Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 45
>Chapter Title: History is Made at Night (3)
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Naturally, doubt crept into the eyes of those looking at me.
And fortunately, I had prepared a suitable excuse before opening my mouth.
“I think you’ve heard that before becoming Master’s disciple, I worked as a waiter at an inn.”
“You heard it back when you were working as a waiter?”
“Yes. The innkeeper who hired me as a waiter and raised me was both the owner and the chef. He had deep knowledge of various teas and foods, and he would occasionally share his culinary wisdom with me.”
Since the man who taught me had already passed away, how could they possibly verify whether my words were true or false?
Misunderstanding my words in a strange way, Third Senior Brother muttered in admiration.
“Huh. He must have been a truly excellent chef. Not just combining foods, but even considering a person’s constitution or disposition in the mix. To frame Master, they even killed a chef like that.”
Suddenly, Third Senior Brother directed cold fury toward the Martial Alliance.
Caught off guard by the unexpected turn, I put on an indignant face and spoke.
“Ahem… He was truly a wonderful person in character as well. I can never forgive the Martial Alliance scum who assassinated him.”
It was true that I vowed revenge, but somehow it felt like this story would drag on and derail the conversation, so I hurriedly steered it back.
“In any case, the important point is that it might be possible to induce Demonic Deviation in Senior Brother just with food or tea. So, we need to investigate the night snack Senior Brother ate that day and the person who prepared it for him.”
“Then, we can capture those who prepared the night snack, have them recreate exactly what they gave me that day. It seems my junior brother knows a fair bit about this.”
I flinched involuntarily.
‘I… don’t really know?’
I had only seen Officer Lee Ji-yeon avoiding certain foods, but I didn’t have an in-depth knowledge of foods harmful to depression.
Of course, out of curiosity, I had searched the internet once, but I didn’t remember all the details I saw back then.
Separate from my pity for Officer Lee Ji-yeon, I wasn’t suffering from depression myself right then, after all.
“Ahem. They might slyly swap ingredients when making it, Senior Brother.”
“Hahaha. Don’t worry. I may be an amateur with food, but thanks to my poison training, my memory for taste, aroma, and texture is quite exceptional.”
Paranoid Senior Brother proudly boasted as if it were one of his few strengths.
If I made excuses here, it seemed like his paranoia would flare up again, so I had no choice but to nod.
“…Then, I’ll leave it to you for now, Senior Brother.”
While praying that the culprits had used something I would recognize.
“I’ll seal this one’s acupoints just in case.”
With those words, Senior Brother vanished into the darkness in an instant.
“If you’re innocent, you’ll be freed soon, so bear with it a little, Officer Kwon.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
As the officer sat there with only his speech acupoint unsealed, I quietly approached him.
Just in case. In case the officer attempted suicide by surprise.
Looking down at Officer Kwon with a mix of pity and suspicion.
“Young Master!!”
Suddenly, the officer shouted in alarm. Wondering what was wrong, I followed his gaze and turned my head.
Screeeeech!!
What entered my eyes was the sight of a spear tip flying toward me at tremendous speed.
* * *
When Third Young Master Seo Wan-pyeong appeared carrying Officer Kwon Mu-yeol on his shoulder.
Jang Hoe realized something was going wrong.
‘Damn. So they suspected us.’
He had heard that Third Young Master had left the main headquarters for a separate mission ordered directly by the Heavenly Demon. Yet here he was, popping up out of nowhere.
And as he listened to the ensuing conversation between Eighth Young Master, Third Young Master, and Officer Kwon Mu-yeol, his suspicion turned to certainty.
So, Jang Hoe subtly inserted himself into their conversation.
“There’s no room for doubt in the circumstances, is there?”
If Officer Kwon Mu-yeol took the blame and died here, the suspicion on himself would lessen. Plus, Eighth Young Master, thinking he had caught the underling, would let his guard down.
But the Eighth Young Master, who always acted slippery like a con artist, proved unexpectedly tough.
“There’s no way this guy acted on his own to target me, right?”
Instead of execution, Eighth Young Master chose interrogation, and Jang Hoe had no choice but to interject bit by bit, trying to amplify Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s guilt.
“Young Master. He might be trying to take poison and commit suicide.”
But damn it, it didn’t work on Eighth Young Master.
Pushing further here might draw suspicion on himself, so Jang Hoe decided to observe the situation afterward.
If only that topic hadn’t come up.
“There are foods or teas that aren’t poison but can make a person sensitive or depressed. Senior Brother.”
The moment those words came from Eighth Young Master’s mouth, Jang Hoe had to exert every effort to control his expression.
‘How does that bastard know!?’
If he had relaxed even a little, his shocked face would have shown.
What they had used on Third Young Master this time, and what they used to disguise Fifth Young Master’s death as Demonic Deviation, wasn’t ‘poison’ but food.
A special food not yet known to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. No, not just the Cult—barely known anywhere in the Central Plains.
Thus, Jang Hoe forcibly maintained his expression while pondering inwardly.
‘Should I just wait?’
Eighth Young Master had hypothesized it might be food rather than poison, but Jang Hoe couldn’t be sure he knew about ‘that food’ specifically. And the odds weren’t high.
The problem was.
‘If Eighth Young Master figures it out, the truth about Fifth Young Master’s death could come out too.’
If that happened, not just low-level guys like himself, but even up to the Branch Leader might lose their heads in a chain.
How long had he been agonizing like that? Jang Hoe made his decision.
‘It’s certain now. That guy is a hindrance to our grand plan. And now is the perfect chance to kill him.’
Third Young Master had left to capture the others, and Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s movement acupoints were sealed.
Kill him with a surprise attack, then deal with Jin Ha-yeon, and that was it.
Of course, since it would be an overt murder attempt, there would be considerable backlash even after killing Eighth Young Master.
‘But compared to that item being exposed to Eighth Young Master, it’s safer for me to take the fall alone.’
The risk of the higher-ups being swept away was much lower this way, he judged.
His deliberation was long, but his action was swift.
Flash!
Without warning, Jang Hoe closed in on Eighth Young Master in an instant.
“Young Master!”
Screeeeech!
By the time Officer Kwon Mu-yeol belatedly grasped the situation and yelled, Jang Hoe’s spear was already thrusting toward Il-mok.
“!?”
Il-mok’s eyes, filled with surprise and panic, fixed on the spear.
Just before Jang Hoe’s spear could pierce Il-mok’s face.
Clang!!!
With a grating friction sound, the spear’s path twisted slightly.
Slash!
Thanks to that, the spear tip that should have impaled Il-mok’s face merely grazed the flesh near his cheekbone, leaving a shallow cut.
“Damn.”
Jang Hoe spat a curse and looked at the one who had interfered at the last moment.
The owner of the blue-chilled palm that had struck his spear shaft—Jin Ha-yeon.
* * *
‘I almost died.’
My heart pounded like it would burst.
In the final instant, I had instinctively stepped back. And Jin Ha-yeon had dramatically deflected the path. Those two things together had barely saved me from a hole in my head.
‘How did she notice?’
I had no idea how Jin Ha-yeon had reacted to Jang Hoe’s ambush. Perhaps, as she had vowed, she had never let her guard down even for a moment.
But such musings weren’t important right now.
“Get out of the way!”
Boom!
Jin Ha-yeon had miraculously reacted and saved me, but the problem was the skill gap.
She fought with a cold face, not even grunting, let alone shouting a kiai, but with each clash, she was visibly pushed back.
Still young, Jin Ha-yeon couldn’t block a fully mature expert like Jang Hoe alone.
‘His target is me anyway. Like with Eldest Senior Brother last time, run and draw his attention.’
As I thought that and moved to act.
“Please unseal my acupoints, Young Master!”
At Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s shout from nearby, I instinctively reached toward him and yelled.
“Which ones and how!?”
In response to my question, Officer Kwon Mu-yeol named several acupoints, and with an “eh, whatever” mindset, I infused my fingers heavily with qi and jabbed them in sequence.
“Urk…”
I must have misjudged the force, as Officer Kwon Mu-yeol let out a pained groan, but in any case, with his movement acupoints freed, he hurriedly stood and drew his saber.
Boom!
The moment Jin Ha-yeon, overwhelmed, blocked Jang Hoe’s spear and was pushed back a zhang.
“You bastard Jang Hoe!!”
Officer Kwon Mu-yeol charged at Jang Hoe in Jin Ha-yeon’s place, swinging his saber.
* * *
Clang! Clang!
Jang Hoe, wielding a spear with much greater reach, blocked Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s approach with concise movements, while Officer Kwon Mu-yeol used minimal motions to parry or dodge the spear and close in.
But.
“Urgh.”
The closer he got, the more wounds accumulated on Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s body.
“You. You were hiding your skill!”
Officer Kwon Mu-yeol shouted with a face full of rage, but Jang Hoe’s expression wasn’t bright either.
It was getting harder and harder to kill Il-mok.
Even more so.
“I’ll join you.”
Jin Ha-yeon, blood trickling from her mouth—likely from internal injuries—stepped in to assist Officer Kwon Mu-yeol.
Jang Hoe’s spear swings grew increasingly unsteady against the simultaneous pincer from Officer Kwon Mu-yeol and Jin Ha-yeon front and back.
Clang!
Until now, calmly parrying or blocking Jang Hoe’s spear, Officer Kwon Mu-yeol seized the opening and struck Jang Hoe’s spear with full force.
It was the trait of the saber art Officer Kwon Mu-yeol practiced, Heaven-Shattering Spiritless Saber. A saber art that waited for openings with minimal movement, aiming for a one-strike kill. Perhaps that martial art’s aftereffect had caused side effects similar to Il-mok’s.
With Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s sudden decisive move, Jang Hoe’s spear, overpowered, bounced high upward.
Flash!
Jin Ha-yeon, not missing the chance, lunged in and thrust her left palm toward Jang Hoe’s heart.
But even with his arm raised, Jang Hoe violently twisted his torso, barely dodging the strike.
However, the crisis wasn’t over.
Flash!
While Jin Ha-yeon held Jang Hoe’s attention, Officer Kwon Mu-yeol had closed in and swung his saber largely from left to right, as if to bisect Jang Hoe horizontally.
On top of that, Jin Ha-yeon, whose left palm had missed, now thrust her right palm toward Jang Hoe’s leg.
Slash.
Thud!
The instant Officer Kwon Mu-yeol’s saber sliced Jang Hoe’s side and Jin Ha-yeon’s right palm froze Jang Hoe’s thigh.
Officer Kwon Mu-yeol wore a look of having been outplayed instead.
Even as he took their attacks, Jang Hoe had thrown the spear he held toward Il-mok.
It wasn’t a desperate improvisation.
The spear Jang Hoe threw tore through the air at tremendous speed toward Il-mok, laden with sharp spear qi.
Twisting his body hadn’t been just to dodge Jin Ha-yeon’s attack. Nor had letting Officer Kwon Mu-yeol force his spear up.
From the moment the fight dragged on, Jang Hoe had planned a mutual destruction with Il-mok.
Jin Ha-yeon, always with a cool face, looked at Il-mok with despair mixed in.
“!?”
And then, rare surprise appeared on her face.
For some reason, even as the spear flew through space toward him, Il-mok’s face remained utterly serene.
It wasn’t that Il-mok had anticipated this.
He had simply become immersed in martial arts from some point. Precisely, from the moment Jang Hoe ambushed him.
His body, facing mortal crisis, summoned explosive concentration for survival.
Even as his heart pounded like it would burst, the world flowed endlessly slow.
The fight between far superior experts—Jang Hoe, Officer Kwon Mu-yeol, Jin Ha-yeon—unfolded crystal clear in Il-mok’s eyes.
He saw every flow of their martial arts, and insights flooded in like a tidal wave.
And at this moment.
The ferocious spear flying to take his life became the detonator that burst the saturated insights overflowing within him.
The internal energy, vastly amplified by the Explosive Demon Pill, surged out of his dantian all at once.
It was a massive internal energy flow Il-mok had never handled himself, but the meridians widened and cleansed by the Heavenly Demon’s combing brush technique endured it.
Following the intricacies of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, the enormous internal energy raced through Il-mok’s whole body’s acupoints at incredible speed, amplifying repeatedly as it gathered in the palm gripping the sword.
Flash!!
The first form of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, repeated countless times until now. Drawn according to the mysteries of the all-encompassing draw-and-strike technique, Soul-Stealing Ready Sword, that sword rippled with gray qi.
It had been merely half a year since starting to learn the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.
The time it took Il-mok to produce sword qi.