The Fork Between Life And Death (1)

“Mountain Lord! We’ve received word from So-hee.”

Old Taoist Noh came running as always, his white beard flying as he reported.

“What is it?”

As expected, the Mountain Lord did not reveal himself at all.

“It’s news that Secret Shadow has appeared in Beijing. She says he might become an obstacle, so she’s asking you to dispatch someone to deal with him.”

“That brat again. He really is something.”

“Mountain Lord, I don’t think this is the time to admire him. Wherever he appears, our Taepyeong Church’s work gets disrupted.”

For the first time, a name for the Necromancer Cult came out of Old Taoist Noh’s mouth.

Taepyeong Church.

As the name suggests, their doctrine wasn’t evil in itself. It was only that their methods turned people into puppets, so the entire martial world rejected them.

Well, if you made everyone into puppets, the world certainly would be “peaceful.”

There was a reason So-hee had named her pleasure house Taepyeong Pavilion.

“That won’t do. Who were the ones that failed last time?”

“They were Hwang Dong-ryeong’s First Division and Second Division. We sent them together, but the branch masters turned on each other and it failed.”

They were impressive, in their own way. All of them had died by Neung Je-gang’s hand—yet how did they know the branch masters had been at odds?

“Then does Hwang Dong-ryeong have nothing left except himself, the Division Lord?”

“He already went down, saying he’d capture Secret Shadow.”

“What? Without my order?”

“He stormed off in anger before we could stop him.”

“A man who moves on his own without my command is useless. Even if he returns, take only his life.”

“Y-yes. Understood.”

“And for that Secret Shadow… pick suitable men from Hyeonok Territory and send them. This time we end it for good.”

“Understood.”

Old Taoist Noh was satisfied. This time, he meant to send people strong enough to kill Secret Shadow for certain.

“What has Elder Shingae been doing lately?”

“Nothing noteworthy. We’re told he hasn’t contacted Secret Shadow even once since then.”

“Then you still haven’t found out who’s been searching for her?”

“That’s correct.”

“Heh heh… You’re really making me curious who it is. Beggars are too lazy. If they learned anything, they should report quickly.”

“Isn’t that why they became beggars?”

Old Taoist Noh let out a snicker.

“Fine. Leak just a little information about her.”

“Is that wise?”

“It’s all in the past anyway. She’s living happily now—what is there to worry about?”

“Understood. I’ll make sure a small piece of information reaches Elder Shingae.”

After Old Taoist Noh withdrew, the Mountain Lord, too, vanished back into the shadows.

“The Field Agents Lord and the Secret Institute Lord… Hah. So two of the Eastern Depot’s Three Institutes were in the Necromancer Cult’s grasp.”

After safely leaving the Chancellor’s Residence, Neung Je-gang was almost dumbstruck by the faces tied to So-hee.

This country might as well have So-hee as its emperor.

Those assassinations had been carried out by the Secret Institute using Field Agents intelligence—if that fact became known, the Eastern Depot would take a catastrophic blow.

“Do I tell the Director? If I do, a rebellion could break out inside the Eastern Depot immediately. What now?”

He was stuck.

He didn’t know the Director’s temperament well, but if the man learned that over half the Eastern Depot was in someone else’s hands, he might immediately move to crush the Field Agents Lord and the Secret Institute Lord.

Worse, he might even raid the Chancellor’s Residence to seize So-hee—triggering civil war.

If the Chancellor rose up, supported by the Field Agents Bureau and the Secret Institute, it might be the Director who ended up on the losing side.

And then even the Emperor wouldn’t be able to openly take the Director’s side.

On top of that, many key figures in the Hanlin Academy—known to align with the Grand Preceptor—were dancing in So-hee’s palm, making the Grand Preceptor’s help unreliable as well.

“Still, I have to report it. If I act on my own and things go wrong, I could end up taking the entire blame myself.”

Even if civil war broke out, it couldn’t be helped.

There was procedure to these things, and there were too many people around So-hee—too many powerful statuses—for him to handle alone.

At daybreak, Neung Je-gang went straight to the Eastern Depot.

Holding the gold plaque, he walked openly toward the Director’s office.

He considered going to Yeon Bo-pyeong first, but he couldn’t fully trust him, and it wasn’t a problem that could be handled by consulting him anyway.

“How may I help you?”

He’d expected the Eastern Depot Director’s office to be grandiose, but it wasn’t.

Rather, it was a modest building with the atmosphere of a common household’s main hall.

He’d heard eunuchs vented their urges in other ways, but Director-Eunuch Go Tak, at least, didn’t seem to vent them through luxury or extravagance.

“Inform him that Secret Shadow has arrived.”

At the name Secret Shadow, the guard flinched.

Oddly enough, the ones guarding the Eastern Depot’s chief office weren’t Eastern Depot men but Brocade Guard.

It was likely because this place was inside the Imperial Palace grounds.

“You may enter.”

Even the procedure to meet the Director was simple.

So easy.

“Shouldn’t I at least be made to unstrap my weapons?”

Neung Je-gang worried about everything despite being the one who had come to ask for an audience.

“Welcome.”

The Director greeted him warmly.

Neung Je-gang would soon have to twist that expression.

“I’ve identified the culprits.”

“Is that true?”

Go Tak couldn’t hide his surprise at hearing it had been solved so quickly.

The Eastern Depot had investigated for so long without finding them.

But that was inevitable.

The culprits were the Eastern Depot itself.

“The culprit is the Eastern Depot.”

Bang!

“What? What scheme are you playing at?”

Go Tak didn’t just frown—he flared with rage.

Since Neung Je-gang had been drawn in from outside, his trust in the existing Eastern Depot was bound to be weaker than his trust in his own institution.

Tap.

“If you believe I’m lying, I have no need to remain here.”

Neung Je-gang placed the gold plaque on the table and rose abruptly.

From here on, he could move as he pleased, regardless of the Eastern Depot.

His grudge against the Necromancer Cult had already piled up; he could erase So-hee first, then the rest one by one.

“Is it true? Do you have proof?”

With Neung Je-gang taking a hard line, Go Tak forced himself to calm down.

‘Secret Shadow gains nothing by framing the Eastern Depot. If he holds resentment, it would be about his senior brother—but would that make him pick a fight with the entire Eastern Depot?’

Thinking it through, Go Tak saw no reason Neung Je-gang would fabricate a report.

Which meant it might be true.

“There’s plenty of proof. I can summon a witness right now. Though I don’t know whether he’ll open his mouth….”

“What do you mean?”

“Information about Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard key figures is leaking from the Field Agents Bureau into the Chancellor’s Residence. Based on that information, the Secret Institute Lord—acting under orders from the Chancellor’s Residence—sends people to assassinate them. That is the truth behind the mysterious assassination cases.”

“…The Field Agents Lord and the Secret Institute Lord have attached themselves to the Chancellor? What could they possibly lack?”

They were at the very center of power. If they wanted something, there was little they couldn’t obtain.

“Who knows? Should we call it debauchery and pleasure?”

“Each time the Field Agents Lord passes along information, he’s provided with women, and each time the Secret Institute Lord succeeds in an assassination, he’s also provided with women.”

“Women? Men like them can get women whenever they want.”

“It depends on what kind of women. Can ordinary women compare to women trained in astonishing bedchamber arts?”

“Why would anyone care about such women….”

He really was a eunuch. He was bound to be weak when it came to pleasures born of man and woman.

“Do you know a woman named So-hee?”

“She’s a Necromancer Cult figure. She once ran a pleasure house in Luoyang called Taepyeong Pavilion.”

“That Taepyeong Pavilion has come into Beijing intact.”

“So-hee is a woman who toyed at will with Martial Alliance figures and the owners of great merchant firms.”

“Do you think those Martial Alliance and merchant men were dragged around by her because they couldn’t get women?”

“Where is it? Where is this woman?”

“If you know, are you planning to arrest her?”

“Of course.”

“Hah. And who will you send? Eastern Depot? Brocade Guard?”

“If their influence has reached even the Brocade Guard, can you trust them?”

“Then tell the Capture Bureau.”

“Can you trust the Capture Bureau?”

“I haven’t confirmed it, but the Capture Bureau may already be compromised as well.”

“Right now, Director, you have to assume there is no one you can trust except yourself.”

It was harsh, but it was reality.

Right now the Director wasn’t holding real power—he was holding an empty shell.

Thud—

“Then what? Are we forced to just watch?”

Neung Je-gang looked quietly at Go Tak as the man sagged, then spoke softly.

Now it was time to take what he could through negotiation—and to offer what he could in return.

“It isn’t that there’s no way at all….”

“There’s a way to resolve this?”

“I think it’s not a bad method….”

“What is it?”

“Use trustworthy people and run an assassination squad in reverse.”

“Trustworthy people? An assassination squad?”

“Just as they’re assassinating Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard key figures, we can assassinate them one by one.”

“They were originally under the Eastern Depot and the Grand Preceptor anyway. No one will know the Director handled it.”

“All suspicion will fall squarely on the Chancellor.”

“Oh… I see.”

Go Tak’s face brightened, as if it were a good idea.

But one obstacle remained.

“Still, where do we find trustworthy people to do it?”

That was the problem.

He was in a state where he didn’t know who to trust.

No matter how good the plan was, it was carried out by people—without people, it was pointless.

“Can’t you do it?”

“I won’t.”

“I see….”

Go Tak fell into thought, but once his mind had slipped into confusion about whom to trust, he couldn’t find an answer quickly.

“If it’s that difficult, I can do it—but….”

“But? Do you have other conditions?”

“I do.”

“One condition is that you give me information on the Ten Great Contract Organizations of the martial world.”

“Just their locations will do. Ah—then I’ll also need to know how to enter their bases.”

“Contract organizations? You mean assassins?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. But you aren’t planning to use them for something else, are you?”

“Even if I had another motive, do you think I’d tell you?”

“…Fair enough. And you have another condition?”

“As you know, my master is devoting himself fully to suppressing the Japanese Pirates.”

“Of course I know. I’m always sorry—and grateful.”

“If you truly feel that way, then please. Dispatch competent commanders to Zhejiang Province and Fujian Province.”

“…I will. But were the commanders sent there really that terrible?”

“If you’d gone even once, you’d understand.”

“I’ll speak to the Ministry of War and have them pay attention.”

“Thank you. And lastly….”

“There’s more?”

“I want, for exactly one person, the power of life and death over an Eastern Depot figure.”

“Only one?”

“Yes. So that I may kill them whenever I want—regardless of whether it’s related to this matter—without it becoming a crime.”

“That isn’t me, is it?”

“Of course not.”

“Fine. The Secret Institute Lord and the Field Agents Lord will be dying anyway—what difference does one more make?”

“Then is that everything?”

“Yes.”

“In return, I will requisition about four men from the Capture Bureau to use.”

“At minimum, we need to match the numbers of the assassins the Secret Institute mobilized.”

“Agreed.”

With Go Tak’s answer, their contract was sealed.