Book 19 Chapter 16

Mazinger invokes Jang Hong

-Yeomdo, visit

"What do you think, Hong, do you want to try it?"

"Um……."

At Mazin's question, Jang Hong paused for a moment in thought. This is the Guanzhou residence. He had come here in secret after being summoned. No one but them knew that he was currently having a private conversation with Mazinger, which meant that only silence, the minimum requirement for a conversation to be possible, was aware of the fact.

"You can say no if you don't want to. I'm afraid I've been giving you too much to do lately."

"No, that's not what's bothering me, I've just been thinking for a while about who might be behind this. This one, I'm on it."

"Oh, will you?"

Hong nodded.

"Yeah. Something's not right, we can't keep playing to the enemy's strengths."

Even if you have evidence of innocence, you can't silence public opinion, which is convinced of guilt and clamors for punishment. Convincing Mazinger to get out of jail now won't change anything. It will only bring more accusations.

A world where no one trusts each other, and no one trusts the leadership. A leadership that has lost its credibility has become nothing more than a ragtag bunch.

"Take this."

Mazinger pulled a hand from his bosom and handed it to Jang Hong.

"Is this……?"

I didn't mean to sound like I didn't know.

"As you know, I'm a direct order of the provincial governor. And I'll write you a letter of command."

Mazinger immediately picked up a brush, scribbled something on a piece of paper, and handed it to Hong.

"We don't have much time, and from the Dean's point of view, we need to resolve this somehow before the start of the Ascension Festival. If the truth is not known by then, we will have no choice but to punish him regardless of the truth."

By then, public opinion in the academy would have risen like a fire, demanding that Bi Ryuyeon be punished. Those who believed in his innocence outnumbered those who believed in his guilt, and those who wanted him punished regardless of his guilt or innocence far outnumbered the first two.

"I'll do my best, and……."

"What? Do me a favor."

"I would also like to be paid for extra work."

Mazinger's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Well, you didn't used to be like that, you know, like……."

"He's just being honest because he's making good friends."

"……Don't get too colorful. Don't just cover the side dishes, cover the people."

"I'll color it appropriately, so don't worry, it's hard to be that way even if you want to be."

"Somehow, hearing that makes me even more concerned."

"Other than that, I'll take care of the allowance thing."

"Don't worry. I'm not taking it off, I'm not taking it off!"

"Can I sign here?"

The middle-aged man put his finger on one of the margins of the ledger and said.

"Yes, that's right, Mr. Kwak, you can put it there."

The young detention officer's gaze follows her fingers upward. Red sleeves, red clothes, and even redder hair, visible from the cuffs. It was Yeomdo.

Feeling a bit annoyed at the complicated procedure he had to go through, he had a pleasant fantasy about testing what would happen if he were to create an inner cavity and release the Sword Qi at this point, but decided against it. Not because he had a guilty conscience, but because he hated the idea of having to repeat the tedious procedure once again.

"Yes, you can write the date and time on this side of the visitation requestor and sign next to it."

He filled in the date and time as instructed by the jailer and signed to enter the cell.

"I heard earlier that you were denied some visits?"

"Ah, you're referring to the visit Senior Nan Gongsheng and Qin Sojae made a while ago, yes, that's right. The rules of detention at the Heavenly Martial Academy strictly prohibit any contact between suspects still under trial and the guards. The exception, of course, is those with the status of a samurai."

"But how many people died?"

It was a lighthearted question, but it wasn't lighthearted in the least.

"No, you mean dead?"

Hyun Bin replied with a puzzled look on his face. He was originally a disciple of the Shaman Sect and was currently serving as the head of the Sect's party here, but the question he was asking for a visit with the detainee who was taken into custody yesterday was beyond his understanding.

"I mean, literally, how many deaths have occurred in the process of restraining his recruits."

Hyun Bin had a funny look on his face for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and answered in a serious tone.

"Of course, there have been no deaths, but……."

"Not a single person? No way……."

This time, Yeomdo looked disbelieving. In fact, such a thing could never have happened within the bounds of his common sense.

"And the wounded?"

Yeomdo asked, hoping this time it would work.

"No injuries, of course."

Hyun Bin spoke with the honesty of a Taoist.

"You're lying!"

Yeomdo asserted.

"What? You're lying, you're lying, you're lying."

I protested in a vocal tone of voice, but was quickly dismissed.

"Did I get an order from above to put it on the door?"

His eyes burned like flames in an oven. His voice, on the other hand, was so low that it seemed to stick to the ground. Not many people could maintain their composure in the face of his sharp, intense gaze.

The young jade keeper, Hyun Bin, was no exception, but no matter how much he feared, he couldn't make things up.

"Gee, I'm telling you, Mr. Yeomdo, nothing really happened, so there's no one to fall from the top, because no one died and no one got hurt, believe me!"

His voice was desperate, and it was that desperation that planted a seed of doubt in Yeomdo's mind.

"He was caught innocently?"

Hyun Bin seized the opportunity and nodded quickly.

"Hmmm… they say they didn't get caught, but there were no deaths or injuries."

A snort of laughter escaped Yidou's lips.

"Ha! He didn't get caught and there were no casualties? Are you trying to play a joke on me, good guts!"

Apparently, common sense - a very personal thing - was getting in the way of his understanding, and his voice became a little harsh again. It was a situation that Hyun Bin couldn't understand at all. If he could get angry at her for lying, why would she get angry at him for telling the truth? It was unfair.

"No, are you kidding? How dare I say such a thing to Mr. Nao, I'm serious. I swear on the mausoleum of Lord Taishang and Master Zhang Sambong that what I say is true."

Faith and belief could be sold at any time according to the whims of the gods, but this fellow Hyun Bin didn't seem that malicious. He had sworn an oath to the highest values he believed in, and he felt bad for questioning him further, so his fiery eyes softened a bit. But even so, he couldn't help but say this.

"No way!"

His nature was such that he could not take such a thing lightly. There should have been at least three trillion dead, and the wounded should have been countless, but nothing? The absurdity of it all seemed too much for him. How could he not be bothered?

"This guy really doesn't know anything. We can't do this. We have to find the guys who were there.

This made me wonder what Yeomdo was doing with its monster captors.

"Speaking of which, what did you do about the balls?"

"Rest assured. I've got your blood pressure under control, of course."

It was meant to be a reassurance that the proper steps had been taken, but Yeomdo's eyes widened instantly.

"What, it was only a point of contact?"

"Well, what's wrong?"

"Of course not. How can you be so complacent as to think that a hundred and eighty gold needles stuck into your whole body's blood will give you any relief when you've barely poked your finger into it?"

The secret to preventing the flow of qi by inserting one hundred and eighty gold needles into the body's acupuncture points was called the "Hundred and Eight Gold Needle Sealing Puncture," the most vicious and vicious of the forbidden methods. Throughout the history of the Warring States, there were only a handful of villains who were said to have undergone this procedure.

"That's a human rights violation, Mr. Nosa! Isn't the Hundred-Eighty-Gold Needle Seal Bloodletting a terrifying legendary forbidden art that was once used by cults like the Blood Moon Cult? How could anyone use such a cruel and terrible art when they haven't even been proven guilty of the crime yet? Moreover, there is no one capable of performing such a powerful forbidden art."

What kind of bullshit are you talking about, destroying the power grid and severing the veins in their limbs? Yeomdo cursed inwardly. It was clear that these guys had no idea of the gravity of the situation. If they're worried about human rights violations, who's going to be responsible for the destruction of the academy?

"Okay, if you don't have the ability to do that, I'm afraid I can't, but at least you used sturdy handcuffs, right?"

"Of course. I'm still a suspect, but that doesn't mean I can't do more."

The answer came back confidently, but still not quite right.

"What are the handcuffs made of?"

"Material? Many people have visited this place so far, but there's only one person who cares about the material of the detainee's handcuffs, and that's Mr. Nosa."

"It's all thought. What are they made of?"

Though he had a reputation for being belligerent and maniacal, he didn't have the stench to enjoy watching his darlings scream to death.

"Yes, of course, it's made of cast iron."

They were made of different materials.

A look of disappointment crossed Yeomdo's face.

"Only with iron? I'd rather have them bound with straw?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"I thought most handcuffs were made of cast iron?"

What came back was a snort.

"Hmph, I don't want to hear any of your useless rhetoric about that, I'm going to go upstairs and get a pair of iron handcuffs!"

"No, you're kidding, right?"

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Yeomdo would have realized that this was not the kind of joke he was going for. But Hyun Bin didn't.

"Ma, the ten-thousand-year iron handcuffs are a special specification used only for the full-scale Madhus who are imprisoned in the Bongma Prison, a top-tier prison where only the most serious criminals are held in special custody, not here. They're expensive to make and limited in quantity, and they don't even make it to these lower prisons."

"What, because of something as trivial as budgetary concerns, you're going to put iron cuffs on such a dangerous guy that don't even look that much better than paper cuffs? I'd rather have him on the loose. Cuffed and uncuffed, but just the same."

Hyun Bin's jaw dropped at the intense and unexpected response.

"Oh, you can't possibly be that flimsy, not when your name is cast iron."

"Don't regret it later. I gave you clear advice."

A hundred words of wisdom are worthless if they fall on deaf ears. I didn't want to put my precious tongue through any more abuse for someone who wasn't willing to listen. It would be lunchtime in a few minutes, and it would be much more productive to give him a break before then.

"Forget it! Just show me the way."

Inwardly relieved, Hyun Bin quickly turned and headed back into the prison.

Prison always has a sinister feel to it, especially when it's underground. He walked toward the yin space that gaped at him. As he took the mossy stone steps one by one, he felt a strange sense of worry. If I'm this weak, how can I defend myself against an escape? He was even more disturbed to hear of the poor state of preparedness, like a sand castle on a wavy beach.

"Here."

Alone in the darkness, battling with his thoughts, Yeomdo's head lifted slightly. Hyun Bin had stopped walking and was pointing to a pavilion in the deepest part of the underground Thunderjade.

"Your meeting time is at 2:00 a.m. I'll be right back."

"Good job."

Hyun Bin shrugged and walked away. Yin Dao slowly walked toward Oksa, and was furious.

"Ugh… no way!"

The ominous hunch was correct: something that deserved special treatment was not getting it. How could the material of the cages be the same wood as elsewhere? The cages here were made of wood cut into squares and thick strips and woven together in a way that crisscrossed from side to side. It was the kind of prison you see everywhere.

No matter how much he tried to imagine it, he couldn't believe that these thin walls and rickety corners could withstand his touch and footsteps. His mind was too clear to believe in a dreamlike vision.

It would be normal for a cage to be made of at least 10,000 tons of iron, but once again, I was told that it was impossible due to budgetary issues. If that's the case, then I couldn't tolerate a prison made of insignificant wood, as I thought it should be at least the level of a pearl crystal, if not an expensive one. Why don't you realize that even if you regret it later, it's already too late!

Behind the culmination of this sloppy, overgrown administration, humanity's greatest threat - my personal judgment - has emerged.

"How did you end up like that?"

Yidou asked in a slightly blunt tone. Bi Ryuyeon shrugged.

"The socially disadvantaged are always subjected to injustices of one sort or another at any given time, and those who heed the pleas of the powerless are always rare."

"Haha, you have to keep your mouth shut even when the world is upside down. Who the hell is a powerless underdog?"

Yeomdo said, barely managing to calm his racing heart.

"That doesn't include you, does it?"

I couldn't help but wonder what kind of misleading metric I would have to use to get such a ridiculous result.

"You know what? Right here! What if it's true?"

Ryu-yeon Bi was weak.

"Are there any untruths?"

Yeomdo was cynical.

"Many. Too many to count. I mean, most of us go through life believing lies as if they were truths, so what's new?"

"So you decided to add another lie to the mix, and why do you look the way you do?"

"What does this look like?"

Bi Ryuyeon stretched her arms and examined her body. The clanking of chains echoed through the deserted cell.

"Why are you locked up with such a nonchalant look on your face, it's not like you!"

He couldn't figure out why he was upset.

"What is it about me that makes me who I am? Are you saying you understand me, really? Are you sure about your beliefs? Have you ever considered that what you know is only a part of me, a part interpreted by your own subjectivity? Why are you trying to define me, which presupposes that to define is to think of something other than what is defined?"

"Well, that's……."

As the words swept past him like a storm, he couldn't find the words to respond.

"Or would it be me if I smashed this shoddy construction right now and ran out the door?"

Bi Ryuyeon smirked and patted the grate of the jade horse, the boundary between freedom and oppression.

"It's much more like you than the pathetic version of you that's stuck in there."

"It's not you, it's Mr. S.B. Well, beating it doesn't solve everything, does it?"

It was an opinion that was far too sound for a Bi Ryuyeon who shouted at the top of his lungs that anyone who stood in his way was a god or a Buddha.

"It's even more shocking to me that you know such common sense."

Yeomdo expressed his honest feelings.

"But I don't intend to be here for long, and I think we'd better find the culprit quickly, because while I can still treat this as a kind of game and play along, I don't really want to die in vain when the time comes."

"By the way, are you sure you didn't kill him?"

Yindo asked, sounding uncertain. Bi Ryuyeon thought for a moment.

"Well……? Don't you think there's no need to end things so easily, simply, and futilely when there are so many ways to make it much more painful than killing? Like a conversation, a rant has to have an opponent, and unfortunately, corpses and ghosts don't enter into my concept of opponent."

It was strangely compelling.

"You can't chastise a dead man, because whether you chastise him or stomp on him, he has to be alive to do it. You can't just dismiss him from the stage of life like that."

"Well……."

He spoke so confidently that I was almost convinced.

It was certainly possible for him to do so.

"I don't have much time left, hmm, just a week."

"Why a week, we still have about ten days until the entrance exam?"

Considering how little time she had, she seemed very relaxed.

"If you've made a mistake, you have to make up for it."

Touro's Viryoyeon replied, "Of course.

"Are you going to do it again, Pan?"

"Sure. It's been a while, and I can't let it go."

"In a week's time, it's the day of his bimu, and his opponent is the famous Amish woman……."

"Is there anything else I can do? I'm relieved that I've left the win rate management to my temporary partner, but… I still don't feel at ease unless I'm managing it myself."

Bei Liuyan had gone way beyond what she had promised to do with Namgungsang, so it was hard not to be interested in the showdown between the two. Money had always had the virtue of providing the kind of focus that made human eyes bleed.

"By the way, where would you bet?"

asked.

"Are we in business here?"

Then she giggled.

"It's important to keep a level head, or did you expect me to cry and whine?"

"I never expected it to be that horrible."

He shuddered, shaking his head at the horror of it all. Nightmares were enough to keep him awake at night, and he had no desire to have them while he was awake.

"I wonder how long it will be before the real culprit is caught and I'm out of here."

As if it were someone else's story, she said.

'There is such a thing as a degree of subjectivity…….'

Even as he sighed heavily at Bi Ryuyeon's insensitive words, Yeomdo was determined to catch the real culprit as soon as possible.

"Do your best."

If it had ended there, it would have been a word of encouragement, but when it was followed by the words, the encouragement turned into a frightening threat.

"You don't want to be a witness to the biggest blowout since the founding of the Academy, do you?"

Yeomdo winced and tensed.

Can it really end with eyewitnesses?

When that happens, he can't help but side with her. He was still bound by his promise, and he wasn't the kind of shallow man to change the standards he'd set for himself. Sure, sometimes regret would wash over him whenever he looked at someone's face, but it was better than a conviction that was easily broken. But the thought of being an accomplice to the biggest bust of all was not a happy one.

"Say hi to the kids for me, too. I hear it's less than a week away."

Why should people outside of prison be more restless than people inside of prison? Why should people inside of prison be more relaxed than people waiting for a verdict……. It's a very unreasonable thing to do.

"Do you have a good solution?"

"None, for now."

She shrugs, as if it's no big deal.

"It is indeed carefree, yes. But does that mean that you are now……?"

"Yeah, I don't have a number right now, but I mean, if there's an unexpected variable, I might have a number."

"That's not comforting at all."

"What is the condition of the great brother, Mr. Yeomdo?"

At the end of the visit, the Namgung statue and the spirit were waiting for Yidao to come out.

"Oh, it's you guys, I heard you applied for visitation and were denied, have you been waiting a long time?"

"No, it hasn't been long, I was just waiting… to see if I could get some news."

"Really?"

Yeomdo didn't pursue Namgungsang's lie very far.

"Are you… are you sure this isn't the work of your brother-in-law?"

Namgungsang didn't hold back the words he wanted to ask the most.

"I'm sure."

"And do you have any evidence to back that up?"

"Of course there is."

Nan Gongsang's body naturally leaned forward.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me why?"

"Haven't you noticed that yet?"

He clicked his tongue, as if the Yeomdo was pathetic.

"Sin, I'm sorry. It's my lack of discernment."

"I recognize your shortcomings, so I will not reprimand you further. Have you, by any chance, heard of the disappearance of the batteries carried by the dead?"

Nangong Shang and Qinling's eyes widened at Yi Yun's words.

"That's right, why didn't I think of that!

There was no way that Bi Ryuyeon would leave a valuable object next to an object that had already lost its value, even if it was a golden insect that had faded in front of him. Some would accuse him of unconscionable behavior, but all he would hear would be sneering snorts. I can imagine the vitriol that would follow.

"Well, if you're going to say that, why don't you kill him? What conscience do you have after you kill him? It's just self-gratification and hypocrisy. Wouldn't it be a happy thing for a thing to go to the place where it still has meaning, now that one part of it is gone? You know how they say a samurai dies for those who recognize him? You'd want your money to go to those who recognize you, too. It's obvious.'

Ryu-yeon Bi would have said the same thing.

"So, you're not guilty after all……."

Namgungsang's voice was devoid of energy, as if he were not pleased to hear that.

"Unfortunately, yes. But will he be okay?"

Public opinion was now spreading like wildfire within the academy that Bi Ryuyeon should be killed. She could be killed, innocent or guilty.

Would the top brass be able to withstand the ever-increasing pressure of public opinion? No one could give any guarantees. All he could do now was to leave everything to the heavens and wait and see, but unbeknownst to him, the tide was turning against Bi Ryuyeon.