Absolute Regression Chapter 581

Episode 581: Have you forgotten my request?

The area around the stage was dark.
The person who came down silently on the countless scratches on the stone floor was Geommu-geuk.
Before coming down here, Geommu-geuk sent out qi in all directions. Countless qi spread out like a spider web, checking if there was anyone hiding around.

There was no one hiding in the dark office of the white-faced man overlooking from here, nor in any other windows of the building, nor in the darkness around the stage here. That meant the entrance was well hidden.

First, I went up to the stage and checked the floor, but I couldn’t find the entrance.
I didn’t think there would be an entrance on the stage in the first place. If the fight got intense, the ground could crack or be dug up, exposing the entrance, but I don’t think they would have made an entrance in a place like that.

What if you are the kind of person who creates an entrance to a place like this? What if you are the kind of person who places significance on symbolic things?

The place where the eyes of the sword dance drama were directed was the upper part of the audience. There was a separate place where the director, the master, and the instructors sat and watched. The seats of the masters and instructors were arranged on the left and right, with the large and splendid director seat in the center.

The sword dance began from the seat of the master. The large chair, made like a Taesa, was fixed to the floor.

‘It must be here.’

Through all sorts of experiences before returning, I was quite well-versed in the organs.
The most important mindset when looking for an organ is to be certain that it is there. Strangely enough, when you are wondering, you can never see the hidden device. You have to look for it with the mindset that it is here.

Geommugeuk slowly ran his fingers under the chair, carefully examining even the smallest crack.

I looked for the chairman’s seat, then looked at the next master’s chair. I looked and looked again, and then looked at the next chair.

Then, I felt a tiny crack in the third chair. A round crack. It was the kind of tiny crack that I wouldn’t have felt if I didn’t believe it was there.

The swordsman slowly pressed down on the spot.
It felt like he was going in slightly, but the entrance was not revealed.

A normal person would have just ignored it and passed over it, but I knew about the sword dance.

‘It’s a door that opens with a double device. This is the primary device.’

The sword dance returned to the main stage.
As he sat on the chair and looked around, the yellow dragon decoration on the handle that had not moved before turned to the side. This time, just a little bit.

At that very moment!
Swish, the bottom part opened smoothly and I went down while sitting on the chair.
As I got up from the chair, the chair rose back to its original position and the door in the ceiling closed, making the surroundings pitch black.

Geommu-geuk used his divine powers to look around. He pressed the device right next to where he had landed, and the ceiling opened again and the chair lowered down. After a time for a person to sit down on the chair, it automatically went back up. It was truly a top-class machine that worked intricately and smoothly.

Geommugeuk looked around again. It was a space of about three or four pyeong, and on one wall was a device leading down to the basement.

Geommu-geuk walked carefully to the engine room. Since he didn’t know what was going on below, he didn’t enter the engine room carelessly.

Geommu-geuk searched between the organs. If there was a gap to go down, he planned to jump through it. No matter how deep it was, his martial arts skills would allow him to go down without making a sound.

But the machinery here was designed so that if you wanted to go down, you had to get on this device. If you got on the machinery, it was designed so that you would know that someone was coming down from below.

It was just then.

Swish.

Again, the door opened from above and a chair came down. The person who came down was surprisingly the Sword King. He was holding a lot of things in both hands, including alcohol and meat.

He got off the chair and climbed onto the machine.
In the place where the Sword King was looking, there was the Sword Dance in the space-time transfer technique. The moment the ceiling opened, the Sword Dance disappeared at the same time.

Geommu-geuk was looking at the Sword King because he could see outside, but the Sword King was just looking at an empty space.

Two people facing each other, inside and outside the institution.

The gaze of the swordsman turned to his feet. He was wearing the shoes he had given him as a gift.

Immediately afterwards, the machine the Sword King was riding went down.

Woohoo.

As he descended down the engine, only then did Geomwugeuk emerge from his space-time transference technique.
Geomwugeuk silently looked down into the endless darkness into which the engine had descended.

‘What are you looking for down there?’

When the sword dance came back, Yeon Baek-jin was waiting in the guest room with Ian and Seo-jin.

“The entrance was there.”

Yeon Baek-jin’s expression brightened at Geommu-geuk’s words. His premonition had come true.

“Given your personality, I thought you would put the entrance somewhere visible.”
“Good find.”

Yeon Baek-jin was delighted that he had directly discovered a place that would have a great influence on his own fate in this situation.

“Let’s go in there together right now. I’ll go with you too.”

Yeon Baek-jin wanted to go there himself. He wanted to see if there really was a peerless divine power.

But Geommugeuk firmly shook his head.

“Even if I know the entrance, I can’t just go in.”

The reason was something Yeon Baek-jin had not expected.

“There are masters around you that I cannot mess with.”

Of course, Yeon Baek-jin was surprised. There is a master that even the leader of the Demonic Cult cannot do anything about? Has he ever seen such a person in the military?

At that moment, as if it were a lie, one person came to Yeon Baek-jin’s mind.

“Are you by any chance the temporary teacher?”

I don’t know why he came to mind, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the person I saw in my brother’s office. The person who taught the Baekryongban officials strange cooking.

“That’s right. That person. As long as he’s here, it’s impossible to kill your brother. Rather, if you move rashly, you’ll die first.”
“Then why didn’t you tell that person to kill me in the first place? There would have been no need to call the White Squadron.”
“Because he’s someone you can’t treat lightly. You’ll probably be more afraid of him than the White Squadron.”

Yeon Baek-jin felt suffocated. His brother was trying to kill him, and there were masters around him that even the leader of the Demonic Cult was wary of.

Ian asked the swordmaster.

“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll have to go in when he’s not there.”

So, we must first find out what he was trying to dig up. If possible, we must intercept it first. This was a matter separate from my personal feelings toward the Sword King.

If the Sword King put this much effort into it, it would definitely be a very threatening item to the Heavenly Demon Sect.

On his way back here, Geommu-geuk had already made a plan.
Geommu-geuk looked at Yeon Baek-jin and said.

“You, you have to die. The number one in the Baeksadan hierarchy came to kill you, so wouldn’t it be strange if you didn’t die?”

Is he finally revealing his true colors? Yeon Baek-jin was startled and Geommu-geuk continued to show incomprehensible behavior.

Geommugeuk asked Ian and Seojin.

“Who can draw snakes better?”

When Ki-seok woke up and opened his eyes, someone was looking down at him.
It was a man wearing a mask and a hat pulled down to his neck, and through the open collar of his clothes he could see a coiled white snake.

‘Baek Sa-Dan!’

Of course, the man disguised as Baek Sa-dan was none other than Geommu-geuk. The one who drew the picture on his chest was Ian. Of course, Seo-jin was there to help. He needs to twist his tail one more time, his tail needs to go up higher. When the two women put their heads together, a pretty good Baek Sa was born.

Ki-seok tried to remain calm. He couldn’t have come to kill him. If he had, he wouldn’t have even been able to open his eyes.

“How did the contract go?”

Geommugeuk answered Gi-seok’s question softly.

“It ended well.”

Geommugeuk spoke in a thick voice.

“But why did you come to see me? I heard that Baeksadan doesn’t normally contact the rich.”
“This time, it’s an exception.”

Geommu-geuk went to the chair in the corner and sat down. Meanwhile, Ki-seok sat up on the bed. The opponent did not put away his sword that was placed next to the bed. That means he was confident in his skills.

“Before Yeon Baek-jin died, he said something strange.”

Ki-seok’s heart sank at those words, but he answered nonchalantly.

“What can’t a person say when he’s about to die?”

The sword dance drama quoted the words of Baek Oh-sa, the deceased Baek Sa-dan.

“Usually, they show the obvious reactions. They threaten, hate, or plead. But Yeon Baek-jin said something different.”

The words that Ki-seok had hoped would never come out came out of Geommu-geuk’s mouth.

“You guys are digging for treasure underground?”

Ki-seok was secretly angry.

‘Damn it! I should have just died, but I was just babbling nonsense.’

Ki-seok was immediately caught.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Geommugeuk said calmly.

“It was strange from the beginning. They called me, the highest ranking member of the White Knights, to kill a mere unarmed younger brother.”

Ki-seok was surprised again.

‘The author who came this time was first in the Baeksamun hierarchy.’

I know that the head of the organization asked the Baeksadan to handle this matter properly. Even so, did he send the highest ranking person?
This was because the head of the Baeksadan felt an ominous feeling for some reason, and Ki-seok misunderstood it.

‘They sent this guy to threaten us and extort money.’

They took him lightly because he was a military officer. With his reputation as the best military officer in the Central Plains, they must have smelled money. They came to extort more money from the naive military officer, but Yeon Baek-jin must have said something like that.

What can you expect from people who kill people for money? They should never have been involved in the first place.

As expected, the other person demanded money with a cold, murderous look on his face.

“I made a special move, so I should receive an additional three hundred thousand nyang.”

With such an absurd request, Ki-seok anticipated how things would turn out.

‘Because of this greed, the ranks and the crown prince will all change.’

They have no idea how many great experts there are over here.

“It’s not my place to decide. I have to report to the governor first.”

Geommugeuk spoke coldly and turned around.

“Bring three hundred thousand nyang to the Baeksadan headquarters within five days. For every day you are late, an additional one hundred thousand nyang will be added.”

The King of Swords entered Yeon Baek-in’s office after receiving an urgent message.
He could already tell from Yeon Baek-in’s expression that something serious had happened. The King of Swords sat down on his chair, pretending not to notice.

“I had a drink with the kids yesterday. Now that I feel like I’ve had enough rest, I’m going to get back to work. I’ve also taken a quick look at the officials who will be taking me underground.”

Yeon Baek-in spoke cautiously.

“Before you go, I have one urgent favor to ask of you.”
“Go ahead.”

Yeon Baek-in spoke in the calmest tone possible.

“My younger brother was killed by the Baeksadan.”

The Sword King was not surprised at all, as he had expected this situation.
Yeon Baek-in had expected him to look at him with such eyes.

Wasn’t it you who killed him, not the White Death Squad? I killed him! Say it proudly!

But the Sword King in front of him had a strange expression on his face. He even had a smile on his lips. It was clear that it wasn’t a mockery directed at him.

“But there was a problem. Before he died, he revealed the existence of the underground report to the White Squad.”

It was going to be a big problem, but the Sword King remained calm.

“What did they ask for?”
“Three hundred thousand nyang.”

Yeon Baek-in took out a thick envelope from his bosom and placed it in front of the Sword King.

“Here is three hundred thousand nyang.”

It wasn’t a request to give them this money. It was a request to take this money and deal with them. Their demands won’t end with three hundred thousand nyang.

“Originally, I would have tried to handle it myself. But in this situation, I don’t have the time to find someone to deal with the Baeksadan.”

What was even more frightening was that it might attract another wolf.
But I couldn’t just leave it alone. The White Tigers, who had smelled money, wouldn’t just let it go.

“I am ashamed to ask you this favor.”

Yeonbaek-in lowered his head.
The Sword King stared at him with an expression he couldn’t understand, then smiled.

“When you do something big, flies are bound to swarm you. I’ll take care of it.”

The sword king readily accepted his request, wondering what he was thinking.
On the contrary, Yeon Baek-in was taken aback. He had not expected that he would accept it so easily. He was prepared to listen to harsh words, and he was prepared to kneel.

But the King of Swords smiled and stood up from his seat, putting the envelope containing three hundred thousand nyang into his bosom.

“When do you plan to leave?”

As he left the office, the Sword King said.

“I have to finish class and go.”

“Today is my last class.”

The Sword King had everyone demonstrate the Yellow Dragon Sword Style. Since most of them had not learned it properly, he demonstrated the existing Yellow Dragon Sword Style.
After the officials demonstrated the Yellow Dragon Sword Style, the Sword King said to the officials.

“There aren’t many people who listen to my class diligently.”

He pointed out a few people. Geommu-geuk, Ian, Seo-jin, and even Yoo-gwang and Gyo-seok who had been following along diligently.

“Only five of you learned properly.”

The eyes of the officials looking at them were not kind. They thought that they were following absurd diets because they were in love with women or to look good to this temporary teacher.

“Follow me. I will show you a new world.”

The Sword King turned around and walked away, not even saying goodbye to the remaining officials.
The five people who had been designated followed him.

The place where the Sword King arrived was the stage for the Hwangryongban exam. The Sword King went up to the stage and asked the Sword Dance Theater.

“Where did everyone go, and why are you the only one here?”

The only person who arrived there was Geommugeuk.

“I sent out a telegram telling you to run. Ian should be taking you to the main school by now.”

The sword dance came up onto the stage and stood in front of him.

“Why all of a sudden?”

The Sword King asked with a blank expression, but the Sword Master knew his intentions.

“Because I knew that the teacher had figured out my plan.”

There was only one reason why he came here, and not just himself, but also all the other officials. He wanted to take everyone down to the underground.
That situation must have been a huge burden to Geommu-geuk.

“Can’t one shield protect four?”

The Sword King laughed loudly. He didn’t feel at all sorry that the other four didn’t follow him. Rather, his face looked like he had somewhat expected this to happen.

“If you were on our side, we would have achieved our goal already.”

I didn’t ask what the goal was. We weren’t in a relationship yet where I could tell him that. I should save that question. If I ask it just once, it will have power.

The Sword King took an envelope out of his bosom and gave it to Geommugeuk.

“What is this?”
“You asked for it?”

When I opened it, there was three hundred thousand nyang inside.

“You know what I’m planning, and
you’re still giving me the money?” “It’s not my money anyway. I’ll show off to him by taking care of this, and I’ll show off to you by giving you the money.”

As expected, this person is no ordinary person.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have asked for a million nyang.”
“It would have been more regrettable if I had. I would have died before I could use it all anyway.”

Geommu-geuk smiled as he put the money in his pocket. The shoes he had given must have been worth three hundred thousand nyang.

“But how did you know that I planned this?”
“When I heard from the governor that Yeon Baek-jin was dead, I knew right away.”

It was for this very reason.

“Aren’t you the type of person who wouldn’t let someone they’re fated to die easily? There’s no way Yeon Baek-jin would have died to someone like Baek Sa-dan.”

He knew exactly what he was talking about.

“You overestimate me.”
“You still underestimate me. That’s why I’m keeping you alive.”

And that feeling was also related to the reason why I called the Geommu Theater here today.

“You didn’t forget that you promised to do me a favor, did you?”
“Of course.”

What kind of favor was he trying to ask?
Since it was said off-stage, I had a feeling it would be a request related to fighting.
However, the Sword King’s request was truly unexpected.

“Come dig some ground with me.”