novelraw Chapter 112 : Extermination (1)
Chapter 112 : Extermination (1)
Zhuge Xian's eyebrows twitched.
'If it were Sima Hui, he would have arrived a day earlier?'
An accurate judgment. If it had been Sima Hui and not Zhuge Xian, he would have gathered the rumors himself and already arrived in Xuchang, even if the Alliance Leader had not ordered it.
But Zhuge Xian had not moved until the Alliance Leader's order had been given. That difference was one day.
Jang So-gil sneered.
"Well, I understand your reluctance to meet me."
This was also an accurate judgment. Zhuge Xian did not want to meet Jang So-gil.
Sima Hui, Zhuge Xian, Jang So-gil.
These three had in common that they were exceptionally intelligent.
But if you looked closely, their areas of expertise were different.
Sima Hui was skilled in military strategy, handling a large number of soldiers. And when it came to the analysis and recreation of martial arts, he was a self-acknowledged and publicly recognized number one martial arts scholar in the world.
However, due to his innate personality, his mind was shallow, and he was not accustomed to schemes. He had the flaw of not being able to conduct negotiations flexibly because he lacked the knack for conversation.
Although Zhuge Xian could not possibly match Sima Hui, he was a great martial arts scholar who was ranked within the top five in the world, and as a military strategist, he even surpassed Sima Hui.
Thanks to his flexible personality and extraordinary perceptiveness, he was also skilled in devising schemes and conducting negotiations. Not only that, but he had mastered the various formations passed down in the Zhuge Clan, so he could truly be called a perfect military advisor without any flaws.
Jang So-gil had the most biased ability among these three. In the fields of military strategy, which dealt with soldiers, and martial arts studies, which dealt with martial arts, he was so far behind Zhuge Xian and Sima Hui that it was embarrassing to even compare. It was because Jang So-gil was a merchant, not a military advisor or a martial arts scholar.
But there was a field where Jang So-gil overwhelmed Sima Hui and Zhuge Xian.
It was physiognomy. The eye for seeing people.
Jang So-gil was good at reading people. His ability to guess the inner thoughts of the opponent just by their expression, tone of voice, and behavior was so good that it was not an exaggeration to call him a monster. Zhuge Xian, knowing Jang So-gil's ability, had tried not to face him until now.
It was best not to associate with a monster that could see through a person's heart. If showing one's face was a loss, and exchanging words was also a loss, then it was of course right not to get close.
But since the Alliance Leader's order had been given, it couldn't be helped. Although he hadn't wanted to, he had ended up facing him like this.
'I shouldn't exchange words. Silence is the only answer.'
Although anger welled up at Jang So-gil's rude words and actions, Zhuge Xian suppressed it.
Jang So-gil's eyes showed a different color. A person who knew their own temperament and could control their anger was more threatening than a person who was originally as cold as ice.
If it had been Sima Hui, he would have been furious the moment he compared him and Zhuge Xian. In terms of patience, Zhuge Xian was certainly several steps higher.
"Wow, you're enduring this?"
But how could he provoke a person so hatefully with every expression and every word?
Zhuge Xian, with his mouth firmly shut, gestured to the Jiaolong Unit with his chin. Then the Jiaolong Unit began to stand guard for Jang So-gil and Yang Gwan, who were having a meal.
The Jiaolong Unit was the core battalion of the Martial Alliance, the number one military force in the world. Since they were masters of group combat, they could face thousands of a disorderly ronin unit, and since they had a lot of experience, they could also deal with assassins.
Such a guard from the Jiaolong Unit.
"Now I can finally eat in peace. Young Master So was eating well, but I'm a delicate person."
Yang Gwan sighed and picked up his bowl of noodles. Until now, he had thought that the whole world was an enemy, so he couldn't even eat properly.
Zhuge Xian said.
"As soon as the meal is over, we will go up to Luoyang. I have prepared a carriage."
"Then we'll be using the same carriage for a while. It seems it will be a very good time."
"There are two carriages. I can't get any work done if I'm in the same space as another person."
"You're so thorough. What a shame. Then shall we have a meal together?"
"I've already eaten."
Jang So-gil, who was staring with a grin. And Zhuge Xian, who was avoiding his gaze.
"You bastard, I'm trying to be friendly, but you're putting up a wall."
"..."
Inside Zhuge Xian's mouth, which was covered by a fan, his molars made a 'padeudeuk' sound.
The first meeting between Zhuge Xian and Jang So-gil was this cold.
* * *
On the way up to Luoyang, they were attacked nine times.
Of course, the opponents were swept away in an instant, but to think that a ronin unit with swollen guts would attack even when they were being guarded by the Jiaolong Unit.
If Yang Gwan and Jang So-gil had moved alone, they might have been attacked hundreds of times.
Jang So-gil, who had safely returned to Luoyang under the guard of the Jiaolong Unit and Zhuge Xian, the first place he went to was, of course, the Alliance Leader's office.
Gumen Long, with his eyebrows shaped like the number eight and a displeased expression, looked this way. Jang So-gil, who had one or two things to be pricked by, stealthily avoided his gaze.
Gumen Long tapped the desk with his index finger. A 'ttaak, ttaak' sound echoed.
"Inspector, I am very angry right now. Why do you think that is?"
"Well..."
"Your eye for seeing people is outstanding, so you must know my heart. Try to recite it."
If it was something that would make Gumen Long angry, there were too many things that came to mind.
The matter of secretly looking through the confidential data of the Fengya Unit, or the matter of obsessively collecting information about the Sichuan Tang Clan, were certainly acts that exceeded his authority.
'But this time, it must be because of the Seomun Clan matter, right?'
A prestigious noble family had many things. Power, martial power, financial power, and history.
The history of a noble family called prestigious was soon a multitude of connections. Connections were like a spider's web, forming a dense net and spreading widely.
The small and medium-sized sects, powerful noble families, and figures in the business world who were connected by marriage to the Seomun Clan. And even the acquaintances of those who were connected by marriage. When it came to a prestigious noble family, it meant that the number of people connected to one noble family was well over several thousand.
The impact of the Seomun Clan, which had been ruined an instant, was by no means small. But Jang So-gil had not done any of the aftermath. Since they had been attacked after attacking him first as they pleased, it was only right that they should handle the aftermath themselves.
Although the Seomun Clan as a martial arts family was finished because all the survivors had their dantians destroyed, the Seomun Clan as a powerful noble family was still active. It was also the job of the Seomun Clan to block the hyenas that were aiming for the gap in the Seomun Clan.
'Still, if you're the Alliance Leader, you can't help but be interested in the movements of a prestigious noble family. And the Byeokryeoktan was a bit over the line.'
If you thought about it logically, the reason Gumen Long was angry could only be because of the Seomun Clan.
But Jang So-gil's gaze, which had been carefully observing Gumen Long's demeanor, changed.
'Huh? He's not angry because of the Seomun Clan?'
You could know a person's feelings by their expression and behavior. Gumen Long was annoyed with Jang So-gil personally, regardless of the Seomun Clan.
It meant that there was something, something very, very much that he didn't like.
What was the problem, what was the problem.
Jang So-gil, pondering over the human image and habits of the person named Gumen Long several times, thought.
Then the answer finally came out.
"Don't tell me... you were displeased that I went south?"
"You're good. Very good. That's right. That did not please me."
"But for my part, it was the wisest choice..."
Gumen Long's expression became even colder.
"A wise choice is not the right choice. You should not have chosen to flee there."
"Then what would have been the right thing to do?"
"You should have headed straight for Luoyang."
"..."
That's easy to say.
Jang So-gil frowned slightly.
"The martial artists sent by the Seomun Clan and the ronin unit aiming for the bounty of the Four Black Alliance were forming an encirclement on the road to Luoyang. With what skill could I have broken through that?"
"Hmph. I have been leaving you alone until now, trusting that you would handle it well on your own. You have not been lazy in your martial arts training, and you have even done three months of closed-door training, so I thought you could overcome that much. I believed that you could return from any hardship."
"And so I have returned like this! I have evaded the pursuit of thousands of ronin and have broken through the interference of the Seomun Clan."
"You couldn't come to Luoyang, which you could have come to straight from the west, so you went all the way to Xuchang in the south, and you came back after going around in circles for fifteen days."
"If you put it like that, I have nothing to say. No, then what. Are you saying I should have made a bloody path in a straight line and killed them all!"
There was no answer. It meant that he should have, of course.
Jang So-gil, surprised, looked back at Gumen Long. Gumen Long, stroking his beard, clicked his tongue.
"To not be able to do that simple thing and even use a Byeokryeoktan. To even wait for the escort of the Jiaolong Unit, tsk, tsk."
"But..."
"There is no 'but' or anything. They are guys who have drawn their swords to kill an inspector of the Martial Alliance for their greed for money. There is no need to go easy on them, and rather, if you go easy on them, it will only disgrace the face of the Martial Alliance."
"..."
"I'll tell you in advance. If your limbs were not intact when you stood in this place now, my afternoon work today was scheduled to be the cleaning of the Four Black Alliance."
The Four Black Alliance dared to accept the extermination order for an inspector of the Martial Alliance?
They abetted the organization of a ronin unit by putting up a bounty?
He would not have been this angry even if a golden calf had been stolen.
A blue lightning flashed from Gumen Long's eyes.
"A fellow who pulls such a dirty trick on what's mine, I have never once sent him away alive. Those insolent bastards, I had let them live because there was no particular reason to get rid of them, but they've crawled up."
At the suffocating killing intent, even Jang So-gil found it hard to breathe.
Gumen Long, who usually laughed with a 'heo-heo'. To think he would become such a different person when his anger welled up.
A thunderbolt fell from a clear sky into the center of the garden. Was it called by Gumen Long's anger?
That was like something inhuman. He had the form of a person, but he did not look like a person.
Jang So-gil swallowed a groan. Due to being overwhelmed, even dry saliva would not come out.
"Fortunately, you have arrived here with your limbs intact. But the fact that the Four Black Alliance has insulted me does not change."
"Th-that, um, ah..."
An attack on Jang So-gil was an attack on the Martial Alliance.
An insult to Jang So-gil was an insult to Gumen Long.
It was an expression of the greatest goodwill and absolute trust that the Alliance Leader could show.
At that tremendous expression, Jang So-gil could not choose what to say.
As he was doing so, Gumen Long continued.
"Therefore, I will give you an order. I will give you three months from now."
"I am listening. Please give your order."
"Wipe out the Four Black Alliance with your own strength."
"What?"
"It's not 'what'. Your name is now on the extermination list. A name that has once been put on the extermination list does not come down. Do you know why?"
"Well, it's because if they withdraw the extermination order, their own face will be disgraced."
"That's right. Whether it's the orthodox sect, the unorthodox sect, or the Black Way, face is important. A person who cannot keep their promise has no place to stand in this martial world. If it were a person of the orthodox sect, it would be a matter worthy of biting their tongue and committing suicide in shame, and even if it were the unorthodox sect, they could not be respected as a martial artist. For example, even if it is the Black Way, a fellow who breaks a promise is a minnow, and a person who keeps a promise is a big shot."
"The Four Black Alliance is a big shot of the Black Way, so they won't break their promise?"
"That's right."
The Seomun Clan had already paid the Four Black Alliance. The merchant alliance had also paid money.
The Four Black Alliance had received that commission and had put out an extermination order, and Jang So-gil, whose name was on the extermination list, was still alive.
"So the extermination order on you is still in effect."
"Are you saying I should exterminate the Four Black Alliance to cancel that extermination order?"
"That's right."
From the perspective of the Martial Alliance Leader Gumen Long, an overwhelmingly number one martial artist in the world, they were not a threatening opponent, but. The Four Black Alliance was an alliance of the strongest among the groups of the Black Way.
And he was telling Jang So-gil to wipe them out alone?
"It's not an easy task."
"It doesn't matter if you can't do it. If the Four Black Alliance still remains after three months, I will personally exterminate the Four Black Alliance."
"But if that happens, my treatment will change."
"That's right."
Gumen Long's black pupils stared straight at Jang So-gil.
With eyes that looked emotionless because they contained so many emotions, he said, enunciating each word.
"From then on, I will treat you not as a genius of the world, but as a treasure of the world."
(End of Chapter)