Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Incident Investigation
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“Come on in. What kind of tea are you looking for?”
“......”
Even at the pavilion master’s prompting, Dae-un kept his lips firmly shut.
Irritation was plainly written across his face.
“...Do you really have to go through with that pointless charade?”
“Master?”
Seol stared at her master in bewilderment. He was speaking to the pavilion master with surprising familiarity, despite this being her first time here.
And despite Dae-un’s words, the pavilion master continued without letting his broad smile fade.
“We have everything from the finest West Lake Dragon Well to Kunshan Silver Needle. Just say the word.”
“...Hoo.”
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Dae-un awkwardly opened his mouth.
“...I’ve heard you carry Biluochun produced on Song Mountain. Do you have any?”
“We don’t carry Biluochun from Song Mountain.”
“That can’t be right. I heard it plain as day. They say its flavor rivals the immortal tea drunk by celestials in the heavens.”
Dae-un droned on with half-resigned bafflement.
The pavilion master watched him in silence for a moment before shrugging and speaking up.
“Well, looks like you already know everything, so I can’t play coy anymore. Come on inside.”
The pavilion master handed guest service off to a shop boy and led the two deeper into the shop.
He opened a hidden door in the floor and descended underground.
“Wow...!”
Seol gasped in admiration at the walls of the underground chamber, lined floor to ceiling with information.
That’s when she understood the significance of the pavilion’s name, Heavenly Net.
“This is Heavenly Net Merchant Group’s secret branch, right?”
“To be precise, it’s my old personal hideout from my Heavenly Net Hall days, repurposed into this Heavenly Net Pavilion... Ow!”
The pavilion master didn’t finish his sentence.
Dae-un’s fist had smacked the back of his head.
“Argh... What’s that for, you bastard?”
“What do you mean, what? Why’d you make me go through that ridiculous song and dance with a guy who already knows my face, Go Heung?”
Go Heung—the man called the pavilion master of Heavenly Net Pavilion—rubbed the back of his head and grumbled.
“It’s all part of the protocol for an information outfit. Ever heard of ‘enter the village and follow its customs’?”
“You and your big mouth...!”
Dae-un clenched his fist, trembling as if ready to strike again. Go Heung hurriedly changed the subject.
“Now, now, the two of you came all this way in person, so I’m guessing you have something to ask me? Fire away. I’ve got Hefei locked down tight...”
“The guy who didn’t even know the Sword Sovereign had passed spouting off like that.”
Go Heung shut his mouth at Dae-un’s pointed jab, then mumbled excuses.
“Th-that part wasn’t confirmed yet, so I couldn’t report it rashly. The Nangong Clan’s been hiding it desperately... You know what it means if the Sword Sovereign’s dead. It’s that big a...”
“Save the excuses.”
Dae-un cut Go Heung off without mercy.
Go Heung grumbled inwardly at Dae-un but quickly masked it like the seasoned info broker he was and sat across from them.
“So, what brings you here?”
“The Nangong Clan’s escort failures over the past year.”
“Oh, that.”
Go Heung stood and fetched a thick stack of papers from the back.
“Here you go—the escort records for the past year.”
“...You’re not seriously telling me to read all this.”
“Of course not. The top sheet’s a summary.”
Dae-un picked up the top sheet and scanned it carefully.
Then he furrowed his brow.
“This...”
“You caught on, huh? As expected of Yeo Dae-un.”
“Spare me the flattery. This real?”
“Yes. It’s confirmed.”
Seol, sitting quietly beside them, couldn’t follow and just blinked in confusion.
Noticing his disciple late, Dae-un handed her the summary.
Finally taking in the investigation details.
Seol read through slowly, just like her master.
And she couldn’t help but be shocked.
“...Even accounting for everything, isn’t the death toll way too high?”
That’s right.
The summary stated that over half of the Nangong Clan warriors dispatched on escorts in the past year—no, precisely the last three months—had died.
“That’s not all. Check the list of the dead.”
“The list... of the dead?”
At Dae-un’s words, Seol double-checked the names.
Heavenly Wind Sword Nangong Bang
Night Lord Sword Nangong Seong-il
Soaring Palace Sword Nangong Jong
...
Seol soon spotted another commonality besides all sharing the Nangong name.
“All the dead had nicknames—they’re all masters?”
“That’s right.”
Having a nickname.
That meant they were recognized as true masters in the martial world.
In this martial world, earning a nickname as a master meant you’d achieved the feat of defeating at least fifty warriors.
‘Does that mean Goon Ja-seong qualifies for a nickname now too?’
Seol shook her head, recalling how Ja-seong had toyed with nearly sixty ronin.
A young master in his twenties—truly unprecedented in martial history.
Seol pulled her wandering thoughts back to the matter at hand.
Anyway, some of the Nangong Clan’s top fighting forces had died. During escort missions, no less.
There was only one implication.
“...Tyrant Heaven Fortress targeted only the Nangong Clan’s masters in their attacks?”
Go Heung nodded vigorously at Seol’s conclusion.
“Yes. Whether the escorts succeeded or failed wasn’t the main point... well, it did matter. The repeated failures forced the Nangong Clan to commit their renowned masters to the missions. That let Tyrant Heaven Fortress wipe them all out, gutting the clan’s strength.”
Tyrant Heaven Fortress’s goal was to weaken the Nangong Clan’s forces.
Which meant their true aim was...!
“W-Wait, they’re planning to attack the Nangong Clan itself...!”
Seol shot to her feet in alarm.
It was the only reason she could think of for first culling the clan’s masters.
But Dae-un and Go Heung both shook their heads.
“That’s unlikely. The Nangong Clan isn’t some no-name minor sect from the boonies—they wouldn’t go that reckless.”
“I agree. Too big a gamble.”
“Then why go to all that trouble...?”
Neither Dae-un nor Go Heung could answer Seol’s follow-up.
They didn’t have enough info to judge yet.
“...Any traces at the attack sites that might pinpoint the attackers?”
“As you know, they’re thorough about that stuff. A few of my guys checked—nothing special.”
“What about the bodies of the dead Nangong masters? Any signs of specific techniques?”
Go Heung’s expression darkened at Dae-un’s next question.
“...The Nangong masters’ bodies were all badly mutilated. Probably to erase any martial arts traces.”
Seol and Dae-un both grimaced at the news of the dead being desecrated.
Dae-un asked a few more questions after that, but nothing substantial came up.
“...So all we’ve got is that Tyrant Heaven Fortress was gunning for the Nangong Clan’s forces.”
Dae-un muttered with a frustrated sigh.
Go Heung lifted the stack of papers and replied.
“I’ll dig deeper into the details. I’ll contact you if anything new turns up.”
“Please do.”
With that request, Dae-un and Seol left Heavenly Net Pavilion.
*
Around that time, Hwa Ryeon and Yak Bing had arrived at the Zhan Chang warehouse, fully gutted by a sudden fire.
“This is... devastating.”
Yak Bing, who’d proven her identity with a token borrowed temporarily from Nangong Hyun, groaned as she took in the warehouse burned to a crisp.
“Y-Yes, yes. It was so sudden and spread so fast—there was nothing we could do.”
The man who’d introduced himself as the manager of Nangong Zhan Chang eyed the two beauties sent by the young master with uneasy glances as he offered excuses.
The clan had already suffered massive losses from the warehouse’s destruction.
As the one in charge, he couldn’t avoid punishment no matter what.
He was already sleepless with worry every night, terrified of giving them any extra cause for grievance.
“Manager, we’re just here to properly investigate the fire. This won’t bring you any harm.”
“R-Really? Th-Thank you...”
Yak Bing offered a gentle, reassuring smile as if understanding his plight.
The manager’s face went slack, clearly not expecting such comfort.
“Then, could you tell us about what happened at the time of the fire?”
“...Understood.”
Whether Yak Bing’s words had eased him or not, the manager’s face was far more relaxed as he began his account.
“It’s been exactly seven weeks today. I finished my duties as usual and went home.”
Not long after, one of the Zhan Chang staff rushed to his house with news of a fire at the warehouse.
“The biggest one, number one. I hurried back to the Zhan Chang.”
When he arrived, the warehouse was already fully engulfed in flames.
“The fire spread too fast—we didn’t have a chance to do anything. And then it jumped to the records warehouse right next door...”
Hwa Ryeon and Yak Bing turned to look. Beside the gutted warehouse stood a small building half-burned.
“So the Zhan Chang’s overall records were lost?”
“...Half escaped the flames, but the other half’s all ash.”
Should he lament losing half the records as a disaster, or be grateful half survived?
One thing was clear: Nangong Zhan Chang had lost the all-important trust of its clients.
“...No one’s coming to entrust their goods with us anymore. And droves demanding their deposits back or compensation for losses.”
The manager’s face darkened anew at the staggering reality of the damages from the Zhan Chang incident.