Chapter 82
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 82
Chapter 82. Shaanxi Scorpion (5)
The seven strands of hair she had tied to Je-woong suddenly broke.
“Why on earth?”
Nothing like this had ever happened before.
Well, there was one time. It was her first opponent, her own wife.
One day, she discovered Nok-il's secret and ran away from him.
Enraged, Nok-il chased after her and killed her.
At that moment, her hair was cut.
As far as he knew, there was no way to break Jeong-woong's control over her unless she was dead.
Or unless Nok-il, Jeong-woong's master, cut the hair that bound Jeong-woong.
But he would never do such a thing...
“Something's strange here.”
As Nok-il was contemplating his Jeong-woong, he heard the voice of his subordinate outside the door.
“Captain.”
“Come in.”
His subordinate entered his room and said, “The Eunhae Trading Company has not left yet.”
"What?
“How stupid... They must still have some hope left. They should just go back quickly. Why are they staying here at their own expense?”
“You're right.”
His subordinate continued.
“What should we do about that old man?”
“Who?”
“The old man who made the tea.”
This time, he acted boldly, considering who his opponent was.
He had kidnapped an old man who had retired from making black tea and threatened him into making tea from grass.
However, if the old man's testimony revealed that he was a fraud, he would be in trouble.
Therefore, he couldn't just let him go.
“What are you going to do? If you talk, we're in trouble. Kill him.”
“I understand.”
Since it wasn't his hands that would be dirty, he gave the order without hesitation.
At that moment.
“Arrest them all!”
“Yes!”
Suddenly, government soldiers rushed in and surrounded the Trading Company in an instant.
Nok-il wondered what was going on.
The government soldiers who stormed into his room tied him and his subordinates with ropes.
He asked the government soldiers,
“What are you doing? What crime have we committed?”
“Your crime has already been revealed. You are Shaanxi!”
* *
I was at the county office.
As the sun was setting, a group of people were kneeling in the courtyard.
The name of the man sitting among them was Nok-il.
He was the Shaanxi bandit.
In his previous life, he had died in middle age. But now he was young.
That means he has lived for many years, committing evil deeds against many people.
He manipulated even more courtesans than that.
“Your Excellency! I am innocent!”
“Ha ha! Shut up, criminal! These people have come to testify to your evil deeds!”
Next to him stood the witnesses.
They were the courtesans.
To be honest, I was surprised when the courtesans said they would come to the provincial office to testify.
I didn't expect that.
Even though they were manipulated into doing so, they could be punished if something went wrong.
“I will testify.”
A courtesan named Joo-wol said.
“Ten days ago, the author asked me to put Hwang Hyung-soo to sleep and make a mold of his face.”
“And you did so?”
“Yes.”
“Did you receive anything in return?”
“No. But I had no choice. An unknown force compelled me to do so.”
“Are you saying you were under the influence of evil arts?”
At that, I stepped forward. From then on, it was my turn to answer.
“Yes, these courtesans were under the influence of evil arts.”
At my words, the eyes of Luo Ying and Shaanxi Gal trembled.
That was to be expected.
I had figured out that it was evil arts.
“How did you break the evil arts of the courtesans?”
“Actually, I am learning martial arts that can break evil arts.”
“I knew it.”
At that moment, the warriors of Eunpungdae and the government troops came toward us.
“As you said, we found these.”
What they brought were the masks.
The courtesans told them where the masks were hidden, and they found them and brought them here.
Nok-il did not hide it in the Trading Company, of course.
He hid it in a deserted house that no one would ever think to look in.
According to the courtesans, that was the meeting place.
They believed he was controlling them, so they told him without hesitation.
“We also found someone who was being held captive there.”
An old man was following them.
Seeing the emaciated old man, Jihyeon Daegun said.
“Bring him a chair.”
“Yes.”
When the old man sat down on the chair, Jihyeon Daegun asked him.
“So, old man, why were you imprisoned?”
“That is...”
The old man looked at the bound Nok-il and said.
“I was kidnapped. And they said that if I didn't make tea with grass, they would kill my grandson.”
I thought I knew who that old man was.
Sim Haeng-soo, who investigated the fake tea that came into our hands, said that it was the work of the Oh family's tea plantation.
Nok-il was furious at what the old man said.
“I never did such a thing. That old man is senile and said that out of his own mind. I've never even seen that old man before!”
“Huh! Be quiet!”
Are you going to keep denying it?
To be honest, there was no decisive evidence at this point. The evidence that had been presented could easily be refuted with clever words.
If evidence that couldn't be overturned with words appeared, what would happen to Nok-il, or rather, Shaanxi?
“I will report what His Excellency Ji-hyun, who is merciful and wise, has said.”
“Go ahead.”
“Actually, it is said that when Hwang, the head of the Eunhae Trading Company, came to visit to do business, Eom Sam-taek served him something other than iron tea.”
“Something else?”
“Cho. Um Sam-taek gave him some medicine he had prepared for his arthritis.”
Cho, a flower that resembles a helmet, was also used as a medicine for arthritis.
“But I was worried that he drank too much of it. Because if you drink too much, it becomes poisonous.”
“Poisonous?”
“Yes. At first, he had symptoms such as indigestion, nausea, and acid reflux, but two days later, his skin gradually became cold, his breathing slowed, and his heartbeat slowed down...”
I paused for a moment and continued.
“He died.”
I looked at Shaanxi and made a worried expression.
“That's why I'm worried. He drank enough to be poisoned to death.”
“...”
Shaanxi's eyes wavered at my words.
In fact, symptoms such as indigestion and nausea are common chronic illnesses among the people of Shaanxi.
This is because their staple food is flour.
However, not knowing that, they would be terrified if they were told that it was a symptom of poisoning by a poisonous herb.
“That is why I am trying to find the culprit. Even if he is a swindler, we must prevent him from dying because of our mistake, right?”
“That's right.”
“You can drink a mixture of licorice and black beans or eat candy as an antidote, but...”
I continued, looking at Grand Master Jihyun.
“This person says he's not the culprit, so I don't think he drank the poison either. That's a relief.”
“Then we're lucky too. It's quite a hassle to dispose of a corpse.”
Grand Master Jihyun nodded and said.
“We will end the interrogation here for today. Take them to jail!”
“Yes, sir!”
* *
That night.
I was inside the Trading Company.
Government soldiers were guarding the place, but thanks to my skill in moving without leaving a trace, they did not notice me entering.
I came here because I had to find something.
It was the device used to control the courtesans.
Where could it be?
He had hidden the tools he used to cast evil energy in places that seemed unrelated to him.
But would he have hidden the device he used to control people in such a place?
No.
It was likely that he had it with him.
And he said it was in his room when he was captured.
I entered Nok-il's room.
Then I recalled the situation when Nok-il was arrested by the government troops.
What if he had it in his hand at that time?
No. If his subordinate was with him, he would have hidden it beforehand.
In a place where it could be quickly hidden.
As I was looking around the room, I felt my stomach churn.
It was the same feeling I had when I saw the courtesan Joo-wol at Su-ok-ru.
That means it's somewhere nearby.
I quickly looked around and looked under the desk.
I smiled.
There was a hidden drawer under the desk. I immediately opened it.
There was a sword.
Seeing the Jeongung made me feel extremely nauseous.
This was the tool used to control the courtesans.
I took it and headed for a deserted place.
After looking around, I took the Jeongung out of my pocket.
In my past life, after I was captured by Shaanxi, I learned about this Jeongung.
The emperor ordered that it be burned, but it disappeared without a trace.
When the sword reappeared, it was in the hands of the Palace Head of the Cheonhwaheon Palace.
She was one of the Black Dao martial artists and manipulated countless men through her charms.
This led to a tragic outcome.
Father and son, brothers, turned their weapons against each other.
I looked at the sword in my hand and smiled wryly. Then I chose to burn it.
Because the more you use it, the more side effects it has.
The side effect is none other than the loss of emotion.
That is why Shaanxi was able to commit evil deeds without feeling any guilt, and why the Palace Head of Cheonhwaheungak could rape men and cause bloodshed without batting an eye.
Humans are human because they have emotions.
I wanted to be human.
Moreover, I should feel the joy of revenge, but if I can't feel that, what is the meaning of my life now?
If the anger I felt when I died disappears, what is the meaning of this revenge?
The second reason for burning Jeong-woong is because in order to use this, one must go through reason and emotion.
I'm not a sex-crazed man, so you want me to throw away my pure love to use this?
You have to make sense.
And the third reason.
This Jeong-woong was created by a member of the Black Dao with a lot of resentment.
The very fact that it took the form of Jeong-woong is a curse on the world.
I think it was created after he was abandoned by his lover.
That's why it has the ability to manipulate people through their emotions.
No matter how I think about it, the more it is used, the more harm it will do to the world.
However, even though it was a sacred object, it would not burn just by burning it.
I took out a dagger and slightly cut my left ring finger.
Ugh!
It hurts like hell.
I wrote the character “解” on Jeong-woong's chest with my flowing blood.
This was the method used by the Moosampa Daoist when he disposed of Jeong-woong, who had been taken from the Palace Head of Cheonhwaheon Palace.
I placed it on the ground and poured oil on top of it.
Then I lit a fire with a fire starter and brought it to Jeong-woong.
Whoosh!
The oil-soaked Jeong-woong burst into flames in an instant.
The energy that had been making me feel sick disappeared, and my stomach settled down.
Jeong-woong, the object that had brought such tragedy, was gone.
My fingers hurt.
I'll have to ask Pal-gap to put some medicine on them.
Next, I'm going to Shaanxi.
There's something interesting to see.
* * *
Nok-il was imprisoned in a cell.
His hands and feet were bound, and he couldn't move freely.
The only good thing was that he was separated from his subordinates.
If he betrayed them, he would be released.
The problem was that the tea he drank during the transaction was poisoned.
“Damn it! I knew the tea tasted strange!”
The tea Nok-il drank was made by Eunhaesang Trading Company.
Since it wasn't available on the market yet, he had no choice but to believe Eun Seo-ho's words that it was poisoned.
He felt his body getting colder and colder.
“Am I going to die...?”
Just then.
“Liege, are you all right?”
“Who are you...?”
Fortunately, the person who came to find him was his subordinate.
He had been away from the Trading Company to carry out Nok-il's orders, so he had not been captured.
“How did you get in here?”
“I bribed someone. More importantly, take this.”
The subordinate took a wallet out of his pocket.
“It's candy.”
Nok-il's eyes widened at those words.
“You said you drank poisoned tea, and this is the antidote. That's why I brought it.”
“You're the only one I can rely on!”
“How did you end up drinking poisoned tea?”
In response to his subordinate's question, Nok-il shook his head vigorously and replied.
“I didn't know it was poisoned. A man named Eom Sam-taek said it was good tea, so I believed him! But where did you get these candies?”
“We took some from the candies we sold.”
“Ah! I see!”
Nok-il quickly opened his pocket and ate the candy hastily.
“Now I can live... Gah!”
Something felt strange, so he turned his head and was shocked.
Ji-hyun and the constable who had interrogated him earlier were staring at him.