Chapter 339
"Unhwi-ya. You've worked hard."
Maeng Gwang-gae, slumping to the ground, said.
"No, sir. You're the one who worked hard."
"Hoo... it's been a long time since I've felt so dejected after a fight."
"To be honest, I feel the same way."
"Why on earth did that bastard try to kill us, even sacrificing his own life..."
Maeng Gwang-gae's voice was filled with regret.
He is a heavenly martial artist.
He never avoids a fight. And sometimes, he has a tendency to solve things with force to the point of being crude.
He is a heavenly martial artist who has both the head of a strategist and the blood of a martial artist.
But after waiting for the effect of the Gwanghyeoldan to wear off on Go Mun-tak, he killed the weakened him...
It doesn't feel like he fought as a martial artist, and if he were to face the one who had eaten the Gwanghyeoldan head-on, the loss would be too great...
Either way, his heart would be uncomfortable.
"Elder. For now, how about we move quickly? My senior brothers have taken the Green Snake, but there's no law that says someone won't appear, is there?"
"Yes. Let's move for now. We can't deal with this bastard's corpse right now."
Maeng Gwang-gae and I, for now, left Go Mun-tak as he was and performed a movement technique.
Even while running, Maeng Gwang-gae found the scent of the Manlihyang, and fortunately, he said that the location was where the inn we had stayed at was.
Arriving at the inn in an instant and going up to the room where we were staying, the Green Snake was tied to a pillar, and my five senior brothers were standing guard over her with their swords drawn.
"Elder! You're here?"
"Unhwi-ya. You're here."
"Did anything happen on the way here?"
"No. Nothing happened."
"That's a relief."
Maeng Gwang-gae nodded his head and then approached the Green Snake, who was tied to a pillar with her head bowed low.
She was unconscious, as if my senior brothers had struck her vital points.
As Maeng Gwang-gae lightly touched the vital point on the top of her head.
"Heo-eok!"
The Green Snake took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
She, to see where this place was, turned her head here and there and then shouted, "You, you guys. You were all in on it?!"
"No, we're two groups."
"......?"
"I'm from the Beggars' Sect, and these kids are from the Wudang Sect."
She, ignoring Maeng Gwang-gae's words, glared at me and shouted, "You! Wudang Sect's Unhwi! What did you do to Go Mun-tak?"
"What do you mean, what did I do? Go Mun-tak is dead."
"Dead?! You killed him!"
"No. The bastard self-destructed. Didn't you know that you die if you eat three Demonic God Pill?"
"You die if you eat the Gwanghyeoldan...?"
She answered as if she didn't know.
"Wasn't it just that you can't move your body for a few days? You even die if you eat it?"
"That's if you eat just one. But if you eat excessively, you'll die before long. Didn't the person who gave that to Go Mun-tak tell you that?"
"......"
She didn't answer and just rolled her eyes.
Then she spat out something round from her mouth.
"The Gwanghyeoldan?"
"I-I didn't know you would die if you ate this. My master gave it to me so naturally..."
She suddenly became very anxious and then spat out two more Demonic God Pill from her mouth.
"He definitely... said that up to three were fine."
In her face, along with anxiety, even a sense of betrayal was visible.
"I don't know who gave it to you, but they probably thought it wouldn't matter if you and Go Mun-tak fought and died. Otherwise, they wouldn't have given you a medicine that you eat and die from. Isn't that right?"
"......"
She even looked confused.
I, stealthily approaching the Green Snake, asked, "Who gave it to you?"
"What?"
"I'm asking who gave that to you. You have to think carefully. The fact that you just spat out all the Demonic God Pill from your mouth means you want to live, right? But in this situation, what do you have to do to survive?"
"What do you mean, what do I do?"
"Don't you think it might be better to eat three Demonic God Pill and struggle to the end and die from a heart attack? Knowing who we are?"
"A-are you saying you're going to torture me?"
"I'm not saying I might, I'm saying I will. You might even regret it then, thinking you should have died."
"You bastards who call yourselves the righteous faction!"
"That's right. The righteous faction. But we only protect those who are worth protecting. Right now, if you don't prove your usefulness to me, you're no better than a beast."
In conclusion, it's a threat that if she doesn't give up the information, I'll torture her and kill her.
But I haven't said anything that cruel yet, and I haven't even laid a finger on her body, yet her face has turned pale.
It seems she has almost never encountered a situation like this.
Come to think of it, that's why she didn't come out of the gambling house for days and was stuck there.
Since the world is scary, it is expected that she is trying to eliminate the distance to face scary things altogether.
"But if you cooperate with us properly, I'll guarantee your life."
"You'll guarantee it? By what right?"
"Well, I'm just a baby Taoist who has just left the Wudang Sect, but for someone like Elder Maeng Gwang-gae here, guaranteeing your life wouldn't be a difficult task, would it? He's an elder of the Beggars' Sect, which is the largest among the Nine Factions One Sect. And I heard he has many connections in the Martial Alliance."
It seemed she had just realized that the old man in white clothes next to me was Maeng Gwang-gae.
"So trust Elder Maeng Gwang-gae. Elder. Am I right? If the Green Snake here cooperates properly, you'll let her live, right?"
Then Maeng Gwang-gae immediately nodded his head and opened his mouth.
"Isn't that obvious? In the end, the reason we torture someone, and then accidentally use too much force and they die, is all to get information. If they just spill it all out on their own, there's no need for us to do something that will tire us both out. And as for your life, although there will surely be a time you have to spend in the Martial Alliance's prison, if there is a sign of rehabilitation after the investigation is over, we will release you freely. If you don't plot any more bad things in the future, you will probably never have to see us again."
Maeng Gwang-gae spat out his words.
In fact, although his tone sometimes sounds very cold, in a situation like this, it is also a tone that inspires trust.
"You heard him, right? Think carefully. The sooner you think, the better."
"That's right. If you tell us the information we want to hear here first, you won't have to meet the interrogator even after we take you to the Martial Alliance... but if you hesitate here and go to the Martial Alliance, it'll be too late even if you want to tell us everything then."
"Wh... why is it too late?"
"Didn't you know that the Martial Alliance's interrogators are famous for being cruel? The bastards, overwhelmed by the atmosphere, even if you say you'll tell them everything you know then, they'll think, 'Since you made us wait this long, let's torture you for that crime first.' I heard that the first greeting is to be branded with a hot iron...?"
I, quickly pretending to know, accepted his story.
"Ah! Elder. I heard that too. They don't even take off the clothes, they just brand them right over the clothes?"
"That's right. That way, the clothes melt and stick to the branded skin, making it much more painful. I know that peeling off those clothes later is also a tremendous torture method."
"Ugh... and they don't peel it off gently, they just rip it off all at once, right?"
"That's right. The skin will be torn and blood will gush out."
"Ugh... and they sprinkle salt on that skin?"
"It's not just salt. It's salt mixed with sand. It'll probably feel like tens of thousands of fire ants are crawling on your body."
As we continued to talk, the Green Snake's face became more and more rigid.
She finally said with a pale face, "I-I'll talk! No, I'll talk. I'll tell you everything I know. But please, don't hand me over to the Martial Alliance."
"To be precise, we will hand you over to the Martial Alliance. But you won't go into the torture chamber."
"Ah, I see. Please do that. Please. I really hate being in pain."
She said desperately, and Maeng Gwang-gae, although he didn't want to, said as if he had no choice, "Yes. If you really want that, shall we decide after hearing what you know? Who did you receive the Gwanghyeoldan from?"
"My master gave it to me."
"How do I know who your master is! Won't you speak in detail?"
"I'm sorry. My master is the Evil Faction Alliance Leader. But I don't know his real name, his real origin, or his background. He just approached me one day when I was running a small gambling house, accepted me as his disciple, and gave me the opportunity to run a big gambling house like this. I just did my best in the given situation."
From then on, I took a step back.
Although I was also quite curious, when it comes to interrogation and information, old man Maeng Gwang-gae is the expert.
Anyway, what I want to ask, Maeng Gwang-gae might ask first, or it's fine to ask later.
***
A little while later, I, along with my senior brothers, left the inn.
Because among the things she had said, there was a statement that this month's tribute had not yet been delivered to the Evil Faction Alliance Leader and was still there.
So we decided to go and secure it first.
Although it was only for one month, since the scale of the gambling house was so large, the money would also be enormous.
But when we went to the inn connected to the gambling house, the front was crowded with people.
"How long are you going to be closed? You said you would be open again today!"
"Guest. I'm sorry... we also suddenly can't get in touch with the owner of the manor... please go back today, and we will definitely open from tomorrow."
"Agh! I'll have to go to another city. Where is there a place that operates so arbitrarily?!"
Most of the people were gamblers, and since the inn was open but the gambling house had been closed for several days, it seemed their dissatisfaction had reached its peak.
For me, who knew that this gambling house would never open again, it was a sight that didn't even make me laugh.
"We're not open today either. Everyone, please go back. Disperse! If we get caught by the government troops, the situation will become complicated. Hurry up and go back!"
The inn and gambling house staff worked hard to make the people disperse, and eventually, everyone went back and only a few people were left here.
We also stealthily slipped away and entered the mountain to find the back door that the Green Snake had told us about.
But it was right at that moment.
The sound of weapons clashing echoed from the back door.
My senior brothers and I, as soon as we heard the sound, dropped to the ground.
—I'll go and see, so you guys wait here for a moment.
After seeing my senior brothers nod their heads, I began to move stealthily and quickly alone.
And eventually, when I reached the place where the sound of fighting was heard.
I was able to find two unexpected people fighting.
'One is Hwang-jo... and the other is Chun-mong?'
As I was trying to figure out what was going on, Hwang-jo shouted, swinging his sword, "What did you do to the owner of the manor!"
"Why are you asking me what I did to your owner of the manor?"
"Tell me the truth. You murderer!"
I, after thinking for a moment about what to do... just decided to intervene in that fight and subdue Hwang-jo.
Because I couldn't just let the innocent Chun-mong be misunderstood and attacked.
(End of Chapter)