Chapter 639
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 639
Chapter Title: It's Clearly My Fault
“W-What?”
Un Hak-ja’s face turned beet red at Ha Mu-baek’s command, pointing to the floor with his finger.
It was utterly humiliating.
For this punk to demand that he, a disciple of the Kunlun Sect, kneel on the ground.
He couldn’t even tell if the words coming out of the guy’s mouth were speech or pure shit.
Ha Mu-baek simply watched Un Hak-ja with a faint smile, as if amused by his reaction.
“Not kneeling?”
And then those tossed-out words.
“You little—! Arghhh!!!”
Was it those words that finally set him off?
Un Hak-ja’s eyes rolled back as he charged straight at Ha Mu-baek.
His fists unfurled the Kunlun fist technique, Falling Goose Fist.
The very same one he’d tried to use against Ha Mu-baek before.
“Cover the kids’ eyes.”
Ha Mu-baek casually tossed the words to Ha Seol-ran and Yeon Ha-min, then stepped forward.
He was already within the domain of the Falling Goose Fist.
“You haven’t improved a bit since then or now, have you? Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue in disbelief and thrust out his fist.
Thwack.
Un Hak-ja took the punch square to the face.
“Guh.”
He groaned.
Even though he’d swung with full power along the fist path of Falling Goose Fist.
Not a single fold of Ha Mu-baek’s robes was touched.
Instead.
Thwack! Thud! Thwack!
Just like before, Ha Mu-baek’s fists drummed across Un Hak-ja’s entire body.
Lightning-fast blows that didn’t even give him time to scream.
Un Hak-ja’s two subordinates stood there in a daze, just watching.
Of course, it was only natural to rush in and help their superior, Un Hak-ja—but the opponent was the problem.
He’d openly declared his rank in the Righteous Heaven Alliance higher than Un Hak-ja’s.
They couldn’t decide if stepping in now would count as insubordination.
Beyond that, witnessing such brutal martial arts had frozen their bodies in place.
Ha Mu-baek’s fists finally stopped.
“Ugh… grrrghhh……”
Un Hak-ja collapsed to the floor, reduced to groaning.
“Insurrection, huh? Not bad, Discipline Hall Lord?”
Ha Mu-baek said it like he was impressed.
But his voice dripped with chilling killing intent.
Ha Mu-baek’s gaze shifted to the two warriors standing there blankly.
“What’s your position?”
“I-I’m the Left Azure Corps Leader of the Righteous Heaven Alliance Nanchang Branch.”
“Right White Corps Leader of the Righteous Heaven Alliance Nanchang Branch.”
Left Azure Corps and Right White Corps.
Names drawn from the Left Azure Dragon and Right White Tiger military units.
Since they weren’t at the provincial level but just a single city branch, “dragon” and “tiger” felt too grandiose, so they’d been changed to “azure” and “white.”
All city-level branches of the Righteous Heaven Alliance used the same names for their combat units.
Ha Mu-baek eyed the two men with clear displeasure.
Left Azure Corps and Right White Corps.
They existed at the branch to prepare for emergencies.
Not to bodyguard a worthless branch chief like this.
Though, their positions made it impossible to defy the branch chief’s orders anyway.
“I’ll wrap things up here, so head back once you’re done eating,”
Ha Mu-baek said to Ha Seol-ran.
Then he ordered the Left Azure Corps Leader.
“Drag that guy back to the branch.”
At Ha Mu-baek’s words, the Right White Corps Leader hurriedly took the lead, while the Left Azure Corps Leader bound and dragged away Un Hak-ja, who had been his superior just moments ago.
Steward Kang bowed deeply toward Ha Mu-baek.
A gesture conveying both apology and gratitude.
“Ah, Steward Kang. Thanks for the meal. Let’s meet again if fate allows.”
“I’m nothing but grateful and sorry to my benefactor.”
A bit north of central Nanchang.
There sat the Righteous Heaven Alliance Nanchang Branch.
It was only natural that the sudden incident had thrown the branch into chaos.
“Who’s the staff officer here?”
The Righteous Heaven Alliance.
A gathering of warriors.
Naturally, it operated like an army, with scholars handling the warriors’ shortcomings.
Just as the main headquarters had a Strategist, branches had dispatched staff officers—all from Heavenly Eye Pavilion, of course.
The staff officer came rushing out at news of the branch chief.
Ha Mu-baek planned to beat the man on sight.
If Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong hadn’t noticed the branch chief’s antics, it meant the staff officer hadn’t reported them.
The branch staff officer served as both advisor and watchdog for the branch chief.
It was a clever move by So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Dan-gyeong, given the shaky foundations in the Righteous Heaven Alliance amid opposition from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
But upon seeing the staff officer, Ha Mu-baek didn’t scrap his plan.
Slap!
He backhanded her right away.
But that was it.
Even for Ha Mu-baek, he wouldn’t blindly pummel a woman—especially a young one who looked so fragile—without knowing the full story.
So he stopped after one slap.
From Ha Mu-baek’s perspective, it was just one smack, but for a scholar—and a woman at that—it was a massive shock.
She collapsed, dazed and unable to collect herself.
Her mouth split open, blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
“What do you think you’re doing right now?”
Only at Ha Mu-baek’s icy voice did the staff officer start coming to her senses.
“Who are you?”
“H-Huh? I-I’m Seo Eum-ye, staff officer of the Righteous Heaven Alliance Nanchang Branch.”
Her voice trembled with fear.
“I’m Ha Mu-baek, Fierce Dragon Corps Leader under Heavenly Eye Pavilion of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.”
Only now did Ha Mu-baek state his position.
“You’re a Heavenly Eye Pavilion staff officer, right?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Then what the hell is going on at this branch? Why hasn’t the Pavilion Lord said a word?”
Under Ha Mu-baek’s ferocious pressure, Seo Eum-ye trembled without answering.
The branch warriors who had gathered were tense as well.
Ha Mu-baek scanned the surrounding stares once.
“Take me to the branch chief’s office. And throw that guy in the detention cell.”
Ha Mu-baek commanded Seo Eum-ye, then flicked a palm wind to seal Un Hak-ja’s acupoints, crippling his internal energy.
As he followed her, Ha Mu-baek suddenly halted.
“And from this moment, no one in the branch sets foot outside.”
He even issued a lockdown order.
The branch chief’s office—Un Hak-ja’s, that is—was ridiculously lavish.
No need to mention it was even flashier than the Alliance Leader’s.
“This bastard… was sucking honey here?”
Ha Mu-baek muttered in disbelief.
The martial world was vast, and people plentiful, but warriors were limited.
Even the Righteous Heaven Alliance couldn’t plant branches everywhere.
Nanchang was a key hub on the Gan River in Jiangxi Province, a major city hugging the Yangtze via Poyang Lake.
That’s why they’d set up a branch here.
But looking at what this so-called branch chief had done.
“That punk Un Hak-ja must’ve had a blast here, stuffing his face, and not a peep to Heavenly Eye Pavilion. What’s the deal?”
Ha Mu-baek’s icy gaze turned to Seo Eum-ye.
“Didn’t they teach you anything before assigning you here as staff?”
Ha Mu-baek pressed without mercy.
Seo Eum-ye just trembled.
Ha Mu-baek wasn’t doing this specifically for So Hwi-woong or Gong Son Dan-gyeong.
It was because of the whispers he’d overheard dragging Un Hak-ja out of the sixth floor of the Eternal Prosperity Pavilion.
They hadn’t realized Ha Mu-baek could hear their private talk.
The talk was all about the outrages Un Hak-ja had committed since becoming Nanchang Branch Chief.
An old Taoist lusting after women, no less.
Of course, he hadn’t dragged in innocent girls and raped them.
If he had, Ha Mu-baek would’ve dragged him here with two limbs hacked off.
It was just endless visits to brothels.
And in the process, he’d apparently lavished them with gifts.
In a place with Haomun pleasure houses, no less.
To sustain that debauched life, Un Hak-ja needed money.
Money from the branch vault, or bribes he’d pocketed personally, no doubt.
A branch staff officer would notice the flow of funds.
Ha Mu-baek glared at Seo Eum-ye.
Realizing she couldn’t tremble forever, she gathered all her strength to speak.
The overwhelming pressure from Ha Mu-baek’s aura made even answering a struggle.
“Th-Th-Threats……”
An unexpected word, and Ha Mu-baek’s intensity eased slightly.
“He threatened that if I reported his deeds here to Heavenly Eye Pavilion, my family wouldn’t be safe… Sniff.”
With that, the tears she’d held back poured out.
She hadn’t chosen to join the Righteous Heaven Alliance with dreams of the blue clouds just to watch and clean up Un Hak-ja’s messes.
“Then why not report that too?”
At Ha Mu-baek’s question.
“Th-The branch chief……”
“Un Hak-ja. That bastard’s no branch chief anymore. He’s a criminal for insurrection.”
Ha Mu-baek corrected the title, and Seo Eum-ye continued.
“Un Hak-ja said if the truth went up to Heavenly Eye Pavilion and an arrest order came—or anyone showed up—my whole family would die. Even if he got caught, his subordinates would do it. Sniff. Sob sob. Waaah.”
Seo Eum-ye broke into full sobs.
Ha Mu-baek could only stare in disbelief.
It was a laughably flimsy threat.
And for a Heavenly Eye Pavilion-trained staff officer to fall for it? Pathetic.
“Hoo.”
Ha Mu-baek sighed deeply and slumped into the branch chief’s grand chair.
He rubbed his forehead, deciding to get the full picture first.
He sent a thread of internal energy via palm wind to Seo Eum-ye.
A calming force for her mind.
First, piece together the missing parts.
Ha Mu-baek hadn’t even known Un Hak-ja, former Discipline Hall Lord, was branch chief here.
No matter how badly he’d been beaten, the man was a Kunlun Sect elder and former Alliance Discipline Hall Lord.
He wouldn’t take a dead-end job like city branch chief without good reason.
From his rage on the sixth floor of Eternal Prosperity Pavilion, blaming Ha Mu-baek, it seemed connected to that beating.
He needed to uncover it all first.
“Tell me everything. Starting with why Un Hak-ja became branch chief here, when he arrived, and what he’s done since.”
At Ha Mu-baek’s order, Seo Eum-ye spilled everything she knew, piece by piece.
“So, the Jegal Clan exploited the humiliation I handed him?”
He’d heard the Discipline Hall Lord position changed due to aftermath, but that wasn’t the case.
The old habits of a guy who’d pulled shady shit as Discipline Hall Lord caught up—he’d been demoted to branch chief.
With the Jegal Clan pushing him out, Un Hak-ja had no choice.
So even the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans ditch alliances when their interests clash.
The Orthodox Alliance.
Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
Fifteen prestigious orthodox factions allied to protect their interests.
Yet here, one of the Five Great Clans—the Jegal Clan—clashed with one of the Nine Great Sects—the Kunlun Sect—over the Discipline Hall Lord seat.
And Ha Mu-baek himself had sparked it.
He hadn’t cared to know, and Gong Son Dan-gyeong hadn’t bothered telling him—it wasn’t something he needed to know.
Ha Mu-baek’s own demotion had been the trigger, and since it stemmed from the Alliance Leader yielding to the Orthodox Alliance, they’d likely avoided mentioning it.
“But Un Hak-ja didn’t go quietly—he made conditions.”
“Yes.”
He’d chosen Nanchang and staff officer Seo Eum-ye himself.
Using intel he’d gathered as Discipline Hall Lord.
“Demanding a one-year rookie from Heavenly Eye Pavilion as staff……”
Seo Eum-ye was green.
Too junior to even qualify for staff officer.
“Tsk.”
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue and rose from the chair.
Seo Eum-ye flinched.
Ha Mu-baek strode toward her.
Toward the trembling woman.
He said curtly.
“Sorry. I lost my temper and hit first. It’s clearly my fault.”
He meant the slap right when he saw her.
From her story, Seo Eum-ye wasn’t Un Hak-ja’s accomplice but his victim.
Seo Eum-ye stared at Ha Mu-baek in stunned silence.
Ha Mu-baek continued.
“Not that I’m just gonna apologize with words. Hit me back. One from me means three from you, right? I’ll seal all my internal energy, of course. Fair’s fair.”
Ha Mu-baek hadn’t used internal energy when he slapped her.
If he had, she wouldn’t be standing so unscathed.
“W-What? Uh, I-I, th-that……”
Seo Eum-ye hesitated.
But Ha Mu-baek closed his eyes and offered his face, as if they’d proceed only after she hit him.