novelraw Chapter 340 : Secret Lord Han Jin (2)
Chapter 340 : Secret Lord Han Jin (2)
Chapter 340: Secret Lord Han Jin (2)
The two of them shared a brief, pleasant laugh before Yang Gwak’s face darkened.
“By the way, I heard that Lord Bong was injured trying to kill Yong Hwarin’s disciple?”
“Yes, I only heard the news not too long ago myself.”
“He’s someone even the masters can’t control.”
“Since there’s no one who can rein him in, he seems to be acting far too recklessly. Would you like to meet with Lord Bong yourself, my lord?”
“I don’t like that hag-like woman either. Besides, it’s not my place to order her around. More likely, she’ll just try to use me. Leave her be.”
“Understood. If the Taegongs are leaving her alone, they must have their own reasons.”
At that moment, the Red-Haired Demon Empress, Lee Myeongja, disguised herself as a middle-aged beauty using the Disguise Technique and loitered near the Sky Ocean Merchant Union.
After her fight with Ha Cheollyeong, her face had become known, forcing her to disguise herself before acting.
By nature, Lee Myeongja was persistent and loved tormenting people until they were dead. There was no way she could back down like this.
No matter what, she felt she had to inflict suffering on Yong Hwarin before she could be satisfied.
So, for several days, she had been hanging around the main gate of the Sky Ocean Merchant Union, keeping a close eye on whether anyone connected to Yong Hwarin came out.
“As expected!”
Spotting one of Yong Hwarin’s close associates exiting the Sky Ocean Merchant Union, the Red-Haired Demon Empress couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation of satisfaction.
It was Demonic Master, Deung Hwaun, Seok Unjeong, Bukri Sehee, and Jeong Minji, chatting away as they came out.
They had gone out to buy supplies, as they were soon to depart for Shaolin Temple.
“The best target would be that brat’s disciple, but even if it’s not him, these ones would be enough to cause that Yong brat plenty of pain.”
The Red-Haired Demon Empress thought that as long as she was careful around Demonic Master, there would be no problem.
Besides, she already had a very fitting plan in mind, so approaching them posed no difficulty.
Seeing that all the women before her were connected to Yong Hwarin sparked a murderous intent in her eyes.
As she followed them from a distance, she waited until Jeong Minji and Bukri Sehee stopped at a street stall to choose some items, then quickly slipped into an alleyway and handed a coin pouch to three men who had been waiting.
These were local thugs she had hired.
When she had told them there was someone she wanted to teach a lesson to, they had been trailing the middle-aged beauty ever since.
Even just following her around earned them a generous payment, so they had willingly gone along with her.
Then, at some point, when she offered to pay extra if they pretended to try to assault her on command, the thugs had happily agreed.
All three had rough, brutish faces, clearly local gang members.
“Do as I instructed.”
“Heh heh, don’t worry. We’d do that even without being paid.”
Liking the feel of the heavy coin pouch, one of the thugs grinned at the middle-aged beauty.
“When it’s done, I’ll double your current payment, so make sure you do it right.”
To conceal her true identity, the Red-Haired Demon Empress put on the act of a delicate woman.
Hearing they’d be paid double, the thugs laughed in delight.
Bukri Sehee and Jeong Minji had recently grown quite close.
Both were virtuous and considerate by nature, so they relied on each other like good sisters.
“It’s a relief that it’s you with me and not Sister Suji.”
Bukri Sehee, having clashed with Jeong Suji a few times, tended to avoid her due to her unusual personality.
Whenever Jeong Suji ended her sentences with “Treat my sister well,” the sudden flash of killing intent made Bukri Sehee shrink back.
Jeong Minji replied,
“I’m glad it’s you too, Sehee.”
The two of them laughed together as they badmouthed Jeong Suji.
They were in the middle of buying various items for their journey to Shaolin Temple when they saw someone being flung out of a teahouse.
“Ah!”
A middle-aged beauty rolled across the ground.
Then, three thugs appeared, kicking aside a stall that was in their way.
“Get lost!”
The stall owner, selling goods, looked on the verge of tears.
From his silence, it was clear these were local gangsters who threw their weight around in the neighborhood.
“How dare you insult our brothers?”
At that, the middle-aged beauty suddenly bowed deeply.
“Please forgive me, great sirs. A narrow-minded woman spoke foolishly.”
“Hahaha, didn’t you clearly say? That when people like us come into a teahouse, the tea loses its flavor?”
“How could those words have been directed at you, great sirs?”
“You’re looking down on us. With three cycles of cultivation, we can hear a mosquito buzzing a hundred paces away. And you dare lie? You’ve insulted us, and now you’ll pay for it!”
“Great sirs! Please, forgive me!”
“Oh, we’ll forgive you, all right. Once we strip your clothes, you’ll know the same humiliation we feel. Isn’t that right?”
Just as one of the thugs grabbed her collar and moved to tear it, something struck the back of his hand.
“Ugh!”
It was a needle—thrown so quickly he hadn’t even noticed when.
Jeong Minji, enraged at the thugs’ actions while buying needles, had thrown it.
“Who did that! Who dares interfere?!”
But there was fear in their eyes.
Whoever threw that needle was likely a martial artist—an ordinary person could never throw a needle hard enough to pierce the back of a hand.
As Jeong Minji stepped forward, Bukri Sehee was the first to speak.
“If you don’t back off right now, you’ll leave here without your lives!”
“How dare you!”
One of the thugs roared, but their leader shook his head.
“Our luck isn’t so good today. It’s best we back off.”
At his words, the other two reluctantly stepped back.
As they passed by, one of them struck the middle-aged beauty in the stomach.
“Ah!”
As she fell to the ground, Bukri Sehee rushed to help her up.
“Are you all right?”
“I can’t breathe.”
As the middle-aged beauty wheezed, Bukri Sehee glared after the retreating thugs.
“If Sister Suji were here, those guys wouldn’t be walking away. I wish we’d brought her.”
Jeong Minji nodded.
“I really miss Suji right now.”
Jeong Minji tended to avoid excessive force, so something like this wasn’t enough for her to draw her sword.
But Jeong Suji would have drawn her sword immediately and cut off the thugs’ wrists without hesitation.
In fact, the nickname “Three Chivalrous Sisters” had come about largely thanks to Jeong Suji.
She had such a tendency to go overboard that the nickname had stuck.
“What happened?”
Demonic Master and Deung Hwaun, who had been off buying other supplies, came over to ask.
“This lady here was harassed by some thugs.”
“I see. Are you all right?”
When Demonic Master reached out to take the woman’s hand, the middle-aged beauty quickly straightened her posture with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m fine.”
Then, bowing her head to Bukri Sehee and Jeong Minji, she said,
“If not for you two, I would have been badly beaten by those ruffians. I truly thank you. As a token of my gratitude, I would like to treat you to tea at the teahouse.”
Jeong Minji declined.
“That’s all right.”
“No, please. I’d feel terrible letting you go just like this.”
When the middle-aged beauty tugged on Bukri Sehee’s collar, the group had no choice but to follow her inside.
With such an earnest request, they couldn’t coldly shake her off.
“Then let’s just have some tea before we go. We needed a rest anyway.”
When Bukri Sehee said this with a smile, Jeong Minji agreed.
“All right, let’s do that. Let’s have some tea.”
Since Jeong Minji agreed, Demonic Master went in as well.
When Seok Unjeong followed a little later, Demonic Master said,
“Unjeong, those who attacked Cheollyeong before might still be lying in wait. Don’t wander off alone.”
“Yes, Father.”
When she smiled brightly, Demonic Master couldn’t scold her further and simply returned the smile.
“Let’s go in.”
Meanwhile, the three thugs were waiting in an alley across the street for the middle-aged beauty to come out of the teahouse.
“Today’s our lucky day. We might get to enjoy high-class food with courtesans at Baekwagi Pavilion.”
The thugs kept their eyes on the teahouse as they chatted.
Then, from behind them, a chilling voice spoke.
“Seems like you’ll be eating that food in the underworld instead.”
The three thugs spun around in shock and shouted,
“Who’s there?!”
But at the same instant they turned, a sword pierced their hearts.
“Consider yourselves unlucky to have met this Bong Gong.”
“Urgh!”
The three thugs let out a wet, rattling sound before collapsing to the ground.
They were the personal guards sent by Lee Taegong to protect the Red-Haired Demon Empress, Lee Myeongja.
From their robes, they took out a jade bottle and sprinkled its contents over the corpses.
Ssshhhhh!
The Corpse-Melting Powder reduced the bodies to a mere puddle of green liquid.
“Now all that’s left is to watch.”
Leaving those cryptic words behind, the three men began keeping watch on the teahouse instead of the thugs.
“Mmm!”
Yong Hwarin inhaled the aroma of the tea, letting it refresh his weary mind and body.
“The fragrance of this Tieguanyin is truly fine.”
Just moments earlier, Yong Hwarin had been buried in paperwork for several hours, dealing with unresolved matters of the escort bureau.
“Seems like Vice Head Baek can’t stand to see me idle.”
Baekseom smiled at Yong Hwarin’s grumbling.
“Hahaha, the vice head always says he needs to leave you some work so you can feel like you’re sharing the same fate.”
“What a nasty personality.”
“Hahaha.”
At that moment, a dagger shot through the window.
Without panic, Yong Hwarin caught it between his fingers.
Since the blade’s trajectory was set to miss him, he knew it hadn’t been thrown with killing intent.
A letter was tied to the dagger.
‘Who threw this? Could it be Elder Demonic Master?’
But he soon shook his head.
If it were a letter from Eum Sajeok, he would have used a Blue King Bird.
For someone to slip into the escort bureau undetected, get close enough to throw the dagger, and then leave, they would have to be at a level to evade the eyes of the Hidden Saint Cult warriors.
‘At that level, it can only be Myeong Gujeong. They must have come and gone to secretly deliver this to me.’
Yong Hwarin unfolded the letter.
After reading its contents for a moment, his brow furrowed.
“Vice Head, could you find out where the others are?”
Thinking Yong Hwarin meant the whereabouts of the Heavenly Central Sect members, Baekseom quickly went outside.
He returned shortly after.
“Elder Demonic Master went out with Lady Bukri, Lady Jeong, Madam Deung, and Lady Seok to purchase items needed for the journey to Shaolin Temple. But what is this about?”
“There’s information that someone who previously targeted Cheollyeong is loitering near the merchant union.”
“Then, shall we send out the escort bureau’s warriors?”
Baekseom asked with a worried look, but Yong Hwarin shook his head.
“No. It’s better if I go alone. If we move in a group, the target will only hide deeper.”
“With Elder Demonic Master and Lady Jeong there, there shouldn’t be any major problem.”
Yong Hwarin stood, clutching the letter.
“I’ll go myself, so please handle the rest of the paperwork, Vice Head.”
Hearing this, Baekseom asked,
“You’re not just looking for an excuse to get out of working, are you?”
Yong Hwarin gave a slight smile.
“Of course not. How could I possibly do that?”
The moment Yong Hwarin sped away using movement arts, Baekseom looked after him with a doubtful gaze.