C 471
Pyo Wol raised his head and sniffed the air.
It was such a faint scent that ordinary people could never detect it. However, Pyo Wol's highly developed sense of smell could clearly perceive the faint smell of blood.
There would have been no reason for Pyo Wol to care if it was just a simple scent of blood.Soyang was a very large city, and it wouldn't be strange if something bad happened within it.
But this smell of blood was different.
Swish!
Gwia emerged from his Collar.
'Poison!'
The scent of blood carried a pungent poison with it.
Although it was heavily diluted in the air and only caused a headache now, it must have been terrible in the past. That's why Gwia reacted to it.
Pyo Wol walked to where the smell of blood was coming from.
The place where the scent flowed from was a back alley in Soyang.
In a corner of the alley, a body was thrown away like trash.
The moment he saw the corpse, whose face and body were half melted, he instantly recognised it.
"Geum Pishang!"
The gruesome corpse was none other than Geum Pishang, the head of the Hao Clan’s Soyang branch
.
Pyo Wol knelt on one knee in front of Geum Pishang and examined the wounds.
A painful expression was frozen on the half-melted face.
The pain must have been unbearable as all the teeth inside the mouth had been crushed.
"How cruel!"
Geum Pishang's condition was so dreadful that even the word "cruel" came out of Pyo Wol's mouth.
Such wounds couldn't have been left by simple torture.
A terrible stench emanated from the half-melted body. The poison was so strong that it melted the body.
This kind of poison is not easily obtained.
More than anything, the poison technique was extraordinary.
It wasn't difficult to end someone's life with poison. If an extreme poison was ingested, even in small amounts, it would be enough to end someone's life. The problem was to use an extreme poison while keeping the person alive for as long as possible. To inflict hellish pain and yet ensure that they were still able to breathe and feel the pain for a long time was a truly difficult task.
The person who tortured Geum Pishang did exactly that.
He kept him breathing for as long as possible, making him feel the pain of hell.
All of his teeth had been ground away due to the pain, and all his fingernails had been ripped out from clawing at the floor.
His eyes were red, bloodshot, and oozing blood, and his hair was halfway out of his head, all while he was still alive.
The condition of his skin alone showed how brutal his captors were, and how well versed they were in poison.
Some people torture for fun, but most do it to get something out of their victims.
The person who tortured Geum Pishang must have had the same intention.
It was clear that he was torturing him to find out what he knew.
'Hao Clan's branch leader is not someone to be messed with, and yet he was ruthless in his killing: either he was powerful enough to be able to ignore Hao Clan's threats, or he was desperate enough to risk Hao Clan's wrath.
Killing Hao Clan's head was a dangerous act.
Not to mention, he didn't just kill him; he brutally tortured him to death.
No matter how strong of a will he had, it was unlikely that he could keep a secret under such torture.
When people are in extreme pain, they often wish for death.
Geum Pishang must have been the same.
There was a high probability that he told everything he knew just to die quickly.
Pyo Wol stood up, leaving Geum Pishang's corpse behind.
He didn't have time to stay here.
Pyo Wol rushed to Hoyeon Guest House.
Fortunately, nothing seemed to have happened yet.
"Everyone, wake up."
Pyo Wol woke up Eun-yo and Do Yeonsan.
"Why? What's going on?"
"Brother?"
The two rubbed their eyes and got up.
Pyo Wol spoke to them.
"Geum Pishang is dead."
"What? What do you mean...?"
Eun-yo widened her eyes in shock.
It was confusing since she had just met and discussed with Geum Pishang the night before.
Eun-yo quickly regained her composure and asked.
"What happened?"
"I found his body in an alleyway. There were clear signs of torture."
"The chances are high that they targeted us."
"Right."
"Let's get out of here, and then we can figure out what happened."
Eun-yo was level-headed.
After a moment of panic, she regained her composure and came up with a plan for what to do next.
Do Yeonsan asked.
"Where should we move to? If we go to another guest house, we'll be found out quickly."
There were a lot of guest houses in Soyang, but one could easily find them if they set their minds to it.
Eun-yo said,
"There's only one place they wouldn't be able to find us."
"Is there such a place?"
Instead of answering Do Yeonsan's question, Eun-yo looked at Pyo Wol.
"We have to go to the Gi Family Clinic."
"I thought so."
Pyo Wol nodded.
Gi Family Clinic was located right in the middle of the slums.
Unlike the bustling streets, strangers in the slums would stick out like a sore thumb.
Furthermore, the Gi Family Clinic was the spiritual pillar for the poor. If any strangers or those who intended to harm Gi Family Clinic appeared, people would quickly spread the news.
On top of that, the wind saint was staying at the Gi Family Clinic.
At the moment, the Gi Family Clinic was the safest place in Soyang.
"Do you know the location of Gi Family Clinic?"
"Yes!"
"Let's set off immediately."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay here."
"Alright."
Eun-yo nodded without asking for any explanation.
Do Yeonsan looked puzzled for a moment. But soon, he seemed to accept it and nodded.
"Be careful, brother!"
"Go!"
"Yes!"
Do Yeonsan and Eun-yo left the annex together.
The two quickly disappeared into the darkness.
In a dark corner, Pyo Wol leaned against a wall.
He stood as motionless as a stone statue, and the warmth disappeared from him. Soon, his figure melted into the darkness, perfectly blending in with the surroundings.
The annex was quiet after Do Yeonsan and Eun-yo left.
It was only after they left that things changed.
Rustle!
A slight noise came from around the annex, and a moment later, a group of shadows appeared on the wall.
All of them were dressed in black, exuding a foul smell.
They silently climbed over the wall and approached the annex.
The intruders searched the annex methodically.
A puzzled gleam appeared in their eyes as they opened the door and checked each room.
They had expected to find someone, but the rooms were completely empty.
Click!
At that moment, a figure appeared above the wall.
A man with disheveled hair and a beard that covered his chest.
It was Manslaughter.
At that time, one of the intruders who had been searching the annex tilted his head towards Manslaughter.
It was a signal that nobody was inside.
Manslaughter furrowed his brow.
"Nobody's inside? Did the guy lie to me?"
He launched himself into the annex.
Indeed, there was no one inside the annex.
Manslaughter looked at the scattered bedclothes. When he touched the blanket, he could feel a faint warmth remaining.
Surely someone had been here not long ago.
Manslaughter muttered as he looked around the room.
"What happened? Was the information leaked beforehand?"
But he soon shook his head.
It was true that he had spent a lot of time torturing Geum Pishang. However, it was worth it.
Geum Pishang had remarkable endurance.
He stubbornly endured Manslaughter's torture. That's why it took longer than usual to break him.
In the end, Geum Pishang revealed that the people he had been in contact with were staying at the Hoyeon Guesthouse.
"He didn't tell me which bastards were staying, but......."
If he had lived a little longer, he would have told him the identity of the people staying here. But unfortunately for him, Geum Pishang died before he could reveal it.
After Geum Pishang's death, Manslaughter returned to the Hao Clan Soyang Branch and gathered his subordinates. Then they rushed straight here.
There was hardly any wasted time. Yet they still failed to catch those who had been in the annex.
This was their first failure.
"How did this happen? Did they know we were coming in advance?"
Manslaughter shook his head.
He didn't think it was possible at all.
Manslaughter gave an order to his subordinates.
"Bring the guest house owner and the innkeeper."
"As you wish!"
His subordinates answered and ran to the main guesthouse. However, they returned empty-handed shortly after.
"They're all gone."
"What happened?"
"It seems they left in a hurry."
When Eun-yo and Do Yeonsan left the annex, they had given the innkeeper a warning.
They were being considerate, knowing that he was also a member of the Hao Clan.
The innkeeper hastily woke the owner, and they left the guesthouse, making the subordinates' efforts futile.
"Dammit!"
Unable to contain his anger, Manslaughter threw a punch at the annex.
Crash!
With a loud noise, one side of the annex wall crumbled.
After briefly staring at the collapsed wall, Manslaughter turned around.
"Let's return."
"As you wish!"
Manslaughter and his subordinates leaped out of the annex.
"What's going on?"
"What happened?"
Startled by the loud noise, the guests staying at the guesthouse rushed outside. They looked baffled as they watched the collapsing building. They looked around to find the cause, but by then, Manslaughter and his subordinates had already hidden themselves.
Manslaughter and his subordinates sprinted at a fast pace.
Their destination was a fairly large mansion, quite a distance away from the guesthouse.
Thud!
As they entered the mansion, the door closed as if it had been waiting for them.
This mansion was Manslaughter's Soyang base.
As soon as Manslaughter entered the mansion, he went to his room.
"I've really wasted my time."
He brushed his hair back and muttered.
He felt completely fooled.
It was the first time he felt this way since he had visited the unreturnable prison several months ago.
When he had rushed to the unreturnable prison after hearing it was in danger, everything had already ended. They knocked down the entrance to the pavilion, making it impossible for those inside to get out, but even then, he didn't feel this dirty.
It was as if he hadn't wiped his arse after going to the toilet, and no matter how many times he experienced it, he never got used to it.
"It must be him."
Song Chueonwoo had suggested that the reaper might be here and asked him to check.
Although he didn't see the face, it was clear that the reaper had been staying in the annex.
There was no one else who could deceive him like this.
"Phew! I need some rest."
His body shouldn't have been tired from just staying up one night.
Yet he felt so heavy because the person he was chasing was Pyo Wol.
On the table by the window was a basin full of water. It had been prepared by him in advance.
Manslaughter suddenly felt that his face was stuffy, so he took a small razor and shaved off the beard that covered his face. This revealed the scar that covered his face.
The scar, which crossed his face horizontally and vertically like a checkerboard, was horrifying.
But Manslaughter didn't care much about it.
"How refreshing!"
Manslaughter stroked his face and lay down on the bed.
As Manslaughter was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt a tingling sensation around his neck and opened his eyes.
That's when it happened.
Ping!
Suddenly, something tightened around his neck and pulled his body into the air.
"Gah!"
Feeling as if his neck was going to break, Manslaughter's eyes widened.
An invisible noose was tightening around his neck.
An ordinary person would have been done for, but Manslaughter was different.
He kicked his right foot with his left and leaped into the air. Then, he spun his body in the air and swung his blue sky hand above his head.
Thwack!
The noose around his neck broke free with a snap.
Manslaughter wasn't satisfied with just regaining his freedom.
He aimed the blue sky hand at the ceiling, where he guessed the noose had come from.
Crash!
With a loud noise, the roof of the residence blew off.
Beyond the broken roof, a man with a pale face was looking down at Manslaughter.