Do I Have to Spell It Out for You? (2)
Jang Hyeon's arrowhead struck Han Cheong-un's body with pinpoint accuracy.
The arrow, having successfully pierced the skin and dug deep into the muscle...
"How unfortunate," Han Cheong-un muttered.
Regrettably, it failed to reach the bone.
Han Cheong-un had raised his arm to block the decisive strike.
Seeing his trump card fail, Jang Hyeon let out a heavy sigh.
"You blocked that?"
He asked, unable to hide his disappointment.
"Did you expect it?"
"The moment you set off the smoke screen, I figured something was coming."
"..."
"If you hadn't used the smoke, I might have let my guard down, and your chances of success would have been higher."
In truth, Han Cheong-un would have evaded it anyway using his Domain Steps. But with no way of knowing that, Jang Hyeon simply nodded in regret.
Han Cheong-un spoke to him.
"So? Shall we continue?"
Jang Hyeon let his arms drop limply.
What was the point of struggling any further?
He had no choice but to admit defeat.
"I lost—"
"Kyaaaah! Husband!"
It happened then.
With a piercing shriek, a white-haired woman practically flew over and inspected the wound on Han Cheong-un's arm.
"Oh no... What do we do? You're hurt! You're bleeding!"
"This is nothing—"
"What do you mean it's nothing?! Oh my goodness, what are we going to do?"
The white-haired beauty made a massive fuss over the arrow wound on Han Cheong-un's arm.
Is she his lover? Jang Hyeon wondered.
Hearing her call him "husband," she had to be.
But even if he understood her feelings, this was highly inappropriate.
To Jang Hyeon, Tang Seo-yeon's sudden intrusion before the duel had officially concluded was incredibly rude.
"Child, step aside. We haven't formally—"
Creak.
It happened in that instant.
Tang Seo-yeon's head slowly turned at an unnatural angle to look at Jang Hyeon. Her eyes were completely hollow, devoid of focus.
In that state, she spoke.
"You did this, didn't you?"
"..."
"How. Dare. You. Hurt. My. Husband..."
"W-Wait a moment..."
"And make him bleed?!"
In the next instant.
A deep green poison qi erupted from Tang Seo-yeon's entire body like an explosion.
The examiners watching from afar had been waiting outside the building until the time limit expired.
The clashing of weapons and screams echoing from inside were like background noise from another world to them. But then...
BOOM!
"What was that?"
"What... what's going on?"
A sudden, deafening explosion shook the air.
For a brief second, they felt the entire building lift slightly off the ground. Green smoke began to creep out from the crevices of the structure. And then...
Creeeeak.
The sound of splintering wood echoed.
Although the building had been hastily erected for this exam, it had still been built to be sturdy.
CRASH! BOOM! BANG!
"Aaaaargh!"
"Save me!"
"Run outside...! Argh!"
Soon, the building collapsed entirely.
The sturdy wooden structure, barely completed, crumbled into a heap of ruins.
"Uh... that's not supposed to happen."
They had heard that the building was supposed to be used as a warehouse after the exam.
It was going to be a problem if it collapsed like that. But...
Crash!
"Ugh... I almost died."
Pushing aside the debris of the collapsed building with the shaft of his spear, a man stood up. In his arms, he held the white-haired beauty, whom he had shielded from the collapse.
She looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
"Husband, you saved me."
"Uh, well..."
"I'm so happy."
The peerless beauty clung to his chest.
Yes, it was a beautiful picture. Truly. However...
"You... crazy bitch!"
It seemed someone strongly disagreed with the sentiment.
The voice belonged to another peerless beauty, no less stunning than the white-haired woman.
The moment she arrived, she lunged as if she wanted to tear the white-haired woman apart. The white-haired woman, however...
"Kyaaa! Husband, I'm scared! Sister Baek Su-ah is trying to bully me!"
"Get over here right now!"
"Hey, let's calm down first—"
"Do I look like I can calm down right now?! That crazy bitch just blew up the entire building!"
Tang Seo-yeon had unleashed enough poison to corrode an entire building. If there was any saving grace...
"At least it doesn't seem to be a lethal poison that would kill anyone."
"Yes. I can control it to that extent now."
"Oh, aren't you proud of yourself, you lunatic?!"
Baek Su-ah screamed, practically jumping in frustration.
Tang Seo-yeon snapped back sharply.
"No one died, so what's the big deal?"
"Why, you little..."
"In the first place, it's that man's fault for making my husband go 'ow-ow'."
Are you his mother? Baek Su-ah thought, exasperated.
"This girl is seriously..."
Baek Su-ah knew Tang Seo-yeon's original fate.
She was a tragic woman destined to become a great scourge of the Jianghu, only to meet her end at the hands of her own brother.
Remembering that original fate made it hard to treat her too harshly. It really did, but...
"That's it. Get over here."
Human patience had its limits.
"Kyaaa! Husband, help me!"
"I said, get over here!"
"No! I don't want to! Stop it!"
"Stop acting so innocent!"
It was absolute chaos.
Han Cheong-un was caught between the two women, completely helpless and flustered. And...
Someone help me too...
Tang Jin, buried under the rubble of the building, felt deeply sorrowful.
The Extreme Dao Sect passed the exam.
Even though they had blown up an entire building in the process, they had proven their strength.
The problem was...
"That was only the first exam?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"..."
"The exams are being held in multiple locations, and you have merely passed in one of them."
This was a bit irritating.
"Then when do we get final approval? Do we gather all the first-round qualifiers and fight again?"
"No. The second exam is a practical evaluation."
"A practical evaluation?"
"We will assign you actual escort duties, and the final qualifiers will be decided based on how well you perform."
Hearing this, Han Cheong-un thought to himself.
So, in other words...
"You want us to do the escort work first."
"Indeed."
"Even though we haven't officially passed, we still have to work."
"We can only know if you are truly capable by putting you to work, after all."
"..."
It felt familiar.
What felt so familiar was...
This is exactly how it felt to be treated like a sucker back when I was a low-ranking martial artist in the Wulin Alliance.
Back in the days when he was an unknown, low-ranking warrior of the Alliance.
"Just do it for now. Just do it."
"This is how things work. Do you think customs exist for no reason?"
"Why are you nitpicking over the small details? Tsk. Just do as you're told. You'll understand the meaning of it later."
They had made him do all sorts of things like that.
They dumped personal chores that had absolutely nothing to do with the Alliance's official business onto the low-ranking warriors.
Ah, thinking about it again makes my blood boil.
It was embezzlement, plain and simple.
Exploiting the Alliance's human resources for personal gain and convenience was a clear abuse of power.
He had reported it to the higher-ups, only to end up suspended himself.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
Han Cheong-un let out a deep sigh.
In truth, he didn't care much about the ten thousand gold taels.
Han Cheong-un had a different goal, so it didn't matter. However...
"Do you think the others will accept these terms so easily?"
"That is entirely up to you."
"..."
"But let me make one thing clear. The reason Jinju Pavilion promised such an extraordinary reward is because we expect a corresponding level of service."
Ah, so if you want the money, shut up and do it?
"There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
Hearing the examiner's smug words, Han Cheong-un smiled back.
He nodded in agreement and spoke.
"You're absolutely right. There is no such thing as a free lunch."
"I'm glad you understand."
"Yes. Please make sure you keep those words in mind as well."
"..."
"There is no such thing as a free lunch."
What was this?
For some reason, the examiner felt an ominous chill from Han Cheong-un's words and smile.
"First, we will divide our forces," Han Cheong-un said, gathering the sect members.
"Su-ah, Seo-yeon."
"Yes, Sect Leader," Baek Su-ah replied.
"Yes, Husband," Tang Seo-yeon said.
"I have a separate task for the two of you. Take care of that first."
"What kind of task?"
"It's..."
Han Cheong-un explained the details.
"Understood. We'll do as you say," Baek Su-ah answered readily.
Tang Seo-yeon, however, pouted.
"Husband, do Sister Baek and I really have to go together?"
"Why? You don't want to?"
"Can't Brother and Sister Baek do it? And you and I can stay together."
At her minor rebellion, Han Cheong-un sighed.
"From now on, Tang Jin and I will be handling the escort duty at Jinju Pavilion."
"I know. But what of it?"
"What do you think will happen if the two of you enter a gisaeng house?"
"What would happen?"
Did she really not know?
Tang Seo-yeon and Baek Su-ah.
It was no exaggeration to say that they were the undisputed beauties of Shaanxi and Sichuan, respectively.
Tang Seo-yeon, with her brilliant white hair like freshly fallen snow and her radiant smile.
Baek Su-ah, with her delicate features, flawless skin, and a mysterious charm that captivated anyone who looked at her.
And these two were going to act as "guards" in a "gisaeng house"?
"It would ruin their business."
For one, the actual gisaengs would lose all their confidence.
Han Cheong-un sighed and said,
"Just do what I asked. It's an important task. I wouldn't trust anyone else with it."
Tang Seo-yeon hung her head dejectedly and gave a small, quiet "Yes."
Having sent the two of them off, Han Cheong-un, along with Tang Jin, began the escort duty at Jinju Pavilion.
To be precise, they began their unpaid labor under the guise of a "practical evaluation."
The master of Jinju Pavilion read the report and spoke.
"Four hundred and eighty failed the first exam, with eighty-nine casualties. Is this correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
The master put down the report and smiled with satisfaction.
"So the first phase of the plan is a success."
"Yes, indeed."
The subordinate reporting smiled faintly.
"With this, all the martial artists in Yueyang who claim to have any strength are either injured or under our employ. Even if our rivals try to hire rogue mercenaries to harm us, there is no one left to hire."
Indeed.
Everything had gone according to plan from the very beginning.
If they offered a massive reward, every decent swordsman in Yueyang would flock to them.
What would happen if they pitted them against each other?
It was obvious. When martial artists competed, bloodshed was the natural order of things.
In the end, the exam to select guards for Jinju Pavilion had successfully eliminated a vast number of martial artists in Yueyang who could potentially oppose them.
Everything was dancing in the palm of the single individual who had devised this scheme.
"Are there any useful ones among the qualifiers?"
"In terms of sheer skill, there are quite a few. Some are even stronger than me."
"Well, that..."
"But the problem is that most of them are from the Unorthodox Faction."
"..."
"To be honest, they aren't the type we can keep around for long. They'll wag their tails as long as we feed them, but they're like jackals that will bare their fangs at any moment."
"But isn't it unprincipled to dispose of them before they even show their fangs?"
"Pavilion Master, principles are meant to be kept between humans."
"..."
"There is no need to show such courtesy to beasts of the Unorthodox Faction. Therefore..."
"I understand."
"..."
"In the end, we must clean them all out."
"Yes. However, we must keep them close until the agreement with them is finalized."
"Then let us proceed as planned. Buy enough time until they arrive."
"Understood."
Once the subordinate finished reporting and withdrew, the master of Jinju Pavilion stood up.
Standing by the window, she looked down at the misty Dongting Lake.
It was a view beautiful enough to be called one of the greatest sights under heaven. However...
The sight the master of Jinju Pavilion truly wished to behold was not this scenery.
"I must return. I will be able to return."
The desperation in her voice was undeniably genuine.