Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 111. You still don’t understand?
Ja Yun, unable to contain his curiosity as he listened to the exchange between Dan Yeop and Chae Wun, posed the question.
“Were you accompanying us to investigate the kidnapping of Na Jingeom, the Jinbo Merchant House master?”
“That’s correct.”
“Are you alone? Or is there someone else among us?”
“I came alone.”
“The Hyeonryeong of Jang An County made a desperate gamble. Sending just one Pokwae to the Baek Wol Kingdom.”
“I possess the One Against Hundred skill. Well then, shall we get to work? Come with me, Chae Wun.”
“And if I refuse?”
Chae Wun bristled slightly at Dan Yeop’s shamelessness.
“You’d abandon a chance to build the reputation of the Blood Butterfly? You need to raise your market value. The Jinbo Merchant House will even provide a separate reward for your cooperation.”
“Goodness, if you can’t talk sense. Never mind my reputation—the Jinbo Merchant House really will pay extra?”
“I’ll make sure they do.”
“All right, I’ll go on your word alone.”
As she spoke, Chae Wun stepped closer to Dan Yeop’s side.
Then Dan Yeop withdrew his Pokwae Badge and held it aloft for the ruffians to see, his voice ringing out.
“As you’ve heard, I am Dan Yeop, Pokwae of Jang An County! I will uncover who poisoned the food and murdered the servants! So remain calm and return to your posts!”
The ruffians made no objection to his commanding words.
As the ruffians began to scatter, Dan Yeop walked toward the carriage.
Chae Wun followed him, speaking as if in jest.
“Wow! The youngest is impressive, isn’t he?”
Twenty-four-year-old Chae Wun regarded Dan Yeop with fresh eyes.
The Hyeonryeong of Jang An County was known to be a capable administrator.
A Pokwae selected by such a person—somehow it made her anticipate something.
‘So it’s not just that his face is handsome?’
Dan Yeop, uncomfortable under Chae Wun’s gaze, offered a remark.
“Please stop looking at me like that. I’ll wear out under scrutiny.”
“I’ve always liked people with sharp minds.”
“That’s your preference, but investigate the poison in the food first, please.”
With that, Dan Yeop strode ahead at a brisk pace.
Two servants lay dead inside each of the two carriages.
Dan Yeop climbed into the first carriage and examined the corpse.
Both men had a very small hole pierced through their chests.
“Was it done with an Amgi?”
On a hunch, he retrieved the Silver Needle he carried and inserted it lightly into the wound, then withdrew it.
The color of the Silver Needle had not changed.
“So it’s not poison…….”
He searched through the servants’ belongings but found nothing particularly suspicious.
For good measure, he ransacked the interior of the carriage, but it was the same story.
He moved on to the next carriage and repeated the process.
Just as he descended from the carriage after finishing his investigation, Chae Wun approached.
“Find anything?”
“Nothing. Could you check whether the servants were poisoned?”
“Sure.”
Chae Wun, true to her nature as a ruffian, climbed into the carriage without hesitation and examined the corpse.
After a moment, she returned and spoke.
“No poison. They died from holes in the heart.”
“What about the poison in the food?”
“Aconite and Monkshood were mixed into the Horaltang Soup. If someone ate that, after about two hours their heart would begin to constrict, and they’d suffer dizziness, vomiting, and the like.”
“So they don’t die immediately after eating it?”
“Right. At least there’s that mercy.”
“This is a mess.”
“Why?”
Chae Wun looked at Dan Yeop with a puzzled expression.
At that level of toxicity, death wasn’t inevitable—she didn’t immediately grasp why he’d say it was a mess.
“If symptoms appear after two hours, didn’t you say?”
“Yes.”
“Then why would they poison the investigative team? Why kill even the servants?”
“Ah!”
A gasp suddenly escaped Chae Wun’s lips.
Dan Yeop nodded and spoke.
“The Naphae Clan will come looking for us then.”
“You really think they’ll do that?”
“They fed it to us for exactly that reason. Surely they didn’t poison us just to make fools of us?”
“Right, right. So what do we do now?”
“First, we need to figure out how many people consumed the Horaltang Soup. We can’t fight while poisoned. We should assess our own strength first. Could you check with Ja Yun and Won Beom, along with Seo Hwa?”
“Understood.”
Chae Wun hurried off toward where the hireling mercenaries were gathered.
At that moment, Sin Woo the commander and So Gangmu the captain of guards approached Dan Yeop.
So Gangmu, studying Dan Yeop with a sour expression, asked him a question.
“Finding anything useful in your investigation? Turned up any leads?”
He mixed formal and casual speech when addressing Dan Yeop.
A subtle condescension toward someone so young for a Pokwae.
“They put aconite and monkshood in the Horaltang Soup.”
“Aconite and monkshood?”
“After about two hours, people’s hearts will tighten. They’ll experience dizziness and vomiting.”
Sin Woo the commander, listening from beside them, muttered half to himself.
“Who would do such a thing… Could it be the Naphae Clan?”
Dan Yeop didn’t answer directly, but asked in passing.
“Are you both all right? It seems you didn’t drink the Horaltang Soup.”
Sin Woo’s answer came faster than So Gangmu’s.
“Fortunately, we didn’t consume any.”
“What about the merchant house guards?”
“They also escaped the poison—their meal was delayed.”
“Then we only need to investigate the casualties among the hired men. A small mercy in misfortune.”
“Were the servants poisoned as well?”
“No. Someone stabbed them in the chest with something sharp.”
“Who would do that? Surely not the hired men themselves?”
So Gangmu spoke in an angry voice.
“It must have been the hired men. Someone betrayed us. Those types will do anything if the price is right.”
Dan Yeop made no comment.
He simply watched Sin Woo and So Gangmu in silence.
So Gangmu, his agitation subsiding, turned to look at Dan Yeop.
“Do you have any leads on the perpetrator?”
“I don’t.”
“What do you intend to do now?”
“The Naphae Clan will come looking for us in about two hours.”
“What? What are you saying? Why would the Naphae Clan come for us? How would they even know we’re here?”
“The person who killed the servants must have told them. I don’t know how, but that’s what happened.”
“Then what should we do?”
“There’s no point in running. Someone among us is in contact with the Naphae Clan. We need to prepare to meet them.”
“Damn it! Commander Sin, I’m going to check on the condition of the hired men.”
So Gangmu left before anyone could stop him.
Sin Woo, standing there with an anxious expression, asked Dan Yeop a question.
“Are you certain the Naphae Clan will come?”
“They’ve used poison and killed servants. They’ll definitely come.”
“Then what should we do?”
“We meet them and listen. We find out what they want.”
“What do you think they want?”
“Given that they killed the servants…”
“Yes? Given that they killed them?”
“They won’t be coming with good intentions.”
Sin Woo, who had been hoping for better news, exhaled a heavy sigh with a deflated expression.
“Ah, I suppose not.”
“Still, since the Naphae Sect Leader holds the rank of Dowei, I’ll attempt to speak with him as fellow officials.”
“I wonder if the Naphae Sect Leader will be willing to negotiate.”
“We have nothing to lose.”
“I understand. Do your best. If this matter is resolved well, I’ll make sure to reward you properly when we return.”
“Of course. This concerns our lives—I’ll do everything I can.”
Sin Woo turned back toward the merchant house guards with a darkened expression.
Dan Yeop made his way toward where the runaways had gathered.
Chae Wun, spotting him, hurried over with quickened steps.
“Thirty of them ate the Horaltang Soup.”
Dan Yeop nodded, then suddenly asked a question.
“Sister, since we left Jang An City, today is the first time we’ve had Horaltang Soup, isn’t it?”
Horaltang Soup was a spicy broth made with pepper.
Since pepper itself was an expensive spice, only roadside inns sold it—merchant caravans typically served mutton broth instead.
“First time. Why?”
“It just seemed like the first time I’ve had Horaltang Soup during a journey.”
“Of course. Pepper’s expensive—who would bother making Horaltang Soup?”
“But why would the cooks have made it?”
“Obviously to mask the taste of the aconite and monkshood.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Dan Yeop nodded, then shifted the subject.
“Sister, can you make an antidote?”
“I could make something similar, but I don’t have the materials now. Even if we go to a village and gather them, we can’t do it in less than two hours.”
“So we’re just helpless?”
“That’s how it stands.”
Seo Hwa, who stood nearby, interjected with a worried expression.
“Little brother, shouldn’t we run?”
“Even if we run, they’ll catch up quickly. This is Baek Wol Kingdom.”
“So we should just stay and take it?”
“Our goal was to meet the Sect Leader of the Naphae Clan and settle matters anyway. They’re offering to come to us—we should be grateful.”
At Dan Yeop’s composed words, Seo Hwa blinked several times.
“Is it courage? Recklessness? Sheer audacity?”
“None of those, actually.”
“Then what? What could possibly make you so calm about this?”
Just then, commotion broke out among the gathered runaways.
“We can’t stay here! We have to run!”
“Nonsense! Run where? Stop making a fuss over just two dead cooks.”
“Making a fuss? How are twenty of us supposed to stand against the Naphae Clan?”
“Let’s stay calm. We don’t even know how many the Naphae Clan will send.”
“You people don’t understand anything. It might not even be the Naphae Clan.”
“What are you talking about? If not the Naphae Clan, who else would do something like this?”
“In my view, it’s all the Merchant House orchestrating it themselves.”
“What do you mean, orchestrating?”
“They never intended to save the head merchant Na Jingeom in the first place. Didn’t you notice only five merchant guards came along? This was the chance to push Na Jingeom out. They’ll just go through the motions of trying to save him, then give up and leave. I’ve seen this kind of merchant leadership change once or twice before.”
“That makes sense.”
“More than half the runaways are poisoned, but every single merchant guard is fine, right? It’s obvious then. ‘We came to save the head merchant Na Jingeom, but got poisoned and can’t continue. We’re going back.’ Perfect justification. No losses, no shame.”
“Sounds plausible. Let’s wait and see. We’ll know the truth soon enough.”
“Sirs, when the Naphae Clan shows up, we’ll all be dead.”
“Damn it, stop saying such unlucky things.”
“What? Damn? Hey! What’s your name? You bastard!”
“I’m Agui, a Pokwae. And you?”
“I’m Bae Deok, you cursed bastard.”
“Bae Deok? Even your name sounds rotten. Where does some nobody like you get off running your mouth? You think all runaways are the same?”
The bickering turned into a fight.
In the chaos, the debate between “we should run” and “let’s wait and see” got buried.
Dan Yeop, watching the runaways fight, murmured to himself.
“Well, I’ve heard that many heads are better than one—and it’s really true.”
Startled by this, Seo Hwa asked.
“What do you mean? You’re saying what those people said is true?”
“Not all of it, but some of it?”
“Which part?”
“The head merchant and the five merchant guards make seven total, and not a single one of them ate the Horaltang Soup. Does that seem like coincidence to you?”
“It’s strange, but… if that’s the case, then the cooks dying…?”
“That’s a very bad sign.”
“What do you mean? Explain it plainly so I understand.”
“The cooks suddenly started using expensive pepper to make Horaltang Soup. Then they poisoned it with deadly herbs. And once the job was done, they were killed. Still not getting it? Then we should drop the ‘fox’ from your nickname.”
At that, Seo Hwa lowered her voice and spoke in a hushed whisper.
“You’re saying they want to kill all of us?”
“We go back and don’t pay the remainder — that’s better for everyone, isn’t it?”
…….
Seo Hwa regarded the gathered officials of the merchant house with a dubious glance.
‘Even merchants with no connection to heterodox sects would have done the same.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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