Chapter 136: Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts (2)

*Pour.*

Sima Bai, having brought high-quality tea from somewhere, spoke.

“To be the first to welcome the returning lord is a great blessing for this old servant.”

Watching him with a blank expression.

“But this won’t last long.”

Sima Bai dabbed his eyes with his sleeve.

“Soon, you’ll have a lady.”

Pretending to be sad, but I wasn’t fooled.

“I didn’t expect you to show up so quickly.”

Weren’t you supposed to support from afar?

“For this old servant, even a step away is too far.”

I knew it.

“Enough jokes.”

“What’s the real reason you’re here?”

Sima Bai straightened his voice and bowed his head.

“I came personally to deliver an urgent message. Hohoho.”

“Speak.”

“There’s good news, bad news, and news that could be either.”

“Which would you like to hear first?”

Cho Un-hwi answered immediately.

“Good news.”

“The Murim Alliance has started to take the Heavenly Destruction Society seriously.”

After mentioning the incident with the Blood Tear Stone and the Eight Heavenly Apostles, Sima Bai had stayed behind to warn the Murim Alliance.

He managed to provoke the slow-moving Murim Alliance into taking action.

“What’s the bad news?”

“There was an accident while investigating the Heavenly Destruction Society.”

A large number of demonic practitioners, seemingly related to the Heavenly Destruction Society, appeared.

“Demonic practitioners have been appearing and clashing with the Murim Alliance.”

“So that’s why there have been recent incidents.”

“Indeed. Thirty members of the Beggars’ Sect died, and over a hundred were seriously injured while investigating.”

This caused a huge uproar in both the Murim Alliance and Shinmu Academy, Sima Bai explained.

“An incident happening right at the start of the Murim Excursion would alert even the most clueless.”

“That’s why I was sent here urgently.”

Hohoho.

Claiming it was all a coincidence and that he was just pushed into it, but I didn’t buy it.

‘Sima Bai is capable of such schemes.’

Of course, there was no point in questioning him further, as he wouldn’t reveal his true intentions.

“What’s the news that could be either good or bad?”

“Hohoho. As the situation worsened, an order was issued for everyone participating in the Murim Excursion to seek safe places.”

It was the same thing Yeo Mae-hong had mentioned.

“That means.”

“A place with good security and protection from a Kunlun master would be an ideal refuge.”

Damn it.

It’s already a popular post.

‘If safety is guaranteed, everyone will flock here.’

I could already see all sorts of people swarming to the once peaceful post.

“This is a disaster. My workload will increase.”

There’s nothing good about this.

“It’s not necessarily bad.”

Sima Bai pointed out something I hadn’t considered.

“The more people gather, the more likely your fiancée will visit.”

“I know, but…”

I hoped the ominous feeling was just my imagination.

Licking my dry lips, I asked about the last piece of news.

“…What’s the bad news?”

“A surveillance department has been established.”

“What? A surveillance department?”

What’s that? I asked, and Sima Bai explained.

“It’s a secret department that monitors the conduct of the students.”

A shackling presence for young souls dreaming of passionate love.

At the shocking news, Cho Un-hwi overturned the table.

*Bang!*

“Why! Why did they create such a thing?”

It didn’t exist until now!

Iam just about to find my fiancée and planned for Fiancée Soul Severing, so why now!

Why do obstacles keep appearing!

As he shouted, Sima Bai answered in a steady tone.

“Why, didn’t my son suggest mixed-gender classes to lighten the instructors’ workload?”

“Yes.”

Thanks to that, there were quite a few mixed-gender groups in this Murim Excursion.

The instructors and students praised it highly.

“It started well, but recently there was an incident.”

“What? An incident?”

“A student named Seo Ok-rang was caught having a secret rendezvous.”

Caught in the act.

The high-ranking officials of the academy, who emphasized gender separation, were furious.

“Ugh!”

The memory came back.

The girl who smelled like my fiancée in Palmiro.

She followed Dokgo Yul too easily.

“Grr. That impudent brat caused trouble after all!”

Grinding his teeth, Cho Un-hwi grabbed his sword.

“Change of plans.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to deal with the Cheongseong Sect first.”

“My lord, please calm down.”

Dont I look calm?

Those damn Cheongseong Sect bastards!

“You must hold back! If you cause a bloodbath here, your fiancée will run away!”

“Argh!”

Damn it! Just when things seemed to be going well.

The Jianghu never goes as planned.

***

Feeling down, I was dragged to a drinking party.

Though Myojinmun arranged a nice guesthouse with a view of the main road, my mood didn’t improve.

The worst news had already turned my world gray.

‘It’s ruined. It’s all ruined.’

Sipping my drink with a defeated expression, Yeo Mae-hong, not knowing the reason, apologized.

“Cheer up.”

Mo Yong Seon-ya pouted.

“Right. Cheer up. You’re with beautiful women, after all.”

Slowly turning my head to look at Mo Yong Seon-ya, I tilted my head.

“Where are the beautiful women?”

Ouch.

Pinched from both sides, it hurt quite a bit.

Thanks to that, I regained my senses.

“Instructor Cho, what happened?”

“Right. You look like you lost a country.”

When I asked them about the surveillance department.

“What? A surveillance department?”

Yeo Mae-hong seemed to hear it for the first time.

“Oh no. It’s finally happened.”

Mo Yong Seon-ya sighed.

When I asked why, she filled her cup and answered.

“There was a scandal on the way here.”

It was the students led by Instructor Jakyum, right?

Starting with that, Mo Yong Seon-ya munched on her snack and spoke.

“A female student from the Cheongseong Sect and a student from a mid-tier martial family fell in love.”

“No wonder it caused a commotion.”

“Yeah, a secret rendezvous at the watermill in the dead of night.”

“Oh my. How passionate.”

Kids who don’t even have blood dried on their heads.

There’s an order to everything.

‘Even if they fall in love, the instructor should be first.’

The young ones in the Murim Alliance don’t seem to understand the rules.

“The problem is the student from the Cheongseong Sect. She was quite promising.”

Yeo Mae-hong quickly understood.

“I get it. A promising student having a secret rendezvous with someone from a lesser sect.”

“Yeah, they must have been furious, saying, ‘How dare someone from a lesser sect!’”

“The Cheongseong Sect is notoriously strict.”

Listening to their conversation, it seemed such incidents happened occasionally.

“I think it’s a problem to confine kids in their prime and make them only train.”

“Well, those who value tradition and formality won’t agree.”

Their gossip was about the old men of the Nine Sects, who were infamous for their rigidity.

“Secret rendezvous are nothing.”

“Right. There was even an instructor who said the water a man drank was tainted with yang energy.”

“I remember. We had to fetch water from a distant well because of that.”

When I asked who said such nonsense.

“It was an instructor from the Emei Sect.”

Was the answer.

‘No wonder my fiancée avoids contact between men and women.’

It was the Emei Sect’s fault.

‘If Fiancée Soul Severing fails, I’ll start by destroying the Cheongseong and Emei Sects.’

I needed a target to vent my anger.

“What kind of people are in the surveillance department?”

When I asked about the opposition, Yeo Mae-hong answered.

“They’re retired members of the Murim Alliance or Shinmu Academy.”

Mo Yong Seon-ya added.

“That’s the basic structure, but the real threat is the helpers. Even ordinary people who haven’t learned martial arts watch with eagle eyes.”

Cho Un-hwi, astonished, asked.

“I understand martial artists, but why do ordinary people get involved?”

“Because it’s profitable.”

Yeo Mae-hong made a circle with her thumb and forefinger.

“They get a reward from the academy for reporting secret rendezvous.”

Mo Yong Seon-ya agreed.

“Right. Sometimes the involved sects pay hush money to keep it quiet.”

“……”

To be so serious about something so useless.

‘Is the Murim Alliance really going this far?’

Feeling down, Yeo Mae-hong tried to cheer me up.

“Don’t worry too much. They’re not watching lazy instructors.”

No, that’s exactly the problem.

“Right. As long as you don’t engage in scandalous behavior with students, you’ll be fine.”

Exactly.

It was a deeply depressing night.

***

*Step. Step.*

A man walked with a disheveled appearance.

His hair was matted, his face and hands were dirty.

“Ugh.”

But unaware of his state, he kept walking.

At first, he just walked to cross the mountain.

Then he walked along the water.

After that, it was a mess. He walked wherever his feet took him, breaking rocks in his way.

‘How long have I been walking?’

Gon Ya-pyeong didn’t know.

He just smiled, intoxicated by the power surging through his body.

“Hehehe. This old man is now a strong man of the world.”

Hehe.

As he walked with blurred vision, he heard a rustling sound and turned his head.

A huge tiger was watching him, its whiskers bristling.

“Grrr.”

The tiger’s movements were threatening, but.

“Hehehe.”

Intoxicated by power, Gon Ya-pyeong laughed.

In the past, he would have thought of martial arts techniques, but now he didn’t need to.

*Roar!*

As the tiger, the size of a small mountain, charged with a roar that shook the mountain, Gon Ya-pyeong simply stood and raised one hand.

That was enough.

*Roar!*

The charging tiger stopped mid-air, and Gon Ya-pyeong didn’t budge.

*Roar! Roar!*

The tiger, its neck caught, struggled in mid-air.

Its weight would have crushed a large bull, but this prey was different.

*Roar! Roar!*

Sensing the anomaly, the tiger thrashed wildly, but Gon Ya-pyeong’s grip didn’t waver.

“Yes. This is it. Overwhelming strength.”

*Crack. Crack.*

A dangerous sound came from the tiger’s neck.

*Snap.*

The tiger’s head twisted to the left and fell limp.

It died with its neck broken while still alive. It was an incredible display of strength.

“Hehe. Just what I needed.”

*Crunch. Crack.*

Burying his face in the tiger’s neck, Gon Ya-pyeong quenched his thirst.

Only the fragrant oil flowing from the neck could quench his thirst, so he kept drinking.

“Ugh.”

After a while, Gon Ya-pyeong lifted his face from the neck and muttered.

“Not enough.”

There was something that quenched his thirst better than this.

“Yes. I remember recently.”

Muttering, he turned his head toward a distant sound.

“Something fragrant.”

Gon Ya-pyeong, who had stopped, started walking slowly.

Then his steps quickened, and he moved lightly, almost flying.

*Swish!*

As he spread his wings, a thick black aura spread behind him.