Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 141 - This Is Exhausting

Chapter 141 – This Is Exhausting

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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A whistleblower from the Mount Hua Sect. He could blow his nose without using his hands.

‘That guy really has no popularity, does he?’

Naturally, as the party involved, Ju-seong was also invited to attend the meeting with the whistleblower.

Normally, this would be an improper procedure. But given Ju-seong’s behavior of immediately trying to storm into Mount Hua territory, Zhuge Hye judged that this approach would be better.

‘This guy is an absolute lunatic…’

Zhuge Hye grumbled inwardly while sitting beside Ju-seong.

A mad venomous snake had been slithering around the Martial Alliance’s front courtyard looking to bite someone to death, so she had no choice but to hold him down for the time being.

Whether Ju-seong knew her thoughts or not, he was feeling the black ebony table with his fingers and tapping on a teapot crafted by a skilled potter.

“This teapot is truly beautiful.”

‘Are you having fun…?’

Zhuge Hye propped her chin and watched this behavior for about half a tea-time, until Ju-seong finally seemed to lose interest and spoke to her.

“By the way, didn’t you say you were at the bottom of the Military Affairs Division last time?”

At Ju-seong’s question, Zhuge Hye nodded calmly.

“Yes. At the time.”

“It hasn’t even been a few weeks.”

“Zhuge family members get promoted fast. I’m now a Strategist of the Third Unit of the Investigation Department directly under the Military Affairs Division.”

“That’s awfully fast… Isn’t giving the Zhuge family too much favoritism?”

“If you’re smarter than me, why not join the Military Affairs Division yourself.”

“That’s a bit much. I’m stupid.”

Zhuge Hye sighed and pressed her temple. Talking with this man made her feel like she was becoming an idiot too.

Just then, a voice came from outside the door.

“The whistleblower has arrived.”

“Yes. Send him in.”

The man who entered was a Mount Hua Sect disciple with a baby-faced appearance of barely twenty. Upon seeing Ju-seong sitting next to Zhuge Hye, he visibly flinched.

Was it because he’d seen Ju-seong thoroughly crush his senior?

Zhuge Hye already knew the basic personal details but deliberately asked related questions. It was a courtesy to Ju-seong.

“Your name?”

“Jeong Gi-pung.”

“Your status?”

“Second-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.”

“Come to think of it, I saw you at my grandfather’s seventieth-birthday banquet.”

“Ah…! That’s right. I attended with my senior. It’s been a while, Young Lady Zhuge… No, Strategist Zhuge.”

“Just call me Young Lady. There are about a dozen Strategist Zhuge’s in the Military Affairs Division.”

Ju-seong clicked his tongue inwardly. Damn world, the Zhuge family takes everything.

Once the basic identity verification was complete, Zhuge Hye asked.

“Young Master Jeong. You came to the Military Affairs Division to report your senior, Martial Artist Jang’s, misconduct.”

Jeong Gi-pung nodded repeatedly with a face that looked ready to burst into tears. Indeed, with such a pitiful expression on a handsome face befitting a Mount Hua swordsman, one’s heart couldn’t help but waver…

‘Waver my ass. Open your damn mouth already.’

When Ju-seong glared fiercely, Jeong Gi-pung hiccuped and trembled.

Zhuge Hye shot Ju-seong a sharp look as if telling him to stay still, then turned back and asked in the gentlest voice.

“Now, Young Master Jeong. The Military Affairs Division will absolutely guarantee your safety, so please tell us without worry. As detailed as possible.”

When Zhuge Hye gently coaxed and soothed him, Jeong Gi-pung finally opened his mouth and explained the whole story.

Listening to his tale, Ju-seong unknowingly pressed his forehead.

‘Wow… This is the worst of the worst.’

Testing a new poison on his junior? And by applying it directly to a real blade?

Jeong Gi-pung had been the subject of that experiment, which was why he knew about his senior’s misconduct.

He personally showed the four or five stab wounds on his body. To determine the poison’s spread rate, there were multiple wounds on his upper and lower arms, shins and thighs, and even his torso.

Zhuge Hye shook her head with a sigh, and Ju-seong also gave up on pressing Jeong Gi-pung for details.

‘If I were him, I would’ve slit Jang Hwa-rin’s throat while he was sleeping.’

Ju-seong shook his head. The fact that he’d stopped at merely whistleblowing made him look like a gentleman by comparison.

Jeong Gi-pung paused mid-sentence and suddenly bowed to Ju-seong, offering a fist salute.

“Mad Dragon… No, I heard you don’t like that title. I am deeply grateful to you, Young Master Ju-seong. In truth, other Mount Hua disciples probably feel the same, excluding those in Senior Jang’s clique.”

“Hm? Why is that?”

At Ju-seong’s question, Jeong Gi-pung explained.

“Because my senior has completely fallen apart now. Apparently when he left his sword behind on the arena, he left behind everything he was as a swordsman along with it.”

Jang Hwa-rin had fled in terror from Ju-seong’s killing intent without even grabbing his own sword.

Such a disgraceful spectacle would naturally become a hot topic throughout the martial world and was even now spreading across the entire Central Plains.

But Jang Hwa-rin seemed to have broken down far worse than the rumors suggested. Ju-seong sighed softly and thought.

‘He must have truly abysmal popularity. His peers are this delighted by his downfall. Well, considering his behavior, who wouldn’t lose all affection for him.’

“The elders of my sect and Senior Jang’s clique are claiming Young Master Ju-seong used some evil arts to scramble his mind and destroy him, but I don’t believe it.”

Ju-seong felt a twinge of guilt and casually averted his gaze to the beautiful teapot.

It wasn’t exactly evil arts, but he had shot out killing intent and thoroughly scrambled Jang Hwa-rin’s mind.

‘Wait, is that evil arts?’

Ju-seong soon pushed aside the complicated feelings and asked the truly necessary question.

“By the way, where did Jang Hwa-rin obtain such poison? It’s no ordinary poison.”

“Um… I’m not certain, but after the Peng family’s eldest son visited Senior Jang’s quarters, he did test the poison on me.”

“Oh?”

At Ju-seong’s interested exclamation, Zhuge Hye turned to look at his face and was startled, quickly looking away again.

At the corner of Ju-seong’s lips hung a truly murderous smile.

* * *

In the end, the matter was resolved relatively peacefully.

Just as Ju-seong was about to rush out like a mad dog to cripple Peng Hyeok’s remaining arm, Zhuge Hye barely managed to restrain him, promising to handle things.

The Military Affairs Division immediately sent a summons to bring Peng Hyeok, and after an in-depth interview in a private room, Ju-seong obtained the information he wanted.

As soon as he answered Ju-seong’s question, Peng Hyeok immediately bowed his head.

“Young Master Ju-seong, I apologize. Being defeated so miserably by you was so humiliating that I wanted to harm you even through such means. Honestly, it’s hypocritical, but after losing my arm, I couldn’t help thinking of revenge…”

Ju-seong stared intently at Peng Hyeok, who openly admitted his guilt and immediately prostrated himself.

From the start, Ju-seong didn’t have the ability to escalate this matter. His opponents were the Seven Sects and Three Families. Pursuing Peng Hyeok would naturally drag in the involved Mount Hua Sect as well.

From the Martial Alliance’s perspective, there were also significant obstacles to publicly announcing this matter.

‘He knows I can’t escalate this?’

He apparently knew that if he could just somewhat soothe Ju-seong’s temper, things could fizzle out somehow.

‘Smart bastard.’

At any rate, he was a cut above Jang Hwa-rin. He knew how to use his head, and he didn’t hole up like an idiot just because he lost.

He knew all too well the simplest and clearest truth of jianghu: as long as you don’t die, it’s not over.

Ju-seong smiled slightly and nodded.

“Fine. You clearly show remorse, so I’ll bury your involvement in this.”

At Ju-seong’s words, Zhuge Hye let out a sigh of relief. In any case, those who’d misbehaved had become a cripple and a broken man.

If she shoved the hidden ugly truth at the sects that had each lost their rising stars and questioned responsibility?

The Martial Alliance might lose two pillars that very day. In the first place, it was miraculous that Ju-seong was unharmed after doing that to Peng Hyeok and Jang Hwa-rin.

Of course, this was only because the Martial Alliance Leader’s Office had delivered a strong message making both sects hold back.

But Zhuge Hye’s expression hardened instantly at Ju-seong’s following words: “Instead, let me hit you once.”

Before Zhuge Hye could be startled and stop him, his powerful fist slammed straight into Peng Hyeok’s liver.

-Thwack!

“Guh… aaah…”

Peng Hyeok couldn’t even scream properly, clutching his side as he collapsed with his eyes rolling back.

Ju-seong grabbed his ear and lifted him, speaking.

“Try pulling any more bullshit behind my back, you shady bastard. I’ll grab your thing and do a cartwheel with it.”

Peng Hyeok nodded repeatedly despite the pain threatening to knock him out. Zhuge Hye felt dizzy at Ju-seong’s insane threat.

Grab that and do a cartwheel? Whatever for?

Ju-seong looked around the wrecked interrogation room, then cleared his throat and dusted himself off.

“Well, Strategist Zhuge. Thank you for all the accommodations today.”

“…Yes. This is exhausting.”

Zhuge Hye stared at Ju-seong with an expression of utter weariness as she answered. Well, at least she should be grateful he listened to her and didn’t go running off?

Ju-seong pulled a small bundle from his robes. It was solid wound salve made using White Pig’s powder.

“A gift of thanks. I’ll say this with absolutely no exaggeration… this should be the finest wound salve in all of jianghu. Really. I swear on my master.”

“Who swears on their master, Young Master. Sigh…”

Zhuge Hye felt a headache coming on and pinched between her brows. Were these what they called troublemakers?

“Anyway, thank you. Please go.”

Ju-seong smirked slightly and shrugged.

“If you call for a performer, you should expect chaos. Anyway, I had fun.”

“I never want to see you again…”

Left alone, Zhuge Hye muttered gloomily. She was hungry, and there was a mountain of reports to file from this incident. And from beneath unconscious Peng Hyeok’s clothes came… damn it… the smell of urine. It was truly the worst evening.

* * *

Ju-seong decided to shelve thoughts about the poison for now.

“It’s not like I can go find someone in Guangxi Province right away… That can wait.”

What was immediately before him was the finals.

The entire city of Anqing was ablaze with that talk, practically on fire. A martial artist not from the Seven Sects and Three Families advancing to the finals?

Had there been such precedent since the current Martial Alliance Leader Yelu Cho?

Yelu Cho from decades ago was an exceptional participant and champion, but he hadn’t been wildly popular.

He was recalled as having almost no supporters until he made it to the Round of 16.

The prevailing view at the time was that some massive fellow was just bulldozing through with his natural divine strength. Of course, those with discerning eyes recognized him.

But what about Ju-seong?

He’d made a strong impression from the preliminaries’ team battles, delivering thrilling excitement every match.

Now that the Ascending Dragon Assembly was reaching its end, all of the Central Plains knew Ju-seong’s name. All manner of rumors had spread through various channels.

There is a mad dragon with the fierce spirit of Sichuan’s lands, and his name is Ju-seong.

The entire Central Plains focused on this match. Would the Mad Dragon from Shu win, or would the Vajra Arhat from Mount Song?

And the subject of all this attention, Ju-seong, was currently…

“Senior Sighing Branch, how about a match with me?”

…picking a fight with an old man.