Hong Yushin sat in the room given to him by the general secretary and read the report written by Bunta.
In the meantime, the general secretary and the brothel keeper frequently went in and out of the room where Hong Yushin was.
After reading all the books, Hong Yushin muttered.
“Everything else is here except for the Chengdu’s Directory of Martial Artist which is missing.”
The Chengdu’s Directory of Martial Artist was a precious booklet containing the personalities and trends of the active warriors working in Chengdu and Sichuan.
The Chengdu branch updated the booklet every ten days to include new information, and sent a copy to the main headquarters every two months.
Through the information obtained, Haomun Headquarters was able to grasp the trends of Sichuan Province and Chengdu as if it were in the palm of their hand.
However, for the past two months, no information from Sichuan has come to the headquarters.
It was later found out that the branch manager, Oh Sang-kyung, who was supposed to report, had been killed.
Oh Sang-kyung was the only link between the branch and the main headquarters.
All information from the branch is transmitted to the headquarters through him. Since such an important person had died, it was only natural that information from Sichuan would not arrive to the main office.
For that reason, for the past two months, they have not been able to get any information about what happened in both Sichuan and Chengdu.
“And this happened, right?”
He looked at the booklet placed on top.
The booklet described a series of recent events in Chengdu.
“A single assassin has devastated the entire Sichuan? Do you want me to believe this?”
The booklet contained unbelievable content.
It is said that the sect leader of the Emei faction, the loser of Sichuan, was killed, and Mu Jeong-jin, the strongest warrior of the Qingcheng sect was killed by one assassin, and many other sects suffered great damage.
The reason why it is hard to believe what is written in the booklet is because the exact process was not described, and only the end results were written.
If the branch manager, Oh Sang-kyung, was alive, he would have commanded his subordinates to systematically collect and organize the information. However, the core of the story was missing because there was no central person in charge and only what Haomun witnessed.
Even the assassin’s name and appearance were not properly recorded.
If Oh San-kyung were still alive, he would probably have pursued the assassin to the end and uncovered everything.
Name, age, place of birth, clan affiliation, and even the place of residence.
However, after Oh San-kyung’s death, the branch system was changed, so various types of information were mixed up.
“In the end, I have to move.”
Hong Yushin sighed.
He immediately called the brothel keeper.
The Water Lily Pavilion’s brothel keeper was a beautiful woman in her mid-thirties.
Wearing a splendid silk robe, she showed off her splendor with a lot of ornaments on her hair that was neatly turned up.
“Did you call for me?”
“How many Haomun people are there in Chengdu now?”
“There are two courtesans, about four hundred people who are engaged in errands and about one hundred people who have joined as workers of each clan.”
“Okay! From now on, I’m going to tell all the Haomun people to follow this assassin’s whereabouts. Anything is fine. If it’s related to him, ask them to collect even the smallest details.”
“Alright.”
“And bring me all the information.”
Hong Yushin, who gave the order, got up from his seat.
The brothel keeper looked at Hong Yushin in surprise.
“Are you going to move on your own? Let’s get over your fatigue. I’ve got the prettiest one on standby.”
“If the opponent really has this ability, the headquarters should manage the information directly.”
“Well!”
“Set aside all other information and prioritize collecting information about the assassin first. Please be careful not to miss even a single word from the guests, especially to high-class prostitutes. Do you understand?”
“Yes! I will.”
The brothel keeper quickly lowered her head.
Hong Yushin was the chief inspector from the main headquarters.
She wanted to stay out of his sight and go back to receiving other guests.
Hong Yushin left the brothel keeper behind and left the Water Lily Pavilion. It had been a long time since he had personally moved and collected information.
But he was confident.
To become the head inspector of the Haomun, it is a must to have the ability to collect information. In fact, Hong Yushin showed outstanding ability on the front line.
The first place he went to was Tangjiatuo.
The report stated that a great fight had taken place in Tangjiatuo. So it got interesting.
Tangjiatuo was the home of the Tang Family. Although it is now extinct and only the ruins remain, the name alone has a special meaning.
“Did he lure and subdue the Qingcheng and the Emei faction to such a place?”
It was not easy to believe. But it was written that way in the report, so he had to check it with his own eyes. In what way the assassin had overwhelmed many soldiers.
A long time has passed and there were no traces of that time. Still, Hong Yushin persisted in searching for Tangjiatuo.
As a result, it was possible to find the remains of various hidden weapons and machinery in Tangjiatuo.
Hong Yushin looked at the fine silver needle in his hand. The silver needles are so thin that they cannot be distinguished with the naked eye.
“Is there a blacksmith with this level of metallurgy? With this level of metallurgy, you can only see it in the Tang Family in its heyday. Don’t tell me the Tang Family has come back?”
Hong Yushin’s eyes narrowed.
“Maybe there are still some who have inherited the metallurgy of the Tang Family in their heyday. If that’s the case, then that assassin might have asked the Tang Family’s craftsmen for help.”
Fortunately, the silver acupuncture was not poisoned. If there are any remaining successors to the Tang Family’s dictatorship, the situation would become more serious.
The dictatorship of the Tang Family was truly terrifying, and many warriors were still afraid of them. It was because of their dictatorship that many people were reluctant to mention their name even though it had been a long time since the Tang Family was wiped out.
Hong Yushin got up.
“First, we need to find the craftsman who made this silver needle. He must know the whereabouts of the assassin.”
Hong Yushin hastily returned to the Water Lily Pavilion.
He thought it was an old artisan who made hidden weapons and machinery. It is because the skill of a craftsman increases as much as the years he had lived and as much as the time he had spent hammering an iron.
Hong Yushin was confident that he would be able to find the old artisan in no time.
* * *
A few months ago, the bloodbath brought about many changes in Chengdu.
One of them is that many houses and shops have changed owners. Some people had sold their houses because they could not handle the shock of turning into a mob and looting while the others left the city in despair over their collapsed businesses.in despair over the collapsed shops.
Their reasons were diverse.
As such, many stores have welcomed new owners. An example would be a store on the street south of Chengdu. To be precise, it was a workshop, not a store.
The old craftsman, who was the original owner of the workshop, was so shocked by the bloodshed happening in front of his eyes that he ended up selling his workshop. He wanted to live in peace for the rest of his life.
The new owner that took over his workshop was a young craftsman.
The young craftsman melted into the place where the old craftsman’s hands had been stained. As if this place had belonged to him from the beginning.
The young craftsman was immersed in his final work.
Kangkang!
The red-hot iron was changing shape every time he struck the hammer.
The iron that has been beaten for a long time was then placed in water to cool it, then put it back in the brazier to heat it up, and then beat it again…
The young craftsman repeated such tedious work countless times.
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