The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

“This is the place.”

Gu Yong’s face, who had entered the mountain inn after being guided, distorted on its own.

It was not a distortion from pain or disgust.

It was sadness.

“Elder…”

Like the corpses that had been killed by the Blood-Sucking Sword Demon so far, Bieunggaek’s corpse was dried up without a single drop of moisture.

Also, his left arm seemed to have been cut off below the shoulder and was not visible.

“…I’m sorry. Elder.”

Gu Yong knelt down in front of Bieunggaek and sobbed.

It was an act unbecoming of the young master of the Beggars' Sect, but the beggars silently kept their places with mournful faces.

“I will make sure that your sacrifice is not in vain. I will…!”

The precious information exchanged for Bieunggaek’s death had created a foundation for the Martial Alliance to counterattack.

Now it was time to create an opportunity to wipe out the Hao Sect, which was hiding in the shadows.

But in the process, the informant, Bieunggaek, had died.

Gu Yong had the beggars collect Bieunggaek’s body.

“How should I tell them this… I’m at a loss.”

How should he tell them about Bieunggaek’s death?

Perhaps the enraged Kang Cheon and Jin Sohyun would not stand still.

Gu Yong’s steps, who was leaving the inn while planning his future moves in his head, gradually slowed down.

His feet stopped, unable to cross the threshold.

“Why did the elder choose this place as his grave?”

Based on the traces that continued from outside and the testimony of the middle-aged woman who was the former owner of the inn, it seemed that Bieunggaek had chosen this place as his grave.

Then why?

Why did Bieunggaek choose a narrow and shabby inn as his grave?

Gu Yong’s gaze slowly turned.

His eyes looked at the tables and chairs that had been artificially cleared away, and then he looked up at the ceiling.

“So that even if his body is discovered late… the traces will remain.”

Bieunggaek had needed a roof.

So that the rainwater would not erase his footprints.

Having finished his thoughts, Gu Yong shouted outside.

“Get me some fine sand right now!! Right now!!”

At Gu Yong’s order, the beggars ran around in all directions and gathered fine sand.

Gu Yong, who had received it, poured the fine sand onto the wooden floor of the inn.

Following that, Gu Yong launched a palm, imbuing it with internal energy.

As a light wind pressure swept the floor, the fine sand grains were carried by the wind and flew away.

But there were sand grains that did not fly away.

Those sands surprisingly formed the shape of a person’s feet.

“This is…”

Gu Yong sprinkled sand again and then created a wind with his internal energy.

At that, footprints that had not been visible before began to appear one by one.

“Elder… you really…”

Gu Yong shed hot tears again.

There was a special reason why Bieunggaek had chosen this shabby mountain inn as his grave.

A will.

A will left by the number one divine thief of the world with the last steps of his life.

He had chosen the inn as his grave to leave a will that only Gu Yong could read.

So that the rainwater could not wash away his steps.

‘You foolish bastard! This is not the time for you to be crying!’

Gu Yong wiped away his tears and cleared his vision.

It was to follow Bieunggaeg’s last will.

Gu Yong stood in his place and began to decipher the will written with footsteps.

Gu Yong, who had been standing like a stone statue for a full two hours, finally let out a long breath.

“Ma Seongun…”

Bieunggaek’s will was full of warnings about the Blood-Sucking Sword Demon, Ma Seongun.

[Even the exterminating poison of the Sichuan Tang Clan could not take his life, and his talent is comparable to that of my disciple, Jin Sohyun. So I hope that the Beggars' Sect will keep their promise to me.]

Gu Yong, who was recalling the promise, closed his eyes tightly.

“I will definitely keep the promise. Elder.”

Gu Yong, who had confirmed that the Blood-Sucking Sword Demon was related to the Hao Sect, and further, the Heretic Path's Alliance, felt his head getting hot.

‘Perhaps that person named Ma Seongun is the successor whom the Heretic Path's Alliance’s leader cherishes the most.’

Moreover, the talent and power of Ma Seongun that Bieunggaek had faced were comparable to Jin Sohyun’s.

‘Considering the divine authority that Jin Sohyun has shown, his talent and his own power are worthy of being called a heavenly martial body. To think that there is such a person in the Heretic Path's Alliance too.’

Moreover, the ‘promise’ with Bieunggaek weighed on his mind.

Nevertheless, Gu Yong had no choice.

For the sake of the sacrifice that Bieunggaek had shown, Gu Yong had to move quickly.

That day, a carrier pigeon that had flown from the Beggars' Sect flew south at a high speed.

***

“You’ve come!”

Jeokmyeon greeted the returned Jin Sohyun with great care.

“I have handled it as you said.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! The blue houses have all ceased their operations, and the prostitutes have also been sent away with extra money. The young courtesans have been given compensation to start a new life as you said, and we have also gathered several teachers to teach skills to the courtesans who wish to remain.”

As if it were not a fluke that he had become the branch manager of the Hao Sect, Jeokmyeon had handled the work excellently while Jin Sohyun was away.

As he said, blue houses could no longer be found in Honggang, and prostitutes could be found even less.

The backlash from some regular customers, the newly rich, their children, and the residents was fierce.

But they could not go against the decision of the Red-Faced Lord, the branch manager of the Hao Sect.

“Thanks to that, the sales have decreased greatly… and the number of customers has also decreased a lot, so my influence in the Hao Sect…”

“You don’t have any?”

At Jin Sohyun’s one word, Jeokmyeon, who had realized his slip of the tongue, was startled and waved his hand.

“How could that be! I am Jeokmyeon! Rather, by getting rid of the blue houses and raising the level of the entertainers, and at the same time raising the prices. As we started operating on a reservation-only basis for the upper-class entertainers, even high-ranking people who had not set foot here before began to visit Honggang, letting go of their burdens.”

Those who came to enjoy pleasure were mostly the newly rich with a lot of money, the children of high-ranking officials, or renowned martial artists or ronin.

Because of that, when Honggang got rid of the blue houses and prostitutes and started doing business only with entertainers.

Many people sent all sorts of criticism and resentment.

But who would have known?

As the blue houses and prostitutes disappeared, high-level entertainers began to gather in their place, and high-ranking people who had not set foot here before began to visit Honggang to hear their skills and songs.

Although the immediate sales had plummeted, if things continued like this, the fallen sales could be recovered quickly.

Moreover, what was more important was the quality of the information.

“If most of the information was so worthless that it couldn't even be used as dog food, the information that the high-ranking people leak is very precious and full of nutrition.”

Rather, the one who had benefited from getting rid of the blue houses was Jeokmyeon.

So much so that a sense of pride could be felt from his face, which was hidden behind the mask.

“What about Ok Myeon?”

Jeokmyeon’s happy voice became serious.

“That’s the biggest problem. Basically, the branch lords of the Hao Sect don’t know each other well. This is to prevent the organization from being endangered by someone’s betrayal.”

Although it was a statement that could make one feel guilty given the situation, Jeokmyeon didn't seem to think so.

Rather, if he had felt guilty about such a thing, Jin Sohyun would not have let Jeokmyeon live.

He was a person who valued himself more than his loyalty to the organization, and it was precisely that point that had saved Jeokmyeon’s life.

“As far as is known, it’s the roles of each branch lord.”

“Roles?”

“I am in charge of gathering information, having set up a nest in Honggang, north of the Central Plains, and as I mentioned before, Baekmyeon ran the Baekhwa Pass and earned funds. And Ok Myeon…”

Jeokmyeon’s eyes, which were revealed through the mask, sank heavily.

“Manages the sect members.”

“Is he in charge of monitoring and managing the people of the Hao Sect?”

“That’s right. And among them are branch lords like me.”

“Ok Myeon’s role is quite large.”

“He was the first to become a branch lord in the Hao Sect, and his loyalty to the main sect is also extraordinary. Because of his position, he has a very cautious personality. Moreover, he will be suspicious because of this incident.”

The incident that Jeokmyeon was talking about was when Jin Sohyun had worn Jeokmyeon’s mask and had run to check Bieunggaek’s body himself.

—There is no guarantee that Ok Myeon’s people are not here either.

Jeokmyeon’s telepathic message was heard.

As he said, Ok Myeon was the monitor and supervisor of the Hao Sect members.

It was highly likely that he had planted his eyes and ears in all places.

In such a situation, Jeokmyeon had shown an unexpected and impulsive behavior that he had never shown before.

‘Is it natural that Ok Myeon is suspicious?’

Moving recklessly in this situation was highly likely to be poisonous.

“Ok Myeon only operates in his own branch office. To meet him, one has to go through a rather complicated process. Naturally, one cannot bring weapons or escorts.”

‘What should I do.’

Jin Sohyun stared at Jeokmyeon, who was wearing a red mask.

‘Ok Myeon is a supervisor. Naturally, he is highly likely to know Jeokmyeon’s actions and even his trivial habits and quirks.’

If he went to find Ok Myeon while posing as Jeokmyeon, his identity would be exposed in an instant.

How could he face Ok Myeon?

It was when he was contemplating that Gowan came to find Jeokmyeon.

“Lord! It’s me, Gowan.”

“Come in.”

At Gowan’s appearance, Jin Sohyun hid himself.

In the meantime, Gowan, who had entered, handed over a letter and then left.

As Gowan left, Jin Sohyun appeared like a ghost.

‘What a ghostly stealth technique, as expected of Bieunggaek’s disciple…’

As befitting the disciple of the number one divine thief of the world, Jin Sohyun’s stealth technique was so great that even Jeokmyeon, who was facing him right in front, could not notice it.

Jeokmyeon, who felt a chill, opened the letter, read the content inside, and then furrowed his brow.

“This person…!”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a letter from Baekmyeon. He’s requesting a meeting. He’s been eyeing my position ever since the Baekhwa Pass went bankrupt. Baekmyeon is fond of women and is a very greedy person.”

At Baekmyeon’s greed, Jeokmyeon openly showed his hostility and crumpled the letter.

But Jin Sohyun’s eyes sparkled.

“What’s the relationship between Baekmyeon and Ok Myeon?”

“It’s not very good. He has a fiery personality, and unlike a Hao Sect member, he has several martial artists under him, so he’s a guy who gets on Ok Myeon’s nerves.”

“I need information on Baekmyeon.”

“It’s an unwritten rule that information gathering between branch lords is forbidden.”

“You don’t have any?”

Jeokmyeon shrugged his shoulders, touched the bottom of the table a few times, and then with a click—! sound, the metallic sound of complex mechanisms moving was heard.

After a while, a handle popped out from the side of the table.

As Jin Sohyun reached out his hand for it, Jeokmyeon shouted in surprise.

“Wait a moment!”

Jeokmyeon hurriedly pushed the handle in instead of pulling it.

At that, a hidden space popped out.

“If the order is even slightly wrong, all the data is designed to be burned. It’s to protect my life.”

Since information gathering between branch lords was forbidden, Jeokmyeon had gathered information on Baekmyeon in a very complicated way.

Jeokmyeon, who had taken out two rolled-up parchments, held them out to Jin Sohyun.

“This is the information I have gathered on Baekmyeon.”

He received the parchments containing information on Baekmyeon from Jeokmyeon. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Thank you.”

“N-no, not at all.”

Jin Sohyun, who had conveyed his thanks to Jeokmyeon, went up to the Cheonru, the top floor of the Cheonhwagak, and opened the parchments.

“It’s written in quite detail.”

Originally, humans valued knowing about the beings they disliked more than the beings they loved and were grateful for.

As much as Jeokmyeon disliked Baekmyeon, he had tried to find out about him deeply, and the result was placed in front of Jin Sohyun.

“I really didn’t want to do this…”

While Jin Sohyun’s body was drooping, the door of the Cheonru opened, and two women appeared.

It was Baekhwa and Yuha.

(End of Chapter)