Seeing The Demon (7)

“My apologies. I was out for quite a while, weren’t I?”

Mun Jung laughed brightly and waved it off.

“The young really are different. Looks like you poured out as much as you drank too.”

Woo Gyeong-baek clapped and roared with laughter, and the woman serving beside Mun Jung also laughed, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

Looking a little sheepish as he scratched his head, Gyeong Do-cheon lifted the bottle and refilled their cups.

But it was an attitude he had put on from start to finish. His mind was in severe turmoil at the current state where even the emergency network had been cut.

‘Why? How is it that the emergency network…?’

The assassins he controlled, the Crimson Blood Pavilion, said to be the fallen assassin world’s last pride, was an organization that prided itself on being the strongest.

It was only natural. It was an organization formed by assassins from Salmak, the myth of Sichuan’s assassin world.

‘That’s impossible. Crimson Blood’s emergency network is the best in Sichuan. Even if the Curtain Master came back to life…’

No. If Salmak’s Curtain Master came back alive, he could cut the emergency network. But how could that be? Ten years ago, the dying Crimson Blood Pavilion Lord said it himself. The Curtain Master had been dead for a long time.

Even if he were alive, why would he target him?

‘What the hell is happening.’

He deliberately suppressed his internal energy and truly got drunk. Pretending to be drunk wouldn’t be enough to fool a master like Mun Jung.

Because of that, his head wasn’t turning sharply like before.

‘Was it Gyeong Hang? That old man brought some unknown master… No. That’s not it. The Branch Chief clearly sent an order directly to the Court Master.’

Gyeong Do-cheon’s eyes wavered as he looked at Mun Jung.

‘Don’t tell me it’s this bastard…?’

It was nonsense.

The thought that flashed through his mind made his whole face burn. To have such a ridiculous thought just because he was drunk was truly shameful.

Gyeong Do-cheon didn’t know. That foolish thought he had while drunk was close to the truth.

‘The Crimson Blood Hands never let their guard down. They can fail, but they don’t get careless. That’s how they’re raised.’

That much, he could be sure of.

Meaning, if the emergency network was cut, it wasn’t because the Crimson Blood Hands relaxed or made a mistake. It meant they got hit by someone.

‘Of all times.’

Any other time, maybe. But Gyeong Hang had fallen into the hands of someone unknown.

He didn’t know whether it was a kidnapping or a getaway. What mattered was that the plan had gone off the rails.

After the plan had already gone wrong once, he had tried to move more boldly while being more careful. And now another variable had exploded.

‘Damn it. I need to go check, now.’

Gyeong Do-cheon stole a glance at Mun Jung.

And of course, Mun Jung was looking right at him too.

“What is it? Are you a bit short on drink?”

“Ha ha, how could that be?”

“The night’s still long. Don’t tell me a young man has less stamina than us.”

Gyeong Do-cheon smiled broadly and raised his forearm.

“I can lose at anything else, but I can’t lose on spirit.”

“Kwa-ha-ha-ha! That’s a man for you. Vice Branch Master Woo. You’ve really made ties with an impressive young man.”

Laughing, Woo Gyeong-baek talked about how he already felt hurt that the Branch Chief would probably steal that impressive young man from him soon, and he kept building Gyeong Do-cheon up.

Mun Jung said that would bring him closer to Mun Jung’s side too, and loudly declared that from now on, the number one and number two of the Sichuan Branch should work things well together.

As the two, excited, traded drinks back and forth, Gyeong Do-cheon was dying in the middle.

‘These crazy old bastards!’

Their alcohol tolerance was far stronger than he expected.

He knew Woo Gyeong-baek could drink, but Mun Jung seemed even worse. He kept his face a bit flushed and kept emptying cups, drinking so well it made your stomach twist just watching.

Gyeong Do-cheon didn’t know. Each time Mun Jung drank, he was burning off part of his drunkenness with subtle internal energy control.

And another two hours passed in a blink.

Gyeong Do-cheon realized he’d reached his limit. Drinking without internal energy against those monster drunks was truly insane.

‘No more.’

It wasn’t only the alcohol. It was already past the Ox Hour and edging into the Tiger Hour.

[Reporting. The emergency network is still cut. None of the Crimson Blood Hands can be contacted.]

The report that came every fifteen minutes didn’t just pour fuel on his urgency. It burned it black.

In the end, Gyeong Do-cheon made a decision.

He had been listening with a dumb grin, then slammed his head onto the table.

Koong!

“Huh, this guy?”

Woo Gyeong-baek shook Gyeong Do-cheon. But Gyeong Do-cheon didn’t move.

Mun Jung burst into laughter.

“He held out well enough. He can really drink.”

“Heh heh, my apologies. He isn’t the type to make a mistake like this, but it seems he got too tense in meeting you, Branch Chief.”

“It’s fine. He was emptying cups too quickly anyway. They say there’s no strong man before drink.”

“I have no face.”

Mun Jung pulled a cord, and two beautiful women opened the door and came in.

“Take this handsome young master to a special room. He’ll be tired, so don’t bother him.”

“Yes, Branch Chief.”

And so Gyeong Do-cheon was taken out, supported by the women.

Woo Gyeong-baek whistled softly.

“They don’t seem to have learned martial arts, but those art courtesans are strong.”

“They didn’t learn martial arts professionally, but they’ve learned an inner cultivation method. Even if we filter guests, we still get troublemakers sometimes.”

“Heh heh, I suppose so. Those girls are precious.”

“That’s right.”

Mun Jung refilled Woo Gyeong-baek’s cup.

“How about you?”

“Yes?”

“Are you a talent precious enough to hold the vice branch master seat?”

Woo Gyeong-baek was flustered for a moment. But he soon answered with easy nerve.

“Ha ha ha! If I’m with you, Branch Chief, I could become someone worthy even of the Heavenly Will Alliance’s main base.”

“Heh heh, I see.”

Mun Jung nodded and emptied his cup.

“Right. That’s right.”

“The wine’s empty. One more bottle…….”

“But you weren’t with me.”

“Pardon?”

“You took under-the-table money from that green young bastard, killed a few Branch men who worked faithfully, and if threats to step down didn’t work, you dragged in their families, burned them, tore their arms and legs off, didn’t you?”

“!!”

Woo Gyeong-baek’s face went stiff.

Mun Jung shrugged.

“Though it is impressive you didn’t take Mighty Tiger’s money. Did you not bother to collect that great greed there?”

“…B-Branch Chief?”

“Do you know? The Branch Chief’s seal still hasn’t been stamped on your appointment.”

“?!”

“That seal stamped in the Branch Chief approval box isn’t mine. It’s my aide’s.”

“B-Branch Chief?”

“Meaning, you aren’t a vice branch master yet. If I formally appoint you as vice branch master, wouldn’t it be inconvenient later when I deal with you and report to the main base?”

It was the moment the alcohol vanished from his head.

Mun Jung’s smile deepened.

“Do you know that I’m the one who promoted you to vice branch master?”

“!!”

“On the surface, sure, it might feel too fast. But you aren’t someone unfit for the position. But what happens when we peel off the silk covering that surface?”

Seureuk.

A faint killing intent settled in Mun Jung’s eyes.

It was killing intent so vicious that someone at Woo Gyeong-baek’s level couldn’t dare meet it.

“Are you sure you really belong in that seat?”

“B-Branch Chief!”

Woo Gyeong-baek dropped to his knees without meaning to.

“Please forgive this subordinate! I, I only…….”

Ppagak!

“Keok!”

Woo Gyeong-baek’s face was driven into the floor. Mun Jung, still seated, lifted his right foot and stomped the back of his head.

Woo Gyeong-baek instinctively tried to circulate internal energy and raise his head.

But he couldn’t. Mun Jung’s foot became heavy in an instant.

Kwaduk!

Soon Woo Gyeong-baek’s body, driven down to the neck, trembled, then went limp.

Ureok.

Blood slowly pooled up over Mun Jung’s foot, planted in the floor.

Jjeok.

When he pulled his foot back, blood surged up. Shards of crushed skull and brain matter came up with it, slowly soaking the floor.

“I want to wash.”

Even after seeing that horrific sight, the woman didn’t look flustered at all.

“I’ll have them draw a bath.”

“It’s fine.”

Mun Jung, holding up his blood-stained foot, turned his gaze out the window.

“I’ll be walking a dirty road from here on, so it’s fine.”

The woman smiled faintly.

“Have you finally made up your mind?”

“My mind was made up long ago. I only grew endlessly dull.”

“And the one who ground that dulled mind and made it a famed blade under heaven again is this Jin-hyeon?”

“Who knows.”

Hwaaak!

With a gust, Mun Jung’s drunkenness vanished completely.

“I still don’t know whether he’ll put a crack in a well-honed blade, or snap it while honing.”

“Or he might become a whetstone that appears whenever you need honing, and sharpens you properly.”

“That’s what I want to find out.”

The moon outside the window had leaned far down.

“The clouds are filling in. Will it finally snow?”

“That is something only heaven knows.”

It was then.

The door opened, and the two women who had taken Gyeong Do-cheon came in and knelt.

“Branch Chief. The Divine Iron Merchant House’s First Young Master slipped out of the special room.”

Mun Jung snorted.

“Honestly. He runs off without even knowing how expensive a night here is.”

The woman shook her head lightly and smiled.

“Even if it costs ten thousand nyang for one night, he’ll abandon it and go.”

“Could you hear it?”

“A voice transmission came once every fifteen minutes.”

To eavesdrop on a voice transmission, you needed to be at least a Transcendent master, or someone who had learned a special art related to it.

In the woman’s case, it was the latter.

“It was a high-level assassin’s voice transmission. The content came through blurry. But I could tell the word ‘emergency network’ kept repeating.”

“I see.”

Mun Jung had heard their voice transmissions too. He was a Transcendent master.

But he didn’t bother telling her that. She only guessed, and she had never once asked Mun Jung about his martial strength.

That was the kind of relationship they had.

“All right, then.”

Mun Jung thought of Jin-hyeon.

“Shall we watch how that whetstone youth handles the Divine Iron Merchant House.”

Before he knew it, Gyeong Do-cheon had reached a small manor not far from the Divine Iron Merchant House. Of course, he had blown away every trace of drunkenness before coming here.

A masked man appeared before Gyeong Do-cheon, who had been waiting anxiously.

“First Young Master.”

“How is it?”

“It’s strange. There isn’t a single gate guard in sight, none of the ones who should be guarding the main gate are there.”

Killing intent settled in Gyeong Do-cheon’s eyes.

Of course, his expression didn’t change.

“What about the Crimson Blood Hands stationed in the outer court?”

“I tried contacting them separately from outside, but there was no response. Just in case, I contacted the side routes that lead to the inner court as well, but there was no response there either.”

There were more than five ways for the Crimson Blood Hands to communicate among themselves.

If none of them got a response, there was only one conclusion.

“Someone intervened. They killed the Crimson Blood Hands quietly.”

“But…”

The masked man couldn’t continue.

To kill that many Crimson Blood Hands, you’d need assassins equal to them, or above them.

Even a Transcendent master could hardly wipe out that many assassins without leaving traces. You might be able to slaughter them somehow, but erasing traces to this degree was impossible unless you were a true professional in the trade.

‘Could it be betrayal?’

Gyeong Do-cheon didn’t ignore that possibility.

But it was also true that the possibility was close to zero.

‘Someone intervened. People so formidable that even our network is unable to notice.’

Gyeong Do-cheon ground his teeth.

‘Damn it! What the hell is going on, and how!’

Then the masked man asked.

“Wouldn’t it be best to withdraw for now?”

Hearing that made rage surge up. Leave for now, when he didn’t even know who hit him?

“…Scrape up every bastard we have left.”