Episode 97. My Heart Is Entirely Divided

I pondered for a moment, drinking my Dugangju, whether to relentlessly track down and finish off the Ilwidogang, or strike the Paegumhoe first.

The assassin who had drawn his sword before my eyes was only now spitting blood from his mouth. When I poured out my palm force, after the Wood Phase, I tried injecting the Earth Phase's inner energy as well.

The tip of his outstretched sword was trembling quite a bit.

This guy probably wasn't the one who killed Namgarak in my previous life. Perhaps because my current reputation hadn't spread as widely as Nammyeong Society Leader Namgarak's, it felt like they had dispatched an assassin matched to my level.

Compared to Namgarak, his inner energy was somewhat lacking.

Then, seeing the sword before my eyes, I grabbed it with my left hand.

“A swift sword?”

Only then did the expression of the assassin who had been contesting palm force with me enter my sight.

“……!”

Since he was sweating profusely, I injected Fire Phase into the blade I held.

This would be treating heat with heat.

Watching the assassin's face contort, I turned my gaze to the onlookers.

“Nobody move.”

I tortured the man in front of me with my internal energy while waiting for the other assassins. If their inner energies were similar, one could withdraw at any time while contesting internal energy, but when the difference in power was severe as it was now, he couldn't rashly retreat.

Before he could cut off his own arm, I added a threat.

“You—if you move on your own, you'll be ashes.”

The assassin's sword had already turned bright red. The assassin's hand gripping the sword was beginning to burn from the heat.

While torturing him by injecting Fire Phase, I turned my head to the left.

I met eyes with the bundle peddler.

“…….”

What kind of weapon could the assassin disguised as a bundle peddler have?

Absurdly, this guy grabbed the bundle he carried on his shoulder and threw it straight at me. Then the bundle burst from palm force, and the metal pieces inside swarmed toward me.

Did he mistakenly think we were evenly matched in a contest of palm force?

Just as I had combined Wood Phase and Fire Phase in my sword-drawing form, I stopped the swarming concealed weapons with a repelling palm force, then immediately pulled them in with the Cosmic Absorption Technique and twisted their direction.

Swish!

The startled bundle peddler stretched his hand toward the man before my eyes.

“No!”

Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!

But the bundle peddler's concealed weapons had already embedded themselves in clusters into the man held before me. Face, neck, shoulder, stomach…… countless steel needles were stuck all over his left side.

The sword-wielding assassin's inner energy scattered in an instant, and he was immediately engulfed by the Fire Phase's aura.

A corpse, unclear whether it had died from the concealed weapons or the Fire Phase, collapsed to the side.

Thud……

I looked at the bundle peddler who had fallen into panic.

“Why would you kill your comrade like that?”

Drinking my Dugangju while watching beyond the bundle peddler, I suddenly asked,

“Soyunpyeong, how far have you blocked off?”

From among the passersby, Soyunpyeong answered.

“I've surrounded them in a radius of about thirty jang. I've spread everyone out as wide as possible, so I'll only kill those trying to escape.”

“Can you pick them out?”

“I'll look for now.”

“Wait a moment……”

“Yes.”

“Ah, kill the bundle peddler first.”

Hongsin, who had been mixed in among the passersby, threw a concealed weapon.

Ssshing!

When the bundle peddler startled and narrowly dodged Hongsin's concealed weapon, a gold coin dart thrown by the white-clad martial brother embedded itself in his back.

Thwack!

“Kuk!”

Then, a willow leaf flying blade and steel needles thrown by Cheongjin and Baekyu embedded themselves once each in his shoulder and head. After seeing the bundle peddler fall, I called for Jangsam, who had taken refuge inside the guesthouse.

“Jangsam.”

“Yes, Lodge Leader.”

As soon as Jangsam came outside, he stuck close to my side.

Looking at the onlookers, I asked Jangsam,

“Can you find them? The ones that look obviously suspicious—you've had some practice, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Point out anyone suspicious first.”

Jangsam pointed at a man with his hand.

“That rice cake vendor over there.”

“The rice cake vendor was awkward.”

The rice cake vendor, singled out by the shop assistant, pushed the passersby forward and fled with fierce momentum.

I slightly raised my head and watched the fleeing rice cake vendor.

“Quickly, run faster.”

Just as he seemed about to luckily escape, a blade suddenly sprang out and pierced his throat, killing him instantly.

Stab!

I clicked my tongue.

“My, he didn't get very far.”

Namgarak, who had killed the rice cake vendor with a single stroke, kicked the corpse and sent it flying in front of the guesthouse.

Thud!

And so the corpses piled up again.

I waved my hand toward the onlookers.

“The assassins seem to have taken me very lightly. I clearly told them I had more subordinates. Jangsam, let's point out another.”

Jangsam tried to point at someone else with his finger, but withdrew his hand. The assassins had reacted quickly.

Jangsam spoke.

“The man beside the cart.”

In fact, the guy beside the cart seemed to have already been caught long ago. The brothers of the Nammyeong Society, including Namyeonpung, had already surrounded him openly to prevent his escape, and the moment they heard Jangsam's words, they drew their blades and stabbed and slashed wildly without a word.

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

This time, Namyeonpung kicked the corpse before it could even fall and sent it flying in front of the guesthouse.

Thud!

The corpse rolled and tumbled before coming to a stop.

I met Namyeonpung's eyes for the first time in a while and grinned. Namyeonpung scratched his cheek with his finger, perhaps feeling awkward for no reason.

“Jangsam, well done. Any more?”

Now, whenever Jangsam swept his gaze over the onlookers, people were needlessly terrified.

Jangsam spoke honestly.

“I really can't tell otherwise.”

I asked Namgarak, who was still mixed in among the passersby.

“Leader Nam, what do you think?”

“Wouldn't there be more?”

“Then let's sift out a few more.”

“Let's do that. To catch assassins, we too must learn patience.”

“That's a wise saying. Those here who are acquainted with Jangsam, come this way and then go about your business. One person at a time, slowly. There's no one in the neighborhood our Jangsam doesn't know, right? Probably.”

Strangely enough, the onlookers listened well to what I said.

They approached one by one, exchanged a few words with Jang Sami, then let out sighs of relief or hurriedly left the premises.

The number of innocent onlookers gradually dwindled.

Only then did Jang Sami seem to find some leeway, waving his hand at those who had come to verify their identities.

“Please hurry inside. Yes. Come in for a drink. Uncle Go, please come in quickly. Yes, yes, please enter. Next, next, next, yes. Please go in.”

What on earth was this tremendous order and controlled atmosphere?

I watched Jang Sami’s passion, Jang Sami’s dedication, Jang Sami’s meddlesomeness, and laughed to myself.

I know the strengths of a waiter better than anyone. I know that when there are no customers, he can’t help but watch the street all day and stick his nose into all manner of affairs.

As those whose identities Jang Sami had vouched for streamed out like an ebbing tide, the fiddler crabs exposed on the mudflat blinked their eyes.

I wasn’t the only one looking for assassins.

My subordinates were also glaring intensely, culling assassins in the much-improved environment.

When only five men remained, one terrified fellow dropped to his knees on the floor and said,

“It’s not me! I don’t even know martial arts!”

I spoke to the five of them.

“All of you, come over to my side. I won’t kill you recklessly, so don’t worry.”

Astonishingly, the four excluding the kneeling one sequentially deployed their qinggong and quickly scattered in all four directions.

I pulled out a chopstick, aimed at the back of the head of the one who had fled furthest, and flung it.

Sswoong! Thud!

I rose from my seat and swept my gaze left and right.

There was no particular need to issue additional orders.

One fellow was leaping up to the second floor of the building, with Nam Yeonpung hot on his trail. The subordinates who had joined the pursuit quickly scattered, and Nam Garak approached the kneeling man.

Nam Garak extended his hand to the kneeling man and said.

“Give me your hand.”

Having checked whether he possessed internal energy, Nam Garak spoke to me.

“Gate Lord, this one really has no internal energy?”

I looked at the kneeling fellow’s face, then spoke to Nam Garak.

“Send him over here.”

Nam Garak lightly kicked the man’s rear with his foot.

“Go.”

Jang Sami brought a chair and placed it opposite me, then spoke to the approaching man.

“Please sit here.”

The man sat down with an utterly terrified expression.

I looked at the man’s face and said.

“Put everything you have on the table.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Baekin Saje killed one of the fleeing men, dragged him to the front of the inn, kicked him with his foot, and positioned him in the center.

Worried about Baekin, I asked.

“Saje, did you touch the corpse?”

Baekin raised his hand and replied.

“Daesahyeong, I am wearing gloves.”

“Well done.”

Immediately after, Nam Yeonpung kicked a corpse off the roof. So Gunpyeong dragged over a corpse with a belt wrapped around its neck, finishing the chase.

Only one man remained before my eyes.

“...They’re all dead. Only you remain.”

“....”

“If you have nothing to say, you die.”

“I haven’t even learned martial arts. Is it acceptable to kill people so recklessly?”

“If you clung to the Ilwido Gang and did anything at all, it’s only natural you’d die. Why are you so angry? Did you think I’d spare you?”

Soon after, the officers gathered and took their places in the inn. Cha Seongtae, who appeared belatedly, started by distributing gloves, then quietly began moving the corpses with the other subordinates.

So Gunpyeong sat down in his seat and asked me.

“Shall I kill him?”

I nodded and replied.

“I don’t think this one is from the Ilwido Gang.”

“Then what is he?”

“A subcontractor of a subcontractor, so to speak? Anyway, he probably doesn’t know the main base.”

Baekin crossed his arms, glared for a moment, then asked me.

“Could it be the Paegyeomhoe?”

“That, I don’t know.”

I looked at Jang Sami, who was watching, and said.

“Jang Sami.”

“Yes.”

“Turn your head that way for a moment.”

When Jang Sami turned his head, I killed the fellow before me with a single palm strike.

At the mixed sound of a thwack and a neck bone breaking, Jang Sami flinched beside me.

Jang Sami let out a long breath and turned his head back.

“Hooo....”

I spoke to the officers seated around me.

“Let’s have a brief meeting here and wet our throats.”

“Understood.”

“Jang Sami, hand out some drinks appropriately. You’ve worked hard.”

“Yes, Pavilion Lord.”

The officers were waiting for my words, so I organized my thoughts for a moment before revealing my plan.

“If I continue to stay here, the people working here will grow tired as well. From what I’ve seen yesterday and today, the target seems to be me alone.”

The fact that the target is me is not a bad thing.

“It will be difficult to easily uncover the main base of the Ilwido Gang. It must be an organization of that caliber. Baekin Saje.”

“Yes, Daesahyeong.”

“The Paegyeomhoe is connected to merchant caravans, isn’t it?”

“They are likely connected to various merchant caravans.”

“Then summon Geumhae Saje and thoroughly investigate the merchant caravans connected to the Paegyeomhoe. I think it’ll be easier to find out more about the Ilwido Gang’s main base if we shake them down.”

“Would the merchants know?”

“Probably not. But we might learn how they make contact. Merchants fear death more than assassins do. Even if not, once we dismantle the Paegyeomhoe, we’ll need to sort out the merchant caravans that were latched onto them somehow. We can’t kill them all, so tell Geumhae to have Geumsan Sangdan step in and seize the interests. You’ll need to use your head appropriately there, Baekin Saje. Geumhae Saje will probably end up taking the largest share of the financial gains anyway. He would know better than us when it comes to wars between merchants. Tell him we’ll distribute the profits taken from there appropriately to those harmed this time, so Geumhae should calculate well too. After all, once this matter is over, the greatest beneficiary will be Geumsan Sangdan.”

Baekin nodded.

“I understand.”

“My method may be wrong. However, I entrust finding the Ilwido Gang entirely to the sajae.”

“Yes.”

I looked at Nam Garak.

“Nam Hoeju, let’s hit the Paegyeomhoe.”

“The method?”

It was a question asking what strategy we would fight with, since the Namcheonryeon was also present.

Since I fought according to my own ideas, whether Namcheonryeon joined the war or not didn’t matter to me at all.

“We’ll strike with a small elite force. Don’t kill anyone; just burn down Paegeomhoe’s key strongholds, then retreat.”

Nam Garak replied, looking bewildered.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? What meaning is there in burning down someone’s house? It’ll make things a little uncomfortable when they try to sleep. We’ll inflict some property damage, too.”

“That’s it?”

“Of course not. We have to provoke Namcheonryeon as well. We’ll think about that on the way. We need to make the two sides beat each other senseless and fight until they’re finished.”

I set the broad strategy: incite a fight between Paegeomhoe and Namcheonryeon.

“We have to move with a small elite group. Burn and run, kill a few and run. Make Paegeomhoe think it was Namcheonryeon’s doing. Make Namcheonryeon think it was Paegeomhoe’s doing. So as we move, we’ll steal clothes from both sides, and wear masks again for the first time in a while. You know what I mean, right? We’ll sow discord until both sides go completely mad.”

Perhaps because it was something his subordinates didn’t have to die for, Nam Garak’s expression brightened, which was rare to see.

“Ah… I like it.”

I laughed as I looked at Nam Garak.

“Leader Nam.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s have some fun from now on. There’s no need to be serious when dealing with morons.”

Nam Garak couldn’t answer right away. He tilted his head back and laughed for a long while.

“Hahahahahaha……”

The martial world I imagined had its serious moments, but not always.

The point was……

All that mattered was tormenting the enemy, one way or another.

Until they fainted from suffering.

Until they went mad and collapsed.

No one knew better than I did the fun of driving a deeper wedge between people who already hated each other.

In any case, deep in my heart, the organization called Paegeomhoe had already vanished from the martial world.

And my heart was filled entirely with thoughts of sowing discord.

“Once this is over, we’ll find out who the bigger bastard really is.”