Chapter 181
Translator: penny
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: The Concubine's Mysterious Death
After parting ways with me, Sa Hye-rin somehow managed to return to the Four Commands Sect.
She immediately explained the whole story to her master.
Upon hearing it, the Sect Leader of the Four Commands Sect first tried to track down who had leaked the information to the Shandong Evil Clan. It wasn't hard to uncover the spy's identity.
"It was one of Master's concubines."
The Sect Leader had two wives and five concubines. The one passing information to the Shandong Evil Clan was a woman named Go Dan-so, the longest-serving among them.
Go Dan-so was a commoner who had never learned any martial arts.
However, she had long enjoyed the Sect Leader's favor and expanded her influence within the Four Commands Sect. Thanks to that, she knew Sa Hye-rin's movements in advance.
"But here's the strange part. She had no reason to pass information to the Shandong Evil Clan."
Go Dan-so wasn't a martial artist to begin with, and she had no family or close ties outside the Four Commands Sect.
She was said to have a selfish personality that put herself above all else.
Even if she defected to the Shandong Evil Clan as a spy, she couldn't expect better treatment than in the Four Commands Sect.
Not to mention, she didn't even have a bad relationship with Sa Hye-rin.
In short, she had the means to act, but no motive.
So Sa Hye-rin said she and the Sect Leader had planned to interrogate Go Dan-so together.
"Just as we locked her up and were about to start the interrogation, she suddenly convulsed, foam bubbling from her mouth. And then... she died."
The cause of death was a heart attack.
She died before they could extract any information.
"At first, we naturally suspected poison. Master had an excellent physician perform an autopsy, but there were no traces of poison at all. Not even a single toxin."
"So the Four Commands Sect Leader was there when Go Dan-so died?"
"Yes. Master was right beside her."
The Sect Leader's cultivation was at the late Flower Realm.
No assassin, no matter how skilled, could poison Go Dan-so right under an absolute expert's watch. It was impossible.
The only possibility would be Formless Poison...
'Ridiculous. That's just a legend.'
Formless Poison.
A legendary poison said to be colorless, odorless, tasteless—and without form itself.
It was something every poison-using faction, from the Sichuan Tang Family onward, had tried to create. But even in my previous life, up until I died, it remained a myth, never once revealed.
And even if it existed, no one would waste something so precious just to silence a single spy.
'Tch. So it really was just a coincidence?'
Heart attacks could strike even the healthiest people out of nowhere.
The timing was too perfect to ignore, but coincidences happen like that, don't they?
The Four Commands Sect seemed to have reached a similar conclusion.
"We're thinking it was just bad luck."
"..."
Something still felt off.
But no matter how I turned it over in my mind, it looked like nothing but coincidence.
'If the Sect Leader hadn't been there, maybe...'
There was the assumption that the Sect Leader and Go Dan-so were in cahoots, but that didn't hold up either.
What would that old man have to gain by scheming from the shadows?
Still, I filed away the possibility—just in case—and asked Sa Hye-rin something else.
"So what happened with the Shandong Evil Clan side?"
"Truth be told, we don't even know for sure it was them. We confirmed she passed information to someone, but we couldn't find who received it."
It was all circumstantial evidence.
And the one solid proof, Go Dan-so, had dropped dead.
In such a situation, the Four Commands Sect's options were limited.
"Master said to watch and wait for now. It's tragic about the dead subordinates, but we can't rush into a fight with the Shandong Evil Clan over that alone."
If Sa Hye-rin had died, it would have been different.
She was practically the future of the Four Commands Sect.
But thanks to me, Sa Hye-rin returned unharmed. From the Sect Leader's perspective, there was no need to pick a fight with the Shandong Evil Clan.
'So what happens to the Four Commands Sect and the Shandong Evil Clan in this life? They don't get wiped out?'
No matter how massive the Great War of Righteousness and Evil was, major factions didn't suffer catastrophic losses.
It was an opportunity for them instead.
Proof of that was the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families standing strong thirty years later.
All except the Shandong Evil Clan endured.
The unorthodox sects fared similarly.
Major powers like the Four Black Alliance, Shadow Gate Sect, and White Horse Valley would rise to prominence by then.
Only the Four Commands Sect and the Shandong Evil Clan.
Those two forces alone vanished in the future.
That's why I'd assumed they mutually destroyed each other in my past life.
There were reasons for it, too.
But with the Four Commands Sect playing it safe now, maybe both would survive intact this time.
'...That could be a problem.'
It would be awkward for Eun Garyeon, who was expanding her influence in Shandong based solely on my word.
But I couldn't start a fight myself.
As I mulled over these thoughts, Sa Hye-rin spoke first.
"But Young Master Mok, did you come all this way just to ask about that?"
"Ah, well..."
I hesitated over whether to mention the Harmony Group.
If I'd already claimed her body, it might be different, but right now, she was just another person.
But before I could answer, Sa Hye-rin reached out and took my hand.
"Can I ask you a few things too, Young Master Mok?"
Her hand rested softly on the back of mine.
The gentle touch startled me a little.
"Ahem. What would the young lady like to know?"
"Nothing much... I want to hear how you met Sword Phoenix."
Sa Hye-rin's slender index finger began lightly scratching the back of my hand.
Our eyes met, and she gave a small smile.
"Will you tell me?"
It was ticklish just from her fingertips—a vixen through and through.
If I pulled my hand away here, she'd play it off casually and keep talking.
The mood was obvious enough that even a dullard like Paeng Deok-jo would notice.
She was making an active move on me.
Showing interest.
Of course, it was a good situation for me.
Just a bit more forward than usual.
'This is new.'
Excluding courtesans, no woman had approached me this aggressively before.
Namgung Sua had taken the initiative recently too, but she only threw out hints.
In the end, I was the one who chased and bedded her.
Sa Hye-rin was different.
With no reaction from me, her actions grew bolder.
She scooted her chair right up beside me.
From that intimate distance where I could smell her scent, she whispered seductively.
"Is this troubling you?"
As if.
It was exactly what I wanted.
'She's practically begging me to take her.'
She wouldn't refuse even if I carried her to that bed right now.
But a fun idea suddenly struck me.
'Let's see how far she'll go.'
I lowered my head slightly and forced a trembling voice.
"Young Lady Sa, I have Hui-a..."
"Hui-a? You mean Sword Phoenix?"
Mentioning Moyong Hui must have been the right move—Sa Hye-rin got even bolder.
Her hand, which had been stroking my hand, slipped under the table to caress my thigh.
"She's not here. Surely you didn't come alone expecting nothing like this?"
Perfect answer.
But admitting it right away would spoil the fun, so I played hard to get a little longer.
"I didn't have intentions like..."
"Then what did you have in mind?"
Her hand crept higher up my thigh, slipping inside my robe.
I held back the urge to scoop her up and head straight for the bed, responding stiffly instead.
"Young Lady Sa, this is..."
I knew from seducing so many women.
A woman who shyly resists is far more alluring than one who agrees easily.
The key here was the "resistance."
"Hehe. Why are you like this, Young Master Mok?"
But not too strong.
Pretend no on the surface, but accept it with your body—that was the trick.
In other words, don't push her away.
"Young Lady Sa, please stop...!"
I babbled protests verbally while savoring her touch.
Her hand, now inside my robe, reached my firm chest.
"If you don't like it, just push me away. You're far stronger than I am."
As she said, I could shove her off anytime.
But I had no intention of doing so.
"How could I ever do that to you...?"
"So you consent?"
She caught on quick.
Adorable.
Gaining confidence, Sa Hye-rin ramped things up.
She rose from her chair and straddled my lap.
"Hng...!"
That groan was genuine—I nearly got hard from the feel of her soft buttocks.
'Hold it together!'
This was just getting good.
If I popped a boner now, it might end the game.
"Why are you like this, Young Master Mok?"
She faced me, the corner of her mouth curling up as if she'd read my mind.