Chapter 131: The Bait Must Be Dangled to Be Tasty (3)

Thankfully, the club activity time ended before I could get completely brainwashed.

"Disciple Il-mok. There's still time left before lights out, so let's talk a bit more..."

"Sorry, but I'm out."

The students who'd been eagerly debating tried to hold me back, but I bolted out of the building without a second thought.

As I rushed toward the Black Dragon Hall...

"Hahaha! I'm sure you'll join the Doctrine Research Club!"

Instructor Jeong Gyu-seok's friendly laughter echoed in my ears.

***

My club tour continued even after my experiences with the Theater and Doctrine Research Clubs.

But honestly, none of the remaining clubs were particularly useful.

It wasn't about my interests or hobbies. The problem was that all the other clubs were run by instructors from senior year.

It all went back to the incident where I first felt a sense of unease in the Hall, when I ended up stranded in the Peach Blossom Ridge. I had been avoiding someone’s presence when I accidentally slipped through the formation of the exam grounds. It could have been a series of unbelievable coincidences, but the circumstances strongly suggested there was a mole among the instructors or assistants.

And since the senior class was out on practical training with the martial unit at that time, the only suspects were the instructors and assistants managing our class.

Of course, there could be spies among the senior class too, but it made sense to focus on the most likely suspects first.

In that regard, there was only one club left for me to visit.

The place I really didn't want to go to since it caused psychological revulsion for me. But also the place where one of the main suspects served as the supervising instructor.

The Bodybuilding Club.

***

"Bwahaha! Welcome, Disciple Il-mok!" Instructor Cheok Il-so greeted Il-mok with a hearty laugh.

"We've been waiting for you, Disciple Il-mok!"

"I thought my neck was gonna snap from all the waiting, Junior Il-mok! Hahaha. Why'd you come to our Bodybuilding Club last of all?"

"Obviously, he saved the most interesting club for last!"

"Bwahaha! That's right! If he'd come to our club first, the other clubs would've seemed boring as hell!"

Dokgo Pae and Mak Ho-yeol chattered excitedly amongst themselves.

"Sigh."

And then there was Gwak Sul, standing a step away, sighing as if he were a complete stranger.

‘Why the hell are they all shirtless...’

The sweat dripping down their muscles kept triggering Il-mok's hygiene obsessions, making him want to turn around and leave immediately.

"Come on! Take off your shirt!”

At Cheok Il-so's order, Il-mok sighed and asked back.

"Why do I need to take my shirt off?"

"Bwahaha! Well, it's so we can examine each other's muscles more closely. You can only achieve truly effective training by observing the detailed movements of muscles!"

It was actually a reasonable point.

Il-mok wasn't much of a fitness enthusiast even in the modern world, but he'd heard about it before.

People said it was good to wear form-fitting clothes or sleeveless tops that showed your body lines when working out.

Gym and pilates enthusiasts always wore tight clothes or nearly backless sleeveless tops.

But Il-mok had already witnessed something he shouldn't have seen.

The horrifying sight of them stripping off their shirts and groping each other's muscles.

Ugh.

The moment someone touched his body with sweaty hands, he felt like he might reflexively draw his sword.

"...Don't you think it's unnecessary to strip? I mean, you don't take off your pants just because you're training your legs, right?"

Il-mok tried to get around it with sophistry, but the response was spectacular.

"How did you know that, junior Il-mok?"

"Hahaha! Looks like Disciple Il-mok has been watching us closely!"

"???"

‘What kind of crazy shit have these lunatics been doing in the middle of the main training grounds where everyone can see?’

Ignoring my horrified expression, Instructor Cheok Il-so suddenly stripped off his pants with a proud flourish.

‘What the fuck?!’

Il-mok quickly turned his head away, not wanting to see that horrific sight, but Instructor Cheok Il-so's laughter drilled into his ears.

“Hahaha! Don’t you worry! It’s not like I’m only wearing my undergarments!”

At those words, Il-mok cautiously turned his head back to see that Instructor Cheok Il-so was wearing pretty short pants that came up to about a third of his thighs.

"These are special training pants I made myself for external martial arts training! Bwahaha!"

A quick glance revealed they were pretty crappy, hardly worthy of being called "self-made."

Rather than being carefully sewn or tailored, it looked like he'd just cut off the bottom of regular pants with something sharp.

Apparently, he'd chopped up perfectly good pants as short as possible to examine muscles closely.

"We were so impressed by the instructor's pants that we made our own too!"

As if moved by Cheok Il-so's exhibitionism, Mak Ho-yeol and Dokgo Pae also stripped off their pants one after another.

Sure enough, they were also wearing shorts that ended at the one-third mark of their thighs.

‘They did a real sloppy job cutting those.’

The frayed threads at the hem were coming loose. Maybe they'd gotten worn out during external martial arts training from all the muscle contractions and expansions, then frayed even more during washing.

Il-mok thought to himself: With a bit of bad luck, those shorts could very well rip completely, leading to a disaster.

Of course, those crazy bastards would probably just laugh off something like that.

‘I don't want to see that disgusting sight!’

While Il-mok was frantically shaking his head at the revolting scene that had popped into his mind...

"Hahaha! I was planning to focus mainly on upper body muscle training since it's your first day, but if you're interested, I can make your pants like this too. Hahaha!"

As if responding to Instructor Cheok Il-so's hearty laughter, his whole body's muscles flexed and bulged.

Thanks to wearing nothing but what might have been pants or boxer shorts, the movement was utterly and obscenely exposed.

Ugh.

He quickly looked away in disgust, but...

"Bwahaha!"

"Ahahahahaha!"

All he could see were Mak Ho-yeol and Dokgo Pae in similar states.

‘I should just cut them all down!’

‘Purify those dirty, sweat-soaked bodies!’

Il-mok felt his hand unconsciously reaching for his sword.

***

That night.

After surviving the horrific club experience, Il-mok visited the infirmary again for the first time in seven days.

"Did you find any leads, Young Master?"

Il-mok let out a deep sigh before answering.

"Whew. Well, I don't think it's Instructor Eun Ryeo."

She didn't seem particularly eager to recruit him into the Theater Club. It felt more like she was reluctantly accepting him.

Plus...

‘The fact that she was with me during Instructor Chu Il-hwan's rampage pretty much clears her of suspicion.’

As if agreeing with Il-mok's reasoning, Physician Seo Jae-pil nodded.

“I also conducted two more rounds of counseling with the instructors over the past seven days, and Instructor Eun Ryeo’s attitude was certainly consistent.”

Eun Ryeo consistently talked about her concerns for Jeong Hyeon. She did mention Il-mok too, but consistently described him as just a troublemaker bothering Jeong Hyeon.

"Hmm. I'm curious about what exactly was said."

At Il-mok's question, Physician Seo Jae-pil smiled and replied.

"Patient counseling records can't be disclosed. You know that, Young Master."

He wasn’t hiding that to insult Il-mok. As he said, those were the regulations of the Pure Mind Hall.

Counseling content was shared among physicians for research purposes, but even then, all names were kept confidential.

This was just a special case where they were providing limited information necessary for deducing the spy.

Since Il-mok knew this fact, he just shrugged and accepted it easily.

"Can't be helped."

After all, he was the one who had proposed and established this system in the first place.

"So what about Instructor Ma Do-yeong? I still find him the most suspicious."

At Il-mok's question, the smile disappeared from Seo Jae-pil's face.

***

The Vice Hall Master's office at the Hall of the Demonic Way.

Vice Hall Master Yu Geuk and another instructor were concluding a formal discussion about Hall business.

"What do you think about Instructor Ma?"

The instructor, who had been pondering for a moment, carefully spoke up.

"So that instructor really was the reinforcement sent by 'that person'?"

"That's right."

"...Sigh. Honestly, I felt like he was moving too conspicuously," the instructor said with a deep sigh.

In case of emergencies, they operated as a kind of cell network.

The instructor hadn't been informed that Ma Do-yeong was a comrade, and Ma Do-yeong also knew there was another colleague but didn't know who it was.

Only Yu Geuk, their superior, would meet with them alternately and give orders.

In fact, this instructor had been recruited by Yu Geuk and was, for all intents and purposes, his subordinate. Unlike Yu Geuk, he didn't know exactly who 'that person' was.

Whether Ma Do-yeong was in the same boat, even Yu Geuk couldn’t say.

"Apparently, 'that person' took the Hall's affairs too lightly."

"...Probably thought it was just teaching some kids."

People who hadn't worked as instructors at the Hall of the Demonic Way would never understand.

What was so difficult about teaching some kids martial arts and various knowledge?

But the real problem wasn't about how skilled the teacher was. Dealing with young people was a separate issue altogether. Especially young ones suffering from the side effects of Demonic Arts.

‘Sigh. If only this were the old Hall of the Demonic Way, this would've been easy to finish.’

Unlike Chu Il-hwan or the instructor in front of him, Yu Geuk was someone who had graduated from the Hall of the Demonic Way of the old days, just like the current Hall Master.

That hellish education process where half the disciples died before graduation.

If he’d been given the mission to kill the Eighth Young Master back then, it would have been simple. He could have just made it look like an accident during a difficult mission or training session.

But not now.

While there were still occasional disappearances and serious injuries at the current Hall, deaths were rare, happening only once every few years. If a death occurred now and the circumstances were suspicious, it would risk an investigation..

While Yu Geuk briefly reminisced about the grim atmosphere of the Hall he'd experienced in his youth, the instructor in front of him carefully spoke up.

"The fact that you told me about Instructor Ma, does that mean you've made some kind of decision?"

Pulled from his reverie, Yu Geuk returned to his cold face and nodded.

“The sudden stationing of a physician from the Pure Mind Hall, and Young Master Il-mok frequently visiting the infirmary under the guise of counseling… it seems neither he nor the Supreme One has let go of their suspicions.”

“I felt the same, Vice Hall Master. During my counseling sessions, while not overt, I felt a strange sense of unease.”

"Given that, I think it's only a matter of time before Instructor Ma gets caught."

The fact that they hadn't arrested Ma Do-yeong yet suggested they hadn’t figured everything out completely. But in Yu Geuk’s view, it wouldn’t be long.

"So, do you have some plan in mind?"

At the instructor's question, Yu Geuk nodded and replied, “I intend to deal with them together. With the youngest lord.”

"!!!"

Yu Geuk ignored the instructor's shocked expression and continued his explanation.

"I'm thinking of setting up a reasonably sloppy trap and giving false orders to Instructor Ma. Then, right after Instructor Ma kills the Eighth Young Master, you and I will step in and take care of Instructor Ma."

The instructor asked with a tense expression after hearing the risky plan. “Won’t that only deepen their suspicion of us?”

“We can just use the excuse that his resistance was fierce while we were trying to subdue him. Either way, we dealt with a murderer. We didn't attack the Eight Young Master. Besides, since Instructor Ma is already under suspicion, we need to deal with him anyway.”

Even with Yu Geuk's explanation, the instructor's worries weren't completely gone.

"I'm not sure if 'that person' you follow will be satisfied with this."

"Don't worry. 'That person' wasn't directly involved in bringing Instructor Ma here. Moreover, dead men tell no tales, do they? The moment Ma Do-yeong dies, the tail disappears too."

Having finished his explanation, Yu Geuk's cold expression twisted strangely.

"And Instructor Ma told me something interesting."

"Something interesting?"

His eyes gleamed dangerously as one corner of his mouth lifted crookedly in a sneer.

"He said that in urgent situations, it is standard procedure to act first and report later. So now, shouldn't we kill Instructor Ma and report to that person later?"

At Yu Geuk's words, the instructor's mouth also twisted strangely.

"As you said, Vice Hall Master, dead men tell no tales."