Chapter 99: Chapter 99
Step. Stepping down to the ground like a bird, Myo Chae-gyeong approached Jang I-seo, radiating a chilling killing intent as if Gwa-pyeong didn’t exist.
Reaching point-blank range, she enunciated each syllable.
“Jang. I. Seo.”
The continuation of a bitter grudge.
*
The Flying Dragon Hall Master, the Ten-Thousand-Li Bird, Myo Chae-gyeong.
Her grudge with him dated back to when Jang I-seo was still a Counter-Espionage Squad Leader. Specifically, to when he threw Hwan-ik, the Vice Hall Master of the Flying Dragon Hall, into Duora Prison as a spy.
To be precise, it began when Hwan-ik’s nephew was brought into the Counter-Espionage Division on charges of stealing confidential documents from Hwan-ik’s residence and passing them along.
‘Where is my nephew! Release him at once! Do you know who I am!’
Hwan-ik had barged into the Counter-Espionage Division, throwing every kind of tantrum demanding his nephew’s release, and Jang I-seo had happened to be there.
What followed was history.
Jang I-seo went all out, tailing Hwan-ik and exposing to the world that the nephew was merely a front. Hwan-ik had orchestrated everything himself.
He had deliberately leaked information for his nephew to steal, making it look like a blunder the boy had committed by mistake.
Hwan-ik was thrown into Duora Prison, and Jang I-seo confiscated his entire fortune, handing half to the families of the dead agents.
The case was closed.
However.
‘How dare a mere Counter-Espionage Squad Leader touch the Flying Dragon Hall? Hohohoho. To think such humiliation existed.’
A massive stain had been carved into the Flying Dragon Hall’s history of training and managing spies.
Thanks to that incident, Jang I-seo’s full name was seared into the Flying Dragon Hall Master Myo Chae-gyeong’s mind.
As the name of a mortal enemy who had to be dragged off and thrown into a cell someday.
“Hohohoho! To think the day of vengeance would arrive today. I can finally drag you to Duora Prison with my own hands.”
“…It’s been a while, Hall Master.”
“It’s been a while, Hall Master?! Did you just dare speak to me like that? You?!”
VWOOM!
Myo Chae-gyeong’s pure white feather coat fluttered. Internal energy so immense it seemed it could slice through skin.
She was definitely a master. A cut above even Wang-u!
“I call the Hall Master a Hall Master. What else would I call you? As you know, I’m no longer just a Squad Leader.”
Insolent! PA-PA-PAT! Myo Chae-gyeong flicked her hand, and dozens of pure white feathers embedded themselves into the ground around Jang I-seo. Considering it was solid stone, one could imagine how razor-sharp they were.
But not a single one struck his body.
In the past, he would have been torn to shreds, but now the difference in class was undeniable.
He wasn’t small fry anymore. He was a big catch who would bite back hard if mishandled.
“Hohoho! Very well. You became an adjutant, I hear?”
Myo Chae-gyeong bared her fury in a smile. A true demon in the flesh.
“Seeing how the Hall Master freed that spy bastard Hwan-ik from Duora Prison in just one year, I realized that power is the answer. So I climbed up a bit. And now that I’m here, it’s not so bad.”
“Hohohoho, no, that’s not it, is it? You’re simply a spy. A despicable, treacherous insect that snuck into this cult. You became an adjutant because you received orders from above, nothing more.”
“What…”
“What? Does it feel unjust having the same done to you? Hohoho! You should have chosen your targets more carefully.”
No, it wasn’t that. It was because he was too accurate.
“We’re both busy with official business, so let’s end the nonsense here.”
“N-nonsense?!”
“If you were stationed nearby, you’d already know. I didn’t come here alone.”
Myo Chae-gyeong’s brow furrowed violently. Right. She knew. She knew he had come with the Seventh Young Master. Calling him a spy and whatnot was just venting.
Jang I-seo spoke with a dissembling gaze, cutting straight to the point.
“What is your reason for being here, Hall Master?”
“Why do you think? Because of the task the Guardian Dragon Hall entrusted to us.”
“The Iron Horse Bandits?”
“Correct. So hand over that man and get lost. Before I drag you in.”
At her gesture, her subordinates stepped closer.
There was no reason not to comply.
Jang I-seo took a step back.
But why?
In that moment, his stomach twisted, and a strange feeling came over him.
‘I never said this man was an Iron Horse Bandit…?’
He turned his head and studied Myo Chae-gyeong.
And he saw it.
A subtle tremor in her expression.
‘What scheme is she plotting now?’
Jang I-seo reinterpreted the current situation.
‘Myo Chae-gyeong knows this man is with the Iron Horse Bandits. She could have learned that during the extensive tracking she’s done at Ji Dae-ho’s request. But why now…? If she wanted to catch them, it would have been easier at the Bumun Inn.’
Jang I-seo surveyed his surroundings again. Though not overtly visible, everyone’s eyes lacked focus, and their lips were dry.
This was a deeply troubling sign.
Moreover, despite being the elite, their footsteps were sluggish, and their hands held hesitation.
Which meant.
‘They have no intention of catching him?’
Why.
They were definitely not on the same side. Then was she deliberately letting him go?
What did she hope to gain by releasing him?
Don’t tell me.
‘Is she trying to find their stronghold?’
A thoroughly reasonable possibility.
However…
“What are you doing? Get lost already.”
The Flying Dragon Hall Master Myo Chae-gyeong barked.
Looking at her, Jang I-seo found it even harder to understand.
‘The Flying Dragon Hall Master isn’t one with free time. She doesn’t move personally unless it’s a major matter. Especially not for a mission that requires her to deliberately fail, like now. Yet here she is, leading her elite forces in person.’
That meant this mission was significant enough to warrant her personal involvement.
Why.
‘Does she know about Maeng Hwi’s kidnapping?’
Jang I-seo’s eyes narrowed.
Her boots and clothes were covered in dust. Uncharacteristic for a woman who favored pristine white and tidiness.
This wasn’t the state of a day or two.
She could have already been here six days ago.
If so…
‘Why hasn’t she rescued him? No, why hasn’t the fact that the Sixth Young Master was kidnapped been reported to headquarters yet? It’s been six days.’
Something was very wrong. A chill ran down his spine. And in cases like these, his instincts were almost always right.
‘Myo Chae-gyeong is a textbook demonic artist of the Demonic Cult. More ruthless than anyone, she stops at nothing to achieve her goals. Moreover, the relationship between the Maeng Family and her is one of mutual hostility.’
What if this wasn’t the first time?
What if she had first allowed Maeng Hwi’s kidnapping to happen, hoping to track their stronghold?
And then lost them all the way at the Sea of Death?
Then…?
[You figured it out.]
“…!”
Right then, a chilling sound transmission shattered Jang I-seo’s thoughts like breaking glass.
Myo Chae-gyeong.
She was standing there with a frozen face, her lips curving upward.
[You always know what you shouldn’t know. Without realizing that’s what’s hastening your death.]
Damn it. Jang I-seo clenched his jaw.
He had been too hasty. His opponent was the Flying Dragon Hall Master Myo Chae-gyeong. A master of every scheme and stratagem. Just as he had read her expression, he should have been aware that she could read him in return. He should have stopped thinking.
“Listen well, all of you! Third Grade Ghost Adjutant Jang I-seo not only came outside the cult without a permit, but he brazenly conspired with the Iron Horse Bandits!”
This crazy bitch!
At the Flying Dragon Hall Master’s preposterous declaration, Jang I-seo was stunned.
Even Gwa-pyeong, who had been standing there perfectly fine, found it absurd.
“Who’s on whose side! You bird-brained bitch… Kuh!”
THWICK! The moment Gwa-pyeong lunged forward in a rage, a feather embedded itself into the back of his hand. Blood dripped steadily. That was how advanced her mastery was.
“I, the Flying Dragon Hall Master, have reached this conclusion. Therefore, it is so. Understood?”
What kind of lunatic existed in this world? Gwa-pyeong was appalled.
But the Demonic Cult was precisely the kind of place overflowing with such madmen.
“Hey, what in the world is this situation?”
Gwa-pyeong whispered to Jang I-seo. Jang I-seo answered with his expression. Completely screwed.
“You were on the same side, but a petty squabble led to infighting, and you fought and died here. Hohohoho!”
She was serious. She was trying to kill him to cover up the Flying Dragon Hall’s failure.
“Hall Master. Do you actually think this makes any sense?”
“Making sense of the nonsensical is my job. Don’t worry about things above your station and just die. When King Yama asks why you came, tell him it was because of your uselessly spinning head.”
Myo Chae-gyeong lowered her raised lips and gestured to her subordinates.
Then, Swish! The warriors closed in, radiating a far more murderous intent than before.
Surrounded on all sides.
As they backed away, Gwa-pyeong and Jang I-seo ended up in the bizarre situation of standing back to back.
“Heh, weren’t they all on your side?”
“In this world, there are always more people on someone else’s side than on yours.”
He was cracking jokes at a time like this. Gwa-pyeong involuntarily burst out laughing at Jang I-seo’s response.
Jang I-seo spoke in a low voice.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
Perhaps feeling kinship at suddenly finding themselves in the same boat, Gwa-pyeong answered with as little malice as possible.
“What.”
“The boy you took. Is he still alive?”
“You’re worried about that kid even after being framed?”
“There’s no time. Just answer the question.”
‘This bastard…’
Gwa-pyeong saw Jang I-seo in a new light. Wasn’t he quite a righteous man?
“…What do you take us for! We don’t kill women and children.”
“Really?”
Gwa-pyeong nodded seriously and spoke.
“We just sell them.”
Why, this son of a… As Jang I-seo glared coldly, Gwa-pyeong panicked and hastily explained.
“Calm down! He should still be safe. There’s still time before the slave market opens.”
Phew, a silver lining. Jang I-seo exhaled in relief, surveyed the closer Flying Dragon Hall warriors, and asked urgently.
“How much time is left?”
“Roughly… three or four days?”
“Damn it! Your base is at the Sea of Death?”
Jang I-seo was appalled. Three or four days meant it was uncertain whether they could reach the Sea of Death, the desert on the southern route from here on the northern road, even if they ran nonstop.
There was no time to stand around.
Moreover, being sold into slavery meant being dragged off to the Western Regions, and the probability of ever returning was slim.
It meant Maeng Hwi would simply spend the rest of his life doing hard labor in a completely foreign land until he died.
‘He may be an heir of the Demonic Cult, but he’s only fifteen. Moreover, that boy genuinely wants to live a somewhat human life. I can’t let him go like this.’
Jang I-seo clenched his jaw.
If he hadn’t seen it, maybe. But he had spent time with Maeng Hwi and witnessed his pain and his desires.
Having seen that, how could he call himself a man of the righteous path if he looked away?
The Flying Dragon Hall warriors had closed the encirclement to within five paces.
Jang I-seo made his decision.
There was only one option left.
‘Myo Chae-gyeong. I’ll play along with your wishes today.’
“Do you want to live?”
Jang I-seo asked Gwa-pyeong in an urgent tone.
Now what was this?
“Well, is there anyone who wants to die?”
If not, then good.
“As you can see, this is the situation. All I want is the missing boy’s safety. If you take me with you, I’ll get you out of this.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that…?”
“If you don’t, you die.”
The Flying Dragon Hall’s razor-sharp swords had already closed in to arm’s reach.
Damn it.