Chapter 133 : Chapter 133
Chapter 133 Taecheong Pill (3)
Although I had said Shadowless Divine Thief meant an incomprehensible phenomenon, it would be correct to express the current situation as truly a labyrinth.
What is happening!
Senior Uncle! The Taecheong Pill, the Taecheong Pill has disappeared...!
What? What about the other things?
I could not check in detail due to lack of presence of mind, but it seems only the Taecheong Pill has disappeared.
I must quickly inform the Medicine Hall Lord and mobilize the emergency order. You quickly check if there are any other problems.
Yes, Senior Uncle.
Although it was words heard from afar, my Listen-to-a-Thousand-Li Art, which had reached the realm, could hear their conversation clearly.
Just like the timeline of my Myeong-gae days, the Taecheong Pill was stolen.
Even though I, who knew that fact in advance through regression, kept a strict guard staying up all night.
‘Is it possible?’
A passing thought occurred that stealing the Taecheong Pill from Wudang’s Youngeun Palace while completely avoiding the surveillance network of myself and my two older brothers might be impossible even for the Heavenly Demon.
It would be right to consider that even that Heavenly Demon might be able to seize it by force, but could not steal it like a ghost like this.
...How on earth?
Aside from the surveillance network of myself and my brothers, I do not know the method to seize the Taecheong Pill from Youngeun Palace, which is surrounded by all kinds of formations and guard troops.
Rather than researching a method, it seems right to hide our bodies for now.
That would be right.
Lee Chun-baek’s words, who stood by my side before I knew it, are correct.
It would be right to respond swiftly first.
It is because if we lose our minds and wander around Youngeun Palace, it could become a situation where we pay a heavy price.
To think Shadowless Divine Thief was real...
Dancheon Hak muttered while peeking at Youngeun Palace where a disturbance was rising.
Actually, although Dancheon Hak could not hide his skeptical look at my words that Shadowless Divine Thief would visit Youngeun Palace, he did not send eyes of suspicion towards me even in the current situation.
It is because we, surrounding the four quarters of Youngeun Palace, were sufficient to feel each other’s presence.
Me, Dancheon Hak, and Lee Chun-baek too.
We knew the fact that we were faithful to surveillance from that spot like stone statues.
Where should we go?
Lee Chun-baek asked.
Do we have to run away even now?
Brother Dancheon Hak added.
Their serious expressions were telling the current situation.
The situation was not good.
It would be because unlike moving with conviction, the result was not very magical.
We might be able to hide the fact that we were lurking near Youngeun Palace thanks to the elusive movements, but the fact that Lee Chun-baek and Dancheon Hak’s guest hall was empty all last night is hard to hide.
If Wudang is not incompetent, Lee Chun-baek and Dancheon Hak will not be able to avoid suspicion.
Wouldn't running away be like confessing that we are the culprits?
Therefore, running away like Brother Dancheon Hak said should be evaluated as the worst of the worst plans.
Since we are truly not the culprits, there will be no problem, right? If we say we descended the mountain when the time came, what would they say?
The timing is coincidental. Suspicion is inevitable, and if things go wrong, detention for the time being will be unavoidable.
Mm.
Perhaps thinking my words were correct, Dancheon Hak did not raise an objection.
Even we who watched do not know the culprit. That means everyone will rise on the line of suspects. In such a situation, conspicuous behavior would not be right.
We know our own innocence, but the problem is that the guarantors are only each other.
However, there is a way.
Since I was accustomed to preparing for unforeseen situations through past experiences, it wasn't that I had no plan in mind at all.
Let's go to the Sword Emperor’s abode.
I know the fact that the Sword Emperor’s hermitage in Nogundang is one of the few places in Wudang where the main mountain's surveillance network does not reach at all.
It is because it is a hermitage where the sect's elder resides.
However, it would not be such a simple problem.
What do we tell the Sword Emperor?
Fortunately, I know that he was away last night.
We should claim that we were there all last night since the Sword Emperor Wuji Jin-in also vacated his dwelling just in time.
It would be called the best place to claim an alibi for absence from the crime scene.
But what if he has returned now?
...We will have to leave it to luck.
Of course, not everything could be perfect.
.
.
..
We quickly and secretly positioned ourselves at Wuji Jin-in’s hermitage located on the outskirts of Nogundang, but even in that short while, we could not fail to know the fact that a great disturbance had arisen in Wudang.
It was due to Wudang’s supreme masters, whom we didn't even know where they were hiding, continuously flying over the rugged mountain terrain.
Even if one didn't know the article that happened at Youngeun Palace this morning, Wudang’s atmosphere now was busy and disordered enough to feel questionable.
To the extent that one could fully sense that atmosphere even at Nogundang, quite distant from the main mountain.
It is truly a situation where a ghost would wail.
Brother Dancheon Hak, who fell into deep thought, muttered.
And soon, his gaze headed towards me.
How did you know?
Actually, although he didn't ask directly, Lee Chun-baek also seemed interested as both their gazes headed towards me.
It is a secret. Do not misunderstand. I have absolutely no relation to the culprit.
The easiest method would be to lie that I obtained information from the Beggar’s Gang or the Rogues’ Guild, but in the current situation, it would be right to be careful about this too.
If the incident flows strangely, wouldn't it cause a misunderstanding that the Beggar’s Gang or the Rogues’ Guild is involved in the Taecheong Pill theft case?
It would be right not to do actions that could put them, who are like my close friends, in a predicament from the start.
Therefore, for now, trusting the faith of my brothers and keeping my mouth shut was the best.
The original plan was to claim I obtained intelligence from the Beggar’s Gang after catching the Taecheong Pill thief, but it is because everything has become twisted.
Anyway...
Brother Dancheon Hak’s words would be correct.
Since I was personally at the scene where the Taecheong Pill disappeared, it would be no stretch to view this as a situation where a ghost would wail.
But I cannot just sit idly by, so my head was repeating fierce deductions.
It was said that a competent informant’s thought structure is no different from an investigator.
It is because both informants and investigators are people who find the substantial truth by adding deduction and imagination with fragmentary information as clues.
Since I am a competent informant, it would be most right to trust my brilliant brain, which rivals an investigator, in the current situation.
I added deduction to deduction, but a conclusion did not come easily, and time flowed helplessly.
It was because the missing link was too big to be easily filled even with deduction and imagination.
And finally...
Is Myeong of the Dancheon Clan present?
The martial artists of the Wudang Inspection Squad visited the Sword Emperor’s hermitage.
* * *
Inspection is a scary word.
Did they not say that death and taxes are things one can never avoid being born as a human?
Therefore, it was said that Inspection is a disaster scarier than a tiger attack, which can never be avoided.
Originally, Inspection started for the proper collection of taxes.
Although it is known not to be as fierce as in the government office or the Imperial Palace, it would be right to view the Inspection Squads in the sects of the Jianghu Murim as institutions possessing authority comparable to a tiger attack.
It is because most clans or sects also take the form of an organization.
Since it is a place that possesses the dignity of that word intact, it should be viewed as a stern majesty that would make even a crying child stop.
Did you look for this person?
We came from the Inspection Squad. Are you Myeong of the Dancheon Clan?
Befitting that renown, a sharp momentum was felt from the question of the first encounter.
Since the Inspection Squad holds the authority of law enforcement and possesses authority exceeding martial power in emergencies, one must always keep one's conduct neat before them.
This person is Myeong of the Dancheon Clan.
I, having come out of the hermitage, took a clasped hands greeting and greeted with propriety. Absolutely, I was not scared by the word Inspection.
Nice to meet you. This Daoist is the Inspection Squad Leader, Cheonsu.
You were Cheonsu Jin-in.
Cheonsu Jin-in was a figure whose brow wrinkled with the character for river and firm mouth were impressive, befitting the position of Inspection Squad Leader.
That stubbornness, which seemed to have absolutely no flexibility, was bestowing trust in the Inspection Squad Leader.
From the point that he walked to the outskirts of Nogundang less than two hours after the incident occurred, one can guess that the capability of the Wudang Inspection Squad is outstanding.
Wait, visiting the Sword Emperor’s dwelling implies the fact that they have already finished searching other places.
What is the matter?
Actually, it is a bad situation.
The fact that the Inspection Squad Leader, not a mere squad member, walked here personally implies there is a situation with its own reason.
For instance, a situation like the identification of a culprit through a witness.
Since excessive tension ruins even easy tasks, I quickly erased the worst-case assumption from my head.
Do you guess what happened in Our Sect?
Since this person also has eyes and ears, I cannot fail to know. I express my regret. Since I will not speak carelessly of another sect’s affairs, do not worry.
Leaving behind Cheonsu Jin-in who nodded, I carefully organized my breathing.
I must make my thinking flexible so I can respond appropriately however he comes out.
So speaking of which, wanderer Lee Chun-baek and Hak of the Dancheon Clan have disappeared. Were they not companions?
Ah, there seems to be some misunderstanding. They did not disappear but have been with me at the hermitage of Wuji Jin-in in Nogundang since yesterday.
Fortunately, it was the best situation I assumed. Since it was an offensive I had expected long ago, I mean I could parry it fluently.
As if my words were a signal, Dancheon Hak and Lee Chun-baek stuck their bodies out from the hermitage.
Since it was the morning not long after the sun rose, their appearance looking like they had just woken up was sufficiently natural.
Did you look for us?
What is the matter?
Originally, lying is a talent sufficient to be evaluated as a marvelous skill. It means it is a talent with room for polishing.
In other words, it was also a word meaning that immaturity would be revealed sufficiently depending on the degree of polishing.
Although I would be skilled in the technique called lying with the ability of an informant trained in my Myeong-gae days, I do not know how skillfully Lee Chun-baek and Dancheon Hak can pull it off.
You were here?
When Dancheon Hak and Lee Chun-baek appeared, Cheonsu Jin-in’s eyes flashed fiercely.
Due to circumstances, we came to owe some debt at the hermitage of the Sword Emperor elder.
That is so.
Thanks to the life of a wanderer, Lee Chun-baek’s conduct was quite natural, but a strange incongruity hovered in Dancheon Hak’s conduct.
By circumstances, you mean?
Since it is a matter related to martial arts, I will remain silent.
Like a person who had been interrogated several times, there was no gap in Lee Chun-baek’s answer.
I see.
Since even the Inspection Squad keeps the unwritten rules of the Murim, Cheonsu Jin-in did not continue the questioning at the word that it was a matter related to martial arts.
Why is Young Master Hak here?
However, he just changed the attack target.
I was the target of his Sword Discourse.
That is correct.
When Lee Chun-baek quickly extended a helping hand, Dancheon Hak quickly accepted and ate it.
Compared to Lee Chun-baek, Dancheon Hak spoke only extremely short words, but even so, it was hard to completely hide the strange awkwardness.
Indeed, it might be strange for him, who grew up as the eldest son of a wealthy renowned family, to be skilled at lying.
Then since when have you two been here?
We stopped by here because there was something to ask for advice on while having a Sword Discourse late last night.
This person is the same.
I do not know how solitary the Inspection Squad Leader Cheonsu Jin-in’s discernment is, but Dancheon Hak’s clumsy acting might be insufficient to deceive him.
As if my guess was not wrong, Cheonsu Jin-in’s gaze became fixed only on Dancheon Hak before I knew it.
To put it vulgarly, it seems Dancheon Hak has been caught as a pushover by Cheonsu Jin-in right now.
What did Young Master Hak do coming here last night?
I saw Dancheon Hak’s pupils trembling.
‘Not good.’
Even so, it would not be right to intervene.
Because it would only amplify Cheonsu Jin-in’s suspicion.
Actually, since we committed no actual crime, it would be right to pray we do not suffer great hardship.
That is...
It was when Dancheon Hak tried to open his mouth.
Isn't it Cheonsu?
I greet the Senior Uncle.
As the Sword Emperor Wuji Jin-in appeared out of nowhere, Cheonsu Jin-in hid his fierce glare and quickly bowed his head.
For Wuji Jin-in to appear at this point, now I too cannot guess where the direction of the incident will head.