"By the way, what brings you to Dongting Lake? I heard from my senior brother that you're quite busy over there."

"I heard you met Ghost Hand No Gwanyeong in person. They say he, who is known as one of the Ten Greats of the Sicheon Unorthodox Faction, acknowledged you, Family Head Tang."

"Oh! And you're skilled with leather and medicinal herbs, right? From what I hear, you seem to be bright in commercial matters as well."

"Ah! That's right. I think you did well in the matter of the Lee family this time. Without even considering the rights and wrongs of the matter... from what I hear..."

Cheonyeong stared blankly at Baekta, who was chattering on without a break.

How did this punk hear so much?

It was all Ganyang stories.

And why did he know so many trivial details?

Anyone would think this punk was the Sicheon Ganyang branch leader.

Hah, that person Nosanggae.

Although he had always seemed that way, his mouth was really loose.

It seemed he had told Baekta every little detail, like a love letter detailing what he had eaten for breakfast that morning.

"Ha ha! I am so moved to meet and talk with you, Family Head Tang, whom I have admired just by hearing stories about."

"..."

A conversation?

He had been talking to himself.

He had only had a couple of drinks, and he hadn't even said a word yet.

This punk...

I was thinking of getting close to him because he seemed to have a future, but was it a mistake?

Just dealing with him felt like my ears were going to bleed.

"Ah, by the way, by the way, I heard..."

"Branch Leader."

"You might go to the Assembly of Elders next year... pardon?"

Baekta's eyes sparkled and he cut off his words as Cheonyeong interrupted his long monologue.

"Please speak. I will listen attentively."

Round eyes.

A posture that was immediately corrected.

That expression of anticipation for what he would say.

What did I say?

I just called his title.

"It seems the Beggars' Sect is looking for someone. By any chance, do you know who they're looking for?"

"Ah! What a mistake... I haven't told you that yet. I should have explained the situation first. I am so careless. Ha ha ha!"

"..."

He had asked, knowing.

Because he was curious about how the Beggars' Sect was moving.

But for some reason, it felt like he had asked something he shouldn't have, and it felt like his ears were going to bleed again.

"Actually, you know. There was an outrageous incident last night. Well, you see..."

Outrageous?

Why was he exaggerating so much?

And as expected, his words were long.

Baekta began to explain in detail what had happened last night, pouring out a stream of words.

He even acted it out, adding gestures with his hands and feet.

Hah, a story I already know.

"So, that's how it was, and then..."

His words continued, listing numerous connecting words.

Do you even breathe?

How come there are no breathing spaces in your words?

Although he was trying hard to maintain a smile, Cheonyeong's face was gradually hardening.

"They say that colleague ran in this direction."

"Towards the Jeonghwa-ru?"

"Yes."

"So, we have sealed off all the streets in the northern part of Dongting Lake. The number of mobilized disciples alone is over two hundred."

"Two hundred? Were there that many Beggars' Sect members in the Dongting North Branch?"

"Aish, no way. As you know from hearing from my senior brother, Nosanggae, the number of Beggars' Sect members that can be used for battle in one branch is about fifty."

"I see. But two hundred?"

"You may not have heard, but I am a person with that much power."

"..."

"I have sent messages not only to the South, West, and East branches, but also to the Honam Upper Branch Master in Seongdo to ask for help."

"T-to the Upper Branch Master?"

"Yes. It may sound like I'm boasting, but actually, he and I are very close. Ha ha ha!"

I didn't ask.

Who you're close with.

But if it's this scale... Jasu has no way of escaping.

In fact, Cheonyeong himself had not expected it.

That the young branch leader in front of him, who was full of curiosity, had a loose mouth, and might become something in the future, would blow things up this much.

But the conversation ended here.

If he wasn't careful, he might end up hearing Baekta's family history.

"By the way, the actual number of mobilized personnel is more than two hundred."

"More than two hundred?"

"Of course. Are there only one or two Kyuhwa gangs, and are the vagrant gangs that have a foot in the Beggars' Sect few?"

"..."

"Just you wait. I don't know what kind of damn punk it is, but we will definitely catch the punk who injured our Beggars' Sect brothers and make him pay for his crime."

That's me.

The damn punk who injured a Beggars' Sect member.

Dammit, come to think of it, it seemed I had made a mistake.

It was just a plan to provoke Jasu and make her movements uncomfortable by messing with the Beggars' Sect.

Because of that punk Baekta, he himself might become uncomfortable in his movements.

Had he not made the mistake of tying himself up with his own rope by trying to be too clever?

"Look at this."

"...?"

Baekta looked at the object placed on the table.

A flying needle. The one he had ordered from the blacksmith.

"This was found on the dead punk's body. The injured Beggars' Sect member also had the same thing."

"Ah... yes..."

"That punk, who wouldn't be satisfied even if he were fried in shit water, cowardly hid in the darkness and used something like a flying needle. And the dead punk had even smeared poison on it. And, after a thorough investigation, we found out that an assassin with the same flying needle had visited the house of a person named Hwang Haegu, who runs a nearby pig farm."

It was as expected.

But he hadn't expected this punk.

That a chatterbox like this would stick to him...

"Anyway, those who have no skill are sneaky with their cheap tricks... ah, I heard from my senior brother, Nosanggae, that the Tang family also uses hidden weapons as their main weapon."

"Yes."

"Don't take it too personally, as I wasn't referring to the Tang family."

As the culprit who appeared in Baekta's words, he was sufficiently offended.

He had become a punk who wouldn't be satisfied even if he were fried in shit water in front of him, he had become a cowardly ambusher in the darkness, and he had become a sneaky punk with no skill...

"By the way, Branch Leader."

"Yes? Please speak. I will listen attentively."

As soon as Cheonyeong called, Baekta perked up his ears and his bright eyes shone.

At this point, it was a habit.

He felt his mind would go hazy if he listened any longer.

Cheonyeong, who had let out a light sigh, said.

"Although you know me through Branch Leader Nosanggae's stories, aren't you giving me too much information?"

"Pardon?"

"Don't misunderstand. I'm saying this because I'm worried that someone other than me might hear this story and find out all about the Beggars' Sect's movements."

"Ah!"

Baekta's eyes widened in surprise at Cheonyeong's words.

As if he had realized a new fact.

"My, this is a part I hadn't thought of."

"..."

"That's right. As a person who handles information, I should be tight-lipped... hmm, thanks to you, Family Head Tang, I have gained a great enlightenment."

It was an expression as if he had had a great awakening.

You just realized that now?

Isn't that common sense?

Hah, it's not even surprising anymore.

Just, live like that and die or whatever.

The world is full of all sorts of punks.

"I'm tired. I should rest now."

"Pardon? During the day?"

"During the day."

"Ah! It seems you enjoy an afternoon nap. I also know the charm of an afternoon nap well. You see..."

Here we go again.

Before his words could get any longer, Cheonyeong shot up from his seat.

"Then, I'll be going."

"You're leaving already? We haven't even talked much..."

Baekta looked at Cheonyeong with a face full of disappointment.

How much... haven't we talked?

You punk!

My lips are parched from talking so much!

"We'll meet again. I hope you find the culprit."

"...Yes. It's a pity, but."

Cheonyeong, who had coldly averted his gaze from Baekta's, went up to the guest room on the second floor.

He had to rest.

Because at night, Jasu would move herself.

As Baekta stared endlessly at Cheonyeong going up to the guest room on the second floor, and his back disappeared into the room, Baekta said in a low voice.

"Hwandong."

"Yes, Branch Leader."

"Keep a close eye on Tang Cheonyeong."

Baekta's appearance as he gave the order was completely different from before.

His gentle eyes were gone, replaced by a coldness, and his lips, which had always been smiling, were full of stubbornness instead.

"To what extent should I monitor him?"

"I need to know his movements."

"I understand."

"He is a man who knows how to control himself. A clumsy surveillance will be troublesome."

"It will have to be a Night Cat. I will tell them to maintain a suitable distance."

"Hmm."

Baekta nodded at Hwandong's words.

The Night Cats of the Beggars' Sect.

They were people that the Beggars' Sect had cultivated with great effort to specialize in tracking, surveillance, and information gathering.

People that a mere branch leader could not rashly command without the permission of the Beggars' Sect's main headquarters.

But Baekta was in a position where it was limitedly possible.

Although his current identity was the Dongting Lake North Branch Leader, internally, he was one of the candidates mentioned for the position of a junior leader of the Beggars' Sect.

Baekta looked at the wine cup that Cheonyeong had left without drinking.

The full cup of wine was sloshing.

"Tsk, what a nasty man. To leave alcohol."

Baekta, who had neatly emptied the cup, smirked and put away the flying needle that had been placed on the table.

"This is not something that can be obtained normally."

The flying needle that had killed the masked man, the flying needle that had injured the Beggars' Sect member, and the ones that had been found in Hwang Haegu's room.

Baekta had already checked the flying needles.

The one used on the masked man, and the one left in Hwang Haegu's estate, had a clear purpose.

Assassination.

But the one used on the Beggars' Sect member had a subtly different purpose.

The flying needle that had killed the masked man had aimed precisely for the vital points, and the flying needle that had injured the Beggars' Sect member had been stuck in a vital point.

A mistake?

No way.

To be a mistake, the skill of the flying needle that had hit the Beggars' Sect member's vital point was too exquisite.

In other words, it was intentional.

Perhaps the dead punk and the ambusher in the darkness were not companions.

The Family Head of the Tang Family's estate, who had come into Baekta's eyes, who had such a question.

He had already heard about him from Nosanggae. He already knew his face through the transmitted portrait.

The fact that he had come to Dongting Lake, and the fact that he was staying at the Jeonghwa-ru.

He knew everything.

Because that's what the Beggars' Sect was.

Nosanggae did not spare his praise for Tang Cheonyeong in every letter he sent.

Hadn't he evaluated that he might grow into a giant tree that encompassed Sicheon?

What stood out to Baekta more than anything was Tang Cheonyeong's hidden weapon technique.

It was peculiar.

Because no one would rashly make such a weapon the main weapon of their family.

He thought that perhaps the most likely suspect in the case was the Family Head of the Tang Family's estate.

Moreover, the Tang Family's estate had just finished negotiating with the Lee family, which was several times larger than them. What reason did he have to visit Dongting Lake at this time?

There is no visit without a purpose.

Hadn't Nosanggae said that it had always been like that?

Tang Cheonyeong's actions.

There was always a clear purpose in his movements.

So he had deliberately come to the Jeonghwa-ru where he was staying.

Of course, what he had shown to Cheonyeong was not a pretense.

His personality was originally like that.

Talkative, and bustling...

But he had the meticulousness to observe everything even in his bustling.

The desire to know.

That was Baekta's true nature.

But the Tang Cheonyeong he had met in person was more than what he had heard through Nosanggae's letters.

It was a strange feeling.

Although he was already called one of the Thirteen Dragons of Sicheon, the distinction between Orthodox and Unorthodox was not clear, and his handling of the case he faced was focused on understanding, so he was called the Flood Dragon of Ganyang.

He should have had that much momentum.

"...It was too plain."

To the point where one would believe he had not learned martial arts.

Unless it was a legendary realm where one had achieved extremely high martial arts and looked ordinary, it was impossible.

Then it was a habit.

He became curious about the reason why a person with such a clear identity was erasing his presence in his daily life like a spy or an assassin.

"I'll find out if I investigate. If such a thing happened the moment he appeared in Dongting Lake... it would be either a coincidence or inevitable."

(End of Chapter)