Chapter 437

Pyo Wol raised his head and looked at Do Yeon-san.

Do Yeon-san’s face was flushed red.

“What is it?”

“I need to go outside right now.”

There was something unusual about Do Yeon-san’s demeanor.

Instead of asking why, Pyo Wol went outside.

Once he was out of Red Pine Manor, he understood why Do Yeon-san had looked so urgent.

Not far from Red Pine Manor, a fire was blazing.

The flames soared high into the sky with terrifying force.

The raindrops were growing quite thick, but they were no match for the fire.

The problem was that Pyo Wol recognized the place where the fiery glow was erupting.

“Snow Cloud Stronghold!”

Without a second thought, Pyo Wol launched himself forward.

“I’m coming with you.”

Do Yeon-san followed Pyo Wol.

Kwang!

Pyo Wol smashed through the gate of Snow Cloud Stronghold and burst in.

The inside of Snow Cloud Stronghold was already completely engulfed in flames.

Crimson flames and black smoke completely obscured his vision.

Pyo Wol held his breath and looked around.

It was already impossible to see anything with his eyes.

Pyo Wol heightened his other senses.

His senses were so keen that he could detect even the slightest change, but even with such senses, Pyo Wol could not detect any signs of life.

It meant there was no one left alive inside Snow Cloud Stronghold.

Shwaaak!

Pyo Wol swung his hand toward the place where the flames were raging most fiercely. A powerful gust of wind arose, momentarily suppressing the flames.

Pyo Wol discovered people lying in the middle of the subdued flames.

“Hey!”

Pyo Wol shouted and ran toward them. But they did not stir.

Pyo Wol checked their faces.

One was Woo Jang-rak, whom he had met a short while ago, and the other was Yu Gicheon, the Manor Lord of Snow Cloud Stronghold.

Neither of them showed any movement or sign of breathing.

Pyo Wol quickly examined their bodies.

There was a sword wound on Woo Jang-rak’s neck.

The wound was so fine that unless one possessed Eye Power on par with Pyo Wol’s, it would be impossible to notice.

‘His life was taken with a single sword strike.’

Woo Jang-rak was a Martial Artist who could be called an Expert.

Yet such an Expert had lost his life without a single sign of resistance.

‘A terrifyingly Swift Sword.’

It was a Swift Sword so exquisite that Woo Jang-rak couldn’t even properly resist.

Woo Jang-rak’s wide-open eyes were filled with disbelief.

It meant he had not anticipated his opponent’s Swift Sword at all.

Pyo Wol turned his gaze to Yu Gicheon.

Yu Gicheon was also already dead.

On his neck was the exact same sword mark as Woo Jang-rak’s.

“Hey!”

Pyo Wol called out, but Yu Gicheon did not stir.

Pyo Wol frowned slightly.

He felt no pity for Yu Gicheon. But he did know that Soma had been quite fond of him.

Soma would surely be saddened to learn of Yu Gicheon’s death.

Pyo Wol slung the bodies of Yu Gicheon and Woo Jang-rak over each of his shoulders and went outside.

Fwoosh!

Right after he exited, the flames flared up even more fiercely.

Pyo Wol laid the bodies of Yu Gicheon and Woo Jang-rak on the ground and looked at Snow Cloud Stronghold.

Even in the pouring rain, the inferno showed no sign of dying down.

“Orabeoni!”

“Hyung!”

Belatedly, Eun-yo and Guian came running toward Snow Cloud Stronghold.

Their faces were filled with bewilderment.

“Snow Cloud Stronghold…”

“What happened? Orabeoni!”

Eun-yo blocked the intense heat with her sleeve and looked at Pyo Wol.

Her face was full of dismay.

Pyo Wol answered.

“It was attacked by someone. Manor Lord Yu and Steward Woo are both dead.”

“That can’t be…”

Eun-yo could not speak, her mouth just hung open.

She was on her way back from the underground gambling den.

She had never imagined that Snow Cloud Stronghold, right next to Red Pine Manor, would meet with disaster while she was away.

“They were all struck down by a Swift Sword. They died without being able to resist.”

“And the culprit?”

“As of now, I don’t know.”

Pyo Wol looked at the burning Snow Cloud Stronghold.

An inferno that wouldn’t die down despite the rain.

It was the worst-case scenario.

Fire erases all traces. When water is added to that, even the few remaining clues are destroyed.

It was truly a combination of all the worst conditions.

Eun-yo cried out.

“Could it be the Silver River Escort Agency?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well.”

Eun-yo told Pyo Wol what she had found out so far.

She told him everything, from how she learned about the Silver River Escort Agency to why she found their actions suspicious.

Pyo Wol suddenly recalled his last conversation with Woo Jang-rak.

“Woo Jang-rak also said he was going to meet the Silver River Escort Agency.”

“Did he? That makes the Silver River Escort Agency even more suspicious.”

“Where are they now?”

“They’re at the Nine Storehouse Inn.”

“Let’s go there.”

“Yes!”

Pyo Wol left the cleanup of Snow Cloud Stronghold to Guian and Do Yeon-san and headed to the Nine Storehouse Inn with Eun-yo.

“Huh?”

As they neared the Nine Storehouse Inn, Eun-yo frowned deeply.

No matter how late it was, an Inn would usually keep a few lanterns lit.

This was for guests who might arrive late at night or early in the morning.

If all the lights were out, such guests would come and turn away. That was why it was common to keep one or two lanterns lit at the entrance of an Inn until dawn.

But now, all the lights at the Nine Storehouse Inn were completely out.

If even one light had been on, a faint warmth would surely have been felt, but the air was just cool.

Eun-yo quickly opened the door of the Nine Storehouse Inn and went inside.

“Jang Noya!”

But Jang Noya did not answer.

Searching the first floor, Eun-yo soon found Jang Noya and the Waiter. They were lying unconscious behind the counter.

Someone had struck their acupoints.

It was fortunate that they hadn’t lost their lives.

Pyo Wol looked around the Inn and said,

“There’s no one inside.”

Not a single presence was caught by his senses.

It wasn’t that people were so deeply asleep that their life signs couldn’t be felt, but that there were simply no people at all.

It made no sense for an Inn this large and spacious to have no guests whatsoever.

Eun-yo quickly woke Jang Noya.

“Jang Noya! Jang Noya!”

“Ah, Miss?”

“What happened?”

“Well…”

Jang Noya looked confused for a moment. But he soon came to his senses and said,

“The head of the Silver River Escort Agency suddenly asked to see me… That’s all I remember…”

It seemed his acupoints had been struck suddenly.

Jang Noya couldn’t remember anything more. Still, this was enough.

It confirmed that the one who had struck Jang Noya’s acupoints was the head of the Silver River Escort Agency.

Pyo Wol said,

“Let’s go to the stables.”

“Yes!”

The two headed to the stables where the horses were kept.

It was just as they expected.

Not a single horse that the Silver River Escort Agency had ridden was in sight.

“The cargo?”

The Silver River Escort Agency had returned with their carriages and carts fully loaded with cargo. From what Eun-yo had gathered, they had not yet disposed of the goods.

Drrrk!

When they opened the warehouse door, the escorted goods brought by the Silver River Escort Agency were stored there, just as they had been.

Eun-yo frowned and said,

“Did they leave all the cargo behind?”

Pyo Wol approached the cargo and swung his hand.

Kwang!

With a loud bang, a large crate shattered.

The inside of the crate was empty.

He broke another crate, but it contained no escorted goods.

They had come with empty crates from the start.

The escorted goods were merely a diversion to attract attention.

It was clear that from the beginning, they had intended to abandon the carts and carriages.

“The Silver River Escort Agency. You said they were an Escort Agency under the New Moon Manor?”

“That’s what they claimed, but there’s a high chance it’s a disguise.”

“I suppose so.”

Pyo Wol nodded his head.

Eun-yo said,

“We should pursue them, right?”

“We should.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Not now.”

“What?”

Eun-yo’s eyes widened, not understanding.

“The rain has washed away all the tracks. Trying to track them now will only lead to confusion and won’t yield any significant results.”

“But we can’t just give up, can we?”

“Of course not.”

A cold smile appeared on Pyo Wol’s lips.

Of all places, Snow Cloud Stronghold had been harmed.

Considering the relationship between Red Pine Manor and Snow Cloud Stronghold, it was no different from a challenge to him.

Pyo Wol was not one to endure an attack from someone and do nothing.

“Oh! Orabeoni. Actually, I have an Escort Chief and a few Escorts from the Silver River Escort Agency held at the underground gambling den.”

“What happened?”

“Well, what happened was…”

Eun-yo explained that a few of the Silver River Escort Agency’s Escort Chiefs had come to the underground gambling den, gambled, and lost their entire fortunes.

“You set them up at the gambling den?”

“Yes! I had them incur a huge debt and then detained them. I was planning to use their debt to pressure the Silver River Escort Agency, but they were one step ahead of me.”

Eun-yo bit her lip hard.

Seok Pyodu had not come to the underground gambling den alone.

He had brought a few Escorts with him into the underground gambling den. And they gambled with gusto.

As if luck was on their side, they won a lot at first. But the end for those who enter a gambling den is always the same.

Eventually, they lost all the Silver Taels they had brought and borrowed a large sum from the gambling den. And then they lost all of that as well.

No matter how good Seok Pyodu was at gambling, he was no match for the gambling den’s dealers.

Because of that, Seok Pyodu and his group were all being held at the gambling den.

The one who had orchestrated it all was Eun-yo.

Since she was essentially holding Seok Pyodu and the others hostage, Eun-yo had let her guard down to some extent.

This was the price of her carelessness.

They had abandoned Seok Pyodu and his group and raided Snow Cloud Stronghold.

At that very moment, Pyo Wol had been engrossed in his Martial Arts and failed to notice.

A combination of coincidence and inevitability had created today’s disaster.

“You have them at the underground gambling den?”

“Yes! Would you like to go see?”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Eun-yo replied and led the way.

Chwa-ha-hak!

In that short time, the downpour had grown even heavier.

The two walked through the pouring rain and arrived at the underground gambling den.

As they opened the door and entered, a strange atmosphere was detected.

There were no customers, and the dealers were watching her nervously.

Eun-yo asked,

“What is it? Why is the atmosphere like this?”

“I’m sorry, Miss!”

At that moment, an unfamiliar figure appeared from among the dealers.

He was Geum Jo-gyeong, the owner of the underground gambling den.

“What are you sorry for?”

“Well…”

“Hurry up and say it.”

“The Escort Chief and Escorts from the Silver River Escort Agency that we were holding are all dead.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m sorry. We had them locked up in a back room, but they all died.”

“How?”

“Well, I don’t know the reason. It seems they were poisoned, but I don’t know how they ingested the poison.”

“What?”

While Eun-yo stood there with a dumbfounded expression, Pyo Wol stepped forward.

“The bodies?”

“Ah, they’re over there.”

Geum Jo-gyeong personally led Pyo Wol to the bodies.

Pyo Wol knelt on one knee and examined the bodies.

“The Poison Pill was hidden in a molar.”

All the bodies were missing one molar.

It wasn’t that it was missing from the start, but that the molar had completely dissolved just before Pyo Wol arrived.

As proof, the remnants of the dissolved molar were still in their mouths.

Pyo Wol touched the remnants of the dissolved molar with his finger and muttered,

“Interesting!”