The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 73 : A Heroic Journey (5)

The speed of the Plucking String Body Step was worthy of being called the fastest in the world. Nevertheless, the reason why the Plucking String Body Step was not considered the best lightness skill in the world was because its movement path was so concise and simple that it could be easily grasped.

Of course, its light-beam-like speed was threatening. But that was only when dealing with a lower-level opponent. A footwork that only approached, a master should naturally be able to avoid. So the Plucking String Body Step, despite its overwhelming speed, was not the best footwork in the world, nor was it counted among the ten great footworks of the world.

But the current Plucking String Body Step, which had been combined with the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms to become the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms, was different. It had compensated for its simplicity by kicking off the wind and changing its trajectory in the air.

The footwork given to the first-generation disciples of the Diancang Sect, and the profound peerless skill that originally only the sect leader of the Kunlun Sect could learn. After the two footworks were combined, there was a miraculousness in that its light-beam-like speed became even faster.

Jang So-gil guessed that the martial art, which was originally one, had been torn into Diancang and Kunlun in the twists and turns of history. It was because he, who was not even a martial arts scholar, did not think at all that he had created a new, more outstanding footwork at once by combining the two footworks.

The sword art deployed with such a fastest footwork was the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, which would be sad if it were second in the world in terms of speed. The aesthetics of speed, speed, and speed, a divine art that was counted among the ten great sword arts of the world for its speed!

"Ugh!"

Huseong, who had been rolling his eyes in panic amidst the explosion, did not even see the afterimage of the sword that had pierced his body. He only heard the sound after being pierced by the sword. To see such a sword properly, one would have to have renowned eyesight.

But the external art he had trained at the Fierce Tiger Mountain Fortress did not betray him. Although he did not perceive the sword, his harsh training had reflexively moved his body. He had blocked the sword with his two thick, hairy, and scarred arms.

"Keoheok-!"

The sword pierced his two arms and stabbed his chest. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Huseong's eyes shot open as he looked at the assassin who had ambushed him.

A handsome young man he had never seen before, with slightly bluish hair, eyes that seemed to be sneering in a crescent shape, and a sharp nose. Who on earth was this person?

"Wh-who are you!?"

"You blocked this? As Gwan said, you're clearly a first-rate master."

Goosebumps rose on Huseong's back. It had already been five years since he had reached the level of a first-rate master. He was confident that he could fight and win against any decent enemy.

But that confidence had disappeared. He couldn't even imagine that he could fight back and live.

'An incredible fast sword and an astonishing lightness skill.'

He had never seen such a fast sword before.

And he had never seen someone with such a nimble body before.

Huseong knew ten ways to deal with someone with a fast sword and a nimble body. But since there was a limit to any method, he didn't know how to deal with someone this fast.

'And if I have a wound like this, there's no hope!'

He had luckily avoided his heart and major organs, but since his chest had caved in as much as a fist, he was done for. He tried to tighten his muscles to stop the bleeding and resist with his internal energy, but it was in vain. The place he had been hit was freezing. His breath came in ragged gasps, and his head spun.

The fact that there was no need to stop the bleeding, and that his own strength was far superior to this fast swordsman's, so he could prevent him from pulling out the sword by tightening his muscles, was a small comfort.

A conversation, he had to solve it with a conversation.

Huseong clenched his teeth, lowered his voice, and said politely.

"Who are you, noble sir, to make such a lawless surprise attack? I, I am Huseong. Huseong of the Huseong Unit. Who on earth are you, noble sir..."

"A knife stab is good after all. Look at him spouting honorifics right after getting stabbed once. You damn bastards all need to be stabbed with a knife first."

Jang So-gil grinned and added more internal energy to his sword. Then a clear light emanated from the blue jewel, and the White Azure Divine Sword spewed out cold energy. Jang So-gil's internal energy passed through the White Azure Divine Sword and turned into intense cold energy.

With a loud 'jjeojeojeok, jjeojjeojeok' sound, Huseong's arms and chest froze and stuck together. If he couldn't shake it off, he would die. Huseong clenched his teeth and deployed a footwork.

It was the third move of the Dragon Tiger Fist of the Fierce Tiger Mountain Fortress that he was confident in, the Dragon Coil Ascending Leg. His leg soared like a whirlwind.

Jang So-gil dodged it with a flexible movement. And at the same time, he struck Huseong's side with his left hand, which had deployed the Soul-Stealing Ice Art.

The place he was hit froze and burst. Literally, the pain of his side being torn off-!

"Aaaaargh-!"

"You asked who I was. I have no name to teach you, but I have a position. I am a Martial Alliance inspector."

"Wh-why is a Martial Alliance inspector doing this to me!"

Huseong felt wronged. He had never done anything to get on the wrong side of the Martial Alliance. He had let the Martial Alliance's transport ships go without attacking them, and when he saw the rising stars of the prestigious orthodox sects, he had captured them without killing them and sent them back safely.

Was that all? He was regularly exchanging information and funds with the Beggars' Sect.

The Beggars' Sect was a part of the Martial Alliance. So the Martial Alliance and the Huseong Unit were partners, if anything, not an opponent to fight to the death with, even to the point of setting off explosives and making an undeclared ambush.

Then why was he doing this!

Jang So-gil injected even more internal energy into his sword and said.

"I just saw you while passing by."

"J-just?!"

"If you see trash, it's polite for the person who saw it to clean it up. It's the so-called heroic journey."

"...!"

"You bastard who fattened your belly by exploiting the weak, I hope you don't go to heaven but fall to hell."

Huseong's voice was no longer heard. The cold energy of the Soul-Stealing Ice Art had reached his heart and stopped his breath. Huseong's arms crumbled, 'pasasak', becoming blocks of ice.

Jang So-gil, who had swung his sword a couple of times, extended his sword once more. The Sun-Shooting Sword Art was deployed towards Huseong's subordinate who was aiming for a surprise attack, and unlike Huseong, he couldn't even raise his arms.

"...!"

The water bandit, who couldn't even let out a final scream, collapsed helplessly.

On the right was the corpse of an unknown water bandit, and on the left was Huseong's corpse.

Jang So-gi, who was staring at the two corpses, looked at his own hand.

Full of wounds. His overturned and peeled fingernails had not even grown back halfway.

"It was worth the effort. At this rate, I can be called a master too."

It was a difficult path if you thought it was difficult, and an easy path if you thought it was easy.

At the end of doing everything he could, he could now protect his own body and had obtained the means to fight.

"Ah, this is not the time to be immersed in such sentiments."

Although he had dealt with the leader, there was still much to be done. If those damn water bandits were to flee in all directions, it would be a big problem. If they were to plunder the nearby common people to save themselves, one water bandit could ruin the life of one household of common people.

According to the information from the Fengya Unit, the Huseong Unit was quite large, and he had heard that the group of water bandits was about three hundred. If even one-tenth of them were to flee, that would be thirty people. A number that could shatter thirty households.

On top of that, there was also a financial problem. He had to quickly resolve the situation before the government office got involved in the commotion, and he had to take care of the slush funds, ledgers, and other gains that the Huseong Unit bastards had stashed away. If he was late, whether it was the government or the orthodox sect guys who ruled this area, they would rush in, licking their greedy tongues.

That's how the world works. No matter how hard you work, if you can't take care of yourself well, all of it becomes labor for others. Since he couldn't end up like a dog chasing a chicken, now was the time to pull himself together and take care of things.

Jang So-gil's gaze, which had been looking around Huseong's residence, reached outside the window. He could see the burning fortress.

"Die-!"

"It's this bastard! It's this bastard!"

"Everyone, screw this bastard!"

The water bandits, who had finally come to their senses, were rushing at Yang Gwan. Yang Gwan, repeating 'go to heaven', swung his spear. Perhaps because he had seen the death list, there was no mercy in his hands towards the water bandits.

Jang So-gil, who had been watching with satisfaction, suddenly came to his senses.

"Ah, ah. Look at my mind. I have to work, work."

* * *

It had been a month since Jang So-gil had said he was leaving for Kaifeng. Luoyang and Kaifeng were not that far apart, and if one used a boat on the Yellow River, one could arrive in a few days. And yet, Jang So-gil had not yet arrived in Kaifeng. It was because he was cleaning up the trash written on the death list as he came across them while traveling on foot.

Kaifeng was the land where the biggest pile of shit that would decorate the finale of his heroic journey lived. If he arrived in Kaifeng, Jang So-gil's heroic journey would also come to an end.

The rumor about the inspector who was stirring up Henan Province as he moved spread by word of mouth.

"The Martial Alliance's inspector has started a heroic journey, right?"

"He burned down the fortress of the notorious Huseong Unit and distributed the contents of their storehouse to the nearby villages."

"Your news is late. Haven't you heard the story of the bandits of Mount Danjiao?"

Rumors were mixed with exaggeration, lies, and the intentions of the speaker. Once they started to spread, they would gain flesh on their own, regardless of the truth.

People were idle, they liked rumors, and they liked hero stories. The Martial Alliance's inspector, who would beat up villains regardless of their size and without asking any questions, was a very good topic of conversation.

Whenever people gathered at an inn, they would talk about this story, and the gossips would happily spread the story of the Martial Alliance's inspector, so the rumor spread in an instant.

By the time Jang So-gil's heroic journey had been going on for a month, there was no one in Henan Province who didn't know Jang So-gil.

The ordinary common people, those who lived with a wall between them and the affairs of the martial world, came to regard Jang So-gil as a true hero, a symbol of the orthodox sect, and gradually accumulated feelings of respect and admiration.

On the other hand, the groups of the Black Way and the people related to the martial world came to feel a starkly contrasting emotion towards Jang So-gil. To the groups of the Black Way, such as mountain bandits, water bandits, the dark merchants who supplied them with goods for a high price, and the ronin who sold their skills and lived day by day by colluding with them, Jang So-gil had become an enemy they wanted to tear to pieces.

Moreover, even among the escorts who had grown up in escort agencies and even among the martial artists belonging to the orthodox sect, there were many who did not look kindly on Jang So-gil, who had appeared out of nowhere, stirred up the hornet's nest, and spread the bees in all directions.

The Black Way martial world of Henan Province was in a complete uproar right now. They had not suffered such great damage even during the Great War against the Demonic Cult.

Even though the Demonic Cult attacked the orthodox, unorthodox, and black way sects without distinction, it was only the orthodox sect that could not retreat in front of the Demonic Cult. The Black Way just had to quietly step back and suck on the honey while the orthodox sect was blocking the Demonic Cult.

Jang So-gil's appearance of beating up the Black Way as he came across them was enough to remind one of the time when the great disaster named Gumen Long had swept through the Black Way in the past. Moreover, his actions were completely different from the heroic journeys of other orthodox sects so far.

Even a heroic journey had the etiquette of a declaration of war. You would state your sect and name, say what you had come for, and what part you didn't like, and then attack.

But Jang So-gil, as if such things had nothing to do with him, just went for it with his hands first. The guy who was a martial artist of the orthodox sect, an inspector of the Martial Alliance, would even wear a night-traveling suit on a moonlit night, jump over a wall, and assassinate. It would be great if it ended with just that, but after that, he would set fire as if he were crazy about fire and burn everything here and there.

If you were hit by that bastard, you couldn't even dream of rebuilding. Arson was basic, and annihilation was a bonus. He would even clean out and take the hidden wealth, so there was no devil like this devil.

Yesterday, so-and-so was hit, today, so-and-so was hit. Whenever the groups of the Black Way met, they would talk about Jang So-gil and discuss how to kill that bastard.

It was during those days. At some point, a certain rumor began to be heard.

"They say the reason the inspector is doing this dog-like thing is because of the Beggars' Sect."

"The Beggars' Sect? We have a pretty close relationship with the Beggars' Sect. Why on earth would he attack us because of the Beggars' Sect?"

"I heard that he found out that we and the Beggars' Sect had colluded, but since the Beggars' Sect is a family of the same orthodox sect, he can't attack them, so he's going to pass all the blame on to us and bury us..."

"I see! That's why he was so eager to burn everything! It was to destroy the evidence!"

"No, what kind of bastards are these?"

The way the Black Way looked at the Beggars' Sect changed.

(End of Chapter)