Tomorrow's Fortune (5)
Bloodstains stretched long across the room. The air reeked of blood. It was a gruesome murder scene, but no one dared move recklessly.
So it ends like this after all?
I'd half-expected it ever since Ak Byeongbi had been trembling with rage in the grand hall. In the end, our delegation was being used as the spark to ignite a war—
"Cough..."
Eh? What the—why was he still alive?
Judging by the amount of blood pooled around him, he should've died at least twice over. Guess a big lug like that had the durability to match.
"Hold on."
I grabbed Ilgak's shoulder as he moved to approach.
"Let's leave it to Senior Dang for now."
If we all rushed in at once, we'd compromise the scene. Ilgak caught my meaning and nodded.
Dang Seohee stepped lightly, avoiding the blood trails as she examined Ak Byeongbi's wounds.
"His condition isn't good at all."
"What got him?"
"The wounds are ragged... like a saw blade? Some kind of serrated weapon."
Dang Seohee plugged one of his wounds with her hand while drawing a long silver needle with the other. She stabbed it into his abdomen, pulled it out, and inspected it.
"No poison."
"An ambush?"
I scanned the room again, comparing it against my memory of how we'd left it, checking for any changes.
The long streaks of blood suggested Ak Byeongbi had fought back, but oddly, there were no signs of broken furniture inside. And this intruder—they'd brazenly left through the door.
No matter how bold the Sahyeokryeon, I hadn't thought they'd pull something this overt.
...Or maybe it wasn't outsiders—perhaps someone from within had acted on their own?
Too many variables. My head was about to explode.
"...Treatment first. He won't die right away, but we can't leave him like this."
Dang Seohee had done emergency care, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. Still, for him to lose this much blood and not drop dead yet was impressive in its own way. Even a bull would've keeled over by now.
Problem was, for proper emergency treatment, we'd have to hand him over to the Sahyeokryeon folks. Was that smart?
"No time for other options."
If Dang Seohee said so, no choice.
"Let's call someone in."
Ilgak nodded at my words and hurried out—only to stumble back in reverse.
A group of men shoved their way in, pushing Ilgak ahead of them. Among them stood out a hulking figure clad in iron armor.
I stared straight at him and asked, "What's brings you here?"
Hwang Busik gazed down at Ak Byeongbi with the same emotionless eyes as when we'd first met at Sahwangbong.
I followed his gaze and pressed, "Perfect timing. You owe us an explanation for this."
I warned him, still not meeting my eyes, "Or you'll be preparing for war with the Murim Alliance."
"..."
As Hwang Busik finally turned to me and opened his mouth, chaos erupted outside. Another group burst in wildly.
Hwang Busik glanced back and said curtly, "Stop them."
"Yes, sir."
His iron-armored warriors blocked the newcomers, who unleashed a barrage of curses.
"Outta the way, you bastards!"
"You're in on it with those fuckers!"
"Move or we'll cut you down!"
Hwang Busik intoned lowly toward the intruders, "Self-restraint, or you'll all be arrested."
The newcomers, swords half-drawn and snarling, hesitated at Hwang Busik's icy presence.
"We're not the ones who need arresting—it's them."
A man pushed through the crowd. I'd seen his face moments ago.
"Those bastards... they dared assassinate our sect leader!"
Galcheongi of the Hwangsa Sect, grinding his teeth as he bellowed.
"Righteous sect disciples trying to pull off a sneak attack!"
"Restrain yourselves! This is Sahyeokryeon territory, not Hwangsa Sect!"
Hwang Busik's internal energy boomed out, his voice thundering. The Hwangsa Sect warriors froze—but not out of fear. More like settling their nerves before a real brawl.
Hwang Busik sighed faintly, turned to me, and said, "Get the picture?"
"..."
Then, loud enough for everyone around to hear, he declared, "Ak Byeongbi, delegation leader, is under arrest for the assassination of Hwangsa Sect Leader Gukgye-ak."
"..."
I glanced at Ak Byeongbi, still lying there.
Ah, so he hadn't been ambushed—he'd gone out and done the deed himself?
Impressive.
#
"You'll have to cooperate with the investigation for now."
At Hwang Busik's words, his iron-armored men moved to swarm the room.
Shing—
I traced a line on the floor with my Black Dragon Sword and said, "Cross it, and I can't guarantee your lives."
Hwang Busik scowled deeply.
"...What is this?"
"We're a delegation. Unless you're formally declaring war, you can't detain us by force."
"Clear evidence allows for detention."
"..."
I didn't know why, but the Hwangsa Sect goons accepted it, and even Hwang Busik was convinced Ak Byeongbi had launched the attack. Why? How?
"Evidence?"
Hwang Busik replied instantly, "The wounds on the corpse."
Irrefutable, huh?
Even so, I wasn't backing down easily.
"If he ambushed them, our side took heavy damage too."
The answer came from Galcheongi instead.
"Fuck! Of course those righteous pricks couldn't do shit in a real assassination!"
True—the long blood trails in the room, with no broken furnishings, made it look more like he'd attacked and come back injured than been ambushed.
I asked Hwang Busik, "Treatment's urgent. Will you provide it?"
"...We'll assign our best physician for questioning."
"And we'll attach one of ours."
Hwang Busik nodded instead of answering.
As the armored warriors led Ak Byeongbi and Dang Seohee out, Galcheongi flipped out, foaming at the mouth.
"Fuck! What the hell are you doing? Don't you know those bastards are in on it? Why aren't you arresting them?"
"Nothing's proven yet. And they're still delegation members."
"That's ridiculous...!"
I patted the fuming Galcheongi's shoulder sympathetically.
"Hey, idiot, we were with you. Obviously we're cleared. Use that thing on your neck for thinking sometime."
"..."
But having lost his sect's elder, Galcheongi's face stayed dark.
"You dogshit Jin Sowoon! I'll kill you someday!!"
I try to console him, and he threatens me? Tsk, this is why I hate dealing with vicious black path scum.
#
"What do you make of all this?"
Ilgak let out a long sigh.
"Even cleared as suspects, they won't buy our innocence. So they're watching us under the guise of protection..."
"Ilgak... I know that much."
I knew that wasn't what he meant by the question. Crazy as it sounded, in this atmosphere, I needed some humor to cope. A habit from my Small Justice Squad days.
The more hopeless the situation, the more jokes kept the deeper anxiety at bay. Hence the ill-timed quip.
This mess rivaled even those days.
Ilgak paled to his scalp and groaned.
"Did the leader... really do it?"
"Wouldn't put it past him."
"Jin... "
"Got it."
See? Greenhouse flowers just can't hack it. Can't even speak freely.
Truth was, I had no answers either. Not being in the same space when it happened didn't prove our innocence.
Worst case, every bastard here was drawing lots to see who got to take our heads.
We'd handed them the perfect excuse.
And Shanxi Province was weak on Murim Alliance influence. To escape Sahyeokryeon reach, we'd need Henan at least.
"Henan's a long way..."
"Jin! You can't mean flee?"
Ilgak overheard my mutter and couldn't hide his shock.
Fleeing aside, the real issue was whether Ak Byeongbi had truly killed Gukgye-ak...
"Can you swear the leader didn't do it?"
"..."
See? No answer.
I hoped he hadn't, but I couldn't say for sure. Even Ilgak, with his unmoving heart, couldn't claim he wouldn't have sought revenge in the same spot.
Let alone Ak Byeongbi, who despised black path scum. He might've finally unleashed the vengeance he'd nurtured all these years.
For now, the priority was who would lead the delegation going forward. Seemed trivial, but it mattered—a wrong call here, and we'd all die with Ak Byeongbi.
He was arrested for murder, so by rank, Ilgak next.
"If he did it, what then?"
"Jin... It won't come to—"
I shook my head firmly.
"We plan for the worst. Optimism alone gets us killed."
I understood his vengeance, but I wasn't dying for it. Same for Dang Seohee and Ilgak.
Ilgak pondered long, then nodded.
"...I'll follow your lead."
And so, I took command of the delegation. Procedurally, Dang Seohee's okay was needed, but she wouldn't crave the role. If she pouted, I'd let her play bandit on the way back.
If we made it back.
#
The guards' footsteps outside never fully faded overnight. Come morning, fresh shifts took over—not just at the door, but windows and garden too.
This ain't good.
Worse, the revelry that'd echoed till dawn cut off sharp. No more drunken bellows or gambling brawls.
Word of Gukgye-ak's death had spread through Sahyeokryeon. And Ak Byeongbi's name as the fiend.
Once the mood built, calls for execution would swell. We might end up beheaded on a pole before we could resist.
Should we bolt now?
I'd have slipped out last night if possible, but that would've started the war regardless of Ak Byeongbi's fate.
But we need something workable.
Originally, today was for meeting Sahwangbong Lord and other black path leaders. But with one of us suspected as assassin, who'd see me? We weren't that tight.
Then.
Thud thud—
Hwang Busik strode in with heavy steps.
"Going to view the body?"
I stood and asked, "Mind explaining the extra guards?"
"To protect you."
"Protect, huh."
True or not, confirming Ak Byeongbi's deed came first.
Escorted(?) by ten armored warriors, we were led to Gukgye-ak's corpse.
And.
"..."
Ilgak's face stayed grim at the wounds.
"Hoo..."
Me too.
A fist-sized hole punched through the heart, edges charred black. Unmistakable spear wound with fire traces.
Even a layman would've pegged it as the Ak family's Blazing Spear.
"Can't deny it," Ilgak said. I nodded.
At this point, few had seen more corpses than me—maybe just undertakers. Especially martial wounds; I'd seen more than them.
No tampering here. Post-mortem, it'd look different. That hole killed him.
Hwang Busik explained to our stunned silence, "The physician treating Ak Byeongbi said the wound matches Hwangsa Sect blades."
Yeah, figures. How many used serrated weapons like that? Unmistakable.
I swallowed a sigh.
"Looks like our leader tried a hit and got hurt doing it."
Forget treaties—now it was about surviving.
I turned to Hwang Busik. "What now for us?"
"Wait till investigation ends."
"At our lodgings?"
If at the inn with this guard count... Once Dang Seohee returned from escorting Ak Byeongbi, we three could slip out.
I was retracing our entry route, plotting escape, when familiar voices rang out.
"Kekeke, you really stirred up a storm."
"Young master, we meet again so soon?"
What? Hyeoltu and Yeom Gwi-bi, why the hell here?
Hwang Busik nailed it shut. "Those two will stay with you."
Ha, no escape then? Guess drawing the Five Heavenly Kings card like Gun Yu-hyeon said was seriously bad luck.
In my past life, everyone who'd let me draw it died the next day. Damn.
Hwang Busik, still stone-faced, said, "Regrettable."
His version of sympathy? Felt none. Was this how Galcheongi felt?
Still, I had to find a way. I'd thrashed till the end before.
"One request?"
Hwang Busik shook his head without hesitation.
Stubborn bastard. But I wouldn't yield easy.
"Not hard. Just hear me out."
He sighed and relented. "Speak."
"When our leader wakes, let us see him first?"
"..."
They grant the dying's last wishes—surely a doomed man's request was fair game.
Right?