Episode 319
The woodcutter Hao Wen-tao led me to a ridge in the entertainment district.
As I ascended to the top floor of the palace with the guidance of the warrior guarding the entrance, a gorgeously dressed woman waiting for me with a table set for drinks came into view.
Apparently, the branch manager of Jinan, Shandong Province, was a courtesan like the branch manager of Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
The woman, sensing that he was popular, stood up and politely bowed.
“I meet a noble person.”
“I will omit the full name. “I will quickly convey the matter to you.”
“It’s a shame. “I was hoping that I would be able to talk to the Great Heavenly Dragon, who is famous throughout the central plains.”
“There is something I would like to request from Hao Wen.”
“Please speak.”
“First, please organize and send me information about the power structure within Hwang Bose. The number of factions, the members and power of each faction, inclination and orientation, relationships and sources of support. “I would like to receive materials with as much detail as possible.”
“All right.”
It wasn’t just human trafficking that needed to be investigated.
I feel sorry for Hwang Bo-kyung, but I couldn’t completely trust what he said to me.
[Do you think I’m going to try to deceive you by making up words that don’t exist?]
[If you are an elder, I think you can do that.]
[······.]
[It’s a joke.]
Although it was said to be a joke in front of the person involved, it was actually half serious.
Even if he didn’t make up the story, he could have cleverly distorted the facts or concealed information that was unfavorable to him.
The Hwang Bo-kyung I knew was a very capable person.
Didn’t this and the third prince of the Beast Palace get stabbed in the back after being deceived by his trick?
“Second, please monitor Hwang Bo-hoon’s movements. Who did you come in contact with, where did you go, what did you do? “I want you to tell me all about it.”
“If you are Hwang Bo-hun, do you mean the great lord of the Heavenly King?”
“That’s right.”
“He is one of the best masters in the Hwang Bose family. “Monitoring your every move is not as easy as it sounds.”
“It is enough not to get too close, but to observe the movements with a telescope. “Don’t worry, we’ll fully pay for it.”
“All right.”
“And the last one. “Please gather information about children who have gone missing in Shandong in the past twenty years.”
There was a thought that came to mind when Hwang Bo-kyung first talked about human trafficking.
If Hwang Bo-hoon had dabbled in human trafficking, the purpose was most likely to secure funds for his activities.
Otherwise, there would be no way to do something prohibited by national law.
However, there were two questions that arose here.
Is it realistically possible for Hwang Bo-hoon to secure the amount of funds he wants through human trafficking?
Hwang Bo-hoon was the person aiming to become the next family member.
In order for him, who came from a collateral background, to push out other prominent competitors and take the title, he first had to rely on the support of Gasol.
You would have to meet that many people, and a lot of money would be spent as a result.
No matter how lucrative human trafficking is, it is only by the standards of ordinary people who will never touch a large sum of money in their lives.
‘There is no way that a person like Hwang Bo-hoon has the same sense of money as an ordinary person.’
Kidnapping one or two people at a time and selling them off would not be enough to make pocket money.
Based on common sense, there was no way Hwang Bo-hoon would have committed an illegal act to make dubious money.
Unless he was a fool, he wouldn’t have weighed the risks he had to take and the benefits he could gain.
‘If he really engaged in human trafficking, it would be one of two things. Human trafficking is a smokescreen, and in reality, either she has mastered the magical art of taking the vitality of others like the Blood Flower Witch, or there is a clear source of demand.’
The latter seemed unlikely.
No matter how much he thought about it, there was no group nearby that would pay enough to satisfy Hwang Bo-hoon.
Black city?
Would they be so crazy that they would risk being stepped on and regularly exchange business with people from the five major families?
They are people who wander around the central plains, opening and closing markets to avoid the attention of officials.
Outside of the new world?
Nanman (南蠻) and Xijiang (西藏) were too far from Shandong.
On the road to the North Sea, which was nearby, there was a crossroads that caught the eyes of beggars.
Demonic religion?
No matter how stupid Hwang Bo-hoon was, he would not have made a deal with the Demonic Cult during wartime.
The case of Geombong (劍鳳) Jong-ri So-yeon was special, and even those who deviate from the right path usually have at least some discernment between right and wrong.
Above all, the Demonic Cult, which had swallowed up all of Cheonghae, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, had no longer any reason to purchase children from outside.
‘Of course, the most likely thing is if Hwang Bo-hoon or someone around him learned the forbidden magic arts. Or maybe Hwang Bo-kyung gave me wrong information.’
After completing business.
I said hello to the branch manager and left the base.
I walked across the street at a leisurely pace for a while.
‘······wait.’
My eyes widened at the sudden assumption that occurred to me.
After thinking about it, there was one more thing.
A group that could buy the children kidnapped from Hwang Bo-hoon.
The words Damun said in the past passed through my mind.
[He received kickbacks from a group of black thieves and became their backer, had a hand in running a gambling house and selling drugs, divided the nearby martial arts factions and started a fight, and secretly gathered orphans and taught them to form a group of killers.]
‘Samase!’
Why didn’t I think of this idea earlier?
Jiangsu is a region adjacent to Shandong.
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Isn’t there a group that is as suitable as a business partner for Hwang Bo-hoon than Sima Sega?
* * *
The information sheet sent from Haomun has arrived.
I opened the paper, checked the contents, and nodded.
‘indeed.’
Should I say that it is exactly as expected?
Hwang Bo-kyung didn’t lie to me.
I just left out the important part.
『P.S. – Recently, the overall age of missing people has increased.』
The words written at the end caught my attention.
I folded the information sheet and put it away in my chest, and organized my thoughts in my head.
Many years ago, Damun said at the base that Sima Seju gathered orphans and raised assassins.
I heard that the Bisaldae and Jeolyeongdae, which were annihilated by Ak Yeo-ryeong, were the units that were created that way.
So how did Sima Seju secure children to teach martial arts?
They would not have sent warriors to kidnap them or recruited applicants in a conspicuous way.
Because of the things he had done, Sima Shiga had many enemies around him.
There were many Wulin forces in Jiangsu who wanted to somehow catch the pod and report the Sima family to the alliance.
‘Perhaps Hwang Bo-hun may have been doing business with Sima Se-ju for a long time.’
According to Damun’s story, the time when Lord Simase decided to raise Bisaldae and Jeolyeongdae was after he discovered that his son had a talent for fighting.
In other words, the average age of the members of Bishaldae and Jeolyeongdae that were wiped out was not very high.
‘I thought it was strange.’
So how was Sima Seju able to raise a group of such high average standards in such a short period of time?
A group of children who are lucky enough to have outstanding qualities?
Or is it because the teachers who taught martial arts are highly capable?
Presumably, Sima Sega had created a training ground imitating the Demonic Cult’s Jamma Cave.
As you go through the process of sorting out the stones, the average level naturally increases.
In fact, famous assassin groups often nurtured their members in a similar way.
‘The problem is that many people are separated during the training process, but efficiency compared to investment is clearly guaranteed.’
Didn’t Seo Ho-seon’s native Bangpa, Salmabang, force him to perform all kinds of inhumane practices for the purpose of mind-killing him?
‘It’s a secret pact between Sima Xuhuan and Hwang Bohun.’
Although it is only a hypothesis, the possibility was quite high.
It felt like the pieces that had been missing were coming together.
‘If this assumption is true.’
Depending on how I feel about it, I may be able to hold both Hwangbo and Sima Se in my hands and shake them.
The corners of the lips twisted up slightly.
I thought I knew why Hwang Bo-kyung asked me to assassinate him.
He probably knew roughly the relationship between Hwang Bo-hun and Sima Shiga.
‘The timing of your visit to me is too coincidental to say no.’
If Hwang Bo-hoon’s denial becomes known to the outside world, the Hwang Bo-hoon family will naturally suffer damage.
As Hwang Bo-kyung, she wanted to kick out Hwang Bo-hoon, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but worry about what might happen in the process.
‘The most ideal solution in his opinion is to quietly deal with Hwang Bo-hoon and ask about the matter.’
I wanted to use Hwang Bo-hoon as a sacrifice to increase the value of the name of Cheonan Gambu, but unfortunately, Hwang Bo-gyeong was in debt.
Since he kept secret about Sa Woo-yeon’s identity, I also had to repay him.
‘Hwang Bo-hoon. ‘How should I cook this human?’
* * *
Late at night.
Hwang Bo-kyung came to my dorm once again.
“I want to hear the answer soon.”
“Personally, I did some research on Hwang Bo-hoon. “It was exactly as the elder said.”
“He’s a bad friend in many ways.”
“For now, I will accept the elder’s request.”
“Thank you. With this, the debt you owe me will be settled.”
“So it doesn’t make sense. “The elder can simply keep my mouth shut, but I have to take a big risk.”
“······.”
“Since the target is not anyone else but the Great Lord of the Heavenly Kingdom, I will have to receive additional compensation.”
“Tsk, the calculations are so thorough.”
“I will take it as a compliment.”
I smiled and offered Hwang Bo-kyung a drink.
I knew that Hwang Bo-kyung would come today, so I prepared alcohol instead of tea in advance.
“Big.”
Hwang Bo-kyung emptied the glass in one go.
I still liked alcohol.
Before, I didn’t even touch the glass.
“First of all, I understand that you have accepted the part regarding compensation.”
“You are also very consistent.”
“Let’s move on to the main topic. They said they would accept the request, but they are still at a loss as to how to get rid of Hwang Bo-hoon. “Do you have any plans prepared by the elder?”
Of course, it was not possible to carry out work within Hwang Bose’s premises.
The more there are watching eyes, the higher the risk, and the lower the chance of success in assassination.
Although Seo Ho-sun and Sa Woo-yeon had achieved great growth so far, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to eliminate Hwang Bo-hoon without causing any noise.
Even if I took the initiative myself, it was still impossible to guarantee success.
‘There.’
From the beginning, the second problem was whether it would succeed or fail.
The biggest problem was that it was impossible to handle things quietly.
If done incorrectly, the aftermath of the incident could have disrupted the Shandong Akga relocation plan.
“Of course there is.”
“Please tell me.”
“Even if I look like this, I’m not an elder of the Sega. “Even if we can’t oust Hwang Bo-hun, we can influence it so that the unit sent this time to support the Shandong Musicians is Cheonwangdae.”
“······!”
It was a pretty good method.
In short, it meant that I would have Cheonwangdae by my side, so I could take the opportunity to kill Hwang Bo-hun.
“The Emperor of Heaven, who unfortunately lost his life while fighting against the villains of the Sima family. “Wouldn’t this make a pretty good picture?”
martial arts,
