The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 109 : Dropping the Sun (2)

To go south to return to Luoyang?

The pursuers, fearing Jang So-gil's return to Luoyang, would try to block the road to the west and the waterway to the north. The south, which was in the relatively opposite direction, was bound to have a lax guard.

But that was all the advantage. In the first place, going south itself was absurd. The mountain terrain in the southern direction was rough and steep. It was not suitable for detouring either. Since it was a matter of going against the current of the Yellow River, they could not take a boat.

Yang Gwan, who was about to refute, thought that Jang So-gil also must have known this obvious fact. Would Jang So-gil, a person whose resourcefulness and schemes were acknowledged even by the Thousand Li Young Master Sima Hui, not know such a basic thing?

Then it meant there was another reason...

"Ah, I see. Are you planning to go south where the surveillance is thin and then receive the cooperation of the government?"

If they used the military road with the cooperation of the government, it would be a short trip to Luoyang. This must be the right answer, he thought, and smiled, but Jang So-gil made a face as if looking at a fool. Yang Gwan frowned.

"I thought as wisely as I could, so why are you making that face!"

"You fool, if we received the cooperation of the government for a matter like this, wouldn't the Martial Alliance be greatly disgraced?"

They kept talking about the non-aggression between the government and the martial world, and then the inspector asks for protection because he's being chased by the Black Way? That was truly a matter of throwing one's face into the gutter.

"And do you think those money-crazed bastards won't attack just because we're under the protection of the government? A ronin is a madman who can attack a government office for just ten silver taels. You shouldn't think with your common sense."

"Ah..."

"We could use the government's police officers as meat shields. But should innocent people get caught up in a matter like this and die?"

"To even consider their lives! My thoughts were short."

Yang Gwan scratched the back of his head. Jang So-gil grinned.

"To be honest, I don't care if they get caught up and die, but it would be troublesome if the bereaved families of the dead were to file a civil complaint with the Martial Alliance."

"Young Master So...?"

"It's a joke. Anyway, the reason for going south is extremely simple."

Jang So-gil began to draw a map on the dirt floor with the White Azure Divine Sword. It was a rather detailed map that included Mount Song, starting from Luoyang. Geography and map reading were things that an escort would learn rather than a merchant, but Jang So-gil had learned them because he needed to manage the escorts.

The map of Henan was completed with the momentum of a single stroke. As he was admiring it, Jang So-gil's sword slowly moved south from Zhongmou. It was their current location.

"The place we are now is around here."

"If we go down from here, there is Yanling County. Is that Young Master So's destination?"

"Since Yanling County is a granary, there will be plenty of food, but there won't be much to see if we go there. The place I want to go is here."

Jang So-gil's sword gradually moved to the left.

Yang Gwan's eyes widened when he saw where the tip of the sword had stopped.

Xuchang.

"Young Master So, don't tell me?"

"If I've been hit, I have to pay it back."

"No, no matter how much..."

"Do I look like a person who just takes a beating?"

As Jang So-gil ground his teeth, Yang Gwan, with a bewildered expression, dropped his spear.

"Xuchang..."

To a martial artist, Xuchang meant one noble family.

The Seomun Clan.

Yang Gwan swallowed his saliva.

"Are you really going to attack the Seomun Clan?!"

"Of course."

"W-why?!"

"Why? Didn't they piss me off?"

He was already angry because of the unwanted marriage proposal, and then they interfered with his official duties, telling him to break off the marriage proposal. When he got pissed and threw a punch, they didn't just harass him by filing hundreds of civil complaints with the Martial Alliance. Now they had even put a bounty on him and sent pursuers.

Thanks to the fact that those guys had sent a pursuit team to kill him with determination, he had been walking in the snowfield for half a day. He had hidden in the mountain path, lit a bonfire in a cave, and was making a meal with wild vegetables.

His clothes were a mess with mud. Since he couldn't wash, his face was also a mess. Thanks to that, a very bad old memory came to mind.

"You think I'm going to endure this kind of treatment?"

That's absurd.

If you've been hit, you have to pay it back as much as you've been hit.

What was the training for, and what was the martial world journey for?

"I'm a person who came out into the martial world to pay back when I'm treated like this dog. If I'm hit, I'll pay it back, I'll pay it back ten times, a hundred times."

A demonic fire bloomed in Jang So-gil's eyes. It was not the red demonic fire of one who had fallen into a demonic state, but the blue demonic fire of one who had learned the Soul-Stealing Ice Art. This meant that he was now angry with a very calm state of mind.

Since it was not an impulsive choice, it would be useless to try to stop him. Yang Gwan, who had resigned himself, let his shoulders droop, and Jang So-gil chuckled.

"Well, the plan is already set. Let's set up a few schemes first."

* * *

The name of the man who had proposed putting a bounty on the inspector was Jagwang.

When Jagwang turned fifteen, he had entered a small ronin unit, and five years later, he had killed the leader of the ronin unit and taken the leader's position.

His specialty was gambling. To challenge the leader at the young age of twenty was, to be sure, in the realm of gambling. Since the difference in their martial arts level was large, the probability of winning was not even ten percent.

But a surprise attack using poison had dramatically raised the odds of winning. Jagwang had won and had become the leader of the ronin unit.

When another five years had passed after he had become the leader of the ronin unit. He had quite a lot of wealth in his hands.

It was the moment for a new gamble. He had spent all his fortune to open an escort agency. And with aggressive business activities, he had expanded his power and made the escort agency large.

Aggressive tax evasion, and the boldness of sharing that embezzled tax amount with the officials, had raised the winning rate of his gamble.

And time passed, and the scoundrel inspector of the Martial Alliance had appeared.

Now it was time to gamble again. Kill the inspector and cover up his own shame. This was also an opportunity to solidify his reputation in the merchant alliance.

In the merchant alliance, many people who wanted to kill the inspector had gathered in a short period of time. They were all powerful people who held their heads high in their own territories.

'If I can get on their good side, I'll be on a roll from now on.'

The profit of an escort agency did not come from a perfect escort. The important thing was business.

Just as the basis of commerce was small profits and quick returns. The basis of an escort agency was to make its name widely known and receive commissions from many people.

One common person brought one commission, but one official brought ten commissions.

And one powerful person brought a hundred commissions.

This was Jagwang's business creed.

So although the current situation was the worst, if he succeeded in the gamble, it would rather become a favorable opportunity.

If he succeeded, the inspector would die, and he would get on the good side of many powerful people.

If he failed, he would incur the inspector's grudge and become a swindler who had made the powerful people waste their money by talking nonsense.

If he failed, he would be ruined.

But it had always been like that. Gambling was a matter of risking one's life.

You couldn't succeed with a petty act of investing a little at a time.

'If I'm going to die anyway, I have to bet everything on this gamble.'

Jagwang decided to use all his means.

The escort agency did not accept new commissions, and all the escorts were deployed to the scene of the tiger hunt. The escorts who had finished their commissions also quickly finished their maintenance and were continuously sent to the scene as reinforcements.

The escorts might be weak in martial power, but they were fast on their feet, had patience, and were quick-witted. They placed the pursuers who had gathered from various places in the right place at the right time and helped the actions of the pursuit team like the tongue in one's mouth. They set off signal flares and found the traces of the escaped inspector and quickly spread them to others.

It had already been four days.

He had encountered the tiger that had fled to the southern mountain path of Zhongmou several times and had engaged in battle, but he had not yet caught it.

"Damn it..."

No good news came in. If the inspector didn't die, it would all be over.

But now there was nothing more to squeeze out. He could only pray to Buddha and the Primeval Lord of Heaven for success.

'Please, die.'

'Please, die for me.'

'Please, I'm begging you to die!'

Jagwang offered thousands of prayers in his heart. It was ridiculous to pray to Buddha and the Primeval Lord of Heaven, who forbade killing, to kill a person.

Jagwang himself knew it. But didn't a drowning man clutch at a straw?

He once again offered a prayer in his heart. But this time, he was not praying to the incompetent Buddha and the Primeval Lord of Heaven.

'Heavenly Demon-nim, Heavenly Demon-nim.'

'If the inspector dies, I will join the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Please kill that fellow.'

'Heavenly Demon-nim-!'

If one is sincere enough, heaven will be moved.

Did the Heavenly Demon hear his prayer?

The door burst open and a messenger ran in.

"Reporting-! They say the tiger hunt was a success!"

"W-what-!"

Overturning his desk, Jagwang shot up.

He hurriedly ran and asked the messenger.

"H-how did that fellow die? Tell me in detail!"

"Yes. Among the ronin leaders who came from Wenyang, there is a man named Pa Chung. He was searching a deep valley when he discovered the tiger and went in pursuit, and this man named Pa Chung is a master of the 'Whip Sword'..."

"That's enough of that story! So?"

"After a fierce chase, the cliff collapsed, and the tiger is said to have fallen below."

"Fell from a cliff?"

That's, he's not dead, is he?

Just because he fell from a cliff, there was no guarantee that he was dead. The pursuers had said that the inspector's lightness skill was to the extent of being able to perform Void-Treading Steps.

Originally, information obtained in this way had no value. Information coming from the front line was often exaggerated to inflate one's own achievements.

Void-Treading Steps, what Void-Treading Steps. It must have been just a few big somersaults in the middle of a chaotic battle.

But even so, one had to have outstanding lightness skill to even make such an exaggeration. It must be true that he had outstandingly superior lightness skill.

But for such a person to die just by falling from a cliff?

"Nimi. You have to say something that makes sense."

"But it's true. We found the body at the bottom of the cliff."

"Is there any proof that it's the inspector's body?"

"Yes. It was a mess from being eaten by wild animals, but the clothes he was wearing were definitely that fellow's clothes."

The scoundrel inspector of the Martial Alliance wore gold all over his body.

A divine weapon more expensive than a castle. Expensive clothes, expensive accessories.

Beautiful shoes that even the people of prestigious noble families could not easily obtain, and a tobacco pipe made of jade.

The clothes that the inspector most enjoyed wearing were clothes made of the brocade of Sichuan. The brocade of Sichuan was an unbelievably expensive silk supplied to the imperial family.

"If you wait a little, the messenger will bring the evidence."

"Really?"

A little later, the messenger brought the clothes made of Sichuan brocade and the silver marten overcoat as evidence.

The clothes, torn to pieces and stained with blood, the tattered overcoat.

They were undoubtedly the expensive things that the inspector enjoyed wearing.

Jagwang shouted for joy inwardly.

The inspector was dead. That scoundrel was dead!

'My world has come!'

Jagwang, who was at a loss for what to do with his joy, suddenly frowned.

There was something more important.

"Wait. The divine weapon?"

"What?"

"The inspector has a divine weapon called the White Azure Divine Sword. What happened to that?"

"I haven't heard anything."

Jagwang threw the letter that the messenger had brought behind him. It was a request for the reward, saying that he had caught the inspector.

His brow furrowed even more, and a sigh came out on its own.

'These bastards, I don't know who they are, but they must have intercepted it in the middle.'

It was not something he couldn't understand. No, rather, it would be more surprising if the person who had first discovered the White Azure Divine Sword had quietly handed it over without secretly taking it.

The value of the divine weapon called the White Azure Divine Sword could not be calculated. Even if Jagwang had been the discoverer, he would have done the same.

As Jagwang was racking his brain on how to squeeze the ronin to find the White Azure Divine Sword, the waiting messenger spoke.

"So, the reward...?"

"That will be paid at the main office of the Four Black Alliance after the merchant alliance has confirmed it. For now, tell them to bring that fellow's body."

"Yes. I will deliver the message."

"And on your way out, deliver this good news to the messenger going to the merchant guild and the messenger going to the Seomun Clan."

"Understood!"

After the messenger left, Jagwang offered a prayer of gratitude that came from deep within his heart.

'I will join the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult right away from tomorrow. Thank you, Heavenly Demon-nim.'

It was the prayer of a man who had succeeded in his third gamble in life.

But.

Did the gamble really succeed?

(End of Chapter)