Chapter 39

===================
Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================

Tang Jong-hyeok replied after performing several actions, such as smelling the corpse and inserting his finger into its private parts while wearing deer-skin gloves.

“As expected, it is our Tang Clan’s Immortal Ruiner.”

“Did you find a clue, Brother Tang?”

“No. There are no traces.”

“?”

Tang Jong-hyeok, who looked into my eyes, hurriedly added an explanation.

“Because there are no traces, it means it is likely an imitation of our Tang Clan’s Immortal Ruiner. Originally, after a paralyzing poison—especially the Immortal Ruiner—takes effect, the surplus particles are washed away by the blood, and their traces disappear.”

In other words, it meant it was only natural that no traces remained.

I stared blankly at Tang Jong-hyeok’s seemingly proud face for a moment, and perhaps realizing his own mistake, his expression quickly changed as he continued speaking.

“Ahem. So what I mean is… at least what can be confirmed from that corpse is that circumstantial evidence of ‘seeming to have been poisoned’ exists, Young Brother Yeon. This in itself is a great thing. Paralyzing poison is originally traced through the rigidity of the corpse, so the moment it is put into an ice house like this, it becomes difficult to verify.”

In the past, Master said.

That the length of speech is inversely proportional to its reliability.

Just like those words, the eyes of Yang So and I remained unchanged, and Tang Jong-hyeok’s words became even faster.

“Well, although this is too deep to explain. Do you guys know about rectal temperature?”

At his words, I rummaged through my mind for a word that I seemed to have heard somewhere. In the butterfly dream, before being appointed as a ‘professor’ at an organization called ‘Hankuk University,’ during the period when I was also active as a ‘professor’ at a certain university, I used to share knowledge and wisdom with several people in front of a bizarre mechanical device.

‘Those things called videos filmed like that also made money.’

It was a word I had heard in those days through a rough-looking person called a ‘detective.’

“Are you talking about, uh, the temperature of the internal organs inside the anus?”

At my question, cracks momentarily appeared on Tang Jong-hyeok’s triumphant expression.

“Uh… since you know that, the conversation will be… easier.”

Thus, Tang Jong-hyeok continued speaking with a displeased expression.

The explanation was that if it were a corpse struck by a hot-yang palm force, no matter how much it was poisoned by a paralyzing poison or stored in an ice house, the residual heat of that hot-yang energy was bound to remain deep inside the internal organs.

In that sense.

“I am saying that no warmth—that is, traces of hot-yang energy—was felt in the rectum at all. Normally, if it is a corpse that died from being struck by hot-yang energy, it is normal for the eight extraordinary meridians and twelve primary channels to melt under its influence, and the five viscera and six bowels to rot quickly… but only coldness is felt in this corpse. This means that the hot-yang palm force was not the decisive cause of death. In other words, we will be able to argue that they killed him by another method, namely, a colorless and odorless poison. Isn’t this plausible enough as circumstantial evidence?”

At his words, Yang So and I were only then able to nod our heads.

Although it was certainly not physical evidence of using poison, it seemed it could serve as circumstantial evidence. If a perfectly fine internal expert did not collapse and die due to the opponent’s martial arts during a duel, nine times out of ten, it would be due to a foul trick.

“Next time, please tell us the important information first, Brother Tang.”

“It would have been convenient if you had spoken with the conclusion first.”

At our words, Tang Jong-hyeok’s face flushed slightly.

“…I understand.”

Along with his answer, a silence like a cold chill settled over the ice house.

Just then, the outside began to grow noisy.

“You loser bastards. Are you still setting foot in Chibi?!”

**

“Get lost, you sons of bitches!”

In the courtyard of the courtyard house, the most shabby inn around Chibi’s North Gate Avenue, dozens of warriors were threatening the disciples of the Cloud Sword Hall while holding their respective weapons.

They were the minions of the Danyang Sect, who had defeated the Cloud Sword Hall and conquered Chibi.

“You bastards! Even after harming Master through underhanded schemes…”

The disciples of the Cloud Sword Hall tried to protest against their crude accusations, but…

“Ha! What bullshit. Hey, you bastards. You keep going ‘poison, poison,’ but bring the evidence, evidence! Aren’t you righteous sects? Denying the result of a fair duel without evidence?! Even we wouldn’t do that!”

“If there’s anyone who really thinks we used poison to kill the Hall Master of the Cloud Sword Hall! Come on out!”

The Jianghu was ruthless.

No one passing by North Gate Avenue, nor anyone inside the inn, stepped forward for the losers, the disciples of the Cloud Sword Hall.

That was the nature of the Jianghu, and of life.

At that sight, the heads of the Cloud Sword Hall’s disciples were only slowly drooping.

At that moment.

“Right here.”

A seemingly young boy, who had not even reached twenty yet, stepped forward.

“What? Who is this brat?”

The man who said that put his index finger near his temple, the Taiyang (Sun) acupoint, and spun it around. It was an action representing those with problems in their Upper Dantian.

The man lowered his hand from near his temple and grabbed the boy by his collar. Then, the boy spoke with a smile.

“Oh? You laid hands on me first. Right?”

The Danyang Sect minion thought as he saw the boy’s smile.

‘Is he a creatively crazy bastard?’

At that moment, the boy’s arm grabbed his arm that was clutching the collar.

“Huh?”

And twisted it.

Crack!

“Aaargh!”

Surprised by the sudden turn of events, the minions raised their weapons and shouted.

“What! This bastard!”

“He has some skills!”

“How dare a young brat lay hands on his elders?!”

“Don’t think you’re leaving here alive!”

At that moment, the boy’s eyes swept over the minions who were about to rush in. Under that gaze, goosebumps broke out on the men’s backs. As if they were prey standing before a predator, they could not even dare to think of moving.

Naturally, a single word floated into their minds.

‘An expert!’

In addition, they recalled a long-standing adage of the Jianghu.

-Be absolutely careful of old people, women, the disabled, and children!

It was a belated regret, but they were also the warriors of the Danyang Sect, which had pushed out the Cloud Sword Hall, an affiliate branch of the Wudang Sect.

The man with the strongest presence among the minions forced himself forward.

“…Which sect are you from?”

“Wudang Sect.”

“Wudang Sect?!”

At that moment, a twisted smile was drawn on the man’s lips.

If it were an ordinary small-to-medium unorthodox sect, they should have run away just by hearing the name of the Wudang Sect. Such was the gap between the Danyang Sect and the Wudang Sect in the Jianghu. Even so, the Danyang Sect’s minion was smiling.

**

Seeing that sight, I was convinced.

‘They have some plan.’

They seemed like a ragtag bunch, but at the very least, it was possible to infer that the Danyang Sect’s meddling with the Cloud Sword Hall had been carefully planned from the beginning.

‘Indeed. They touched an affiliate branch of the Wudang Sect in Hubei, so they must have a backer comparable to the Wudang Sect.’

There were largely two possibilities for the backer.

Judging by the circumstantial evidence of using the Tang Clan’s imitation poison, they were either connected to the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest…

Or, like the flight of imagination I had embarked upon at the Yichang Branch, they were an affiliated organization of the Black Society Alliance, another pillar of the Six Great Evils.

Or it could even be both.

Anyway, what was certain was that the bastards were not afraid of the name of the Wudang Sect at all, and rather showed an air of confidence.

“Even if you came from the great Wudang Sect, it was a duel through a fair fight. Surely you aren’t trying to deny the result of such a duel?”

Furthermore, the bastards knew very well how to speak against the righteous sects.

‘Are you going to take issue with justification and face?’

Although there were cases like the Mount Hua Sect that pursued utility extremely, most of the Nine Sects and One Association and the Seven Great Families did not throw away their justification and face under the watchful eyes of the public.

It was as if they had launched a sort of frontal assault, despite being an unorthodox sect.

If so, it was only natural for this side to fight fire with fire as well.

“Indeed. The losing sect must abandon all interests in the region and leave within ten days. I am sure you know that unwritten rule of the Jianghu.”

At my words, the triumphant expression on his face multiplied even further, but at my following words, his face crumpled.

“However, that is only the case when the duel was fair.”

“Ha! Is the young Taoist of Wudang also implying that our Danyang Sect used poison during the duel?!”

At the Danyang Sect disciple’s protest, Tang Jong-hyeok tried to step forward from behind me.

This was because if Tang Jong-hyeok stepped forward and testified about the traces found in the Cloud Sword Hall Master’s corpse, it would be able to shatter their justification at once.

However, at that moment, there was someone who grabbed Tang Jong-hyeok’s sleeve. It was Yang So, a four-knot disciple of the Beggars’ Sect. Yang So was slightly shaking his head while looking at Tang Jong-hyeok.

At the same time, a sound transmission was heard in my ears. It was Yang So’s voice.

[The sight of three great sects oppressing a single small-to-medium unorthodox sect does not look good in the eyes of the people… you see.]

As soon as he heard the sound transmission, Tang Jong-hyeok stepped back.

[If you just tell the people what Young Master Tang said earlier, the public sentiment will turn toward us… it will.]

Although I felt a slight sense of incompatibility at Yang So’s words, which oddly dragged the end of his sentences, it was a reasonable argument, so just as Yang So said, I glanced at the gathered onlookers and spoke.

“Indeed, they say your Danyang Sect Master’s hot-yang palm force is comparable to the Cloud Sword Hall Master’s swordsmanship. However, no trace of being struck by hot-yang true qi is visible at all in the body of the deceased Cloud Sword Hall Master?”

At those words, the people began to buzz.

I infused my internal energy and continued speaking in a ringing voice.

“If one is struck by hot-yang energy, even if they are an internal expert, it is common sense that the eight extraordinary meridians will melt and the internal organs will rapidly rot!”

‘Actually, it is not quite common sense, though.’

I made eye contact with the direct disciple of the Cloud Sword Hall Master and then continued speaking.

“However, just now, in the Cloud Sword Hall Master’s corpse that we verified in the ice house, both his internal organs and his eight extraordinary meridians were perfectly intact! It was only stiffly hardened! If you are suspicious, you may go down to the ice house in the basement of this inn right now and inspect the Hall Master’s corpse.”

At my words, the faces of the Danyang Sect minions flushed crimson.

“Oh my. Then did the Cloud Sword Hall Master, that gentleman, really get done in by poison?”

“To be honest, I thought the Cloud Sword Hall disciples were doing something ugly, but I guess not?”

“Well, would a branch of the Wudang of the South fall to a mere unorthodox sect? That makes even less sense.”

The murmuring of the people was gradually spreading.

‘As expected of the Beggars’ Sect.’

I became inwardly satisfied. Just as Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar had guaranteed, Yang So was highly competent.

In addition, amidst the whispering of the people, Yang So’s sound transmission also kept arriving without end.

[An ordinary unorthodox sect gang would not care about things like public sentiment, but considering their backer, the decision they will make is…]

Around the time Yang So’s sound transmission was coming to an end.

“Silence!”

The Danyang Sect minion, with a flushed face, shouted with internal energy infused. Thanks to that, for a moment, the murmuring of the onlookers stopped, and Yang So’s sound transmission was also cut off.

I finished the sentence in place of Yang So’s sound transmission.

[They will ask for a direct confrontation.]

Just like my sound transmission, the Danyang Sect minion spoke, infusing his internal energy.

“We demand of the Wudang Sect and the Cloud Sword Hall! Let the matters of the Jianghu be solved in the way of the Jianghu, by force! Heaven shall decide whose words are correct!”

Just as the bastard said, if the Danyang Sect defeated the Wudang Sect and the Cloud Sword Hall to prove their strength, rumors such as using poison during a duel would not be a problem at all.

Because that was the Jianghu, and that was the nature of the Murim.

After discussing with the direct disciple of the Cloud Sword Hall Master, we accepted the Danyang Sect’s proposal.

**

The time set for the decisive battle was around exactly the hour of the Rat. The location was decided to be around the mudflats adjacent to Hong Lake beyond the West Gate.

The Danyang Sect minions who had finished making the proposal departed.

Yang So approached me and asked.

“How did you know…?”

At Yang So’s question, I tilted my head for a moment, then could figure out what he was asking. And the thought that occurred to me was:

‘Anyone but a fool would know,’ but I did not say it directly. This was because I did not want to hurt the feelings of a fellow companion of the Jianghu. Furthermore, since he was a Beggar who had given me a lot of help in my travels through the Jianghu, I explained kindly.

“I simply inferred it based on the behavior of the great evils suspected of being the Danyang Sect’s backer so far.”

At my ‘kind’ answer, Yang So immediately agreed. He was certainly competent.

When Yang So stepped back, the direct disciple of the Cloud Sword Hall Master approached.

He spoke in a sullen voice.

“Will it be alright? We are too disadvantaged in terms of numbers…”

After the death of the Hall Master, most of the ordinary disciples who paid money to learn martial arts had fled. Those remaining here now were only a few disciples who had a deep connection with the Cloud Sword Hall.

It was a situation where morale could not be high.

Therefore, I needed to reassure them.

Because raising the morale of the soldiers before a battle was only natural.

I pointed at Tang Jong-hyeok and Yang So and spoke.

“It is alright. We also have allies.”

I began to explain to the disciples of the Cloud Sword Hall Master, who did not know who they were.

“This person is an expert of the Sichuan Tang Clan, and this person is a four-knot disciple of the Beggars’ Sect’s Hall of Rectitude. They have also been of great help in investigating the Hall Master’s death. In tomorrow’s fight, they will be of more help than the disciples who fled.”

At my words, the eyes of the disciples widened.

Tang Jong-hyeok confidently stepped forward.

“If they use poison during the duel, it will rather be able to resolve your grievances.”

Given the traces on the corpse, the use of the Tang Clan’s imitation poison was almost certain. It would also be good for Tang Jong-hyeok, as he could capture and interrogate the Danyang Sect disciples to pry out information about the source of the poison they had acquired.

Furthermore, since the Beggars’ Sect had been cooperating in this matter from the beginning, he silently placed his hand on the bamboo staff at his waist and spoke.

“Considering the skills of the Danyang Sect minions identified today… the bastards will use poison during the fight… they will. You just need to secure the physical evidence then… you do.”

At the words of Yang So and Tang Jong-hyeok, vitality began to return to the eyes of the Cloud Sword Hall disciples who had been drooping.