Chapter 241 : Gambling (1)
Chapter 241: Gambling (1)
A few days before the first batch of students at the Faith Education Center was set to complete their training program, a group quietly slipped into Lanzhou.
Two men who could be considered the representatives of this group paid a visit to Il-mok's quarters, and Il-mok welcomed them warmly.
"Third Brother! And Chamber Master An Jeok-un, it's been quite a while."
"Hahaha. It has been a while, hasn't it, youngest?"
"Greetings, Eighth Young Master."
After exchanging brief pleasantries, Seo Wan-pyeong spoke with a face full of emotion.
"Whoa. The saying of viewing someone in a new light must have been coined specifically for our youngest. I can’t believe you’ve caught up to me in just a few months.”
When Il-mok had finished his training at the Hall of the Demonic Way, he had just barely begun escaping the Extremity stage. But now that he’s seeing Il-mok in person, Seo Wan-pyeong guessed that his youngest brother had gained some enlightenment. It was to the point where Seo Wan-pyeong couldn’t guarantee he could win against Il-mok in a fight.
"Hahaha. I'm still far behind you, Third Brother."
“Being too polite is just being rude, you know. It sounds like you’re making fun of me.”
Il-mok flinched, thinking Seo Wan-pyeong’s paranoia was acting up again, but Seo just gave a creepy laugh.
"Just kidding. Hahaha."
“K-Kidding? Ha. Hahaha.”
Seo Wan-pyeong had moved past the worst of the Extremity stage, so he wasn't as paranoid as before. But the lingering effects of being trapped in that stage for so long shrouded him in an extremely gloomy atmosphere and it’s still very much present now.
"I heard from Master. Those pieces of trash from the Hao Clan are interfering with our youngest's grand work?"
Il-mok nodded at that question bathed in a murderous aura.
The killing intent would have sent chills down his spine if it were directed at him, but since they were on the same side, it felt oddly reassuring instead.
‘Those Hao Clan retards need to get a taste of what Third Brother can dish out, just like I did before I joined the Hall of the Demonic Way.’
They were here because Il-mok had sent a letter to headquarters, explaining that the Hao Clan was sending in spies.
“We’re currently turning the spies to our side through the Faith Training Center, but we can’t just stay on the defensive forever, can we?"
"The Faith Education Center, you say. I heard about that from Master as well. Both Master and Eldest Brother couldn't stop singing your praises.”
Praises that Seo Wan-pyeong himself had rarely received from them.
“They praised... me?”
“I heard enough from my own ears how they praised you, saying things like ‘That’s our youngest for you!’ And I understand. After all, in a situation where there are only two options of killing all the suspects or failing to watch them because we didn't have enough people, you came up with a brilliant solution as if it was nothing.”
Despite that, Il-mok only showed a lukewarm reaction.
'When Master or Eldest Brother praises me, it's usually a red flag.’
Either they are going to dump another work on him, or another incident is incoming.
Seeing Il-mok's less-than-thrilled reaction, Seo Wan-pyeong had to force himself to hide his true feelings behind a smile.
'I've barely ever been praised like that, yet it means absolutely nothing to the youngest.'
Even though he had begun to escape the Extremity stage, the side effects hadn't completely vanished. He'd just gotten better at suppressing them.
He pushed down the negative emotions that were starting to rear their ugly heads and asked with a gloomy smile, “So, what do you need me to do?”
"First, here is the information I've gathered from the spies we've managed to win over. And this is a list of individuals who are still suspicious. Finally, this is a list of people who've recently entered Gansu Province."
As if he'd been preparing for this all along, Il-mok handed over a massive stack of documents to Seo Wan-pyeong.
"We're short on manpower, so I couldn't check all the spies or extract all the information. I need Third Brother to track down the Hao Clan’s main headquarters based on the info on the documents and report it back to me.”
Il-mok had actually asked the Dark Shadow Pavilion for backup specifically for this.
He is not satisfied with just folding up the Hao Clan’s schemes; he wants to root out the entire organization itself.
He just never expected his Third Brother to be the backup.
Seo Wan-pyeong stared at the pile of letters Il-mok had handed him with a darkened face.
‘...They said our youngest had a bad reputation back at headquarters.’
He used to wonder if there was anything to criticize about the brilliant kid, but now that he was here, he felt completely overwhelmed.
‘Our youngest can handle this level of work without breaking a sweat, so he naturally thinks other people can handle his level of work easily. Ha. I guess a genius works on a different level from a loser like me.’
The negative thoughts he’d been fighting off started to grow in the back of his mind.
Il-mok himself was unable to handle the work and was passing the buck, but Seo Wan-pyeong had no way of knowing that.
As Seo Wan-pyeong frantically shook his head from side to side, trying to overcome his Heart Demon, Il-mok and An Jeok-un kept talking, completely clueless that the paranoid guy next to them was about to snap and go over to the dark side.
"Eighth Young Master. What do you need us to do?”
“Ah. I need you to set up a Formation at the Faith Education Center. I want an Illusory Dream Formation to show the new believers visions of Maitreya and boost their faith.”
This was why Il-mok had requested reinforcements from the Eight Trigrams Hall in addition to the Dark Shadow Pavilion.
He planned to copy the method of that dead bastard Ghost Valley Master, minus the Butterfly Dream Grass.
For a while, Il-mok rattled off the specs for the illusion he wanted like he was ordering a menu at a drive-thru while An Jeok-un took notes.
Once they finished discussing the formation, An Jeok-un asked a question. “You’re picking up the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword really fast, Young Master. As we discussed before, do you still want to join the Eight Trigrams Hall once you achieve Transcendence?"
When An Jeok-un mentioned the discussion they'd had when he came as the acting instructor at the Hall of the Demonic Way, Il-mok forced a smile and replied, "Hahaha. I’ll think about it then.”
'Once I hit Transcendence, I’m going to retire and live like a total slacker. Why the hell would I go there?’
Il-mok had no intention of studying formations, sorcery, or even martial arts once he reached Transcendence.
Plus, joining the Eight Trigrams Hall meant dealing with toxic chemicals, so he had zero intention of going there.
Feeling like he'd get roped into the Eight Trigrams Hall if this continued, Il-mok quickly turned his head to look at Seo Wan-pyeong.
"Third Brother? You look pale. Is something wrong?”
“...Are you making fun of my dark circles because I sleep all day and stay up all night?”
“H-How could I dare make fun of a brother I look up to like the sky?”
“Like the sky, huh? Have you ever heard of a sky that’s more useless than you are?”
Seo Wan-pyeong’s tone gave Il-mok a bad case of déjà vu and danger, so Il-mok quickly worked his tongue. “You can’t say that, Third Brother! Everyone has their own strengths! Why do you think I asked for your help? It’s because I could never pull off stealth as you do, nor could I track those Clan Sect rats and find their main headquarters on my own."
"Even someone as brilliant as you can't do it?"
"That's right! That's exactly why I'm asking for your help."
"Hmm."
Seo Wan-pyeong looked down at the stack of papers with a strange expression, then nodded and gave a gloomy smile.
"Then leave it to me. Your brother will definitely find out where the Hao Clan's main headquarters is hiding."
Seeing him regain his confidence, Il-mok let out a deep sigh of relief.
Forget about the Hao Clan's main headquarters or whatever, calming down this crazy senior brother is definitely the hardest part of the job.
***
Seo Wan-pyeong and An Jeok-un got straight to work on Il-mok’s orders.
An Jeok-un went to the Faith Education Center with his sorcerers and began drawing the Formation arrays. At the same time, Seo Wan-pyeong launched his investigation with the warriors from the Dark Shadow Pavilion.
In addition to the information divulged by those who'd already confessed to being spies, they also tailed the stubborn ones who refused to break.
But since the Hao Clan had survived as an intelligence organization for so long, they didn't expose their leadership easily.
When the courier they were tracking turned up dead, Seo Wan-pyeong clicked his tongue with a gloomy expression.
“Tsk. Dirty rats.”
Someone must have realized they were being followed, so they killed the courier and took the letter.
'Thank goodness there's still a chance.'
Luckily, a fresh batch of suspected spies had just entered the Faith Education Center, so the trail hadn't gone cold yet.
And that opportunity had also been created by the youngest.
“Let's go after the next target.”
Seo Wan-pyeong knew he wouldn't be able to look Il-mok in the eye if he failed to catch the leaders. With that thought, he melted into the shadows with his team.
Meanwhile, the Faith Education Center kept bringing in new believers even after the first group graduated.
This was because those who had completed the course and returned to their respective villages were singing its praises.
From the perspective of those who hadn't received that mysterious "education," the Faith Education Center was truly a heaven on earth.
So much so that those who showed poor attitudes during education and received "additional education" seemed like the weird ones.
And so, as they continued weeding out spies through the Faith Education Center to find the Hao Clan's main body, a letter arrived one day at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's branch office in Lanzhou.
It was a letter from Kwan Mu-yeol, who was living as Magistrate Park Chun-sik in Pingliang County.
Seeing Il-mok’s increasingly dark face as he read the letter, Jin Hayeon and Hyeokryeon Seon-ah asked what was wrong.
"Is there some problem?"
"Brother, are you okay?"
"Haa. There are scumbags running gambling dens in Pingliang County."
“...Can’t the local force handle a bunch of thugs?”
When Jin Hayeon asked again, Il-mok shook his head.
"They're cracking down on them, but these guys are very organized and acting really suspicious.”
The first thing that came to Il-mok's mind was the Hao Clan.
He wondered if they weren't content with just sending spies and were now trying to make a complete mess of someone else's territory.
‘Why did it have to be gambling of all things? These people are just recovering from drug addiction; they’re extremely vulnerable to quick pleasures.’
That was exactly why he’d gone out of his way to distract them with positive things like music and plays.
If those people got hooked on gambling, there would be no saving them.
As if understanding Il-mok's concerns, the Ascension Sword hanging at his side also let out a sword cry.
Vrummm.
Il-mok looked down at the sword for a moment before speaking, “I guess I’ll have to handle this myself.”
The sword's reaction was one thing, but frankly, he’d outsourced everyone else to the spy hunt, so there was nobody left to do the job.
***
Two days later, Il-mok and his party arrived in Pingliang County with light disguises covering their features.
They first headed to the Hall of Arts.
A theatrical duel was scheduled for today, and according to Kwan Mu-yeol's report, people were betting on the outcome of that very match.
It was ridiculous.
The outcome was already decided, yet people were gambling on the results.
'Wait, if they’re colluding with the scriptwriters to rig the odds, this could turn into a huge mess.’
With that thought in mind, Il-mok paid the entrance fee and went inside. Since he was undercover, he had to pay the "tourist price."
Il-mok and his group split up and grabbed seats in the audience.
They were looking for anyone talking about bets or acting shady.
He focused his qi perception and scanned his surroundings for a moment.
As the orchestra began playing and two martial artists took turns appearing on stage, cheers erupted one after another.
"WAAAAH!!"
They were originally warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but somehow, they had ended up working here as stunt actors.
“Let the duel begin!!”
As soon as the announcer yelled, the two middle-aged warriors started fighting with flashy, over-the-top moves.
Il-mok ignored the fake fight and focused on finding the gamblers.
And not because he found proof of any betting rings.
"HAAA!"
It's because some crazy bastard had just stormed the stage in the middle of the show.
As the air turned awkward, one of the warriors struggled not to break his character and asked, "Who are you, Young Warrior, to interrupt our life-and-death duel?"
"I am Peng Ji-gwang of the Hebei Peng Family. I may be young, but as a true martial artist, I couldn't stand to watch this trash any longer. To think that people calling themselves martial artists would engage in such childish sparring! Have you no shame?!"
Hearing the guy blabbing out so proudly, Il-mok couldn't help but wonder.
'...Does the Hebei Peng Family cultivate Demonic Arts too?'
The guy definitely wasn't right in the head.