33
Chapter 33: Ship Investigation
Dong Bong-su realized what was coming as he followed behind Do Heo-ok. But in truth, it was impossible to learn about him just by asking questions.
Also, thanks to the Crown Opening Great Method from yesterday, his body temporarily had blood channels. Unless Do Heo-ok seized him and conducted a thorough examination, he wouldn't be able to discover the Holeless Body.
"Yes."
Dong Bong-su answered while looking at Do Heo-ok. The minimum answer he could give. Just the single word 'yes.'
At that, Do Heo-ok laughed heartily once, then left Dong Bong-su alone at the bow and went down below deck.
"Wait just a moment. I'll be right back with some excellent liquor. Hahaha."
As Do Heo-ok disappeared below deck, Spirit Eyes informed him of his distancing.
[5, 6, 7, 8...]
Even in that brief moment, Dong Bong-su thought endlessly about Do Heo-ok.
Just like before, he still couldn't tell who Do Heo-ok was. That wasn't particularly important right now either. What mattered to him was why Do Heo-ok had infiltrated the Namgung Family in that guise.
For now, there was no way to know this either. However, what was certain was that someone of Do Heo-ok's caliber could accomplish something quite significant at the Namgung Family. That's how important a figure Do Heo-ok was within the Namgung Family right now.
He continued thinking.
Then when would that 'significant matter' begin?
A problem difficult to solve without an answer to 'why.' But at least it was certain it wasn't now. Having infiltrated the Namgung Family with such difficulty, there was no reason anywhere to cause trouble during an outing like this.
However, there was one more fact just as certain.
Do Heo-ok wouldn't have gone on this outing for no reason. Earlier, Namgung Hye had clearly said this.
That this outing had been planned from the 'beginning.'
Based on what he had grasped today, Do Heo-ok was a similar type of human to himself—someone who didn't do even a little bit of unnecessary work.
Namgung Hye was already playing in the palm of his hand, so there was no reason for such an 'unnecessary' night outing just to further win her heart.
Types like himself or Do Heo-ok were busier at night. Just like how most predators are nocturnal.
Yet to spend such an important night on something like a mere night outing was unimaginable.
'What exactly was Do Heo-ok planning to do by going on this outing?'
Probing him was just a side matter. There was something else important. Definitely.
'What is it?'
He wanted to confirm it.
Dong Bong-su thought about it endlessly and searched.
One by one, step by step.
First, they came out on a boat. Why? What's the boat's role?
To carry and transport something? Assuming that...
'What?'
He couldn't tell. It was difficult to even guess. Because he still didn't know what scale of matter Do Heo-ok was plotting, or what direction the scheme had.
He needed to narrow the scope.
A significant matter, a major incident.
Something that could only be done by coming deep inside the Namgung Family.
Something that had to be done by creating a virtual but perfect 'character' called Do Heo-ok.
He could quickly deduce several things.
First was that a competing force or Evil Sect had planted Do Heo-ok in the Namgung Family as a spy concept. Though it would take considerable time, if Do Heo-ok remained as a son-in-law and occupied a key position in the Namgung Family, he could operate as the best spy.
Second was that a competing force or Evil Sect had infiltrated Do Heo-ok to completely collapse the Namgung Family. Though it went through a rather complex process, it was certainly an efficient method. It would be a method of striking from outside while Do Heo-ok provided internal support.
Third was that Do Heo-ok had secretly entered the Namgung Family independently. The reason would be something like revenge or stealing martial arts to learn.
Fourth was that he had truly fallen in love with Namgung Hye.
There could be more reasons beyond these that he hadn't thought of. However, broadly categorized, they wouldn't escape this scope.
Among these, the first, third, and fourth had no effect on Dong Bong-su himself.
The problem was.
'That second one.'
If Do Heo-ok had really come here to bring down the Namgung Family, he would have prepared that thoroughly, and it would mean he belonged to a force large enough to collapse the Namgung Family.
In this case, it could be extremely fatal.
Already the current situation was one where Dong Bong-su could neither kill nor avoid Do Heo-ok. The only way Dong Bong-su could deal with the enemy called Do Heo-ok now was to deceive him.
'In such a situation, if a powerful force beyond expectation suddenly strikes this place? Additionally, if the Namgung Family can't stop them at all?'
In this case, even if Dong Bong-su perfectly deceived Do Heo-ok right now, he would have to consider there was no possibility of survival.
When there are many possibilities, one must prepare for the worst case. Especially if it's connected to one's life, all the more so.
Most of all, Dong Bong-su's intuition kept whispering to him that it seemed to be that worst case. It was like his intuition, honed over decades, was shouting at him through abdominal breathing.
If that worst case was correct, Do Heo-ok's day of action would definitely be his wedding day. Though he didn't know exactly what, he would have surely planned all those things with that symbolism or practicality.
Though Dong Bong-su had only fit a few puzzle pieces together yet, he felt like he had vaguely grasped the outline of the entire puzzle.
Combining his intuition and this hypothesis...
Who? Do Heo-ok and his backing force.
When? The day this full moon rises.
Where? Here.
What? The Namgung Family.
How? Attack.
Why? Don't know yet.
If all these ominous premonitions and deductions were correct, he would have no choice but to become prey for another predator here.
Dong Bong-su's eyes sank low.
'What's the way to escape?'
The moment his brain behind his darkly sunken eyes rapidly rotated!
[10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.]
Spirit Eyes urgently informed him of an enemy's approach.
"...!"
Dong Bong-su had clearly been looking toward the entrance going down below deck. Because he had to respond accordingly whenever Do Heo-ok appeared. However, Do Heo-ok clearly hadn't come up on deck yet.
In that situation, some unknown high-level enemy was getting closer to him.
Was Do Heo-ok moving below the boat?
The enemy distance Spirit Eyes informed him of stopped at 5 meters.
If it were Do Heo-ok, this distance would increase again, then decrease after coming up on deck.
However,
"Ah, sorry. The liquor was in a strange place, so it was a bit difficult to find. Hahaha."
Do Heo-ok finally came up on deck.
But the distance to the enemy that Spirit Eyes was indicating remained fixed at 5 meters.
'It's not Do Heo-ok?'
The boat's length was roughly 25 meters by eye, width 10 meters, height 5-6 meters.
The enemy's position currently detected by Spirit Eyes was the boat's bottom planking.
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]
The Spirit Eyes numbers decreased from when Do Heo-ok approached closer than 5 meters.
Now there was no room for doubt.
An enemy besides Do Heo-ok had appeared here!
"It's fine."
Dong Bong-su gave the most appropriate answer to Do Heo-ok's apology. Yet even so, his brain's rotation didn't stop.
'Was this it? The reason for going boating this evening?'
Bringing liquor was probably an excuse. Do Heo-ok had certainly gone down below deck and sent a 'promised' signal to the enemy currently stuck on the boat's bottom planking to board this boat.
Currently on Chaohu Lake, besides the boat Dong Bong-su and the others were riding, wealthy people and drinkers from Hefei had come out moon-gazing on boats.
Those who had been on one of those pleasure boats somewhere must have seen Do Heo-ok's signal and infiltrated this boat. And as a master or masters no less than Do Heo-ok at that.
This was Do Heo-ok's main purpose for going boating tonight, and he seemed to have already achieved it.
"Here, receive my cup. This is Apple Bud Wine—it's a bit strong, but it's very precious liquor. I also tasted it for the first time after coming here, and I truly decided to keep staying at the Namgung Family just for this. Haha."
Do Heo-ok handed Dong Bong-su one of the cups he was holding in one hand.
Originally, from when Do Heo-ok went down to get liquor, Dong Bong-su had been worrying about how to appropriately deal with him to eliminate questions about himself.
But now that wasn't the important problem.
Currently, the most important thing was confirming exactly 'how many' had infiltrated this boat.
Frankly speaking, the doubts Do Heo-ok had about him could be largely resolved to a considerable extent just by reciting 'Sosam's' life story. His special encounter with Tang O was only one day. A lifetime as a groom, then just one day.
No matter how meticulous Do Heo-ok was, it was obvious he wouldn't make an issue of just that one day. Moreover, there were several people—the humans from the Danri Family—who could confirm that fact.
Just one day.
Given Do Heo-ok's nature, that one day would just be...
A bit 'uncomfortable,' nothing more.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but actually my stomach hasn't been feeling very good since earlier. May I go relieve myself for a moment?"
Dong Bong-su lightly clutched his stomach and furrowed his brow slightly.
"Ah, of course. Come to think of it, you wouldn't have had time to relieve yourself since arriving here. If you go down below the main deck and ask the boatmen, they'll tell you what to do."
Do Heo-ok didn't notice Dong Bong-su's acting at all. It was too vivid to call acting, and from his perspective, there was no reason whatsoever for Dong Bong-su to act toward him.
Dong Bong-su thanked Do Heo-ok and immediately approached the cabin in the middle of the boat. At this time, Tang Hwa, who had been happily talking while looking at the moon with Namgung Hye, briefly made eye contact with Dong Bong-su. Tang Hwa immediately frowned and turned her head.
Like eyes that had seen a filthy insect.
Dong Bong-su paid not the slightest attention to her such gaze. Because there was no reason or need to be even slightly affected by unimportant matters.
He was just concentrating on Spirit Eyes.
Spirit Eyes targeted only one subject with a level difference of 10 or more that was 'closest' to Dong Bong-su. If there was one person within a 10-meter radius and another person at a 5-meter distance, the only subject Spirit Eyes could detect was the single person at 5 meters distance.
So thanks to that characteristic, he could accurately detect the appearance of an enemy besides Do Heo-ok.
[...12, 13, 14.]
Even while Dong Bong-su descended below the upper deck following the stairs installed below the cabin, the distance Spirit Eyes informed him of was increasing.
The lower cabin below deck was wider than expected, with various miscellaneous items scattered here and there, and the Namgung Family's boatmen were sleeping scattered about. When the family's members say to go out at such a late hour, being mobilized without notice like this was the unavoidable fate of servants. So when they could sleep, they had to catch naps like that.
If Dong Bong-su had remained a groom, at least outwardly he would still be living a life similar to theirs. Even so, that wouldn't change his essential nature.
"Where can I relieve myself?"
He woke up one boatman sprawled out sleeping right next to the cabin stairs and asked the latrine's location. It was a perfunctory question. Anyway, his real purpose wasn't actually to relieve himself in the latrine, but because of another 'business.'
"Do you see that partitioned room in that corner? If you look there, there should be a chamber pot. If the chamber pot is inconvenient, you can relieve yourself at the oar port next to it. Unless we're going far, we always remove the oars there. Honestly, all the boat people do their business there."
Though the boatman must have been displeased with Dong Bong-su for waking him from his honey-sweet nap, he paid it no mind and faithfully answered his question.
Regardless of Dong Bong-su's appearance, to the boatman, Dong Bong-su was a guest of the Namgung Family. And an important guest at that, important enough to ride a pleasure boat together with Namgung Hye. As a mere boatman, he had absolutely no way of knowing that Dong Bong-su had been a groom just yesterday.
Dong Bong-su looked in the direction he pointed. It was toward the stern, and certainly there were wooden boards erected vertically, one on each side. The wooden boards' height was precisely enough to seamlessly connect the upper deck and lower planking, and between those two boards—that is, in the boat's central part—there was a small passage. Because of that, one couldn't look inside that partitioned room from this side.
According to the boatman's words, there must be one oar port each behind each of those erected wooden boards.
He walked toward the partitioned room as the boatman instructed.
Even meanwhile, Spirit Eyes' warning sound continued stimulating his nerves. When Spirit Eyes first appeared, this noisy sound made his head hurt, but now conversely, hearing this sound concentrated his mind. Like the feeling of maximizing his brain's tension level.
In gaming terms, what was a nerf had now become a buff.
Tap tap tap, tap tap.
Until he went down below the cabin, the distance Spirit Eyes informed him of kept increasing until it eventually indicated 14 meters. That was the distance to the new enemy he had confirmed first.
However,
[14, 13, 11, 10...]
The closer he approached the partitioned room, the more the number Spirit Eyes informed him of decreases.
Clearly Do Heo-ok and the new enemy were at the bow side. And Dong Bong-su was now approaching the stern side. Then, as it should be, the distance to the enemy should continuously increase and eventually Spirit Eyes' warning sound should cut off. But the increasing distance began decreasing again starting from 14 meters.
This showed one fact.
'There's more!'
The enemy who snuck onto this boat is definitely not just one person.