence.
Whoosh…
A blast of cold wind blew in and extinguished the candlelight of the lamp.
Creeeeak…
When the wooden block securing the window fell out, the hinges groaned.
“Hohoho…”
Before he knew it, a peculiar laughter mingled with the sound of the wind.
Gyeon Sul. Having entered the official residence through the window, he stood facing Chui.
Chui spoke to Gyeon Sul.
“The Shenshi Merchant Alliance. You cleaned it up neatly.”
“Of course. Whose work do you think it is?”
“Next time, wait for contact at the manor. Do not come directly.”
“It was easy to climb over the wall, though. But well, I’ll be careful in the future.”
Gyeon Sul sat in front of Chui, chuckling.
Then, he unraveled the stories of his recent activities without even being asked.
“As per your instructions, I sent a carrier pigeon. To the Yangtze River Water Fortresses.”
“How did it go?”
“How else would it go? Junior Sister Hae, no, the Union Master, led her subordinates out and completely smashed that Shenshi Merchant Alliance or whatever.”
Gyeon Sul clapped his hands in delight.
“Those bastards, the wealth they corruptly accumulated all this time was a veritable mountain? Illegal usury, illegal debt collection, illegal land speculation, breach of trust, embezzlement, tax evasion, they say whatever you checked, it all came out.”
“And after that?”
“It’s obvious. Is there anything special about being righteous bandits? They just beat them up to their hearts’ content, put up public notices, and distributed all that money to poor people. All of it.”
“Did the government office not say anything?”
“My, I didn’t know our new Union Master had such a talent for wining and dining the government soldiers. They actually welcomed it, saying it relieved them of their workload.”
Hearing Gyeon Sul’s words, Chui slowly nodded his head.
The Shenshi Merchant Alliance was ruined.
It vanished without leaving even a single pillar behind.
With this, all the perpetrators who tormented Sima Yuli had received their deserved punishment.
Gyeon Sul asked.
“Ah, by the way, where did you send the ransom money you squeezed out of the family of the Shenshi Merchant Alliance’s owner? I heard you sponsored some girl with it?”
“I had a reason to do so.”
“Oho, what’s this? Is she a kid you are raising? Is she pretty?”
“None of your business.”
Chui sponsored Sima Yuli with a portion of the money he squeezed out of Shen Shuangxie and Wang Susu.
Of course, anonymously.
‘At least she won’t have to worry about not being able to buy food.’
Chui intended to continue helping Sima Yuli from the shadows so she could stably establish herself at the Ascending Heaven Academy.
Because in the end, that would be equivalent to cutting off Elder Hong’s right arm.
Meanwhile.
Rustle…
Chui took something out of his chest pocket.
It was a roster that Chui had personally compiled.
Taking the roster, Gyeon Sul flipped through it.
“Hmm, instructors, assistant instructors, and cadets of the Ascending Heaven Academy… Uh-oh? The Ascending Heaven Academy isn’t all. Shaolin Temple, Mount Hua Sect, Wudang Sect, Zhongnan Sect, Beggars’ Gang… down to the bald monks, taoist priests, and beggars of the prominent sects in this vicinity… What is this?”
“The list of those you must kill in the future.”
“…!”
Gyeon Sul raised his head.
Chui’s expression remained indifferent.
“Can’t you do it?”
“…Ah.”
“Then our relationship ends here.”
“Unni? Who said I couldn’t? It just… seems like it will be quite tough, you see. Mmm-“
Gyeon Sul looked at the roster for a while before asking once more.
“But why are you trying to kill the people written here?”
“None of your business.”
Chui drew the line this time as well.
Because even if he told him that he was cleaning up in advance those who would become Elder Hong’s lackeys in the future, it would not be convincing.
Scratch, scratch…
Gyeon Sul scratched his head.
“Ah, it’s really hard to get along with our pretty one, geez.”
“If you don’t like it, quit anytime.”
“No. It looks tough, but it also looks fun. You must have picked them for a reason, right? Hohoho-“
Gyeon Sul’s grumbling was half bluffing.
He winked at Chui and continued.
“If I come back after killing all these fellows, my skills will have improved somewhat.”
“If you are still alive by then, that is.”
“Will I be able to kill you then?”
“I pray that it happens.”
“Ah, how cold. Our pretty one has all bad traits, but that is the worst~”
Gyeon Sul stood up from his seat, seemingly sulky at Chui’s dry response.
“Then I will be busy again for a while. Let’s meet once I erase all the names on the roster.”
“Wait.”
“…?”
Chui called out to stop Gyeon Sul, who was about to go out the window.
Soon, Chui’s lips moved.
“Di…”
Gyeon Sul’s face lit up with anticipation.
It seemed he was expecting words like ‘Don’t die.’
However.
“…e if you think you’re going to, but burn the roster before you do.”
“Forget it! I might just paste a public notice about this!”
Hearing Chui’s reply, Gyeon Sul was truly sulky and rushed out of the window.
It was something that happened on a dark night.
* * *
In the dean’s office of the Ascending Heaven Academy, an untimely scream burst out.
“T-this is invalid!”
Tang Jieha, Sorting and Selecting.
She was making a crying face looking at the results of the pop quiz conducted in the ‘Qinggong and Cultivation Method (2)’ class.
Compared to last month, the average absolute evaluation score of the students improved by more than twenty points.
That was because.
<Qinggong and Cultivation Method>
<Number of Students: 1>
<Student: Sima Yuli>
Because all the other students taking the class had given up on the lecture for some reason.
Due to that, Sima Yuli was the only student left, and once her surroundings stabilized, she showed amazing academic achievement, pulling up her grades in one go.
Dean Tang Jieha threw the test results and shouted.
“All the students fled and there is only one left! What meaning does the average score have in this case!?”
“An average is an average. And because of the public poster of the withdrawing students, not only the students of this class but also the instructors and assistant instructors of other classes were dismissed one after another. All of this is a phenomenon unrelated to me.”
Tellingly, it was true.
Since Chui had nothing to do with the bribe exposure incident.
At least, on the surface.
“Well, that is true, but… sigh…”
Tang Jieha smacked her lips in regret.
Soon, she leaned back in her chair as if giving up.
“Fine. I understand. A bet is a bet, so I must fulfill it. In the first place, my moniker is Sorting and Selecting.”
Sorting and Selecting.
A moniker that carried both the meaning of discovering and employing hidden talents, and gouging out someone else’s hidden, secret flaws with one’s fingernails to expose them.
Though he did not know why an outstanding figure with such a moniker had left the Vermilion Bird Hall to rot so badly in the first place.
“Thank you.”
Chui decided to quietly accept the benefit.
‘Immunity Privilege Holder.’
With this, Chui became an invincible assistant instructor who would not be fired from the Ascending Heaven Academy no matter what he did for a year.
“Oh dear… I can only appoint three people a year for this… To think I would use this carefully saved privilege on a complete rookie newcomer…”
Tang Jieha sighed and shed tears.
Right then.
…Clack!
Chui placed something on the desk.
It was a key made of gold.
Tang Jieha asked.
“What is this?”
“It’s a bribe.”
“…?”
Tang Jieha’s eyes narrowed.
“I dislike this kind of thing, though?”
“Do you hate money?”
“I like it. I like it crazily. But I hate money earned dishonestly. Money won from gambling is the best!”
Tang Jieha did not even look at the golden key.
But.
“It is not a bribe given to you, Dean, but a bribe that I received.”
“…?”
“It is a bribe that came to me this time whose source is unknown. It is a carriage full of nothing but gold.”
“…!”
At Chui’s subsequent words, Tang Jieha’s eyes flew open.
Chui continued speaking.
“Among the bribes, I burned the jeweled dagger, the spring picture book containing bills, the apple crate containing silver ingots, and the clothes containing bundles of cash after clearly identifying their sources… but I could not do anything about this particular bribe because its source was unknown. The amount is also too massive.”
Tang Jieha swallowed hard.
“So to summarize…”
“It is unclaimed money.”
“Exactly! That was what I wanted to say! But why give it to me…?”
Then Chui replied as if asking why she was asking such an obvious thing.
“Since it is money whose source no one knows, I am reporting it directly. I will completely forget this incident after today, so you can dispose of it as you see fit, Dean.”
“…!”
Tang Jieha’s eyes suddenly began to shine brightly.
Unclaimed money.
Money that no one could say anything about, no matter who took it.
She was someone who always groaned like a dog that needed to relieve itself because she lacked gambling funds.
Since such a massive windfall of unclaimed money had come into her hands at such a time, there was no way she wouldn’t think of gambling.
However, her conscience as the dean prevented her from accepting the key.
“Ugh-gh-gh-gh-argh-argh-argh…”
Facing the golden key in front of her, Tang Jieha began to conflict internally, shrinking and expanding repeatedly.
And soon.
“Waaaah! Then I will give this as a scholarship to the high-achieving cadets who couldn’t pay their tuition!”
In the end, between the gambler’s ambition and the educator’s conscience, it seemed the conscience side won.
Chui slowly nodded his head.
In truth, the one who sent this golden key to Chui was Chui himself.
‘…This is how you feed a bribe.’
A truly clean form of a bribe where no one would question the source of the funds.
Even while bribing the dean, Chui did not lose his own morality and image.
And since he had cleanly received recognition for his immunity privilege, he had achieved all his desired results.
Tang Jieha glared at Chui.
“How cheap, putting on airs as if you gave me a bribe when it isn’t even your own money.”
“I apologize.”
“If you are sorry, take this.”
Soon, Tang Jieha threw something in front of Chui.
“?”
What Chui received was a ‘lecture registration form.’
Tang Jieha spoke.
“It doesn’t make sense to continue teaching only that… who was it? Sima Yuli? Just that one cadet in the future. Right?”
“Are you telling me to teach other cadets as well?”
“Because of this bribery incident, instructors and assistant instructors were fired in droves. Because of that, the lectures will soon be completely reorganized. You will soon have to take charge of cadets from other halls and other classes.”
Now, it seemed he would have to teach Qinggong to cadets of other halls and other classes as well.
“…”
Chui flipped through the registration forms of those wishing to take his lecture with an expressionless face.
Soon, among the dozens of registration forms, a familiar name caught Chui’s eye.
<Blue Dragon Hall, Second Class (Householder Stage) Cadet-‘Namgung Yul’>
A name he had lived forgetting for a while since the decisive battle on the Bashu Snowy Mountain.
Flip… Flip… Rustle…
Flipping a few more pages back, a familiar name appeared once again.
<White Tiger Hall, First Class (Chaste Stage) Cadet-‘Ho Ye-yang’>
It was a very old relationship.