015
015
Case No. Gapsin 07-9025.
Classification: Fire
Cause: Accidental fire - Arson
Casualties: Chu So-gwang (aged 38), 1 person
Estimated time of death: Unknown
Chu So Escort Agency Fire Incident.
Chu So-gwang, who was set to marry Paeng Yuwol (aged 21), the daughter of the Hebei Paeng Clan, was found burned to death days before the wedding.
The fire's starting point is presumed to be Chu So-gwang's own room, and the incident was initially thought to be an accident.
After the incident, the father Chu So-gyeong discovered two stab wounds on the body. Paeng Yuwol was a strong suspect, but was cleared of suspicion due to clear testimony—a servant of the agency testified that Chu So-gwang himself had allowed Paeng Yuwol into his room.
It is presumed he was murdered by an assassin due to conflicts that arose while expanding the agency's influence.
Note) This became the cause for Case No. Gapsin 08-1295, the suicide of Chu So-gyeong by poison. It is presumed to be the suicide of a father devastated by his son's death.
* * *
"It never ceases to amaze me every time I come here."
"Right? Heh, young hero. You truly know how to appreciate scenery."
The young man in a bamboo hat entrusted himself to the small boat and the ferryman, drinking in the river. The Yangtze, so wide one could barely see either shore, was as placid as the warm sunlight floating in the sky.
"Young hero, you said you came from Anhui, didn't you? Then you must know of it! The Justice Realization incident that stirred up Anhui for a while!"
"Justice Realization?"
"You know, that massive fire not even three months ago. The incident where a place called the Chu So Escort Agency burned clean to the ground."
"...Ah, I've heard of it. But that was a case of Justice Realization?"
At the young man's puzzled tone, the ferryman cleared his throat.
"Wherever Chu So's foot touched, no money was left behind! Those Chu So Escort Agency bastards hired thugs as guards and extorted all sorts of money under the guise of protection fees. On the day Chu So-gwang died, the merchants of the market held a silent toast, I heard. Wait, you don't know?"
"I know about it, but I didn't know it was called the Justice Realization incident."
"That's only natural! That man threatened a woman not even half his age to marry her, and then he died. He died well, I say. Going after a woman young enough to be his daughter... tsk tsk."
"He died well...? Heh."
The young man smirked, enjoying the ripples in the water. Watching the carp swimming upstream in the Yangtze, he looked every bit like a young man of his age.
"The Paeng Clan's daughter got off lucky. Didn't the evil villain get killed right before the wedding? Even though she was dragged to the government office for questioning... ahem. She was released quickly."
"Quickly? Why?"
"Well, it's a bit hard to explain... ahem. The servants gave crucial testimony. It was said she had a motive to kill him, but not really the time or reason. Besides, another suspect appeared."
"Another suspect?"
Interest sparked in the young man's voice. The ferryman, getting excited, took a sip of water and raised his voice.
"The Dark King! They say the handiwork of the world's greatest assassin was there. The fire was supposedly a cover-up to hide the stab wounds. That's the Dark King's method, or something like that."
"The world's greatest assassin... terrifying. To think such a person passed through Anhui."
"Hehe. Whoever paid a fortune for it, he did a great deed. After all, a pig who only knew money is dead."
Just as the ferryman said, Justice Realization.
That was the public's verdict on Chu So-gwang's death.
Saying someone "died well" about a dead person was certainly an insult to the deceased, but the public opinion was so open because Chu So-gwang and the Chu So Escort Agency had accumulated a lot of bad karma.
"Ultimately, only the Paeng Clan's young lady benefited. With both the agency head and the junior head dead, who else would the remaining assets go to?"
"You mean it went to Paeng Yuwol? Huh. She hit the jackpot."
The young man twisted his lips into a sneer. At that, the ferryman got heated and scolded the young man.
"Young hero, even if you're a customer, such an expression is unbecoming."
"She didn't even marry him, yet she inherited the Heavenly Restoration Pill and all the agency's assets just for a brief visit. How can I not judge it so? If she lives her whole life without marrying, she'll be praised as a virtuous woman who kept her duty to her betrothed."
"Do you truly not know how the agency's assets went to that young lady?"
The young man flinched, licking his lips, his face stiffening slightly. At this clear sign of tension, the ferryman chuckled and tapped his belly.
"She is carrying Chu So-gwang's child, that's what I'm saying."
* * *
"Thank you for the generous welcome, great hero."
"I cannot treat those sent from the imperial court with neglect. Pleased to meet you, I am Paeng Iwang."
Paeng Iwang, the head of the Paeng Clan, greeted two officials from the capital. One was a seemingly fussy inspector, and the other was a martial artist with a gold thread emblem on his arm.
"I'll ask you directly, Clan Head of the Paeng Clan. Did you hire the Dark King to assassinate the head of the Chu So Escort Agency?"
"Sir!"
The gold-threaded martial artist reprimanded the inspector. The question itself was practically spitting in his face, but Paeng Iwang merely shook his head and thumped his chest proudly.
"I, Paeng Iwang, can swear on the name of the Evil Slash Sword. I have done no such thing."
"Even if the Clan Head didn't, someone from the family might have."
"Inspector!"
"No, Senior Divine Spear. The Inspector's words are valid."
Paeng Iwang instead calmed the gold-threaded warrior—Divine Spear, one of the martial artists of the Imperial Guard. Divine Spear repeatedly shot warning glances at the inspector's arrogant attitude towards a murim warrior, but the inspector ignored even Divine Spear's energy and continued.
"Clan Head, you acknowledge the family members' possible rash actions, don't you? To save the Clan Head, you arranged a transactional marriage for a 21-year-old girl with a 38-year-old man. Fortunately, the betrothal wasn't finalized, but...."
"What is it you're trying to say, Inspector?"
"That another family member orchestrated the assassination, or Paeng Yuwol herself arranged it."
Bang! Was this something he truly couldn't endure? Paeng Iwang slammed his fist on the table.
"This is too much, even as you are! What do you take the Hebei Paeng Clan for?! Do you think we would stoop to something as cowardly as assassination, instead of swinging our blades and raising a ruckus ourselves?!"
Only at Paeng Iwang's strangely misplaced rage did the inspector twist his lips. Then, he rose from his seat and suddenly knelt, prostrating himself before Paeng Iwang.
"Please forgive this rudeness."
"H-huh?"
"Sit down, Clan Head. Let me apologize on his behalf. This person possesses a special ability."
The inspector, seated again, pointed to his own eyes. Within his eyes, dark as the deepest night, the irises appeared differently colored, shaped like the Taiji symbol.
"I sought to distinguish black from white. You are 'white,' Clan Head, Sir Divine Spear."
"Black... white? What does that mean?"
"The details are confidential. I'll explain once everything is over. Clan Head, please call for Lady Paeng Yuwol now."
Paeng Iwang was bewildered by the inspector's attitude, but the warrior who came with him was his senior, Divine Spear Baek Ju-heun, one of the three great masters of the Imperial Guard. Trusting that Divine Spear, if no one else, would not act without reason, Paeng Iwang swallowed his discomfort and summoned his niece.
"Yuwol."
"......."
Paeng Yuwol, a woman in white silk clothes, entered from outside and sat beside Paeng Iwang. The inspector clearly wanted to send Paeng Iwang away, but Paeng Iwang folded his arms and remained seated.
"......Hoo. Fine. I'll proceed with the interrogation. Lady Paeng Yuwol, you must answer truthfully."
"Of course."
Paeng Yuwol did not lower her head. At the sight of his niece holding her head high even before two members of the Imperial Guard, Paeng Iwang felt a surge of emotion for no reason.
"On the day of the incident, where were you and what were you doing?"
"I was sleeping in my room. More precisely, I was unconscious."
"Unconscious? Who struck you?"
"I collapsed from exhaustion after sharing a bed with my late lord."
"Cough!"
Divine Spear spat out the tea he was about to drink and covered his mouth with his hand. Paeng Iwang trembled with anxiety at Paeng Yuwol's straightforward, unfiltered words, and the inspector bit his lip as he continued the questioning.
"...The witnesses were servants. Understood. In that case, another question. Is there proof that the child in your womb is Chu So-gwang's?"
"You bastard!!"
Paeng Iwang drew his blade and aimed it at the inspector's neck. Indeed, this question seemed even Divine Spear could not take sides with him, as he hesitated and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"You must truly wish to die!"
"Clan Head, please be patient."
"Yuwol! That is an insult to you and an insult to the Paeng Clan!"
"It's his job, after all. He is just doing his work."
Paeng Yuwol smiled, then grasped the Clan Head's sleeve. Paeng Iwang, who was about to rage, groaned at Paeng Yuwol's smile and sat back down.
"...Thank you, young lady."
"Of course, that doesn't mean the question wasn't rude. What you just said is an insult to me and the Paeng Clan, as well as a misunderstanding of my late lord."
Paeng Yuwol took out a neatly sealed letter from her bosom. The inspector and Divine Spear skimmed through the letter's contents and fell into great shock.
"Heh. How...."
"The Chu So Escort Agency was being threatened by the Demonic Cult and paying them tributes. My late lord wished to escape from the shadow of the Demonic Cult. That was the purpose of his dealings with the Paeng Clan; he formed a marriage alliance to avoid the Demonic Cult's underhanded methods, but...."
Paeng Yuwol could not finish her sentence. The inspector, Divine Spear, and Paeng Iwang too fell silent at the truth revealed through the will.
The letter told of a man who, though unjustly threatened by the Demonic Cult, awakened righteousness and chivalry upon meeting the woman he fell in love with at first sight. Though everything came to naught, his life was clearly one worthy of respect.
"...But this letter alone does not constitute proof."
The inspector did not back down. Paeng Yuwol nodded heavily in agreement.
"A woman lies with a man she's never met before, becomes pregnant with his child, and conveniently all the men of the family die, allowing her to inherit the entire agency's assets as a legacy? It's surely an issue worth considering other possibilities."
"What can I do to prove myself?"
"Proof that the Chu So Escort Agency truly intended to welcome you as its mistress?"
"Why, you...!"
Paeng Iwang's chest tightened with frustration. Every word from the inspector's mouth crossed the line of rudeness, and Divine Spear, caught between a junior from his murim days and a junior from the Imperial Guard, wore a troubled expression.
"Proof... I don't know if this will serve as proof."
Paeng Yuwol nodded solemnly, placed a hand on her lower abdomen, and spoke boldly.
"I know the location of the Chu So Escort Agency's secret vault. My lord took me there once. There was a formation, but he didn't tell me what kind. He just said to walk straight ahead while thinking of the vault...."
"Oh ho."
The expressions on the inspector's and Divine Spear's faces changed. Their distrust and suspicion turned into solid trust and belief.
"This seems sufficient. All assets of the Chu So Escort Agency will be attributed to Lady Paeng Yuwol and your child. Please forgive the rudeness shown thus far."
"...Ahem. Yuwol, will you be alright? Accepting that means...."
"Yes. I'll be fine. I will give birth to the child, and raise it."
At Paeng Yuwol's confident words, the three men's lips went dry. No matter how powerful a family is, how could it be easy for a woman to raise a child alone?
"Though it was a brief moment, I believe that my connection with him will surely be rekindled."
Something akin to certainty was glimpsed in Paeng Yuwol's eyes.
* * *
"And so, thanks to Lady Paeng Yuwol, the Clan Head lived, and all the assets of the Chu So Escort Agency became Lady Paeng Yuwol's, I heard!"
"Hmm, is that so? Is that why it's called Justice Realization?"
"That's right, young hero. Do you know how many evil deeds that man committed? They say he tried to summon a courtesan who resembled Paeng Yuwol to drown himself in drink."
"Oh ho. And what happened to that courtesan?"
"Though her customers dwindled when the Chu So Escort Agency went bankrupt, do you think only its guards were clients? Only the faces she sells her laughter to have changed."
The young man twisted his lips. The ferryman felt a chill colder than ever from the young man's smile, making him shudder for no reason.
"Ahem. So, what reason are you going to that town for?"
"Are you curious about that?"
The boat had drawn near the port before they knew it. The young man took out silver coins from his bosom and placed them down.
"I came to see flowers. The flowers of the Wudang Sect."
"...Flowers? Does Wudang have someone worth calling a flower?"
"Why, isn't there someone said to have inherited Zhang Sanfeng's Taiji Wisdom Sword?"
"Pfft, hahaha! Young hero, you joke too much. Do you think I wouldn't know if there was such a person? Ehh, just a joke then."
The young man tilted his head for a moment, then covered his face with his hands and laughed softly.
"Heh heh heh, right. It was a joke. The truth is, I'm here to follow my master's orders. My master told me to go try some farming."
"Farming?"
"Indeed."
The young man spread his arms wide over the vast Yangtze River and laughed brightly.
"I mean to sow my seed across the world."