“Great Physician? Can he really remove the poison?”
Byuk Geom’s question is answered.
“I don’t know. How can I know? Am I a physician?”
Byuk Geom’s eyes widened.
“…”
As I speak, his expression changes from despair to hope and then back to despair.
“The physician knows for sure whether or not he can treat you. But I bet you cannot cure a person if the person doesn’t want to be cured.”
That is the Moyong Baek I know of.
The guy looks at me.
“But I am curious. Why me? The leader must know a lot more information than me. Or was I just lucky enough to be last?”
“As if that can be it. It wouldn’t be fun if everything in the world went after this concept of luck.”
I get up and go through the wreck the guest house had turned into and pull out something stuck in the pillar.
It was the money I received after I served this guy the drink. I throw it back at him.
Of course, him throwing the money at me and me accepting it would be two different things.
But it doesn’t matter.
It is because the only person to be saved is the one who at least could think and act. The beggar was a sly fox kind of guy and the woman had been committing numerous murders. And their leader is someone I had no intention of keeping alive from the start.
When the guy looks at his coin, I say,
“That coin has different meanings from normal coins. It is more valuable so take special care of it.”
As If what I said was strange, the guy fiddles with it and puts it back into his sleeve.
I look at the guy with arms crossed.
“Now let’s talk business. Let us do some cleaning up now.”
“Clean up what?”
“From the start.”
“Please tell me.”
I look at the guesthouse, which was broken, and say to him,
“Give compensation for the damage done to the guest house, and then move on.”
“…”
“If lucky, you can be treated by the Low-Down Sect’s physician and the poison will be treated. Cooperate until I take down your head.”
He says,
“What should I cooperate with?”
“Everything. What I need to know. Good things I need to know. The plans, the ones who will speak, the ideas being presented… anything, actually, everything.”
To which he says,
“It isn’t a meaningless survival. If you can release the poison and help me escape this slavery, it isn’t a difficult thing. I will cooperate.”
“Nice. If I kill your head, you get to live as much as you please. The contract ends now.”
There is no room to refuse when someone is giving freedom. And in my thoughts, this guy is a normal human. On the contrary, he is the kind to be stubborn and work because of orders.
He nods.
“Good. Now what?”
I pull out a sheet from my sleeve and put it on the table. Since it had been rolled up, it had to be straightened up.
“It is the starting fee.”
“Hmm.”
“Until the organization you belong to has been destroyed by me. Eat, sleep and drink and if there is something to report, only use carriages or horses to come and tell me.”
Byuk Geom holds onto the money slip looking a bit shocked. I look at him and then say,
“Your eyes are so bloody and raging so buy a different bamboo hat.”
He nods.
“I get it.”
“Officially, the enemies and you died here today. You are dead.”
“Be a dead man.”
“Since Yeop Ya-hyung was saved and sent out, that guy will speak of your death. Did you hear what he said when running? Though I doubt he would actually come to avenge.”
Byuk Geom says,
“I don’t expect it either since he is all talk and no actions.”
“It would be better if you change clothes to something new.”
It was only then that he realized what he had to do, and his expression changed. Once the poison within gets cured, it will be Byuk Geom’s mission to monitor the actual troops with a new identity.
I leave the table and kick the beggar, the woman, and the leader into the guest house. Since they were poisoned people with extensive ice Qi within, if they are left untouched, the wild animals will do their task.
After a while the broken guest house was burned along with the corpses.
As I was looking at the Guest House which was flaming, my anger rose.
It is fortunate that I saved the lives of the owner and the server boy, but the damage I caused by staying here was too much.
At least since I know their faces, it would be better to compensate them somehow. Later, I think about how if I make a guest house after the Low-Down sect grows, the owner of this place can move there.
While the place is burning down, I take out Moonlight dagger and carve words on the table outside.
I will compensate later.
He makes the sign onto the table and after the clean-up is done, I say to Byuk Geom,
“Let’s go.”
Anyway, the guy is injured so movement wouldn’t be quick. As I head for Moyong Baek, I want to hear about this place he worked for.
“… then is the official thing that you know about the White Face Young Lord?”
“Yes. And when White Face Young Lord orders us to do work, many warriors get mobilized. And Leader Seok spoke in honorifics to the person.”
“The other leaders?”
“I don’t know because word doesn’t spread much. I have never seen the entire place or the troops within. Actually, the valley lord isn’t that different from Leader Seok, but he was in a position of being higher and couldn’t be treated carelessly.”
If Moyong Baek can save this guy, it means that he can handle this valley lord too.
If so, there is a possibility because the physician is Moyong Baek. Detoxing the poison and destroying the organization.
In a way, it was a situation in which the biggest role is being handed to Moyong Baek, and not me.
And I ask the guy,
“So… who is it?’
Till this point, he hadn’t said a word about their head. The guy stops walking and looks around. He barely speaks, trying to overcome the fear.
“Three Great Lords.”
I am a bit shocked.
“What is it? Who are the Three Great Lords?”
I only knew of the ‘Five Great Evils’ and came to almost ask of them. Either it is because this wasn’t the title I knew of them as, or it is possible that maybe the information I had was wrong.
He continued his explanation.
“I thought you knew that I was talking about the Three Great Lords.”
“…”
“It is the three men of the Cult Leader.”
I couldn’t think of a single thing and looked at him.
“That is why everyone was surprised when you mentioned the Cult Leader. After all, it meant that we got to know the superior’s superior or close to a person who gave us a hard time. But I had my own circumstances. To be human means to survive. In order to not make the same mistakes as the past, the Cult Leader left the position of the successor vacant in advance and was sitting by letting them fight it out. Money has to be raised on command and warriors have to be gathered. And if they didn’t rise to the position, even they would be taken down and killed…”
“Then your place is centered around the three Lords and their families?”
“Yes. They are all putting in full effort and if they don’t become the Vice Leader of the Cult, they can be killed by other candidates or might be asked to leave the Cult. No one knows what the Cult Leader is thinking so we were all prepared. That is the reason I don’t know what methods and means they would choose.”
“And this White Face Young Lord is?”
“There is a high chance of him being one of the Three Great Lords. Since he is often called as the leader and tasks are always given, we don’t get much look into it. The Lord’s side will probably prepare for the succession war.”
I think of the appearance of the Blood Night Palace and the appearance of Cult Leader.
The information side of the Cult must already be monitoring a lot of things. It seems like the family to these heirs too were scattered.
Anyway, if these guys want to survive, they will have to prove their work. Cult Leader is someone who pampers and then throws out when of no use. Organizing my thoughts, I headed for the Black Rabbit Union.
Returning to the Black Rabbit Union, I tell Moyong Baek,
“Sir.”
“Yes.”
I point to Byuk Geom.
“It looks like this bastard took poison.”
I was able to reunite with Moyong Baek who was bringing in support for me.
Moyong Baek looks at the patient and says,
“He looks fine on the outside.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means that it is difficult to cure.”
I smile and look at Moyong Baek.
“It is a poison with a lot of things tangled up. If you cannot solve this then the Low-Down Sect will be in trouble.”
“Could you speak more elaborately?”
As I walked down, I explained to him,
“The three kids of the Cult Leader. It seems that all of the strong warriors are being forced into coming under those three by putting poison into them. If the poison can be cured then we get to take down a lot of power the three lords have. Even if you make a cure, it would be like a restraint against them. After all, these people will be carrying out the orders of the Cult, so this is a chance to weaken them. A lot of this depends on the cure.”
Moyong Baek nods.
I do my best to rile Moyong Baek up.
“Is the poison of the Demon Cult superior? Or the cure of Moyong Baek higher? Let us check.”
Moyong Baek snorts.
“… Sect Leader, it isn’t an easy task.”
Patting him on the back, I say,
“I agree. It isn’t easy. Since I am always out putting my life on the line, try to calm down and do your share of research. Do not worry about the cost of ingredients, travel, or creation. Cause I will fully support you. Didn’t I steal money by beating down the bad people? We have a lot of money, do not worry.”
“…”
Moyong Baek says to me with an uncalm face,
“Sure, that puts me at ease.”
“It should.”
“Such peace is placed into my heart.”
“You have the right mindset.”
I stop for a moment and then say to my men,
“Let us all applaud for Moyong Baek, who is going to struggle from now on.”
As soon as I start to clap, the young men who train in Black Rabbit Union begin to clap.
I put my hands on my hip.
“Everyone, listen.”
“Yes.”
“Our lives depend on physician Moyong.”
Moyong Baek’s nose flares in succession and I have an order.
“So Gun-pyung.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Select two of your subordinates who train very consistently and put them into the escort role of Moyong. It is a promotion for them.”
The guy bows.
“I will take the order.”
I nod and call Cha Sung-tae,
“General Cha.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“From now on, any funds that Moyong Baek requires don’t need to be approved. Give them fast.”
“I understand.”
Moyong Baek was shown.
“Our lives depend on him.”
As soon as I say it, the people again applaud Moyong Baek.
“Thank you very much.”
“When did the Low-Down Sect come here? This is a whole ceremony.”
“Should there be a separate ceremony?”
My subordinates are talking, and I let the fuss settle in.
“Shut it.”
“Yes.”
I look around and ask,
“Where is the Great Raven Clan leader? Hwang? The one who defeated the bandits?”
Moyong Baek says,
“He passed out. Right after arriving in the Union, he fell.”
“Fainting must be nice.”
“Yes.”
I sigh as I walk with my hands behind my back. I am bored so I try to move slowly,
“A pig fell into Kangho.”
Cha Sung-tae says,
“I know right.”
I summarize my thoughts and tell my men.
“Everyone, listen here.”
“Yes.”
“From now on, those who enter the Low-Down Sect will be screened by Seo Gun-pyung after physical training. If one passes, they get taught the sword techniques. The most outstanding of the people will later be Master Yukhap’s….”
Only then did I confirm if he was dead.
“Is he alive?”
Cha Sung-tae answers.
“Yes, for a few days there were continuous curses and shitty expressions and as soon as he recovered well, he was often out competing.”
“Who is winning? His internal Qi shouldn’t be alright.”
“Even though, Master Yukhap still wins most of the time.”
“Right.”
I explain the future of the Low-Down Sect to the subordinates.
“… soon, if you establish several branches, we will get results. Throw in some money too. Use the information we get. Do various things. But the most important thing is that those who belong to the Low-Down Sect should one day get together.”
After I stop walking, I look at my men.
“Seo Gun-pyung will teach, Sung-tae will instigate, Master Hoyeon will teach, Master Moyong will take care, and Master Yukhap, I don’t know what, but he will put his best efforts into developing people right for a long-term goal.”
I grinned.
“Among them, the most outstanding ones will be taken in as my disciples. After all, I won’t be taking in just any ordinary genius to learn and understand my martial arts. Everyone gets it?”
As my subordinates look at me, all of them bow.
“I understand, Sect Leader.”
“Let’s go.”
