Deputy Society Leader Cho Hee-tak, the Poison Heart of Lone Night, recalled Chwi Dugae at the Dark Cavern Taoist’s words.
“Ah! Then you mean I should beg the Sub-Branch Master?”
“If you want, you can beg Hu Gae, but it doesn’t seem very desirable for you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“As you also know, Hu Gae is more righteous than anyone. Especially when it comes to villains who harm commoners, he never, ever forgives.”
At Kwak Yeon’s words, Cho Hee-tak’s face turned deathly pale.
“Still, if you want to be dealt with by Hu Gae, I will make it so.”
“Ah... n-no.”
Cho Hee-tak shook his head in a panic, his face full of distress.
He had no idea who he was supposed to beg, then.
‘Don’t tell me he’s saying I should beg that witch over there?’
Just then, Kwak Yeon said as if tossing it out.
“I intend to discuss it with Hu Gae and leave you to the Heaven-and-Earth Net.”
Watching the Dark Cavern Taoist say that and walk away, Cho Hee-tak swelled with hope.
He didn’t know what that absurd phrase, “the Heaven-and-Earth Net,” meant, but either way, wasn’t it saying he wouldn’t kill them here with his own hands?
Moreover, his limbs were still intact, and his core was uninjured, so it was clearly a chance to rise again from the brink.
‘Right. The Dark Cavern Taoist must be ignorant of how the martial world works, just like that witch.’
Cho Hee-tak, the Poison Heart of Lone Night, smiled to himself.
Today’s Red Wolf Society plan had turned to foam, but there was no reason to despair.
Places that would want information worth one million taels of Geumja were everywhere.
*****
“Society Leader, at last—they’ve appeared on the mountain-pass road.”
The Red Wolf Society Leader, Gi Cheoljong—Iron-Headed Red Bear—had been sitting in the shade of a boulder, circulating qi and regulating his breath. He snapped his eyes open.
“That carriage from Great Plains Livery—are you certain it’s the one?”
At the Society Leader’s question, Geun Seok-oh, a Red Wolf Society underling who was clinging to a rock like a lizard while watching the main road, answered briskly.
“Yes. The identifying pennant hanging behind the carriage, and the carriage itself—it’s unquestionably Great Plains Livery’s.”
“And the Deputy Society Leader’s carriage?”
“It still isn’t in sight.”
Society Leader Gi Cheoljong creased his brow.
“Why are the bastards who should be joining in right away and blocking the retreat route dawdling?”
“Maybe the Deputy Society Leader thinks the mountain-pass road is bent, so he’s widening the distance and following behind so they won’t notice him—”
“Geun Seok-oh, you bastard! Are you the Deputy Society Leader? You’re answering that?”
“...I’m sorry. I just thought that might be the case...”
“Thought? You bastard—because you’ve got a few tricks in that head, I kept you at my side, and now look at you. Answering back every chance you get.”
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry.”
“Anyway, I’m holding it in because we’re facing something big. I’m going down to the main road, so you stay here and keep watching. If you see anything strange, report immediately.”
“Understood, Society Leader.”
Geun Seok-oh watched the Society Leader leap down the steep rocky cliff in a zigzag pattern, then formed a sticky smile.
‘Iron-Headed Red Bear. An iron-headed brown bear.’
It was an epithet that fit the Society Leader perfectly.
Gi Cheoljong was never the sort of head that should lead a pack.
But with his uniquely brutal temperament and superior martial arts, he kept the Red Wolf Society under his thumb.
Geun Seok-oh found his own position under such a man bitter.
Because the Society Leader was that way, even someone like him—whose martial arts were lacking—could cling to the Red Wolf Society.
It was strange enough that this time, with that dull head, the Society Leader had listened to his suggestion to build a trap instead of hunting directly.
No matter how much the Society Leader was the kind of man who’d lost all fear and rampaged without end, it seemed he had been afraid of the Dark Cavern Taoist’s fame.
And with Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan traveling together, it was clear even that temperament had felt fear.
The Society Leader had sworn that once this succeeded, he would grow the Red Wolf Society into a proper assassin corps, but with that stupidity and that temperament, it was nonsense.
Still, Geun Seok-oh wanted this to succeed.
Because the Society Leader had promised to distribute half of the one million taels of Geumja to the underlings.
‘The moment he breaks this promise, the Society Leader’s life ends too.’
If the Society Leader failed to keep his word again, the underlings wouldn’t endure it anymore.
And that would be the best opportunity imaginable for him.
Geun Seok-oh looked down as the Society Leader, having descended to the narrow gorge’s main road, placed the underlings on the left and right.
Dry dirt lay spread across the road.
Unless you looked closely from nearby, you would never know that an iron net was hidden beneath that dry dirt, and within the thick brush on both sides of the road.
No matter if it was the Dark Cavern Taoist and Hu Gae, once an iron net wrapped the entire carriage and cinched down, there was no way to escape in a short time.
And if, at the same time, oil was poured onto the carriage and fire was set, they would be trapped inside and roasted alive.
Just imagining two peerless masters dying to his stratagem made his chest tremble.
‘See? Pathetic martial arts aren’t everything!’
There would be no way the Society Leader could avoid acknowledging him now. Not that he was doing it to be acknowledged by that Society Leader.
The real aim was to be acknowledged by the Red Wolf Society underlings and take the Red Wolf Society for himself.
Watching the preparations proceed exactly according to his plan, Geun Seok-oh wore a satisfied smile and turned his head toward the mountain-pass road.
CLATTER CLATTER!
A Great Plains Livery carriage drawn by two horses was entering the gorge road.
When he focused, he could see figures moving faintly by the carriage window.
The targets were certainly inside.
‘It’s done!’
As Geun Seok-oh smiled in triumph, a sudden unease crawled over him. And he quickly found the source.
It was the coachman on the driver’s bench.
From the moment they entered the mountain-pass road, the coachman had kept his head bowed low.
Geun Seok-oh thought the coachman was tired and dozing.
Great Plains Livery’s horses were well-trained and knew the road well enough to follow the main road on their own, so it wasn’t especially strange for a coachman to nod off.
But the fact that the coachman never once woke, and kept the exact same bowed posture, grated on his nerves.
As if sleeping that deeply from the start was impossible.
‘Something’s wrong.’
Geun Seok-oh almost sent a warning signal to the Society Leader down on the road, but stopped.
‘Am I just worrying too much?’
If he sent a signal, that foul-tempered Society Leader would definitely demand accountability from him.
‘Right. A coachman can sleep deeply sometimes.’
Just then, far away on the ridge road, another carriage appeared.
Geun Seok-oh recognized at a glance that it was the carriage carrying the Deputy Society Leader and his underlings.
‘Then there’s even less to worry about.’
If something had happened to Great Plains Livery’s carriage, the Deputy Society Leader’s side would have informed them.
While Geun Seok-oh had those thoughts, Great Plains Livery’s carriage drew close to the trap where the Society Leader and underlings were lying in ambush.
*****
Red Wolf Society Leader Gi Cheoljong—Iron-Headed Red Bear—watched Great Plains Livery’s carriage turn the corner and appear. He lifted his eyes once more to the cliff where the lookout was stationed.
Up there, Geun Seok-oh would be able to see plainly that he had turned his head. Yet there was no signal—meaning there was nothing unusual.
‘Heh heh. You walked right into it.’
With a victorious smile, Gi Cheoljong waited until the carriage reached the marked position, then raised his right hand sharply.
SWISH!
An arrow flew out and pierced straight through the chest of the coachman who had been dozing on the driver’s bench.
THUNK!
It was so powerful that the arrow punched through the coachman’s chest and buried into the carriage wall.
‘Huh?’
Gi Cheoljong felt slightly puzzled.
The coachman hadn’t made a sound.
Even if he’d been dozing and got hit, he should at least have thrashed—yet there wasn’t even a twitch.
‘It could be because it was that strong.’
Even if that wasn’t it, from the instant the arrow flew, the thing had already begun, and it couldn’t be undone.
NEEIIIGH!
NEEIIIGH!
One underling sprang out, grabbed the two horses’ reins, and stopped the carriage. At the same time, four underlings burst out from the left and right of the main road and crossed past the carriage.
CLANG CLANK!
The long iron net hanging from their hands erupted in loud metal noise as it completely wrapped the carriage.
“It’s done! Now latch on and pull the iron net tight!”
As the underlings who had been lying close to the roadside ambush poured out and seized the corners of the net to pull, Gi Cheoljong shouted again without pause.
“Oil! Pour the oil and set it on fire!”
SPLASH SPLASH!
Underlings who had been waiting with oil jars drenched the carriage, and sparks burst from the fire strikers.
WHOOMF!
Fire caught the carriage in an instant.
“Don’t get careless. Surround the carriage. Keep pouring the oil.”
SPLASH SPLASH!
Soon the flames swelled until they seemed to leap into the sky.
“Wahahaha!”
Gi Cheoljong—Iron-Headed Red Bear—let out a triumphant peal of laughter.
No matter if they were masters of the Transformation Realm, trapped in an iron net and swallowed by flames, there would be no way out.
If they used inner power to endure the fire, they wouldn’t be able to spend that strength breaking the carriage and ripping the iron net apart.
But they also couldn’t endure forever by using inner power.
At most—half a quarter-hour.
If they couldn’t escape within half a quarter-hour, they would be roasted alive inside.
And even if they somehow got out before that, they would be a shredded wreck, unable to withstand even a single sword stroke from him.
Gi Cheoljong secretly hoped the Dark Cavern Taoist would come out.
He had been stockpiling his inner power for this moment.
CRACKLE CRACKLE!
As the flames devoured the carriage, tense time passed.
At first the inside of the carriage had jolted briefly—now there was no trace at all.
‘What? It ends this easily?’
Gi Cheoljong thought the rumor that the Dark Cavern Taoist was a Transformation Realm master who had beheaded the Hidden Dragon Command’s lord in a single strike had been exaggerated.
But Gi Cheoljong did not let his guard down.
Because the Dark Cavern Taoist might be crouching while using the Turtle-Breath Method.
“Keep pouring the oil.”
When the flames showed signs of easing, Gi Cheoljong pressed his underlings.
“Don’t let go of the bowstrings either. You don’t know when he’ll burst out.”
Gi Cheoljong intended never to stop the fire attack until he was certain the people inside had fully suffocated and died from the fire’s energy.
WHOOMF!
As the flames surged up into the air again, Gi Cheoljong felt a bit of ease.
Only then did he recall the Deputy Society Leader and underlings he had assigned to tail them.
“Deputy Society Leader—why is that bastard so late?”
When he turned his head toward the gorge entrance, he saw a carriage approaching at a leisurely pace.
Gi Cheoljong barked in anger.
“You bastards—why are you so relaxed?”
If they saw flames surging, they should have rushed in and lent strength.
Gi Cheoljong decided to forgive it this once, thinking of Deputy Society Leader Cho Hee-tak’s contribution in bringing the Dark Cavern Taoist’s information.
The thought that one million taels of Geumja would soon come in made his heart spacious.
‘Right. Now the Red Wolf Society becomes a proper assassin corps—so as its leader, I should have that much magnanimity.’
He made up his mind and tried to keep his dignity, but...
The Deputy Society Leader and underlings were still riding in the carriage without even showing their faces.
Even though they must °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° have heard the Society Leader’s shout.
“Deputy Society Leader! You bastard—run over here right now!”
Only then did the underling on the driver’s bench urge the two horses.
CLATTER CLATTER!
