章 24: The Namgung's Secrets
The middle-aged man was clearly faking his tears, he had managed to kill an Imoogi. There's no way he'd cry just from the thought of his life being cut short during a torture session.
I stepped out from the shadows in front of the middle-aged man, dragging the man's axe along the floor behind me as I did so. While the man was unconscious, I had taken every one of his belongings off him. His axe, a pouch of coins, and a weird letter from an unknown person.
But those didn't reveal anything important to me, so torture would be my only way of discovering this person's true identity. I had no qualms about torture, after all, those who are getting tortured are merely those who are weak enough to be caught.
A moment later I stood directly in front of the middle-aged man, with his own axe rubbing against his neck. As the cold axe head left red marks on the man's neck, I lowered my head down to look eye to eye with the man.
"So, what sect or clan do you belong to?"
"Hic- D-don't hurt me!"
The man tried to scramble away from the axe in my hands; but with no arms to support himself, he didn't make it far before I caught up to him.
I placed the axe head back on his shoulder and made a small cut on his neck, "Tell me what I want and maybe I will let you live. And stick to the truth, lies will only make the pain worse."
"The Namgung clan! I'm from the Namgung clan!"
The Namgung clan... The fucking Namgung clan! This middle-aged fuck is in cahoots with the old fucker who killed Jinlong! If I didn't know better, I'd kill him right here and now.
"You're from the Namgung clan huh? Do you know about any old men from your clan hunting down a dragon?"
"You know about Namgung Jiwoo too? Are you trying to stop the Namgung clan's plans?"
I slightly cut the man's neck once more with the axe and spoke, "You're not the ones asking questions here, keep that in mind."
An audible gulp came from the man's throat, nodding as to not piss me off any further.
"Good. Now, what is the Namgung clan's plans for these spiritual cores? You killed a dragon and now an Imoogi, I bet you're already trying to hunt down the other four beasts too."
The man paused for a moment, he must have known I was going to try and stop the Namgung clan from killing all the spiritual beasts and taking their cores. He couldn't allow someone to stop their plans, but if he didn't speak, his head would surely fall.
"T-the Namgung clan plans to power up all of their forces with the energy of the cores. Once every member is of the highest caliber possible... We will begin our siege on the Orthodox Sects."
"Then why were you taking some of the spiritual core's energy for yourself? So not only are you the killer of a sacred and endangered beast, but you're also a greedy bastard too."
The way he stammered there, he wasn't stammering before when I asked a question since he wanted to keep his life. But now he's stammering, he must be lying about something.
"Y-yes, I got a little greedy when faced with the core's power, who wouldn't in that situation?"
There it is again, he didn't get a little greedy, he was planning to absorb the entire spiritual core. I've got him now.
I rubbed the axe head on the man's neck and leaned into to whisper in his ear, "You see, I don't believe you. I think the Namgung clan is trying to have their high-ranking members absorb as many cores as possible, so once they become powerful enough you can wipe out all of Jianghu in one night."
The man's breathing stopped, his face contorted with fear and confusion, and his eyes turning deep red from the anger he felt at his current situation. His reaction confirmed it, my guess was right.
But now that I knew what the Namgung clan was up to, there's no point in keeping such a liability alive.
Heiik!
As I walked away from the middle-aged man's limbless body, I dropped the axe and grabbed the glowing spiritual core off the ground, clenching my other fist as I did so.
Thud!
The man's head fell to the ground a moment later as I walked out of the cave and grabbed my sword off the grass. Outside the cave, Pyo Kang, Pyo Yong, and the Fifth Elder waited for me with concerned gazes.
"Ryu Il, did you get any information out of him?" Pyo Kang asked, staring intently at the spiritual core in my hand.
"Fifth Elder, in the future, would you be able to rally those within the Wudang Sect to fight against the Namgung clan when I come asking for your help?"
The three of them took a step backwards at the mention of the Namgung clan. Seriously, how bad was the war from fifty years ago that even the martial artists of today fear the Namgung clan?
Pyo Yong took a step back, "H-he was from the Namgung clan? And you beat him in a fight? Who really are you Ryu Il?"
"I didn't beat him in a head on fight, I simply caught him off guard and removed his arms before he had the chance to fight back."
The Fifth Elder stepped forward, placing his hand on my shoulder, "Young Ryu Il, when the time comes, I will try to rally as many Wudang Warriors as possible to bring down the Namgung clan. But for now, I think it would be best if I left."
I took a step back and bowed to the Fifth Elder before replying, "Thank you, Fifth Elder. And as for what happened today, I won't report it to the sect leader, so your reputation doesn't get damaged."
"Thank you." He replied back with a bow, "If you ever need help with something, you know where to find me." He said as he vanished from the forest.
Now that I know the situation, those Namgung bastards won't get away with what they want. Namgung Jiwoo and the rest of the Namgung clan, I'm coming to exterminate you.
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