As soon as I crossed the wall, I slipped into a dark alleyway.
If I had run away in a panic, it would have been the same as telling the woman chasing me that I was involved with the opening. She seemed cautious, but she had let her guard down when she got close. I had barely escaped the situation. If I wasn’t careful, it could have been dangerous.
But even though it had been about 30 seconds since I thought she would chase after me, there was no sign of her or her henchmen.
“What’s going on?”
Did she bring her subordinates to chase after me instead of coming alone?
I had planned to hide and run away when she passed by, but it seemed better to leave immediately.
As I thought this, I cautiously stepped out of the alleyway again. Suddenly, I felt a fierce presence behind me and immediately fell to the ground.
Hooong
A large sword passed by where my head had been with a sharp sound. She didn’t intend to kill me, as she had hit me on the side, but if I had taken that hit, I would have been knocked out in one blow.
No, more than that sword…
“Wait a minute! It’s me, Kang Sohyup! I surrender, Mrs. Hwangbo!”
“…Kang Sohyup?”
Hwangbo Hyosun, who had suddenly appeared, slowly lowered the sword she was preparing to attack me with and looked embarrassed when I quickly took off my mask.
“Yangsan Dog Dae-hyeop said you were in danger…”
“It was a little dangerous. But I managed to escape.”
“I see… Thank goodness.”
“I’m relieved too. I almost didn’t make it a little while ago.”
“…I’m sorry.”
I wanted to tease the crumpled Hwangbo Hyosun a little more, but time was running out.
“It’s okay. Let’s hurry. We’ll be chased out of the temple soon.”
“Wait a minute. Don’t we have to go back inside?”
“That would be the right thing to do, but…”
If I hadn’t been caught by the masked woman, I would have quietly gone back inside. But now that the upper echelons were already outside, it was too late. If they found out I was missing, they might suspect something and come after me. I couldn’t risk my life like that.
I couldn’t explain the whole situation, but I told her I couldn’t go back inside and tried to move again. But Hwangbo Hyosun grabbed me again.
“…Why are you doing this? Didn’t you say you didn’t have time for this?”
“I’m sorry. But, that is, Yangsan Dog Dae-hyeop said he saw something and No Bang-ju said there was something that would definitely be helpful.”
“Helpful? Go on this way for now.”
I pulled Hwangbo Hyosun into the corner of the alleyway where I had been hiding. No one seemed to be coming out yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
“Calm down and start with what you remember.”
“Well, um… but my hand…”
“Oh, right.”
I had forgotten to keep my distance from Hwangbo Hyosun in the chaotic situation. It was pointless to keep my distance now that things had turned out this way.
“Should I… put some lotion on it?”
“Oh, yes.”
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should take advantage of the situation, but ultimately decided against it. However, Hwangbo Hyosun seemed to be lost in thought and didn’t notice my hesitation.
“I’m really sorry…”
She spoke in a gloomy voice.
She had heard from Yangsan Dog Dae-hyeop that I was in danger and had rushed over, but her memory was hazy because she had hurriedly come.
No matter how hard she tried to remember, she only recalled talking about someone who might be helpful.
Seeing her shrink and fade away, I felt two conflicting emotions at the same time.
“It’s frustrating, but cute.”
I was annoyed that I had expected too much, but I was more pleased that she was so worried about me.
If she had no feelings for me, she wouldn’t have been so desperate. Maybe she wasn’t that far from being interested in me.
After a brief calculation, I quietly took Hwangbo Hyosun’s hands in mine.
“Madam, it’s okay. I’m not doing anything wrong, am I?”
“…”
“To be honest, I think I’m better off.”
“What…? Oh, my goodness!”
Perhaps she was blaming herself internally, but Hwangbo Hyosun didn’t react to me holding her hands until I opened my arms and hugged her, then she let out a new voice and jumped in surprise.
“Let go of me.”
“What should I do? I’m so happy right now. It feels like my heart is going to burst with happiness that you were so worried about me.”
“Let go… of me!”
“Oof!”
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe and my vision blurred.
Hwangbo Hyosun, unable to remove my arms, had thrust both fists into my side.
Of course, she had controlled her strength, but the pain was so intense that I had to release the arms that were holding her.
In that moment, she slipped out of my embrace and turned her head away, speaking in a muffled voice.
“Now is not the time for that kind of talk. Of course, it’s my responsibility that things have gotten difficult…”
Hwangbo Hyosun’s tone was cloudy, and she seemed to be on guard against me. She looked quite flustered.
But I had no intention of pursuing this any further, so I raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
“Okay, I understand. Let’s put this conversation on hold for now and go back.”
“…! There’s no need to talk about it later.”
“…”
“Are you listening? Answer me… Ugh!”
“Quiet.”
Hwangbo Hyosun’s eyes widened as I covered her mouth, but she soon realized what was happening and nodded in agreement.
I couldn’t tell if the approaching footsteps were a good or bad sign, but they were cautious and deliberate.
Whoever it was had managed to approach without being detected, so they were likely a highly skilled individual. If they were anything like the security guard from earlier, they might sound the alarm if they tried to run away.
I held my breath and counted the steps as the person approached, preparing to knock them out and make a run for it.
Three steps, two steps, one step. And then, as they took their final step.
“Now!”
I closed the distance between us in one step and unleashed a finger strike imbued with all my strength. I didn’t intend to kill them, so I held back a bit.
Despite being on guard against me, my opponent was caught off guard and slipped on the ground, narrowly avoiding my attack. It was a fluid motion that was almost mesmerizing, but the situation at hand was more important.
As my opponent scrambled to their feet and backed away from me, I felt a pang of frustration.
What was money, really?
People had all sorts of thoughts and opinions about it, but for one man, money was his lifeline.
Just as a person couldn’t survive without water, an organization couldn’t survive without money.
In that sense, the man believed that he was the one who had contributed the most to maintaining the organization he secretly supported, and he didn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to maintain that contribution.
“Go… take it off…! Can’t you hear me? Huh?”
However, as she saw the stumbling figure of Dan Jaemoon, who had crawled out while drunk, Suhan began to wonder if her thoughts had been too reckless.
‘How can someone who claims to be a master of the martial arts still be drunk even after seeing a suspicious person?’
If he had to come out in that state, he might as well have stayed quiet and continued sleeping. It was because Dan Jaemoon had appeared that things had become complicated.
If only Dan Jaemoon hadn’t been there, the subordinates would have followed her orders. Even if the masked woman seemed a little suspicious, they could have covered it up.
But when the upper-class members started to act suspiciously, the subordinates clearly showed their guard against the masked woman, placing their hands on their weapons.
[Sigh… This is becoming a headache.]
At that moment, Suhan felt the woman’s voice suddenly ringing in her ear.
[Don’t be surprised and do as I say. So…]
Realizing that this was the secret communication of a martial artist that she had only heard about, Suhan focused on the content. And after hearing everything, she nodded her head slightly without revealing anything. As if she had been waiting, Dan Jaemoon stepped forward, feeling her waist where the sword was not tied.
“What… do you want? Catch that person quickly… Ugh!”
“Danju!”
Suhan had already known that this would happen, so she didn’t even see how the masked woman’s hand carelessly reached out towards her, and quickly approached the upper-class member.
“Ugh…”
“Danju, are you okay? Danju!”
Dan Jaemoon groaned and fell unconscious, unable to answer.
Although it was too dark to see clearly, Suhan felt a sense of amusement at the sight of him being hit hard, and let out a sarcastic voice.
“What are you doing! Catch that person quickly!”
“Yes!”
The subordinates drew their weapons noisily and rushed towards the woman, but she easily dodged them and disappeared behind the wall.
Although she couldn’t be caught with just the abilities of the subordinates, Suhan calculated that if she followed her, she might find the person the masked woman was looking for.
While encouraging the subordinates to chase after the masked woman, Suhan personally searched the upper-class members.
‘It’s probably not him, but…’
The masked woman was a master of the martial arts. If she couldn’t easily subdue her, it meant that her opponent was also at least a master of the martial arts.
And coincidentally, wasn’t there a master of the martial arts in the upper-class who was not there?
‘He said that he had gone outside. If Kang Yoon had left his position, then…’
Just as the person had crawled out, Suhan realized that their location was the complete opposite of where Kang Yoon had told her he was. If the person was Kang Yoon, then he couldn’t possibly be in his location.
“Suhan… are you on duty?”
Despite the commotion around them, there was still no sign of light coming from Kang Yoon’s location.
She had heard that the senses of a top-notch martial artist were sharper than anyone else’s, but not even a response was coming back.
“Suhan, I’m sorry, but there is an intruder in the upper-class area. We need to check on everyone’s safety, so I’ll have to come in. Excuse me!”
With confidence, Suhan gestured to the guards and opened the door.
Creak.
They noisily opened the door and walked towards the bed, keeping their guard up.
Then, relying on the faint moonlight, they looked at the bed, but no one was lying there.
‘Of course! Then that person is…!’
“What are you doing here… huh?”
“Hic…! It’s, it’s Kang Sohyup…!”
Although there was clearly no one there, Suhan turned around at the sound of the slurred voice and saw Kang Yoon with his arms around the shoulders of two guards.
He looked at Suhan and smirked, then lowered one hand to scratch his bare chest and opened his mouth.
“I don’t know what’s going on at this hour… cough, but as you can see, I’m not in a good state. Is it urgent?”
“It’s, it’s not that urgent, but…”
Suhan noticed that Kang Yoon’s face was red, his pupils were dilated, and he reeked of alcohol.
‘He’s not the one.’
“Okay, then let’s meet tomorrow.”
“Okay… get some rest.”
In the end, Suhan politely bowed and left the room.
Then, leading the guards, she searched the surrounding area thoroughly, but of course, they didn’t find a single suspicious person until the sun came up.
