Chapter 327
Chapter 327
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 327
>Chapter Title: Shadow (2)
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After receiving word that Deung-bi, the former Elder Council Leader, was connected to a place called the Silver Moon Merchant Group in the Central Plains, the Shadow Pavilion launched a full-scale investigation.
But there was a problem with this.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Shadow Pavilion could only properly exert their influence in Gansu Province and the surrounding areas.
Unfortunately, the Silver Moon Merchant Group was a fairly large merchant guild based in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, and the Shadow Pavilion could only gather surface-level information.
All they knew was that the group made a considerable fortune trading with the Western Regions via ships.
Thus, the Shadow Pavilion took on a bit of risk and moved more aggressively.
They stepped beyond their base in Gansu Province, dispatching key operatives to Guangzhou City to directly monitor the Silver Moon Merchant Group.
Among them, the one assigned the most important and difficult mission of surveilling the merchant guild leader was none other than Seo Wan-pyeong.
Since transcending Extreme Demon, Seo Wan-pyeong had steadily built up his skills bit by bit, boasting strength second only to the Shadow Pavilion Lord within the organization.
And since the Shadow Pavilion Lord had to oversee and command the entire Shadow Pavilion, the toughest fieldwork naturally fell to Seo Wan-pyeong.
Late at night.
Using astonishing stealth techniques, Seo Wan-pyeong infiltrated the Silver Moon Merchant Group, weaving through the shadows until he secured a position near the merchant leader's quarters.
How long had he been monitoring the merchant leader's every move while blending seamlessly with the shadows, as if one with them?
Seo Wan-pyeong carefully moved without making a sound, pulling a small pill from his bosom.
It was a Bigu Pill.
Most people thought of Bigu Pills as emergency rations to replace meals during closed-door training.
But in truth, the ones who used Bigu Pills most were assassins.
On missions like assassination or espionage, there often wasn't the luxury to leisurely eat meals.
Moreover, to prevent physiological needs, Bigu Pills were absolutely essential.
Imagine the perfect moment to kill your target or obtain crucial intelligence during surveillance—only for a signal from your lower abdomen.
There could hardly be anything more horrific.
Sure, you could just do it in your clothes since the mission comes first, but there was a huge problem with that.
The smell lingered.
That odor could give you away while hiding, or even if not, leave a trail for later tracking.
In any case, for assassins, Bigu Pills were indispensable.
Ssslrk.
To avoid any noise, Seo Wan-pyeong slipped the Bigu Pill into his mouth and let it dissolve slowly with saliva as he watched the merchant leader's quarters.
Someone who appeared to be a senior figure in the merchant group visited the leader's quarters, and they conversed in serious tones.
‘...Nothing special there.’
Seo Wan-pyeong soothed his disappointment and calmly waited for the right moment.
It was commonplace.
Waiting for espionage or assassination was akin to fishing.
Sometimes opportunities came in an instant, but other times it was endless waiting.
After waiting endlessly for three days like that.
Finally, the signal came.
From his lower abdomen.
‘Damn it.’
It was because of water.
Humans suffer severe dehydration after three days without water. Even for an assassin, minimal hydration was essential for the mission.
He had drunk the bare minimum, so the urge had only just arrived.
At that moment, someone's transmission pierced his ear.
- We'll take over for tonight, so get some rest, Third Young Master.
It was another Shadow Pavilion operative who had infiltrated the Silver Moon Merchant Group.
They couldn't approach the merchant leader's quarters and hide like Seo Wan-pyeong, but some had successfully disguised themselves as lowly laborers.
One of them had sent the transmission while avoiding the gaze of the guards at the merchant leader's quarters.
Realizing that several Shadow Pavilion members had successfully infiltrated, Seo Wan-pyeong slipped out of the Silver Moon Merchant Group under cover of night that day.
After relieving three days of backed-up needs, he fell into a deep sleep.
He hadn't slept properly for three days while surveilling the merchant leader.
As he caught up on sleep, for some reason, he was still watching the merchant leader's quarters in his dream.
Like a ghost, from midair.
In the merchant leader's quarters, a black-clad figure was exchanging secretive words with the leader.
Because he had left his post, no one caught the black-clad intruder.
Soon, his vision shook, and the Heavenly Demon, Eldest Senior Brother, and Il-mok appeared before his eyes.
- Hah, to fail such an important mission just because you were sleeping.
- Third Junior Brother, take a page from the youngest's book.
- Third Senior Brother, I'm truly disappointed.
Their voices thundered into his ears.
Flash!
Seo Wan-pyeong awoke with a start, drenched in cold sweat, his face pale with fright.
In just a few days, his face had grown even paler, the shadows under his eyes darker.
‘A... dream?’
Startled by how vivid the dream felt, Seo Wan-pyeong opened the window and gazed at the sky.
‘About one shichen has passed.’
Gauging the rough passage of time from the moon and stars, Seo Wan-pyeong geared up and left the building.
With another Bigu Pill in his mouth.
Even during this brief rest, he couldn't touch other food.
The perfect opportunity might arise dramatically, and he couldn't have a signal ruining it.
After that, Seo Wan-pyeong's days flowed similarly.
Hiding in the shadows near the merchant leader's quarters, he surveilled the man.
Sustaining himself on Bigu Pills and minimal water, he only left his post for about one shichen—when sleep deprivation and the urge to urinate peaked—entrusting it to the Shadow Pavilion operatives.
But he couldn't rest easy.
If something major happened while he was away, he'd go mad with frustration.
Even with several Shadow Pavilion members infiltrated, none could monitor as closely as he did right by the merchant leader.
Guards stood watch in shifts near the quarters, and damn it all, the merchant leader never left his rooms.
He even handled his needs in another room inside the building, with underlings periodically cleaning it.
It showed just how paranoid the merchant leader was.
Thus, whenever Seo Wan-pyeong left, perfect surveillance was impossible.
Because of that unease, he took only the minimal rest before returning.
How long had he been surveilling the merchant leader, skimping on sleep daily and surviving on Bigu Pills?
He stared blankly at the night sky.
Countless stars twinkled there.
‘One Bigu Pill. Two Bigu Pills. Look at that big half-eaten Bigu Pill up there.’
Gazing at the half-moon, his emotions welled up naturally.
And the next day, to fill his starving belly, he pulled out a Bigu Pill and glared at it murderously.
‘Bigu Pill! Bigu Pill! Damn you, Bigu Pill!!’
A few more days passed like that.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Seo Wan-pyeong.
‘Should I just kill him? Kill him right now? Would killing him make me happy?’
Rather than hiding in the shadows endlessly like this, wouldn't offing the merchant leader bring relief?
‘Kill him! The bastard forcing Bigu Pills on me! The one keeping me from proper sleep for over a month! The scum who won't even let me piss in peace!!’
The mission came from the Heavenly Demon, but Seo Wan-pyeong vented his rage in the wrong direction.
He nearly drew his sword, stopping only with his last shred of reason.
‘If I wanted to kill him, I could have ages ago. What we need is interrogation.’
The target wasn't the Silver Moon Merchant Group. They had to find the head giving them orders.
Kidnapping was out too, given the guards placed everywhere, including the merchant leader's quarters.
No matter how masterful Seo Wan-pyeong's stealth, hiding the kidnapped leader in shadows was impossible.
Maybe after Shadowless Fourteen Hands entered Transcending Demon, allowing freer shadow manipulation.
In the end, any kidnapping attempt would leave traces.
- Just kill them all! The guards too!
‘That leaves traces too. In the worst case, if we can't extract info from the leader, the mastermind might vanish.’
Unbeknownst to himself, Seo Wan-pyeong was conversing with his other self, named side effect.
The side effect self, dormant since transcending Extreme Demon, was growing due to anxiety over potential mission failure, sleep deprivation, and Bigu Pills.
‘If I kill the leader without info, Master, Eldest Senior Brother, and the youngest will definitely be disappointed in me.’
- Hmm? If you collapse and fail anyway, they'll be disappointed either way, no?
‘......’
- Same failure either way, so why not kill him and be happy? At least you'd escape the Bigu Pills. Right?
As he nearly succumbed to the temptation of his swollen alter ego.
“!!!”
Seo Wan-pyeong sensed a presence near the merchant leader's window.
It felt like wind blowing through the open window, but subtly different.
‘A person.’
On this night when the moon was faintest. A visitor deliberately coming late at night.
‘Finally!!’
Suppressing his trembling body, Seo Wan-pyeong focused on the presence from the quarters.
- Yes! Now! Strike now and kill them both!
The side effect's temptation rang in his mind, but Seo Wan-pyeong resisted.
‘Shut up! Just track the visitor.’
Humans can endure any hardship with hope in sight.
When the end seemed endless, he'd wavered, but now he overcame it.
Overcoming the temptation, he peered inside and noticed something odd.
‘No conversation.’
The intruder was a master whose presence was barely detectable. And that master hadn't spoken a word since arriving.
The merchant leader was the same. Only faint sounds of writing on paper occasionally.
Seo Wan-pyeong thought: perhaps the master was issuing orders via transmission, and the leader responding in writing.
‘Because of the guards.’
His conviction grew. It was a visit that couldn't be overheard by them.
And shortly after.
He sensed the merchant leader handing over a letter, the near-invisible master taking it, then whoosh—exiting through the window.
With barely any moonlight, the black-clad figure's movements were nearly imperceptible.
‘Heh heh heh heh.’
But the madman who had hidden in darkness for over a month didn't miss it.
‘I won't fail. I won't disappoint Master, Eldest Senior Brother, or little Junior Brother.’
Whoosh.
Seo Wan-pyeong unleashed stealth surpassing the black-clad figure's, pursuing very cautiously.
‘The Bigu Pills are over!!’
The prey named hope.