novelraw Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59 - Turns Out, None of That Matters
Han Ryeong had a dream.
A dream of the day he fled from Luoyang and, unable to overcome his hunger, ate the grass in the mountains.
Beside him was a child who could not even properly write the character for the grass he was eating.
Han Ryeong looked at the dirt smeared all over his younger brother's mouth and vowed again and again.
I will definitely survive.
Whether by digging up and eating roots, or by crawling on the ground like a dog, whatever it takes, I will preserve my life.
The impoverished memories of that day repeatedly appeared in Han Ryeong’s dreams and tormented him.
Only after he had risen to the coveted position of Third Line Leader of Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes was he able to be freed from the dream of that day.
Until today.
Until he met Biyoung and lost consciousness.
“Ugh……”
Between the memory of starvation and the terrible pain he felt throughout his body, Han Ryeong could not help but groan.
However, as befitting someone who had been in an information group for years, he quickly came to his senses and looked around.
‘Where am I?’
His body ached, but the blanket he was lying on was thick and soft.
Whichever way he looked, only clean and high-quality materials met his eyes.
It was a strange thing.
Before he lost consciousness, he thought this might be hell, but when he opened his eyes, he was enjoying a luxury he hadn't expected.
“Brother.”
At the familiar voice, Han Ryeong turned his head.
Where his scowling gaze landed was his younger brother, whom he had been anxiously searching for.
“Those bastards…… where are they.”
“They went to eat. I don't know when they were beating us up, but they even prepared this for you and me.”
Following Han Hoe’s gaze, there was indeed a well-prepared meal.
As if knowing that many of his teeth had been knocked out, there was even warm porridge set on one side of the table.
When were they beating him like a dog on a hot summer day, and now this?
From Han Ryeong’s perspective, it was a dumbfounding situation.
“That guy with the rough impression said so. You have to eat well for what's in your head to come out smoothly.”
Han Hoe let out a self-deprecating laugh and took the first spoonful.
It wasn't that he wasn't hungry, but Han Ryeong remained still, sitting up.
Listening to his brother, it did not seem like they would let them go obediently.
However, he was a member of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes.
He had no intention of meekly giving them the information they wanted.
“Foolish. Do you think they will let us live if we tell them everything?”
“I don't know about that. But if we don't say anything, we will surely die.”
“So you blabbed that I am a member of Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes?”
As if struck to the core, the spoon Han Hoe was holding flinched once.
At first, he was not sure, but looking at the circumstances, it seemed certain.
The words Biyoung had said, about going to a secluded place.
The words that it would not be good for his face to be seen were something he could say only because he had heard something from Han Hoe.
“Yes. I told them most of what I know about you, brother.”
“You bastard!”
“Didn’t you say that it’s better to have an uncertain hope than a certain death?”
“…………!”
Han Ryeong’s swollen cheek trembled.
In the past, when Han Hoe had asked why he had fled from Luoyang, those were the words he had said.
“That guy is completely insane. His martial arts are possessed by a ghost, and his thoughts are impossible to read.”
Han Hoe said so, his body trembling slightly.
“But, if you look closely, he doesn't seem like a complete demon. The other day, when I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I heard him talking with that guy with the fierce impression.”
“What did they talk about?”
“It seems he saved the Absolute Protector and the Great Mother.”
“……!”
Han Ryeong also knew the Absolute Protector and the Great Mother well.
The Great Mother, who had somehow drifted into the mountains and took charge of the household affairs.
And Absolute Protector, who had no interest in the world other than protecting Wi Sung.
The two of them had in common that they did not rashly harm others.
“Not only did he save them both, but he said they would live together in the Diancang Sect. It means they are not murderers who kill people indiscriminately.”
“But you are different from them, aren’t you.”
At Han Ryeong’s words, his brother's face turned grave.
In fact, he also knew it.
Biyoung and the Diancang Sect had slaughtered all the resisting bandits.
It was because they thought that if they were left alive, they would harm innocent people again at any time.
Han Hoe was different from Absolute Protector or the Great Mother.
Because he was the one who had stuck by Wi Sung's side, advising him on how to be more effective at banditry.
According to their logic, Han Hoe was also a bastard who deserved to die.
“But I am not resisting either. I plan to hold on to even a sliver of hope.”
Han Hoe said so and stubbornly swallowed the food.
“Perhaps if I confess everything, a way to live will open up. The ones he wants to kill the most are the dark path warriors who attacked the Diancang Sect in the past.”
“I do not know who those dark path warriors are.”
“So wouldn't it be better to tell him? If we go to the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes together and meet the First Line Leader, he will also find out. That you, brother, were not the one who attacked the Diancang Sect.”
“And after I prove my innocence, I will be killed by the First Line Leader.”
A bitter sneer appeared on Han Ryeong’s lips.
Security is life for an information group.
But for him, the Third Line Leader, to take the lead and reveal the location of Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes’s headquarters?
If that happened, Han Ryeong would be branded a traitor until he died and would have to live as a fugitive.
‘Do I die this way or that way. It’s a checkmate.’
I have struggled my whole life to survive.
Is this really the end?
Just as Han Ryeong’s deep sigh was filling the room, a familiar shadow appeared at the door.
***
“Uwaa~ I’m full. Did you guys eat?”
Biyoung greeted them, patting his belly that had become as big as a mountain.
Beside him was Uma, whose belly was also sticking out.
Seeing the two of them appear so carefree, Han Ryeong once again felt his killing intent boil over.
‘You beat a person to a pulp and the food goes down smoothly?’
However, Han Ryeong did not move.
As a result of their previous confrontation, the difference in skill between Biyoung and himself was like heaven and earth.
Besides, he was currently in a battered state where he could not even hold a sword if he wanted to.
“What. I even prepared porridge, but you haven’t eaten anything. You bastard, what were you doing instead of taking care of your brother? Looking at you, it seems you were just eating by yourself.”
He even started to chide Han Hoe for not taking proper care of him.
The cheeks of the two brothers watching this trembled.
‘I want to kill him. I desperately want to kill him!’
‘That devil-like bastard!’
Biyoung, finding something so amusing, giggled and sat down in an empty chair.
Then he turned his head towards Han Ryeong, who was still half-lying down.
“Where is the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes headquarters?”
“I cannot say.”
Han Ryeong cut off Biyoung’s question in one breath.
“Brother……”
“Shut up!”
Han Ryeong’s eyes, directed at his younger brother, were blazing.
“Isn’t it all the same whether we die by these bastards’ hands, or we snitch and die by the hands of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes’s chief! Are you telling me to die branded as a traitor in my final moments?”
“Ho……”
Biyoung pursed his lips as if a little surprised.
“You want to protect your honor even in death. Is that it?”
“………….”
“But I’ve lived long enough to know, turns out, none of that matters.”
“…………?”
Han Ryeong doubted his own ears.
Wasn't this guy, who looked at least twenty years younger than him, suddenly talking like an old geezer?
What was even stranger was that his expression was full of sincerity.
He didn't seem to be teasing or making fun of him, but genuinely thinking that way.
“Honor, my ass, the best thing is to be alive. You have to be alive to pick up your fallen honor from the ground and get your revenge.”
He hated to admit it, but that was consistent with the thoughts Han Ryeong and Han Hoe had when they left Luoyang.
“When I meet the chief of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes, I'll put in a good word for you. I'll ask him to forgive you once.”
“Ha!”
Han Ryeong snorted as if in disbelief.
“You say that because you don't know the chief. That person never forgives a traitor. He would kill them in the most miserable way possible.”
“Is that really so?”
“?”
Biyoung licked his lips once and said in a secretive voice.
“I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems strange to me.”
“What…… is?”
“Your brother told me that he happened to hear information about the Diancang Sect from the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes. Is that right?”
“……That’s right.”
That was true.
Han Ryeong had accidentally overheard the chief of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes and had relayed those words to Han Hoe, leading the Tiger-Bear Stronghold to move its headquarters.
“That’s exactly what’s strange.”
“?”
“Would someone like the chief of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes go around spilling such information in a place where others might be eavesdropping?”
“!”
At that moment.
Han Ryeong’s entire body stiffened as if struck by lightning.
Because it was a thought he had never once doubted.
‘At that time, for sure…….’
As befitting an information organization, all members of Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes never gathered in one place.
It was structured as a cell organization where no one knew who was an official except for their direct superior.
Even Han Ryeong himself was only able to confirm the face of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes chief after becoming the Third Line Leader.
One day, while reporting directly to him, Han Ryeong ‘accidentally’ heard what the chief said outside.
It was about the Diancang Sect.
Accidentally.
Biyoung was focusing on that very point.
“What do you think. Is the chief such a careless person?”
“………….”
No.
As far as he knew, the chief had never handled things carelessly.
Then why.
Why did he say such a thing when he was in close proximity?
As if, he was intentionally letting him hear it.
“You mean…… it was intentional?”
At Han Ryeong’s words, Biyoung giggled.
“Depending on how you think about it, that could be the case. No matter how ownerless the place is, taking over the Diancang Sect and poking around here and there is an inefficient thing to do. It would be even more so for an information group.”
Biyoung’s head now turned to Han Hoe.
“But what if there is a group stationed in the mountains? If they mess around on Diancang Mountain, something might come out. The chief would know that you brothers are connected to the Tiger-Bear Stronghold.”
That was right.
The chief of the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes knew of Han Hoe’s existence even before asking Han Ryeong.
“For the chief, it’s like blowing his nose without using his hands. Other guys can do the work of staying on Diancang Mountain and poking around, and if something actually comes out, it’s not too late to move then.”
That meant.
If something valuable came out, it did not matter what happened to Han Ryeong and Han Hoe.
‘Was all of this…… a scheme planted by the First Line Leader?’
Just by muttering a single piece of information?
For Han Ryeong, it was simply unbelievable.
But it was also a clear fact that he could find no particular error in Biyoung’s words.
“Brother. If this person’s words are correct……”
From the beginning, Han Ryeong was considered a pawn that could be discarded at any time.
The very Han Ryeong who was resisting, not wanting to become a traitor while hovering between life and death.
When he had been quickly promoted and given power, he had thought he was trusted.
But it seemed all of that was just his own thought.
“At this point, don’t you have to go at least once to demand an explanation?”
At Biyoung’s smiling question, Han Ryeong could not say anything.
“………….”
A moment of silence followed.
Han Ryeong needed time to think, and Biyoung calmly waited for that moment.
And soon, Han Ryeong ground his teeth.
“I will accompany you to the Syndicate of Ten Thousand Eyes.”
“Good thinking.”