Chapter 127 : Dan Woobin, Looks for a Solution

Chapter 127: Dan Woobin, Looks for a Solution

Dan Woobin struggled to find an answer.

Killing Jang Wonso wasn’t simple.

Taking his life itself wasn’t impossible. If Lee Jaseung moved personally, and if Mujin and Ma Young-gi helped, they could take him down.

What made it easier, Jang Wonso trusted the man Lee Jaseung was acting as, Seop Mu-pyeong.

A surprise attack was more than possible.

The problem was the enormous aftershock that would sweep Jianghu after his death.

‘Murim Alliance Leader assassinated.’

No matter what consequences spun out of that, no one would have found it strange.

So in what way should they remove him to benefit the Black Way Alliance the most?

Dan Woobin kept thinking.

Then a voice came from behind.

“Let’s go out.”

Startled, Dan Woobin turned. At some point Mujin had come into the room and was drinking water.

“Would you at least make some noise when you walk around!”

When Dan Woobin barked, Mujin pulled a baffled face.

“I did. I knocked. I called you too.”

“Oh, did you?”

Once Dan Woobin fell deep into thought, he didn’t hear even if someone shouted beside him. That fearsome concentration was also what had carried today’s Black Way Alliance.

“Let’s go. This doesn’t look like a knot you’ll untangle staring at four walls.”

Mujin tugged him up. Dan Woobin let himself be dragged out, acting like he couldn’t help it.

The two walked side by side through the sunlit market street.

Going out for a walk wouldn’t produce an answer right away, but his mood felt fresher.

“I guess Captain Mu is the only one who looks after me huh.”

Mujin smiled faintly and hummed as he walked.

“How about a drink?”

“Drink? No way!”

“Why not?”

“Because this isn’t the time. This decision could change all our fates.”

“And?”

“What do you mean, and? I’m telling you it’s really dangerous.”

“Hasn’t it always been?”

“Of course it has. But this time is different, isn’t it? We’re not talking about killing a Murim Alliance gate guard.”

“What’s different?”

Mujin spoke on, with his face suddenly serious.

“Your plans, some were easy and some were hard. But we never went in with a different heart. It was always like this. If we mess up, we die. If we mess up, not just me but the men under me die. If we mess up, not just me and the men under me, but our Black Way Alliance dies. It has always been the same.”

Those words stirred Dan Woobin’s heart. He hadn’t known Mujin thought like that. When they returned from missions, he would swagger, laugh loud, and say, “A job like this is just like picking a coin off the road.”

Because every one of those missions had been plans he laid, his chest grew tight.

Mujin grinned and said,

“When you use a sword, if your shoulders tense, you ruin the form. Striking hard and clenching your shoulders are different problems. You get what I mean, right?”

“I get it.”

Think easy and natural, then draw up the plan.

The clogged feeling in his chest loosened. He had clearly been thinking too hard and too complicated, because this was the Murim Alliance Leader they were killing.

But Mujin was right.

He should plan this no different than killing a Murim Alliance gate guard.

“Let’s go back. We’ll drink after.”

Watching Dan Woobin’s back recede down the way, Mujin smiled like he had just picked up a coin in the road.

“What an easy fellow he is.”

* * *

“Assassination is the worst of the worst options. If Jang Wonso is assassinated, the entire Orthodox Faction will move to find the culprit.”

Once he set his mind, Dan Woobin produced a plan in one go.

“We must keep the sparks from flying onto our Alliance or the Northern Sky Clan.”

In other words, they needed someone else to take the blame.

“Who do you have in mind?”

When Lee Jaseung asked, Dan Woobin smiled in a curious way.

“The very person who came to mind first for you, Alliance Leader.”

“Ban Yeo, I see.”

“Exactly! He has the skill to kill the Alliance Leader, and he has a perfect motive.”

Right now Ban Yeo was thought to be dead in Jianghu.

The mere fact he was alive would make everyone believe he did it. They would assume he faked his death because he had a hidden scheme.

Dan Woobin looked at Lee Jaseung and asked,

“Are you perhaps bothered that you promised you wouldn’t touch him again?”

Lee Jaseung had told Ban Yeo when they parted that unless someone paid a greater price, he wouldn’t touch him again.

Lee Jaseung gave a faint smile.

“Not at all.”

When dealing with villains, he had no intention of keeping every scruple. That one would be the same.

“How do we pin it on him?”

“Just tossing him onto the crime scene won’t be enough. Ban Yeo isn’t ordinary.”

“Right.”

“We should use this chance to make him our man.”

“Use poison?”

“Yes.”

They had used poison on the Ten Thousand Evils Alliance of the outer regions as well. The poison had been so terrifying that to get the antidote, he had obeyed Lee Jaseung docilely to this day.

You could never truly make someone like Ban Yeo a loyal subordinate, and even if there were some way, he didn’t want to.

“Good, let’s do that then.”

Remove Jang Wonso and seat Ban Yeo as a puppet in his place? It sounded like a fine stratagem.

“And Jang Wonso?”

“You must remove him yourself.”

Lee Jaseung nodded. Of course he had to. With the possibility that Jang Wonso held some hidden power, the surest way was to move himself.

“The problem is the guards of the Alliance Leader’s Hall. There are many, and their skill is no joke. Even if we could remove them, this isn’t a war. Killing them all would be a burden.”

This time, Lee Jaseung found the answer.

“But there is a moment they will separate from Jang Wonso.”

Dan Woobin’s eyes flashed.

“That decadent banquet day.”

Jang Wonso left the manor with only one warrior and went to another manor. That was the time to strike.

“But will he invite you again?”

Lee Jaseung nodded with certainty after hearing the question.

“He will for sure. He’ll lure me into more and more stimulating banquets.”

Now that they had a plan, there was no reason to hesitate.

“Call Mujin and Young-gi.”

* * *

Ban Yeo dreamed of revenge.

The most necessary thing for revenge was power, and to gain that power he needed money.

Besides the property he had been half forced to hand over to Lee Jaseung, he still had considerable assets left. Of course the wealth known to the outside had all been turned over to the Murim Alliance.

He gathered the rest that was scattered about and bought warriors.

He moved very quietly. If anyone learned he was alive, Jang Wonso would definitely send assassins.

His subordinate Heukso handled everything. He was a top master and deeply loyal, so things went smoothly.

“Those damned bastards!”

Ban Yeo ground his teeth. From the undisputed number two of the Murim Alliance, he had fallen in an instant to a life in hiding.

There were three people who had made him this way.

First was the Alliance Leader, Jang Wonso.

‘That fool, how could he dare bribe the Black Way Alliance Leader to have me killed!’

He wanted to tear him to pieces.

Second was the Black Way Alliance Leader. The man who had swallowed half the wealth he had gathered over a lifetime. One day he would make him pay.

And the last was Seop Mu-pyeong. The one who needlessly interfered and drove a wedge between Jang Wonso and himself. He didn’t know that two of the three he wanted to kill were the same person.

“I’ll cut you all into pieces and toss you to the dogs. First, Jang Wonso, I’ll kill you!”

Then, a familiar voice came from behind.

“That’s how it will go.”

Ban Yeo whirled in shock. Lee Jaseung stood there. He wore the human-skin mask of the Black Way Alliance Leader that he had worn the last time they met.

“You are…!”

Ban Yeo’s heart plummeted.

“Why are you here?”

The answer instead came from the sound of weapons from outside.

Clang clang clang!

Screams followed. Every voice belonged to his own men.

Heukso, soaked in blood, soon staggered into the room.

“…Hurry, you must flee!”

After forcing out those words, Heukso collapsed. Blood pooled on the floor.

Mujin and Ma Young-gi entered right after, masked. Blood dripped from their sword and spear.

Rage surged into Ban Yeo’s eyes.

He wanted to curse them to hell and back.

But not a word came up his throat. The killing intent pouring from Lee Jaseung, Mujin, and Ma Young-gi made his whole body feel like it would freeze.

“…Why are you doing this?”

Lee Jaseung sat down.

“My apologies for this.”

He could have left Heukso alive, but he killed him on purpose. To make a puppet stand, you cut off the wings first.

“Sit over there.”

Ban Yeo did as he was told and took a seat. He was full of fury, yet part of him felt relieved. If they had wanted to kill him, he would already be dead.

He had already put Heukso’s death behind him. The dead were dead. He had to survive somehow.

Fortunately, judging by the flow, they didn’t seem intent on killing him right away.

“You and I aren’t good people, so let’s speak plainly.”

Trying to show he wasn’t cowed, Ban Yeo tightened his eyes and replied to Lee Jaseung.

“Go on.”

“I had no intention of touching you again, but the situation changed a bit.”

“How was it changed?”

Then words came from Lee Jaseung’s mouth that shocked him.

“We’re going to remove Jang Wonso.”

Ban Yeo’s eyes flew wide. Lately he killed Jang Wonso every night in his dreams. And now, he heard that he wanted to remove Jang Wonso?

“So here’s the thing, I need you to help me.”

“How?”

Lee Jaseung’s next words were even sweeter than the promise to remove Jang Wonso. It was something he would sell his soul to achieve.

“I’ll kill Jang Wonso. You, become the next Murim Alliance Leader.”

The rush of joy lasted only a moment.

Ban Yeo’s eyes soon dimmed.

“I see. You plan to make me a puppet Alliance Leader.”

“The current one is a puppet anyway, isn’t he? You should follow the trend.”

Ban Yeo couldn’t hold it in and shouted,

“Shut your mouth!”

“Fine. I’ll cut the nonsense. Here’s the point. You have only two choices. Die here, or accept my terms and become Alliance Leader.”

There was no testing in the chill of Lee Jaseung’s eyes. Ban Yeo could tell.

‘This isn’t a simple threat. If I don’t accept, he really intends to kill me.’

Killing Heukso had been meant to drive that thought home.

“I accept.”

Lee Jaseung took a single pill from his robe.

“Swallow.”

Having already decided, Ban Yeo didn’t hesitate and gulped down the pill. The stench was foul enough that his face contorted, something no one should put in their mouth.

“I guarantee, if you don’t take the antidote on the appointed day, you’ll regret being born.”

“Don’t think I submitted to a trifling poison.”

At Ban Yeo’s empty words, Lee Jaseung laughed inside. If that were true, you should have refused and chosen death.

Swish.

A thread of earthwind struck and sealed Ban Yeo’s acupoints. He toppled and fell asleep.

Ma Young-gi came and slung him at his waist.

Striding out, Lee Jaseung said,

“Lock him up for now.”

Thus they completed the first step of the operation to remove Jang Wonso.

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