Cheon So-Seon (2)
Mounted on top of the woman, Ma Bong-Gi panted heavily while spitting curses. Even as he had intercourse with the woman, he was thinking of Cheon So-Seon from earlier.
“That damned bastard! A young brat says what? That someone like him put me in the seat of Alliance Lord? What a joke. I was sweeping through the Jianghu long before you were even born. Did you think I would not know there is someone else behind you? Arrogant bastard.”
When he cursed, his mood should have eased, but his anger only surged higher.
He felt as if he had completely lost control. When he thought of that bastard’s relaxed expression, he grew even angrier.
There was another reason that enraged him. He had not properly shown that anger earlier. He should have spoken proudly in front of everyone…… but to be honest, he had been afraid of that bastard.
“Damned bitch! You look down on me too, don’t you?”
“No, no! I respect you, Alliance Lord!”
The woman trembled in fear like an aspen tree. When Ma Bong-Gi began rampaging madly, that day became a truly painful day.
Curses that were hard to listen to continued to flow from Ma Bong-Gi’s mouth. Once toward Cheon So-Seon, once toward the woman. Wanting to hear even a little less of them, the woman let out loud moans.
While hoping that this moment would quickly end.
On a tree far away from that room stood Whip Elder. As before, he was standing at the end of a thin tree branch, and the branch did not bend, as if a bird were perched on it.
Behind the curtain covering the window, the shadows of Ma Bong-Gi and the woman having intercourse could be seen.
“He is a lucky bastard. At least he gets to spend his last night with a woman before dying.”
Just as he was about to launch himself forward, he flinched in surprise and stopped moving.
Whip Elder’s gaze slowly turned toward one side. He opened his eyes wide and was startled.
A young man was standing on a tree a short distance away. He, too, was standing at the end of a tree branch. The shock of having allowed an opponent this close was startling enough, but what surprised Whip Elder was the fact that the young man’s tree branch, like his own, was not bending at all.
“Before that, see me first.”
The young man slightly jerked his chin, telling him to follow, then launched himself away. Feeling that the young man’s agile movements were no less than his own, Whip Elder’s expression turned grave.
He briefly looked toward Ma Bong-Gi’s room, then launched himself toward the place where the young man had disappeared.
I was waiting for him on a plain a little distance away from the escort agency.
Soon after I arrived, Whip Elder landed.
Naturally, Whip Elder had followed me. Since an expert as strong as himself had noticed the surprise attack, he could not ignore it and go kill Ma Bong-Gi.
To speak honestly, I truly wanted to simply leave Ma Bong-Gi to die like this. I was also curious what exactly the people behind the scenes were trying to do by killing him.
But the reason I did not do that was because there was a high possibility that the Fierce Tiger Unit warriors would be sacrificed in the process of Ma Bong-Gi’s death.
Not only that, but there was also Gal Sa-Ryang’s position, since he had come along with us. In the eyes of Jianghu people who did not know the inside story, the Chief Strategist who had escorted him would have lost the Alliance Lord.
One more thing: I did not want the affairs of the world to unfold according to the wishes of the bastards behind this.
“Was it you who killed Elder Go?”
Those were Whip Elder’s first words. I could guess that the old man who had died by my hand before was Elder Go. It seemed this old man had known him well. It was certain that the old man before me was also an expert just as tremendous as that old man had been.
“That is right.”
I readily admitted the fact. After all, when fighting an expert of his level, it was not a situation where I could hide my skill or not.
“Let me ask one thing as well.”
“What is it?”
“Why is someone of your level tied to this organization?”
“You misunderstand. I am not tied to it. I am voluntarily offering my loyalty.”
I could feel that his loyalty toward the leader of this organization was very deep.
What kind of person could it be?
Raising a man like Cheon So-Seon was one thing, but drawing out the loyalty of such an expert was also astonishing.
“Who exactly is the target of that loyalty? It cannot be that young man Cheon So-Seon whom I saw earlier.”
“Are you curious?”
From his reaction, it became certain that it was not Cheon So-Seon.
I nodded and said,
“I want to see that person. Can you introduce me?”
“Do not even think of it. If you meet that person, you will die.”
“Why is that?”
“That person does not like people like you.”
“What kind of person is someone like me?”
“A person like an awl that suddenly rips through clothes and pops out!”
He was not simply saying it. There was sincerity in his words.
“That person must be very boring.”
“He is not someone a bastard like you can speak carelessly about.”
He emitted a sharp aura. I once again realized how great his respect for the person behind the scenes was.
“You are a boring person too.”
“Fun? What is fun? Does that feed you? When you get older, you will realize that such things are nothing.”
At those words, I quietly spoke as if to myself.
“I was like that too.”
Fun? I had thought it was an excuse for losers to avoid effort.
But not anymore.
“A life lived without knowing fun might perhaps be even more of a nothing life.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Well, in any case, what meaning would a conversation like this have between you and me?”
As I slowly drew my sword, Whip Elder also picked up his whip.
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“Where have you been?”
When I entered the room, Gal Sa-Ryang rose from his bed. I had tried to come in quietly, but it seemed I had woken him.
“I apologize. I could not sleep, so I went out to get some air.”
“At times like this, I am a little envious of you for having learned Martial Arts.”
“I am envious of you, Strategist.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because you understand the affairs of the world well without having to go around yourself.”
“That is too much praise. I am also only an ordinary person. I simply try to think more deeply than others. Since producing results through that is my work.”
“There are things that can be done through effort, and things that cannot.”
“For me, Martial Arts is like that.”
As he said that, Gal Sa-Ryang smiled, and I smiled along with him.
“What do you think of the man we saw earlier?”
“He was not an ordinary person.”
“His Martial Arts?”
“He was a greater expert than the Alliance Lord.”
“Than you?”
“Pardon? That is, of course……”
Gal Sa-Ryang’s gaze toward me was utterly serious. Gal Sa-Ryang had noticed. He had noticed that my Martial Arts were at a higher realm than Ma Bong-Gi’s. Well, he had spent his life beside me watching countless experts.
“He is not below me.”
“So he is at that level?”
“Yes. Judging only by his Martial Arts skill, he is more than enough to be called the leader of the organization behind this.”
“I see. That has been a great help.”
“Not at all.”
“But you.”
Gal Sa-Ryang got up from the bed and approached me. He looked at me carefully, then soon spoke worriedly.
“You are injured.”
When I touched it with my hand, there was a long wound running from my neck to my chest. It was the mark of Whip Elder’s whip. That old man had been among the greatest experts using a whip that I had ever faced.
This time as well, I had tried to finish him in one blow with the Fifth Form.
However, before I could use the Fifth Form, he attacked first. Since he knew Elder Go had died by my hand, he went all out from the first move. Against someone like that, using a large technique that would leave me open to a fatal counterattack if it missed even once was burdensome.
Instead, I fought him by combining the Immortal Crane Secret Art and the Soul-Chasing Asura Sword Art.
Facing a supreme expert who used a whip in real combat was also a rare opportunity that could not be bought even with money. Of course, that was only if one could survive like this.
“It seems I was injured during the previous fight.”
I took out wound salve from my robe.
“Give it here. I will apply it for you.”
Gal Sa-Ryang dipped his finger into the wound salve and applied it to my wound.
“It seems your walk was rough.”
I looked at him in surprise, and Gal Sa-Ryang spoke calmly.
“Do not underestimate my eyes.”
He had known that I did not have this wound earlier.
As I hesitated over how to explain it, Gal Sa-Ryang spoke first.
“It is fine. There is no need to explain everything.”
At those words, my heart suddenly surged with emotion. They were words I had often said to him in the past. Since he was the Chief Strategist, there had always been many things he had to explain to me.
Whenever that happened, I said the same thing to him. Truly, exactly the same thing.
“It is fine. There is no need to explain everything.”
When people spend a long time together, they unconsciously influence each other.
“It is done.”
“Thank you.”
Gal Sa-Ryang returned to his bed.
“Please sleep.”
Sa-Ryang covered himself with the blanket and said,
“Sleep well. Thanks to your walk, I think I will be able to sleep deeply tonight.”
I looked at him for a moment, then turned my head toward the window. It was a night with beautiful moonlight.
Yes, tonight, do not worry and sleep deeply.
The next morning, we met Cheon So-Seon again.
He greeted us with a well-prepared breakfast.
“Haha, did you sleep well?”
“Thanks to you, we slept well.”
The person who answered on our behalf was Gal Sa-Ryang.
Ma Bong-Gi’s anger had still not faded. However, he seemed to have recovered from yesterday’s shock.
At this moment, I once again confirmed that the man was truly extraordinary. He was probably the one who had sent Whip Elder yesterday. And yet, not the slightest trace showed on his face.
Even though he might have felt somewhat puzzled, regretful, or angry that Whip Elder had failed, he truly acted as if he had nothing to do with that matter.
Even as I knew that expression and those words were acting, I could not distinguish it.
Had he also been trained not to reveal any emotion at all?
But he did not seem to be that type. For someone who had received repressive training, I could sense too much freedom and brightness from him.
Then what kind of person was he?
“Now, please sit.”
“Let us.”
Today as well, he was still alone.
Ma Bong-Gi sent me and the Fierce Tiger Unit warriors far back toward the entrance. Lim Jung-Tae protested that it was dangerous, but Ma Bong-Gi gave a strong order.
I wanted to stay together with Gal Sa-Ryang, but since the situation was like this, there was nothing I could do.
The Fierce Tiger Unit warriors and I withdrew toward the door. I stood as close to them as possible and pricked up my ears. Because my hearing was exceptional, I could faintly hear their conversation.
Now, only three people sat at the table: Ma Bong-Gi, Cheon So-Seon, and Gal Sa-Ryang.
Cheon So-Seon picked up his chopsticks and invited them to eat.
“Please eat. The cook is skilled, so the food tastes good.”
But Ma Bong-Gi did not pick up his chopsticks.
“I do not believe that you are the leader.”
At his still rude attitude, Cheon So-Seon also put down his chopsticks.
“People believe only what they want to believe.”
Did he think he was being lectured? Ma Bong-Gi’s face twisted.
Gal Sa-Ryang sent him a look telling him to endure.
Ma Bong-Gi sighed and said,
“Fine. Let us say that is so. I will ask only one thing.”
“Please ask.”
“Why did you make me the Alliance Lord? There must clearly be some intention behind it.”
“Of course. There is a definite intention.”
“What is it?”
It was something not only Ma Bong-Gi, but also Gal Sa-Ryang and I were curious about.
The answer that came out was truly unexpected.
“For this very moment.”
“What?”
I had been standing with my back turned, but I turned toward them. I instinctively felt it.
Danger!
At that very moment!
Whoosh.
Thud!
There was the sound of sharp wind and something being pierced.
Cheon So-Seon’s finger was pointing toward Ma Bong-Gi.
At the end of that slender, white finger, Ma Bong-Gi wore a dazed expression.
And there was a gaping hole in his forehead.
Without leaving even a single word behind, Ma Bong-Gi fell backward with a thud.
“Alliance Lord!”
A beat too late, Lim Jung-Tae charged forward. I also launched myself and rushed over.
I rushed toward Gal Sa-Ryang, and Lim Jung-Tae rushed toward Ma Bong-Gi. I could have charged even faster.
But I did not.
Cheon So-Seon had picked up his chopsticks and begun eating. It was clear that he had no intention of killing Gal Sa-Ryang or anyone else.
Puh-eok!
As expected, Lim Jung-Tae, who had charged in, was knocked away by Cheon So-Seon’s single move, but he was not injured and sprang back to his feet.
Cheon So-Seon warned Lim Jung-Tae.
“The Alliance Lord is already dead. You should protect the next Alliance Lord. Is that not your job?”
“You crazy bastard! Subdue him!”
Just as Lim Jung-Tae and his subordinate warriors were about to charge, Gal Sa-Ryang shouted.
“Stop! That man is right. The Alliance Lord has already passed away. There is no need for you to be sacrificed pointlessly as well.”
The difference in skill was too great. With a single pointing of his finger, Ma Bong-Gi had died without being able to use even one move.
Gal Sa-Ryang could tell. Even if it had not been that kind of surprise attack, Cheon So-Seon could have killed Ma Bong-Gi as much as he wanted.
Lim Jung-Tae and the Fierce Tiger Unit warriors all knew it too. Rather than taking revenge, all of them would be massacred.
As he stood unable to do this or that, I shouted.
“From now on, protect the Chief Strategist! This is an official request from the Justice Pavilion.”
Only then did Lim Jung-Tae make a decision. He had decided that he had to save at least the person he could save.
“Protect the Chief Strategist!”
The Fierce Tiger Unit warriors surrounded Gal Sa-Ryang. Two warriors pulled Ma Bong-Gi’s corpse backward.
Cheon So-Seon chewed and swallowed a piece of food, then put down his chopsticks.
As he rose from his seat, he spoke coldly.
“Go back and tell you Orthodox Faction bastards. The vengeance of our cult begins now.”
A white light seemed to burst from his eyes, and then he disappeared just like that. Literally, he vanished suddenly before our very eyes.
“Alliance Lord!”
Lim Jung-Tae checked Ma Bong-Gi once again, but he had already turned cold.
A situation that truly could not have been imagined had occurred.
I looked back at Gal Sa-Ryang and spoke quietly.
“This is definitely an act with some purpose behind it.”
I could tell. The reason they had made Ma Bong-Gi the Alliance Lord was to make him play the role of someone sacrificed by the Demonic Cult. Their preparations were now complete.
But why?
As if speaking for my heart, Gal Sa-Ryang spoke with a grave expression.
“These bastards! What exactly are they trying to do?”
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