The Woes Of A Knave

“Kill her! She’s a tough one. Don’t let her slip away under any circumstances.”

“Make sure she learns exactly what kind of place the Eastern Depot is.”

Judging that a few throwing needles stuck in her legs wouldn’t be enough to catch her, the Eastern Depot decided to kill Go So-jeong. Even if they killed her, learning her identity afterward wouldn’t be very hard.

Go So-jeong’s situation grew urgent. If she were captured or killed here, the fallout would surely reach the Martial Alliance. Her father was the sort who would storm even the Forbidden City if something happened to her. It would never end with just her death.

Shu-shu-shu-shuk

As a last resort she pulled her body up to the limit. With tears in her eyes, she hurled Blood Rain—which she had intended to use on Neung Je-gang to break pursuit—toward the cluster of Eastern Depot operatives.

The blood-red Blood Rain scattered gleams across the air.

“Gasp!”

Someone recognized it. A dazzling crimson beauty of terror—a throwing weapon!

“It’s Blood Rain! Scatter!”

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pak

Pi-pi-pi-pi-pit

“Graaagh!”

“Argh!”

“Ku-eugh!”

Thousands of Blood Rain fragments bored into their bodies. There was no way to evade it.

Each shard was a fearful weapon with the power to shatter protective qi—Blood Rain.

Eastern Depot operatives tumbled to the ground like leaves beaten down by rain.

They could only watch, eyes wide open, as Go So-jeong lightly vaulted over the wall of the Luoyang Branch and vanished. None of them even dared to give chase. If the enemy had even one more Blood Rain, the Eastern Depot might be wiped out to the root.

One agent who had escaped injury picked up a fragment of Blood Rain. A fiendish hidden weapon like this always carried traces of its maker.

There were only a handful of artisans in the world capable of crafting something like Blood Rain, and the Eastern Depot held a list of their names. Track it from that, and catching the culprit wouldn’t be impossible.

Within the Luoyang Branch compound that had just been struck, only the operative quarters stared blankly at the dead.

Bang

“Are you saying martial artists have attacked again?”

“Our apologies, Your Highness!”

Whether it was an inspection or a pleasure outing was unclear, but attacking a place where a princess was staying—twice—was a fatal misstep by the martial world.

Since the bloody incidents of the Necromancer Cult, the authorities had been lenient toward the martial world. Without the martial world’s help then, the Empire might have been imperiled by the cult’s rampage.

So the authorities had silently made one concession: unless it was a treason-level affair or a heinous deed that aroused the public’s fury, they would turn a blind eye to the martial world’s conduct.

Perhaps thanks to that effort, the martial world had also refrained from provoking the authorities. At times, some joined treasonous plots, but rarely in an open way.

By imperial law, every last martial artist ought to be arrested. Carrying weapons at all was illegal, to say nothing of the killings and violence martial artists committed.

Yet now they brazenly launched an assault on the Eastern Depot. Whether by an individual or a group, it was a challenge to the authorities and an act of rebellion.

“Have you learned who it was?”

A chill killing intent spilled from Princess Jang-ok.

“Beyond the fact that it was a woman, we have learned nothing. But fortunately, we did obtain evidence that can establish her identity. We believe we can identify her before long.”

“A woman?”

Princess Jang-ok looked startled.

“What business would a woman of the martial world have to storm the Eastern Depot?”

“Um… it seems she came looking for that weirdo from last time…”

“Hmph! Looks match the manners, do they… Have you identified the one who visited first?”

“On that too, we have luckily obtained a lead. The woman who attacked today called him the Sect Lord as she searched for him. We will soon begin a sweeping inspection of martial organizations. With that, we should be able to learn his identity.”

“Oh? So he’s a Sect Lord of some school?”

The princess wore a curious smile.

“Very well, you may withdraw.”

Once the Eastern Depot agent giving the report left, Princess Jang-ok returned to her room and threw herself onto the bed.

“If he has that face and that skill—and is even the Sect Lord of a major school—he might well do as a royal consort.”

“Your Highness, a royal consort? You must not think so highly of a mere martial artist. If His Majesty hears of this, it will be disastrous. Besides, isn’t he the one who attacked the Eastern Depot?”

The Chief Palace Maid who shadowed the princess like a shade nearly shrieked. However much the princess loved the martial world and martial arts, she had never imagined she would try to choose a consort from among martial artists.

“Tch! If you jump out of your skin like that, how can I say more? Anyway, if this reaches His Majesty’s ears, I’m dead. Understood?”

“Your Highness! Such threats…”

Only the sharp, piercing cry of the Chief Palace Maid rang through the inner chambers.

Taepyeong Pavilion.

Luoyang’s foremost pleasure house that carried the city’s refined pleasures in Henan Province. Neung Je-gang hung beneath the eaves of its largest building, listening intently to the sounds within.

“Today again, it’s nothing but drinkers and revelers.”

He moved about here and there, searching for any corner where suspicious talk might be heard, but found only people at play.

‘Rather than this, I should meet the proprietress—So-hee. It’s a bit of a blunt method, but who knows when they’ll gather again? I can’t waste time.’

Neung Je-gang flew once more toward the place he had scouted in advance—the room of Taepyeong Pavilion’s proprietress. As in most establishments, the proprietress’s quarters sat at the very top of the building.

‘No one.’

The proprietress’s room was dark and empty.

Neung Je-gang slid the window open without a sound and slipped inside.

‘Unlike the Demonic Death-School’s illusions, the Hidden Shadows and Extreme Secrecy Method is, as its name says, best for this kind of covert work. Still, learning that Death-School art leaves me uneasy—an illusion perfected only through death? Having a second life is nice, but I still don’t want to die.’

After entering, he looked around for anything that might help.

He found nothing.

“Right, no one would leave anything important lying around unsecured. Then there must be some hidden place. The richer and more conspiratorial they are, the more they rely on mechanisms.”

In mechanism-lore, Neung Je-gang had learned only the basics at the Depot Martial Academy, so he didn’t dare attempt anything too complicated.

Even so, having learned anything at all was better than nothing. Recalling his lessons, he began to search the room.

At last he found two buttons set into the wall near the bed. Their positions differed, but their size and color were identical.

“One of the two must be a trap…”

He examined them closely. There was a difference: a sheen of hand oil from frequent use—more on one, less on the other.

“They wouldn’t be using the trap mechanism all the time, right?”

Confident, Neung Je-gang pressed the one with more hand oil.

Sreureureung

With a tiny mechanism-whirr, one wall opened wide enough for exactly one person to slip through.

“They could have made it bigger.”

He grumbled as he slipped inside.

Sreureureung

As if it had been waiting, the wall returned to its original state.

Flash

At the same time the wall reset, the proprietress’s room blazed with light. After a brief moment, the door opened and several people entered.

“Someone went in through the trap?”

The speaker was a middle-aged woman in pure white. She had the beauty to have stirred many men’s hearts in her youth.

“Yes, without a doubt. The mechanism was triggered.”

Another all in black, like Neung Je-gang, bowed and replied.

“Ho-ho, since Taepyeong Pavilion was founded, no one has ever gone in by the trap. That means someone has begun to harbor suspicions about us. Warn the merchants to be cautious. Our true identity must not be exposed. And we’d better search the area around the pleasure house in case there are accomplices.”

“Understood.”

The black-clad underling carefully withdrew.

“What of the one who entered the trap? Capture him alive if possible. We must learn who is behind him.”

“Yes, Proprietress. Though he could be Eastern Depot.”

This time, the respondent was a woman, dressed in ornate palace-style robes befitting a pleasure house.

“Eastern Depot? Why do you think so?”

The proprietress, So-hee, looked at the woman.

“A few days ago there was a commotion at the Eastern Depot.”

“A commotion? Wasn’t that because Princess Jang-ok was inspecting them?”

“No; someone raided the Depot’s information office. They lost the culprit and ended up making a disgraceful show before the princess.”

“Ho-ho-ho-ho! Of course. If they were assaulted with the princess present and still failed to catch the culprit, the Depot’s face is in the dirt.”

“The problem is that, because of that, the Depot’s movements have become unusual. Pressure may begin not only here in Luoyang but across the whole martial world. The one who intruded here today could be Depot as well.”

“It’s fine. If we feared the Depot, we wouldn’t be running this operation. Eastern Depot or not—we’ll catch him first and decide after.”

“Understood.”

“By the way, when did the Great One say they would come again?”

“We received word they won’t be able to come for a while.”

“Why?”

“They’re moving with the Martial Alliance’s Special Assault Corps. In Hunan Province, sites suspected to be bases of the Necromancer Cult have been discovered…”

“What? Which fools got themselves exposed again?”

“Xinhua and Shaoyang. Fortunately, the real base wasn’t discovered; a planted decoy was. Even so, the Martial Alliance plans to sweep them in one stroke, deploying executives and the Special Assault Corps.”

“Ho-ho-ho! Fools. More unrelated people will die at the Alliance’s hands, and they don’t even realize that, later, the noose will be hung around the necks of the Alliance and its lord. Ho-ho-ho-ho!”

The woman in white laughed for a long while. Even after the palace-robed woman withdrew, her laughter seemed to float in the air.

“I picked the wrong way in.”

That was the first thing Neung Je-gang realized after the door connected to the proprietress’s room closed. A space completely cut off from outside; the only thing he felt was a killing aura that stung his skin.

“Damn it! A trap. I chose wrong.”

For now, there were no signs beyond the killing aura, but the moment he moved, an unending storm of attacks would pour down.

“Still, there’s no choice. If I want any chance to get out, I have to move.”

The darkness wasn’t an obstacle. A narrow, square passage that seemed to hold nothing at all.

That was the problem. Because it was narrow, there would be no room to dodge once the attacks began.

“Is this when I trust in this body the Demon Doctor remade—and in the Death-School’s illusion art?”

The Death-School illusion perfected through death. Perhaps this very moment was his chance to complete it.

“Even so, I should try not to die.”

Neung Je-gang stirred his true energy.

Wooooong

His inner power surged out through his pores. It formed a white airflow like a single membrane—the pinnacle of body-guarding arts, Protective Body-Qi.

“Protective Body-Qi eats up a lot of power, but that’s better than dying. The problem is that some hidden weapons can shatter qi—but surely they wouldn’t install such top-grade weapons in a trap?”

The Blood Rain Go So-jeong had used at the Depot wasn’t just powerful; it was astronomically expensive. A master artisan might craft one in a lifetime; such things were never cheap.

Thus people called them masterpieces or supreme-grade weapons, and treasured them like their own lives. Even the Martial Alliance’s Investigation Chief Go Won-gi begrudged giving one to his daughter.

“Judging by the size of the building, this trap won’t be long. There may even be a real secret room at the end.”

Kagak

The moment Neung Je-gang took his first step, a shock dug into his waist. A large, semicircular blade had sprung from the wall.

It struck his Protective Body-Qi and retracted to its original position.

“Yikes! So death waits every step?”

Without the protective qi, the blow could have seriously injured his waist.

“Still, the attacks aren’t lethal—meant to wound? A trap, yes, but maybe it’s for capture, not killing. In any case, mechanisms can be broken.”

He extended his hand toward the wall beside him.

Thunk

A hidden dart left his hand and sank into the wall.

Crackle-crack

Something broke within. It was the art called striking through the mountain to hit the ox—projecting force through matter.

“This should make passing through a little easier.”

With each step he took, Neung Je-gang used his hand to wreck the mechanisms.

Even so, attacks still struck his Protective Body-Qi from time to time. Needles shot up from the floor, blades dropped from the ceiling. Because he didn’t know where every device was, some escaped his reach.

At last—the end of the narrow, dark passage.

But it was blocked, just like the entrance. There was no secret room as he had hoped.

“Damn! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have wasted energy and would’ve just punched through one wall…”

Hoping there might be a chamber at the end, he had accepted the trap, knowing it was one. Had he realized it was only a trap, he could have shattered the entrance door or wall and exited. Even if the wall was iron, his Solar Flame of Blazing Yang could melt steel.

“First, I’ll pull my depleted energy back up.”

The trap had run its course. He decided to restore the true energy consumed maintaining Protective Body-Qi and then find a way out.

Sreureung

But there was no time. With a faint sound like in the proprietress’s room, the wall at the end of the trap opened, shining bright light.

“By now, he’s probably almost dead, right?”

“Who knows—he might be completely dead.”

Two people chatted idly, waiting without the slightest tension for the door to open fully.

Tuthung

Neung Je-gang flicked his fingers.

“Ugh!”

As the door opened, he darted out. The two who collapsed wore the same black stealth garb as he did—clearly people engaged in secret work.

He looked around. A secret chamber—but different in purpose from the sort he wanted.

Drab, undecorated walls. A gruesome red floor as if freshly splashed with blood. It looked like a space for torture or confinement.

‘A secret chamber is a secret chamber, at least.’

Neung Je-gang kept his mouth shut.

‘Should I interrogate these two? They likely won’t talk.’

They were in the same line of work as he was. Ordinary torture wouldn’t open their mouths.

Chuchuchu

Just then, strange noises came from the bodies whose vital points he had pressed, and their bodies began to shrivel.

Neung Je-gang stared, eyes wide.

‘Poison?’

Poison, unmistakably. Only poison could dissolve a corpse. The two were already dead, and their bodies slowly melted.

‘I only sealed their blood-points, and they’re melting? Such a vicious interdiction?’

When captured, biting poison to kill oneself was standard. So, subduing them, he had also sealed their jaw points; if they couldn’t open their mouths, they couldn’t use the suicide poison hidden within.

Yet, as if mocking him, they died to poison anyway. He could only conclude it was some peculiar interdiction.

‘I’d never even imagined a martial art that could paralyze a human brain in an instant, and now they’re using bizarre interdictions like this too. This’ll make it a lot harder to handle the task the Martial Alliance gave me—since we can’t learn the culprits through anyone’s mouth. In the end, I have to do what I first intended—find the proprietress’s hidden secret room.’

There was only one conclusion.

Neung Je-gang checked the situation outside the chamber. Fortunately, he sensed no other presence.

He found the release and opened the chamber door. In an instant, a space of entirely different character appeared.

‘Open air?’

Moonlight lay softly over the night sky. The door of the secret room led straight outside.

‘So this trap doubles as an emergency escape route. Nothing for it. I can’t comb this place again now. They’ll soon realize I’m gone and swarm like hornets; fighting a bunch of nobodies I’ll only have to knock out is pointless. I’ll rest a few days and come back when their guard relaxes.’

Neung Je-gang slipped out and vanished into the night.

The night at Taepyeong Pavilion waned like that.