Never Be Surprised

"Why have we lost contact with the disciples who went to the Southern Man?"

Left Blood Dharma Gwang Hyeol-so turned, his blood-red eyes flaring as he asked.

The Blood Sect disciples slammed their foreheads to the floor in frantic prostration.

"Th-that is… seeing as even the rendezvous itself never took place…"

"They appear to have been wiped out, Left Blood Dharma."

Ever since the grand scheme that had targeted the first and second strongest of the Orthodox Path at once, the Blood Sect had made no shortage of enemies. Calling all of the Central Plains their enemy would not have been an exaggeration.

"By whom?"

Gwang Hyeol-so's voice rang cold.

"That is still under inves—"

Thud!

A head burst open as if someone had crushed a bug underfoot.

"Incompetent trash."

With one of their liaisons dead for nothing, the remaining disciples trembled from head to toe.

"Use the corpse for the blood arts we are preparing."

The newly made corpse was dragged into a grotesque chamber already heaped with countless others.

When the clamor died down, Right Blood Dharma Nachal-gang spoke next.

"I hear the ones who slipped into Hubei have gone silent as well."

The Blood Sect's liaisons flicked glances at the brains scattered across the floor and answered in shaking voices.

"There is one who has been running wild of late."

"Running wild?"

"…Yes. A freak who wields a Wolf Fang Staff. Ever since the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, he has been relentlessly hunting our Blood Sect."

And so the Blood Sect had lost its hideouts from Shaanxi through the Hubei branch. For those preparing the next stage of their great method, the blow was considerable.

"Hmph."

"A Wolf Fang Staff…"

According to the liaisons, the man was at least a Transcendental Peak Realm master. Not a foe the local disciples could handle.

Left and Right Blood Dharma exchanged a look.

"Pin down his location and set a trap."

"Then we shall step forth ourselves and dispose of him."

"The enemies of the Blood Sect shall be crushed into material for our blood arts."

The two Blood Sect masters murmured it coldly. The disciples drove their heads into the floor again, faces twisted with fanatic zeal.

Sunset settled over the Detective Agency office.

"It started roughly a few months ago. That was when he began to act strangely."

A beautiful woman in her late thirties, all mature charm, opened her mouth. She dabbed the dampness at the corners of her eyes with a silk sleeve and clung to her teacup; the sight was rather pitiful.

"Every night he slips out without my knowing. And when he comes back, his clothes always… carry a strange scent of powder."

Her face a little gaunt, she began to spill her story like a complaint.

"Powder?"

"Yes. Very strong and thick… that kind of powder scent."

Thinking it might be a lead, I shot Ilhong a look and had her take notes.

"Sob… He used to say he would only ever look at me for the rest of his life."

The betrayal seemed to be crushing her. Given that a detective agency was a place for confirming people's fidelity, it was a scene I had seen plenty of in my younger days.

"I want to know whether he truly betrayed me and took another woman into his arms… That is what I wish to know, Troubleshooter."

"Ah."

She said she had not slept properly for nights because of it.

"Will you… take the commission…?"

I propped my chin on my hand and thought it over. Get tangled up for no good reason and I might end up with a knife in the gut again, just like the old days. I absently stroked my faintly aching abdomen.

But I'm the Heavenly Killing Star now… Would a knife even bother me?

The thought crossed my mind. This body had already been stabbed and beaten by blades and blunt weapons more than a hundred times. Being scared of a little knife work at this point was almost funny.

Besides, my throat was dry as a parched well. I had bought land in the capital, which meant taxes to the court, and half my debts still unpaid.

"We'll take it. We will clearly uncover what your husband has been doing in the dead of night."

I thumped my chest like a man you could trust. She finally seemed to relax and let out a long breath.

"Thank goodness. At the Vagabond Association everyone looked uncomfortable when I told them…"

That was the era for you. Touching another man's face—his mianzi—was a delicate matter, so people treated others' household affairs as taboo and kept quiet. But this body did not care about any of that. Customer-first capitalism. That was the motto of the Dan Mujin Detective Agency.

"Hah… I am glad I came here, just as Merchant Lord Eun Hwaran said."

"Merchant Lord Eun Hwaran… introduced you here?"

"Yes. At the Jade Phoenix Society I asked if there was anyone I could trust with such a sensitive, distasteful matter… and she gave me your name."

The Jade Phoenix Society. A circle where well-connected women of Beijing gathered to deepen their friendships. Merchant Lord Eun Hwaran had gone to network, heard a pitiful story, and dropped my name. As always, the only one looking out for me was Sister Eun Hwaran.

"But you will keep this confidential, will you not? If word of such a shameful matter were to spread…"

"My lips are sealed with a thousand gold, Madam."

If rumors got out, the jobs would dry up next time. I reassured her that she could trust Dan Mujin of faith and credit.

Still, a lady who could show her face at the Jade Phoenix Society that Merchant Lord Eun Hwaran attended so faithfully… the commission size might be bigger than I thought.

"By the way, Lady Yang—who is your husband, and which house did you say he was from?"

I should have asked that first. I had been too excited about taking a job like this again after so long.

"I am Lady Yang of the Seomok Clan, and he is… Seomok Won, the clan head."

The Seomok Clan. I felt like I had heard the name somewhere. I immediately pulled Ilhong close and whispered.

"Is it a big one?"

"Of course. A distinguished house that has produced more than a dozen officials and Embroidered Uniform Guards. You didn't take this knowing that?"

Ilhong told me I had hooked a big fish.

"…Hmm."

I had figured it for one of the reasonably well-off households littering Beijing. Turns out I was about to poke a clan deeply tied to the court. Sister Eun Hwaran, what exactly did you ask at that gathering?

"Then, I leave it to you, Troubleshooter. Please uncover the truth."

She had come on Eun Hwaran's introduction; turning her away midway would be awkward.

"Since it is a job everyone else shies from… if you handle it well, I will make sure you are very well compensated."

She sketched a square chest with her hands.

"Leave it to me, Lady Yang. We will resolve this for certain."

Reassured by my firm word, she left the office. Well, what else could I do? Turning down work while my belly was full was not an option when I had no idea when the next client would walk in. And stirring up a great noble house was something I had already done once before.

"Ilhong, do you know anything about Clan Head Seomok Won's personal life or household affairs?"

"No…? I know a little about the clan, but nothing particular about the head himself…"

Fair enough. He was not some wanted man the martial artists were hunting. And the previous Haoman lord had treated keeping clear of the court as a virtue—though the current traitor of a Haoman lord seemed all too eager to climb into bed with the Imperial Palace.

"Then let's borrow Haoman's strength for a bit."

Time to hold the gu worm and pay the Sinbigak leader a visit. That woman who once tried to plant a gu in a close attendant of the Third Princess ought to know a thing or two. In detective work, information was power. I stood up with Ilhong in tow.

Il-hye-hyang, proprietress of Honghwaru and leader of Haoman's Sinbigak, twitched an eyebrow at the arrival of uninvited guests.

"Why are you here all of a sudden…"

She was in Honghwaru's basement, a place no one else set foot in—a grim chamber where the kidnapped spat out confessions after interrogation and torture.

"How have you been?"

She shot me a less-than-friendly look at my greeting.

"…I was perfectly fine until you showed up."

"Huh? I asked our male gu, so why are you the one answering?"

"…."

She chewed her lip and demanded to know what we wanted. Anyone watching would think we were the ones who had done something wrong first. Betraying the Haoman lord, trying to swallow innocent Cheonhwaru whole—all of that was her own reaping.

"Nothing major. We came to hear some information on the Seomok Clan, Proprietress Il."

Honghwaru had lost some customers to Cheonhwaru, but it was still an organization that entertained high officials of the court and gathered quality information through wine, women, and secret arts. Haoman's collusion with the imperial house was already common knowledge, so Ilhong prodded from the side to spill the intel already.

Il-hye-hyang's eyes flew wide.

"Coming after Seomok Won of the Seomok Clan at a time like this… Don't tell me you have already noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

I tilted my head. There was clearly something here, the way she was acting.

"You mean you asked without knowing…? It is a house that comes up often among the real powers in the Imperial Palace these days."

Generation after generation they had sent Embroidered Uniform Guards and generals into the palace, and their influence was considerable. Among the three major factions rooted in the palace, they held a substantial position.

"So why are you digging into him?"

I answered simply.

"His wife thinks he is having an affair. So share what you know."

At the reason, Il-hye-hyang's expression went flat at once.

"What? Why that face?"

"You came all the way to me, leader of Sinbigak, to demand imperial-palace intelligence over something that trivial? Truly?"

She stared at us as if we were absurd.

"Trivial? Adultery investigations are sacred work. Protecting one human being's fidelity and dignity—that is what this is."

"Exactly. Information is information no matter how you use it. Stop talking nonsense and hand over the clan head's file already. Or else… you know what happens, right?"

Ilhong piled on beside me and quietly showed the female gu to the traitor.

"Haa."

How did it come to this? Should she never have betrayed the Haoman lord back then? With something like that written across her face, Il-hye-hyang squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them.

"The head of the Seomok Clan is classified as Grade Two even within Haoman. You would do well not to approach him carelessly."

A woman who had spent her life driving others around was, today again, driven around by two youths barely past fifteen, and began to spill information.

"Thanks for the intel."

Grinning bright at the information the Seomok household servants—Haoman plants—had passed along, the young man kicked off with ghostly footwork and vanished. Ilhong, who had been watching, shrugged and made to follow.

"What you are after in the end… is reclaiming the Haoman lord's seat, is it not?"

Once the half-mad youth was gone, Il-hye-hyang tossed the question out of nowhere.

"Yes, of course. We have to take it back. And get our revenge too."

The current Haoman lord, Heuk Jin-jo, had burned everything belonging to the previous lord to snuff out the spark of future trouble. But one thing alone he had never managed to find—the girl standing before her. And now that spark had returned, holding her lifeline in a bottle.

"Ha. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You think that is possible? Finding the Upper and Lower Commanders hidden by seal? Everyone who knew their locations died in the last operation."

Caught in the middle with a weakness hanging over her, able neither to move ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forward nor back, Il-hye-hyang kept talking out of sheer frustration.

"Ah, that. We do not need to find them."

"…?"

Then the girl smiled faintly, as if she had found another pillar to lean on. Il-hye-hyang's face filled with questions.

"Why…?"

"At some point, someone started feeling more trustworthy than mysterious masters whose whereabouts no one even knows."

Saying so, Ilhong pointed with a little jab of her finger in the direction Dan Mujin had gone. The storm of a man who had crashed in one day and smashed every last plan she had made to swallow Cheonhwaru—Dan Mujin. Peak Realm was impressive, yes, but surely not enough to overturn Haoman.

"Did you know? Our boss. He has not even been learning martial arts for a few years. Amazing, right?"

"…."

Il-hye-hyang's expression slowly clouded with disbelief and shock.

"He started from the bottom and reached that realm in such a short time. Have you ever seen a martial artist like that?"

Only a few years ago he had been a beggar drifting through the same beggar dens as her, she said. Knew nothing of martial arts and fought like a beast, all raw savagery.

"Maybe the day I found my older brother in that beggar den was a fate the heavens arranged… Honestly, are you not curious? What he will look like a few more years from now."

Ilhong smiled brightly, her face flushed. It was not mere expectation—something like admiration and feeling sat under it. Hearing the plan, Il-hye-hyang could not help but find it somewhat convincing. Peak Realm alone was not the issue. To begin martial arts after the bones had already set, and reach this far in a few years… Even the famous Azure Cloud Sword had never managed a growth rate this absurd. At this pace, perhaps in the future, just as the girl said… Honggeum, the previous lord's only child, might truly reclaim Haoman.

"If… if you do take Haoman back. What… what becomes of me?"

A useless card was simply discarded. The old Haoman had not been that way, but in today's Haoman it was all too common sense.

"That depends on you, Il-hye-hyang."

Ilhong said it with a light smile. Haoman's heir training had covered this as well—the arts of employing people and winning them over. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠People worked at their best not when forced, but when they moved of their own will.

"What do you mean by that…?"

Il-hye-hyang swallowed hard and asked again.

"You made a grave mistake before… but if you deeply repent, and help us purge the other traitors, we could weigh that merit against your fault and lighten the sentence."

If you only closed every door and showed someone the path to death, it backfired. To handle this kind of person properly, you had to offer a way to live. That was what Father had said.

"I understand what you mean."

And so Il-hye-hyang—already at odds with Heuk Jin-jo, and a woman who had once betrayed her superior—began to nod with a complicated look in her eyes.

A midnight thick with moon and stars.

Following the client's tip, we took position where we could see the exit of the Seomok Clan's secret passage and settled into the stakeout. For days, cutting sleep short, Ilhong and I took turns watching the exit. According to the internal intel from Haoman, tonight was roughly when he would go out for his tryst.

"But why do we have to be beggars?"

She grumbled, back in her old, shabby clothes.

"Doesn't draw attention, and looks natural no matter where you crouch. Kind of the Central Plains' standard camouflage."

At my answer she muttered that it felt like going back to the old days and she did not like it.

"But if we already know he is meeting his mistress today, why have we been sitting on this exit for days?"

"Just in case."

To her complaint that it was a waste of time, I answered that way. Better to be thorough.

"And look at you, already complaining a few days in. Did you never do stakeouts back in Haoman?"

"Of course not. I had status, you know."

She said she had been busier cramming information into her head than doing field work, then plopped down beside me and patted her calves, tired from standing. And of course, even sitting, Ilhong stuck right up against my side.

"But is he really having an affair? From what the client said, the two of them used to be pure devoted love itself."

At her innocent question I shrugged.

"Why get surprised over that? Relationships between men and women are messy by nature. You will understand when you are a bit older."

"Oh please, talking like you know so much. You are only a year older."

I snorted a laugh at the little jab from a kid who had still been skinny two years ago.

"Hey, one year is still a year, and my experience is nothing like yours, growing up soft. This body learned everything from the bottom. No situation throws me. Not even a blink."

"Heeh, really? No matter what happens during a job?"

She was looking down on my troubleshooter seniority. I nodded as if it were obvious.

And then—someone carefully opened the door of the secret passage and stepped out.

"Hey, that's the clan head, right? Seomok whatsit."

"Seomok Won. Learn the name."

"Whatever."

Why would a clan head slip out alone in the middle of the night with no guards? And he looked openly excited. Just as the client said—highly suspicious.

We brought out our footwork and followed on quiet steps. Clan Head Seomok Won headed into a narrow alley where the dark lay thick. And there, just as Lady Yang had described, stood a slender figure with a black face-veil drawn over their head.

"What… so it was real…"

The two checked carefully that no one was around, then made their secret rendezvous. Anyone could see it was a man and woman at a tryst. I was just thinking we might have bitter news for Lady Yang when—

"Ohohoho."

From behind the veil came a laugh that was familiar, and oddly, rather feminine. The stranger facing Seomok Won slipped the veil off with a soft rustle. Pale, powdered makeup and a face I had last seen looking vile in the Silkworm Chamber were laid bare under the moonlight.

"W-Wang Jingong…?"

The suspected partner in the clan head's affair was a eunuch who did not even have the equipment.

I had prided myself on never being surprised by anything on a job—but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even I, in that moment, could only stand there with my mouth hanging open.