Chapter 34
If I Were to Hire You (2)
The following night, Wang Gon stood by the window as he listened to Wang U's report.
“I've dismissed everyone except the martial artists directly under the hall's command.”
“Well done.”
Besides the martial artists officially employed by the hall, Wang Gon had personally trained a number of fighters as well. They had been a precaution against emergencies, yet when an actual crisis arrived, they were the first people he had to send away.
In other words, they had never been a real contingency plan.
After everything that had happened, he had reached one decisive conclusion.
I don't have enough money.
Using money to survive the crisis had worked well enough, but he should never have been left reeling like this afterward.
If another crisis came now, he would have no means of resisting it.
I have to squeeze every last coin out of somewhere.
That was the conclusion he had reached.
With ten thousand taels, even the Master of Shinhwa Gang could be persuaded to act.
“I borrowed twenty thousand taels from Lord Yang.”
“That's fortunate.”
“It isn't fortunate at all. That damned old man threw away all pretenses of friendship and demanded twenty percent interest every month.”
“It doesn't matter. Once we get through this hurdle, we'll earn it all back.”
Wang Gon refused to give up.
Once this crisis passed, another opportunity would surely present itself.
Before that, however, there were many things he had to take care of.
He absolutely could not let anyone discover that he had bribed Jeong Pung.
He also needed to provide headquarters with a convincing explanation as to why Yeom Jeonggil—not he—had become the fall guy in this affair.
Finally, he had to resume the Iron Workshop project, which had been delayed because of this incident, so that no one within the organization would dare touch him.
“From now on, you'll take charge of the Iron Workshop project.”
Originally, the responsibility had belonged to Cheuksu.
“Report every single detail to me.”
“Yes.”
The uncertain reply made Wang Gon raise his voice.
“You're too timid. One day you'll end up sacrificing something important over some petty gain.”
Just then, a voice that absolutely should not have been heard in this place echoed through the room.
“And do you know what your own problem is?”
Wang Gon and Wang U spun around in shock.
Yeom Jeonggil was standing behind the half-open door.
“Great Hero Yeom! You've been released.”
Though inwardly startled, Wang Gon greeted him as though nothing had happened.
Wang U, on the other hand, had turned deathly pale.
“Yes. I was released just a little while ago.”
Just as Baek Socheon had predicted, the first place Yeom Jeonggil came was here.
“You've suffered greatly, Great Hero.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I don't understand what you mean.”
“Why did you bribe Jeong Pung?”
Yeom Jeonggil had no intention of leaving.
He was far too furious—and far too exhausted—for that.
Naturally, Wang Gon denied everything.
“You're mistaken. I never did such a thing.”
“Then why did you borrow money from Lord Yang?”
He had heard their entire conversation.
Yeom Jeonggil's gaze shifted to Wang U.
Unlike Wang Gon, who lied without so much as blinking, Wang U stood frozen, pale and visibly tense.
That useless idiot!
At a time like this, he should have been acting with every ounce of conviction.
Instead, he looked so frightened he might as well have confessed to crimes he had never committed.
Realizing the matter could no longer be concealed now that Yeom Jeonggil had been released, Wang Gon decided to tell a partial truth.
“I'll be honest. That's right—I did win Jeong Pung over to our side. I believed it was the only way to free both you and me.”
“And yet you were released first.”
“I thought it would be easier to rescue you if I could move freely outside. If my judgment was short-sighted...”
At that very instant, Yeom Jeonggil drew his sword.
Shing.
Slash.
The blade cut off more than Wang Gon's words.
It severed Wang U's neck.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Wang U collapsed backward, crimson fountaining from his throat.
“No!”
Wang Gon rushed over, but Wang U had already died from a single stroke.
“What have you done!”
Wang Gon shouted in fury.
“This is my answer to your endless bullshit.”
Wang Gon drew his own sword.
But he did not charge.
That was the kind of man he was.
His son had just been murdered before his eyes, yet his first concern was preserving his own life.
I can't beat him anyway. Charging in would just be throwing my life away.
He genuinely considered that to be rational judgment.
“How could you do something like this? Even you can't expect the Hall Master to overlook it!”
“And if he doesn't? He already lost you. Is he going to lose me as well? That would be far too great a loss. Since when has our Hall Master ever accepted a losing deal?”
Neither of them had originally grown up within Shinhwa Gang.
Very few of the organization's upper ranks had.
When the Master of Shinhwa Gang established his foothold in Zhejiang, he recruited martial artists through every conceivable method.
Money.
Promises of power.
Beautiful women.
Blackmail.
Every recruit had their own reason for joining.
That was why Shinhwa Gang valued ability and results above all else, rather than loyalty or camaraderie.
“The Murim Alliance won't simply let this go.”
“The culprit behind the Yang Chu family's massacre will naturally be identified as that man.”
“What?”
Yeom Jeonggil's sword shot toward Wang Gon.
Wang Gon raised his own blade to meet it, but the gap between them had been too great from the beginning.
He barely managed to survive several exchanges before failing to evade Yeom Jeonggil's final strike.
The table split apart.
The cabinet split apart.
So did Wang Gon's heart.
Thud.
His corpse collapsed onto the floor.
He had intended to pin the Yang family massacre on the real killer and use it as an excuse to eliminate Im Chung and Beon Saeng.
Yet after everything came full circle, he himself died while hearing that very justification.
Many villains laughed at the notion of karmic retribution.
At least Wang Gon no longer could.
Just as Yeom Jeonggil turned to leave, he froze.
Someone else was standing beside the doorway where he himself had been moments ago.
Baek Socheon.
“No matter how much someone deserves to die, what kind of person kills a son in front of his own father?”
Recognizing him, Yeom Jeonggil frowned.
“You!”
He almost asked how Baek Socheon had gotten here.
Then he stopped.
Both those words—and the way Baek Socheon was looking at him—were completely different from before.
Exhausted though he was, Yeom Jeonggil was not incapable of understanding what was happening.
“Did you plan for me to kill Hall Master Wang?”
“I wouldn't call it a grand plan. I merely made use of you. You're the sort of man who can't let anything slide for even a moment after being wronged. I can torment others all I want, but no one is allowed to torment me. Isn't that right? After watching you today, I'd say I was correct.”
Gone was the frivolous, insolent young man Baek Socheon had pretended to be all this time.
Recalling their first meeting, Yeom Jeonggil muttered,
“I had a bad feeling about you from the start.”
“Was it as bad as mine?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“You really don't recognize me? I would've thought someone like you would. Baek Socheon. Have you really never heard that name? Huh... I suppose I need to reflect on how little my reputation has spread.”
Yeom Jeonggil blinked in confusion.
Then a name surfaced in his mind for only an instant before disappearing.
Baek Socheon.
“…Impossible. You?”
“Yes. The person who just came to mind—that's me.”
“Don't be ridiculous! That man is far older than you!”
“I've lived long enough myself.”
Yeom Jeonggil refused to believe him.
Or perhaps he simply refused to accept it.
Trying to shake off the ominous feeling creeping over him, he barked,
“What gives a brat with no internal energy the confidence to act so arrogantly?”
Fortunately, he had personally confirmed before that Baek Socheon possessed no internal energy.
“One hundred taels.”
“What?”
“One hundred taels is what gives me confidence.”
At that very moment, someone whispered beside Yeom Jeonggil's ear.
“If you paid a thousand times that amount, you could sleep with me. Though in your case, even all the wealth in the world wouldn't be enough.”
Cheongeuk was already standing behind him.
Yeom Jeonggil nearly leaped out of his skin and swung his sword backward.
But before the blade had even completed half its arc—
Thrust!
A razor-sharp dagger burst through his throat.
Yeom Jeonggil desperately tried to turn and see who had killed him.
Before he could, Cheongeuk withdrew the dagger.
Blood exploded outward.
Yeom Jeonggil collapsed to the ground.
Looking down at the corpse, Cheongeuk muttered,
“The more I think about it, the more one hundred taels feels far too cheap.”
“No. It's expensive.”
“Expensive?”
“This bastard isn't even worth a single tael.”
“Hm. You know something?”
“What?”
“For me to personally make a move... it takes a great deal of resolve.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Aren't there factions within the Alliance opposed to you? If they found out about something like this, they'd use it against you politically.”
“So you really do know.”
Just then, footsteps approached from outside.
Cheongeuk vanished silently, saying only,
“Good. As long as you know.”
***
The people who entered were Jeong Pung, the Zhejiang Branch martial artists, Im Chung, and Beon Saeng.
For a long moment, Jeong Pung stood speechless at the sight before him.
They're all dead.
Everything happened exactly as Baek Socheon said it would.
The others were equally stunned.
One person, however, felt nothing but satisfaction.
Im Chung.
Looking down at Wang Gon's corpse, he broke into a broad smile.
Even when Yeom Jeonggil had ordered his death, Im Chung had never considered taking revenge through murder.
But Wang Gon had threatened his wife and child.
His subordinate had even gone to murder them.
Now the direct threat to his family was gone forever.
He did not feel the slightest pity over Wang Gon's death.
Instead, it was deeply satisfying.
The same went for Wang U.
How many people had suffered because of that young fool's shallow greed and selfish ambition?
How many more would have suffered had he lived?
Jeong Pung looked toward Baek Socheon.
“What now?”
“The Hall Master of Shinhwa Gang and one of its Four Great Martial Masters are dead. They had already been summoned because of the Yang family case. At this point, we have sufficient grounds to arrest the Master of Shinhwa Gang for questioning, don't we?”
“The Master of Shinhwa Gang?”
Everyone stared in shock.
“So this was your plan from the very beginning.”
“The order to massacre the Yang family came from the Master of Shinhwa Gang.”
“Why go this far?”
“The victims were a family you never even knew. Isn't this meddling?”
“Well... perhaps. Let's assume it is.”
“I simply don't think someone should belong to the Murim Alliance if this isn't how they intend to live.”
“If you're just going to look away, pretend not to see, and act as though nothing happened, then you should live a different kind of life. There are plenty of other paths. You could even make more money. But if you've chosen to make your living in the Murim Alliance, then even if you don't go searching for injustice, you should at least not turn your back on the injustice right in front of you.”
“You make me feel ashamed.”
“You don't need to be. Everyone thinks differently and chooses a different way to live. Simply standing here means you have nothing to be ashamed of. Let's just say Shinhwa Gang had terrible luck. I've been needing somewhere to vent my anger lately.”
“So you've finally vented it?”
“I haven't even started.”
He turned toward the door.
“Let's go arrest the Master of Shinhwa Gang.”
Ironically, now that everything had finally unfolded, Jeong Pung felt calmer than he had before.
“Very well. Let's go. Let's find out whether that madman truly ordered the extermination of the Yang family. If we give them time, we'll only put ourselves at a disadvantage. We'll travel through the night and head straight for their headquarters.”
“Excellent. It's comforting to know someone else will take responsibility if this all goes wrong.”
“Must you always say things like that?”
Jeong Pung shook his head helplessly.
Yet he was grateful that Baek Socheon kept reminding him.
This was, after all, his own case.
Since he had chosen to lead it, any responsibility that followed belonged to him.
That's right. No regrets.
Baek Socheon was giving him the chance to make that choice consciously.
At the very least, he would never look back afterward and regret having been swept along without thinking.
Leaving only enough martial artists behind to secure the scene, Jeong Pung walked outside.
As Baek Socheon followed, Cheongeuk's voice reached him through sound transmission.
—Can I come watch? I won't charge you the hundred taels.
Since he lacked the internal energy necessary to send a voice transmission back, Baek Socheon merely gave the slightest nod.
He could sense Cheongeuk and the Guardian Killing Stars silently following behind him.
Im Chung and Beon Saeng came after them.
Ever since seeing Wang Gon's corpse, Beon Saeng's heart had been pounding nonstop.
At the land where the Iron Workshop was to be built, the two of them had realized for the first time that their true enemy was Shinhwa Gang itself.
Even then, they had never imagined events would become this real—
Or happen this quickly.
Beon Saeng quietly asked,
“Branch Chief... we'll be all right, won't we?”
“I'd like to tell you yes... but honestly, I don't know. And from now on, call me Big Brother whenever we're in private.”
Beon Saeng stared at him in surprise.
He could feel another wall between them crumble away.
“Yes... Big Brother.”
“This isn't private.”
“Yes, Branch Chief!”
Beon Saeng's steps suddenly became lighter.
Perhaps because he was in such a good mood, he found himself overestimating Baek Socheon once again.
“As long as Big Brother is with us, I feel like everything will be fine. Forget Shinhwa Gang—I think we could march straight into the Murim Alliance itself.”
“Now that's going too far.”
“Hahaha.”
Beon Saeng laughed cheerfully.
The Zhejiang Branch martial artist walking ahead turned back and frowned, clearly wondering how anyone could laugh at a time like this.
Beon Saeng immediately composed himself.
Right. This isn't the time for laughing.
Master of Shinhwa Gang... just you wait.
Though he wished he could be the one to do it—
My big brother is coming for you.