Escort Guard Ji Yu had a resolute expression, and his voice was heavy.
I spoke to the others.
“Please give us a moment of privacy.”
But Escort Guard Ji Yu shook his head.
“No. Everyone should hear this… It’ll help them understand why I insisted on taking the lead.”
He wasn’t wrong, so I nodded.
“Then let’s rest somewhere quiet for a bit.”
After traveling for about 15 minutes, our group dismounted.
There was no one around, and we spotted a rock suitable for sitting.
As I sat on the rock, I spoke.
“Everyone, please have a seat. Let’s hear it then. About Escort Guard Jin Yu’s situation.”
Truthfully, it had surprised even me when Jin Yu insisted on taking the lead.
He was usually someone who avoided the front lines.
Jin Yu hesitated briefly, then let out a sigh and spoke.
“In truth, the White Thunder Squad… are the ones who killed my close friends.”
“What?”
They killed his close friends? What’s that supposed to mean?
“Could you explain a bit more?”
“As you know, I’m originally… an assassin. But it wasn’t always that way. I’m actually from the Snow Wind Palace.”
Just as I suspected.
“Why did you keep your Snow Wind Palace origins secret all this time?”
“That’s… because I wasn’t emotionally ready. But I believe today is the day I must speak.”
“Does my Master know?”
“Yes. I met him after a very long time. Nearly twenty years.”
Twenty years?
The fall of Snow Wind Palace happened after that, so that means…
“I was a child left in the care of Snow Wind Palace, and when I turned seven, my uncle came and took me away.”
I’d heard before that if someone from the father’s side came to claim a child, Snow Wind Palace wouldn’t stop them.
“At the time, I was happy, thinking I’d live with my father. But it was just a delusion.”
Jin Yu clenched his fists.
So tightly, his white knuckles stood out.
“My father had already passed away. I heard he left a will about me… but he shouldn’t have.”
“…”
“Our family was in financial ruin, so they turned to the Murim Alliance for help. But in exchange for lending money, the Alliance demanded a blood relative as collateral. That’s when the family remembered me.”
“…”
“So I was forcibly sent to the Murim Alliance and raised as one of their hidden blades. It was harsh training, nonstop.”
From Jin Yu’s expression, I could roughly sense how grueling his ordeal had been.
Of course, I couldn’t know everything. I wasn’t him.
“When I got there, I found there were other kids like me. Nearly a hundred. And… more than half of them died at the hands of White Thunder Squad.”
Jin Yu’s story was absolutely horrific.
They’d released the children into the mountains and ordered warriors to hunt and kill them.
The ones who carried out that mission were the White Thunder Squad.
They said it was to help the children learn stealth techniques, but…
“If it had only been about killing, I wouldn’t be talking about revenge. They were just following orders, after all. But…”
Jin Yu turned his head and stared into the air as he spoke.
“They toyed with the captured kids… and then killed them.”
That word “toyed” didn’t mean what people usually think—like playing games with children.
“My closest friend…”
Jin Yu calmly explained what happened to the children, and once again, I was reminded of how cruel humans could be.
“At the time, I was powerless and couldn’t get revenge. But now, it’s different.”
Jin Yu looked at me again and bowed his head.
“Please.”
I turned to Escort Guard Seo Wu.
This wasn’t something just between me and Jin Yu.
“Scum like that deserve to die. Alright. Let’s settle Escort Guard Jin Yu’s old grudge today.”
Seo Wu the Escort Guard also gave his approval.
“Thank you.”
Watching that scene, I thought to myself.
The Murim Alliance hasn’t started to rot just recently, that’s for sure.
“Oh, by the way, where’s your father’s family from, Escort Guard Jin Yu?”
“They’ve been wiped out. Supposedly by some unidentified group.”
Jin Yu didn’t look particularly sad as he said that.
Well, considering the kind of people they were, I wouldn’t be sad either.
“Whoa, whoa!”
Snort!
A group arrived in front of the stables.
They were the White Thunder Squad, one of the Murim Alliance’s armed units.
The Murim Alliance’s armed units were divided into two categories.
Squads and Divisions.
Divisions had over a hundred members and were large-scale armed groups, while Squads were much smaller units.
The White Thunder Squad was one of those smaller groups, consisting of about twenty people.
They didn’t have fixed duties and operated only when ordered by the Alliance Leader.
Ten members—half the White Thunder Squad—had arrived at the stable.
“Welcome. I’m Ma Jeong, the Head of the Ma Family.”
In response to his greeting, someone from the Murim Alliance introduced a member of the White Thunder Squad.
“This is Deputy Sa Gu of the White Thunder Squad.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
Deputy Sa Gu simply nodded in response.
“We’re planning to leave tomorrow morning, so please make special arrangements for our stay.”
“Of course.”
Then Deputy Sa Gu spoke up.
“I heard the Escort Guards working here stole ten thousand gold taels?”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct. It’s been hard scraping together funds since then.”
At that, Deputy Sa Gu’s eyes gleamed.
“If I find it for you, can I keep half?”
Honestly, that request wasn’t much different from highway robbery.
But from Lord Ma’s point of view, it wasn’t a bad deal.
The money hadn’t been recovered anyway—getting even half of it back would be a gain.
“Go right ahead.”
“Then let’s head to the county office. It’s not far from here, is it?”
“I’ll escort you.”
Soon after, they arrived at the county office of Taegyeong County.
Upon hearing that a Deputy from the White Thunder Squad of the Murim Alliance was visiting, the County Magistrate came rushing out.
Even if the martial world and the government were supposed to remain separate, you only had one life—and in Hanan, the Alliance’s stronghold, a mere magistrate couldn’t afford to offend them.
“Welcome.”
They exchanged names and greetings.
“We came because I heard the ones who stole Lord Ma’s money are here.”
“Yes, we’re interrogating them now.”
“Take me to them.”
“Ah, yes.”
Currently, those assigned by the Censorate Inspector of Hanan Province were conducting the interrogation.
The incident occurred here, and the goal was to recover the gold.
As they headed to the jail within the county office, the stench of blood grew stronger.
“Graaah!”
“You bastard! Still won’t talk?!”
“I really don’t know! Gaaaah!”
Just then, one of the interrogators dispatched by the Hanan Province Censorate noticed Deputy Sa Gu’s group and approached.
“Who are you?”
“This is Deputy Sa Gu of the White Thunder Squad from the Murim Alliance.”
“Ah! I see.”
Deputy Sa Gu scanned the battered Escort Guards and said.
“Not much progress, it seems.”
“I apologize.”
“That’s not it. I’m sure you did your best in your own way. But I see their limb meridians have been severed.”
“They’re all First-rate warriors, so we had no choice.”
“Well done.”
He then shared what he’d found out so far.
“They claim they were attacked by a trio wearing smiling face masks. But honestly, we’re talking about ten thousand gold taels. How could three people carry that off?”
“True.”
“There’s no trace of horses or carts or anything else they might’ve used. I suspect they hid the gold somewhere, then started fighting each other and ended up hallucinating.”
“Hallucinating?”
“Yes. Among the poisons they carried was a hallucinogenic poison. The one who had it called it Wang-ah Hallucination Poison (忘我幻覺毒).”
“Hmm? That poison causes people to lose all memory of what happened during their hallucinations, right? Why were they carrying that?”
“They said they used it when assaulting village women. Absolute scum.”
Lord Ma quickly stepped forward, shouting in anger.
“To think I had bastards like that working under me! Unbelievable!”
If this wasn’t handled properly, he could be accused of negligence.
Normally, no one would care, but right now, there was someone from the Censorate Inspector’s office and the Murim Alliance present.
“To commit such vile acts under the mask of the Orthodox Sect… They deserve to be torn limb from limb.”
“…You’re right.”
Deputy Sa Gu nodded with a sour expression.
He had the Wang-ah Hallucination Poison too. And his purpose for carrying it wasn’t much different from that of the now-accused warrior.
He cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“Hmph. Let me handle the interrogation.”
“Understood.”
That day, the warriors under Lord Ma experienced pain like nothing they’d ever known in their lives.
And that made it all the more maddening.
Because they hadn’t actually done it.
But would they realize?
That the pain they suffered was nothing compared to what the people of Taegyeong County went through.
After all, these warriors had swung blades just for making eye contact, stolen belongings, and assaulted women whenever desire struck.
Despite the interrogation, Deputy Sa Gu gained nothing useful, so he personally searched every inch of the area where the gold had gone missing.
But he found nothing—not even a single coin.
He had no choice but to give up, swallowing his frustration.
He couldn’t afford to stay for several days just for this.
.
.
.
‘Am I a bit tired?’
Deputy Sa Gu rubbed the back of his neck.
‘Well, I did spend all last night scouring the area.’
It was the same for the other members of the White Thunder Squad. Still, all they had to do was move the ten thousand gold taels.
Most thieves or bandits wouldn’t dare approach once they saw the Murim Alliance banner on a cart.
And this was Hanan Province, the Alliance’s very headquarters.
So really, this mission wasn’t much different from a vacation.
They weren’t even tense. They were cracking jokes and strolling along however they pleased.
But that was just how the White Thunder Squad worked.
It was formed by gathering the unruly sons of families loyal to the Murim Alliance—just to give them some kind of title or status.
Of course, their martial arts weren’t weak.
If they were weak on top of that, they’d have no place in the Alliance’s armed forces.
“Hm…”
Deputy Sa Gu, who had reached the Peak level not long ago, looked down at his left chest and gently rubbed it.
For some reason, it was aching today.
‘It hasn’t hurt since back then.’
Long ago, back when he was just a member of the White Thunder Squad, a child tried to stab him in the heart during a mission.
The child had wielded a crude blade made from sharpened stone.
If it had been a properly forged steel sword, he would’ve died.
And the child escaped.
‘But why did that little bastard try to kill me?’
Deputy Sa Gu had absolutely no memory of what he’d done to provoke it.
Just then, someone from the Murim Alliance beside him spoke.
“Sir, we should probably start looking for a place to camp for the night.”
“You’re right.”
I looked toward the campfire.
Ten men… No, eleven if you count the one sent by the Murim Alliance to finalize the deal.
Turning my head, I saw Escort Guard Ji Yu sitting with his eyes closed.
That was due to Escort Guard Seo Wu’s request.
“But if Escort Guard Ji Yu won’t heed my request, then I can’t support him taking the lead.”
“What is it?”
“Control your mind. Don’t think of this as your personal revenge. Think of it as fulfilling an order from the Young Master.”
“What?”
“When you’re blinded by vengeance, you lose sight of what truly matters. And if that makes you miss a blade aimed at the Young Master, wouldn’t that be a contradiction? If the Young Master is harmed because of you, I’ll cut you down myself.”
At his firm tone, Jin Yu nodded without resistance.
“…You’re right, Escort Guard Seo Wu. I can’t endanger the Young Master who gave me this chance.”
“Don’t lower your guard until the very end. And wait until everything’s over to celebrate.”
“Understood. Thank you for your advice. You’ve helped me realize something important.”
After that, he remained still with his eyes closed.
Escort Guard Seo Wu was proving to be a reliable pillar among my guards.
Perhaps it was all the time he’d spent bedridden, fighting his own inner battles, that had tempered him.
I, too, realized something from those words.
Right. If I stay focused on building Eunhae Merchant Group into the greatest merchant group under the heavens, I’ll get my revenge on Baekcheon Merchant Group and the Murim Alliance naturally.
Still… they’re camping out with that much money on them, and drinking on top of it? Unbelievable.
But it works in our favor.
One by one, they began to fall asleep.
I put on my mask and sent a sound transmission to the other two.
— Let’s go.
–TL Notes–
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