The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 143 : Maoshan Sect (2)

During this time of year, a thick fog settled over Maoshan from dawn until night. Jang So-gil watched from a distance as Maoshan began to be submerged in the dense night fog.

Unbefitting the small, rural town of Maoshan, torches were densely lined up on top of the high city walls. Baek Yugyeong's eyebrows twitched.

"The guard is no joke. The number of torches is more than three times the usual."

"It would be. Because there was some idiot who was foaming at the mouth while shouting 'White Azure Divine Sword'."

Although Baek Yugyeong, the Young Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, might not know, in the Central Plains, a sect with the name of a village or a mountain was often the de facto ruler of that area. And among the small villages, there were also places where there were no government offices or officials at all.

Maoshan was both. The hand of the government did not reach it, and the Maoshan Sect controlled everything.

Jang So-gil had been assuming that the entire Maoshan might be hostile even before he came here. Seeing the current excessive level of security, it seemed his guess was right.

It was obvious that the Maoshan Sect would have started an investigation after hearing that two martial artists had had a big fight at the entrance of Maoshan in broad daylight. If they had caught just a few of the fleeing people and asked, there was no way they wouldn't know who Jang So-gil was.

In Maoshan, which would have been wary of the movements of the Martial Alliance anyway, he had shouted loudly and advertised that the inspector was here. A comfortable bed and a warm meal were out of the question, and he had been reduced to grilling and eating a bird he had hunted in the forest.

'Well, it was quite delicious, though.'

Jang So-gil, after glaring at Baek Yugyeong once, licked his lips.

In the barren North Sea, the areas where people could gather and live were limited. The Ice Palace of the North Sea reigned over all those places with absolute discipline.

But the Central Plains were different. Although the emperor's power was incomparably mighty compared to that of the lord of the Ice Palace, the Central Plains were too vast and large to be completely controlled by the power of the government alone.

In fact, they did not even want to control every rural corner. It was more correct to say that they had no great interest in such trivial things.

The emperor's vision was so wide and high that he saw the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty beyond the barrier, but he was indifferent to the procession of ants crawling under his feet.

That is why the government and the martial world could exist like a separated day and night.

And, for that reason. If the matter of the jiangshi was real, this matter had to be resolved by the Martial Alliance before it grew bigger.

Jang So-gil, grumbling, loosened his body.

"Aww, damn it. I'm really blessed with work. Hey, get ready to jump over the city wall."

"Hey, are you trying to break through that guard and enter Maoshan now?"

"That's right. Is there a problem?"

"Of course there's a problem. Why are you trying to walk on thin ice? Even a beast won't walk on the water of a lake that is thinly frozen. It's much safer to mix in with the travelers, merchants, and pilgrims after dawn."

"Is that an Ice Palace-style proverb? It's interesting. But we have to go now. My companion is already inside Maoshan."

Mixed in with the commotion that had occurred when Baek Yugyeong had charged, Yang Gwan had already slipped inside the city walls of Maoshan.

"That fellow has been with me for a while, so. Even if I didn't specifically instruct him, he would have developed the knack of getting a good inn and letting the horses rest. As for information gathering, well... I don't have high expectations."

Yang Gwan was not a person who had a knack for that kind of thing.

And since the information that was immediately needed had mostly been brought by Baek Yugyeong, it didn't matter.

"Then there's no need to hurry like that, is there?"

"If what you said is true, in the worst case, that fellow might be surrounded by those jiangshi by now. First, I have to see what the inside is like with my own eyes. This is all because you're not a very reliable witness."

"Selling Master Zhongli's name didn't help at all. That old man's name value wasn't that great after all."

"It's not that his fame is lacking, but that you're not a vessel to contain his fame."

"Damn it. So, are you really going in?"

"I said so. You come too."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Wow, you really have no learning ability. How about this? Every time I call the Alliance Leader-nim from now on, I'll tear out one of your techniques. The stealth art seems quite useful, so I'll have to learn that first."

"You're a real bastard. You know that?"

Jang So-gil, without any rebuttal, flew up. Baek Yugyeong, letting out a low curse, followed and leaped.

* * *

Although the guard was by no means lax, it was also not enough to catch a transcendent master who looked down on the world. The two, who had succeeded in secretly jumping over that high city wall, caught their breath and began to look around the inside of the village.

Maoshan was a pastoral village. Except for the stone pagodas and lanterns that were piled up here and there, it did not look any different from any other rural corner.

But was it because of the thick night fog and the light of the lanterns that seemed to spread because of that fog, or was it because it was the middle of the night and almost no presence was felt? The air felt unusually desolate.

"I thought there was a rather large floating population here. Is it always this quiet at night?"

"It's quiet. There are no gisaeng houses, and there's nothing to play with at all. There are only a few inns, and they don't even sell alcohol from 'haesi' (around 9 p.m.). They said it was for religious reasons."

"Is that so? But it's a little strange."

Even if it was quiet, it was too quiet. Except for the hooting of the owls and the sound of the wind, no sound could be heard.

Jang So-gil, walking while looking around the foggy village, found Cheongwol and Yanghwangbijeon tied up in the stable of an inn. It was an inn called the Yeonhwadang.

Jang So-gil, thinking that Yang Gwan would be here, approached the inn.

The lights were on, but there was no presence. When he peeked in carefully, the first floor of the inn was empty.

Thinking that he might be on the second floor, he went up the stairs. Likewise, there was no one on the second floor either.

All that was left inside the inn were the traces of a few guests.

Baek Yugyeong, who had followed him, hardened his expression.

"What's going on here?"

"You, who have been here longer than me, don't know? It seems it wasn't like this every day?"

"I have no idea. I've never slept in this village."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know the reason, but Master Zhongli told me not to stay overnight in Maoshan. It was a bit annoying, but since they said I couldn't drink alcohol anyway, I just did as I was told and slept outside."

"I see. The story that he gave you a job is starting to be a little more believable."

Jang So-gil, flinging open the doors of the empty second-floor guest rooms, began to look inside. Then he picked up a bundle he had found in a certain room.

It was Yang Gwan's luggage. A copy of the Avatamsaka Sutra, which he always read to calm his mind, and a little travel money were left as they were.

Seeing that the money was left, it was not a robbery. And seeing that his iron spear was gone, he had taken his weapon.

"Don't tell me he was kidnapped or something."

The first thought that came to his mind was immediately erased.

Although Yang Gwan had been overtaken by Jang So-gil, and since there was also Baek Yugyeong, who was younger but much stronger than him, he might seem weak at a glance.

But Yang Gwan was also a master who was ranked among the top ten among the martial artists of his age. He was not at a level to be easily kidnapped.

And most of all, this room was too clean. If he had been holding a spear, he was not a fellow who would have been caught so quietly.

Baek Yugyeong, as if he had the same thought, nodded his head.

"That fellow named Yang Gwan, isn't he one of the Ten Dragons? A person like that wouldn't have been kidnapped without a trace of resistance, so he must have gone out on his own. Ah, there's a faint footprint on this windowsill. It seems he went out this way. Shall we track him?"

It was a deep night with a thick fog. Although Jang So-gil's eyesight was good, he had never professionally learned tracking.

Although he could see the traces of movement through the window, he was not confident that he could continue the tracking outside.

"Can you do it?"

"In my hometown, the North Sea, if you don't know tracking, you're not treated as an adult."

Baek Yugyeong, as if to prove it, immediately jumped out of the window. The footsteps he had taken without hesitation entered the path that led to the inside of the village.

After walking behind him for a long time. Jang So-gil never once asked Baek Yugyeong if he was going the right way.

Because the traces that had been completely invisible at first became clearer as he walked.

The trace of a spear thrust, the trace of a spear swing, the trace of being slightly scorched by fire.

All the traces told that there had been a fight, and they were pointing to Yang Gwan.

"This is a recent trace. It doesn't seem to have been an hour."

Baek Yugyeong's footsteps stopped in front of a shrine. The memorial tablets of the deceased were densely hung, and in front of them, stone pagodas for prayer were densely lined up. It was probably a place to pray for the peaceful repose of the deceased.

But it was an excessively large shrine that did not suit the scale of the village. It was incredibly spacious and even had a second floor.

It seemed there was something under the ground, was there a basement too? Jang So-gil frowned.

"So. Yang Gwan, who was at the inn, grabbed his spear and jumped from the second floor to the first floor through the window. After fighting with something, he came here. And he entered a huge shrine that even had a basement?"

"It seems so."

"This village really seems to be messed up..."

Although the shrine was a little away from the private houses, it was a fight that had occurred on a night that was so quiet that it was desolate. It didn't make sense that there was no reaction from the village.

Jang So-gil decided to see all the people of the village as potential collaborators of the Maoshan Sect.

Baek Yugyeong asked implicitly.

"If the whole village is the enemy, well, should we retreat for now and call for support?"

"Don't talk nonsense."

"You seem to be quite worried about your subordinate."

Jang So-gil, without a word, entered the inside of the shrine.

Dried medicinal herbs with a strange scent were hung, and the ceiling was disorderly decorated with golden threads and red silk cloth.

Inside the shrine, there were stone statues that were the same size as real people lined up. There were so many stone statues that they would have been more than enough to go around the edge of that spacious shrine once.

Baek Yugyeong said, with a bored tone.

"As expected of Maoshan. They've gathered so many stone statues."

"I know, right? A stone statue is so expensive. These bastards must have embezzled a lot."

Now that it was an era where taxes were paid even in the Western Great Mountain. It was clear that the Maoshan Sect was openly evading taxes.

Jang So-gil, while resolving to thoroughly shake these bastards down, scanned the shrine.

And soon, he felt a great sense of unease from this shrine.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"No, something's strange."

Why did he feel a sense of unease? What was bothering him?

Jang So-gil, with his arms crossed, carefully examined the things inside the shrine. And he found out the identity of the sense of unease.

"This shrine, what is it? Why is a Daoist shrine in this shape?"

"Don't just know it by yourself and explain it. What's the problem?"

"There's only the statue of the Primeval Lord of Heaven here. In this shape, it's normal to enshrine all three of the 'Three Pure Ones'..."

"The Three Pure Ones? What's that?"

"The Primeval Lord of Heaven, the Lingbao Tianzun, and the Taishang Laojun. They are the highest gods in Daoism."

"Isn't it just because they like the Primeval Lord of Heaven?"

"If so, the statue of the Primeval Lord of Heaven should be in a sitting position. It's a Daoist custom to carve a sitting figure when enshrining only one, and a standing figure when enshrining all three."

"You know a lot of things."

"And the number of stone statues is also strange. It's not right to have so many statues around. 'Too much is as bad as too little', the number of attendants should not exceed three. To have so many stone statues is something that only happens when burying people alive."

Baek Yugyeong yawned long.

"So what's the conclusion?"

"This is not a Daoist shrine. Although the appearance is disguised as a Daoist shrine, it's a shape that intentionally twists the principles even though they know them, and rather insults Daoism."

Maoshan, one of the holy lands of Daoism. To think that the largest shrine in that Maoshan was in this shape.

It was when Jang So-gil was flustered because it was an impossible thing.

"...!"

All the stone statues simultaneously opened their eyes.

Spraying a chilly red light, they opened their mouths wide, and inside, saw-like teeth could be seen.

A presence that could not be felt at all until it moved, even though it was right in front of him.

Jang So-gil, in astonishment, shouted, and Baek Yugyeong, as if he were happy, shouted loudly.

"It's a jiangshi!”

(End of Chapter)