Red Hare (5)

As Lee Ho-gon was stamping documents, he frowned at the sudden commotion.

“Hey. What’s going on out there?”

A servant outside answered in a respectful voice.

“I’ll go find out what it is.”

Clicking his tongue, Lee Ho-gon sank back into his chair.

“Phew.”

As he settled in, a fatigue he hadn’t noticed washed over him.

‘I’m dead on my feet.’

He rubbed his eyes hard with his palms; the corners cooled while heat crept up his nape. When he took his hands away, he felt his eyelids sticking.

‘I should wrap up and get some sleep.’

He had been overdoing it lately.

But it couldn’t be helped. He was the one who had set the table, and if he wanted to finish the game to his liking, there was still much to do.

Fortunately, nothing had slipped out of the plan so far. Had even one thing gone wrong, he wouldn’t be tending to business at home like this.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, Lee Ho-gon let a faint smile form.

‘Still, the light is starting to show.’

There was a sense he had pushed things a bit hard to become Sichuan’s number one.

But funds were piling up fast and his influence only grew. He had joined hands with several prestigious martial houses in Sichuan, so even if something went awry, he could see it through.

Thinking of the martial houses he had allied with, his mind drifted to the White Sword Seol Clan.

His eyes went cold at once.

‘Filthy trash.’

He had disliked the Seol Clan since he was a child.

There were many reasons. He no longer needed to list them; what mattered was that the Seol Clan’s very existence harmed everyone.

‘Idiots who dole things out without the ability to back it up. Seol Hong-baek, what you do is no different from beggars’ panhandling. Livelihood of the people? Don’t make me laugh.’

The White Sword Seol Clan was a nail that stuck out far too much.

Fish cannot live in water that’s too clean. Because of the Seol Clan, nearby houses and merchant guilds were cursed at the moment they put even a little strength into business.

Their force was strong yet, put unkindly, middling. They had many businesses, but without Mighty Tiger they never would have grown so far.

With no tremendous influence and only public sentiment in their grip, hadn’t they become a rotten fruit that offered no substance and only wore out those around them?

‘Still, they enjoyed abundance for quite a long time—no regrets there.’

He had thought to wait until the Cold Blade Festival, but there was no need.

No, he didn’t want to. The Seol Clan aside, an unidentified gutter-rat who had suddenly appeared had twisted his temper.

‘Jin-hyeon…’

Lee Ho-gon ground his teeth.

‘Son of a bitch. I’ll tear you to pieces with my own hands.’

It was surely that bastard’s fault that his third son’s body ended up like that.

He couldn’t count how much nagging he took from that damn woman over it. Had her family not held shares in the guild, he might have dragged her to a secluded place and buried her; that’s how grating her nagging was.

‘Fatherly love? What a joke. Still, “he’s the child I bore,” is that it? Crazy bitch. If he had acted better to begin with, I’d say nothing.’

Unlike the first and second son, the third son was useless.

If anything, when he set out to undermine various guilds, that troublemaker had poked their brats and made it easier. If not for that, he would’ve tossed him into a pigsty long ago.

To stop his wife’s abuse, and to keep her family from pulling out at this critical moment.

Above all, for his wounded pride, that Jin-hyeon had to be caught and killed.

Of course, before killing him, he’d have to fix that troublemaker’s body.

Picturing the Seol bastards and Jin-hyeon bloodied to his satisfaction, Lee Ho-gon suddenly realized the noise outside was growing louder and scowled.

“You lot! What’s with all the racket!”

Come to think of it, the servant he’d sent hadn’t returned.

Irritated, Lee Ho-gon sprang up and strode toward the door.

“Useless slackers! The way you work, every last one of you—!”

Bang!

The door blew off its hinges.

Lee Ho-gon dropped onto his backside before he knew it.

“Whew. What an invigorating night.”

A young man appeared with the moonlight at his back.

Blood stained him here and there, yet he bore not a single wound.

Lee Ho-gon’s eyes bulged.

“Y-You?!”

“I don’t know why you hide that holy mug of yours like it’s sacred. You wouldn’t show it, so I punched my way in.”

A slender frame. A light-green outfit torn in places.

A strange youth with most of the hair on his left side turned white was grinning broadly.

“Did you not want to see me?”

“H-How are you here?!”

Jin-hyeon’s eyes flashed.

Crack!

“Aaaargh!”

Lee Ho-gon screamed as his right shin snapped.

Ssssss!

A pale haze rose from his broken shin. He had invoked the Body-Refining Bone-Press Art.

Jin-hyeon smiled, satisfied.

‘Good.’

Until recently, he’d needed to gather his true qi and circulate it carefully by the mnemonic to deploy it.

But now it was different. Though brief, the relentless fighting had loosened his body, and the circulation of his internal energy had become far swifter. His mind and true qi were beginning to come into unison with his body.

“Y-You bastard!”

Wracked by the pain of a bone breaking, Lee Ho-gon shook, barely able to speak.

Jin-hyeon glanced back.

Shouts echoed from afar. Dozens of guards were rushing in.

“Good. Very good.”

Jin-hyeon stepped behind Lee Ho-gon and hoisted him by the nape.

“Ghk!”

He hadn’t expected being grabbed by the back of the neck would choke him this much. A crushing pain as if his spine might snap at any moment surged through him.

“Sitting and working rots the body. Come get some air with me under the moon.”

Facing suffocation, Lee Ho-gon thrashed wildly.

Frowning, Jin-hyeon jabbed both of his Quchi points¹.

“Gah!”

The pain was brief. Realizing both arms had turned to stone, Lee Ho-gon panicked.

Jin-hyeon whispered into his ear.

“Want me to pop every joint?”

“!”

“Hold still, you bastard.”

It was a threat so chilling it made him forget even the pain.

As Jin-hyeon carried him down the steps, some seventy guards filed in from afar.

The head guard, Man Gok’s eyes flew wide.

“G-Guild Master!”

Thud.

Jin-hyeon sat Lee Ho-gon on the steps, then stood behind and seized him by the hair.

Lee Ho-gon’s face twisted hard.

“You loafing wretches! What have you been—!”

Whack!

“Urk!”

Jin-hyeon slapped his forehead. A humiliating blow.

“You little wretch, shut that mouth.”

Lee Ho-gon ground his teeth.

He forgot the threat about having every joint of his dislocated. As the head of the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild, he was being humiliated before all his guards. His torn pride made his eyes go wild.

“You—do you even know what you’re doing right now?”

With a bored look, Jin-hyeon snorted.

“What, you think I don’t?”

“Whose orders are you acting on? Don’t tell me it’s that Seol Hong-baek?!”

“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you’re delusional. Why would the Patriarch of the Seol Clan send me just to deal with the likes of you?”

“You bastard! If you don’t let me go at once, you and the Seol Clan will all—!”

Whack!

“Gyaaaaah!”

Lee Ho-gon screamed, trembling.

Jin-hyeon, having smacked his left eye, shook out his hand with a grimace.

“Should I have gouged it out? Your posture’s so awkward, geez.”

“Uwaaah! Aah!”

“Keep yapping and I’ll smash your hands and feet.”

“Aaah!”

Crack!

Lee Ho-gon’s jaw gaped. Jin-hyeon’s foot had crushed the back of his left hand.

A chill killing intent glinted across Jin-hyeon’s smiling face.

“Good. Keep it up.”

“…Mmph!”

“Ha, you’re a funny one. You learn this slow?”

Out of place for the situation, Jin-hyeon even chuckled.

That demeanor sent a cold terror through Lee Ho-gon and a strange sense of dissonance through the guards.

Whooosh!

An eerie silence settled in.

Jin-hyeon addressed the guards.

“Bring the madam.”

The head of the guards, Man Gok ground his teeth.

“Do you know how huge the backlash will be for what you’ve—”

Snap!

“Mmph!!”

Lee Ho-gon’s body jolted as if struck by lightning. Jin-hyeon had stepped on his right hand.

It wasn’t broken, but it would be in an instant. Man Gok’s face went pale.

In an even calmer voice, Jin-hyeon said:

“Bring the madam.”

“You—!”

Crack!

Lee Ho-gon thrashed about. He even held back groans for fear that a single loud scream might mean another bone broken.

Jin-hyeon’s eyes cooled.

“Bring the madam.”

He repeated the same words three times, as if he knew no other phrase.

Bloodshot, Lee Ho-gon glared at Man Gok.

Man Gok flinched, on the verge of ordering a charge.

‘Damn it!’

Jin-hyeon couldn’t kill Lee Ho-gon. Hostages only have value alive.

But even if he sent the men to rescue him, Lee Ho-gon himself would be dismissed or beaten to death. He knew Lee Ho-gon’s temperament better than anyone.

Man Gok sighed.

“Fetch the madam of the house.”

Several senior guards headed to the madam’s quarters.

A short while later—

“…You!”

A woman in her forties, a beauty, appeared with a long robe thrown over her nightclothes.

She was Oh Jeong-hae, the Madam of the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild and Lee Ho-gon’s wife.

About to curse at Jin-hyeon, Oh Jeong-hae was startled when she saw Lee Ho-gon’s state.

“Dear?!”

“Urgh.”

Lee Ho-gon’s face flushed crimson.

He felt utterly wretched. The head of the great Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild was showing this face not only before his guards, but even before a wife who held him in contempt.

Shaking as if he would go mad, Lee Ho-gon went limp. Overwhelmed by rage, pain, and shame, he fainted.

“…”

Even the guards—Jin-hyeon included—looked down at him, speechless.

“What a ridiculous guy.”

Shaking his head, Jin-hyeon turned his gaze to Oh Jeong-hae.

Oh Jeong-hae’s cheeks quivered.

“You’re the one who did that to our youngest?”

“Lee Yong-do? I did.”

“You’re worse than a dog! Captain Man Gok, what are you doing? Put that trash on his knees this instant!”

Man Gok faltered, looking troubled.

“B-But the Guild Master……..”

“Is his life important right now?! The one who did that to our child is right here!”

The guards were all aghast.

Even if she disliked him, to order a capture with the guild master in the enemy’s hands, and to say that his life doesn’t matter? Was that something a madam of the house should say?

Oh Jeong-hae screeched.

“Move, now! And where are the Three Guests?! Call them at once!”

Then Jin-hyeon spoke.

“So the two of you really are finished.”

Oh Jeong-hae glared at him.

“Shut up! You filthy scoundrel, I’ll tear you to—!”

“The Oh Clan of Shaanxi holds thirty percent of the Mighty Tiger Guild, right?”

“…What?”

Jin-hyeon pulled a thickly folded sheaf from his breast and tossed it to Man Gok.

“Open it.”

Keeping a wary eye on Jin-hyeon, Man Gok had a guard retrieve it, wary of poison.

The guard carefully unfolded the paper and relaxed. Luckily, there was no poison.

But—

“!”

The guard’s eyes widened round as he read a portion of what was written.

Man Gok frowned.

“Bring it here.”

“Sir? Ah—yes…”

Man Gok took the papers and handed them to Oh Jeong-hae.

Oh Jeong-hae, who had been glaring daggers at Jin-hyeon, lowered her eyes to the pages.

Her face went white in an instant.

Jin-hyeon smiled and said,

“How is it? Quite a lot of vicious things done behind the madam’s back, huh?”

“!!”

“Look at page three.”

Hands trembling, Oh Jeong-hae turned to the third page.

“Gasp!”

She drew breath without meaning to.

“Murder, solicitation of murder, assault, rape, arson, robbery—handled under the Oh Clan of Shaanxi’s name… Quite the list of evils, isn’t it?”

“Th-This…?”

“That’s right. It’s your husband’s handiwork. Looks like he was planning to blow it all up later, and pin it on the Oh Clan to seize your shares under the pretext of ethics and morality, doesn’t it?”

“?!”

Oh Jeong-hae’s bloodless face flushed scarlet.

Jin-hyeon crooked a finger.

“How about becoming my Red Hare²? I’ll lop off every head you don’t like. Well?”