100.a woman with sorrow in her eyes.
After passing through the outer gate and the inner middle gate, Lee Hee entered the wide courtyard within, where a beautiful woman stood waiting for him.
She was the Supreme General's wife, a woman with sorrow in her eyes.
Lee Hee stopped midway across the courtyard and knelt on one knee in formal military salute.
It was the same salute he would have offered to Jin Muwang himself.
She appeared to be in her early forties, with pale skin and cold, sharp eyes.
She had clearly been waiting.
"I have been waiting. May I speak with you for a moment, General Lee?"
Her voice was cold as well.
It carried a force that stilled the heart.
"I should have come to you first. I was delayed by matters outside. Please speak."
"It is not suitable to talk here. Please come inside. I will guide you."
"Yes."
She led him to her private chamber, crossing several gates and courtyards into the inner compound of the Jin estate.
Lee Hee called So-un, who had been lingering in the yard, to follow them.
The naive and gentle youth followed without understanding why.
Lee Hee had made the decision deliberately.
It would not do to be alone with his superior's widow, especially if whispers could arise.
This was to be a private conversation, and yet not one that could invite scandal.
Lee Hee had already resolved that he would tell her the truth.
Not the parents.
He saw no need to burden the elderly with further shock.
Seeing her face, he decided she could endure it.
She possessed strength of will.
Had she been an ordinary woman prone to wailing and collapse, he would never have spoken.
Even the head of the household, Jin Musik, was unpredictable in how he might react upon hearing the full truth.
They sat across from each other at a round table.
Lady Lee So-gun spoke first.
"What happened? How could he have died?"
"One moment."
Lee Hee did not answer.
Instead, he surveyed the room.
He turned to So-un.
The lady's eyes widened.
Something in Lee Hee's expression had shifted.
"Scholar Yu. Check whether there is another presence nearby."
Lee Hee now fully acknowledged So-un's martial ability.
He asked for his help without hesitation.
So-un closed his eyes briefly and steadied his breathing.
His finger pointed toward a corner of the room.
He nodded to Lee Hee.
Lee Hee drew his short sword.
So-un drew his blade as well.
The tension tightened.
So-un, as always, broke it with disarming innocence.
"Can I kill him?"
Despite the tension, the question was utterly sincere.
A short laugh escaped Lee Hee.
"To approach a hidden enemy in secret and ask whether he may kill him—"
"I don't know… not sure."
Lee Hee had not yet sensed the enemy clearly.
The exact position remained uncertain.
"Then I'll handle it myself."
So-un spun his sword once above his head and thrust forward.
In the narrow space, his uncontrolled qi shattered objects in the room.
A porcelain vase beside the table exploded.
With a sharp crash, the blade drove into the space between window and wall.
The sword struck something near the wall and rang sharply, but it did not withdraw.
It forced its way deeper—into the narrow gap between the supporting beam and the back wall, a space where no man should have fit.
Lady So-gun gasped, "No—"
"Ugh!"
A man in black clothing burst out from the hidden space and collapsed onto the floor.
So-un moved to strike again, but Lee Hee stopped him.
"Don't destroy the furnishings…"
"Yes."
The boy possessed strength, but not yet control.
He had once hacked down trees across entire hillsides without restraint.
Now, in a confined room, delicate objects paid the price.
Lee Hee cast an awkward glance toward Lady So-gun.
So-un reduced his qi, stepped forward in short strides, and stabbed the writhing man through the leg.
There was not even a scream.
Those who worked in shadows rarely possessed true martial skill.
Once dragged into the open, they were less than insects.
"I thought killing him might not be necessary… heh."
Lee Hee stepped in and subdued the man completely.
Black clothing.
A narrow assassin's blade.
As expected.
He removed the mask.
The man appeared somewhat older.
Lee Hee immediately checked his mouth to prevent suicide.
Then he called his subordinates and ordered the man taken outside.
The fact that the intruder had penetrated the Supreme General's private chamber meant there were likely others elsewhere.
Lee Hee felt a chill.
He himself had not sensed the man's presence at all.
Gyeong-pil dragged the captive away and asked,
"What shall we do with him?"
"Tie him up and give him a hundred lashes."
"What should we ask him?"
"There is nothing to ask. Beat him and he will speak. Write down everything he says and have him sign it."
"And if he refuses?"
"There will be others to listen. If he will not confess, then sever the sinews of all four limbs. Make certain he can never do this again… He is a Black Sword dog."
The man's eyes widened.
They were speaking about him openly.
No interrogation.
No questions.
Just beating, then crippling.
As they dragged him out, he wet himself.
Few men remain silent when they understand their fate.
A hundred lashes could kill.
He glanced back at Lee Hee.
Lee Hee added not even the smallest measure of human mercy.