Although Jin Sa-wol had to have more conversations, he couldn't because Woo Jeong-bong appeared.

Song Mu-pung headed to Muyeon Island, where the graves of the people who had worked at the inn with Woo Jeong-bong were, and Jin Sa-wol headed to the Golden Room of the gisaeng house.

As he entered, Namgung Ji, Bi-sun, and Jo-rim, who seemed to have been waiting, looked at him at the same time.

"What about Pavilion Master Song?"

"He's going to Muyeon Island with Brother Woo now."

When Namgung Ji asked, Jin Sa-wol answered and sat down in a chair. Jo-rim handed him tea and asked.

"What are you going to do about the inn?"

"Is there any meaning in rebuilding the inn in a place where so many people have died? I think it would be better to leave it as a manor."

"Even so, I've discussed it a bit because of that, and the inn is impossible, and I don't think opening a gisaeng house will work either. The rumors in the martial world are not good. As you said, it would be better to leave it as a manor for the time being."

As Bi-sun said, since it was a place where many people had died, even if they rebuilt the inn, the rumors would not be good, and people would not come.

"Let's make it a manor."

As Jin Sa-wol came to a conclusion, Bi-sun and Jo-rim nodded.

Although Woo Jeong-bong would be very sad if he heard this news, there was no room to open a gisaeng house now.

'Should I buy a gisaeng house in Guguang Fortress? I should buy him a drink, right? For a month?'

Namgung Ji, with a curious face, asked Jin Sa-wol, who was contemplating how to appease Woo Jeong-bong.

"What are you going to do about Pavilion Master Song?"

"I have to leave him alone. He'll go on his own."

"He might stay for a long time."

"It doesn't matter."

Jin Sa-wol had a face that showed no great concern. Although Song Mu-pung's martial arts were great, it was not to the extent that he should be wary.

On top of that, no matter how much he searched the inn, there was nothing he could do.

Rather than Jin Sa-wol, Namgung Ji was feeling the burden.

"My father is trying to arrange a marriage between me and Pavilion Master Song. When I go back this time, I might go to the Inspection Pavilion. He'll probably tell me to work under Pavilion Master Song, so what should I do?"

"What about Brother Woo?"

"Yes?"

"Brother Woo also seems to be interested in you."

"Really?"

Namgung Ji seemed flustered by the story she was hearing for the first time.

Since she had not expected Woo Jeong-bong's name to come up here, Namgung Ji, recalling Woo Jeong-bong, began to have useless worries about what to do.

As she turned her gaze, Jin Sa-wol drank his tea and then stood up.

"I'm going out to the fortress for a bit."

Jin Sa-wol, as if he had remembered he had business, left the Golden Room and headed for Guguang Fortress.

***

The afternoon gisaeng house was like the dead of night.

Jin Sa-wol, who had jumped over the roof of the quiet gisaeng house, landed in front of the pavilion in the innermost part of the inner courtyard.

As a chak! sound echoed, five men appeared a short while later. They were all men holding sabers, and they were the warriors guarding the gisaeng house.

"H-how... how did you get in here?"

A middle-aged man with a rugged face, who seemed to be the leader of the warriors, asked. The man had judged that Jin Sa-wol was a master when he saw him jump over the wall.

"Tell the master that Jin Sa-wol of the Gangnam Grand Inn has come to see her."

Although Jin Sa-wol's words were arrogant, the warriors seemed surprised by the words 'Gangnam Grand Inn'. Because they had seen the innkeeper, whom they had only heard about in rumors, with their own eyes.

Just then, a middle-aged beauty was seen coming out, opening the door. Two maids were with her from behind, but their faces could not be seen because they were bowing their heads.

"I see Mr. Jin. You all may leave."

As the warriors retreated, the middle-aged master asked Jin Sa-wol.

"What urgent matter brings you to jump over the wall of our establishment in the middle of the night?"

Saying it was the middle of the night when it was broad daylight meant that the doors of the establishment were closed.

Jin Sa-wol got straight to the point.

"Go to the Hwahwaru Master and tell her. Jo-rim is my person, so if she wants to kill my person, she should get my permission."

"Hohoho!"

The master laughed lightly as if it were amusing.

"If I convey that, my neck might be cut off."

"I think it would be better to live a few more days than to die now."

With a thwack! sound, the two maids who were standing behind the middle-aged woman fell to the floor without any strength.

There was a red dot on their glabellas, but the middle-aged woman could not see how it had been made.

Gulp!

The middle-aged woman swallowed her dry saliva.

Jin Sa-wol shook his head and said again.

"I hope you will convey my will well to the Dam Master."

"You bastard! How dare you kill my maids and think of just going back!"

Whoosh!

The middle-aged woman, who had drawn her flexible sword, stabbed Jin Sa-wol's neck.

Her action was so fast that it was like a lightning bolt passing by. But Jin Sa-wol's hand was even faster.

With a thwack! sound, the middle-aged woman bent her waist in the form of having stabbed her own stomach.

Jin Sa-wol had grabbed her arm and folded it, so she had stabbed her own stomach.

A smile appeared on the middle-aged woman's lips.

Seeing her smiling even as she was dying, it felt strange.

"In any case, we all came with the determination to die."

The middle-aged woman coughed up blood from between her lips and then buried her face in the ground.

When a thump! sound echoed, eight masked people who had jumped out from all eight directions as a signal threw their hidden weapons at Jin Sa-wol at the same time.

Dozens of hidden weapons, heavily coated with poison, filled all directions.

In the hands of Jin Sa-wol, who was looking at the countless hidden weapons, the Yuseom Sword was already held.

'Slow.'

Although they were hidden weapons that flew as fast as arrows, to Jin Sa-wol, it felt as if they were approaching slowly.

Jin Sa-wol raised his Yuseom Sword and struck the hidden weapons one by one. The hidden weapons that Jin Sa-wol had struck changed direction and flew towards the masked people.

Their speed had become several times faster.

Thwack!

"Keok!"

"Aaargh!"

As the hidden weapons pierced their bodies, the masked people who had been floating in the air all fell to the ground.

Since they were hidden weapons with strong power, they had pierced through the bodies instead of being embedded in them.

It was a fleeting moment when the hidden weapons, as fast as a ray of light, embroidered the sky and disappeared. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Thump!

Seven had fallen, and the remaining one had landed on the ground with both feet. In that instant, Jin Sa-wol's sword was lightly stabbing the masked person's neck.

"Gulp!"

The sound of the masked person swallowing was heard from his throat.

Jin Sa-wol had intentionally left one person. Because one person had to go back alive.

"Go and tell them. Not to bother me."

"Yes."

The masked person trembled all over and then quickly disappeared as Jin Sa-wol withdrew his sword.

Jin Sa-wol looked around and his eyes met a middle-aged woman standing at the entrance. She was the real master of this gisaeng house.

Jin Sa-wol, who had nodded to her, jumped over the wall. The master would take care of the aftermath.

***

That evening, a guest came to the inn.

It was Seo Mun-ryeon, the Hao Faction Master, who had come down to meet Jin Sa-wol. She, who was sitting in the guest hall and looking at the backyard with a small forest, turned her head when Jin Sa-wol came in.

Jin Sa-wol sat in front of Seo Mun-ryeon with an indifferent face, as if asking why she had come.

"You seem to be at leisure."

"If I came as a guest, you should welcome me, right?"

"Because the atmosphere here is not good. The Inspection Pavilion is down."

"In a few days, the Huashan Sect will also come, and the Baekgeom Mun will also come."

As Seo Mun-ryeon mentioned the Huashan Sect and the Baekgeom Mun, Jin Sa-wol frowned. As Jin Sa-wol's expression noticeably hardened, Seo Mun-ryeon said again as if it were amusing.

"A disciple of the Huashan Sect and a disciple of the Baekgeom Mun died here, so won't they also investigate on their own? Since it's their own faction's affair, they won't just leave it to the Martial Alliance, will they?"

It was not a wrong statement.

Jin Sa-wol, at the thought of more troublesome guests coming, thought of Bi-sun and Jo-rim. Since Namgung Ji was also there, it seemed he could put Namgung Ji in front and deal with the Huashan Sect and the Baekgeom Mun.

Jin Sa-wol crossed his arms and opened his mouth.

"Just get to the point."

"That's disappointing. The point as soon as you see me? Was our relationship only that much?"

"It's not a close relationship."

"We are a close relationship."

Seo Mun-ryeon put strength into her voice.

"You received my help in the Demonic Cult, didn't you?"

"Certainly..."

Jin Sa-wol recalled that he had received the help of the Chung Pavilion Lord and Seo Mun-ryeon when he had escaped the Demonic Cult. Recalling that, Seo Mun-ryeon's favor came to mind.

"It seems you already have a favor to ask of me."

"That's right. A murder for hire."

"A murder..."

A smile filled Seo Mun-ryeon's face. Jin Sa-wol could not refuse her request. Knowing that, she had come in person.

Jin Sa-wol had expected that Seo Mun-ryeon's favor would be a murder.

"Who?"

"Na Hyeon-gi."

"Hoo hoo..."

Hearing Na Hyeon-gi's name, Jin Sa-wol chuckled without realizing it.

Jin Sa-wol, who had soon stopped laughing, looked at Seo Mun-ryeon with cold eyes.

"Do you know the relationship between me and the head of the Na family?"

"I don't. A master-servant relationship? Or friends? It doesn't matter what it is. What's important is that I have requested a murder for hire from you."

"The head of the Na family and I can be called friends."

"Really? Hohoho! That's interesting."

Seo Mun-ryeon laughed lightly, drank her tea, and then said again.

"But do you think the head of the Na family thinks of you as a friend? Looking at the current atmosphere, it seems he sees you as a target to be killed. Don't be mistaken."

"What do you mean?"

"It's to build a justification. They say you killed all the killing squad of the Hwahwaru. Just a moment ago, you. With that as an excuse, the head of the Na family might end his connection with you."

It was Seo Mun-ryeon who was telling an interesting story.

Jin Sa-wol, feeling a strong interest, uncrossed his arms and poured tea. Seo Mun-ryeon reminded Jin Sa-wol once again of the principles of the martial world.

The martial world was a place where yesterday's friend could become today's enemy.

And today's friend could become tomorrow's enemy, and the opposite also existed.

'I've become dull.'

Jin Sa-wol, who had cooled his head on his own, drew a rough picture of the situation in his head.

"The story will be long."

"Probably."

"What do he get by killing me?"

"It's to prove who is the most suitable for the Demonic Cult Leader in the Demonic Cult. The person who has made the biggest contribution to driving out the Demonic Cult Leader is not Na Hyeon-gi, but you."

"So they tried to kill me."

"That's right. What if you enter the Demonic Cult and say you will become the Cult Leader?"

As Seo Mun-ryeon said, if he entered the Demonic Cult and said he would become the Cult Leader, he would become the strongest enemy to those who wanted to become the Demonic Cult Leader.

"Perhaps, they might say that the person who takes your head in the Demonic Cult can become the Cult Leader."

'That's a very possible story.'

Jin Sa-wol felt that his enemies were constantly increasing. He needed to sort them out to some extent. The opponent he had to find now was Cheon Yu-myeong.

"I'm curious about the reason why you want to kill Na Hyeon-gi."

"The Jongnam Sect."

"Tell me in detail."

"Na Hyeon-gi killed all the disciples of the Jongnam Sect."

"Even Ha Shin-hak?"

"He also killed Ha Shin-hak."

Seo Mun-ryeon's story was enough to surprise Jin Sa-wol.

"That's strange. With Na Hyeon-gi's martial arts, he could never have killed Ha Shin-hak."

"I don't know that much. What I know is that Na Hyeon-gi killed the disciples of the Jongnam Sect, and the last remaining disciple is in my hands."

A greedy smile appeared on the face of Seo Mun-ryeon, who was holding up her hand.

"It's a chance to get the martial arts of the Jongnam Sect. Hohohoho."

Seo Mun-ryeon moved her hand as if the secret manuals of the Jongnam Sect were held in her hand.

"Heheheh."

-The secret manuals are mine.

Seo Mun-ryeon was laughing as if she were whispering.

Jin Sa-wol shook his head and asked.

"Did that youngest disciple say he would give you the secret manuals of the Jongnam Sect if you killed Na Hyeon-gi?"

"That's right. How did you know?"

"Do you believe that?"

(End of Chapter)