ISS 29

chapter 29

Reunion with Jin A-seol

There were personnel controls in place along the Zhu River area.

From Hyanghakru, where the first Moknae-i had been discovered, down twenty li along the Zhu River, the place was filled with government troops and martial artists.

That stretch had been cordoned off to preserve the scene.

“Were you here?”
Uije-min had encountered Geom-ryeong—who had vanished without a word—right here by the Zhu River.

“I came because I heard the scenery of the Zhu River was nice,” Geom-ryeong replied, using a martial-arts greeting as he explained why he had come.

“Is that so? You left without a word and Dogi was a bit upset.”
“I’ll tell him when we meet next time. But what brings you here? Is it because of someone who cultivated demonic martial arts?”
“Yes. Someone who cultivated an evil martial art called Absorbing-Spirit Martial Art. I came because it might be related to the death of Hyeon Jin-myeong of the Cheonmyeong Manor.”

Geom-ryeong opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Even if he said Hyeon Jin-myeong had learned martial arts, just like with Jeokhwa-myeong, he doubted they would believe him.

“Why are we here then? The bodies should be over that way.”
Geom-ryeong pointed with his finger toward where the bodies were.

“They moved the corpses. To investigate more thoroughly they decided to do autopsies and moved the site,” Uije-min replied.

The word “autopsy” piqued Geom-ryeong’s interest.

“I see. May I watch the autopsy too? I’ve never seen one before.”
Uije-min nodded without thinking.

There were nine bodies in total.

Two had become Moknae-i, Gon Hong-gi whose dantian had been shattered and had bled out, and six other bodies that were severely damaged.

They were the same bodies Geom-ryeong had seen earlier.

His gaze rested on the courtesan who had become a Moknae-i.

After all, she had become a sacrifice to Gon Hong-gi because of him.

‘In your next life, find someone good and live happily.’

The autopsy began, and Geom-ryeong watched.

He had some knowledge of medicine. The Jeonmo Yak-bing family were famed coroners in Hwaseong, and although he didn’t know deep medicine, he had learned enough to teach Geom-ryeong some basics.

Using that knowledge, Geom-ryeong observed the autopsy and watched the examining physicians to learn what he could.

When the autopsy ended, the doctor spoke.

“Typical signs of having been struck by Absorbing-Spirit Martial Art. Both blood-absorption and essence-absorption occurred. From the chest being torn open, it seems to be the work of someone with sadistic tendencies who had cultivated martial arts. The blood was absorbed through the left chest while the essence was absorbed through the genitals. As for this one……”

He spoke as if he had seen everything at the scene; it was an oddly impressive performance.

“But the problem is this one.”
He pointed at Gon Hong-gi’s body. While the other corpses showed the same symptoms, Gon Hong-gi’s showed different signs.

“What’s the problem?”
“From the wounds it looks like blood absorption, but rather than being martial-art based, blood seems to have pooled in one place and burst out from there. There are traces of internal energy training, but the energy doesn’t seem concentrated in the dantian—it looks scattered. From this, I think perhaps his dantian was broken.”

“In a way, like the woman who became a Moknae-i who was subjected to sadistic inclinations, it seems he was also made to suffer and the perpetrator took pleasure watching it,” the doctor added.

Geom-ryeong narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was not someone with a sadistic streak, nor did he take pleasure in others’ suffering.

“Excuse me?”
At that moment Geom-ryeong spoke.

“Yes?”
“Why don’t you consider that this person might have cultivated demonic arts?”

Everyone turned to face him at once.

“You’re talking like you witnessed the scene with this autopsy—why don’t you think this person was the demonic one who cultivated martial arts?” Geom-ryeong asked.

Uije-min replied, “You think this person is a demonic martial-arts user?”
“Yes!”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because I killed this person.”

For a moment, many, including Uije-min, were stunned. They wondered if they had misheard.

“Say that again?” Uije-min asked.

“I said I killed this person.”
Uije-min narrowed his eyes. Martial arts had appeared, and a demonic being had shown up. Someone died because of those demonic martial arts.

“Are you joking? You, who haven’t learned martial arts, could beat a demonic being?”
He meant Geom-ryeong should pick the right time and place to speak like that.

“Why do you assume I haven’t learned martial arts?”
Geom-ryeong could not understand why they did not believe him.

Although Geom-ryeong was technically of age, he appeared younger than his years. When someone cultivates martial arts, signs usually show, but Geom-ryeong displayed none of those signs. That led them to assume he was lying. They didn’t think he had been a master whose traces had vanished.

“Geom-ryeong, come outside with me.”
Since Janmyeonggeom Jeokhwa-myeong was also present, he thought more trouble would follow and tried to take Geom-ryeong out.

“Do you find us so laughable?”
Everyone could sense the displeasure in his voice.

“It’s not that I find you laughable. I just don’t understand why you all dismiss my words as lies,” Geom-ryeong retorted to Uije-min.

“Geom-ryeong, come outside with me.”
Even righteous martial artists rarely tolerated being made fools of; they wouldn’t calmly laugh it off.

Geom-ryeong narrowed his eyes—he felt killing intent from Uije-min. Jeokhwa-myeong, perhaps unaware of that fact, hurried to pull Geom-ryeong away.

“So you claim you’re a master? Then take my one strike, and I’ll believe you.”
Uije-min spat out killing intent. Geom-ryeong let it roll off and spoke.

“I didn’t train in martial arts to prove to others that I did.”
Uije-min cocked his head at Geom-ryeong’s dismissive demeanor.

‘Could it be…?’ he wondered.

“If people don’t believe me, there’s no reason I should be bothered.”
Geom-ryeong turned with Jeokhwa-myeong to leave.

Thud-thud-thud!
Just as Uije-min tried to stop him, urgent footsteps came from outside and a person burst into the room.

“The identities of these people have been confirmed. And two more are missing.”
It was Chwi Geom Yu-dong.

The tense atmosphere in the room, heightened by Geom-ryeong and Uije-min, dissolved at Yu-dong’s news.

“I hope I never see his face again.”
Geom-ryeong left without answering. Yu-dong glanced over him, puzzled.

“Okay, who are they?”
“The others are locals who live here. But this one!”
Yu-dong pointed at Gon Hong-gi.

“The second son of the Myeonghwa Trading Company, named Gon Hong-gi.”
“The second son of Myeonghwa Trading Company?”
“That’s right. And another missing person—the second son of the Muryeong Trading Company, Na Min-cheol, is missing.”
“Na Min-cheol of Muryeong Trading Company?”
“Brother! Aren’t Myeonghwa and Muryeong two of the Ten Great Trading Companies of Central Plains?”
At Uije-ung’s comment, Uije-min nodded, though a displeased expression crossed his face.

“Why are they here?”
“From what we found out, the second sons of the Ten Great Trading Companies formed a group called the Taepyeong Association and meet regularly.”
Chwi Geom Yu-dong explained everything he had uncovered.

“And the others?”
“They’re gathered at Myeonghwalu now.”
“Understood. Ask their permission and tell them to remain at Myeonghwalu for a while.”
“Understood.”

After Yu-dong left, Uije-min stepped out of the room with the corpses.

“It seems their deaths aren’t related to Hyeon Jin-myeong’s death.”
“I think so too, brother!” the two younger brothers walking at his sides agreed.

“But brother! That kid Geom-ryeong is so arrogant, isn’t he?”
Uije-min thought of Geom-ryeong dismissing his killing intent and shook his head.

“Leave him be. He’s just a naive child who doesn’t know the world. Scolding him won’t help me; he’ll only wander around telling lies about me. Let him live his life.”
Uije-min said he wouldn’t care about Geom-ryeong anymore and warned his brothers not to do anything rash.

“I will, but he still gets on my nerves a bit.”
“Let him live like that until he gets cut down by some mountain bandit. Let him have his own fate.”

Geom-ryeong left with Jeokhwa-myeong.

“Why did you do that? You should have considered the time and place for such jokes.”
Jeokhwa-myeong also scolded him.

Geom-ryeong looked at Jeokhwa-myeong to say something, then fell silent—there was no use; they wouldn’t believe him.

At that moment, a familiar voice called, “Mister!”

Turning his head, Geom-ryeong saw Jin A-seol, daughter of the Gangnam Pyo Company’s head, and her master, Wol-yeong Seonja Naeng Yeoseol, standing there.

“Aseol!”
Geom-ryeong greeted her warmly.

As they approached, Geom-ryeong bowed his head slightly to Wol-yeong Seonja.

“I heard you went to Wol-yeongmun—what brings you here?”
“My disciple wanted to see the Zhu River, so we came. And this gentleman?”
Even righteous martial artists don’t know everyone; although they might have heard tales, seeing a face for the first time prompts such a question.

“This is Jeokhwa-myeong.”
When Jeokhwa-myeong introduced himself, Wol-yeong Seonja looked at him.

“Are you Janmyeonggeom?”
Knowing his sobriquet meant Wol-yeong Seonja was also a martial artist.

“It’s just a famous name.”
“I am Naeng Yeoseol.”
“Whoa!”
Jeokhwa-myeong involuntarily inhaled sharply.

Naeng Yeoseol—Wol-yeong Seonja—was counted among the top hundred martial artists; even the mighty Uije-min was in that list, but Naeng Yeoseol outranked them. Hearing that he came out to choose a disciple surprised Jeokhwa-myeong.

Jeokhwa-myeong once again gave the proper martial-arts greeting, showing respect as a junior.

“Enough with the formality. Have you heard about the demonic martial arts?”
“Yes. I was just at the autopsy. But because of this friend here, we had some trouble……”
Jeokhwa-myeong’s words trailed off.

“Mister, you lied about being the world’s greatest master again, didn’t you?”
“No, it’s true. It’s just that people don’t believe me.”

Jin A-seol and Geom-ryeong began bickering, and the two elders shook their heads.

“He looks fine enough, but the way he acts is exactly like our Aseol,” Naeng Yeoseol said. Janmyeonggeom gave an awkward smile.

“Congratulations on taking a disciple, Grandmaster!”
“I did take him on, but seeing him like that makes me regret it a bit. But he doesn’t usually behave so, so don’t mock my disciple.”
“Of course not.”

While they spoke, Geom-ryeong and Jin A-seol continued to argue.

“I’m telling you, I killed the demonic one.”
“Mister, that’s a disease.”
“What disease?”
“The one where you lie every time you open your mouth!”
“You— I’m not talking to you.”