Chapter 129 - The Black Flame Dragon Who Steals Opportunities (4)

"Are you going to keep lying down so disrespectfully?"

"Yaaawn... Ah... I'm so tired... Hm? Who..."

Zhuge Somyeong spoke without even looking back.

"Your acting is still clumsy... Do I really need to stop what I'm doing and turn around?"

"Oh? Aren't you the Chief Strategist?"

"Do I have to keep playing along with this ridiculous tune?"

"I apologize, but my body is not in good condition. I overexerted myself inside the Soul-Extinguishing Array..."

"Fatigue has accumulated, but your essence, qi, and spirit are all perfectly fine... Did you know? Anyone who makes a false report to the Chief Strategist faces a maximum sentence of three years in the Golden Jade Prison."

At Zhuge Somyeong's words, Jin Sowoon's smiling face contorted.

Even while it was already hard to understand why the Murim Alliance's Chief Strategist was in his quarters, the man's personality somehow seemed even more eccentric than before.

"Ugh..."

Jin Sowoon let out a long sigh and looked at Zhuge Somyeong.

Similar to their last meeting, he was examining documents without even making eye contact with Jin Sowoon.

It wasn't like they were at the Iron Sword Sect far away from the Murim Alliance, so he couldn't understand why he had specifically come to someone else's quarters to do this.

Jin Sowoon decided to simply wait calmly until Zhuge Somyeong spoke first.

Filling the teacup in front of him to the brim, Jin Sowoon slowly swallowed the tea.

Although not much time had passed in reality, according to the flow of time inside the Soul-Extinguishing Array, it was the first sip of tea he had in almost ten days, making its fragrance feel incredibly rich.

It was a wonderful fragrance that lacked nothing compared to the tea he used to drink at the Namgung Clan.

Hearing that Jin Sowoon, who didn't enjoy alcohol, at least enjoyed tea, the middle-aged maid had reportedly changed the tea recently, but the quality made him wonder if she had overextended herself a bit.

'No, considering the scale of the Murim Alliance and the Murim Academy in the first place, maybe it's not an overexertion?'

Considering the spending habits of the other representatives, Jin Sowoon's expenses weren't on the large side, so it seemed the middle-aged maid didn't feel too burdened spending money on things like this.

While Jin Sowoon was briefly lost in his thoughts, Zhuge Somyeong signed the document he was reading, pushed the papers to one side, and looked at Jin Sowoon.

"..."

At Jin Sowoon's surprised expression, Zhuge Somyeong asked.

"What is it?"

"Didn't you bring those documents all the way here because they were urgent?"

When Jin Sowoon spoke while pointing to the documents piled high on one side of the table, Zhuge Somyeong frowned heavily.

"Didn't you learn that when talking to someone, you should look them in the eye, not do other things?"

"Wow..."

At Zhuge Somyeong's blunt remark, Jin Sowoon was about to spit out, *'Then I guess I wasn't considered a person before,'* but held it back.

"You look like you have something to say."

"Haa... It's nothing. But what brings you all the way here?"

"A lot of things happened while you were asleep."

"What kind of things do you mean?"

"First, a disciplinary committee was held."

"Ah... Is that so?"

Zhuge Somyeong's eyebrow twitched at Jin Sowoon's reaction.

"You're not surprised?"

"Well... It was to be expected."

"Since the disciplinary committee was mostly composed of people selected by Daoist Myeonghyeon, disciplinary action against you was also discussed."

Jin Sowoon nodded at Zhuge Somyeong's words.

"Hmm... How did the results turn out?"

Instead of answering, Zhuge Somyeong continued to stare at Jin Sowoon.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"... I said that a disciplinary committee was held while you were asleep, and that disciplinary action against you was also discussed. Was that also expected?"

"Well... I figured they wouldn't just let it slide."

"And yet you deliberately overexerted yourself in the Soul-Extinguishing Array, only to sleep for three days?"

Jin Sowoon scratched his cheek and spoke.

"Because even if I hadn't been asleep, there probably wouldn't have been anything else I could do. I would have just been dragged around here and there to testify, which would have only been more tiring."

In the end, Zhuge Somyeong couldn't hide his emotions and let out a small, deep sigh.

"Ha!"

"So how did the results turn out?"

"Those who entered the Soul-Extinguishing Array were expelled. The expelled students praised you highly. Thanks to that, Daoist Myeonghyeon's influence couldn't reach you."

"I see."

"Did you expect that as well?"

"No, I did not. However, I simply thought it wouldn't have been a huge issue even if I had been disciplined."

"Why?"

"Although the masterminds behind this incident were expelled, they probably weren't the actual academy student officers of the Orthodox Council, were they?"

At Jin Sowoon's words, Zhuge Somyeong pressed his lips firmly together and nodded.

"I figured as much. Thanks to that, there will be many within the Orthodox Council who begin to harbor fundamental doubts about its morality. Wondering if they are just pawns being used and then thrown away...

And the members of the White Path Council, centered around the Five Great Noble Clans, and the Twelve Peaks and Castles probably won't feel much different either."

"But if things go wrong, your position will be shaken."

"It doesn't matter much. That is, if people come to their senses and start thinking about taking care of themselves instead of relying on others."

"... So ultimately, this is for the sake of the Murim Alliance?"

"I don't know about anything so grand; I just thought it'd be nice if they snapped out of it and learned to fend for themselves."

Hearing Jin Sowoon's reasoning, Zhuge Somyeong fell into silent thought for a long while.

The Taiyi Sect.

The absolute lowest among the bottom ranks of the 108 Peaks.

Someone from a sect that struggled just to sustain itself was trying to do things for the sake of the entire Murim.

Zhuge Somyeong was completely jaded within the Murim Alliance, which had started as a cooperative organization but had now become a massive political battlefield.

From his perspective, he couldn't quite fathom how to handle this greenhorn who looked like a naive idealist.

After his brief distraction, Zhuge Somyeong gathered his thoughts and returned to the questions he had prepared.

"Anyway, did you completely refrain from eating inside the Soul-Extinguishing Array just to gain the support of those who were expelled?"

The state Jin Sowoon was in when he emerged from the Soul-Extinguishing Array was truly horrific.

He had looked almost like a crippled wreck.

However, Zhuge Somyeong, who had examined his pulse, knew that this had been an intentional act by Jin Sowoon.

Because unlike his ruined outward appearance, his heart meridian had been beating more vigorously than ever.

Initially, Zhuge Somyeong had been so startled that he almost slapped Jin Sowoon's cheek to wake him up.

"... I simply held back a bit for any possible survivors."

"Hmph! What utter nonsense. I was told that most of the survivors came out chubbier than when they went in. You definitely yielded your own share of food to them."

At Zhuge Somyeong's words, Jin Sowoon made a face like he had chewed on shit.

"Isn't that the 'chivalry' the Murim Alliance always talks about?"

"You spout such nonsense without batting an eye."

Zhuge Somyeong sneered with complete and utter certainty, lacking even a sliver of doubt.

Even though he held the position of the Murim Alliance's Chief Strategist, he had never once thought that the Murim Alliance possessed any true 'chivalry', just as Jin Sowoon said.

Since Zhuge Somyeong pushed it that far, Jin Sowoon finally confessed.

"Yes. I pulled a little scam. I stalled for time, and when I went inside, I minimized my food intake as much as possible."

"To create an even more dramatic effect, right?"

"Yes."

And that scam was incredibly effective, making those who had entered the Soul-Extinguishing Array feel betrayed by the Orthodox Council while simultaneously instilling in them a fierce trust in Jin Sowoon.

Even if it meant their own sects and they themselves would suffer damages because of the Orthodox Council.

"..."

Having reached that conclusion, Zhuge Somyeong slowly drank his tea to calm his astonished heart.

Jin Sowoon continuously rolled his eyes around, studying Zhuge Somyeong's face.

"Will this be a problem by any chance?"

"Hoo..."

It was rather amusing to see him trembling with anxiety now, right after confessing out of his own mouth that he had pulled a scam.

Having roughly organized his thoughts, Zhuge Somyeong pushed his teacup aside and slid the documents that needed to be processed over to Jin Sowoon.

Jin Sowoon still wore an expression that showed he had no idea what was going on.

"Read through them, sort them out, and process them."

Jin Sowoon rolled his eyes in confusion.

"Aren't these documents from the Mantong Bureau? How could I dare touch such important documents..."

"Because I had to stick by your side, my work was delayed for several days, causing these documents to pile up like this. If you don't process them properly, I will hand down disciplinary action."

Rolling his eyes, Jin Sowoon muttered loud enough for him to hear, 'Who asked you to stick by my side...' before picking up a document and starting to read.

Then, he brought over the brush, ink, and paper that Zhuge Somyeong had been using and began making adjustments here and there on the documents.

"..."

After scribbling various things onto the document, Jin Sowoon wrote the word 'Rejected' at the very end, pushed it aside, and started looking at the next document.

He acted as if he had no intention of receiving an evaluation on what he had just processed.

Astounded by his outrageous behavior, Zhuge Somyeong grabbed the document Jin Sowoon had pushed aside and flipped it open with a crisp flutter.

He intended to find fault with any mistakes and give him a severe scolding for it. However.

"Hoo... Haha..."

Reading the document, Zhuge Somyeong couldn't help but burst into a hollow laugh without realizing it.

The document Jin Sowoon had just processed was about the issue of who to outsource the logistics traveling between the Murim Alliance and its various branches.

There were twenty-four escort agencies currently contracted with the Murim Alliance. There were twelve escort agencies that had newly applied for contracts.

The task involved selecting six of the currently contracted escort agencies that had been identified as problematic to terminate their contracts, and selecting six from the new applicants to form new contracts.

It was a difficult problem where just explaining the current issues took up several pages.

However, Jin Sowoon raised a fundamental counter-argument against the fault-finding, stating that it must be taken into account that for three of the six existing problematic escort agencies, the issues were unavoidable due to natural disasters.

At the same time, he issued a rejection based on the opinion that since the majority of the newly applying escort agencies were affiliated with the Nine Sects and One Gang, hiring them would not serve as an actual solution to the underlying problem.

It was such a reasonable opinion that Zhuge Somyeong himself would have drawn a similar conclusion, but that wasn't the part that surprised him.

Reaching a rejection verdict on that document required investigations into the existing escort agencies, the new escort agencies, the fundamental causes behind the raised issues, and so on.

It was a conclusion that could only be drawn after going through countless different departments within the Murim Alliance.

Seeing him propose a solution without any hesitation, as if he already knew all the answers to this complex problem, Zhuge Somyeong couldn't hide his utter shock.

Watching Jin Sowoon already writing something on his third document, Zhuge Somyeong asked.

"Just who exactly are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I am asking how you could possibly know all of this."

"... Uh, well, my memory is quite good."

"Your memory?"

"I have a memory that never forgets anything I've seen even once."

"And you processed these documents with that memory?"

"I don't know how else to explain it, but yes."

"..."

Zhuge Somyeong fell into deep thought at Jin Sowoon's words.

Having a good memory was something that could happen occasionally.

However, the ability to derive insight based on that memory was a completely separate matter.

Because insight is born at the very end of vast knowledge and profound contemplation.

Staring intently at Jin Sowoon, Zhuge Somyeong snatched the document from Jin Sowoon's hand and casually tossed it into the pile of papers.

At Zhuge Somyeong's sudden action, Jin Sowoon wore an expression that wondered what was wrong with this man now.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No. There is something you must do from now on."

"What is it this time?"

"You must have a sparring match now."

"What?"

Jin Sowoon's face crumpled just like the freshly tossed document.

"What kind of absurd nonsense is that?"

"I told you a lot of things happened while you were asleep, didn't I?"

Jin Sowoon nodded instead of answering.

"The second thing is that I saw the 180 years' worth of internal energy lying dormant within your Dantian."

"..."