Episode 99

It was only after quite some time that Naseo-yu and Seon Woo-jin were able to return to her room.

For the first time since the front lines, Naseo-yu smiled brightly and said to Seon Woo-jin, “Thank you, Lord Seon Woo. This is all thanks to you.”

Seon Woo-jin chuckled awkwardly and shook his head. “Ah, it’s nothing. We’re family, after all.”

Naseo-yu looked puzzled. “Family?”

Seon Woo-jin hurriedly clarified, “Our seven clans are all family, right? All of us. Haha!”

“Oh, that’s right. We’re practically family.”

Clearing his throat, Seon Woo-jin asked, “Ahem, so… what will you do now?”

Naseo-yu fell into thought. “Well… I’ll definitely refuse the marriage proposal. The most important thing is my father’s treatment.”

She had only just learned that the head of the Na clan had suffered internal injuries a few months ago while suppressing nearby bandits. Though initially not serious, his condition suddenly worsened one day.

The clan head suspected it was due to his old age and weakening strength.

Naseo-yu muttered, “I wish I could meet the doctor treating my father… but I doubt they’d let me.”

Mrs. Min, her stepmother, was sure to refuse any cooperation unless Naseo-yu agreed to the marriage.

Seon Woo-jin tentatively suggested, “What if we tell her that you’re already betrothed? That you’re practically married, so you can’t marry anyone else. Then, you’d have to meet your father because of the marriage.”

Naseo-yu tilted her head. She didn’t think Mrs. Min would give up so easily—or believe such a story.

“Do you think she’d believe that out of the blue?”

Seon Woo-jin asked cautiously, “What if I step in as the fiancé? Not really, just temporarily, you know. Haha…”

“What?!” Naseo-yu’s eyes widened in surprise.

But then she laughed and shook her head. “No, you don’t have to go that far, Lord Seon. I’m already grateful enough—I can’t ask you to do something so unreasonable.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Seon Woo-jin tried to hide his disappointment. It’s not unreasonable at all…

Unaware of his expression, Naseo-yu continued, “Since I’ve seen my father, maybe it’s best to leave the Na clan for now. We can start by looking for a skilled doctor. What do you think?”

“Yes, yes? That sounds good. Maybe we’ll find a useful way. I’ll come up with a plan.”

After discussing this, Seon Woo-jin left her room.

Naseo-yu looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, Lord Seon. I should have gotten you a proper room…”

“Haha! It’s fine! Since I’ve been hiding so much, I’m half used to it now. It’s not uncomfortable at all!”

Of course, that was a lie.

Seon Woo-jin longed to rest properly in a decent room.

Besides, he felt unsettled. He was glad to have pleased Naseo-yu, but he couldn’t help thinking of his father back at the Seon clan. More than anything, he felt bitter realizing that in Naseo-yu’s heart, he was still not a man.

Just then, while Seon Woo-jin was scouting around the Na clan in hiding, he spotted someone leaving the main gate.

“Where are you going at this hour, Lord Seon?”

“I have an appointment with friends. I’ll be back soon.”

With a haughty expression, accompanied by a few bodyguards, the man leaving was Naseo-yu’s half-brother, Naseo-hwang.

Seon Woo-jin’s eyes darkened. “Hmm.”

He quietly began to follow him.

---

Naseo-hwang headed to a pleasure house on the outskirts of Heung-ui.

“Oh! Lord Seon, you’re here at last! Aehyang’s been waiting for you with a neck stretched out!”

“Hmph, I was caught up with business and got a bit late. You didn’t take any other guests while I was gone, did you?”

“Oh no! Aehyang’s been waiting for you alone with all her heart! Please, come in!”

From their conversation, it seemed Naseo-hwang was a regular at this place.

And the claim about meeting friends was likely a lie.

“Tch.”

Seon Woo-jin clicked his tongue, disappointed by what he’d found.

There was no need to watch any longer.

He concealed himself in a tree near the pleasure house and entered a meditative state.

Having practiced hiding techniques often lately, it no longer felt uncomfortable.

He even felt he might be better at it than most assassins.

After some time, Naseo-hwang emerged from the pleasure house with a satisfied smile.

“Take care, Lord Seon!”

“Alright, I’ll come again.”

Accompanied by two bodyguards, he headed back toward the Na clan.

Seon Woo-jin moved ahead and ambushed the path Naseo-hwang would take.

Unaware of this, Naseo-hwang strolled arrogantly, speaking aloud.

“The night air is really nice tonight!”

It was true that the night air was cooler and more pleasant than the scorching daytime heat of Guizhou Province, but there was nothing special about tonight.

If anything was better than usual, it was his mood.

Naseo-hwang had nothing to worry about these days.

The military issue he was supposed to handle had been resolved by his foolish sister.

His ailing father was expected to pass soon, and he would inherit the clan headship.

All at the young age of twenty.

Of course, the death of the Na clan’s greatest warrior meant a significant weakening of their forces.

There was a real chance the clan would be threatened by neighboring powers.

But Naseo-hwang didn’t care.

Because Naseo-yu was there.

“If I marry that stupid woman off to the Killing Chamber, the rising power of the Killing Chamber will become the Na clan’s backing. Heh heh heh.”

His plan was to marry Naseo-yu into the Killing Chamber, making it a powerful ally.

Once that marriage was secured, no one nearby could threaten the Na clan.

This thought brought a smug smile to Naseo-hwang’s lips.

“Now all that’s left for me is a peaceful life as clan head! Heh heh heh!”

Strutting as if he were already the clan head, Naseo-hwang suddenly noticed a man walking steadily ahead.

“Huh?”

He frowned the moment he saw him.

Maybe because it was night and the man was the only passerby, he stood out.

But more than that, something about his stride rubbed Naseo-hwang the wrong way.

Perhaps it was how confident and unhesitant the man’s steps were.

Naseo-hwang glanced back at his two bodyguards. “That guy up ahead is annoying. Make sure he doesn’t bother us.”

Though a ridiculous order, the two guards answered without complaint.

“Yes, Lord Seon!”

Following Naseo-hwang was nothing unusual.

The two burly guards approached the man and called out, “Hey, you! Lord Seon wants to see you! Come quietly this way!”

The man hesitated briefly, then resumed walking—straight toward the two guards.

Naseo-hwang watched with a cold smile as their shadows merged.

He was already thinking about how to toy with the man once the guards had dealt with him.

Then, suddenly, the sound of bones breaking and screams filled the air.

Crack!

“Ughhh!”

“Arrgh!”

“Huh?”

Lost in thought, Naseo-hwang sensed something was wrong.

The screams sounded like two people, not one.

And he saw two of the three shadows collapse to the ground.

His eyes widened in shock.

“No way…”

Two guards down? His own bodyguards?

No, that couldn’t be…

But hearing the approaching man’s voice, Naseo-hwang realized the impossible was true.

The man spoke with disbelief, “I was going to handle this quietly, but you had to start trouble first. There’s no worse bastard than you.”

Infuriated by the insult, Naseo-hwang shouted, “You! Do you know who I am?!”

Even now, he put his pride before the situation—he’d never faced real danger before.

But at that moment, an invisible kick struck his thigh.

Wham!

“Arrgh!”

Naseo-hwang screamed in agony as if his insides were being torn apart.

It was a terrible pain that shot through his entire body like lightning.

His thigh bone was broken in a single blow, but he was too stunned to register it.

As his mind went blank, he heard the man’s voice again.

“Naseo-hwang, do you understand your crimes?”

“W-what?!”

Even in this state, he realized the man knew him and had targeted him from the start.

But he couldn’t think beyond that.

The next moment, the man stomped precisely on the thumb of Naseo-hwang’s left hand.

Crush!

“Arrghhh!”

Overwhelmed by unbearable pain, tears streamed down Naseo-hwang’s face.

Instinctively, he began to beg through his sobs.

“P-please! Spare me! Have mercy!”

A lifetime of ingrained habits was undone in an instant.

Na Seo-hwang had never truly experienced pain or hardship, so concepts like mental strength or endurance simply didn’t exist for him.

The only thought running through his mind was a desperate desire not to die.

At that moment, the man’s cold voice cut through the silence again.

“Do you know what your crime is?”

“W-what?” Na Seo-hwang stammered, not understanding.

Before he could grasp the meaning, the man pressed down hard on his pinky toe, crushing it.

Crack, crack, crack!

“Ahhhhhhh!”

The pain was so intense it felt like his head was about to explode.

Writhing like a worm, Na Seo-hwang heard the man’s voice again, icy and unyielding.

“Seems you don’t even know your own crime.”

By now, all rational thought had fled from Na Seo-hwang’s mind. Only the primal instinct to survive remained.

He screamed desperately, “No, no! I know! I’ve committed a terrible crime!”

The man sneered. “Oh? And what crime is that?”

“…What?!” Na Seo-hwang’s face went blank.

How could he possibly know what he had done wrong when he didn’t even know who this man was?

But the man gave no time to answer.

Without hesitation, his foot crushed Na Seo-hwang’s ring finger.

Crack, crack, crack!

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Screaming in agony, Na Seo-hwang stopped hesitating.

He shouted frantically, “I came two hours late on purpose so Ae-hyang wouldn’t be sold to others before the reserved time!”

The man’s foot shifted again, lightly pressing down on his middle finger.

Apparently, that wasn’t the answer he wanted.

Seeing this, Na Seo-hwang broke down and confessed every sin he could think of, starting with the most recent.

“I saw a woman on the street yesterday who looked pretty…!”

The man’s foot pressed harder on his middle finger.

Tears streaming down his face, Na Seo-hwang spilled out a litany of crimes—mostly assaults on innocent people and rapes of common women. Among them were also the things he had done to Na Seo-yu, his sister.

He seemed to realize that what he had done to his sister was a crime.

There was even a confession that caught Sun Woo-jin’s interest.

Na Seo-hwang cried out desperately, “My mother poisoned my father so I could inherit the position of clan head faster! But that wasn’t my doing! She acted on her own!”

“Hmm.”

Poisoning the clan head? That must be why the internal injury flared up so suddenly.

Sun Woo-jin listened to all of Na Seo-hwang’s confessions without interruption.

After hearing everything, his conclusion was clear: there was no reason to keep this worthless scum alive.

He was a rare kind of trash.

Yet, Sun Woo-jin decided not to kill him.

After all, he was Na Seo-yu’s brother, and it seemed better to hear her side of the story first.

Besides, if he killed him now, she might suspect that he was responsible.

“And… and…”

Watching Na Seo-hwang desperately search for more sins to confess, Sun Woo-jin spoke coldly.

“You seem to know your crimes well enough, so I won’t kill you.”

At those words, Na Seo-hwang’s tear-streaked face suddenly lit up with hope.

“R-really?! Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”

But the next moment, a sharp blow to the head knocked him unconscious.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Sun Woo-jin lightly kicked him, rendering him out cold, then sprang into action.

Though Na Seo-hwang’s leg was broken, the guards only had one arm injured, so retreating wouldn’t be a problem.