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3. Private revenge (3)
The one thing that is most certain in the current situation is that nothing is certain.
It is also uncertain who attacked Damak.
It is not even certain whether the Murim Alliance is hostile or friendly toward Damak.
And all this uncertainty.
It made Damak use the word ‘escape’.
To put it bluntly, Dam-ak, who is trying to return to the Black Alliance headquarters after being attacked, could be framed as the ringleader of the attack on Jeon Gal-somyeong.
Then, war will start without a doubt, but one thing is certain: from the perspective of the White Path Murim, it amounts to starting by taking the head of the Black Alliance’s commander-in-chief, so what a huge advantage that is.
It is a situation sufficient for extreme efficiency fanatics to shout, “I’m going even if I lose.” “That bastard Cheongsujin was too quiet, too.” You mean he didn’t thoroughly beat me up, even though he clearly knew I had just met Damak?
Even if you reported it to the Executioner Council immediately and spread the word everywhere that ‘he is a spy who had secret talks with the Black Bandit Commander-in-Chief!’, it wouldn’t be enough?
I can’t even begin to guess what kind of scheme this enormous bastard has hidden inside.
But why are you going at this early hour?
He had just set out on the road leading the delegation of Damak and Saheukryeon before the morning dew had even broken.
Hmm, I don’t think that’s the right question to ask right now, just as a dangerous operation where your life is on the line is about to begin.
Still, I gave an answer. After all, maintaining a friendly relationship with Damak is also important.
“If you go during the day, won’t you run into people?”
“What does it matter if we run into each other? They must know anyway. Leaving without formally notifying them is also a form of protest.” So you’re saying you’re going to walk away making it obvious you’re in a bad mood, and then just leave without even saying hello even if we run into each other right in front of your face?
It is a mindset befitting a giant of the Black Path, something unimaginable in our White Path martial arts world, where benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are highly valued.
“It has been a long-standing tradition in the White Path martial arts world for ill-mannered guests to be tortured in the Executioner’s Pavilion.”
“Hmm, it was a scarier place than I expected.”
Damak, who deliberately exaggerated but answered with a smile as if nothing were wrong.
Since when did this guy get this guts? I don’t think he was like this in his past life.
Or maybe I didn’t know because I was too much of a wimp in my past life?
Through this opportunity, it seemed as though I was discovering aspects of Damak I had not known before.
Anyway, I finished the silly jokes and started moving.
It was Damak who deployed the Black Ghost Soul Formation, but it was Jegal Cheon-gi who was at the forefront when heading toward the formation’s exit.
Dang Seo-hee was scheduled to be ahead when they reached the exit anyway, but you never know.
Before long, they reached the exit, and Dang Seo-hui reached out her hand outside the formation and scattered a solo dance.
When entering the formation, I had already put everyone standing guard in the Bonganjeon area to sleep, but I did this just in case.
Well, if there is anyone still awake after this, they should blame my bad luck.
Dang Seo-hui withdrew her hand, and we stepped outside the formation.
And the magnificent spectacle unfolding before my eyes.
Damak smiled faintly as he walked, avoiding the bodies of the fallen.
So many of you have been waiting for me. What am I to do if I couldn’t live up to your expectations?
Ignoring Damak’s nonsense, I started running.
No matter who the opponent is, they will surely find out that something has happened at the Bonganjeon anyway.
From now on, it is a battle of who moves faster. We came out onto the side story area and started running across the Alliance once again.
“Wouldn’t it be better to climb over the wall?”
Honestly, if I had to choose the path with the greater risk, it would be going across the blind.
No matter how much they hide behind buildings or in the shadows, a group of this many cannot completely conceal their presence.
However, that doesn’t mean I’m crazy enough to think about breaking through the Qimen formations hidden throughout the Murim Alliance walls.
Ah, you ask what the Demonic Cult is? Because their default setting is crazy.
I’d guess that some of them are still wandering around inside Gimunjin after the infiltration this time.
The Qimen formation set up around Meng has no life gate in the first place, so unless one is someone who can create a life gate directly, one cannot escape from it.
They might be rescued in about six months, but will we really be able to use the word ‘rescue’ after that much time has passed?
That said, I have no intention of continuing to cross the blind.
Instead of climbing over the wall, I prepared another plan.
“Another option?”
You will know when you see it.
Leading the puzzled Damak, we ran a little further.
Shortly after, we entered the main street of the side story, and figures standing guard began to appear one by one here and there.
However, Damak looked shocked after seeing their faces.
“Did you… knock everyone unconscious?”
Those who should have been standing guard in every alleyway were dazed in a sweet dreamland.
I shook my head while looking at that sight.
“no.”
“……
You’re saying it’s not?
“We didn’t do that. This disastrous incident simply occurred due to someone’s stupid mistake.”
“mistake?”
Rustle.
Then, one side of the bushes swayed and turquoise…
A person wearing a long robe and with their face covered by a hood came out.
No, if you’re going to wear that long robe, what’s the use of the headscarf?
Chaechaechaechang!
Our Black Sword warriors, with hearts as tender as a young girl, drew their swords like lightning, but I raised my hand to acknowledge them, and the doll was absorbed into our group as if nothing had happened.
I placed my hand firmly on the hooded man’s shoulder.
This is the friend who made a mistake.
As I briefly introduced myself, Dang Gi-han calmly expressed his thoughts.
“Damn it, I can’t believe I actually did something like this.”
As expected, his speech is as rough as his straightforward behavior.
I lightly patted his shoulder.
“Why are you getting so caught up in self-contempt? It’s a common occurrence for poison carried as a weapon by the Tang family to leak out of mother-of-pearl bottles.”
Of course, the problem is that the poison is at the level of a typical earthenware jar, and because it was scattered in all directions, most of the people in the side story fell asleep.
“Fuck! Are you kidding me? Do you really think such a stupid mistake could have happened in the long history of our Sichuan Tang Clan?!”
In any case, the poison manufactured by Dang Seo-hui and ‘accidentally’ poisoned by Dang Gi-han put the necessary personnel to sleep.
The person who actually made the mistake was trembling with fear, though.
“I’m screwed. I’m really screwed……!!”
I warmly patted the boy, whose face had turned pale and who was trembling.
“Then why didn’t this bastard say he couldn’t do it earlier? Why is he acting like a jerk now? What the hell!”
I’m telling you, even being the boss is a job I can’t handle. Phew.
After finishing the comforting, I looked at his face.
“…….”
The guy had eyes like a puppy betrayed by its owner.
If you look at me like that, I feel a little sorry for you…
What the hell.
“Just call it a mistake! It’s a mistake anyway, so what are you going to do about it? You’re a member of the Party. A member of the Party can make mistakes, you know? A hand can slip, you know! Why does this bastard lack such a shameless sense of superiority?”
Fuck, it’s not your business…
But seriously, how far does this bastard plan to chase me? You’ve finished work and gotten a decent comfort, so why don’t you just go now?
Dang Gi-han, who is still walking beside me.
The guy kept muttering ‘I’m screwed, I’m screwed’ as if chanting a Buddhist mantra.
“If I really screw up at this rate.……”
I couldn’t go on like this. I instinctively felt that this was a moment when I really needed proper comfort.
“You bastard. If you make a big mistake in the alliance and get demoted, where do you go?”
Well, let’s go to Baekranggak.
Where are you currently affiliated?
“Baekranggak…….”
“I can’t believe it! There’s nowhere left for you to fall?”
As I shrugged my shoulders and pointed out the truth, Dang Gi-han looked somehow resentful.
Hmm, it looks like the comforting words worked properly this time.
I waved my hand at him.
“If you understand, go. If you stay here, you’ll be lumped in with them and punished. Well, even if I get punished, it’s already Baekranggak anyway.”
“Fuck… I get it. Make sure you succeed.”
I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at his sincere words.
“okay.”
Dang Gi-han, who had been staring at me for a moment and was about to change direction and run away, looked at Dam-ak as if something had suddenly occurred to him and added a word.
“It may not be much comfort, but I apologize on their behalf. The Murim Alliance isn’t made up only of people who invite guests and stab them in the back.”
Dang Gi-han bowed slightly without hearing an answer and left the place.
He’ll probably drink all the hidden alcohol he has, smear it all over his body, and then fall asleep sprawled out somewhere in the side story.
For now, since he will be taken to the execution chamber, I pray for his soul to rest in peace.
Damak, who was looking in the direction where the guy’s shadow had disappeared, quietly asks.
Did that friend help even though he knew how dangerous this was?
Why are you asking the obvious?
Or how could they have made the warriors of the side story spread the Tang family’s poison?
“Well…… that’s true, isn’t it?”
“For the sake of Young Master Jin… you mean?”
It’s not exactly for my benefit, is it?
Then, for what reason did he take on the risk and betray the Murim Alliance?
Well, isn’t it a bit of a stretch to call it betrayal? To be honest, this action is helping the Murim Alliance.
To put it bluntly, if a war breaks out, the Murim Alliance will suffer a loss too.
When I explained that, Damak looked at me as if I were a strange creature.
“Young Master Jin. Why are you in the Martial Arts Alliance?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it possible to build a force on your own, or even go so far as to form a new coalition on your own?”
What on earth is this guy talking about so early in the morning?
Besides, that isn’t even something that can be done by human power in the first place.
As I looked at him with a bewildered expression, Dam-ak quietly stroked his chin.
“Hmm… perhaps it would be better for the Martial Arts Alliance to know about Young Master Jin’s betrayal.”
He muttered something meaningless, but I just ignored it.
I felt like I had heard a really creepy story. #People commonly know that the Jianghu is a world of extraordinary people who cut mountains and fly through the sky.
A very ideal world different from reality, where people cultivate the Tao, pursue enlightenment, and stake their lives on strength, sometimes deviating from the right path.
However, as Dam-ak, who has immersed himself in the martial arts world, has realized, the martial arts world is not much different from the political arena of the real world.
Various schemes and stratagems run rampant, and a fierce battle for interests unfolds.
The act of warriors pretending to have attained enlightenment and acting hypocritically by claiming their work was for the good of the world was not much different from that of officials putting on a show of pretense by claiming their work was for the people of the world.
In that respect, Damak was actually good.
For him, having briefly engaged in fierce political battles with ball-less men by the Emperor’s side, it was not a difficult task to toy with warriors whose pride had taken over their entire bodies, even filling up to the crown of their heads.
Because even if one threatens an opponent with martial arts and pressures them with a killing intent, the essence of a warrior was to protect themselves at the slightest sign of injury.
“But… ‘It really is peculiar,’ Dam-ak thought as he watched the back of Jin So-un running ahead.
I suppose you could say it is different from what we have seen in existing unmanned vehicles.
That man is unique and special.
When it comes to doing what he believes is right, he does not hold back, even if it becomes a very dangerous poison to himself.
No, rather, he inflicts wounds on himself first and throws the first shot, telling his opponent to be prepared for the same.
Is it simply due to a simple and ignorant nature? That is not the case.
Just as I was consumed by thoughts of Jin So-un for quite some time.
This way!
A voice giving directions was heard.
A waiter who deviates from the main road and opens a hidden path between buildings intertwined like a maze.
After passing that road, another road appears that is so chaotic it makes one dizzy, but Jin So-un moves forward unhesitatingly as if he knows the way inside out.
Even for Damak, who was second to none when it came to memorizing and mastering, it is a path beyond measure.
Even if it were a critical moment with someone chasing you, you would doubt whether they could actually follow you down this chaotic path.
Indeed, the man named Jin So-un was using all his mental and spiritual power to help with the escape.
“Perhaps this is what draws people in.” I was quite surprised when Dang Seo-hui and Jegal Cheon-gi entered Gohonjin together, but I was inwardly astonished when Dang Gi-han put all the warriors of the Murim Alliance’s outer divisions to sleep.
No matter how much one tries to excuse it as a mistake, the weight of the punishment one must bear for this incident is quite heavy.
If you are from the Murim Academy, you surely wouldn’t be unaware of that much.
However, even though he knew that clearly, he did his utmost to genuinely help Jin So-un, even if it meant spewing profanities.
As if accepting the disciplinary action was unavoidable.
I became even more curious about the man in front of me.
He seemed unaware, but he appeared to possess a genuine power to attract people.
“A power different from those who must deceive and use force to move people.” “Things are getting interesting.” The Murim Alliance and the Dark Alliance are currently at war.
This is not a war where blades are aimed at each other right now.
It is a war that is implicitly revealed through the conflict between those who want to wage war within their respective factions and those who try to prevent it.
Damak, a pragmatist, wanted to further unite the Black Alliance, if only to prepare for the demonic sects that would later overrun the martial arts world.
And he was willing to throw away his own light life for him.
However, things went wrong, and the wrong person died instead of him.
This weighed heavily on his heart more than anything else. ‘Honestly, it seems hopeless.’ Jeong Do-hoe can be seen as the backbone of the Murim Alliance and the Murim Alliance itself.
Damak himself knew better than anyone that their tenacity would not end so haphazardly.
So, Jin So-un, who stepped forward to help, was essentially declaring that he would stop the Jeongdohoe himself.
In a way, the current situation is not a fight between Damak himself and Jeong Do-hoe, but a fight between Jin So-un and Jeong Do-hoe.
A power that has long held the position of vested interests and a rookie warrior who has just graduated from the academy.
It is only natural that the scales appear to be tilted to one side on the surface.
Nevertheless.
Nevertheless, I am looking forward to it.
What the Murim Alliance will look like under Jin So-woon’s control in the future.
It remains to be seen what kind of fight he will put on against the entrenched vested interests filled with politicians.
Damak began to look forward to a distant future he had never dreamed of.
And just as a smile was about to form on the corners of my mouth from the excitement of a long time.
Let’s have a meal here first.
The voice of Jin So-woon, the man who had given him hope, was heard.
Damak looked at the sky as the day gradually dawned and asked back.
Would you have time?
The time is fine. But…
“……?”
“We will have to share a table. Would that be alright with you?”
It would be better if it weren’t for that arrogant smile.
Damak smiled back at Jin So-un and answered.
As long as you don’t split it rudely, I’m all set.
