Chapter 4
Chapter 4
4.
Dark Shadow Eye Demon (2)
So-ye found it hard to believe the situation she was in.
Not only had her identity been exposed, but the fact that ‘Woo Mun-so’s head’ was even mentioned.
Un-hyeok asked, “Are you going to keep hiding your identity?”
“You seem quite convinced that I am the Dragon Brocade Hall Lord.”
He seemed so sure.
There was no point in trying to deceive him any further.
Rip-!
Tearing off the Human Skin Mask, So-ye moved with lightning speed.
She pulled out the hairpin from her hair and placed the pointed end against Un-hyeok’s neck.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
Un-hyeok raised both hands as if he had no intention of resisting.
“Your greeting is quite unpleasant.”
“Tell me, who did you hear about me from?”
Even though she was in a life-threatening situation, Un-hyeok was far too calm.
‘Hidden weapons.’
What was as famous as poison was the Sichuan Tang Clan’s hidden weapons. From how to use them to how to deal with them.
In his past life, Un-hyeok had learned it so thoroughly that he couldn’t be bothered by it.
“Calm down. You might end up fighting a war with the Poison Demon Sect.”
“A toothless tiger like you. Do you think I’d be afraid?!”
In one breath.
Un-hyeok exploited the gap in the conversation.
Un-hyeok’s hands moved so fast that only afterimages remained.
Before she knew it.
“…!”
The hairpin was spinning between Un-hyeok’s fingers.
So-ye’s eyes widened.
“How on earth…”
“How? What do you mean, how?”
Un-hyeok threw the hairpin out the window and said, “You just have to do it ‘well’.”
“……”
“Sit down. You look like you have a lot of questions.”
Sitting in his chair, Un-hyeok crossed his legs and gestured to the chair with his chin.
So-ye stared at Un-hyeok for a moment, then sat down opposite him with Ryu-yeon.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out.
“Young Master, may I come in for a moment?”
It was Seok In-gu.
Un-hyeok said, “Come in.”
The door opened, and Seok In-gu appeared, carrying a tray with tea prepared.
He poured tea for them in turn.
“I have prepared the tea as you ordered, but… I’m not sure if it will suit your taste.”
His fingers trembled slightly.
Seeing how nervous he was, he knew that he had carried out his orders properly.
Un-hyeok acted nonchalantly to hide the fact that he had added Meridian-Dispersing Poison.
“It’s fine. I’m sure our guests are parched as well.”
“……”
Sensing that something was amiss, In-gu quickly bowed.
“Well, then, please feel free to talk. I’ll be on my way.”
Thud-!
As the door of the paper-screened room closed.
The guest hall, filled with silence, was only filled with the sound of So-ye and Hong Ryu-yeon sipping tea.
A moment later.
Clink-
So-ye, having sorted out her thoughts, put down her teacup and asked, “Let me get straight to the point. How much do you know about what happened at the Magnificent Gate?”
“Everything.”
The tragedy of the Magnificent Gate.
According to what he had heard from So-ye in his past life.
The previous Magnificent Gate Lord, Gwan-woo-pyeong, was murdered by his disciple, Woo Mun-so.
The reason was that Gwan-woo-pyeong had chosen Lee So-ye as the next sect leader.
So-ye’s senior brother, Woo Mun-so, was superior to her in every way.
Except for one thing.
His attitude towards the disciples.
Unlike Woo Mun-so, who regarded the disciples as mere tools, So-ye always treated them like family.
“I can’t believe it. Even the beggars of the Beggars’ Sect don’t know about this.”
“I suppose so. After Woo Mun-so became the Magnificent Gate Lord, he would have tried to hide his shameful deeds.”
“That’s right. Woo Mun-so, that bastard, used every means possible to cover up his patricide. In fact, I even tried to ask other sects for help to reclaim the Magnificent Gate.”
“It would have been in vain.”
So-ye fiddled with the teacup she had drunk from.
“Just as you said. The Black forces were only thinking about how to swindle me, and the Righteous forces were no different.”
Lee So-ye bit her lip.
“They shouted about chivalry and justice, but they turned a blind eye with ridiculous excuses. Some even reported my location to Woo Mun-so.”
“That’s how the Righteous bastards are. They’re all hypocrites.”
“That’s why I converted to the Demonic God Church.”
No one in the Central Plains was on her side.
On the other hand, the eyes and ears of the Magnificent Gate were everywhere.
That was why So-ye had fled to the Demonic God Church, where their hands could not reach.
“I have completely laundered my identity. No one has noticed it until now. But how did you…?”
“Let me make it clear, I have no intention of telling you the source of the information I know.”
So-ye’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Why? Weren’t you trying to form an alliance with me?”
“We haven’t formed an alliance yet. And isn’t the Dragon Brocade Hall the same? You don’t tell your customers the source of your information, even if they ask.”
“……”
“However, I can guarantee this much. I have never told anyone your secret.”
“How can I believe that?”
“If you don’t believe it, what can you do?”
Wooooong-!
An intangible energy surged from Lee So-ye’s body.
“There is a way to deal with you quietly.”
“Really? Go ahead if you’re confident.”
“Do you think I can’t?”
The reason she had her hairpin stolen was because she was careless.
So-ye was about to build up her momentum.
Then.
Pshhh-!
Suddenly, the internal energy in her dantian scattered and wouldn’t gather.
‘Why is my internal energy…?’
Un-hyeok grinned.
“Looks like the poison is finally taking effect.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I put some Meridian-Dispersing Poison in the tea you just drank.”
Clack-!
So-ye slammed the table.
“You, you cowardly…!”
“Cowardly? Have you forgotten where you are?”
Poison Demon Sect.
Occupying one of the Six Great Demonic Sects, and unrivaled when it came to poison.
“Whether it’s guts or foolishness. You walked into the tiger’s mouth with your own feet. What made you drink the tea without any suspicion? Do you know what?”
Suddenly, Un-hyeok’s eyes turned cold.
“If I had wanted to kill you, you would have been dead a long time ago.”
Chills-!
So-ye’s hair stood on end.
‘What the Poison Demon Young Master says is true.’
She should have realized it when her hairpin was stolen.
Dok Un-hyeok was not someone to be taken lightly.
But So-ye had unknowingly fallen into a stereotype.
‘If the tea had contained a different, more potent poison instead of Meridian-Dispersing Poison? Would I really have been able to survive?’
So-ye finally understood.
Why Black Bear had been defeated.
‘The world is wrong. This man is not someone to be called a disgrace to the Poison Demon Sect.’
So-ye, now calm, said, “…You were hiding your identity as well.”
“Think what you want.”
“Okay, let’s hear it. If I become your eyes and ears, how will you kill Woo Mun-so?”
“Now we’re talking.”
“If you say anything absurd, I’m leaving right away.”
“Before that. Isn’t there something you need to take care of?”
“…?”
Un-hyeok’s gaze turned towards Hong Ryu-yeon.
“Stop acting. Do you think I wouldn’t know?”
“What are you talking about? Acting?!”
“Listen carefully. That person is…”
Un-hyeok’s voice was clearly heard in So-ye’s ear.
“Woo Mun-so’s spy.”
“What… did you say?”
“Hong Ryu-yeon has been secretly passing information about you and the Dragon Brocade Hall to Woo Mun-so.”
Bang-!
So-ye jumped up from her seat.
“What nonsense are you talking about! Ryu-yeon is the benefactor of my life. There’s no way he would do that!”
She wanted to believe that.
But even that was Hong Ryu-yeon’s trick.
On the night she had finished preparing to take revenge on Woo Mun-so, Hong Ryu-yeon had revealed his true colors.
He had put So-ye to sleep with sleeping poison and then slashed her face to pieces.
Betrayal by someone she trusted.
So-ye had no choice but to be helpless.
‘The Dragon Brocade Hall was burned down from that day on, and Lee So-ye’s face was completely ruined.’
After that.
So-ye had also fled the Demonic God Church.
The Magnificent Gate had devoured the Dragon Brocade Hall’s place and established a base in the Demonic God Church.
So-ye had been hiding her identity and living a miserable life when she met Un-hyeok.
‘At the time, I was returning after carrying out the orders given by Dang Wi-hyeon. I was surprised to see Lee So-ye’s hideout.’
Information filled the walls.
If you read it slowly, you could see the flow of the world.
Although she had become a cripple, her abilities had not rusted at all.
‘Come to think of it, I made a deal to join hands with Lee So-ye back then.’
Most of the missions given by Dang Wi-hyeon were close to impossible.
So-ye’s help was needed to increase the chances of success, even by a little.
Unlike now, So-ye had asked Un-hyeok to take Woo Mun-so’s head back then.
‘I was lucky. It was when the Heavenly Justice League was conducting a major crackdown on the Black forces.’
The Sichuan Tang Clan had also participated as a member of the Heavenly Justice League, and their purposes coincided.
The Magnificent Gate was also included in the Black forces.
‘Certainly, Woo Mun-so was not an easy opponent. If Lee So-ye had not informed me about him in advance, I would have been the one to die.’
But Un-hyeok had eventually killed Woo Mun-so, and that had allowed him to become a comrade with So-ye.
After that, Lee So-ye’s information network had been of great help in destroying the Poison Demon Sect.
‘Of course, even that Lee So-ye couldn’t survive the Central Plains Blood War in the end.’
But that’s beside the point.
What’s important now is persuading Lee So-ye.
“Have someone search Hong Ryu-yeon’s residence right now. If you pull out the book on the third shelf from the top, eighth position, a door to a secret passage will open. There will be traces of his communication with Woo Mun-so there.”
“What nonsense…!”
“I’ll give you a moment.”
Un-hyeok buried himself in the chair.
So-ye frowned at Un-hyeok’s stubborn attitude.
“…Okay, let’s say I search Ryu-yeon’s residence, even if I have to make concessions. But what if there’s nothing there? What are you going to do then?”
“I’ll bet my head.”
“……”
“Instead, if I’m right, can I assume that you’ll join hands with me?”
“That won’t happen.”
“Is that so?”
A bet she absolutely couldn’t lose.
Un-hyeok decided to raise the stakes even higher.
“If you’re so confident, let’s bet the debt I owed the Dragon Brocade Hall as well. If I win, it’s completely forgiven, and if you win, I’ll pay back twice the debt. How about that?”
“……”
“Why are you silent? Don’t tell me the Dragon Brocade Hall Lord is getting scared?”
Un-hyeok taunted her nonchalantly.
“Oh, if you’re scared, you can die.”
Because her belief in Hong Ryu-yeon was firm, So-ye did not back down.
“Hmph! Who’s scared?!”
“Then I’ll take that as a yes.”
“That’s what I wanted! Ryu-yeon. You’re okay with this, right?”
So-ye turned her head to look at Hong Ryu-yeon.
But his face was coldly frozen.
As if he had been caught red-handed.
“What’s wrong… Ryu-yeon, what’s wrong?”
“……”
“Don’t tell me… No, it can’t be? Right?”
Un-hyeok grinned.
“Why, are you flustered because I pinpointed the location so accurately?”
“Wh-what. Ryu-yeon. Really… is what he’s saying true?!”
“……”
“Say something!”
Hong Ryu-yeon’s face gradually distorted, turning into that of a vicious demon.
“Shut up and stop squawking before I tear your mouth apart.”
“What?”
“Tsk, I’ve put in so much effort for years. To think I’d be caught in such an unexpected place.”
“Ryu-yeon…?”
Lee So-ye’s pupils trembled.
“Wh-what are you talking about? You’re a subordinate of Woo Mun-so, that bastard! Don’t lie!”
“You insolent bitch.”
Hong Ryu-yeon glared at Lee So-ye with a look she had never seen before.
“Watch your mouth. The Sect Leader is not someone you can speak of so carelessly.”
“What did you say?”
“Tch, I wanted to see your face twisted in misery no matter what, but it’s all been in vain.”
“No, but why…?”
So-ye was in a state of confusion.
She must have been in a state of mental shock.
In the meantime, Ryu-yeon quickly sorted out his thoughts.
‘The plan has failed. The best course of action is to escape.’
That was the role of a spy.
But before that.
Hong Ryu-yeon glared at Un-hyeok.
‘That bastard ruined everything, so I’ll have to take his life before I go.’
Ryu-yeon was also unable to use his internal energy due to the effects of the Meridian-Dispersing Poison.
But Dok Un-hyeok was nothing.
Twisting the neck of a guy who had become weak from being addicted to women and alcohol.
It was easier than eating porridge.
“Die! Dok Un-hyeok!”
Hong Ryu-yeon jumped up from his seat and tried to rush at him.
At that moment, Un-hyeok kicked the table with his foot half a beat faster.
“Cough…!”
The pushed table hit Hong Ryu-yeon’s sensitive area.
Looking at Hong Ryu-yeon kneeling on one knee, Un-hyeok clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. So predictable, so predictable. I can hear you scheming all the way over here. How can you not deviate from my expectations even by an inch?”
Grind-!
Hong Ryu-yeon gritted his teeth.
“You insolent…! I’ll kill you no matter what!”
The stage was set.
All the characters had come up on stage.
The protagonist was Un-hyeok, and the villain was Ryu-yeon.
What he had to gain was So-ye’s heart.
Now there was only one thing left.
Un-hyeok grinned.
“Now, shall we end the play?”