Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 28
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 28. The Family’s Secret Place (3)
Rustle.
The middle-aged man who had been flipping through documents for a while finally nodded his head.
“I’ve confirmed everything.”
“Then what will you do about the Great Dragon Iron Workshop?”
“Accept them. Their skills are decent enough and the dowry shows their sincerity clearly. There’s no reason to refuse.”
“Understood.”
“Good work.”
As the scholar who had bowed his head left, the middle-aged man organized the documents and spoke.
“Sit down.”
“…Yes.”
Hwang In Hwa, who had been frozen stiff, sat across from the man.
The middle-aged man, Hwang Gyu, finally leaned back in his chair and looked at Hwang In Hwa.
“You burned them with your own hands?”
Hwang In Hwa bit her lips.
The destruction of the Black Tiger Gang had happened yesterday. She had come home immediately and reported it, but Father was only calling for her now.
Moreover, his first words were reproachful.
“…Yes.”
When Hwang In Hwa prepared to be scolded and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Well done.”
“What?”
“I heard there were many eyes watching? Burning the documents directly in that situation was the right thing to do.”
“…!”
“Of course, it would have been even better if you had taken them, but if that were possible, you would have stolen them long ago.”
Emotion appeared on Hwang In Hwa’s face.
“Father.”
“But entering the Black Tiger Gang in the first place was foolish.”
“…”
“People are sensitive to others’ attitudes. They tend to assign meaning even to thoughtless actions. Moreover, you are the Ten Swords Sect Leader’s daughter.”
Hwang Gyu’s eyes became sharp.
“Getting caught up in unnecessary gossip because of curiosity is entirely your fault.”
“I’m, I’m sorry.”
She was being scolded for something she hadn’t even thought of.
Hwang In Hwa clearly realized she was still lacking. Honestly, she hadn’t expected the Black Tiger Gang to collapse, but with these results, excuses weren’t needed.
Hwang Gyu, who had been quietly glaring at Hwang In Hwa, tapped one of the documents with his finger.
“From yesterday until today, I’ve been investigating Moyong Bi.”
“What?”
“After examining the battle traces at the Black Tiger Gang, that bastard Moyong Bi’s martial arts are worthy of being called first-rate. I need to investigate more, but it seems he had no allies either.”
Hwang In Hwa trembled without realizing it.
That day, Moyong Bi’s gaze and aura came to mind. She had never felt such overwhelming pressure before.
“It was incredible martial arts.”
“I know. Myeong Do himself said he was a master he couldn’t handle. Among Wuhan’s late-stage experts, there aren’t even three who possess such martial arts.”
Hwang In Hwa spoke urgently.
“That bastard even has the ledger! He’s been living while hiding his martial arts and even acting like a drunkard! Who knows what he’ll do next…!”
“A ledger is not important.”
“Wh-what?”
“We can just claim it’s something a madman wrote in his delusions. Of course, we’ll need to verify it, but our family’s power isn’t weak enough to be swayed by a mere ledger.”
“I-I see.”
“Rather, if that bastard immediately steps forward to reveal the ledger, we should be relieved. How much benefit can one ledger bring? If he exposes it right away, it means his martial arts may be useful but his head isn’t mature.”
Hwang In Hwa unconsciously blushed.
That meant her head, making a fuss right now, wasn’t mature either.
“I also secretly brought those who were trapped in the Black Tiger Gang warehouse. There’s nothing particular to interrogate, but once we find out what we need to know, we’ll bury them all. There won’t be any aftermath.”
“I-I see.”
“What I’m curious about isn’t that.”
Hwang Gyu’s gaze grew increasingly intense.
“I heard that bastard Moyong Bi tried to do ‘something’ with you?”
Hwang In Hwa’s complexion turned pale.
Even seeing his daughter’s drastically changed expression, Hwang Gyu pretended not to notice and asked.
“I also heard you arranged for him to borrow one hundred taels from the Black Tiger Gang.”
“…”
“What was he trying to do with you? What did you see in him, and what were you trying to gain? Start by confessing that.”
Hwang In Hwa spoke haltingly.
“That is…”
* * *
It was a time when less than a year remained until the end of the war with Sacred Blood Palace.
Just before fighting their greatest nemesis who was even called a Demon Immortal, intelligence came in that Sacred Blood Palace’s special forces would strike and completely destroy all Martial Alliance supply bases located in Hubei.
And according to that intelligence, the leader of the special forces was the Lawless Divine Demon, known as the strongest among the demons under Neung Hyeong.
‘I probably wasn’t in my right mind back then, was I?’
Just before that, I had rushed out with only a spear to save an isolated unit.
I somehow managed to save the unit, but the numbers were too unfavorable, so I suffered severe internal and external injuries. In trying to save one unit, I nearly died myself.
In the midst of that, the Lawless Divine Demon led his special forces in another attack.
‘There were no forces available to dispatch. So I went again.’
On the way to stop them, leading only the minimum elite forces.
I had this conversation with Moyong Dae Ho, who remained at the Martial Alliance as a member of the rescue unit.
‘Alliance Leader! No, Uncle! Please, I beg you. Send me instead!’
‘Are you confident you can handle those bastards? What ridiculous nonsense are you spouting. Even Elder Brother wouldn’t work.’
‘Uncle is the Martial Alliance Leader! If he goes with his body not yet healed and dies, we will…!’
‘I won’t die. There have been countless times more dangerous than this. Yet I’m still alive, aren’t I?’
‘Then let me go with you. I’ll stake my life to save Uncle at least!’
‘Stop with that dramatic nonsense, Elder Brother. You stay in the middle and when the operation team finishes their work, dispatch them urgently to Hubei. That’s your job.’
‘Uncle…’
‘Even if by any chance you hear news that I’ve died or gone missing, don’t act rashly and hold your position. There’s a high probability I’ll be in a Safe House.’
‘H-how can you say such things, Uncle.’
‘That’s why I said “by any chance.” Don’t worry, that won’t happen.’
Right, that didn’t happen.
Fortunately, that intelligence was false information. The Sacred Blood Palace had deliberately leaked false information and then tried to strike other regions.
I remember realizing this midway and changing course, managing to protect at least half of the region the Sacred Blood Palace was trying to strike.
In other words, I had no occasion to enter the Safe House in Hubei.
‘Could it be that the secret place Dae Ho mentioned is the Alliance Leader’s Safe House?!’
Throughout the realm, there were Safe Houses for the Martial Alliance Leader.
Safe Houses are built even during peacetime. If something happens to the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Alliance and even the entire Orthodox Martial World would shake. Establishing Safe Houses is essential for the sake of the realm, not just the Alliance Leader.
Among them, the Safe Houses rebuilt during his tenure as Alliance Leader were quite special.
‘It had to be. It was during wartime.’
Despite being the Alliance Leader, he never hesitated to stand at the front lines. Because of this, didn’t the leadership have quite the headache?
‘Thanks to that, my Safe Houses were particularly splendid, probably.’
The Safe Houses built in various regions for him, who had become the spiritual pillar of the Alliance, were equipped with all kinds of Internal Injury Medicine, Fasting Pills sufficient to last ten years, and even several top-grade Spiritual Medicines.
That wasn’t all.
‘There were also Famous Swords and Precious Blades, weapons of Divine Weapons and Strange Artifacts grade. Various Medical Texts and Tactical Manuals, and even manufacturing guides for the highest-grade Mechanism Formations!’
Entering a Safe House during wartime meant being severely injured or having nowhere else to hide.
Naturally, it was normal to stock Internal Injury Medicine and Spiritual Medicine for quick recovery. Since no one knew who might escort the Alliance Leader there, annotated Medical Texts were also necessary, and knowledge about Mechanism Formations was needed for potential secret escapes.
Everything was prepared solely for the Alliance Leader’s safety, recovery, and escape.
‘And very few people knew about this.’
Those that immediately came to mind were the Grand Strategist who was assassinated by spies, the Guard Captain, and Moyong Dae Ho. In other words, only an extremely small number among the Alliance Leader’s closest associates knew.
Especially Moyong Dae Ho, being a member of the Rescue Unit and the Alliance Leader’s relative, knew all the Safe House locations across all regions, as well as the methods of entry and escape routes.
‘If Dae Ho really meant the Safe House when he said that…!’
It was highly likely he meant the Safe House. No, that was the only possibility.
Moyong Bi, who had clenched his fist, suddenly hesitated.
‘But that guy, if he knew about it, why didn’t he loot it long ago?’
Simply because it was a Safe House for Uncle?
That couldn’t be. That person called Uncle, as well as Father, were already dead, weren’t they?
Since the person who would use it was gone, wouldn’t it be normal to go and take all the treasures inside?
‘Moreover, the Safe Houses in Hubei and Henan were closer to personal spaces for me rather than for the Alliance Leader.’
Hubei was included in the front lines and Henan was one of the best refuges, so only those two Safe Houses were unknown even to the Grand Strategist. It was also because the Grand Strategist himself had advised to build them without his knowledge.
In other words, the Safe Houses in Henan and Hubei could be called Safe Houses for ‘Moyong Cheon of the Moyong Family bloodline’ rather than ‘Martial Alliance Leader Moyong Cheon.’
Moyong Bi, who had been lost in deep thought, soon shook his head.
‘There must have been circumstances. Dae Ho isn’t a fool.’
Whatever the case, it felt like seeing a ray of hope.
While he could somehow pass on martial arts, the truth was that everything else had felt rather overwhelming. But raiding the An Family would solve many problems.
“…Anyway.”
A deep smile spread across Moyong Bi’s entire face.
“Yes, that’s right, isn’t it?”
If Jin Gwang hadn’t been there, he might have laughed loud enough to shake the Family Estate. Even now, wasn’t a creepy chuckle leaking out?
Moyong Bi patted Jin Gwang’s shoulder with an extremely satisfied expression.
“Thank you for trusting me, Squad Leader Jin.”
Jin Gwang bowed his head with a moved expression.
Chicken-dropping-like tears fell and wet the street.
“You speak too kindly. Please punish this lowly one who doubted Young Master even for a moment.”
Though he was somewhat burdensome and disgusting, at this moment even his dripping tears looked lovely.
‘Good, then.’
The revival of the family clan, which had only been vague, felt like it was becoming reality.
‘Let’s meet Su Jeong first. I need to verify for certain whether that place is correct.’
Honestly, there probably wasn’t even a need to verify. If not the An Family, where else could the Secret Place be?
Moyong Bi unconsciously burst into hearty laughter.
“Squad Leader Jin, stop crying and let’s go.”
“Sniff! Yes, Young Master.”
And so the two walked back the way they came, arms around each other’s shoulders in friendship.
“But Squad Leader Jin.”
“Yes?”
“That guy who was using the Duck Butt Sword Technique.”
“Ah, you mean Jong Hweon?”
“Not just that guy, but all their stances were strange. The guy who threw me the sword was passable enough.”
“Gwan Hyeon is the most senior and has some sense for martial arts.”
“Knowing that, why did you just leave them alone?”
“That was after I corrected them.”
“Huh?”
“It’s like this every time. By the end of afternoon training, they return to a passable state, but by the next day they’re back where they started like ghosts….”
The corner of Moyong Bi’s mouth began to twitch slightly.
He thought there might be some great reason, but it turned out they were all idiots with flawed talent?
“…Do the kids at least have some fighting spirit?”
“Their desperate effort in physical training was also to cultivate fighting spirit. If they didn’t even have that, I would have kicked them out using my squad leader authority.”
Well, it’s fortunate if they at least have that.
Though he felt depressed for a moment, Moyong Bi walked on with a refreshed smile again.
The more difficult the situation, the more you should smile.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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