Episode 360
Accommodation in Wolhwajang (月華莊).
“Dang Sojeo did not do anything.”
Woo Hwayeon, who was sitting across from the table, put down her tea cup and said.
I tilted my head and asked back.
“What does it mean?”
“I mean it literally. “It was not the Tang magistrates or the Tang family poisoners who poisoned the spiritual dojo.”
“Could it be that Sojeo used the poisonous hand himself?”
“Not even that.”
“then?”
“I waited because the person concerned said he would meet in person and talk, but I don’t know why he hasn’t shown up until now because of where he is and what he is doing.”
“······?”
I felt like I was in a labyrinth.
Youngseong Dojang visited Wolhwajang and ran away after being poisoned.
And at the place where the incident occurred, Woo Hwa-yeon and members of the Tang family were there.
The circumstantial evidence was so clear, but Woo Hwa-yeon, who watched everything, was saying that there was another evil beast.
‘I don’t think Yang In-hye posted a false report.’
There was no reason for her to deceive me.
What is the benefit of doing something like that?
When he heard that Chang-gwi, the head of the Shinchang family, had become a ruined person because of me, he must not have been holding a grudge.
Who would tell such vague lies out of revenge?
To begin with, she only came from the Shinchang family and did not have any particular family history.
Her clan of origin is Botaam.
He did not learn spearmanship, and because he was from a collateral background, he did not receive much support from Sega.
Naturally, the affection for the family was not that great.
[I still haven’t forgotten the grace of saving my life.]
[It’s not like your life was saved by me.]
[The person who gathered the martial arts people of Sacheon and formed a rescue team was none other than Sohyeop. All of the survivors who were saved at that time, including me, feel indebted to Sohyeop.]
More than anything, she considered me a lifesaver.
A faint smile appeared on Woo Hwa-yeon’s lips, as if she was amused by the sight of me lost in thought.
“Are you curious? “What happened at that time?”
“yes. Please explain in as much detail as possible.”
“I wasn’t there at the time.”
“What if it’s not Wu Xiaoze?”
“It was Dokgok’s assassin disguised as me.”
“······!”
I heard a truly unexpected story.
Dokgok’s assassin pretended to be Woo Hwa-yeon and attacked the Yeongseong dojo?
* * *
The next morning.
I guided the two guests who visited Wolhwajang to the reception room.
One was a face I had seen before, and the other was a young woman wearing a mask.
A man in black sitting across from the table greeted me.
“It’s been a while.”
“Long time no see.”
“Should I call him Cheonan Inspector General now?”
“You can call me whatever you want. “Anyway, I didn’t expect you to come visit me so suddenly.”
“It was a month ago that I received a mission and came to Honam. “I was waiting impatiently because you were away.”
The man’s identity was a top assassin from Dokgok who I had competed with in a past martial arts competition.
A master who has reached the level of hwagyeong.
He was the person believed to be the disciple who continued the progress of Dokgokju.
The woman sitting next to him was probably also someone who had written a solo song.
“I heard that they were kicked out because they brought disgrace to the spiritual dojo.”
“Has it already reached your ears?”
“It’s already been six days since I returned to Maeng’s headquarters. Rather, I guess I found out about it too late. “Where have you been all this time without coming to see me?”
“Something came up and you came back while you were away for a while. “The timing was a little messed up.”
“What do you mean by work?”
“There is someone I need to keep an eye on.”
I narrowed my eyes.
He is a person whom Dokgok’s assassins keep a close eye on even after they are dispatched to the central region.
I knew it intuitively.
The purpose of the two people coming all the way to Honam and looking for me was related to the target of surveillance.
“I heard that you asked Wu Sozhe to keep secret about the matters related to the spiritual seal.”
“Because I was planning to tell you face to face. “I didn’t think there was a need to raise the other person’s guard before even meeting them.”
“May I ask why you did such a thing?”
“Are you trying to blame me?”
“Is that possible? “I just want to know what happened.”
“It’s nothing special. When she found out that an elder from the Qingcheng sect was targeting Lord Gok’s granddaughter, she just used her hand lightly.”
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“Are you saying that sanctions were imposed to make the Youngseong Dojo feel threatened?”
“To put it simply, yes.”
I felt absurd.
I expected that there would be a watchful eye around Woo Hwayeon.
It was not unusual for information about the Youngseong seal to reach the ears of the two assassins dispatched to the central plains.
However, no matter what, I never thought that harm would be done to Elder Maeng in the middle of Honam.
Should I call this bold or reckless?
“Are you sure you don’t mind? It won’t be easy to deal with it. “This is the territory of the Murim Alliance.”
“Do you think we would care about that?”
“······.”
I had a lot of confidence.
Should we really call him a high-ranking assassin of Dokgok?
I nodded with a bitter smile.
“I was worried for no reason.”
“There will not be a situation where you suffer damage because of that. “If Youngseong Dojo were not stupid, he wouldn’t be able to make the issue public.”
“Did you threaten something?”
“similar.”
In fact, rather than protesting, Youngseong Dojang stayed in his residence and did not leave the house.
I didn’t even attend the meeting held at Maengjubu recently.
I was curious as to what kind of threat he was making that made him so scared, but I decided not to probe in detail.
Because that’s not what’s important now.
“Take off your mask.”
“yes.”
Following the man in black’s instructions, the woman put her hand to her face.
I exclaimed in admiration at her bare face exposed under the sunlight.
I wasn’t surprised simply because she had a beautiful appearance.
Her face was so similar to Woo Hwayeon that one could believe they were twins.
Facial features, skin color, hair length and shine, and even the location of moles.
If I had to point out one difference, it would be that the physique is slightly larger.
Crack! Wow!
An even more surprising thing happened a moment later.
There was a noise of bones colliding, and the woman’s physique shrank.
‘Axis Bone Gong (縮骨功)!’
When I think about it, the person in black used the same technique when he faced me in a competition in the past.
There was nothing strange about the fact that she, who was from the same background as the person in black, was learning the Chukgongong technique.
“The greeting was late. From now on, please call me Young.”
The appearance of the woman who had completed her transformation perfectly matched that of Woo Hwayeon.
Not only did they look the same, but even their radiating energy and voice were similar.
‘You must have learned the same martial arts, so the nature of energy is different, but did you learn voice transformation?’
I felt like I knew why the Youngseong Dojo was so easily fooled.
If he were to stand side by side with Woo Hwayeon, not many people would be able to tell the two apart.
Unless you are a person with a great spirit like me.
“This is a shadow that once served as a substitute for the young lady when she was leading the faction. I trained them so that they could imitate even the smallest gestures. “He has learned various visions of solo songs, so he will be of great use.”
“It sounds like you’re going to leave her here.”
“From now on, she will serve as the young lady’s bodyguard.”
“······Has Wu Xiaoze accepted it?”
I slowly narrowed my eyebrows.
When crossing from Namman to Jungwon, Woo Hwa-yeon was not accompanied by any servants or escorts.
It seemed that because he had lived his entire life under the gaze of surveillance, he felt an instinctive resistance to it.
I couldn’t understand why she had decided to have an escort by her side now.
“This is a decision made after careful consideration. Because you never know when someone like the Spiritual Dojo will unleash his magic hands again. From the beginning, the spirit was created for the young lady. “Now it’s finally getting back to its place.”
Is it a shadow or a created being?
I felt like I knew roughly how Dokgok felt about the woman named Yeong.
I crossed my arms and asked again.
“That doesn’t quite answer my question. “I asked if Wu Xiaoze rejected it.”
“He showed signs of dislike at first, but eventually agreed. After living alone in a foreign country for a long time, I guess I missed the people from my hometown. “Young (影) is someone that the young lady has been able to open up to.”
“Then I understand.”
I had no reason to refuse.
If an outstanding talent were appointed as an escort, Woo Hwayeon’s personal safety would be better protected.
“I would like to move on to the main topic. “Why did you come to see me?”
“There is one thing I would like to ask of you.”
“Are you asking me a favor?”
“Before I talk, let me briefly tell you about Namman’s current situation. “Grand Prince Wu Jiajin has been deposed.”
“······!”
“The torn factions were absorbed into other factions, and the Archduke, who lost his foundation, eventually fled to the central plains and disappeared.”
It was a series of surprises.
In terms of legitimacy and military power, Confucius Il was in a much more advantageous position than his other brothers.
That he, no one else, was pushed out of the successor race.
‘······In a way, it’s natural.’
Dokgokju had an ambition to reduce the influence of the Yasugung Palace and take the entire Southern Man society into his hands.
The object that bothered him the most was none other than the Archduke.
From my own experience, the Archduke had a personality that made it difficult to know where he would end up.
He was literally a person of interest.
“The balance of each faction is still well maintained. “You don’t need to worry about that part.”
“Then you are lucky.”
“What I want to ask you is simple. Woo Ga-jin’s destination is Honam, to be exact, Murimmaeng. “The goal is probably to meet the young lady.”
“······.”
“It may be that they are enjoying a leisurely wandering, but their moving speed is quite slow, but they will arrive here in the near future.”
“Are you really going to ask me to get rid of him?”
“It’s good that you understand quickly. Yes. “If you would do me a favor…”
“I refuse.”
I shook my head firmly before the other person even presented the conditions.
Perhaps because it was an unexpected answer, the man in black looked perplexed.
[I hope we have a chance to compete again.]
[Someone said that. Opportunities are not something you wait for, but something you create yourself.]
[······?]
[If the successor competition is lost and there is no longer a place for the Grand Duke in Nanman. At that time, please come to the midfield. We will welcome you.]
A conversation I had with the Archduke in the past flashed through my mind.
It seems that Dokgokju thought his goal was to meet Woo Hwayeon, but my thoughts were a little different.
I could tell.
Woo Ga-jin was coming to see me, not someone else.
‘What kind of rice cake is this?’
martial arts,
