Chapter 147: Round of 32 (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: Round of 32 (1)
The martial artist from the Ice Palace had vanished without a trace.
It was impossible.
Escaping the scene in the split second between the assassination and the arrival of the other martial artists should have been physically out of the question.
Furthermore, the General’s body had been discovered deep inside the building. To strike him down and slip away in that brief window of time was utterly preposterous.
The martial artists frantically searched the area before arriving at a singular conclusion.
The culprit is definitely still here!
Convinced, they immediately herded everyone into the center of the courtyard.
The primary suspects weren't the external martial artists gathered there, but the members of the Imperial Court. The Ice Palace assassin had likely blended into their ranks right before the building collapsed.
"If you see a face you don't recognize, raise your hand immediately!" the martial artists shouted, completely surrounding the Imperial entourage.
The members of the Imperial Court looked around in a panic. A face they didn't recognize?
"I—I've never seen this man before!" someone shouted, raising a trembling hand, only to be immediately rebuked.
"You idiot! You don't recognize someone who's worked in the palace for ten years?"
"We must be in different departments... My apologies."
As time passed, the culprit remained hidden. Eventually, the martial artists were forced to resort to their final option.
"It has come to this. We have no choice. Offer your wrists. We must examine your internal energy."
"That is absurd!" Ju Yang-il’s face contorted in rage. "You dare inspect the internal energy of the Imperial Family? That is an intolerable insult!"
"But what else can we do? A master from the Ice Palace is hiding among us. A master who assassinated General Cheonyang himself!"
Though General Cheonyang, Ju Cheol-yak, had been overwhelmingly defeated by Seo-jun earlier, no one doubted his actual strength. To those who hadn't yet reached the Super Peak Realm, his power was obvious. If a Super Peak master couldn't recognize another's skill, they were simply a fool.
While some truly mocked the General's earlier defeat, unsurprisingly, most of those mockers were exactly that—fools.
It was inevitable that Ju Cheol-yak's reputation had taken a hit in the public eye. Nevertheless, he was still a master of the Super Peak Realm. Anyone capable of assassinating such a man in the blink of an eye could not be an ordinary martial artist.
"How about this?" the Shaolin Abbot stepped forward. "Let the Prince inspect the internal energy of his entourage. Then, an agent from the Eastern Depot can inspect the Prince."
One of the Super Peak martial artists objected. "But Abbot, that method is useless if there is more than one culprit. Both the Prince and the eunuch could be impostors using Disguise Techniques."
"How dare you...!"
The Eastern Depot agent bristled, but the other martial artists murmured in agreement.
"True..."
"Are you doubting the Imperial Family now?!"
"We are not doubting the Imperial Family. We are doubting whether you are truly a member of it."
"The Imperial Court will never submit to such nonsense!" the Eastern Depot agent protested in a shrill voice.
At that moment, the Third Prince, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
"...Then inspect my internal energy first. Afterward, I shall inspect the rest of the Imperial party."
"P-Prince...!"
"Enough, Admiral. We have no choice in this situation."
The Third Prince stood tall and met the Abbot's gaze. "However, this insolence will be addressed in the future."
"As you wish."
The Abbot brushed off the threat and took the Prince's wrist.
Checking the energy didn't take long. Releasing the Prince's wrist, the Abbot shook his head.
"It is indeed the Prince himself."
There was no way to fake internal energy. To practice the Ice Soul Divine Art, one's energy must inevitably contain Death Qi. To hide that, one would have to suppress their internal energy entirely, but everyone present—aside from the servants—was a martial artist.
As for the servants, no one objected to the Abbot inspecting them.
Thus, the Prince and the Abbot finished scanning everyone. Yet, the culprit was still not found.
"Where on earth did they go...?"
As Seo-jun pondered this, he spoke up.
"Since we're at it, why don't we just scan everyone here? The culprit might be hiding among us, too."
"But that is..."
Everyone looked hesitant. In times like these, someone needed to step up first.
Seo-jun stepped forward boldly and offered his wrist to the Abbot.
"Come on, it's not like the Abbot is going to do anything weird. If he tried to mess with someone's meridians here, Shaolin would be turned to rubble."
If nothing else, Seo-jun knew his father-in-law would come charging in. What would the Abbot even gain by twisting someone's Qi? Honestly, it wasn't worth the risk of having the Namgung Patriarch unleash the Emperor Sword Form right in the middle of the Shaolin Temple.
Watching this, Hwangbo Jun’s eyes trembled slightly.
Didn't that guy use Demonic Qi...?
Why was he acting so confident? Could it be... had he already conspired with the Abbot?
While Hwangbo Jun’s mind raced, Seo-jun casually let the Abbot examine his wrist.
After scanning his energy, the Abbot let out a small exclamation of admiration.
"Ho...! Such pure and righteous energy. It would be impossible to harbor such Qi without a truly upright heart."
Hwangbo Jun could only sigh in despair.
Ha...! Since when did the Abbot of Shaolin become so skilled at lying? It's the end of the world! The Murim has truly fallen!
Regardless of Hwangbo Jun’s lamentations, the other martial artists began to follow suit, entrusting their wrists to the Abbot. Many remained reluctant until the end, but refusing now meant risking being branded a spy for the Black Lotus Union.
Eventually, everyone was inspected. Even the Abbot was checked by Daoist Heo-do of the Wudang Sect.
Still, the Ice Palace martial artist was nowhere to be found.
Only then did the martial artists realize the truth.
"It seems they have already fled the area."
"Ugh... I wonder what trick they used."
"They must be absurdly skilled in the Shadow Hiding Technique."
"To let such an opportunity slip...!"
The martial artists were bitterly disappointed, but there was nothing more they could do.
"Let us return for now. It seems we've lost them."
"Another item for the meeting agenda."
"The entire Righteous Faction has been played by the Black Lotus Union. We cannot let this slide."
"We must hold the Ice Palace accountable!"
And so, the murder of General Cheonyang ended as an unsolved mystery.
*
Once the incident was inconclusively wrapped up, Seo-jun headed back to the Namgung Clan’s villa, bringing the courtesans with him. He was a bit tired after being stopped by several martial artists who wanted to exchange greetings along the way.
"Seriously, though, no one from my house even showed up."
There were four Super Peak masters staying at the Namgung villa, yet he was the only one who had come out to investigate.
As he walked along grumbling, one of the courtesans stepped forward as a representative and bowed deeply to Seo-jun.
"Thank you, Great Hero... We truly thought we were doomed..."
"I just dumped the mess on everyone else. Save your thanks for the people who'll have to deal with the aftermath later."
"How many people in your position would bother to look after mere courtesans? We owe you a great debt."
The courtesan, perhaps out of habit, gave him a soft, lingering smile, though her body was trembling slightly. Seo-jun couldn't tell if it was from the shock of nearly dying or if she was just cold because she wasn't properly dressed.
Since he had money to spare anyway, he bought them some outer robes at a nearby clothier, prompting another round of deep bows from the women.
Hmm.
In truth, weren't these women the ones who suffered because of that "Baek Seo-jun" guy?
Though he didn't know much about Baek Seo-jun, Seo-jun, as a man of true integrity, felt a twinge of guilt.
"By the way, which do you think is better: working at an Anhui parlor or working as a servant for the Namgung Clan?"
"P-Pardon...?"
A mere courtesan becoming a servant for the prestigious Namgung Clan?
After being showered with gratitude by the women, who were overjoyed by this drastic rise in social status, Seo-jun returned to the villa triumphantly.
It was around dawn, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon.
As he entered the villa, Jang-geuk spotted him and tilted his head in confusion.
"My Lord, who are the women behind you?"
"Former courtesans, current servants?"
"What on earth...?"
Jang-geuk scratched his head. Seo-jun looked at him and clicked his tongue.
"Seriously, all that chaos broke out last night and you didn't even think to come check it out?"
"Chaos? What chaos?"
"You didn't see it?"
"Are you talking about the sky catching fire?"
The sky catching fire. That wasn't an inaccurate description. Seo-jun nodded.
"Yeah, exactly that. You saw that and just went back to sleep?"
"Wasn't that you, My Lord?"
"Pardon?"
Wait. How did he know?
A startled Seo-jun stared intently at Jang-geuk.
Jang-geuk gave a short laugh. "I just figured you were out causing trouble again."
"Haha... No, I wasn't?"
Man, he gave me a heart attack...
As Seo-jun shook his head, Jang-geuk suddenly looked around, then leaned in to whisper in Seo-jun's ear.
"Actually, I was going to go."
"I thought you said you figured I was the one causing trouble."
"Well, the sky suddenly lit up, so I was going to head out. But that Fist King fellow stopped me."
"The old man?"
"He said it was probably just Lee Seo-jun causing trouble, so we should just go back to sleep."
"Oh..."
Is this the wisdom of the elderly? Seo-jun couldn't help but admire such sagacity.
Wait, no. Come to think of it, I wasn't the one who caused the trouble. Technically, it was Baek Seo-jun.
"Ugh, that old man needs to fix his suspicious nature."
"I'm telling you."
It was quite fun whispering back and forth, gossiping about the old man.
However, they couldn't keep the conversation going for long. He had to hand over the women he'd brought to someone. Even now, they were standing behind him, fidgeting and looking lost.
"I'll send you all to the head maid for now..."
"Yaaaawn..."
Just then, Chun-bong came strolling out, letting out a massive yawn. Namgung Su-ah was with her. Since there was no way Chun-bong would wake up at this hour on her own, Su-ah must have woken her.
"What's this? Our Chun-bu-i, how are you awake at this hour?"
"Morning practice... because of the Yongbong Gathering..."
Chun-bong, approaching unsteadily with her eyes barely open, suddenly snapped her head up when she saw the women standing behind Seo-jun.
"Huh?"
Her eyes flew open as she quickly scanned the group.
Outer robes, and underneath, thin, suggestive clothing.
Courtesans?
Reaching a swift conclusion, the corners of Chun-bong’s eyes twitched upward.
"Hey. You, these people... Hmm?"
Sniff, sniff. Chun-bong’s nose wrinkled.
She smelled something fishy coming from those women. What was that scent?
It was unfamiliar, yet she had smelled it before. Probably back when she lived in the back alleys...
Ah, right. She’d smelled it a few times near the red-light districts.
The scent that usually lingers... on a man and a woman who have just finished their business.
"What the fuck?"