episode_0288

*** ***

The operation was completed smoothly.

“They burned the documents.”

“It was already expected. Be sure to secure the testimony first!”

All important documents were completely burned, but the purpose in the first place was to give time for that. If even a document came out that proved that this drug field was really connected to Odogmun, we might have to start a war with the real Odogmun.

“Um.”

I frowned slightly as I watched the Red Army members busy separating and isolating the prisoners and collecting evidence.

“Senior, why do you look like that? Were there many people seriously injured among your seniors?”

“Everyone says there is no danger to life.”

I felt somewhat uneasy and looked around. Wasn’t this so…easy?

The cases of the Sokryeong faction, the Amryong faction, and the Ohdog clan are different.

In fact, it was great to block the production of Okgye or the operation to raise Lee Seol to the position of Soju in Kunming, and it was normal for him to be punished. Even I, the person involved in the turmoil in Jade World and the incident in Kunming, could not have fully anticipated it, so it was natural that it was difficult for the Dependent Spirit Sect or Dark Dragon Gate to respond.

However, the current attack on the drug field was something that even Odogmun could fully prepare for.

Since Kangchumoru visited Odokmun and put proper pressure on it, it was possible to anticipate that a demonstration of power might occur.

Looking at the reaction of the Odogmun warriors guarding the drug field, I felt that they were preparing in their own way… but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a bit bland.

However, in a situation where so many people were injured, it was not a good idea to break morale over something that was literally just a feeling with no evidence.

It is also true that if there is an all-out war with the imperial army, the position of the five rulers will worsen.

When I get back, I’ll have to check to see if Misreading is preparing a different move.

“Thank you for your hard work. Instructor.”

“My group had a harder time than me.”

“Yes, it was definitely an performance that left an exclamation mark. It was a truly heavenly performance! Every time the sword flashes, the enemies fall…big!”

Kangchumoru looked at Hyeok Kirin with bright eyes and poured out exclamations. Only from the point of view of Kangchumoru, who did not know that Hyuk Kirin was a great disciple of the Jeomchang Sect, Hyuk Kirin’s inaction must have been extremely felt.

It may be a natural performance for a great disciple of the Nine Files and One Bang, but it feels different when you think of it as the performance of a princess who learned martial arts without anyone knowing.

“Hmph. Can I leave the cleanup to you? There is still work to be done.”

“Of course! Please leave it to me!”

Hyeok Kirin must have been burdened by the look in Kangchumoru’s eyes and cleared his throat and made an excuse for the draw. Black Cat and Yeo Il-ye, who knew the situation, chuckled. Hyeok Kirin, guessing the meaning of the smile, blushed and pushed my back.

“Now, let’s go!”

“Then please do me a favor.”

“Evil!”

As soon as the Red Ghost Squad members got farther away, Black Cat imitated Kangchumoru and made fun of Hyeok Kirin.

“It was a truly heavenly performance! Wow, I should have seen that performance too!”

“Stop….”

“The sword flashes! Shine in the east! Flashing in the sky!”

“Ugh, don’t make fun of me!”

Everyone in the group burst into laughter as they looked at Hyuk Kirin’s red face. When even Yeo Il-ye burst into laughter, Hyeok Kirin started walking ahead with a sullen expression on his face.

I entered the cave in such a friendly atmosphere.

“Let’s open the door slightly and check what’s inside.”

“Yes.”

After confirming that the core stone was still glowing blue, I asked my companions to open the door slightly. The location of the entrance was a little high, so the entire view of the cave was visible at a glance.

“You have a house.”

A suitable house had been built with pots that would be used in any home.

“Hmm….that’s really interesting. Obviously there was nothing, but the house…”

“Let’s get into it first.”

If we had to, we could just destroy the altar or the entrance, so we cautiously attempted to enter.

“Are you there?”

“We are not suspicious people.”

I wasn’t sure if anyone would come out after hearing suspicious words from suspicious people wandering around the house, but I continued my search by picking up every village.

“Sorry, but let me open the jar. Thank you for your understanding.”

The group began to open the jar to see if there was someone hiding in it.

“It’s just grains, preserved foods, and water?”

“Umm…it’s like this…”

Finally, I opened the door and entered the house, but there was no one anywhere.

“I don’t think there is anyone.”

“What an ambiguous reason.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do.”

My companions clearly looked disappointed, but I calmed down. Would you pick it if the odds were high in the first place? Even in the game Wulin Heaven, there were many cases in which things that were not clear what this drawing method was.

Unlike me, who quickly gave up my expectations, the others looked around to see if they had any lingering regrets.

The group members were making expressions similar to resentment, saying they couldn’t understand something.

It was a situation where that could well have happened.

There is something called anticipation that comes from the atmosphere.

Letters that emit a blue glow, a cave that vibrates on its own, and even a mysterious setting.

Is it just that?

Well, I even heard that there might be a legendary master or a great hero.

It had an atmosphere that seemed to convey the thoughts of Dharma Master, but in reality, all that was there was an empty house and jars, so it must have been difficult to understand.

“Is it possible that there is an elixir hidden among these jars…?”

“Hmm, is there a chance?”

The black cat looked at the jar suspiciously and muttered.

“There is no way my senior’s search for talent could go wrong…”

Definitely…I haven’t had any failures while hunting with a black cat. Starting from Hyeoncheonja’s Bi-dong, Hwari Cave, and recently, Sangheosan Mountain. There are still not enough samples to build trust in others, but Black Cat has experienced many incidents, so it seems that his level of trust toward me is extraordinary.

The problem was that the black cat’s confidence increased other people’s regret.

“Then, shall we look a little further? There is no harm in conducting a thorough search.”

The group nods to Dang Do-yeon’s opinion. As the discussion continued, I couldn’t help but nod my head.

It was time to move for the second jar search.

Cooo!

There was a sound of something heavy like a rock colliding. Everyone’s actions stopped when they heard that sound. There was only one place here where I heard that sound.

This was the entrance to the cave.

Someone found the entrance to the cave and closed it. Everyone in the group drew their weapons at the same time.

Jeez. Jeez.

Leisurely footsteps echoed, indicating that there was no need to rush. I don’t know who it was, but I could definitely feel their intention to close the stone door and force us out.

The companions exchanged glances and formed into a formation. Dang Do-yeon and Dang So-yeol, who were capable of long-distance attacks, stood behind and the rest of the group stepped forward.

Jeez.

My eyes widened when I saw the person coming out of the passage. It wasn’t just me. It was clearly felt that everyone in the group showed signs of agitation.

Jeongcheol!

Jeongcheol was standing at the entrance.

“How…”

The black cat’s groan replaced my doubts.

“It’s been a while.”

Jeongcheol glared at me and said.

“Your name is Hocheonan, right? Just finding out one name wasn’t easy.”

Where was he discovered? As I was thinking about that, Jeongcheol twitched the corner of his mouth and said,

“Or should I call you Yong-blind?”

*** ***

It started with the Sacheon Individual Secret Service Competition.

‘Things went awry from there.’

Things started to go wrong when Jeong Cheol, who had been training repeatedly with the intention of reaching the absolute state of Hyeongyeong and becoming another loser of Sacheon, heard the news about the Sacheon Personal Martial Arts Competition.

Jeong-cheol, who was in danger of losing his cause of revenge for the Sacheon Rangin, had to move quickly…

There was no choice but to hastily bring in Yunnan’s factions and carry out a violent operation.

The problem is that even that violent operation went completely wrong.

Doki, who had not returned to his family for over ten years, happened to be there at that moment, and Hocheonan, a Sichuan nang who used it as an excuse, blocked his path to protect his craftsmen.

Ho Cheon-an declared revenge, but Jeong-cheol did not pay much attention. Realistically, it was impossible for Ho Cheon-an to defeat him, so he hoped that accepting Ho Cheon-an’s pressure would make a positive impression.

After that, I waited until the time was right.

Sacheon suffered from measles due to the influx of Safa people, and the plan was being completed very slowly, so Jeong Cheol quietly bided his time.

So, just as the Apostolic Training was about to move properly, something happened.

Dependent faction.

The situation became strange when Ak Gyeong-cheol, a member of the Googok clan of the Sokryeong faction, was brutally defeated by an expert from Podalap Palace. A small rumor that Podalap Palace personnel were wandering around in the outskirts quickly turned into a strange rumor that Seojiang’s martial arts people were preparing to invade Yunnan.

Ak Gyeong-cheol became a bastard who was defeated by barbarians on the border, and of course, the three Hyeon-gyeong masters of Yunnan and Sado-ryeon were also tied up with wholesale money and suffered a minor blow.

However, Jeongcheol saw even that as an opportunity.

Let’s put a leash on the weakened Sokryeong faction and push them to Sacheon. The four factions moved on their own, and Jeongcheol waited for the last time in anticipation of the soon-to-be leader.

However, the news that reached Jeongcheol was not the declaration of surrender by the dependent faction, but the appearance of the imperial army.

Jeong Cheol was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Emperor. As a result, the huge blow suffered by the Apostolic Alliance was also the same.

Of course, Jeong-cheol dug into the case in great detail.

I learned about the existence of Yongjimaeng.

‘Brave.’

Lee Seol, who was literally living in a rented room on a corner of the ridge, showed off his courage to get rid of all his competitors and become the head of Soga, which made Jeong Cheol suspicious. As Lee Seol was praised as the best story in Yunnan, there was quite a lot of information about him, and his actions of suddenly carrying out a series of crazy strategies based on such information were suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

Jeong Cheol paid attention to Yong-maeng, who was dragged into the Red Army as a scapegoat. And we could be sure that Yong Yong-maeng’s activities were considerable in the process of Lee Seol ascending to Sogaju.

Jeong Cheol-eun is confident in Yong-maeng’s performance.

‘This man, I must take him under my command no matter what.’

I began to covet Yong-maeng’s abilities.

While achieving his goal of making his own achievements for Yi Seol, he set the stage for other competitors to destroy themselves.

Jeong Cheol, who was once impressed by the resourcefulness and sophisticated techniques, was twice impressed by the broad perspective that even took the imperial army into consideration.

After Okgye’s incident escalated into a treasonous situation, Jeongcheol suffered quite a psychological blow.

I was confident that I had made the best moves that the situation allowed, but the results were always the worst, so of course I had no choice but to be discouraged.

While I was naturally doubting my ability to come up with a plan because everything I did was tangled and unresolved, when I saw Yong Yong-maeng, who immediately elevated Lee Seol to the rank of Sogaju, I thought it was all right.

‘Was he captivated by Yunnan’s greatest beauty, or was he defeated because he thought he could control Li Seol in his hands? Either way, I’m sure he’s the one I need.’

Jeong-cheol intentionally caused discord by criticizing the representatives of the Apostolic Alliance, and then became angry, pretended to lock himself in his room and went into hiding, and then began to follow in the footsteps of the Jeokgwidae.

Jeong-cheol, who tried to persuade Yong-maeng by taking over, faced an unexpected situation.

Yong-maeng Yong, who was thought to have been captured by the Red Army, was nowhere to be found and only a camouflaged empty cart remained.

‘Was Yongjimaeng in the same league as the imperial army? What is this…’

Jeongcheol was shocked when he confirmed that fact. From Jeong Cheol’s point of view, it was more reasonable to judge that the imperial government was targeting an organization called the Sadō Alliance rather than that Yong Yong-maeng was targeting the Sadō Alliance.

Therefore, Jeong Cheol began to hide in secret and monitor the movements of the Red Army.

If the imperial army was really targeting the Apostolic Alliance, there was a need to take measures to prevent further damage.

Jeong-cheol, who continued to monitor, finally caught some suspicious movement.

It was the movement of members of the Hocheonan task force who moved to deliver combat uniforms to the Hocheonan group.

Jeong-cheol, who followed behind them, encountered Ho Cheon-an and his group and was able to understand the full story of what happened.

Jeongcheol had never seen his bare face, and he did not recognize Hocheonan, who had been equipped with a new inner gongsim technique in addition to his changed physical temperament after immersing himself in the barley lotus bath, but as soon as he saw him, he realized that the only man in the group was the Sichuan Longin from back then.

Because the only person who could be with Hongjuk-gunhyeop Yeoil-ye and the father-in-law of Dangga whom I met in Danggata was that Sacheonangin.

‘Hocheonan.’

Jeongcheol trembled when he saw the appearance of the Sacheonangin, Hocheonan. After meeting Sichuan Longin in Dangata, who told him that it would not be long before he caught up with him, Jeong Cheol collected information about the Sichuan Longin.

However, the information that Jeongcheol could obtain was only a few pieces that could not even be called information. It is said that Yeo Il-ye came to watch the secret dance of a man named Twenty Eight Ho, a Sacheon nang. It is presumed that the Sacheonangin, who was invited to the imperial palace for meritorious merit and then demoted, is number 28.

All I could do was pick up the three letters of the name Hocheonan.

I couldn’t find any real information such as how old he was, where he was from, who he was related to, and what activities he did.

It was thanks to the work of Black Cat, who diligently erased Hocheonan’s information in normal times and especially disrupted Jeongcheol’s information activities.

Jeongcheol couldn’t find any information about Hocheonan, but at the time, he didn’t think much of it. Although there was nothing refreshingly revealed, in the end, there was no connection to a threatening subordinate, and all I saw was the position of an instructor at the Gold Medical Committee for less than two months at most.

As soon as Yong-maeng realized that it was Ho Cheon-an, Jeong-cheol saw the situation differently.

He realized that he had caused a turmoil inside the Amryongmun Gate by causing the Sokryeong faction to withdraw from the Sadōryeon and making Lee Seol, the weakest member of the succession, into Sogaju.

Jeong-cheol couldn’t help but be shocked when he realized that Yong-maeng’s resourcefulness, which he admired over and over again, was only a tip of what Ho Cheon-an had planned.

‘Ever since Dangata’s affairs went awry, nothing has been resolved properly. Were all of those things arranged by Ho Cheon-an?’

When he followed Ho Cheon-an’s group and checked the mobility of the Bicheon carriage, Jeong Cheol became convinced that the Podalapgung incident was also arranged by Ho Cheon-an.

What is the probability that a Hyeon-gyeong expert and a Hyeon-gyeong expert will meet by chance and a fight will break out?

It was Ho Cheon-an who, while serving as an instructor for the Geumuiui Committee for less than two months at most, had connections that allowed him to mobilize a special unit called the Red Ghost Army. It wouldn’t be strange to say that someone with such crazy resourcefulness could move the chief’s local police expert.

‘afraid.’

Jeongcheol was afraid of Hocheonan. Hocheonan, reflected in Jeongcheol’s eyes, was inexplicable. An incomprehensible monster who had the ability to move the police chief’s police chief and a thousand special forces of the Imperial Army in less than half a year, but was at best acting as a Sichuan ninja and was contented.

In Jeongcheol’s eyes, Hocheonan was such a monster.