Chapter 177
'So-ah... what should I do with you? I'm confused, so confused!'
Jeon Woo-chi, who was suddenly called 'Deputy Chief Jeon', was so dumbfounded that he almost burst into laughter.
'Aww, but what can I do? If he tells me to do it, I have to do it!'
But Jeon Woo-chi, who had taken a liking to the acting divine art, seemed to be enjoying it, and he said with a solemn expression.
"Yes, Great Leader! I will crush this man's head!"
At that.
"Phew! No... it seems I will have to personally guide this ignorant being, whose head is full of demons..."
So-ah, not to be outdone by Jeon Woo-chi, immersed himself in the situation and acted as an old man whose heart was breaking.
'...What are these guys? Are they crazy?!'
The White Lotus Cult man who had approached So-ah was, for a moment, so dumbfounded that he was silent and just frowned.
No matter how he looked at it, So-ah and Jeon Woo-chi seemed like madmen.
But it didn't take long for him to 'worship' So-ah.
So-ah's right hand, which had come out of nowhere, grabbed the man by the collar, and,
So-ah's body, which had entangled him, jumped like lightning and flew into the sky.
'Primeval Lord of Heaven... please forgive my sins today...! Phew...'
Seeing that sight, Jeon Woo-chi let out a long sigh inwardly.
Because he could predict how terrible and pathetic a sight would unfold before his eyes after one shichen.
'Aww! I don't know!!'
Jeon Woo-chi also followed So-ah and the hostage who was held by him with a swift footwork.
***
"Y-You brats! What is your identity?"
The place where So-ah had dragged the White Lotus Cult member was a deserted pine forest in a mountain valley.
Jeon Woo-chi did not ask why So-ah had dragged the man into the mountains.
Because he seemed to know the reason well enough.
'Yes... the mountains are the best for catching people.'
It was as expected.
Soon, So-ah's torture was carried out without a moment's hesitation.
"Didn't I tell you? This old man left the Gansu cult branch three months ago to proselytize."
"D-Don't lie! If you were a member of the cult, how could you treat me like this! Reveal your identity, you brat!"
The White Lotus Cult man was not a fool.
Although he had almost been deceived by So-ah at first, since there were one or two suspicious parts, and how could he trust an unidentified old man who had grabbed him by the collar and had dragged him deep into the mountains?
But.
His reason and logic, on the contrary, became a moment of defeat.
It would have been better if he had at least pretended to be deceived...
"Oh? I'm caught?!"
That was the end.
So-ah did not make any excuses and meekly admitted the man's words.
And.
"Aww!"
He stretched out his foot and struck the joint between the man's knees.
"Kwa-a-a-ak!"
An indescribable sharp pain.
So-ah was now on par with a god when it came to beatings.
Although it was just a kick without any internal energy, since he knew which part of the human body to beat up to make it hurt the most, the White Lotus Cult man could not help but feel a pain as if his knee had been stabbed with a knife.
"When you live in the world."
So-ah's foot this time stomped on the head of the man who had fallen and was rolling around.
"Sometimes, not knowing is the best medicine."
Despite the terrible scene of the man's head being buried in a pile of dirt, So-ah once again stomped on his side with a loud bang.
"Or, you should have at least pretended not to know, right? Since you already noticed that I'm not a member of the White Lotus Cult."
"Keub... keub-ha-a-a-ak!"
The man shook off the dust on his face and, clutching his side, rolled on the ground.
"Let's get a beating first, you heretical cult uncle?"
A cruel flower of laughter bloomed on So-ah's face as he said that.
Jeon Woo-chi, watching that sight, just shook his head.
'He's already beating him like a dog, so what's with the 'let's get a beating'... phew!'
Sometimes.
Very rarely, even if it's a bad brat, when you see them being beaten by So-ah, you feel a sense of pity.
***
"Sob... sob..."
He cried.
As a man, it must have been the first tears he had shed since his head had hardened and he had become an adult...
'Tsk-tsk, that's...'
The sight of a grown man crying with his face covered in tears and snot was not a pleasant sight.
Moreover, considering that the man's identity was a messenger of a local cult branch of a heretical religion called the 'White Lotus Cult', which committed human sacrifice and deceived the people, wasn't it at a bizarre level?
But Jeon Woo-chi understood the man's feelings very well.
First of all, the White Lotus Cult man had been beaten from head to toe, including his shoulders, knees, and feet.
Moreover, since it was a beating that was delivered one by one by the hands of the world's best fighter, So-ah, how much must it have hurt?
Perhaps, a pain greater than being seared with a red-hot iron had attacked the man.
That was not all.
The scary thing about So-ah's torture was precisely in his 'eloquence' rather than the beatings.
—Does it hurt? Yes, I hit you to make it hurt.
—Are you wronged? Yes, I hit you to make you feel wronged.
—What? You have a wife and children? You want me to spare you? You want me to stop hitting you? A brat with a wife and children makes others shed tears of blood? Let's get a beating, you son of a bitch.
—Ah! So you're just a brat who does as he's told. Ah! Why didn't you say so earlier? Alright! Then since you're a brat who does as he's told, you must be good at getting beaten as you're told, right? Then I'll beat you. Hehet?
In the face of So-ah's personality, who exercised ruthless violence while turning a person's insides upside down, Jeon Woo-chi clicked his tongue, and the man, who had been holding back his tears, burst into tears.
"Hey! Stop! Stop crying!"
"Y-Yes!!"
The effect of the violence was great.
After being beaten to the point where he would not die, but would not be able to use his limbs properly for the rest of his life, and having all his hair pulled out, the man, whether it was his pride or whatever, had thrown it all away and had become a well-behaved dog in an instant.
"Now! From now on, you will confess all the information you know about the White Lotus Cult without leaving anything out. From the organizational structure to the location of the branches throughout the Central Plains, the members, the characteristics, the genealogy, and the lineage! If there is even a little bit of a lie mixed in, the process of 'human remodeling by beating' that we have done so far will be repeated once again."
"G-Great hero! Whether I am telling the truth or mixing in lies... who will judge! I will definitely not lie... but if the great hero says it's a lie... I..."
The man could not say all the words in his heart.
Because judging from the learning effect, it was clear that the devil in front of him would insist that it was a lie and would beat him up.
"Ah! There's a way."
"Yes?"
"I told you earlier. This old man uses insight."
In a word, it was a story that he would judge as he pleased.
'You son of a bitch!'
The man cursed inwardly and began to reveal all the information he knew about the White Lotus Cult.
***
'Wow... this is a bigger gain than I thought.'
'The work will be easy.'
So-ah and Jeon Woo-chi rejoiced.
Because the information that came out of the man's mouth was of a much higher quality than they had thought.
It turned out that the man, who had identified himself as the messenger of the Sichuan cult branch, was a person with a fairly high rank within the Sichuan cult branch, and in addition to the information about the Sichuan cult branch, he seemed to know a certain amount about the Gansu cult branch and the Potala Palace in the Western Regions, where the Cult Leader, the Blood Demon, was in seclusion.
"So... the Sichuan cult branch is just a small branch with nothing special, and it only plays the role of transporting people by supplying and delivering them? Is that right?"
"Th-That's right, great hero."
"And for security, all the cult members wear animal masks?"
"Yes. I wear a wolf mask in the cult. The branch leader and the deputy branch leader, who are higher in rank than me, are active wearing tiger masks."
'Good... I can infiltrate right away.'
The work is going more smoothly than I thought.
It was a moment when the corners of So-ah's lips rose wide.
"Ah! And the most important thing."
"Yes?"
"In your cult branch."
"Yes..."
"Do you have money?"
"...?!"
"...!"
In an instant, the man and Jeon Woo-chi doubted their own two ears.
Although the White Lotus Cult man tilted his head because he could not grasp the intention of the question, in the case of Jeon Woo-chi, who knew So-ah well,
'Even in this situation, money... is that really a money ghost possessing him? I don't know if I should perform an exorcism.'
He even had the funny thought that perhaps a money ghost was possessing So-ah.
But then, soon,
"Why aren't you answering, you bastard. I'm asking if you have money!"
"Ah... ah... th-that is... we do have money... we are receiving financial support from the Gansu cult branch for missionary activities and human sacrifice..."
"How much do you have?"
"The detailed financial situation is only known to the branch leader and the deputy branch leader, but I believe we have at least 5 million silver nyang..."
"Aww!"
"Kwa-a-a-a-ak!"
One flick on the head.
A subsequent short scream.
As soon as the unbelievable amount of 5 million silver nyang came out of the White Lotus Cult man's mouth, So-ah performed his signature mountain peak flick on his bald head.
"They're complete trash. My goodness! How come all these bad brats are so rich?"
So-ah was furious to the top of his head.
Because he had felt it since the time of Eunuch Han, but it seemed that the human trash who lived by picking and choosing bad deeds accumulated more wealth than the people who lived honestly and righteously.
Of course.
'Anyway, it's money that will go into his own pocket, so why is he so angry?'
Jeon Woo-chi, who knew better than anyone that So-ah would swallow all the money of the Sichuan cult branch, felt a doubt.
"Keu-euk..."
Whether that was the case or not, the bald man touched the lump that had suddenly risen on his head and rolled on the ground once again.
It was So-ah's mountain peak flick on the head that had made even the members of the Eastern Depot, whose whole bodies were trained like steel with the imperial court's martial arts, cry and shed tears.
The man's pained struggle was by no means an exaggeration.
But.
"Hey, hey! Get up. Stop exaggerating."
So-ah did not show any mercy.
"Y-You bas...!"
The man felt an anger that was enough to twist his internal organs.
He had done as he was told, and had confessed everything he was told to confess, but since it was a random assault every time, wasn't it a crazy situation?
He couldn't help but curse.
"What did you just say to me?"
"Ugh... euk... no... I was in pain and some nonsense came out..."
"Is that right? I must have misheard, right?"
"Of course..."
"Aww!"
This time, it was not a flick on the head.
So-ah used his footwork to kick the man's Adam's apple with all his might.
"Keuk..."
The man could not even scream.
What scream?
He couldn't even breathe.
"Are you wronged? Are you angry? It's okay. You guys can be like that. You can be beaten, you can be broken, you can be torn, and you can die. So don't feel wronged."
Simultaneously.
So-ah's ruthless, reckless assault continued once again.
In the first place, So-ah had no intention of keeping the man alive.
In a word, the moment he met So-ah, the man's fate was bound to end in death.
***
"Wow! Brother Woo-chi. How is it? This is perfect, right?"
So-ah performed a perfect disguise art in the appearance of the White Lotus Cult man.
At that, he had transformed from the appearance of an old man to the face, skeleton, and even the voice of the White Lotus Cult man.
"It's exactly the same. Even his family wouldn't be able to recognize him."
"Good. Then let's get started, brother."
So-ah, who said that, pulled something out of his bag.
And then, with only his head peeking out, he said to the White Lotus Cult man, whose whole body was buried in the ground.
"You deserve to die, but I'm sparing your life because the information you provided was so useful. Instead. Whether you survive or not is entirely up to your fate."
Simultaneously.
What he had prepared was none other than honey.
So-ah began to spread the honey evenly on the man's bald head.
"Hey! This is good honey, you know? There are a lot of bugs and bears in this mountain, so the animals will lo~~~ve it, right? I wish you good luck, you piece of trash. Kekekeke!"
And then, he turned his body with Jeon Woo-chi and began to descend the mountain...
"Y-You sons of bitches!! Kill me and go! I said kill me and go!"
The cry of the White Lotus Cult man echoed through the foothills of the mountain.
Of course.
In less than a moment, the bugs of the mountain, who had smelled the delicious honey, began to have a celebration on his bald head.
(End of Chapter)