Chapter 617: I'll Leave This Murim to Hyung for a While

TL: FoodieMonster007

"He said they approached him first."

Seok Su, a friend of Gu Yong who managed the counterfeit hidden weapons trade for the Black Hand Sect, confessed everything he knew without even being prompted.

Seok Su was terrified. He never dreamed that a day would come in his life when he would be dragged away by the Demonic Cult for an interrogation. Gu Yong had been stabbed to death in a brothel, and the man who tried to use the hidden weapons earlier had clearly intended to kill him as well.

The image of that man laughing like a lunatic even after his arm was severed was unforgettable.

"'We have some weapons from the Demonic Cult, are you interested in buying?'"

The person seated before Seok Su was Branch Manager Ho Myeong. The matter was too significant to be left to his subordinates, so he had taken charge of the interrogation himself.

Seok Su grew even more tense. He realized from what he had witnessed earlier that Ho Myeong held a high position.

"'They gave Gu Yong money to seal the deal.'"

Ho Myeong, who had been listening in silence, finally spoke.

"How much?"

"He didn't say the exact amount, but it seemed like he received several thousand taels. He was in such a good mood that he went to Hwayeongru and bought a lavish round of drinks."

Ho Myeong did not fully believe his words.

The most crucial task now was to discern whether the man before him was fabricating a story to save his own life.

Just because he's scared doesn't mean he won't lie? Not a chance. Having lived his entire life as a member of the Demonic Cult, he had seen many people. Even terrified people lie well. He had seen men lie with a straight face while clutching a stab wound and shedding streams of tears.

One should never underestimate a human's will to live.

"Tell me about the one who gave you the money."

"It wasn't a man."

"What?"

"He said it was a woman."

That was unexpected, even for Ho Myeong. A woman had approached them?

"Tell me everything you know about this woman."

"I only know that it was a woman. That's all I know."

Instantly, Ho Myeong's voice dropped, turning cold.

"Then why did you claim to know about this matter?"

Seok Su was flustered.

"I thought this much would be useful information."

"A woman gave him a lot of money? How am I supposed to find her with just that information?"

An aura as cold as his voice emanated from Ho Myeong's eyes.

"You thought you could just say something vague and get away with it. You tried to deceive us."

"No, no!"

Waving his hands frantically, Seok Su looked as if he was about to burst into tears with his innocent-looking face.

However, Ho Myeong knew exactly what kind of people the members of the Black Hand Sect were. They were leeches who sucked the lifeblood out of others.

Ho Myeong took a small bottle from his robes and placed it on the table in front of him.

"Drink it."

Seok Su asked, terrified.

"What is this?"

"A truth serum."

Seok Su had heard of it. A truth serum that, once consumed, would make one's mind hazy and compel them to answer any question asked. He also knew it had side effects. If you were unlucky, you could go mad, and sometimes, you could even die.

"Please, spare me!"

Seok Su's face turned pale.

"If I have to force you to drink it, you'll die even if you confess."

With a trembling hand, Seok Su reached for the vial.

I have to remember. Please.

Seok Su desperately tried to recall what Gu Yong had said that day. They had met and exchanged some lewd jokes. Then they went to Hwayeongru together.

Ah, right. While drinking with the courtesans, he had said a few more things about it. What did he say then?

His desperation finally created a miracle. He put down the truth serum he was about to drink and shouted.

"Ah! That's right! He said the woman had a burn mark on the back of her hand."

He remembered Gu Yong saying it was a shame she had a burn mark on her hand because her face was pretty and her figure was good. That's what the bastard had said while holding a courtesan's hand.

"A burn mark?"

"Yes, he definitely said it was a burn scar. I'm sure of it."

Seok Su watched Ho Myeong with hopeful eyes. He thought that since he had remembered something important, he wouldn't have to drink the truth serum.

Ho Myeong's eyes and voice softened as he said to him.

"I understand, so drink up."

These damn bastards of the Demonic Cult!

A quarter of an hour later, Ho Myeong emerged from the interrogation room. Behind him, Seok Su could be seen. He was still sitting in the chair in a dazed state.

The investigation was in full swing.

Ho Myeong headed to another investigation room, a short distance from the one he had just left. The investigation of the armless assassin was underway there. The assassin was completely out of his mind, so a normal interrogation was impossible. Since torture was also ineffective, the focus was not on learning who was behind him, but on figuring out the method used to brainwash him.

Geom Muyang was watching from the back with his arms crossed.

Ho Myeong approached cautiously and reported.

"The broker was a woman with a burn mark on the back of her hand. Considering his testimony under the truth serum was the same, it seems to be true. I will relay everything we've heard to the All-Knowing Hall and have them find the woman."

It would be like finding a needle in a haystack with just that, but it was a lead nonetheless.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Geom Muyang spoke up unexpectedly.

"That woman, she might work in a smithy."

Why would she work in a smithy? Ho Myeong, who had been puzzled, belatedly realized something.

"Ah! Because of the burn!"

Geom Muyang nodded at Ho Myeong's words. He often worked with the smithy at the Headquarters. Because of that, he had encountered many people who worked there. For those who handled iron and fire, burns were a common occurrence.

"I will relay that she might work in a smithy."

Ho Myeong looked at Geom Muyang with a renewed sense of admiration. Once you heard it, the connection seemed obvious, but it was not easy to link the two just from hearing about it.

"The number of women working in smithies is relatively small, and if she has a distinctive feature like a scar on her hand? Perhaps the All-Knowing Hall might be able to find her. If they do, it will be thanks to you, First Young Lord."

It was not flattery, but genuine admiration.

Just what kind of person was the Second Young Lord to have defeated such a First Young Lord and become the Young Cult Leader?

Just then, a martial artist who had been examining the armless man's body finished his inspection and turned to them. He was an expert in this kind of technique among the Branch martial artists mobilized for this case.

"It seems to be a technique where a command is planted in the subconscious, allowing the person to live normally until a specific condition is met, at which point they only carry out the command."

This meant that the reason this man, who had been kneeling, suddenly turned into a madman was because the specific condition of Seok Su trying to reveal the secret had occurred.

"Furthermore, once the technique is activated, they immediately lose their reason and are driven to suicide."

This meant that if his paralysis acupoint had not been quickly suppressed after his arm was severed, this man would have killed himself.

"The skill of the one who planted this technique is extraordinary."

The counterfeit hidden weapons were made to be nearly identical to the real ones, and now this technique. These were not people who were simply trying to make money by selling fakes.

"To find out exactly what technique was used, we'll have to transport him to the Headquarters for analysis."

Geom Muyang looked at the man laughing in the interrogation room.

"Is there any chance of him returning to normal?"

"With a technique of this level, only the one who cast it can undo it."

"Then it can never be undone."

The one who used a technique that controlled people like puppets and then made them commit suicide would never willingly release them.

SHIIIIK.

A single streak of sword light from Geom Muyang pierced the ambusher's heart, killing him instantly.

"We'll be seeing plenty of people under this technique from now on. And…"

Geom Muyang said as he walked out of the room with a cold gaze.

"I'll hear what kind of technique it is from the caster himself."

Geom Mugeuk opened the massive doors and stepped inside. A vast square spread out before his eyes. It was filled with ninety-nine enormous bookshelves. On those shelves were countless peerless secret manuals that would stir the hearts of martial artists.

This was the Heavenly Demon Archives, the very place where he had once obtained the Four Strides of the Wind God.

"Father! I've come in here without your permission! I might just mess this place up. I'll sit wherever I want and eat food and everything. So come out quickly!"

Having become the Acting Cult Leader, he could now freely enter places that once required the Heavenly Demon's permission. Of those many places, the first he entered was the Heavenly Demon Archives.

Geom Mugeuk walked between the bookshelves, pulling out books from here and there. He was not choosing carefully, but rather picking out books that caught his eye.

There were books on the principles of martial studies, advice from masters for actual combat, the history of the murim's unorthodox factions, and the fundamentals of martial arts in general. There were manuals explaining qi and acupoints, methods for balancing the body, how a martial artist should use their body, and basic offense and defense. There were methods for predicting an opponent's movements and finding their weaknesses, and ways to operate and apply true qi.

He chose some books because he liked the titles, others because he was fond of the calligraphy on the cover, and some simply because he wanted to read them. In this way, he selected over twenty volumes.

TAK!

With a snap of his fingers, his surroundings changed into a green field.

"……"

A large desk and chair appeared in the middle of the field. With another flick of his hand, a cool, gentle breeze began to blow.

Geom Mugeuk had activated the Heavenly Space Secret Art.

Geom Mugeuk's Heavenly Space Secret Art now granted him seven times more time than the outside world. It had only been six times when he faced the Sword King, meaning he had made progress since then. Now, one shichen outside was seven shichen in here.

You're the only one I can count on!

Geom Mugeuk stacked the books on the desk and began to read. They were of various kinds, but one thing was certain. These were all carefully selected books, worthy of being shelved in the Heavenly Demon Archives.

Geom Mugeuk read them one by one.

The reason for this reading session was this. Geom Mugeuk had told Sama Myeong he had anxiety, but the greater source of his anxiety, even more than his brother, was the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.

The Nine Calamities Demonic Art, which had reached the eighth stage. His current achievement was incomparably faster than any previous Cult Leader, but Geom Mugeuk was not satisfied with it.

The transition from the eighth to the ninth stage is the crux.

It felt like standing before a massive, insurmountable wall.

If I overcome this wall, there will be an even bigger one. First, I have to get past this one.

Geom Mugeuk decided that the way to overcome this wall was to read the books in the Heavenly Demon Archives. Until now, he had overcome his hurdles through grueling training, repeating the Nine Calamities Demonic Art over and over. At other times, he had broken through with life-or-death combat. He had also advanced through his father's teachings.

And this time, he intended to break through by diligently reading the martial arts manuals here.

Why this method, of all things? It was a pull of instinct. His father entering seclusion training, and him becoming the Acting Cult Leader, allowing him free access to this place, if that was not fate, what was?

There was one more reason. Since meeting the Sword King, he had found himself thinking more and more about the fundamentals of martial arts. The process of creating a martial art by applying the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique had likely had a great influence on him.

Geom Mugeuk trusted his instincts. Just as craving meat was a sign that the body needed the nutrients in it, if he now wanted to read all sorts of books on martial arts, it must be because this was the time he needed it.

Geom Mugeuk read with a relaxed mind. He did not read with the intention of gaining something specific. If a book became too boring, he would simply close it and move on to the next. What content could possibly be difficult for someone of Geom Mugeuk's level? He read through every book smoothly, without any hindrance.

One shichen, two shichen, three shichen… seven shichen.

How long had he been immersed in his reading? From outside, the voice of Cheokyeon, the head of the bodyguards, was heard.

"A message has arrived from the All-Knowing Hall."

At that, Geom Mugeuk's surroundings began to change.

SWOOOOOSH.

The countless bookshelves of the Heavenly Demon Archives reappeared around him.

Geom Mugeuk picked up the books he had brought out from the Spacetime Manipulation Technique and started walking.

WHIRL. WHIRL, WHOOSH.

The manuals floated into the air and flew off in different directions. The books slotted back into their original places. It might have seemed like a simple trick, but simultaneously shelving books with telekinesis was a divine skill not found in any of the martial arts manuals here.

Geom Mugeuk stepped out of the Heavenly Demon Archives.

Cheokyeon relayed the news from the All-Knowing Hall.

"The First Young Lord is gathering elite martial artists in Hunan."

It was a report that the situation there was serious, but Geom Mugeuk smiled instead.

"Looks like those bastards really pissed off my brother."

It was actually reassuring that his brother was on edge. At least he would not be careless.

"And he only sent word to the Murim Alliance and the Evil Alliance that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is in the middle of an operation."

Geom Mugeuk laughed cheerfully at the report.

"If Father were here, he would have really liked this."

Father, your favorite eldest son is turning the murim upside down. If he teased his father about this, he would surely look at him and flash that characteristic sneer of his. And he would have greatly enjoyed the news about his brother.

"My brother is my brother, but I'm just too hungry to care. Since I'm out, I should grab something to eat before I go back in."

Cheokyeon looked at Geom Mugeuk with a strange expression. Geom Mugeuk had eaten just one shichen ago before going in, yet he was already this hungry again.

Another good thing about being the Acting Cult Leader. He could eat meals prepared by the cook of the Heavenly Demon Hall.

"The thing I envy most about Father isn't the Heavenly Demon Vault or the Heavenly Demon Archives, it's you, Cook!"

And so, he was able to see the bright smile of the Heavenly Demon Hall's cook for the first time in a long while.

Geom Mugeuk ate his fill and even packed some food the cook had made for him before heading back into the Heavenly Demon Archives.

Geom Mugeuk chose books from the shelves. This time, too, he did not choose carefully. He picked them according to his mood. It did not matter. He planned to read every book in the Heavenly Demon Archives before coming out anyway.

Father, I'll leave this murim to Hyung for a while and undergo seclusion training in the Heavenly Demon Archives.