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Frowning, he circulated his shadow chi to check his physical condition. After one round of meditation, he finally detected the Hundred Daydreams sedative in his bloodstream.

It seemed that the shadow chi had counteracted the effect of the sedative, causing him to wake up much earlier than he otherwise would.

“I was careless.”

He’d fallen for the waiter’s act and hadn’t doubted him for a moment.

I’ve only ventured out into the gangho for a short while, and yet I’ve already started getting sloppy. Am I getting conceited?

Jin Mu-Won looked closely at Cheong-In, whose eyes had glazed over as if he was mesmerized by something.

“Is it because of Snow Flower?”

Snow Flower was a cursed sword that only recognized Jin Mu-Won as its owner. Anyone else would be affected by its cursed energy, and no matter how much chi one had, cursed energy wasn’t something that could be defended against.

Jin Mu-Won stared at Cheong-In thoughtfully. He didn’t feel like letting this intruder go that easily, but unless he took Snow Flower away from the man, he would remain in that dazed state until he died of starvation.

“Hypnosis is used for interrogations, and he appears to be hypnotized by Snow Flower, so why don’t I try interrogating him?”

Jin Mu-Won wasn’t a man who would hesitate after making a decision. He approached Cheong-In and asked, “What’s your name?”

“C-Cheong-In.”

As it turned out, Jin Mu-Won’s hypothesis was correct.

“Who do you work for?”

“The Secret Moon.”

“Tell me about the Secret Moon.”

“The Secret Moon is a top-secret subdivision of the Black Moon, specializing in spying and surveillance activities. Agents of the Secret Moon are divided into three ranks: Heaven, Earth, and Mortal, with the Heaven rank comprising of the best spies in the Secret Moon.”

“What is your rank?”

“I am a Heaven-ranked agent.”

In his hypnotized state, Cheong-In unconsciously blabbed everything he wasn’t supposed to.

It seems that Mae Wol-Ryung meant what she said, huh?

Mae Wol-Ryung was the head of the Black Moon Sichuan Branch, and Jin Mu-Won recalled her mentioning that the Black Moon was very interested in up-and-coming gangho newcomers.¹

However, this was bad news for Jin Mu-Won. He wasn’t afraid of being exposed, but it would make getting anything done a lot harder.

Just as he was sinking into deep thought about what to do about Cheong-In, he recalled a certain event.

“Several dismembered corpses were found near Kunming. Do you know anything about the culprit?”

“That…” Despite Snow Flower’s hypnosis, Cheong-In hesitated.

That could only mean that this piece of information was extremely important.

“Keep talking.”

“Some time ago, crazy people began to randomly appear on the streets of Kunming. All of them were ordinary folks and there was no clear reason why they had gone crazy. Furthermore, not only had they lost their minds, they also had greatly enhanced physical strength. In their madness, they tore their parents and siblings apart without even recognizing them.”

“All that was done by crazed ordinary people?”

“As far as we know, yes. As for the cause, both Heaven’s Summit and the Tyrant Fist Sect suspect that drugs are involved. They have thus also gotten the Tang Clan involved in this.”

Jin Mu-Won narrowed his eyes. “If drugs are truly involved, then that means that someone is intentionally spreading them. Do you know who they are?”

“We can only assume that it was the work of the same people who kidnapped the merchants.”

“Tell me about those people.”

“The Black Moon is currently investigating that using a variety of different methods.”

“You don’t actually know anything about them, do you?”

“That’s…that’s right.”

“Hmm…” Jin Mu-Won sank into deep thought.

Every time he thought of a possibility, he would question Cheong-In about it. Hypnotized by Snow Flower, Cheong-In mindlessly answered all of Jin’s questions to the best of his ability.

SHUDDER!

Suddenly, Cheong-In started shivering and drooling. That was a side effect of being hypnotized by Snow Flower, and if Jin Mu-Won let him be, it wouldn’t be long before he was braindead.

Jin Mu-Won agonized over whether to take Snow Flower back for a while, but in the end, he decided to do it.

The instant Snow Flower left Cheong-In’s hands, he stopped shivering and began panting instead, going, “Kuuu! Hooo!”

Only some time later did he finally come back to his senses and looked around, mumbling, “What happened to me?”

It seemed like he had no idea he had confessed everything he knew to Jin Mu-Won. His memories only lasted up until the moment he’d grabbed onto Snow Flower.

He then looked up…only to find Jin Mu-Won calmly staring down at him.

Fuck! I’ve been caught! As an experienced spy, Cheong-In instinctively knew when he’d been discovered.

I don’t know what happened to me, but Jin Mu-Won woke up and found me while I was preoccupied.

For a moment, Cheong-In couldn’t decide what to do next. Should I try running away? Can I defeat him if I take him by surprise?

Suddenly, in a voice as piercing as a dagger, Jin Mu-Won said, “Your name is Cheong-In, right?”

“H-How did you know that!?” Cheong-In’s eyes widened, and his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest.² The Black Moon Leader and Mae Wol-Ryung were the only two people who were supposed to know his real name!

What the hell happened to me? I clearly remember grabbing that strange sword, and then… Ahh, if I could, I would turn back time right now and check!

Enraged, he raised his head again, but this time, he was met with Jin Mu-Won’s icy cold glare, which immediately drained all the energy from his body.

“What did you do to me? What kind of evil curse…”

“Evil curse? That’s rich, coming from you, the person who fed me sedatives.”

“Ah…” Cheong-In was stunned speechless by Jin Mu-Won’s statement. Now that I think about it, once a person takes the Hundred Daydreams, it’s impossible for them to wake up until they receive the antidote. So, how the hell is this guy awake?

Jin Mu-Won had swallowed enough sedative to knock out more than two master martial artists! With that dosage, he was supposed to remain asleep for another half a day even after taking the antidote.

Even Kwak Moon-Jung, who had only taken a sip, had fallen into a deep sleep. Cheong-In just couldn’t understand how Jin Mu-Won was conscious after drinking an entire jug of spiked wine.

“In any case, thank you for the information.”

“Information? What information? What the hell did I say?”

Rather than answering, Jin Mu-Won simply smiled knowingly in reply.

Cheong-In’s mind descended into chaos. I think I definitely said something, but I just can’t remember what! It’s as if someone took an iron rod and stirred my brains around.

“Keuk!”

“You can leave now. I will use the information you gave me well. Thank you again.”

“W-wait, are you seriously okay with letting me go like this?”

“Didn’t we already get all the information we needed from each other?”

“AHHHHH! This is driving me nuts!” Cheong-In screamed and pulled his hair out.

Jin Mu-Won grinned and enjoyed the show. After all, forgetting everything that had happened while one was wasted was probably one of the most frustrating things in the world.

KA-CHINK!

Suddenly, Cheong-In took out a dagger hidden near his chest. The crescent moon-shaped, green-glowing dagger was Cheong-In’s signature weapon, the Eclipse Dagger (玄月匕).

The Secret Moon that Cheong-In belonged to was not a martial sect, but a spy organization. The most relevant skills for its members were those necessary for the collection of information, including disguise, stealth, espionage and infiltration. However, members who possessed only those skills could only belong to the Mortal rank.

In order to protect themselves and defend the Black Moon, all Heaven and Earth rank spies were required to learn martial arts. In particular, members of the Heaven rank were almost as strong as the average murim expert.

I don’t know what I said, but those secrets must not leave this room!

Cheong-In grit his teeth in determination. Although Jin Mu-Won was a target of special surveillance, the value of his life was incomparable to that of the Black Moon’s secrets.

Sword Chi appeared on his Eclipse Dagger.

“Punk, prepare yourself! The sin of hearing the Black Moon’s secrets can only be forgiven by your death!”

“You’re going to regret this, you know?”

“I am a member of the Secret Moon, and we never regret our actions!”

Cheong-In’s face shone with the light of desperation as he thrust his Eclipse Dagger at Jin Mu-Won.

Kwak Moon-Jung tossed and turned in his bed as shivers ran down his spine and sent his mind reeling. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Jin Mu-Won standing in front of him holding a a small ceramic bottle.

“Hyung?”

“You’re awake? How do you feel?”

“Huh? I’m fine, but what on earth is…?” Kwak Moon-Jung looked around the room, befuddled. He was quite sure than he had fallen asleep inside a normal inn room, but right now, not only was freezing wind blowing in through a hole in the wall, there was a groaning stranger lying on the floor.

Moreover, the stranger had black eyes, lots of bruises on his face, and blood all over his nose and mouth.

“What happened? Who is this guy?” The smashed-up room indicated that a big fight had just occurred, and Kwak Moon-Jung simply couldn’t believe that he had slept peacefully throughout the whole chaos.

Jin Mu-Won explained, “You were put to sleep using a sedative called the Hundred Daydreams. I heard that once you consume it, you won’t ever wake up until you take the antidote.”

“Okay, then what about that guy?”

Jin Mu-Won nodded at Cheong-In, who raised his head and shouted as if on cue, “Cough! The Secret Moon will not be humiliated! Just kill me already, damn it!”

By now, Cheong-In had realized that Jin Mu-Won was not an opponent he could take down using brute force. His chances of winning were as slim as a dust cloud rising in the middle of a thunderstorm.

As for resisting? Hah, there was no point in him resisting unless his strength was at least on the same level as his opponent.

It was no competition. Although Cheong-In wasn’t weak by murim standards, Jin Mu-Won was something else.

How could such a monster exist…? I’ve spied on many martial artists, but I’ve never seen one like Jin Mu-Won.

To make things worse, Jin Mu-Won had one-sidedly beaten Cheong-In to a pulp without so much as touching Snow Flower. Even Cheong-In’s beloved poisoned weapon, the Eclipse Dagger, had shattered into pieces with one poke from Jin Mu-Won’s finger.

“Just hurry up and kill me already, you demon!”

“Is there truly a need for me to personally kill you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Even if I do nothing, the Black Moon will not stand still. When they find out that you were the culprit who leaked the information, do you honestly think that they would let you off the hook?”

“Hmph! They might do that, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll commit suicide long before they come and get me. A spy who cannot keep secrets doesn’t deserve to live. I don’t know what information you pried from me, but you’ll get nothing more from me once I’m dead.”

Jin Mu-Won nodded at Cheong-In’s grim expression and pulled over a chair, asking, “Still, do you really need to commit suicide?”

“Just what are you trying to say?”

“The Black Moon wants information about me, but I don’t want information about the Black Moon.”

“Huh?”

“What I want is information about the unusual events in Yunnan and the masterminds behind it all.”

Cheong-In’s eyes glittered. Only now did he understand what Jin Mu-Won was getting at.

“In that case…?”

“What do you say we form a temporary alliance until we both get what we want?”

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