Chapter 89
Chapter 89
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: What in the World Was That?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric carried the chests between them, heading for Byeok Taesan's room.
Neither of them spoke a word for a long while.
This was something that would never normally happen.
The silence continued even after they had moved all seven chests into Byeok Taesan's room.
The two men went outside and walked in silence.
The One-Needle Eccentric was the first to speak.
"Hey, what in the world was that earlier?"
"How should I know? You're the one with superior martial arts, old man. I should be the one asking you. What was that?"
"Hmph."
The One-Needle Eccentric groaned and tilted his head.
"That's the thing—I don't know either."
"Wasn't it an application of the Void Grasping technique?"
The One-Needle Eccentric shook his head.
"No."
As the Divine Doctor looked at him, the One-Needle Eccentric continued his explanation.
"There's no way I would've been pushed back by mere Void Grasping. Same for you."
"But if his internal energy is immense..."
The Divine Doctor muttered this, then scoffed as if the idea was ridiculous and shook his head.
"Right. The amount of internal energy required to push someone away with Void Grasping is staggering."
"It's not just a matter of having a lot of internal energy."
At the One-Needle Eccentric's words, the Divine Doctor looked at him and asked.
"How about you, old man?"
"What about me?"
"Void Grasping. Can you do it?"
"Of course I can. Want me to show you?"
The One-Needle Eccentric said this and approached a nearby tree. He plucked a leaf and placed it on his palm.
After a moment of concentration, the leaf floated up and slid forward smoothly.
It neared the tree, then lost its momentum and fluttered to the ground.
"See?"
The Divine Doctor scoffed at his triumphant tone.
"What was that? What's so hard about making a single leaf fly? Can you even use that for anything practical?"
The One-Needle Eccentric's expression soured.
"Says the one who can't even do it!"
The Divine Doctor's face turned serious as he changed the subject.
"Anyway, my point is that even for someone of your level, that's the limit of Void Grasping, isn't it?"
"That's right. There might be people who can move bigger things farther, but they'd have to be one of the Ten Great Masters, wouldn't they?"
Void Grasping was a technique that used immense internal energy to apply force to external objects.
The amount of internal energy was important, but so was the ability to control it.
The Divine Doctor looked toward Byeok Taesan's residence with a renewed sense of dread.
"Then what in the world is our Young Master?"
"That's why I'm saying it wasn't Void Grasping."
The Divine Doctor nodded emphatically. It definitely wasn't. If it had been Void Grasping, a mere physical force generated by internal energy, there was no way he would have been pushed back so helplessly.
"Then what was it?"
The One-Needle Eccentric groaned again.
"Hmph."
"Why are you making that sound like you're taking a dump again? It's gross."
"You want to start something again? You really want a taste of my spicy fist?"
"Hey, it's just an expression. Why resort to violence again? Come on, hurry up and tell me why you were making that sound. Something's bothering you, isn't it?"
"Aargh, I swear, this bastard!"
The One-Needle Eccentric glared at the Divine Doctor, his fists trembling, before letting out a hollow laugh and continuing.
"It's because a ridiculous thought occurred to me."
"A ridiculous thought? What is it?"
The One-Needle Eccentric narrowed his eyes and glared at the Divine Doctor.
"Promise you won't laugh or make fun of me when you hear it."
The corners of the Divine Doctor's mouth stretched into a wide grin.
"My, my, why would you worry about something like that? I'd never do such a thing, so rest assured and tell me."
"Looking at that face of yours, I can't trust you enough to say a word, you bastard."
The Divine Doctor's eyes widened innocently.
"What's wrong with my face? Do you know anyone else whose sincere and true heart is so clearly reflected in their expression? Anyway, I absolutely won't laugh, so hurry up and tell me. I'm getting dizzy from the suspense."
"Ahem."
The One-Needle Eccentric cleared his throat once and slowly opened his mouth.
"The Mind Sword came to mind."
The Divine Doctor's eyes widened.
"The Mind Sword?"
The One-Needle Eccentric wore a puzzled expression; the Divine Doctor's reaction was different from what he'd expected.
"It can't be, right? Of course not. The Mind Sword is a whole other realm. It's a state that even a heaven-sent genius, madly obsessed with the sword, might barely reach after a lifetime of yearning."
"W-well, that's true, but..."
"From what I've heard, the Sword King is the only one who has even brushed the tip of his toes against the realm of the Mind Sword, and he passed the age of one hundred some time ago."
"That's also true."
"Then why are you making that dumbfounded face? What, did I say something I shouldn't have? Do you think there's no way the Young Master could do it? Well, I admit I might have gotten ahead of myself. But I can't think of anything else."
The Divine Doctor waved his hands dismissively.
"No, no. That's not why I'm like this."
"What?"
"Somehow... somehow I think you might be right, old man. Ugh, goosebumps."
The Divine Doctor vigorously rubbed the goosebumps that had broken out on his forearms.
The One-Needle Eccentric was now staring at him, his eyes as wide as lanterns.
"Was there someone on your side who entered the realm of the Mind Sword?"
"I heard that the elder Sword Demon set foot in it."
"Really? To what extent? Can he wave his hand and push people away like our Young Master?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Even if one reaches the state of the Mind Sword, how many people could use it so casually? I heard that even the elder Sword Demon has trouble using it in a fight without concentrating beforehand. I imagine it's the same for the Sword King."
"Well... I suppose so."
"The reason I'm acting like this is... because I know of one person who could."
"Huh?"
"Could you put thick slabs of meat in a hundred bowls and slice them all at the same time?"
"What kind of novel nonsense is that? How can you slice the meat in a hundred bowls simultaneously?"
"There is someone who did."
"Don't tell me..."
"In our Cult, we have a unit called the Celestial Guard."
"The Celestial Guard?"
"They are the ones who serve him up close. It's an organization one can barely enter after overcoming fierce competition and climbing ever higher."
"They must be incredible."
"Needless to say. No one can command them except him. They are men who would not hesitate to die if he commanded it."
"So, what about the Celestial Guard?"
"Sometimes, he dines with all the members of the Celestial Guard. A rumor went around that on those occasions, he personally cuts the meat for them."
"Huh? He does it himself? Isn't that a huge deal?"
"It's an unparalleled honor. But what's unbelievable is that he supposedly sliced the meat in the bowls of all one hundred members of the Celestial Guard at the same time. Without even touching it. And they say it was cut into bite-sized pieces..."
"The Mind Sword."
"Everyone believes so."
The One-Needle Eccentric's pupils trembled violently.
"If it's to that extent... he could have casually used the Mind Sword to push me away."
Slicing meat and pushing a person were entirely different matters, but somehow, it seemed plausible.
The Divine Doctor shook his head vigorously.
"No, no. That's not it. He did that, but you can't connect that to the Young Master. First of all, his age... it's just too unbelievable..."
The One-Needle Eccentric nodded in agreement.
"Well... honestly, I don't know what's what anymore."
"What does it matter? It's even better if our Young Master can use the Mind Sword. In any case... it seems a quiet life is out of the question, so there's no harm in having a dependable lord, right?"
"True."
Every word was true. But still, he couldn't help but feel a rising curiosity.
"Hey."
"What is it?"
"You go and ask him."
The Divine Doctor stared at the One-Needle Eccentric with a look of horror.
"Are you crazy?"
"What? Crazy? Are you talking to me? Do you want to try dying for once?"
"Try dying? What kind of irresponsible and foolish thing is that to say? A person dies once, not twice. Try dying? Don't say things like that anywhere else. I'm letting it slide because it's me, but anyone else would curse you under their breath."
"I'd rather you curse me under your breath, you bastard. You don't expect to say something like that to my face and get away with it, do you?"
Before the One-Needle Eccentric could finish his sentence, the Divine Doctor bolted.
"You, get back here!"
"Would you stop if you were me?"
As the Divine Doctor's footwork skills improved dazzlingly day by day, the One-Needle Eccentric ground his teeth and gave chase.
For a while, the area around Byeok Taesan's residence was in an uproar.
***
After the Master of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion left, Byeok Taesan summoned Hwaok.
Hwaok sat respectfully across from Byeok Taesan.
"What are your thoughts?"
Hwaok answered without hesitation.
"The Master of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion is a person of both great ability and ambition."
Meaning she would do well.
"Have you confirmed the information I received from her earlier?"
"Yes. It appears Wuhan will soon fall into chaos."
"Of course it will. But something feels strangely off."
Hwaok spoke calmly.
"Since I was not at the Wuhan branch, I have been reviewing the existing information step by step. I found that we have learned almost nothing about the force behind the Golden Lotus Association."
"Aha, so that's what was bothering me."
As Byeok Taesan slapped his knee in understanding, Hwaok respectfully lowered her head.
"I'd forgotten about it with everything going on... but now that I think about it, those bastards in Uichang might be the same ones behind the Golden Lotus Association."
"I find it suspicious as well."
The existence of the Black Moon Sword was particularly telling.
The Black Moon Sword was supposed to be dead. Yet he was said to be alive and well.
Hwaok had seen something similar before.
The Four Fiends of Guangdong and the Three Blood Demons of Madness had been the same.
"If we dig into these guys, they won't be a small organization, will they?"
"I expect them to be tremendously large. Even the Half-Jiangshi are not something that can be prepared and created in a short time. The fact that they were able to secretly prepare all of that and build their power for so long without anyone knowing means their ability, influence, and strength are anything but ordinary."
"I suppose so."
Byeok Taesan was lost in thought for a moment. Then he looked at Hwaok and asked.
"They may be a motley crew, but if I can bring a few organizations under my wing, would it be better to do so?"
Hwaok looked at Byeok Taesan with an expression that was at once tense and deeply moved.
This was the first time she had ever seen Byeok Taesan ask for someone's opinion like this.
And she was the first. How could she not be moved?
Hwaok calmly collected herself. Regaining her composure, she sank into thought.
"When it comes to subordinate forces, the more the better, as long as they can be controlled. But for you to ask in such a way, Young Master, is there another problem?"
"There's a slight chance of future trouble."
"Future trouble, you say..."
"It gets annoying."
"Pardon?"
Hwaok stared blankly at Byeok Taesan. It gets annoying. How on earth was she supposed to interpret that?
Hwaok quickly came to her senses and replied.
"It should be fine if you keep someone in mind to handle those annoyances for you."
"Someone to be annoyed in my stead..."
That would certainly work. But who could such a person be?
'First of all, not the Divine Doctor of the Ages...'
His rank was low, he belonged to the Secret Heaven Group, and he was a physician. He couldn't entrust it to the head of the East Lake Escort Agency either. The Divine Doctor and the escort agency head were one and the same in that regard.
"To endure present annoyance to prevent future annoyance... how paradoxical."
A suitable person did come to Byeok Taesan's mind. But he would have to think more on whether it was necessary to involve him.
It could just be stirring up a hornet's nest.
As Byeok Taesan frowned, Hwaok continued her report.
"We have continued to investigate the force behind the Golden Lotus Association, but they say all contact from them ceased after that incident, as if they had completely cut ties."
"So those bastards cut their losses when the Golden Lotus Association was on the verge of collapse."
"Yes. But don't you think they will seek them out again when they become necessary?"
At those words, Byeok Taesan's eyes gleamed as he stroked his chin.
"That's right. When they need them again, they'll surely come looking. They're already fish caught in the net, after all."
So when would they be needed again?
"Those guys."
"Yes. Please speak."
"What were they trying to do with the Golden Lotus Association? The Jongli Family was involved too, weren't they?"
"Yes, that's correct. Not just the Jongli Family, but a part of the Underworld Sect was also entangled. It was a complex situation."
"Exactly. There was no need for such a complicated scheme just to take over the Golden Jade Trading Company."
"In my opinion... I believe they were attempting to rule Wuhan from the shadows."
"Rule from the shadows?"
"On the surface, no single power dominates Wuhan, and it's moderately divided, but in reality, one person controls them all."
"I see."
It was the most likely theory.
Though it had failed, thanks to Byeok Taesan.
"I will strengthen our surveillance on the Golden Lotus Association. I will also plant more spies."
Byeok Taesan nodded.
"Do so."
For some reason, he had a premonition that something would undoubtedly begin with the Golden Lotus Association.
'I hope they bring a whole army of Half-Jiangshi.'
Thinking this, Byeok Taesan licked his lips slightly.