Chapter 151
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: We're an Evil Sect
Ha Mu-baek picked up a few sheets of paper scattered across the floor.
There were stacks of papers with the same content written on them. These were just a portion of them.
Gong Mu-hyuk glanced at the paper.
"That's part of the blueprint for the Myriad Heavenly Gold Chain Thunderbolt."
Ha Mu-baek tilted his head at Gong Mu-hyuk's explanation.
It looked like an incomprehensible diagram, a messy combination of drawings and text.
"I wrote it in code and split it into five pieces. You need all five to decode it... but it seems Do-hyuk tried to crack the code with just two pieces. This is just a direct copy of the code I left behind. He must have tried copying it repeatedly, hoping to glean some clue that way."
Gong Mu-hyuk's lengthy explanation.
Ha Mu-baek stood silently listening.
He had already suspected it was a transcription because of the repetition.
And now Gong Mu-hyuk had confirmed it.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes lingered on the transcribed paper.
Just looking at it didn't mean he could understand the content.
However.
'A transcription, huh...'
Something he had set aside briefly came to mind.
That's why he'd been startled when he first saw the transcription.
'They must have made copies too.'
There was no way they hadn't.
The manual they had longed for so desperately had appeared right before their eyes.
Uncertain what might happen to it, any normal person would make as many copies as possible.
Ha Mu-baek himself could memorize it after a few reads, so he'd never bothered with transcriptions.
'The Hao Gate.'
The group that immediately came to mind.
While imprisoning Pavilion Lord Pang and monitoring his training to study the Chaos Blood Destruction Art, they must have made transcriptions without a doubt.
Ha Mu-baek had reclaimed the manual and displayed his fury as a clear warning to the Hao Gate.
And he'd let the transcriptions slide.
To decide his response based on their actions.
They might have made copies not knowing how he'd react.
But after witnessing his rage over the destruction art manual, to keep studying a transcription in their possession without destroying it?
Then.
'I'd have to end them.'
If they destroyed it, he'd consider the grudge with the Hao Gate settled.
Ha Mu-baek had given the Hao Gate a chance.
The question was whether they would accept this final mercy he extended.
It was mercy uncharacteristic of him. Perhaps it was atonement for killing the Hao Gate Lord's daughter in one strike.
What had they done?
He'd forgotten to check after a suitable time had passed.
Treating severed meridians, nearly dying to the Myriad Heavenly Gold Chain Thunderbolt, and then the Eastern Tournament.
He'd been busy.
But now that the All Things Alliance matter was resolved, all urgent tasks were done.
The Dragon Training Pavilion was on break too.
Perfect timing to visit the Hao Gate.
And seeing Gong Do-hyuk's transcription had reminded him of it.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek's next destination was set.
'This break period is turning out pretty busy. Unlike last time.'
The previous break, he'd returned to Cheongran Island and spent leisurely, peaceful time with his master and Seol-ran.
Most of it at the forge, but still.
This break was different.
It had started hectic, and now more tasks were piling up.
"L-Lord Alliance Leader!!"
At that moment, a commotion erupted outside.
Elder Seong, who had lost an arm, had received hasty treatment and rushed off somewhere. This seemed related.
People flooded into Gong Do-hyuk's office.
"Elder Council Lord."
Gong Mu-hyuk warmly greeted the one at the forefront.
These must be the ones Gong Do-hyuk had mentioned were beside themselves with worry over his obsession.
"Th-The workshop entrances were all sealed, trapping us inside. Elder Seong here opened them, allowing us to escape... What in the world happened? We heard bits on the way over."
Elder Council Lord Deung Gun-hyeon said in a trembling voice.
Ha Mu-baek looked at Gong Mu-hyuk and spoke.
"You all seem busy from here on. I don't think you need my help anymore, so I'll take my leave."
Plain words.
Gong Mu-hyuk jumped in surprise and approached Ha Mu-baek.
"What do you mean? Instructor. You've come all this way and done so much. You should rest a bit and give me a chance to repay you."
Ha Mu-baek shook his head at his urgent plea.
"No need. Thanks to traveling with you this far, I remembered something I needed to do. That's help enough from me to you, Lord Alliance Leader. Debt paid, so I'll head out unburdened."
Gong Mu-hyuk realized he couldn't stop him.
So he clasped his hands in salute and bowed deeply.
"I will repay this profound grace over my lifetime. Truly, thank you. If you ever need the All Things Alliance's aid, just say the word."
Gong Mu-hyuk spoke with sincere politeness.
He stayed bowed for a long moment before straightening.
Deung Gun-hyeon and the other elders wondered what was going on but watched silently.
There must be reason behind the Alliance Leader's actions.
This wasn't the time for them to intervene.
"It was just repaying a debt. I'm the grateful one that you see it that way. Well then."
With that brief farewell, Ha Mu-baek leaped away.
His figure vanished in an instant.
Deung Gun-hyeon widened his eyes.
He couldn't track the movement with his eyes.
Not just that.
He hadn't even sensed the presence.
"L-Lord Alliance Leader. Who was that? What is going on...?"
Deung Gun-hyeon asked in a trembling voice.
"It's a long story. But I should explain. First, let's handle the cleanup."
Gong Mu-hyuk said calmly.
"Hm?"
Four Seas League Leader Gong Ya Jang-cheon.
Sitting on the throne at the highest point of the grand Four Seas Hall, he had been idly gazing at the scenery outside when his eyes turned to the hall's entrance.
One of his subordinates was rushing in urgently.
"L-Lord League Leader."
The subordinate arrived below the elevated throne platform and prostrated flat.
The platform alone was three jang high—about nine meters.
It was dizzyingly tall for a dais inside a hall.
Yet he had built it this way because Gong Ya Jang-cheon enjoyed looking down from on high.
It was the only part he had personally overseen in constructing the Four Seas League's main headquarters.
"What's got you in such a hurry?"
"An urgent falcon message from the Hao Gate."
"Hao Gate?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon frowned slightly.
He knew of the scheme they had pulled recently.
They had sent an urgent message then too.
Claiming that monster had killed their Lord's daughter.
"What mess have they stirred up this time?"
Deep down, he wanted to expel them from the evil sects' alliance, the Four Seas League.
A sect formed by lowly scum.
Yet they were useful for their vast network of branches providing information.
The righteous factions had the Beggars' Sect; the evil factions had the Hao Gate.
The two premier information networks of the martial world.
Kicking out the Hao Gate would leave the Four Seas League at a disadvantage in intelligence against the righteous factions.
So despite their distasteful actions, he had to tolerate them.
"Tch. Even we evil factions have lines we shouldn't cross. But those guys leap over them too often."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon muttered.
His prostrated subordinate thought differently.
'Isn't that why we became an evil faction? Because those lines are a nuisance...'
A thought he couldn't voice.
As if reading it, Gong Ya Jang-cheon's muttering continued.
"Telling evil faction scum to keep to lines is absurd anyway... But if they cross one and tangle with that guy, he'll go berserk. And I can't shield them."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon muttered while picking his ear.
'Who the hell is that guy?'
The "guy" who occasionally appeared in the League Leader's mutterings.
The subordinate who had raced here was dying of curiosity.
Whenever talk of "that guy" came up, the same line always followed.
'Guess I have to go out.'
"Leave the falcon scroll and go. Whew."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon blew away the earwax dust from his finger and extended his hand forward.
Using Air Grasp to retrieve the scroll.
The subordinate carefully backed away and withdrew.
"Strategist."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon's low call.
A door beside the hall's dais opened, and a middle-aged man emerged.
Evil Sea Scholar Mun In Baek-song.
The man who oversaw all major and minor affairs of the Four Seas League.
Thus, he had an annex office next to the hall where the League Leader spent most of his time.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon enjoyed the view of sheer mountain cliffs from the hall.
Mount Heng.
A rugged peak among the Five Great Mountains, holding the south's prestige.
After two wars, the Four Seas League had claimed everything south of Mount Heng.
The region south of Mount Heng in Hunan Province, plus Guangxi, Guangdong, and Guizhou Provinces, were Four Seas League territory.
There were righteous factions there too, but they acknowledged being within the Four Seas League's sphere of influence.
The headquarters was on Mount Heng for two reasons.
One, it was the frontline of their territory; two, the League Leader loved rugged mountains.
"Why'd these bastards send a falcon scroll?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon tossed the question straight at Mun In Baek-song.
"Just read it."
"Nah, I'm curious about my strategist's insight."
"I have too much work to waste insight on that."
"Sheesh, no fun. Tch."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon clicked his tongue at Mun In Baek-song's response and unfurled the scroll.
The seal was intact; no one had opened it yet.
It was an urgent message from the Hao Gate Lord to the Four Seas League Leader, so no intermediates dared tamper.
It had been inspected for tricks before delivery.
"You got the Blood Poison Pill on you?"
"Would those fools dare poison a falcon scroll unless they'd lost their minds?"
"We're an evil sect."
Mun In Baek-song replied calmly to Gong Ya Jang-cheon's question.
"Tch. I always carry it, don't worry. I'm the head of this evil sect, after all."
The legendary treasure that neutralized all poisons: the Blood Poison Pill.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon carried it constantly against potential assassination attempts.
He carefully examined the scroll's contents.
Soon, his face twisted.
"Hah. Look at this? These idiots."
"What's wrong?"
"Seems they've screwed up again."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon shook the scroll.
"What kind of screw-up?"
"They made a transcription."
A curt statement omitting context.
Mun In Baek-song frowned, then nodded in understanding.
"I see. They went that route. A transcription of the destruction art. I failed to account for ordinary folks' limitations. My mistake. I shouldn't view mortals by my standards, but I slip sometimes. I'll reflect and improve."
"What're you talking about?"
"Why bother transcribing something you memorize at a glance? Waste of time; could review something else."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon scowled at Mun In Baek-song's answer.
"Strategist. That was pretty obnoxious."
"But that monster isn't ordinary either. When the Hao Gate caused that uproar, he only reclaimed the manual and left... He probably made the same oversight as me. But their analysis of the destruction art isn't progressing as intended. Not knowing when that monster might barge in has the Gate Lord anxious."
Mun In Baek-song spoke from memory without glancing at the scroll.