Chapter 340
To be honest, from what I felt, it seemed like it would be fine to leave their fight alone.
Because Hwang-jo's skills were worse than I thought, and Chun-mong's skills were better than I thought.
"Stop attacking me! There's a limit to how much I can endure."
"Then tell me where the owner of the manor is first!"
Although Chun-mong responded rather politely, Hwang-jo, with his eyes almost turned, attacked Hwang-jo.
I couldn't distinguish whether that appearance was loyalty or affection.
But, one thing is certain, he is desperate.
"Hwang-jo. Stop. That person doesn't know the whereabouts of the Green Snake at all."
"...? And you are?"
So I hurriedly intervened between them.
Both Hwang-jo and Chun-mong, who had discovered me, seemed a little flustered by my sudden appearance.
"It was you! You're the one who... our owner of the manor!"
"That's right. I took her. And I'll let you be with the owner of the manor you want to be with so much. Ah! But you won't be in the same room. You'll be locked up in a different prison."
"What? A prison?"
I, without answering the bastard's question, performed a movement technique and instantly approached Hwang-jo.
Both Hwang-jo's and Chun-mong's eyes were filled with surprise.
Hwang-jo seemed surprised because he couldn't even properly grasp my movements, and Chun-mong seemed surprised because he didn't know I had such a high level of martial arts.
Since I had no intention of hiding my skills now, nor was there a need to, I subdued Hwang-jo with the best capturing art I could perform.
Hwang-jo, who was instantly restrained by me with his arms and the back of his neck grabbed, let out a rough groan, but I didn't care.
"H-how...?"
"What do you mean, how? If you train hard, you become like this. You were so arrogant in the gambling house, but in fact, you were nothing special, were you?"
"Ugh...!"
Although Hwang-jo struggled hard to get out of my arms, of course, I didn't budge.
I, after hitting the back of the bastard's neck with a peok! and knocking him out, slung him over my shoulder.
"Heo... Mr. Hwi. What is this..."
"You don't have to keep pretending you don't know. Mr. Chun. You've been convinced that I'm Hwi-un from before, haven't you?"
"Ahem..."
The reason I revealed my true skills in front of Chun-mong was precisely this.
In fact, Chun-mong seemed to be treating me as if he had confirmed that I was the self-reliant swordsman, Hwi-un.
No matter how much I said no, it means that he treated me as if I were a benefactor.
"No. It wasn't a conviction."
"Then?"
"I just... treated you while hoping that you were Hwi-un. If the person I met by chance and became close to is actually my benefactor... how great would that be?"
"Heh. You have a sense of romance."
"Hahaha! A man who lacks romance starts to get old from then on. I'm still too young to get old."
I, after spreading my energy to check if there was anyone around, and after confirming that Hwang-jo was definitely unconscious, said to him, "Since it seems I can tell you, Mr. Chun, I'll be honest. I'm actually not the self-reliant swordsman, Hwi-un."
"Then...?"
"Ah! To be precise, Hwi-un is also correct. Because that's what I used as a pseudonym in Chongqing."
"If it's a pseudonym, it means you have a real name..."
"I am Unhwi of the Wudang Sect. I'm sorry for deceiving you from the beginning."
"Unhwi! Ah-ah...! Hwi-un, Unhwi. So that's how it was."
But Chun-mong's face was not displeased at all.
On the contrary, he was smiling happily.
"I've deceived you twice about my identity, aren't you upset?"
"Upset? What's there to be upset about! In fact, if my benefactor had turned out to be the head of some evil faction, I would have been in trouble. I swore to myself that I would repay my benefactor's kindness, but if he were a villain, I would have ended up helping a villain, wouldn't I? But on the contrary, you're a Taoist of the Wudang Sect. I'm so happy. Come to think of it, if he were a villain, he wouldn't have helped my brother like that. Hahaha!"
He seemed to be genuinely laughing.
Fortunately, it seemed I had judged the person correctly.
"But this is an absolute, absolute secret. In fact, what happened in Chongqing was a bigger deal than you think. I can't tell you in detail, but..."
"You're saying that because a key figure of the Demonic Cult died there. Was he a pretty high-ranking official?"
"Ah... how did you...?"
"I don't know in detail. However, after I knew that my brother had gone through such a hardship, I searched the area thoroughly for a while, looking for anything that might be a threat to my brother again. Because the bastards might try to harm my brother in revenge. But from then on, it seemed that the Demonic Cult bastards were wandering around Chongqing a lot. So I guessed. That someone related to the Demonic Cult must have died there that day."
It was a pretty amazing deduction.
Of course, it seems he didn't know the fact that the one who died was a young master of the Demonic Cult, but still, it's not an easy task to deduce this much with just that much information.
Although his personality is peculiar, his martial arts are also outstanding, and his mind seems to be very sharp.
I thought that Chun-mong would get along well with Maeng Gwang-gae.
"But Mr. Hwi. Why did you do this? I heard from Hwang-jo that the owner of the manor was also taken by you..."
"I apologize for not being able to tell you in detail. But if I were to tell you just one thing... this is also related to the Demonic Cult."
"Ah...! I see. So that's how it was."
"Did you figure something out just by hearing that?"
"Isn't it obvious? This gambling house must have been one of the Demonic Cult's sources of funds. Before that, I would have had to figure out how this place was related to the Demonic Cult to find the connection, but since I don't need to know that much, I can just say it this easily."
I made a surprised expression without realizing it.
Chun-mong's deductive power seems to be beyond my imagination.
Although I met Chun-mong by chance, I began to covet him.
"For now, I roughly understand what happened. And don't worry about information leaks. I'm a person with a heavy mouth. Haha!"
Although I have never seen a proper person who says that their mouth is heavy with their own mouth, I decided to believe him this time, offsetting it with the amazing appearances he had shown so far.
"Um... you said you wanted to repay my kindness, right?"
"Of course! Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes. There is. But it's a bit of a difficult problem..."
"What is it? I'll decide after hearing it first."
"Usually, wouldn't you say 'Just say whatever it is!' at a time like this?"
"Well. It's right to say that in this atmosphere, but I've been burned a few times because of that."
At his playful words, I, after bursting out laughing, said to him again, "Would you go to the Martial Alliance?"
"Hmm?"
"As far as I know, you are currently wandering the martial world without any affiliation. But could you not use your outstanding martial arts and abilities... for the martial world?"
"Me, in the Martial Alliance...?"
"Currently, the Martial Alliance is diligently gathering talented individuals. Although we haven't been together for long, the thought that you would be a great asset there never leaves my mind. I will speak well to the Alliance Leader and ask if he can guide you in your martial arts."
"No... what's that..."
He was noticeably flustered.
He must have never even thought about the Martial Alliance, and on top of that, I was suddenly offering to arrange for the Martial Alliance Leader's martial arts guidance.
But he soon returned to his original expression and said, "Hmm... I'm a person who wandered the Central Plains freely because I didn't like being affiliated with anywhere. I'm not a person who suits the Martial Alliance."
"No. In my opinion, you suit it better than anyone. It's not that the Martial Alliance only has rigid martial artists. We also need people who can wander the world freely and spread justice. I thought you would be suitable for that role."
"Hmm... I'll think... about it."
"I understand. You can go to the Martial Alliance when you've made up your mind after thinking about it slowly. I'll send a letter there."
"I see."
"For now, I think we should wrap things up here for today. I have a lot to sort out with this gambling house matter."
"Ah! I see. If I have something to say next time, I'll have to send a letter to the Wudang Sect."
He found his playful smile again.
Before parting with him, I asked one more thing.
"Ah! But Mr. Chun. I have one more thing I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"But how did you end up here? And why were you suddenly fighting with Hwang-jo?"
"In fact, I had known about the secret passage here for a long time. The structure of the gambling house was so peculiar that I judged that there must be a hole like this and had found it before. But the gambling house kept closing, and important people like the Green Snake and Hwang-jo were nowhere to be seen... so I was guarding this place, wondering if they had run away through this rat hole. I didn't see the Green Snake, but Hwang-jo crawled out."
"What were you going to do by guarding this place?"
"I was going to ask why they were trying to quit the gambling house, and if they were thinking of opening it again somewhere else. Because there was no place as fun as this..."
He, as if he were embarrassed, scratched the back of his head and then opened his mouth again.
"But I don't need to find the gambling house again now."
"Why?"
"Because you, Mr. Hwi, have given me a proposal that seems to be more fun than that. Well... if you guarantee my freedom, it seems it would be fun to work for the Martial Alliance once as a righteous faction martial artist."
He said with a broad smile.
It meant that he accepted my proposal.
I, bowing my head lightly to him, said, "Thank you. I should send a letter quickly. In fact, I'm really close to the Martial Alliance Leader. If I say you're someone I recommend, they will surely treat you with great hospitality."
"I don't need great hospitality. You just have to make it fun for me. Please write that down too."
"I understand."
We, after that, promised to meet again in the future and parted ways.
I, who had returned to where my senior brothers were, entrusted Hwang-jo to Senior Brother Un-sik to take him to the inn, and with the rest of my senior brothers, went down the secret passage and brought everything we could.
Although there were a few martial artists guarding the inside, they were no match for me and my senior brothers.
I, who had brought such an enormous amount of money and treasures to the inn, gave it all to Maeng Gwang-gae.
"Unhwi-ya. To be honest, I thought you would do something with this... are you really not going to take any of it?"
"No. Please divide it to the extent that you think it's okay to give us, elder. And as for the rest of the money, please either distribute it to the people around you or take it to the Martial Alliance."
"You don't seem to be greedy for money... why are you doing this this time?"
"Although all money is the same, the money from the gambling house is ultimately money that contains someone's tears and regrets, right? I feel like I might get bad luck if I embezzle such money. And I also think that there is no one like you, Elder Maeng Gwang-gae, who can distribute such a large amount of money without any selfish motives."
"You brat. I'm a person too, and I have greed."
"Before that, you're a beggar, aren't you? You have no attachment to wealth."
"Usually, isn't it that you're a person before you're a beggar?"
"You're not an ordinary person, elder."
He, chuckling, answered, "Yes! I understand. I'll try to distribute it very fairly and coolly. But just know that most of it will be attributed to the Martial Alliance."
"Yes. I won't interfere, so please do it well."
I trust him. Especially when it comes to money, I know well from my past and present lives that Maeng Gwang-gae is a person who can look at gold rolling on the ground as if it were just money.
"Then... shall we wake up the Green Snake now?"
"Alright."
Maeng Gwang-gae's expression is as if the money has already been erased from his mind.
Even for the world-weary Maeng Gwang-gae, there were a few things he was greedy for, and one of them was 'information'.
He, to dig out what he was most greedy for, tapped a few of the Green Snake's vital points, and.
"Ugh..."
She woke up with a groan.
Now it was time to hear her story.
(End of Chapter)