Chapter 192: Head Of Stationed Troops (2)

The situation was changing swiftly.

The bearded high general could no longer raise his shaking hand.

It was possible to give up if it was easy, but he was now in a situation where he was leading 30,000 men.

Someone’s voice then said,

“They say that Murim’s Evil Faction differs from the Justice Faction. Seeing you, I understand why.”

My eyes moved to the speaker.

A person who had been hidden among the soldiers appeared. My left was closed, but his qi was clearly visible to my golden eye.

He was an ordinary person who didn’t learn martial arts. However, even though he had no armor, he carried himself like an official in his middle age.

“You are?”

“I am Go Jo-taek, in charge of the Guiju Province’s Punishment Judiciary.”

The Punishment Judiciary?

-Why? Is he someone with a high position?

Quite high.

He was the judicial head that oversaw sentencing and prisons in the province.

If he was someone from there, he would likely be within its structure or a head within it. Most likely, he was the one who oversaw the whole management.

Go Jo-taek, who had revealed his presence, then said to the high general.

“General Kang. Let us do this. Since he has responded to our summons, is there a point in escalating this further?”

A clever man. This whole situation could be sorted while saving the high general’s face.

“Ahem. If you say so, we must make sure there are no useless sacrifices.”

-Dumb idiot.

Short Sword growled.

It was a chance to save his pride, so he had to accept it. The high general glanced at one of his soldiers, who waved a flag. The 30,000 soldiers aiming at the sect instantly began to pull back.

‘Phew.’

I was internally relieved that this was solved like this, but I didn’t show it.

Go Jo-taek then told me.

“General Kang has already stepped back, so to save the face of the army... your sword-”

I had already let go of my sword before he could finish. I then clasped my hands.

“I am Baek, the leader of the Blood Sect.”

-Huh? Since when were you a Baek?

The Blood Sect’s founder and his lineage were clearly held through a hundred families, which was why he was called Baek. If I said I belonged to the Jin or So family, I would only be telling them of my ties.

There was no need to share my real identity with the world.

Go Jo-taek then said,

“We are quite shocked at this swift change.”

“If things can be resolved like this, why would I refuse?”

“Sir Baek, since you have been summoned for violating national law, would you entrust your weapons to us? We will return them to you.”

He was speaking carefully to me.

It seemed that they wanted to remove things that could threaten them. I laughed at this and said,

“Even if I don’t have a sword since I am of the Murim, my bare hands and feet are also dangerous weapons. Will you also request that I cut them off as well?”

“Sigh...”

As my words were impossible to answer, he sighed, shook his head, and looked at the man named General Kang.

General Kang visibly gave up and sighed. They knew that taking away my swords would be difficult.

Go Jo-take then asked me,

“Would you at least take off the demon mask? If you wear it, we cannot know if you are the real or fake sect leader.”

“It is a difficult thing to do at the moment for a reason. I will take it off if I am taken to prison.”

I cannot take off this mask now. I had been in a hurry, so I hadn’t even removed my makeup or worn a human mask.

Until I washed this face and put on a human skin mask, I would not show my face covered in makeup and become a laughing stock.

Would they force me to take off the mask?

“I want you to keep that promise. If you aren’t the real leader when you remove the mask, then we will not take it lightly.”

“Would that happen?”

“Then, please get in the carriage.”

‘Carriage?’

The man pointed at a fairly large carriage. It wasn’t an ordinary one either, but a carriage that was designed for use by high-ranking people.

I had been summoned for violating national law, yet they wanted me to use that kind of thing?

I was puzzled.

The man smiled and said,

“I will ride with you.”

... what are they planning?

Moments after I climbed into the carriage, it began to move. Go Jo-taek sat across from me and tapped the side of the carriage, and said,

“This carriage is made of a special material that stops sound from being heard. We can speak freely.”

What was his purpose for saying this? I was unsure as he spoke again.

“Actually, I didn’t expect that you would get into the carriage so easily.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Honestly, I didn’t think that you people from the Evil Faction are all that different from the Justice Faction.”

We were definitely different.

Whether it was the Justice Faction or the Murim Alliance, they typically had close relations with the government. This was because they weren’t feared, and being friendly to each other was beneficial.

That was why they helped the government in its operations.

However, the Blood Sect and Evil Faction weren’t like that.

“That is why I brought along the soldiers. I thought you would not easily follow the order.”

“We would have understood it better if a single messenger had been sent instead. It was a pity that so many people suffered such an inconvenience.”

The man was clearly puzzled by my response.

“If I wanted to reject the government, then there was no way we would have bothered visiting the official government office to receive approval for the sect to hold the event.”

“...I am unsure if that official knew of the Blood Sect.”

“Those who fail to keep up with times and are unable to respond will be swept away by the waves of the world. Our sect has no intention of harming people who lead the affairs of the state, nor do we harm good people.”

“Huh.”

“Did the Murim Alliance meet with them?”

“This seems to be the case.”

If that was the case, then this was outside my expectations. Was this a strategy that the second and third military heads had managed to come up with?

“Well, His Highness informed us that a soldier from the Murim Alliance had come to visit him. We had no choice but to summon you.”

“Then what needs to be done?”

“The provincial head had ordered us to carefully manage all the slips and money from your sect. All of the evidence had been burned.”

’Ah...

That was why he did this.

We thought he had already removed the evidence, but it seemed that this wasn’t the case. It seemed like they had been found, and it had been decided to handle it amicably.

Go Jo-taek said,

“If you simply respond to the summons and answer the questions at the trial in the government building, all of the charges will be cleared without anything else happening.”

“I would appreciate it if you could show me that much consideration.”

“However....”

“Hmm?”

“The princes have some doubts, especially Prince Jin, who is closest to becoming the crown prince. He follows Taoist teachings and is being taught by an elder of Wudang.”

Elder Joong Seon.

This was bad. The Wudang sect was one that pushed for Taoism to become the state’s religion.

The prince following a religion wasn’t strange, yet other religions also held sway.

The Buddhists, Shaolin, and even the Ami Sect were all active.

“Considering the relationship between the government and Murim, this shouldn’t have escalated that much, but I think this had something to do with the sect leader.”

“... I guess I need to move.”

“And there is one more thing to be wary of.”

“What is it?”

“Prince Young is someone who is interested in martial arts. Even if it wasn’t for that, he is also showing a lot of interest in the fact that the leader of the Blood Sect, which had once plunged Murim into chaos, was returning.”

“That’s not too bad.”

“I am telling you out of my own instincts, just in case you wanted to try your luck.”

“Luch, huh...”

Go Jo-taek was giving me a warning.

“Heed my words. If you want to resolve this peacefully, I recommend that you do not touch any princes.”

I didn’t want to do that either.

But could the Murim Alliance have prepared anything that would go easily? They might already be digging a trap.

-Will it be fine?

We will have to see.

Fortunately, I already knew which of the three would become the crown prince. At that moment, he asked me.

“Aside from that, I am asking because just the two of us are here. Why did you come wearing such a horrible mask?”

Was that what he was curious about?

I sighed, chuckled, and then took my mask off.

When half of my made-up face was exposed, his eyes became wide.

“Is the sect leader a woman?”

Short Sword was laughing at those words. No, this was just makeup. Why am I being called a woman?

I had to answer with a straight face.

“I am a man.”

To which he laughed in reply.

“I know. With a man’s voice and such wide shoulders, how could anyone mistake you for a woman?”

“....”

This man knows how to joke around too.

Just like that, time passed.

I managed to remove the makeup and put on a human skin mask, allowing me to remove the demon mask.

However, using that mask all day was difficult, so I kept the demon mask just in case.

I arrived in Guiyang, about two hours away from where the provincial office was located. I managed to get closer to Go Jo-take after spending all day conversing with him in the carriage.

He was quite open-minded compared to other officials. I thought that knowing him would help us out a lot, so I managed to get quite a bit of information.

Swish!

The carriage, which had been moving for a while, then stopped.

It seemed that we had finally arrived at the Punishment Judiciary building.

Before we got off, he asked me.

“Brother Baek. I have said this many times, but you cannot pretend here no matter what happens with the three princes.”

“I know, Brother Go. How can I forget?”

“And stay as close as possible.”

I was mindful of that too.

It was only natural that things might flare up when we met the princes. But we were trying hard not to get on the government’s wrong side. Why would we do that with the princes?

When I exited the carriage, I saw a large building with a signboard that identified it as the Punishment Judiciary.

As I took a few steps down.

‘Hmm?’

I looked towards a place where someone with considerable qi was stimulating my senses. A young man in his 20s wearing a luxurious blue silk robe was there, walking towards me.

He seemed to be only in his mid-20s but was already at the level of a master.

‘Who is this?’

As I thought this, the officials around me knelt, and Go Jo-taek shouted.

“We greet the Imperial Prince Young!”

‘Prince Young?’

He was the crown prince of the nation. I wasn’t even ready to even kneel as he came over and addressed me.

“Are you the sect leader of the Blood Sect?”

“I am, Your Highness.”

“I thought I would die waiting for you. Are you strong?”

‘...!?’

The prince came to me on his own, so why even warn me to stay away!