Chapter 17: The Evil Instructor Ascends to Heaven
Ak Gyo-du scowled.
"Find a way in. If Dok Sabu tampered with that place, our lives could be in danger too, you know?"
Won Seung feigned surprise.
"That could be true. I've heard of poisons that ignite late... But do you really think Dok Sabu did it? He had a grudge against Jang Gyo-du, sure, but he wouldn't have meant to kill us all."
The reason Dok Sabu and Jang Gyo-du had met their ends in mutual destruction had come to light through the testimony of a surviving assassin.
The assassin had overheard their entire conversation and reported it verbatim to the inspector from headquarters.
Won Seung had also been questioned, but since he knew nothing, he had nothing to say. Naturally, the inspector hadn't suspected him. No one would believe that someone of Dokgoe's caliber would spill his plans to a child.
The inspector from headquarters had concluded that Dok Sabu, seeking revenge for his poisoned child, had been countered by the prepared Jang Gyo-du—and tragically, Jang Gyo-du had died covered in Dok Sabu's blood.
Of course, Won Seung hadn't seen the report.
But later, when he opened the back of the small knife handle Dok Sabu had given him, he pieced it together.
There was a tiny note inside the handle.
Your records will disappear. The rest is up to you.
Only then did Won Seung realize that his records as a Ten Perfect Assassin candidate, tied to Jang Gyo-du's wooden tablet, had vanished.
And he understood what Dok Sabu expected of him. In exchange for his own death, he had cleared the path for Won Seung—not to become a Jeokhyeolsan Ten Perfect Assassin, but the next leader of Cheondaemun.
When Won Seung hesitated, Ak Gyo-du said firmly,
"He's Dokgoe. Who can fathom the mind of an eccentric like that? Go check the poison formation. There must be a passage somewhere."
Under that icy glare pressing him, Won Seung couldn't argue further.
What the hell is he scheming?
Won Seung sighed in front of Dok Sabu's residence. Should he go in or not?
To counter Ak Gyo-du, he needed to know his intentions, but being told to just barge in left him no choice but to agonize.
Looking at the wooden cabin brought back memories of the time spent with Dok Sabu.
Won Seung hadn't expected a chance encounter to blossom into a true master-disciple bond. But in that remote mountain hideaway, it was only natural for a lonely, struggling boy and a dying old man to lean on each other.
As he reminisced about those days with Dok Sabu, Won Seung steeled himself.
I'll buy time for now.
There wasn't much left in Dok Sabu's place. The precious herbs his master had given him were buried behind the house.
Won Seung circled the house all day and finally reported to Ak Gyo-du at dusk.
"I can't dismantle the poison formation, but it looks like I can squeeze in alone."
"Good."
Ak Gyo-du brightened.
"Can you bring out everything inside?"
"There's probably nothing much. He burned most of it before leaving—I guarded the hearth and watched it go up. What's left are just common herbs."
"Whatever. Bring out everything there is."
Won Seung pretended to enter the poison formation a few steps at a time each day. With twenty paces from the courtyard gate to the cabin, it took about five days.
On the third day, an instructor sent by Ak Gyo-du followed but fled with dizziness from the poison dust Won Seung had subtly scattered, and after that, no one dared tail him.
On the sixth day, inside the cabin, Won Seung surveyed the empty interior. Staying longer would just make him miss Dok Sabu, so he grabbed the remaining herbs from the medicine room haphazardly and left.
Mostly common stuff.
He handed the herb bundle to the guard watching it and staggered a bit.
"The poison aura here's so thick... I'm feeling dizzy."
Then he returned to the dorm and lay down.
He pondered deeply. Why did Ak Gyo-du need the herbs? Obviously to make medicine. But why would he need medicine? A brute like that wouldn't be trying to heal the wounded. So... poison?
Ak Gyo-du was the strongest here in these mountains. Why would he need poison?
Even Won Seung's vivid imagination couldn't guess Ak Gyo-du's intent.
A few days later.
On the day they took the Myeonggeon Dan, Won Seung figured it out.
Ak Gyo-du was personally distributing the pills from the platform. When it was Won Seung's turn, an instructor blocked him.
"Hold on..."
As the instructor recounted last year's incident, Ak Gyo-du's lips curled up.
I can pocket an extra one. I'll slip him the Swolhyeol San later when the chance comes.
Ak Gyo-du feigned a stern expression.
"That happened? Then you can't have it."
Ak Gyo-du pocketed Won Seung's Myeonggeon Dan and handed the next child a pill from another batch.
What's he playing at?
Just give me mine already? Suspicious, Won Seung watched closely and was shocked. As a master of poisons now, he could tell at a glance it wasn't a real Myeonggeon Dan.
He swapped it out?
And hid mine? Why?
Then he realized Ak Gyo-du was siphoning off real Myeonggeon Dans. Won Seung knew their value well.
That vicious bastard!
Still, he glanced at the child who swallowed the fake. Oblivious, the kid sat in meditation.
If the Swolhyeol San doesn't kick in, better for him, right?
Not having taken the Swolhyeol San might actually be a blessing. He watched to see how many got fakes. Then a horrifying thought struck.
The kids getting fakes were all the weaker ones.
No way...?
Won Seung looked up at Ak Gyo-du on the platform. He had uncovered his true scheme.
He's planning to kill the ones who took the fakes!
Watching Ak Gyo-du distribute the pills with a satisfied face, Won Seung was certain.
This was exactly the kind of thing he'd do.
Won Seung already harbored deep resentment toward Ak Gyo-du for the brutal winter training. To think he'd stoop to this too.
I'll kill you for sure.
Won Seung resolved himself.
That night, he slipped out of the dorm and headed to Dok Sabu's cabin. No one approached the place, so he entered easily.
Digging behind the house revealed a large wooden chest. Won Seung opened it, examined the contents, and selected one.
A poison that hardened on contact with air but melted instantly when mixed with strong liquor like fiery spirits.
It was Sangsimsu.
A few days later, Won Seung requested a meeting with Ak Gyo-du.
Ak Gyo-du summoned him to his office.
"What is it?"
Ak Gyo-du didn't treat trainees like people. He'd have beaten another kid for the audacity of requesting a meeting. He accepted Won Seung's only because he was handling Dok Sabu's poison classes in his stead.
And that was precisely why Won Seung had asked.
"The last poison class is short a few herbs. I think I saw some in the ones I brought from the cabin."
Ak Gyo-du scowled.
"Trivial herbs, and you need them?"
"For the mixture."
"Gone. Worthless junk—I tossed it all. Probably rotted away by now."
The shameless lie was infuriating, but Won Seung held back.
"Understood. I've covered all the poisons I know, and this was the last one. No materials means the poison classes end here."
Won Seung bowed and left the office.
That afternoon.
Ak Gyo-du ate lunch and, as usual, napped in his bedroom. He woke earlier than normal—the surroundings were eerily quiet.
Rising, he went to the window and peered toward the lower yard. Training clamor should have filled the air, but silence reigned. Leaning out, he shouted to the guard at the upper-lower boundary.
"Why's it so damn quiet?"
"Outdoor training today—they all went out."
Upper yard warriors joined to supervise outdoor sessions.
Hmph. So tedious. I can never get used to this damn mountain life.
Leaving the bedroom for his office, Ak Gyo-du stopped by the room storing liquor and snacks.
On the shelf stood his favorite bottles of Chukyeopcheong.
Grabbing a bottle and some simple snacks, his eye caught a fallen bottle between the shelf and wall—one he hadn't noticed before. Picking it up casually, it was empty. As he went to set it upright, the drawing and inscription caught his eye.
After one cup, climb the mountain. After two, reach the heavens.
Ak Gyo-du muttered at the bottle's verse.
"Hmph. Speaks right to my soul, doesn't it?"
The words felt profoundly meaningful.
Ever since Bi Jangno's visit, greed had stirred in Ak Gyo-du. If he played it right, he could claim four elite Ten Perfect Assassins. That merit would double Jeokhyeolsan's strength and land him a key post at headquarters.
Ak Gyo-du harbored the same dream Jang Gyo-du once had.
The bottle's inscription hit home. The bold man in the drawing even resembled him.
Sniffing the mouth, it was a brand-new bottle, never used. Ak Gyo-du poured a bit of his Chukyeopcheong into the drawn bottle, swirled it to rinse, then filled it with the rest.
Back in his office, he sat, admired the bottle's art and words again, then poured a cup.
As he downed the first, the potent green Chukyeopcheong dissolved the Sangsimsu clinging to the bottle's bottom.
With the Sangsimsu melted, the poisons from the flame stone and dragon blood wood blended in.
The liquor turned lethally toxic instantly.
Ak Gyo-du swigged a full cup of poison that could kill with drops.
Clutching his throat, he gagged and choked wordlessly before collapsing.
Cherry blossoms bloomed vibrantly outside the office window, but Ak Gyo-du died without ever truly appreciating them.
An inspector arrived from headquarters again. Having trekked to this remote mountain twice in months, he was furious.
"Why the hell was this idiot boozing during duty hours?"
The enraged inspector grilled the instructors like rats.
Upper yard folk were dragged in one after another; the snack room, kitchen liquor—everything was inspected. He ransacked upper and lower dorms, strip-searching everyone. Naturally, no poison turned up anywhere.
The trainees were all outside at the time, most upper guards deployed for supervision, leaving few behind. The boundary guard said he'd seen Ak Gyo-du lean out the bedroom window around dusk. No one entered until evening. So the poison in the bottle had been planted earlier—making everyone in the upper yard a suspect.
Too many. He couldn't torture them all...
The inspector racked his brains. As time passed, word slipped that Won Seung had visited Ak Gyo-du that day.
Won Seung was summoned.
Waiting for interrogation in a dark room, he grumbled inwardly.
How was I supposed to know he'd die that fast?