Chapter 133
‘How?’
I wondered. But I had no time to think deeply about it.
Starting with the man’s shout, one person, then another, began to stand up.
Creek, creak.
Before I knew it, more than half the people inside the gambling house had risen to their feet. The smiles and chatter they had shown just moments ago were nowhere to be seen. They were all staring at us expressionlessly.
I swallowed dryly.
‘That many?’
I had expected some of the gamblers to be members of their sect mixed in among them. But I never imagined it would be more than half. Perhaps my tension had shown on my face, because the man watching me let out a sinister laugh and said,
“Heh heh, you cunning cultist bastards. I wondered when you’d show up, and now I’ve finally caught you by the tail.”
I smiled back and asked,
“How did you know? No, when did you figure it out?”
“When?”
The man stroked his chin.
“From the very beginning?”
“…….”
“What? ‘Pleasure more precious than money?’ Puhahaha! Hey, we’ve never used any such code word. No, we never even made up a code word in the first place. We only accept thoroughly vetted customers.”
“…….”
“Didn’t I give you a hint earlier? I said that if someone introduces another customer, a representative from headquarters has to be present as well. We don’t sell our goods unless we meet the customer in person.”
“…….”
“And yet you knew nothing about that and desperately made up whatever nonsense you could think of so you wouldn’t get caught. You looked absolutely hilarious!”
The man burst into loud laughter.
“Wahahaha!”
The other members of the sect joined him, laughing uproariously. They were laughing to mock me, but I didn’t particularly care.
There was only one thing bothering me.
‘Damn it. The code word itself was a lie.’
Had Ayoung been deceived too? When had they spread such a fake code word?
And that wasn’t the only problem. The other members of the Inspection Corps all believed that code word was genuine as well. Which meant they would each go to their assigned areas and use it, and if so, there was a very high chance they would be exposed just like I was. In other words, the entire Inspection Corps was in danger.
I regretted it belatedly.
‘We should have moved together.’
But the water had already been spilled, and I was already struggling just to deal with the situation in front of me. Even in the midst of all this, the man continued to blab.
“You think that’s all? The Zhang Family Trading Company cut off business with us a long time ago. They tried to secretly steal our medicine, you see. But we kept that fact under wraps.”
“So you could lure us in?”
“Exactly! Since the Zhang Family Trading Company had been exposed to the outside world, we figured that if you infiltrated us, you’d use their name.”
“…….”
“And just as we expected, you moved exactly as we thought you would. On top of that, you eagerly swallowed up the fake code word we spread ourselves… Heh heh. You’ve been having fun all this time, haven’t you? Constantly snooping around after us, making futile attempts to interfere with our business…”
The man’s eyes flashed cruelly.
“But that ends now.”
“…….”
“This time, you’ll finally pay the price!”
Bang!
At those words, I immediately kicked the table in front of me.
“Uwaaa!”
The table toppled over, crashing into the people around it. Perhaps they hadn’t expected me to make the first move, because the faces of the sect members were filled with surprise.
Without even looking at Liyeon beside me, I shouted,
“I can’t protect you, so survive on your own!”
“What nonsense.”
I chuckled at the cold reply and immediately leaped into the air.
I stepped on the heads of several flustered sect members and jumped straight toward the entrance. Perhaps realizing what I intended, the man drew the sword from his waist and shouted,
“Do not let those bastards escape! It doesn’t matter if you cut off their arms and legs. Capture them alive, no matter what!”
The man swung his sword diagonally at me. I twisted my body to avoid his blade and leaped backward.
Just then, the sect members who had regained their senses and drawn their weapons attacked me from behind.
I deftly avoided their attacks by stepping aside, ducking my head, and leaping into the air. The problem was that, while doing so, I had once again been pushed farther away from the entrance.
I hurriedly looked around. But as was typical of gambling houses, the old building had no windows in sight.
I bared my teeth and grinned.
“Fine. So you want to give it a shot against me?”
Then I infused my feet with internal energy and sprang upward.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sharpened weapons collided beneath my feet.
I did a somersault in midair and landed somewhere.
Thud.
The place I landed was on top of a table. More precisely, I had kicked the table over, leaving it standing vertically, and landed on the side of that round table.
From my elevated vantage point, I could see the entire gambling house, which had descended into complete chaos.
Despite all the hostile gazes focused on me, I smiled broadly.
“Come now, come one, come all! Welcome, welcome! It is my great honor to have such esteemed guests visit this humble establishment! Today, this old man will treat everyone to a grand feast, so please enjoy yourselves!”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Here, take this!”
I reached into the money pouch I had brought with me and grabbed a handful of silver coins, scattering them into the air.
Shraaak
Dozens of silver coins scattered through the air.
The sect members hurriedly swung their weapons to knock the coins away, fearing they might have been coated with poison. But things were different for the ordinary gamblers.
“Si—silver!”
To them, it was no different from suddenly striking it rich.
“It’s free! Free money!”
“Whoever picks it up first gets it! Hurry and pick it up!”
“Move! I’m going to take more!”
In an instant, the place became a different kind of madhouse than it had been before.
While the fight was raging, the eyes of the gamblers who had been trembling against the walls of the gambling house changed. As though they had never been afraid of swords in the first place, they surged toward the center of the gambling house.
Then they frantically began picking up the falling silver coins. They shoved the people in front of them aside, and some even started fighting one another to get more silver.
The sect members were utterly bewildered by the sight.
“Get lost! I said get lost! If you don’t move right now, I’ll cut you down with this sword!”
“Wait! Just wait a moment! Let me pick up this one, just this one! You bastard, take your hands off that! I picked it up first!”
“What did you say, you bastard? I picked it up first!”
No matter how much the sect members threatened the gamblers with their swords, it was useless. These people were already obsessed with money, and now free money was literally being scattered before their eyes. There was no way they could see anything else.
“These crazy bastards, seriously… Argh!”
And I was waiting for precisely that moment. While the sect members were distracted, I flicked silver coins at them with my fingers, striking their vital points.
Tap, tap, tap!
The gamblers were already rushing around and creating chaos, and with silver coins flying toward their vital points, few could defend themselves. When several of their companions around them collapsed, some of the sect members shouted frantically,
“Damn it! He’s throwing silver coins like hidden weapons! Watch out!”
“Silver! Where’s the silver? Where’s my silver!”
“You fucking—!”
Whoosh!
Suddenly, someone swung a sword at my ankle. I lightly jumped into the air and avoided the blade.
Slash!
Instead of cutting my foot, the sword sliced into one side of the table.
As I landed beneath the table, I simultaneously kicked out with both feet, striking the two people on either side of me.
Thud! Thump!
“Urgh!”
The two men who had been about to charge at me collapsed.
I threw my head back and laughed as I grabbed another handful of silver coins.
“Hahaha! I’m glad everyone’s enjoying themselves. Now, now, don’t fight too much. Here’s some more! More silver coming your way!”
Flick! Fliiick!
“Wooooaaah!”
The gamblers charged forward with bloodshot eyes, like a horde of zombies reaching out with their hands.
In that opening, I flicked the silver coins one by one, striking the sect members. Their numbers quickly dwindled.
Just then, screams erupted from the other side.
“Ice Palm! It’s an Ice Palm! If you stay too close, your body will freeze–Aaaagh!”
I glanced toward the source of the scream. As expected, Liyeon was there, silently facing the sect members and unleashing palm techniques.
Every movement as he extended and swung his hands was elegant and beautiful, but his attacks were quite vicious. Those struck by his palm froze solid and collapsed, unable to move even an inch.
‘Ice Palm, huh? Has he mastered an ice-based technique?’
It couldn’t have suited the Ice Princess better.
I turned my head again. My eyes fell upon the man standing at the entrance. His eyes were trembling helplessly.
There were only two opponents left, and although he had thought that cornering them like rats in a hole would make them easy to capture, the situation was unfolding in the exact opposite direction.
‘Well, what are you going to do now?’
I reached out and struck the man beside me while watching the man at the entrance out of the corner of my eye, observing his every movement.
The man gripped his sword hilt tightly.
I picked up another silver coin.
The man raised his sword over his shoulder. He stepped forward, lowered his knee, and prepared to charge.
Then…
Bang!
Suddenly, the man threw himself toward the entrance.
I flicked the silver coin at the same time. But in that split second, the coin missed its mark and bounced against the door, while the man had already slipped outside.
The place where the man had been standing was now completely empty.
I let out a hollow laugh.
‘This bastard… he ran away?’
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