Gongseon’s death soon became known throughout the White Flower Room.
It was not an issue that they could hide. And Jeonghwa also had no intention of hiding the news. Jeonghwa was more angry than anyone at Gongseon’s death.
She summoned her former disciples and ordered them to prepare for war.
If it were the usual, she would have informed her master, the Abbess of Nine Calamities, and asked for permission. But it was impossible for her, who is now blinded by revenge, to think logically.
The Emei sect and the White Flower Room immediately entered a wartime stance.
It was Yong Seol-ran who was most perplexed by the sudden situation.
Yong Seol-ran, who had been preparing to return to the Emei sect for a while, ran to Gongseon’s residence. Gongseon’s corpse was cleaned up, but the traces of the blood she shed remained.
Yong Seol-ran looked at the bloodstains on the floor for a moment, then looked around.
‘Where the hell did the assassin infiltrate?’
No matter how much she thought about it, the only place the assassin could enter was the ceiling.
Yong Seol-ran flew and climbed up the girders.
If an assassin had infiltrated this place, there would certainly be traces of it. However, no matter how much Yong Seol-ran turned on the light and searched, no trace of the assassin was found.
There was dust piled up on the girder.
If anyone had been up here, there should have been some smashed marks of dust.
But no such trace was found anywhere.
“Then where did he infiltrate?”
After that, she spent a long time looking for a place where the assassin might have infiltrated. However, no trace was found anywhere.
“How?”
Yong Seol-ran felt goosebumps rising up her spine. It was the first time she felt such emotions since that day, seven years ago.
“Could it be him? No! He’s definitely dead. The Qingcheng sect’s Mu Jeong-jin definitely finished him off.”
Agave denied her imagination.
* * *
Gongseon’s death was also passed on to the Black Cloud Mercenary Group.
Now that they are on the same ship sharing a common destiny, Zhang Mu-ryang reacted more sensitively to Gongseon’s death than anyone else.
“A great disciple was assassinated? Adirect disciple of Jeonghwa, who is a key figure in the Emei sect, that kind of person was assassinated? Furthermore, within the confines of the White Flower Room?”
When Zhang Mu-ryang first heard the news, he thought it was absurd.
The White Flower Room might be made up of women, but it was a sect that could never be looked down on. Moreover, with the full support of the Emei sect, the level of force each disciple had was beyond normal.
Of course, the security of the White Flower Room was also strict.
Infiltrating a place with such strict security without leaving a trace and taking a life of a disciple in public? Even Zhang Mu-ryang himself couldn’t do that.
“It’s impossible unless you’re an assassin with professional training.”
“As far as I know, there are no assassins who have reached that kind of level in Sichuan.”
“Are you sure?”
“Since the collapse of the Blood Shadow Group seven years ago, a new group of assassins has not come down in Sichuan Province.”
Yang Woo-jeong answered in a confident tone.
“Is that so?”
“It may be possible for the assassins of Hundred Wraith Union, but they are not active even in the distant Sichuan Province.
“Yeah. There’s no reason for them to intervene in the Sichuan conflict.”
Zhang Mu-ryang shook his head.
Hundred Wraith Union was the number one assassin group in Jianghu. They appeared suddenly after the War of Demons and Heavens and succeeded in the quest that everyone said was impossible.
Once anyone becomes their target, no one would survive.
As assassins of the Hundred Wraith Union, they said that even if their target hides in a place like Cheolongseong1, they can always find them and kill them.
However, their field of activity was thoroughly fixed at the center of Jianghu. No evidence has been found that they have been active in Sichuan for at least several years.
“Then who is it? Did the Qingcheng sect really send an assassin?”
“The Qingcheng sect is a prestigious faction that everyone knows. Even though they say they are in a dispute, hiring an assassin against the Emei sect is not in line with the Qingcheng sect’s philosophy. They would rather moved directly than hiring an assassin or else their reputation will fall.”
“Hm!”
Yang Woo-jeong’s words made sense, so Zhang Mu-ryang could only uttered a muffled voice. Hiring an assassin is easy, but if the truth is found out, the Qingcheng sect will be criticized by Jianghu.
It was too risky for a prestigious sect, such as a Qingcheng sect, to choose.
The harm was far greater than the gain.
No matter how much he thought about it, it was unlikely that the Qingcheng sect would have hired an assassin.
“Then who? Did a third party intervene?”
Zhang Mu-ryang felt a strong sense of crisis.
One of the reasons he survived long rolls on the battlefield was the insight he gained from his many experiences. His insight, which produced the best results by instantaneously combining instinct and reason, was close to the level of prophecy.
Thanks to this, he was able to detect a crisis in advance and escape from many dangers.
Now his insight was warning of a crisis.
At that moment, there was a figure that popped into Zhang’s mind.
“Call Maun right now.”
“Are you saying Maun?”
“Yeah! Right now.”
“Alright.”
Yang Woo-jeong immediately executed Zhang Mu-ryang’s orders.
After a while, Maun, who was watching Pyo-wol from the guest house came in.
“Did you call for me, Captain?.”
“What did he do last night?”
“Are you referring to the first-class surveillance target?”
“Yes.”
“He not once left the guest house.”
“Have you not missed any of his movements?”
“Four people took turns monitoring. But none of them detected any anomalies.”
“Really? You never took your eyes off of him?”
“It’s true. In the last four days, he’s never been out of the room. He only goes out of his room for dinner.”
At Maun’s answer, Zhang Mu-ryang frowned.
‘Does he really have nothing to do with this incident?’
Then Maun said cautiously,
“To be honest, I don’t know why I should be monitoring him. In the last four days, he hasn’t been out of the guest house even once. He also never had any contact with outsiders. I don’t see any reason to monitor him anymore.”
Maun omitted the story that he was unable to detect Pyo-wol presence while he was in the room. If he did, it would seemed like Maun was revealing his own incompetence.
Without knowing that, Zhang Mu-ryang asked.
“Is there any chance he noticed your presence?”
“That’s almost impossible. No, it’s impossible. As you know, we don’t make mistakes in this kind of thing. That’s why you entrusted us with this mission, didn’t you?”
“Huuu!”
Zhang Mu-ryang let out a sigh.
‘Is it not really him? No! Something is still strange. For him to not go out for four days? Is that possible?’
Zhang Mu-ryang felt a strong sense of incongruity. However, he did not know exactly what the source of his feelings was.
‘There’s no point in monitoring him any more than this.’
Maun and his colleagues had already lost their motivation. If they continue to monitor Pyo-wol in their current state, they will not be able to concentrate and they will not get the results Zhang Mu-ryang wanted.
Above all, now was the time to strengthen their surveillance on the Qingcheng sect.
“Maun!”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Let’s put on hold observing the top-level monitoring targets for the time being, and focus on identifying the movements of the Qingcheng sect.”
“Alright.”
Maun answered in a loud voice. Now he thought he had done his job properly. The last four days have been difficult for him. It was the first time he realized that monitoring can be so tedious and difficult.
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