Chapter 53
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: I Can't Stand Lingering Doubts (3)
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"Hey! Bring me some wine!"
Wi Hongryeon's first words upon returning to her quarters after several days were concise.
Cha Gwang shot a furtive glance at the unit members and gestured with his hand. It was a signal to move quickly, as she seemed furious.
The members scrambled into action. Their footwork was as urgent as if they were facing a life-or-death enemy.
Cha Gwang cautiously approached Wi Hongryeon's side.
"Are you injured?"
"..."
"Haha, if the Commander is like this, your opponent must have been beaten to a bloody pulp..."
Smack!
"Ugh!"
Cha Gwang staggered. He'd been hit so hard on the back of the head that he nearly fell flat on his face from where he sat.
Wi Hongryeon glared at him with menacing eyes.
"Did something good happen? Why the hell are you grinning like an idiot? Huh?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Where's the wine? I told you to bring it now!"
"The members are bringing it."
"Then what about you?"
"...Pardon?"
"What are you doing, just ordering the others around? If you've got nothing to do, go make some snacks! Something with strong seasoning!"
"Yes!"
Cha Gwang scrambled out of the room. He felt wronged to the point of madness, having stepped forward to try and lighten her mood only to get a harsh scolding.
Wi Hongryeon snorted furiously.
"Dammit, I feel like crap."
She slumped into a chair, her eyes blazing.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
The speed of her index finger tapping the table was reminiscent of a swift sword art. She tapped so fast and hard it seemed she would drill a hole in the table if left unchecked.
Wi Hongryeon was thinking of Seo Ryang. She mulled over his blank expression and the words he had spoken so matter-of-factly.
- Looks like our training together is over.
- We started together, but our goals were different. Your fight is over, but mine is still ongoing, isn't it?
- Stop meddling and leave when I tell you to.
"Hmph!"
She snorted so hard that a bit of snot trickled out.
Wiping her nose roughly, Wi Hongryeon chewed her lip.
"What? Different goals? Stop meddling?"
She thought it was just like him.
To be fair, he wasn't wrong. She had been the one to suggest the training, and though it was a bit different from what she'd imagined, her goal had been fully achieved.
Still, did he have to be so cold and cut things off so cleanly? Right?
Bang!
The table, struck by her fist, dented. She held onto her last thread of reason, refraining from the atrocity of smashing the expensive table to pieces.
"Dammit! Hey, you lot! What are you doing? Hurry up and bring the wine!"
As if on cue, the door opened and the unit members brought in a table set with drinks.
Even though the snacks hadn't arrived yet, Wi Hongryeon began drinking hastily. She was in such a hurry that she drank straight from the bottle instead of pouring it into a cup.
The members, watching cautiously, quietly slipped away. They knew from experience that getting on the Commander's bad side at a time like this would mean utter ruin.
After drinking for a while, Wi Hongryeon scoffed.
"Right, no need to worry. He'll do fine on his own. No, whether he does well or not, it doesn't matter to me anymore, does it?"
Yes, that was enough.
Wi Hongryeon quietly tilted her cup.
With each cup, one then two, her expression gradually contorted.
"...Dammit!"
* * *
"We're here."
"Thank you."
"Not at all. I'll be on my way, then."
The Seventh Guard Captain turned to leave.
Watching his back, Seo Ryang spoke.
"What was the outcome?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking about the investigation. The Fourth Young Master is one thing, but wasn't one of your vice-heads also involved?"
"...Details of the investigation are confidential and cannot be disclosed to outsiders. I hope you understand."
Seo Ryang nodded.
"Keep up the good work."
The Seventh Guard Captain's shoulders flinched.
But only for a moment. He disappeared with his characteristic quiet and proper stride.
Seo Ryang smiled.
*'He's not a bad person.'*
It seems not everyone in the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon is a devil. There are people like Aeng-hwa, Ma Dongpil, and the Seventh Guard Captain, who live by their own righteous values.
*'In that case.'*
He looked at the door.
*'Head of the Hall of Punishments, I wonder what kind of person you are.'*
He had summoned the Third and Fourth Young Masters, two of the highest-ranking figures in the Divine Cult, at the same time. No matter how powerful the Head of the Hall of Punishments was, it must have been a burden.
To have called them both despite this meant he had some objective that needed to be resolved, even if it meant shouldering that burden.
Creeak.
Seo Ryang opened the door and stepped inside.
*'Hmm.'*
Instead of a room, there was a long corridor leading to one.
*'A peculiar structure.'*
Then again, if someone had been inside, he would have sensed their presence.
After truly unlocking the Shadow Demon Arts and opening the first Hell Gate, the Subterranean Prison Gate of Ghosts, his energy sense had become much more active.
He hadn't felt the need to open it before. The reason was that the moment he opened the Subterranean Prison Gate of Ghosts, his demonic energy would become noticeably more pronounced.
He had kept it sealed, thinking, 'Do I really need to draw that much attention?' but now his mind had changed.
After all, to raise his profile, he needed to seem special in some way. From his aura to his martial arts, he needed to become even more spectacular to leave a strong impression on anyone who saw him.
In that respect, he was almost grateful to Song Gyeong. Thanks to that bastard, he'd realized his presence was still lacking.
*'Tsk, to achieve my dream, I have to do things I don't like. Let's think positively.'*
His position as the Third Young Master already made him a target of attention. There was no need to hesitate and draw lines in the sand.
Seo Ryang entered the corridor.
Thud, thud.
The corridor was very quiet.
Lanterns hung on the walls every ten feet, but their dim light only added to the eerie atmosphere.
*'Damn it, these people are fine and all, but they always try to create a horror movie atmosphere.'*
I really don't like this kind of thing.
Somehow, this gloomy corridor felt like the thorny path of life he had to walk for freedom. A path that was damp, eerie, and subtly frightening.
*'Freedom... Shit, when I think about it, I'm really taking the long way around.'*
He'd never been caught, but there were times, three or four times a day, when his legs would twitch uncontrollably.
It was because he wondered if he shouldn't just bolt instead of wasting time with these complicated schemes. Frankly, with his current skills, it seemed like he could use his movement techniques to sneak out...
*'Nonsense.'*
He'd surely be caught before he even made it past the inner sanctum.
Even if he escaped safely without being caught, it would be a problem. The Divine Cult would undoubtedly dispatch terrifying demonic masters to find the missing Third Young Master. And among them would be experts that even the current Seo Ryang would find difficult to handle.
He couldn't give up the future for a moment of freedom.
What he wanted was complete freedom, unhindered by anyone. The experience of being trapped in the inescapable net of the Righteous Heaven Alliance and the Iron Blood Fortress—those bastards he could chew up and still not be satisfied—had made him all the more cautious.
Seo Ryang's eyes became slightly bloodshot.
*'Everything I'm doing now will be a great help later. I just have to believe that and keep going.'*
He hadn't expected to make such a vow while walking down this neither-long-nor-short corridor. Feeling a renewed surge of strong will, Seo Ryang clenched his fists.
*'Let's wrap up today's business well, beat the crap out of that bastard Hong Wi-mun, and then see how things go. Don't be hasty, you idiot.'*
Having calmed himself down, his eyes finally fell upon an antique-looking door.
*'Hmm, I'm here... Huh?'*
Seo Ryang frowned.
He sensed two presences inside the door. They must be the Head of the Hall of Punishments and Hong Wi-mun.
But one of the presences was extremely ambiguous.
*'What is this aura?'*
It was somehow faint yet distinct, stiff yet fluid. It was an aura that couldn't be described with a single expression.
*'...This is really unsettling.'*
Whatever, let's just face it.
Creeak.
Seo Ryang threw the door open wide.
At the same time.
"You've arrived."
One of the two men sitting at a round table stood up.
Instantly, Seo Ryang's eyes turned cold.
"I've prepared a seat for you here. Please, come in, Third Young Master."
The members of the Hall of Punishments show only minimal courtesy to the high command, out of concern that the nature of their duties might prevent them from maintaining at least a minimum level of impartiality.
One could tell just by looking at the Seventh Guard Captain. He was polite, but with clear boundaries, using speech that was neither excessive nor lacking.
But the man who had just stood up was different. He acted familiarly, as if they were old, close friends.
"I've prepared some fine wine. I'm not sure if it will be to your liking."
His build was neither large nor small.
He looked to be in his early fifties. But unlike his graying hair, it was hard to find a single wrinkle on his face. His clothes were also ordinary, neither particularly high-quality nor cheap.
His appearance was the same. Neither ugly nor handsome. He had the kind of face you would commonly see in a marketplace.
The appearance of the current leader of the Hall of Punishments, the Head himself, was thus filled with ordinariness and ambiguity. He was a man who felt extraordinary precisely because one could find no unique or profound aura about him.
"Hmm? Haha! Is there something on my face? Why do you stare so intently?"
"Are you the Head of the Hall of Punishments?"
The middle-aged man gave a good-natured smile.
"That is correct. I am Go Gu, the Head of the Hall of Punishments."
After staring at him blankly for a moment, Seo Ryang glanced to the side.
There sat Hong Wi-mun with a blank expression. He had a cup, but it seemed he hadn't had a drink yet.
"Haha, it seems the Third Young Master is not in a good mood."
"..."
"In any case, you've come a long way, so please have a seat. You must be tired after being interrogated for three days, are you not?"
He smiled, and smiled again.
Seo Ryang shook his head.
"I will not sit there."
A look of puzzlement appeared on Go Gu's face.
"Why is that?"
"Summoning a madman like me and that moron over there must mean you have some purpose of your own, right?"
Hong Wi-mun's expression turned icy. He couldn't be happy about being called a moron in front of the Head of the Hall of Punishments.
Go Gu showed a flustered expression.
"Why do you say such bewildering things? I find it hard to accept, Third Young Master."
"I don't know what that purpose is, but I have no intention of talking to someone who hides their true intentions. I don't mind playing games with others, but I have no hobby of being played."
"Pardon?"
A hint of demonic energy flickered in Seo Ryang's eyes.
Wooooong.
The Shadow Demon Arts surged, and the Heavenly Net Six Arts unfolded naturally. As the Unhindered Arts' Purification True Art automatically cleansed the surroundings, his Transcendent Vision activated with even greater sensitivity than before.
"That's quite a curious mask you have there."
"..."
"The Black Sun Guard wore masks, yet there was no ambiguity about them. They just felt like judges, executioners. But you're different."
Go Gu's smile deepened.
"In what way am I different?"
"It's your real face, but you're wearing a mask. A mask ten times thicker and a hundred times more ambiguous than those of the Black Sun Guard."
"Is that how you perceive it?"
"Isn't it obvious? You're hiding your true self, aren't you?"
At this string of hard-to-understand conversation, even Hong Wi-mun frowned, wondering what it was all about.
But Go Gu's reaction was different.
"...Truly remarkable."
It was then.
Crack. Cra-cra-crack.
Hong Wi-mun's eyes wavered.
Snap! Cruuunch!
A cold chill emanated from Seo Ryang's expressionless face.
Ssssssssh!
Go Gu's face was changing.
It wasn't a metaphor; his facial features were literally changing. Bones twisted, and muscles rippled uncontrollably. From his rapidly changing face, a hazy gray shimmer began to rise.
*'Bone-Shrinking Marvel Art...'*
It refers to a martial art that uses powerful internal energy to artificially alter a person's bone structure.
*'I thought it was a fictional martial art made up by gossiping enthusiasts.'*
There are many strange arts in the world, but he had never imagined that a martial art capable of changing the human body's structure actually existed. If the bones and muscles changed, the positions of the internal organs would inevitably shift, and it could even damage the nerves.
If such a martial art really existed, why would assassins go to such lengths to obtain human-skin masks?
Crack! Cruunch!
"You are the third person to have ever seen through my transformation at a glance."
As his body changed, so did his way of speaking.
The Go Gu he had shown Seo Ryang until now was, quite literally, a fabricated persona. This current way of speaking revealed Go Gu's true personality.
"I wondered how you could have survived for eight months in the Solitary Bamboo Forest. It seems that your unparalleled insight played a large role."
Fwoooosh.
At last, Go Gu's real appearance was revealed. He was a man in his mid-to-late thirties with a strong, imposing impression.
"How is it? Are you satisfied?"
Seo Ryang pointed to the table with his chin.
"I'm hungry, so bring out some snacks."