Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1350

Sizzle.

Boiled water from a portable gas burner poured into a paper cup.

Jang Pil-jae handed Kang Jin-ho the coffee he had stirred with a coffee mix packet.

“Here you go.”

Kang Jin-ho wordlessly took the paper cup.

Then, Lee Hyun-soo frowned.

“You don’t seem to know, but the Guild Master prefers high-end coffee…”

Slurp.

Kang Jin-ho took a couple of sips of the coffee, then slumped back with a look of bliss, like he was in a hot spring.

“Ah… this is it.”

Was this a construction site?

Jang Pil-jae grinned.

“These days, this is the taste of home.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded repeatedly as if in agreement. Lee Hyun-soo, the only one who didn’t share this sentiment, just wore a sulky expression.

“Coffee all tastes the same.”

“It’s different.”

“It is different.”

If you guys say so, then it must be so.

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the yellow coffee mix packet with a subtle expression.

‘The taste of home, huh.’

No, it kind of resonates with me…

Am I agreeing with this?

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head and looked at Jang Pil-jae with a sharp gaze. Then, Jang Pil-jae made another cup of coffee and offered it to Lee Hyun-soo.

“I won’t drink it.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“What if it’s poisoned?”

“He’s drinking it.”

That guy could swallow a whole cyanide pill and be fine! He’s a different species from a fragile person like me, a different species!

Kang Jin-ho gestured with his chin.

“It’s okay to drink.”

“Ah, there’s no poison or anything?”

“No. If there was poison, I’d just get revenge for you.”

What about my life that’s already gone?

This guy is going to be trouble.

Jang Pil-jae wiped around his nose.

“There’s no reason to bring you all the way here just to poison you.”

Jang Pil-jae glanced around.

“This place is like my last resort.”

“A last resort, huh…”

Lee Hyun-soo gave a wry smile.

The place they were sitting was a village located a bit outside of Beijing. To put it nicely, it was a small village in the outskirts; to put it badly…

‘A slum.’

Lee Hyun-soo frowned, looking at the ceiling that seemed like it would collapse at any moment.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s even 30 minutes away from Beijing.”

“There used to be many places like this in between. They just bulldozed them all when they had the Olympics or whatever. The richer the neighborhood, the more miserable the slums tend to be.”

That makes sense.

When they first entered this village, it felt like they had gone back in time by about 50 years. Old wooden buildings that looked like they were about to collapse, just like in the movies, stood precariously.

The problem was that these buildings, which should be demolished immediately, were packed with people. Laundry hanging on the railings and people busily going back and forth caught Lee Hyun-soo’s attention.

“Is it okay for a spy to live in a place with so many people?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. People are less noticeable when they hide among other people. Hiding in a secret space is something you only see in movies. Frankly, this is a foreign country, how am I supposed to make a secret space? The Chinese aren’t blind.”

Well, that’s true.

Jang Pil-jae slurped his coffee.

Looking at Jang Pil-jae, who was drinking coffee with worn-out clothes and a face covered in grime, made it clear how amazing these local informants were.

This wasn’t just good camouflage; he was a natural-born Chinese. Even the people living around him would never suspect that Jang Pil-jae was an outsider. He looked like a local through and through.

“But do you actually live here?”

“I don’t have a fixed address. I go here today, there tomorrow. I’m a traveling worker, so even if I only come back once a month, no one suspects anything. Sometimes, I come back to find something stolen, though.”

“Then is this place safe?”

“It has been so far… but where in the world is there a place that’s safe forever? A place that’s safe today might not be safe tomorrow. No, even right now.”

Slurp.

Jang Pil-jae took a sip of his coffee and chuckled.

“Well, it probably doesn’t matter. This place is useless now.”

“Huh?”

“They’re probably looking for me with their eyes burning right now. I’ve become someone who can’t go back either.”

Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head.

Why would they be looking for Jang Pil-jae?

“Explain it in detail. We’re in the same boat, so we need to know now.”

“Same boat…”

Jang Pil-jae wore a subtle expression.

It wasn’t that he didn’t acknowledge that they were in the same boat, but the nuance of the words made Jang Pil-jae tense.

When these words come out, it’s usually because the situation has been pushed to the limit.

“About that rendezvous point.”

“Yes.”

“It’s fake.”

“…Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Jang Pil-jae as if asking what he meant.

“The rendezvous point reported to the higher-ups is somewhere else. Everyone else except me has already gone there.”

Jang Pil-jae took out his cell phone from his pocket. The cell phone was off.

“They’re probably looking for me like crazy right now.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Jang Pil-jae with a confused expression.

“No, why?”

“How would I know?”

Jang Pil-jae snorted and slightly gritted his teeth.

“I didn’t know until I received that. No, I didn’t even know before I handed it over.”

“That would be?”

“I gave it to you, the smart pad.”

“Ah…”

“You were ordered to physically destroy it, right?”

“I was.”

“It wasn’t because they were worried it would fall into Chinese hands, but because they were worried it would be recovered by our side. That thing is programmed to change all the files based on a specific time.”

“When we checked it, it showed a different location. The changed location was displayed when I handed it over to you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Lee Jong-wook thought this could happen and set it up in advance?”

“No. It means I’m screwed.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s cheek twitched slightly.

“Damn it, if you had told me earlier, I could have prepared myself. They made me deliver a file that deceived the higher-ups, and now they’re telling me it’s irreversible? Is that even right? He’s a superior, but he’s still young…”

I want to cut him off for saying something useless, but the words coming out are too pathetic.

“Even if I contact them now and say it’s not my fault, I’m screwed as an informant here anyway, and I won’t get proper compensation. I’ll have to go back to Korea and retire… then who’s going to compensate for this face and my youth? Damn it.”

“…That’s life.”

Jang Pil-jae wiped his eyes.

He was careful even with falling leaves in his old age, but this wasn’t just being caught in a fallen tree; it was like the ground suddenly exploded and he was thrown off a cliff. He was hanging onto the cliff with just one finger, but he didn’t know when that finger would lose its grip.

“You said we were in the same boat, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“That’s what I should be saying.”

A determined light appeared on Jang Pil-jae’s face.

“Now that it’s come to this, all I can do is get you guys back to Korea somehow. Then, this Director Lee might gain power, and even if he doesn’t, you guys will take care of me, right?”

Jang Pil-jae made a coin shape with his thumb and index finger.

“Please.”

Looking at Jang Pil-jae, it felt like all the images of overseas informants were being shattered.

But…

‘No, it’s because he’s this kind of person that he can be an informant overseas.’

The sense of reality and the precarious tightrope walking, not caring about face or anything else. It was obvious that his survival rate would be extremely high compared to someone who just kept their mouth shut and acted serious.

“Don’t worry. If you can’t get a line to that side, I’ll make you the Guild Master’s secretary.”

“Me?”

Kang Jin-ho pointed at himself and asked back. Kang Jin-ho also looked a bit wronged.

“…Anyway, I’ll make sure you work at the General Assembly.”

“With a high salary.”

“Good grief.”

Lee Hyun-soo laughed.

He had to learn this kind of shamelessness.

“So, to summarize, among the informants in China, you’re the only one acting separately under Lee Jong-wook’s orders?”

“That’s right.”

“And probably, the other informants know that fact and are looking for you like crazy?”

“That’s accurate.”

“Then, if we had gone to that rendezvous point, what would have happened?”

Jang Pil-jae snorted lowly.

“I don’t know. However, one thing is certain…”

“Yes.”

“Until I cut off contact, there were continuous signs of the other side moving.”

“The other side, you mean?”

“The People’s Liberation Army.”

Jang Pil-jae shrugged.

“Or the Chinese Communist Army, as it’s commonly known?”

Lee Hyun-soo gritted his teeth.

“So, they passed information to the Chinese Communist Army to catch us? And they’re even working together?”

“That’s right.”

“Those bastards…”

Jang Pil-jae looked at Lee Hyun-soo, who was grinding his teeth, with a strange look.

“Why are you angry?”

“Of course, I’m angry. They have nothing better to do than work with the Chinese.”

“They’ve been cooperating with the Chinese for decades.”

“…Huh?”

“They growl at each other in front, but they work together behind the scenes. They curse each other behind their backs, but they smile and shake hands in front. Isn’t that politics, diplomacy, and international relations? It’s nothing new.”

Jang Pil-jae was right. If it had happened to someone else, Lee Hyun-soo would have accepted it naturally.

“It’s normal to laugh when someone else gets hit, but it hurts when you get hit. People don’t realize it until they become victims. Not until their own skin is torn and their bones are broken.”

Lee Hyun-soo took a deep breath.

“You talk like you’ve been hit a few times.”

“I’ve been hit countless times.”

Jang Pil-jae smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.

“We work for the country. Conversely, there’s probably no one who sees the dirty side of the country more than we do, and no one who hates the country more. Our lives are worth less than a pawn on a chessboard in their eyes. Pawns on a chessboard are removed when they’re no longer useful, but for us, it’s just the beginning after we’re removed.”

Jang Pil-jae’s eyes flashed with a chilling light.

“There’s nowhere in the world that will protect your life. If it’s come to this, you have to protect it with your own hands.”

Lee Hyun-soo quietly looked at Jang Pil-jae and nodded.

Despite his ridiculous appearance, this man was also someone who lived on the front lines.

And now, he was someone he had to become a comrade with.

“Did you say you have to protect it with your own hands?” Then, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“That’s right.”

“Remember those words.”

Then, he slowly got up from his seat.

“…Huh?”

“It seems like it wasn’t a good hiding place. Or maybe the other side was already considering that you might betray them.”

Jang Pil-jae’s eyes wavered.

He realized what Kang Jin-ho’s words meant.

“Damn it.”

Jang Pil-jae quickly assessed the situation.

“There’s a jeep behind the building. It looks shabby on the outside, but it’s tuned up on the inside, so it’s fast. If we can just get there, we can get out of here.”

“That’s good.”

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth.

“Is it this way?”

“Yes. Go out the door and to the other side…”

“Get down!”

Lee Hyun-soo rushed at Jang Pil-jae, grabbed him, and threw himself to the ground.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The sound of gunfire, which would have been exciting in a movie, relentlessly pounded their eardrums.

Kang Jin-ho, with his eyes lowered, pulled out his Red Lotus [a type of weapon] and aimed it in the direction Jang Pil-jae had pointed.

“Lee Hyun-soo.”

“Yes! Guild Master!”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

KWA-A-A-A-A-A-ANG!

Kang Jin-ho, who had blown away the entire wall, threw himself out of the building. A demon with two pairs of black wings spread out into the dark night sky where not a single star could be seen.