Chapter 108
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Chapter 31. The Nest (5)
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A small miracle, perhaps?
Gong Won-yeong was listening to Flying Tiger's voice. Her body remained asleep, but a fragment of her consciousness had briefly awakened.
Even so, given her condition, she couldn't hear him clearly.
But she knew he was doing this just like always—worried she might get bored. She spent so many tedious days lying in bed that whenever he returned from outside, he'd chatter on about everything he'd seen, heard, and experienced. As if he were her eyes and ears.
So even now, Flying Tiger was trying his best, same as ever.
That was why.
Just hearing his voice filled her with a bittersweet sweetness.
And yet it left her wanting more.
If only she could see him or touch him, even once...
Was that too greedy?
Gong Won-yeong gradually grew drowsy, and her consciousness faded once more. In that moment, it occurred to her that this might be the last time. And with that thought came the memory of the hand sixteen-year-old Flying Tiger had extended to her.
At twenty, she had lost everything and wandered the depths of human despair without a shred of hope. That's when he appeared out of nowhere—the boy she'd thought long dead—and offered his hand. It was the callused hand of a youth turned man.
Take this hand and stand, he'd said.
Let's escape this hell together.
Success or failure aside, it was like a single ray of light.
For it spoke of "hope"—a word she hadn't heard from anyone, not even herself, in years. To her, broken and teetering on madness, that gesture was salvation.
How could she ever forget it, even in her dying moments?
In Flying Tiger's imagination, Gong Won-yeong was leaning languidly against the headboard as always, eyes half-closed, puffing on her pipe and savoring his tales.
Believing that, he spoke with utter sincerity. After all, the best stories were the honest ones.
Sometimes he'd even pause and wonder, What would she say right about now? Something like this, maybe? And he'd answer himself.
It had certainly started that way, but as he rattled off everything he'd been through, his thoughts began to organize themselves.
Overlaps and tangles in the events brought buried turning points into sharp focus.
From trivial trifles to major incidents, all sorts came to mind.
For example:
一. Gong Won-yeong's wish for one last trip.
一. Letting Fufeng Four Heroes' Pung-sam slip away.
一. Gong Won-yeong's deduction about the identity of the serial killer Gui-myeon.
一. The broken golden hairpin from Jin Ga-yong.
一. The promise to Ma Yeop to complete the Ancient Stone Sword Canon, no matter how many decades it took, and hand it over to the Qingcheng Sect.
一. Zhao Baeng-bing of Ye Mountain's Zhao Family Manor—the last bloodline—entrusting him with the death-sentenced Jin Ga-yong.
一. Choeo-jin's subordinates' confession of surveilling Jin Ga-yong and Ye Mountain's Zhao Family Manor.
一. The single character "不" clutched in dead Ma Yeop's hand—a clue.
一. The distinctive cross mark on bodies slain by Gui-myeon's blade.
一. During his talk with Choeo-jin's cleaner Ho Ye-hwa, the reasonable suspicion that they might be tangled up with the serial killer Gui-myeon.
一. The scuffle with members of the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong.
一. After surviving the Four Demons of the Ten Demons, realizing who they resembled—and plotting how to confirm it.
一. A Jeok-gang revealing himself as Jin Ga-yong's man and urging Flying Tiger to ask Jin Ga-yong anything if he truly suspected him.
一. Wang Baek-gun sharing secrets of the duel at Yeonman Plains at someone's request, only for Flying Tiger to put it off until after the Yellow Worm Group's extermination.
…
As the tale wound down, the topic shifted to Jin Ga-yong. Perhaps his complicated thoughts on the man had kept him from mentioning it until now.
But how could he explain recent events without him?
"Non-Human Sword Jin Ga-yong. He's a strange one, really. Makes me want to introduce you sometime. Feels like you'd get along. What makes me say that? Well, he's multifaceted. Seems like a drunkard and a troublemaker at first, but once you hang out, he's all composed and proper. Cool-headed swordsman and commander one moment, then burning with fiery passion the next."
Multifaceted, huh...
Flying Tiger tilted his head after saying it aloud. Something nagged at him.
"Anyway, he's got clear eyes. Impressive. Made me a bit jealous. Wonder what kind of heart lets you live like that. And get this—in this day and age, he tosses around 'righteousness' without a hint of shame. Heh, but the funny part? It suits him so damn well."
Expressing that fondness, Flying Tiger paused to sip his cold tea. Already steeped multiple times, it was bitterly flat.
Perhaps that's why his voice had sunk low before he knew it.
"But here's the twist. Most folks are pointing fingers, saying he's Gui-myeon. Sure, a few defend him. What do I think? Hell if I know. After Hidden Moon's story, I haven't a clue who he really is."
Was Jin Ga-yong the serial killer Gui-myeon?
The first to voice it was Ban-chung, from the Yin Division and part of Choeo-jin.
(He'd ended up charging after Flying Tiger with Choeo-jin's other cleaners and died screaming.) It came up during a secret brothel drinking session where Ban-chung tried prying info from Flying Tiger.
He'd said the victims fit who Ye Mountain's Zhao Family Manor might hold grudges against, so they suspected second disciple Jin Ga-yong. That's why the Yin Division was watching him.
Of course, the liar's mere speculation went in one ear and out the other for Flying Tiger back then.
Next was Ma Yeop.
On the road from Ye Mountain's Zhao Family Manor to Hanzhong's Goseok Manor after the Golden Jade Immortal affair, they'd camped before the Ye-ryang Mountains. By the dancing campfire, Ma Yeop had dropped a loaded question.
How much did he trust Jin Ga-yong?
Ma Yeop didn't outright call him Gui-myeon but worried he might practice demonic arts. Traces of pure demonic qi clung to him, faint though they were.
So he'd warned caution.
Likely because Flying Tiger seemed close to Jin Ga-yong.
Ma Yeop, honed in body and mind by the orthodox Qingcheng Sect and a long-time hunter of demonic cultists, had keen senses for such things.
His hunch might be spot on.
But so what?
Flying Tiger figured even if Jin Ga-yong practiced demonic arts, it had nothing to do with Gui-myeon. As long as he didn't lose control and slaughter indiscriminately, it was irrelevant.
At least back then.
Wang Baek-gun too.
At someone's request from the Martial Qin Alliance, he'd quietly observed whether Jin Ga-yong was Gui-myeon.
Not to harm him, but out of goodwill—to prove his innocence personally.
And from everything he'd seen so far, there was no evidence Jin Ga-yong was Gui-myeon.
Which implied whoever tasked Wang Baek-gun suspected him. And that someone was high up in the Martial Qin Alliance—top brass, no doubt.
Who else could order around a tiger like Wang Baek-gun?
Then there was Dorung, third boss of the Yellow Worm Group.
Dying, he'd outright claimed Jin Ga-yong was Gui-myeon. Could've been deathbed delirium, but the specific details—like the eerie wail—shook Flying Tiger.
And today, even Hidden Moon suggested he might be.
Thus, five unrelated groups or individuals all eyed Jin Ga-yong.
This was just what Flying Tiger knew; it wasn't an exaggeration to say the entire martial world watched him suspiciously.
And now, one more suspector joined the ranks: Flying Tiger himself.
"So that's why I'm digging into it from here on. Dangerous? Don't worry. I'll use rough methods."
Flying Tiger's voice was as cold and gloomy as the stale tea. He hesitated, then apologized.
"Won-yeong, sorry... Might cross a line this time. I'll try not to. But..."
He trailed off.
But he'd do whatever it took. It tied to a deal for Gong Won-yeong's life.
And suspicions aside, he had personal business with Jin Ga-yong to settle.
Before leaving, Hidden Moon had said to Flying Tiger,
"Remember Pung-sam?"
"Third of the Fufeng Four Heroes? You found him?"
The bounty hunters Fufeng Four Heroes had become guests of Six Jia Gate and, for reasons unknown, harassed Flying Tiger and Gong Won-yeong on the eve of the Martial Qin Alliance's expedition.
Three died by Flying Tiger's hand; one fled—Pung-sam.
Flying Tiger had infiltrated Six Jia Gate's residence to finish him, only to clash with Gui-myeon's crew, letting Pung-sam's trail go cold.
Hidden Moon had promised, upon hearing, that if Pung-sam lurked in the capital, he'd handle him quietly.
Flying Tiger had forgotten, but now the name resurfaced.
And judging by Hidden Moon's expression, bad news.
Sure enough.
"Found him, but he was already dead. Torture marks on the corpse."
"How?"
"Witnesses say Maeng Dal-seo of the Sniper Horsefoot tailed him the day before he vanished. Probably took him."
A moniker like "Sniper's Hand, Steed's Foot"?
Flying Tiger hadn't heard of him, but it felt ominous.
"Who is he?"
"A rogue expert active in Hebei Province. Unpredictable temperament, but clear on favors and grudges. Currently a guest at Ye Mountain's Zhao Family Manor."
"...!"
"You know Ye Mountain's Zhao Family Manor harbors other martial experts besides Maeng Dal-seo?"
"Yeah, I've heard."
Flying Tiger had learned as much from A Jeok-gang before raiding the Yellow Worm Group's main base.
Like A Jeok-gang himself, martial wanderers had flocked to repay debts to the manor, and some stayed to guard against threats.
Back then, Flying Tiger had been glad the manor wasn't defenseless.
But hearing it this way made it sound like Jin Ga-yong had his own shadowy organization.
"Then it speeds things up."
Hidden Moon nodded gravely.
"Be careful. Non-Human Sword Jin Ga-yong likely knows your background and your woman already. Maybe even our connection and your spy status. And Zhao Family Manor? Looks harmless, but it's a den of dragons and tigers."