Chapter 155: Jaseung, Devises a Plan

A thorough analysis of the cause of death began for Jang Wonso.

The Murim Alliance brought in the physicians most skilled in postmortem examinations. The one in charge was Seok Songja.

When he finished the autopsy and stepped outside, the Alliance’s elites, including Lee Jaseung, were waiting for him.

“How did it go? Are you certain it was mutual destruction?”

At Yeo Beom’s question, he hesitated to answer.

Seok Songja was half in doubt. It was ambiguous to say it was mutual destruction, yet also ambiguous to say it was not. He planned to ask for more time and perform a more precise autopsy.

Then Lee Jaseung spoke.

“In my view as well, it looked like mutual destruction.”

Yeo Beom turned and backed him.

“So you think so too huh?”

“Yes. Given the circumstances, they could not be anything but the culprits. If not them, then why would such rootless men be inside the secret chamber that only the Alliance Leader can enter?”

It was a very crafty statement.

If Seok Songja declared that Jang Wonso and the Three Kings did not fight each other, then the question remained of how so many people got inside that place in the first place.

There could have been several possibilities, but Lee Jaseung pressed Seok Songja by highlighting the point that Jang Wonso and those men could have been in league.

As Seok Songja wavered, Baek Seolyoung spoke lightly.

“I saw it the same way. I learned how to conduct a postmortem from my father when I was young.”

That too was a crafty line. If one denied her words, it would have been an insult to the former head of the Northern Sky Clan.

With the three steering the mood, Seok Songja hesitated no longer.

“It is certain. The Alliance Leader died while fighting those men.”

In any case the Alliance Leader was already dead, and when there was a fifty percent chance either way, the wise choice was the path that left no tails to catch later.

Once Seok Songja decided, Lee Jaseung spoke quickly.

“Assassins broke into the Alliance Leader’s quarters and slew him. The officers responsible for his security must face strict censure.”

“Of course they must.”

When Yeo Beom agreed, Lee Jaseung spoke at once.

“We must also mobilize Alliance warriors to learn why those men committed this act.”

Since the cause was declared mutual destruction, finding the hand behind it was the obvious next step.

“Put it into action at once.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Lee Jaseung intended to send the Alliance’s core organizations far afield under cover of investigating this case. He meant to dispatch first the bodies led by wise and exacting men.

Amid the chaos of the grand incident of the Alliance Leader’s assassination, Lee Jaseung proceeded step by step with his plan.

* * *

“Are you awake?”

The one who looked down at Cheon Myeongin as he opened his eyes was Lee Jaseung.

Cheon Myeongin glanced around with a slightly bewildered face. The place he lay was not the underground secret chamber beneath the Alliance Leader’s Hall.

“Where is this?”

“It’s my quarters.”

When Lee Jaseung withdrew from the Alliance Leader’s Hall, he had of course brought him out as well. Fortunately, even in the uproar of that underground chamber, he had survived.

“What happened?”

“Something has occurred.”

Cheon Myeongin’s gaze sharpened. He asked in a low voice.

“Did Jang Wonso die?”

“Yes.”

Even on hearing that Jang Wonso was dead, he did not react with great surprise.

“Was it perhaps my mother?”

“It wasn’t.”

“Then it was you.”

Lee Jaseung did not acknowledge that.

“The situation has changed.”

Cheon Myeongin’s eyes glinted.

“Nothing has changed.”

Lee Jaseung understood what he meant. His goal had never been the Alliance Leader’s seat.

He grew curious for a moment. What was his ultimate aim? Was it truly to regain the headship of the force that stood behind the scenes?

Cheon Myeongin checked his body.

“My body has recovered.”

Lee Jaseung had given him revival pills. He could not regain his original martial power at once, but he would gradually recover his skills.

“In exchange, you must come to me once a month to receive the medicine.”

“Thank you.”

The original promise had been to extend his life by a year. Being told he would not receive a year at once, only a month at a time, would normally have made him angry.

Yet he showed none of that feeling.

An opponent like this was frightening.

An enemy who showed his emotions on the surface was easy to deal with. The difficult one was the man who hid his heart well.

“Then rest well.”

As Lee Jaseung turned to go, Cheon Myeongin asked from behind.

“Did you… find the map?”

“Yes. I was able to enter the Hidden Land.”

Now that a rainbow had appeared over the Verdant Mountain, this fact could not be concealed. It was better to respond in another way.

Cheon Myeongin asked with a startled face.

“What did you gain there?”

“I gained nothing.”

“What?”

“It demanded a trial that risked my life. I refused the trial.”

“You refused? Why?”

“I had no reason to stake my life on that trial. I did not go to the Alliance Leader’s Hall to obtain the map.”

Their gazes crossed in the air. Both were seasoned at hiding their emotions, so neither could read the other’s heart.

But Lee Jaseung knew at least one thing. Cheon Myeongin would be half in doubt. That much was enough.

“Then let me ask one thing as well.”

“What is it?”

“When the Seven-Color Hidden Land opens, who else knows that a rainbow appears over the Verdant Mountain?”

Who knew this fact was a very important question for Lee Jaseung.

“Only a very few.”

Yet he did not say who belonged to that very few.

Lee Jaseung asked no further. When precious secrets were traded, there was always a price.

“Then take care.”

Lee Jaseung turned and left that place.

Now that his body had recovered, the man would begin to move on his own.

He had to be used well.

No, now was the time to use even a pebble that rolled along the roadside.

* * *

After meeting Cheon Myeongin, Lee Jaseung summoned Dan Woobin at once.

When Dan Woobin heard what had happened in the Alliance, he was shocked.

“Yeo Beom advised you to put yourself forward for the post of Alliance Leader?”

Lee Jaseung nodded.

“Not only that, he seems to intend to back me from behind.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I intend to stand as a candidate.”

At the unexpected words, Dan Woobin was taken aback. By nature Lee Jaseung disliked putting himself up for such posts. No one knew that temperament better than Dan Woobin.

Yet he had made this decision now.

“We will drive the mood of the election for Alliance Leader into a contest between new and old.”

At Lee Jaseung’s words, Dan Woobin’s face brightened.

“I see. That is a very good idea.”

There were times he had felt admiration for Lee Jaseung’s plans. This was one of those times. It could not be explained by brilliance alone.

Wisdom of life, seasoned experience, the instinct possessed only by those who survived war, all of it in combination.

In any case, Lee Jaseung’s intent was excellent.

If, in a situation where he could manipulate Ban Yeo at will, they could turn the selection of the new Alliance Leader into a contest between Ban Yeo and Lee Jaseung, between old and new, then no matter who won, they would place the Murim Alliance in their hands.

“While we are at it, you should take the Alliance Leader’s seat of the Murim Alliance as well.”

Lee Jaseung shook his head.

“We will put Ban Yeo in that seat.”

He had no thought of taking the position himself. If he became the Leader, moving in secret would become much more difficult.

So this plan too was only one part of a stratagem to raise Ban Yeo easily to the chief’s seat. He had thought of it because Yeo Beom had shown signs of backing Lee Jaseung.

“I believe that is a good idea. I will begin the work at once.”

Without waiting for an answer, Dan Woobin hurried out. Simple to say, this work was not simple. It was the making of the highest leader of the Orthodox Faction, the Murim Alliance Leader.

Countless aspirants would step forward to seize the chief’s seat, and many organizations would strive to have the man they supported elected.

Yet Dan Woobin’s face did not darken.

The new versus old frame was a highly effective stratagem.

* * *

That night, Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung made love.

Lee Jaseung was far more excited than usual. Feeling his change, Baek Seolyoung grew more excited too.

Since they had become one body, that night had been the hottest. Especially Lee Jaseung was more forward, and that was because of the time they had spent apart.

For Baek Seolyoung it had been only seven days, but for Lee Jaseung it had been forty-seven years.

He held her again after forty-seven years.

It was something an ordinary person could not even imagine, yet Lee Jaseung had done it in silence.

It had been possible because he had lived a life of striving to the point of death, and because he had believed he could meet her again.

Thanks to that, he now met her again like this.

When the rush of rapture ended, the two lay side by side and stared at the ceiling.

Lee Jaseung clasped her hand tight.

In that grip, she could feel Lee Jaseung’s love. She knew without words. How much he had longed for her. How much he loved her.

“I really appreciated it.”

At his words, Baek Seolyoung turned her head.

“For what?”

“For keeping war from breaking out.”

“Ah!”

If she had not stepped in, by then war would have broken out between the Orthodox Faction and the Black Way Alliance. It might have been contained somehow, but there would have been much needless sacrifice.

“Though it turned out to be the right decision, I did not know at the time. I didn’t know what was right to do. I was lucky.”

At her modesty, Lee Jaseung answered calmly.

“I think things achieved with good luck are thanks to your good heart.”

Baek Seolyoung gazed quietly at him.

She had told herself not to let her guard down. He was the sort who might, at any moment, speak words that turned a person’s heart inside out.

Yet at least in that moment, Lee Jaseung had yearned for her. The sheer force of his feeling for her had made her whole body tingle.

“Don’t think too well of me. I am not as nice a woman as you think.”

“Haha. At last you spoke like the wife of the Black Way Alliance Lord.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

Lee Jaseung had turned his body and kissed her lips.

Like a sip of water that moistened the throat in the desert, the kiss he shared with her was sweet beyond words.

He lifted his lips from hers and nipped lightly at her ear.

“Ah!”

Her small cry.

His tongue, which had licked her earlobe, had trailed down to her neck. She asked while twitching.

“Again?”

“No.”

Lee Jaseung had wrapped his arms around her waist with firm strength and added,

“I’m only getting started.”

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