Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Infiltration
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“...What? It’s too light?”
That was right.
The golden Buddha statue, which looked pretty heavy at a glance, was far lighter than I’d expected.
It was as if the inside was completely hollow...
“...No way?”
I flipped the golden Buddha statue this way and that, examining it closely.
And there it was—a faint seam tracing a circle on the bottom.
I wedged my fingernail into the seam and pulled, and the base popped open like a lid, revealing the empty interior.
Inside it, a small book was rolled up.
“Found it.”
I grinned and carefully extracted the book.
There was no title on the cover, so I opened it to check the contents. Sure enough, it was a secret ledger.
This must be the gambling den’s real ledger.
Just to be sure, I searched for the steward’s name.
“Dam Jin-bo... Dam Jin-bo...”
I scanned through it all, but there was no Dam Jin-bo anywhere.
“Hmm...”
So the suspicions about the steward’s gambling were false after all.
Finally, I had something to tell his wife.
But there was still one unresolved question.
“What’s the reason?”
Like I’d discussed with Go Hyeong earlier, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they’d kill the steward and burn down the warehouse.
Sure, this Jo Un-chil bastard might’ve cooperated for the money, but what was Tyrant Heaven Fortress’s motive?
I’d been hoping this ledger would reveal that motive...
I checked inside the golden Buddha statue again, wondering if there was anything else, but it was completely empty.
“Looks like... I’ll have to interrogate Jo Un-chil himself directly?”
Go Hyeong was waiting outside... but it didn’t seem like I could slip out quickly now.
Just as I was inwardly apologizing to Go Hyeong, a commotion erupted from downstairs.
-Kyaaak-!
-Kuugh-!
“...? What’s that?”
A woman’s shrill scream and a heavy death rattle.
And faintly, the metallic tang of blood.
My face hardened as I headed straight downstairs.
The moment I descended the stairs, a gruesome scene stained with blood everywhere greeted me.
In that short time, dozens of people were already collapsed on the floor, losing their warmth.
I frowned at the sight when a terrified voice cried out.
“U, ugh... Wh-why are you doing this...!”
I turned toward the voice and saw dozens of people trembling, surrounded by six armed men.
I looked at the uniforms the encircled men wore.
More precisely, at the two characters “Tyrant Heaven” embroidered on the shoulders of their uniforms.
“W-we did everything you ordered! We framed that steward bastard for gambling debts and went to the warehouse to collect! We did everything you asked, so why...!?”
Meanwhile, a goateed middle-aged man in front of the encircled group was railing at the attackers.
From what he was saying, this guy must be Jo Un-chil.
“That’s right. You did very well. Exactly as we hoped.”
“Th-then why...?”
“Why? Once the hunt is over, you boil the hunting dogs. You’re no longer useful, so of course we eliminate you.”
“Th-this, this...!”
Jo Un-chil’s face twisted hideously, unable to speak properly.
He stammered for a while before finally spitting out words.
“You who claim to protect the common folk from the tyranny of martial artists—how could you do such a thing-!”
A moment of silence.
Then came low, mocking chuckles.
“...Pfft.”
“Kh. Heh heh.”
The encircled men—Tyrant Heaven Fortress warriors—laughed as if they’d heard the funniest joke in the world.
“Wh-what! What’s so funny!”
“Puhaha... How could it not be? The one disrupting the common folk most in this Hefei dares to spout such nonsense.”
On this point, even I had to agree.
This Jo Un-chil bastard was the scum who’d drag kids off to sell if parents couldn’t pay gambling debts.
It was absurd hearing trash like him talk about the common folk, even in this dire situation.
“You entertained us on your final road, so I’ll send you off painlessly. Farewell.”
The man in the center approached Jo Un-chil and raised his sword.
The moment that blade fell, Jo Un-chil’s head would follow.
Part of me wanted to just let him die, but I still had business with this scum.
I revealed my presence and spoke up.
“That won’t work for me.”
“...!? Who’s there!”
The six warriors whirled toward my voice in an instant.
I eyed the one who’d been about to kill Jo Un-chil moments ago.
Now that I saw his face properly, the man looked more like a mild-mannered scholar than I’d expected.
He frowned at my night clothes and mask.
“To not notice you approaching until now... You’re an assassin?”
“If I had to pick, less assassin and more rooftop gentleman. Temp job, though.”
The middle-aged man looked dumbfounded at my answer.
“If you’re a thief, steal your goods and vanish. Why step forward?”
“Because what I need to steal is right there.”
I nodded toward Jo Un-chil.
“I’ve got business with him. Regrettably, I can’t let him die by your hand.”
“...Ha.”
The middle-aged man let out a hollow laugh.
The laugh turned to a sneer, then spread to the other Tyrant Heaven Fortress warriors.
“Puhahaha...”
“Hahaha...”
He shook his head, stopping his laughter, and addressed me.
“Listen, rooftop gentleman. You’re in no position to worry about his life. Worry about your own.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re about to kill you.”
“You’re going to kill me...? For the same reason as these people?”
I glanced down at the woman’s face right beside me.
Her delicate features, sliced open from upper body to neck, still held a youthful innocence.
Probably around my age, maybe a year or two older.
Judging by her clothes, she worked at this gambling den.
Likely pretty enough to be assigned to entertain the big spenders who came up to this floor.
“While we’re on the topic, why did you kill these people? No matter how I look, they’re not part of Jo Un-chil’s gang.”
His answer to my question was ridiculous.
“Why? They were just unlucky. They saw Tyrant Heaven Fortress’s confidential business, so we had to silence them.”
“Seems like a lot died just for being unlucky?”
I hadn’t counted exactly, but even a rough estimate put it at dozens.
Yet the middle-aged man’s face showed no guilt as he claimed this many died from mere bad luck.
“That’s what the common weeds are. Trampled mercilessly under the slightest step.”
After spouting that nonsense, he looked at me and clucked his tongue pityingly.
“I don’t know what possessed you to step in, but your thoughtless act will just add one more needless death.”
Hah, you’ll kill me too?
I’d thought so since he started talking crap, but despite his looks, he was rotten to the core.
Suddenly, I looked down again at the woman’s body, her face.
Just coincidence?
As I gazed at her face, a single tear precariously clung to her lifeless, empty eyes trickled down.
Was it my imagination that the tear seemed to beg me for something?
“......”
Either way, imagination or not, what did it matter?
I’d already made up my mind.
“Did I say I was a rooftop gentleman earlier?”
“You did. Why bring it up?”
“Nothing much. I just changed jobs. To assassin.”
“...What?”
The middle-aged man looked utterly baffled.
Did he understand what I meant? Probably not, so I’d spell it out.
“This young lady just hired me. To kill all you ruthless bastards who murdered her. First job since opening shop—gotta make it a success, right?”
“...Just a madman. Kill him.”
“Yes, sir!”
Dismissing my declaration as a lunatic’s ravings, the middle-aged man ordered his men.
The five warriors responded crisply and advanced on me.
A pleased smirk on the bastard’s lips.
He didn’t even consider they might die instead while trying to kill me.
Well, in their eyes, I must look like a crazy fool charging in unarmed.
I’d left my sword with Go Hyeong, not expecting a fight.
Of course, no big deal.
What kind of warrior can’t fight without a sword?
Besides, no sword? Just take one.
Five right in front of me.
I charged the warrior at the far right of the five.
I expelled internal energy through the Yongquan point on my soles, closing the gap in an instant.
Planting my front foot, I pulled back my left fist.
True energy raced along my meridians and gathered at my fist tip, then slammed into the warrior’s left chest—right over his heart.
The energy in my fist burrowed into him, shattering his heart.
“Gr, grrrk...”
One punch, and he foamed at the mouth, eyes rolling back.
Before his body hit the ground, I snatched the sword from his hand.
“...Huh?”
The warrior next to him let out a dazed sound. Couldn’t process what he’d just seen.
No need for him to understand—I severed his neck in one stroke.
“Wh-what the hell...!?”
Two down in the blink of an eye, the remaining three panicked and swung at me.
Hm, faster reactions than those Dark Heaven Division guys.
Not sure if that deserves praise.
“Haaap!”
A scream-like shout as a sword slashed toward my head.
I slipped left, slicing deep into the third’s right side.
-Splurt!
“Arghhh!”
Guts spilled from the deep gash.
I passed the third as he dropped his sword, clutching the wound and screaming.
-Swoosh!
Air whistled as another sword flew at me.
The fourth had coldly judged the moment and struck at my opening.
But without internal energy in his footwork, it was glacially slow to me.
I tilted my head slightly to dodge, then thrust like a stab, piercing the fourth’s heart.
“Gahk-!”
The fourth, dead with his heart impaled.
Instead of pulling the sword from the corpse, I used the body as a shield and charged the fifth.
“Tch...!”
The fifth grimaced at me rushing with a comrade’s corpse as cover and swung horizontally.
A fierce swing aiming to cleave me with the body.
But I sensed hesitation in his blade.
I exploited it.
I hurled the sword-pierced corpse straight at the fifth.
-Thunk!
“Gahk...!?”
Result: the fifth was skewered alongside the fourth.
As he thrashed under the fourth’s corpse, I snatched the fourth’s sword and pierced his neck in one go.
The fifth met his end pinned under his comrade’s body.
Only the third remained, clutching his side wound in terror.
“P-please...! Spare me...!”
As he begged for his life while I approached, I posed one question.
“These people probably begged the same. What’d you tell them?”
“......”
The third just flapped his mouth silently.
I lopped off his head in one swing.
Thus, the five Tyrant Heaven Fortress warriors met their ends. In less than half a gak.
“......”
Silence enveloped the room.
I looked at the middle-aged man, his face full of shock, and said,
“Now it’s just you left?”