The Miraculous Divorce Technique

Chapter 45

'Ah... I want to beat him up.'

That was Cheok Sagyeol's honest feeling right now.

He wanted to make him open his mouth not with interrogation by medicine and suggestion, but with beatings and threats.

But the Hidden Wind Squad was not one to allow such an act on the one who possessed the young master's body.

"What is your name?"

At Baili Lin's question, Lee Cheon-eok sneered.

"Isn't it your nephew, Baili Huang, Uncle?"

Although he had taken the truth serum, it was a small amount, so Lee Cheon-eok's mind was not shaken by that alone.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

Baili Lin flicked his fingers three times and then asked again.

"What is your name?"

"Lee... Cheon-eok."

It was a statement that came out after Lee Cheon-eok's pupils had momentarily turned into the eyes of a rotten pollack.

And then they returned to their original gaze.

He was aware of the situation just now.

The situation where he was conscious but could not control his own body.

"Do you understand now? No matter how much you have reached the peak realm, as long as you are under the influence of both medicine and suggestion, you cannot escape my questions. So it would be good to confess obediently."

"Hehehe. Both? If it goes wrong, I could become a vegetable, but does my uncle not have the slightest bit of caution for the heir of the main family?"

"It won't go wrong, so don't worry. And even if you do become a vegetable, it is you who will be at fault, and there will be no problem with the young master's body."

Baili Lin showed a cold momentum as if he really didn't care if that happened.

The righteous faction, which had developed this kind of torture because they could not openly perform cruel torture like the dark path or the demonic path.

The Baili family, which held sway over Jiangsu Province, also had a knack for indirect torture.

"..."

Although Lee Cheon-eok was still sneering, he couldn't help but feel anxious inside.

It was because there were others who knew about the secret of swapping bodies, even if he didn't.

As if he had grasped his inner thoughts, the corners of Baili Lin's mouth rose.

"It seems you've grasped the situation now. Now, let's get to the main point. What is the method of swapping souls?"

After a moment of conflict, Lee Cheon-eok bit his lip and said.

"If I tell you... will you spare my life?"

'If I just live, I can plan for the future.'

'I can't die like this after getting a second life.'

"I will spare your life. But you will not see the sunlight until you die."

Baili Lin could have persuaded him with sweet words, but he told him as it was.

He was showing the confidence that it didn't matter if he didn't confess, as he could make him talk.

"Damn it... phew..."

Lee Cheon-eok let out a long sigh with a curse and then opened his mouth.

"The Half-Immortal Wine. I swapped souls with that."

GRIND.

'As expected.'

Cheok Sagyeol gritted his teeth, glared at Lee Cheon-eok, and said.

"If you share that wine and drink it, do your souls get swapped?"

"That's right. But it's not something you can do with just anyone."

"What conditions are needed?"

"It's only possible between those who are born with the energy of a star. In my case, I was born with the energy of the Wuqu star. Baili Huang, with whom I swapped bodies, was the Tiantong star."

The Wuqu star was the sixth star of the Big Dipper, and the Tiantong star was the fourth star of the Southern Dipper.

Both constellations belonged to the fourteen major stars in the Zi Wei Dou Shu and were often used in fortune-telling to predict a person's fortune.

The Zi Wei Dou Shu was a form of divination that predicted a person's fate with a chart representing more than a hundred constellations.

'Then am I also born with the energy of a star? What star am I? I'm an orphan, so I don't know the time of my birth...'

Cheok Sagyeol had been sold to the Demonic Cult as a baby and had grown up there.

Because of that, he didn't even know his own four pillars and wasn't interested.

'Muheo knew something I didn't even know myself?'

Cheok Sagyeol shook his head and asked Lee Cheon-eok.

"Is there a separate way to distinguish those who are born with the energy of a star?"

"There is. All such people have a red dot on their body. I also saw the red dot on Baili Huang's palm and knew that he could be a target."

'There was definitely such a dot under Muheo's left collarbone.'

'I also had a red dot on my right shoulder.'

'We've fought quite a bit, so he must have confirmed my dot in that process.'

"Who made the Half-Immortal Wine? How did you get it?"

Baili Lin asked Lee Cheon-eok the most important thing.

Lee Cheon-eok suddenly made a pitiful face and lowered his head.

"I originally cursed my own fate."

That was right.

A lonely life where he had the wealth that everyone envied, but nothing else.

To escape that life, he had donated all his wealth and had become a beggar, but his fortune had stubbornly followed him.

For Lee Cheon-eok, it was an absurd thing.

"Then one day, I met a Daoist priest. At that time, I saved his life, and in return, I received a bottle of wine called the Half-Immortal Wine. And he told me about the efficacy of the Half-Immortal Wine and the conditions of the target."

Lee Cheon-eok caught his breath and then continued.

"At first, I didn't believe it. So I showed it to my friends, the Four Eccentrics, and one friend boldly used it. But surprisingly, it was true."

"Besides you and Grand Master Muheo, there's another guy who did this?"

"Not just him, but all of the eccentrics must have used it. Coincidentally, all of us had a red dot."

'Coincidentally?'

'Is it really a coincidence? There are no coincidences in the martial world.'

'There are only about a hundred people in the world who have the energy of a star, but they have formed a group under the name of the Four Eccentrics, and they have been given the Half-Immortal Wine that only they can use.'

Cheok Sagyeol instinctively sensed that there was a conspiracy.

"Who is that Daoist priest? And who is the one who used the Half-Immortal Wine first among the other two?"

The most suspicious were those two.

At Cheok Sagyeol's question, Lee Cheon-eok answered calmly.

"I don't know the identity of the Daoist priest either. Although I strongly dissuaded him, he entrusted the wine bottle to me as if passing it on and went his own way. At that time, I thought he was just a quack Daoist priest selling medicine, so I didn't pay any attention. And the friend who used the Half-Immortal Wine first was the Tone-Deaf, Ak Dogyeom."

The Tone-Deaf, Ak Dogyeom.

As his moniker suggested, he was a fool who knew nothing but music.

He was born as the legitimate eldest son of a great family, the Shandong Ak family, but he was an eccentric who had abandoned his family and chosen music.

What he had devoted his entire life to was sound art.

He had pioneered a new field of adding internal energy to melody, like the Lion's Roar.

But even so, he was not treated as a master of the martial world.

It was because of the trend of thinking that music was something learned by people of low status, such as clowns or courtesans.

Was it because of that?

He would make people laugh out loud with his sound art at a funeral, and he would make everyone cry with a sad tune at a feast, committing all sorts of eccentric acts.

"With whom did Ak Dogyeom swap souls?"

"You must have heard of the jewel of Hangzhou, the courtesan Maeyangok."

'Of course.'

'She was a peerless beauty and artist who was counted among the best in the world.'

'And as her name suggested, she had an outstanding singing ability and skill in playing the seven-stringed zither.'

"Why are you suddenly bringing up a courtesan... you fucking bastard... don't tell me?"

"That's right. He swapped bodies with Maeyangok."

"You crazy bastard! With a woman? Are you lying right now?"

"Everything I've said so far is true. Aren't you going to confirm it with a suggestion at the end anyway?"

Lee Cheon-eok said, turning his gaze to Baili Lin.

Baili Lin nodded his head as if it were natural.

"Of course. I will reconfirm everything you've said before, so it's better not to think of deceiving me. But... was Ak Dogyeom gay? Why did he swap bodies with a woman?"

"It was for music. That fellow always said that the song he ideally dreamed of could only be sung by a woman. And a woman with a very outstanding vocal cord at that. Moreover, Maeyangok had a red dot under her lip, so it was the icing on the cake."

The crowd couldn't close their open mouths.

No matter how crazy he was about music, to pursue his ideal to the point of abandoning his innate gender.

'The Four Eccentrics... the more I dig, the more I don't know... these crazy bastards...'

Cheok Sagyeol clicked his tongue and looked at Lee Cheon-eok as if he were a monster.

Baili Lin, with the same expression, looked at Lee Cheon-eok and then suddenly asked.

"Where is the remaining Half-Immortal Wine?"

'That's right. Now that I know the method, if I just have the Half-Immortal Wine, I can return to my original body.'

But Lee Cheon-eok shook his head.

"I've used up all I had. The Half-Immortal Wine was originally in a small wine bottle, and even that was divided among the four of us, so there were only two cups' worth."

'You son of a bitch!'

Cheok Sagyeol made a long face and gritted his teeth.

'If I had known this would happen, I would have only drunk half of it then...'

It was too late for regrets.

As he had said, the Half-Immortal Wine he had drunk at that time was also the last sip.

"Hey! Then if the last guy used the Half-Immortal Wine, it means there's none left!"

"I think that friend also used it... As you probably know, he's a friend who has accumulated a lot of killing karma."

Cheok Sagyeol lowered his head, thinking of the last of the Four Eccentrics.

Although it was not certain, the possibility was high.

As much as he had accumulated a lot of killing karma, there were many who held a grudge against him.

Baili Lin, also knowing that fact, used a suggestion to reconfirm Lee Cheon-eok's words.

After flicking his fingers and confirming that the previous words were true, Baili Lin swallowed a groan.

"Damn it. It's even more annoying to reconfirm that it's true..."

As Cheok Sagyeol sighed, Baili Lin smiled bitterly and said.

"Calm down for now. It's not like there's no hope yet... And there's also that Daoist priest."

At Baili Lin's words, Cheok Sagyeol sighed as if the ground would collapse.

His words were just words of comfort.

'How can I find a Daoist priest whose face and name I don't even know?'

'It was truly like finding a needle in a desert.'

"Gam-no."

"Yes, Pavilion Master."

"Lock him up in the thunder prison of the Wind Forest and guard him thoroughly."

"Don't worry. But what are you planning to do now?"

"For now, I will report this fact to the family head and discuss our future course of action. This matter is too serious to be solved by just us."

Baili Lin, also at a loss, sighed deeply and this time looked back at Cheok Sagyeol.

"Phew. For now, could you bring your nephew back? I will explain to the family head before then and prepare a place."

"I understand."

'He probably needs time to persuade, not just explain.'

'Since Baili Jian didn't see the interrogation just now, he won't believe it easily.'

* * *

'Hah... my mind is complicated enough as it is.'

Baili Lin, leaving the Wind Forest, saw two women and sighed inwardly.

"Oh my, Uncle. Did you by any chance know we were coming? To be out here like this."

She was Danmok Ryeon. And the other woman was her nanny, Yanghwa.

"Did you by any chance come because of what happened last time?"

"Yes, I came thinking it would be good to have a proper meeting today. Wouldn't it be good to strike while the iron is hot?"

"Yes, it would be good to strike while the iron is hot."

"As expected, you are a person who is easy to talk to, Uncle. But instead of doing this here, how about we go to the White Wind Pavilion and talk?"

At Danmok Ryeon's question, Baili Lin shook his head firmly.

At the unhesitating refusal, Danmok Ryeon's expression hardened.

"Why... is that?"

"As you said, it's to strike while the iron is hot. What's the point of going far? A single word will suffice."

"A... single word?"

"The Hidden Wind Squad is the wind itself. It cannot be bound to anyone. Also, since a grave matter has occurred in our main family, your marriage will be postponed for some time, so know that."

Danmok Ryeon, who had been hit with a series of mental shocks, couldn't close her open mouth.

It was a powerful blow that not only expressed a sharp refusal, guessing that she had an interest in the Hidden Wind Squad, but also postponed the marriage.

"N-no, what is that..."

"There's nothing more to say, so I'll be on my way."

Baili Lin passed by Danmok Ryeon and quickly disappeared.

Although it looked like an ordinary walk on the outside, his speed was incredibly fast, as if he had performed a lightness skill.

"M-miss?"

Yanghwa looked at Danmok Ryeon's expression and was at a loss.

Her eyes were welling up as if she would cry at any moment, and her face was flushed red.

"How dare you give me such an insult!"

It was the first time in her life she had received such contempt and a dressing-down.

Danmok Ryeon gritted her teeth and did not take her eyes off the place where Baili Lin had left.

(End of Chapter)