Chapter 121

This incident, unsurprisingly, goes back in time to when the victim first arrived in Xi’an.

The victim, Mr. Wei, arrived in Xi’an after a forced seven-day march under the orders of the manor lord.

On the day of the incident, Mr. Wei finished dinner early and went into his room.

Because he had a Great Heavenly Pill prescribed as treatment for an injury sustained during the masked martial contest.

The Great Heavenly Pill had been stored in a wooden box.

The victim, Mr. Wei, had not opened that wooden box even once until he arrived in Xi’an.

And the moment the victim opened the wooden box.

Click.

“…What the—?”

Mr. Wei discovered that the Great Heavenly Pill he had kept safe in the wooden box was gone.

That was the situation at the time of the incident.

To summarize the outline of the case…

1. The Great Heavenly Pill, property of the victim Mr. Wei, was lost.

2. At the time, the Great Heavenly Pill was an object coveted by all of his comrades in the External Protection Troops.

3. Mr. Wei did not open the lid of the wooden box containing the Great Heavenly Pill even once during the seven-day transfer from Taiyuan in Shanxi to Xi’an in Shaanxi.

That is the case summary.

So then, where did the Great Heavenly Pill that Wei Gon-chan lost go?

“Those bastards—I’ll find it no matter what.”

The most likely suspects, first and foremost, are the members of the External Protection Troops.

Except for Yeon Mujin, who had headed to Mount Hua, the rest of the External Protection Troops had spent the seven days together with Wei Gon-chan.

No matter how carefully Wei Gon-chan hid the wooden box, in the chaos of the journey someone might have figured out where it was.

And in the gap when Wei Gon-chan fell asleep or stepped away for a moment… snick.

“What a piece of trash I want to dunk in shit and fry.”

How dare someone steal the Great Heavenly Pill personally handed down by the manor lord?

And having stolen it, they even put up a lie and denied it?

Immediately after the Great Heavenly Pill disappeared, Wei Gon-chan told those around him in an attempt to catch the thief.

But the responses he got back were cold.

—You probably lost it yourself.

—Haven’t they already eaten it?

—Don’t accuse the living; go away. This is exhausting.

At that time, things were so hectic that Wei Gon-chan had to swallow his bitter tears and put off finding the culprit.

Besides, the events that followed in Xi’an were enough to put the External Protection Troops on edge…

Wei Gon-chan, too, naturally focused all his attention on the manor lord’s safety and had to complete his duty.

“But not anymore. The mission is over, and we’re back at Flying Swallow Manor. Prepare yourself, thief. I, Wei Gon-chan, am a man who carves gratitude on water and grudges on bone. I will exact payment for whoever stole and ate the Great Heavenly Pill.”

Just then, a prime suspect was walking over.

“Hey, Mr. Wei. What are you doing there?”

Chu Myung-won strolled over toward Wei Gon-chan.

Wi Gon-chan met him with a fierce look in his eyes.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“What?”

“You ate my Great Heavenly Pill, you bastard!”

Chu Myung-won replied with a face that showed exasperation.

“Still that whining? A man being petty…”

“This is the Great Heavenly Pill, the Great Heavenly Pill! If it were just a single silver, fine. Do you not know how much value a Great Heavenly Pill holds for a martial man?!”

“I know. Of course I know. But what does that have to do with me? Even aside from that, I took a Small Heavenly Pill.”

“Ah, right. Besides me, there were others who took the Small Heavenly Pill back then. Who were they again?”

“Me, Pyo Kang-hyuk, and Se-gwang.”

Clue 4. Chu Myung-won, Pyo Kang-hyuk, and Yoo Se-gwang took Small Heavenly Pills.

“We were all too busy taking our own pills to eye yours. Everyone was squeezing in time to take Small Heavenly Pills.”

“Hmm. That makes some sense…”

“So at least I’m not the one. Don’t pin it on an innocent. But isn’t it possible you just lost it? Dropped it somewhere…?”

“How could I lose it when I didn’t even open the wooden box’s lid! Someone must have stolen and eaten it behind my back.”

Chu Myung-won shrugged his shoulders.

“If the culprit is among the External Protection Troops, finding them should be easy.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, aside from me, Se-gwang, and Pyo Kang-hyuk—if any of the remaining ones stole and ate the Great Heavenly Pill, their martial ability would have overwhelmingly increased, right?”

Hearing Chu Myung-won’s words, Wei Gon-chan felt as if struck by lightning.

Wei Gon-chan wasn’t the only one desperate for greater inner skill.

Other members of the External Protection Troops, with their plentiful field experience, had the potential to jump several levels at once if they took internal pills.

“Right! That’s it. Then the culprit must be the one whose skill suddenly leapt miles ahead!”

“What, you never thought of that until now? Your brains aren’t matching your enthusiasm, are they?”

“Shut up, thief.”

“I told you I didn’t steal and eat it…”

Clue 5. Whoever consumed the Great Heavenly Pill would have become much stronger in martial ability than before.

“Anyway, if you’re going to look for the culprit, go to the training hall. I saw a few folks there earlier.”

The External Protection Troops had just finished a long mission and were granted several days’ leave.

They weren’t the sort to travel anywhere grand. Most were lazing about somewhere in Flying Swallow Manor, and those restless would be sparring at the training ground as usual.

“Good! Let’s go catch that thief!”

Thak, thak! Ta-ak!

Yu Se-gwang and Pyo Kang-hyuk were exchanging punches in the training hall.

The two were both fist disciplinarians, but their fighting styles were markedly different.

Yu Se-gwang trained external techniques and fought by slowly closing distance to pressure his opponent,

Pyo Kang-hyuk favored joint and striking techniques over pure boxing, keeping distance and then aiming for a single decisive, killing blow.

“Se-gwang, that was good just now! Do it again!”

“Yes, Senior Pyo! I’m going again!”

“Alright! Hahaha! Come on! I’ll take everything you give!”

Yu Se-gwang and Pyo Kang-hyuk were known hot-bloods even within the External Protection Troops.

“Hiyah hiyah hiyah hiyah!”

“Wadada wadada wadada!”

Whether boxing makes a man foolish or foolish hot-bloods are simply drawn to boxing remains an eternal mystery among the External Protection Troops.

About to scold them, Wei Gon-chan watched their sparring and suddenly had an idea.

“Wait. Both Yu Se-gwang and Pyo Kang-hyuk took Small Heavenly Pills. If one of these two also stole and took the Great Heavenly Pill, wouldn’t that thief overwhelmingly win?”

He watched their sparring with a hawk’s eye, but their skills were evenly matched.

An indistinguishable exchange of offense and defense continued for a long time before the sparring ended.

Wi Gon-chan concluded in his heart that neither of the two was the culprit.

“Seems like it’s not here after all.”

On the other side of the training ground, the taciturn warrior Ha continued training with a large axe.

Hwung! Hwung! Hwung!

Each time he swung the axe, the muscles of warrior Ha bare torso bulged.

Warrior Ha was the quietest and most responsible man in the External Protection Troops.

Even if they didn’t show it, everyone trusted warrior Ha the most in their hearts.

“Warrior Ha.”

“Hmm. Teacher Wei.”

Calling everyone ‘teacher’ was a verbal tic of warrior Ha, not just toward members of the External Protection Troops.

“Have you seen the Great Heavenly Pill by any chance?”

“The item Teacher Wei lost?”

“Yes.”

The warrior shook his head.

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen it. It seems you’re still looking for it.”

“Did you happen to see anyone rifling through my luggage while we were heading to Xi’an?”

“Well… we were so exhausted from the forced march that things were chaotic. But I do recall that Teacher Baek was the one who usually fell asleep the latest.”

“What! That Baek Yoon-sang guy?”

“It seemed Teacher Baek would go out each night and return late. I’m a light-sleeper, so I used to wake up to those sounds.”

Wei Gon-chan was certain.

The culprit was Baek Yoon-sang!

He was sure: Baek stole the Great Heavenly Pill one day and then secretly went out on subsequent nights to gather the pill’s qi through qi cultivation.

“I’ll—I’ll deal with that Baek Yoon-sang…”

“So Teacher Wei suspects Teacher Baek stole it, does he?”

“I’m certain. I can swear on the honor of the Wei family.”

“Hmm. Teacher Wei, it’s not good to get into the habit of suspecting your comrades.”

“Comrade my ass! Baek Yoon-sang is no longer my comrade from today! I’m going to gut Baek Yoon-sang and send him to hell, so don’t stop me!”

“Hmm…”

Watching Wei Gon-chan run off in a fury, warrior Ha sighed with worry.

“Where the hell is Baek Yoon-sang!”

Hearing the servants’ tip that Baek Yoon-sang was in the dining hall, Wei Gon-chan ran toward it.

When he entered, he saw Baek Yoon-sang pitifully drinking by himself at midday.

“Baek Yoon-saaaaaang!”

Wei Gon-chan let out a roar filled with anger equal to that for the Great Heavenly Pill.

He flew to the table where Baek sat like a butterfly and stung like a bee.

Bang!

Wei Gon-chan appeared, smashing through the table.

Now, it was time for judgment.

“… Wei hyung has come.”

“…?”

But Baek Yoon-sang’s condition was strange.

“One, two, three, four…”

There were four bottles of yellow wine rolling near Baek Yoon-sang.

Baek was pouring down the wine without any snacks.

He was drunk, and his eyes even looked red-rimmed.

Putting aside his unease, Wei Gon-chan went ahead and berated Baek.

“You stole and ate my Great Heavenly Pill, didn’t you?”

“…Eat what?”

“The Great Heavenly Pill! The Great Heavenly Pill prescribed for my injury! Don’t try to deny it; I’m on my way after hearing decisive testimony.”

Even under Wei Gon-chan’s questioning, Baek’s expression remained hazy.

“I stole it? Stole it, you say… How can you say that when someone stole my heart and left me?”

“???”

Baek reached out with a golden hand, grabbed Wei Gon-chan’s wrist, and forcibly pulled him to sit beside him.

“Wei hyung, listen. Down in the village here there was a woman who had feelings for me. She followed me around saying she liked me for months, and I accepted her affection. We exchanged several love letters and grew close, but then, suddenly!”

“Suddenly?”

“Suddenly she said she hated me!”

“…”

Baek gulped down the remaining yellow wine.

He was so drunk that half of it went down and half spilled out.

“Even in the rush to leave for Shaanxi I sent her several letters! How cruel the heavens are to treat me this way! Wei hyung, this cannot be. It simply cannot be!”

Baek threw down the wine bottle and began to wail.

“So, basically…”

It seemed Baek had been sneaking out at night to send love letters to his beloved.

“A man’s true love cannot be trampled like this! Wei hyung, you’ve come at the right time. I’ll bite out my tongue and die today, so tell the manor lord I’m sorry. I’m going to die!”

“Calm down for now…”

“Do I look calm to you, Wei Hyung! A man’s true love, true loooove!”

Thud!

Unable to listen any longer, Wei Gon-chan struck the back of Baek’s neck and knocked him out.

By then, his front was already soaked with the wine and spit Baek had dribbled.

“…”

Wei Gon-chan looked down at the unconscious Baek collapsed on the table.

“Yoon-sang. Sorry for suspecting you. But a man must rise above such trials to become a true man. I’ll make sure everyone at Flying Swallow Manor knows about this so no one remains ignorant.”

Because that, after all, was the loyalty of a man.

Wei Gon-chan left Baek where he lay and went off to find the next suspect.