Chapter 228 : Jaseung and Seolyoung, Rides a Boat
Chapter 228: Jaseung and Seolyoung, Rides a Boat
“You want another room?”
The person looking at Phoenix with surprised eyes was Yang Hae, the owner of the Baekseon Pavilion.
When she first called him to the room and he saw the four corpses laid out side by side in the middle of the floor, he was greatly shocked. No, in fact, he only pretended to be greatly shocked.
Over the years of running brothels, he'd seen well over hundreds of corpses by now.
However, when she asked for another room, he was truly surprised.
‘Unless she's gone mad.’
It was unthinkable to consider continuing to stay in a brothel where the corpses of people they'd killed still remained.
How did he know this woman was the culprit who killed them?
He had a lifetime of experience running brothels. He should've been able to notice even if the opponent tried to hide it, but the woman didn't hide it. Rather, she was blatantly revealing her murderous intent beneath the surface.
One could read a silent warning in her eyes that if you acted up, you'd end up like this too.
‘Damn it! I thought I was lucky for some reason.’
Until Yeo Su-in first came in and started spending money recklessly, he was the one wearing a broad smile every day. The money he spent alone in a day was more than what the rest of the guests spent combined.
But the mirage disappeared and now a desert with no end in sight stretched out.
Yang Hae, who dived into the entertainment business from a young age, succeeded in establishing the Baekseon Pavilion by the age of fifty.
In that process, all sorts of things happened. From the start, brothel work was a business where alcohol, women, and money were intertwined. Truly, he was someone who thought that if he wrote his life story into a book, he could write ten volumes.
Deceiving and being deceived. Killing and being killed. He'd experienced all sorts of things in the underworld.
If he'd been scared every time, he wouldn't have been able to grow the Baekseon Pavilion like this.
Yang Hae knew several famous masters, and there were many masters residing within the Baekseon Pavilion. They were the kind of masters who could easily handle any first rate expert.
But this time was different.
The moment he first saw the woman’s face, a thought occurred to him.
‘I'm in trouble.’
His whole body trembled with a sense of crisis.
He could instinctively tell that if he acted clumsily for no reason, he'd surely end up lying next to those corpses.
‘They're masters of the Black Way Alliance or the Demonic Cult.’
If he handled the matter wrongly, not only would he die, but his family and even all the courtesans of the Baekseon Pavilion could be massacred.
“Leave the corpses as they are.”
“If people of the Jianghu die while fighting, we must report it to the Murim Alliance.”
“In about two days, someone'll come looking for the corpses. Dispose of the bodies after they arrive.”
“What should I tell them?”
“Tell them the truth, and say we've left this place.”
Phoenix glared at Yang Hae to confirm.
“You understand what I'm saying, right?”
“Of course.”
His was a life spent reading other people’s expressions for a lifetime. How could he not know her intent? Truly, it meant the killer would hide at the scene of the crime.
Furthermore, Yang Hae was thinking of a part she hadn't considered.
“But won't they come and question why you just left the corpses there?”
It was a valid point. If that happened, it'd seem the bodies were intentionally left behind.
After pondering for a moment, Phoenix nodded.
“Report it.”
An investigator from the Murim Alliance'll come out. It was with the thought that they could bribe the bastard or, if that wasn't feasible, just eliminate him. If the investigator arrived later than the Great Demon, it wasn't something to worry much about anyway.
“I'll do so. Which room shall I give you?”
“Another special suite. If you can't keep the courtesans’ mouths shut properly, even if they don't die by my hand, they'll all die by theirs.”
Yang Hae bowed his head deeply.
“Certainly.”
* * *
“What? The Four Great Sons are dead?”
Incredulity filled the Great Demon’s face.
The voice of the subordinate reporting trembled.
“Yes, they say they were all found as corpses at a brothel called Baekseon Pavilion.”
The village where the Baekseon Pavilion was located was two days' distance from here.
The mountains, fields, and other outlying areas were being searched by the Demon Army and the Berserk Heaven Warriors, while the surrounding villages were being searched by himself, the Four Great Sons, and the elders in divided groups.
Yet news of the death of the Four Great Sons, whom he trusted most among them, was delivered.
“We go there immediately. Tell everyone to gather there. Set up escape routes centered around that place and deploy a Heaven and Earth Net.”
“Understood.”
The Great Demon’s form sliced through the air.
Now he wasn't even angry. The Great Demon felt a fateful resonance deep within his heart.
Yeo Su-in and himself were now standing on a battlefield that wouldn't end until one of them died.
Becoming the leader wasn't the issue now.
‘I'll surely kill you with my own hands.’
* * *
A small rowboat floated on a lake not far from the Baekseon Pavilion.
Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung sat in the boat, which was full with two or three people.
“Ah, it's truly beautiful.”
Moonlight flowed serenely over the water.
The admiration was brief. She spoke with a slightly worried expression.
“Is it okay to go boating in a situation like this?”
Contrary to her feeling sorry, Lee Jaseung was relaxed.
“There's no reason why it shouldn't be okay.”
“Oh, you look like a cold hearted man of power, don't you?”
“I should enjoy it. If I have power.”
“Even saying such uncharacteristic, wicked things.”
Lee Jaseung gave a scoff at her words.
Just as she said, wicked words didn't suit him well. Even in the process of unifying the Black Way Alliance, he'd rarely thrown cheap curses or foul words. He killed those who needed to be killed, and just let those who could be spared live.
“Captain Mujin will do well.”
“I'm jealous.”
“Of what?”
“That you have someone so trustworthy.”
“There's nothing to be jealous of. Since my subordinate is also your subordinate.”
Then Baek Seolyoung smiled.
“I don't think that's quite right.”
Baek Seolyoung still found Lee Jaseung’s subordinates, including Mujin, difficult.
Rather than subordinates, should she say they felt more like younger brothers in law?
What was certain was that she'd become much closer to them.
“You'll handle it well on your own, but please still pay a lot of attention.”
Upon hearing they were going on an operation to where Yeo Su-in was, she became inwardly worried. Just hearing Yeo Su-in’s name gave her an unknown chill.
“That man Yeo Su-in is dangerous.”
“That's why I sent Mujin.”
“What?”
To her puzzled expression, Lee Jaseung spoke calmly.
“The bastard makes me feel like I should use the best card I have. The thought that I must continue with the best method. He makes sure I don't let my guard down.”
Since he's this bothersome, I should just eliminate him.
There were times he had such thoughts.
But that's a poor move.
Instinct was telling him.
That he could move further forward through him. To move beyond annoyance and fear and choose the best possible move.
“So I feel that sending Mujin there is actually less dangerous.”
Because that's the best choice. If Yeo Su-in properly collides with Yao Hong, he'll take one more step closer to the great undertaking of unifying the world.
Baek Seolyoung understood Lee Jaseung’s words in a slightly different sense.
Just as the best defense is offense, she thought Lee Jaseung was trying to push Yeo Su-in as much as possible rather than dealing with him passively.
Baek Seolyoung asked with a smile.
“How on earth do you know all these things?”
“It must be natural talent, right?”
“Oh! What Captain Mujin said before was right. That one child who's definitely in every school!”
“An unrealistic child?”
“No! An annoying... mmph.”
Lee Jaseung kissed her.
The sweet kiss on the small rowboat made her feel better.
She thought that women were weak to new environments.
To think that her heart fluttered and she felt so good because it was the first kiss on a boat.
The deep kiss ended and the two pulled apart.
“There's probably at least one such precocious child in a school too, right?”
Baek Seolyoung laughed loudly at Lee Jaseung’s words.
As if it were funny even after he said it, Lee Jaseung laughed along.
Then another boat approached.
The person on the boat was surprisingly Nam Seohyang.
Baek Seolyoung greeted her quietly while looking at her. She wore an expression that wasn't very welcoming, and Nam Seohyang sighed at that reaction. It wasn't because the attitude toward her was bad.
“Young Lady Baek has grown much more I see.”
She could've treated Nam Seohyang as if nothing were wrong. Previously, she was concerned about her, but now she wasn't concerned at all.
Because now she trusted Lee Jaseung. Even if she wanted to be jealous, she wouldn't be.
Nevertheless, treating her bluntly was Baek Seolyoung’s courtesy toward her.
Nam Seohyang had noticed Baek Seolyoung’s heart.
Because it was a gaze filled with deep understanding of a person that didn't match the blunt expression.
‘I think I really have to acknowledge it cleanly now.’
Nam Seohyang truly had such a thought.
“Lady Baek.”
The title for her had now changed from Young Lady Baek to Lady Baek.
This time, her gaze turned toward Lee Jaseung.
‘I lost to you, and I lost to your wife. Please be happy.’
That was her heart, but the words that flowed out were related to work. Although she was once severely shaken by Lee Jaseung, she was still a professional when it came to work.
Previously, Lee Jaseung had saved her life. She'd decided then. That if he saved her, she'd sincerely serve him with loyalty.
That resolve hadn't changed.
She decided to be loyal to Lee Jaseung while fulfilling her dream of growing the Golden Ants.
Because the Lee Jaseung she'd experienced so far was a person worth risking her life for without regret.
“The man and woman who cut down the Four Great Sons are those called White Dragon and Phoenix. Their martial arts level is Transcendent Peak Realm. They're individuals specialized in assassination whom Yeo Su-in has raised since childhood. Their strength is that they're skilled in assassination but don't possess the presence of an assassin. So it's not easy to avoid their ambushes.”
The fact that the still young Yeo Su-in raised them from childhood meant that a child raised children.
She could've been surprised at Yeo Su-in’s meticulousness, but Baek Seolyoung was uninterested. She wore a faint smile while looking at Lee Jaseung.
Of course. He's not the kind of person who'd be enjoying boating after sending a subordinate to a place of death.
He'd launched the boat to meet secretly with Nam Seohyang.
He was making an effort to make this task successful by gathering information from her.
“And what you requested is currently being prepared.”
“As quickly as possible, please.”
“Yes, understood. I'll send it as soon as it's ready.”
She didn't ask what it was, but Baek Seolyoung could tell. That it was something that'd be helpful regarding this operation.
“Then take care until we meet again, my Lord.”
She was a woman who revealed her loyalty to Lee Jaseung with the word Lord.
Having bid farewell thus, Nam Seohyang’s rowboat moved away.
Baek Seolyoung thought that her back while rowing looked lonely. She felt sorry as a person of the same gender.
But soon she shook her head.
Stop it, Seolyoung. To feel pity there. That's not pity, but vanity and arrogance.
Even if you try to the point of death to protect your happiness, life is sometimes something you can't protect.
Let's focus only on my life.
Lee Jaseung raised his head for a moment and looked up at the moon.
Instead of looking at the night sky together, Baek Seolyoung reached her hand down the boat. Her delicate jade hand brushed the moon’s reflection floating on the river water.
The two were looking at different places, but what was contained in their eyes was one.