Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 179 - Embroidered Uniform Guard (6)

Chapter 179 – Embroidered Uniform Guard (6)

With his arms folded, Seo Jong-haeng watched Muk Hui-yeong perform the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. It was fundamentally elegant, yet when it struck out, it extended in a domineering fashion. That transition was skillful enough that it was clear the energy had possessed those qualities from the start.

So he said he had learned a unique internal art.

Seo Jong-haeng did not know what that unique internal art was, but it seemed to be an extremely high-level internal method. To be able to shift between elegance and domination, two opposite energies, so fluidly meant the internal art accumulated an energy suitable for anything.

Though he had risen all the way to Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Seo Jong-haeng had never heard of such an internal art. If there truly were one like that, wouldn’t it have already been called the greatest internal art under heaven? After all, it would allow someone to cultivate both domineering martial arts and elegant ones at the same time.

It is more reasonable to think he learned two internal arts through Wudang’s Dual Intent Heart Art.

In truth, Seo Jong-haeng had guessed correctly. Muk Hui-yeong was indeed handling and cultivating two energies at once through the Dual Intent Heart Art: the pure spiritual qi accumulated through Wudang’s internal method, and the demonic qi generated by the Divine Demon Pill. Primordial Mixed Qi was the result of combining those two, so naturally it possessed the strengths of both.

But demonic qi and spiritual qi were opposites, and their union was theoretically impossible. It was only because Muk Hui-yeong, with the talent All Streams Return to the Source, had entangled demonic qi and spiritual qi together. That was precisely why All Streams Return to the Source was not a mere fourth-grade talent.

Of course, just because he was the Commander-in-Chief did not mean he knew every martial art in the world. The martial world held all kinds of eccentrics, and martial arts believed to have vanished could suddenly reappear hundreds of years later.

Which meant that suspecting Muk Hui-yeong of carrying the Heavenly Demon’s energy might be no more than a wild conjecture. Wasn’t the Heavenly Demon himself nothing more than a figure in the mythology of the Demonic Cult? Then again, if one put it that way, the Founding Emperor and the Emperor in the empire’s own mythology were also figures of myth, in a sense.

Then why does this feel so profoundly strange?

It might simply be because he had never once in his life seen someone vomit at the sight of palace martial arts.

No, that was probably it.

But if Muk Hui-yeong truly were the Heavenly Demon, there was no way he would vomit at the sight of a mere martial art of his own nature. Nausea arising from a clash of mutually opposed energies had been studied for a long time.

One fact accepted in every result was that the lower the relative level of the martial art, the worse the nausea became. If Muk Hui-yeong were truly the Heavenly Demon of myth, it made no sense that he would vomit at the sight of a mere martial art.

“…you hear me?”

“Hm?”

“I said, is this good enough? That’s the third time I’m asking.”

When Seo Jong-haeng came back to himself, he found Muk Hui-yeong staring at him with a sullen face.

“Good enough for what? Keep going. You’re still lacking.”

“…Yes.”

“It was the same with that Flowing Cloud Sword Art of yours. You have intent, but no technique. Usually the ones from so-called great families have technique but no intent.”

“Don’t hit me.”

“If you view martial arts as cultivation, then you’re doing very well. But if you view them as techniques of killing, you’re still lacking.”

“I see.”

Muk Hui-yeong stroked his chin and considered that seriously. Seo Jong-haeng knew it too. In truth, what he had just said was an outrageous stretch.

Muk Hui-yeong’s technique was not especially lacking for someone of his age. It was simply that his level of realization was so high that his technique could not keep pace.

Of course, if his technique improved, he would become far more formidable, but even now he was more than enough to devour the rising stars of his age bracket. His technique might be similar to theirs, but his realization was in a realm far beyond them.

So the rumors calling him the ultimate genius were real.

Seo Jong-haeng was the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the organization that handled information even within the palace. He knew the sort of place Muk Hui-yeong currently occupied in the martial world.

A genius for whom no precedent had ever been seen.

That was how the Beggars’ Gang Chief had described him. Of course, only a tiny handful of people could directly obtain information from the Beggars’ Gang Chief, and Seo Jong-haeng was one of them.

At first he had thought it mere exaggeration, just as martial artists were prone to. So he had taught him the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance, a high-level martial art with difficult martial principles, in part to test him.

Remarkably, Muk Hui-yeong had learned the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance absurdly well. He had even directly altered the intent contained in the martial art into a more flexible form suited to himself. In other words, he had made the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance into his own martial art in only half a quarter hour.

Of course, because his technique was still lacking, he could not display all of the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. Even so, the portion he could show was splendid enough.

“You’re still far off.”

“Yes, I know.”

Even though Seo Jong-haeng had only said it out of irritation, Muk Hui-yeong accepted it with complete seriousness.

People who grew to greatness, not only in the martial world but in general, always possessed that sort of humility and seriousness toward themselves. To already have that sort of attitude and mind at his age meant he had an extraordinary vessel.

“More, faster! You’re so damn slow!”

Seo Jong-haeng pushed Muk Hui-yeong even harder. If the boy had resisted, he could at least have beaten him with satisfaction, but because he only took it seriously, it irritated him more.

In any case, Seo Jong-haeng too was someone who had polished the martial path for a long time. He himself had needed half a year to master the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance, so naturally it would sour his mood if someone else learned it in half a quarter hour.

The strange feeling he kept having was probably because of that as well. If Muk Hui-yeong had only retched at palace martial arts, Seo Jong-haeng might have let it pass. But Muk Hui-yeong’s talent itself was so abnormal that it only deepened that sense of strangeness. At that point, one could almost believe him to be a return of the Heavenly Demon from myth.

Seo Jong-haeng watched Muk Hui-yeong closely as he performed the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. He really might just be a genius. In common sense terms, that was by far the likeliest answer. If so, then somehow or other he had to be worked into becoming someone on the palace’s side.

Seo Jong-haeng looked at Muk Hui-yeong. Muk Hui-yeong glanced around, then met his gaze.

“Why are you looking at me like I’m meat hanging in a butcher shop?”

“The way you talk….”

But before anything else, there was something that had to come first.

Confirmation that he truly had no connection to the Heavenly Demon or the Demonic Cult. That was the priority.

“Hey, Muk Hui-yeong.”

“Yes?”

“Follow me for a moment.”

As Seo Jong-haeng turned his back, he sent a voice transmission to every officer in the encampment.

Prepare for emergency conditions. Until separate orders are issued, no one is permitted in or out of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

As a merchant, I could not be fooled when it came to trained instincts. Seo Jong-haeng too was trying to give off as little as possible, like the veteran official he was, but I could still tell.

I’m being suspected.

Even though I had hidden my demonic qi with Primordial Mixed Qi, Seo Jong-haeng still suspected me. The instincts of seasoned wolves truly could not be ignored.

I could even feel the atmosphere of the Embroidered Uniform Guard shifting as I followed him. If I sharpened my ears, I could tell that the voices of the people who had been faintly noisy before were completely gone.

Had Seo Jong-haeng issued some sort of order? I couldn’t know that much. But I did know I had to be careful.

Before long, we stopped in front of a certain building. Turning back, Seo Jong-haeng flashed a grin.

“Here.”

“This is….”

It was a building so decrepit that it was hard to believe it stood within the palace. The paint on the exterior had peeled away, there was no signboard of any kind, and some strange smell seemed to drift from within.

“The Imperial Prison.”

“…I see.”

The Imperial Prison. The Embroidered Uniform Guard’s private prison. The place where those arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard were confined. There were no petty criminals here. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard put someone into the Imperial Prison, that person was usually condemned to death. It was that vicious and terrifying a place.

“I don’t think this is somewhere I ought to be.”

“Why not? You’re a censor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard too, aren’t you? Naturally you have entry rights.”

Seo Jong-haeng laughed. So now he was treating me like a censor. Still, it wasn’t wrong, so all I could do was laugh along.

“So this is the famous Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The one they say no one comes out of alive once they enter.”

“That’s only true for those with something rotten behind them. You’re not that sort of person, are you?”

“Not at all.”

“Good. Come in.”

The moment we entered the Imperial Prison, a jailer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was there. The jailer saluted the instant he saw Seo Jong-haeng.

“My respects to the Commander!”

“Good. We’re going to the lowest level.”

“…The lowest level, sir? Understood.”

The jailer flinched at the mention of the lowest level. I flinched as well. Who in the world could be confined at the lowest depth of the notorious Imperial Prison?

Though in truth that was not the most important thing. The most important thing was why he was taking me before such a monstrous criminal. Or else… whether I myself was the one being treated as such a criminal.

“Follow me.”

Receiving a ring of keys from the jailer, Seo Jong-haeng began descending without hesitation. It was dark, but not enough to hinder martial artists like us.

The deeper we went, the more the place stank. It was a foul mix of rotting corpses, blood, and excrement.

“If the smell bothers you, shut off your sense of smell.”

“I already am.”

“There are people who say the scent becomes savory once you get used to it.”

“That’s insane.”

“Filth has an oddly addictive quality.”

Making jokes that didn’t even deserve to be called jokes, Seo Jong-haeng headed farther in. The Imperial Prison was ironclad in its security. It took five separate keys just to open the first door.

“This is the Imperial Prison.”

With a creak from rust-covered hinges, the door opened.

Even with my sense of smell blocked, I could feel the reek of decay vibrating in the air. That alone told me that cleaning and upkeep were nonexistent inside.

“Kill me! Just kill me!”

“You damned dogs of the palace!”

The moment we stepped in, a storm of curses poured toward us.

Seo Jong-haeng didn’t even spare them a glance and simply walked straight ahead. I glanced lightly from side to side.

People who no longer even looked human were screaming. Some had lost both arms and legs and were rotting because they had not been treated. Others were bashing their own heads into the walls until their foreheads caved in. If there were such a thing as a painting of hell in the mortal world, this was it.

The stairs leading downward were at the end of the corridor. Only after seeing the full wretched condition of those people could I descend to the lower floor.

After that, I no longer looked at the prisoners. Even so, I could not shut off my hearing, so I still heard them. The atmosphere below was completely different.

If the first underground level had been like a marketplace full of shouts and curses, this place was like a graveyard filled with the cries of ghosts, containing only sobbing. Even the occasional plea to be killed was only whispered weakly.

“Well?”

At that moment, Seo Jong-haeng asked abruptly. Naturally I had no particular answer to give.

“Well what?”

“I mean, doesn’t it make you proud? These are all enemies of the palace. We work this hard.”

“I see.”

“Naturally, since you’re still a person, you may find it pitiable when you see people reduced to that state. But that’s only because you don’t know their crimes. Once you know their charges, you start looking at them as if they were beasts. If you’re one of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, that’s how it ought to be.”

“Yes.”

I had no intention of condemning their methods.

After all, the Central Plains was a savage place. And because it was savage, even abnormal violent groups like the martial world were tolerated.

These men were simply doing their work as best they knew how. Even so, I could do nothing about the nausea that rose from inside me.

“How many underground levels are there?”

“Only two more down.”

We were on the second underground level now, so that meant there were four in total.

If this level had been filled only with the sound of people sobbing, what kind of place would the next one be? For no reason, I felt afraid.

Just as before, the stairs down were at the end of the corridor. It seemed that every level had stairs at opposite ends.

We entered the third underground level. The atmosphere there was, again, different from the floor above. Silence. There was no sound at all.

Were there no people here? Yet the writhing shapes visible between the bars said otherwise.

But they said nothing. Hidden in darkness, their faces and forms could not be seen. Of course, if I concentrated my internal energy into my sight, I could have seen them, but I had no desire to go that far.

“Of all the sections of the Imperial Prison, this one is my favorite. Quiet and dark. Good for thinking, in a way.”

“I see.”

Seo Jong-haeng laughed as though he truly meant it, not as though he were trying to frighten me.

And so I followed him down to the lowest level, the fourth underground floor.

The moment I stepped onto the fourth underground floor, I raised a hand to shade my eyes. Unlike all the levels we had passed through, the fourth underground floor was far too bright.

The fourth underground floor was brilliantly lit, with white night-luminescent pearls set into it everywhere. And there was only a single barred cell on the entire floor. At the center of that cell sat a person bound by countless chains.

“Do you know who that is?”

“If I did, wouldn’t I be thrown in here too?”

“Haha. True enough.”

Seo Jong-haeng laughed. I had no wish to laugh in this painted hell. I still had not become numb enough as a human being to laugh here.

“Try not to be too shocked.”

Seo Jong-haeng lowered his voice as he spoke. What he said next was shocking indeed.

“That man is the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”