Failed Assassination
The palanquin carrying Hui-yeom arrived at the main gate of the Dang Family estate.
Ye-eun returned exactly half a shichen after Hui-yeom had come home. Hui-yeom, uncharacteristically, wore a sly, teasing smile as he needled her.
“I told you to go on ahead, yet here you are picking flowers for that long?”
“Ah.”
For a moment Ye-eun’s eyes rolled as if to say, What on earth is he talking about? Then she shook her head.
“It was nothing of the sort. I happened upon a gruesome scene by chance, and it took me time to calm my startled heart before I could return.”
“A gruesome scene?”
“Yes. Well… people had died horribly. Would it not be best to report it to the Family Head and have it investigated?”
“On the road we took home?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Hui-yeom stroked his chin. Murder in broad daylight. It could have been beasts, or perhaps a band of heretics like the Green Forest Bandits.
Sichuan was not the Dang Family’s private property in its entirety, yet if such things lurked along the paths he himself traveled, clearing them out was only proper.
“Very well. I shall inform Father.”
After hearing Ye-eun’s detailed account, Hui-yeom relayed it to Dang Un-sang. The Family Head dispatched the forensic team of the Poison Bee Unit—the clan’s internal inspectors—together with the Fire Python Unit, one of the family’s two great martial forces, to the site where Ye-eun had discovered the corpses.
Guided by the testimony of the escort guards who had borne the palanquin, they arrived and beheld a bizarre spectacle.
“What… is this?”
Flesh and entrails lay scattered in every direction.
It looked as though people had been fed into a millstone, ground to pulp, and flung about—or else painstakingly dissected into countless tiny pieces.
The forensic captain delivered his terse assessment of the scene.
“Corpses that look as if they suffered lingchi for the crime of treason—sliced alive into fine strips.”
He clicked his tongue as he surveyed the shreds of meat strewn everywhere.
“For a body to be reduced to powder and scattered like this, you’d need to fire off at least a palm force.”
“Palm force!”
A forensic officer’s mouth fell open. The captain shook his head.
“Ugh. Anyway, they’ve turned the corpses into a pile of vomit beside a roadside inn. There’s nothing left for forensics to examine.”
“Captain, there are some relatively intact bodies over here.”
“Hm?”
Following the officer’s lead a short distance away, they found black-clad men curled up on the valley floor, their breath long since gone.
“Assassins.”
At the captain’s words, fury settled over the faces of the Dang Family members present.
Assassins would not have been loitering here without reason only to die. Considering that the only person who had traveled this road that day was Dang Hui-yeom, it was almost certain they had been after him.
“How dare they…!”
The Fire Python Unit warriors, fiercely loyal to the Family Head’s household, began to seethe and grind their teeth.
The forensic captain, however, examined the bodies with cold precision, his eyes narrowing.
“…Ox-hair needles?”
They were unmistakably ox-hair needles forged by the Sichuan Dang Family.
That meant only one thing.
Someone of Dang blood was involved in this affair.
“Our family’s ox-hair needles. And only this one?”
“No other wounds are visible.”
“They wouldn’t have taken poison knowing they couldn’t win… Let’s see.”
He drew out a needle and studied it carefully, then gave it a light lick. His face twisted as he spat.
“My tongue’s going numb—aconite poison. The respiratory center was paralyzed; they suffocated. That’s why the bodies are curled up like that.”
“What? Aconite can kill with this small a dose?”
Aconite was potent, yet highly volatile; a considerable quantity had to be applied to reach a lethal dose. It was used on poison arrows and the like, but the amount that could coat a single slender ox-hair needle should never have been enough to kill.
The captain, however, slipped on deerskin gloves and ran a finger over the needle’s slick surface.
“It’s coated with Manneunggo. The salve held the aconite’s toxicity in place so it wouldn’t evaporate.”
“Ah… thanks to the Young Master, then.”
“Indeed. And that means something significant: a Dang Family hidden weapon can kill with nothing more than a single ox-hair needle.”
“That’s excellent news.”
The Fire Python Unit commander, who had been listening quietly outside his own specialty, cut in.
“Captain… setting the ox-hair needles aside, who in the world caused this massacre? Did some old master appear to protect our family’s descendant? If so, one would expect him to claim the credit.”
“Hm.”
After a moment’s thought the commander asked,
“Wasn’t it the Young Master’s close attendant who reported this scene?”
“That’s correct.”
“Perhaps the girl knows something.”
“A fair point.”
Having finished the on-site examination, the forensic captain left the report drafting to a subordinate and went in search of Ye-eun.
Ye-eun, with her refined beauty, bowed her waist gracefully in greeting.
“You wished to see me?”
“Yes. You are Han Ye-eun, the Young Master’s close attendant, are you not?”
“I am.”
“I summoned you because I have questions regarding the scene.”
“Please ask.”
The forensic captain drew from his pouch an ox-hair needle wrapped in oil paper and showed it to her.
“This needle was left in one of the corpses at the site. It means someone from our Dang Family was involved in one way or another. Do you have any idea who?”
“….”
“Even something trivial will do. A stranger you saw, a presence you felt—anything you remember, speak.”
“…Now that you mention it, when I discovered the bodies I think I heard footsteps in the nearby woods.”
“Footsteps? How many?”
“I cannot say for certain, but it did not sound like only one or two people.”
“Hmm….”
The captain’s brow furrowed.
“Is that all?”
“Yes. Forgive me.”
“…Very well. Recalling such a horrific sight must have been difficult. Thank you for your cooperation. You may go.”
“I am grateful.”
Ye-eun bowed, turned, and made to leave.
In that instant a hunch flashed through the captain’s mind.
“Ah—wait.”
He stopped her and caught her wrist at the same time.
“A moment.”
He sent inner energy through the pulse gate at her wrist.
Yet the energy would not enter her body.
Those who had never cultivated often had stiff, blocked meridians that resisted the flow of energy, but Ye-eun’s were extreme.
It feels like trying to punch a hole through an iron wall with a stream of water.
Fearing he might damage her meridians if he pressed harder, he quickly withdrew the energy.
“Hmm. Nothing amiss. Forgive the liberty. You may leave.”
“…Yes.”
Ye-eun seemed displeased at having her wrist seized so abruptly; she regarded the captain with a faintly odd look, then bowed once more and turned away.
Watching her receding figure, the captain gave a short, dry laugh.
“An absurd thought, really.”
He reviewed the report his subordinate had prepared, then carried it to Dang Un-sang and delivered his findings.
Dang Un-sang read the report and nodded.
“Well done.”
“Yes, Family Head. Shall we announce these forensic results within the clan?”
“Of course we must announce them! This was an attempt on the Young Master’s life! It is no matter to treat lightly. I shall personally instruct the Cutting Wind Unit and the Poison Bee Unit to root out the masterminds behind those dogs!”
“A most proper decision.”
“Ah, and one more thing.”
“Yes. Your command?”
“…Omit any mention of the ox-hair needles from the announcement.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed.
“…The needles may have been leaked outside the family. Would it not be proper to announce the matter and then have the Poison Bee Unit inspect Cheol-u-jeon?”
“Captain, your opinion is sound, yet in this matter you will follow my order.”
Faced with the Family Head’s firm refusal, the captain fell silent for a moment.
In that brief silence, several thoughts raced through his mind.
Well… it could be that a Dang Family expert concealing his identity is protecting the Young Master. Or that an outside master was given ox-hair needles from Cheol-u-jeon and tasked with guarding him.
His duty was to find the backers of the assassins—not to unmask the righteous man who had saved the Young Master.
“…Yes. I understand.”
The forensic captain bowed deeply and left the Family Head’s hall.
Once the forensic report reached the Family Head’s hall, the entire Dang Family was swept up in an uneasy atmosphere over the attempted assassination of the Young Master.
In the midst of it, Hui-yeom received a summons from Dang Un-sang.
“Were you frightened?”
“…It would be a lie to say I was not. I had expected something of the sort, yet I never imagined they would move in broad daylight…”
Hui-yeom’s fingertips trembled faintly.
Dang Un-sang’s eyes narrowed as he watched his son.
However brilliant the boy might be, he was still a child. Who would not be shaken to learn that assassins had come within a hair’s breadth of taking his life?
Incidents like this—no, far worse—will keep happening. Yeom, if you are truly to become the Family Head who leads the Dang Clan… you must grow far stronger.
Dang Un-sang neither comforted nor soothed the boy.
He wanted Hui-yeom to grow hard rather than be lulled by soft reassurance.
Bluntly, he laid out the forensic findings.
“As you have already guessed, you were the target of this assassination attempt. The Fire Python Unit and the forensic team examined the site: it was a quiet road with no ordinary traffic. There were no other traces of passers-by, and the assassins’ footprints clearly showed they had been following you.”
“….”
“Do you have any idea who is behind it?”
He did not truly expect an answer. It was likely the work of someone in the Council of Elders, yet there was neither solid evidence nor even a convincing suspicion. Besides, barely half a day had passed since Hui-yeom had faced the crisis.
“It would be Ma Jeonggu.”
When Hui-yeom named the man outright, Dang Un-sang could not hide his surprise. He only masked it and asked calmly,
“Why him?”
“Elder Jong Ri-hyeok has not been dead long. No one would move rashly knowing that a single misstep could cost them their own life. Unlike the ironworks faction, which has been driven into a corner by the joint venture with Lord Pojeong, the Council of Elders as a whole is not yet in crisis. They would sooner try to negotiate with you over the ironworks than stake everything they possess—and my life—on a gamble. They are not that desperate yet.
“Ma Jeonggu is different. His main house runs one of the three greatest ironworks in Sichuan, and even his close kin are tied to the business. The moment the steel mill rises, not only he but his entire house and relatives will be cast into the streets… If anyone is desperate enough to act recklessly, it is Ma Jeonggu.”
The fluent, unbroken answer made the corner of Dang Un-sang’s mouth lift.
Look at those eyes.
Hui-yeom was not trembling with fear.
He was analyzing the situation more coldly than anyone, and trembling with rage.
“So the mastermind has been identified. What do you intend to do now? Incidents like this will continue. Some elders will stand with you, some will watch which way the wind blows, some will try to check you, and some… will cross the line as they did this time. How you handle Ma Jeonggu will serve as an example to the rest.”
“Before I answer, Father—what do you believe is the proper course?”
“I believe we should pull the weeds out by the roots and prevent such dangers before they arise.”
Dang Un-sang spoke with absolute conviction.
“Though the debt from the Tea-Flower Battlefield remains, as things stand the Dang Family can stand on its own without the power of the Council or the branch houses. The branches once served as precious medicinal herbs, but now they are weeds that may be cut away. There is nothing to fear.”
“I see.”
“And your thoughts?”
Hui-yeom shook his head.
“I am opposed.”