Chapter 122

If even Baek Yoon-sang isn’t the culprit, the suspects narrow down to three.

Im Do-jin, Yang Gwan-wol, Seo Nak-il.

Wei Gon-chan thought Im Do-jin was the most likely.

A deputy is still a deputy, right? Unless he’s a monstrous scoundrel, he wouldn’t dare steal and swallow the Great Heavenly Pill that fell into his hands.

Wei Gon-chan still retained some trust in the deputy heads.

…For now.

“I’ve found the culprit!”

He saw Im Do-jin’s back as he ambled off in the distance.

“Im Do-jin!”

When he shouted, Im Do-jin turned around.

“What?”

That bastard spoke down to Wei Gon-chan even though Gon-chan was five or so years his senior.

No wonder he’d be shameless enough to steal the Great Heavenly Pill and act like nothing happened.

All the evidence and behavior pointed to Im Do-jin. He was the culprit!

“Die, Im Do-jin!”

“W-what!”

No time for questions! Wei Gon-chan drew his double staff and struck down toward the enemy’s head with deadly speed.

If he was the culprit he deserved punishment; if not, beat him and accept the apology — a method learned from the captain.

Thwack!

“Are you crazy? Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”

“I’m your elder, you rude bastard!”

Im Do-jin’s weapon was a long staff. Wei Gon-chan’s was a pair of short sticks.

Their weapons matched, which had always irked them. From weaponry to internal qi, skill, and victories in duels, Wei Gon-chan and Im Do-jin were evenly matched.

“You couldn’t stand seeing me grow stronger after taking the Great Heavenly Pill! So you stole my Great Heavenly Pill! You thief’s offspring, son of a dog, shameless brat, wet-behind-the-ears punk!”

“Has this idiot gone mad all of a sudden!”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Sparks flew as Wei Gon-chan’s double sticks clashed with Im Do-jin’s long staff.

Wei Gon-chan channeled his internal qi into his footing, thrust hard, and rotated his torso.

Not stopping there, he extended his energized double sticks to the right, adding force to the rotation.

A good technique against a long weapon — the double-staff onslaught.

“Hah!”

Im Do-jin held the center of his staff with both hands, spun it, and thrust it toward the rushing Wei Gon-chan without yielding.

He tilted the top of the spinning staff slightly to disturb the opponent’s balance and topple him — his signature defensive art.

Kakakakang!

The double sticks and the long staff locked with a deafening clang.

The retainers of Flying Swallow Manor nearby rushed in at the commotion.

“This is revenge for the Great Heavenly Pill!”

“What kind of revenge is that!”

“You stole my Great Heavenly Pill!”

“I didn’t steal it!”

“Do you have proof!”

“How would I have proof if I didn’t steal it, you old man!”

“The lack of evidence is proof that you’re the culprit!”

Im Do-jin, riled up, no longer just defended but went on the offensive.

The tip of Im Do-jin’s staff persistently targeted Wei Gon-chan’s face. Wei Gon-chan struggled to evade the snake-like staff tip.

“Alright, today either you die or I do!”

As he shook his head to dodge Im Do-jin’s attack, Wei Gon-chan suddenly felt something strange.

Im Do-jin’s skill hadn’t really improved compared to before.

“Today, either the old man or I am going down!”

Shush shush shush!

Members of the External Protection Troops knew each other to an exasperating degree.

They knew whose martial arts were what, what habits they had in a fight, their strength and internal energy, even how many sets of clothes they owned.

Clue 5. If someone had ingested the Great Heavenly Pill, their martial prowess would have become much stronger than before.

If Im Do-jin had stolen and taken the Great Heavenly Pill, this wouldn’t be the case.

‘Did he just steal it and not take it yet?’

That possibility was slim. How could he know someone else might steal it too?

Hesitation dulled the tips of the double sticks. Im Do-jin wouldn’t miss that opening.

Crack!

Im Do-jin put his full force into striking Wei Gon-chan’s head with his staff.

“Aaargh!”

Pain that could make his eyes pop shot up and Wei Gon-chan’s anger flared.

“How dare you hit me like that?”

“Who are you calling out! Who’s the one who suddenly attacked an innocent person!”

The revenge over the Great Heavenly Pill had devolved into a childish men’s spat.

No member of the External Protection Troops could simply accept being beaten and back down.

Only Yeon Mujin, the head of the External Protection Troops, could thrash them; among members of similar skill, pride wars became fierce.

“Alright! Let’s clear out a corpse today!”

“Just what I wanted!”

The commotion they’d caused had already spread to every corner of Flying Swallow Manor.

Upon hearing there was a fight, the other members of the External Protection Troops finally rushed over.

Chu Myung-won, who was first suspected; Yu Se-gwang, Pyo Kang-hyeok, and warrior Ha training in the sparring hall; and deputy captains Yang Gwan-wol and Seo Nak-il from elsewhere.

All of the External Protection Troops gathered except Baek Yoon-sang, who was passed out drunk.

“What are you two doing right now!”

That was Yang Gwan-wol’s shout.

“Damn! Came late and missed all the good parts!”

That was Chu Myung-won’s lament.

“Is this a real duel? I’ll join in too!”

That was Yu Se-gwang.

“Se-gwang, don’t you feel your chest burning with excitement?”

“It really does!”

And Pyo Kang-hyeok.

“Please, don’t do embarrassing things outside the sparring hall. Why do you guys never have a day that passes quietly?”

“Teacher Seo, when you gather men of equal skill, their nature is to become childish.”

Finally, responses from Seo Nak-il and warrior Ha.

“Anyone know why those two are acting like that?”

“It’s because of the Great Heavenly Pill, deputy captain. Wei hyung has been rifling through the manor since morning looking for the lost Great Heavenly Pill.”

“Great Heavenly Pill? The one the Manor Lord awarded at the sparring match before?”

Then a reaction burst from Im Do-jin.

“That guy, I told him five hundred times I didn’t steal the Great Heavenly Pill, but he won’t listen!”

Wei Gon-chan also didn’t think Im Do-jin was the culprit, but his pride wouldn’t let him back down here.

“Then who on earth stole it!”

The External Protection Troops’ gazes swept over one another.

Some shook their heads denying it, others shrugged, some were dumbfounded — reactions varied.

“Didn’t the deputy captain steal and eat it?”

Wei Gon-chan’s double sticks aimed respectively at Seo Nak-il and Yang Gwan-wol.

“I’d rather eat a flea’s liver than steal yours.”

“I swear on my family’s name, it wasn’t me.”

“Didn’t someone go look for Teacher Baek? He’s nowhere to be seen…”

“It’s not Baek Yoon-sang. I checked.”

Wei Gon-chan answered while nervously chewing his nails.

“Oh, and for the record, Baek Yoon-sang was dumped by a woman and was bawling his eyes out; now he’s passed out face-down in the dining hall.”

He didn’t forget to expose Baek Yoon-sang’s secret.

No matter how busy, one never misses a chance to reveal a comrade’s dark past.

“Ah, so that’s why Teacher Baek disappears from his bed every night.”

Warrior Ha finally nodded as if he understood.

“Then none of the External Protection Troops are the culprit, right?”

“If it wasn’t one of the External Protection Troops, who would steal my Great Heavenly Pill? Others would only produce expensive excrement if they took it. And the moment the Manor Lord handed me the wooden box containing the Great Heavenly Pill, I kept it safe and went to the bar. I swear I didn’t open it even once. The culprit is among those who went to bar with me.”

“But there’s no need to suspect our comrades this way…”

Yang Gwan-wol, who was thinking it over, asked Wei Gon-chan.

“But didn’t you win it more by luck than skill, Wei Gon-chan? Didn’t the Grandteacher wear the pheasant mask and you just lucked into it?”

“…”

Taken aback by Yang Gwanwol’s uncharacteristically cutting remark, Wei Gon-chan fell silent.

“Now that I think about it, that’s right. Damn it, Wei hyung, you didn’t earn it by skill but by luck, and yet you hassled us so much?”

“I even got ambushed because of that?”

“Teacher Wei, this seems a bit off.”

“No matter how blinded we are by the spiritual pills, we wouldn’t steal a comrade’s!”

That was Pyo Kang-hyeok’s retort.

Seo Nak-il, standing quietly, was suddenly struck by an ominous premonition.

“Uh… isn’t there one person?”

“Nak-il, who are you talking about?”

“There’s exactly one person shameless and low enough to steal someone else’s spiritual pill…”

Seo Nak-il’s trailing words were vague, but the person who came to everyone’s mind was clear.

The External Protection Troops’ eyes met as if by agreement.

“Nah, surely not.”

“That can’t be.”

“Surely the captain wouldn’t steal it…”

“But the captain won it himself, so isn’t that a plausible possibility?”

Wei Gon-chan trembled with shock and anger.

You mean he actually stole it?

Damn captain… the captain?

“I’m going to go after this captain bastard right now…!”

“Whoa, Gon-chan, grab him!”

“Stop him! Don’t let him get to the captain!”

“If this goes wrong, Gon-chan will be in deep trouble today!”

As expected, no one worried about Yeon Mujin. Everyone was only worried about Wei Gon-chan, who was about to get his eyes knocked out.

As the External Protection Troops piled on to restrain Wei Gon-chan, Jang Chun-sik came running over in a fluster searching for Wei Gon-chan.

“Where are you, warrior Wei! Warrior Wei!”

The External Protection Troops’ gazes turned to Jang Chun-sik in unison.

“Information lord, what’s the matter?”

The self-bestowed title ‘Lord of Hwayang Hall’ that Jang Chun-sik had given himself had now naturally taken hold.

The External Protection Troops no longer regarded Jang Chun-sik as merely a hanger-on but as a member of Flying Swallow Manor.

“Where is warrior Wei? Ah, there you are.”

Jang Chun-sik spotted Wei Gon-chan being pinned down by the External Protection Troops.

“Warrior Wei, I sincerely apologize.”

He suddenly put his head to the ground and apologized to Wei Gon-chan.

Neither the troops nor Wei Gon-chan knew why Jang Chun-sik was apologizing.

“Were you perhaps looking for this?”

Jang Chun-sik took a wooden box from his chest and opened it.

With a click, a clear fragrance from inside the box spread around.

To anyone, it was a spiritual pill of top quality.

“No, this is!”

Somehow finding strength, Wei Gon-chan shoved off the troops pinning him and stood up in an instant.

“Where did you get this?”

“Well, here’s the thing: before the sparring match I was keeping boxes containing the spiritual pills. When I went to present them to the Manor Lord, I accidentally mixed up an empty box. After you all left for the bar, I discovered that the Great Heavenly Pill was inside and was shocked! To a warrior, an spiritual is a treasure like life itself, isn’t it? It was entirely my mistake. I’ll gladly accept any punishment…!”

Jang Chun-sik buried his head in the dirt and spoke as if truly sorry.

No matter how angry, no one could bring themselves to be mad at someone like that.

Besides, it was an accident, wasn’t it?

The theft of the Great Heavenly Pill had been Wei Gon-chan’s pure mistake.

“Wei Gon-chan, you bastard…”

The troops’ murderous intent poured onto Wei Gon-chan.

“Hey, wait, wait? Troops? Put down the weapons you’re holding for a moment…”

Wei Gon-chan backed up slowly, then instantly used an escape technique and withdrew.

He kept the Great Heavenly Pill he received from Jang Chun-sik safely tucked in his robe.

“Seize him!”

“Don’t let a single grain of spiritual pill pass down his throat!”

A long tail of External Protection Troops trailed after the fleeing Wei Gon-chan.

After all the troops had left, Jang Chun-sik slowly raised his head and muttered.

“Warrior Wei, I’m truly sorry. Actually, that isn’t the Great Heavenly Pill…”

He had hastily procured a cheap pill with the strongest scent he could find. It wasn’t that expensive.

A third-rate spiritual pill as common as the ones sold in the marketplace.

But that didn’t matter. That pill would be torn to pieces by the enraged External Protection Troops and distributed into many a dantian…

“Damn Yeon Mujin, do you even know? I’m working this hard to preserve the peace of Flying Swallow Manor.”

The sole witness to the Great Heavenly Pill incident, Jang Chun-sik, chose a lie for everyone’s sake over a cruel truth.

Today as well, the chivalrous Jang Chun-sik’s efforts run this deep.