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Chapter 26
A fierce gaze landed on Geum Seolha once again. With her bamboo hat pulled low, Geum Seolha feigned innocence.
“Dad, I don’t like that mister.”
“Oh, really now?”
“If I hang around a man like him, I feel like I’ll pick up bad language habits. How much longer do we have to stay here?”
“Y-you little runt!”
Even though she wasn’t scared in the slightest, Geum Seolha pretended otherwise and burrowed deeper into Ha Do-un’s arms.
Ha Do-un flinched, let out a sigh, and lifted her into his embrace.
“I have no business with you.”
At the firm declaration, Jeokrang hesitated briefly before curling his lips into a grin.
“Hey, then you shouldn’t have let yourself catch my eye.”
The man’s foot landed heavily on the table where Ha Do-un sat.
“I’ve taken an interest in you. No way I’m letting you leave that easily. Right?”
The tension stretched taut like a drawn bowstring. Geum Seolha looked back and forth between Jeokrang and Ha Do-un.
She had known from the moment she asked for help that Ha Do-un was a man carrying many stories. There was no reason to be frightened or disappointed now.
He’s my person.
He had said he would always take her side, so what did she care about his past? Having settled her thoughts, Geum Seolha poked her head out from Ha Do-un’s embrace.
“Our dad already has a wife.”
Jeokrang looked at her with utter bewilderment at the sudden remark.
So what?
“It’s very bad to hit on someone who already has a beloved.”
“…Hit on? Who? Me? Him?”
Jeokrang stammered, his face displaying complete cognitive dissonance. Geum Seolha nodded confidently.
“So stop acting sleazy and go away. Our dad said he doesn’t like you. He said he didn’t come here to see you.”
A string of words packed with misunderstanding and accusation left Jeokrang speechless.
“Pff—hahaha!”
Laughter erupted from nearby once again. Geum Seolha heard Ha Do-un let out a deep sigh.
“That’s not… what she means.”
“Dad may not think so, but who knows about that mister? You shouldn’t accuse someone else’s feelings like that.”
“The one making accusations isn’t your father. It’s you.”
The more he spoke with her, the further he drifted from the realm of normality instead of recovering any dignity. Realizing Geum Seolha was no easy opponent, Jeokrang groaned.
Though her face remained hidden, her determination to bite apart anyone who dared touch Ha Do-un was perfectly clear.
“Good grief. Where did he even find a kid worse than himself?”
Clicking his tongue irritably, Jeokrang stepped back. His eyes swept toward the martial artist beside him, who looked thoroughly entertained.
“You should know you survived today thanks to the Branch Leader.”
Even while retreating, he couldn’t resist adding one last remark.
At the word Branch Leader, Geum Seolha’s mouth fell open.
Haomun was an unorthodox sect made up of all sorts of people, from courtesans to waiters and countless others.
So if someone here was called a Branch Leader…
“Shh. Let’s move somewhere else and continue our conversation.”
The eyes of the middle-aged man, who had seemed nothing more than a bold martial artist, curved into crescents.
Geum Seolha stared.
This is the person we came to meet?
When she shot Ha Do-un a questioning look, he gave a slight nod.
While Geum Seolha stood there looking completely duped, Ha Do-un picked her up and began walking.
No one dared block the man’s path.
Passing through the noisy crowd of guests, they gradually reached a much quieter area.
Security is getting tighter.
Though carefully concealed, the number of martial artists standing guard increased the deeper they went.
Just as Geum Seolha swallowed nervously under the growing pressure—
“It’s alright.”
Ha Do-un gently patted her back.
His quiet reassurance—that he would never allow anyone to harm her—eased her tension.
At last they arrived at the deepest part of Honghwaru, the greatest pleasure house in Jiangxi.
The secret chamber of Haomun’s Jiangxi Branch opened before them.
The martial artist walking ahead naturally sat down.
“So this is what it feels like to welcome back a runaway prodigal son.”
The man laughed heartily.
Ha Do-un remained silent.
“Then why have you returned to the place you worked so hard to leave?”
Though the question seemed directed at Ha Do-un, the man’s gaze was fixed on Geum Seolha.
After a brief moment of thought, she spoke.
“Are we the guests that mister said he was waiting for earlier?”
“Hm. I am always waiting for guests who come to request Haomun’s services.”
He hadn’t specifically been waiting for their group, but neither was his answer incorrect.
Clicking her tongue lightly, Geum Seolha got straight to the point.
“Is Jiangxi peaceful these days?”
“It is always noisy. Without a clear subject, it is difficult to give a proper answer, young lady of Geumrin.”
Geum Seolha chuckled.
“How did you figure it out?”
She met the Jiangxi Branch Leader’s eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you to look at the sword? Just as that brat Jeokrang carries his treasured weapon, Ha Do-un does the same.”
Geum Seolha’s gaze shifted to Ha Do-un’s waist.
The black sword looked unremarkable.
“I once studied that sword very carefully.”
How could he forget the sword hilt split by a cross-shaped crack?
“I nearly lost my head while looking at it, after all.”
At Jeokrang’s sarcastic remark, veins bulged on the Branch Leader’s forehead.
“Ahem.”
The Branch Leader hurriedly smoothed his expression.
Watching him skeptically, Geum Seolha continued.
“Jiangxi doesn’t really have any properly established unorthodox sects.”
“…”
“At best there are a few insignificant groups. Haomun is about as big as it gets.”
At her accurate observation, interest flashed through the eyes of both Jeokrang and the Branch Leader.
I thought she’d ask for information related to Geumrin or submit a commission.
Ignoring their probing looks, Geum Seolha recalled the original story.
“In a place like that, I doubt you’d just sit back and watch other things crawl in.”
“There have indeed been some troublesome pests stirring up Jiangxi lately. You seem to know something about them?”
The Branch Leader spoke casually, sounding her out.
Geum Seolha frowned.
Being young and lacking achievements made gaining trust troublesome every time.
This will be the last time.
Her eyes gleamed.
“I can get rid of them for you.”
“So you know who they are and what they want.”
The Branch Leader narrowed his eyes.
Geum Seolha shrugged.
There was no need to reveal every card in a negotiation.
“Want me to remove them?”
Her clear voice echoed through the room.
Silence followed.
After a pause, the Branch Leader spoke.
“Is there any need? Once they achieve their goal, they’ll leave.”
His statement assumed they weren’t trying to expand territory but pursuing another objective.
Geum Seolha tilted her head.
“They’ll tear through all of Jiangxi trying to achieve that goal.”
“…”
“And if they still can’t find what they’re looking for, don’t you think they’ll eventually target Haomun’s Jiangxi Branch too?”
Some negotiations worked far better through threats than persuasion.
“I can make them leave without you ever having to deal with that.”
“…”
“They’re being polite now and disguising it as a commission, but… well. If they fail to get useful information, things won’t stay this way.”
The riffraff of the unorthodox path had no aversion to bloodshed.
They would use any means necessary to achieve their objective.
Geum Seolha warned that eventually their blades would point at Haomun.
“I heard about your strong personality from the incident a few days ago… but no one mentioned this level of insight.”
The Branch Leader’s eyes glittered like glass as he evaluated her worth.
Geum Seolha remained calm.
“Stop pretending not to know. Deals with unorthodox sects always end up like that. It’ll become troublesome later. So make a deal with me.”
“A deal?”
“Fifty-fifty. Give me half the commission fee they offered, and I’ll provide satisfactory information and the item they want.”
The Branch Leader’s eyes gleamed with greed.
She figured out this much already?
The child was astonishingly clever.
If Geumrin weren’t standing firmly behind her, she would be worth tucking into his sleeve and raising as his successor.
“Fifty-fifty is excessive. You’re not the one judging whether the information and item are truly useful, nor are you taking the risk. Ninety-ten.”
“Ninety-ten? Isn’t that basically daylight robbery? If this drags on, you’re the one who’ll suffer, not me. Sixty-forty.”
“You came to us because you know it only becomes valuable through us. We received the commission. Do you think they’d simply accept a deal if you walked up to them yourself? Seventy-thirty. I won’t go any higher.”
His tone was firm.
Geum Seolha smacked her lips in disappointment before reluctantly nodding.
Well, this isn’t bad.
Since she had fought so hard over the commission fee, her true objective was probably well concealed.
“Fine. Seventy-thirty. But look into one more thing for me.”
“I’m already giving you thirty percent.”
“Want me to cancel the deal?”
Her confidence made the Branch Leader gesture for her to continue.
“Gather information about my uncles and aunts.”
“Geumrin’s blood relatives?”
The Branch Leader frowned.
“That’s expensive.”
“I’m not asking for an expensive investigation. Just collect the rumors floating around the markets.”
That wouldn’t cost much, would it?
The Branch Leader wore an odd expression before slowly nodding.
“Fine. Seventy-thirty, and I’ll include that information as well. Now it’s your turn to prove the information you’re holding.”
Geum Seolha took out the dagger she had received from Madam Baek and handed it over.
“This is…”
The Branch Leader casually examined the dagger.
Then his gaze froze on a particular spot.
His eyes locked onto the emblem engraved on the sheath, and his expression shook violently.
Geum Seolha smiled in satisfaction.
For someone who dealt in information, he had recognized the symbol immediately.
She raised a finger to her lips.
Even if he understood, it would be better not to say it aloud.
The Branch Leader’s face hardened.
“The owner of this dagger?”
“Dead. Whatever poison it was, it was nasty enough to melt not only the corpse but even the victim’s clothes.”
“The dagger is unharmed.”
“Because it wasn’t attached to the body when it happened.”
Question after question poured out as he tried to determine the truth of her words.
A satisfied glint appeared in Geum Seolha’s eyes.
Good. He isn’t careless.
People like him were difficult to deceive, but once deceived properly, they often became easier to handle afterward.
“So the person is already dead?”
The Branch Leader’s eyes sharpened.
“That’s why you haven’t found them yet.”
The Branch Leader fell silent.
It certainly made sense.
Even after mobilizing all of Haomun’s personnel, they had found almost nothing.
“Very well. I’ll pass the information along.”
“One more thing. It would be troublesome if anyone came looking for me at Geumrin. I’ll come here myself, so don’t try to find me first.”
The Branch Leader nodded.
“As you wish.”
And thus, beneath the moonlit night, the deal was concluded.
