Chapter 97

If I Can’t Prove It (2)

“What if you can’t prove it?”

Yeom Hwasin asked coldly.

Even in that moment, Baek Socheon caught the flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

“Knowing your personality, do you really think you’d just let me go?”

The spectators also assumed that Yeom Hwasin would kill Baek Socheon.

But Baek Socheon alone was certain that would not happen.

Yeom Hwasin would mock him to his heart’s content, then leave him alive.

What Yeom Hwasin truly wanted was to proudly show Baek Socheon everything that happened afterward.

He would want Baek Socheon to watch with his own eyes as he started a war and unified the martial world.

Then, somewhere along the way, at the most decisive moment, he would kill him.

Therefore, the answer to the question, “What if you can’t prove it?” was not Baek Socheon’s death.

It was the outbreak of war.

With Yeom Sawon’s corpse lying between them, the two men’s gazes intertwined in midair.

“Do you want to die here?”

“I think that would be preferable to being falsely accused of killing your son.”

“Falsely accused?”

“That’s right. The false accusation you pinned on me.”

Baek Socheon spoke with such confidence that the assembled heroes began to wonder whether there might be something going on behind the scenes that they did not know about.

“May I examine the body for a moment? Of course, I will neither damage the corpse nor show any disrespect toward the deceased.”

When Yeom Hwasin hesitated, Baek Socheon continued.

“I think someone who may be falsely accused of murder deserves at least that much of a chance.”

The spectators all nodded.

For now, they had not taken either side.

Naturally, as members of the Orthodox faction, they were inclined toward Baek Socheon, but at least regarding this incident, they were remaining neutral.

They had all clearly witnessed Yeom Sawon die during his spar with Baek Socheon.

Many were still doubtful, and some even suspected that Baek Socheon might simply be making unreasonable excuses.

Seeing Baek Socheon insist this strongly, Yeom Hwasin finally lowered the corpse onto the sparring stage.

“Fine. Examine him.”

“Thank you.”

Baek Socheon slowly inspected the body.

No one simply drops dead for no reason. There has to be some trace left on the corpse.

Not a single drop of blood had been spilled, which meant the injury had to be internal.

It was unfortunate that he could not inject internal energy into the corpse and inspect the meridians and internal organs.

Yeom Hwasin was standing far too close for him to use internal energy.

Baek Socheon opened Yeom Sawon’s outer robe.

Underneath it, he was wearing the Cheukryong Divine Armor.

When Baek Socheon tried to remove it, Yeom Hwasin suddenly shouted,

“Show some respect for the dead!”

He meant that Baek Socheon should not strip the corpse naked in front of everyone.

Baek Socheon examined every part of Yeom Sawon’s body not covered by the Cheukryong Divine Armor.

In any case, the divine armor should have protected the areas it covered.

If someone had struck him with a hidden weapon, it would have had to hit somewhere the armor did not protect.

Baek Socheon carefully examined Yeom Sawon’s body.

If someone among the spectators had secretly fired finger force, there should have been a wound.

Alternatively, they might have used a hidden weapon.

But there were no injuries anywhere on Yeom Sawon’s exposed body.

Ak Sogun sent Baek Socheon a voice transmission.

—I’m telling you this in case it helps. We were worried that Alliance Leader Yeom might interfere with the spar, so experts from our alliance were watching him and the Cheukcheon Alliance martial artists the entire time. None of them made a move.

In other words, no hidden weapon had come from Yeom Hwasin’s side.

Baek Socheon did not respond.

Once again, Yeom Hwasin was standing right in front of him, so he could not use internal energy to send a voice transmission.

Everyone watched in silence.

After a while, Yeom Hwasin asked,

“Do you still need more time?”

He looked down at Baek Socheon with ridicule in his eyes.

There was no anger in that gaze.

If anything, he seemed amused by the whole situation.

He definitely killed him.

Baek Socheon was certain of it.

Even the inexplicably intense killing intent Yeom Sawon had emitted during the fight pointed to that conclusion.

But how?

Baek Socheon’s gaze returned to Yeom Sawon.

The surrounding people watched with sympathetic expressions.

No matter how they looked at it, discovering the exact cause of death seemed impossible.

A considerable number of those present were already convinced that Baek Socheon had killed him.

“Well? I think I’ve given you enough time.”

Just as Baek Socheon was about to give up, a thought flashed through his mind.

Could it be poison?

Baek Socheon opened Yeom Sawon’s mouth and smelled his breath.

A strange, foul odor immediately wafted upward.

Baek Socheon shouted,

“Young Master Yeom was poisoned to death!”

The assembled heroes immediately began murmuring.

Poisoned during a spar?

It sounded completely absurd.

A moment earlier, while shouting those words, Baek Socheon had been watching Yeom Hwasin closely.

Even though the man was almost perfect at concealing his emotions, he had clearly flinched at the mention of poisoning.

I knew it!

Yeom Hwasin crouched down until he was face-to-face with Baek Socheon and asked,

“Is there any trace proving he was poisoned?”

He spoke quietly, but his deep internal energy carried his voice so that everyone present could hear.

Baek Socheon, on the other hand, replied loudly.

“There is nothing on the exposed parts of his body.”

“Then you are saying there is something on the parts that aren’t exposed?”

“That’s right.”

“Does that make any sense? Even if someone used a hidden weapon, it could never penetrate the Cheukryong Divine Armor.”

“No one fired a hidden weapon.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying he was poisoned without anyone using a hidden weapon?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Because the Cheukryong Divine Armor itself was the hidden weapon.”

At that moment, Baek Socheon saw it again.

A fleeting disturbance crossed Yeom Hwasin’s expression.

“You sent this Cheukryong Divine Armor to your son yesterday. You coated the inside with poison. The effects of that poison were why your son released an unnaturally excessive amount of killing intent during the spar.”

“His killing intent was strong during a duel, therefore he was poisoned? Isn’t that quite a leap?”

“There is also a strange foul odor coming from his mouth. It proves that a powerful poison has melted his meridians and internal organs from within.”

At that moment, someone sent Baek Socheon a voice transmission.

—Among the deadly poisons used by the Unorthodox faction, there are several that only activate once internal energy is raised beyond a certain level. Only one of them is absorbed through the skin. It is called Pigong Poison. Those poisoned by Pigong Poison develop unusually intense killing intent.

The person who had sent the transmission was none other than the Divine Physician, Ban Wolryang.

He too had been sitting among the renowned senior martial artists watching the spar.

Baek Socheon turned to Yeom Hwasin.

“Isn’t the inside of the Cheukryong Divine Armor coated with Pigong Poison? I understand that Pigong Poison is absorbed through the skin.”

Yeom Hwasin flinched.

Normally, his control over his expression was flawless.

But at that moment, his face plainly revealed the emotion:

How in the world did you figure that out?

“Pigong Poison only reveals its effects once internal energy is raised beyond a certain level. Isn’t that also why you sent him the Cheukryong Divine Armor only the day before the spar?”

Silence descended over the venue.

Then Ban Wolryang, who had sent the voice transmission, rose from his seat and stepped forward.

“This humble physician is Ban Wolryang, currently serving as a physician of the alliance.”

After introducing himself, he addressed everyone present.

“Pigong Poison reacts to a specific antidotal reagent. I only need a moment to confirm it.”

He sent his disciple to retrieve a reagent capable of detecting Pigong Poison.

Yeom Hwasin silently stared at Baek Socheon.

His face remained expressionless, but Baek Socheon was now certain that he had struck the mark.

A short while later, Ban Wolryang personally examined the inside of the Cheukryong Divine Armor.

Without removing the armor, he used a thin wooden stick to scrape the interior and test for poison.

After finishing the examination, he addressed everyone.

“I stake my name on this statement. Pigong Poison was indeed smeared inside the Cheukryong Divine Armor.”

The assembled heroes immediately began murmuring.

Then silence fell once again as every gaze turned toward Yeom Hwasin.

Yeom Hwasin did not appear flustered in the slightest.

“Even if he was poisoned by Pigong Poison, how does that prove that we were responsible? Couldn’t you have secretly infiltrated his quarters last night and coated the Cheukryong Divine Armor with poison yourself?”

It was both a desperate excuse and, at the same time, a reasonable suspicion.

“Your son was being guarded by two members of the Eighteen Ghost Swords. How could someone without internal energy like me possibly get close enough to poison the very Cheukryong Divine Armor you had sent him?”

“That is impossible to know. An expert from the alliance could have helped you. When victory is at stake, what wouldn’t you do?”

Yeom Hwasin looked toward Ak Sogun.

The gesture clearly implied suspicion that Ak Sogun himself might have infiltrated the quarters and applied the poison.

Baek Socheon shouted,

“Enough! Your plan to sacrifice your son, unite the Unorthodox faction, raise their morale, and start a war has already failed.”

Once again, murmurs spread through the crowd.

Until now, many had unconsciously thought,

Still, he was his father. Surely he wouldn’t go that far.

But after hearing Baek Socheon’s words, another thought began to take root.

Was that why he did all this?

Yeom Hwasin roared,

“Don’t spout nonsense! You are the one framing me!”

There was still no way to prove conclusively that Yeom Hwasin had done it.

They could not completely eliminate the possibility that some third party had poisoned the armor.

But Baek Socheon thought this was already enough.

At the very least, Yeom Hwasin’s desired outcome had been ruined.

At that moment, Ak Sogun sent him a voice transmission.

—What do you think? Should we attack him together and kill him right now?

Baek Socheon had considered the same thing.

There would undoubtedly be many casualties, but they definitely had a chance of killing Yeom Hwasin.

Especially if Baek Socheon himself fought, they might be able to kill him while minimizing losses.

Of course, there was also the worst-case scenario.

Yeom Hwasin might be stronger than expected, and both Baek Socheon and Ak Sogun could die together.

Furthermore, the three Cheukcheon Alliance experts accompanying him were formidable in their own right.

Having a numerical advantage did not automatically mean they would win.

The situation could descend into chaos, preventing many of the assembled martial artists from properly displaying their abilities.

But that was not the real problem.

Baek Socheon rose and naturally walked toward Ak Sogun, making it look as though he was simply going to follow the Alliance Leader’s decision.

Once he had put as much distance as possible between himself and Yeom Hwasin, he replied through voice transmission.

—If we gang up on a man who came to the Martial Alliance headquarters with only a single subordinate and kill him here, every member of the Unorthodox faction will unite and come seeking revenge.

War would inevitably break out.

The Unorthodox martial artists would attack while burning with extreme hatred.

That was not what Baek Socheon wanted.

—I think it would be best to let him leave today.

—Understood.

Ak Sogun rose from his seat and spoke.

“Alliance Leader Yeom, I deeply regret the death of your son. You should return for today.”

Yeom Hwasin replied,

“I will observe a period of mourning for my son. There will be no war for the next year. But one year from now, you will pay the price for orchestrating this.”

By declaring that he would not start a war, he was effectively admitting defeat.

By saying they would pay for what they had done, he was also making it clear that he would never admit to poisoning his own son.

Naturally so.

The moment he admitted to poisoning his son, even the morale of the Unorthodox martial artists would plummet.

Yeom Hwasin lifted his son’s corpse into his arms and descended from the sparring stage.

Jeon Gwi, Janbaek, and Go Goeng followed behind him.

One final voice transmission came from Yeom Hwasin.

His tone contained both anger and admiration.

—As I thought, you really should have been my son.

Baek Socheon barely restrained himself from replying.

You crazy bastard. Give it a rest.

They finally departed.

Only then did thunderous applause erupt for Baek Socheon.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

If not for Baek Socheon, war might have broken out immediately.

The Divine Physician’s assistance had played a major role.

If he had not identified the poison by name, Yeom Hwasin would not have withdrawn so easily.

Baek Socheon stepped down from the sparring stage.

He had no way of knowing whether Yeom Hwasin would keep his promise.

Still, if he did, then Baek Socheon had finally secured the one year he had wanted.

The first person to approach him was Meol Jiryun.

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you.”

Looking at her radiant smile, Baek Socheon smiled back and pointed at her.

You’re next.