Chapter 400 – What Did I See? (1)
Hwangbo Hyosun had originally planned to leave.
There was nothing here that would be of any help to her just because she was here.
Of course, if you really think about it, it would be better if there was at least one more person who could be of help to No Hee-bang, who was in the middle of the Ma-gyo, but to Hwangbo Hyosun, who knew the general situation, it was a meaningless act.
Above all, a young man who naturally clung to a woman who already had a husband and child made Hwangbo Hyosun want to run away.
“What’s the matter, madam?”
But even so, Hwangbo Hyosun was sitting across from the man now. And it was her who had gone to him.
It occurred to her that the man calling her ‘madam’ was a subtle attempt to narrow the distance, but Hwangbo Hyosun was not in a position to point it out.
‘Sigh…’
“So… there’s something I want to ask you, sir…”
“Please speak.”
As the man continued to smile faintly, Hwangbo Hyosun quickly brought up the matter.
“It’s not something else, but have you talked to the So-gyoju about the relationship between the Yongun Sangdan and the Eunryeonghoe?”
“Yes.”
As expected.
Hwangbo Hyosun closed her eyes tightly. It was a secret, but since she had already told the man about it, there was no reason to criticize her for being loose-lipped.
But the problem was the request No Hee-bang had made to Hwangbo Hyosun right after arriving at the Yongun Sangdan.
It was to leak the fact that a spy from the Eunryeonghoe had infiltrated the Yongun Sangdan to the Ma-gyo members.
Since the affairs of the Eunryeonghoe were not something that could be taken lightly even in the Ma-gyo, they had already been considering some degree of information sharing from the beginning, so they had decided to make effective use of it.
No Hee-bang didn’t know that Hwangbo Hyosun had already leaked it.
“Madam, is there any problem? Was there something you shouldn’t have said?”
“Well, that’s…”
As Hwangbo Hyosun was feeling at a loss for words, she saw the man just smiling softly and watching over her.
Feeling strangely calm, she made a decision and opened her mouth again.
“Can you promise me that what I’m about to say will be kept a secret from the Ma-gyo side?”
“Yes.”
“…Don’t answer lightly and then reveal it later.”
“Of course.”
The man replied firmly, and Hwangbo Hyosun finally brought up the matter.
Due to her having already informed Kang Yoon about the information that was supposed to attract the attention of the Ma-gyo, they couldn’t use it anymore. Hwangbo Hyosun knew this, and the man nodded seriously.
“No Hee-bang still has a lot of worries. Well, it’s strange to trust the Ma-gyo so easily, but…”
“…”
“Anyway, it’s not a difficult task. All we have to do is pretend that the Ma-gyo members didn’t see No Hee-bang wandering around, right?”
“I-Is that possible?”
“It might make them feel uncomfortable, but there’s nothing to lose. If we investigate properly and build trust, our alliance will become stronger.”
“I-I see…”
As the man accepted it nonchalantly, Hwangbo Hyosun relaxed her tense shoulders. And just as she was about to express her gratitude, the man spoke again.
“But, of course, we can’t do it openly.”
“W-What?!”
Hwangbo Hyosun felt a wave of lewd memories rushing through her head as she screamed in shock.
The incident that happened in the Ma-gyo headquarters, the incident where she had to manually stimulate the Yangmul… She shuddered at the thought of possibly having to do something like that again.
“Oh, no! I don’t know what you’re planning to make me do, but I will never betray my husband…”
“…I won’t ask you to do that.”
“I can’t… Huh?”
Hwangbo Hyosun, who was expressing her refusal in a panic, felt unjustified when she saw the man sending her a pitiful look.
She was acting as if she was overreacting, even though the man had done something wrong in the first place.
“Then…”
“What I’m asking of you is a matter for the upper echelon.”
Upper echelon?
Hwangbo Hyosun had never dealt with business in her life. It was natural since she was born and raised as a noblewoman, but she couldn’t reveal that fact to the man. She couldn’t predict how the conversation would turn out if she did.
“Maybe it’s something that suits your taste. I’ll explain it to you later.”
For now, they would let it slide, and if the man found out the truth later and said, “You should have said you couldn’t do it,” she would say that she never claimed to be good at it in the first place.
Hwangbo Hyosun thought that even if the man had deceived her a few times, she didn’t need to feel guilty about it if she just let it go like this.
Without knowing how Hwangbo Hyosun was managing the situation, No Hee-bang spent the next few days busy avoiding the eyes of the Ma-gyo members.
As a secret practitioner who moved discreetly as a way of life, it was easy for her to avoid the Ma-gyo members’ eyes.
Also, thanks to the device she wore on her body, which was the only thing that could not be traced by Yangmul, the only opponent she couldn’t shake off.
Originally, the state of Chojuljeong was the highest level that a person could reach, where they realized their full potential by resonating with nature and the universe.
As a result, the sensitivity to energy became extremely sharp, and the range of perception became unimaginable, but at the same time, it became a weakness that relied heavily on energy.
The Seokcheok she wore was a device that changed the energy flowing around her body to be similar to the energy in the surrounding area, making it possible to pierce such weaknesses.
‘But… it seems too smooth?’
Of course, she had not even approached the books that the So-gyoju or the upper-level officials handled, and what she had found was the books that the lower-level practitioners used in places like the warehouse.
It was not easy to see the big picture at once because the books of the lower-level practitioners could not contain the flow of the entire upper-level, but the advantage was that she could safely gather a little bit of the truth.
It was a little suspicious that there had been no danger of being caught for several days, but No Hee-bang picked up the dusty books again, shaking her head.
‘No, I don’t have the luxury of thinking like that. Let’s check the contents quickly and go back.’
There would be no change even if she racked her brain now. It would be better to check the contents quickly and go back.
‘There doesn’t seem to be anything as easy to understand as the ingredients for medicine or talismans… Is the bulk purchase of copper or wood for the machinery or weapons?’
It wouldn’t have been easy to organize it in a way that could be easily understood at a glance.
She also considered the possibility of using silver, but there was still nothing that seemed suspicious.
‘I wish nothing would come out like this…’
But that was not going to happen. The purpose of even the So-gyoju personally intervening was only money. Above all, she had acknowledged that the So-gyoju himself had other purposes besides money.
‘He said he would tell me if I agreed to work together, but I can’t just believe that.’
She had been dragged into the affairs of the Yongun Sangdan, and even if they told her now, she couldn’t be sure if it was the truth.
Despite searching for a long time, No Hee-bang couldn’t find anything, and she let out a sigh as she closed the last book.
She knew that information gathering was a tedious task, but even she was feeling a little drained after several days without any progress.
Creak.
But then, she heard the sound of a door creaking, and her scattered concentration instantly sharpened.
Swift but unhurried movements concealed her in a blind spot that couldn’t be seen from the entrance, as if seeping into the air without making a sound.
Thanks to the fact that she had already checked the route beforehand when she entered this place, she was able to move quickly and avoid being detected.
“Is it here…?”
“I confirmed that no one comes here. It’s okay.”
It sounded like a man and a woman were talking in low voices. Why did their voices sound familiar?
“Well, it’s still a bit…”
The woman seemed to be muttering something, but the man’s response couldn’t be heard. Instead, No Hee-bang held her breath in anticipation of hearing their footsteps approaching.
No matter how amazing the Seokcheok was, it couldn’t erase the sound of footsteps or hide an obvious appearance.
Moreover, because of the two people’s movement, No Hee-bang had to press her body tightly against the pile of straw instead of the wall that was originally hiding her.
In that state, the two people started whispering something again, and No Hee-bang gained an unpleasant realization from the clear voices that were getting closer.
“Look. I prepared everything here in advance.”
“How did you do this in the meantime…?”
The voice was familiar enough. The two people were people she knew well.
“Kang So-hyup and… the Monga incident?”
Coincidentally, the two people who she had not yet dismissed her doubts about were having a secret meeting.
Was her suspicion correct? Even if it was, No Hee-bang didn’t feel particularly happy about it. It was better for her vague suspicion to be wrong than right.
“Now, lie down here.”
“I-Is this really okay?”
‘What are they doing?’
She didn’t even know if this was a secret space where they could exchange information with the Ma-gyo without being noticed, or if it was a device that could be used as a secret weapon.
Come to think of it, the space they were in was unusually tidy and clean, with a clean cloth covering it. Maybe there was a secret underneath it.
‘It might be dangerous, but it’s better to see it with my own eyes…’
No Hee-bang pulled out her binoculars and checked behind her, confirming that the two people were not looking in her direction.
Slowly and quietly, she lifted her body slightly to peek through her binoculars.
“Wait… slow down… ah ♥”
‘What, what?’
No Hee-bang lowered her body, suspecting that what she saw was just a figment of her imagination. The rustling sound she made was faint, and she was afraid of being caught.
No, is my heart racing because of that?
Swoosh.
Despite the loud sound of her heart beating in her ears, the sound of clothes sliding off skin was clear and distinct.
“What did I just see?!”
No Hee-bang’s eyes were still vividly imprinted with the obscene scene she had witnessed.
It was an unbelievable sight, even if she were to tell someone else about it. The middle-aged woman, who was a member of the faction that was fighting against Kang Ho-jae, was pushing her hand into the crotch of a man who looked like a wild beast.
But even if No Hee-bang doubted her own eyes, the rough and desperate breathing that filled the narrow warehouse was an undeniable fact that she had witnessed.
