Chapter 28

Chapter 28
## Chapter: 28

### Night in Soheung (3)

“So, you have finally gotten here?”

Wang Ho Chung, the secret puppet master who had been pullings the strings of the Blood Guard Faction since they dismantled the Heart Harmony Society and claimed the Soheung marketplaces, lowered his head in a display of profound dread and submission.

Given Wang Ho Chung’s terrified behavior, Mak So Dong, the official chieftain of the Blood Guard Faction, remained pressed against the floorboards, not daring to even glance upward from his prostrate position.

Ja Ryong spared only a passing look at Mak So Dong’s groveling form before focusing on Wang Ho Chung.

“Point the way.”

“I shall lead you immediately.”

Wang Ho Chung stood and moved with nervous haste.

He escorted Ja Ryong’s party to the most isolated chamber within the Blood Guard Faction’s headquarters.

Long before they crossed the threshold, the heavy scent of burning incense hit them. Ja Ryong, who possessed a natural aversion to potent aromas, pinched his features in distaste, though he refrained from voicing a complaint.

Incense was traditionally used for the sanctity of the dead, yet it also served the practical purpose of masking the stench of rot. Under these circumstances, it was clearly the latter. The subtle, cloying odor of decay cutting through the perfume confirmed his suspicion.

“How long has it been?”

Jeon Il Geuk, trailing closely behind, provided the answer to Ja Ryong’s inquiry.

“It has been five days, Boss.”

“Five days… the remains will be in poor condition.”

With the intense heat of the season, a five-day interval meant that decomposition would be well advanced.

As the chamber doors swung wide, a suffocating cloud of incense billowed out to meet them.

“Mm.”

A low sound of discomfort escaped Ja Ryong as his eyes landed on two massive timber sarcophagi positioned in the center of the room.

“Unseal them.”

Following Ja Ryong’s order, Wang Ho Chung and Mak So Dong stepped forward to heave the heavy lids aside. Instantly, a wave of putrefaction, far more potent than what they had smelled outside, flooded the hall.

While Wang Ho Chung and Mak So Dong struggled visibly against the urge to gag, Ja Ryong, Jeon Il Geuk, and their companions merely showed slight grimaces of displeasure.

“Let us verify… actually, stay back.”

Dismissing the others with a shake of his head, Ja Ryong approached the caskets to personally inspect the fallen.

The two corpses were marred by the early stages of bloating and decay, yet their features remained identifiable.

“Hm.”

Another sound vibrated in Ja Ryong’s throat, but this time it held a different weight. The first had been a sigh for the loss of his subordinates; this one was a reaction of genuine astonishment at the nature of their end.

“It appears… they were both dispatched with a solitary strike.”

Jeon Il Geuk, who had moved up to examine the bodies, spoke with a tone of utter disbelief.

“Indeed.”

Ja Ryong nodded slowly, his piercing eyes locked onto the catastrophic damage inflicted upon the torsos of Ma Jeong and Gong Neung.

“Their ribcages have been splintered like brittle twigs, and their internal organs were pulverized by the sheer force of the impact. That isn’t just the result of time and heat.”

With a grimace, Ja Ryong gestured toward the ruined chests of the men, where their vitals had turned to a dark, liquefied mess.

“The mechanism of death is identical for both. A singular, crushing blow to the sternum. However, what is truly unsettling is the sheer panic etched into their features.”

“Ah!”

Jeon Il Geuk let out a sharp breath of realization.

As the personal enforcers for Yeongho Jangcheon, the young lord of the Yeongho Family, and having been forged within the Hidden Dragon Squad, they were intimately familiar with the face of death.

They had seen many brothers-in-arms fall during the brutality of training, and even more had perished in the dark operations they conducted.

To members of the Hidden Dragon Squad, dying was rarely a source of primal terror—it was usually seen as the bitter consequence of being outmatched or failing to persevere. While there were rare cases of fear, most of their fallen had died with the pride of warriors.

The expressions on Ma Jeong and Gong Neung, however, suggested something else entirely. It was a look of absolute, paralyzing horror. It wasn’t just the fear of dying; it was the realization that they were facing an entity they could not even hope to touch.

“Does Soheung truly harbor a master of such devastating power? And why did the killing stop with these two? If this was a move by the Heart Harmony Society, they wouldn’t have just walked away after this.”

Ja Ryong cast a questioning look toward Wang Ho Chung and Mak So Dong, but Jeon Il Geuk was already shaking his head in a firm negative.

“While Soheung has its share of respected martial artists, these two were among the elite of the Hidden Dragon Squad. There is no one in this territory capable of overwhelming them so effortlessly. I would bet my life on that fact.”

“What is your assessment, then?”

Jeon Il Geuk paused, let out a frustrated breath, and looked away.

“I have no answer.”

Under normal circumstances, Ja Ryong would have reprimanded such a vague response, but he found himself sharing that same uncertainty.

“Wang Ho Chung.”

Ja Ryong addressed the man who was currently shifting uncomfortably.

“I am here.”

“Is your control over the Soheung night markets absolute?”

Wang Ho Chung’s eyes darted toward Mak So Dong, who took a step forward and offered a deep bow.

“There are still a few minor pests stirring up trouble, but we shall eradicate them shortly.”

“Do not allow your recent success to make you arrogant. As you can see, a powerful figure has managed to operate right under our noses. Until we identify who—or what—responsible for this, keep your heads down and focus purely on consolidating your territory.”

“It shall be as you say.”

As Mak So Dong shouted his affirmation and bowed, Ja Ryong watched him with a skeptical eye before turning back to Wang Ho Chung.

“We will conduct a modest ceremony for the dead here. See to the arrangements.”

“By your command.”

With a dismissive flick of his wrist, Ja Ryong sent Wang Ho Chung and Mak So Dong out of the chamber. Once they were gone, he spoke quietly to Jeon Il Geuk.

“Scour the area without drawing attention. Determine if this was a freak occurrence or if there is a larger conspiracy in motion.”

Seeing the dark cloud over Ja Ryong’s face, Jeon Il Geuk lowered his own voice to a whisper.

“Do you have a suspicion?”

“Nothing concrete, but a certain thought keeps bothering me.”

“And that is?”

“The Black Ox Squad.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Jeon Il Geuk’s eyes widened in shock.

“They have managed to keep it quiet, but the rumors that they were entirely wiped out seem to be true.”

“Heh… I suspected as much.”

The Hidden Dragon Squad and the Black Ox Squad were bitter rivals. A thin, cold smile touched Jeon Il Geuk’s lips at the thought of their enemy’s downfall.

“The issue is that their destruction occurred right here in Soheung. It isn’t verified, but the signs are pointing that way.”

“Then the party responsible for crushing the Black Ox Squad…”

“Precisely. It could be the same individual—or the same organization.”

Jeon Il Geuk’s expression turned stony. His survival instincts were screaming a warning.

“Conduct your search with the utmost care and secrecy. One wrong move, and none of us might make it out of here.”

At Ja Ryong’s grim warning, Jeon Il Geuk and the remaining Hidden Dragon Squad members fell into a heavy silence. They could only stare down at the broken, ruined forms of their comrades lying in the coffins.

—

The conflict that had thrown the power structure of the Soheung night markets into chaos had taken place ten days prior.

The Blood Guard Faction had emerged as the victors, but the local populace, remembering the long-standing reign of the Heart Harmony Society, had expected a violent and massive retaliation.

However, since their second-in-command and the bulk of their leadership had been slaughtered during the skirmish at Guanji Temple, and their headquarters had been subsequently raided—resulting in the death of their leader—the remaining survivors were powerless.

Acting as the instruments of the Bi Do Society, the Blood Guard Faction employed both threats and incentives to systematically absorb the holdouts. The choices offered were simple: swear fealty or vanish from the markets.

The vast majority chose to serve the Blood Guard Faction; a few chose exile.

“You’ve returned?”

Cheol Woo, busy hacking through slabs of meat, gestured with a crimson-stained blade toward Sima Ho, who was walking in with a listless gait.

“I’m back. Where is Big Brother?”

Sima Ho looked around the shop. His arm was still held in a wooden splint, though the injury to his leg had mostly mended.

“He’s at the back in the slaughterhouse. We received a massive order last night—it’s been chaos.”

“A massive order?”

“Yeah. The first real business we’ve had since opening this shop. Three head of cattle and ten hogs. Quite the haul, right?”

“I suppose so.”

Sima Ho gave a dull nod, his face devoid of any real interest. Flaring with irritation, Cheol Woo drove his cleaver into the wooden block with a loud thud.

“Are you still dwelling on that?”

Sima Ho jumped slightly and averted his eyes.

“Good grief. A stranger would think you were the head of that society, not just some low-level member. Start acting your rank. All this moping isn’t going to bring the Heart Harmony Society back from the grave.”

“I’m not moping!”

Sima Ho barked back, but he only received a dismissive snort in return.

“Then what is this? Why are you dragging your feet like a kicked stray?”

“…”

“You want to know something ironic? That big order? It came directly from the Blood Guard Faction.”

Sima Ho spun around, his eyes flashing.

Cheol Woo didn’t wait for the outburst; he tossed a chunk of raw pig fat right at Sima Ho’s angry face. Sima Ho tried to duck in shock, but he was too slow—the greasy mass smacked into his cheek.

“You have the nerve to glare at your elder brother?”

Cheol Woo stared him down. Sima Ho’s bravado vanished, and he lowered his head once more.

“I apologize.”

His miserable, defeated posture made Cheol Woo’s anger evaporate, replaced by a sense of awkwardness.

“Sigh. I shouldn’t have been so blunt. As a simple soldier, shouldn’t your priority be your own survival? What is the problem? Are you too full of sentiment? Or is it some sense of justice?”

Suddenly, a sharp, localized pain shot through Cheol Woo’s side.

His body, supposedly as durable as diamond, could ignore the edge of a sword, but this specific agony forced a yelp from his throat.

“Gah!”

Cheol Woo whirled around in pain. Sima Jin was standing there, her eyes narrowed in a cold glare, her small, elegant hand still busy twisting the skin of his flank with surprising malice.

Acting as if he were on the verge of death, Cheol Woo wheezed,

“Little sister… why… why would you do this?”

“Why must you constantly pick on someone who is already struggling, Cheol Woo oppa?”

“What did I even do?”

“If you can’t offer him any comfort, at least don’t pour salt into his wounds.”

“That *was* my version of comfort. You think I’d bother lecturing him if he were doing fine?”

Cheol Woo managed to pry her hand away, rubbing his bruised side with a weary sigh.

“How are your hands so lethal? My diamond-like defense was completely bypassed. Regardless, our little sister is truly something else.”

He gave her a dramatic, exaggerated thumbs-up.

“You are beyond help.”

Sima Jin couldn’t help but let a small smile slip, but it faded when she looked at Sima Ho’s bitter expression.

“Does it still hurt that much? Are you still thinking about that man, Cheon?”

Sima Ho flinched at the mention of the name.

“How did you know…”

“How could I not? You’ve been muttering about it in your sleep every single night.”

“I have?”

“Yes. The man who helped you get away? The one who took a blade meant for you?”

Sima Ho nodded slowly, moisture gathering in the corners of his eyes.

Cheon Woo Hwang, the man who had stepped in front of the blade to save him, had treated Sima Ho like a younger brother from the moment he joined the Heart Harmony Society—always providing guidance and protection.

Sima Ho had looked up to him even more than his own biological rival, Sima Hyeon. To lose him in such a way was a wound deeper than he could describe.

“What is it you want to do?”

The sudden, deep voice made everyone turn.

Sima Geon, having returned from his work in the slaughterhouse, was stripping off his blood-spattered work tunic as he repeated the question.

“Do you want to take revenge?”

“I… well…”

Meeting Sima Geon’s steady gaze, Sima Ho could only stammer. Every fiber of his being wanted to shout ‘yes,’ but a part of him held back.

“If that is what you desire, I will make it happen.”

Cheol Woo was the most stunned by Sima Geon’s declaration.

“Are you being serious?”

He stared in disbelief. Sima Geon ignored the commotion, keeping his focus entirely on Sima Ho.

“If you want vengeance, I will deliver it to you. Is that what you want?”

“I… I…”

Sima Ho wavered for a long moment, then ultimately shook his head.

He was aware that his older brothers and Cheol Woo had previously lived as mercenaries. Though they tried to play down their past, he didn’t believe their stories about living a “peaceful” life.

The Heart Harmony Society had its share of former mercenaries, too. They always said there was no such thing as an easy life for a soldier of fortune—that the survivors were few and far between because they had endured hellish trials.

When his younger brother had been taken by bandits, they had called in favors from old friends to strike back—so he knew revenge was possible.

‘But…’

Sima Ho thought of the ruthless efficiency with which the Bi Do Society had dismantled the Heart Harmony Society at Guanji Temple, and he ground his teeth.

Furthermore, Bi Do had wiped out their leader and his elite guard—and rumors suggested only two men had done the deed. Even if the rumors of mutual destruction were true, who knew how many other monsters they had in reserve?

He couldn’t bring himself to pull his brothers, who had finally returned home, back into a cycle of killing.

“No. Let it go.”

Sima Ho shook his head firmly.

Sima Jin let out a breath of relief, while Cheol Woo sighed with a different kind of emotion.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

“Very well.”

Sima Geon offered a gentle smile and gave Sima Ho’s shoulder a supportive pat.

“What’s with the heavy atmosphere in here?”

Sima Hyeon, who had just returned from delivering meat products to the Blood Guard Faction, looked around the room, sensing the tension.

“Was the delivery successful?”

Cheol Woo asked.

“It went fine. They want even more tomorrow. But really, what is going on?”

Sima Hyeon shifted uncomfortably in the somber room.

“It’s nothing. Our little brother was feeling a bit low, so we were checking on him. He’s fine now.”

Sima Jin tried to brighten the mood.

“Oh, that reminds me! Sima Ho!”

Sima Hyeon suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs. Everyone jumped, startled by the outburst.

Sima Jin grabbed his sleeve and pulled, worried he was about to provoke Sima Ho again.

“Ugh, you moron! You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

Sima Hyeon gestured wildly at his own chest in exasperation.

“Hey! Why are you starting up again?”

Even Cheol Woo moved to restrain him.

“Shut your mouths! Just look at who is standing right there.”

Sima Ho turned his eyes toward where Sima Hyeon was pointing.

A figure was entering the butcher shop, silhouetted by the afternoon sun—a silhouette that was agonizingly familiar.

“I heard you took a nasty hit—I was worried to death. You seem to be doing alright, though.”

The newcomer’s wide grin and casual wave caused Sima Ho’s eyes to bulge out of his head.

“H-Hyung? How are you even here?”

“Argh!”

Sima Hyeon couldn’t contain himself any longer and delivered a sharp smack to the back of Sima Ho’s head.

“All that crying and moping over a guy who’s perfectly healthy. I was worried sick about what you might do—you little brat!”

Sima Hyeon’s fist was literally shaking with spent frustration.

“Wait a second.”

Cheol Woo stepped between them, an awkward, forced smile on his face as he pointed toward the visitor.

“So *this* is the Cheon guy you’ve been crying over?”

“That’s him. This idiot has been acting like a widower without even checking the facts.”

“Ha! Hahaha!”

Cheol Woo’s laughter suddenly died in his throat as his expression shifted.

Meeting the hardening gaze of Cheol Woo, Sima Ho turned pale and began to back away in fear. However, he only managed a few steps before a wave of pure murderous intent froze him in place.

“You absolute moron!”

Sima Jin shrieked, lunging forward like a wild animal.

Her sudden explosion of rage was so intense that even Cheol Woo was forced to step out of her way.