CLS-Chapter 174

 Chapter 174

That sound was so clear and crisp.

If one had only heard the sound without seeing the scene, they might have thought it was the sound of a craftsman deep in some mountain, guarding his kiln, smashing pottery that didn’t meet his standards with a hammer.

Come to think of it, there was one similarity.

Just as pottery shatters, so did the forehead.

“Urgh…”

Pain is contagious.

Watching unimaginable pain isn’t as terrible as one might think. What’s most terrible is watching the pain that you can imagine.

The moment the stone thrown by Wei Yan-ho struck Hwangbo Jung-geol’s forehead, all the onlookers raised both hands to cover their own foreheads.

“Oh my goodness.”

“Hiiiiik!”

It felt as if the stone that hit that forehead had come flying to strike their own. Everyone trembled in unison.

Why isn’t it bursting open?

Shouldn’t it be time for it to burst by now?

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Hwangbo Jung-geol.

And at that moment.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

Hwangbo Jung-geol let out a scream as if his throat was being cut, grabbed his forehead, and began rolling on the ground.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

That scream was so pitiful that all the onlookers turned their heads away.

Eon-hyo watched the situation with an enlightened expression and clicked his tongue.

‘That’s why you should size up your opponent before picking a fight.’

If Hwangbo Jung-geol had known what kind of person Wei Yan-ho was, there would have been no reason for him to attempt such insane behavior. Unfortunately, Hwangbo Jung-geol didn’t know who Wei Yan-ho was, and Wei Yan-ho was too enigmatic a person to figure out from his appearance and usual behavior.

In that regard, one couldn’t say there was no room for sympathy for Hwangbo Jung-geol…

“Who can you blame?”

Pang Do-hyeong nodded with a disgusted expression.

Even these men, who had trained in martial arts and were taught to regard getting stabbed by a blade as no different from getting pricked by a thorn while tending graves, shuddered at how thoroughly and skillfully Hwangbo Jung-geol had been beaten.

In fact, getting beaten up so spectacularly wasn’t an easy thing to accomplish.

Wei Yan-ho poked his head out toward Hwangbo Jung-geol, who was rolling around clutching his head, and opened his mouth with a pitying expression.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Ah… ahhh…”

“You should have dodged.”

Eon-hyo beat his chest.

‘Only someone like you could dodge that!’

At that distance, with you throwing the stone, if he could dodge it, would he be crazy enough to stay here taking lessons? He’d already be a master, holding a position in the Orthodox Alliance.

In that sense, why is that guy even here doing this!

If he demanded a position right now, he’d be accepted into any decent deputy leader position immediately.

Wei Yan-ho poked the rolling Hwangbo Jung-geol’s shoulder repeatedly while speaking.

“I’m sorry, but since you said you wanted to learn, I can’t help it. My master said that no matter how great the pain, you mature as much as you hurt. As long as you don’t die, everything becomes experience and skill.”

Hwangbo Jung-geol tried to say something with a pale face, overwhelmed by unbearable pain. But the pain was so great that he couldn’t make a sound from his mouth and could only make choking noises.

“I know it sounds like nonsense. Actually, I’ve been beaten up more than once or twice for saying ‘what kind of nonsense is that?’ But what can I do? This is all I’ve learned.”

Wei Yan-ho reached out and grabbed another stone that had fallen on the ground.

“Oh, and my master also said this: Don’t look away just because it hurts. The enemy won’t worry about you groaning in pain—they’ll target the opening that pain has revealed. Do you know what that means?”

Surely not?

Thwack!

There are people in this world who actually commit acts that make you think “surely not.” Unfortunately, Hwangbo Jung-geol didn’t know this fact.

And the price was brutal.

Next to Hwangbo Jung-geol, who had fainted while frothing at the mouth, the stone that had bounced up into the sky fell with a thud. The stone bounced on the ground a few times before slowly coming to a stop.

Gulp.

Someone’s swallowing sound echoed through the training ground, which was so quiet you could hear an ant’s footsteps.

“What did I just witness?”

Ak Wi-san of the Shandong Ak Family muttered blankly.

Hwangbo Jung-geol was a master strong enough that even he couldn’t determine victory or defeat against him. No, to be honest, his own skills were about half inferior to Hwangbo Jung-geol’s.

Wasn’t he a descendant of the Ak Family, called a prodigy in the Shandong region? Yet Hwangbo Jung-geol, who was at a similar level to him, had lost consciousness and fainted after just two stone throws.

And while frothing at the mouth, no less.

“He looks about the same age as me…”

He didn’t doubt it.

He thought there was no way that Divine Hand Master Cho Hyeon would place just anyone as an instructor, so he figured that stupid-looking guy must have some skill. Some skill that would surely be helpful to all of them.

But who would have thought that skill would be martial prowess?

He thought he’d be a formation expert or strategist! That would fit well with Cho Hyeon too.

How should he describe this situation?

It felt like watching a scholar who came to teach suddenly pull out a thick book from his sleeve and beat a bandit to death with it.

Wei Yan-ho’s head turned sideways toward the back.

“…Come to think of it, didn’t everyone agree to the training?”

Whooosh.

A cold wind blew toward the training ground.

No one could open their mouth.

“As you can see, the training method is a bit rough and bold, but the effects are certain, so let’s try training. I’m originally someone who doesn’t like doing this kind of thing because it’s troublesome, but in my position of receiving wages, since you all want it so much, it would be embarrassing to keep lying around.”

I’ve rested enough anyway.

As Wei Yan-ho rolled his shoulders and loosened up his body, someone raised their hand.

“Hm?”

Wei Yan-ho looked at the person who raised their hand and smiled broadly. It was someone he knew.

“Long time no see. So… what’s the matter?”

The person who raised their hand was Eon-hyo.

Eon-hyo’s face was slightly contorted.

‘We’ve been together for seven days and nights.’

It had been nearly ten days since he came to this training ground. Yet “long time no see”? Didn’t that mean he didn’t even know he was here?

How little interest must he have had in the students?

He felt wronged and resentful, but now wasn’t the time to argue about such things.

He was Eon-hyo. Eon-hyo of the Jinju Eon Family.

Hadn’t he come here with the determination to endure hardship and humiliation if it meant becoming stronger? Eon-hyo clenched his fists tightly and shouted in a voice that seemed ready to drip with killing intent.

“Can’t we cancel?”

“…”

A cold wind blew through the training ground.

***

“…What did you say he did?”

“He entered Luoyang.”

Prince Lee asked with a bewildered expression.

“Luoyang? What’s the big deal about that?”

“The Luoyang Prefect has requested an identity verification. Someone possessing an Inspector General’s Golden Sword has entered Luoyang, and they want confirmation of whether this person is truly an inspector possessing the Inspector General’s sacred object.”

“Is that so?”

Prince Lee leaned back against his bed and answered as if it were nothing special.

“Since I personally bestowed the Golden Sword upon him, if he is still between boyhood and young adulthood, tell them to treat him with the courtesy due for an inspector.”

Though I don’t want to.

Contrary to his stern voice, Prince Lee looked at the ceiling with a pained expression.

Wei Yan-ho—thinking of that bastard living it up using his name made his stomach churn.

It was truly strange.

Just bringing the Wuhan Prefect to their side could be said to have been worth the value of bestowing the Inspector’s Golden Sword. In fact, he hadn’t expected such political work from Wei Yan-ho, but Wei Yan-ho had magnificently shattered his expectations and brought him great benefit.

Considering the political influence that the Wuhan Prefect possessed, winning him over as an ally was an incomparably greater achievement than obtaining vast wealth.

So he should feel affection for him, normally…

‘Why does this make me so irritated?’

“Urgh.”

Prince Lee felt his contradictory feelings were unpleasant.

Though he prided himself on never once losing his composure in evaluating anyone in his lifetime, whenever Wei Yan-ho was mentioned, he would groan as if afflicted with some internal ailment.

‘This won’t do.’

Prince Lee sighed and was trying to calm himself, about to tell the Luoyang Prefect to care for him like his own relative, when the inspector making the report opened his mouth with an embarrassed expression.

“There was also something he asked me to tell you if he was confirmed to be an inspector.”

“Wait…”

I don’t want to hear it.

Though he didn’t know what would come next, from Wei Yan-ho’s character and the inspector’s awkward expression of avoiding his gaze, he could be certain that hearing those words would not be beneficial to him.

But it was also something he couldn’t not hear.

“Huu…”

Prince Lee, having prepared himself mentally, slowly nodded.

With permission granted, the inspector opened his mouth.

“If that person is confirmed to be an inspector, he requests compensation.”

“Compensation?”

“That inspector apparently broke down Luoyang’s city gate, half-destroyed buildings along the street, and then blew up the Orthodox Alliance’s walls.”

“…”

“While the Orthodox Alliance’s walls seem to have been resolved on their own, the Luoyang Prefect wonders whether the Inspector General’s office shouldn’t pay for repairing Luoyang’s gate and buildings…”

“So you’re saying…”

Prince Lee waved his hand to stop the words.

“Blew up?”

“…Yes.”

The situation wasn’t organizing itself in his head.

What on earth could have happened for someone to blow up a city gate?

No, was that gate something an individual could blow up?

Wasn’t it a city gate meant to defend against foreign enemies?

“And…”

“There’s more? You’re saying there’s more!”

The inspector nodded with an awkward expression.

“The Luoyang Prefect says that since that inspector drew his Golden Sword in front of those guarding the walls and proclaimed his inspector status, his appearance is now circulating around the government office. Whether he has ability or not, since his face has already been revealed, wouldn’t it be better to retrieve the sacred object and select a new inspector…”

“Mu, Moon Yu-hwan!”

“Yes? Inspector General?”

“Call Moon Yu-hwan! Right now!”

“Sir, it’s the third watch. At this late hour of night!”

“Third watch or whatever, call him right now!”

“I’ll go immediately.”

As the inspector hurried outside, Prince Lee flopped down on his bed and flailed his arms and legs.

“Aigo! Aigo! I won’t live out my natural lifespan because of this guy! Aigoooo!”

The anger in his stomach was about to burst into flames from his mouth.

Even if you’re going to cause trouble, you should cause trouble that can somehow be resolved. What was he supposed to do when the sacred object he’d given for secret inspection was used like that?

Moreover, that sacred object was given to Wei Yan-ho.

A man has his pride—it’s not something that can be retrieved just by asking for it back.

“I need a method.”

Prince Lee, thinking that if he left that troublemaker alone he didn’t know what other incidents he might cause, and that he needed to dispatch someone who could somehow stop or monitor Wei Yan-ho, suddenly got up from his seat.

“Is anyone there!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Prepare the palanquin. I will see His Majesty as soon as day breaks!”

Prince Lee had finally drawn his sword.