“Wow. Really, the opponent is so pitiful.”

It was Neung-heo’s voice.

Cheon Mubaeck said bluntly.

“You bastard, you just watched from a distance when we were fighting, but look at you crawling out now that it’s over.”

“You have to be careful when a typhoon is blowing.”

“If you can’t even talk.”

“But isn’t it too much? To say let’s talk after beating him up.”

At Neung-heo’s words, Im Hong, who was lying on the ground, nodded his head vigorously.

He was wronged.

In fact, if they had talked first, would it have turned out like this?

Moreover, if you lose a fight, you lose. You can just clean it up and move on.

What was this, beating him up for lying?

“Do you think we would have talked if I hadn’t hit you?”

“I have learned as much as I need to learn!”

It’s not like he’s treating a person like an animal that only listens when it’s beaten.

Im Hong shouted in disbelief, but Cheon Mubaeck tilted his head.

“I said I’d buy the treasure map for one silver tael, didn’t I?”

Could it be?

Does he think that’s a normal conversation?

Im Hong, without even realizing it, looked at Neung-heo, who was standing next to him.

“Wow. A great merchant has appeared.”

Neung-heo also had a fed-up face. It was a face that said, ‘What kind of guy is this?’

“How is that the beginning of a proper conversation, and the haggling of a deal? It’s a treasure map. And that too, the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon! To think that it’s worth only one silver tael!”

“Half a silver tael.”

“No, shit!”

“That’s the most appropriate value I could think of.”

Cheon Mubaeck’s voice was quite serious.

It was true.

The treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon?

‘In the first place, it’s a scam, so one silver tael is expensive.’

Come to think of it, even one silver tael seemed expensive, so he had cut it down to half a silver tael.

That treasure map is not a real treasure map. It’s a fake. Why would you buy a fake with money?

The Red Blood Sword Demon had not left any divine weapons or legacy.

So the treasure map was nothing but a scam, and its value was bound to be terrible.

“This is not the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s a long story.”

Im Hong looked at Cheon Mubaeck with complicated eyes.

The skill of Cheon Mubaeck, which he had just competed with, was the real deal.

The title of Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero did not feel excessive at all. He could not take the words of such a skilled person lightly.

‘Was my eye wrong?’

Because from Im Hong’s perspective, it was not a fake.

He organized his confused mind.

But a sudden feeling of injustice arose.

“I have never bought your grudge. But after losing the fight, you beat me… ahem, why did you treat me so roughly?”

“Huh.”

Cheon Mubaeck made a crooked face as if he were dumbfounded.

“Would you have handed over the treasure map obediently otherwise?”

“…”

“Do you take me for a fool? Do you think you would have obediently handed over the treasure map just because you lost the fight, as per the bet? Really?”

At Cheon Mubaeck’s words, Im Hong shut his mouth.

“Do you think I don’t know about the mechanism trap installed at the Hao Faction branch?”

He even knows that?

“To be blunt, if this were a real treasure map, were you thinking of handing it over for free just because you lost once? You would have roughly looked for a chance, set off the mechanism trap, and would have run away.”

At Cheon Mubaeck’s words, Im Hong could not say anything.

He had been hit right on the mark.

“Anyway, these Hao Faction bastards. It’s not even a big deal to take one person for a fool. And then they act as if nothing happened, saying that they are between the righteous and the unorthodox.”

That was the Hao Faction.

Since it was a sect made up of lower-class people, they did not care about things like reputation.

The position between the righteous and the unorthodox was also important.

If it was the Hao Faction, Cheon Mubaeck had experienced it through countless past lives.

Rather than an information group based on trust, it was a place that moved based on profit.

Would they give up a treasure map for just one bet?

“So you’re treating me like an unsociable person who swings his fist without even talking?”

…No, didn’t you actually do that?

Im Hong thought so and flinched when he saw Cheon Mubaeck raise his hand.

“So, hand it over. As per the bet.”

“If this is really worthless, and if it’s a fake, why do you want this?”

“I’m just curious who’s trying to scam me.”

“Me?”

“You talk a lot.”

When Cheon Mubaeck finally raised his hand as if he would hit him, Im Hong hurriedly handed over the treasure map.

Looking at that sight, Neung-heo muttered as if he were impressed.

“My lord.”

“What.”

“In my 40 years of life, I think I’ve seen the real martial world.”

“…”

“This is the martial world. The logic of power. To take by force, and to trample by force! Wow. As expected. My lord is different.”

“Why is your tone strange?”

“Of course not. I will also learn what my lord does by my lord’s side and use it very well!”

“Neung-heo.”

“Yes.”

“I think you also need a conversation.”

“…”

* * *

“Im Hong, the Shaanxi branch master of the Hao Faction.”

“That’s right.”

“Do you know the Netherworld Lotus of Henan?”

Im Hong flinched and then answered.

“…It’s our business in Henan.”

“To expand your influence in Henan?”

“That’s right.”

“What is the position of the Shaanxi branch in the Hao Faction?”

Im Hong shut his mouth.

He had never dreamed that the meaning of Cheon Mubaeck’s ‘let’s talk’ would be this.

This was almost.

‘An interrogation?’

Is he trying to dig up the internal information of the Hao Faction?

Why would a person of the orthodox sects do that?

But Im Hong obediently answered.

He was definitely, definitely not doing so because he had seen Neung-heo, who had been beaten so badly that he couldn’t even move.

“At least within the top three fingers.”

“What is the level of the Henan branch?”

“There’s no such thing as the level of the branch. Because there is no branch in Henan.”

“Why?”

“Since there are so many black-way, it’s hard to gather power properly.”

“So it’s because the business overlaps.”

“And since Shaolin entered seclusion, Henan was not that important. The fights of the black-way were not that expensive information.”

Cheon Mubaeck obediently nodded his head.

And he grinned.

“Where is your sect leader?”

“…I can’t say.”

“Well, that’s understandable.”

Cheon Mubaeck obediently nodded his head.

No sect would easily reveal information about its sect leader.

And if it was an information group like the Hao Faction, it would be even more so. Cheon Mubaeck had not expected to get an answer so obediently. Even if he beat him more, he would not answer.

“Then tell the sect leader.”

“What is it?”

“Let’s cooperate.”

“Cooperate?”

“The Lotus Pavilion that the Netherworld Lotus has contacted, that’s mine.”

“…!”

“The Black Heart Gang, the largest of the black-way in Henan? That’s also mine.”

Im Hong looked at Cheon Mubaeck with surprised eyes.

“Ah, of course, the head is that guy who looks a little lacking.”

That guy is the head, and the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero is the real owner?

To be honest, it was not easy to believe.

But Im Hong could not consider it a lie either.

In any case, if it was the information power of the Hao Faction, he would be able to find out in a short time.

Would the opponent say a lie without even knowing that?

“What kind of cooperation do you want?”

“The information power of the Hao Faction on the Central Plains of the martial world.”

“…And on your side?”

“The guarantee of the Hao Faction’s interests in Henan.”

“It doesn’t seem like a fair deal.”

The information power of the entire martial world and the guarantee of interests in Henan.

The value does not match.

“Think carefully. For the time being, the Shaanxi branch will not be able to function properly because of the Blood Demon Sect, so will the information and interests in Henan, which is next to it, be small?”

“Even if that’s the case, it’s different from the information of the entire martial world.”

“Hmm. The Shadow Insight Sword.”

“…!”

“Is the deal a little more balanced now?”

“H-How did you…?”

Cheon Mubaeck grinned and opened his mouth.

Surprisingly, the key points of a martial art flowed out of his mouth.

Im Hong convulsed violently.

The Shadow Insight Sword.

It was an ultimate martial art that had allowed the Hao Faction to survive in the brutal martial world.

“How did you know something that was lost 40 years ago?”

The Shadow Insight Sword had been lost during the righteous-demonic war.

‘Well. That guy. He should have at least passed on the martial art before he went.’

Cheon Mubaeck felt a slight sense of debt.

It must have been at the end of the righteous-demonic war.

Because at that time, Cheon Mubaeck, who had been the Azure Sky Sword God, had requested the Hao Faction Master to track the whereabouts of the Demonic Cult.

It seemed that the lineage had been cut off after that.

Although the Shadow Insight Sword was a martial art that only the sect leader could learn, at least the branch masters should have known the basic key points.

But Im Hong seemed to not know at all, and at the much lower level of the Hao Faction than in the past, Cheon Mubaeck felt a slight sense of debt and apology.

So wasn’t it a fair deal?

“How about it? Are you a little more drawn to it now?”

“Is it… is it really the Shadow Insight Sword?”

“Tell the sect leader the key points I’ve told you.”

“I understand.”

“Good. It’s a deal. Talk to this friend here about the matters related to Henan Province.”

“…He doesn’t seem to be in a state to talk.”

Neung-heo was still dazed and not in his right mind. Cheon Mubaeck waved his hand as if it were okay.

“Don’t worry. He’s tougher than he looks.”

“…”

Eum.

I think he just twitched.

Im Hong somehow felt half pity and half a sense of kinship for Neung-heo.

He felt like he knew what kind of person Cheon Mubaeck was.

“Well, if you tell the sect leader, it will probably work out. But, before that, I’d like to get some information. Since I’ve given you a part of the Shadow Insight Sword, as a fair price for the deal.”

“…Alright. What do you want?”

“All the information about the Blood Demon Sect in Shaanxi that you have gathered. And if possible, even the organization called the Blood Ghost Valley.”

“The Blood Demon Sect?”

Im Hong tilted his head, and then he recalled the part where Cheon Mubaeck had said, ‘For the time being, the Shaanxi branch will not be able to function properly.’

‘For the time being?’

If he was the Shaanxi branch master, he was bound to be smart. Im Hong was also quick-witted.

In an instant, the various words that Cheon Mubaeck had said overlapped in his mind.

‘A fake treasure map. Someone’s scam. Shaanxi Province is in chaos due to the plague spread by the Blood Demon Sect. On top of that, more chaos is caused by the fake treasure map. Because even the martial artists are getting involved.’

Then?

‘Is all this the doing of the Blood Demon Sect?’

Isn’t that too much of an interpretation?

Im Hong, without even realizing it, raised his head and looked at Cheon Mubaeck. Cheon Mubaeck, who had noticed that he had roughly caught on, told him a few more things.

“How many years ago was the Red Blood Sword Demon?”

“Wasn’t he a master of his time 400 years ago?”

“Then do you know when the Blood Demon Sect appeared before?”

“Of course. We also had a lot of trouble because of the Blood Demon Sect, so we looked around here and there. 400 years ago… ah!”

Im Hong’s eyes widened.

400 years ago, the Blood Demon Sect had been shattered by one master.

And that too, by.

“The Red Blood Sword Demon!”

Then isn’t it strange?

“To think that the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon appeared in Shaanxi Province, where the Blood Demon Sect was rampant.”

Only then did Im Hong admit the probability that the treasure map was a fake.

Then, if all those presumptions were correct.

“Are you saying that the Blood Demon Sect is now plotting something in Shaanxi with a fake treasure map?”

“Well. It’s a presumption.”

But looking at Cheon Mubaeck’s reaction, Im Hong knew that Cheon Mubaeck was certain.

Im Hong narrowed his brow with a serious face.

For what purpose were they plotting such a thing?

And what followed was a slight sense of self-deprecation.

‘To think that I, as the branch master of the Hao Faction, didn’t even know this!’

He had not been able to judge coolly, thinking of selling the treasure map for a high price, believing it to be real.

It was natural for a martial artist to always be wary that a treasure map might be a fake.

If so, he would have surely felt something strange, as per Cheon Mubaeck’s presumption.

But he had not.

On the one hand, he was shocked that Cheon Mubaeck knew all this.

“My goodness… how do you know all this?”

Cheon Mubaeck shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“Trade secret.”

“…”

(End of Chapter)

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