Chapter 151

Soma smiled.

He had a naturally smiling face, but he smiled even more brightly whenever something piqued his interest.

Soma followed Pyo Wol with a smile on his face.

Following Pyo Wol often gave him reasons to smile.

Many people feared Soma and the children. Yu Gicheon was one of them, and anyone who caught even a glimpse of their true nature would look at them with terror, as if seeing a harbinger of doom.

But Pyo Wol was different.

He did not fear the children. If anything, the children should have feared Pyo Wol. But Pyo Wol never deliberately instilled fear in them.

That was why he liked Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol was the only person who remained unshaken even when shown his true self.

Soma was curious how Pyo Wol would track an assassin who used poison.

Although his potential had been unlocked through abuse at the Small Thunder Sound Temple, he had never once learned the art of tracking.

For that reason, he planned to secretly learn tracking from Pyo Wol’s side. That made his heart flutter even more.

The place Pyo Wol headed to with Soma was a place called Gaoxian, where the first victim had appeared.

Gaoxian was a city located in the southernmost part of Sichuan Province.

The first victim was a man named Ok Cheongwan of the Golden Fist Manor, a rather renowned scholar and martial artist. He was a man who had never once stepped outside of Sichuan Province in his life. But because he was born into a prestigious family and was highly learned, many people came to seek his teachings.

He had learned his family’s martial arts, but he was known for his gentle nature and for having spent his entire life reading books, never doing anything to earn anyone’s resentment.

Such a man had died from Qi Deviation.

His family thought his death was strange but could not determine the cause. It was because he had died so suddenly.

Upon arriving in Gaoxian, Pyo Wol didn’t even go to the Golden Fist Manor.

Instead, he examined every nook and cranny of the city of Gaoxian.

Sometimes he would ask something of a person nearby, and at other times, he would while away a long time at an inn or a dock.

Soma could not understand Pyo Wol’s actions.

After wasting a day like that, the place Pyo Wol went to was the city where the second victim, the Star-Restoration Academy Master Jin Seungpyo, had died.

The same behavior was repeated there.

Soma wondered what kind of ghostly game this was.

His small head could not understand why Pyo Wol, who he thought would demonstrate some professional tracking skills, was wasting time on such useless things.

Still, thinking there must be a reason, he followed Pyo Wol.

Even at the place where the Returning Star Martial Hall was located, Pyo Wol’s actions had nothing to do with tracking. He drank tea and wasted time standing in the middle of the street, watching people pass by. At that, Soma could no longer hold back and asked.

“Big bro! What are you doing right now?”

“I’m tracking.”

“Isn’t tracking about finding some kind of trace?”

“That’s right!”

“Right? Then why are you wasting time instead of looking for traces?”

“Does it look that way to you?”

“Yeah! Am I wrong?”

“It would be nice if one could track with just such simple traces. But you can’t find an expert like this in that way.”

“Why? Because he hides himself too thoroughly?”

“That’s right!”

At Pyo Wol’s answer, Soma furrowed his brow. It was because he still didn’t understand Pyo Wol’s method.

Pyo Wol looked at the river flowing majestically before him and said.

“The world is a mixture of countless things. Innumerable trivial things come together to form a harmony. Tracking begins with finding the most heterogeneous thing within it. It’s about finding what breaks the harmony, what doesn’t fit.”

Except for the city where the master of the first manor died, the rest of the cities did not have much interaction with the outside world.

It meant that there was almost no change, like water trapped in a reservoir.

In a place like this, even a small ripple would be quickly noticed. What Pyo Wol focused on was precisely that small ripple.

It was easier said than done. It was not easy for an outsider to detect such a ripple.

It required strong patience and persistent observation.

Locals are usually wary of outsiders and don’t readily share what they know. So, getting information from such people was never easy.

Pyo Wol couldn’t use the method of approaching others in a friendly manner to gain their favor. But with his unique concentration and keen eye, he observed many things.

He preferred the method of observing, and observing again, to grasp the atmosphere of the city and then eliminating the things that didn’t fit, one by one.

The assassin who disguised his assassinations as Qi Deviation using poison had hidden himself thoroughly. He couldn’t be found just by making inquiries.

He had disguised himself thoroughly, like hiding a tree in a forest, or throwing a needle on a sandy beach.

If so, one had to find the forest or the sandy beach where he was hiding. The tracking would start from there.

And Pyo Wol had already found the forest where the assassin was presumed to be hiding.

“All three cities are adjacent to a river. And all the rivers are connected. The average speed of the river’s flow is gentle, about twenty li per shichen. The victims were killed with a time difference of two and three days, respectively. And in the direction the river flows…”

“Ah! So the assassin moved by boat. He’d travel by boat and then, when he reached his destination, he’d assassinate…”

“That’s right! And on those days, all three cities had one thing in common: a trading company had entered. A trading company called the Black Tortoise Merchant Group. They went down to each city and bought tea. And then they left for the next city.”

“Then is the assassin using the Black Tortoise Merchant Group?”

“Nine times out of ten.”

At Pyo Wol’s answer, Soma felt a chill run down his spine.

The explanation was simple, but making such a deduction was by no means an easy task. It was also a method that Soma couldn’t use even if he knew it.

Probably no strategist in Jianghu could have found the Black Tortoise Merchant Group that the assassin was using so quickly.

It was a method that only Pyo Wol, an assassin, could do.

Because he himself was an assassin to his very core, he was more familiar with the physiology of assassins than anyone else and saw through their methods clearly.

In front of him, it was impossible for any assassin to hide their existence completely.

Soma said.

“Then we should hurry and track the Black Tortoise Merchant Group.”

“The Black Tortoise Merchant Group’s final destination is Chengdu.”

“Then we don’t need to follow the river, we can just run the shortest distance.”

Soma grinned.

Traveling by boat was certainly fast, but it couldn’t be said to be definitively faster. Rivers inevitably meander, and there is a limit to a boat’s speed.

It might actually be faster to use the land route.

If the Black Tortoise Merchant Group’s destination was clear, as it was this time, it was not impossible to catch up using the land route.

Moreover, both Pyo Wol and Soma were martial arts experts. They were also skilled in Lightness Art. Their mobility was bound to be superior to others.

They ran using the land route.

Thanks to that, they were able to close the distance with the Black Tortoise Merchant Group faster than expected.

The Black Tortoise Merchant Group was staying at an inn at the entrance of Chengdu.

When Pyo Wol and Soma found them, the atmosphere of the Black Tortoise Merchant Group was chaotic. It was because just as they were about to arrive in Chengdu, one of the porters had fallen into the water and gone missing.

If he fell into the water, he was most likely dead.

Even though he was just a menial worker, his death was a great shock to the people of the Black Tortoise Merchant Group.

Because of that, people couldn’t easily concentrate on their work and had dazed expressions.

The mental blow was particularly great for those who had joined around the same time as the deceased worker. It was probably because they had rarely seen someone they were close to die.

The name of the missing worker was Tae Yongha.

The moment he heard his name, Pyo Wol was certain.

“It’s him.”

He had only looked briefly, but there was no one particularly suspicious among the people of the Black Tortoise Merchant Group.

If so, Tae Yongha, who was presumed to have drowned, was the most likely suspect.

Soma tilted his head.

“Did he really drown?”

“An assassin drowning is as unlikely as a fish drowning in water.”

Assassins basically learn Hand Art.

This is because they often use water to approach their targets. For such an assassin to drown was an impossible event.

“Then why did he fake his death? Did he hide himself because he finished all his missions?”

“If that were the case, it would have been a much easier method to leave Sichuan Province with the Black Tortoise Merchant Group. The fact that he disappeared means that this assassination requires that much caution.”

“So it’s a big shot?”

“Probably!”

“Who is such a big shot in Chengdu?”

Soma furrowed his brow deeply.

“He has been carrying out assassinations while following the Black Tortoise Merchant Group until now. This means he collected information about the targets in advance. If he had information about this target as well, he wouldn’t have had to fake his own death to leave the Black Tortoise Merchant Group. He is probably collecting information about the target in Chengdu. What is the easiest way for an outsider to gather information in Chengdu?”

“The Hao Clan?”

“That’s right! Under normal circumstances, he would never visit the Hao Clan. But if he’s short on time, he might use it.”

Pyo Wol would never have stopped by the Hao Clan and exposed his tracks under any circumstances.

But for someone who had just entered Chengdu for the first time, especially someone lacking information and pressed for time, they might use the Hao Clan.

‘Moreover, he doesn’t know that I am tracking him.’

The assassin had never once failed an assassination until now. Nor had he exposed himself.

If so, he might let his guard down.

What Pyo Wol was hoping for was the man’s carelessness.

He already knew the location of the Hao Clan’s branch.

The place Pyo Wol had paid the most attention to while staying in Chengdu was the Hao Clan.

It was because the Hao Clan’s Surveillance Chief, Hong Yushin, had been desperately trying to gather information about him. But Hong Yushin had left Chengdu while Pyo Wol was away at the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

The position of Surveillance Chief of the Hao Clan was by no means an idle one. It was an important position that required traveling around the Hao Clan branches scattered throughout Jianghu to enforce discipline.

The fact that someone holding such a crucial position had stayed in Chengdu for a long time was rather unusual.

After Hong Yushin left, the new branch manager, Do Ilchul, was now leading the branch.

Pyo Wol headed to the Hao Clan’s Chengdu branch with Soma.

In the meantime, the Chengdu branch had moved its base several times. But Guian had already identified the Chengdu branch and reported it to Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol quietly slipped into Do Ilchul’s residence with Soma.

“Bro?”

Soma looked at Pyo Wol with his brow deeply furrowed.

Do Ilchul was dead, leaning back in his chair. He was leaning back so naturally that he looked as if he were in a deep sleep.

Pyo Wol touched Do Ilchul’s neck.

“Still warm. He hasn’t been gone long.”

The Hao Clan martial artists outside had not yet noticed Do Ilchul’s death. They would probably realize Do Ilchul was dead only tomorrow morning. And they would think that Do Ilchul had died suddenly in his sleep from exhaustion due to overwork.

Do Ilchul’s death was that natural.

Pyo Wol examined Do Ilchul’s residence.

He too had killed a Chengdu branch manager. And from him, he had obtained the Capital Martial Artists Registry, which he had used to great effect.

Pyo Wol found a secret compartment in the wall closet. But the secret compartment was empty.

It was impossible to know what booklet the assassin had taken.

Pyo Wol judged that there was nothing more to be gained here.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay! Big bro.”

The two slipped out as quietly as they had come in.

Although he was a step too late to catch the assassin, Pyo Wol was not disappointed.

Chengdu was like his own backyard.

He had the surveillance network that Guian had built and the brothel that Eun-yo ran.

“You go to Guian and check if there have been any suspicious movements lately.”

“Got it.”

With his reply, Soma disappeared.

Left alone, Pyo Wol looked out at the streets of Chengdu.

The assassin would be hiding somewhere here.

For the first time, he thought this was fun.

Pyo Wol began to think from the assassin’s point of view.

‘What the assassin needs most right now is a safe hiding place. A place where he can enter and exit naturally without anyone’s suspicion. And at the same time, a place from which it is easy to monitor the target.’

It would have been easier to specify if he knew the assassin’s target, but wishing for that much was no different from being a greedy thief.

Chengdu was a huge city.

That many people lived there.

There were many places to hide, and it was easy to blend in among the people and conceal one’s presence.

Finding someone so perfectly hidden was by no means easy.

The snake, the assassin, had perfectly hidden itself in the tall grass of Chengdu.

Pyo Wol knew well what to do to draw out a perfectly hidden snake.

Startle the Snake in the Grass.

If you beat the grass, the startled snake is bound to move in some way.