Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Part 18: Gold Leech
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Luoyang Sword Clan, Second Young Master's camp.
Strategist Han Myeong-hwi's office.
Han Myeong-hwi asked again in a voice trembling without his realizing it.
“…A miss?”
“…My apologies.”
The assassin known in Fuzhou as the Murderous Hunting Dog, Blade-Hunting Dog, showed an attitude utterly unworthy of his infamous reputation.
“Another miss…?”
“…My apologies.”
He hung his head like a dog kicked in the ribs, tail tucked between its legs.
“Explain yourself.”
Han Myeong-hwi said through gritted teeth, clutching his head.
One of Han Myeong-hwi's strategists who had moved with Blade-Hunting Dog cautiously opened his mouth instead.
“To reclaim the Sword Clan Bronze Token that Geumju possessed, we were tracking an entity called the Dark Heaven Venerable…”
“No need for the preamble.”
The strategist swallowed dryly and got to the point.
“The last sighting of the Dark Heaven Venerable was near Sinak Valley. But…”
Han Myeong-hwi cut in as if he had been there himself.
“Sinak Valley is already under Fourth Young Master's control, so you couldn't properly investigate. Of all places, it had to be Fourth Young Master and Eldest Young Master's business territory.”
“...”
“Thanks to that bastard, Eldest Young Master and Fourth Young Master are lying back and feasting.”
His subordinates couldn't say a word.
“…Any word from the Inspection Department?”
“No information yet that the Inspection Department has mobilized to recover the Sword Clan Bronze Token…”
“But we can't read Central Inspection Pavilion's movements. So they might already be in motion. This isn't your typical Sword Clan Bronze Token case.”
Han Myeong-hwi, alone in the office, was saying everything they should have, who had been out in the field.
“...”
The subordinates fell silent.
It only meant their investigation had been that inadequate.
“…So what the hell is this Dark Heaven Venerable's identity?”
No one could answer.
This time, even Han Myeong-hwi couldn't speculate.
“Not like that last investigation with ghost nonsense from some fortune-teller, or eyewitness ramblings—any solid intel?”
“...”
First, it was Geumju, whom he himself had recommended to receive the Sword Clan Bronze Token.
Then, Sinak Valley turned into Eldest Young Master and Fourth Young Master's business hub, which he was supposed to handle.
It felt like this Dark Heaven Venerable was born just to torment him.
“…All of you, out.”
The subordinates hurriedly cleared the office.
The vein throbbing on Han Myeong-hwi's temple betrayed his fury.
Dark Heaven Venerable, Geumju, Sword Clan Bronze Token, Eldest Young Master and Fourth Young Master's business. The new commander Elder Hand had summoned.
Nothing was going right.
Before this new commander arrived, he had done everything to sabotage Eldest Young Master and Fourth Young Master's business.
He wanted to prove his worth somehow.
But every scheme he devised and attempted had already been shattered.
'I thought I could at least buy some time…'
He had mobilized every connection he had, even borrowing for ones he didn't, in administrative delay tactics.
Even Fourth Young Master's chief strategist had joined with a one-shot-all-in mindset, but it all flew out the window cleanly.
“Eldest Young Master…!”
Han Myeong-hwi tore at his hair.
That monstrous bastard—somehow using powers of heavyweights he couldn't even dream of approaching—had swept away the administrative officials in one go.
Elder Hand hadn't said much, but even he seemed considerably flustered this time.
He didn't want to admit it, but…
'Was Eldest Young Master never someone I could handle to begin with?'
Even as he acknowledged the opponent's prowess, he didn't stop thinking.
'I am Han Myeong-hwi… I won't fall like this…'
The power of thought was all he had, and the tenacity forged in Shanghai's slaughterhouse was his foundation.
“…When I fall, I'll bite at least that bastard's ankle tendon.”
He shot up from his seat.
The chair toppled backward, but he didn't care.
'Right. Admit it. The opponent is bigger than me. Stronger than me.'
He had come to the Luoyang Sword Clan by sheer luck, pretending to be refined and throwing his weight around.
Leaning on Second Young Master's power, crushing those smaller than Second Young Master, reveling in screwing them over.
'But this has always been my specialty…'
From that childhood day when he lost both parents and survived Shanghai's illegal slave markets.
He had survived by dragging big fish into the mud and devouring them.
“Yeah… mud pit it is.”
To drag the opponent into the mud, he had to dirty his own hands.
His mind spun clearly, like shedding a layer of dust.
It felt refreshing.
He immediately recalled a name he needed.
“Gold Leech.”
One of the six rulers dominating Luoyang's underworld, and Geumju's foster father.
They had never properly interacted, and there was no credit for dealings.
He was far bigger than Han Myeong-hwi, but that didn't matter now.
He had already lost his foster daughter and the Black Bone Gang she had nurtured well to the Dark Heaven Venerable.
And with Eldest Young Master and Fourth Young Master's business, he must have given up rebuilding his considerable operations in Sinak Valley.
Whether he held grudges against Dark Heaven Venerable or Eldest Young Master, he would surely be open to a deal with Han Myeong-hwi.
Han Myeong-hwi bolted out of his office.
* * *
“What?”
But unlike his bold charge, Han Myeong-hwi sensed the plan going awry from the start.
“Uh, sorry, Strategist Han, but we don't have a contact method for Gold Leech either.”
Han Myeong-hwi scratched his forehead at the absurd response.
“Even the Great Selection Merchant Association doesn't know the contact method?”
The Great Selection Merchant Association masqueraded as a merchant group but was actually Second Young Master's direct intelligence operation.
“Weren't we in a cooperative relationship with Gold Leech?”
“…That's true, but.”
The Great Selection Merchant Association operative hesitated, then stood.
“Please wait a moment.”
While the operative was out the door, Han Myeong-hwi puzzledly stroked his chin.
'Even Jiangnan Division headquarters, and now the Great Selection Merchant Association, doesn't know Gold Leech's contact or liaison methods?'
It was bizarre.
'Then how has this cooperative relationship functioned all this time?'
“Strategist Han Myeong-hwi?”
Turning, Han Myeong-hwi saw a Great Selection Merchant Association executive.
* * *
'The Great Selection Merchant Association executive knows nothing about Gold Leech either?'
Han Myeong-hwi was back at Jiangnan Division headquarters, rummaging through the archives.
'The executive clearly knew nothing. What the hell is going on?'
The archives held Luoyang Sword Clan secrets that must never leak out, but with his top-classification access, nothing was off-limits.
Yet.
“Hey!”
At Han Myeong-hwi's call, the archivist buried in unclassified files jumped up.
“Yes! Strategist!”
Han Myeong-hwi waved a few thin documents and asked.
“Is this all the files on Gold Leech?”
The archivist took them, checked the index, and searched the lists.
“Uh… yes. That's everything.”
“...”
That was when Han Myeong-hwi became certain he was approaching something ominous.
* * *
Gold Leech.
The info on him was just the superficial level Han Myeong-hwi had checked before dealing with Geumju.
He had appeared in Luoyang one day and rapidly expanded influence through usury, human trafficking, gambling dens, and the like.
The process was ruthlessly efficient and effective; it hadn't taken long for him to become an underworld heavyweight.
“Why is there so little information…?”
As Han Myeong-hwi sat lost in thought in the empty office, the door opened without a knock.
“Who…?”
“Strategist Han…!”
It was Fourth Young Master's chief strategist.
“…What is it?”
“Shh!”
Ignoring the question, the strategist checked outside, locked the door, and approached Han Myeong-hwi.
“Answer quietly.”
Even then, he whispered as low as possible.
“…What have you been up to today? The Great Selection Merchant Association sent an urgent report on you to Elder Hand.”
Something was definitely up.
After a brief hesitation, Han Myeong-hwi spilled everything about Gold Leech.
“…So that's 'him.' No wonder the Great Selection Merchant Association sent an urgent report.”
“Him? You know something about Gold Leech?”
The strategist hastily covered Han Myeong-hwi's mouth.
“Don't speak that man's name…!”
With his mouth covered, Han Myeong-hwi stared at the strategist in confusion.
“I said don't speak it! Got it?!”
Only when Han Myeong-hwi nodded did the strategist release his hand.
“…What the hell is he? Why can't even his name be uttered?”
At Han Myeong-hwi's question, the strategist sighed.
“I don't know either.”
“What, you messing with me now—!”
As Han Myeong-hwi bristled, the strategist continued.
“But I do know that uttering his name curses you without realizing it.”
“…Curse?”
Han Myeong-hwi's face twisted.
“You believe in that superstitious crap?”
The strategist replied gravely.
“Whether I believe it or not doesn't matter.”
“Think rationally, please.”
Han Myeong-hwi sighed.
“If just saying the name curses you, half the people in Luoyang would be afflicted, right?”
But the strategist's next words silenced Han Myeong-hwi.
“Elder Hand himself never uttered that man's name.”
“...”
Elder Hand was among the least superstitious people Han Myeong-hwi knew.
“In the past, I investigated him for some reason, just like you. And Elder Hand warned me not to dig further. You'll probably hear it directly from him soon.”
“...”
“One thing I learned back then…”
The strategist lowered his voice further.
“…Only our lord, Second Young Master, knows the contact method for him.”
“…Only the lord?”
Han Myeong-hwi realized now he wasn't just approaching something ominous—he was shoving his head into the jaws of something horrific.
“What the hell is…”
As Han Myeong-hwi started to speak, a knock came at his office door.
“Strategist Han Myeong-hwi. Elder Hand urgently summons you.”
“...”
The strategist urgently advised the dry-swallowing Han Myeong-hwi.
“Say 'yes' and nothing else. Got it?”
At that moment, Han Myeong-hwi thought.
If he's that dangerous, he could surely drag Eldest Young Master or Dark Heaven Venerable into the mud.