Chapter 748: It’s Been a Long Time, Master.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 748: It’s Been a Long Time, Master.
Lee Jae-won stared straight ahead, his expression blank.
He simply could not comprehend the situation unfolding before his eyes.
Why?... How...?
A question burned in his mind. No matter how much he thought about it, it made no sense.
Paeng Ga-ryeon was on his side. They were in the same boat.
So why was she appearing from the opposite side?
Right, I must have seen wrong. Of course. Why would Paeng Ga-ryeon be over there?
Lee Jae-won slowly closed his eyes. He repeated to himself that he had surely mistaken what he saw. When he opened them again, only Joo So-yang would be in his sight.
No, it had to be that way.
Slowly, Lee Jae-won opened his eyes, praying that everything was just an illusion.
Then, his face began to turn pale.
He saw her. Paeng Ga-ryeon was staring back at him with a steady, unwavering gaze.
"Greetings, fellow martial artists. I am Paeng Ga-ryeon."
Her voice began to resonate throughout the assembly grounds. She was projecting her voice using internal energy.
Seeing this, Lee Jae-won was certain. This was no illusion; it was reality.
"Though I am lacking, I currently serve as the Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall."
She began to speak slowly, her tone calm yet powerful. Immediately, the eyes of the crowd began to converge on her.
"I believe you all know why I am standing here. It is to determine the authenticity of the incident report."
She spoke with a dry, expressionless face.
Fuck... fuck... fuck... fuck... fuck.
Listening to her, Lee Jae-won began to gnaw on his fingernails, cursing incessantly under his breath. Anxiety gnawed at him, fearing she might say the wrong thing.
"I attached my personal opinion regarding this case to the incident report—specifically, the opinion that this incident was committed by the same culprit as the previous ones."
She spoke in a very businesslike tone.
"It seems there has been some talk regarding this. Whether I submitted a false opinion under pressure from the Alliance Leader, or whether I submitted it truthfully."
Paeng Ga-ryeon’s voice spread in all directions.
Fuck, stop stalling! Just tell them it’s not true already!
Listening to her, Lee Jae-won felt like his insides were burning. Why was she dragging it out like this when she could just say she wrote the opinion based on the facts? His frustration was natural.
"I will give you the conclusion first."
At that moment, Paeng Ga-ryeon looked at the crowd with a determined gaze and spoke. The eyes of the massive crowd, including Lee Jae-won, focused entirely on her. Curiosity about what she would say next reached a fever pitch.
"The contents of that opinion are not true."
Paeng Ga-ryeon continued in her businesslike tone, her voice utterly flat.
".................."
The moment those words left her mouth, a heavy silence descended upon the assembly grounds. Not a single person opened their mouth. They were so shocked by the revelation that they couldn't even speak.
The opinion wasn't true?
Didn't that mean this incident wasn't the work of the same culprit?
And if it wasn't the work of the same culprit, hadn't the Alliance Leader issued a pursuit order against Jang Sam based on a crime that didn't even exist?
The crowd's gaze slowly shifted to the other side. They were waiting to see Lee Jae-won's reaction.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-won was cursing non-stop internally. He had realized it. Paeng Ga-ryeon had betrayed him.
This fucking bitch!!!
Blood vessels began to bulge in Lee Jae-won's eyes. An uncontrollable rage toward Paeng Ga-ryeon surged within him.
I'll kill her! I'll kill her! I'll kill her! I'll kill her!
A murderous aura began to creep out from around Lee Jae-won. His will to murder Paeng Ga-ryeon was starting to manifest.
Just as he was radiating that killing intent toward her, he suddenly felt eyes on him. Lee Jae-won looked forward. He saw the masses, all staring only at him.
No... I can't...
Seeing this, Lee Jae-won quickly withdrew his killing intent. He had regained his reason.
Even though he desperately wanted to kill Paeng Ga-ryeon right this second with his Formless Sword, he couldn't do it now. Killing her would be tantamount to admitting he had pressured her into giving a false opinion.
Whew.
Lee Jae-won took a deep breath to regain some semblance of composure.
"The opinion is false!? What on earth do you mean by that, Hall Master of Law Enforcement?"
He spoke while looking at Paeng Ga-ryeon with eyes as cold as a bitter cold northern wind. It was a form of pressure—a warning to watch her words.
"Does the Alliance Leader not know better than anyone?"
Paeng Ga-ryeon continued in a calm tone, as if his pressure meant nothing to her.
"Since you were the one who ordered me to submit a false opinion."
She continued with a nonchalant expression.
"......I have no idea what you are talking about."
Lee Jae-won feigned ignorance.
"When exactly did I ever give such an order?"
"On the day the victim was brought to the Cheonmu Alliance, did you not visit the Law Enforcement Hall, Alliance Leader?"
".....That was..... to personally inspect the corpse...... Was that not why I visited the Law Enforcement Hall?"
Lee Jae-won began to spin lies and excuses. These women were trying to bury him. Therefore, he had to deny everything, no matter what lies he had to tell.
"And did you inspect the body?"
Paeng Ga-ryeon shot back, staring at Lee Jae-won.
Lee Jae-won bit his lip hard. Of course he hadn't. The whole purpose of his visit to the Law Enforcement Hall had been to ask her to falsify the opinion. Paeng Ga-ryeon had struck exactly where it hurt.
Fuck you, you think I'll give in?
Bloodlust flared in Lee Jae-won's eyes. He had no intention of surrendering like this.
"Is that not obvious? I confirmed it clearly. The neck was twisted three times, the limbs were broken unnaturally, the genitals were severely mutilated, and the face was completely ground away so the identity couldn't be determined, was it not?"
Lee Jae-won began to recite the description of the corpse exactly as it was written in the incident report. The fact that he had memorized it several times for his speech was finally paying off.
"I truly cannot understand. Was it not a fact confirmed by both myself and you that the marks on the corpse were identical to the previous ones? And yet you speak such nonsense, saying the opinion was false?"
Lee Jae-won continued, wearing a look of confusion.
"Hall Master, tell me. Why are you lying? Are you perhaps being threatened by the Great Matriarch, or have you been promised something?"
Lee Jae-won began to frame Joo So-yang and Paeng Ga-ryeon. He painted a picture as if the two women were deceiving both him and the people.
Did his framing work? Anger began to rise in the eyes of the masses. They started to think that, just as Lee Jae-won said, the two women were deceiving them.
Soon, the people began to glare at Joo So-yang and Paeng Ga-ryeon with burning eyes, as if to rebuke them.
This is how you play the media, you stupid bitches!
Seeing this, a satisfied smile began to form on Lee Jae-won's lips. He felt the tide of public opinion turning back in his favor.
I'll drive the final stake in.
Lee Jae-won put on an expression of profound regret.
"Hall Master! Please, come to your senses! Do you not realize that telling such lies is an insult to the people! I do not know why you would tell such an absurd lie! I do not know why you would deceive me and the people! But I know one thing for certain! You would not tell such a lie without a reason!"
He began to appeal with an agitated voice, releasing his energy so that everyone could hear him clearly.
"It is not too late! Reveal the truth now! If you are being threatened, I will protect you! If there is something you want, I will get it for you, no matter what it is! So, reveal the truth!"
Lee Jae-won raised his voice, glaring at Paeng Ga-ryeon with a straight gaze. It was, in effect, a final ultimatum. He was telling her it wasn't too late—that if she changed her story and sided with him now, he would at least spare her life.
You'd better choose wisely, Paeng Ga-ryeon.
Lee Jae-won glared at her with cold eyes. She must know which way the wind was blowing. If she had a brain, she would accept his offer.
"Alliance Leader."
At that moment, Paeng Ga-ryeon called out to Lee Jae-won with a dry expression.
"Speak."
Lee Jae-won replied with a composed face. Internally, however, he was gloating, certain that the bitch had finally surrendered.
"I haven't told a single lie."
Paeng Ga-ryeon spoke with a confident expression.
Hearing her words, Lee Jae-won's face contorted violently. It wasn't the answer he wanted. This wasn't a compromise; it was a clear rejection.
Stupid girl.
Lee Jae-won thought. He would send her to hell along with Joo So-yang. He would make sure they could never crawl back into the Murim again.
"How truly regrettable... I gave you one last chance..... and yet you....... in the end....... to deceive the people...."
Lee Jae-won began to lament with an expression full of sorrow. Of course, he intended to use this lamentation to further incite negative public opinion against Paeng Ga-ryeon.
"Isn't it the Alliance Leader who is deceiving the people?"
Paeng Ga-ryeon cut Lee Jae-won off mid-sentence and launched a sharp accusation.
"Deceiving them? What on earth have I done to deceive them!?"
Lee Jae-won replied with a look of mockery. It was a pathetic struggle. Public opinion was already on his side. Overturning such a situation was practically impossible. How could he not find it laughable?
"How can you say you saw a corpse that doesn't even exist?"
Paeng Ga-ryeon's cold eyes flashed as she spoke.
".................."
In an instant, Lee Jae-won was struck speechless. He couldn't understand her surreal words.
A corpse that doesn't exist...? ...Doesn't exist?... An incident... happened... but the corpse... doesn't exist?... What?... I didn't check it personally, but... surely... they said they saw the body... that they performed an autopsy...
Lee Jae-won began to feel an immense sense of confusion. His not-so-bright brain worked frantically to make sense of her surreal statement.
Zhuge... Chan... I have to ask... Zhuge Chan...
Lee Jae-won quickly turned his head back. He was looking for Zhuge Chan, the one who had informed him that the rape and murder case had occurred.
But Zhuge Chan was nowhere to be seen. He hadn't appeared where the leadership was gathered.
No way!
A sense of foreboding flashed through Lee Jae-won's mind. He snapped his head back to the front. Then, concentrating his eyesight, he looked behind Joo So-yang.
And there, Lee Jae-won found him. Chief Strategist Zhuge Chan was standing behind Joo So-yang with a businesslike expression.
"Heh... hehehe... heh...."
Seeing this, Lee Jae-won let out a hollow laugh. He had realized it. Everything was a fabricated fake.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
The hollow laughter turned into a mad cackle. He had been tricked. By those uncivilized Chinks. He had been betrayed by women who were nothing more than fuck-toys to him. How could he not laugh?
"Haaa....... Fuck, seriously."
Lee Jae-won threw away his facade. He realized it was already too late to fix this.
"You're really being a pain in the ass. You fucking pieces of shit."
Lee Jae-won spoke as he radiated an immense murderous aura. It was a massive pressure, enough to force anyone it touched to their knees.
"All... Alliance Leader... wait... please calm..."
One of the Hall Masters, turning pale at Lee Jae-won's massive killing intent, spoke with a trembling voice. The aura was constricting his entire body to the point of pain.
"Why, does it hurt?"
Lee Jae-won asked back with an indifferent expression.
"It's... too... painful..."
The Hall Master barely managed to continue in a shivering voice. Watching him, Lee Jae-won flicked his index finger ever so slightly.
"Is this better?"
"Pardon?... What... do you...?"
The Hall Master spoke with a look of confusion.
"Try tilting your head to the side."
"To the side...?"
Following Lee Jae-won's words, the man slowly tilted his head.
Thud.
Roll, roll, roll.
His head fell to the floor and began to roll away. His neck had been severed.
"It doesn't hurt if you're dead."
Lee Jae-won spoke with a murderous smile. Then, he immediately turned back to the front. He stared straight ahead with eyes full of bloodlust. Joo So-yang, Paeng Ga-ryeon, and Zhuge Chan came clearly into his view.
His killing intent surged uncontrollably.
"Because of you lot, I have to kill everyone here, don't I?"
Lee Jae-won spoke with a playful smile. Hearing those words, the faces of the masses began to turn ashen. They had a gut feeling that his words were no lie.
"Fuck, this really sucks."
Lee Jae-won raised his arm toward the sky. As his will gathered, a massive Formless Sword began to take shape—a Formless Sword as large as a pavilion.
"Die."
Lee Jae-won swung his arm down. The massive Formless Sword went flying toward the opposite side—toward where Joo So-yang, Paeng Ga-ryeon, and Zhuge Chan stood.
Lee Jae-won intended to kill them. The culprits who had ruined everything.
It's a death sentence! You motherfuckers!
Lee Jae-won was certain of their deaths. It was a Formless Sword, having neither shape nor the sound of flight. Moreover, its power was so immense that Joo So-yang, who had only recently reached the Profound Realm, could never hope to block it.
Their deaths were confirmed.
It was then.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, someone leaped onto the platform where Joo So-yang stood.
Thud.
After landing, the figure immediately swung a sword toward the incoming Formless Sword.
The Formless Sword began to scatter instantly, as if its life had been extinguished. It vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed in the first place.
"W-What!?"
Seeing this, Lee Jae-won's expression turned to one of pure shock. He was dazed by the surreal sight unfolding before him.
"You're still doing such trivial things, I see."
Then, a voice that snapped him back to his senses reached his ears. Lee Jae-won turned his gaze toward the voice.
And there he saw him. A man standing arrogantly, holding a sword as dark as the abyss.
"...N-No way!?... Y-You!?"
As he faced the man, Lee Jae-won's face began to fill with bewilderment. An entirely unexpected person had entered his sight.
Hair tied back tightly.
A white Hero's Headband.
A handsome face with fine features.
A pure white martial arts uniform embroidered with a Heavenly Dragon.
Lee Jae-won knew this man all too well.
"....Jang... Sam..."
That was right. The man's identity was Jang Sam.
The public enemy of the Murim, the one called a parricide—Lee Jae-won's expelled disciple.
Jang Sam.
"It’s been a long time, Master."
Jang Sam spoke with a deep, knowing smile.