Chapter 643
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 643
Chapter Title: I Keep My Promises
"W-We belong to the Sichuan Nine Commands under the Heavenly Mandate Network."
"Sichuan Nine Commands?"
The warrior who answered Ha Mu-baek's question nodded vigorously.
All of them were practitioners of internal arts derived from the Qingcheng Sect.
That meant they were connected to the Qingcheng Sect, whether directly, through a branch, or a lay disciple clan.
"Organized like the Sichuan One Command or Two Commands and such?"
"I-I don't know."
Ha Mu-baek stared intently at the man who had answered.
His face said it all.
He really didn't know.
"Then what do you do?"
"We patrol our assigned regions, collect activity funds, and pass them on."
He answered the next question swiftly.
"To whom?"
"I don't know."
But...
He couldn't answer the follow-up.
"Hah."
Ha Mu-baek let out a sigh as if it was absurd.
"Then what do you know?"
"We are elite agents of the Sichuan Nine Commands under the Heavenly Mandate Network, the force that moves the true heavens of the righteous factions. Our mission is to gather the network's secret funds and deliver them to a designated location. We currently manage about twenty fund collectors. And the network's greatest headache is Ha Mu-baek. Our ultimate target is Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong. That's everything."
Perhaps sensing the change in Ha Mu-baek's voice,
the man desperately rattled off everything he knew, distilling it to the essentials.
It was quite a bit of information, but not what Ha Mu-baek truly wanted to know.
In the end, he'd have to ask the Command Leader.
Ha Mu-baek turned his gaze back to the Command Leader, but he had already passed out, eyes still open.
He pressed an acupoint to wake him.
The moment the Command Leader regained consciousness, pain overwhelmed him again, making him writhe.
His eyes brimmed with resentment.
Resentment at being woken from his faint.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"Forgot what situation you're in right now?"
Indeed.
The Command Leader was captured by Ha Mu-baek and undergoing tendon-severing bone-crushing torture.
With a light wave of his hand, Ha Mu-baek made all the pain vanish.
The torture had stopped.
"How was it? Pretty effective, right?"
The Command Leader's face twisted at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"So, who is it?"
As he asked, Ha Mu-baek released the Command Leader's speech acupoint.
"What... are you talking about...?"
His speech had changed.
The torture must have been that agonizing.
"The one above you."
At Ha Mu-baek's question, the Command Leader's eyes trembled faintly.
"Speak."
A single short word.
"I don't know much either."
The Command Leader finally answered slowly, as if resigned.
"Continue."
"The Heavenly Mandate Network. I don't know who the Network Lord is. Only that it's someone with the ability to properly rebuild the current mess of a Righteous Heaven Alliance."
It was thorough compartmentalization.
"Then you don't know what they're doing either."
"That's right. Sigh..."
He only knew they aimed to establish a true righteous martial world.
He had no idea where the funds he delivered went or how they were used.
He was just another pawn.
"As you see, the Commands are the smallest unit. There might be others even within the Qingcheng Sect."
Realizing he couldn't resist,
the Command Leader suddenly became compliant.
"Good. Should've done this from the start."
As Ha Mu-baek nodded and muttered,
the Command Leader clamped his mouth shut again.
"What?"
Ha Mu-baek's sharp voice turned toward him.
"P-Please spare me. Then I'll tell you everything."
His plea was desperate.
He had glimpsed death during the torture.
This was his choice to survive.
Ha Mu-baek pondered for a moment.
He never broke his word.
If he said he'd spare them, he would.
So he thought again.
Whether to let these men live or kill them.
First, the origin of this incident.
Un Hak-ja.
Was that guy worth killing?
That was where the judgment began.
His misconduct at the Dengwang Pavilion and insubordination toward Ha Mu-baek himself.
He had punished him sufficiently for those.
Beat him black and blue.
Those weren't capital offenses.
If someone died for that, how many people would be left alive in the jianghu?
However...
'How much did he skim?'
That needed checking.
So Ha Mu-baek left them and moved.
"Hm."
First, the hut's chest.
They said the gold taels were only on top.
The chest itself was small.
About the size to stack ten gold taels per layer.
One layer of gold taels, so ten in total here.
That alone was a considerable amount.
Ha Mu-baek's figure vanished in an instant.
Next, the spot where Yu Dal had stopped midway to grab gold taels.
Ha Mu-baek quickly found the chest there too.
Inspecting where Yu Dal had stayed, he spotted a suspiciously placed rock, pushed it aside, and burial traces appeared.
He dug up the ground in a flash and retrieved the chest.
It seemed full of gold taels.
Judging by what remained, it had held fifty.
Now, forty-seven were left.
Yu Dal had taken three.
"Quite a lot."
A concise evaluation.
Sixty gold taels gathered in less than a year.
By a mere Nanchang branch manager.
Ha Mu-baek returned to the Command Leader.
"How much did you collect from here?"
"Twenty silver taels each time."
Two gold taels equivalent.
Un Hak-ja had devoured an enormous sum.
Ha Mu-baek finally decided.
"I'll let you live."
Granting the life of the man before him.
"Really?"
"I keep my promises."
Ha Mu-baek stated firmly.
"I don't know who my superior is either. We just call him the Grand Command Leader. He always wears a mask, so I don't know his exact identity."
Ha Mu-baek stared silently at the Command Leader.
Under that gaze, he desperately dredged up his memories.
And then.
"Ah! The Grand Command Leader... he always wore a glove only on his left hand."
A barely recalled trait of the Grand Command Leader.
Not particularly distinctive.
So what if he wore a glove?
"Good. Then how did you join the Heavenly Mandate Network?"
"A close acquaintance suggested it. Said wouldn't I become a hidden hero devoting myself to the safety of the true righteous martial world."
"Bullshit."
Ha Mu-baek's honest sentiment slipped out.
"Tell me everything you know."
At his command, the Command Leader spoke without pause, and Ha Mu-baek stored it all methodically in his mind.
"So, last one. Who are you?"
The wig was long gone, but it was a face Ha Mu-baek didn't remember.
"A first-generation disciple of Qingcheng, Red Pine Child."
"Right. Red Pine Child. I'll let you live as promised."
With that, Ha Mu-baek released all their acupoints.
Only then did the five stagger to their feet.
"Urk."
"Ugh."
Groans leaked from here and there.
"Well then."
Ha Mu-baek reached out, and all the gold taels they brought flew into his hand.
Not just that.
The buried chest flew into his hand as well.
The five from the Sichuan Nine Commands gaped at the sight.
They had heard from superiors that Ha Mu-baek, the network's worst enemy, was incredibly strong.
But they never imagined he'd do something so impossible.
"Next..."
Muttering that, Ha Mu-baek approached Command Leader Red Pine Child.
"W-What are you doing? You said you'd let us live..."
"Yeah, I said I'd let you live. I'm not so bloodthirsty I'd take your life over this. But you still need punishment."
"Punishment?! What do you mean?!"
"I don't care about opening the true heavens of the righteous factions or whatever. To secure this much gold... what crimes did you commit? Un Hak-ja isn't the god of commerce, after all."
Ha Mu-baek grabbed Red Pine Child's right elbow as he spoke.
"You must've squeezed people dry. Innocent commoners must've suffered in the process."
"T-That was Un Hak-ja..."
He tried to make excuses desperately.
But
Crunch.
Ha Mu-baek's grip tightened first.
"Gaaahhhh!!!"
A scream burst from Red Pine Child's mouth.
He had shattered the bones around the elbow.
Even with treatment, it'd hinder arm use.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned to the other four.
They retreated hesitantly.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
The same sounds rang out.
"Gaaahk!"
"Ughaaaahk!"
"Uaaahk!"
"Keuugh!"
Four screams echoed as they clutched their elbows and collapsed.
Their right arms dangled limply.
"Let's not meet again."
With that, Ha Mu-baek leaped away and vanished.
As if he didn't care how they escaped.
Ha Mu-baek headed to the Nanchang branch.
Carrying the recovered gold taels and copper lumps.
The chaotic branch was being sorted by Seo Eum-ye.
She was clearly capable.
"What's that...?"
Her eyes fixed on the two small chests Ha Mu-baek brought.
"How much did Un Hak-ja skim from here?"
"Around seventy gold taels, I'd say."
She had made the ledgers, so the answer came quickly.
"Then this matches. Here it is."
Seo Eum-ye stared blankly at the chest Ha Mu-baek set down.
"H-How..."
She muttered, staring at the chest in disbelief.
What kind of person was he?
Not only had he crushed Un Hak-ja, who acted like a king in Nanchang, but he'd recovered all the hidden money in a single day.
"What about the guy who broke curfew?"
At Ha Mu-baek's question, Seo Eum-ye snapped to attention.
"Ah. One low-rank warrior went missing."
"Yu Dal?"
She jumped at Ha Mu-baek's guess.
"Yes. I suspected he was hiding Un Hak-ja's secret funds..."
"Spot on. That guy."
Ha Mu-baek said indifferently.
Seo Eum-ye nodded slightly.
Of course. He'd recovered most of the secret funds like this.
"Return this."
"Pardon?"
She asked again, as if she'd misheard.
"You made the ledgers, so you know where and how much was extorted. Return it in proper proportions. Shortfalls are already spent, so nothing to be done. If they want even that back, tell them to take it up with Un Hak-ja or Elder Gong Son."
Leaving those words, Ha Mu-baek vanished.
Left behind was a chest containing fifty-seven gold taels.
Seo Eum-ye could only stare at it in a daze.
Ha Mu-baek's next stop was the prison.
Un Hak-ja was in the deepest cell.
Ha Mu-baek sent the two guarding warriors outside and looked at Un Hak-ja.
Un Hak-ja knew he was there but kept his head turned, ignoring him.
"Hey. Elder above me."
But at the call, Un Hak-ja whipped around and glared.
Ha Mu-baek had baited his obsession with hierarchy perfectly.
"Why hoard so much money and live like a miser? Huh? You spent some, sure, but compared to what you saved, it's downright frugal. Surprising."
Un Hak-ja glared with murderous eyes at Ha Mu-baek's question.
That was the only thing he could do now.
"Fifty-seven gold taels."
Un Hak-ja flinched at Ha Mu-baek's words, then seemed slightly relieved.
"The missing three weren't taken by the Heavenly Mandate Network. Yu Dal bolted with them."
At Ha Mu-baek's follow-up,
"What? That damn bastard! Do you know what that money was?!"
Un Hak-ja bellowed, then froze.
Ha Mu-baek's words had finally sunk in fully.
Heavenly Mandate Network.
That name had come from Ha Mu-baek's mouth.
Which meant...
"Well, for you, building the Heavenly Mandate Network's power mattered more than your own extravagance. What you hid instead of sending up was for a rainy day."
Smiling faintly, Ha Mu-baek opened the prison door and stepped in.
Then grabbed Un Hak-ja's throat.
"But tell me... where did all that money come from? Hm?"
He was still smiling, but killing intent oozed from it.
"Guhk. Khk. Khk."
Un Hak-ja flailed, choking.
Yet Ha Mu-baek didn't loosen his grip.
His face slowly paled, then turned purple.
Only then did Ha Mu-baek relax his hand.
"Kuhk. Khek. Khek. Heok heok heok."
Un Hak-ja gasped for air the moment he could breathe.
"I haven't decided what to do with you before sending you to the Righteous Heaven Alliance, so look forward to it."
Ha Mu-baek murmured lowly in a voice laced with killing intent, then left the prison.