Chapter 51. Where the Wind Blows (1)
'Did he escape?'
He knocked on the wall several times, but there was no answer. It seemed he had successfully gotten away.
Nail moved swiftly yet naturally.
"Who's there!"
"It's me."
"Whoa! You scared the life out of me!"
"My apologies."
"Why are you here, anyway? Aren't you in charge of the east wall?"
"My shift is over. I'm going to change shifts."
"Tsk, as if they wouldn't come on their own."
"I haven't eaten anything all day. My stomach is practically glued to my back."
"Sometimes, I wonder how big your heart is. Aren't you nervous with the Commander being caught as a spy?"
"He's already been caught, hasn't he? What's there to be nervous about?"
"Goodness, man. Have you ever seen a spy infiltrate alone? There must be an informant."
"I don't know about any informant, I just need to eat."
"You're something else. Hand over your shoulder board."
"Here you go."
"Be careful. On days like this, your easygoing personality could be a liability. Just eat quietly and go rest."
"Is it that serious?"
"You really are clueless. It's the Commander, the Commander! Didn't you see the Lord of the Beopin Hall earlier? His eyes were filled with murderous intent."
"Hmm... I suppose I should be careful today."
"Sometimes, you're really strange."
"Anyway, thanks. I'm off."
"Yeah, go rest."
Nail, clutching his stomach, trotted away.
The guard watching his retreating figure tilted his head.
"What a strange fellow. How can someone have so little presence? Is it because of his easygoing personality?"
A little later, Nail entered the dining hall and scooped up some cold rice and a couple of side dishes. Then, he hurried towards the dormitory.
Clunk.
Nail opened the dormitory door.
His body instantly froze.
'…?!'
The dormitory was shared by ten people.
But it was completely empty, even though four of the ten should have been fast asleep at this hour.
An unknown sense of unease made his hair stand on end.
Just then.
"The food's all cold, isn't it?"
Nail felt goosebumps all over his body.
"I know a place with good food, wanna come? You look like you can handle your meal."
"..."
"If not, that's fine."
Yeon Hojung, emerging from the shadows, smiled coldly.
"They say even a ghost who died after eating looks good. Since there's no one to perform your rites, eat that and drop dead."
Whack!
The large rice bowl flew towards Yeon Hojung's face. Simultaneously, Nail shot up to the dormitory roof like lightning.
"…!!"
Nail's eyes widened.
Swish. Swish, swish, swish.
Beyond the dormitory roof.
Numerous warriors appeared from all over the inner courtyard buildings.
What was surprising was their positions. Each of those locations was a potential escape route he had marked for emergencies.
Nail's eyes shook.
'H-how?!'
These were paths advantageous for retreat, known only to spies or assassins. Even seasoned veterans of the martial world wouldn't know these routes without specific training.
All those routes were blocked. Nail felt a sense of impending doom.
"I don't want to argue with a rat this late at night. So, I'll tell you in advance."
Nail looked down.
Yeon Hojung stood with his axe resting on his shoulder. The thrown rice bowl and its contents were rolling on the ground.
"Your contact, who worked at the outer stable, lost his head to the Chang-eung Squad Leader's sword."
"…!!"
"Come down."
He even knew about the contact's existence.
Nail was dumbfounded. Most organizations didn't use two spies and a contact.
Raising a contact was incredibly difficult, and there were countless cases of them being caught due to clumsy infiltration.
But the contact planted in the Yeon family was different.
He was a top-tier expert in this field. Contacts, by their very nature, were less likely to take risks, making them even harder to catch than spies.
It was surprising enough that they knew of the contact's existence, but how did they know he worked at the stable?
Swoosh. Whoosh.
Nail descended to the ground.
His light footsteps made no sound even as his feet touched the ground. It was an incredible movement technique.
"Who are you?"
"Yeon Hojung."
Nail's eyes filled with murderous intent. He realized there was no escape.
But he wanted to know one thing.
"Who revealed the contact's existence?"
"I did."
"You?"
"It's not that big of a deal."
"You, who grew up like a delicate flower, claim to know about spy infiltration and assassination?"
Yeon Hojung chuckled.
"If you saw the greenhouse I grew up in, you wouldn't say that."
Spy infiltration? Assassination? Contacts? Such things were commonplace in the underworld (Heukdo).
The underworld, which favored deceit over justice and lies over truth, was a place where deception was momentary and killing was routine. There were countless individuals who, while perhaps inferior to Nail in martial arts, were far superior in practical skills.
Yeon Hojung was the one who had seized control of and unified that insane, backstabbing battlefield.
Once their existence was identified, catching spies or contacts was as easy as swatting flies.
Nail's eyes wavered.
"I can't believe it. Are you saying you've become some kind of Shadow God (Eumsin)?"
"Is that some new kind of insult? How dare you compare me to that gloomy fellow?"
Thud!
The end of his spear struck the ground. The impact was so strong that it shook the area.
"Kneel."
Tssss.
An unusual energy emanated from Nail's body.
Yeon Hojung nodded.
"I guess that's not going to happen, is it?"
Thud!
Nail charged.
Due to the nature of their profession, most spies and assassins were masters of lightness techniques. They trained in martial arts in a completely different way from ordinary martial artists.
That's why Nail's movements were fast. Faster than any master he had seen since his regression.
Whoosh!
A half-fist aimed at the jaw missed.
It wasn't blocked, but evaded. Nail was finally certain of his opponent's skill.
'This guy is an expert!'
One should never simply block an attack from a spy trained in close combat. They always applied undetectable poison to their fingertips.
Papapapang!
Nail's attacks continued.
It wasn't a one-hit-kill martial art like Yeon Hojung's. Since a single scratch from the fingernails would incapacitate the opponent, there was no need to waste stamina.
Nail's attacks were relentless. It was a chain attack requiring extreme endurance. It was a top-tier assassination technique, difficult to counter once it gained momentum.
Yeon Hojung was dismantling that top-tier technique with ease.
Papapa!
'This can't be.'
Fast, sharp, and relentless dark fist (Amkwon) strikes were all missing.
'How?!'
Yeon Hojung's responses were so concise they almost seemed careless.
His seemingly careless hand movements deflected all the sinister strikes.
He was so well-versed in this type of martial art that he knew exactly how the attacks would come. If he didn't know, that would be one thing, but knowing and failing to block would be unbecoming of the Black Dark Emperor (Heukamje).
'Damn it.'
Nail felt a sense of despair.
He had intended to knock down his opponent, take him hostage, and escape. But he couldn't even land a single blow, let alone knock him down.
'I can't win…'
He was surrounded. Attacking a master who couldn't be taken hostage was the worst possible choice.
Yeon Hojung's eyes flashed.
A broken spirit leads to wavering martial arts. Nail's dark fist was gradually losing its characteristic sharpness.
Whoosh!
Yeon Hojung aimed a long kick at Nail's lower body. It was a difficult kick to block, regardless of whether one's spirit was broken or not.
Crack!
"Ugh!"
Nail's face turned pale. His right knee had buckled inward. It was broken.
"Still clumsy."
Nail looked up at Yeon Hojung.
Yeon Hojung raised his axe high with both hands.
"You sent him without even poisoning your weapon? What confidence."
Crash!
"Aaaargh!"
A single, brutally powerful axe blow severed his leg. Nail screamed, trembled several times, and then fainted.
Yeon Hojung looked up at the sky with cold eyes.
The moonlight was clear.
"This side is finished, Father."
* * *
"Huff, huff!"
Tae-gyeong, running through the rough forest, was drenched in sweat.
He had learned internal energy, but he hadn't practiced martial arts much. Even so, his running was fast.
'Faster, faster!'
Once the solitary cell was locked, it would take time to open it again.
But one could never be sure. It was too risky to gamble on uncertainty, given his harsh life. He couldn't relax until he was at least out of Gangseong Province.
'I need to reach the first safe house (Anga) at least!'
Fortunately, he was familiar with the terrain. No spy would be dispatched without memorizing the topography.
How long had he run?
The top of a low mountain was just ahead. Once he crossed this mountain, he would reach the forest next to the official road. In that forest was a safe house that the Moyong family had painstakingly built.
"Huff, huff!"
It was downhill from here. He would be much faster than on the uphill climb.
Tae-gyeong, catching his breath, was about to start running again when…
"Is that all you've got?"
Snap!
The sound of a breaking twig was unusually loud. It was the twig Tae-gyeong had stepped on.
Tae-gyeong's sweat-soaked face gradually turned pale.
"Did you deceive me and operate in secret for nearly ten years just to end up like this?"
Tae-gyeong's hands trembled.
He slowly turned his head.
Rustle.
A middle-aged man appeared beside a large tree.
He was tall and slender. On the left side of his waist, he wore an ordinary longsword without any special ornamentation.
But while the sword might have been ordinary, his gaze was anything but.
The epitome of indifference. The height of ruthlessness.
"…Clan Leader."
"At least you still call me Clan Leader."
Tae-gyeong closed his eyes.
'It's over.'
Yeon Wi was one of the top martial artists among the leaders of the Seven Great Clans. Tae-gyeong had no way to escape from the grasp of a rare, supreme master.
Tae-gyeong looked at Yeon Wi.
Yeon Wi's eyes, shining in the cold moonlight, were the embodiment of terror. Even a beast's eyes wouldn't be this frightening.
"I… I just…"
"Just?"
"I just wanted to reach the pinnacle of the world."
"Through such despicable means?"
Tae-gyeong shouted without realizing it.
"What does the method matter when reaching the pinnacle! Not everyone is like you! You, who were born and raised within the Yeon family, can never understand me!"
"I don't think I need to understand you."
Tae-gyeong bit his lip.
"Let me go."
"I can't do that."
"I, I wasn't the only spy who infiltrated! There are others in the Yeon family besides me…!"
"The prison guard Nail, and Jang Hak of the stable."
"…!!"
"Are there any others?"
"How did you…?!"
Yeon Wi's eyes deepened.
"You underestimated my son."
Only then did Tae-gyeong realize. Yeon Hojung had lied to him until the very end.
He realized he had been deceived until the last moment before heading to the prison.
"Do you have any last words?"
"You… that damn bastard!!"
Slice!
Tae-gyeong's head fell to the ground.
Yeon Wi stared coldly at Tae-gyeong's severed head.
"I asked if you had any last words, not for you to insult my son."
