Chapter 393. Go Youngchang on Edge
Go Youngchang could not sit still.
The men who had carried out what he had tossed out in passing were the very subordinates who prided themselves on their loyalty.
After taking Liaoyang, all of them had become full of themselves.
They no longer simply walked down the street.
They swung their arms wide and shoved people aside with their shoulders.
Some openly boasted that they were among Go Youngchang's closest men.
Others went around calling themselves his trusted confidants.
Men who only yesterday had watched Xiao Baoxian's expression now raised their voices by trading on the name of their new master.
"Kill that bastard."
That was all Go Youngchang had said.
The words had come out in anger.
At the time, it had been closer to a curse—get him out of my sight—than an actual order to kill.
But when a man with power curses, his subordinates hear an order.
Was the man who killed because he was told to kill worse than the man who said it?
Or was the greater fault with the man who had risen high enough that he could throw such words around carelessly?
Go Youngchang's thoughts kept snagging there.
He had tried to clean things up afterward.
But it was too late.
The novice monk was dead.
Gi Mincheol was dead.
The body had been burned.
A suicide note had been fabricated.
And now Yi Youngwoo was pulling apart every piece of it, one by one.
It had started as a single careless sentence.
That sentence had moved people.
And the result had been murder.
No one could now call it a joke.
Go Youngchang summoned him.
"Junho."
"Yes, Chief."
"If I tell you to kill someone, you can't just go and kill him."
Bae Junho blinked.
"What? But you told me to kill him, Chief, so I handled it. I even made sure the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing."
Go Youngchang held up his palm.
"But everyone knows now. Nobody is saying they don't."
"That's unfair. I only followed orders."
"I know. But look what happened. That man already wants to tear me apart, and now I can barely stand it."
Bae Junho bit his lip.
"Should I kill him?"
"Kha."
Go Youngchang let out something between a laugh and a groan.
The bastard had absolutely no imagination.
Problem?
Kill someone.
Bigger problem?
Kill someone else.
It never seemed to occur to him that if he kept going that way, eventually he would be offering up his own neck.
"How are you going to kill him? He's a master of the Realm of Transformation."
Bae Junho asked,
"So a Realm of Transformation master can't be cut by a blade?"
Go Youngchang put a hand to his forehead.
"That's not what I mean. It would be better if you said you did it."
Bae Junho's face hardened.
"If you order me to, I will."
"I'll get you out later."
"When is later?"
"When things quiet down."
"And until then?"
"You're one of my own. Do you think I'd abandon you?"
Bae Junho clenched his teeth.
He had seen many men speak like this and change their story later.
People said you could trust anything in the world except the promises of men in power.
The moment he agreed, he would become the man who murdered the novice monk.
One wrong turn and he could be hanged.
If the Gi Mincheol matter were added as well, he could even face execution by beheading.
Beheading (斬刑): an execution by severing the condemned person's head with a blade. One of the traditional forms of capital punishment in East Asia, often imposed for grave crimes such as treason, high offenses, or serious violations of military law. In some cases, it was combined with public display of the severed head.
Bae Junho looked at Go Youngchang.
The Chief was not trying to save him.
He was trying to dump the crime onto him.
Use one loyal subordinate to cover the matter, then create an escape route for himself.
"Chief."
"What?"
"If I say I did it, will you really save me?"
Go Youngchang answered immediately.
"Of course."
Too fast.
The answer felt careless.
Unreliable.
Possibly false.
Bae Junho knew very well that Go Youngchang was not normally such a broad, decisive man.
If he had hesitated a little, agonized a little, or at least made a face suggesting he had no choice, the promise might have sounded believable.
Instead, he answered too quickly.
Inside that quick answer, Bae Junho saw his own death.
He slowly lowered his head.
"Give me some time to think."
Go Youngchang's gaze turned cold.
"Think about what?"
"I need to know what crime I'm supposed to take on, and how much of it."
For a moment Go Youngchang looked down at him coldly.
For the first time, Bae Junho endured the stare.
The instant he looked away, it would be over.
He would become the man chosen to carry the blame and disappear.
Go Youngchang spoke quietly.
"Don't think too long."
"Yes."
Bae Junho withdrew.
The moment he stepped through the door, a chill ran down his back.
Now he understood.
When he killed the novice monk, he had thought he was doing the Chief's work.
When he dealt with Gi Mincheol, he had thought he was covering up something bigger.
But now it was clear.
He was next.
About a quarter of an hour passed.
Then another.
Perhaps twice that much in all before Bae Junho returned.
He slowly raised his head.
"I have one request."
Go Youngchang nodded readily.
"Say it. I'll grant whatever you ask."
"I can't turn myself in like this. It would be too bitter. So allow me to attack him just once. I want to see for myself whether a blade really can't reach a master of the Realm of Transformation."
Go Youngchang frowned.
He worried that this would only make matters worse.
There were always men like this—men who claimed they were solving a problem and only made it larger.
Men who did not know when to close a matter at the proper point, but instead pushed forward on principle until more blood was spilled.
But Go Youngchang soon changed his mind.
If Bae Junho succeeded, every problem would disappear at once.
And if he failed, Go Youngchang only had to cut Bae Junho loose.
He was already a man marked for sacrifice anyway.