Chapter 712: Shouldn't You Get Revenge?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 712: Shouldn't You Get Revenge?
Wisps of steam...
Steam began to rise steadily from the tea.
"Whew... Whew..."
Joo So-yang blew on the tea to cool it down.
Slurp.
She began to slowly savor the taste, taking in the aroma. A fairly sophisticated scent stimulated her sense of smell. A deep smile played on Joo So-yang's lips. She had thought him nothing more than a stodgy, narrow-minded martial artist, but he seemed to have quite an eye for the way of tea.
"The tea has a lovely fragrance."
Joo So-yang spoke as she looked at the man who was as large as a mountain—Jin-gang, the Black Tortoise Hall Master.
"......I am glad it is to your liking."
Jin-gang responded with an incredibly polite attitude. The bluntness he had shown when they first met was nowhere to be found. It was because his spirit had been completely broken after being thrashed by her without being able to offer even a hint of resistance.
Seeing this, Joo So-yang smiled with satisfaction. When she first saw him, his arrogant attitude had been quite grating, but now he seemed to have gained some self-awareness.
"Is your face alright?"
Joo So-yang continued, looking at the Black Tortoise Hall Master's swollen face.
".....I am fine."
Of course, he wasn't fine. He had been hit so hard that the bridge of his nose was on the verge of breaking and his teeth wouldn't stop wobbling. "A total wreck" would be the most fitting description of his state. However, he didn't let it show. It was partly out of pride as a man, but mostly because he didn't want to risk annoying her further.
".......Um.... Great Matriarch......"
Jin-gang spoke up as he watched Joo So-yang's satisfied smile.
"Yes, go ahead."
Joo So-yang replied with a gentle smile.
"......Have you crossed the wall?"
Jin-gang asked her with a questioning look. He couldn't help but wonder. Joo So-yang was a martial artist who had reached the Upper Stage of the Transcendent Realm. The gap between him and Joo So-yang should have been only about one stage.
However, the level of martial arts she had displayed was far beyond the Upper Stage of the Transcendent Realm. She had defeated him with her bare fists without even properly drawing her sword. How could he not be curious?
"That is how it turned out."
Joo So-yang nodded slightly as she spoke.
"......Was there some kind of catalyst?"
Hearing her words, Jin-gang asked again. Joo So-yang had reached the Upper Stage of the Transcendent Realm twenty years ago during the Great War of Righteousness and Demons. Hearing that she had suddenly crossed the wall after twenty years filled him with doubt.
"A catalyst.... I don't think there was anything I could call a catalyst...... It was just that, suddenly, it felt like the fog in my head cleared, and enlightenment came rushing in."
Joo So-yang spoke in a calm tone. In truth, there really wasn't a specific catalyst. A few days after Lee Jae-won's arm was severed, enlightenment had suddenly flooded her mind, feeling as if the fog surrounding her brain was lifting.
"...........My congratulations."
Hearing her words, Jin-gang offered his sincere congratulations. Although he felt a sense of regret that the gap between them had widened, he felt a surge of emotion at the fact that another great martial artist had been born within the Cheonmu Alliance.
"Thank you, Black Tortoise Hall Master."
Joo So-yang replied with a smile. A very warm atmosphere filled the room.
"By the way.... what is it you wished to discuss?"
As the atmosphere relaxed, Jin-gang asked her point-blank about the business that had brought her to see him.
"I heard that you summarily executed the fake Jang Sam this time."
"I did."
Jin-gang nodded in response.
"I want to hear about that in detail."
"Regarding Hwang Sam?"
"Yes, that's right."
"What specific parts do you wish to hear about?"
Jin-gang asked back, puzzled.
"Everything..... tell me everything. From when he appeared, what he did, what he said, and even what kind of expression he had on his face."
Joo So-yang's intelligent eyes sparkled as she questioned him.
"........He appeared at exactly the hour of the Monkey on the third day of October.... According to witness testimony, he was running loudly as if intentionally trying to flaunt his presence. And then, he happened to catch my eye while I was on patrol, and he was captured just like that."
Jin-gang began to recount the events of that day, searching his memory.
"And when I told him to reveal his master, he refused. So, I used the Bone-Dislocating Technique to perform a light torture. Then he spilled everything immediately. He said he had conspired with Jang Sam because he coveted the Cheonmu Alliance Leader's martial arts. After that, as you know......."
Jin-gang told her everything that had happened that day. Every single detail, without leaving anything out.
"..........Did you not notice anything strange?"
"Something strange?"
Jin-gang tilted his head in confusion.
"Yes. For example, if he showed awkward movements....... or if there was anything that raised suspicion, that sort of thing."
"....Suspicion......"
Hearing her words, Jin-gang took on a thoughtful expression. He seemed to be reflecting on the situation at the time once more.
"Ah!"
He soon let out a short exclamation. He had found something that bothered him.
"Do you remember something?"
Joo So-yang asked him again, her eyes sparkling like starlight.
"Now that I think about it, there were a few awkward things."
Jin-gang spoke in a calm tone.
"He moved sluggishly until I went to catch him. It was as if he were waiting for me. And when I applied the Bone-Dislocating Technique, he looked at me with a bewildered expression. As if he couldn't understand what was happening."
Jin-gang began to slowly unravel the parts that had raised his suspicion. At the time, he had overlooked them because he thought he had caught a renegade conspiring with a Public Enemy of the Murim, but thinking back, several things were bothering him.
".............."
Hearing Jin-gang's words, Joo So-yang's expression turned grave. She fell into a deep silence, seemingly lost in thought. After some time had passed...
"Black Tortoise Hall Master."
Joo So-yang finally spoke, looking at him.
"Please, speak."
"What does Chivalry mean to you?"
Joo So-yang asked, staring at him with a very serious gaze.
"It is to have compassion for the oppressed weak, to never yield to the strong, and to realize justice."
"Have you never once committed an act that goes against that?"
"I have lived a life where I do not listen to, look at, or act upon anything that is not Chivalry."
Jin-gang continued, staring at her with burning eyes. The very reason he had joined the Cheonmu Alliance in the first place was because he was drawn to the founding philosophy: "Do not see, hear, or act upon that which is not Chivalry." Though he was narrow-minded, he was a man who pursued only Chivalric Code. It was unthinkable for such a man to act against Chivalry.
".............."
Joo So-yang said nothing, merely staring into his burning eyes. It was a magnificent gaze, without a single speck of shame. Facing that gaze, Joo So-yang could tell. There was no lie in his words.
"I see."
Joo So-yang nodded slightly. Then, she reached into her robe and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper.
Tap.
Slide.
She immediately placed it on the table and pushed it toward Jin-gang.
"What is this?"
Seeing the paper on the table, Jin-gang asked her, puzzled.
"Read it."
Joo So-yang spoke in a calm tone. Hearing her, Jin-gang unfolded the neatly folded paper and began to read it slowly.
"Thi... This is?!"
He soon stared at Joo So-yang with a look of bewilderment. His eyes were filled with shock.
"It's a script."
Joo So-yang continued with a calm expression.
"Hwang Sam wasn't commissioned by Jang Sam. He was a victim sacrificed by someone who wanted to make Jang Sam the culprit."
Joo So-yang's cold eyes flashed as she spoke.
"And that script is the proof."
"Ha... Hahaha.."
Hearing that, Jin-gang let out a hollow laugh. He was bewildered by the sudden, shocking truth. To think that the mastermind behind this wasn't Jang Sam. To think that Hwang Sam was a victim who had been sacrificed. How could such a thing happen?
"Whe... Where did you get this?"
Jin-gang asked her in a trembling voice. He felt the need to confirm.
"It's a note found in Hwang Sam's clothes. According to his wife, he repeatedly wrote, muttered, and memorized it."
"......Then.... if that's the case.... then he really....?"
"Yes. He was used and discarded. By someone's conspiracy."
Joo So-yang spoke with a look of certainty.
"................"
Jin-gang stood with his mouth agape, unable to speak. In an instant, all of Hwang Sam's awkward behaviors flashed through his mind. He had run through the commercial district noisily, as if intentionally trying to flaunt his presence. If he were truly someone who had received a commission, there was no way he would act so conspicuously. Even though he had made eye contact with Jin-gang, instead of running away, he had acted as if he were waiting for him. As if he were trying to get caught on purpose. And when he was subjected to the Bone-Dislocating Technique, he had looked at Jin-gang with an expression full of betrayal. As if it were different from what had been agreed upon beforehand.
"..........Ah."
Jin-gang let out a gasp. All the pieces had finally fit together. All his doubts were resolved. He had been used. To kill that man.
"Krrgh... ugh... AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!"
Jin-gang soon erupted in a roar. Unbearable rage surged within him. He had been used. And for the purpose of killing an innocent man. The Chivalry he had protected and practiced his entire life had been twisted. Unbearable anger rose up. That anger soon turned into killing intent. He wanted to kill. The mastermind who had used him to silence a witness.
Woooooooong.
The room began to ripple with Jin-gang's profound internal energy.
"....Calm down, Black Tortoise Hall Master."
Joo So-yang began to calm him. What was needed now was not rage. It was intuitive yet cold judgment.
"How..... how..... can I be calm?..... I... I killed an innocent man...... I killed a naive soul who thought it was all an act! How....... how could I..!"
Jin-gang spoke with a voice thick with tears. It was horrific. Everything he had done. Self-loathing rose up. A sense of shame filled him. He just wanted to die.
"Even so, calm down."
Joo So-yang spoke in a cold voice.
"What is needed now is intuitive thinking. But what good will it do if you lose your reason here?"
Joo So-yang spoke with an expression as cold as the bitter cold northern wind.
"....But.."
"Shouldn't you get revenge?"
"......Revenge?"
"Yes. Shouldn't you get revenge on the dog who made the situation like this?"
Joo So-yang's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
"............"
Hearing those words, Jin-gang finally gripped his reason and began to calm down. He felt that her words were not wrong. To get revenge, he needed to regain his reason. Only then could he deduce who the culprit was.
"I am sorry...... Great Matriarch... I seem to have been too agitated."
Jin-gang apologized immediately.
"I understand completely. Don't mind it."
She waved her hand and continued.
"By the way, I have something to ask."
"Please, ask."
"Was going on patrol there that day an order? Or was it your own choice?"
"......I was.... encouraged by a friend. I heard that the culprit might appear at the crime scene again..."
Jin-gang spoke in a calm tone.
"Then, Jin-gang, who was the person who urged you to patrol at that specific time on that specific day?"
"...........Surely you don't suspect that friend!?"
Jin-gang asked her back with a look of disbelief.
"As of now, that friend is the most likely suspect."
Joo So-yang spoke in a cold voice. It was the person who had made him go on patrol exactly at the date and time Hwang Sam was to appear. He couldn't help but be the most likely suspect.
"That's impossible. He is...... not that kind of person."
Jin-gang denied it. It was a friend he had been close with for ten years. How could such a person commit such a horrific act?
"Jin-gang."
Joo So-yang spoke in a voice as cold as the bitter cold northern wind.
"Who is it?"
Woooooooong.
And soon, a massive force of will began to cover the room. It was because she was annoyed by Jin-gang's attitude of avoiding the answer.
"Ugh..."
Enveloped by that force of will, Jin-gang let out a groan. He felt an irresistible, great strength.
"Tell me..... Who is it?"
She asked again as if giving a warning, her voice full of killing intent.
".........It's... the... Gyebang Hall Master...... Cha Do-jin."
Overwhelmed by that killing intent, Jin-gang finally managed to force the words out. He spoke the name of the man who was his friend of ten years and who, like himself, reigned as part of the Alliance's leadership.
"....Cha Do-jin, I see."
Hearing his words, Joo So-yang's murderous eyes sparkled. It seemed her next destination had been decided.