“Look here Woo Jang Chang! Everyone is having a good time eating and drinking, so why is it that we’re over here stuck doing guard duty? It seems you and I both just have the worst luck.”

At that his fellow guard who had been standing right next to him nodded his head in agreement and said,

“You got that right. Who would dare try to come into our North Swords grounds? Even if we are low ranking guards, shouldn’t they be pouring us a couple of drinks too on a day like this? But what’s the point in pondering about it? All we can do is do what they tell us to do, right? This is our fate. That’s why you need to make your own success!”

The two men, guarding the entryway of the outer walls, stared on into lit up area of the drinking and partying with envy as they expressed their lamentations to one another.

‘Sssss Sssss’

A dark shadow was moving past whilst cloaked by the darkness of the night. At that moment, Woo Jang Chang had been staring right in that very direction.

“Huh? What is that?”

“What do you mean?”

At Woo Jang Chang’s words, Jong Jagi turned to look at where his colleague was pointing with his finger.

The moon was out in the night sky and the stars were sparkling. Somewhere in that sky, something was moving very quickly.

“Isn’t that a bird? What is wrong with you?”

“Well, seeing as how it’s so high up, it must be a bird. I’m starting to envy even that bird at this point.”

And just as he said, one lone bird was riding the night sky and disappearing into the distance. So could they have even imagined? That what they thought was a bird was in fact a person.

Pa Chun headed straight for the banquet hall without stopping by the Guest Reception Pavilion. He had briefly stepped away from the banquet and, if he were to avoid any suspicion, he had to promptly return. Furthermore, wasn’t there also the troublesome Nam-Goong Sullan who never took her eyes off him for even a moment? It was obvious that even now she was probably waiting to pay all her attention back to him as soon as he returned.

“Ha ha! Sir Mun, where on earth have you been? Didn’t we promise to drink one toast after the other until the sun has risen high in the sky once more? Surely you haven’t already forgetting our little promise now, have you?”

“How can that be? Now, don’t be too hard on me. We are only just getting started.”

At Nam-Goong Hyuk-Ryun’s words, Pa Chun took some drinks and the two began trading off pouring drinks and receiving drinks all through the night. It wasn’t long before they emptied quite a number of bottles and everyone could tell they were absolutely drunk. The entire banquet hall was extravagant to the point of opulence. Yesterday afternoon, Han Muri’s  Murim army had slipped out and the rest of the other sects/army would be leaving the North Sword grounds as well before this afternoon.

“Sir”

Nam-Goong Hyuk-Ryun had gone from deferring to Pa Chun as Sir Mun to just plain Sir. This was certainly to show Pa Chun that he now felt differently about him.

“Are you thinking of leaving tomorrow?”

“That was what I had planned, yes.”

“If you don’t have anything else especially planned then would you like to join us to Ohryunhae?”

*TN: sorry guys I have no idea was Ohryunhae is and just phonetically spelled it out.

“What to do? I am so sorry. There is someplace I must go as soon as I depart from here. I will make sure to visit as soon as I am able.”

“There’s nothing you can do. Then does this mean we are bidding farewell at this very spot? Here, let’s everyone drink one last round then. Let us toast to Sir Mun’s chapter!”

“To Sir Mun!”

They cheered and splashed their cups as they gave their toast.

The three men had a jolly good time as they all possessed relatively similar attitudes. They fell deeper into their drink and didn’t even notice the time passing by. It was then they stopped drinking alcohol and the alcohol began drinking them.

The North Sword grounds was a mess and completely overturned. Due to the heavy drinking and partying that bled late into the night, Pa Chun’s guests all woke up late and had to get going as soon as they opened their eyes. As they headed toward the entrance to leave the North Sword grounds, the guards blocked their way. Apparently there was a mishap in the night and no one was allowed to leave the ground until further notice. An emergency order had been issued throughout all of North Sword and they were making sure to keep everyone who was still on the grounds from departing.

8th floor. Everyone who was anyone in North Swords was at this meeting – even those who ranked above 20 were in attendance. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind about the grave importance of this meeting. 8th position of the North Swords, Sam Ahn Chun Nae – So Chun Ahk rose from his seat.

“From what I was able to gather upon investigation, Lady Sul-lan was most likely not abducted by an outsider. The first clue is that there is no sign of trespassing from the outside. No alarm had been raised. And second, there was no sign of any resistance. Finally, there were guards posted up everywhere. There is no way that an outsider would have been able to kidnap the lady without leaving behind any clues. Of course, if it were someone highly skilled, of course they would be able to avoid a guards’ eyes. But, as all of you know, there is always a skilled guard that no one but Miss Heejoo knows about watching over the lady at all times. As that same skilled guard has also gone missing, it might be best to focus on finding that guard in this situation. Per the sentrymen, however, at a little past 1AM at dawn, there was an incident where they saw a person name Hwan-Sa accompanied by another named Shi Bi Geumeng leaving the premises. This would normally not be a cause for any alarm, but Shi Bi Geumeng claims never to have been in the company of Hwan Sa nor have interacted with the suspect at any time. I have found this out by personally interrogating Shi Bi Geumeng myself. Having said that, we can only conclude that the person who had truly accompanied Hwan Sa and left our grounds was in fact lady Sul Lan.”

“Do you mean to say, we were tricked by impersonation?”

“Yes, that is probably the case. The problem is, there is a high chance that is wasn’t simply impersonation but actual transformation skill. Shi Bi Geumeng and the sentrymen are known to be good acquaintances of one another. There is no way those same sentrymen would have fallen for someone merely impersonating Shi Bi Geumeng. So we can only assume it was something of a much higher skill. A mask made to look like Shi Bi Geumeng would be the easiest conclusion. But I believe that either a third party or Hwan Sa used a shape shifting spell to leave the North Swords grounds together with Sul Lan…”

“What? Are you saying Sul Lan left on her own will?”

“Yes, that is the current assumption. Sir! I have a question for you, sir. Is the person name Hwan Sa that skilled? Skilled enough to pull something like this off, I mean?”

“Well… He is truly skilled, but not to this extent.”

“Then, it must be a third party. A person who is skilled in martial arts at a high enough level that they could hide and escort the inexperienced and untrained Sul Lan without raising a single alarm.”

“Who on earth could this person be? Exactly how many people do you think there are who can come into the North Swords as easily if it was their own home and steal off with Lady Sul Lan before anyone even noticed?”

“So for now, we have detained anyone of such a caliber for questioning. However, even so, it is my assumption the culprit has already escaped the grounds.”

“I’m sure he has. Why I ought to…… what were you all doing to let something like this happen in your own home? Fine, so who you do you think it is?”

“Probably, with that much skill, he must be at least the top three of the participants in the most recent skills event. He must be at the level of the heads of each department. However, those who have that skill and fit the criteria have already left the grounds yesterday afternoon. Of course, that could easily be part of the illusion, but it’s more than likely the man is someone we cannot even imagine. So, we are currently conducting an investigation with those left here on the grounds. We should soon be able to come up with an idea. If by the end of this investigation, we do not find anything, it will be because the third party planned it this way.”

“Okay, report back after careful investigation. Investigate every single person on these grounds, aside from me. You got that? We need to find her. We must find her! Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir”

“Yes, we understand, Sir”

“You are all dismissed.”

It was a dark passageway. The only light came from just 2 separate torches on the wall. This was the basement of the Shim Guk Gak – a place no one knew existed.

-Thump, thump-

There was no one in sight – just the lingering sound of footsteps.

-Clunk-

-Thump, thump-

He walked down the passageway for a long while before entering through an iron door, where he then walked some more through a passageway similar to the first. There was then another iron door.

“Open the door, it’s me”

-Clunk-

“Ah, so it is.”

“Well, are they still alive?”

“Yes, but no still response. No matter how much we torture them, they won’t say a word.”

“And his grandson?”

“That kid, too, is a stubborn one.”

“Make sure to feed them on time. They could still be useful to us.”

“Yes, will do, sir.”

“Take me there.”

“Yes, Sir.”

-Thump, Thump-

What is that? There was moss all over the walls and water clogged the ground of the basement from under the building. It was a dark and murky water, and an unpleasant smell with an unknown origin filled the air. On the right side, a man with his neck stretched, was chained to the wall. He was naked. His wrists and ankles were fastened with chains, and it seemed he was taking care of business in that position. That was where the unpleasant smell was coming from. The blood from the torture wounds and bodily excrement was all piled in one place. How is he even alive?

-Clunk-

The iron door opened, but still no response from the man on the wall. He made a frustrated and struggled breath – maybe from the mucous in his throat, or perhaps an injured airway. He was still alive.

“Look here, raise your head.”

Nothing.

“Hmm. No matter. I must say, both you and your grandson are tough to crack. Aren’t you curious about your granddaughter?”

-Squirm-

For the first time, he was showing signs of life

“Hmm. Finally I get a response. But then I guess it is your own flesh and blood. Rejoice. Last night, your granddaughter ran away.”

-Cough-

He started throwing up blood. It was a miracle he was still alive. The blood was of a dark color.

“You’ll probably die soon. So who is it? There’s still someone capable of helping your granddaughter? Hwan Sa is not skilled enough. So tell me. Who took Sul Lan?”

“Cra….zy bas….tard”

“Ha ha ha. Your son is dead and your grandson is in not much better shape than you are. Both of you will probably die soon. So the only person left in your family name is your granddaughter. I promise. If you tell me where she could be, I’ll spare her her life, as she is already promised to marry Nam Do Meng. But she ran away and we need her back.”

-Whip-

It was a whip. It didn’t seem any more blood could be drawn from the man, but he the blood flowed some more as the whip came down.

“Tell me. Tell me I say!”

-Whip-

“Damn you…. You stubborn old man.”

He handed over the whip to the solider standing behind him

“Want to know something? Your North Swords will now fall into a blood bath to the Ma Do family. Hmm… But by then, you’ll have died and gone to Hell. That would be nice too. Don’t worry, I’ll keep sending people to you, to keep you from boredom. You don’t have to speak. But I promise you this. I will find Sul Lan. And when I do, I’ll bring her to you and have her raped in front of you. Then I will sell her off. Wouldn’t that be nice too? I tell you, I will kept my promise. If only she had done what I said, we wouldn’t have any problems keeping the peace. But she ran away. Say something! Don’t tell me you don’t have any thoughts on the matter.”

“You’re mistaken if you think you have everything… Gang Ho is not as easy a place as you think. Whether she breaks… bring shame and becomes unhappy… that is her burden and her life to carry… her destiny… so why don’t you just go on and kill me now… Do you really think I’m going to answer to you? Even if my son dies or my grandson’s arm is cut off, I will not budge. However, you come and threaten me with my granddaughter’s life, whom I don’t know is even dead or alive? Just kill me now…”

It had been so long since he’s talked this much. He was speaking with perfect dictation. It would seem as though the speaking was tough and forceful, but there was no problem in understanding him.

“Oh! The great emperor! You surely are great. To still have energy, I mean. I guess there’s no surprise considering everything you’ve accomplished. Once I leave this place, I will not come back. And one you two die, this place will be locked up forever. So if before then, you change your mind, tell me. I will let you die a comfortable death.”

He then turned his body. He was the Dok Ko Han Chun of the North Swords. The prisoner, Jamrongdaeje’s uncle.

“What tyranny is this? Why are you keeping us from leaving on our own will? You think it’s okay because because you are North Swords?”

The discontent of the rival leaders was heightened. The general tried to smooth out the situation, but no matter. There were still a little about 3000 soldiers being held in the North Swords, though of them had left the day before. Everyone had been preparing to leave as the skills event had come to an end, but for whatever reason and incident, the North Swords were not letting anyone leave the grounds. As the problem progressed, other leader were planning to act up in unreserved ways.

“Let us see the host. We don’t know what exactly it is that has happened, but with what authority are you withholding people from leaving? I must speak to the host, and figure this out.”

“We just need to complete the investigation,”

“What investigation?”

“We are investigating everyone’s whereabouts from last night. We are already investigating your whereabouts through those who serve you, so if there is no suspicion towards you, you will be able to leave.”

“What suspicion are you talking about?”

“I cannot disclose any specifics to you. So despite your discomfort, please bear with us for a little longer.”

“Damn you”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I now see how lawless the North Swords are.”

“Are you asking for trouble?”

There was no sign of calming their complaints. Among them were also the people of Pa Chun.

“What is going on?”

At Nam Goong Hyun Ryun’s question, Pa Chun went into deep though.

‘So, those serving us in the progression of the event were spying on us? That means they’ll have to come to me soon. Hmm… This will be fun…’