Chapter 14
I Know You’re a Born Sucker, but… (2)
Im Chung immediately headed to the Heo Family Sword Clan with Beon Saeng.
The head of the Heo Family Sword Clan was Heo Sa. The clan had originally been the strongest sect in Zhejiang Province, but after the Divine Fire Hall rose like a comet, it had been pushed into second place.
“What brings the Branch Leader here?”
“I came because there is something important I must discuss with you.”
“Please, speak.”
“Are you aware of the tragedy that befell Great Hero Yang Chu not long ago?”
“Of course. It was a terrible tragedy.”
“I came to ask whether you know anything related to the incident.”
Heo Sa had never imagined that Im Chung would visit him over that matter.
The Im Chung he knew was merely a man who struggled to hold on to his position as branch leader in this rural backwater.
“It is regrettable, but I know nothing in particular.”
Im Chung had already expected that Heo Sa would not speak willingly.
It was time to make his decisive move.
“I will be frank. I believe the Divine Fire Hall was involved in the incident.”
If Wang Gon was released, he would never let the matter end quietly. Since they were bound to suffer either way, Im Chung had to seize an opportunity to counterattack.
At the mention of the Divine Fire Hall, Heo Sa flinched.
The situation called for surprise, but the nature of his reaction suggested that he knew something about the incident.
“In fact, we arrested him today. However, due to insufficient evidence, we are now in a position where we may have to release him.”
“Something like that happened?”
Heo Sa grew suspicious.
The Martial Alliance’s Munseong Branch, as he knew it, possessed neither the ability nor the courage to arrest Wang Gon.
“Is what you say true?”
“Why would I lie about something that will soon become public knowledge? If it is proven that the Divine Fire Hall was involved in this matter, they will be finished.”
Heo Sa stared at Im Chung.
Whether he had come because he had been cornered or because he was burning with a sense of justice, he felt different from the Im Chung of the past.
“Why did you come to me?”
“Please help me.”
“How?”
Im Chung’s eyes conveyed his determination to solve the case as he made his request.
“Tell me everything you know.”
When Im Chung and Beon Saeng returned to the branch, they immediately sought out Baek Socheon.
“The Heo Family Sword Clan gave us information regarding Yang Chu.”
Im Chung’s expression was flushed with excitement.
“What information?”
“Apparently, Yang Chu had recently been investigating a new business venture being undertaken by the Divine Fire Hall.”
“How did the Heo Family Sword Clan know that?”
“They were the ones who asked him to investigate it. They had learned that the Divine Fire Hall was preparing some major undertaking, so Clan Head Heo Sa personally asked Yang Chu to look into it.”
It was certainly testimony that could provide a lead in solving the case.
Yang Chu had been murdered while investigating the Divine Fire Hall at the request of a rival sect. Under those circumstances, it was reasonable to suspect that the Divine Fire Hall had killed him.
“What sort of new business is it?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t know.”
Im Chung explained to Baek Socheon the new venture the Divine Fire Hall intended to establish in Munseong.
Baek Socheon had now become deeply involved in the matter, so Im Chung believed he needed to know everything.
After hearing the full explanation, Baek Socheon tilted his head.
“The new business is the construction of a massive ironworks in Munseong?”
“They said they intend to build the largest ironworks in the Central Plains.”
“That truly is strange.”
Beon Saeng interjected.
“There’s nothing strange about it. The Divine Fire Hall said they intended to make the ironworks business their main focus from now on.”
It was something they had heard from Cheuk Su before.
“That is precisely why it is strange.”
“What?”
“If they build an ironworks here, at the southernmost edge of Zhejiang Province, transporting the weapons produced there throughout the Central Plains will cost an enormous sum. If their intention is truly to expand the business, as they claim, they should build it somewhere with a geographic advantage, such as Henan or Hubei.”
“Oh! Now that you mention it, that’s true!”
Beon Saeng looked at Im Chung as though asking whether the theory was not reasonable.
Im Chung proposed another possibility.
“Perhaps they intend to supply only their own forces?”
“Wouldn’t the scale be far too large for that?”
“Then perhaps they are trying to avoid conflict with other ironworks?”
“The Divine Fire Hall hardly seems like such a considerate sect.”
Im Chung did not need to think long before nodding.
This time, Beon Saeng spoke.
“Fine, let’s accept that. What I cannot understand is this: would investigating the launch of an ironworks business truly justify slaughtering an entire family?”
“He must have discovered something he was never supposed to learn.”
The one who answered was Im Chung.
“Then why didn’t they kill only Yang Chu? Why did they slaughter his entire family?”
Im Chung could not answer that.
Beon Saeng’s gaze naturally turned toward Baek Socheon in search of an explanation.
“Why do you keep asking me?”
“We don’t have the slightest idea, but for some reason, it feels as though you know everything.”
“I don’t know. I said I don’t know. If I were truly intelligent, would I have picked up a sword in the first place? I would have picked up a book.”
“Even the way you say you aren’t intelligent makes you sound intelligent.”
“Enough. If I had to offer one theory, they may have wanted to make the incident look like the result of a personal grudge against Yang Chu.”
Im Chung and Beon Saeng nodded.
The slaughter of an entire family was often associated with a personal vendetta.
If they had killed his whole family merely to create that impression, it spoke to an extraordinarily vicious nature.
“Furthermore, they were warning whoever stood behind Yang Chu. Cause trouble, and we can slaughter all of you just like this.”
If that was their intention, it had certainly been effective.
The head of the Jo Family Manor, who had been Yang Chu’s friend, had been frightened, and although the Heo Family Sword Clan had provided testimony, their attitude had remained extremely passive.
“The Heo Family Sword Clan promised to testify about Yang Chu once we secure additional evidence.”
“So they are willing to help, but not to stand at the forefront.”
They had taken a step forward, but they still possessed only circumstantial evidence and nothing decisive.
At that moment, another branch martial artist arrived with a report.
“Commander Cheon is looking for Martial Artist Baek.”
“Me?”
“Yes. He ordered us to bring you to the interrogation room.”
Beon Saeng was startled.
“Why does he want to meet you in the interrogation room of all places?”
Baek Socheon immediately understood his intention.
“He intends to pressure me. Judging by his actions, there is a high chance Commander Cheon is on their side.”
“You mustn’t go! An interrogation room creates such pressure that people end up saying things they never intended to say.”
Baek Socheon chuckled at Beon Saeng’s attempt to stop him.
If Beon Saeng ever learned his true history, he would understand just how absurd those words were.
“It’s fine. An interrogation room feels more familiar to me than my own quarters. Back in the day, I was questioned quite a bit.”
“There you go boasting again! Back in my day, I drank with the Ten Great Villains in the Martial Alliance’s underground prison!”
“Most of them are dead now. Only two remain. One of them really does love drinking.”
“What? No, this is no time for you to boast!”
Baek Socheon had already left the room.
Once only he and Im Chung remained, Beon Saeng asked worriedly,
“He’ll be all right, won’t he?”
“Who knows?”
Im Chung knew for certain that Baek Socheon was an excellent fighter.
However, internal politics within an organization could not be resolved through martial prowess alone.
If the Heavenly Viper found a weakness in Baek Socheon or used his rank to pressure him, problems could arise.
“Let’s hurry over too.”
Beon Saeng was anxious.
Cheon Yangho was not a mild and compromising person like Beon Saeng or Im Chung. Beon Saeng worried that he might harm Baek Socheon for no reason.
Im Chung, however, remained relaxed.
“Do not rush so much. I do not think that proud big brother of yours is the sort of man who would die from the bite of a mere snake.”
***
“You were part of the Iron Sword Corps?”
It had not been difficult for Cheon Yangho to learn from the branch martial artists that Baek Socheon had been involved in the recent incidents.
Baek Socheon had been present both when Jong Bae was arrested and when Tae Jeong died.
“That is correct.”
Cheon Yangho was technically his superior, but not his direct superior, so Baek Socheon could respond somewhat casually.
“What was your position?”
“Squad Leader.”
“A Squad Leader in the Iron Sword Corps.”
That answered some of Cheon Yangho’s questions.
If Baek Socheon had been a Squad Leader in the Iron Sword Corps, one of the Martial Alliance’s most elite organizations, then he might have been capable of subduing an unprepared Cheuk Su.
Cheuk Su had apparently been knocked down in one blow.
For that reason, Cheon Yangho assumed he had been defeated through carelessness rather than because of a vast difference in skill.
After all, even Cheon Yangho would have found Cheuk Su difficult to handle.
“Why were you driven all the way out here?”
“Must I answer that as well?”
“You stand at the center of this incident.”
“I was demoted for disobeying orders.”
Judging by his crooked attitude, Cheon Yangho thought the reason suited him perfectly.
“Good. Next question. How did you know the box contained a hundred-year-old fleeceflower root?”
“I recognized it by its scent.”
“You must have an exceptional sense of smell.”
“My eyesight is even better.”
“Answer only what I ask.”
“Very well.”
Cheon Yangho interpreted all of Baek Socheon’s insolence through the fact that he had once been a Squad Leader in the Iron Sword Corps.
A certain amount of arrogance was only natural for such a man.
That preconception prevented him from accurately assessing Baek Socheon.
“I also heard that your performance against the Divine Fire Hall was quite remarkable.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Do not thank me yet. They may report you for using excessive force.”
“Tell them to do so.”
This time, Baek Socheon abruptly asked a question of his own.
“I heard there was information suggesting that the Divine Fire Hall has been bribing martial artists in the Zhejiang Regional Division. Do you know anything about that?”
“No, I knew nothing of it.”
Cheon Yangho’s voice trembled slightly.
The unexpected question had caught him off guard.
Baek Socheon had been bluffing.
If the Divine Fire Hall had attempted to bribe Im Chung, they had surely bribed other martial artists as well.
Judging by Cheon Yangho’s attempts to suppress the incident, there was a strong possibility that he had accepted money from them.
“Where did that information come from?”
Baek Socheon stared fixedly at Cheon Yangho.
“Is that important?”
“I am trying to verify the facts.”
“If you wish to verify the facts, you should investigate the Regional Division’s martial artists. If you expose the informant, do you think the culprits will remain idle?”
“Of course not.”
“Once Hall Master Wang’s crimes are proven, every martial artist who accepted bribes from him will be dragged into the matter one after another.”
“Naturally, that is what should happen.”
Cheon Yangho felt the initiative slipping from his grasp.
This bastard is no ordinary man.
An inexperienced martial artist would have found a meeting like this so uncomfortable that he would have been unable even to meet Cheon Yangho’s gaze.
Cheon Yangho had summoned him to the interrogation room in an attempt to apply pressure, yet he was the one being interrogated.
“That will be all for today.”
Cheon Yangho rose from his seat.
He had learned everything he needed to know, and prolonging the conversation would only place him at a disadvantage.
Hall Master Wang has provoked a very troublesome bastard.
After Cheon Yangho left, Beon Saeng and Im Chung entered the interrogation room.
“What did he say?”
“He said they might report me for excessive force.”
Im Chung spoke from behind him.
“That will not happen.”
As their superior, he would ensure that neither Baek Socheon nor Beon Saeng came to harm.
Beon Saeng spoke anxiously.
“Judging by the direction things are taking, Wang Gon and Cheuk Su will be released unless we find decisive evidence.”
“I will stop it somehow, even if I must stake my position on it. That should buy us a few days.”
Beon Saeng sighed and blamed himself.
“This is all because of me. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t attacked the Tae Jeong Faction.”
Baek Socheon, who had been about to leave the interrogation room first, turned around at the doorway.
“I know full well that you are a born sucker, but do not say this happened because of you. This is all the fault of those maggots.”
At that moment, Cheon Yangho was added to the category of maggots.
“They charge ahead thinking only of their own interests, so why are you wasting your time blaming yourself? Stop at being a sucker. Do not cross the line into becoming an idiot.”
It was a rebuke, yet it brought Beon Saeng immense comfort.
He nodded vigorously.
“Yes, Big Brother!”
Baek Socheon had already gone outside.
Beon Saeng turned to Im Chung.
“Just a few days ago, did you ever imagine we would become involved in something like this?”
“No.”
“If Big Brother hadn’t been here, things would have been truly difficult for us.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What?”
Beon Saeng turned toward Im Chung.
Im Chung sighed lightly and rose from his seat.
“Nothing would have happened at all.”
Something that should have caused this much chaos would simply have passed without incident.
It was because Baek Socheon had entered their lives that both Beon Saeng and Im Chung had begun to waver.
But could they truly endure such a life?
He and Beon Saeng were merely ordinary people, the sort one could find anywhere.
People who were easily influenced and even more easily hurt.
They were not Baek Socheon.
Lost in thought, Im Chung left the building and stopped in front of the interrogation hall.
Beon Saeng, who had followed him, came to stand beside him.
He understood what Im Chung had meant when he said that nothing would have happened.
“That’s why… I intend to use this opportunity to change my life.”
Im Chung smiled and nodded.
Although they had lived and worked together for the past year, they had never once shared such deeply personal thoughts.
Over the course of the past few days, the two men had come to understand each other far better.