Chapter 14: Departure

Chief Administrator, who was facing the excited Yeon Ja-ryong, jumped up and shouted.

“Why are you acting like this too! Are you saying we should just let the guy who brought the Hundred Martial Arts Plaque go?”

“That’s not it. Why didn’t you handle things fairly? Shouldn’t you have at least called the Unit Leaders and given them a chance to choose the Hundred Martial Arts Plaque holder?”

It was an unexpected counterattack from Yeon Ja-ryong.

The Chief Administrator couldn’t understand this situation at all.

Why was he angry when he should be happy that the corpse preparer didn’t join the Azure Dragon Unit?

But questions aside, he was furious.

“How can we choose when there’s only one Hundred Martial Arts Plaque! And if I had sent Kang Dong-jae to the Azure Dragon Unit, would you have accepted him without a word?”

“Yes! I would have been so grateful that I would have bowed down to you!”

The Chief Administrator was quite flustered by Yeon Ja-ryong’s reply.

Why on earth was this guy angry because of that seemingly naive Kang Dong-jae?

“You…… be honest. Do you know something about Kang Dong-jae?”

When the Chief Administrator voiced his question in a low voice, it was Yeon Ja-ryong’s turn to be flustered.

“Ah…… no. I just came to question the fact that you unilaterally placed a member into the Black Tortoise Unit. Such matters should be handled fairly.”

“Really? Is that so?”

The Chief Administrator sat down with a suspicious look on his face.

Then Yeon Ja-ryong also lost some of his momentum and sat down opposite him.

“Do you know that Kang Dong-jae is a corpse preparer?”

“What does it matter what he did before? I actually consider that work to be noble.”

The Chief Administrator also liked this aspect of Yeon Ja-ryong.

Among the four Unit Leaders, the most cheerful, eccentric, and broad-minded one was Yeon Ja-ryong.

But he was also equally irascible.

“Should I take Kang Dong-jae out of the Black Tortoise Unit and put him in the Azure Dragon Unit now?”

“Would Unit Leader Yang stay still? He may not say it, but he’ll be very upset.”

This was also true of what Yeon Ja-ryong said.

No matter how alienated Kang Dong-jae was in the Black Tortoise Unit, if he was taken out and put back into the Azure Dragon Unit, the Unit Leader’s pride would be hurt.

It’s because he might think that he couldn’t even manage his own unit members properly and lost a member to another Four Divine Unit.

No, he would definitely think that.

The Chief Administrator glared at Yeon Ja-ryong.

“Knowing that, why did you come here? The ship has already sailed, and the water has already flowed.”

“If Unit Leader Yang tries to send Kang Dong-jae away because of the atmosphere in the Black Tortoise Unit, please don’t put him in another Four Divine Unit, but put him in the Azure Dragon Unit.”

Yeon Ja-ryong bowed politely, even bending his waist.

‘Look at this guy?’

The Chief Administrator tilted his head.

He wasn’t originally the type to show such weakness.

But the fact that he was showing this side meant that Yeon Ja-ryong was quite flustered right now, and it had to be seen that there was something special about Kang Dong-jae.

“Alright, you can go now.”

“Yes. Then please excuse me.”

Yeon Ja-ryong left the room in a completely different manner than when he entered.

As he left, the Chief Administrator fell into deep thought.

‘Maybe this guy is a diamond in the rough?’

The Chief Administrator, who was taking a walk, arrived at the stream.

As he scooped up the stream water with both hands and wet his face, a leather shoe floated down the stream.

‘Ah…… this old man again……’

He picked up the leather shoe and went upstream along the stream.

Kekeke……

As expected, Elder Shangguan was laughing heartily upstream.

“I’ve told you many times that I’m not Zhang Liang.”

Zhuge Don put the shoe on Elder Shangguan’s foot, grumbling.

“Don’t scold me too much, it’s just an old man’s prank.”

Tsk……

Since Elder Shangguan was acting like this, Zhuge Don couldn’t complain anymore.

“Have you met Hero Jeong?”

“I did. He was a very fine young man, just as the Chief Administrator said.”

Elder Shangguan echoed the Chief Administrator’s words with a pleased look.

“I’m glad you liked him.”

Kekeke……

“I sent my shoe downstream, and you picked it up and put it on my foot, just like you did before. Without a single complaint.”

“So what did you give him this time?”

“I gave him a martial arts secret manual as a gift.”

“Well done.”

It wouldn’t have been a particularly special martial arts secret manual.

Elder Shangguan had given martial arts secret manuals or gifted weapons to young martial artists of the Four Divine Units in this way several times before.

“Is there another child I should keep an eye on?”

In fact, Elder Shangguan was searching for a suitable partner for his granddaughter.

“There isn’t.”

Zhuge Don, who was retreating from his presence, suddenly turned around and said.

“A few days ago, a young man named Kang Dong-jae joined the Black Tortoise Unit. But the Unit Leader of the Azure Dragon Unit showed great interest in that young man.”

A flash of light briefly appeared in Elder Shangguan’s deep eyes and then disappeared.

“Ja-ryong did? I understand.”

“The rumor that the tomb of the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor has been discovered in Suzhou is spreading throughout the martial world.”

Zhuge Don, who received the report from his subordinate, leaned back in his chair.

“Where is that rumor spreading from?”

“Carrier pigeons have arrived consecutively from Anhui, Guangdong, and Shanxi provinces.”

‘It’s a false rumor.’

Suzhou wasn’t that far from Yangyang. It would take two or three days to get there even on foot.

But seeing how the rumor was spreading simultaneously from distant regions while Yangyang, where the Martial Alliance was located, remained quiet, it was clear that some organization was deliberately spreading it.

Above all, the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor’s tomb wasn’t in Suzhou.

In the martial world, only the Alliance Leader and himself knew where the tombs of the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor and the Western Heavenly Spear Master were located.

‘Are they targeting the Martial Alliance? Or are they targeting the entire martial world?’

The Chief Administrator, who was lost in thought, looked back at the subordinate waiting in front of him.

“Summon the Unit Leaders of the Four Divine Units.”

“Yes.”

As the subordinate left the room after receiving the order, the Chief Administrator fell into thought again.

‘Well, the martial world has been quiet for over twenty days. It’s about time it got noisy.’

The Unit Leaders of the Four Divine Units, summoned by the Chief Administrator, entered the room.

“Everyone, have a seat.”

He waited for the Unit Leaders to take their seats and then opened his lips heavily.

“The tomb of the great hero, Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor Jo Yang-seung, has been discovered in Suzhou.”

“……Yes?”

“What do you mean?”

The Unit Leaders’ eyes widened in surprise.

Even Ak Mu-yeong, who usually didn’t show much change in expression, had her eyes shaking greatly, so the news that the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor’s tomb had been discovered seemed to be a truly enormous event.

It was natural for them to be so surprised.

Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor Jo Yang-seung was the previous Best Under Heaven, a hero who led his three sworn brothers and fought against enemies to protect the martial world.

And because of that fight, not only the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor but also two of his sworn brothers lost their lives.

Even Eastern Heavenly Sword King Yeon Cheon-yu, the youngest of the Four Martial Heavenly Kings and the current Best Under Heaven, was so severely injured that he couldn’t even retrieve the bodies of his sworn brothers, so it was truly a fierce battle unlike any other in the world.

But now that the tomb of the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor, who died in that battle, had been discovered, there wouldn’t be a single person in the martial world who wouldn’t be surprised.

Moreover, the Martial Alliance revered the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor, the Western Heavenly Spear Master, and the Southern Heavenly Blade Emperor to the point of worshipping them as gods.

“But I’m certain this is a false rumor.”

“Please tell us why.”

Unit Leader Yang Su-chan respected Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor Jo Yang-seung the most in the world.

To him, the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor was like a g*d.

“It’s because the rumor started spreading simultaneously from Shanxi, Guangdong, and Anhui regions, not from Yangyang.”

At Zhuge Don’s words, the Unit Leaders’ faces changed drastically.

They immediately understood the meaning behind his words.

“It’s a ploy to cause internal conflict within the martial world.”

Yeon Ja-ryong even figured out the enemies’ intentions behind spreading the false rumor.

Zhuge Don, who was thinking the same thing, nodded.

“Tell me more.”

“Now that the rumor has begun to spread in the martial world, martial artists will flock to the tomb, seeking its treasures. And we will have to stop them to protect those treasures.”

Yeon Ja-ryong saw through this matter accurately.

Baek Mu-ho added to his words.

“How about the Four Divine Units not moving at all?”

“Then it will become even more chaotic. Martial artists will fight to the death to seize the treasures.”

“It’s a dilemma.”

When Baek Mu-ho expressed his difficulty, Ak Mu-yeong, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“We have to move anyway. Even if we don’t move, if there are many casualties among the martial artists, the responsibility will eventually fall on us.”

She was also coldly assessing the current situation.

As the Unit Leaders’ opinions were roughly gathered, Zhuge Don summarized.

“Since countless martial artists will flock to the tomb, all of the Four Divine Units will participate in this matter.”

“Understood. But where in Suzhou is the tomb said to have been discovered?”

“I don’t know that yet. We’ll find out whether we like it or not once we get there.”

It was a sudden order to depart.

But the reason for this sudden departure was that my uncle’s tomb had been discovered in Suzhou.

‘This is ridiculous.’

I knew where my uncle’s tomb was.

So there was something very suspicious about this whole thing.

“We’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning, so prepare everything you need.”

At Unit Leader Yang’s words, many unit members went outside.

I also had to leave the Martial Alliance to get some spare martial arts uniforms.

As soon as I left the Martial Alliance, I ran straight through the village to my house.

When I arrived at the village, a neighborhood uncle, who had just returned from work, saw me running and shouted at me.

“Dong-jae! The bandits took our toll because you weren’t there!”

“Where the h*ll have you been?”

I responded to the uncles as I entered my house.

“I got a job at the Martial Alliance!”

“……What? Did this kid eat something he shouldn’t have? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you the truth. So please travel together from now on.”

Huh……

“Really?”

I reassured the doubtful neighbor uncle.

“Yes, really. If I’m lying right now, I’ll live as your servant for the rest of my life.”

And then I went inside the house and closed the door.

Inside the house, my uncle, the Northern Heavenly Martial Emperor, was looking at me with a pleased expression.

“My tomb is in Suzhou…… When did I move my tomb there?”

“Are you kidding me? Uncle, there’s no way you would have moved your tomb there.”

Hahahaha……

My uncle laughed heartily.

He seemed incredibly happy that I had joined the Four Divine Units.

“It’s probably a ploy to cause chaos in the martial world.”

“Chaos?”

“Wouldn’t martial artists fight to the death to seize the treasures in my tomb? The Four Divine Units would have to stop them. So how could there not be conflict?”

It certainly made sense.

If the Four Divine Units ended up fighting the martial artists, there would be bloodshed, and if there was someone behind this incident among the martial artists, the situation would quickly escalate out of control.

“But are there many treasures in your tomb, uncle?”

“Whether there are treasures or not isn’t important. What’s important is that the martial artists believe there are.”

This was also true.

But I couldn’t help but be curious.

“What’s inside your tomb, uncle?”

“Nothing. Cheon-yu has the bow and sword I used. So even if you happen to see my tomb, don’t rob it.”

“Come on…… you’re kidding, right?”

I laughed and got up.

I was short on time because I had to buy martial arts uniforms and underwear.

But my uncle’s next words stopped me in my tracks.

“If they say my tomb is a cave with its back to a mountain, never go in there.”