Chapter 255
Chapter 255
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 255
Chapter Title: Found, and Found Again
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Found him. Found that man again.
The man who had leisurely slipped away from the Four Emperors Tower that day.
Tadak-tadak—
Mu Chabi, slicing through the dense forest path, recalled memories from the past once more.
It had been just another ordinary day.
He had taken his subordinates to a tavern for a drink, only to unluckily run into dogs from the orthodox sects.
Seeing the Tang Clan and Jeokga Clan juniors gathered together soured his mood instantly, but he didn't turn back.
What reason was there to avoid them?
He was none other than the young master of Sa Hae Bang, one of the four pillars of the Four Black Alliances.
There was no cause for him to back down just because a couple of Nine Great Orthodox Sect brats had shown up.
And so, an uncomfortable tension hung in the air as he and those bastards engaged in a battle of auras on the same floor. It was then that he belatedly noticed one man.
A stranger, neither orthodox nor unorthodox, eating alone at a separate table.
But...
'He ignored our clash of auras as if it were nothing and just walked out.'
Like someone who couldn't even sense the internal energy, the man calmly stepped through the thick pressure and exited the tavern.
Mu Chabi had been so flabbergasted that he even forgot to flare his energy for a moment.
After that, he set aside the standoff with the orthodox fools and began his meal.
Thud.
—This won't do.
He simply couldn't stomach it.
In the end, Mu Chabi set down his chopsticks not long after and rose from his seat, leading his men out of the tavern.
He sternly ordered them to find the man he'd just encountered, but after exhaustive searches, they found no trace or clue of his whereabouts.
Having lost the man's trail like that, he continued issuing search orders to his subordinates for months afterward.
Narrowly in Chengdu, broadly across all of Sichuan Province.
But as time dragged on with no progress, he had finally given up recently.
'Who would've thought I'd run into him again in Sichuan.'
It was a chance report—and encounter.
One of the subordinates he'd used in the previous search spotted the man he'd been looking for entering a manor while moving through the battlefield.
Mu Chabi's heart pounded when he heard the report.
And when the man seemed about to leave the city, he immediately led his men in secret pursuit.
'Just what is that guy's identity?'
The day to unravel that mystery had finally arrived.
In truth, it was simple curiosity.
No ulterior motive like recruiting him as a subordinate—just pure curiosity.
Thud. Tadak.
Mu Chabi trailed them at a safe distance, maintaining the gap from the men ahead.
He had no intention of making contact or fighting the man in the first place.
What intrigued him was the man's identity.
If he followed them to their destination, it would naturally reveal itself.
And so, he had set out on the trail with a dozen or so swift-footed subordinates skilled at concealing their presence.
"This time, I'll uncover his identity no matter what."
Letting him slip away right under his nose once was enough.
There absolutely wouldn't be a second time.
Steeling his resolve once more, Mu Chabi pressed forward.
Then...
"...Halt."
His subordinates froze at Mu Chabi's command.
"What is it, Young Master?"
One of them, who had stopped at the sudden order, voiced his question.
Mu Chabi, furrowing one eyebrow, slowly opened his mouth.
"...He's gone."
The presence of the men ahead.
He had been focusing intently on sensing auras to avoid even the slightest mistake, but in an instant, they vanished as if they'd shot into the sky or sunk into the earth.
This was no ordinary situation.
Mu Chabi shot a cold, vigilant glare straight ahead.
'Something's up ahead.'
Chak.
In the ensuing silence, Mu Chabi raised one hand.
He silently gestured orders to his men.
They split into two groups and fanned out left and right in a wide arc.
Once they were all in position, Mu Chabi alone remained, waiting for them to advance.
"Kuaaaak!"
Suddenly, a scream erupted from somewhere on the right.
Almost simultaneously, a death cry leaked from the left.
Soon after, every single presence from the men who had scattered left and right winked out without exception.
Sususu—
Now, the only sounds from all directions were the lush trees and bushes rustling in the chill wind.
"......"
Mu Chabi's hand slowly rose to the sword at his waist.
Gripping the hilt, he heightened his vigilance in all directions, unsure when or where something might emerge.
"...Show yourself."
As he growled in a low, sunken voice, taking the initiative...
"......!"
His pupils dilated, and his entire body stiffened rigidly.
The moment he felt a hand touch his nape, his body went numb, frozen solid, unable even to twitch a finger.
Sensing the presence behind him, Mu Chabi desperately wanted to whip his head around.
But the only thing he could barely move was his tongue.
Wh... who..."
"Why did you follow me?"
The tone was gentle, yet Mu Chabi felt a blade pressed to his throat—a threat to his life.
A single wrong word, and his head would roll.
His face paling, Mu Chabi hurriedly defended himself.
"It was mere curiosity. I had no intent to harm. The memory of encountering you at the Four Emperors Tower was too vivid; I simply wanted to meet you again."
Four Emperors Tower.
At those words, Hyeok Mulin recalled who he was.
He had visited Chengdu's Four Emperors Tower only once.
The juniors from the Tang Clan and Jeokga Clan had clashed with Sa Hae Bang's young master then.
Mu Chabi.
'So it was him.'
Hyeok Mulin confirmed his identity from the confession.
But he didn't stop the interrogation.
"Mere curiosity, you say? With all those subordinates in tow?"
"They were just for protection—never any intent to strike first!"
Hyeok Mulin didn't believe him.
It might have started that way, but unorthodox warriors were the type to draw steel mid-conversation if the numbers favored them.
Hyeok Mulin regarded him with a dry gaze.
Sa Hae Bang, one of the four pillars of the Four Black Alliances.
As its young master, he was among the top powers among Sichuan's unorthodox forces.
Yet now, his life hung by Hyeok Mulin's fingertips.
Mu Chabi, who had lightly trailed him out of curiosity, now endured the weighing of his fate in Hyeok Mulin's grasp.
Silence fell briefly, and Mu Chabi gradually regained his composure.
'He won't kill me, surely.'
Mu Chabi understood his own position of power well.
Sa Hae Bang's young master.
Even those detestable Nine Great Orthodox Sect juniors wouldn't dare challenge him lightly.
Behind him stood not just Sa Hae Bang, but the essence of the unorthodox world: the Four Black Alliances.
He had never once feared for his life in any quarrel.
But...
'...I really might die here.'
The longer the silence stretched, the more his thoughts shifted.
The man behind him.
He hadn't even asked his name, so he already knew his identity.
Yet the sharp pressure he exuded remained unchanged.
As if Sa Hae Bang—no, the Four Black Alliances—meant nothing to him.
As Mu Chabi sweated in silence, awaiting his judgment, Hyeok Mulin finally spoke calmly.
"Have you ever ingested gu poison?"
Mu Chabi shuddered at the sudden question from Hyeok Mulin's lips.
He replied in a voice laced with dread.
"...No."
"Then today will be your first."
With that, Hyeok Mulin slipped something into his mouth.
Mu Chabi's face drained of color as he felt the wriggling thing slide down his tongue and into his throat.
But he was powerless to act.
He could only helplessly accept it.
"You have now taken my gu poison. You know what that means without me spelling it out."
"......Yes."
Mu Chabi ultimately surrendered completely.
With the gu inside him, defying him would only bring death.
"I shall serve you as my master."
He had become Hyeok Mulin's servant, bound to obey without question.
To receive such treatment just for following out of curiosity.
It was unjust, but unavoidable.
In the martial world, one followed the strong's punishment.
"What shall I do?"
Hyeok Mulin replied indifferently, still not releasing the paralysis.
"Nothing."
"Pardon?"
Mu Chabi couldn't help but question it.
He had expected orders like stealing internal secrets from the Four Black Alliances or stirring chaos with rival groups.
But nothing at all?
Unable to grasp the intent, he spoke again.
"Is that truly all...?"
"I never permitted you to ask questions."
The air around them compressed instantly under Hyeok Mulin's flared energy.
Mu Chabi apologized repeatedly.
"I-I'm sorry."
Hyeok Mulin fixed him with a chilling stare and delivered his final words.
"Do nothing until I give you orders first. Live as if you never ingested the gu—as if we never met."
Until it became necessary someday.
With that, Hyeok Mulin pressed his ear gate acupoint.
Mu Chabi's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.
Gazing down at the sprawled man, Hyeok Mulin's eyes shifted to another insect in his fingers.
He placed it on a tree branch and spoke.
"Now you'll live the rest of your life in fear and anxiety."
Without even knowing it wasn't gu poison in his body.
In truth, what Hyeok Mulin had put in his mouth was just an ordinary bug.
But by flaring his energy to pressure his mind, he hadn't realized it wasn't gu until it was swallowed.
And now that it was in his stomach, there was no way to confirm.
Except one method: disobeying an order.
But...
'What if I give no orders at all?'
Hyeok Mulin planned to issue no commands for a long while.
Not until a critical moment involving the Four Black Alliances made him useful.
No one could risk their life on the first order.
That much would be impossible to defy.
To Hyeok Mulin, Mu Chabi was now a card he could play anytime.
A hidden trump even the Twin Brain Masters wouldn't suspect.
For such a man to walk right into his hands.
"Thanks for coming to me."
Before leaving Sichuan, a lax smile curved Hyeok Mulin's lips as he bestowed this final gift.