The Miraculous Divorce Technique

Chapter 29

"Greetings to the Duke Who Repays the Nation. I am White Tiger Wang Wook of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Wang Wook bowed his head to Baili Huang and greeted him.

The Duke Who Repays the Nation was a title personally bestowed by the emperor, meaning a meritorious subject who had repaid the country's grace.

It was unusual for the emperor to bestow a title on an individual, so one could get a glimpse of the amount of his donation.

"Welcome. My name is Lee Cheon-eok."

Baili Huang stood up, performed a cupped fist salute, and received the greeting.

After the superior's etiquette was over, Jin Mubaek followed suit and paid his respects.

"My name is Jin Mubaek. It is an honor to meet the Duke Who Repays the Nation."

"Nice to meet you. I am Lee Cheon-eok."

After exchanging names, Baili Huang guided the two to the straw mat.

It was because there was no furniture in Geumgae's office, only a single straw mat laid on the floor.

"I heard that the Duke Who Repays the Nation returned all his wealth to the country and is living a life of honest poverty, and it is truly amazing. For a great merchant of the Central Plains to be living such a simple life."

Wang Wook began a barrage of compliments with a face full of smiles.

It was a political expression that he needed something from the other party and was asking for their active cooperation.

"You praise me too much."

Of course, there was no way that Baili Huang, who was only fifteen, would know such an expression.

At the short and thick answer he received for the first time, Wang Wook was inwardly flustered.

'Is he a cunning old fox who has been through it all...'

Usually, they would respond with a compliment or bring up another topic to obscure the point.

Either way, such a reaction was helpful in grasping the other party's intentions.

But Lee Cheon-eok's answer made his attempt futile, so he just took the compliment as it was and nodded his head.

This was either a real master or someone with no thoughts at all.

Wang Wook gave up on trying to sound him out and went straight to the main point.

"The reason we have come to see you, Duke, is for no other reason than to ask about a certain person."

"A certain person? Who are you referring to?"

"You know of the Drunken Buddha, Grand Master Muheo, right? I heard that he is called one of the Four Eccentrics in the martial world, along with you, Duke."

"Ah... yes, I know him. Why do you bring up my friend?"

"He has visited here recently, hasn't he?"

At Wang Wook's question, Baili Huang recalled what Cheok Sagyeol had told him and answered.

"He came to see me a while ago. But we had a big fight and he left."

"I heard you are quite close, but you fought?"

"Friends fight over trivial things. We had a big falling out after grabbing each other by the scruff of the neck after a long time, so he won't be coming here for a while. But may I ask the reason why you are looking for my friend?"

"He has a clue about the criminal we are looking for, so we would like to meet him. Would you not tell us where we can meet him?"

"Well... he's a friend who appears in the east and then in the west..."

Baili Huang dragged it out as Cheok Sagyeol had instructed.

He had been advised that whether it was a woman or a man, you had to make the other person eager to be able to move them as you wished.

"Since you are the branch leader of the Beggars' Sect, Duke, would you not release the beggars and find out for us? It is because the matter is very important."

'It's the pleading tone I was waiting for.'

Baili Huang clapped his hands and said.

"Oh my! Look at my memory! Come to think of it, I think I vaguely heard that friend say that he recently took a disciple and would be going on a trip to the Kunlun Mountains with him."

Wang Wook's eyebrows bent into an inverted V as he asked.

"The Kunlun Mountains? Isn't that Qinghai Province?"

Qinghai Province was a region located between Sichuan Province and Xinjiang, and it was almost the same as outside the central plains.

"My friend has been saying for a long time that he wanted to find the ruins of the Kunlun Sect that had disappeared. He said he would go to instill such a grand ambition in his disciple as well. So he must have left this place and headed for the Kunlun Mountains."

"But have you seen that disciple?"

"Of course, I have seen him since he was introduced to me."

"By any chance, does he look like this?"

Wang Wook took out a portrait from his bosom.

The face drawn with the delicate brushstrokes of an artist was that of the fifteen-year-old Cheok Sagyeol.

"That's right. But is the criminal you mentioned earlier this child?"

"No. This child is a witness who saw that criminal."

Hearing Wang Wook's answer, Baili Huang suddenly became curious.

From the circumstances of both sides, that criminal was clearly Cheok Sagyeol.

So he couldn't help but be curious about what his crime was.

"But what crime did the criminal commit that the Embroidered Uniform Guard guards are moving directly?"

Wang Wook hesitated whether to speak or hide it and then opened his mouth.

"It is the crime of treason. It is a great crime that will exterminate nine generations of the family if one is involved."

Wang Wook's eyes flashed.

'So it's a warning for you not to get involved.'

He had revealed it because if the Beggars' Sect, an intelligence organization, helped Muheo, it could become troublesome in many ways.

"Ah... I see. I hope you will surely arrest the great criminal."

Baili Huang answered plainly.

It was because he was already in the same boat as Cheok Sagyeol.

He was just a little surprised because the crime he had learned about out of curiosity was so great.

* * *

Wang Wook, who had left the Beggars' Sect's Luoyang branch, suddenly looked back.

Jin Mubaek asked at his appearance.

"I have something to ask."

"What is it?"

Wang Wook said without even giving Jin Mubaek a glance.

He was thinking deeply about something.

"In your subordinate's opinion, that man is suspicious. Don't you think so, White Tiger?"

"Why do you think so?"

"At first, he seemed to be a person who had been through a lot in the upper echelons. But the way he clumsily tried to lead us to Qinghai Province and other things, there are not just one or two suspicious points."

"Hehe. The other White Tigers kept talking about Jin Mubaek, Jin Mubaek, and your judgment is quite good. As you say, I was also half-convinced. I wondered if his showing of a gap, unlike his appearance, was deliberate. But when I mentioned the crime of treason, I knew from his bold demeanor. That he either already knew the fact or was deeply entangled with the criminal."

Wang Wook took his gaze off the Luoyang branch and looked at Jin Mubaek.

Jin Mubaek asked with a puzzled look.

"But why did you just come out?"

"He is the Duke Who Repays the Nation. The fact that he was personally bestowed a title by the emperor means that not only is it an honor, but he cannot be treated carelessly without evidence. So we must monitor his surroundings and arrest the man."

After speaking with a firm expression, Wang Wook continued with a smile.

"He will think we have headed for Qinghai Province. He must have scattered something with the Thousand Li Tracking Incense on it towards Qinghai Province."

"Then he will let his guard down, won't he?"

"Nine times out of ten. We must focus on finding the martial artist with that saber called Sa-wang, in addition to the Thousand Li Tracking Incense. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

Jin Mubaek bowed with discipline and his gaze sharpened.

This time, it was a golden opportunity to catch the great criminal who had spanked the princess's bottom.

* * *

"Baili brat, what happened to the task I gave you?"

Cheok Sagyeol returned to Baili Huang and asked.

He had left for a while, so he was asking about the meeting with the Embroidered Uniform Guard guards.

"I have handled it as you instructed. But did you really commit a great crime, Mr. Jeokun?"

Baili Huang asked with a disbelieving face.

"If I had committed a great crime, would only two guards have moved? Wouldn't the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard have to move for it to be a great crime?"

At Cheok Sagyeol's sly answer, Baili Huang easily nodded his head.

'Oh my, this pure white paper-like fool. He gets dyed with whatever I say. Ugh.'

'It's obvious without even looking.'

'He must have revealed everything to the Embroidered Uniform Guard guards.'

'Whether Baili Huang intended it or not.'

'Well, since I've gotten rid of the Thousand Li Tracking Incense, they won't be able to follow me anymore. At most, they'll just hang around Baili brat and then leave.'

Cheok Sagyeol dismissed the thought of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Right now, his future course of action was more of a problem than the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Baili brat."

"Yes, Mr. Jeokun."

"Has the date been set for the marriage with the Danmok family you mentioned before?"

"Yes, sir. A marriage invitation also came to the Beggars' Sect a while ago."

"When is it?"

"It is said that it will be held at the main family in six months."

Although he was speaking calmly, the worry on Baili Huang's face could be read.

"You... it's not just a political marriage, is it? Do you have feelings for the daughter of the Danmok family?"

"...What? I... well, that is..."

"If you're a man, answer clearly! Do you think you can gain enlightenment with such a half-hearted attitude!?"

At Cheok Sagyeol's shout, Baili Huang squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

"Yes! I like Miss Danmok! I've liked her ever since I first saw her!"

"And that child?"

"What?"

"If you make me ask twice again, I won't let it slide with just words. I'm asking if that child likes you too!"

"I... I don't know..."

Baili Huang lowered his head.

"It's a one-sided love. Ugh. Well, looking at the way you are, it's only natural."

"I... I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry to this one for! You should be sorry to yourself! Your body is suffering because it met a foolish head, tsk, tsk!"

"..."

Baili Huang's face turned red again.

"Listen carefully. A man is all about strength! If you grow up as the true number one divine dragon of Gangdong and the hope of everyone, do you think that child will dislike you?"

Cheok Sagyeol was talking about the ideal of masculinity that the Demonic Cult pursued.

"No! She will definitely like me!"

But it worked on Baili Huang.

"There is only one answer. You reach the realm of sword energy and proudly return to the Baili family. And propose formally, not because of the family's marriage contract! You will regain both your body and that child!"

"Mr. Jeokun, how can I become stronger!?"

"You must trust and follow this one completely. If you continue like this, you will lose both your family and the woman you like."

At Cheok Sagyeol's words, a fighting spirit that had never been there before burned in Baili Huang's two eyes.

'As expected, at that age, a woman is the truth.'

Cheok Sagyeol smiled with satisfaction and asked.

"But what was your original martial arts level?"

"...Third... third-rate."

Cheok Sagyeol's face contorted.

Even if he was only fifteen, third-rate!

And he was still a child of a prestigious martial family?

As if guessing his inner thoughts, Baili Huang continued with a tearful face.

"I was weak since I was young, so I only started training in martial arts when I was eleven."

"There are many guys like that in the world. That's no excuse. Third-rate in four years..."

In a normal case, it wouldn't be a problem.

Because there were cases where it took more than five years just to enter the stage of feeling qi and accumulating it.

That's how much being able to learn martial arts was a blessing from the gods and proof that one was a special person.

But if he was a child of the Baili family, the masters of the family would have helped him by guiding his true qi, and there would have been support from elixirs.

It was a common belief that a rising star of a prestigious family would be at least second-rate.

'Come to think of it, the Baili family guys weren't that strong.'

The martial arts of the Baili family martial artists that Cheok Sagyeol had personally faced in the past could be said to be relatively weak.

At that moment, Cheok Sagyeol suddenly recalled the report on the righteous faction's martial arts analyzed by the cult's Black Shadow Group.

Since the Demonic Cult had been continuously investigating and analyzing the righteous faction's martial arts on a large scale, they knew the characteristics of the representative righteous faction martial arts.

Jiangsu Baili Family's Martial Arts Analysis Report.

Presumed to be a martial family into which a lineage of the Qingcheng Sect, which had been annihilated among the Nine Great Sects, had flowed.

The secret ultimate technique, the Heavenly Wind Sword Art, is characterized by the subtlety of change based on a free and unrestrained sword intent.

Because the stances are not bound by form, it becomes stronger as one enters the higher realms, but as a trade-off, it is difficult to escape the third-rate realm in the early stages.

Also, its defense is weak, and if it is a style of giving flesh and taking bone, it is easy to gain an advantage even with a lower level of martial arts.

Only then did Cheok Sagyeol nod his head.

It was a martial art that was fundamentally difficult to grasp the true meaning of, and above all, his temperament did not match.

If the Heavenly Wind Sword Art pursued freedom, Baili Huang was polite and lacked flexibility, a completely opposite temperament.

There are also martial arts that suit oneself.

A master might not know, but beginners had to wear clothes that fit them to be able to quickly rise to the higher realms.

'Hmm... choosing the Danmok family doesn't seem to be just for the purpose of expanding their power.'

(End of Chapter)