Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Tail-Chasing (4)

Upon hearing Ryu Ji-gwang’s question, she realized something was wrong and began looking around.

She saw the wound on the chest of the novice monk Mu-jin standing next to her and grasped the general situation.

“This, this is a trap, Sangdanju-nim! That novice monk Mu-jin summoned me and suddenly attacked me!”

At her cry, the eyes of everyone turned back to Mu-jin.

“Why would I summon Yeosiju-nim there?”

“How would I know that!!”

From Hong So-hee’s perspective, it was truly incomprehensible.

Above all, how on earth did that novice monk Mu-jin know the code system they used?

“And more than that, Sangdanju-nim, how did Yeosiju-nim learn such a vicious martial art? Did you know that Yeosiju-nim was practicing martial arts?”

Ignoring her, Mu-jin asked Ryu Ji-gwang, who raised his eyebrows.

Ryu Ji-gwang couldn’t recall receiving a report on such a fact.

At that moment, Chief Officer Geum, who was comparing the letters, opened his mouth.

“Sangdanju-nim. After comparing the handwriting, it is certain that this letter was written by that servant.”

“How dare she try to leak Sangdan’s information!”

“We must lock her up immediately and make her confess everyone involved!”

As soon as Chief Officer Geum finished speaking, cries supporting Mu-jin’s opinion erupted from all sides.

However, Chief Officer Geum ignored them and added one more thing.

“But the contents of the letter are strange, Sangdanju-nim. The letter she wrote doesn’t contain any information about our Sangdan or Shaolin. It only contains mundane, everyday greetings.”

“!?”

At Chief Officer Geum’s question, some people once again cast suspicious glances at Mu-jin.

But in response to such reactions, Mu-jin snorted.

“What spy would write down information as it is? Of course, it would be written in code, wouldn’t it?”

Mu-jin didn’t bother to mention the code-breaking methods. Doing so would be a suspicious act and could provoke the hidden forces.

“And more than that, why on earth would Seol-hwa Siju’s servant leave the Sangdan alone at that time to deliver such a mundane letter?”

Instead, Mu-jin presented the circumstantial evidence once again.

Indeed, with that reasonable logic, everyone stopped suspecting Mu-jin.

And finally, Ryu Ji-gwang, who had been silent, seemed to have made a decision and spoke calmly.

“Novice monk Mu-jin.”

“Yes, Sangdanju-nim.”

“I understand that this might be an impertinent request, but could you hand over the woman you have captured to our Sangdan? Since this matter concerns our Sangdan, we would like to handle it ourselves.”

Although it was expressed indirectly, it was clear they intended to torture her to expose the spies.

And this was exactly what Mu-jin desired.

Mu-jin’s purpose in capturing Hong So-hee and bringing her to Cheonryu Sangdan to create this commotion was precisely that.

For Mu-jin to personally torture her for information would have been a terrible move.

Mu-jin couldn’t afford the time to invest in torture, as he couldn’t be away from the clinic for long periods.

Moreover, the Master Uncles or their disciples would never allow her to be tortured.

On top of that, if it were discovered that he had kidnapped, imprisoned, and threatened her without notifying Cheonryu Sangdan, it would cause multiple problems.

‘I wonder how they will handle this.’

Additionally, Mu-jin wanted to confirm Cheonryu Sangdan’s reaction one last time.

Depending on how they handled her, he could gauge the extent of the relationship between Cheonryu Sangdan and the hidden forces.

It could also reveal if Ryu Ji-gwang was connected to the hidden forces.

Therefore, Mu-jin readily handed her over to Cheonryu Sangdan.

“I apologize for presumptuously interfering in Cheonryu Sangdan’s affairs.”

When Mu-jin raised his palm in a gesture of respect and spoke, Ryu Ji-gwang reciprocated with a bow.

“Confine that servant immediately!”

Immediately following Ryu Ji-gwang’s order, the martial artists of Cheonryu Sangdan began dragging away the bound Hong So-hee.

“This is unjust!! That novice monk set me up!!”

Hong So-hee’s desperate screams echoed through the courtyard as she was dragged away.

—

Right after Hong So-hee was taken away, Mu-jin and the Shaolin disciples also paid their respects to Ryu Ji-gwang and left Cheonryu Sangdan.

Interfering further in Cheonryu Sangdan’s affairs would be impolite.

‘Hoo. Finally, one task is done.’

Of course, there was still the issue of how many more hidden forces they could capture through the captured Hong So-hee.

‘That will be decided after seeing how the Sangdanju handles it.’

Mu-jin had already devised several plans in advance.

He would proceed with the most suitable plan based on the actions of Cheonryu Sangdan and Sangdanju Ryu Ji-gwang.

For now, Mu-jin decided to observe Cheonryu Sangdan’s actions.

Feeling relieved that one task was finally done, Mu-jin swung his arms to relax his tense body.

“Mu-jin, you scoundrel!”

A harsh roar erupted from behind.

When Mu-jin flinched and turned around, he saw Hye-min, the chief supervisor, and all the second-class disciples of Shaolin glaring at him with furious eyes.

‘Oops.’

Though he set out to deal with the hidden forces, it was clearly crossing a line for a third-class disciple to have a confrontation with the Sangdanju of Cheonryu Sangdan.

“I apologize. I felt the matter was urgent, so I took the initiative to handle it myself.”

When Mu-jin bowed and apologized, Hye-min let out a deep sigh.

Unable to hold back, Beob Gang stepped forward and rebuked Mu-jin.

“We are not reprimanding you for that!”

“…?”

“Why did you act alone when Yeosiju showed suspicious behavior without informing us?”

“…”

The truth was, it was because he was the one who had contact with the person in black.

But he couldn’t say that.

Moreover, he couldn’t explain about the coded letter or why he suspected Hong So-hee, as these were details he knew from reading the novel.

So, he had no choice but to act alone.

“This time, you were lucky and survived, but the martial world is full of eccentric and dangerous people. What if that woman or the person in black were superior to you, Mu-jin? What were you thinking?”

Mu-jin hadn’t expected to be scolded so harshly for this.

Having lost his grandparents and been forcibly discharged from the army, making decisions on his own seemed only natural to him.

But why was this happening now?

“I apologize. I will make sure to seek help next time.”

Despite being reprimanded, a faint smile appeared on Mu-jin’s face.

Perhaps it was because Beob Gang’s expression was so amusing.

The man, with his soldier-like demeanor, was trying to hide his worry behind a stern face.

—

Meanwhile, at that time.

In the inner quarters of Cheonryu Sangdan, Hong So-hee was being tortured.

“Mmmph!!!”

Her mouth was gagged to prevent suicide.

Ironically, because of the gag, she couldn’t say anything at all.

But the torturer seemed uninterested in that fact, pulling out her fingernails and toenails one by one, and then driving nails into the raw flesh.

In the midst of the relentless torture, as if they weren’t expecting any confession.

Strangely enough, she began to recall memories from her childhood.

The earliest memories she had. From around the age of four or five, when she started her training to become a spy.

In the continuous agony, the lessons she thought she had perfectly mastered began to resurface one by one.

– If your identity is about to be exposed, commit suicide without delay.

This was the first principle learned as a spy.

Why had she forgotten this principle and foolishly allowed herself to be captured by the enemy?

– Be loyal only to the given information and orders.

This was the second principle learned as a spy.

Why had she, a mere fabricated spy, tried to aim higher?

‘If only I had been content with taming that foolish Ryu Seol-hwa! If only I hadn’t approached the Shaolin’s operations!’

Had her overreach led to this outcome?

‘No! The monks of Shaolin were idiots! No one suspected me!! If it weren’t for that damned novice monk!! If it weren’t for him!!!’

Indeed, the problem was that damned novice monk, Mu-jin.

How had he realized she was a spy?

More importantly, how did that novice monk know their code system?

Even in the midst of the agony of torture, as her mind became hazy, her thoughts were filled with Mu-jin.

And as her consciousness began to fade, a sinister voice addressed her.

“I have removed the gag. Now, speak.”

It was the voice of the torturer, who had treated her body like a child playing with a toy.

To prevent her from committing suicide, a metal device was placed in her mouth so she couldn’t close it fully.

If such a tool existed, why had they not asked any questions and simply gagged her while torturing her repeatedly?

This question didn’t even remain in Hong So-hee’s mind. Her brain was numb from the pain.

“…It’s Mu-jin. That demon Mu-jin deceived us.”

“Hmm. The novice monk deceived us?”

“Yes… The one who summoned me in black… was that demon…”

She thought, in her pain-numbed brain.

The only solution for her survival now was to name that demon, Mu-jin.

The only issue was coming up with an excuse for the martial arts she had learned.

She could make up a story about being summoned by Mu-jin and setting out on her own.

‘That’s it! I sent a love letter! A Shaolin disciple sending a love letter!’

She only needed to come up with an excuse for the martial arts.

Her mind began to work quickly to come up with that excuse, to survive.

And then, the torturer asked an absurd question.

“If so, why did you hand ‘that letter’ to the novice monk Mu-jin?”

“!?”

Naturally, her pupils dilated.

At that moment, the final third principle came to mind.

– We are everywhere.

Despite spending more time with Cheonryu Sangdan than in spy training, she couldn’t abandon the spy life.

“The excuse for betrayal is too flimsy.”

The figure embodying that reason began to gag her again.

“Mmmph!! Mmmph!!!”

Bound hand and foot, she tried to struggle, but the nails fixed where her fingernails and toenails should be only intensified her pain.

The torturer silently took out a tool that looked like a saw.

—

Late at night.

In a certain pavilion in the mansion of Cheonryu Sangdan.

A middle-aged man opened the door and entered.

The old man who owned the pavilion spoke to him.

“Are you coming back from the shift?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t kill her, did you?”

“No. I applied medicine to her wounds during the torture.”

“Good.”

If she died from the middle-aged man’s torture, he would also be suspected as a spy.

Therefore, he applied a weak poison that would leave no trace of poison but would slowly kill her.

Originally, it was a poison that took a long time to cause death, but since she was already weakened from the torture, it wouldn’t take long.

She would probably die by dawn today, or at the latest, by the morning under the hands of another torturer.

“Avoid entering and exiting from today until I give the order. The others should do the same.”

“Yes.”

“Code 1027. Since that fool exposed our code system, avoid using those letters from today.”

“Yes.”

The man, who was determined to follow orders, left the pavilion, leaving behind a letter written in the now-useless code system.

The old man, now alone, glanced through the letter and burned it with his internal energy.

‘Tsk. What a foolish excuse.’

The old man clicked his tongue, recalling the nonsensical statements in the letter.

Why would she hand over a letter written in their code to the novice monk Mu-jin?

And to make matters worse, claiming that Mu-jin knew their code and summoned her?

It seemed she had lost her mind completely from the torture.

‘Or perhaps, there’s a traitor within our ranks.’

Naturally, the old man could only conclude that she was trying to protect the person in black even while being tortured.

‘It seems we need to tighten internal security.’

Of course, the priority was to avoid the bloodshed that would sweep through Cheonryu Sangdan for a while.

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