Chapter 299

The Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe’s performance ended safely.

When the performance ended, everyone who had gathered at the Jin Clan returned to their own places.

“That was truly amazing.”

“It was the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe, right? It was the best I’ve ever seen. I hope the Jin Clan invites them again next time.”

“I agree. Thanks to them, it feels like all the anger pent up in my heart has been released.”

The faces of the people leaving the Jin Clan seemed to still hold the deep afterglow of the performance.

“You’ve all worked hard. Thanks to you, the event was a success.”

An Elder of the Jin Clan expressed his gratitude to the members of the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe for their hard work.

“It’s all in a day’s work, for which we are paid.”

Lee Ok-ran stepped forward as their representative and spoke.

“Thanks to the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe, things went much more smoothly. We will invite the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe again next year.”

“We would be grateful if you did.”

“Take this.”

The Elder tossed a pouch to Lee Ok-ran.

Inside the pouch was a hefty amount of Silver Taels. It was the payment for today’s performance.

The amount was more than she had expected, and the corners of Lee Ok-ran’s mouth curled up on their own.

“Thank you.”

“I put in a little extra. Well then, a safe journey to you.”

“Yes! Please call on us again next year.”

Lee Ok-ran bowed her head deeply.

When she raised her head again, the Elder was gone, having gone off somewhere.

Lee Ok-ran said to the troupe members.

“Let’s go back to the Inn. For today, let’s eat and drink everything we want and die together.”

“Waaaah!”

At her declaration, the troupe members cheered in unison.

It was the sweetest reward for the members who had finished their performance.

The Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe immediately left the Jin Clan.

After them was the Golden Sky Society.

Led by Jang Mu-guk, the Martial Artists of the Golden Sky Society left the Jin Clan.

As the host, Jin Si-woo saw them off.

Although his heart was uneasy, it was not a task he could entrust to others.

Finally, Pyo Wol and Namgung Wol left the Jin Clan.

“Hyung-nims! Thank you. Thanks to you coming, I was able to stand firm.”

“You worked hard.”

“Please be sure to visit again next time.”

Jin Si-woo wore an expression of lingering regret.

Having Pyo Wol and Namgung Wol there had been a great source of support, and the thought of them leaving now made his heart feel empty.

Namgung Wol comforted Jin Si-woo for a long time.

During their time together, the two had become as close as blood brothers. Jin Si-woo trusted and relied on Namgung Wol, and Namgung Wol cherished Jin Si-woo as if he were his own younger brother.

“Next time, I will definitely visit the Thousand Water Society.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Pyo Wol Hyung-nim, please be sure to visit again next time too.”

“If the opportunity arises, I will visit again.”

“You must.”

Jin Si-woo looked at Pyo Wol with pleading eyes.

Pyo Wol nodded and turned away.

With today’s event over, the Jin Clan would lock its gates for the time being and devote all its efforts to expanding its power.

They had no capacity to worry about external affairs.

Jin Si-woo, too, would be unable to go outside for a while. That was why he wore such a regretful expression.

Pyo Wol and Namgung Wol walked out of the Jin Clan side by side, each holding the reins of their horse.

Standing at a fork in the road, Namgung Wol said to Pyo Wol.

“It seems we must part ways now. If you happen to pass by the Thousand Water Society in the future, please be sure to stop by.”

“I will.”

At Pyo Wol’s reply, Namgung Wol smiled faintly.

He looked at Pyo Wol for a moment, then immediately mounted his horse. Then he rode off toward the southern main road where the Thousand Water Society was located.

Pyo Wol parted with him and returned to Runan.

The streets of Runan were filled with an unusual number of people with excited expressions. They were all people who had gone to the Jin Clan to watch the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe’s performance.

They were still talking about the performance, as if the afterglow had not yet faded. It seemed this atmosphere would continue for some time.

It was when Pyo Wol was heading to the Inn.

“Fire!”

“There’s a fire.”

Suddenly, flames shot up from a back alley, and people screamed as they ran out into the street.

Pyo Wol spurred his horse toward the place where the flames were rising.

Arriving at the scene of the fire, Pyo Wol’s face hardened.

The place currently burning, spewing acrid smoke and hot flames, was a place Pyo Wol had visited just this morning.

It was Jang Noya’s gambling den.

“What do we do?”

“Hurry and bring water.”

“How are we supposed to put that out?”

People could only stomp their feet, not daring to try to extinguish the fire. The heat was so intense that even getting close was impossible.

Pyo Wol tied his horse nearby and threw himself into Jang Noya’s burning gambling den.

The heat inside the gambling den was so intense that it would have been difficult to even breathe without protecting his body with Internal Energy.

Inside the flame-engulfed gambling den, no presence of living people could be felt. All that could be seen were the corpses of those already dead.

On the half-burnt corpses, clear sword wounds remained.

He could tell just by looking at the wounds.

They had been killed by a single sword strike.

Pyo Wol found and examined another corpse.

All the corpses were the same. All had been killed by a single sword strike.

Judging by the wounds, it was clearly the work of one person.

It was a chillingly terrifying skill.

He could feel that the people had been killed mechanically, without the intervention of any emotion. To end a life so thoroughly devoid of human emotion was by no means an easy task.

It was something only possible for those who, like Pyo Wol, lacked human sentiment. That meant the one who killed the people in the gambling den was undoubtedly of the same kind as himself.

Pyo Wol went deeper into the gambling den.

Deeper inside the gambling den, there were more corpses.

Like the other corpses, they had all been killed by a single sword strike.

Among them, Pyo Wol found Jang Noya’s body.

Unlike the other corpses killed by a single strike, Jang Noya’s body was utterly gruesome.

His entire body was covered in deep wounds, the marks of torture clearly visible.

Jang Noya’s eyes were wide open, as if he had suffered extreme pain until the moment his breath was cut off.

Pyo Wol silently gazed at Jang Noya’s body.

His wide-open eyes were filled with a resentful light.

Pyo Wol carefully examined the scars on his body, then stood up.

The flames had already reached this point. If he delayed any longer, it would be dangerous even for someone like Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol left Jang Noya’s body and launched himself into the air.

He broke through the ceiling and landed on the roof of a nearby mansion. Fortunately, the flames soaring high into the sky and the acrid smoke protected him from people’s sight.

From the rooftop, Pyo Wol looked down at the people gathered near the gambling den.

The people still did not dare to approach the gambling den.

Suddenly, Pyo Wol’s gaze fixed on a woman who stood out among the crowd.

A woman with a beautiful appearance and impressive eyes tinged with a blue Qi.

It was Eom So-so.

The moment he saw Eom So-so, Pyo Wol realized that she had perpetrated this tragedy.

Suddenly, Eom So-so looked in his direction.

Acrid smoke and crimson flames stood between the two. But just as Pyo Wol had seen Eom So-so, Eom So-so, too, was looking directly at Pyo Wol.

Eom So-so glared fiercely at Pyo Wol, as if in warning, then turned her back.

Her figure quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Pyo Wol frowned as he looked at the empty Celestial Origin Tower.

In the Celestial Origin Tower, where the prodigies of the Golden Sky Society had stayed until morning, only the owner and a Waiter remained, cleaning up.

Seeing Pyo Wol, the owner approached and asked.

“What brings you here?”

“Where have all the guests gone?”

“They said their schedule was over and left.”

“They all left?”

“Yes!”

The Inn owner replied, cautiously observing Pyo Wol. For some reason, Pyo Wol’s atmosphere was unsettling.

“Did they say where they were going?”

“Why would they tell such things to a mere Inn owner like me?”

The Inn owner’s words made sense.

The prodigies of the Golden Sky Society were all exceptionally talented individuals. They were prodigies already recognized in their own sects and regions. Their pride was just as great. Such people would not go around telling their destination to a mere Inn owner.

Eom So-so must have left with Dokgo Hwang.

The problem was that, as of now, there was no way to know which direction Dokgo Hwang had gone.

Runan was a hub of transportation with well-developed waterways and land routes. Main roads connected in all four directions, making it impossible to specify where Eom So-so had gone.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t track them if he tried, but by the time Pyo Wol figured out the direction, they would already be far away.

Pyo Wol swallowed his disappointment and returned to his Inn.

He had naturally thought the members of the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe would be gathered together, drinking. After all, Lee Ok-ran had clearly said so after the performance.

But this time, too, the Inn was empty.

Pyo Wol asked a Waiter who was cleaning.

“The acrobatic troupe?”

“Ah! They packed their things and left as soon as they came in.”

“They left right away without even celebrating?”

“Yes! That person, the Unit Leader, came back, they talked for a bit, and then left in a hurry.”

“The Unit Leader came back, you say?”

“Yes! The short man with a slightly stooped back is the Unit Leader, right? He came.”

“Did he come alone?”

“I think he was pulling some kind of cart.”

“A cart?”

“Yes! It was a cart with a large box on it…”

“You don’t know what was inside?”

“How would I know that? It’s not like I can just look into a guest’s luggage whenever I want.”

Pyo Wol asked no more.

The Golden Sky Society and the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe.

The two largest groups that had entered Runan had disappeared on the same day, at the same time.

Pyo Wol did not think this was a coincidence at all.

Furthermore, Jang Noya and his Subordinates, whom he had ordered to monitor the Golden Sky Society, had all been massacred.

The Golden Sky Society, and among them, Dokgo Hwang and Eom So-so, were clearly involved in this incident. And perhaps the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe, or more precisely, So Gyeoksan, had made some kind of deal with them.

Although no evidence connecting the two had yet emerged, the circumstances suggested it.

‘What kind of deal did they make?’

Pyo Wol recalled his conversation with So Gyeoksan.

So Gyeoksan had clearly felt a great burden from this commission. That was why he had tried to pass the commission he received onto Pyo Wol.

‘It must be related to the box he brought on the cart.’

When Pyo Wol first saw the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe, such a box had not existed.

It was clear that So Gyeoksan had brought it from somewhere while moving separately.

‘So Gyeoksan was gone for only about a day. Considering his return, the maximum distance he could have traveled is about half a day’s journey.’

Having organized his thoughts, Pyo Wol left the Inn.

The place he headed for was the Brothel that served as the Hao Clan’s branch.

The Hao Clan’s branch would know if anything had happened within a half-day’s distance from the center of Runan.

As soon as he entered the Brothel, the Steward greeted him.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Where is Hong Yushin?”

“He went out during the day, saying he had urgent business.”

“Urgent business?”

“Yes!”

“You don’t know what it was?”

“We would not know that.”

The Steward wore an apologetic expression.

It was not his fault.

The Hao Clan’s branch was not currently operating normally.

It was because they had suffered great damage from the enemies’ Raid.

Many had died, and the system had collapsed.

Because all the useful personnel had died, they were even having difficulty gathering information in Runan.

For that reason, Hong Yushin was staying in Runan to reorganize the system, but it would take a lot of time for everything to be perfectly restored.

The Steward cautiously said to Pyo Wol.

“The Captain should be back by tomorrow at the latest. How about waiting here until then?”

“……”

“If we hear from the Captain, we will let you know first.”

In the end, Pyo Wol nodded.

It seemed better to save time by waiting for Hong Yushin here rather than somewhere else.

Pyo Wol waited for Hong Yushin at the Brothel. However, one day passed, and then two, but Hong Yushin did not return.