Chapter 327

“We still have the most important matter left to discuss. Don’t you agree?”

Ju Hwaran was beautiful with her sword hanging loosely at her side. She was also cold.

An aura as sharp as frost rose around her and focused on one person.

“Captain Song.”

Following Ju Hwaran’s gaze, everyone turned their heads. He stood at the end of it.

He was a man who looked to be in his early thirties. His features were fairly handsome, but his fiercely arched eyebrows were a flaw.

As Song Ilseom’s lips twisted, a chilly voice slipped out.

“Are you calling me?”

The people still inside the pavilion fell into exactly two groups.

The outsiders, who were confused because they did not know who Song Ilseom was, and the escorts of the Yongbong Escort Bureau, whose faces had gone rigid.

Chief Escort Heo Jun was the first to step forward. A faint trace of anger showed on his face.

“You’re standing before the Young Bureau Head. Can’t you show proper respect?”

“I’ve shown enough respect. But you people have been saying the same thing for ten years.”

“How dare you…!”

“Then let me ask you something. Why is the Chief Escort who insists that I show proper respect calling the Young Bureau Head by her name in front of everyone?”

“Th-that’s…”

“You don’t need to answer. I don’t care what you call the Young Bureau Head. Just don’t demand that I show you respect.”

His tone and behavior were obnoxious, but Song Ilseom did not seem to be wrong.

As I stared at Heo Jun, who had been rendered speechless, Wolhwa whispered to me.

“Young Master Jin, do you know that man well?”

“Who? Heo Jun? Or…”

“The young and handsome one, obviously. I already know who Chief Escort Heo is.”

“Then why are you asking me? You’re the Shaanxi Branch Leader of the Lower District Sect, of all people.”

“It’s nice that you think so highly of me, but what could a Branch Leader who has been in her post for less than half a year possibly know? If he were a disciple of a famous major sect, maybe. But knowing every ordinary escort captain is beyond even me.”

“An ordinary escort captain… Do you know who he is?”

“Hmm. I know that one of the Dragon-Phoenix Three Escorts is a young escort captain with a nasty temper. That’s about it.”

Song Ilseom. His position was escort captain. That was about all I knew of him, too.

But I knew one thing Wolhwa did not.

Song Ilseom’s strength.

He’s a considerable master. Stronger than the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes.

If there was one thing I had learned from moving between the Murim and the modern world, it was that Level was not an absolute measure.

Some people were useless despite having high Levels, while others were much stronger than those above them despite having lower Levels.

Song Ilseom was the real thing. I could tell just by watching his stride and the minute movements of his hands. He was a swordsman with extensive real-combat experience and exceptional martial arts.

How many people his age are that strong?

Even if he was not a disciple of a famous major sect, someone of his ability should have become known throughout the Murim long ago.

A needle in a bag was bound to poke through eventually.

Yet no one knew the needle was there. Not for ten whole years.

There was only one possible answer.

The needle had deliberately hidden itself, so thoroughly that even the people of the Yongbong Escort Bureau who had spent years with him had no idea how strong he truly was.

Well, well…

A thought suddenly crossed my mind. I could not be certain yet, but he was clearly someone I needed to watch carefully.

I’d like to step in right now.

But this was a knot Ju Hwaran had to untangle herself.

While I finished making all the preparations necessary to act at any moment, Heo Jun—who had hesitated for a brief instant—began pressing Song Ilseom even more fiercely.

“Captain Song. No, Song Ilseom! Stop spouting nonsense and confess everything already!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine. I’ll ask you directly. Where did you hide the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“It’s not too late. If you admit your crimes and tell us where the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng is, even now…”

“I said I don’t know.”

At Song Ilseom’s answer, Heo Jun stared at him with eyes that had gone flat and cold.

“Are you really going to play it this way?”

“I could say the same to you.”

“I was giving you one last chance for old times’ sake… but I suppose it can’t be helped.”

As Heo Jun raised his hand, more than twenty escorts spread out around Song Ilseom, blocking his escape in every direction.

The two middle-aged escort captains presumed to be the other members of the Dragon-Phoenix Three Escorts surrounded Song Ilseom together with Heo Jun, forming a triangle.

The atmosphere was stretched taut as a bowstring.

That was when Ju Hwaran, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spoke.

“All of you, step back.”

“Hwaran, he’s not going to confess willingly. We should subdue him first and then—”

“Wait, Uncle Heo. I have something to ask him.”

Whoosh!

Her wrist turned, and the flat of her snake-curved flexible sword struck one of the bamboo slips piled on the table, sending it flying toward Song Ilseom.

“What is this?”

“There are quite a few interesting records here.”

After checking what was written on the bamboo slip, Song Ilseom muttered.

“This is…”

“That’s right. They’re records of the escort missions you were responsible for over the past two years.”

“You’ve gathered only the failures.”

“Why do you think the Lower District Sect and the Beggars’ Sect collected this information?”

“You must have thought they were connected to the Zhongnan Sect.”

“Captain Song was responsible for fifteen escort missions over the past two years. Ten of them failed, and each time, our Yongbong Escort Bureau had to pay a substantial contractual penalty.”

Ten failures out of fifteen. His success rate was less than half.

At that point, even his parents would have suspected him—not just the Beggars’ Sect or the Lower District Sect.

Ju Hwaran continued in a calm voice.

“That’s not all. Looking at the escort missions in which you participated as an assistant escort captain, there are many things that seem suspicious.”

“I did my best every time, but I failed. That is the only answer I can give the Young Bureau Head.”

“That isn’t enough.”

Whoosh! Clatter!

Once again, her flexible sword swung. More than twenty bamboo slips swept up in the sword wind, cut through the air, and fell at Song Ilseom’s feet.

“Are these all records connected to me? There certainly are a lot.”

He clicked his tongue, leaned his sword beside him, and began picking up the bamboo slips to read them.

“That bastard…”

Chief Escort Heo Jun looked ready to charge at the traitor then and there, but at a glance from Ju Hwaran, he had no choice but to let his sword droop.

The wait was not a long one.

“So that’s how it was.”

After muttering those words and setting down the final bamboo slip, Song Ilseom raised his fierce-looking eyebrows.

“How did you figure it out?”

“You did it cleverly. Cleverly enough that someone could close their eyes and dismiss it as a mistake.”

“You figured it out from this alone? You’re sharper than I expected. I thought you were merely a child, but… I underestimated you.”

“That’s a shame.”

“What is?”

“Though not a single drop of blood passes between us, I thought of you as family.”

“Family. What soft talk. Time changes even mountains and rivers, so how much more does it change people?”

At some point, Song Ilseom had gone from formal politeness to openly talking down to her. Yet somehow, every change had come as naturally as flowing water.

He asked in a carefree voice, like a man who had just taken off a constricting set of clothes.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Punish the criminal.”

“Children resemble their parents. Can you really do it, as Junzi Sword’s bloodline?”

Ju Hwaran answered coldly.

“It is something I have to do, and I will do it.”

Hissssss!

Her flexible sword, charged with internal energy, rose stiffly into the air. Ju Hwaran’s hardened face was reflected in the transparent blade.

A low voice slipped between her lips.

“No matter who I am facing.”

Whoosh!

She moved without warning, faster than anyone else in the Yongbong Escort Bureau.

Though she had only just entered the Peak realm, Ju Hwaran was still a Peak master. The subtlety of speed was woven into both her sword arts and her movement technique.

Thrust!

The flexible sword shot forward like a ray of light and pierced its target exactly.

A wet sound rang out as it pierced flesh. Blood spurted into the air, followed by a scream from a single man.

“Gaaah!”

Ju Hwaran’s eyelids trembled as she watched the man kneel, spraying blood.

The voice that followed was a question aimed at one person.

A condemnation directed at the man she had never once doubted.

“Why did you make that choice, Uncle Heo?”

“H-Hwaran.”

The man raised his head.

The pale, bloodless face of Chief Escort Heo Jun was revealed.

Whoosh!

Heo Jun’s hair stood on end, and a chill ran down his spine. But by the time he registered the faint sound of something cutting through the air, it was already too late.

Thud!

The blade that pierced through flesh was cold as ice. The pain that followed was hot as fire.

Chief Escort Heo Jun dropped to his knees with a scream.

Even then, only one thought continued to circle through his bleached-white mind.

Things have gone wrong.

Although the situation had been overturned by the unexpected arrival of Jin Taekyung, it had not been a bad turn of events for him.

Over the past two years, he had secretly skimmed off wealth worth several thousand silver nyang, sometimes by pretending to make small mistakes and sometimes by making bolder ones.

He had already amassed a tremendous fortune. If the Yongbong Escort Bureau prospered because of this incident, his authority as Chief Escort would rise even higher.

On top of that, he could avoid the guilt of betraying the people he trusted.

It would have been the best of both worlds.

But then…

Why now, of all times?!

If he cut Song Ilseom’s throat, everything would be over.

The man would die as a traitor who had betrayed the Yongbong Escort Bureau and colluded with the Zhongnan Sect, and the matter could be quietly wrapped up without any further trouble.

I even hid my identity so thoroughly from the Zhongnan Sect, just in case. How did they figure it out?

Pain.

And then, a shock greater than the pain itself hardened Heo Jun in place.

A low voice pierced his ears.

“Why did you make that choice, Uncle Heo?”

Heo Jun’s bowed body trembled.

He knew the owner of that voice. He could not have failed to recognize it.

It belonged to the girl he had watched over since she was a baby.

She had been his sworn brother’s treasured jewel, the one and only niece he had once regarded as more his own child than his biological children.

And…

She was also the person who had driven a sword through his shoulder.

“H-Hwaran.”

Heo Jun slowly raised his head and met the eyes of Ju Hwaran looking down at him.

Her voice had been calm, but her eyes trembled with emotion. Seeing that, an emotion he had temporarily forgotten rose to the surface.

Hope.

I can live.

Heo Jun immediately recognized the turmoil in Ju Hwaran’s eyes.

She was caught between affection and betrayal. That was the only avenue of escape he had left.

“I was wrong. It was all my fault!”

“Uncle.”

“Please spare me. I’m begging you!”

Heo Jun cried out desperately. He did not care about the horrified looks of the escorts or anyone else watching their trusted superior betray them.

His dignity? The contempt of others?

The dead could not feel any of it.

He would do anything if it meant surviving this place and seeing tomorrow’s sun.

“Urgh. Hwaran…”

Heo Jun groaned in pain. Ju Hwaran’s flexible sword had pierced straight through his right shoulder, and the hand gripping the hilt was trembling slightly.

“Then make an excuse. Tell me why you did it. Tell me why you had no choice.”

If making excuses could have increased his chances of survival by even a little, Heo Jun would have already begun listing every excuse he could think of.

But he knew Ju Hwaran’s personality well. The fact that she had swung her sword meant she was already certain. A halfhearted excuse would only hasten his death.

He had to beg unconditionally and work his way into her heart.

“It was all the fault of this foolish uncle. I have nothing else to say.”

Heo Jun lowered his head and reddened his eyes.

The effect was immediate. He felt the strength in the sword weaken and continued speaking.

“It’s shameful, but I once accepted a bribe. Then, after Hyung suddenly collapsed, the Zhongnan Sect approached me using that as leverage, and I… I was afraid I would be cast out. I didn’t want to leave the Escort Bureau I had devoted my entire life to, and I believed the Zhongnan Sect’s promise that they wouldn’t hurt you.”

“…”

“I intended to agree only once—just once—but by then I had already stepped into a swamp I could never escape.”

“Is all of that true?”

“How could I lie to you?”

Contrary to his words, there was only one truth in Heo Jun’s entire speech.

He had accepted a bribe.

He had been the one who approached the Zhongnan Sect while concealing his identity immediately after Junzi Sword collapsed, and that secret relationship had continued for two years.

I just have to get through this moment. Just this moment!

Tears streamed down his face. They contained no remorse—only his fear of death and his desperate wish to survive.

“Please forgive me…!”

At his desperate plea, the people watching shook their heads from side to side. More than a few escorts turned away, unable to bear the sight.

But Ju Hwaran was different.

She stared at Heo Jun with her lips pressed tightly together before suddenly speaking.

“How did you steal the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng? I never let it out of my sight, not even for a moment.”

“Th-that…”

“Tell me the truth.”

“…I mixed a mind-clouding drug into the food. Everyone was exhausted, so a small amount was enough.”

The drug was a narcotic that clouded the mind and induced sleep, and its effects were reliable.

Even Ju Hwaran, a Peak master, had fallen into a deep sleep, believing it was merely the result of the journey’s exhaustion.

“So that was why you were outside my room that night.”

“I had to be careful not to make a sound even when leaving. That man—no, Captain Song—was still awake until dawn even after taking the drug.”

Song Ilseom, who had been standing against the wall with his arms crossed, muttered expressionlessly.

“So that was a mind-clouding drug. No wonder I felt so tired that day. Next time, use something better. Though I don’t know whether you’ll have a next time.”

What a goddamn bastard.

Heo Jun barely managed to swallow the curse that rose to his lips and looked at Ju Hwaran.

“Hwangbo Eom, that old man, threatened me. He said that if I didn’t switch the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, he would kill me and my family and wipe out the Yongbong Escort Bureau. I only wanted to protect everyone!”

“Then you made the wrong choice.”

“You’re right. I once went to Hyung’s sickbed, crying as I confessed everything. But… but I couldn’t undo the mistake.”

“Your mistake?”

At the mention of her father, Ju Hwaran’s eyes trembled—but only for an instant.

She soon shook her head slightly.

“No. You’re wrong. It wasn’t a mistake. It was a choice, Uncle.”

“Hwaran…!”

“My father used to tell me that every choice comes with responsibility. Although he failed to make the family business he inherited prosper, he never once regretted his choices.”

Heo Jun suddenly realized that the conflict and wavering he had seen in Ju Hwaran’s eyes were gradually disappearing.

Could it be?

No. It could not be.

This could not be happening!

Tears and cold sweat streamed down Heo Jun’s cheeks.

He desperately raised his voice.

“Give me one chance! Just one last chance! I’m your father’s one and only sworn younger brother, and your uncle, aren’t I? Hwaran, for the sake of the bond we’ve shared, please!”

“The bond we’ve shared, you say?”

“Yes. I shared both good and bad with Hyung for thirty years. If your father were here—if it were him—he wouldn’t take my life this easily!”

“Uncle Heo. No, Chief Escort Heo Jun.”

Heo Jun, who had been repeatedly smashing his head against the floor, lifted his head in a daze.

The eyes of his niece were there.

They were eyes he had never seen before—cold eyes with not a trace of hesitation left in them.

“You’re right. If my father were here, he would have forgiven you. But…”

A low voice continued toward the frozen Heo Jun.

“I am not Junzi Sword Ju Hogun. I am Dagger Hidden Flower Ju Hwaran.”

And in the next moment, silver sword light filled Heo Jun’s vision.

Swish! Rip!