Chapter 67
"Understood. Let us go. It is this way."\
Jegal Gil and his group, having finished questioning the White Wolf Unit, were now guided by Peng Seo-jin to where the bodies of the Demonic Cult's Black Kill Squad and Scholar Forest Group members were kept.
Originally, they would have been buried long ago after the Peng Family's investigation, but because the Murim Alliance said they would reinvestigate the matter from the beginning, the bodies had not yet been interred.
"Ugh."
As soon as they entered the room where the bodies were kept, everyone wrinkled their noses.
"No matter how many times I encounter it, I can never get used to this smell."
At the words of one of the Murim Alliance warriors, everyone present nodded in agreement.
Of course, the bodies would have been treated to prevent decay immediately after being recovered, but even so, the smell emanating from them was inexplicably chilling and unbearable.
For this reason, everyone hesitated at the entrance, not wanting to get too close to the bodies.
However, there was one exception - Jegal Gil alone approached the bodies without the slightest hesitation, his face completely unfazed.
Seeing this, his companions followed behind him with sheepish expressions.
Soon, they began to examine the bodies of the Scholar Forest Group and Demonic Cult Black Kill Squad members one by one in detail.
Whether he often had such opportunities or was simply that dedicated to his work, Jegal Gil handled the bodies more skillfully than anyone else.
Peng Seo-jin found this sight quite impressive.
It made him think that this man didn't do anything carelessly.
Then suddenly,
Jegal Gil's eyes widened.
As if he had discovered something strange, he quickly re-examined the other bodies.
"Have you found something?" one of his companions asked, approaching.
But after a moment's thought, Jegal Gil shook his head.
"There's something odd... Hmm. Nothing I can be certain of yet. I'll need to look into a few more things."
He began examining the bodies again with an expression full of questions.
How much time passed like this?
Having finished his thorough investigation, Jegal Gil soon led his group out of the room.
"Whew!"
Perhaps because they had been in such a stuffy place for so long, the outside air felt exceptionally fresh.
"You're moving quite busily on your first day here," Peng Seo-jin remarked.
Jegal Gil nodded at his words.
"In cases like this, time is of the essence. It's better to be busy now than later."
"I see."
As Peng Seo-jin nodded in understanding, Jegal Gil took out some paper from his breast pocket and added some additional notes.
It seemed to be his habit to record things whenever he had a moment.
"I think we're done here for now. But just in case, if we need to examine anything again, I'll ask for your help then."
"Understood."
Jegal Gil put the paper back in his pocket and looked at Peng Seo-jin.
There was one last place left to visit.
It was where the incident had occurred.
In a mountain some distance from the Peng Family compound.
Having just arrived, Jegal Gil looked around and asked:
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Peng Seo-jin nodded and added a brief explanation.
"Though there's a main road here, it sees less traffic than you might expect for its size. That's because there are several similar roads nearby."
"Hmm. I see."
It was quite a scenic location.
Which made it hard to believe that such a horrific tragedy had unfolded here.
"At the time, this place was truly like hell on earth. There were bodies everywhere. Naturally, the stench of blood was so overwhelming that it was difficult to breathe."
Peng Seo-jin frowned as he recalled the scene.
It was not a pleasant memory, so his reaction was understandable.
"Why did you come here at that time, Young Master?"
It wasn't as if passersby had discovered the scene - Peng Seo-jin had been the first to find it.
Though the question could have been taken poorly, Peng Seo-jin answered without any sign of offense.
"When I heard that the Scholar Forest Group had left so abruptly, I came to at least bid them farewell somehow."
"Farewell? Was that really necessary?"
Even if they had been expected guests, given how they had behaved so terribly within the family compound, was there really any need for such courtesy?
It wouldn't have been strange to be glad they were gone.
But Peng Seo-jin seemed to think differently.
"Yes. I felt it wouldn't be good to part on bad terms with people from the Murim Alliance. Though they showed no respect for our Peng Family until the very end, we couldn't stoop to their level. If this were just between individuals it would be one thing, but I considered how it might affect relations between the Murim Alliance and the Peng Family."
He was truly a remarkable person.
This man, known to be as fierce as his title "Mad Dragon" suggested once battle began, now showed the cool-headed demeanor of a consummate politician.
And at other times, he could be endlessly kind and gentle.
He was truly an unpredictable figure.
One thing was certain - he was more than worthy of being called one of the current Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes.
In any case, Jegal Gil seemed satisfied with Peng Seo-jin's answer.
Above all, it seemed highly unlikely that Peng Seo-jin could be involved with the Demonic Cult.
He had no reason to be.
Soon, Jegal Gil began examining the surroundings one by one.
The more he considered the situation, the clearer the Demonic Cult's intentions seemed.
They must have aimed to lower the morale of the Orthodox Faction and Murim Alliance by eliminating the Scholar Forest Group.
Rather, what he couldn't understand was why the Scholar Forest Group had left the Peng Family so early, not long after arriving.
Because they had injured a White Wolf Unit member?
While that might be a significant reason for others, from what he had heard about the Scholar Forest Group, it seemed unlikely they would have hurriedly left the Peng Family for such a trivial reason.
If anything, they would have been more likely to shamelessly cause even more trouble.
Hmm.
Something about this incident felt subtly off, as if an important piece were missing.
Though he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
That's when,
"Hm?"
As Jegal Gil slowly examined the surroundings, something caught his eye.
What's that...?
His eyes gleamed.
He had found a new clue.
Jegal Gil carefully collected the evidence.
Without anyone noticing.
At this point, before reaching any conclusions about the truth of the incident, there was no need to share all the clues.
He intended to look into it further on his own until something definitive emerged.
Jegal Gil continued examining the scene but found nothing else of note.
Soon, he nodded and looked at Peng Seo-jin.
Today's investigation was complete.
Evening had fallen before they knew it.
It was quite late, late enough for most to be asleep.
But Jegal Gil was still digging into the case late into the night.
"Hmm."
He had laid out papers densely covered in notes on his desk in order, and was now staring at them intently.
This was his method.
He always liked to spread out his materials like this and ponder over them.
Perhaps some might not understand why he was so fixated on a case where the conclusion seemed obvious.
But Jegal Gil thought differently.
An investigator should never assume any case is straightforward.
There might always be more to uncover.
By approaching cases with the mindset that the truth might be misunderstood, one could better prevent injustice and catch criminals who might otherwise escape punishment.
It was by always working this way that Jegal Gil had come to be recognized as the Murim Alliance's top investigator.
But he didn't do this work simply to be acknowledged as the best.
It all stemmed from his original motivation for starting this work.
Long ago, a close friend of his had suddenly died one day.
At the time, everyone assumed it was a simple case of sudden death.
But the investigator looking into the case at the time uncovered the truth.
In fact, his friend's death was a murder motivated by grudge, using a method that exploited the deceased's severe allergic reaction to a certain food.
To the young Jegal Gil watching from the sidelines, that investigator's work left a deep impression.
That experience led Jegal Gil to become an investigator, setting aside his family duties.
It was the first time anyone from the Jegal Family had become a Murim Alliance investigator.
But the people of his family did not welcome Jegal Gil's choice.
Rather, they would nag him whenever they saw him, asking why he was doing such trivial work.
But his brother Jegal Mun, the Chief Strategist of the Murim Alliance, was different.
He always defended his younger brother's choice.
Jegal Mun was the only blood relative who supported the path Jegal Gil had chosen.
So Jegal Gil always felt deeply grateful to his brother.
And he was willing to do anything his brother asked of him.
Now his brother had asked him to take on this case.
So Jegal Gil was determined to do his absolute best with this investigation.
He would question every seemingly obvious fact, searching for any hidden truths that might exist.
Sure enough.
The more closely he examined this case, the more strange points emerged.
Above all, the wounds on the bodies.
Some of the Scholar Forest Group members had clearly died at the hands of the Black Kill Squad.
The wounds showed they had been killed while fleeing.
But for mutual destruction to have occurred, there should have been signs of a fierce battle, yet strangely, the bodies all bore clean, uniform wounds without any excess.
Moreover, the methods were all simple slashes or stabs.
What was wrong with that?
This wasn't a fight between martial arts novices - both the Scholar Forest Group and the Demonic Cult's Black Kill Squad were composed of highly skilled masters.
In that case, it would have been natural for them to unleash their ultimate techniques in desperate moments.
Yet examining the bodies revealed no trace of such techniques anywhere.
How could this be?
And another thing.
Jegal Gil looked at the new piece of evidence he had found at the scene, laid out on his desk.
It was a leaf.
An ordinary tree leaf.
But this tree leaf had turned gray.
From what Jegal Gil knew, this indicated one thing.
That a certain poison had been released in that place.
If it was poison, the Demonic Cult must have used it.
No matter how reckless they were, the Scholar Forest Group wouldn't normally carry poison around.
Especially not when they were so confident in their martial arts.
Soon, Jegal Gil took out several powders and began sprinkling them one by one on the leaf.
After a while with no reaction, the leaf suddenly responded to one powder, returning to its original green color.
The poison had been neutralized.
"Qi-blocking poison..."
The Black Kill Squad had used this poison, which prevents the use of internal energy when struck, against the Scholar Forest Group?
It didn't make sense that the Scholar Forest Group could have fought the Black Kill Squad to mutual destruction in such a situation.
Moreover, if the Black Kill Squad's goal was simply to kill the Scholar Forest Group, why use qi-blocking poison? Why not kill them outright?
The more he dug into the case, the more questions arose.
Then... hmm.
Jegal Gil slowly rose from his seat.
He had mostly organized the various information in his mind.
But there were still a few loose threads that hadn't been tied up.
At times like this, revisiting the scene of the incident often helped.
Soon, he picked up his sword.
The sun had long since set.
The other Murim Alliance warriors were already fast asleep.
He considered waking them but decided against it.
He planned to make a quick trip alone, so it was better this way.
Fortunately, he remembered the location well enough.
Above all, the Jegal Family was known for their memory, and it was one of his strengths.
"Well then, shall we go?"
And so Jegal Gil set out alone.
To the place where the incident had occurred.
Not knowing what awaited him there.