Cha Iran stood by the window, watching Geom Mugeuk depart.
As if he had sensed her gaze, Geom Mugeuk, who had been walking some distance away, turned around and waved to her.
Cha Iran did not wave back, but Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly and then resumed walking.
Her gaze lifted to the dawn sky. In the brightening daybreak, the stars that had shone all night were fading away.
“Don’t smile like that at someone you’re about to kill.”
At her words, someone revealed himself on the roof of the building across the way.
Dressed to the nines in expensive clothes, even with snow-white makeup on his face, he was Hwa Domyeong.
“Don’t come over. Spectators are supposed to watch from across the street.”
It was a remark aimed at Hwa Domyeong’s claim that he had come this time as a mere spectator.
But Hwa Domyeong lightly launched himself through the air and entered through the window she had been looking out of.
“How could I bear it, when you were so drunk you were crawling on the ground?”
“If the Young Cult Leader catches sight of you, that neck of yours will go clean off.”
“He’s a merciful man who spared you even after seeing that drunken spectacle, isn’t he?”
At Hwa Domyeong’s joke, Cha Iran ended up laughing. It truly must have been an incredible night.
“It’s far too much of a waste just to watch.”
Cha Iran stared at Hwa Domyeong as though glaring at him.
“You meant to get involved in this from the start, didn’t you?”
Hwa Domyeong neither confirmed nor denied it.
“Don’t. If you die too, everything will become even more of a mess. You know that, don’t you? What will happen if it comes to that.”
“We just have to win.”
“They already knew our target was the Evil Dao Alliance Leader. They even refrained from stopping him from coming.”
“They’re keeping us alive because they want to know why we’re after the Evil Dao Alliance Leader?”
Cha Iran nodded.
“If they let their guard down, then—”
Cha Iran cut Hwa Domyeong off.
“They won’t let their guard down.”
After a brief pause, she emphasized it even more.
“The Young Cult Leader won’t let his guard down.”
Hwa Domyeong could tell that she feared Geom Mugeuk.
“You’re only scared now? Even after hearing about all the people who have died until now?”
“I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
Geom Mugeuk as a guard and Geom Mugeuk as the Young Cult Leader felt completely different. After revealing his identity, the gaze with which he looked at her seemed to peer into the very depths of her heart.
“You’ve never failed before, have you?”
“Because this face and body have always worked.”
At her self-deprecating words, Hwa Domyeong spoke in a way that was both clear and unclear.
“Aren’t you even more frightening when they don’t work?”
His makeup was so heavy it was almost ridiculous, but Hwa Domyeong’s eyes were utterly serious.
Then Cha Iran took something from within her robes. It was the very box Hwa Domyeong had given her.
She opened the lid.
Inside the box was a red bead.
“He must have known I had this.”
That was why, when she opened this box, the bead should have been gone. He should have left behind a lump of stone drained of its energy and feigned ignorance. And yet Geom Mugeuk had.
“He resisted.”
Her gaze deepened as she stared at the bead.
“He didn’t even think to open it once.”
She had thought that while he might be able to resist killing his opponent, he would find it difficult to resist the desire to obtain this bead. At the very least, she herself would not have been able to resist.
“So don’t loiter around nearby. When I die at the Young Cult Leader’s hands, I might not want to die alone and point out where you’re hiding.”
A laugh spread from behind the fan.
“Pay the tab here for me. I should at least collect a viewing fee.”
“Where are you going?”
“To wash up and buy new clothes.”
Cha Iran moved toward the door and left the room.
“And cure my hangover.”
Watching her back as she left, Hwa Domyeong gently fanned himself. The painting of a beauty on the fan moved as though it were dancing.
* * *
When Geom Mugeuk returned to his quarters, Ian was awake and waiting for him.
There was always a sense of relief when Geom Mugeuk came back safely, but today that relief felt especially great.
“What about Lady Cha?”
“I saw her wake up a little while ago before I left.”
It meant he had not killed her. When Geom Mugeuk had said he would remain with her, Ian had worried. Not so much about what kind of temptation the dead-drunk Cha Iran might attempt again.
“The more she carried on drunkenly, the more suspicious it felt. I wondered if all of it might be some kind of trap.”
“It probably was a trap.”
Ian looked at Geom Mugeuk in surprise.
“It was a trap?”
“She set something up, but it didn’t go the way she wanted. If not, she wouldn’t have shown us that side of herself. And even if she had truly tried to kill me, it wouldn’t have been easy.”
Truly, Cha Iran of the previous night had been more terrifying than any hidden weapon.
Geom Mugeuk lay down on his bed, using his arm as a pillow, and silently stared up at the ceiling. His expression was somehow grave.
“Is something troubling you?”
“Does it look that way?”
When Ian nodded, Geom Mugeuk sprang up from the bed.
“As expected! You’re the only one who knows me best.”
No, anyone could see you had something on your mind!
The fact that he had made it so obvious meant he wanted to discuss the matter with her.
And Geom Mugeuk’s concern was truly unexpected.
“The person she said she trusts the most is Instructor Ak.”
Ian was startled. She knew Ak Gunhak as well. She had taken his lessons at the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall together with Seo Jin. She also knew that his relationship with Geom Mugeuk had deepened afterward.
“It seemed Cha Iran likes him. In truth, that isn’t the problem…”
An unrequited love was not the problem. The problem was—
“You’re worried that Instructor Ak might like that woman.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded.
What if Ak Gunhak liked her? Then he would not kill Cha Iran. He intended to resolve this matter somehow without killing her.
“May I tell you what I think?”
“Of course.”
Ian carefully posed a question.
“Is Instructor Ak the kind of person who would simply stand by while the woman he likes and his friend fight a life-and-death battle?”
If she were the woman he liked, he would come to find them by any means. Those words might not apply to an ordinary person, but Ian had experienced it too. She knew just how extraordinary a master he was.
“What if he doesn’t know about this situation?”
This was exactly what Geom Mugeuk was worried about.
“You have to find that out through Lady Cha.”
“How?”
“Go to Lady Cha and tell her that you’re friends with that person, Young Cult Leader. That you’re very close. If it’s only her one-sided love and if the two of them like each other, her reaction will definitely be different.”
Ian spoke with confidence.
“If it’s you, Young Cult Leader, I believe you’ll surely be able to tell the difference.”
“You’re clever, Ian!”
“You thought of it too, didn’t you? Weren’t you just asking because you wanted to confirm it once through my mouth?”
“I didn’t. I couldn’t. Once it became my own problem, my head stopped working.”
“Is this the moment my hidden tail finally proves useful?”
“Let’s go. Don’t tuck that tail away just yet.”
“Where?”
As Geom Mugeuk left the room, he said something incomprehensible.
“To become the Most Beautiful Woman Under Heaven.”
* * *
An Hupyeong woke from sleep.
“Huh?”
When he opened his eyes, he was on the bed in his own quarters. He had definitely been drinking with the Young Alliance Leader at Hwamyeong Hall.
“Was it a dream?”
He could not tell whether this was the dream, or whether the drinking had been the dream.
“Sachu! Sachu!”
An Hupyeong shouted for Sachu. Sachu had always opened the door, come in, and asked what was wrong. But Sachu did not enter the room. Instead, another subordinate came in.
“Warrior Sa is not here.”
“Where did he go?”
“After we parted at Hwamyeong Hall yesterday, we haven’t seen him either.”
“Hwamyeong Hall?”
It had not been a dream. Now that he thought about it, his last memory was meeting Sachu in the kitchen yesterday.
“He said you were drunk and told us to escort you back to your quarters.”
“That bastard!”
An Hupyeong took his men and rushed to Hwamyeong Hall. Everyone who had been there yesterday was gone, and Hwamyeong Hall was busy preparing for business.
After hounding the cook and the waiter there, he learned that Sachu had sealed his acupoint and left, and that the remaining four had drunk until late.
“Damn it! I should have been there!”
Rather than the fact that Sachu had left, An Hupyeong regretted missing that drinking party. He had already forgotten how excluded he had felt there.
“Find that bastard! Right now!”
He released his subordinates to look for Sachu, but Sachu had already gone far away.
He went straight to Bi Sain’s quarters first. He had to meet Bi Sain and make an excuse for leaving without a word yesterday.
But Bi Sain was not at his quarters. And he could hardly dare go to the Evil Dao Alliance Leader and ask where the Young Alliance Leader was.
An Hupyeong headed straight for the inn where Ian was staying. If Bi Sain was not there, he thought he should at least recover some points with Ian.
But she, too, and that detestable guard, were both absent.
“Sachu! Where did they all go?”
Out of habit, he called for Sachu as he turned around and shouted.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
In that instant, An Hupyeong flinched. Among the subordinates looking at him, Sachu was not there.
Come to think of it, these subordinates’ faces were merely familiar; he did not even know their names. Sachu had always taken care of managing them. Among these fierce-looking men, not one gave him a feeling of trustworthiness.
Then, suddenly, he recalled what Sachu had said to him before leaving.
—Hide in a burrow, and come out after that typhoon passes. The reason you are safe right now, Young Gang Leader, is because you are in the eye of the typhoon.
Was there truly anyone among these men here who would say such a thing to him?
“You must find that bastard! Find him and bring him back alive no matter what!”
* * *
The people An Hupyeong was so desperately searching for were all gathered in one place.
Geom Mugeuk had brought Ian and Bi Sain to the guest hall where the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion was staying.
“Welcome, Young Cult Leader.”
Geugak Soma could tell. With the final stage two days away, Ian and the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion were people who should not meet each other.
And yet the fact that they had come meant the moment of decisive battle had arrived. On top of that, Bi Sain was with them as well.
After exchanging greetings with the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion, Geom Mugeuk first relayed what had happened yesterday.
“Cha Iran revealed her identity herself.”
In that instant, Geugak Soma’s eyes flashed sharply. The enemy had changed their existing plan.
Their original plan had been for Cha Iran to become the Most Beautiful Woman Under Heaven and assassinate the Evil Dao Alliance Leader at the celebratory banquet.
But with Cha Iran revealing her identity herself, the situation had become unpredictable.
“Have they changed their target to you, Young Cult Leader?”
Concern flickered in Geugak Soma’s eyes above his mask.
“Perhaps. Rather than changed, it would be more accurate to say I’ve been included.”
It meant their target was still the Evil Dao Alliance Leader.
The decisive reason was that Cha Iran had asked Bi Sain earlier what the Evil Dao Alliance Leader liked. It had been a question meant to test our reaction and see whether we knew the target. If the Evil Dao Alliance Leader had not been the target, she would not have asked.
“The fact that she revealed her identity means they are finished preparing to fight. So…”
Geom Mugeuk had already made up his mind before coming here.
“We strike first.”
Bi Sain asked Geom Mugeuk,
“When do we strike?”
The timing was far sooner than anyone had expected.
“Today, right now!”
Not only Bi Sain, who had asked the question, but Ian and the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion were also startled.
Only Geugak Soma’s eyes curved with a smile, as if he had expected it.
Yes, this is how it should be. If one was going to move, then one had to move in a way even one’s allies would not expect.
Cha Iran would absolutely not anticipate it. How could she possibly imagine that after parting ways last night after drinking so much, they would move immediately today?
Only then did Ian understand the meaning of what Geom Mugeuk had said when they left the room earlier.
If an incident occurred on the final stage, she would not be able to become the Most Beautiful Woman Under Heaven.
So he had meant that they would resolve this matter before then, and that she should go to the finals two days later and truly become the Most Beautiful Woman Under Heaven.
Each person was given a task.
“Have the Evil Dao Alliance handle Sinhwa Gang.”
Bi Sain nodded.
The leader of Sinhwa Gang, the masters he had brought in, and even the martial artists of Sinhwa Gang. They were by no means easy opponents, but on this side, they had the Evil Dao Alliance Leader.
Next, he entrusted a task to Ian.
“While the operation is underway, Ian will protect the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion.”
In other words, there was a separate order to be given to Geugak Soma and the Faceless Guests.
“Yes, leave it to me.”
After answering bravely, Ian exchanged a glance of greeting with the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion.
Geom Mugeuk spoke last to Geugak Soma.
“I will take charge of Cha Iran. Soma, please deal with the assassin organization she brought with her.”
“Leave it to me.”
When Geugak Soma readily accepted the order, Ian cautiously stepped forward.
“But we don’t know who they are, do we?”
They were said to be Cha Iran’s subordinates, but they were assassins of the highest caliber, capable of perfectly concealing themselves.
They had no idea how many of them had been deployed, nor where and how they were hiding. Moreover, many of them were likely among the women participating in this competition.
“And you’re saying we’ll find and deal with them all by the end of today? That’s impossible!”
It was harder than smashing all of Sinhwa Gang. Geom Mugeuk readily admitted it.
“Yes, it is impossible.”
“Then why?”
Geom Mugeuk smiled as he spoke.
“Why do you think Father keeps a Demon Venerable? Surely he keeps one so that when something impossible comes up, he can say this.”
Looking at Geugak Soma, Geom Mugeuk imitated his father.
“Soma, go take care of it.”
Geugak Soma cupped his fists respectfully, as though facing the Cult Leader, and answered.
“I receive your command.”
Shak, shak, shak, shak, shak, shak!
The Faceless Guests standing behind him all cupped their fists in unison as well.
Ian could tell that Geom Mugeuk’s joke contained an immeasurably deep trust in Geugak Soma.
Still, she had to help where she could.
“There are a few women I marked in the waiting room as possible assassins. If we tail them, there will surely come a moment when they make contact with the other assassins. Of course, I don’t know whether they’ll make contact by today.”
Of course, with that method, they would not be able to deal with all of them by the end of the day. Even so, she had said it in hopes of being of at least a little help.
“I appreciate the thought, but there’s no need.”
As though he had already thought of a method, Geugak Soma smiled gently before the line of Faceless Guests and said,
“We will handle it our way.”