Endless Hatred (3)
Utterances of worthless trash.
It seems I can guess how far the grudge has spread here.
The man's daughter died to a ghost anomaly despite reading the rulebook. The animosity towards the Management Records Bureau likely stems from that incident.
‘The reason he has us detained now is probably because, no matter how you look at it, the Changsu Village incident appears to be the doing of a ghost anomaly.’
“You said you caught the bastard with your own hands and killed him, so I decided to bury my grudge. I was going to offer this anger to the extinction of the demonic path. However...”
Baek Cheon-ho glared at the rulebook.
“I could tell the moment I saw the decree in the office. The wounds left on the corpses. It must be his method. That demonic art that pierces through a person's head and explores the brain matter — is that not the ghost anomaly's?”
“Please read this for me.”
I handed over the half-written book. It didn't fully take the form of a rulebook, but it should have clearly recorded what we saw and heard in Changsu Village.
Up to the part about the identity of the criminal being estimated as a resurrected corpse.
Baek Cheon-ho strode over and snatched the booklet from me. His gaze flicked busily between the lines I had written.
“You... you can't even write properly.”
“...”
No, is he picking a fight with the handwriting here?
Since you're a high-ranking official, the report format must have caught your eye.
“You must have heard of the Shenyan Shu Pan (Body, Speech, Judgment) standards. Even if you have only one sword at your waist, when you step forward before others, you must neatly organize those four.”
This statement carried the shadow of 'historical dilution'. From my memory, Shenyan Shu Pan was the standard set by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the Jinyiwei is an organization from the Ming Dynasty era — ...
‘Well, after all, this Murim world isn't the Tang or Ming, it's the Don Dynasty. No matter what words come out, it's not strange.’
Even if the emperor one day suddenly announces a decree to exterminate sparrows because they are harmful birds, one would have to accept it.
“The body is quite handsome and has a neat demeanor, the speech is far better than Paeng's rambling nonsense, and the judgment is considerable just for not running wild claiming to escape until now.”
“Thank you for the compliment, but...”
Just moments ago he was spewing a vicious aura, and now sudden praise? I couldn't understand the intent.
The answer came from the one who threw the question.
“I want to take you as my Jinyiwei history and accompany you, but even if it's a minor official position, it's a duty to be loyal to His Majesty's will. If there is a clear disqualification, I won't be able to pick you, will I?”
The words were 'take as history', but the intention was kidnapping.
Is this guy crazy?
“...Your words are too heavy, Baek Cheon-ho! Well water does not disturb river water! Just as the well water does not invade the river water, the officialdom and Murim do not meet!”
Before I could respond, Paeng Ju-hyeok shouted in alarm. Baek Cheon-ho sneered.
He threw the booklet in his hand onto the table and shouted,
“Did you think that just because I read this scrap of paper, I would give up the chance to kill my enemy with my own hands?”
“If you don't believe it, go chase it alone! What are you trying to harass my brother for?”
“I know well about the reckless behavior of you Management Records Bureau bastards. The demons boast that only they can deal with them and block others' steps and monopolize information.”
Baek Cheon-ho explained with his deep distrust of the Management Records Bureau. He planned to accompany us as a tool to prevent our unnecessary interference and to reveal the rulebooks hidden by the Management Records Bureau.
A warning that if I interfere with his path, one of your new recruits will pay the price. Use him as a hostage and cryptanalysis tool, and release him after the job is done.
“Are you really crazy?! A Thousand-man Commander of the Jinyiwei is oppressing the common people like this!”
“Is a Murim person claiming to be a commoner? You're the crazy one.”
As the argument between the two intensified, I raised my hand.
“Lord Baek Cheon-ho.”
The old man's gaze turned back to me. The obsessive glint in his eyes was like it would pierce my flesh.
But I wasn't afraid.
“In the end, Lord Cheon-ho's suspicion lies in whether the criminal of the Changsu Village bloodbath is not a ghost anomaly. I will prove that it is not.”
He belonged to the category of humanity. From the fact that he took hostage measures with the pretext of invitation but didn't proceed to full slaughter, I could tell.
He is not a monster that kills others for no reason, like the shadow I faced in Manghon Villa.
I believed this intuition and opened my mouth.
“Prove it?”
“It is truly a simple matter. You must have already read the report on the Changsu Village incident?”
“Yes.”
“It should also have been recorded in the report about the wounds left on the victims' corpses.”
“I saw that and moved. The wounds left are exactly the same as the ghost anomaly's method, yet you dare to deceive me?”
I became rather proud. Since this guy is so obsessed with the ghost anomaly, it was even easier to prove.
“What was the diameter of the five holes in the head?”
“Diameter?”
Baek Cheon-ho closed his mouth for a moment, then answered after a few seconds. It was a look he couldn't show unless he had memorized every corner of the report.
“Based on the surface of the skull, 8 fen (1 fen is about 0.3cm). A rich man who grew up eating stone soup in a grand mansion, how could a woman's hand, who lives day by day busily, become so thick? This is the trace left by the fingers of a martial artist who has honed his bones and flesh evenly.”
About 2.4cm in diameter. The wound size is large for a woman's finger like Mu-won.
“The ghost anomaly's method doesn't wrap demonic energy on the fingers to create a fatal curse, does it?”
“Correct. That's how such sharp piercing wounds are created.”
But the diameter of the wound doesn't continue to the finger's diameter. From my investigation of the corpses, the so-called Gu-eum Baek-gol-jo is a method that attacks by wrapping demonic energy like a nodule on the fingers.
“Then even if it's an attack by the woman's hand, the wound would be even larger. Rather, the size of the wounds left by the ghost anomaly's own method would be even greater than this.”
Of course, the wound's diameter size must be larger than the actual finger diameter.
Baek Cheon-ho mulled over my words.
Looking at the ceiling with a dazed expression, it seemed like he was reminiscing about the past he didn't know.
“...Perhaps he had sharpened his claws even thinner and sharper as his realm grew stronger.”
“If he really did that, would there be a corpse with its head missing? A headless corpse is the result of the criminal being unable to control their own demonic energy and injecting excessive demonic energy, causing the entire skull to explode. The criminal in Changsu Village must be someone who has just learned the method.”
From somewhere, a sharp gaze was felt. It was Paeng Ju-hyeok.
His expression was filled with admiration, perhaps he would have stood up and cheered if he could move his body properly.
‘Please hold back.’
Right now, Baek Cheon-ho thought that the investigation agency missed the bastard who killed his daughter and spread false reports. He was barely holding on to his reason, and if I pushed logic, he would just pretend to listen.
If I stimulated this old man unnecessarily, I didn't know what reaction he would show.
Baek Cheon-ho's eyes, which had been focused on some point in the past, refocused on the reality.
“...You are right.”
The eyes that had been filled with an age-inappropriate fierce momentum until just now now had only the fatigue of an old man left.
“If it were the ghost anomaly's skill, there would have been even larger wounds.”
Baek Cheon-ho waved his hand. An invisible qi reached Paeng Ju-hyeok. When the bloodletting points binding his limbs didn't loosen, Paeng Ju-hyeok stretched and asked.
“Since you've understood now, are you going to release us?”
As soon as the crisis ended, this human opened the door to mouth calamity. His expression didn't carry much emotion, as it wasn't for provocation or sarcasm, but purely a question out of curiosity.
With one sense, he could deliver such a perfect provocation.
Fortunately, Baek Cheon-ho just nodded once. It seemed he had lost the energy to respond to the emptiness.
“Let's go, brother. We've already delayed time quite a bit, so we need to hurry back. We have to report to the upper echelons about what to do with Mu-won.”
I hesitated.
The biggest worry for me right now was what the Mu-won who massacred Changsu Village and left would do.
When we arrived, he had already left the mountain where Changsu Village was, and since we didn't have anyone who had mastered serious pursuit techniques, we gave up chasing, but...
Look around. Baek Cheon-ho clearly possesses martial prowess beyond super-peak. Moreover, he is the owner of a position that allows him to casually flick the fingers of countless Jinyiwei personnel.
Isn't this the optimal condition to track down the disappeared criminal?
I cleared my throat with a hum. Both Paeng Ju-hyeok and Baek Cheon-ho's gazes were on me.
Recall the personal information of that person from the ghost anomaly's rulebook.
“Lord Baek Cheon-ho. I have something to say about the enemy.”
I opened my mouth.
***
“...Now that I think about it, you are a scarier person than I thought.”
On the way back from the Jinyiwei detention to the Murim Alliance main hall, Paeng Ju-hyeok suddenly spat out.
I was dumbfounded and asked.
“What sudden white soup is this?”
“T-that, I provoked Baek Cheon-ho to make him chase Mu-won. Isn't that a cheat code?”
“No.”