The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 142 : Maoshan Sect (1)

Many martial artists in the Central Plains diligently hone a single weapon they have chosen throughout their lives. This is because they think that the path of martial arts is long and wide, and that they cannot reach its end even if they dedicate their entire lives to a single path.

In contrast, the warriors of the North Sea do not obsess over a single weapon and train to be able to use various tools as they come to hand. It was a practical trend created by the harsh environment of the North Sea.

So among the warriors of the North Sea, there were many who were skilled in handling bows, daggers, traps, and poison, and most of them were also excellent hunters. That was also the case with Baek Yugyeong.

A roughly made bow and arrow. He placed three arrows on the string of such a bow, and when he shot them towards the sky, which was so dark that it was hard to see, three birds fell at once.

Baek Yugyeong's skill was worthy of being called a master archer. He, who had snatched the falling birds, grumbled as he plucked the bird feathers.

"Damn it. I've got bad luck."

He had rushed in to take the White Azure Divine Sword, but instead, he had only had his own resources plundered. He had shown the application of various forms with his own body until the sun set, and he had had all of it stolen just like that.

If a martial arts secret manual was the life of a martial family, the method of applying the forms was the life of a martial artist. He had had the essence of the martial arts he had trained for his entire life stolen with his own two eyes wide open.

He had rushed in, saying he would take it, but he had only had things taken from him, so the face of the North Sea Ice Palace had fallen to the ground. At the same time, Baek Yugyeong's self-esteem also fell to the ground.

Jang So-gil, who was watching him lying down, said indifferently.

"Oh, is that so? You've got bad luck? Then don't prepare a meal or anything and just go on your way."

"What? Can I do that?"

"It doesn't matter to me. I'll just run to the Alliance Leader-nim and confess that the Young Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace hit me and ran away."

"Damn it. This bastard."

"Are you pissed? If you were going to be pissed, you shouldn't have hit me first in the first place."

Looking at him grinning and acting cocky, I really want to kill him.

But that fellow, for what he is, is a transcendent master, one of the few in the world, so it's hard to kill him.

Since it has come to this. I'll use the poison I'm carrying...!

"Let's behave ourselves, shall we? It won't be fun if you put poison in the roasted bird."

"Keut..."

"It's because I'm a person who grinds his teeth at the Sichuan Tang Clan. I've studied a lot about poison because of those bastards. Since I know a lot about poison in my own way, if you get caught doing something foolish, you're on your own."

"Damn it. Damn it!"

Baek Yugyeong, trembling with rising annoyance, started a bonfire.

He was caught. He was properly caught with a single word that he would tattle to the Alliance Leader.

"Why are you acting so wronged? If you rushed in to kill someone, you have to pay the price."

"You've stolen the application of the forms, which can be called the essence of a martial artist, and you're going to say the price is not enough?"

"The application of the forms is something I learned on my own because I'm smart, so what did you do to hold your head high? This is a ridiculous fellow. Is that how they teach in the North Sea Ice Palace?"

"Wow... I've really never seen a fellow like you. Be careful on the road at night, damn it."

Gritting his teeth, Baek Yugyeong offered the roasted bird. A slightly sour smell came from the golden-brown, well-roasted bird.

It was not poison. It was a unique sour-tasting mountain pepper that only grew in the North Sea.

The spicy and slightly sour bird meat was very delicious. Jang So-gil, smacking his lips, devoured two of the three birds in an instant, and then lay down, stroking his stomach.

"Hey, this is delicious. You'd be good as a chef. Don't you want to sell this mountain pepper in the Central Plains?"

"I don't."

"I misspoke a little. Shut up and give it to me. It seems it will sell quite well if I sell it."

"You damn robber bastard, are you now going to even take the mountain pepper?"

"Ah, if you're pissed, let's go to the Alliance Leader-nim together."

"You're really not going to live long, you bastard."

"You don't need to pray for my long life. Anyway, this mountain pepper, sell it."

If you find a good item, you take it and sell it. It was a basic habit as a merchant.

If you see an item that could be money and miss it, you're not qualified to be a merchant.

Baek Yugyeong let out a sigh as if he had lost.

"I'll introduce you to a seller later."

"You should have done that from the start. Then half of the business is over, and let's take care of the other half. Tell me about the Maoshan Sect."

You can get the information yourself.

Baek Yugyeong swallowed the complaint that had risen to his throat. Because he had realized that he wouldn't even get his money's worth if he added a word to that fellow's words.

"...Alright. Where shall I start?"

"First, I came to investigate this far because of the information that the Maoshan Sect was buying drugs, human flesh, and slaves. Do you know why they're doing such a thing?"

The answer did not come back immediately. Because Baek Yugyeong, whose stomach was not full with one bird, had taken out his bow and was aiming at the sky.

With a 'pyung-' sound, one arrow flew, and he, who had caught the falling bird, opened his mouth.

"Do you know what a 'jiangshi' is?"

"I know, but why?"

"The Maoshan Sect is making jiangshi."

"Of course they would. Jiangshi are originally what Daoists do."

What on earth was he trying to say? Jang So-gil tilted his head.

The jiangshi he knew was a method of transporting a corpse where two long bamboo poles were threaded through the sleeves of the deceased's clothes, tied with a rope, and then two people carried the ends of the bamboo on their shoulders like a palanquin.

Why use such a cumbersome method? It was because of the custom that a person who had died away from home should have their body brought back to their hometown for a funeral so that they would not wander.

The corpse transported in this way would have its two arms extended forward and would be in a hopping posture.

This had the meaning of appealing to the 'Shangdi' in the sky, saying, 'This person is not yet dead and is on a journey. He is returning home on his own feet.'

Daoists accumulated virtue by repatriating the bodies of those who had died away from home in this way. Any Daoist knew how to make a jiangshi and guide it to its hometown.

But Baek Yugyeong, who had heard Jang So-gil's words, slowly shook his head.

"It's not the jiangshi you're thinking of."

"What? Then don't tell me, are you talking about the kind of jiangshi that moves on its own? The kind that often appears in novels..."

"That's right. The Maoshan Sect can make real jiangshi."

"..."

A corpse that moves on its own. It has monstrous strength and can swing a person like a leaf, and its hard skin can even repel a sword. Since it is already dead, it has no pain or fear, and it becomes the hands and feet of an evil Daoist and threatens people.

Jang So-gil, who had recalled the contents of a street ghost story or a five-coin novel, was at a loss for words and just moved his mouth.

"They make the slaves they bought into jiangshi, and they use the drugs in the procedure of making the jiangshi. And the completed jiangshi eat human flesh and move."

"Damn it. How did you know that?"

"I saw them making the jiangshi myself."

"By what means?"

Baek Yugyeong showed a stealth technique where he erased his presence and disappeared into the darkness in front of Jang So-gil's eyes.

The warriors of the North Sea Ice Palace learned all the skills necessary for fighting. Stealth techniques for surprise attacks and ambushes were a basic skill. Baek Yugyeong's stealth technique was at a peak level.

Jang So-gil's shoulders slumped.

"Is there any evidence?"

"Not really. If I had tried to take anything, I would have been caught already."

"Hmm, then is it just testimony for now? I'm not convinced."

"Do I not have that much credibility?"

"Since you're the Young Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, it's hard to say that your words have no credibility at all. But you lost a lot of that credibility with the way you shot arrows at a person you had just met."

"Then what, should I sell someone else's name like you? The one who commissioned me to investigate the Maoshan Sect was Master Zhongli."

"What a damn good name to sell. I can't believe that even more."

Why would that person use a fellow like you?

As Jang So-gil snorted, Baek Yugyeong flared up.

"People from the Central Plains always have that reaction when Master Zhongli's story comes up. What's so great about that old man? To me, he just looks a little neat, but he's just an old man with a strangely eccentric and sloppy side."

"For a guy from the North Sea, you're pretty good at throwing words around. As expected, there's no way Master Zhongli would have kept a rude fellow like you by his side."

Jang So-gil clicked his tongue. He sent a look of rebuke for having wasted precious time with nonsense.

Baek Yugyeong, who had received Jang So-gil's gaze with an unpleasant eye, continued.

"...Anyway, I've investigated a few caves and warehouses where their shamanistic rituals take place. If you have a map, give it to me, I'll mark it for you."

"Alright, I'll check it myself."

With this, he could skip several stages of the troublesome investigation. The work had become quite a bit easier.

If he and Yang Gwan had investigated from the beginning, it would have taken much more time.

As Jang So-gil was secretly pleased, Baek Yugyeong shrugged his shoulders.

"Can I consider the price paid with this?"

"Alright. Let's say so. I'll forgive you."

"I'm leaving now. You promise not to tattle to the Alliance Leader, right?"

"Ah, I said I would. I said I forgive you."

"What an expensive forgiveness. Good grief..."

Although it was information he had obtained through hardship for several days, that didn't matter. Since the commission was to hand over the information he had obtained by investigating the Maoshan Sect, he had rather properly completed the work.

What was a waste was missing the White Azure Divine Sword that was clearly in front of his eyes, and the fact that he had to introduce a merchant who handled the mountain pepper of the North Sea to that hateful fellow later.

What was much more of a waste was, of course, that his martial arts had been plundered.

His stomach churned. He couldn't not relieve this churning.

Baek Yugyeong, who was holding his churning stomach, spoke with a mischievous expression.

"So, you damn scoundrel inspector. Do you know why the Maoshan Sect is doing this?"

They buy slaves, drugs, and human flesh to make jiangshi, and they gather corpses.

Then a question follows.

Why is the Maoshan Sect making jiangshi?

Jang So-gil, wrinkling his nose, said.

"Well, I think I have a rough idea."

If there are immortals and monsters in the world, then there can be jiangshi too.

If the powerful jiangshi that only appear in novels really exist, and the Maoshan Sect has been continuously making them for several years, doing things that a person should not do.

It would be a rational inference to think that they are making an army of jiangshi.

Because from a military point of view, jiangshi were so efficient.

Originally, making an army was an incredibly cumbersome and difficult task.

You had to gather people and train them, maintain their morale, prepare to fight the enemy, and supply them with goods smoothly.

A conscription officer to gather soldiers. A wide training ground for training. A blacksmith's shop to supply weapons. A supply line to supply materials to the blacksmith's shop and to prepare meals for the soldiers to eat.

There were many other things needed besides this.

In comparison, how efficient were jiangshi?

Supply? Jiangshi just had to eat human flesh. During a war, human flesh was everywhere.

Conscription? Since the people who would become the material for the jiangshi were also everywhere, the supply of troops was simple.

Their monstrous strength and skin that repelled swords guaranteed a much higher combat power than human soldiers, and since they did not know pain or fear, there was no need to manage their morale, and they would faithfully obey any command.

The birth of an army without weaknesses.

"The Maoshan Sect, those crazy bastards, they must be planning to go against heaven."

'Going against heaven'. To go against heaven in reverse.

It was a word that meant rebellion, treason.

Baek Yugyeong, looking at the inspector who had come to the same conclusion as himself, grinned, as if to tease him.

"The people of the Central Plains are going to have a hard time."

It was a tone of happily watching a fire on the other side of the river.

Well, if a civil war broke out in the Central Plains, it would be good for the North Sea Ice Palace.

Since it was someone else's business anyway, and if the power of the Central Plains weakened as they killed each other, it would be a gain for the North Sea.

Jang So-gil, who had heard Baek Yugyeong's words, which revealed his inner thoughts, a thick vein popped out on his forehead.

"This fellow, he's no good. You're in on this too."

"What? Hey, I said I'm leaving now."

"My mind has changed. If you don't follow me, I'm going straight to the Alliance Leader-nim after this is over."

"You just promised..."

"I told you. My mind has changed. Are you pissed? Are you pissed? What are you going to do if you're pissed?"

"Y-you shameless bastard...!"

The scoundrel inspector also broke his promises well.

A promise that had no penalty written in the contract was something that could be broken at any time.

"..."

Baek Yugyeong, looking at the night sky, recalled Master Zhongli.

Once, Master Zhongli had advised Baek Yugyeong, who always made contracts only with words and did not write a contract.

[If it's an important matter, please write a contract, Young Lord. Although a verbal contract cannot be said to be not a contract... it's not something you can trust.]

At that time, Baek Yugyeong had said this.

[But it's troublesome. A guy who makes a promise and doesn't keep it? It's more fun to just beat him to death.]

At those words, Master Zhongli had smiled faintly without a word.

Only now did Baek Yugyeong understand the meaning of that expression.

It was an expression that said, 'If you experience it, you'll learn on your own.'

"I should have written a contract."

The scoundrel Young Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, Baek Yugyeong, who had run wild without knowing the fear of the world, overconfident in his own skills.

He, who had been smashed after colliding with an even greater scoundrel, belatedly regretted and lowered his head.

(End of Chapter)