Chapter 95: Meat Shield (2)
Namgung Yul was quietly gazing at Chui’s profile.
“…….”
In the darkness of the underground, Chui’s face illuminated by the candlelight was something she could never grow tired of looking at.
‘How can a man look this beautiful?’
When she was attending the Ascending Heaven Academy, she had received courtships from countless men.
Among them, there were many beautiful young masters famous in their regions, and those whose aliases explicitly contained words like Jade Dragon (玉龍) or Jade Face (玉面) were also countless.
However, she could say with certainty that Namgung Yul had never seen a man with an appearance as outstanding as Chui’s.
Since she had only seen him covered in dirt, soot, and blood in the meantime, this elegant face of his now was anew unfamiliar and shocking.
If he was like this even after simply washing his face with water, she could not dare to even imagine what his beauty would be like if he applied powder to his face and colored his lips like the playboys of the cities.
‘I thought I had no interest in men’s faces…… but I was wrong.’
It was not that she had no interest, but that her standards were high.
There was no experience as unfamiliar and yet rewarding as getting to know one’s own inner self that one had been unaware of.
Namgung Yul was thinking in that way.
……However, the point that surprised Namgung Yul was not solely Chui’s appearance.
No, rather, his appearance could not even become a matter of discussion.
It was because Chui was showing a course of action entirely different from his delicate beautiful boy appearance.
The rough and wild appearance at the time he killed Namgung Paeng-saeng in the Namgung Clan, the solemn righteous hero appearance when he sent off Death Plum Blossom Oh Ja-woon who killed Bi Mu-geuk, and the overbearing appearance of handling the prisoners without mercy here right now.
All of these made Chui’s outstanding appearance be dismissed as a mere additional charm.
In other words, it meant that Namgung Yul was feeling a much stronger curiosity toward Chui’s inside rather than his outside.
‘……’
She was looking at Chui’s profile reflected in the candlelight, she vainly stroked her neck once.
That blood-stained grip that had choked her neck when they first met, the rough touch and warm body temperature felt back then, and the fishy smell of blood.
Recalling all of this, the tips of Namgung Yul’s ears were dyed bright red once again.
At that moment, Chui’s voice echoed inside the cave.
“I will post a notice.”
The notice personally written by Chui unfolded.
First. Some of the Yangtze River water bandit packs plundered and pocketed wealth from helpless commoners.
Second. We hand down punishment on behalf of the people who suffered damage because of it.
Looking at that, Namgung Yul’s heart began to throb once again.
It was different from the times of the Black Path Gang, the Cao Family Manor, the Namgung Clan, and the Hegemon Society.
She had personally seen with her own eyes the process of this notice being posted in the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.
The path of a Great Hero that she had only heard about in stories.
She was so overwhelmed with emotion at the fact that she was directly observing that process on-site.
It was an unfamiliar yet mysterious experience that she could never have felt while sitting in front of a desk at the Ascending Heaven Academy and taking classes.
* * *
…Thud!
Chui set down a map on the table.
It was a map depicting every detail of the rugged terrain of Ba-Shu.
Namgung Yul, who was beside him, asked.
“You know how to read a map. You seem to be better at it than even the instructors of the Ascending Heaven Academy……”
“I learned it when I was in the army.”
To be precise, it was a skill he had learned to survive since his days as a low-ranking soldier, polished to the absolute limit.
However, Namgung Yul, who had no way of knowing that fact, had to be startled.
‘Just what on earth did this person do?’
His age does not even seem to have reached twenty, yet the talents he possesses are far too many.
‘……Could he perhaps be a rejuvenated old expert?’
So, Namgung Yul was also trying out such a silly thought once.
At that moment, a retort came from the side.
“You are completely smitten.”
Gyeon Sul was looking at Namgung Yul with a grinning face.
Namgung Yul furrowed her brow.
“What did you say?”
“I said that your face flaring up bright red is utterly vulgar beyond measure. Ah, I also said that you seem to crave men immensely.”
“You did not say it that way earlier!”
“So you did hear it well. Then why did you ask again?”
At Namgung Yul’s denunciation, Gyeon Sul turned his head with a smirk.
“Give up. I have already claimed him.”
“C-Claimed? What?”
Seeing Gyeon Sul wink one eye, Namgung Yul spoke as if it were absurd.
“You are a man, are you not?”
“What does that matter? If you put it that way, are you sticking to his side simply because you are a woman and see him as a man?”
“It-It is not like that, but……”
Namgung Yul was left speechless.
Gyeon Sul closed his eyes with his brow furrowed.
And then, waving both hands in the air, he continued speaking.
“My affection is noble. Unlike yours. A bit more, how should I say…… transcending physical things…… metaphysical and also spiritual?”
“Mine is not physical either!?”
Namgung Yul’s calm expression completely shattered.
If someone from the Ascending Heaven Academy had seen her like this now, they would surely have been greatly surprised.
Because she was one who was also called by the alias of ‘Bitter Cold Flower’ in the sense that she always treated men with coldness and indifference.
However, to Gyeon Sul, she was merely a greenhorn just entering the Jianghu who pretended to be haughty.
Perfect to tease.
At that moment.
“Quiet.”
Chui, who was reading the map, said a word.
Namgung Yul stared at Gyeon Sul with her mouth tightly shut, while Gyeon Sul acted oblivious with a grinning face.
Meanwhile.
“…….”
Chui searched the memories before his return to reinforce his future plans.
‘To catch Hong Gong hiding in the Heterodox Alliance, it is indeed better to utilize the Martial Alliance.’
The thirteenth tactic of the Thirty-Six Stratagems: Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake.
To startle a snake, hitting the grass rather than the snake is the effective way.
To stimulate the Heterodox Alliance and draw a reaction from Hong Gong inside, moving the Martial Alliance was far more efficient than striking the Heterodox Alliance directly.
‘There are many ways to connect with the Martial Alliance, but the easiest path is likely…….’
Chui’s gaze turned toward Namgung Yul.
Without needing to even use the knowledge from before his return, if he simply utilized Namgung Yul who was here, he could immediately connect with the Ascending Heaven Academy.
If it was the Ascending Heaven Academy, a directly affiliated institution of the Martial Alliance, it would be more than enough to establish a connection with the Martial Alliance.
‘For now, I will wait and see.’
If she had been dragging along the warriors of the Purple Moon Special Task Force in clusters, he would have kicked them out long ago, but since there was only Namgung Yul alone now, it would take far less effort, would it not?
Thus, Chui decided not to bother driving her away.
At that moment, Jeok-hyang spoke.
“You said you were going to the Martial Alliance, right?”
“Yes.”
As Chui nodded his head, she expressed concern.
“Within the scope where the Yangtze River reaches, we can escort you, but once you cross that scope, things will become difficult.”
“I do not need an escort. Because I am going to head straight east like this.”
“So you mean to go by the shortest distance over the mountain range. But to reach there, you must pass through the territory of the Heterodox Alliance.”
Naturally, assassins sent by the Heterodox Alliance will come.
Jeok-hyang was worried about this point.
Just as Oh Ja-woon had done in the past, Chui had also ended up in a situation where he had to break through endless challenges and raids to reach his destination.
And precisely at this point, the interests of Jeok-hyang of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union and Chui aligned.
Gyeon Sul asked Chui.
“By the way, handsome guy. What do you plan to do with the prisoners handed over by Junior Sister Hae…… ah, right, she is the Union Master now. The Union Master?”
“Did I not tell you? I intend to use them as meat shields.”
“Do you intend to disguise them as us and release them in all directions? It is not a bad method, but……”
“If I did that, I would not be able to recover the embezzled funds.”
“That is exactly my point. What on earth are you going to do with those prisoners? How is it possible to recover the embezzled funds while also using them as meat shields? In the first place, will you be able to avoid the assassins while carrying all those guys with you?”
Gyeon Sul’s question was reasonable.
Jeok-hyang and Namgung Yul were also staring intently at Chui, as they were extremely curious about this point.
Eventually, Chui’s mouth opened.
“The premise is wrong.”
“……?”
“Assassins are not to be avoided, but to be beaten to death.”
“……!”
The eyes of Gyeon Sul, Jeok-hyang, and Namgung Yul widened.
Chui continued speaking.
“I will lead the prisoner unit and strike the assassins’ main camp.”
Had he not been looking into the map until now for that very purpose?
The map of the Ba-Shu Snowy Mountains, where the branch office of the Nailuo Valley was located.
* * *
The prisoners, while locked in the underground prison, could not drink even a single sip of water for three days.
“Sending us to Nailuo…… just where on earth are we going?”
“Where else would Nailuo be but here? Damn it, if I could just drink a single sip of water, it would immediately become paradise.”
“Could the situation possibly get any worse than now? As I see it, this is the rock bottom.”
They wore iron handcuffs and shackles, and wore heavy cangues around their necks.
Since their dantian had been shattered and they had even lost their internal energy, they were in a state that was truly no different from ordinary people.
“We just need to endure and hold out. Surely she won’t be able to kill us.”
“Of course. How much money do you think I have pocketed.”
“We just keep holding out, spit it out reasonably at the end, and get a pardon in return.”
Even up to that point, the prisoners were thinking quite naive thoughts.
……However.
“But why is nobody coming like this?”
“Hey! Is there nobody outside!?”
“You said you would lock us up for three days! Three days have already passed!”
Despite the three-day period they were supposed to lock up the prisoners having passed, nobody visited this underground prison.
Three days became four days, four days became five days, five days became six days, and six days became seven days.
The prisoners, who had endured with spite and venom at first, gradually dried up.
Since it was a stubbornness they had braced themselves with thinking of three days in the first place, their spirit broke in an instant around the time seven days had passed.
And when it reached nine days since the prisoners had been locked in the underground prison.
Creak!
The door of the underground prison opened, and a jailer entered.
The prisoners who were dying until just a moment ago squeezed out their remaining strength and shouted.
“You said you would lock us up for only three days, you son of a bitch!”
“Please release me! I will hand over all the pocketed money!”
“I am truly innocent! I have no money! I am not giving it because I don’t have any!”
Those pouring out anger, those attempting negotiations, and those still appealing their unfairness; various kinds of reactions came out.
However, the jailer’s reaction was only one.
“The Thousand-Head asks to see you.”
The summons of the Thousand-Head.
However, as far as the prisoners knew now, the Thousand-Head of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union was vacant.
The prisoners asked.
“Just who is the Thousand-Head calling us?”
“It is Lord Chui.”
Hearing the jailer’s answer, the prisoners’ faces turned the color of earth.
The Thousand-Head of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union possessed the right of summary execution over subordinates in wartime situations.
Moreover.
“Since it is time for the in-depth interviews to begin from now on, line up in a single file. We are going to Lord Chui now.”
“Where…… is Lord Chui?”
At the jailer’s subsequent answer, the complexion of the prisoners began to turn completely dark and lifeless.
“He is waiting in the slaughterhouse.”
Unrivaled Spear Ghost