Ten-Battle Assassin No. 50 - Chapter 66: Officially, We Have Nothing to Do with Each Other
The gloomy room was tucked deep inside the newly renovated house next door.
It was sealed on all sides for perfect soundproofing, but that meant lamps had to stay lit constantly, making it oppressively dim.
Won Seung wondered why the original owner had built such a place and pondered what to use it for.
He lit the lamp and asked,
"Spill it. What's going on?"
Jong Bi answered in a raspy voice.
"Bi Jangno's here."
"Bi Jangno?"
"From headquarters. Bi Jangno himself."
"What? That Bi Jangno?"
Won Seung jumped to his feet.
He knew from Jong Bi that headquarters' Bi Jangno had taken special interest in him as a Ten Perfect Assassin prospect.
Bi Jangno was the one who'd sent Jong Bi, too.
"Why the hell is Bi Jangno here?"
"How should I know? What do we do? What do we do? Bi Jangno's a real brute... We've been having way too much fun. Are you even doing assassin work or what? Ah... How did I end up as your handler? Oh, right, Bi Jangno ordered it..."
Jong Bi paced back and forth like a dog desperate to shit, rambling incoherently.
"Hold still. Calm down already."
Won Seung kicked her in the butt to settle her.
"Where's Bi Jangno right now?"
"Sangyang inn."
"You meet him?"
"No."
"Then how do you know he's there?"
"Come with me."
Jong Bi led Won Seung to the courtyard.
"See that?"
A single kite floated lonely in the ash-gray evening sky.
It had "Bi (飛)" written on it.
"When that flies, it means Bi Jangno's arrived. I have to go to him."
"Where?"
"Wherever the kite points."
"And that's the Sangyang inn?"
Jong Bi nodded.
She'd gone to fetch Ogu for dinner that evening and spotted the kite, drawn to the inn like a moth to flame.
The moment she crossed the threshold, her body froze.
She couldn't face Bi Jangno—not like this.
It wasn't even a mission anymore... She'd had too much fun these past four months.
Making money, laundering her identity, meeting pretty girls.
If Bi Jangno knew the truth... Would he praise her?
As long as she didn't get beaten to death on the spot.
Jong Bi squeezed her eyes shut, turned tail, and trudged back to Baekhwa Pavilion, thighs trembling as she prodded them with a poker for cover.
Won Seung eyed the kite again.
It bobbed mockingly in the evening breeze, like it was watching him.
"Let's head inside."
The two returned to the gloomy room.
"Screw him! Just pretend we didn't see it. Say we weren't in Sangyang, or we were asleep."
"Then he'll go through the branch to track us down."
Gasp—no way.
"When did that thing go up?"
"Wasn't there this afternoon. Around dinnertime? I saw it when I went to get Teacher U."
"Speaking of, Teacher U skipped dinner too. Where the hell is he?"
Jong Bi rolled her vacant eyes, then remembered with an "Ah!"
"Uyangjeong guys dragged him off for a meal."
"Uyangjeong? The black dao running Baekhwa Pavilion?"
"They're shaking us down? I had no idea... Taking our money? Those bastards—should I kill 'em?"
As a Ten Perfect Assassin, Jong Bi was swamped.
House chores, tending to Hyeol Hwa, surveilling Yong Jo-un... Lately, even coordinating the three-way duel.
She barely knew how Baekhwa Pavilion operated.
But if Uyangjeong was skimming... Yeah, they had to die.
Eyes reddening with murder lust to escape reality, Jong Bi seethed.
Slap!
Won Seung slapped her cheek.
"Snap out of it. This isn't the time to mess with small-time black dao thugs."
"Huh?"
Jong Bi came to.
Killing Uyangjeong wouldn't change getting pummeled by Bi Jangno.
"Hmm. How long will Bi Jangno wait if we don't respond?"
"Emergency signals like that? Usually three shichen."
"Then we've got time. Let's plan."
Won Seung went to his study and reviewed the reports he'd sent Bi Jangno. He'd copied each one verbatim before sending.
Four letters total. Four months already...
"Joined Cheongsu Gate then left, briefly stayed at a transport relay, set up a safehouse... Then loitered around Cheongsu Gate gathering intel..."
"Yeah, that's the latest one."
Won Seung reread it, then smacked the letters with his palm.
"Clean as a whistle! Nothing to pick at. What more could a trainee do? Against a Peak expert. Surviving undetected is miracle enough."
Jong Bi countered,
"You could've killed the Choyang County magistrate. Or Zhongyang's Yi Eonpae..."
"Magistrate? Anytime. Yi Eonpae's in progress."
Won Seung brazened it out, so Jong Bi pressed,
"You had to take out Hwa Cheon-gang while at Cheongsu Gate."
"That Jo Bang-un watched like a hawk."
"Or were you bewitched by Hwa Yeo-wol's beauty?"
"How would Bi Jangno even know to ask that? Focus! Our lives are on the line."
Won Seung scowled, and Jong Bi asked again,
"Fine. Then why hang with Yong Jo-un?"
"Wasn't in the reports. Stick to what's there."
Jong Bi thought, then,
"Why impersonate Seongwangbu?"
"Got intel Gwangeonbang allied with Seongwangbu and used it."
"Why the alias Pung Un-saeng?"
"Sounds cool."
Won Seung and Jong Bi grilled each other, hunting flaws.
"But where's your money coming from? You're spending like water."
"..."
"How'd you afford the safehouse?"
"..."
The barrage ended with one glaring hole: unexplainable cash flow.
"No time—fake the safehouse first. It's temporary, so easy fix."
The renovated next door lacked furniture and daily goods.
Won Seung and Jong Bi grabbed a pot, bowls, tossed worn quilts on beds.
They hauled night-travel gear, hidden weapons from the warehouse, shabby herbs and poison vials, messing up one room.
Strewn trash everywhere, liquor bottles rolled across the living room.
Done, Won Seung surveyed proudly.
"Looks like a slovenly assassin's dive now, right?"
"Needs bloodstains? Torture tools?"
Jong Bi suggested after glancing around.
"Oh... Good call."
Won Seung sliced Jong Bi's arm shallow with his dagger.
"Ow!"
"Not deep. Squeeze and splatter."
Jong Bi flung blood from the cut.
Won Seung applied salve, bandaged it, and said,
"Bi Jangno meeting a trainee personally? Impossible. You're not initiated at Jeokhyeolsan yet. So he's calling you to probe me."
"Probably."
"Thought about it... We're not the target. I'm good, but no headquarters elder inspects trainee practice."
"R-Really?"
Jong Bi's face brightened.
"He's here for the three-way duel, I bet."
"Ah, the Hundred Peak Experts' three-way bout!"
Jong Bi smacked her fist into her palm.
"Right. Takes that to move a headquarters elder."
Her wandering soul returned.
But her sparkling eyes soon wavered.
"The duel... We're running it. What if Bi Jangno finds out?"
"Get a grip. Officially, we have nothing to do with it."
Really?
Jong Bi blinked wide, pondering.
Yeah?
Officially, Cheongsu Gate's Hwa Cheon-gang dodged Yong family descendant Yong Jo-un's challenge until Gwangeonbang's Cheon Il-hae stepped in for Sangyang warriors' honor. Cheon Il-hae proposed the duel, Hwa Cheon-gang and Yong Jo-un accepted.
Everyone assumed Gwangeonbang and Cheongsu Gate handled proceedings.
They'd managed the stage, invitations, guards—all paid in silver notes, under Cheon Il-hae, Hwa Cheon-gang, or Yong Jo-un's names.
No Pung Un-saeng, Song Myeong, or Ogu anywhere.
We were just... errand runners.
But the principals know.
Won Seung said,
"The duel contract's secret by clause—strict confidentiality."
Oh ho... Like that?
Still... Dead men tell no tales.
Taesu, Hwa clan, Cheon Il-hae, Gu Ja-ang, Yong Jo-un... Who else?
No one I can shut up quietly.
Ah, Jo Bang-un—the one killable... Died on his own.
Jong Bi sighed; Won Seung nodded sympathetically.
"Doesn't mean safe. Too tangled—some link might slip. Say I'm using the duel as cover to kill Hwa Cheon-gang."
"Huh? Tell the truth?"
"No. Vague: 'Seems like something.' If pressed, say you don't know—kept it secret even from you. Hiding assassin strategies is standard."
"Totally! Only the assassin knows their full strength."
Makes sense.
"Cash source is key. Covers the safehouse."
"Can't say I helped—against regs, I'd get punished too."
"Hmm... I'll handle that. Now go meet Bi Jangno. Find out why he's here."
"Got it."
Jong Bi slunk out, pale as a ghost.
While Won Seung and Jong Bi played house thieves, Ogu climbed Hwacheong Pavilion's ornate stairs.
Sangyang's top brothel glittered with lanterns and decorations, a starry paradise.
The summer night garden glowed red, yellow, blue—vivid hues everywhere. Boisterous male laughter mingled with women's choral giggles.
Built along a Sang River tributary, Hwacheong Pavilion sprawled with grand halls and annexes; its five-story tower gave the place its name.
Elsewhere revelry roared, but here and around it was hushed. No—against the dazzle, it felt eerie.
Hama-cho climbed ahead, chattering nonstop.
"Teacher U drop from the stars? One morning, boom—Baekhwa Pavilion in central Sangyang? Can't hide roots forever. Paintings... Smart head. Perfect for laundering cash, eh?"
Hama-cho never shut up. From sparse painting district profits to Uyangjeong's future, he spilled all.
Loose lips sink teeth...
Ogu listened silently, thinking that.
"To me, Teacher U's definitely our kind. Knows the rough men's world. Sure, pretty face... But inside. Right?"
"Our kind? What's that mean?"
Ogu asked; Hama-cho whipped around, thrusting his face close.
Round, plump-cheeked, but sharp-eyed.
"Told ya. Those walking the world's shadows... Black dao world, they call it."