Chapter 32
Another Greatest Secret Manual of All Time (2)
When Baek Socheon returned to the Munseong Branch, Zhejiang Branch Commander Jeong Pung was pacing anxiously.
“Where in the world have you been?”
“Why? What happened?”
“What do you think happened? Yeom Jeong-gil has been raging like a madman!”
He had already been locked inside the interrogation room for several days.
Had his internal energy not been sealed, he would have smashed down the door and escaped long ago.
Jeong Pung had been plagued by all manner of ominous thoughts, wondering what he would do if Baek Socheon simply disappeared somewhere and never returned.
So when Baek Socheon finally came back, Jeong Pung felt as though he had narrowly escaped death.
“What do you intend to do now?”
Because Yeom Jeong-gil and Wang Gon had been confined inside the branch, they did not know that Mr. Jong had arrived, nor that he had subsequently disappeared.
Considering the timing, even the Shinhwa Sect, which had sent Mr. Jong down, probably did not yet know that he was missing.
“Now, Branch Commander Jeong should interrogate them. Make it as intimidating as possible, and tell them that you have no choice because the order came from above. Frighten them by saying that the Yang Chu case has grown into a major affair that even the main branch is closely watching.”
“You want me to lie?”
“Why would that be a lie?”
“The main branch knows nothing about this.”
“How could they not? They probably know everything happening here in complete detail. The Profound Heaven Pavilion has likely already begun investigating the Shinhwa Sect.”
Jeong Pung suddenly remembered anew that the man sent down here was Baek Socheon.
He had regarded him as nothing more than a fallen hero, but thinking about it again, he had never seriously considered Baek Socheon’s relationship with the Martial Alliance.
If they were watching Baek Socheon, then they would naturally have been watching everything happening here as well.
If that was true, then Jeong Pung was relieved that he had listened to Baek Socheon.
What would have happened if he had sided with the Shinhwa Sect while the Profound Heaven Pavilion was watching?
The mere thought sent a chill down his spine.
“Understood. I’ll do as you say.”
Jeong Pung interrogated Yeom Jeong-gil and Wang Gon in turn.
Following Baek Socheon’s instructions, he created an atmosphere of terror and made it clear that the matter had already left his hands.
Only after thoroughly frightening them did Baek Socheon enter Wang Gon’s interrogation room first.
“Why are you only coming now?”
“Don’t even ask. The atmosphere outside is completely vicious.”
Because he had already heard the same thing from Jeong Pung, Wang Gon believed Baek Socheon was telling the truth.
“Hall Master, we have a problem.”
“What problem?”
“I overheard Branch Commander Jeong speaking with one of his men.”
“What did he say?”
Wang Gon swallowed dryly.
“They were discussing making either Hall Master Wang or Yeom Jeong-gil take responsibility for this entire incident.”
“What?”
Wang Gon recoiled in shock.
The instant he heard those words, instinct told him that he would become the sacrifice.
One of the Shinhwa Sect’s Four Great Martial Artists against the Southern Hall Master.
It was not even a contest.
“It seems the main branch is paying close attention, so they want to wrap this case up as quickly as possible. That Jeong Pung is surprisingly obsessed with protecting his position.”
What if Jeong Pung pinned the blame on one of them?
Would the Shinhwa Sect truly step forward to save them?
“Damn it!”
Of course not.
If the Martial Alliance identified someone as the culprit, the Shinhwa Sect Leader would undoubtedly cut off the tail.
He would make the same decision even if the two sides possessed equal power.
When the opponent was the Martial Alliance, there was not even room for debate.
He would claim that the incident had absolutely nothing to do with the Shinhwa Sect and had been committed independently by an individual.
The Sect Leader was the sort of man who would cut off everything beneath the neck, not merely a tail, if doing so meant saving himself.
After being confined here for days, Wang Gon felt dizzy and close to collapse upon hearing such hopeless news.
“Are you all right? You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine. Did you tell Hero Yeom this as well?”
“No. I came to you first.”
“Good. You did very well.”
At that moment, Wang Gon thought of a solution.
It was the first and only solution that occurred to him.
The method he used most often and knew best.
Money.
He would bribe Jeong Pung and make Yeom Jeong-gil the scapegoat.
That was the only way for Wang Gon to survive.
If he were blamed for the massacre of Yang Chu’s family, he would be executed immediately.
Even if he somehow managed to avoid execution and was only imprisoned, the Shinhwa Sect would send an assassin after him.
He would already be useless to them, and because he knew many of the sect’s secrets, there was no chance they would allow him to live.
However, if Yeom Jeong-gil took the blame, Wang Gon still had a chance of survival.
At the very least, he would remain alive until the ironworks project at the Munseong Branch was completed.
During that time, he could find a way to win the Shinhwa Sect Leader’s favor.
“Bring my son here. I need to meet him personally.”
“That’s impossible. I barely managed to get in here myself.”
“Our lives are at stake. Do you think you’ll remain safe if I’m eliminated?”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m explaining how serious this situation is. You need to help with everything you have, for your own sake as well.”
“Hmm. Very well. I’ll find a way.”
Baek Socheon rose from his seat with a reluctant expression.
About two shichen later, he arranged for Wang U to meet his father.
After two brief meetings with his son, Wang Gon handed Baek Socheon a thick envelope.
Inside were one hundred promissory notes worth one thousand nyang each.
A total of one hundred thousand nyang.
It was nearly Wang Gon’s entire fortune, gathered by withdrawing all the money he had deposited with the banks and placing his house and valuables as collateral.
Wang U had desperately tried to persuade his father that they should find another way, but Wang Gon had shouted him down and issued a firm command.
In the end, unable to defy his father’s wishes, Wang U had gathered the money and brought it.
“Use this money to win over the Branch Commander. Make him pin the charges on Hero Yeom.”
He had prepared the enormous sum of one hundred thousand nyang because Jeong Pung absolutely could not be allowed to refuse.
Knowing that Jeong Pung was closer to Yeom Jeong-gil than to him, Wang Gon had increased the amount even further.
“You should have your son handle something like this.”
Wang Gon shook his head.
His son had opposed buying Baek Socheon’s loyalty before.
He had also disapproved of spending this money.
If Wang Gon entrusted the matter to him, there was a high chance that Wang U would simply abandon the plan.
“No. You do it.”
“Branch Commander Jeong doesn’t seem like the type who enjoys bribes. Will he accept it?”
“He will. This much money will definitely work.”
Wang Gon was certain.
There was no one in the world who could refuse one hundred thousand nyang.
“But if you spend all of this... will you still have money to pay me?”
Wang Gon flinched inwardly at the painfully ackelf to appear composed.
“Do not underestimate my wealth. I am nowhere near exhausting it.”
“Very well. I’ll see if I can move Jeong Pung.”
Of course, Baek Socheon never met Jeong Pung.
He did not even go near the man’s office.
Instead, he visited a bank and deposited the money.
He deposited the one hundred thousand nyang he had received from Cheon Geuk with the Daereuk Bank and this new one hundred thousand nyang with the Central Plains Bank.
The realization that he was earning money far more quickly and easily than he had amid the chaos of war brought a hollow smile to his lips.
Of course, the meaning of this money differed from the wealth he had earned in the past.
But when spent, it would hold the same value.
He had obtained it by killing someone, or by taking it from a wicked man, but one day he would use it to save someone.
He would also willingly spend it on himself.
While Wang Gon was no doubt anxiously pacing in his cell, Baek Socheon stood in the courtyard to practice martial arts.
Starting today, he intended to begin genuine martial arts training rather than mere physical conditioning.
The Nine Heaven-Overturning Fists was extremely profound.
The latter half in particular contained several passages that made even Baek Socheon, who had once stood among the greatest experts under heaven, tilt his head in confusion.
He could understand why no one in later generations had ever achieved full mastery of the manual.
However, Baek Socheon was not worried.
His objective was not to completely master the Nine Heaven-Overturning Fists.
He was neither foolish nor shameless enough to aim for complete mastery of a greatest martial art of all time without possessing even a shred of internal energy.
He merely intended to train as diligently as possible.
This was training in which the process mattered more than the result.
Modeled after the movements of the wind, moon, sun, and heavens, the Nine Heaven-Overturning Fists consisted of nine fist forms.
Baek Socheon intended to begin by perfectly mastering the first three forms, which had been designed to use an opponent’s strength rather than one’s own, or to produce tremendous effects with minimal force.
First Fist: Flowing Wind, Scattered Clouds
This form was modeled after wind scattering clouds.
It contained seven techniques that redirected an opponent’s internal energy while launching a counterattack.
Second Fist: Calmed Wind, Stilled Waves
This form was modeled after the wind subsiding and the waves growing calm.
It was a defensive form containing sixteen techniques for evading an enemy’s attacks.
Third Fist: Whirling Wind, Striking Lightning
This form was modeled after twisting winds and violently striking lightning.
It contained six techniques that were more aggressive and destructive than those of the first two forms.
Martial techniques were originally performed on a foundation of internal energy.
Only then could the practitioner produce the desired force and speed.
Baek Socheon intended to compensate for its absence with the body he had trained until now.
Fortunately, Baek Socheon understood internal power better than almost anyone.
He had once controlled internal energy as the greatest expert under heaven, and he studied the Immovable Wisdom King Cultivation Method, one of the greatest martial arts of all time, every day.
He knew exactly what kind of force was produced when internal energy traveled through particular meridians, how that energy acted upon muscular strength, and what influence it exerted on the body.
Therefore, while he could not reproduce the later forms that unleashed overwhelming destructive power through vast internal energy, he could imitate the first three fist forms to a certain extent.
Whoosh! Bang!
The first sharp gust of wind burst through the air.
At a glance, it looked like a fist thrown by someone who possessed internal energy.
Until late that night, the crisp and powerful sounds created by his fists, feet, and body never ceased for even a moment.
The following morning, Wang Gon was released.
Naturally, it happened because Baek Socheon had told Jeong Pung to let him go.
When the haggard Wang Gon climbed into the waiting carriage, Baek Socheon and Wang U were already inside.
“Father.”
Worry filled Wang U’s face.
However, the true source of his concern was not his father, Wang Gon.
He was worried that they had now lost their entire fortune.
Wang U did not show it outwardly, but he was deeply dissatisfied with the situation.
‘He should have just endured it physically for a while. Another solution would surely have appeared. He couldn’t even endure a few days and threw away all that money.’
To be honest, he had hoped his father would not be released.
Then he could have lived comfortably on the family fortune.
Just as a tiger father did not always produce a dog son, neither did a dog father always produce a tiger son.
Wang Gon spoke to Baek Socheon.
“You worked hard.”
“At first, he said he wouldn’t accept it, but once he saw the amount, he took it.”
Wang Gon sneered.
‘Naturally.’
There was no one who would not lose his senses at the sight of one hundred thousand nyang.
That was exactly why he had offered such an enormous sum.
“Does it seem the suspicion will fall on Hero Yeom?”
“It isn’t certain yet, but won’t it probably go that way?”
“You must remain silent about this matter. You also warned Branch Commander Jeong, correct?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. If this is exposed, he’ll be finished as well.”
Jeong Pung was one thing, but if Yeom Jeong-gil discovered the truth, his temper would drive him to try to kill Wang Gon.
Meanwhile, Wang U was worrying about something entirely different.
“What are we going to do now? We don’t even have enough money to pay the warriors.”
“We can borrow it. As long as we remain alive, money like that can be recovered in no time.”
Wang Gon truly believed it.
He could squeeze even more tribute from the men under his control, or he could use Baek Socheon here to pull off some enormously profitable venture.
Wang Gon removed the gold bracelet from his wrist and handed it to Baek Socheon.
“Take this for now. You worked hard.”
“Father!”
Wang U tried to stop him, asking how he could give even that away, but Baek Socheon accepted it without hesitation.
“Thank you.”
“Then I’ll see you again.”
Baek Socheon remained standing there for a moment, watching the carriage depart.
He knew well what sort of lives Wang Gon and Wang U had lived.
Naturally, he also knew what sort of ending such lives deserved.
Baek Socheon looked down at the gold bracelet Wang Gon had given him.
For reasons known only to himself, he placed it around his wrist and began walking back toward the branch.