novelraw Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Episode 74. If You Take a Bribe, You’d Better Do Your Job
Gu Ak-pyeong spoke arrogantly.
“These days, it’s rare to find someone in the underworld with this much guts. Coming after me, the head of the Black Society, all by yourself… I like your spirit. If you want, I’ll take you in. I’ve been looking for talent anyway.”
“Save your breath. I know you’re just a puppet boss of the Xiangyang Black Society.”
Won Seung cut Gu Ak-pyeong off mid-sentence. Already irritated, Gu Ak-pyeong’s eyes turned vicious at the direct jab.
‘This brat’s got a sharp tongue.’
Won Seung shot back with a cold glare.
“Why did you target Mr. Woo?”
“Mr. Woo? So you came because of him? I was planning to search the Hundred Flowers Pavilion at dawn anyway.”
“I asked, why are you after the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?”
“I should be asking you that. Who sent you? Whose orders are you following?”
“Orders? Do I look like some puppet who moves on someone else’s command, like you?”
Gu Ak-pyeong’s face twisted in anger at the second stinging retort. With a grinding of teeth, he suddenly drew his saber and swung down at Won Seung’s left shoulder like a bolt of lightning.
He’d decided it would be easier to talk after cutting off an arm.
Swish!
Though he sat there feigning calm, Won Seung had been on full alert. He kicked his chair back and retreated swiftly.
Whoosh!
Gu Ak-pyeong’s saber sliced through empty air. He twisted his wrist, redirecting the blade and stepping forward in a smooth, practiced motion.
Won Seung dodged to the side, drew his saber from his waist, and counterattacked, aiming for Gu Ak-pyeong’s midsection. Gu Ak-pyeong spun and struck at Won Seung’s blade.
Clang!
Gu Ak-pyeong’s saber sent Won Seung’s weapon flying. Won Seung quickly retreated and drew the sword from his back.
“You came to kill me with skills like that?”
Gu Ak-pyeong sneered, pointing his saber at Won Seung.
As Won Seung retreated, Gu Ak-pyeong grew even more arrogant.
“Who sent you? Tell me, and I’ll give you a quick death.”
“……”
Won Seung’s gaze flicked toward the door.
“Don’t even think about running. You may have come in without permission, but you’ll only leave with my blade’s say-so.”
In a flash, Won Seung sprang forward, sword flashing as he launched a surprise attack.
Papapap!
As the Splendid Sword Technique unfolded, sword light filled the room.
“Hmph!”
Gu Ak-pyeong pulled his saber close, fending off the incoming sword light.
“Your swordplay isn’t bad, but…”
Still, your internal energy is lacking. That’s the difference experience makes.
If that’s the case…
Gu Ak-pyeong parried the flying sword, channeling all his internal energy into his saber. A bluish saber energy shimmered along the blade as his power surged.
For an ordinary martial artist, just seeing that saber energy would be enough to make them shrink back.
But Won Seung didn’t even blink. At the level between first-class and peak, it was only natural to be able to unleash sword or saber energy.
What Won Seung was really after was Gu Ak-pyeong’s arrogance. You could clear the alcohol from your body with internal energy, but it didn’t sober up your mind.
As expected, after unleashing his saber energy, Gu Ak-pyeong gave Won Seung a smug look, as if to say, ‘How do you like that?’ and swept his saber horizontally.
He followed Won Seung’s evasive movements, determined to cut him down.
This was the moment Won Seung had been waiting for. He quietly gathered forty years’ worth of internal energy into his sword.
His blade, which had been moving lightly, suddenly grew heavy.
Celestial Balance Sword Technique.
The sword, imbued with the mystery of the heavy blade, crashed down on the saber sweeping in from the side.
Twang!
Sword and saber collided with a shower of sparks.
“Urgh!”
The heavy impact made Gu Ak-pyeong instinctively grip his saber tighter, but it was too late. His arm twisted, and the saber was knocked away.
A saber is broader and heavier than a nimble sword, and its swings are more forceful. With internal energy and saber energy unleashed, it should have easily broken through that thin sword… Yet his own saber was the one sent flying.
Gu Ak-pyeong couldn’t even imagine that Won Seung’s internal energy surpassed his own.
Startled, Gu Ak-pyeong’s saber was knocked aside, leaving him wide open. Won Seung grabbed his sword with his left hand and thrust forward, reversing his grip for a counterattack.
Gu Ak-pyeong hastily raised his left hand to shield his face and blocked the sword hilt.
But—
Thud!
A dagger sank into his abdomen. He hadn’t even seen when Won Seung drew it.
Only then did Gu Ak-pyeong realize his opponent was a professional assassin.
But it was already too late.
“Hurk!”
A weak gasp escaped Gu Ak-pyeong’s lips. His eyes widened in disbelief.
Won Seung spoke in a chilling voice.
“When you get to hell, tell them Ohgu sent you.”
“…Oh, Ohgu…?”
Gu Ak-pyeong couldn’t finish his sentence. His legs gave out, and he collapsed with a thud.
He was the head of the Xiangyang Black Society, yet he’d died so pathetically.
If only he hadn’t been drinking… No, why weren’t his men coming?
Gu Ak-pyeong’s gaze drifted to the door.
The clash of blades had been loud, but there was no sign of the guards stationed on the middle floor coming up.
Gu Ak-pyeong’s massive frame slumped to the side.
“……”
Won Seung didn’t feel good about it.
The sensation of cutting through human flesh was more horrifying than he’d expected.
‘I should use poison elegantly from now on.’
*
“Whoever did this had real skill. They sliced his liver clean in one go.”
Cheol Ma-do squatted across from Ghost Hand, speaking over Gu Ak-pyeong’s corpse.
Ghost Hand grumbled.
“Elder Deung is going to flip out… Damn it, if I ever catch the bastard who did this…”
The thought of getting his shins kicked by Elder Deung made him furious.
Cheol Ma-do and Ghost Hand were Elder Deung’s trusted men—and also Gu Ak-pyeong’s watchers.
But their charge had ended up dead overnight. If they didn’t catch the culprit, Elder Deung might beat them to death himself.
Ghost Hand stood up, scowling.
“Why the hell did he have to get drunk? That’s how you end up getting stabbed by some random blade.”
“It must’ve been revenge for the Hundred Flowers Pavilion’s owner who died yesterday.”
Cheol Ma-do stood up as well, recalling his encounter with Ohgu the night before.
He’d nearly been killed himself. No—if they’d really fought, he probably would have died.
If there was another like that, a drunken Gu Ak-pyeong wouldn’t have stood a chance.
“What’s with the Hundred Flowers Pavilion anyway? Isn’t it just a calligraphy and painting shop? Why are there sword-wielders there?”
“It’s just a front. Like Gu Ak-pyeong said, maybe there’s a traitor in the Council of Ten.”
As the two stepped out of the fifth-floor banquet hall, they found ten underlings kneeling in the hallway.
Ghost Hand kicked the one in front.
“You bastards… The boss is dying from a stab wound, and you’re all just sleeping? Want me to put you to sleep forever?”
The underlings who’d been waiting on the middle floor between the fourth and fifth floors had only woken up in the morning, having been knocked out by Won Seung’s Nameless Fragrance.
Ghost Hand slapped the underlings across the face.
“What’s the point of having ten of you? You’re no better than corpses with their eyes open. You think you deserve to eat after this?”
After venting his anger on the underlings, Ghost Hand barked,
“Get to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and drag everyone back here!”
The underlings scrambled away.
*
Won Seung was busy from early morning.
When Seok-Bo brought the carriage, he went to the public medical clinic to check on Ohgu’s condition. Thankfully, Ohgu wasn’t dead. He hadn’t regained consciousness, but the crisis had passed.
As Won Seung returned to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, he sensed something off in the atmosphere.
Men in black were loitering around the pavilion.
“For the underworld to be this bold… Turn the carriage toward the Namjo Department.”
Won Seung redirected the carriage to the Namjo Department.
“What brings you here?”
As the luxurious carriage stopped at the main gate and Won Seung approached, the gatekeeper asked his business.
“I need to see the department magistrate.”
“You want… to see the magistrate?”
Won Seung hadn’t forgotten that an official from the Namjo Department had accepted a bribe.
‘If you take a bribe, you’d better do your job.’
The gatekeeper eyed Won Seung up and down. The carriage and his attire were both impressive. And the way he spoke—so direct—made it hard to dismiss him.
“What business do you have with the magistrate?”
“There are armed underworld thugs all over Calligraphy Street.”
The gatekeeper frowned. No one had ever come to report something like this since he’d started the job. But he couldn’t just send Won Seung away.
“I’ll report to the magistrate… May I have your name?”
“I am Pung Un-saeng. I heard the owner of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion was kidnapped by the Black Society and stabbed yesterday. The Hundred Flowers Pavilion is a calligraphy shop even the governor frequents… What do you think will happen if the governor hears that Xiangyang’s public safety is this poor?”
At the mention of the governor, the gatekeeper was even more taken aback. Even if Won Seung looked like a commoner, it was bold to invoke the governor’s name…
Just then, the subordinate official who had taken a bribe from Ohgu passed by, noticed the carriage, and approached.
“What’s going on here?”
The gatekeeper relayed Won Seung’s words.
The subordinate official frowned.
“The Hundred Flowers Pavilion is a place the governor uses… For something like this to happen… I’ll ask the magistrate to send troops to Calligraphy Street.”
A short while later, government soldiers really did sweep into Calligraphy Street.
Won Seung only returned to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion after all the underworld thugs had disappeared.
Jong Bi, who had spent the night gathering information from the Council of Ten members, was still asleep.
“Wake up. The sun’s already high.”
Won Seung woke Jong Bi and asked about last night’s findings.
“Gu Ak-pyeong stabbed Mr. Woo himself. The bastard deserved to die.”
“He’s already dead.”
Jong Bi’s report was fairly accurate. Hearing it, Won Seung tilted his head.
“Gu Ak-pyeong tried to pit the Sky-Gazing Pavilion and Clear Water Sect against each other? That’s more than just meddling. You’d have to be crazy to try something like that… And he used Mr. Woo to pressure the Council of Ten members. Was the Black Society aiming to seize control of the Xiangyang underworld? What a bunch of brazen thieves.”
Won Seung had a rough idea of what was going on. That meant the real mastermind behind the Black Society was still lurking in the shadows.
His mind grew more tangled. Elder Bi’s appearance was already troubling, and now the Black Society was involved too.
“For now, let’s focus on what’s in front of us. It’s almost noon. We need to sell the spectator tickets.”
Won Seung and Jong Bi took a carriage to the riverside, where the martial arts stage had been set up. The warehouse next to the stage was the designated spot for distributing tickets.
Martial artists from the Clear Water Sect and Sky-Gazing Pavilion were lined up outside the warehouse.
From the Clear Water Sect, Hwa Cheon-baek’s eldest son, Hwa U-cheon, was leading his men. From the Sky-Gazing Pavilion, the Xiangyang Mad Dog, Gwan Ju-gyeon, was in charge.
As the carriage stopped in front of the warehouse, Won Seung—wearing a dog mask—and Jong Bi—wearing a monkey mask—stepped out.
Seeing Won Seung, Hwa U-cheon scowled.
“What the hell is this? Selling spectator tickets? And you want us to provide security too?”
“A lot of money went into this three-way martial arts duel. We can’t afford to take a loss. And selling tickets is the bare minimum to keep things fair.”
Gwan Ju-gyeon, listening nearby, snorted.
“Fair? I don’t see how any of this is fair.”
He’d only come because Pavilion Master Cheon Il-hae had told him to watch what Won Seung did, but selling tickets for a martial arts duel… Gwan Ju-gyeon was speechless.
Jong Bi had his own worries.
“Who’s going to pay ten silver nyang for this?”
“Don’t worry. They’ll sell out in no time. Are the staff here?”