Chapter 69
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Connecting the Dots
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Perhaps his thoughts had shown on his face.
Jegal Yeon bowed her head with polite deference.
“If my visit has displeased you in any way, I offer my sincerest apologies.”
“Not at all. I was merely surprised by your unexpected visit, Corps Leader Jegal.”
“I am relieved to hear that. I was prepared for the possibility of being turned away without even a cup of tea.”
“Of course not.”
No Dan-yang gestured for Jegal Yeon to take a seat and sat opposite her.
At his command, his subordinates brought tea. No Dan-yang watched silently as Jegal Yeon savored a sip.
After a moment, she set down her cup, and he asked.
“What brings you to this humble place?”
Jegal Yeon raised a sleeve to cover her mouth and smiled.
She knew he had a fiery temper, but she hadn’t expected him to get straight to the point so bluntly.
Slightly embarrassed, No Dan-yang gave a sheepish laugh.
“It’s just my nature. I can’t stand being kept in suspense.”
Jegal Yeon placed a stack of documents on the table.
“What is this?”
“It is what little information I possess. I hoped it might be of some assistance to you, Leader of the Evil-Shattering Corps.”
Her sudden goodwill stirred No Dan-yang’s suspicion.
Without even glancing at the documents, he asked.
“Why? I was under the impression you didn’t even want to exchange words with me.”
“I regret that you have misunderstood so.”
Her shameless reply left No Dan-yang inwardly dumbfounded.
*Regret, my foot.*
Every time they crossed paths, she would pass by with a stony expression, without so much as a greeting.
How could he not have noticed her blatant desire to avoid conversation?
Of all the figures in the Martial Alliance, she was the most arrogant and rigid. Then again, thinking back, he’d never met anyone from the Five Great Families who wasn’t stiff-necked.
“I heard you received another earful from the Alliance Lord…”
A surge of anger rose in No Dan-yang, but he forced it down.
“If you have no need of my help, then I shall take my leave.”
Jegal Yeon smiled and began to gather the documents.
No Dan-yang managed a bitter smile.
He was reluctant, but at this point, he had no other choice. Pride was a secondary concern; the immediate priority was solving the problem at hand.
He was the one in need, not her.
“My apologies. My mind is in turmoil due to the gravity of this matter…”
As No Dan-yang’s voice trailed off, Jegal Yeon sat back down. She then pushed the documents toward him.
No Dan-yang silently began to review their contents. But then, another doubt surfaced.
Most of the information seemed to have no particular connection to the current case.
“Why do you think this will be of help to me?”
No Dan-yang picked up one of the papers.
It was a report tracking the movements of a missing investigative emissary.
“Do you recall the fire in Wuwei, Gansu Province?”
“Of course.”
A fire had broken out at an inn being used as a temporary base, and all the Evil-Shattering Corps members stationed there had perished in the flames.
Even at the time, No Dan-yang had found it strange.
“The person who investigated that incident and filed the initial report was Baek Un-hwi.”
Jegal Yeon found another document from the bottom of the pile and handed it to No Dan-yang.
“According to the investigators dispatched later, several of the deceased were men who never touched alcohol.”
“Then?”
“That detail was intentionally omitted from the report.”
“For what reason would he do such a thing?”
Instead of answering, Jegal Yeon pointed to another document.
It was a report on the Sinsobang, an information group that operated between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions.
After the deputy leader reported that the leader, Neung So-mil, was investigating the Martial Alliance, the Evil-Shattering Corps had been dispatched to uncover the mastermind.
Apprehending and interrogating the Sinsobang leader had gone smoothly.
But then, suddenly, all the dispatched members of the Evil-Shattering Corps were annihilated. And the Sinsobang leader’s whereabouts also became unknown. He remembered it clearly, as one of his trusted subordinates had been among the members deployed at the time.
“The perpetrator of that incident has yet to be identified and is still under investigation, but one thing is certain.”
No Dan-yang finished Jegal Yeon’s sentence.
“It was the work of a single, formidable master.”
Jegal Yeon nodded and posed a question.
“Don’t you find it coincidental?”
Jegal Yeon pointed to the reports of the two incidents.
“That the locations where these two incidents occurred are geographically close.”
“Couldn’t it be a simple coincidence?”
“Could it really?”
Jegal Yeon handed another document to No Dan-yang.
It was a report stating that members of the Changluo Gang, who had not been seen for some time, had suddenly appeared before vanishing again.
“The last place they were seen was near Wuwei.”
At this point, No Dan-yang also began to sense something was amiss.
“Even when events seem to have no causal relationship, if they overlap and repeat, there is always a reason.”
Jegal Yeon carefully revealed her suspicions.
“You must have heard the recent rumors about the Divine Physician’s son, correct?”
No Dan-yang nodded.
How could he not know of the young physician who had cured the Alliance Lord’s daughter, a case all the physicians in the world had given up on?
“I hear that young physician is from Wuwei.”
“...!”
“And the Changluo Gang has always considered the Divine Physician their sworn enemy.”
“Don’t tell me…”
Suddenly, a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.
The mission of the Evil-Shattering Corps members who died in the fire was to find Cho Ak-ryang’s body.
“The investigative emissary who covered up the Wuwei fire went missing, and around the same time, Beom Gye-wi showed up at the White Sword Sect causing a ruckus. And Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi…”
“Are the only two among the Ten Great Villains who share a friendship.”
Both were masters capable of wiping out several units of the Evil-Shattering Corps with their eyes closed.
Eliminating the Changluo Gang would be child’s play for them.
*It’s definitely suspicious.*
Connecting all the seemingly unrelated incidents, something began to take shape in his mind.
All these events had occurred centered around Wuwei in Gansu.
And above all, there was something that bothered him.
The existence of Dan Ak-seon.
As his thoughts deepened, No Dan-yang muttered to himself.
“The Divine Physician’s son treated Cho Ak-ryang?”
It began as a suspicion, but the more he thought about it, the more it solidified into conviction.
With the incredible medical skills inherited from his father, it wasn’t an impossible feat. Even if it wasn’t true, it was certainly worth investigating.
Then, he suddenly recalled someone.
The physicians who had been invited to the main headquarters to treat the Alliance Lord’s daughter.
The memory of one physician’s eyes, the one who had openly challenged him, suddenly came to mind.
He hadn’t paid it much mind at the time, but thinking back now, he had met that gaze before in the past.
“Cho Ak-ryang!”
So shocked was he that No Dan-yang was speechless for a long moment.
***
The Divine Demon Valley was enveloped in a blazing red sunset.
A single person walked into the majestic landscape, which inspired awe in all who beheld it.
“Physician Dan!”
As soon as he entered the Divine Demon Valley, his resonant voice shook the entire canyon.
Before his voice had even faded, Dan Ak-seon came running from somewhere.
“Mister!”
Beom Gye-wi smiled warmly at the sight of Dan Ak-seon greeting him with a bright smile.
In that instant, Beom Gye-wi’s form vanished.
Closing the distance in a flash, Beom Gye-wi snatched Dan Ak-seon up like a hawk grabbing a chick and placed him on his shoulder. Then he pulled something from his robes and handed it to the boy.
“Eat this! It’s still warm!”
Dan Ak-seon unwrapped the oiled paper and gasped at its contents.
“Wow!”
A crispy, brownish skin and juicy, white meat.
The delicious, appetite-stimulating aroma immediately captivated his nose.
“It’s Beijing roast duck! I bought it in Beijing just for you, Physician Dan.”
While Beom Gye-wi boasted proudly, others began to appear one by one.
“You didn’t actually go all the way to Beijing for Beijing roast duck, did you?”
At Cho Ak-ryang’s question, Beom Gye-wi retorted.
“Why ask the obvious? It’s Beijing duck, so of course I had to buy it in Beijing.”
“You can find Beijing-style roast duck anywhere.”
“What I bought isn’t Beijing-style roast duck, it’s *Beijing* roast duck! Physician Dan deserves to eat the original!”
Cho Ak-ryang shook his head.
Going all the way to Beijing just to buy that… it was just like Beom Gye-wi.
His beaming expression as he looked at Dan Ak-seon was short-lived.
“Huh?”
Spotting something, Beom Gye-wi froze.
“Wait! Physician Dan, what’s this?”
Beom Gye-wi grabbed Dan Ak-seon’s hand.
His eyes turned cold as he saw the bruise on the boy’s wrist.
“Who was it? What bastard who deserves to be beaten to death dared to do this?”
At Beom Gye-wi’s fuss, someone let out a low sigh.
“It was me, you punk.”
Beom Gye-wi’s murderous gaze turned to Cho Ak-ryang.
“Brother Cho! Are you crazy? How could you hurt my precious Physician Dan?”
“I’m not crazy. And since when is Physician Dan yours? Besides, who here doesn’t cherish him?”
Cho Ak-ryang clicked his tongue with a displeased look and continued.
“You think I wanted to do it?”
Cho Ak-ryang glared at Han Seol-hwa and Beom Gye-wi.
“Sister Han and you can’t even touch a single hair on his head. How are you supposed to teach him martial arts if you tremble like that? So what choice did I have? Someone had to step up.”
“You call that an excuse? Even so, you should have controlled your strength to avoid injuring him!”
“I was being as careful as I could!”
“Then why is there a bruise?”
Beom Gye-wi stepped in front of Dan Ak-seon.
“That’s enough. From now on, Brother Cho, you’re forbidden from approaching Physician Dan.”
“What, you punk?”
“Aren’t you ashamed?”
“Of what?”
“A man called the Absolute Fist, beating a child under the pretext of teaching him martial arts…”
“Who beat him! And I told you, it wasn’t on purpose!”
“Then that’s an even bigger problem, isn’t it?”
“...?”
“You can’t even control the power of your own hands! How can you be called the Absolute Fist with skills like that!”
Cho Ak-ryang pounded his chest in frustration.
“Physician Dan asked for it! He wanted to train as if it were a real fight! You wouldn’t know unless you’ve experienced it! You have no idea how persistent he is!”
“Enough. Let’s just stop. I’m getting embarrassed for you.”
Seeing Cho Ak-ryang looking as if he might foam at the mouth and collapse, Dan Ak-seon finally intervened.
“I was the one who asked, so please don’t be too hard on him. More importantly…”
Leaping from Beom Gye-wi’s shoulder, Dan Ak-seon quickly ran off somewhere.
A moment later, he returned with his cudgel, his face flushed as he spoke.
“I was waiting for you, Mister Beom. I’ve run into a lot of walls training by myself. Could you please take a look?”
“First, eat this…”
Beom Gye-wi couldn’t finish his sentence.
Dan Ak-seon had already raised his cudgel and taken a stance.
Seeing this, Cho Ak-ryang said.
“See? He’s so intense, you can’t stop him.”
The moment he finished speaking, Dan Ak-seon began to move.
“Oh!”
Beom Gye-wi, who had been observing Dan Ak-seon’s movements intently, let out an involuntary exclamation.
He could tell at a glance just how dedicated Dan Ak-seon had been to his training.
His movements had clearly improved.
In particular, his skill in shifting the weight of the cudgel by changing his grip was incomparably more natural than before.
The connection between his forms was fluid, and his sense of taking control of the flow and executing techniques at will was outstanding.
After unleashing a torrent of linked forms, Dan Ak-seon stood before Beom Gye-wi, breathing heavily.
Dan Ak-seon’s eyes sparkled with anticipation and fervor.
Meeting that gaze, Beom Gye-wi felt his own heart grow warm.
*Is this the joy of teaching?*
Dan Ak-seon’s talent allowed him to absorb everything he was taught like a dry sponge soaking up water.
On top of that, his fearsome concentration, which allowed him to cling to his training with such persistence, was more than enough to satisfy him.
But now, there was something else he needed to teach him first.