WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Former Supreme ◈
Chapter 97: If You Cannot Prove It (2)
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"What if you can't prove it?"
Yeom Hwasin asked coldly.
Even in this situation, Baek Socheon noticed the flicker of curiosity in Yeom Hwasin's eyes.
"Knowing your temperament, would you really just let me go?"
Everyone watching expected Yeom Hwasin to kill Baek Socheon.
Baek Socheon, however, was certain he would not. Yeom Hwasin would mock him to his heart's content, then leave him alive.
What Yeom Hwasin truly wanted was to proudly show him everything that followed. He would start a war and make Baek Socheon watch as he achieved the unification of the martial world.
Then, at the most decisive moment, he would kill him.
So the answer to the question of what would happen if he failed to prove it was not his death, but the outbreak of war.
With Yeom Sawon's corpse between them, the two men's gazes met in midair.
"Do you want to die here?"
"I think I'd rather die than be falsely accused of killing your son."
"A false charge?"
"Yes. The false charge you pinned on me."
Baek Socheon was so confident that the gathered martial artists began to wonder whether there was some hidden truth they did not know.
"May I examine the body for a moment? Of course, I won't damage it or show any disrespect."
When Yeom Hwasin hesitated, Baek Socheon spoke again.
"I think someone who may be falsely accused of murder deserves at least that much of an opportunity."
Everyone watching nodded. They had not yet taken either side. Naturally, as members of the orthodox faction, they stood with Baek Socheon, but they remained neutral in this matter, at least.
They had all clearly seen Yeom Sawon die during his duel with Baek Socheon.
Even so, many still suspected that Baek Socheon was simply making excuses.
When Baek Socheon pressed the matter this far, Yeom Hwasin lowered the corpse onto the duel platform.
"Fine. Take a look."
"Thank you."
Baek Socheon slowly examined the body.
'He couldn't have simply died. There has to be a trace left on the corpse.'
Not a single drop of blood had been spilled, so the injury had to be internal. It was unfortunate that he could not use internal energy to examine the meridians and internal organs. Yeom Hwasin was standing too close for him to risk using it.
Baek Socheon opened Yeom Sawon's outer robe. Beneath it, he wore the Black Dragon Divine Armor.
The moment Baek Socheon tried to remove it, Yeom Hwasin shouted.
"Show proper respect to the deceased!"
He meant that Yeom Sawon was not to be stripped naked in front of everyone.
Baek Socheon examined the rest of the body, excluding the parts covered by the Black Dragon Divine Armor. The armor would have protected his body, so if he had been struck by a hidden weapon, it would have been somewhere the armor did not cover.
Baek Socheon inspected Yeom Sawon's body closely. If someone watching had launched finger wind, there would definitely be an injury. Or perhaps someone had fired a hidden weapon.
Yet there was not a single wound on Yeom Sawon's exposed body.
Ak Sogun sent Baek Socheon a voice transmission.
-I'm telling you this in case it helps. We were concerned that Alliance Leader Yeom might interfere in the duel, so Murim Alliance masters were watching him and the Black Heaven Alliance martial artists. But none of them moved.
In other words, no hidden weapon had come from Yeom Hwasin's side.
Baek Socheon did not answer. Yeom Hwasin was standing right in front of him, so he could not use internal energy to send a voice transmission either.
Everyone held their breath as they watched.
After a while, Yeom Hwasin asked, "Do you still need to search further?"
He looked down at Baek Socheon with contempt. There was no anger in his eyes. If anything, he seemed to find the situation amusing.
'He definitely killed him.'
Baek Socheon was sure of it. Yeom Sawon's inexplicably intense killing intent alone proved as much.
'But how?'
Baek Socheon's gaze returned to Yeom Sawon.
The crowd watched with regretful expressions. It seemed impossible for Baek Socheon to discover the cause of death. Quite a few people present were convinced that Baek Socheon had killed him.
"Well, I believe I've given you enough time."
Just as he was about to give up, a thought flashed through Baek Socheon's mind.
'Could it be?'
Baek Socheon opened Yeom Sawon's mouth and smelled it.
A strange, foul stench rushed out.
"Young Master Yeom was poisoned to death!"
The martial artists broke into murmurs at Baek Socheon's shout. Poisoned during a duel? It was an utterly unexpected claim.
When he had shouted just now, Baek Socheon had watched Yeom Hwasin.
No matter how well Yeom Hwasin hid his emotions, he had clearly flinched at the words poisoned to death.
'I'm certain!'
Yeom Hwasin crouched until his face was level with Baek Socheon's.
"Is there any sign that he was poisoned?"
He spoke softly, but the weighty internal energy in his voice allowed everyone there to hear him.
Baek Socheon, on the other hand, answered loudly.
"Not anywhere exposed."
"Then you claim it is somewhere hidden?"
"That's right."
"Does that make any sense? Even if someone had used a hidden weapon, it could not pierce the Black Dragon Divine Armor."
"No one fired a hidden weapon."
"What are you talking about? Are you saying he was poisoned to death on his own, without anyone firing a hidden weapon?"
"That's right. Because this Black Dragon Divine Armor was the hidden weapon."
At that moment, Baek Socheon saw it again. Another brief flicker of agitation crossed Yeom Hwasin's face.
"You sent this Black Dragon Divine Armor to your son yesterday, after coating its interior with poison. Under that poison's influence, your son exuded unusually intense killing intent during the duel."
"His killing intent was strong during a duel? Isn't it a stretch to call that proof that he was poisoned to death?"
"There is also a strange stench coming from his mouth. It is proof that a powerful poison melted the meridians and internal organs inside his body."
Just then, someone sent Baek Socheon a voice transmission.
-There are several deadly poisons used by the unorthodox faction that activate once someone raises their internal energy beyond a certain level. Among them, there is only one that is absorbed through the skin. It is called Skin-Absorbing Poison. Those afflicted by Skin-Absorbing Poison develop more intense killing intent.
The one who had sent the voice transmission was the Medical Sage, Ban Wollyang. He had been sitting among the martial world luminaries, watching the duel as well.
Baek Socheon spoke to Yeom Hwasin.
"Wasn't the inside of the Black Dragon Divine Armor coated with Skin-Absorbing Poison? As I understand it, Skin-Absorbing Poison enters the body through the skin."
Yeom Hwasin flinched.
Normally, he managed his expression perfectly, but at this moment, the question, "How did you find that out?" was plainly written across his face.
"Skin-Absorbing Poison only takes effect when internal energy is raised beyond a certain level. Isn't that why you sent the Black Dragon Divine Armor the day before the duel?"
Silence fell over the area.
Then Ban Wollyang, who had sent the voice transmission, rose and stepped forward.
"I am Ban Wollyang, a physician of the Murim Alliance."
After introducing himself, he addressed everyone.
"Skin-Absorbing Poison reacts to a particular antidote. It will only take a moment to confirm it."
He sent his disciple to fetch a reagent that could identify Skin-Absorbing Poison.
Yeom Hwasin stared silently at Baek Socheon. His expression remained blank, but Baek Socheon was now certain that he had hit the mark.
A short while later, Ban Wollyang personally examined the inside of the Black Dragon Divine Armor. Without removing it, he scraped its inner surface with a thin wooden stick and tested it for poison.
Once the examination was complete, he spoke to the crowd.
"I swear on my name that the inside of the Black Dragon Divine Armor was coated with Skin-Absorbing Poison."
The martial artists began murmuring again. Soon, silence descended, and every gaze turned toward Yeom Hwasin.
Yeom Hwasin did not look shaken in the slightest.
"Even if he was poisoned with Skin-Absorbing Poison, how does that prove we did it? Could it not have been you who secretly infiltrated last night and applied poison to the Black Dragon Divine Armor?"
It was a desperate excuse, but also a reasonable suspicion.
"Two members of the Eighteen Ghost Swords were guarding your son. How could someone like me, with no internal energy, coat the Black Dragon Divine Armor you sent him with poison?"
"Who knows? A master from the Murim Alliance could have helped you. What wouldn't you do to win?"
He looked at Ak Sogun, as though suggesting that Ak Sogun had entered and applied the poison himself.
"Enough!" Baek Socheon shouted. "Your plan to use your son as a sacrifice, unite the unorthodox faction, raise their morale, and start a war has failed."
The martial artists began murmuring once more. Until now, they had unconsciously thought, 'Still, he was the boy's father. Could he really have done that?'
But after hearing Baek Socheon's words, another thought arose.
'Was that why he had committed such an act?'
"Don't talk nonsense!" Yeom Hwasin roared. "You are the one framing me!"
There was no way to prove beyond doubt that it had been Yeom Hwasin's doing. They could not eliminate the slightest possibility that a third party had coated Yeom Sawon's Black Dragon Divine Armor with poison.
Still, Baek Socheon thought this was enough. At the very least, the situation Yeom Hwasin had wanted had been ruined.
Then Ak Sogun's voice transmission arrived.
-What do you think? Shall we join forces and kill him now?
Baek Socheon had considered it as well. There would be many casualties, but there was certainly a chance they could kill him.
Since Baek Socheon would fight personally, they might even be able to kill Yeom Hwasin with minimal losses. Of course, the worst-case scenario was also possible. Yeom Hwasin might be stronger than expected, and Baek Socheon and Ak Sogun could both die at once. The three Black Heaven Alliance masters with Yeom Hwasin were no easy opponents either.
Having greater numbers did not automatically mean they held the advantage. The situation could become chaotic enough that they could not use their full strength.
But that was not the problem.
Baek Socheon rose and casually walked toward Ak Sogun, making it seem as though he would follow Ak Sogun's decision. Once he had put as much distance as possible between himself and Yeom Hwasin, he replied by voice transmission.
-If we join forces at the Murim Alliance headquarters and kill someone who came with only one subordinate, every member of the unorthodox faction will unite and seek revenge.
War would inevitably break out. The unorthodox faction would attack, burning with extreme hatred. That was not what Baek Socheon wanted.
-I think we should let him go today.
-All right.
Ak Sogun rose from his seat and spoke to him.
"Alliance Leader Yeom. The death of your son is deeply regrettable. Please leave for today."
Yeom Hwasin said to Ak Sogun, "I will mourn my son's death. There will be no war for the next year. But one year from now, you will pay the price for orchestrating this."
Saying there would be no war was an admission of defeat. Saying they would pay the price meant he still refused to admit that he had poisoned his son.
It was only natural. The moment he admitted it, even the unorthodox faction's morale would plummet.
Yeom Hwasin carried his son's corpse and stepped down from the duel platform.
War Ghost, Jan Baek, and Go Goeng followed behind him.
The final voice transmission came from Yeom Hwasin. His tone held both rage and admiration.
-As expected, you should have been my son.
Baek Socheon forced himself not to reply.
'You insane bastard. Know when to stop.'
They left the area.
Only then did applause rain down on Baek Socheon.
"Waaaaaah!"
If not for Baek Socheon, war could have broken out immediately.
Ban Wollyang's help had been crucial. If Ban Wollyang had not told him the exact name of the poison, Yeom Hwasin would not have backed down so easily.
Baek Socheon stepped down from the duel grounds.
There was no telling whether Yeom Hwasin would keep his promise. Still, if he did, Baek Socheon would have bought himself the year he wanted.
The first person to approach him was Myeol Jiryun.
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you."
Myeol Jiryun smiled brightly. Baek Socheon smiled back and singled her out in his thoughts.
'You're next.'
Footnotes:
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