Chapter 5

“B-but…!”

Seo Gil-pung shook his head.

“It seems I cannot grant your petition after all. Unless there’s concrete evidence, that is.”

“I was bitten by a five-colored centipede and ended up like this! Isn’t that enough?”

“How can I know if you were originally like that, or if it’s a contagious disease, or if you truly were bitten by a five-colored centipede? Besides, I’ve never in my life seen someone who survived after being bitten by a five-colored centipede. In fact, I haven’t even heard the name ‘five-colored centipede’ in several decades.”

“But still…”

“I understand how you feel, but the Martial Arts Alliance is not a neighborhood vigilante group. You’re young, so you may not understand, but to mobilize many people, there needs to be a corresponding justification.”

“Ah! I have one.”

“Hmm?”

Jin Ja-gang remembered something he had been carrying all along. He tightly gripped it in his hand, which was mottled with black spots, and held it out.

“Excuse me, perhaps this…”

“Evidence?”

“Yes.”

As Seo Gil-pung approached, Jin Ja-gang opened his hand to reveal it.

It was a shell fragment that gleamed brilliantly like a jewel.

“What?”

Seo Gil-pung’s eyes showed curiosity.

“It’s the head shell of the five-colored centipede that bit me.”

At Jin Ja-gang’s words, Seo Gil-pung looked as if he had misheard something, then backed away in horror.

Covering his nose and mouth with his wide sleeve, Seo Gil-pung shouted:

“W-why would you bring that out here!”

Seo Gil-pung suddenly seemed nauseous and even dry-heaved.

“Will this serve as evidence?”

“I understand, so put it away for now. I’ll send someone to collect it, just put it away immediately!”

Seo Gil-pung backed away and immediately left the room.

After a while, a warrior arrived with his nose and mouth covered, even wearing pigskin gloves.

The warrior, with extremely tense eyes, received the five-colored centipede’s head shell from Jin Ja-gang and placed it in a small box.

The warrior said:

“If this shell is confirmed to be from a five-colored centipede, a report will be sent to the main headquarters immediately, and within a few days, a Magistrate will be dispatched to address your grievances.”

Jin Ja-gang’s face brightened.

“Yes! Thank you, thank you!”

“The Petition Supervisor says that your testimony will be needed for the arbitration process, so even if it’s uncomfortable, you must stay here without taking even a single step outside.”

“Yes! If that’s the case, I can handle staying here for a month or two!”

The warrior left without saying anything more. He was walking carefully, as if afraid of dropping the box he held.

Watching the warrior leave, Jin Ja-gang’s eyes welled with tears. Finally, he could have his revenge.

Once his grievances were addressed and the Extreme Poison Sect was punished, he would be able to properly bury his mother and grandfather.

Until then, even if they asked him to stay here for a month or two, Jin Ja-gang felt that he could do so.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

Seven days and nights passed.

Despite having remarkable patience for his age, spending seven days in a small room doing nothing was by no means easy.

It was nice to eat well and sleep soundly, but that only lasted for a day or two.

Jin Ja-gang cracked open the door. In front of the small room was a medium-sized hall and courtyard, and at the entrance to the hall, a warrior stood guard.

Jin Ja-gang stepped outside the room and called to the warrior.

“Excuse me, warrior.”

From a distance, the warrior looked at Jin Ja-gang.

“What?”

“Do you know if the Magistrate has been dispatched yet?”

“I don’t know. A low-ranking person like me isn’t privy to such information.”

The warrior waved his hand as if annoyed.

“If you want some fresh air, go back inside quickly. I’ll get in trouble if you’re outside.”

“Yes.”

The Martial Arts Alliance was filled with precious people who would avenge Jin Ja-gang and Hundred Flower Valley.

Jin Ja-gang, fearing that he might suffer disadvantages if he upset the warriors, closed the door and returned to the small room like an obedient child.

Afterward, he would occasionally come out to ask about the progress, but the answers never changed. Even Seo Gil-pung didn’t show his face again, which only made Jin Ja-gang more curious about the situation.

However, after ten days had passed, the warriors’ responses began to change.

The most significant change was that the warrior who had been at the entrance to the hall was now standing right outside Jin Ja-gang’s door. Moreover, they locked the door from the outside except when bringing food.

It was behavior closer to surveillance than protection or guarding. Furthermore, the warriors hardly responded or replied when Jin Ja-gang tried to talk to them.

At most, they would only say, “It’s for your safety.” If Jin Ja-gang persisted with questions to the point of being annoying, they would even yell at him to just stay safely in the room.

As it turned out, they weren’t the same warriors who had been guarding before.

At this point, even a child who didn’t know much would find this strange.

Jin Ja-gang felt that something was going wrong.

Son Wi-hak had said that the Martial Arts Alliance was an organization full of righteous martial artists. Jin Ja-gang had no choice but to come here for revenge. Seeking out this place couldn’t have been wrong.

But thinking about it again, Son Wi-hak had never advised Jin Ja-gang to go to the Martial Arts Alliance. If he had truly thought it would help, he would have clearly told Jin Ja-gang to go to the Martial Arts Alliance.

‘So what went wrong?’

Jin Ja-gang was still too young to figure out the underlying reasons.

But one thing was certain.

Things were not going to work out as well as he had thought.

Jin Ja-gang looked around the room.

The room was simple. A bed, a chamber pot, and a small window.

For some reason, Jin Ja-gang was instinctively looking for an escape route.

Jin Ja-gang opened the window and saw a warrior right outside. When their eyes met, Jin Ja-gang smiled awkwardly and closed the window.

Jin Ja-gang went to the other corner where the bed was placed. Groaning, he pushed the bed and stood in the corner to urinate.

The branch buildings were earthen wall houses, built with mud. After waiting for the wall to become sufficiently wet, he scratched it with his fingernails, and soil and straw fell from the wall.

He wondered if this was really necessary, but somehow Jin Ja-gang couldn’t just sit still.

* * *

… It was fifteen days after Jin Ja-gang had entered the branch.

“The Magistrate has arrived.”

Finally!

Jin Ja-gang practically jumped off the bed.

Soon the door opened, and a middle-aged man with a dignified appearance entered.

He had a large sword at his waist, a broad space between his eyebrows, tiger-like eyebrows, and a firm jaw—a typically handsome face. He looked exactly like the image of a martial hero that Jin Ja-gang had always imagined.

The warrior behind introduced him:

“This is the great hero Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung, the Magistrate from the main headquarters.”

Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung!

He was a great hero known in the martial world for his high principles. He had been traveling the martial world for decades, performing righteous deeds and earning people’s respect. Even Jin Ja-gang, who knew little about the martial world, knew his name.

Jin Ja-gang was so moved that he performed a fist-palm salute.

“I am Jin Ja-gang from Hundred Flower Valley.”

Baek Li-jung nodded and stroked Jin Ja-gang’s head.

“I heard you’ve been through a lot? Now that I’m here, don’t worry.”

While others even hesitated to come close to Jin Ja-gang because of the scars and spots on his face, Baek Li-jung even touched him!

Jin Ja-gang felt sorry for having doubted the Martial Arts Alliance until meeting Baek Li-jung. Baek Li-jung’s tone and appearance were truly that of a great hero.

Baek Li-jung looked Jin Ja-gang up and down once, then said without further questions:

“A trial will be held now.”

“Now?”

“Yes. On behalf of the Martial Arts Alliance, I will clarify this case beyond any doubt and ensure that if the Extreme Poison Sect has committed crimes, they will receive the appropriate punishment.”

“Thank you!”

“However.”

Baek Li-jung’s eyes grew somewhat stern.

“If you have falsely accused the innocent Extreme Poison Sect, you will not escape severe punishment.”

Jin Ja-gang clenched both fists.

“It’s all true. I can stake my life on it!”

Perhaps because he was seeing a martial hero he had only heard about, Jin Ja-gang was more tense than usual.

Baek Li-jung stroked Jin Ja-gang’s head again.

“Good. Now prepare for the trial. We’ll call you soon, so wait just a little longer.”

Baek Li-jung left with the warrior.

Until then, Jin Ja-gang had thought he could place his hope in Baek Li-jung. His heart pounded at the news that a trial would be held immediately.

However, the moment the door closed again, he realized that nothing had actually changed.

Click!

The door was locked.

Why?

The unpleasant metallic sound of the lock isolating Jin Ja-gang from the world felt completely at odds with Baek Li-jung’s chivalrous tone and content.

Jin Ja-gang suddenly felt as if he had been thrown alone into a pitch-black cave.

All of a sudden, he heard some whispering from outside.

Jin Ja-gang put his ear to the door.

“In the end… the great hero Baek…”

“What?”

“Did you hear? Lately, there are rumors about the great hero Baek…”

“Watch your words. If someone hears, you’ll…”

It was the warriors talking among themselves, but Jin Ja-gang couldn’t hear clearly.

Jin Ja-gang became even more suspicious.

The Extreme Poison Sect had done wrong, so they should be punished, and that would be the end of it. Why should there be discussions that he shouldn’t hear?

Feeling a chill, Jin Ja-gang quickly went behind the bed. There was a small hole he had painstakingly dug by wetting the wall with urine, tea, and water. It was just big enough for Jin Ja-gang to pass through.

He crawled through the hole in the wall, which was about a handspan thick. Jin Ja-gang turned left along the wall. He already knew that if he turned right, there would be a warrior guarding near the window.

Red pine trees planted along the wall were blooming with flowers that had grain-like seeds like rice ears, emitting a sweet fragrance.

‘Pine flowers.’

Jin Ja-gang picked a few stems of pine flowers and tasted them. They were starchy and sweet.

Just then, he heard voices from the entrance gate ahead.

Jin Ja-gang quickly hid behind a pine tree.

“How can you handle a matter in such a manner!”

It was Baek Li-jung’s voice, sounding like he was reproaching someone.

It seemed that Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung had gone through the garden and out after meeting with Jin Ja-gang.

“I apologize. But I never dreamed that the boy would survive after being bitten by a five-colored centipede…”

“Tsk, tsk. I told you that sects with disputes face significant disadvantages when seeking admission to the Alliance.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jin Ja-gang held his breath and secretly looked out. Baek Li-jung was walking through the entrance gate with an elderly man.

“Anyway, since the boy has entered the branch and talked about the Extreme Poison Sect to the warriors and the Petition Supervisor, and a formal report has been sent to the main headquarters, we can’t cancel the trial.”

“I’m deeply ashamed.”

“For now, I’ve spoken to Petition Supervisor Seo Gil-pung. Are your preparations ready?”

“Hehe, of course they are.”

The elderly man bowed politely and pointed ahead with his hand. Following the old man’s gesture with his eyes, Jin Ja-gang almost screamed.

The young man standing there was none other than someone from Hundred Flower Valley.

‘Brother Gwak-o!’

Gwak-o bowed respectfully to Baek Li-jung and the old man. He was Son Wi-hak’s only disciple, whom he had cherished.

‘Brother Gwak-o is alive?’

The joy was extremely brief.

In the current situation, Gwak-o’s appearance carried a sense of dissonance that prevented Jin Ja-gang from simply being happy.

Baek Li-jung continued:

“I heard you played a significant role. Since everything in the trial will be recorded by the clerk, make sure not to make any verbal mistakes during the trial.”

Baek Li-jung didn’t seem particularly concerned about Gwak-o. He didn’t appear to be especially interested in who he was. Even his tone suggested it was merely a formality.

“Yes.”

Jin Ja-gang was shocked by Gwak-o’s appearance.

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem that Gwak-o had appeared with good intentions.