Chapter 75: Night in Beijing (5)
Chapter 75: Night in Beijing (5)
Where could that runaway Five Poisons Sect ninja have gone?
Would he just flee like this? No, that was impossible.
The distance from here to the Southern Barbarians, where the Five Poisons Sect was based, wasn't something an individual could cover on foot while on the run.
Taking a land route was out of the question, and even if he used the Grand Canal, he would have to transfer to another ship at the harbor to head down into the inner seas.
In this era—a medieval China of both romance and savagery—nine out of ten people who attempted such a long journey alone would end up dying on the road.
Therefore, he was still in Beijing. He had to be.
If there were that many officials implanted with Gu poison, he could just live comfortably by pulling their strings from the shadows.
If I missed him now, I’d never catch him again.
Like a spider, he would crawl into some corner to build a nest, spread his Gu, and gradually tighten his grip on the government offices.
Did he go to the West Depot? Well, now.
If the guy had any brains, he would have realized by now that this operation was compromised due to the West Depot’s poor management.
From that, he would have deduced that the coup they were preparing with the West Depot had been exposed before it even began.
In history, every conspiracy or rebellion is considered a failure the moment it is discovered. That was only natural.
Every successful coup in history began with a surprise attack.
In other words, our Five Poisons Sect ninja friend was currently in a state where he couldn't even trust the West Depot.
The officials of the Six Ministries would have all left their offices by this late hour and returned quietly to their homes. There was no way a foreign mercenary, who had spent over seven years in seclusion inside a warehouse at Guangju Gate, would know how to find them.
Beijing was too vast, and the officials' houses were scattered all over the city. If he chose the wrong house and entered the home of an official who wasn't infected with Gu, the Imperial Guard would be saying "hello" to him in an instant.
So, let’s narrow the scope a bit further.
It had to be a building prominent enough for a foreigner from the Five Poisons Sect to find at a glance.
It had to be the kind of place where many Gu-infected individuals were stationed, so there was no risk of picking the wrong target.
And it had to be a place performing such heavy duties that those officials would still be coming and going even at this late hour.
"Huff—huff! Cough!!"
I spat out a glob of blood and wiped my mouth.
Because I had been sprinting through the streets of Beijing in the dead of night using lightness arts, warriors of the Imperial Guard were glancing my way from a distance, but I ignored them.
In any case, the Peng family martial robes I was wearing served as my identification.
There wasn't an Imperial Guard official alive who would stop a Peng family warrior running through the night with a saber at his waist and gauntlets on his hands.
As long as I didn't try to scale the walls of the Forbidden City, that is.
I stood in a wide alleyway in Beijing, gasping for breath as I leaned against a wall.
Between the poison and my Middle Dantian being in the process of sealing, my head was spinning.
"Cough! Cough!!"
If I went left, it was the street of the Six Ministries.
If there was a place there where people would still be working at this hour, it would be the Court of Imperial Entertainments.
If I went right, it was the Inner City Boulevard.
If there was a place there where people would still be working at this hour...
'The Hanlin Academy.'
I lifted my head.
'If I miss him now, I’ll never catch him.'
Once he slipped out of the West Depot's grasp and lost all restraint, that Five Poisons Sect warrior would weave the officials of Beijing into his web.
He would become impossible to find. Even if the existence of the Gu was made public, those infected would never betray the Five Poisons Sect warrior out of fear for their own lives.
Those who weren't infected wouldn't be able to pinpoint his location.
And by the time anyone found out where he was, they would already be infected themselves.
Once he truly established his base, he could never be caught. It was now or never.
'Even if the Qingliu faction's coup succeeds...'
Then, the Imperial Court would fall into that guy's hands.
Personally, I found that thought even more horrifying than the Imperial Court being ruled by the White Lotus Cult.
I looked toward the Forbidden City overlooking the night of Beijing, spat out blood once more, and turned around.
*
Ju Woo-rin was exhausted again today.
The workload was so heavy she felt her body was starting to break down.
She had to organize memorials coming in from all over the world and draft a wide range of state policies, from edicts to imperial decrees.
The Hanlin Academy was an office that had inherited the role of the Chancellor's office from the old days.
From the most trivial tasks to the most critical affairs, the Hanlin Academy's scope of work influenced the Six Ministries, the Cabinet, and the entire civil and military officialdom.
The fact that the Qingliu faction of the Hanlin Academy was pushing her forward and helping her build her career meant, conversely, that she had to handle every single task that could serve as experience.
Naturally, her body was being ground to dust.
"Truly... exhausting."
Since she couldn't bring herself to say she wanted to quit, she simply straightened her official robes with a faint smile.
It was hard to believe that she would have to return to the office after barely closing her eyes for a couple of hours at home.
She walked with unsteady steps, half-drunk with sleep.
Tap, tap, tap!!
If she hadn't heard the sound of someone running from the corner of the alley just as she stepped out of the government office, she would have continued walking in that daze.
Which family's son could be acting so undignified at this hour of the night?
Ju Woo-rin opened her eyes, feeling a sense of displeasure.
Someone was running toward her from not too far away.
They were moving with such startling speed that it looked like a warrior's lightness art.
A warrior using lightness arts in Beijing at this hour?
A sharp prickle of fear rose in Ju Woo-rin's mind, only to vanish just as quickly.
She could guess who it was.
If it were a warrior capable of moving like that right in front of the Forbidden City, it would be someone from the Governor-General's Office, the Eastern Depot, or the Imperial Guard. However, those three would never travel alone on private business, so it was none of them.
Any other warriors in Beijing would be from the Unorthodox Faction.
But they wouldn't dare approach this close to the Forbidden City, so it wasn't them either.
That left only one conclusion. The one person who happened to be in Beijing right now.
Her thoughts moved faster than a warrior's lightness art.
"My, Hwi. Have you come in such a hurry just to see me?"
She stopped in her tracks with a smile.
"How embarrassing... and yet, how pleasing."
The large physique and the shadow running toward her with a saber were so familiar.
But as Ju Woo-rin watched him with a soft smile, she found herself taking a step back as the shadow drew closer.
"You...?"
A foul stench. A smell where the rot of a corpse and the fishy tang unique to poison were intertwined.
From his body, which reeked of blood, his clothes—barely visible in the light of the lanterns—were completely soaked in gore.
Blood had scabbed over his pale face and was flaking off, and his bloodshot eyes were flickering with streaks of pale blue light, unlike their usual self.
"You... are you hurt?!"
Ju Woo-rin rushed forward instinctively.
Peng Hyeon-hwi's breathing was ragged. It wasn't just shortness of breath; he was wheezing so loudly he looked deathly ill.
Even as she approached to check on him, Peng Hyeon-hwi remained silent, merely glaring at his surroundings.
"Are you alright...? Are you okay? If you're hurt, you should be resting. What on earth happened!"
"Ju... Cheon U-rin."
"Yes, it's me!"
"Why did you... cough!! ...leave work so late?"
"What? Is that really what you have to say right now!"
Even in that state, Peng Hyeon-hwi looked down at her for a long moment with a somewhat relieved expression.
"Get home earlier. The night streets are dangerous."
"You look like the most dangerous thing right now! What happened? You're not wounded, are you? Let's go to a physician at the Imperial Medical Bureau! Fortunately, I know someone there; they won't turn us away even if we go in the middle of the night!"
"Heh... cough!!"
He seemed to try to chuckle, but only a glob of blood popped out of his mouth.
Seeing that, Ju Woo-rin's heart sank, and she had no choice but to quickly support the large man.
"Really...! What is all this! Let's go! Hurry!"
"I'll take you home, so don't come out today. Just wait."
"What are you talking about! Make sense! How does it make any sense for you to take me home when you're in this state!"
"I won't die, don't worry."
His relaxed tone despite his condition made a surge of anger rise within her. She opened her mouth to snap at him and even raised her hand to swat him on the chest, but she hesitated, wary of touching the body of a clearly injured warrior.
In that split second of hesitation.
—Awaken.
A slurred voice whispered in her ear.
Her raised hand froze.
—Awaken.
Thump. Her heart raced.
Her frozen hand began to move.
—Kill.
Her stiffened body suddenly...
Moved with terrifying naturalness as she reached into her robes and grasped a pouch knife.
Even for a scholar, it was common to carry one—a short nangdo (pouch knife) that was more suited for opening sealed letters than harming people.
It was the kind of thing that could only threaten an unarmed commoner and didn't possess any particular lethality.
It was merely a luxury item, decorated with beautiful engravings, carried as a fashion statement.
She gripped it secretly.
"Wait...!"
She barely managed to squeeze out those words, and though she tried to shake her head and stop her body...
—Kill.
The voice echoing in her chest forced her hand.
—Thud.
It was the first time she realized that the sensation of a blade piercing skin was so cold.
Ju Woo-rin stared at her own hand with a dazed expression.
Then she looked up at Peng Hyeon-hwi's face as he looked down at her, and she barely managed to speak.
"Run... away."
At those words, Peng Hyeon-hwi quietly looked down at the short blade buried in his chest.
Instead of reacting in pain, he gave a small smirk.
"Close your eyes."
He reached out and pressed his hand over her eyes.
The thought that his hand was rough with hard calluses, thick, heavy, hot, and strong occurred to her—a thought so out of place in this situation.
"Come out, you bastard."
*
In this era, a pouch knife wasn't actually a weapon.
It was a small blade that could hardly serve as anything more than a simple accessory.
It fell under the category of stationery and was actually used for such purposes.
Think of it as a box cutter, and you're about right.
To kill someone with this, you'd have to accurately pierce an acupoint or strike a vital spot.
Naturally, our Ju Woo-rin wasn't particularly well-versed in the human body's acupoints.
How deep could a knife swung by a scholar who had spent her whole life handling nothing but brushes actually go?
I'd like to explain that the Peng family's medicinal baths were far too harsh for me to just drop dead from something like this.
So.
Clatter.
I snatched the pouch knife, threw it to the ground, and simply turned my head.
Without even removing the hand covering her eyes, I faced the alley where I had just felt a wave of internal energy.
"Let's finish this quickly. I'm getting sleepy."
"You don't look like you're in very good shape."
"You think? A person needs sleep to get things done. Look at the mess I'm in because of you."
"Bluffing, are we?"
A shadow slowly approached from the mouth of the alley.
Dark skin and thick eyebrows. A Southern Barbarian.
The Southern Barbarian spoke in halting, unfluent Han speech.
"The Outer Gate Elder's White Cloud Poison Mist has already settled in your vessels. Do you still act this way even while bleeding from your seven orifices due to twisted Qi?"
"This? This is because I took the Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear."
"...You took the Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear...?"
The Southern Barbarian hesitated for a moment, then smirked.
"The ignorance of you Han people... Did you truly believe that medicine was a legendary elixir that raises one's realm without any consequences? Haha, I should call you naive."
"Wait, let me ask one thing."
There was one thing that didn't make sense no matter how much I thought about it.
Won-ho. That friend who first told me about the existence of the Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear seven years ago and got his head cut off.
Did he also know that this was a deadly poison that would kill the user a few months after consumption?
No, I was certain he didn't.
He had shown far too much ambition in his actions to have chosen suicide like that.
Therefore, the Five Poisons Sect had intentionally hidden the side effects of the Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear back then.
But was there a reason to go through the trouble of deceiving them?
If it were discovered later, they would surely become enemies of the Assassination Pavilion.
"Why on earth did you deceive the Assassination Pavilion?"
"That 'woman' in your arms."
He knew Ju Woo-rin was a woman? Ju Woo-rin was currently under a disguise that the Qingliu faction of the Hanlin Academy had risked their lives to prepare.
It was a disguise so perfect it had even fooled the eyes of a Super Peak master from the Eastern Depot.
There was no way a guy who clearly hadn't reached the Peak Realm or the Realm of Poison Mastery could see through it...!
"You look surprised. It took us quite a while to be certain as well. Yes, we know. We know what your kind is plotting. What you were preparing. When we discovered that fact while planting Gu in the Hanlin scholars... can you imagine how we felt?"
"Useless bastards, the lot of them."
"To use the Han Emperor as our puppet...!! Because of this, the day our compatriots will rule this land is not far off!"
"You think the West Depot will just overlook that?"
The Eunuch Bureau and the West Depot were clearly plotting a coup to enthrone the Noble Consort and the Crown Prince.
In the midst of that, Ju Woo-rin wouldn't even be an option for them.
If the West Depot found out Ju Woo-rin's true identity, they would surely try to kill her.
In such a time, would they really tolerate the Five Poisons Sect planting Gu in Ju Woo-rin to put her on the throne?
At my words, the Southern Barbarian burst into a cackling laugh.
"By the time those fools realize the truth, every official of the Ming Empire residing in the Imperial Palace will be in our grasp. What is there to fear?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
I pulled the Anti-Poison Wine from my robes.
It was still stained pitch black, but it was better than nothing.
I immediately pressed it into Ju Woo-rin's mouth.
Ju Woo-rin, who had still been feebly thumping my chest without a weapon in an attempt to kill me, suddenly went still as if her strings had been cut.
As expected of the Sichuan Tang family's Anti-Poison Wine. It was only a temporary measure, but it seemed to provide at least a minimum level of resistance.
Even though it was the Anti-Poison Wine I had been rolling around in my own mouth... well, I gave it to her after wiping it clean.
"Thanks for having such a big mouth."
Let's summarize.
This guy was the only Five Poisons Sect warrior left. In other words, if I dealt with him, the Gu crisis in Beijing would be resolved in one go.
On top of that, there was one more harvest.
This situation was outside the control of the West Depot and the Eunuch Bureau.
Those bastards had been hatching their own schemes outside the West Depot's influence, but whatever.
Now that he had shown himself before my eyes, I was nothing but grateful.
"The point is."
Returning the Sichuan Tang family quietly to their home.
Crushing the West Depot's reconstruction plan before it even starts.
And solving the Gu problem spread throughout the Beijing government offices.
"It means everything will be neatly settled if I just kill you. Not a very difficult task."
Knowing this guy's importance, he must have come here to secure him as quickly as possible.
He probably thought that if he could just detain this person, getting the entire Qingliu faction in his hands would be as easy as flipping his palm—and he would have been right.
So, as soon as he escaped from Guangju Gate, he lay in ambush here and waited for Ju Woo-rin to leave work.
Fortunately, I timed it right and am here now.
As always.
No matter how complex the knot, the way to untie it is simple.
Shring.
I'll cut the knot. So that the same thing can never happen again. Perfectly.
With that thought, I lifted my saber and rested it on my shoulder.
"I'm going to kill you."