Chapter 78. The Red-Eyed Demon (3)

After parting ways with Yang Jinpo, I headed to the rendezvous point, where Bukeun Lin and Wei Jiyan were waiting for me. The Chief Warden was bound and blindfolded. It seemed the operation was a success.

"I was away for a moment. I apologize."

When I said this, Bukeun Lin, who had been looking around with a somewhat anxious expression, brightened up and said,

"You're here, Seong Posa!"

"Yes, I had to take care of something."

It took about twenty minutes, but it wasn't too long. When I said this, Bukeun Lin pointed to the unconscious Chief Warden and said,

"I've pressed his pressure points to make him faint, but it won't last long. My skills are limited..."

"Then we can just knock him out again."

No need to make things complicated.

After suggesting this simple solution, I looked far off at Fengyun Wuguan. The fire seemed to be almost under control.

'As expected, it didn't spread.'

When we set the fire, we deliberately chose a detached pavilion to prevent it from spreading, but I was worried it might still spread. Fortunately, it didn't, as this was Bukeun Lin's Wuguan.

"Then I'll carry this guy."

As I was about to carry the limp Chief Warden, Wei Jiyan looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked,

"Um... but why are you wearing different clothes? I'm sure you were wearing something else earlier..."

As soon as Wei Jiyan said this, I pulled out the prepared excuse.

"These are different clothes I prepared. It's better to destroy the evidence thoroughly. I burned the other clothes."

"Oh, I see. Indeed..."

I'm not sure what she meant by "indeed," but Wei Jiyan seemed impressed. Then, realizing something strange, she asked with a puzzled look,

"But why didn't you tell us beforehand? If you had, we could have prepared different clothes too..."

I hadn't thought of that. What should I say to cover it up?

Think, my brain, think.

At that moment, the Chief Warden started to stir and make a "Ugh, ugh..." sound. Bukeun Lin began to panic, as the pressure points had worn off sooner than expected.

I immediately put the Chief Warden down and struck the back of his neck.

*Thud!*

"Ugh..."

I struck him again to make sure he was unconscious. Then I turned to Wei Jiyan and said,

"We don't have time. I'll explain later."

"Ah, yes..."

Of course, there won't be a later.

***

"Phew. Fortunately, this guy is light."

I placed the Chief Warden in a prepared hiding place and wiped the sweat from my forehead. It was fortunate he was light; if he had been heavy, I would have had to carry him on a stretcher.

This place, within Maixian County, had been purchased by Baigun Biaoju when they first entered the area, according to Baoling Hua. He said not many people in the Biaoju knew the location.

This was possible because I was trusted to some extent.

'So, it's time to start the interrogation.'

Following the plan I had made with Baoling Hua, I immediately began the interrogation. Before starting, I sent Wei Jiyan and Bukeun Lin outside.

This was not a time for innocent children to see.

I woke the Chief Warden with a few taps and began a very terrifying and cruel interrogation.

"Hehehehehe..."

"Ah! I'll tell you anything! Anything! Please, spare me!"

"..."

He's already crying out in pain without me even touching him.

In fact, I just held a hammer and threatened him a bit. I'm a delicate person and can't do torture. How could I do such cruel things?

"Alright, good. Then spill everything. Is the 'Yi' (乙) in this ledger the Black Lotus League?"

"Yes, yes! It is! Yes!"

"Very good. Let's keep it going."

I showed him the ledger and asked, and the Chief Warden, who had no intention of keeping loyalty to Fengyun Wuguan, revealed everything he knew.

"I, I tried to dissuade him several times, saying it was dangerous, but Chief Warden Zhao wouldn't listen!"

"Hmm. Good conversation. Mr. Chief Warden, very good. Then, who is 'Xue' (雪)?"

Now, I just need to confirm that Juejianmen is involved, and it will be over. When I asked, the Chief Warden shook his head.

"T-That, I don't know... The money from 'Xue' (雪) was all handled by Chief Warden Zhao, I just recorded it!"

"Oh, Mr. Chief Warden, this is troublesome. If you do this, I can't be nice to you."

Well, he was doing well until now, but this guy is making things complicated.

I lifted the prepared iron tongs and pointed them at the Chief Warden's mouth.

"It seems there are too many walls in your mouth, making it hard for the truth to come out."

"Y-Yes? Walls...? What do you mean...?"

The Chief Warden trembled and looked at my hand. I smiled contently from under the mask and approached him.

"Don't worry. I'll help you with the demolition. For smooth communication, there should be no walls."

Why, don't self-help books on leadership say that for good communication, there should be no walls? I intended to improve the Chief Warden's leadership.

As I approached with the iron tongs, the Chief Warden's eyes grew wider and wider. He writhed in fear, so I grabbed his shoulders.

"Now, now, be still. If you keep moving, the construction site might go wrong."

I slowly brought the tongs to his front teeth, and the Chief Warden writhed and screamed.

"I really don't know! Spare me! I really, really don't know!"

"Ah, be still. I'll listen to three words first."

"Why an odd number?! Ughhhhh!!!"

As the Chief Warden struggled, his eyes grew so wide they almost rolled back, and he fell over, and a pungent smell of urine filled the air.

"Oh!"

He wet himself from fear and fainted. I didn't really intend to pull out his teeth, but he really has a small bladder.

'Hmm... Well, there's nothing I can do.'

Judging from his reaction, he seemed to really not know. I stopped the interrogation and went to Baoling Hua to tell him what I had learned. Baoling Hua nodded and replied,

"If that's the case, he really doesn't seem to know."

"Yes. What should we do?"

Baoling Hua seemed to be thinking deeply and then said after a moment,

"Well, it doesn't matter. We've confirmed that Chief Warden Zhao hired the Black Lotus League to attack us. We can find out about Juejianmen by capturing Chief Warden Zhao."

Listening to Baoling Hua, that made sense. If we capture Zhao Chashik, we can confirm that 'Xue' (雪) is Juejianmen.

I nodded in agreement.

"Then I'll wake the Chief Warden and get him to sign a confession."

Baoling Hua agreed. It's important to have a written record to prevent any strange talk later.

"Yes, please do."

"Sir. And, just a moment."

"..."

I thought this was a good time to bring up the Yang Jinpo incident, of course, leaving out the part about me showing up in just my underwear.

After listening for a while, Baoling Hua nodded and replied,

"Hmm... I see. Understood. Since we're going to announce it to everyone soon, it's fine. I'll leave that part to Seong Posa."

"Thank you."

After saying this, Baoling Hua put on his jacket and said to me,

"Then I'll leave the rest to you. Please inform Gang Piaotou. I'll visit Zhengjiazhai."

"Zhengjiazhai? Ah, to clarify this incident?"

When I said this, Baoling Hua smiled and said,

"Not just that."

Hmm? Is there something else?

Baoling Hua just smiled mysteriously.

***

The next day, I gathered our mountain club members and told them the truth about the attack—that Juejianmen was the real mastermind.

"Although it will be announced to everyone tomorrow, I'm telling you in advance. You have a lot to think about."

After hearing the whole story, Yang Jinpo asked with a somber face,

"Is it really true, Young Master?"

"Yes, it's certain."

There were no other suspects, and the motive was clear. When I said this, Yang Jinpo nodded heavily.

"I see... Well, he's always been like that. Young Master would always get what he wanted in the end, and if he lost something, he would do whatever it took to get it back."

"He's been a tenacious person since he was young."

It was a foreseen disaster. While it's a bit of a result-oriented statement, our Biaoju should have been more cautious when Juejianmen withdrew cleanly.

'But would we have known even if we were cautious?'

As I thought this and nodded, Yang Jinpo looked at my face, sighed, and continued,

"It's too late to say this now, but if we had stopped Young Master in time, it might not have come to this."

Reflecting on it, this guy's life has had many twists and turns.

The Bai Shengyi he served was killed by me, he lost his arm to Bai Songlin, and now he's working under me again.

"Do you regret it?"

When I asked, Yang Jinpo shook his head.

"It's in the past. I have no regrets. It was also Young Master's fault."

With Yang Jinpo's words, the others also nodded.

"We have no regrets either."

One of them touched his lower abdomen. It seemed they had no intention of turning back, given the loss of their martial arts.

I nodded in understanding and turned to leave. At that moment, Yang Jinpo said,

"Um, that... Is what you told us today a secret?"

"Well, yes. It will be officially announced tomorrow, so don't tell anyone until then."

I imposed an embargo. Yang Jinpo looked at me and nodded.

"Understood. Thank you for trusting me."

"If you're grateful, lend me cleaner clothes next time. Man, they really stink."

"..."

Yang Jinpo looked like he wanted to hit me.

If you're upset, wash your clothes properly, you jerk.

***

A day passed.

During the tense atmosphere at the Biaoju, various preparations were made in the background, including negotiations with Zhengjiazhai and the organization and re-verification of evidence.

As soon as the preparations were complete, Gang Piaotou made a sudden announcement about the true mastermind behind the attack.

Naturally, an immense and intense anger erupted.

"Juejianmen?!"

"Those bastards did this?"

"What a bunch of scumbags!!"

Everyone in the Biaoju, from the zhangzashou to the biaoshi, was outraged. They all condemned Juejianmen. The Wujiangshan mountain club members standing in the corner looked conflicted, though they understood.

'Well, it can't be helped.'

It must be hard to see the sect they've been part of for a long time being cursed in real-time.

Anyway, despite their feelings, everyone, in a state of intense anger, began preparing for battle under Gang Piaotou's meticulous command.

The Biaoju flag was taken out of the warehouse and a large banner denouncing Zhao Chashik's crimes was hung on a giant pole. Several such banners were set up.

Drums and gongs, which were only used occasionally during Biaoju sports events, were also taken out and given to the zhangzashou.

'This will be good publicity.'

These were all items prepared to wage a public opinion battle within Maixian County. If we suddenly attacked Fengyun Wuguan, many people in Maixian County wouldn't know what was happening.

"Let's go!"

Gang Piaotou shouted, and everyone cheered loudly enough to reach the sky.

"Yaaaaaah!!!"

It was time for war.

As we burst out of the Biaoju with fierce expressions, people in Maixian County, curious about what was happening, started to come out and watch.

'Good. We're drawing attention.'

By the way, I was in charge of the public opinion battle.

I signaled the zhangzashou with good voices, and the loud drumbeats echoed.

*Boom!*

'Good. Now... loudly. Ah, microphone test. Ah.'

After clearing my throat, I used my inner strength to shout loudly enough for the whole neighborhood to hear when the drumbeats slightly subsided.

"I denounce the crimes of Fengyun Wuguan's Chief Warden, Zhao Chashik!"

Then the zhangzashou followed and shouted,

"I denounce!"

*Boom!*

"Zhao Chashik hired the Black Lotus League to attack our Baigun Biaoju! As a result, much blood was shed!"

"Shed!"

*Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!*

"We cannot forgive this! We will definitely demand blood for blood!"

"Blood!"

As we shouted loudly and marched forward, curious people started to follow us, wondering what was happening. I listened to their murmurs.

"What's going on? The Chief Warden of Fengyun Wuguan attacked Baigun Biaoju?"

"Hmm? Why would the Chief Warden do that?"

"Let's follow and find out!"

These were the reactions I expected.

'Good.'

When I first proposed the public opinion battle, Baoling Hua and Gang Piaotou were puzzled. They had expressions like, "Why do we need to do this?"

"Do we really need to inform the people of Maixian County to this extent?"

"Yes, to form public opinion and protect our reputation."

"Hmm... Is that so? Alright, let's do it."

They had expressions like, "It can't hurt to do it, even if we don't understand."

I had a reason for insisting on this public opinion battle.

'Because we are the outsiders.'

After dealing with Fengyun Wuguan, the next target is Juejianmen. We plan to completely destroy Juejianmen, which has been in Maixian County much longer than Baigun Biaoju and has had a significant influence.

Of course, we don't mean to kill everyone, but to dismantle the sect entirely.

But what will happen after that?

'Even though we are the victims, our image might get worse.'

Well, for those who know the truth, it might not be bad, but from the perspective of those who don't know, we might be seen as the ones who unnecessarily destroyed Juejianmen, which was planning to withdraw peacefully from Maixian County.

'Especially since we are the stronger side.'

The main issue is that Baigun Biaoju is much larger and stronger than Juejianmen or Fengyun Wuguan, which are just small local sects.

This would be a perfect frame for us to be seen as an evil biaoju that oppresses the weak.

In other words, we would be the underdogs.

'That's why we need to form this public opinion in advance, so that no one sympathizes with Juejianmen later.'

That's why I orchestrated this to form the public opinion that "we are the victims."

'Soon, we'll be in sight.'

Fengyun Wuguan was visible in the distance.

When I looked back, about a few hundred people from Maixian County were following us, some out of curiosity and others to watch the fight.

'Good. This is going well.'

It will be a good spectacle for the people of Maixian County. We don't plan to cause a bloody incident and only intend to capture Zhao Chashik, so it will be a good show.

Additionally, we plan to install Bukeun Lin as the new Wuguan chief on the spot, which will be even better. In terms of legitimacy, it will be good.

If Zhao Chashik disappears and Bukeun Lin suddenly becomes the Wuguan chief, there will be rumors, like Bukeun Lin using Baigun Biaoju to take over Fengyun Wuguan.

But if we denounce Zhao Chashik's crimes and change the leadership in front of so many people, there will be no rumors.

'But what does Baoling Hua plan to do with Zhao Chashik?'

Baoling Hua said he would handle Zhao Chashik, but it won't be by force... I wonder what his plan is.

Looking at Baoling Hua's confident expression as he led the way, I thought about this.