I must act.
“Truly a puzzling incident.”
I must act before those who look at me with fear. I need to package myself and give them a warning.
I am Ho Pil, Kang Yoon-ho. I will catch the culprit now. So, fear me. Witness this and never harbor silly thoughts again.
Before me lies my stage. What I am about to begin is a performance and a warning.
“On my way home, at the mansion, while sipping on pure wine, there were three assassination attempts, and the culprit vanished, while I was imprisoned.”
“I heard there’s no way to track down the one who tried to kill my nephew-in-law.”
The eldest aunt sitting in the front spoke to me calmly.
“Yes. It was truly perfect. The culprit must have thought so too. The Man Geum-jeon lost consciousness, and I was about to die in prison. But something unexpected occurs.”
“Unexpected?”
What did I do when you pushed me into a crisis?
“I was given the time to think calmly, after a long while, as Ho Pil, Kang Yoon-ho.”
I speak confidently as I hide myself.
The Kang Yoon-ho who didn’t keep his cool in anger no longer exists. The figure I will show them is one with a relaxed smile, who was aiming for a comeback until the very end.
“…….”
A pleasant silence flowed in the room.
“I wondered who the culprit was. It’s clear that this was an act to target the future successor of the Man Geum Battlefield, and it must be one of those in this room. What should I do? Should I just sweep them all away without thinking?”
“Ugh.”
A fearful groan made my ears tingle.
“Haha! Don’t be too tense. It might be something that the successor of the Man Geum Battlefield would think, but not something Ho Pil, Kang Yoon-ho would.”
I hold the justification, power, and strength. Sweeping you all away is nothing. As I mixed warning and jest, nervous laughter erupted.
“Do, do you have other thoughts?”
The uncle from the Gu Family, who got promoted through bribery, kept glancing at me and asked.
“Well, I haven’t learned Go separately, so I don’t have the skill, but I do like the stories around it. Have you heard of ‘Shin-mul-gyeong-sok’ in crisis?”
“If you want to win, don’t act recklessly and think carefully.”
“That’s right. The first assassination attempt by the culprit was perfect. They planned it well. But due to miraculous coincidence, it returned in failure. With the trump card blocked, it seemed that the successor would be decided without a hitch. So, were the culprit’s next plans careful?”
“Greed leads to carelessness.”
How did I discover the culprit? Through what small mistake did I unravel the conspiracy? I am someone who can find answers through your little errors.
“Yes. There was no need to be curious about who the culprit was. If they were even a little anxious, I would just follow that trace and find the discarded pieces.”
It was time to reveal it to them.
“The first mistake of the assassin was their identity, the Blue Robe Swordsman.”
It was the first moment Baek Myeon-ho-ri faltered. I continued the deduction as if mocking Baek Myeon-ho-ri, who must be listening somewhere in this room.
“Does the Blue Robe Swordsman refer to the assassin who can no longer be found?”
“It’s hard to find them. The Blue Robe Swordsman died two months ago.”
“What?!”
Everyone’s faces turned to shock.
Seeing that reaction, I chuckled and quickly continued speaking while they couldn’t digest the shock.
“It’s surprising news but good news. What’s important is that I discovered a piece that hinted at something strange. I step forward a step more along the trail. The poisoned drink has completely vanished. Odd. How could one manage to hide the drink from so many eyes? Thanks to that, I can come to a conclusion.”
Before the mouths of the people in front of me could shut, I reached a conclusion.
“What conclusion?”
“It’s simply that it’s too large a matter to just deal with a single Black-haired Barbarian. And at the same time, I realize the second mistake made by the culprit.”
“Second mistake?”
The first mistake of Baek Myeon-ho-ri was that the continuous assassinations raised suspicion.
“How could they not know that the person following their tracks had previously witnessed a similar incident?”
The second mistake was that Baek Myeon-ho-ri’s conspiracy in Wuhan was connected to me, in some way, small or big.
“You’ve seen a similar incident? When?”
I quietly surveyed the assembled, not giving an answer.
Baek Myeon-ho-ri, what expression are you wearing inside? What thoughts occupy your mind?
It doesn’t matter.
“Ma Yang-baek and Heo Song.”
While you leisurely think of what to do next.
The Black-haired Ho Pil, who was stuck in prison, had no idea how far I had deduced.
“Why would someone who died recently be important? No way, does it relate to this?”
“Yes. Every death and assassination attempt up until now has happened because of the position of the future successor of the Man Geum Battlefield.”
Baek Myeon-ho-ri. I’ve stepped closer to you. Now, it’s not you, but I who am going to grasp your neck.
I calmly revealed the truth before everyone.
“Brother Yang-baek, you weren’t killed by Ojak?”
“The one who killed Heo Song is here?”
“Yes. Ma Yang-baek. Heo Song. Kang Yoon-ho. The two deaths and assassination attempts were all committed by one person.”
“Who would commit such a vile act?!”
“Yes. Why did they do it? To find an answer, we have to uncover it again. The deaths of two people. Assassination attempts. The successor of the Man Geum Battlefield. The death of the Blue Robe Swordsman. The vanishing act. If all these unfortunate events point to one person, we can discover the third mistake.”
A variable Baek Myeon-ho-ri didn’t expect. A variable brought by Man Geum-jeon himself. The first blunder caused by the variable in a meticulously crafted plan.
“The third?”
“How did Heo Song die?”
“His face skin was half torn off… Huh?”
Now it’s time to speak the truth before everyone.
“If that face skin was torn off, what would they have tried to do with it? What could they have used it for?”
“No way.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to horror.
“The Ho Pil who was released from prison confirms the question. And he finds the answer.”
I stood up and took out a clear piece of evidence from my pocket.
“What’s that?”
“Hey, that’s Brother Yang-baek’s face!”
“No way, is it the Impeachment Gate?!”
The item I drew out was Ma Yang-baek’s Impeachment Gate.
“There exists a vile martial art in the Martial Arts World, capable of perfectly imitating others by creating an Impeachment Gate.”
A martial art that peels off the facial skin of others, consumes their brains, and perfectly imitates them. The wicked techniques of the Demonic Cult, which all martial artists disdain.
I reveal the true nature of the Memory Absorption Technique before their eyes.
“W-what?!”
“Wait, the culprit is inside this room?!”
“No way?! Then now!”
The eldest aunt’s head drooped. As if she couldn’t bear to look any longer, her shoulders trembled. When I gestured, Gil-san grabbed the eldest aunt’s shoulder instead.
Jang Nan-ok, with her mouth closed tightly, looked up at me once more. The only thing the one supporting me could say was this.
“Yes. It means that someone unqualified to be here has hidden themselves to seize control of the Man Geum Battlefield.”
It was only stating that the end was near.
“Who the hell is it?!”
“Pull the skin off the face of the person next to you!”
Once it was revealed that someone was using the Impeachment Gate, the room instantly erupted into chaos.
“Inspection Unit!”
“Silence! If you continue to cause a commotion, I will silence you by force!”
Ugh!
That’s why having a sword ready is so handy. When the head of the Inspection Unit sharply spoke, the room fell silent in that moment.
“Master Kang! If there is a culprit, we must find them!”
At a protest that came from somewhere, I shook my head.
“Simply knowing the answer doesn’t provide a way to find the culprit. It’s such a perfect disguise that even if we catch their face, we won’t feel any difference.”
They weren’t simply martial arts for nothing; if martial artists couldn’t figure it out, there’s no way we could using common methods.
“What are we supposed to do then?!”
There’s no way to detect the Memory Absorption Technique.
But.
“Though we cannot see through a perfect disguise, we can find answers in the mistakes.”
I knew the grand mistake Baek Myeon-ho-ri had made.
“Mistake?”
“Guanghun-san. I had the Sichuan Tang Family members invite to my place, and they told me the name of the poison I drank a few days ago. They even informed me of its weakness.”
I was glad I ventured into the place run by the Tang Family’s Seocheon Post Office.
Though it took effort to stop the rabid scoundrels who wanted to personally come and tear him apart, they stepped up like it was their own business.
“What do you mean by weakness?”
“It’s so potent that even a solidly built person can barely take in a minuscule amount through their nose. Therefore, the Sichuan Tang Family has a very easy way to find out who used the poison.”
Baek Myeon-ho-ri made another blunder in his growing impatience by failing to make a careful choice of poison.
“What is that?”
“A drink infused with herbs will make the veins in the eyes visible.”
And I dug right into that point.
“Herb-infused tea? Wait, does that mean in the tea we drank while waiting?”
“That’s right.”
Did I tell the eldest aunt to intentionally waste time and then have everyone drink tea for no reason?
“Look to see who has bloodshot eyes!”
“Is it you, Cheong?”
“No! I couldn’t sleep after visiting the restaurant yesterday!”
“There’s one here!”
“It’s a misunderstanding!”
“Another one here!”
Once it was confirmed who had red eyes and who the culprit was, they began to surface.
“Everyone calm down.”
When I raised my hand, all members of the Inspection Unit held onto their sheaths tightly.
“We need to identify the culprit!!!”
Right. It’s confirmed that everyone in the room drank tea. One of the ones with bloodshot eyes must be the culprit.
But you know.
“Simply red eyes don’t mean they’re the culprit.”
“Huh?”
There’s no way to tell whether the redness is due to the poison or other reasons. Once pointed out to the blind spot, the excited faces began to twist in confusion.
“Y-you’re right!”
“If it was because of the tea, how can we tell if it was due to tiredness?!”
“Didn’t you see them almost crying from fear earlier? Just because you have red eyes doesn’t make you the culprit!”
Even those who were being pressured found an excuse and desperately defended themselves logically.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
The tea I made was only a possibility.
It’s a method to find those who might have inhaled Guanghun-san, but even so, that doesn’t confirm they’re the culprit.
The poison they consumed must have been in minute amounts.
“What nonsense….”
So what do we do then?
“That’s why I added poison to the alcohol.”
“……what?”
“What did you just say?”
Everyone’s expressions froze in a delightful way.
“I served genuine poisonous liquor to those suspected.”
With a drink that is painful simply to consume, mixing in real poison makes it hard to notice if poison is present. The room turned icy cold. I chuckled as I spoke.
“Are you out of your mind?!”
“There are things a person can do and things they cannot! This is a crime against beasts!”
“Calm down.”
“How can we possibly calm down right now?”
If things go awry, it won’t be the poison that takes them down, it will be a heart attack. Those who dug out the roots of the family should make something of it.
I utilized the Small Wheel Mental Image Technique. It was quite amusing in this chaotic situation, but I needed to inform them of the truth.
“The poison you drank only works on someone who made a great mistake.”
“What do you mean it only affects one person?”
How could poison, when everyone drank it, only affect one person?
The answer lay in the decisive mistake Baek Myeon-ho-ri had made.
“The assassin hiding in the mansion fled into a trap. There were traces of blood spilled at the point where he vanished.”
“Blood? Are you saying they received severe internal injuries?”
“Yes. The poison I mixed is a common one. If someone ordinary drinks it, they’d just feel lethargic, but it becomes the poison of the Sichuan Tang Family for someone who is severely injured.”
When that poison enters the mouth of someone who has suffered greatly inside, it spreads, causing a gut-wrenching agony.
Hack!
I heard that anticipated sound of someone vomiting blood.
“What?!”
“Was it that they were just waiting for the poison to spread through their body, and only now has it begun to take effect?”
I approach the one coughing up blood while smiling.
It was you.
The one spewing blood was one of the final candidates. Man Family’s master. Man So-pyeong. No, it was Baek Myeon-ho-ri disguised as Man So-pyeong.
“Y-you!”
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Poison for poison.
A person who orchestrated the Man Geum Battlefield’s incidents, brought tears to countless, and would escalate turmoil in the martial arts world.
“Officially, it’s my first time greeting you. Hello. Baek Myeon-ho-ri.”
I formally bowed to the Baek Myeon-ho-ri, whom I had caught.
“You dare…! How dare you!”
“I am the successor of the Man Geum Battlefield, whom you so desperately wished to kill. Kang Yoon-ho.”
