I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 89

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 89
“Here is the Secret Manual for the Essence-Absorbing Demonic Art! You were practicing this!”
‘Ah, I see. The Demonic Practitioners must have handed over that Secret Manual as part of their contract.’
Beyond merely staging the scene, they had provided a Secret Manual to serve as physical evidence.
Though one or two sections might have been cleverly fabricated, it was likely authentic in its broader framework.
While practicing it would lead to disaster, its quality would be sufficient to serve as reference material.
‘If you hand over something like that, it opens up your own counters to being studied.’
Since they passed along information of that caliber, they must have demanded a sealed contract in return.
They would have asked to balance the scales since they were handing over something dangerous from their end.
As Patriarch Huangbo bellowed while holding up the Secret Manual, the Sect Leader of Wolyeop fell into complete chaos.
‘Could it really be? Did my son fall into such a thing behind my back?’
He wanted to believe his son, but there were eyewitnesses, and now physical evidence had appeared.
He could no longer tell what was what.
If this was true, the Wolyeop Sect was ruined because he had failed to teach his son properly.
Patriarch Huangbo stepped in front of the Sect Leader of Wolyeop with an overbearing air.
“This friend and I witnessed the scene firsthand, and here is the physical evidence. Do you still intend to stubbornly deny it?”
“That… That is…”
“We only need to get your son’s confession now. I trust you won’t dare stop me from taking action.”
The Sect Leader of Wolyeop could only stand by and watch as Patriarch Huangbo woke his son.
“It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me!”
The son screamed in anguish, but Patriarch Huangbo’s eyes remained ice-cold.
“To stubbornly lie even after coming this far, you truly have no shame.”
‘I just need to subject him to a torture interrogation until he begs for death. Then he will eventually confess meekly.’
How strong could the resolve of a fellow like this be?
If all else failed, he could wear down his mind and body with torture first, then borrow their aid to temporarily daze him with the Soul-Controlling Art.
While it wasn’t a Soul-Controlling Art that offered permanent, constant dominion, forcing a brief answer should be well within its capability.
It was then.
“The Prefect arrives!”
“The Prefect…? Not the County Magistrate?”
Patriarch Huangbo’s mood soured again, wondering what kind of variable this was.
‘What is this? Why is the Prefect showing up here?’
Yet, the Prefect truly appeared, preceded by county officials and constables.
“It has been a long time, Patriarch Huangbo.”
“Greetings, Prefect.”
Patriarch Huangbo himself was in the Transcendence Realm, while the Prefect was around the Peak Realm.
If they were mere martial artists, Patriarch Huangbo would have displayed greater authority, but his opponent was a government official.
Unlike with the County Magistrate, he had no choice but to show mutual respect to the Prefect.
They were of a status where they had to observe proper etiquette with each other.
“Word reached me that a Demonic Practitioner seemed to have appeared in Yueyi County, so regarding the matter with gravity, I came in person.”
‘The Prefect came in person, without even sending a Magistrate Judge?’
The Prefect of Gangeum Prefecture, which oversaw Yueyi County, and Patriarch Huangbo were acquainted.
After all, they were in a position where they occasionally had to exchange appropriate favors and cooperate.
Nothing went smoothly if one ignored the government entirely.
Because of that interaction, he knew the man, and the current Prefect was certainly not diligent enough to come in person for such a matter.
Since a major incident had occurred, sending a Magistrate Judge would be standard.
Or he could have sent a request for cooperation to other nearby sects to help resolve the incident.
But coming in person?
This was not the Prefect he knew.
That subtle sense of incongruity rubbed the Patriarch’s nerves the wrong way.
‘Something is strange.’
In the first place, the fact that members of the Eunhak Sect and Earth Dragon of the Zhuge Clan were present was bizarre.
For three youths of their renown to be here without his knowledge meant they had slipped in secretly.
‘Well, it would make sense if they entered stealthily with the intention of sniffing out Demonic Practitioners themselves, but…’
Even so, for the Prefect to show up too?
Things were getting tangled.
Yet, at the same time, it wasn’t a catastrophic knot.
“Haha, the matter is already being wrapped up, so there was no need to trouble yourself with such a precious journey.”
“How could I not? A felony of this nature must rightfully be punished by the court. Let us move to the County Office to examine the evidence one by one and deliver a verdict.”
“My clan has already investigated and captured him, however.”
Patriarch Huangbo asserted his priority, but the Prefect merely stroked his beard and laughed genially.
“Of course, I shall record the Huangbo Clan’s merit in great detail when I report it. However, while a martial artist might carry out summary justice on the spot if the situation demands it, there is currently not the slightest difficulty for the court to hold a formal trial, is there?”
In principle, there was nothing wrong with the Prefect’s words.
Usually, if one slipped him an appropriate favor, he would turn a blind eye and tell them to handle it as they pleased…
‘Could this man have received a favor from the Wolyeop Sect, and is perhaps planning to spare that bastard?’
That would be problematic.
‘No. No matter if he is the Prefect, delivering such an unreasonable verdict would be difficult. I should invite all the local elites to the trial to ramp up the pressure.’
If the Prefect really pushed his luck under those circumstances, he could use his connections with the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner to impeach the Prefect and overturn the ruling.
Furthermore, if he promised the Prefect a favor greater than whatever the Wolyeop Sect offered, the man would have no reason to risk sticking his neck out for them anyway, right?
He couldn’t exactly raise his fists and beat the Prefect to death here, so a compromise was the only option.
‘Tsk, it seems the Prefect wants to steal some credit for subduing a Demonic Practitioner.’
That must be why he became uncharacteristically diligent.
“Very well. Then let us secure the evidence and the criminal, and move to the County Office. In exchange, our Huangbo Clan will also monitor the criminal together and participate in the entire trial to confirm everything.”
“That is only natural.”
A compromise was reached between them.
* * *
As the short yet long night dragged on, Seonwu rejoined Zhuge Jun and Absolute Shadow.
The three of them secured a small room to themselves in a corner of the government building.
After deploying a Soundproofing Formation, Seonwu spoke.
“Are preparations ready?”
“Yes, though it was finished in a rush, it won’t lack power.”
The County Office was originally protected by its own decent formation in case of emergencies.
Zhuge Jun had modified it, upgrading it into a much stronger formation.
For instance, it was at a level that could withstand a rampage from the Huangbo Clan, at least for a short while.
“My formation alone isn’t enough to handle the entire Huangbo Clan by itself, but it’s more than enough to clinch your match against Patriarch Huangbo.”
“Good. That’s enough.”
[Does that fellow know that you are also in the Transcendence Realm?]
[Yeah, we’re going to keep traveling together. A guy like him needs to know.]
Absolute Shadow groaned inwardly, wondering when he had shared such information with that irreverent bastard again.
‘An irreverent wretch, yet he receives such favor from His Highness as to share such secrets!’
Absolute Shadow felt displeased, but he dared not object to what his lord had decided.
He only lamented that he lacked the opportunity to instill some manners into that slippery scholar of the Zhuge Clan.
If left to him, he could have educated the fellow until he wouldn’t dare lift his head before his lord’s majesty.
Feeling the stinging prickle of the blazing energy pouring from Absolute Shadow, Zhuge Jun pretended not to notice and looked only at Seonwu.
‘Wow, that’s not a large dog, that’s a wolf. A wolf.’
And a muzzled, drooling wolf staring right at him at that.
One with a leash, but so precariously that it felt like it could snap at any moment.
If the master holding that leash weren’t Seonwu, he would have bolted long ago.
“So, how did things look over there?”
“Regarding the Secret Manual Patriarch Huangbo produced as evidence, it didn’t look like he actually found it in the room, but rather that it came from his own robes. He blocked it with his back so I didn’t witness the exact moment perfectly, but that’s what it looked like from behind.”
“That’s almost certainly the case. Even if it wasn’t, he probably bribed one of the maids to sneak it into the room beforehand.”
“Right.”
It was truly a multi-layered conspiracy.
‘It’s not the kind of setup that relies on a single person’s testimony to corner someone.’
A scene discovered right next to a woman’s corpse.
The Patriarch witnessing it firsthand.
On top of that, an Essence Absorption Secret Manual emerging from the room.
To be honest, even if it were himself, if he had just woken up and heard the situation, he would have simply believed Patriarch Huangbo’s words.
It was only because he had watched the sequence of events where the Young Master was dumped at the scene after dropping by the courtesan house at night that he knew the truth.
‘But the Young Master is supposed to be a martial artist in his own right.’
He was a martial artist in his mid-thirties who had reached the High-Ascending Realm.
For him to be dumped at the scene while helplessly asleep meant that even if it happened after he had done the deed, it was no simple feat.
‘There is definitely another Demonic Practitioner at Aewolru. Probably a female one called Yinghua Xianzi. Either a courtesan or the madam…’
That side needed to be uprooted too, but since they likely thought everything was going smoothly, they wouldn’t flee just yet.
“A trial with many watching eyes is our opportunity. If we explain everything to the Prefect and lay bare the facts to expose the conspiracy before everyone, Patriarch Huangbo will be trapped, or…”
“Or he might fly into a frenzy and attempt to silence witnesses by force.”
Though he believed the latter would be difficult since it required killing too many people and covering countless eyes and ears.
Then again, one never knew.
There was no telling what a person might do when driven into a corner.
“However, there is still one flaw in Patriarch Huangbo’s conspiracy.”
At Zhuge Jun’s words, Seonwu blinked.
“What is it?”
“An Internal Energy Examination. If they examine the Wolyeop Sect Young Master’s inner energy, it will be obvious that he hasn’t practiced demonic arts at all, right? To perfect this conspiracy, he should have just killed the Young Master with a single blow on the spot, regardless of whether you were watching. Afterward, he should have added the physical evidence and gone with the angle that dead men tell no tales.”
“Oh, true.”
While demonic arts could be concealed, there was no way it wouldn’t be revealed under a thorough examination.
If that happened, the argument that his son had simply been framed by a conspiracy would gain weight.
“Yet he only subdued him and didn’t kill him… Those who crafted a conspiracy to this extent wouldn’t be that careless.”
If they intended to gloss over this part, they should have just killed him at the scene initially.
Even if he had interfered, who could say anything later if the Patriarch claimed his fury flared at the sight of a Demonic Practitioner and he couldn’t hold his hand?
This country was quite lenient with private justice in such situations.
After all, while it wasn’t total non-interference, the court recognized a fair amount of autonomy on the Wulin scene.
In that case?
“Hey, there’s something more to this.”
“I’ll go talk to the Young Master.”
* * *
Seonwu stood up immediately and headed to the jail.
Though martial artists from the Huangbo Clan and constables were keeping watch together, Seonwu insisted that he would join the watch as well.
“Uh, um. There is no need for the Divine Dragon to trouble himself with…”
While it wasn’t a widely circulated nickname yet, the Huangbo Clan martial artists had been briefed today and had heard the alias ‘Divine Dragon’ which the Zhuge Clan had spread according to Seonwu’s wishes.
“It is fine. Who knows if the culprit might try something?”
Sticking to his stubborn insistence to keep watch, Seonwu sent a Sound Transmission to the Young Master.
[Young Master, if you don’t want to die like this, answer my words honestly. I find this entire matter highly suspicious.]
[Gasp, Divine Dragon! It really wasn’t me! It wasn’t!]
Though his acupoints were sealed so his limbs couldn’t move, his ability to use Sound Transmission had been left intact, and the Young Master answered frantically.
Seeing a thirty-five-year-old adult on the verge of tears hanging onto hope made Seonwu feel a pang of pity.
‘I know it wasn’t you.’
Since he was on the verge of becoming a grand criminal for something he didn’t do, it was natural for him to feel wronged.
Especially considering the sentiment regarding guilt by association. It was practically the same as becoming an unfilial wretch who ruined not just himself but his entire family.
[Calm down for a moment. The Patriarch claimed you were caught during your final energy circulation after finishing the absorption, but from what I saw, you looked like you were genuinely asleep.]
[That’s right. I merely fell asleep after spending time at the courtesan house.]
[It seems highly likely that courtesan house is also involved in this conspiracy…]
[C-Could it be?]
[Otherwise, who would strike your acupoints to subdue you and transport you to such a place in that state?]
In fact, I saw it happen.
You’re really lucky, mister.
If I hadn’t come along just because I happened to be nearby, you would have died framed just like this.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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