CH 57

Rumors that Nam Ho-san had been assassinated spread throughout Sichuan. 

Everyone living in Chengdu knew that the Qingcheng sect did not like the Thunder Gates, but no one expected such a sudden move. Especially at a time when tensions with the Emei sect are escalating at a rapid pace. 

So many people thought this incident was unexpected.

For this reason, some people thought that the Qingcheng sect was not behind the incident. Instead, they considered the possibility that the Emei sect could have ordered the assasination.

Whatever the truth, the assassination of the young master of the Thunder Gates stirred the entire Sichuan Province.

But the person who was most bewildered by this news was the White Flower Room’s Woo Seolha. 

“He was really assassinated? And the mastermind is the Qingcheng sect? How could this have happened?”

She was obviously the one who asked Pyo-wol to kill Nam Ho-san. As far as she knew, Pyo-wol had nothing to do with the Qingcheng sect. But how come it was said that Nam Ho-san was assassinated by someone who used the Qingcheng sect’s martial arts?

“So he wasn’t the one who killed him?”

Her mind was in a complicated mess.

If it is true that Pyo-wol killed Nam Ho-san, then that would mean that Pyo-wol was affiliated with the Qingcheng sect. 

But would a person connected with the Qingcheng sect kill a person like Nam Ho-san knowing that it will harm his own sect? 

Intuitively, it didn’t make sense.

“What the hell happened—”

Seolha shook her head. It was too much for her brain to come up with an explanation for the recent events. 

Everything turned out to be good. 

She doesn’t know if it was Pyo-wol or someone else who killed Nam Ho-san. But nonetheless, what is important is that her troubles are gone.

If the Thunder Gates caused a conflict with the Qingcheng sect, it would be good news for the Emei sect.

“Hmn~”

With her mood improving, she hummed. 

That was then.

“Sect leader! A guest has arrived from the Emei sect.”

A voice was heard outside.

“Guest?”

“Yes! You’ll need to come out and see.”

“Alright.”

Seolha went out in a hurry. Seeing the visitor’s face, a wide smile immediately appeared on Seolha’s face.

“Aunt!”

It was Jeonghwa who visited the White Flower Room without warning.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“I’m alright.”

Seolha rested in the arms of Jeonghwa. Jeonghwa only patted Seolha on the back and smiled.

It was a warm smile that she never showed to any of the Emei’s disciples or outsiders. Even Yong Seol-ran, who usually accompanies her, had never seen such a soft expression from Jeonghwa. 

Jeonghwa introduced Yong Seol-ran to Seonha.

“This is my youngest junior sister, Yong Seol-ran. Say hello.”

“The White Flower Room’s Seolha greets you. Sister Yong Seol-ran!”

“Long time no see. How have you been?”

“Ho-ho! Thanks to you, I’m doing very well.”

Jeonghwa tilted her head at Seolha’s laugh.

“Did something good happen?”

“I’m just in good shape. But what is aunt doing here?”

“I came down for work and stopped by for a while. I was originally planning to go back to the main sect right away, but I’ll have to stay here for a while.”

“Is it because of the Thunder gates as well?”

“Yes, their young master has been assassinated. While this piece of news is a good thing for us, it’s suspicious that something like this happened all of a sudden.”

Jeonghwa’s one and only eye shone sharply.

Just because this incident is bad for the Qingcheng sect, it doesn’t automatically mean that it would be a good thing for the Emei sect.

In particular, in the case of a case with a large ripple effect like this one, they had to analyze it more closely to find out the truth behind it. So, she and Yong Seol-ran planned to stay in the White Flower Room for a while to keep a close eye on the situation.

“Do you know anything about this case?”

“Hm? Me?”

“Since you’re in Chengdu, you must be well aware of the situation in the area, don’t you?”

“I wish I knew, but I don’t know about this either.”

Seolha denied having any involvement with the incident.

There was no guarantee that Pyo-wol really killed Nam Ho-san, and there was nothing good about them knowing that she had slept with him by mistake.

Fortunately, Jeonghwa nodded without any doubt.

“True, what do you know? But from now on, you must use all the information networks of the White Flower Room to find out the truth. Do you understand?”

“Of course.”

“Great!”

Jeonghwa smiled softly and stroked Seolha’s hair. Seolha felt a little guilty.

But the feeling soon dissipated.

* * *

Pyo-wol returned to Chengdu.

The iron sword and clothes he used to assassinate Nam Ho-san were disposed of on the way.

When Pyo-wol was looking around to go a guest house, suddenly, 

“Wait, who is that? Isn’t that your handsome oraboni?”

Suddenly a familiar voice was heard.

When Pyo-wol turned his head to look, Heo Ran-joo was approaching with quick steps. Heo Ran-joo was smiling at the fact that she met Pyo-wol by chance.

“Go Dosa said that he met you at Jintang County. When did you come back?”

“Just now.”

“Really?”

Heo Ran-ju glanced up and down Pyo-wol with narrowed eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Were you with another woman in Jintang County? If you did, tell me honestly. My heart is wide enough that I don’t get jealous.”

“If you’re just going to say nonsense, then shut up..”

At Pyo-wol’s cold words, Heo Ran-ju had a wounded expression on her face.

“Hyuk! You’re the first man to say this to me, my heart…” 

Pyo-wol walked past Heo Ran-ju, who pretended to grab her chest. Then, Heo Ran-ju hurriedly followed Pyo-yol.

“Really! You’re so rude… You’re leaving just like that?”

“Then why did you go to Jintang County? Did something happen?”

Heo Ran-ju was really curious.

Go Dosa said he had assigned Maun as a watchdog to Pyo-wol. However, when Maun went to Jintang County, Pyo-wol had already disappeared. Because of that, Maun returned in vain without seeing Pyo-wol’s back.

However, while Pyo-wol was staying in Jintang County, Nam Ho-san was assassinated.

To most people, it was rumored that the incident happened because of the Qingcheng sect, but Heo Ran-ju and Zhang Mu-ryang did not believe the rumors.

If there was even the slightest doubt, they had to dig into it tenaciously.

Heo Ran-ju did not believe that Pyo-wol was the assassin that killed Nam Ho-san, but she doubted whether he was involved in the series of events.

“Didn’t the Go Dosa tell you? That I went there for personal reasons?”

“I’m curious what your personal business is.”

“You definitely lack manners because you’re a mercenary. When something’s personal, it means it is something that can’t be told to anyone else.”

“What?”

In an instant, Heo Ran-ju’s eyebrows rose to the sky.

She has heard many times that she has a good personality, but this is the first time she’s heard that she lacked manners in person. That’s also because she picked up the word mercenary. 

“Ha! This is pretty funny. I was nice to you because you’re handsome. Do I look easy? Is that why?”

Frost-like momentum radiated from Heo Ran-ju’s whole body.

Although she usually acts coquettish and smiles, her strength is not inferior to that of Jianghu’s famous masters. On the contrary, in practical terms, she was even superior.

‘Those with handsome faces like this only have their appearance to back them up. They are easier to deal with when I break their spirits from the very beginning.’

Heo Ran-ju wanted to take this opportunity to correct Pyo-wol’s habit. She liked Pyo-wol. Since she likes him, she wants to rip him off the way she wants.

Heo Ran-ju said with both hands wide open,

“I’ll give you three seconds, so come on. By the way, you’d better do your best, because after three seconds, I won’t even look at you.”

It was something she could say because she was confident in her power. Her position as the  Vice-Captain of the Black Cloud Mercenary Group was not obtained for free. It was acquired through her skill.

Heo Ran-ju smiled as Pyo-wol slightly frowned.

“Why are you scared?”

However, at the next moment, Heo Ran-ju’s eyes shook. Pyo-wol suddenly appeared in front of her. There was a distance of three or four steps between her and Pyo-wol. However, without her realizing it, Pyo-wol was already right in front of her.

Heo Ran-ju was so surprised that she couldn’t even speak and her eyes widened.

“Wh, what?”

She let down her guard and tried to attack Pyo-wol. She was so surprised that she had forgotten her promise of giving him a handicapped. 

Jjoeng!

At that moment, Pyo-wol stabbed Heo Ran-ju’s abdomen with his index finger. Heo Ran-ju felt a huge shock in her abdomen. The shock immediately spread through her whole body like a wave, and she collapsed while suppressing her screams. 

When the pain reached its peak, she realized that she could not even let a scream come out.

She couldn’t breathe properly. Her body stiffened to the point that she couldn’t even move. 

Her head went blank. She couldn’t even think of anything.

The excruciating pain that dominated her entire body made it impossible for her to wonder how Pyo-wol shortened the distance or what technique he used to attack.

Pyo-wol looked down at Heo Ran-ju, who had her entire body stiffened in pain.

“You still want to give up three seconds?”

“Keukkeuk!’

Heo Ran-ju vomited blood.

Heo Ran-ju looked up at Pyo-wol with an expression as if saying that she was deceived. She had initially guessed that Pyo-wol had mastered martial arts, but she didn’t know that he was hiding such a tremendous force.

She felt like she was being deceived by Pyo-Wol.

‘Rain, cowardly.

Her face was horribly contorted.

It was painful and even shameful.

The last thing Pyo-wol said before turning around was,

“The next time you say something like that, I’ll kill you.”

Heo Ran-ju trembled as if she was splashed by cold water. Pyo-wol’s words did not feel like a mere threat.

‘I was wrong! Pyo-wol is stronger than I thought.’

Heo Ran-ju’s eyes shone sharply as she looked at Pyo-wol’s back as he walked away. Although she was devastated by an unexpected blow, she did not consider herself defeated.

The thing she is most confident about is that her whip-wielding expedient is not like a wooden ball.

Of course, that didn’t mean the filthy feeling went away.

“It’s rotten! It hurts terribly.”

Heo Ran-ju stared at the back of Pyo-wol’s head for a long time. Pyo-wol ignored Heo Ran-ju’s gaze from behind and moved on.

He initially thought about stopping Heo Ran-ju’s breathing. However, he refrained from doing so because it seemed that there would be more harm than good.

By killing Nam Ho-san, the clash of the Thunder Gates and Qingcheng sect was brought about, but there was no need to get people’s attention by killing Heo Ran-ju.

Pyo-wol found a guest house with an empty room.

The place he found was Song Guest House. As the name suggests, it was a guest house run by a man having a Song surname. The size of the guest house is not very large, but since it was recently built, all facilities were clean.

After getting a clean isolated room, Pyo-wol ate on the first floor.

On the first floor, quite a few people were gathering and eating. All of their topics by far were about Nam Ho-san.

“Did the Qingcheng sect really kill Nam Ho-san?”

“Wasn’t there a trace of the Qingcheng sect’s martial arts on Namhosan’s body?”

“It can be imitated, right?”

“What do you mean? I heard that the more difficult the technique, the more unique traces it would leave. Such traces can never be imitated.”

“Then you mean that the Qingcheng sect is really at fault? Why would they when they’re in a situation like this?”

“Who knows?”

“Whoo! Let’s just drink.”

People raised their glasses with anxious faces. Numerous other stories have been told. Pyo-wol listened to all the stories while eating.

The little information he heard like this helped him a lot.

That was then.

“Oh! Did you hear that story?”

“What story?”

“I heard that the Emei sect’s Jeonghwa and the Yong Seol-ran have entered Chengdu.”

“Really? Did those two really come to Chengdu?”

“Yeah! A lot of people have already seen them.”

“Huh! So they even come down from their main sect. This is really unusual.”

“Right?”

In an instant, Pyo-wol’s chopsticks stopped. It was because of the names Jeonghwa and Yong Seol-ran. There were several names in his life that he would never forget, two of which were Jeonghwa and Yong Seol-ran.

In many ways, their names were deeply engraved in Pyo-wol’s memory.

Not knowing if Pyo-wol was listening, the men continued to talk.

“For what purpose did they come to Chengdu?”

“How would I know that? I heard that they came to meet someone from the White Flower Room.” 

“White Flower Room? That’s right! The White Flower Room is no different from the Emei sect. Maybe it’s a standpoint that came out to crack down on the sect faction.’

After that, there was a lot of nonsensical chatter.

Pyo-wol also turned his attention away from their conversation and fell into a world of his own.

‘Jeonghwa and Yong Seol-ran came here?’

Pyo-wol thought that things were going more interesting than expected.

It seemed that the work he did caused a bigger issue than he initially thought.

Pyo-wol’s white teeth were exposed through red lips.