He was waiting for the arrival of the Clan Leader.
The name of the criminal that had a.s.sisted the spy, that had entered the academy, was Hong-bae.
They found him earlier than originally antic.i.p.ated with the help of Hyeonmugak and Jimilgak.
He had been a librarian, and was more tenacious and awful in nature than expected.
However, he had succ.u.mbed to the torture method created by Byeok Ae-rin, agreeing to confess.
But what was odd was the fact that he said that he would only speak if the Clan Leader was present.
Hearing this, they tortured him more severely for talking rubbish, but Hong-bae persisted, refusing to speak.
Therefore, word had been sent to the Clan Leader, who agreed to come in person.
Soon after, an attendant cried out from outside of the door. "The Clan Leader is here!"
Eun Myeong-myeong then walked over after hearing those words, and opened the door himself, facing Mu-jin.
"Please come in!"
"So, did the man really say that he would only speak in my presence?"
"I apologize for this inconvenience."
"What is there to apologize for? Come on, let's go."
"Yes."
Eun Myeong-myeong then opened the hidden door to the prison, descending underground afterwards.
As they pa.s.sed by the bulky door, they had finally reached the prison.
"Please come! I'll escort you!"
The warrior in charge of guarding the prison rushed over to them and respectfully bowed.
"Take us to the man named Hong-bae."
"Yes!"
After that, they were led further downwards.
There, hanging from the ceiling was So Woo-jae, as well as a new man. Their bodies were sagging, drenched with sweat and water.
But the face of the new man wasn't unfamiliar.
The new man was Hong-bae.
At the sounds of their arrival, Hong-bae opened his eyes, staring at Eun Myeong-myeong.
"I…I've said already, haven't I…to call the Clan Leader."
"I am the Clan Leader!" Mu-jin had stepped forward.
Hong-bae looked at him, then spoke, "It's really the Clan Leader! It feels good…that…the Clan Leader comes and goes…when I say so."
"Stop spouting rubbish and speak up! Who are the other spies?"
"I'll speak as I pro…mised. There's one in the cafeteria, there's about two amongst the students, and there's one amongst the teachers."
"..."
Eun Myeong-myeong's face became frozen.
He already had a vague idea of what Hong-bae had said, but hearing it out loud didn't feel good, and this being said in front of Mu-jin was embarra.s.sing for him.
"What are their names?!"
"Hahaha."
Hong-bae laughed.
"Why don't you ask me something else? With the information I've already told you, I'm sure you can easily find them with the mighty intelligence organizations at your disposal."
"..."
"So, ask me something else. For example, the location of Blood King Valley."
"...!"
Eun Myeong-myeong's eyes grew wide.
The exact location of Blood King Valley was information that n.o.body had successfully obtained till now.
"So you know the location of Blood King Valley?"
"I do."
Hong-bae smirked. "As I'm not a man that could simply be used and thrown away, I went to the Blood King Valley and met their leader."
Mu-jin then replied, "Your words aren't particularly credible. There's no evidence, so how can we believe you?"
Hong-bae responded back, "Evidence? Credibility? Hahaha, sorry, but aren't you guys desperate to find the location, not me?"
Hong-bae was a smart man.
"The Blood King Valley is nowhere to be found, but it is somewhere."
"What does that mean?"
Hong-bae grinned.
"I can't say anymore. If you want to know more, there'll be a price. Oh, and did you know…that my mission…..wasn't to help that fellow?"
So Woo-jae, who was tied up next to him, began to tremble.
"To be honest, my very capture was…the leader's plan."
Hong-bae then began to sneer in laughter.
"The time has now come."
Feeling that something was wrong, Mu-jin spoke up, emitting an energy of fury, "What do you mean by that?"
"Have you still not realized why I was so easily captured, you fools?! Let's die together…aah!"
Blood began to gush out of Hong-bae's mouth.
And then…
*Bang!*
A boom resounded throughout the room.
Hong-bae's body had exploded.
Eun Myeong-myeong clenched his jaw in surprise.
He blamed himself for their entry into the prison without having investigated any dormant dangers lying within Hong-bae.
"Are you okay?"
He looked up to see Mu-jin, with an outstretched hand.
"Clan Leader. I'm sorry. I made a mistake in judgement…"
Eun Myeong-myeong wasn't sure how he was still living. He knew that an explosion of that size caused by Hong-bae should have killed all surrounding people.
And the death of all of them would have been due to him.
"It's fine. No harm has been caused."
"What?"
"Only that man Hong-bae is dead."
Eun Myeong-myeong looked in the direction where Hong-bae had been hanging.
"...."
He was taken aback at the sight.
The only place in the s.p.a.ce that was stained with blood was where Hong-bae had been. Everywhere else, and all other people, were completely fine.
Even So Woo-jae, who had been directly beside him was completely unharmed.
"H-how? By any chance, did you intervene, Clan Leader?"
Mu-jin could not help but cough in response. "Ahem. Ahem ahem. Well…I guess I did. Hahahaha."
But in truth, Mu-jin was heavily sweating.
'Th-that was close.'
Mu-jin recalled what had just happened.
Just before Hong-bae's body had exploded, Mu-jin felt a powerful energy moving from behind him.
It was Kang-hyuk's energy.
Hidden with an invisibility technique, Kang-hyuk followed Mu-jin to the prison.
He had wrapped his energy around Hong-bae's body, making it so that the explosion only occurred within the energetic bubble he had created.
Nonetheless, Mu-jin could only smile awkwardly since he couldn't reveal Kang-hyuk's presence.
Mu-jin looked at Hong-bae's corpse.
He noticed something strange in the debris of his body.
"It's a snake."
Kang-hyuk, who was still invisibly standing behind Mu-jin, stroked his chin at the sight of the snake.
'That snake…'
He remembered the man from the Dark Medicine Valley, Chang Il-mun, who had attempted to kill him when he was taking the test to become a teacher.
'The snake of the Dark Medicine Valley was what killed Chang Il-mun. It wasn't enough for the snake to crush the brain, and now they've also added explosions? They've got all sorts of tricks, haven't they!'
But from this, a definite conclusion could be made. Blood King Valley was purposely aiming for the Academy.
'Why would the Blood King Valley go the Hwacheon Academy? Is it to weaken the Clan's influence over Baekdo Moorim?'
Kang-hyuk didn't feel good.
It was because he was still unaware of where the Blood King Valley headquarters was located.
'I can't beat you up if I don't know where you are! d.a.m.n it!'
***
It was the next day.
Swordsmanship, the first practice of the morning had just finished.
Dang So-mun had rolled down onto the floor five or six times during this particular practice, causing him to be the recipient of ridicule.
'I truly can't help being so pathetic!'
He felt as though he was going to cry.
It was almost lunch time, but he had no appet.i.te. But he knew he would have to eat, so that he would have enough strength for the cla.s.ses to come.
Lost in thought, Dang So-mun began to walk somewhere, in a direction that wasn't headed towards the cafeteria.
He felt as though there was no use for his skill with the Am-gi weapon. When the foundation of all martial arts was one's stance, his situation seemed desolate.
'Huh?'
Something suddenly caught his eye.
A student seemed to be sneaking something over to someone that looked like a school employee.
The exchange was too fast to have been noticed by most, but Dang So-mun was a child of the Dang Family, and his eyesight was sharp due to his usage of the Am-gi weapon.
Therefore, he had noticed the small bamboo container that was handed over, and the student in question was a student that Dang So-mun knew quite well.
The student was also a first year student.
'Was his name Su Seon-tae?'
As a child of the Su family, Su Seon-tae displayed an outstanding ability.
"Seon-tae-ya [1]!"
Su Seon-tae looked a bit startled at Dang So-mun's sudden cry.
Dang So-mun found his surprise a little suspicious, but spoke as though all was well, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you eating lunch?"
"Huh? I-I just had something I needed to do. What are you doing here?"
"I just…wanted to be alone."
"Why did you call out to me if that was the case? You should have just let me be."
"Ah, so-sorry."
After embarra.s.sing Dang So-mun, Su Seon-tae disappeared off to somewhere, almost as though he was trying to run away.
Dang So-mun sighed, and looked at the floor.
"...!"
A white powder on the floor caught his eye. After making sure that no one was around him, he dipped his finger into the powder, and had a slight taste of it.
This type of action would be dangerous for most, but the members of the Dang Family were an exception.
From a young age, they had been exposed to poisons, ingesting small amounts over time until they built an immunity against them.
Therefore, even if they ingested a deadly poison, they wouldn't instantly die, and there would be ample time to administer an antidote.
"...."
After having sampled the white powder, Dang So-mun's expression became serious.
'This? No way?'
Dang So-mun's gaze was drawn to where Su Seon-tae had been standing.
'Isn't this dangerous? It's obvious that Seon-tae doesn't even know what kind of medicine he's carrying!'
He felt as though it was important to immediately go and advise Seon-tae on the matter.
But…
'He probably won't listen to what a half-wit like me has to say….'
After some consideration, a certain person came in to mind that could be of some help. That person was his only friend.
'I'll have to ask Mun-ji to help me.'
That evening.
Dang So-mun had called Baek Mun-ji over.
There was opportunity for them to talk, since there was still some time till the night roll call.
"What's the matter?"
Baek Mun-ji was a little intrigued that Dang So-mun had called him over, since he had never done so before.
"The thing is…"
"What on earth is it?"
"I'm a little concerned as I don't know what to do…"
Baek Mun-ji listened as Dang So-mun explained the suspicious event involving Su Seon-tae that he had witnessed.
It was a little frustrating for him to listen to, as he was already familiar with Dang So-mun's style of speaking.
"Yes, but…the problem was the small amount of the drug that had spilled, so I sampled the powder."
"With potential danger to your life!"
"Sorry, but as you know, all children of my family have a level of resistance to all poisons."
"Even so, it's dangerous. Don't do it again. It's just a level of resistance, you aren't completely immune from the dangers."
"Okay, I get it."
Blood had rushed to Dang So-mun's cheeks at Baek Mun-ji's concern for him.
"So, what was the drug?"
"It was an extremely dangerous drug. I think you've probably heard of it as well? The White Tiger Spirit Powder?"
"If it's the White Tiger Spirit Powder, it can't be, is it the rotting powder?"
Dang So-mun nodded.
The White Tiger Spirit Powder.
The powder was named so as its consumption increased one's internal energy akin to the vigour of a white tiger.
If the drug was judged simply by its name, it would seem as though it was a good drug.
But the problem was that the makers of this drug were the Dark Medicine Valley.
This meant that the White Tiger Spirit Powder inevitably had side-effects.
Although it did have the effect of increasing one's internal energy, if it raised a person's internal energies more than the person's body was capable of handling, their body would slowly start to rot away.
This was why it was also nicknamed rotting powder, and within Baekdo Moorim, almost everyone referred to the powder by that name.
'Thinking about it….'
Dang So-mun remembered that Su Seon-tae had been over applying perfumed oil as of recent.
Whilst both men and women applied perfumed oils to their body to give off a pleasant fragrance, Su Seon-tae's fragrance was excessive.
'Has the process of rotting already begun?'
The issue at hand was how exactly Su Seon-tae had obtained the drug.
Dang So-mun was aware that the operations of the Dark Medicine Valley were almost obsolete owing to the force of the Hwacheon Clan, and so, their drugs couldn't be obtained that easily.
"How long do you think the amount of the drug Seon-tae has will last him for?"
"Around two weeks? But why?"
"We'll raid the scene of the drug trade in two weeks then!"
"What? The scene of the trade? Only the two of us?"
[1]=Y adding 'ya' at the end of a name shows closeness
