Revenant Detection Operation (3)
Seo Baek silently scanned the assassins.
Your turn. Whoever wants to go first, start.
The one who spoke first was the oldest-looking among the four.
"As the saying goes, respect for elders. I'll go first. I worked for the North Paeng Family in Hebei until ten years ago, but now I wander the jianghu as Jang Su."
The man called Jang Su then pointed to the weapon strapped to his back with his thumb—a bizarre dao shaped like a manja symbol.
"As you can see, these days I make a living as a sword-for-hire. Can't starve in my old age, so I take any job that pays."
There was a thorn in Jang Su's words.
Any job that pays.
In other words, he wasn't hiding the fact that he was an assassin on the bounty list eyeing the reward.
But Seo Baek asked him,
"What's your nickname?"
"Nickname?"
Jang Su furrowed his brow.
He found Seo Baek's question out of left field.
Nicknames were for renowned figures of orthodox sects or showy unorthodox masters.
For Jang Su, who had been expelled from the North Paeng Family and turned to the dark paths, a nickname was a luxury.
Even if he made one up, who in the jianghu would call him by it?
He'd be lucky not to get laughed at.
"I don't have one."
"Understood."
The question had been abrupt, but since Seo Baek didn't press further, Jang Su let it slide.
Once his turn ended, Jang Su glanced at the man beside him.
To his right was a man who looked to be in his early twenties—the youngest of the four, the polar opposite of Jang Su.
Like Seo Baek, he clasped his fists in greeting and spoke.
"Sorry for the rudeness to my senior. Respect for elders means I should've gone first. Anyway, name's Wang Pyo."
Oddly, Wang Pyo had a sword sheathed on each side of his waist.
"Me too, I sell my sword in the jianghu. Folks call me Black Wind Twin Blades, but it's embarrassing, so I don't use it. Twin blades usually mean a duo or a brother-sister pair, but I'm solo, so it feels off, right?"
Wang Pyo chuckled at his own joke.
Then Seo Baek asked him,
"Did you take the military exam?"
"Military exam? Why?"
"The two swords at your waist are identical in shape and relatively short, so it crossed my mind."
Seo Baek pointed at Wang Pyo's waist, drawing everyone's eyes to his blades.
"A longer sword doesn't make your swordsmanship stronger, y'know?"
Wang Pyo shrugged it off casually.
But Seo Baek's next words crumpled his face like paper.
"One of the subjects in the government's military exam is Twin Hand Dao. It's a style using two short waist dao, and your twin swords look just like them."
"……!"
"I just guessed you trained in Twin Hand Dao and failed the exam. If not, forget I said it."
"……."
Wang Pyo, who had started off cheerfully, now clamped his mouth shut with a fierce glare as Seo Baek finished.
With just a glance at the twin swords, Seo Baek had deduced Wang Pyo's past and signature style.
In the martial world, exposing your techniques was as good as handing the advantage to your enemy.
For Wang Pyo himself, it was the worst offense imaginable.
And sure enough, the other assassins smirked inwardly.
Oh ho, so the kid's style is the military's Twin Hand Dao?
Info that's hard to buy even for money. Nice one, kid.
One down.
Wang Pyo was now scratched from the assassins' competitor list. When they eventually turned on Seo Baek for the bounty, the one whose style was exposed would die first.
Wang Pyo could guess their schemes.
Damn it! The kid ruined everything!
Jang Su had gotten off easy with no nickname, but Wang Pyo felt stripped bare of his secrets.
Naturally, his heart blazed with hatred for Seo Baek.
If I miss the bounty, I'll kill the kid with my own hands.
Oblivious or not to Wang Pyo's venomous glare, Seo Baek turned to the next assassin.
"Your turn."
He was the most eye-catching of the bunch—the one called Dohwa Gwang.
"My turn?"
"Yes."
"I'm Dohwa Gwang. Don't know my real name."
In truth, Dohwa Gwang was the only one who didn't need an introduction.
The bizarre man who roamed with heavy pinkish makeup like a woman.
And everyone knew his style too.
When boarding the ship earlier and the owner said no room, hadn't he sliced a crewman's throat with a blade from his sleeve?
He carried no sword openly at his waist.
But his fluttering pink robe might conceal hidden weapons or flying swords in the sleeves or bosom.
At any rate, his style was likely some variant of sleeve-hidden blades.
Assassins hated their unique arts being known. Dohwa Gwang had put himself at a disadvantage.
But he knew it full well.
Who cares if you know my style?
No matter how much you knew, a novice couldn't beat a master.
That's why he'd started killing before even boarding—for the thrill.
Dohwa Gwang knew all that.
"Move on to the next. You all know my style anyway, kekeke."
But Seo Baek didn't skip him and pressed Dohwa Gwang.
"Do you really not know your name, or do you just not want to say?"
"Told you, I don't know."
"Even damned wretches have names."
"……."
Seo Baek persisted, so Dohwa Gwang glared at him steadily before speaking.
"Don't know my father. Mother dumped me at a brothel the day after I was born. A whore named Dohwa raised me. They called me Dohwa-ja. No proper name."
"……."
The harsh lives of martial artists were well-known, but Dohwa Gwang's tale went beyond.
Dohwa Gwang swept his gaze over the silent group and continued.
"Whores did makeup on me for fun as a baby, and it stuck into adulthood. When I joined the dark paths, folks dubbed me Dohwa Gwang."
"That's all?"
"Yeah. Wanna know more? Ask my sword."
Ask my sword.
Meaning, no more questions or face the blade.
But Seo Baek ignored him and turned to the last assassin.
"Next. You're the last."
Dohwa Gwang narrowed his eyes in a glare, but Seo Baek paid no mind.
The fourth assassin shrugged and spoke.
"Name's So Samnak. Just three letters and nothing else. Not some grand master, no nickname. No sect or steady gigs. Used to butcher pigs, got hooked on the knife, became a sword-for-hire. That's it."
So Samnak ended it curtly, as if nothing more to say.
And it was true.
A man in his mid-forties, he lacked any master's aura or assassin's edge.
Just a plain ring dao at his waist, like what butchers used. Nothing more seemed worth hearing.
But oddly, Seo Baek smirked and said,
"Heh. If I'd bumped into you in the ship's corridor at night, I'd have mistaken you for Senior Wang."
"Senior Wang?"
"Wang Yi Sam senior here."
"……."
So Samnak blinked between Seo Baek and Wang Yi Sam, confused. Then Wang Yi Sam burst into hearty laughter.
"He means your beard's as bushy as mine—can't tell us apart in the dark! Wahahaha!"
So Samnak's beard and sideburns covered half his face just like Wang Yi Sam's. Seo Baek had joked about that.
"That? Kid, you're no fun. Huhuhu."
Realizing the jest, So Samnak laughed along with Wang Yi Sam.
Two bushy-bearded men of similar age laughing—it did make sense they'd be mistaken at night. Even sharp-nerved Dohwa Gwang smirked at them.
"Introductions complete. Thank you all."
Seo Baek turned to the group and clasped his fists.
Wang Yi Sam, who had been chuckling at So Samnak's beard, snapped alert.
Wait. That's it?
He hadn't liked Seo Baek's idea of introductions from the start.
Dark path folk could lie about identities—what way to tell truth from lies?
Seems no one lied about names, but...
The problem was, that was all.
They knew names, but no clue who the commander was. Yet Seo Baek declared it over.
Wang Yi Sam couldn't fathom Seo Baek's game.
Junior and that Song Hyeon guy are usually sharp—why this today?
These four dark pathers were the only ones who'd escaped the ship amid dozens of martial artists.
Not just skilled, but quick-witted enough to stick with Seo Baek's group for survival.
Yet here he was, doing introductions and weird questions instead of more...
Wang Yi Sam's frustration was natural.
Revenants could swarm any second—this is time-wasting!
As Wang Yi Sam stewed, Seo Baek spoke.
"Regrettably, it's hard to pinpoint the commander."
Wang Yi Sam screamed inwardly.
Obviously! If we called someone a revenant just by name, I'd rename myself No-Revenant!
"So, here's a proposal."
Another? Names done—what now?
Wang Yi Sam nearly blurted it out in vexation.
But Seo Baek's next words made him gasp and shut his mouth.
"Use this method, and we'll definitely flush out the hidden revenant among us."
Seo Baek's brief smile had turned ice-cold.
That look he got when facing revenants.
Wang Yi Sam swallowed hard, unable to retort, and listened intently.
The four assassins also waited gravely.
"We're seven now. One short of eight, but we'll scatter to the eight directions."
"Even together we struggle against revenants, and you want us to split up? What nonsense?"
Dohwa Gwang scoffed at the absurdity.
"Commanders control blood ghosts' minds but can't give specific orders. Right?"
"Correct."
Song Hyeon nodded at Seo Baek's question.
"And blood ghosts instinctively gather around their commander over time. Right?"
"That's correct too."
"That's what we'll exploit."
Seo Baek scanned the group before continuing.
"Alone, separated by one each, the revenant horde will swarm one person. That one's the commander."