Chapter 22
How Much Is My Life Worth? (2)
Cheon Yangho was drinking at a tavern.
A man entered, walked over, and sat across from him.
“What brings you here without any warning?”
The man was Gwak, the head of the Pugang Branch under the Zhejiang Division. Cheon Yangho had come all the way to the branch to see him.
“I happened to be nearby, so I thought I’d stop in and see an old friend.”
“How many years has it been?”
“About two.”
“Time certainly flies.”
The two of them had joined the Martial Alliance at the same time.
In truth, Gwak did not like Cheon Yangho very much. Cheon Yangho was the sort of person who willingly used others for his own benefit. His reputation among their fellow recruits was not particularly good either.
Despite that, Gwak was smiling at him for one miserable reason.
Cheon Yangho was successful.
He was openly called the true power behind the Zhejiang Division. If Gwak offended him for no reason, troublesome matters would undoubtedly begin piling up at the Pugang Branch.
That was why their fellow recruits compared him to excrement. They avoided him not because they were afraid, but because he was filthy.
“You’re not the sort of person who would come all this way without a reason. So, what is it?”
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“When you were stationed at the Main Headquarters, you were part of the White Dragon Unit, weren’t you?”
“I was.”
Gwak had once been a rising figure at the Main Headquarters. However, after making a serious mistake during an operation, he had been demoted and sent here.
“Then you must know a fair amount about the Iron Sword Unit.”
“I know enough.”
“Have you ever heard of someone named Baek Socheon?”
Gwak flinched.
The name was enough to erase even the thought, I knew this bastard wouldn’t have come merely because he wanted to see me.
“Why are you asking about him?”
“So you know him.”
“I asked why you’re asking about him.”
“You know about the incident that occurred at the Munseong Branch, don’t you?”
“The Yang Chu incident? I heard some lunatic slaughtered his entire family.”
“That’s right. I went there to investigate the incident, and Baek Socheon was there. He seemed unusual, so I became curious.”
“He was a prominent member of the Iron Sword Unit. He was also extremely skilled.”
Gwak decided that this was as much as he would reveal.
In truth, Gwak knew Baek Socheon quite well. He knew that Baek Socheon had risen not only to become the Iron Sword Unit Leader, but even the Pavilion Master of the Secret Pavilion before being demoted.
However, a gag order had been placed on all matters concerning Baek Socheon.
If Gwak carelessly ran his mouth, especially about anything involving the Secret Pavilion, he could find himself in serious trouble. He had yet to abandon his hopes of returning to the Main Headquarters someday.
Had he and Cheon Yangho been closer—or had Cheon Yangho been even a fellow recruit whom he was genuinely pleased to see—Gwak might have told him those facts while sternly warning him never to repeat them.
But this was as far as he was willing to go for Cheon Yangho.
“Then how did Baek Socheon end up at the Munseong Branch?”
“He was injured and lost the ability to use internal energy.”
“He can’t use internal energy?”
“That’s right.”
Cheon Yangho was puzzled.
There was no way Cheuksu could have been defeated by someone without internal energy.
“Was he once an exceptionally powerful martial artist?”
“Yes, extremely powerful. His skill was well above the level of an ordinary squad leader.”
Avoiding specific details, Gwak gave an answer that was neither wholly true nor false.
“Thank you. I’ll see you again sometime.”
Cheon Yangho rose and left.
Gwak stared after him in disbelief as he departed the moment he had heard everything he wanted.
He was privately relieved that he had not revealed the whole truth.
The bastard had even left without paying for the alcohol he had drunk. After receiving valuable information, wasn’t it only natural to buy the other person a drink?
What an ill-mannered bastard.
Gwak did not know why Cheon Yangho was investigating Baek Socheon, but his sincere wish was simple.
I hope Warrior Baek teaches you a brutal lesson!
Of course, he did not know that Cheon Yangho was already entangled with Baek Socheon far more deeply than he imagined.
Had he known, he would never have begrudged the cost of the drinks he paid for that day.
***
Cheuksu never appeared.
They searched everywhere, even combing through the back alleys in case he had gotten dead drunk and was rolling around with a woman, but they could not find him.
Wang Gon found himself hoping that Cheuksu had simply been unable to endure the humiliation and had run away. At least that would mean there was no powerful enemy who had killed him.
However, there was no chance of that.
What he had desperately hoped was impossible was gradually becoming reality.
“Baek Socheon must have done it.”
Wang Gon should have realized it the moment he heard that an Iron Sword Unit squad leader had been driven all the way out to such a remote place.
Baek Socheon was the same kind of person as him.
That was why he could murder someone without hesitation and then conceal the crime.
There were two ways to deal with him.
Win him over or eliminate him.
If Wang Gon delayed too long, the Gang Leader would discover everything. Before that happened, he needed to settle the matter somehow and demonstrate that everything remained under his control.
Just then, a subordinate arrived and reported,
“Cheon Yangho requests an audience.”
His meeting with Cheon Yangho would determine which of the two methods he chose.
***
A carriage stood in the forest near the Munseong Branch.
It was the same carriage Wang U had previously ridden, but this time Wang Gon was inside.
Cheon Yangho appeared cautiously, checking whether he had been followed.
As soon as he climbed into the carriage, Wang Gon skipped even the greeting and went straight to the point.
“Did you find any trace of Cheuksu inside the branch?”
“No, I did not.”
“Baek Socheon is the most likely culprit.”
“I conducted a separate investigation into him.”
Cheon Yangho relayed exactly what he had heard from Gwak.
“He was highly successful in the Iron Sword Unit?”
“Yes. He wasn’t merely an ordinary squad leader. I was told that he was exceptionally skilled. His dantian was injured, so he can no longer use internal energy, but he is still a master capable of dealing with someone at Cheuksu’s level.”
Wang Gon was startled.
If Baek Socheon could display such might even after his dantian had been damaged, then he truly must have been tremendously skilled.
“He’s impressive for someone so young.”
“He isn’t young. He’s thirty-eight.”
“What?”
Wang Gon recoiled in shock.
Being thirty-eight meant Baek Socheon had endured all manner of hardships and life-or-death struggles.
“Damn it.”
Now Wang Gon understood the composure Baek Socheon had shown while beating him and Cheuksu that day.
I provoked the wrong person.
That was not the only problem.
If this bastard investigates the case with Im Chung, I could be in serious trouble.
Watching Wang Gon’s expression grow grave, Cheon Yangho cautiously said,
“I will investigate him further. For the time being, it would be best if you avoided contacting me so that we do not attract attention.”
Wang Gon assumed that Cheon Yangho was attempting to withdraw from the affair.
You fool. It won’t be that easy.
The moment Cheon Yangho accepted his first bribe, there had already been no path of escape.
No matter how desperately he struggled, the net wrapped around his body would only tighten further.
Wang Gon had no intention of releasing him so easily.
“You must eliminate him for me.”
Cheon Yangho was startled.
In truth, he had suggested that they avoid contact merely to test Wang Gon’s reaction. He had never expected Wang Gon to ask so directly for Baek Socheon’s elimination.
Between winning Baek Socheon over and removing him, Wang Gon had chosen removal.
Leaving such a troublesome enemy alive would surely cause immense trouble later. The pain from his battered face, along with the inconvenience and irritation caused by Cheuksu’s absence, had also influenced his decision.
“I cannot do that.”
“You can.”
Wang Gon took out an envelope he had prepared and handed it over.
Inside were ten banknotes issued by the Central Plains Bank, each worth one thousand taels.
Compared to the amounts Cheon Yangho usually received from him, it was an enormous sum.
Ten thousand taels.
The annual salary of a unit captain was eleven hundred taels. By eliminating a single person, he could earn what would normally require nine full years of work.
Ten thousand taels.
It was not an amount that could be easily rejected.
Cheon Yangho silently stared at the envelope as his mind raced.
This miser is offering ten thousand taels? Why is he so desperate?
Was it because Baek Socheon had beaten him?
Was it because he believed Baek Socheon had killed Cheuksu?
Neither reason seemed sufficient for him to spend such an enormous amount.
Then one possibility occurred to him.
Of course! These people were behind the Yang Chu massacre.
He had already suspected as much from Wang U’s earlier reaction, though he had still struggled to believe it.
Cheon Yangho knew he could never allow Wang Gon to discover that he had realized the truth.
If he did, Wang Gon might attempt to eliminate him as well.
“It is certainly a great deal of money, but I also serve the Martial Alliance. I cannot kill one of my own comrades. Moreover, he is someone capable of defeating Cheuksu.”
Cheon Yangho had never fought Cheuksu, but he was certain that the man had been at least one level stronger than himself.
“Even so, if you set your mind to it, you must have a way.”
“Well...”
Cheon Yangho deliberately trailed off to observe Wang Gon’s reaction.
What came next was something he had never expected.
“Once the job is finished, I’ll give you another ten thousand taels.”
“...!”
“Do not grow any greedier. I am already angry enough as it is.”
Cheon Yangho was not thinking about demanding more.
Only one thought filled his mind.
Twenty thousand taels!
It was an amount that would normally take almost twenty years to earn.
It was enough money to transform his entire life.
“You may decide how to kill him. Just do not delay. Deal with him as quickly as possible. Will you do it, or will you give up twenty thousand taels?”
The scale inside Cheon Yangho’s heart had already tipped entirely to one side.
Nothing could outweigh twenty thousand taels.
The only remaining question was how to eliminate Baek Socheon.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good.”
Wang Gon handed him the envelope.
As Cheon Yangho tucked it inside his robe, he said,
“When he dies, the division will investigate the matter. It would be fortunate if the investigation were assigned to me, but if someone else handles it, they may come to suspect you, Hall Leader.”
“That is possible.”
“When that happens, make use of the missing Cheuksu.”
“You want me to place the blame on him?”
“Was he not always excessively proud of his martial arts? We can claim that he acted independently and then disappeared.”
In this way, Cheon Yangho pretended to act in Wang Gon’s interest while simultaneously preparing an escape route for himself.
“That is a good idea.”
Even if Cheuksu’s corpse was discovered later, it would no longer matter.
By then, every person stationed here would have been replaced.
After Cheon Yangho left, Wang U climbed from the driver’s seat into the rear compartment.
“Father, isn’t twenty thousand taels far too much money?”
Furthermore, the money had not come from the Shinhwa Gang’s public funds. It had come from their private wealth.
To Wang U, it was effectively part of the inheritance he would someday receive.
Wang U’s dream was to inherit his father’s position.
He wanted nothing more.
If he could live exactly as his father did, he could live like a king here in Munseong.
For that to happen, his father’s treasury could not be emptied.
“It is a great deal of money. But only an amount this large would make that man act.”
“Even so, it is twenty thousand taels.”
“Do not begrudge it. That twenty thousand taels will become a lifelong shackle, turning him into our dog.”
Wang Gon had already thoroughly tasted the sweetness of power.
He intended to climb higher at any cost in search of an even more intoxicating taste.
If necessary, he was prepared to pour his entire fortune into achieving it.
“Power itself is money. As long as you hold power firmly in your hands, you can earn money whenever you wish. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Wang U’s answer was reluctant.
He had tasted the pleasure of money before he had experienced the pleasure of power.
And it was not even some grand pleasure.
It was merely this kind.
...Even so, twenty thousand taels is far too much. With that much money, I could eat, drink, and play at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion for an entire year....
***
Cheon Yangho did not delay Baek Socheon’s elimination.
Waiting until tomorrow would not create an opportunity that did not exist today, nor would it make his opponent weaker.
Suppressing his presence, Cheon Yangho cautiously approached Baek Socheon’s residence.
Twenty thousand taels was an amount he could never refuse.
There were also two additional reasons behind his decision.
The first was that he had learned his opponent possessed no internal energy.
No matter how skilled Baek Socheon might be, without internal energy, he was nothing more than an empty shell.
The final reason lay in the small cylindrical hidden weapon Cheon Yangho held in his hand.
The Ten-Step Life-Severing Needle.
The poison applied to its needles was lethally toxic, and it was said that the weapon would strike its target without fail from within ten steps.
Because of its deadly danger, the Martial Alliance had classified it as a prohibited hidden weapon despite its being disposable.
Merely possessing it was a grave crime punishable by imprisonment in the underground dungeon.
Cheon Yangho had obtained it by chance and kept it hidden ever since, resolving that he would someday use it at the moment that would transform his destiny.
That moment had arrived together with twenty thousand taels.
He sensed movement from the courtyard.
Judging from the sound, Baek Socheon appeared to be practicing martial arts.
Even better.
The moment someone was concentrating on training was the perfect opportunity for an ambush.
Moreover, Baek Socheon had no internal energy, so there was no way he could detect Cheon Yangho’s presence from more than ten steps away.
Baek Socheon was training his body beneath the moonlight.
Tonight, he was performing handstand push-ups while balancing on a single finger.
After completing a set, he switched fingers and began again.
The training was so intense that it seemed impossible for anyone without even a trace of internal energy to perform it.
Sweat poured from his body like rain.
A man was displaying extraordinary perseverance as he endured pain at the absolute limit of human tolerance.
Instead of applauding, Cheon Yangho raised his hidden weapon.
Completely unaware that the way he had lived his life was the reason his old colleague had withheld crucial information, Cheon Yangho stood within darkness as deep as his own heart and aimed the Ten-Step Life-Severing Needle at Baek Socheon.