The Deokheung Hall was filled with the sound of wailing, and the news of the death was delivered to all the places where the Gongson family's power reached.

Gongson Seung's seven uncles and the vassals of the Gongson family, who had gone to the main house for the morning meeting, rushed to the Deokheung Hall.

"What on earth is the cause of death!"

As Gongson Cheok, the second son of Gongson Muryang, glared and asked, the physician who had examined the body answered, shrinking his neck.

"W-well... it seems he took poison."

"What, poison?"

"Yes."

The physician holds out a silver needle supported by a cotton cloth.

It was one of the silver needles that had been inserted into Gongson Seung's body for the autopsy.

Since its color had turned black, it was definitely poison.

"Who on earth would dare to poison the family head of the Gongson family!"

The surprised physician immediately prostrated himself and reported at the furious shout of Gongson Cheok.

"There were no external traces."

"What? No traces?"

"That's right. There was no poison in the cup, nor in the water it contained. Also, since no wounds were found anywhere on the family head's body..."

"You couldn't! What's next!"

"It seems... he took his own life..."

The physician, who had been hesitant to speak, finally trailed off, but there was no one who could not understand.

"What's that? He took his own life! Are you insulting my nephew now!"

"No. Absolutely not. I just told you what I found in the autopsy."

"Shut up! Although he was young, he was the family head of the Gongson family!"

"..."

"He was my nephew who was praised for being smart and having a bright future! Why would a punk like that take his own life!"

"But..."

"I said shut up!"

The physician quickly shut his mouth at Gongson Cheok's roar and trembled, his head bowed.

"Hwang Seop!"

"Yes! Acting Head!"

"Find him! It can't be suicide. There must be a culprit."

"Yes!"

Gongson Cheok, who had given the order to the merchant group's guard captain, Hwang Seop, glances and turns his head to look at Lee Eokgi, who is sitting in a corner of the room as if his soul had left him.

"Arrest that punk first! There's no way a personal servant punk wouldn't know!"

"...!"

Lee Eokgi's eyes widened at those words.

"Acting Head, it wasn't me."

"Shut up! We'll find out after we torture you."

"Acting Head!"

Although Lee Eokgi protested with all his might as he was dragged out by the merchant group's warriors, what power did a mere servant have?

"Next, interrogate everyone in this estate. We must solve the mystery of my nephew's death!"

"Yes!"

The warriors moved busily at the stern shout, and the outside became noisy.

Someone's protest, someone's scream from being hit by a warrior.

"Hah, dammit..."

Silence falls in the Deokheung Hall as Gongson Cheok grabs his throbbing head and collapses into a chair.

After a long while.

"Big Brother."

"...?"

"Whatever the reason, shouldn't we handle the situation first?"

"What do you mean?"

Gongson Cheok frowns at the words of the third son, Gongson Mu.

"The family head's death is unfortunate, but let's hold the funeral first."

"Third Brother's words are right. Since it happened so suddenly, we also need to discuss the next family head right away."

The moment the fifth son's words ended, the pupils of Gongson Seung's seven uncles shone with the same light.

It was a gaze full of greed.

"Ahem, it's a pity that the family head died suddenly, but there's some truth in what you all say. What good is it to leave the position of the family's master vacant?"

"That's right. Then for now, let's entrust the matter of the funeral to the estate's general manager, and we..."

Although the opinions were united, the sorrowful atmosphere did not last even half a day.

Gongson Seung's seven uncles were more interested in who would become the next master of the Gongson family than in their nephew's mysterious death.

As the ghouls, full of greed, began to fight among themselves, the room where Gongson Seung had died was soon filled with scuffles and curses.

It was a pitiful death.

Even in front of their young nephew's death, the uncles were only interested in the offerings.

"Guard Captain."

"What?"

"Doesn't the way things are going seem strange? The number of Deokheung Hall guards has decreased recently... as if someone did it on purpose."

The guard captain, Hwang Seop, shouted at the words of the deputy captain who was outside the Deokheung Hall where loud voices were being exchanged, and looked around cautiously.

"Ahem! You punk! Can't you watch your mouth?"

"..."

"You punk, there are times when you have to pretend you don't know even if you know. Do you want to die a violent death too?"

"N-no."

"Wait quietly. If you just keep your mouth shut, you and your family will have enough money to live on for the rest of your lives."

"...Yes."

They already know. They.

They were just pretending not to.

Because no matter who became the master of the Gongson family, they just had to do their role as the merchant group's guards.

And the funeral procedure was decided.

It was cremation.

On the very day he died.

As if someone was hastily trying to cover up his death.

The young family head could not even be buried in the family's ancestral mountain, and only his bone powder would be finely ground and scattered somewhere on the mountainside, to be scattered by the wind.

* * *

On the night when a big fire rose in the main estate of the Gongson family and people wailed and cried.

Deu-reuk, deu-reu-reuk.

A cart pulled by a person passes through the street.

"Ahem! You punk, let's go quickly." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

A man with his nose and mouth covered with a white cloth pushes the back of the cart and shouts at the man pulling from the front.

The man pulling from the front frowned, his eyes bruised blue, but he didn't say anything.

He just pulled the cart diligently.

"They say another one died."

"Yes, it rained cats and dogs, and it seems a plague is spreading in the vagrant village."

"Tsk tsk, those dirty punks. It's because they're not clean. By the way, what's with all the fuss? It seems a bad omen has come in full force."

"Since there was a series of deaths in the Gongson family, which was full of public sentiment... can't bad things happen nearby?"

"Yikes, let's avoid that. It would be a big problem if we caught the disease."

"Let's do that."

The people were terrified and avoided them, and before long, the cart passed through the long main road and out of the village.

Deu-reuk, deu-reu-reuk. Teok.

The cart, which had been moving for a long time after leaving the village, stops near the foot of a mountain.

The masked men who had been pulling the cart looked around, and then suddenly took off the straw mat on the cart.

The body, wrapped in cotton cloth, was very small.

It seemed to be a child who had died of the plague.

But the men, as if not worried about catching the disease, carried the body on their backs and climbed the mountain.

After a long while.

"Hoo, this should be enough."

"Yes."

The two who had exchanged words put down the body they had been carrying on their backs in the middle of the deserted mountain.

"Dammit, for me, who follows chivalry, to do such a thing..."

"There you go again. It's already decided. You agreed to follow my will."

"Tch! If I had just pushed a little harder, I would have won..."

The man with the bruised eyes looks at his clenched fist with a regretful voice.

He was, of course, Baekta, and the other man was Cheonyeong.

A martial arts contest to enforce their different wills.

Baekta's blue eye sockets sufficiently predicted the outcome of the match.

"Just you wait, I may have lost this time, but next time, you won't have a chance."

Cheonyeong smirked as Baekta said, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Half a chi.

It was the same result as in the past.

In fact, the result was obvious.

And this time, he hadn't even used his hidden weapons.

Baekta's martial arts were the Dragon's Roar Twelve Hands and the Drunken Eight Immortals Footwork, which were called the secret arts of the Beggars' Sect.

He already knew those martial arts.

Although it might be different in fourteen years, for now, it was his victory a hundred out of a hundred times.

He knew his martial arts, and he did not know his.

There was no way Baekta, who had not yet mastered them, could win against an opponent who knew his martial arts inside and out.

And wasn't he, who had even added the Samyang Divine Art?

Of course, Baekta had no way of knowing the reason for his defeat. He would just think that his skills were lacking.

It was an absolute secret.

Since he intended to remain the winner until the day they fought again.

Perhaps even if they fought again, the result would not change. It's not like he would be playing around until he achieved great success...

In other words! You are always below me.

"It was a truly amazing martial art. To be able to release all your power at once. By the way, were you also well-versed in poison techniques?"

"To some extent."

"Heo! Really, I don't know the end of your abilities. A poison that can put a person in a state of suspended animation for a while."

Cheonyeong smiled brightly at the sight of Baekta clicking his tongue.

Poison techniques were one of the inseparable abilities for an assassin.

Of course, he would be outstanding...

"For now, I have to wake him up. If he stays in a state of suspended animation for too long, he might never wake up."

"Let's do that."

Cheonyeong takes off the cotton cloth that was wrapped around the body.

It was a boy.

"Light a fire. He'll be very cold when he wakes up."

"Alright."

At Cheonyeong's words, Baekta gathers the nearby branches and lights a fire.

Cheonyeong, who was staring blankly, takes out a bottle from his bosom and puts it to the boy's mouth.

Chal-ssak!

When he didn't wake up after a long time, Cheonyeong slapped the boy's cheek.

"Ugh-ugh-ugh..."

Soon, the boy, who had seemed dead, groaned like a lie with a flushed cheek and opened his eyes.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Wh-who?"

The surprised boy's eyes shot open and he became wary at the face of the man who was smirking at him.

To ask who he was as soon as he woke up...

Cheonyeong smirked and answered.

"Me? The mortician who prepared your body."

"...Pardon?"

"And before that, the person who killed you."

"..."

Gongson Seung could not hide his bewilderment.

Last night, even though his grandfather's funeral had just ended, he had been worried about being picked on at the meeting with his uncles scheduled for the next day, so he had been looking over the trivial problems of the family and the operation of the merchant group before falling asleep.

And when he woke up, he was here.

A dark night. In a deserted mountain.

And in front of him was a man who called himself a mortician and said he had killed him.

Although he was surprised and bewildered, Gongson Seung asked with a calm gaze.

"What is going on?"

"What a guy, the more I see him, the more I'm impressed. Shouldn't you at least pretend to be a little scared? How can you ask for the reason after dying and coming back to life?"

Cheonyeong scratches his head and his eyes curve into a smile.

Even he, who had returned after a long time, was not this good.

How surprised he had been at that time.

He was just amazed at the sight of Gongson Seung accepting it calmly.

"Who on earth are you?"

"I told you, right? A mortician and an assassin."

It was the same answer.

But Gongson Seung's expression, which seemed to be organizing his thoughts for a moment, soon filled with resignation.

"I see. So I was dead."

"..."

Cheonyeong's eyes were slightly surprised at the sight of Gongson Seung muttering as if he had understood and accepted something.

"But may I ask what happened?"

"Huh?"

"I feel I should know what happened to me."

Cheonyeong and Baekta stared blankly with dazed faces at Gongson Seung's question as he got up and corrected his posture.

Heh, look at this kid?

Why is he so quick to accept death?

Could it be... had he already predicted his own death?

"Keuk, keu-ha-ha-ha! This punk, he's something else."

"That's right. Why is he so calm? He's like a punk who knew he was going to die."

Cheonyeong and Baekta exclaimed in admiration, going back and forth.

"I think we should explain."

"Shall we?"

"Since you're the one who planned it, you explain. In fact, I don't want to be involved anymore."

"You're irresponsible."

Cheonyeong let out a smirk at Baekta and sat by the campfire.

"Come and sit here. Although it will be difficult because your body is still stiff... your body temperature has dropped a lot, so if you stay in the night wind for a long time, you'll suffer when you get old."

"...Yes."

At Cheonyeong's words, Gongson Seung moved his stiff body and barely sat by the campfire.

(End of Chapter)