Grudge (2)
Lee Jinmyeong's eyes flew wide open, nearly bursting from their sockets.
Crimson blood dripped steadily from the blade that had sunk into flesh.
"Ghk…!"
The man convulsed as if struck by lightning.
Lee Jinmyeong shouted without thinking.
"Senior Han!"
It was Ye-eun who had suddenly intervened, twisting the dagger the man gripped and driving it back into his own stomach.
"…What the hell have you been up to with this 'new business' of yours that things like this are tailing you?"
Ye-eun shot Lee Jinmyeong a glance of pure irritation.
The man stabbed in the gut was already neutralized, so her casual attitude wasn't entirely unreasonable.
But then—
Crack!!
The man twisted his body hard enough to snap the wrist Ye-eun held, yanked another knife from his robes, and swung it at her throat.
"Daaaaang Famiiiily!!"
"?!"
Ye-eun's eyes widened.
She looked truly startled, eyes round, as she leaned her upper body back slightly to let the man's crude sword stroke whistle past.
"You get stabbed in the gut, joints broken and dislocated, and you're still fine? Did you use some kind of secret technique?"
The man, eyes bloodshot, foam flecking his mouth, thrashed violently with his broken arm still caught in Ye-eun's grip, slashing with the dagger in his free hand as if to carve her to pieces.
But Ye-eun casually deflected every attack, then struck a vital acupoint.
Naturally the man should have lost consciousness and collapsed, yet…
"Grrrk!!"
Foam still at his lips, he kept swinging at Ye-eun like a jiangshi.
Ye-eun's brow furrowed.
"Looks like I'll have to break every last one of his limbs."
Then the man's demeanor changed.
Like an exhausted bull snorting and huffing, he kept swinging the knife without pause, but his movements gradually slowed and his face flushed bright red.
At last he vomited black blood from his eyes, nose, and mouth; his complexion turned pitch-black as he collapsed.
Eyes bloodshot crimson, face charred black.
Ye-eun pressed fingers to his neck to check his pulse… but the man was already dead.
Ye-eun clicked her tongue.
"I avoided the vital spots when I stabbed him… Was there poison on the blade?"
Lee Jinmyeong stared at the man who had died spewing blood and asked in bewilderment.
"Who the hell was that?"
"Beats me. We'll have to find out starting now."
At Lee Jinmyeong's question, Ye-eun flipped back the hood covering the man's head. Only then did she nod as if she finally recognized him.
"Song Jun-hyeon. Chairman of the Sichuan Horse Transport Association… An assassination attempt born of a grudge? That much I can understand, but…"
"The Horse Transport Association chairman? Wait—does that mean this is because of the Sichuan Carriage…?"
Having finally grasped the situation, Lee Jinmyeong started babbling.
"W-wait, more importantly, Senior Han, how did you get here…? And Senior, your martial arts…? Last time you clearly said you had no internal energy…"
"Even without internal energy, a few little tricks like this are nothing… Is that really what matters right now?"
Ye-eun carefully examined the corpse of the Horse Transport Master whose breath had stopped, then pulled out the dagger she had driven into his stomach.
She scrutinized the blade, then lightly licked it, making Lee Jinmyeong jump in horror.
"Senior! You don't know what kind of poison is on that!"
"How can a member of the Dang Family be afraid of poison… Hmm, they coated it with poison all right. Black Death Poison mixed into Tangga Manneung-go."
Ye-eun rolled it around her tongue, then spat it out.
"Black Death Poison?"
"Yeah. Venom from a snake called the Black Scale Snake. Turns the whole body pitch-black as you die, so they call it Black Death Poison. You learned about it in basic toxicology class, right?"
Black Death Poison was not the kind of extreme toxin that killed the moment you were stabbed, but remarkably there was no antidote—once struck by a weapon coated with it, death was certain. A terrifying poison.
The problem was that the Black Scale Snake that supplied the material for this Black Death Poison did not live in the Central Plains; it was a foreign snake from beyond the borders.
The Sichuan Dang Family had learned of the Black Scale Snake and Black Death Poison through wars with foreign powers.
Ye-eun's expression grew grave.
"Have the Demonic Cult bastards… returned?"
If so, that would also explain the Horse Transport Master's reaction—how he had rampaged like a madman even with broken bones and twisted joints.
He had probably taken some kind of Martyr's Pill—something that exploded latent power for a short time of immense strength but carried the side effect of death or becoming a cripple.
The Demonic Cult had a great many such medicines.
"…We have to report this to the Family Head. Let's go back, Jinmyeong."
"…Yes—ah, yes!"
Lee Jinmyeong, still dumbfounded as he looked back and forth between the corpse and Ye-eun, shouted with a face full of resolve.
The atmosphere in the Family Head's Hall was murderous.
Not only the fact that someone had dared to target Lee Jinmyeong—one of the core figures of the Dang Family—right here in Sichuan soil, but also that the assassin had taken a pill presumed to come from the Demonic Cult, their mortal enemy, and used their poison was enough to put the entire Dang Family on a war footing, as if standing before a gathering storm.
Dang Un-sang, who lately had been so pinched by his wife and younger sister that people said the bruises on his sides never had a chance to fade, radiated such a murderous aura that even the elders and department heads gathered in the hall found it hard to breathe.
-Sizzle….
Unconsciously releasing acidic poison, the table under his hand began to smoke and burn. Dang Un-sang gritted his teeth and reined in his emotions.
"…Is it confirmed?"
"Yes, Family Head."
The Master of the Poison Hall reported the analysis results with a serious face.
"Autopsy of the body detected Dansimhwan in the blood. It grants even those who have never trained in martial arts strength momentarily equal to a second-rate martial artist and blocks the sensation of pain, but it reduces intelligence and turns them into a puppet state focused on only a single goal.
It is usually used to push low-ranking devotees into enemy lines as an army of fanatics who fear no death.
And the Black Death Poison… purity is low, but it is definitely Black Death Poison."
"Are we certain it was produced by the Demonic Cult?"
"That part we cannot be sure of. Black Death Poison is lethal, but ultimately it is a snake venom that exists in nature.
In Persia or Tibet, where the Black Scale Snake lives, one can catch them and make the poison without much difficulty, so we cannot conclude it is the Demonic Cult's doing based on that alone."
"What about the Dansimhwan? Is that not a Demonic Cult product?"
"Dansimhwan is also just an item. Especially toward the end of the Great War it was as common as field rations or preserved food, so it would be easy to obtain.
Right now our Poison Hall alone has over a hundred of those captured Dansimhwan in storage.
It is a bit much to regard this as the Demonic Cult's work based on this alone…"
"There is no evidence it is not, either. Is the Poison Hall Master being too optimistic?"
Dang Un-sang's interrogation was as sharp as frost.
"…"
It had been a long time since they had seen Dang Un-sang this sharp, so everyone simply watched carefully and kept their mouths shut.
In the end, it was Hwiyeom who broke the silence first.
"The Family Head's words have merit, but… I also agree with the Poison Hall Master."
"Is there a reason?"
"Thinking from the Demonic Cult's perspective, after hiding for nearly fifty years, would it not be strange for this to be the occasion they reveal themselves?"
Hwiyeom asked while making eye contact with those around him.
"The Demonic Cult has been in hiding all this time.
Whether to recover the strength exhausted in the Great War, or to operate in secret, we can only speculate about the reason, so let us set that aside and speak only of the circumstances.
If the Demonic Cult that had been concealing itself for some reason suddenly revealed itself, there would have to be a sufficient reason for it.
For example, announcing the return of the Heavenly Demon and declaring war on the Central Plains again.
But just to kill one of our family's secretaries, they announce the fact that they have been carefully hiding all this time and show themselves to the world…?
Does that not feel awkward?"
"Hmm."
Listening, it made sense.
If they were going to show themselves after hiding diligently all this time, would there not be a more dramatic and appropriate situation?
Moreover—
"If the Demonic Cult had intended to assassinate Secretary Lee, there would not be the slightest reason for them to attempt it so clumsily.
Not only did they fail, but they even carelessly let their secret activities be exposed.
The Demonic Cult is not some third-rate black-path sect… The idea that the Demonic Cult used the Horse Transport Master to try to assassinate Secretary Lee simply does not add up, in my opinion, Family Head."
"…Mm. The Young Family Head is right."
Dang Un-sang spoke with a face that had regained its composure, as if convinced.
"Then the problem remaining is who brought in Demonic Cult poison and pills, and with what purpose, to try to assassinate Lee Jinmyeong."
"If the Demonic Cult is not the culprit, then perhaps the real culprit wanted to give the impression that this was the Demonic Cult's doing?"
At the words of Elders' Council Head Bak Chang-eon, the Head of Dokwadae agreed.
"Using the arrows of a hostile tribe to attack another tribe as a scheme of discord is a common method even the barbarians employ."
"But who, and why? Between the Demonic Cult that has already vanished from the world and us? There is nothing left to sow discord about, and no target for discord remaining either?"
"…If they simply wanted to avoid a situation where they themselves would come under suspicion?"
"…"
Somewhere in the Central Plains there were those who hated the Dang Family, and they had tried to kill Lee Jinmyeong, Hwiyeom's secretary, to take revenge on the Dang Family—showing even the meticulousness of framing the Demonic Cult just in case the gaze of suspicion might fall on them.
"…That makes sense."
"Minjeongwon Head. The investigation into those the Horse Transport Master contacted before he died?"
At Dang Un-sang's question, Ye-eun bowed her head.
"There were a few Horse Transport drivers he often associated with… but they all vanished without a trace a few days before the Horse Transport Master launched his suicide charge.
At the time we were not particularly watching him closely, so we cannot find any trace.
I apologize."
"Nothing to apologize for. Still, if even the Minjeongwon Head does not know, that means at least they have left Sichuan."
"At least one thing is clear."
Hwiyeom said.
"Our Dang Family has achieved a great deal of development in a short time. The world is full of people who grow jealous even when a cousin buys land; there will be mountains of people who envy and resent our success."
There was the Byeongjongpi Family with whom they had a direct grudge, the Namgung Family with whom they had already clashed several times behind the scenes, and Adiya Khan, with whom they had reconciled by trading Mongol horses for grain, yet who could stab them in the back at any time.
But Hwiyeom felt a strong conviction that this incident was related to the construction of the second State-run Ironworks he was currently progressing.
"…Perhaps this is a warning directed at me personally."
"A warning to the Young Family Head?"
"Because I am probably the person with the most enemies in this room."
At Hwiyeom's words, everyone swallowed a quiet groan.
A protruding nail gets hammered down, and geniuses live with envy and jealousy as their constant companions.
Dang Un-sang's expression grew cautious.
If it were a matter of the martial world, there was nothing to fear. Even if the Shaolin Abbot became his enemy, Dang Un-sang was a martial artist who could fight to the death with a smile.
But if the opponent belonged to the government, there were various things to be wary of.
"…Do you see it as the work of someone belonging to the government?"
"I think it is highly likely the work of the Byeongjongpi Family."
"Those bastards… Their position was completely reduced because of the war, and this is the aftermath?"
"…Well, since there is no solid evidence either way, for the time being we will simply have to be careful."
"…I see."
Nothing was certain yet. All that had been revealed was the fact that someone might be targeting Dang Family people, including Lee Jinmyeong.
Looking at Dang Su-jeong's bloodshot eyes—where more white showed than iris—there would be no need to worry about Lee Jinmyeong's safety going forward.
Everyone, be careful.
With no particular conclusion, in that anticlimactic situation they withdrew from the Family Head's Hall, when Dang Su-jeong hurriedly seized Lee Jinmyeong's wrist.
The desire to confirm her lover's safety with her own hands, and resentment toward the lover who had gone around leaving her behind—all sorts of feelings were turning her mind into a complete mess.
But—
"Su-jeong, tomorrow… could you spend the day with me?"
The face of a man who had steeled his resolve. A signal that any woman would never miss blanked out her mind.
In the end, Dang Su-jeong could only nod stupidly.
"Ah… yeah. Yes."