Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 39 - Grudges

Chapter 39 – Grudges

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Helian Qiu thought he should complete at least a basic interrogation before the sexual predator stopped breathing or ended his own life by some outlandish method, so he began the torture.

Originally, torture was not a good method for extracting useful information. Being tortured made one’s mind hazy from pain, leading to rambling nonsense or outright lies.

Of course, it was the best method for hearing what the torturer wanted to hear.

But Helian Qiu had a truth serum brought from the Martial Alliance.

Since Ju-seong and Red Beggar were not members of the Martial Alliance, they had to stay far away. But Ju-seong could eavesdrop on the entire process using his Celestial Hearing.

Helian Qiu also knew this, but since no internal Martial Alliance information was leaking out, he did not take any particular measures. There were no measures he could take anyway.

Spreading an energy membrane to block sound waves was a high-level technique possible only for those at the peak level who had pushed energy manipulation to the extreme.

Helian Qiu was a lay disciple of Wudang, but such high-level techniques were only possible for main mountain masters of prestigious great sects.

Ju-seong threw firewood into the bonfire while quietly eavesdropping on the interrogation.

Yeo Hong-pa and Red Beggar sat exchanging drinks and waited quietly.

Yeo Hong-pa, after sending back the Five Poisons Valley martial artists, had decided to spend a bit more time with the group.

Opportunities to connect with such young masters were rare, and having received help, he had to repay it for the honor of the Five Poisons Valley.

Ju-seong closed his eyes and began filtering out all noise except what he wanted to hear.

Helian Qiu’s calm voice reciting the sexual predator’s background details came through.

-Byeok Sa-un. Originally a wandering dark pather from the southern Zhili region. He was nicknamed the Jade-Faced Wolf and had a sordid record of womanizing. There were also instances of forcing himself on common women. But his skills were mediocre, only second-rate. He was also once humiliated by the Lizard-Running Gentleman, the brothel master of the Heavenly Sky House, when he forced himself on a courtesan there…

-Heh, that gigolo bastard. I should have killed him first.

-…Who exactly did you learn that martial art from? You were just an ordinary wandering dark pather. Never at a level to earn such infamy.

-Keu… I do not know either. Just an old man I happened to meet. He said he had a martial art perfect for someone like me, threw the manual at me, and left.

-What did the old man look like?

-Just… an old man who looked like a scholar. Dressed simply, nothing that stood out.

‘Wow, he answers well.’

The Martial Alliance’s truth serum seemed more effective than expected.

Of course, Ju-seong also knew how to make truth serums. The Divine Physician had quite deep knowledge in that area.

Of course, not all of it was the Divine Physician’s own knowledge. It most likely came from his old sect.

‘Come to think of it, this is Yunnan.’

Perhaps his master’s sect had left traces here.

He thought he should look into it later as he focused his ears.

-…How is it that lately there are people like this appearing all over the world? The point about someone of unknown identity giving him martial arts is also…

This was Byeok Sa-un’s quiet muttering.

‘Strange fellows are stirring up the martial world. Could it be the White Lotus Cult?’

Ju-seong muttered to himself. Though it was said to have perished long ago in the White Lotus Blood War, the Divine Physician had said they had preserved their lineage.

Miss Mo Wol-hyang herself was from the White Lotus Cult.

If one were to pick the faction most hostile toward the Central Plains martial world, it would be the White Lotus Cult.

They were betrayed by the imperial house and ignored by the Central Plains martial world. During the transition of dynasties, they had done much for the Central Plains, and all of it was betrayed, so they had reason to hold a grudge.

‘Well, this is not something for me to judge.’

The very highest masters of the martial world, like the Ten Greats Under Heaven or whatever, would be debating this issue.

Ju-seong was still just a minnow of the martial world, was he not?

He just needed to know that there were shadowy but powerful ones muddying the waters of the Central Plains martial world.

Withdrawing his Celestial Hearing, Ju-seong closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and recited the Stillness-Bright Incantation. Though he had not killed anyone in the last few fights, just fighting had slightly increased his killing intent.

When he finished even the Stillness-Bright Incantation, Yeo Hong-pa approached him and offered a drink, speaking.

“Earlier, I received a grace that will be hard to repay even for the rest of my life. The woman you saved is my younger sister.”

“Ah, I see. I noticed she had quite a bit of energy in her body. You must be people of some standing in the Five Poisons Valley?”

“We are direct descendants of the Valley Master. Our father is the Young Valley Master.”

Though not a powerful faction that controlled the political situation of the martial world, the Five Poisons Valley was absolute within Yunnan.

Even if they did not flex their power or involve themselves in worldly affairs, their skills made them arguably the foremost faction in Yunnan.

Having saved their direct line, he had incurred a substantial debt.

Ju-seong barely suppressed the corner of his lip from rising.

‘This makes things a bit easier.’

Ju-seong and the Divine Physician were also well-versed in poison.

But they could not compare to those who put the character “poison” in their faction’s name. Ju-seong had come all the way to Yunnan precisely to catch poisonous creatures.

Cooperating with the Five Poisons Valley would make achieving his objective easy. But it was not entirely smooth.

‘And I should demand the Heavenly Silkworm Moth’s poison dan as repayment for today’s matter… it is uncertain whether they will be that fair.’

Ju-seong’s mind began to race.

Could he and Red Beggar catch that moth by themselves?

The Divine Physician had sent Ju-seong for a reason. It was the excellence of the Flame Crow Six Stage Art.

The creature possessed wood attribute poison. The Flame Crow Six Stage Art harbored fierce fire energy, so by the mutual nourishment of wood creating fire, Ju-seong had an advantage in this fight.

But even so, there was no way a mere first-rate Ju-seong could wade through colonies of poisonous creatures and kill their leader. If it were that easy, Yunnan Province would not have reached this state.

‘So I must receive the Five Poisons Valley’s help… but if I go in with them, they might seize the poison dan from me…’

Since they were a faction handling poison, the Heavenly Silkworm Moth’s poison dan would be a treasure to them.

That was when something happened.

Ju-seong instantly withdrew his thoughts and stared in one direction.

Red Beggar, seeing him, asked in a confused voice.

“What is going on?”

“Uninvited guests.”

“Uninvited guests?”

“Probably Yunnan martial artists.”

At Ju-seong’s explanation, Yeo Hong-pa let out a small exclamation.

“Ah…!”

The Five Poisons Valley was also a Yunnan martial faction, but the ‘Yunnan martial artists’ Ju-seong referred to were slightly different.

He meant the martial artists of the Green Wood Lotus and Southern Commerce Association.

No matter what flying tricks they pulled, they could not keep up with the pursuit of the Five Poisons Valley, the Martial Alliance, and Ju-seong with his special skills.

Thus, they arrived here almost half a day late. The east was already dawning.

-Clop, clop!

“Oh, the Flying Tiger School. It has been a while.”

“There is Nine-Tail Mountain Manor too. Dahyang House? That one seems to be under the Green Wood Lotus…”

Martial artists from each faction were galloping toward them on horseback, flags raised. Red Beggar and Ju-seong looked at each other.

“This is…”

“What is there to say? It is going to be a complete mess.”

“Helian Qiu will have a hard time. This really…”

Ju-seong and Red Beggar watched from a distance as if it were a fire across the river.

After running desperately all the way here, Helian Qiu, who was dragging the sexual predator by the hair out of the bushes, also stiffened upon seeing the rising dust cloud.

-Heeheehiiing!

The martial artist from Dahyang House who reined in his horse asked Ju-seong.

“Who might you be?”

‘Dahyang House… Sounds like a tea name. There are all sorts of martial factions.’

Ju-seong muttered inwardly while performing a cupped-fist salute, now a habit.

“We are a certain Ju and Red Beggar, recently called the Yellow-White Twin Tigers in Yunnan Province. It is fine if you have not heard of us. We are not very well-known.”

The martial artist saluted back from atop his horse.

“Ah, I have heard of you. Please forgive me for receiving your greeting from horseback. I hear you smashed up several county Beggars’ Sects and reformed them soundly. Many are watching your movements with interest. But what brings you here?”

“Ah, that matter will be fully explained by Helian Qiu, the great hero of the Martial Alliance over there. Please, go ahead.”

Ju-seong patted the horse’s rump as if offloading a nuisance, pushing it toward Helian Qiu.

Normally, a martial artist’s trained horse would react sensitively to a stranger’s touch, but this one obediently moved as Ju-seong’s hand pushed it.

A bit of killing intent that even the Stillness-Bright Incantation had not yet cleaned up was emanating from Ju-seong.

Ju-seong’s killing intent was infinitely close to that of predators in nature. It could be called a primordial, pure killing intent rising from the marrow.

Thus, the horse was instinctively cowed by Ju-seong and moved docilely.

Once Ju-seong guided the first person like that, the martial artists from each faction arriving afterward also proceeded straight to Helian Qiu like a line of ants.

The martial artists from Nine-Tail Mountain Manor had encountered Ju-seong and Red Beggar at the massacre site of the Danmok Sword School.

Recognizing familiar faces and knowing they were renowned masters called the Yellow-White Twin Tigers, everyone exchanged cupped-fist salutes and greetings as they passed.

On the other hand, the man who appeared to be the Flying Tiger School Master glanced down at them, snorted, and passed by.

‘A bit petty. Bear-looking guy.’

Ju-seong and Red Beggar had once gotten into a scuffle with Flying Tiger School martial artists and beaten them up.

That incident had started spreading their name in Yunnan martial circles, but the Flying Tiger School Master seemed not to have forgotten it yet.

Ju-seong took Red Beggar and Yeo Hong-pa and stepped far back to watch the Yunnan martial artists exchange greetings with Helian Qiu.

After a brief conversation, they were soon raising their voices in argument.

“Do you have any idea how much Yunnan martial artist blood that monster spilled! Even if punishment is given, it should be given by us in Yunnan martial world. How can the Martial Alliance take him away!”

“We in the Martial Alliance captured him, so how can I hand him over to you? The only institution authorized by the government to punish and execute evildoers is the Martial Alliance. Are you saying you will privately execute him?”

“Ha…! Do not push commoner logic onto the martial world, which sees hundreds dying day after day. The law of the martial world is only one: grudges. Also, it was the combined effort of our Yunnan martial world that drove him into a corner, which is why you could catch him. Coming late and putting your spoon in, yet you are so brazen.”

“…Do you dare to obstruct Martial Alliance business to the end?”

Helian Qiu issued a threat in a low voice.

But his intimidation did not work on the Yunnan martial artists.

“Heh, the Martial Alliance name only works around the Yangtze region or up north. This is Yunnan. The young friend needs to see more of the world. Even if we overpower you and snatch that sexual predator, what could the Martial Alliance possibly do to us?”

“If even the Martial Alliance Inspection Corps is dispatched, Yunnan martial world will be devastated.”

“Then do it! If you do, we will draw in the evil path scoundrels from Guizhou if we have to and fight to the death in resistance! Do as you please!”

Now the conversation was heading off the rails. People without the authority to dispatch the Inspection Corps or negotiate with Guizhou’s dark path were engaging in pointless pride battles.

“Should we not help him? We fought on the same side after all…”

Red Beggar asked Ju-seong cautiously. Ju-seong shrugged and asked back.

“Helian Qiu, that man and we only cooperated briefly toward a common goal. He seems upright and just, but my heart does not particularly move me. The Yunnan martial artists also contributed to the hunt for the sexual predator. It is not that they have no right to claim.”

In fact, the reason the sexual predator had been attacked repeatedly and pushed to the verge of qi deviation was thanks to the Yunnan martial world’s dragnet.

Of course, calling it a dragnet was generous since it was quite sloppy and haphazard and could not catch the sexual predator.

Yeo Hong-pa, who had been listening alongside, nodded vigorously.

“Well said, Young Hero! To repay only according to grace received and grudges incurred is the proper attitude for living in the martial world.”

Ju-seong shook his head seriously.

“That is not it.”

“Hm?”

“Grace, double. Grudges, tenfold. That is my arithmetic.”

This was the arithmetic he had learned in the streets. Repaying grudges and favors as they were was not enough.

Even those who inflicted petty grudges had to be made to wet themselves, and those who showed grace had to be repaid to an excessive degree.

‘Old Master Hwang scolded me several times for this arithmetic, but…’

Whatever anyone said, this was his martial world. It was a rough and merciless place, and it was a place where repaying as received was never enough.