Zhu Seogi stared at Jeok Wigang with an absurd expression.
“When did you get the Commander under your thumb too?”
“We knew each other already. I’d been looking for him because he disappeared, and it turned out he was working with the Embroidered Uniform Guard here.”
“Huh.”
Their relationship was obvious at a glance.
That terrifying Commander could not even look Jeok Wigang in the eye. He was trembling with his head bowed.
A thought suddenly occurred to Zhu Seogi.
“Did you call him here to draw men from the Embroidered Uniform Guard to fill the Western Depot’s shortage?”
“Of course not. The Embroidered Uniform Guard aren’t eunuchs. How could we draw from them?”
“Then why?”
“We need to call in the Eastern Depot bastards.”
“Hm?”
“We’ll throw out bait and make them come rushing in.”
“Bait?”
“The Imperial Seal. If we make it look as though the Embroidered Uniform Guard seized the Imperial Seal and is moving it, the Eastern Depot bastards will try to take it. And because their opponent is the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they’ll send elites.”
“And then?”
“We catch them all and shove them into the Western Depot. Isn’t that wonderful? Since they’re elites, they’ll be reliable talent.”
Innovative.
This was one way to fill positions.
“Then the Eastern Depot could use the Imperial Seal as an excuse to pressure the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
“The Embroidered Uniform Guard can simply say they were fooled by a fake Imperial Seal. What are the Eastern Depot bastards going to do? It’s fake. And if they come charging in again, we just catch them and stuff them into the Western Depot too.”
“Will the Eastern Depot stay quiet?”
“We keep it secret. We pretend they disappeared and insist we know nothing. There’s no proof, so what can they do? Or we could pin it on another faction and make them fight the Eastern Depot. Then they’ll wear each other down, so that wouldn’t be bad either.”
Zhu Seogi thought to himself.
He would absolutely never become Jeok Wigang’s enemy.
“Then I’ll begin.”
Before he realized it, Zhu Seogi had nodded.
*****
“Urgent report!”
The Chief Eunuch, who had been looking into a mirror, frowned at the commotion.
“What is it? An urgent report at this hour?”
The door opened, and a eunuch hurried in before prostrating himself.
“We have found the Imperial Seal.”
“What? Truly?”
“Yes! It is the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Those bastards seized the Imperial Seal from the Hanlin Academy!”
“So it was them, just as expected. That damned Commander. He pretended to have no greed for power on the surface, but he was more desperate than anyone.”
“We have intelligence that they are currently moving the Imperial Seal in secret. What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? Pick only the elites and send them. Kill them all and bring back the Imperial Seal.”
“You mean the Embroidered Uniform Guard?”
“Wear masks when you go. Then who will know who killed them? And the dead won’t be making statements about who killed them either. Just don’t leave traces behind.”
“Understood!”
“Do it properly this time. Don’t disappoint me.”
“Yes! We will make certain of it.”
“Good. Go.”
“Yes, sir!”
*****
A dozen or so men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were moving urgently through the darkness.
A group watched them.
They were the elites sent by the Eastern Depot.
—From how urgently they are moving, it is definitely them.
—What should we do? Shall we begin the attack?
—Yes. Begin. Kill them all and secure the Imperial Seal.
—Understood.
PA-PA-PAT—
The moment the order fell, the Eastern Depot elites flew swiftly toward the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
That was when it happened.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard suddenly twisted around and scattered in every direction.
“Damn it! They noticed! Catch them!”
The Eastern Depot elites spread out in all directions, chasing the scattered Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Their leader muttered.
“They’re using their heads. Since we can’t tell which one has the Imperial Seal, we have no choice but to chase them all.”
The leader thought they had scattered to make it impossible to tell who was carrying the Imperial Seal.
Then a heavy sound reached his ears.
CRAAACK—
It almost sounded like an axe biting into wood.
CRAAACK—
Or like leather being beaten with a club.
WHUMP—
A series of blows burst out, each one heavy enough to make the bones ache just from hearing it.
It was not the sound of a blade cutting flesh, nor the metallic ring of iron clashing against iron.
How to put it?
It was a heavy sound, like someone beating people with fists.
Those sounds continued for a while, then stopped at some point.
As silence settled, the leader unconsciously strained his ears.
“Are you the leader?”
Startled by the sudden voice, he instinctively swung his sword toward the sound.
TAANG—
The blade he thrust out in panic was stopped by something.
When the leader turned his gaze, he swallowed his breath.
His sharp sword blade had been stopped dead by one joint of the other man’s index finger.
“I asked if you were the leader. Swinging a blade out of nowhere is rude, isn’t it?”
“W-Who are you?”
“I don’t think that’s a question a man wearing a mask should be throwing around.”
SHAAK—
The mask was stripped away in an instant.
It happened so quickly that for a moment, he did not even realize his mask had been removed.
Only when the cool wind touched his cheek did he realize it was gone.
“Eastern Depot, as expected. Right?”
The leader hurriedly scattered something at Jeok Wigang, who was asking with a grin, and retreated a good distance.
After retreating, the leader covered his nose and mouth with something blue.
“You fool! You definitely inhaled it!”
“It smells sweet.”
“That sweet scent is the scent of death. All the inner qi you possess will turn into poison and eat you away.”
“Oh? Really?”
“The more you regulate the breath and circulate qi, the stronger the poison becomes, so you cannot expel it. If you do not circulate qi, your dantian will rot first, so no matter what you do, you will die.”
“Wow. I can’t believe such an incredible poison exists. That’s impressive. But what a shame. I have no inner qi. Then isn’t that poison useless against me?”
“What? You blocked my sword with one finger, and you’re claiming you have no inner qi? Are you telling me to believe that?”
“What do I gain by lying to you?”
“T-That’s... a trick to confuse me and make me give you the antidote?”
“You don’t understand words, do you? I’m telling you it’s useless because I have no inner qi. So why would I need an antidote?”
“Is that... really true?”
“When do the symptoms appear?”
“Immediately?”
Jeok Wigang shrugged.
There was no change in him whatsoever.
Was it true?
Then how had he blocked the sword?
“Don’t tell me. Is it Diamond Invulnerability?”
“Well, something similar.”
If the other man truly had Diamond Invulnerability, no attack would work no matter how much he struck him.
If he had no inner qi, then he would not be able to follow, so there was no need to bother dealing with him.
The leader quickly deployed his lightness art to escape.
His subordinates were nowhere to be seen, so they had probably all been taken down.
This was a trap.
A trap those Embroidered Uniform Guard bastards had dug to lure them in.
He had to hurry back and report this.
He rushed away like that.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
The voice rang out again.
The leader turned his head in shock and saw Jeok Wigang grinning as he kept pace right beside him.
“Gah!”
“We’re not done talking yet. You can’t leave.”
“H-How?”
“Why?”
“How can someone with no inner qi use a lightness art?”
“Oh, this? I’m just running fast.”
Impossible.
He was saying he had kept up with him not through a lightness art, but simply by running fast?
“Let’s stop for now.”
Thud.
“Guh!”
His nape was seized like a lightning strike while he was still running.
His breath caught, and his legs flailed in empty air.
He tried drawing up his inner qi to escape, but it was useless.
The man’s strength was so absurd that no matter how violently he struggled, he did not budge.
The leader was dropped straight to the ground, and the impact that shot up through his back left him unable to breathe.
“Ghk!”
He had been slammed forcibly from midair into the ground.
“We have something to discuss, but let’s start with a beating.”
A beating out of nowhere?
As if he would just obediently let himself be beaten...
CRAAACK—
“Guh!”
It felt as though a giant boulder had slammed across his face, and his mind went hazy.
He barely clung to his fading consciousness and tried to counterattack.
CRAAACK—
“Grrrgh!”
This time, a heavy impact struck his abdomen, so powerful that his eyes nearly popped out. He felt his body lift briefly into the air, and his mind went hazy again.
It was pain unlike anything he had ever felt in his life.
Even so, he endured.
With the will not to submit to mere fists.
SLAP— SLAP— SLAP—
Each blow brought pain as though his cheek were being erased.
One or two strikes might have been bearable, but the blows came in succession, and he could not endure it. At this rate, his face would be smashed apart.
When he opened his ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) eyes, Jeok Wigang was looking pleased to see him.
“You’re awake now. We should start again.”
“Huh...?”
He had been certain he endured it.
“What? You fainted, so you don’t remember what happened?”
“Fainted? Me?”
“You really don’t know. Strange. I controlled my strength properly.”
Jeok Wigang looked at the leader and said,
“You’re weaker than I expected.”
That scraped the leader’s pride, and he flared up.
“Wh-What nonsense! I never fainted!”
“Then endure it.”
“Fine! I’ll endure as much as you like!”
The leader glared at Jeok Wigang with a resolute expression.
“That’s a good attitude.”
“Huh?”
Something felt wrong.
As Jeok Wigang’s fist came flying toward him, the leader sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.
That day, for the first time, he experienced what it meant to be beaten until the dust flew, and that no man was strong in front of a fist.
*****
“They were all taken down?”
“I-It seems so. Not one has returned.”
“You’re certain you sent only elites?”
“I definitely sent only elites.”
“And yet none returned?”
“Since the Imperial Seal was being moved, I suspect the Embroidered Uniform Guard may also have prepared thoroughly.”
SHING—
SHAAK—
With the sound of a sword being drawn, the reporting eunuch’s left arm flew off.
“Ghk!”
“If you thought that, you should have accounted for all of it before sending the men. Isn’t that right?”
“Y-You are correct.”
“I was going to cut off your right arm, but in consideration of your loyalty all this time, I’ll let you off with the left.”
“Th-Thank you!”
“Good grief. What is this? You’ve even made me see blood.”
“I apologize.”
“This is your last chance. Be careful from now on.”
“Yes!”
“You’re still bleeding. Stop it quickly.”
“Yes!”
PA-PAT—
He sealed his pressure points to stop the bleeding, then bowed his head again and asked,
“What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? If the Embroidered Uniform Guard took it, they’ll make some sort of move. It won’t be too late to respond then.”
“What will you do if they join hands with His Majesty?”
“If they do, so what? Will they be able to do anything? The Emperor won’t live long anyway, and the next Emperor will be Noble Consort Man’s child. All we need to do is raise Noble Consort Man’s child to Crown Prince. So watch carefully to see what they do, then report it.”
“Yes.”
*****
Time passed.
The day of the provincial examination drew near.
Countless people had gathered in the imperial palace square, preparing to take the exam.
Jeok Wigang was also seated in one of the places there, having finished his preparations.
That was when it happened.
“Big Brother!”
At the sound of someone calling him, he turned his head and saw Ouyang Hu there.
“Ah, it’s been a while.”
“You said you would stay at our house when you came to the Imperial Capital.”
“Ah, I was going to, but I heard your entire family came up.”
“Yes.”
“I smashed your house to pieces, so everyone came up here. How could I go there and make things uncomfortable?”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, Ouyang Hu laughed.
“Well, that’s true too. Still, Father was waiting for you a great deal.”
“Why?”
“He said he came to his senses thanks to you. He said he was grateful and that he must repay you.”
“That sounds like he’s definitely going to take revenge.”
“Oh, come on. How could he take revenge on you unless he’d gone insane? That would be no different from saying he wanted the family wiped out.”
Jeok Wigang gave a small laugh.
“Well, if he came to his senses, that’s good enough.”