Chapter 157: Chapter 157

Bolting out onto the street, the spy sprinted away, weaving through the crowds of people. There were people shoved aside tumbling to the ground, and stalls knocked over by his hands.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!”

“Whoa!”

Fallen people and merchants whose stalls were wrecked hurled curses and screamed, but the spy did not stop. Rather, he tried to throw the street into greater turmoil so that the enemies pursuing from behind would be hindered. However, such a sprint did not last long. Stealing a glance behind him, the spy gradually slowed his running steps. It was because the enemies who should have rushed out of the firm were nowhere in sight.

“What’s this?”

He was slightly flustered. Could they have given up on the pursuit entirely, aiming only for the documents remaining in the base? Although various pieces of information were kept there, the truly crucial details were inside the spy’s head. Naturally, capturing him to extract information was far more efficient than rummaging through scraps of paper.

The spy suddenly raised his head upward. Squinting against the dazzling sunlight, he saw Jang Geon running across the rooftops with his back to the sun.

“Holy shit!”

Spitting a curse, the spy dashed straight into the nearest merchant firm he could see. Simultaneously as he entered, Jang Geon leaped down from the roof and landed softly on the ground. Jang Geon immediately ran into the firm following the spy.

And the instant he stepped inside, he casually caught a hammer flying toward his face. Subsequently, a saw and chisel flew in, but Jang Geon caught them effortlessly and set them down on the floor one by one.

Throwing the firm’s merchandise, the spy was momentarily dumbfounded upon seeing Jang Geon like that.

“…Fuck.”

Their eyes met as Jang Geon tossed a small hatchet lightly to the floor. Looking into those eyes, the spy felt he had crossed the wrong person.

“…There wasn’t anyone like you among the Je Clan morons.”

“My family name is Jang.”

“Jang? Jang Clan? Don’t tell me, Jang Geon?”

Astonishment surfaced on the spy’s face, followed by the realization that he was truly screwed.

“You know me?”

“Who in New Sichuan doesn’t know you right now?”

Snapping back at Jang Geon’s question, the spy flung the hammer he held. But this time, it was not aimed at Jang Geon. That hammer flew toward the firm clerk who had been staring blankly at Jang Geon and the spy. The clerk reflexively squeezed his eyes shut.

Of course, the hammer did not strike the clerk. Having approached in the blink of an eye, Jang Geon caught it instead. But in the meantime, the spy slipped out through the firm’s back door.

Jang Geon pressed the hammer into the clerk’s hand and stepped out following behind him.

Stepping outside, he saw the back of the spy sprinting down the alleyway in the distance. Prolonging this would only cause more people to get caught up in the disturbance, so Jang Geon sprinted directly after that retreating back.

The distance between the two closed in an instant. It wasn’t that the spy was slow, but Jang Geon’s speed was several times faster.

Jang Geon pulled his right hand back toward his waist. It was to strike the spy squarely on the back. While he wouldn’t kill him for the sake of interrogation, he intended to ensure he couldn’t flee any further.

At that moment, the spy spun his body around abruptly. Simultaneously, throwing stars poured forth from his hands. Dozens of darts rotated rapidly, drawing diverse trajectories.

“Die!”

The spy shouted with a contorted face. But soon, that grimace turned into a dazed expression. Far from embedding into Jang Geon’s body, the flying darts halted in midair as if blocked by an invisible wall.

“…What the fuck.”

The instant he muttered that, the darts suspended in empty air clattered to the ground all at once. And beyond them, Jang Geon strode forward, approaching the spy with steady steps. With his mouth hanging open, the spy spoke.

“…Damn it, it was only natural it would turn out like this…”

“Like this?”

The moment Jang Geon asked back, something flashed and shot out from the spy’s mouth. That glistening trajectory drew a straight line toward Jang Geon’s forehead.

However, having already fought masters of hidden weapons and grown accustomed to them, Jang Geon lightly pinched it out of midair. It was a needle so exceedingly slender it was almost the thickness of a hair. Jang Geon could recognize that this was the unbent appearance of the needle found in the family head’s corpse.

“Cough…”

Just as Jang Geon caught the needle and examined it, the spy suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood and slumped down. Seeing that, Jang Geon swiftly reached toward his body. It was an obvious routine for a spy to swallow suicide poison the moment he was discovered.

“Heh, hehe… It’s already too late…”

Watching Jang Geon, the spy smirked faintly. And in truth, his physical state justified those words. It was because the poison had already spread throughout his entire body, leaving him nearly dead.

“You already swallowed the poison when you began fleeing. Were you running to buy time for the poison to circulate?”

Leaning his back against the alley wall, the spy nodded. Following that, he vomited another mouthful of blood. His complexion turned pale in an instant.

“…I figured it’d end up like this… Fucking Je Clan bastards…”

Jang Geon pulled his hands away from his body. In such a state, his abilities could not save him. So he simply asked a question.

“Did you kill Family Head Je Gung-wol?”

“Hehe… You’re asking that? Then you’re not on the side that contracted me… Yeah, I killed him. Approached that old man sitting cross-legged and poked him deep with a needle. Pretty hollow, huh? For the master of a massive clan to go so simply…”

“You wouldn’t have walked in alone to do it. Who helped you?”

The spy smirked.

“Damn it… With so much information in my head, you ask about that crap? You think I’d tell you? Now the Je Clan bastards will suspect each other and bash each other’s heads in… Thinking about it, dying like this to complete the operation isn’t a bad outcome…”

Continuing his words, he slowly dropped his head, and soon his movements ceased. Touching his chin and looking down at him, Jang Geon stood up upon seeing that his breath had stopped. Then, he raised his head and gazed up at the sky.

Unlike the broad thoroughfares of New Sichuan, the sky was narrow in the alleyways between building and building, wall and wall. Descending beneath that narrow sky revealed a damp space, shadowed for most of the day and littered with filth and garbage discarded by people. A dark alleyway contrasting with the bright avenues.

And now, a corpse had been added to it. One whose name Jang Geon did not even know.

Looking around for a moment, Jang Geon turned his back on the corpse. Since the witness was dead, he had to hope useful information remained at the base.

* * *

When Jang Geon returned to the initial merchant firm, an acquaintance was present alongside Seom Ji-yeong, Martial Artist Yong, and Je Gyu-sang. Standing before Seom Ji-yeong, he was scratching his head as if troubled. Then, seeing Jang Geon enter the firm, he called out in pleasant surprise.

“Martial Artist Jang! We meet here again? You were still in New Sichuan?”

He was San-ho of the Murim Alliance Patrol Division. While greeting him with a nod, Jang Geon naturally looked for another face. Seeing that, San-ho chuckled.

“Senior Jeok is at the Alliance. She was promoted to Vice Commander of the Patrol Division, so she’s incredibly busy right now. You know, right? How busy the Murim Alliance is.”

“What brings you here?”

“Huh? Straight to the point?”

San-ho laughed heartily and continued.

“Naturally, I came because a disturbance broke out. While stationed in New Sichuan, the Patrol Division handles public security duties like this. Patrolling the streets and rushing over to resolve any problem that arises. Right, they said this firm’s head merchant was a suspicious fellow? Did you catch him?”

“He died.”

“…Pardon?”

Jang Geon spoke impassively.

“He swallowed poison on his own and died. His corpse should be in the alleyway.”

San-ho immediately clutched his forehead as if getting a headache. Leaving San-ho behind, Jang Geon turned to Seom Ji-yeong.

“Did you find anything?”

With a rigidly frozen expression, Seom Ji-yeong nodded.

“I found documents sufficient for evidence. Showing this to Brother Sang-cheon will resolve the situation.”

She merely showed the paper envelope slightly. It seemed she couldn’t speak in detail because of San-ho beside them. However, Jang Geon sensed something suspicious in her expression. If she had found evidence to overturn the situation, she ought to look pleased, but her expression was far too stiff.

Just then, San-ho spoke.

“I am truly sorry, but all of you must come to the Alliance for a moment. If someone has died, there is no helping it.”

Seom Ji-yeong, who had hardened her face, said in astonishment,

“What do you mean? I explained earlier. This is an affair between clans. Since when did the Murim Alliance meddle in fights between ancient great clans?”

“Ah, of course, the Alliance has customarily turned a blind eye to conflicts between ancient great clans. As long as they didn’t touch outsiders, we didn’t bother intervening. But right now, that has become somewhat difficult.”

“Difficult? Why?”

San-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“Because Princess Yu-seol is currently at the summit of the Murim Alliance. It would be difficult for me alone to simply let you go in the name of custom.”

“…Then are you saying you will hold us accountable for a crime?”

“Ah, no. Not to that extent. It’s just that you need to come and explain the circumstances to my superior. It won’t take long.”

Seom Ji-yeong bit her lip. If time dragged on, there was no telling what Outer Hall Master Je Yong-wol might do. She had to return to the clan quickly to apprehend him.

[Do not be too hasty. If truly definitive evidence has emerged, there are few moves left for that man called the Outer Hall Master. Rather, pressing too urgently might cause him to act through radical means without considering consequences. With the family head having died not long ago, having his younger brother die as well wouldn’t do the clan any good, would it?]

At Jang Geon’s voice suddenly echoing in her ear, Seom Ji-yeong’s eyes turned toward him. Gazing at Jang Geon like that for a moment, she soon tucked the paper envelope into her robes and nodded.

“Very well. Then let us go quickly.”

“Pardon? Ah, you will go? Then let us move right away.”

San-ho entrusted the cleanup of the firm and the disposal of the corpse in the alleyway mentioned by Jang Geon to the other Murim Alliance martial artists who were hearing the situation from the other clerks. He then took the lead, heading toward the Murim Alliance. Seom Ji-yeong and her martial artists, Je Gyu-sang, who had remained quietly silent, and Jang Geon at the very rear followed him.

From the very rear, Jang Geon watched the back of Seom Ji-yeong’s head with peculiar eyes.

Before long, following the lead San-ho, the group was able to cross the main gates of the Murim Alliance. Unlike when it was blockaded in days past, the wide-open main gates of the Murim Alliance saw quite a few people and carriages coming and going.

Passing through the main gates, San-ho led them straight toward a certain pavilion. Guiding them to a room with a large table, he seated the group and spoke.

“Please wait just a moment. I will bring my superior shortly.”

After he left like that, only Jang Geon, Seom Ji-yeong, Je Gyu-sang, and two martial artists, including Martial Artist Yong, remained in the room. After a brief silence, Seom Ji-yeong spoke uneasily.

“Will it truly be alright to give the Outer Hall Master time like this? Now that we have evidence, we should go and wrap it up right away.”

“Indeed. Why did we come here?”

Je Gyu-sang, who had remained quiet until now, folded his arms and spoke as well. But Jang Geon appeared nonchalant.

“What are the contents of those documents?”

“Pardon? Ah… letters from Hall Master Je Yong-wol addressed to the Yeon Clan, and clan secrets he appears to have leaked. Um, my apologies to Martial Artist Jang, but this is an important matter for the clan, so I cannot show you.”

“If you take that to the Young Clan Head, can he resolve it?”

Seom Ji-yeong nodded.

“Yes. Of course. Brother Sang-cheon is currently busy with the accession ceremony, but if I show him this, he will set aside everything else and resolve this matter first.”

“Ultimately, to the outside world, it will be known as the Young Clan Head having resolved it. As for me, I received plenty of money, so it’s fine. Are you alright with that?”

She smiled brightly.

“I am fine. And after all, it is proper that Brother Sang-cheon is the one who concludes it.”

Jang Geon quietly looked into Seom Ji-yeong’s face. And soon, he nodded as if about to close his eyes.

“I see. Then let us resolve the issue here quickly and return soon.”

Both Je Gyu-sang and Seom Ji-yeong showed bewildered expressions. Je Gyu-sang asked in disbelief.

“…Did you have to come all the way here to ask that?”

With his eyes closed, Jang Geon did not answer. He merely extended his index finger and pointed at Je Gyu-sang. And that single finger was enough to shut his mouth.

At that moment, the door San-ho had closed when leaving swung wide open. Jang Geon opened his closed eyes and smirked.

There stood Yu-seol, impeccably dressed just as he had seen before, smiling radiantly as she looked at him.