Unraveling Questions (2)

Go So-jeong had lain low around Taepyeong Pavilion in Luoyang all this time. Chasing Neung Je-gang had become secondary to her.

What mattered most to her now was punishing the ones who had humiliated her into fleeing inside the Martial Alliance. Disappointing her father, who had trusted her, was an even deeper wound.

In any case, since Secret Shadow had investigated there—and since it was where the people who had immobilized her with spycraft were—Taepyeong Pavilion was clearly suspicious. She resolved to reveal its true identity by herself.

“Last time I only got exposed because I moved clumsily trying to catch that jerk Secret Shadow. This time I won’t get caught—no matter what.”

Bolstering herself with confidence and courage, she moved covertly.

She slipped only through unlit places, through shadows, and vaulted Taepyeong Pavilion’s wall.

She had no idea how many times she had already infiltrated the Pavilion. Once she did her utmost, even the watchers posted by the Pavilion failed to detect her.

Today her target was the largest main hall—where she had been discovered before. She had already searched the other halls and found nothing especially odd. Instead she had merely witnessed, countless times, the drunken debauchery of courtesans and patrons.

‘I only got spotted last time because I wandered around on the roof like a fool.’

This time she hid her body under the eaves, not atop the tiles. There was a hurdle: to go up a floor, she would have to pass the roof anyway. For that, she used the patches of moon-shadow.

‘Strangely, there seem to be more guards than before. Do they know I’m coming?’

Reaching the top floor was a huge gamble. The chances of being discovered were high. It was risky to be confident she could evade a defense many times tighter.

‘If there are many eyes outside, sometimes the inside is the safer path.’

One level below the top, she lifted a few tiles and slipped inside. She carefully set the tiles back and crawled through the dust-choked space.

Inside a wooden building, the best way to go up was the stairs; next was opening the ceiling—both possible with timber construction.

‘Take the stairs.’

Go So-jeong searched for the stairs. Tearing through the ceiling risked noise. If both were risky, the stairs—where she could dash in a blink—fit her style.

By luck, no one was near the stairwell. She sprinted up at top speed.

There was no sign of people. It was as if the space were empty; nothing got in her way.

She slipped into the room adjacent to the proprietress’s chamber. To find anything important, rifling the proprietress’s room would be best, but she sensed several presences inside.

She pressed her ear to the wall to listen, and just then, exactly what she had wanted to hear came through.

“How far has the intruder come?”

A heavy, low male voice. The same voice that had once arranged with the Assassin Pavilion to take Neung Je-gang’s life.

“Ho-ho-ho! She has safely made it to the next room. Give the order and we can seize her anytime.”

A woman’s voice this time—So-hee, the proprietress of Taepyeong Pavilion.

‘W-what are they saying? They can’t be talking about me… can they?’

Go So-jeong fell into a panic. She couldn’t accept that she had been detected even after doing her utmost.

But they had known everything since the moment she crossed the Pavilion wall.

“If she’s already reached the next room, her ability isn’t to be underestimated.”

“Ho-ho, even so, right now she’s just a rat in a jar.”

“True enough. But if that rat is Secret Shadow, we shouldn’t take it lightly. I hear his individual power is no small thing.”

“It isn’t Secret Shadow. We don’t yet know her identity, but they say it’s the one who fled to the Martial Alliance last time. The Soul-Hunting Tiger Pair confirmed it. They said it smelled the same.”

“Heh-heh-heh! If it’s the Martial Alliance, then it’s the daughter of ‘Sweeping-Sword-at-Sunset.’ That fool once bragged he raised his own daughter as a spy. What’s so great about turning your daughter into a spy, tsk, tsk! Idiot!”

‘That bastard—how dare he talk about who?’

The insult to her father snapped Go So-jeong back to her senses.

But she couldn’t move rashly. Her anger surged, yet since they were clearly talking about her, a reckless move could mean a meaningless death.

‘Fine. If I’m going to die anyway, I’ll at least hear your plot first. Then, if I live, I can wipe you all out at once.’

She steeled herself. There was no need to keep draining her mind to hide. She sank down where she was and pressed her ear to the wall.

“Ho-ho-ho! Anyway, Secret Shadow won’t arrive for a few more days. He’s so leisurely he’s traveling by carriage.”

“Well, the task the Alliance gave him isn’t his own business, so he can take it easy. But our operation is a complete failure—diverting the Investigation Unit’s eyes and ears to the Special Assault Corps killings.”

“Ho-ho-ho! We couldn’t help it—we didn’t think the Assassin Pavilion would fail to handle a single Secret Shadow. That was our mistake, taking him too lightly. But it isn’t over yet. You know, don’t you—our final move?”

“I do. Then make the preparations regarding Secret Shadow before he arrives. I’m always ready, so don’t worry.”

“Yes, Great One. We shall do so. Ho-ho-ho-ho!”

“Then I’ll be going. Handle the daughter of ‘Sweeping-Sword-at-Sunset,’ who must be shivering like a mouse. Under no circumstances can you let her slip away.”

“Of course. Ho-ho-ho!”

For reasons known only to her, So-hee kept laughing and laughing.

‘I have to go out. I must see that man’s face.’

Even to Go So-jeong, the man was clearly the mastermind behind the massacre of the Special Assault Corps—and a figure within the Martial Alliance. If he even knew that her father sometimes boasted of her, he couldn’t be low-ranking; her father was not the sort to joke with subordinates.

Such a chance wouldn’t come again. If only she could see his face.

Go So-jeong drew her two daggers—her main weapons—one in each hand.

Bang

She kicked open the proprietress’s door.

Whish

Something pale flickered before her eyes, so she flicked a dagger at it.

Chang

The blade was knocked aside by something. In that instant, Go So-jeong swept the room with her eyes.

But there was no sign of the man.

‘A step late.’

Even acting the moment she resolved herself, she was late.

‘Get out.’

Survival now came first. As a spy, the best choice was to inform Go Won-gi of what she had heard.

But the problem was, as she had experienced last time, the people here treated mutual destruction like some peerless trump card. Getting out unscathed was unlikely.

“Ho-ho-ho! So you’re Go Won-gi’s daughter.”

Her decision had been quick, but So-hee’s action was quicker.

The woman in white—So-hee—stood blocking the window Go So-jeong had aimed for, looking down with a mocking gaze at the girl crouched tight.

“I was waiting for Secret Shadow, and you fell into the net instead. Blame your misfortune. Ho-ho-ho-ho!”

“Shut it!”

Whip

A dagger flashed toward So-hee’s eyes, still curled in that hateful smile.

So-hee raised a hand to cover her eyes.

Chang

The blade struck her taut hem and bounced off. Steel rang where dagger met garment.

“This one’s real.”

She had blocked the dagger, but in doing so she blocked her own view. Seizing the opening, Go So-jeong scattered hidden weapons.

Pi-pi-pi-pit

“Pointless.”

So-hee spun where she stood. The darts could not pierce her clothing.

Hududu-duk

“Ho-ho-ho! Hidden toys, how dare you…”

She watched Go So-jeong’s efforts as if enjoying a child’s tricks. Her consummate art was on a level Go So-jeong couldn’t touch; she was not someone to fall to mere spycraft.

But Go So-jeong’s last move was something even So-hee hadn’t expected.

Shuuk

“Kyah!”

The dagger that had been deflected at the first attack suddenly sprang up from the floor and skewered So-hee’s buttock. She hadn’t known the blade was attached by a fine silver thread and could be reeled at will.

Kwang

While So-hee staggered from the shock, Go So-jeong smashed through the blocked window and burst outside. With pain lancing through her rump, So-hee couldn’t even think to stop her.

“Kill her—kill her!”

Hearing So-hee shriek to the point of bursting her throat, Go So-jeong felt a wicked thrill—the satisfaction of landing a blow on someone who had looked down on her.

But she would not be laughing for a long time yet. Outside the window, dozens of men waited, a perfect cordon laid so she could not escape.

“Damn it!”

Go So-jeong yanked free and recalled the dagger that had pierced So-hee’s rump, gripping it tight. Now it was truly time to fight for her life.

Neung Je-gang reached Xi’an, took a room at an inn, and went to the Drum Tower. He saw no carrier pigeons, nor the men who guarded the place.

“If any remained, I would have cleaned them up—but they’re gone without a trace.”

There was no sign of the Assassin Pavilion.

He went elsewhere—the home of the only assassin who had survived the bloodbath outside Hanzhong.

Surprisingly, the man seemed not to know his identity had been blown; he was living there with his family.

“Is anyone home?”

Neung Je-gang called from the gate.

“Who are you?”

The assassin Gwanggeom came out to greet the visitor—and froze when he saw Neung Je-gang’s face.

How could he forget—the face of the god of slaughter who had skewered his comrades like pine needles?

“Dear, what are you doing? Oh my!”

His wife came out, saw her husband frozen and Neung Je-gang standing there, and gasped.

“Shall we talk outside?”

“Y-yes…”

As if bewitched, Gwanggeom followed Neung Je-gang. He couldn’t think of running. He knew full well this man could kill him with a finger twitch.

Neung Je-gang led him to an inn. In the room, without being told, Gwanggeom knelt before him—placing himself entirely at the other’s disposal.

“I have a task for you.”

“Speak.”

Having given up, Gwanggeom answered calmly.

“It isn’t hard. Drive a carriage to Luoyang in my stead.”

“Pardon?”

“Come masked at the start of myoshi (05:00–07:00) tomorrow, take the carriage I left with the inn, and drive to Luoyang—slowly.”

“A-and after that…?”

“After that, do as you please. Go where you want—or return to your family. As long as you don’t go back to assassination, I won’t acknowledge knowing you.”

“T-thank you.”

“Call it luck. You were the only one to survive… And this is your fee for the errand.”

Neung Je-gang tossed him two gold taels.

Two thousand taels of silver—enough capital for a family to make a living at trade. He might have savings from his bloody work, but Neung Je-gang wouldn’t send him off empty-handed.

“Go on.”

“Yes.”

Gwanggeom accepted the two gold taels, rose, bowed deep, and went home.

After he left, Neung Je-gang took up the Mindless Sword in his left hand and opened the window.

Hwiik

His figure, all in black, rose into the darkening sky and flew off.

“There were certainly people tailing the carriage—and I sometimes saw carrier hawks. They’ll be ready, knowing I’m coming. I need to get there first, before preparations are in place, and take a look. With luck I might even see the killer’s face. The Martial Alliance should be about to return from striking the Necromancer Cult’s branches.”

Shweeeek

Neung Je-gang’s figure sliced the air with a sharp sound as he flew into the night.