novelraw Chapter 146 : The Peng Siblings
Chapter 146 : The Peng Siblings
Chapter 146: The Peng Siblings
"I've committed a grave sin…"
The suksu admitted his crime without a single excuse or denial, then pleaded for forgiveness.
The suksu uncle confessed that he had no choice but to poison the food due to the threats from the Man Geum Trading Post.
Apparently, his son had gotten himself deeply in debt to the Man Geum Trading Post after falling into gambling, and in the end, had been taken as a hostage.
"Mujin."
"Yes, noona."
"…How did you find out?"
Even I, who had watched closely for over ten years, hadn't noticed. She must've been wondering how I saw through the betrayal in an instant.
"Trade secret."
But for a troubleshooter, like a magician, it's essential to keep their tricks hidden if they want clients to come back.
‘…!’
Salseongi made gestures, asking if I had caught on thanks to him, but I casually ignored it.
Annoyed by being ignored, he raised his middle finger at me.
He’s picked up some weird habits lately.
"Chief Jin."
Eun Hwaran snapped her fan shut.
"Send a notice to the Man Geum Trading Post. Tell them this won’t be let go, and do so formally in the name of the Eun Clan."
Her cold expression revealed that she could no longer stand their tyranny and schemes.
"However, Trading Lord, they’ll deny all ties with the suksu like a lizard shedding its tail."
"I know. Send it anyway."
There were testimonies and witnesses, but no solid evidence.
True to the nature of those who secretly tried to swallow both a trading company and an escort agency, they hadn’t left behind any definitive proof.
"And send a letter to Princess Peach Blossom as well."
A surprising name flowed from Eun Hwaran’s lips.
They had backing, but so did Eun Hwaran.
After a brief silence, Chief Jin spoke with a cold sweat trickling down his face.
"If we confront them directly, things could spiral out of control…"
He seemed worried that this incident might ignite a full-scale war between two imperial factions.
"I understand what you're worried about. But we still need to be prepared."
A feud so deep they couldn’t live under the same sky—such an enemy had been revealed, and Eun Hwaran's resolve burned.
"Even if it takes time, I will have my revenge. For Father’s sake, too."
Eunseong was only just regaining its footing and rising again, so an all-out war now would be reckless.
But as they say, A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years.
“Just you wait.”
Late afternoon, in the Trading Lord’s office.
A woman bit down hard on her teeth, vowing revenge.
I stayed at the Eunseong Trading Company for a while longer, in case there were other hidden spies.
During that time, Eun Hwaran sent a protest letter packed with furious wording to the Man Geum Trading Post.
Naturally, they just snorted and denied any connection with the suksu.
"Those bastards deserve death. They’re worse than the eunuchs the Crown Prince sent."
It had been a while since I’d seen noona this angry.
She had the exact same expression she wore when the eunuchs barged into the silkworm chamber and shouted, "Everything is a mess from top to bottom!"
Anyway, we decided to wait quietly until the Princess’s Palace responded.
In the meantime, I accepted an additional request from Eun Hwaran and was currently working someone hard at the training ground.
Thud!
“Gyaack!”
With a swift kick to the butt, Eun Yanggon let out a boar-like squeal and staggered forward.
Panting heavily with a deathly expression on his face, he looked just like I did during my first day of hellish training here.
“S-Stop! You’re going to, huff, kill me at this rate!”
“Don’t worry! I’m going easy on you!”
“Bullshit! This isn’t… Ugh!”
A kick to the ribs sent him tumbling across the ground.
As I readied myself to strike again if he resisted, Eun Yanggon gasped for breath and ran again like he was about to die.
"Next is push-ups! One for booze and gambling! Two to quit them!"
“Huuff… G-Gambling… Q-Quit…”
“LOUDER! Ten times, Night Owl!”
I demanded guttural yells from him that he probably couldn’t even understand.
Lying on the ground, he shot me a look asking what kind of grudge I held to treat him like this.
“Ilhong, what’s his deal?”
Hwang Geolgae, chewing on dried squid legs, watched me going wild on someone at the training ground and asked.
“Trading Lord said to turn that bastard back into a human.”
This incident had made it clear that letting him roam free was dangerous.
But killing him would go against Eun Hwaran’s nature, so the decision was made to try recycling him somehow.
Hence, my current project: rehabilitating the guy through “human recycling,” hoping to cure his addiction to alcohol and gambling.
“You think beating someone like that can fix them?”
“Yes. He said he’s confident just a while ago.”
“Really? I beat him plenty before, but he never changed.”
That’s because I’m not a hopeless scumbag.
If I have something to say, I say it. But only to those who really piss me off.
“Kugh! Treating people… like beasts! Beating me like this!”
I agree in principle. People shouldn’t be reformed through violence.
But when someone has nearly ruined his clan through debauchery and gambling, and nearly gotten his sister killed, too—
He deserves a more... sincere beating.
“Even after causing so much trouble for your sister, you don’t look the least bit remorseful.”
“W-Who are you calling sister?! A scoundrel like you has no place in the Eun Clan!”
“Better an adopted brother than a disowned one.”
“……Ugh!”
Back in my troubleshooter days, I’d dealt with more than a few gambling addicts.
They’d pawn off everything—even their family’s property—for another chance to bet. No persuasion ever got through to them, their brains soaked in dopamine.
That’s when I learned—if you want to fix them, you need to be even more twisted.
“This instructor can be your saint or your demon depending on how you act!”
Smack!
I drove a tightly clenched fist straight down on the crown of his head.
It was a mysterious strike—just enough to avoid cracking his skull, but plenty painful to make him see stars.
“Gah!”
Eun Yanggon twisted his entire body like he’d been struck by a bone-setting blow, scrambling to escape from me.
I relentlessly pursued him and planted flick strikes right on the crown of his head.
“Always drunk! Can’t even think straight! Keep that up and you’ll end up a beggar like that one old man who drank himself to ruin! A beggar!”
“Aaack! Aaargh!”
Eun Yanggon writhed from the stinging pain that sent jolts through his entire body every time he got hit.
“Isn’t that clearly directed at me?”
Hwang Geolgae, standing nearby, tilted his head and asked Ilhong.
“Uh, well…”
She scratched her cheek and averted her gaze, perhaps trying to defend me.
“Dabbling in gambling, and then irresponsibly abandoning your own household! At this rate, you’ll even beat your own kids someday!”
You can’t grow up to be that kind of hideous adult.
Determined to fix him before he reached that point, I picked up a staff near the training ground and started whacking him with care.
“Yep, definitely aimed at me.”
“Ahaha… It does sound like it.”
Hwang Geolgae let out a hollow laugh, as if to say, what a wicked guy.
I felt the sharp sting of someone’s glare digging into the back of my head, but I ignored it and continued Eun Yanggon’s “re-education.”
Thwack!
“Guhhak!”
This time, it wasn’t my fist but a long sparring staff that struck him.
Though not the Dog-Beating Staff, I tried wielding it with the same sense using the Dog-Beating Staff Technique.
From top-left to bottom-right. The tip of the staff sliced through the air like a blade of wind.
The subtleties of brutal strikes Hwang Geolgae occasionally showed were now flowing through the end of my staff.
As I kept swinging like this, a strange feeling started to spread from my dantian through my whole body.
A tingling sensation in my fingertips, like when I first channeled qi into a weapon.
Thwack!
A blow that left no wounds yet transmitted its pain down to the bones.
Every time I unleashed this—not with fists but with a staff—it felt as if every part of my body was connecting into one.
Staff and hand. Arm and leg. From dantian to every meridian in my body.
“Gugh… I-I’m sobered up now! Stop! I swear, I won’t drink or gamble ever again!”
It felt like I was standing on the threshold of enlightenment. It’d be such a waste to stop now.
I wanted to keep pulling at this elusive thread of understanding.
“No, you’re not sober yet.”
“I-I swear I am! I really mean it! I’ll never gamble again…!”
“I don’t trust the words of a gambler!”
Thwack!
“GAAHH─!”
Words like “I’m sobered up” from a drunkard or gambler—could anything be more hollow?
But even the lightest words carry weight when accompanied by the kind of pain that feels like your bones are breaking.
With this staff of realization, I continued beating Eun Yanggon’s body thoroughly.
“What a damned persistent bastard.”
While Ilhong and Hwang Geolgae looked on in horror.
The Princess’s Palace, where the Third Princess resides.
Lately, a strange air hung over the place.
A maid had suddenly gone missing, a palace attendant had collapsed and couldn’t get back up, and poisonous herbs—strictly forbidden—were found growing in the palace garden.
“A series of ominous signs. Ensure Princess Peach Blossom’s safety at all costs.”
“Yes, Cheon Sugong!”
The plainly dressed agents of the Eastern Depot bowed and voiced their assent.
It was clear that discipline in the Princess’s Palace had become lax.
If all this wasn’t mere coincidence, then it was surely a calculated move by that prince.
It would be ideal if the princess had a reliable martial escort by her side right now.
“Cheon Sugong, there’s also a letter from the Eunseong Trading Company.”
Moreover, the contents of the letter from Eunseong only stoked his unease.
It spoke of another scheme—this time targeting their financial line.
“Is this fragile peace about to shatter?”
A sense of looming war gathered like ominous dark clouds.
In that case, preparations were necessary.
From now on, no lapse in discipline would be allowed in the Princess’s Palace. If someone were targeting the palace, they’d surely begin with these small cracks.
“But what’s that scroll at your waist?”
Cheon Sugong suddenly noticed something on one of the Eastern Depot officers and asked suspiciously.
“Ah, this is, uh…”
Even though Cheon Sugong had asked, the officer hesitated, reluctant to show it.
“Hurry and hand it over. Are you looking to die, dawdling like that in a time like this?”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
But when he unfurled the scroll—swish—what was inside was far more curious than expected.
“What… is this?”
“This is… that picture that’s been making waves across the imperial court.”
A painting, supposedly capturing Juwol-a, famed among nobles and high officials.
“It’s truly lewd…”
Cheon Sugong had seen many portraits of beauties.
But a beautiful woman with beast ears?
“We really need to clean house.”
Things were far worse than expected. At that moment, Cheon Sugong resolved to completely purge the Princess’s Palace.
After continuing to guard Eun Hwaran for some time, it seemed no further assassination attempts were forthcoming.
So, we returned to the office.
Along with a hefty coin pouch Eun Hwaran had entrusted to us.
“With this, we can just relax and live it up for a few months!”
Ilhong gleamed with joy now that money was finally coming into the office.
“Will we, though?”
I pointed toward Ja Misung, who devoured food at a pace rivaling Cheonsalsung.
Anytime something was stocked in the pantry, she’d munch through it in an instant.
Together with me, she was the reason our office had such a staggering Engel coefficient.
“Hmm… maybe a few months is a bit much.”
Anyway, after wrapping up one job, we were waiting for the next one when—
Bang!
The front door suddenly slammed open as a massive figure stepped in.
“Is the Dog-Beating Dragon, Dan Mujin, here?”
A man so large, the word “seven-foot giant” came to mind.
On his back, he carried a broadsword that looked deadly just by sight.
“Who are you?”
“You’re the Dog-Beating Dragon? I heard you’re good at what you do, so I came on my sister’s recommendation.”
A hulking frame. Solid, powerful build. A broadsword. And he knew me—recommended by his sister, no less.
“Are you perhaps from the Hebei Peng Clan?”
“Exactly.”
No doubt about it—he bore all the hallmarks of a martial artist from the Hebei Peng Clan.
One of the Five Great Clans rooted in Beijing. Among them, a rather wealthy family.
It seemed a new patron had arrived.
“And what brings you here?”
“Rigged gambling.”
The brute spoke tersely, his breath heavy.
Just recently, I’d dealt with a gambling problem too—what a coincidence.
“Rigged gambling, you say?”
“The Man Geum Trading Post swindled my money.”
“…Oh-ho.”
So, the opponent was the very group that tried to harm his sister?
Now this was a story worth hearing.