The Youngest Member Chapter 120

"Hall Master, all mbers of the Hidden Dragon Unit have arrived."

At Cheon Woojin's report, Cheol Jiak nodded and looked at one of the dining tables. Song Yiyeon, Jin Yun, and Namgung Jin, who had returned, were eating noodles.

"But why did those guys fight?"

Cheol Jiak was also a master in the martial world. Looking at the three's faces, he could roughly grasp what kind of fight had occurred.

Seeing that Song Yiyeon's face was the most swollen, it seed that Jin Yun and Namgung Jin had attacked him together. In the midst of it, the fact that the two were not completely unscathed suggested that Song Yiyeon's counterattack had been fierce.

This was all because of the deputy commander position, but Cheon Woojin just shrugged.

In fact, it didn't matter much who beca the deputy commander. However, if he was going to put the three in one ard unit, it was better for ranking disputes to occur often.

A martial artist who does not compete is bound to be eliminated.

Cheon Woojin himself considered his two masters as his lifelong competitors. Also, his two masters considered each other as competitors and even contemplated while sleeping to teach Cheon Woojin better.

How much ti had passed like that?

Wails were also heard from among the Black Tortoise Unit mbers who had arrived one after another. It seed that the competition over there to avoid being on watch duty had been quite fierce.

"All mbers of the Black Tortoise Unit have arrived as well."

At Zhuge Lin's report, Cheol Jiak made a new expression. Just a few days ago, he had been the Black Tortoise Unit Commander.

Although he still had the Black Tortoise Unit under his command, the master of the Black Tortoise Unit was now Zhuge Lin, not himself.

That fact hit him anew, and he felt strange.

"Alright. Let's feed the kids first."

Cheol Jiak ordered noodles and dumplings according to the number of people and casually handed over the gold coins he had taken out from his money pouch. It was for the food and room fees.

The owner of the tavern was startled but could not hide the smile on his lips.

Cheol Jiak looked at the still-full money pouch for a mont.

"..."

Just a mont ago, he had felt a mix of relief and regret at the feeling of having left the Black Tortoise Unit, but suddenly, he had this thought. Wouldn't it be another kind of reward to pass on the position to a good junior?

* * *

The Inspection Hall's current mission was to investigate the Qingcheng Sect.

Specifically, it was to inspect whether the Qingcheng Sect, along with several other factions, had committed any evil acts that went against the will of the Orthodox Path in the process of preparing for the establishnt of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.

There were two thods of inspection.

The first was for the Alliance to officially announce an inspection. The subject of the inspection had to comply obediently unless they were going to turn their back on the Martial Alliance.

However, this was not suitable for the current case. It was because factions of the level of the Five Great Families or the Nine Sects One Union thought of the Martial Alliance as a ans for their own benefit, and did not fear it.

It would only give them ti to destroy the evidence.

The second was a secret inspection.

Literally, to check their misdeeds without the knowledge of the subject of the inspection and to seize the evidence.

Naturally, the difficulty was much higher than the forr, and depending on the circumstances, it could lead to an ard conflict.

A secret inspection was appropriate for this mission.

For that reason, they could not drag the dozens of Black Tortoise Unit mbers all the way to Dujiangyan, where the Qingcheng Sect was located.

Cheol Jiak had the entire Black Tortoise Unit, except for Zhuge Lin, stay at the Cheongsong Tavern in Deyang, a village near Dujiangyan. The deputy commander, Do Seonghwi, was a man who could be trusted as he was a principled man with a personality as sharp as a knife.

And so, only the Inspection Hall Master Cheol Jiak, the Black Tortoise Unit Commander Zhuge Lin, the Hidden Dragon Unit Commander Cheon Woojin, and the three under his command arrived at Dujiangyan.

Naturally, they had changed their clothes in Deyang. They were not in the attire of Martial Alliance mbers, but in inconspicuous solid-colored martial uniforms.

The place they headed to was the tavern with the most custors in Dujiangyan. It was because many stories were exchanged in a place where there was alcohol and food.

Since they couldn't just charge into the Qingcheng Sect right away, they planned to investigate the surroundings first.

Since they had already filled their stomachs, they were just wetting their throats with alcohol along with a few side dishes.

- They are Qingcheng Sect Taoist priests.

Cheon Woojin's telepathic ssage flowed to everyone.

Everyone was startled and slightly bowed their heads.

Soon, from the stairs leading to the second floor, four Taoist priests ca down, laughing heartily. Their faces were flushed, as if they had drunk quite a bit of alcohol.

The possibility of them recognizing the people at this table was low.

No matter how much they were Taoist priests of the Qingcheng Sect, unless they had a foot in the Martial Alliance, it was rare for them to leave the main mountain, so the probability of them recognizing not only ordinary Alliance mbers but also the faces of high-ranking officials was low.

Nevertheless, everyone was tense, just in case.

Cheon Woojin, who had confird this, lightly flicked his finger under the table.

Swish-!

A thin stream of finger wind was shot out with extre stealth. A man who was just getting up after finishing his al was hit in the ankle by the finger wind and almost fell.

The Qingcheng Sect martial artists who were just passing by him were distracted by the man, saying, "Oh my, you've had a lot to drink. Let's be careful." Thanks to that, they had no reason to look at the table where Cheon Woojin was seated.

Three of the Taoist priests went out first.

The last Taoist priest was about to pay for the food through the waiter, but the waiter was startled and waved his hands.

"Oh my, how can I accept money? If the head chef finds out that I took money from the Taoist priests, I'll get a huge scolding."

"Ahem, well then."

The Taoist priest who was about to hand over the money scratched his head as if embarrassed.

Then, the head chef, who had hurriedly co out from the kitchen, said several tis that it was really alright, as he wanted to treat them.

In the end, the Qingcheng Sect Taoist priest also shrugged and left the tavern.

Cheol Jiak's eyebrow, who had been watching the scene intently, twitched.

Cheol Jiak, who had confird that the Taoist priests had moved away, approached the head chef.

"This is my first ti at this tavern, but the food is truly delicious. How did such an excellent head chef hide in this small village?"

"Hahaha, is that so? I'm truly glad that the food suits your taste."

Just as martial arts were to a martial artist, cooking skills were the pride and self-esteem of a head chef. Having praised this, a pleasant smile hung on the head chef's lips.

Cheol Jiak continued his questions as naturally as flowing water.

"Why didn't you accept paynt from them? By any chance, do the Taoist priests of the Qingcheng Sect usually act coercively?"

"Haha, no way. They are the Taoist priests of the Qingcheng Sect, after all."

"Not all of the Orthodox Path are upright, are they? Rather, unlike the Unorthodox Path, if an Orthodox Path faction decides to bully soone, I hear it's very difficult to even report it anywhere."

At that, the expression of the head chef, who had been wearing a good-natured smile all along, hardened. He looked at Cheol Jiak with a completely straight face and then even got angry.

"Hah, who do you think those people are to make such a slander?"

"Hmm?"

Cheol Jiak tilted his head. Although Taoist priests and monks were usually respected by the common people, wasn't this a bit much?

Nevertheless, the head chef, as if he had no intention of calming his anger, huffed and puffed and even issued an order to leave, saying that he had no food to sell to soone like him.

Thanks to that, people's gazes gathered, and in the end, they hurriedly left the tavern before attracting unnecessary attention.

"What on earth?"

Cheol Jiak was bewildered even after leaving the tavern. The people who had followed him out were the sa.

"For a rchant to refuse money is truly the highest form of favor. Was the Qingcheng Sect always this respected? Is it because they are Taoist priests?"

Song Yiyeon said so and needlessly glanced at Jin Yun, the Taoist priest of the Mount Hua Sect.

Jin Yun scratched his head as if embarrassed.

"In Huayin County, where our Mount Hua Sect is located, it would actually be difficult to receive that much treatnt."

"Well. In Anhui, such things often happen to the martial artists of the Namgung family."

At Namgung Jin's words, Song Yiyeon flared up.

"Isn't that because the Namgung family has a grip on all the comrcial districts, so they are being cautious? Is a Taoist sect that does not directly intervene in the comrcial districts the sa as a family that directly intervenes?"

Namgung Jin, who had opened his mouth after a long ti, was imdiately refuted and beca sullen. Moreover, since the one who had refuted him was a rchant from that very Anhui, he had even less to say.

And so, just as they were each giving their opinions.

Suddenly, the waiter who had co out of the tavern cautiously approached.

"You were all surprised, right? Actually, there's a reason why the head chef is acting like that, so please understand."

"A reason?"

As Cheol Jiak asked back, the waiter deliberately pretended to hesitate.

In the first place, there was only one reason why the waiter had followed them out.

Cheol Jiak, who had noticed this, placed a few iron coins in the waiter's hand.

Only then did the waiter, with a satisfied expression, look around and then continue his explanation.

.

.

.

"That's why the head chef got so angry."

To summarize the rather long explanation, it was roughly like this.

A while ago, quite a few people had disappeared from Dujiangyan.

They had all gone to work in the Southern Man region under the auspices of a place called the Pinghai rchant Guild and had not returned.

Naturally, the rchant guild that had led the work had disappeared overnight.

It was said that those who had lost their families had asked the Martial Alliance and the governnt for help several tis, but there was no answer.

In the midst of that, the ones who had stepped forward to investigate the matter without any compensation were none other than the Qingcheng Sect.

"The people of Dujiangyan all respect and are grateful to the Taoist priests of Qingcheng. But, since you were framing them as if they were usually coercive, of course he was offended. It seems you are outsiders, but you should never curse the Qingcheng Sect here. You'll be in big trouble."

The waiter who had said so returned to the tavern and muttered to himself in a low voice.

"Anyway, the governnt is one thing, but the Martial Alliance is also very indifferent. They talk about protecting justice and what not, but when it cos to the affairs of a small village like this..."

The waiter's words trailed off as he entered the tavern.

The remaining mbers of the Inspection Hall looked at each other.

"There's sothing to this, isn't there?"

The one who spoke first was Zhuge Lin.

Cheol Jiak also nodded with a serious face.

Looking at the waiter's words alone, the Qingcheng Sect was truly worthy of being praised as a pillar of the Orthodox Path. But there was sothing strange.

"The Martial Alliance is not an organization that would ever ignore even the smallest matter. Moreover, the disappearance of dozens of people is by no ans a small matter."

Considering the scale of the incident.

This matter should have been handled by the Martial Alliance's Sichuan branch long ago. Moreover, it was a rather large matter that should have been reported to the main headquarters, not handled arbitrarily.

"First, we need to look into that Pinghai rchant Guild, which is said to have hired the disappeared people."

At Cheol Jiak's words, everyone nodded.

Even if it had disappeared overnight, there was no way a rchant guild that was large enough to hire dozens of people would have left no trace.

"I'll find out what kind of place the Pinghai rchant Guild was in the rchant world through our Song family's Sichuan branch. There will probably be at least a few people who know the guild master."

Song Yiyeon said in a confident tone. He was more confident in finding a rchant than martial artists were.

Jin Yun also said that since this place, Sichuan, and Shaanxi were adjacent, he would find out through the vassal families of Mount Hua. It was a way of saying that a Taoist's affairs were best known by a Taoist.

Of course, Namgung Jin couldn't just stand by either. But the distance from Anhui to here was too far, so he couldn't directly operate the Namgung family.

Although no one was rushing him, Namgung Jin, who was cornered on his own, suddenly said this.

"The maternal uncle of the previous branch manager of the Martial Alliance's Sichuan branch here is a person from the Namgung family. If we find out through him..."

"Not the current, but the previous?"

"Ahem..."

Namgung Jin let out a dry cough. Even to himself, the maternal uncle of the previous branch manager felt like a distant relative.

It was then.

"The guild master of the Pinghai rchant Guild is dead."

Everyone was startled and looked at Cheon Woojin.

It was a look that asked how on earth he knew that.

Cheon Woojin just shrugged. He had just spoken the Beggars' Sect's secret code in a telepathic ssage to the returning waiter, just in case.