Chapter 145: Jaseung, Opens It

Lee Jaseung pushed the cart and entered the room where Jang Wonso had gone.

When Jang Wonso activated the device on the wall, the door closed and the entire room began to descend underground. The secret passage itself was a mechanism leading below.

Wooong.

Lee Jaseung already knew that the Alliance Leader’s office held such mechanisms. It wasn’t anything unusual. A hidden space for the Alliance Leader was only natural.

Even in the main hall of the Black Way Alliance, Lee Jaseung’s office had its own secret passage. In an emergency, it was meant to protect the Alliance Leader.

Of course, the force behind the scenes must have known about it too.

“Isn’t it fascinating?”

“Yes, it seems like quite a device.”

Thud.

At last, the chamber arrived underground.

The door opened automatically, revealing a fairly large space.

On both the left and right sides, there were doors.

Jang Wonso walked toward the one on the right. While he opened it, Lee Jaseung quickly observed the door on the left.

A mechanism was attached beside it.

Lee Jaseung made sure to memorize not only the device mounted on the door but everything around it.

If it were truly important, Jang Wonso would never take him inside.

Lee Jaseung instinctively knew.

That was where he had to go.

Meanwhile, Jang Wonso opened the right door.

“Let’s.”

“Yes.”

The two men walked down a long corridor. On either side of the hall were several rooms. It looked like a prison, yet Lee Jaseung sensed no hidden presence behind the walls.

Even so, he could feel sharp hostility.

That meant mechanisms were set up to guard against intruders.

“No one can leave without my permission. And no one from outside can break in either.”

“It feels eerie for some reason.”

“Haha, they say in the past, this place was even used to hold criminals.”

“I see. Then what about that left door earlier, where does that lead?”

Lee Jaseung asked deliberately. Pretending not to be curious after seeing it might seem suspicious.

His tactic worked perfectly. By asking, his trustworthiness increased even more.

The very reason Jang Wonso brought him here was to draw him in as one of his own. By showing even this secret place reserved for the Alliance Leader, he hoped to inspire trust.

“That’s my personal space. When I want to be alone, I come down here sometimes to rest.”

“You want to be alone sometimes?”

Lee Jaseung smoothly shifted the subject.

“Of course. After meeting so many people day after day, sometimes I desperately want to be alone.”

“I see.”

At his reply, Jang Wonso paused.

“You don’t quite relate, do you?”

“To be honest, no.”

Jang Wonso laughed in satisfaction.

“I was the same. At first, I loved meeting people, thrilled by the joy of becoming the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance. Everyone admired me, so naturally it felt good.”

Lee Jaseung’s eyes shone. He made his desire to become Alliance Leader obvious on purpose.

Jang Wonso smiled faintly.

“You’ll understand when it’s your turn one day.”

Hearing that, Lee Jaseung’s face lit up. It was a veiled suggestion that the Alliance Leadership might be passed to him.

Jang Wonso resumed walking, and Lee Jaseung followed, barely hiding his delight.

As they passed several rooms, he wondered.

Could the map be hidden in one of these?

Perhaps it was a deception all along.

He decided that he wouldn’t believe that the hidden force had already searched for them. He was determined to trust only his own judgment.

At the end of the corridor, Jang Wonso opened the final door. Unlike the grim surroundings, the inside was tidy. There was a bed with clean blankets, a small table, some wall-nourishment pills stacked to one side, and tools for relieving oneself on the other.

It was a space where one could live alone for quite some time.

Rather than a dungeon, it resembled a guest room in an inn.

“Lay him down here.”

Lee Jaseung placed Cheon Myeongin inside.

“Is it alright to leave him like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I worry he might commit suicide.”

“He’d never do that, don’t worry.”

He spoke as though he knew Cheon Myeongin well.

“Since you said it my Lord, then I won’t worry.”

Lee Jaseung left the room with Jang Wonso.

“With him here, you can keep your promise with the elder, yes?”

He made it sound as though he was providing this safe place as a favor to Lee Jaseung.

In truth, he would have brought Cheon Myeongin here regardless. He needed to avoid other eyes, and as long as the man was useful, he had to be kept safe.

Lee Jaseung knew it, yet played along.

“It’s more than enough. I’m honored by such consideration for someone as unworthy as me.”

Jang Wonso chuckled and replied.

“From tomorrow, come at your convenience to check on him.”

He acted with a bold air, as if he had nothing to hide here.

* * *

The next day, and the day after, Lee Jaseung came to the Alliance Leader’s residence and went underground to check on Cheon Myeongin.

Each time, Jang Wonso guided him. He always moved alongside him.

Lee Jaseung needed to settle matters quickly. Jang Wonso, having lost Myriad Yin Orb, was scheming something with Yim Sayeon. He wouldn’t delay, not with Cheon Myeongin’s condition worsening.

Yet Lee Jaseung didn’t rush. Impatience only led to mistakes. He had to build trust steadily and find the map.

At last, after five days, the opportunity came.

Jang Wonso had left, leaving word that Lee Jaseung could go down alone.

Lee Jaseung’s eyes gleamed sharply as he rode the mechanism down.

* * *

At the same time, Jang Wonso met Yim Sayeon.

It was the moment he fully bared his demonic fangs.

“It’s been a long time.”

Yim Sayeon answered his greeting with a cold gaze.

“You were behind this.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

But she had already anticipated his visit. She pretended ignorance, confronting him.

“You’d better not do something you’ll regret.”

“Indeed. People live and make plenty of mistakes to regret. Blunders know no age.”

He looked at her with a meaningful glint.

Yim Sayeon snorted and turned her back.

“That was a child I abandoned anyway.”

Watching her back, Jang Wonso spoke quietly.

“You said the same back then.”

At those words, she flinched. This wasn’t acting. It was genuine.

She turned her head slowly, her eyes emanating a chilling frost. Jang Wonso didn’t shy away from that fearsome gaze that could freeze a man solid.

“There are things in this world we cannot help. That’s why I’m here now.”

“Silence! How dare you bring your filthy lust for power here?”

Outwardly calm, Jang Wonso laughed inwardly.

He felt that Yim Sayeon had taken the bait already. Her one flaw, Cheon Myeongin, was enough to shake her.

“Please, grant me just one request.”

“I will not no matter how much you try.”

“This time you must. It’s for me, but it’s also for your son.”

Her brow furrowed deeper.

Jang Wonso pressed on. Even with Cheon Myeongin as hostage, Yim Sayeon was dangerous. Taunting her carelessly could mean death.

“Please eliminate the power behind me.”

“What?”

“They’re the ones who made your son like this.”

“The one who made him this way is himself.”

She turned away, unwilling to hear more. Then came his words from behind.

“He isn’t merely ill.”

She froze in shock. Even as she turned, he continued.

“Every physician may have called it an illness, but he isn’t sick. He’s poisoned.”

Yim Sayeon stepped toward him. Even if the end was the same death, illness and poison were worlds apart.

Jang Wonso had placed his wager. His tone was cold and unwavering.

“Say that again.”

“Your son was poisoned.”

“What kind of poison? I checked every kind, but it matched none.”

“You missed one phrase. None of the poisons you checked.”

Meaning she didn’t know every poison in existence.

“Fine, let’s say that’s true. Then who was it?”

“The current leader of the organization. Mountain.”

“Can you prove it?”

Jang Wonso’s eyes gleamed.

“I can.”

* * *

Lee Jaseung stood before the left door.

He had already been told how to dismantle the device.

The man who had led the charge during the earlier assault had explained it to him, describing what kind of mechanism it was.

And he’d taught him how to break it.

Whether he could open it properly was uncertain. He couldn’t bring that man here. All he could do was follow the instructions exactly.

Lee Jaseung carefully began dismantling the mechanism. He proved once more how quickly and precisely he could learn anything.

His deft hands worked with skill. The difficulty lay not in destroying the device, but in leaving it intact so the door could be closed again later.

If no map was inside, no trace of intrusion could remain.

He poured every ounce of focus into the task.

Now, only one step remained. He had to nudge the tiny piece of metal in the corner slightly to the left.

If he succeeded, the door would open. If he failed, darts would fly.

Lee Jaseung raised his protective Qi to the utmost and slowly reached out. His fingertip nudged the piece of metal leftward.

Click. Silence followed.

Luckily, no darts came.

Clatter.

The door began to open.

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