Chapter 9: Shadows Beneath the Marketplace

While Hyeonwol was clearing his choked throat, a cold wind swept through the space between the four of them.

Kang Ryun, who had been staring at Hyeonwol supported by Seol Cheon-yu, furrowed his brow and spat out discontent.

“Huiseo noonim, I believe I asked you to be careful with your words and actions.

As you can see, my lord’s health is not robust.”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

“Haha, haha.

You really do exaggerate so much….

General Gang, a person might catch a cold now and then, you know?

That’s an old story, why bring it up now?

Ah, Aseol.

I’m fine now, don’t look at me like that.

Hahaha….”

Hyeonwol waved his hands nonchalantly.

However, despite his efforts, Seol Cheon-yu with his calm gaze didn’t seem inclined to play along.

Still with cool eyes, Seol Cheon-yu merely lifted the corners of his lips slightly and spoke.

“Hyung-nim, I’ll send over some medicinal tonics later.

Please be sure to accept them.”

“…….”

Tonics… Right.

Tonics are good….

If I weren’t such a vibrant young man, I’d gratefully accept them, but….

Hyeonwol’s eyes turned gloomy.

It was clear that ever since reuniting with Seol Cheon-yu, he was gradually moving further away from the image of a reliable hyung in his eyes.

Just then, the sound of people murmuring began to emanate from an alley a little distance away.

So many things happening in the marketplace today.

Thinking nothing of it, Hyeonwol spotted another young man in a Forbidden Guard uniform pushing through the crowd and running straight towards them.

At that, Hyeonwol, with movements that were quick though not unnatural, put away his pipe and pulled a folding fan from his bosom, opening it to cover his face.

It would be problematic if his face became more widely known among the palace personnel.

Gang Huiseo also spotted the young man approaching and faintly narrowed her eyes.

Seeming to be her subordinate, the arriving young man quickly bowed to Gang Huiseo.

“What’s the matter?

Coming so urgently.”

“Well, it seems someone was attacked by a ruffian in that alley over there.

We haven’t been able to contact the patrol unit yet, so we’re hastily handling it, but I thought I should inform the Deputy General as well.”

“Oh dear….”

Upon hearing the report, Gang Huiseo’s eyes instinctively turned to Hyeonwol.

Unintentionally becoming the senior figure present, Hyeonwol’s head ached inwardly, but with someone injured, he couldn’t ignore it.

There were mountains of troublesome issues to handle immediately—Seol Cheon-yu, the information he was supposed to receive, Seol Cheon-yu—but he had no choice.

Hyeonwol first moved in the direction the young Forbidden Guard had come from and spoke.

His face was still hidden behind the fan.

“Let’s go see.

Is the attacked person badly injured?”

“Ah, well….”

The young man, about to report unconsciously at Hyeonwol’s question, flinched and looked at Gang Huiseo.

Though simply dressed, Hyeonwol carried himself with dignity and seemed accustomed to directing subordinates.

Noticing her subordinate’s expression of doubt whether he could answer, seeming like a high official or perhaps an acquaintance of her superior, Gang Huiseo nodded.

“It’s alright to speak.”

“Understood.

The injured person is unconscious, but it doesn’t seem life-threatening.

However, the injuries are unusual and seem to need investigation, so I came to inform the Deputy General.

The colleagues who were with me went to notify a physician and the authorities respectively….”

“Unusual how?”

“It seems they were attacked by a martial artist, most likely.”

At those words, Gang Huiseo couldn’t help but think of the young man closely following beside Hyeonwol, but deciding it was too early to suspect, she lowered her gaze.

Hyeonwol’s questions continued.

“When was he found?”

“Not long ago.

At someone’s shout that a person had collapsed in the alley, we happened to be passing nearby, so we dispersed the crowd and tended to the injured.

It’s a frequently trafficked area, so the time of the attack probably isn’t far off.”

Gang Huiseo had more or less ruled out Seol Cheon-yu, who had been with Hyeonwol the whole time, from her list of suspects.

Soon, the group arrived at the alley where the injured person had been laid down.

The injured person was a middle-aged man, and judging by his attire, he appeared to be a completely ordinary back-alley thug.

I’ve been running into a lot of thugs today….

I’ll have to turn the capital’s back alleys upside down soon.

Hyeonwol, his occupational habit acting up, narrowed his brow in dissatisfaction.

Hyeonwol passed by the few Forbidden Guard members holding back the murmuring crowd and approached closely to examine the injured man.

He spoke as if suddenly remembering something.

“Come to think of it, there are quite a lot of Forbidden Guard out in this marketplace.

All off duty together?

Though you’re wearing uniforms for that.”

“…Similar, but not exactly.

You could say it’s a break during a protection mission.”

“Protection?

For whom?”

While examining the injured man beside Hyeonwol, Gang Huiseo was also mindful of the surrounding ears.

After hesitating, she finally moved her lips and sent a telepathic message.

[…The Crown Prince is traveling incognito….

He said he had a place to stop by briefly, so he only left shadows behind and ordered the Forbidden Guard to all rest and wander the marketplace.]

“…….”

I shouldn’t have asked.

A guest on the wrong day indeed.

Today was definitely a cursed day for going out.

Hyeonwol sighed inwardly.

The only place the current Crown Prince Hyeon-gyeom might stop by during an incognito journey would be the information organization Hyeonwol himself had cultivated within the martial world—the Wolsigak.

Though he seemed to have stopped by on his way for separate business, Hyeonwol, fated to eventually face his younger brother, felt uneasy.

“…I don’t need to say it, but you can keep quiet about running into me here, right?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“You can’t even say… never mind.

What was I expecting.”

What did ‘try my best’ even mean?

Faced with Gang Huiseo’s uncompromising attitude, Hyeonwol could only throw up his hands.

If Hyeon-gyeom found out he was out and about like this, he would surely be subjected to quite a scolding.

Until a few years ago, Hyeon-gyeom had been nothing but gentle, but lately, whether because he’d grown into his role, he even spoke bluntly and critically to Hyeonwol, whom he regarded as highly as the heavens.

Forcing thoughts of Hyeon-gyeom aside, Hyeonwol began seriously examining the injured man again.

Half his face was still hidden by the unfolded white fan, but the young Forbidden Guard—Ju Jiryang—having realized Hyeonwol was someone important enough for Gang Huiseo to use honorifics, began reporting proactively.

“As you can see, it seems he was struck in the chest with a palm technique and lost consciousness… but the aftermath is very unusual.

Red and blue bruising has spread to the skin around his neck; it appears to be a kind of evil technique.”

“…With external injuries this severe, it’s a miracle he’s not dead.

But no threat to his life?

Perhaps the attacker didn’t intend to kill… or their internal power was too shallow to accomplish it?”

“The Blood Cult’s Cheonsal Palm.”

Though quiet and low, that voice somehow clearly permeated everyone’s ears.

Those near the injured man—Kang Ryun, who had been surveying the surroundings, Gang Huiseo, and even Hyeonwol—naturally turned their gazes to the owner of the voice.

Seol Cheon-yu, who had been observing the situation from a few steps away, stood quietly, still wearing that faint smile on his lips.

“As it happens, it seems the person I’ve been tracking is the culprit behind this incident.”

“The Blood Cult……?

An unfamiliar name.

If they’re the ones this young hero has been chasing…?”

At Gang Huiseo’s question, Seol Cheon-yu slowly approached.

Even in his footsteps, Hyeonwol could sense leisure and balanced grace, and found himself newly admiring the considerable weight behind them.

“A group of madmen in the martial world who worship a heretic called the Blood Heavenly God and clamor for his resurrection.

Not long ago, my martial sect suffered harm from them, and as a disciple, I set out to track them.

Looking at the energy lingering in the wound, the internal power used in the palm strike must have contained extreme heat and yang energy; besides the Blood Cult’s Cheonsal Palm, there is no such technique.”

His tone was firm, fluid, and unwavering.

It was persuasive enough that listeners naturally found themselves agreeing.

However, Gang Huiseo, a public official not of a pliable nature, didn’t hide her personality and asked directly.

“How can we believe the young hero’s words?

Evidence?”

“…I will vouch for him.

He is trustworthy.”

The one who answered with a firmness no different from Seol Cheon-yu’s was Hyeonwol himself.

Having finished examining the fallen injured man, he rose and nodded.

With the First Prince expressing such trust, Gang Huiseo could no longer object.

She looked at Seol Cheon-yu and Hyeonwol with considerably surprised eyes.

As the young martial artist’s identity increasingly plunged into mystery in Gang Huiseo’s mind, Seol Cheon-yu stared intently at Hyeonwol’s back with calm eyes.

Unaware of that gaze, Hyeonwol calmly looked around.

He gestured towards Ju Jiryang, who stood blankly.

“You there.”

“Yes!

Sir.”

Ju Jiryang’s attitude, having become even more deferential, could be called perceptive, but Hyeonwol, holding his fan and deep in thought, didn’t think much of it.

“Do you happen to know who the first discoverer was?”

“Yes.

A man carrying a pack….

Ah, he’s still over there.

Shall I bring him?”

Ju Jiryang seemed to have spotted a familiar face among the crowd pressing forward to see what was happening at the alley entrance.

At his brightening expression, Hyeonwol nodded.

What an admirable young man, so enthusiastic in whatever he does.

Quite a contrast to his own guard, whose insolence had been sky-high lately, who never appeared when needed, and only brought trouble.

Whether Kang Ryun, sensing an inexplicable displeasure, furrowed his brow or not, the man Ju Jiryang brought from among the onlookers looked bewildered.

“Were you the first discoverer?”

“Ah, I was the first to shout that someone had collapsed, that’s true.

But the first to see would probably be the kid next to the fallen person.”

“A kid?”

“Yep….

A little thing that only reached up to my waist….

Soon as he made eye contact with me outside the alley, he was trembling, saying some person knocked this guy down and ran away, so I just thought, ah, is that so.

He was probably here until just now….

Huh?

He’s gone already.”

A moment of silence fell over the group.

As Hyeonwol pondered the man’s answer, Gang Huiseo spoke to him in her characteristic style.

“Do you think that kid is a martial artist… a Blood Cultist?

If it’s a child, their internal energy would be shallow, which would make sense.

Considering they used such sinister martial arts capable of crushing a heart in one blow yet left this man’s life intact.

But why would they cause such a commotion in the bustling capital?

They must have known they were being pursued.”

Having finished speaking, Gang Huiseo glanced at Seol Cheon-yu, who still hadn’t left Hyeonwol’s side.

She didn’t know where his martial sect that the Blood Cult had harmed was, but given they produced talent of his level, they must be a considerable force in the martial world.

They must know pursuit teams were sent, yet instead of vanishing without a trace and lying low, they caused a disturbance in the middle of the marketplace.

Despite Gang Huiseo’s doubts, Hyeonwol still calmly looked down at the injured man.

He tapped his lips with the unfolded part of his fan, then quietly spoke.

“Hmm….

Well, when do things in life ever go as planned?

Something must have gone wrong to cause this incident…

Perhaps this fellow threatened the kid first.

There’s also that bite mark on this man’s hand that looks like it came from a child.”

At his words, attention focused on the man’s hand.

Indeed, near the thumb, a small set of teeth marks remained red.

Hyeonwol clicked his tongue softly and continued.

“We seem to have grasped the gist of what happened, but the important culprit has fled, what to do now?

Even if we circulate a description, with the opponent being a martial artist….”

“It’s enough.

A child less than five cheok tall.

It hasn’t been even a moment since they used the Cheonsal Palm, so the heat in their palms won’t have dispersed.

I can find them.”

At the low, resonant voice, everyone’s gazes again fixed on Seol Cheon-yu, now tinged with disbelief.

Seol Cheon-yu merely smiled at Hyeonwol with his still elegant and calm expression.

Suddenly coming to her senses amidst this, Gang Huiseo narrowed her brow and retorted.

“…How do you propose to find them?

In this large marketplace, it’s not like we can grab every passing child and examine their hands.”

But even at Gang Huiseo’s words, Seol Cheon-yu calmly closed his eyes and began to fall silent.

As everyone was flustered by this, Seol Cheon-yu spoke again.

“I’ve found them.

The south-east direction.”