Chapter 102
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: One Who Gazes into the Mind of a God (2)
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“……”
“……”
“……”
“Ahem! Goodness, why are you all looking at me like that?”
It seemed he wanted to assert his dignity, regardless. He puffed out his chest and stuck out his belly, managing a somewhat dignified appearance.
But the gazes of the four people on him remained unchanged.
The expression on Seo Ryang’s face, who had been scoffing at them, gradually grew awkward.
“Anyway, I caught him, didn’t I? That’s all that matters. Right, my Lord?”
He looked at So Yeonsim. So Yeonsim subtly turned her head away.
“Hmm… Ah! Commander Wi! You’re crazy, so you should know. As you can see, I’m not crazy at all. I’m completely different from you. Right?”
He looked at Wi Hongryeon. Wi Hongryeon snorted in derision.
“That bastard! Ah, right. Dongpil will understand me…”
His face turned tragic as he looked at Ma Dongpil. His own face was grotesquely contorted, as if he had tried his best to understand the Young Master but failed.
“What in the world did I do wrong?! Why? Was I too cruel to that bastard? Is it because I was laughing while I beat him? Why are you all looking at me like that?!”
“Third Young Master.”
“What!”
Go Gu pointed a finger at Ji Yeonghyeon. The fallen Ji Yeonghyeon was tightly bound in chains made of gold-laced steel.
“Look at that man’s face.”
“What about his face!”
“……”
“…It’s a little messed up, but you can still mostly recognize him.”
Go Gu sighed.
Wi Hongryeon, arms crossed, mimicked Seo Ryang’s voice in an exaggerated tone.
“‘We must prepare for any eventuality, so do not injure him under any circumstances.’
‘If things go wrong, we’ll become enemies with the Lord of the Demonic Sword House. Commander Wi, you especially need to be careful. Don’t get all excited and lop off one of his arms.’”
“……”
“Well, now. His arms are still attached. Though his face has been beaten to a pulp.”
“Hey, you fought him yourself, you know how it is! That bastard is a monster. There was no other way to subdue him, I tell you!”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
“Watch your tone.”
“Why? You gonna hit a patient? Go on, hit me. Try and make my face look just like his.”
“……”
“What? Get what from what idiot? You can’t even say ‘good work’ to someone who went through hell and back because you were late.”
*Groan.*
He wanted to smack her on the back of the head, but his own guilt held him back. It wasn’t like she was wrong, either.
Seo Ryang scratched his head.
“What’s done is done, so what can we do about it now?”
It was an incredibly shameless remark. Anyone else could have said it, but not Seo Ryang.
So Yeonsim, who had been glaring at him, let out a deep sigh.
“The Young Master isn’t wrong. I don’t think we need to argue about what’s already passed when we’re short on time.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“……”
“…I’ll shut up now.”
“Yes, just for a moment, please.”
Seo Ryang clamped his mouth shut like a clam. He had read the chilling air behind So Yeonsim’s smiling face.
“Head of the Hall, what will you do?”
“I’m sorry to say this, but you should ask the Third Young Master, not me. He was the one who came up with this plan in the first place.”
“But you agreed to it as well, Head. You must have had some method in mind.”
“I had no such method, and I did not agree.”
“……”
“He was just so overconfident. Of course, he did say he would personally step in and resolve things in the worst-case scenario.”
A sense of futility washed over So Yeonsim’s face.
“Is that true? So you beat Ji Yeonghyeon into that state with no plan, based on mere suspicion?”
“Why are you asking me? The one who beat him into that state was the Third Young Master.”
All eyes turned to Seo Ryang once again.
Seo Ryang, who had been muttering to himself while scratching the ground with a stone, cleared his throat.
“Young Master?”
“…Speak.”
“You do have a plan, right?”
“Of course I do.”
So Yeonsim’s face relaxed. True, he looked like a shriveled mess right now, but Seo Ryang was the Third Young Master of the Divine Cult.
And she fully acknowledged him as a formidable person.
“Then, how can we gather the evidence?”
“What are you talking about?”
“…?”
“What evidence?”
So Yeonsim frowned.
“We don’t have time for games, Young Master.”
“I’m not playing games. What evidence are you talking about?”
“Ji Yeonghyeon. We need to find concrete evidence that he’s the culprit.”
Seo Ryang looked at her as if she were spouting nonsense. He seemed so flabbergasted that everyone else looked on in confusion.
“Who said he’s the culprit? How would I know that?”
“…What?”
“This man is definitely the one who attacked us during the day. The internal energy from his sword ki was identical to the energy left on the blade of grass.”
“…?”
“But I never captured him thinking he was the culprit. The Head of the Hall of Punishments said the eldest son was the culprit, didn’t he?”
…What kind of bullshit is this now?
Go Gu’s eyes turned cold.
“It was you, Third Young Master, who told Ma Dongpil to lure this man out. And just as you said, he appeared.”
“So?”
“So? The fact that you told him to lure him out meant you thought he was the culprit, did it not?”
“I have never once thought or said that this man was the culprit.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped.
“Come to think of it…”
Looking back on their previous conversation, it was true. He had said he would use Ma Dongpil as bait to catch this man, but he had never once said he was the culprit.
Seo Ryang smirked.
“Why do you think I said I would catch him? I said I’d catch him because I thought he could be the decisive evidence that Ji Ganghyeon, that bastard, is the culprit.”
“So why are we looking for more evidence? The incident happened two years ago. Do you really think any physical evidence would remain?”
Wi Hongryeon stammered.
“Th-then what did you mean by not injuring him?”
“Are you kidding me? If you beat the hell out of the man who’s supposed to be your evidence, what value would he have as evidence? It’s common sense!”
Seo Ryang mumbled on.
“Well… I did end up beating him to a pulp, but…”
“……”
“Anyway, I didn’t catch him because I thought he was the culprit.”
“……”
“And besides, just look at him. Isn’t it obvious it’s not him? How can a guy who’s lost his mind and is running wild rape and murder someone, then cover his tracks? Is that even possible, logically?”
The four people, now made to feel illogical, could only gape like goldfish.
Thinking about it, he was right. They had only seen an abnormal obsession with the sword and a madness that defied communication; there wasn’t a shred of lust to be found.
“And think about the martial arts he was using.”
“It’s just one sword ki technique performed with his bare hands, right? He doesn’t even seem to know basic hand-to-hand combat.”
“Would a guy like that have left the body in such a mess? He would have just cut it in half.”
The more they heard, the more it made sense.
Go Gu let out a hollow laugh.
“Good heavens… To have been so shortsighted as to assume the culprit. I am disqualified as the Head.”
So Yeonsim also shook her head.
“My eyes were clouded as well. I got swept up in the moment and mistakenly thought Ji Yeonghyeon was the culprit.”
Seo Ryang looked back and forth between the two and scratched his head.
“I’m not trying to console you or anything, but maybe you should cool your heads a bit?”
That clearly wasn’t consolation.
“I understand that you both want to catch the culprit. But you need to see things more clearly. Going on a crazy rampage is my and Commander Wi’s specialty.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Seo Ryang’s insight was certainly remarkable, but he lacked the political acumen of So Yeonsim, who had long managed the Cult’s affairs, or the experience of Go Gu, who had dealt with countless criminals.
So Yeonsim sighed.
“The Young Master is right. Thank you for enlightening me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Go Gu shot back a remark.
“That doesn’t erase the fact that the Third Young Master committed an atrocity.”
“So petty.”
“By the way, what was that about?”
“What was what about?”
“Didn’t you say you had to stop by somewhere quickly?”
“Ah, that?”
Seo Ryang took out a carefully folded piece of paper from his robes. It was a medicine pouch.
“I brought it just in case.”
“So what is it?”
“That guy called it a Phantasm Herb.”
“Phantasm Herb? Who’s ‘that guy’?”
“Hong Wi-mun.”
Everyone stared at Seo Ryang in surprise.
“He said the Red Snake House would be visiting at dawn tomorrow. That means I wouldn’t have time to meet him alone.”
“So I went ahead and extorted it from him. Some guy named Shin or whatever trembled as he gave it to me.”
He went to the person he had just wrecked and extorted a herb. The sheer audacity left everyone speechless.
Meanwhile, Wi Hongryeon tilted her head, looking as if there was no problem at all.
“What’s a Phantasm Herb?”
“It’s a herb with weak hallucinogenic properties.”
“Hallucinogenic?”
“It has hallucinogenic components, but surprisingly, it’s not addictive. That’s why I brought it.”
“Who are you going to use it on?”
Seo Ryang glanced at Ji Yeonghyeon.
“Him.”
“…Why would you use that on someone who’s already unconscious? So he can have pleasant dreams?”
“Who knew he’d end up in this state?”
“What were you going to do if he wasn’t unconscious?”
“Herbs with hallucinogenic properties, regardless of the type, weaken a person’s will. Things like truth serums are actually based on hallucinogenic components.”
“Ah, for interrogation?”
“I brought it just in case. It’s not like we could torture him, right?”
Wi Hongryeon retorted bluntly.
“Thanks to you, we almost died. Bravo.”
“You want me to make you truly proud? Should I kill you right now? I swear…”
“Tch.”
“I wouldn’t have gone if I didn’t trust you two. In any case, you held out well, didn’t you? That’s all that matters.”
Seo Ryang dusted off his hands and stood up.
“Enough of that. Let’s get moving.”
“W-wait a minute!”
So Yeonsim asked urgently.
“What are you planning to do?”
“What do you mean? First, we need to find out why he ended up like this.”
“What?”
“Isn’t that obvious? How can we judge his value as evidence if we don’t even know that?”
This was getting more surprising by the minute. So Yeonsim had never imagined she would be rendered so speechless.
“This case is not that simple. The real culprit will naturally deny the crime, which means we have to present evidence he can’t refute.”
“But the incident happened two years ago. There’s no way we can find any useful physical evidence now. So what should we do?”
Seo Ryang’s eyes glinted sharply.
“We have no choice but to pressure the culprit into confessing his crimes with his own mouth.”
***
Ji Unhoe looked quite elegant, sitting in the pavilion and drinking tea.
“The tea in the Divine Cult is certainly different.”
He strictly abstained from alcohol.
A swordsman’s mind must be like a clear mirror and still water. It was amusing for a demonic arts practitioner to seek such a state, but he believed that, at the very least, a swordsman should.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he didn’t drink. He believed that achieving a mind of clear mirror and still water differed for each individual.
He simply disliked the version of himself that became disheveled from drink. So he drank tea instead of alcohol.
At least when he drank tea, his chaotic thoughts and stifled heart would settle.
‘But…’
Ji Unhoe frowned.
‘Strange.’
Was it because it was his first day since joining the Cult? Or was it because his son would become the Cult Leader’s disciple tomorrow?
Despite the pleasant night breeze and the fragrant tea, his heart was pounding. His mind just wouldn’t calm down.
The problem was that he didn’t know why these waves were stirring in his heart.
Ji Unhoe let out a sigh.
‘It matters not. If it cannot be settled, then I will simply let it be…’
Suddenly, his eyes flashed. His sharp senses had caught someone’s presence.
A moment later.
“Tea, not alcohol. You’re a man who lives by the book.”
“…Third Young Master.”
Ji Unhoe rose from his seat.
Seo Ryang walked up to the pavilion. His steps were completely unhesitating.
Ji Unhoe’s eyes wavered.
‘Is it because of the Third Young Master?’
Perhaps that was it.
The martial arts of the Seo Ryang he had faced during the day had been quite shocking. If they were to truly fight, his own victory was certain, but his opponent was not one to be taken lightly.
That was precisely the problem. The fact that he could be an ‘opponent.’
What genius in this world could reach such a level at that age?
Moreover, if someone of his caliber was the third son, how formidable must the First and Second Young Masters be?
‘Cult Leader, just what is the extent of your ability…?’
Lee Cheonsang’s help must have been significant. Of course, even so, that was no reason to downplay Seo Ryang’s greatness.
“May I come up?”
“Of course.”
And so, the two sat facing each other across a single tea table.
“There are no empty teacups. I will have the servants…”
“It’s fine. The tea I had after my meal is sufficient.”
“Then…”
“Since it seems you, my lord, do not appreciate formalities, I will get straight to the point of my visit.”
Ji Unhoe’s eyes gleamed.
“I am listening. Please speak.”
“I have taken your third son, Ji Yeonghyeon, into custody.”
“…?!”
“I’m thinking of doing the same to your eldest son, Ji Ganghyeon. What are your thoughts on that?”
In that instant, a tremendous wave of energy erupted from Ji Unhoe’s body.
*Fwoosh!*
“What is the meaning of this? You’ve taken my third son into custody?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“…You bastard!”
“Do you want to know the reason?”
“What?”
“Then you, too, will have to take part in what we are about to do.”
Seo Ryang smiled coldly.
“That is, if you intend to prove the words that came out of your own mouth this afternoon.”