Chapter 115. Enlightenment (2)
"Ah, hello....."
"Ah, yes. Hello."
Ha Seon-hyang gave Namgung Hye an awkward greeting and then walked ahead toward the entrance of the hall first. Somehow, she felt uncomfortable and did not want to stand beside her.
On the other hand, Dong Bong-su leisurely folded the Registration Confirmation Slip once more and put it into his chest.
Only then did he turn his body and merely glance past Namgung Hye.
At that, Namgung Hye smiled softly, and Dong Bong-su simply turned his back and walked toward the door. At her faint smile, Lee I-jeom's mouth opened wide, but Dong Bong-su merely kept walking toward the entrance.
"I will carry it. Namgung young lady."
"No, it's fine. I brought people to help."
Lee I-jeom, who had looked sleepy and tired just moments ago, now moved briskly as if nothing had happened, picked up part of the application forms piled up like a mountain, and stood beside Namgung Hye. Namgung Hye's polite refusal had already lost all meaning.
Regardless, Dong Bong-su was slowly walking out of the hall.
***
"Wow—. Namgung young lady is really pretty. Right...?"
Ha Seon-hyang walked beside Dong Bong-su, glancing back repeatedly and speaking without confidence. Namgung Hye's reputation and beauty must have overwhelmed her. Watching from afar and seeing her from just one arm's length away were worlds apart.
Dong Bong-su answered without stopping his steps.
"So it seems."
A short and concise reply. It plainly proved that he had no interest.
The Martial Alliance's fairy.
That figure, as if about to fly, holding the hem of her pale blue silk clothes.
All of that was meaningless.
What he knew, what he remembered, was that the 'real Namgung Hye' should never be alive.
On the very day the Namgung Family collapsed, the 'real Namgung Hye' remained at the top of Seonjung Mountain. When some of the survivors such as Tang Wu and Tang Hua jumped down, staking even a hair's breadth of hope, he killed them all.
Among those he killed, there was no Namgung Hye.
So there was a very small chance that she might have survived, but if he were Do Heo-ok, he would have killed her. Even if she were alive, she would have had no value to use and would only be a burden.
Therefore, that Namgung Hye could not be real.
'Do Heo-ok.'
There was no doubt.
However, his true identity was still unknown.
Where he belonged, what kind of background he had, how old he really was—everything was shrouded in mystery.
One thing was certain: he was not affiliated with Heavenly Demon Castle.
Although the one who exterminated the Namgung Family was Heavenly Demon Castle, because of the Anhui Great Slaughter Calamity, Heavenly Demon Castle gained very little.
If one examined it closely, they actually only suffered losses.
If their goal had been to ambush and strike the orthodox sects of the Central Plains, there was no reason it had to be the Namgung Family, and if Do Heo-ok had been a real spy of Heavenly Demon Castle, he would not have chosen such an obviously conspicuous method.
Whatever his true identity was, at present Dong Bong-su stood in a superior position compared to Do Heo-ok. How to use this information would require more thought in the future, but at least one thing was clear: he was one step ahead of Namgung Hye.
He had recognized Namgung Hye, but she—or he—still had not recognized Dong Bong-su himself.
"Ugh—. It's unfair. Why are there so many pretty women in the Central Plains!"
Ha Seon-hyang complained and puffed her cheeks full of air.
She looked very cute, but Dong Bong-su's feelings were completely different.
An easy-to-read type of woman.
That was Dong Bong-su's short assessment of Ha Seon-hyang.
Just as he had no interest in Namgung Hye, Ha Seon-hyang was also outside his interest. To him, the opposite sex was only that much. Of course, strictly speaking, Namgung Hye was not even that.
Grrrkk—.
A sudden sound.
"Hm? What's that sound?"
"..."
Grrrkk—.
Again, a sound came from Dong Bong-su's stomach.
"Hohoho. You must be very hungry right now, aren't you?"
Although it was a sudden signal, in truth Dong Bong-su really was hungry. It was only natural, since he had starved for nearly ten days. Moreover, while wandering through Avici Hell, he had consumed all the energy in his body. Even his hair turning completely white in that short period was likely because of that.
One of the few proofs that he was still human.
Appetite.
"Let's go eat."
Ha Seon-hyang blushed, lightly rubbed under her nose, and continued.
"Together. Hehe—."
A date invitation?
Dong Bong-su muttered quietly to himself. But she was not the only one making such an invitation to him right now.
It was not only his body that had starved for over ten days.
Grrrkk, grrrkk.
Instinct. His nature as a predator was screaming madly.
That he was hungry. That he felt like he was going to die.
And.
That now was the time to go hunting.
***
The registration for the All-Under-Heaven Youth Martial Arts Tournament had closed.
Muhwa Gate was once again placed under control, and Zhengzhou began to bustle even more than before. Until the tournament officially commenced at Awakening of Insects, this state would continue.
Zhengzhou naturally entered the peak of the busy season.
Weapon shops, taverns, restaurants, guesthouses, horse stables, clinics, escort agencies, even the small market stalls tucked away in corners of the marketplace.
There was not a single place where business was bad.
Even though people were packed in at every step, crowds were still pouring in by the moment.
How could it be otherwise?
However, that was only for legal businesses.
Those who did illegal work were facing an unprecedented recession. A recession so bad that even the off-season could not compare.
Pickpockets, thieves, black factions, and the like.
Those who had to move in the shadows were lying low like dead mice. It could not be helped—just by appearances, it was often impossible to tell whether someone was a martial artist or not. If they carelessly provoked the wrong martial artist, no one knew what kind of fate they would suffer. Moreover, even among the homeless sleeping on the streets, martial artists were everywhere....
On top of that, with members of the Martial World Protection Unit spread throughout Zhengzhou and its surrounding areas to maintain public order, how could anyone dare commit crimes recklessly?
Inevitability.
For now, like animals hibernating, the best choice was to stay still without even blinking an eye. When Awakening of Insects came and the animals crawled out of their burrows to resume activity, they could start moving again then.
If they just endured until then, only easy prey would remain here, becoming their food.
***
Assassins. In other words, hired killers.
Boastful fellows who claimed that for money they could kill even the emperor, the Heavenly Demon Castle Lord, or the Martial Alliance Leader.
It was ridiculous that such groups existed in Zhengzhou, where the Martial Alliance was located, but they did indeed exist.
In fact, the Martial Alliance had tried several times to expel assassin groups and killer organizations from Zhengzhou and even from Henan, but in the end, they failed.
The reason was simple.
Those assassin groups all took the form of extremely thorough cell organizations. Even if one or two secret lines were discovered, it was of little use. Like a lizard, they would cut off the tail of the secret line and hide, making it impossible to catch even the torso, let alone the head.
In the end, the Martial Alliance had no choice but to leave them alone.
And since assassins were beings that moved only in the shadows, as long as the Martial Alliance had its roots in Cheongsin Mountain, they could not come out into the light of Zhengzhou. The important figures of the Martial Alliance also knew well that if they were left to operate forever in the shadows, they would move within their own limits. There was no need to overturn the entire latrine just to catch maggots.
However, during special periods like now, they were simply managing even the back alleys thoroughly for the guests who had come here.
As a result, even the maggots were forced to hide even deeper....
But ....
Among them, there were some troublesome ones like the Dead Blood Gang.
Like swarms of flies spread across all the latrines under heaven.
Visible, yet extremely difficult to eradicate—such existences.
***
...Sir …..
…...Lord…..
…..Branch Lord …..
"Branch Lord!"
"Mm... what is it?"
At Palgeuk's continued calling, Hu Jang-rang finally woke up.
Thanks to a string of holidays he had enjoyed after a long time, he had been sleeping sweetly today as well. Especially since yesterday he had fully satisfied the lust he had held back for so long, he was even more exhausted.
If you woke me up for something trivial ... you're a dead man.
Hu Jang-rang opened his narrow eyes and scowled, about to lash out at Palgeuk. But after hearing Palgeuk's next words, he could not get angry.
"A request has come in."
"A request?"
"Yes, Branch Lord."
Only then did Hu Jang-rang realize that Palgeuk was holding a commission slip in his hand.
A real request?
He jumped up from his seat and snatched the commission slip from Palgeuk's hand.
Shrrrk.
The scroll, tightly bound, was undone by his rough hands and spread open.
In truth, even as he unrolled the commission slip, Hu Jang-rang did not have much worry or expectation. It had just been a long time since a request came in, and he thought it could not be a difficult job.
Who would place an excessive request at a time like this?
Even if it were a difficult request, there was no reason for Dead Blood Gang to accept it. With the All-Under-Heaven Youth Martial Arts Tournament right around the corner, committing a killing that would unnecessarily provoke the Martial Alliance could cause another troublesome situation.
Palgeuk was an assassin in a position that should know such things well. Therefore, the request he had brought would surely be just some trivial errand.
With that judgment, Hu Jang-rang quickly scanned the fully spread commission slip with bleary eyes.
As expected.
"It's nothing special."
Just as he had thought.
The commission slip contained brief information and portraits of the 'targets'. They were faces he had never seen before, people with backgrounds not even worth caring about.
More than anything, they were young.
"Brats that still stink of milk."
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