It was only after two full days had passed since the staff were released that a report about Moonlit Night Pavilion finally made its way up to the Blood-Whisper Sect. Just as Jin Sohan had expected, one of the freed suppliers secretly reported the incident.
But from the Blood-Whisper Sect’s standpoint, it was an incident that was truly hard to understand.
“A man went into Moonlit Night Pavilion, disrupted the auction, killed the Pavilion Master, and took control of the place. He even let all the staff and courtesans out and is throwing a drinking party. You have to take Moonlit Night Pavilion back and kill the man at once. Since I don’t see any guards either, it looks like the man killed them all.”
“One man is throwing a drinking party?”
“Yes.”
“He dared lay a hand on us?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The Blood-Whisper Sect’s overall reaction was disbelief. If some outside Unorthodox force had seized it, they would have flown into a rage and immediately led troops to crush them.
But it was only one man.
And on top of that, instead of running, he was supposedly holding a drinking party inside Moonlit Night Pavilion.
The Blood-Whisper Sect had been through disputes all this time and was very familiar with how Unorthodox fights worked. But they had never received a report like today’s. So they couldn’t get a feel for how to dispatch troops. At that moment, the one who stepped forward was the Blood-Whisper Sect’s Northwind Unit Leader, Jeong Gildo, who had always wanted to make the pleasure house his own.
With a solemn expression, he reported to the higher-ups.
“I will go and return, leading the Northwind Unit.”
“If Unit Leader Jeong is going, there won’t be any need for the entire Northwind Unit to go.”
“Understood.”
Jeong Gildo had plump cheeks and a slight belly, so overall he had an appearance that didn’t match his solemn way of speaking.
But he was a man who handled a curved saber well enough to rise to the position of unit leader within the Blood-Whisper Sect. His nature was cruel, and he loved women, so when it came to disputes involving pleasure houses, he always wanted to go himself. There was also a strong reason he wanted to handle it—he wanted to place Moonlit Night Pavilion under his control as a subordinate organization he managed.
As soon as approval came down from the Blood-Whisper Sect, Jeong Gildo moved immediately.
*****
The Northwind Unit was gathering their arms. Northwind Unit Leader Jeong Gildo had already tossed out an order to his members to get ready to move out, then gone to report to the higher-ups.
One member, waiting for the unit leader, whispered quietly.
“Who did they say hit Moonlit Night Pavilion?”
“No idea. They say the rumors are everywhere, but no one knows who it is.”
“How many…?”
“One, I think?”
“I heard it’s two? I also heard a rumor someone betrayed us.”
At the mention of one man, the members packing their weapons tilted their heads.
“How can one man or two men take over Moonlit Night Pavilion?”
Someone asked.
“What about the Pavilion Master? I heard that senior was pretty strong.”
“According to Elder Cho, he died pretty brutally.”
Someone else said this.
“It’s certain the Pavilion Master is dead, but they say Moonlit Night Pavilion is completely empty, so there’s no way to confirm who else died.”
While the members chattered, Northwind Unit Leader Jeong Gildo—who had gone to report to the higher-ups—returned. Jeong Gildo’s expression was bright, like the expression he wore when he finished the day’s work and went out in the evening to a pleasure house.
Jeong Gildo swept his gaze over the members.
“Is everyone here?”
One member spoke as if matching his mood.
“Yes, Unit Leader! You look like you’re in a good mood today.”
Jeong Gildo nodded.
“How long has it been since we had an incident like this? I was on edge, worried other unit leaders would stick their noses in. The Blood-Battle Unit and Ghost-Slaughter Unit said they’d draft five men each, but I refused. Either way, since it’s Moonlit Night Pavilion, there should still be plenty of liquor left. The other unit leaders say to bring him back alive… there’s no need for that. We kill him, drink for a bit, come back, and report to the higher-ups.”
“Understood.”
Today, happiness clung to Jeong Gildo’s face. He would earn merit, drink, and stain his blade with blood—three birds with one stone. In truth, that wasn’t all. Jeong Gildo knew that somewhere in Moonlit Night Pavilion there was a private stash the Pavilion Master kept. If luck went his way, he intended to skim a little of that as well.
Someone carefully reported something he’d heard.
“They say the Pavilion Master died a miserable death. Shouldn’t we be careful? From the start, we—”
The man speaking flinched when he saw Jeong Gildo’s expression and immediately apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
Jeong Gildo crooked his fingers as if to come over, and one member—the one who’d been running his mouth—hurried over, only to be caught by Jeong Gildo’s kick and sent tumbling backward.
Jeong Gildo looked over the members and said,
“Let’s go. To kill—”
“Yes!”
*****
Jin Sohan took Choo Sahyeok with him out of Moonlit Night Pavilion and swept through the area, buying food as they went. But everything they ate was the kind of food children ate. Rock Sugar, spicy stir-fried noodles sold from a street stall, fried snacks—things like that. When Choo Sahyeok heard it, he learned they were all things Jin Sohan couldn’t eat when he was young because he had no money.
Choo Sahyeok was at a loss.
Because he’d been following Jin Sohan around and eating children’s food along with him.
And then, Choo Sahyeok found himself being pulled into Jin Sohan’s atmosphere.
His worries disappeared.
If he kept following Jin Sohan like this, soon he’d have to fight the Blood-Whisper Sect. But this man named Jin Sohan had a charm that made him worth following, even while risking danger.
I’m truly curious what Unit Leader’s true identity is.
No matter what happened now, he planned to see with his own eyes what it looked like when they clashed with the Blood-Whisper Sect. After eating snacks for a long while, the shop they entered was a signboard shop.
Jin Sohan went to a place that made signboards, commissioned a plaque that read “Mystic Lunar Troupe,” then came out and said what he’d eaten earlier had been good—so once again, together with Choo Sahyeok, he put a piece of Rock Sugar skewered on a stick into his mouth and sucked on it deliciously.
Two grown men were walking around like village idiots, both with Rock Sugar in their mouths. Choo Sahyeok’s tension and worry had completely melted away because of Jin Sohan’s expression, and Jin Sohan, too, was looking back on memories from when he was young.
In the meantime, Moonlit Night Pavilion really was completely empty. Because there was no one who could dare lay hands on the Blood-Whisper Sect’s property, they’d left the crates of silver behind and come out, yet there was nothing to worry about.
With Rock Sugar between his teeth, Jin Sohan said to Choo Sahyeok,
“They said it’ll take ten days.”
“For what?”
“The signboard.”
“Ah. It usually takes about that long. If it says Mystic Lunar Troupe, it’ll be easy for people who know you, Unit Leader, or who know the Mystic Lunar Troupe, to come looking later.”
“Yeah.”
“Still, it feels like a report should be making its way into the Blood-Whisper Sect about now.”
The sun hung above the horizon, pouring out a dizzying sunset glow. Jin Sohan nodded as he looked at the scenery of West Black Road, where the shops were closing early today.
“They’ll come soon.”
Jin Sohan found it funny. Everywhere he went—inns, shops—people were talking about Moonlit Night Pavilion. Rumors had spread. But since the witnesses had all scattered, no one recognized Jin Sohan. Then Choo Sahyeok, who had been following him, hid his body into an alley and said quietly,
“It’s the Blood-Whisper Sect.”
Jin Sohan stopped for a moment and watched the Blood-Whisper Sect push through people as they passed. Twenty men went first, then another ten followed behind—every one of them walking toward Moonlit Night Pavilion with weapons in hand. The moment the Blood-Whisper Sect appeared, people quickly split left and right to clear the road. Fear was obvious, and most of them lowered their heads until the Blood-Whisper Sect passed.
When the Blood-Whisper Sect disappeared, the ones who’d been bowing their heads spat on the ground with displeased expressions, spitting phoo, phoo. Stepping around that spit as he appeared, Jin Sohan spoke to Choo Sahyeok, who came out from the alley.
“They’re here.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“It’s the Northwind Unit. It looks like they picked only the elite and came.”
Jin Sohan nodded and followed after the Blood-Whisper Sect, who were already heading to Moonlit Night Pavilion. But Jin Sohan’s steps were relaxed. And even more than that, he still had Rock Sugar in his mouth, so he couldn’t have looked more leisurely.
Choo Sahyeok was slowly being dyed by Jin Sohan, too. Sucking on Rock Sugar deliciously, like he was having an everyday conversation, he asked,
“What will you do?”
Jin Sohan answered.
“It’s the Blood-Whisper Sect, right?”
“It is. Why ask now? Did you change your mind because there are too many?”
At that, Jin Sohan stopped walking and stared at Choo Sahyeok with a stiff expression.
“I just… wanted to make sure. In case I end up killing innocent people.”
The air of the man who’d been joking so easily up to now shifted completely. Choo Sahyeok, shrinking back, answered,
“Yes.”