The First Move
The throwing knife came not for my chest but for my right shoulder. I twisted my upper body and let it pass with ease.
Then I sensed movement behind me. I turned, half-swinging my scabbard, and froze.
One of the little assassins had a knife buried in his throat and was coughing up blood as he collapsed. Too precise a strike to call it an accident.
I backed toward the wall and turned my head.
Among the venomous little killers surrounding me with blades in hand, only Pung O-bok wore a different expression.
That brat hadn’t thrown the knife at me. He’d aimed at the little assassin creeping up on me from behind.
He must have figured that someone of my skill would be able to dodge it easily enough.
The little assassin and I had been far enough apart that a blade from him shouldn’t have been able to reach. He didn’t need to help me, so why had he done it?
Was he trying to show me, through action, what he hadn’t been able to say yesterday?
I gave a small nod to show I understood, and an awkward smile appeared at the corner of Pung O-bok’s mouth.
It was like a faint shaft of light in a dark, blood-soaked mire.
Then Pung O-bok sucked in a sharp breath and widened his eyes. One of the quick-witted little assassins had stabbed him in the back.
Pung O-bok spun and hurled a punch. The brat who took it square in the face drove his blade into Pung O-bok’s abdomen with savage determination.
Pung O-bok tried to counter, but he had nothing in his hands. He was stabbed once more and went down.
I slammed the little bastards aside with my scabbard and rushed over.
The reason these little assassins were frightening was simple: they let their target relax, swarmed in close, then attacked all at once.
No matter how skilled you were, it wasn’t easy to deal with an assault like that.
There was no martial artist in the world who would let them get close from the start, or who’d be helpless against a mob of brats if they met head-on.
I flailed my scabbard without mercy, driving them back, then grabbed Pung O-bok by the collar and dragged him away as he collapsed.
By then Bok Ha-gyu had taken one cut as well, but he’d recovered enough to start beating down the attackers one by one with his sword sheath and fists.
He seemed to feel the same way I did: no matter how shitty the situation was, he didn’t want to stain his blade with children’s blood.
That wasn’t some soft feeling like pity or guilt.
It was the bare minimum of pride a man carried when he’d walked this far with a sword in his hand.
From the alley leading to the Black Night Gang headquarters, three Black Dao men came running at the sound of the commotion.
They stared in disbelief at the leader fighting children and the brutally slaughtered bodies of their companions, then drew their blades.
“Leader!”
“Those damned bastards! Kill them all!”
With their eyes gone wild, they butchered the little assassins without mercy.
They weren’t particularly fine swordsmen, but they were martial artists who had killed before.
No matter how harshly a killer had been trained, they were still only half-grown children.
They had no way to stop long blades swung by grown men who were bigger and stronger than they were.
Seven children died in an instant.
The Assassin Society wouldn’t care. There were plenty of orphans scattered across the Central Plains; they’d just gather more and train them again.
Fweet!
One of the children blew a whistle.
The little assassins reacted like hounds scenting prey. The ones still able to walk spun around and fled in a rush beyond the alley.
The Black Night Gang men sheathed their bloodied blades and hurried to support Bok Ha-gyu.
I strapped my long saber back at my waist with the scabbard still on, lifted Pung O-bok’s shirt, and checked the wounds.
Blood was pooled everywhere. He’d been stabbed in at least three places for sure.
“M-master... cough-cough, my family’s money...”
“I said shut up. You’ll live if you just get treated.”
I applied coagulant powder and wrapped his lower belly and waist tightly in bandages. Whether he’d live or not was something the doctor would have to determine.
I wiped the blood off my hands on the remaining bandage and stood up.
Bok Ha-gyu was staring blankly down at the corpses of his men, now nothing more than blood-soaked lumps.
It wasn’t as if a martial artist being cut down by a blade was anything unusual. But being murdered by children was another matter entirely.
The sight of those bodies sprawled in the crimson dusk looked like something torn straight from a nightmare.
Even dead, the children still hadn’t let go of the blades wrapped around their hands.
I’d only heard of child assassins before; this was my first time seeing them myself.
I’d wandered the Central Plains as a drifter and fought all sorts of trash, but I’d never gone up against assassins from the Assassin Society.
Even Bok Ha-gyu seemed to be seeing this for the first time. If he’d had any experience with them, he would’ve been more cautious.
They’d been ordinary beggars and nothing more than children, so neither of us had taken them seriously. That was the fatal mistake.
Even so, it was absurdly easy for them to get the drop on us.
When you thought about it, I was no different.
If not for that sharp, sticky aura coiling through the air, I’d never have thought to swing my scabbard and create distance.
What on earth had that feeling been just now? Had learning internal energy sharpened my senses?
“Are you all right?”
Bok Ha-gyu couldn’t answer right away. More than the wound in his leg, he still seemed unable to believe he’d been bested by a bunch of kids.
“To think I got stabbed by a bunch of brats... and made a fool of myself. I won’t even be able to show my face in Seochon after this...”
If word of today’s incident got out, the Black Night Gang would be humiliated beyond measure. That much was obvious.
They’d be mocked as vicious bastards who slaughtered little beggars, and laughed at as idiots who got themselves killed after bullying children.
Everyone would enjoy the gossip and chew on it over drinks.
It made no difference that those kids had been trained assassins. The fact remained that they’d been beaten by children.
“It was the Assassin Society.”
“Probably. Those damned old geezers... I should’ve chased them down and cut the last breath out of them...”
I didn’t need to ask who had hired the Assassin Society. It was obvious.
“These bastards were sent by Cheongun Martial Arts Academy.”
Bok Ha-gyu snapped his head toward me.
“Cheongun Martial Arts Academy?”
“I recognized one of those little assassins. He’d said he’d gone to the academy, and that’s how he ended up.”
“We should clean them out before it’s too late.”
The blood in Bok Ha-gyu’s eyes flashed with murderous intent as he ground his teeth.
“This isn’t the time to worry about that. If Im Ja-gyeon and Seon Do-mu find out you were ambushed and injured, do you think they’ll sit still?”
Those bastards had already been licking their chops, waiting for a chance to shove Jeok Chu-yeong aside and seize the Black Night Gang. There was no way they’d miss an opportunity like this.
If they moved fast, it could be tonight. At the latest, within a few days they’d try to wipe out Bok Ha-gyu and even Jeok Chu-yeong.
Coincidentally, some of Bok Ha-gyu’s men were away from headquarters, taking over the Blood Sand Gang’s businesses.
“So?”
“There’s someone after Pan Ho-yang, the guest Im Ja-gyeon brought in some time ago.”
Bok Ha-gyu’s eyes twitched.
“You mean to make use of someone else’s knife?”
“Our target is the same. What’s wrong with joining hands for a little while? Are you planning to just sit there and wait for them to strike first? I want to see the Black Gang leader alive.”
If I went in with Bok Ha-gyu now, I could meet Jeok Chu-yeong.
The problem was what came after that.
If things went sideways, I might get attacked along with Bok Ha-gyu, and the Black Night Gang could become a place of death in an instant.
It would be safer to confront Jeok Chu-yeong while Won Seo-gang and the others were wreaking havoc on the other side.
And if things went badly, I might even have to kidnap Jeok Chu-yeong, so it would be better to have a few people on hand to help.
Bok Ha-gyu stared toward the Black Night Gang headquarters with a hard expression, then slowly drew in a breath.
“...I’ll give you an answer by tonight.”
“Send a man to Poongcheon Inn. Not the Drifter’s Inn.”
I lifted Pung O-bok with both hands and left the alley where the children’s bodies lay scattered.
I knew where Pung O-bok lived, but it was too far. I didn’t have the confidence to carry my unconscious son home to Pung Chil after he’d been stabbed.
First I needed a doctor. Fortunately, there was one in Seochon I could trust.
*
I stopped the bleeding, applied medicine, and wrapped the wounds in bandages.
Doctor Sang washed his hands in silence after finishing the treatment by mixing the powdered medicine into water and forcing it down him.
Pung O-bok was still unconscious. Fever shook him so badly that he trembled, as though he were walking along the edge between life and death.
“Will he be all right?”
“For now, I’ve done everything I can.”
“Will he live?”
Doctor Sang carefully explained Pung O-bok’s condition.
“He was stabbed in several places, but fortunately the wounds aren’t all that deep. There’s no black or cloudy discoloration in the blood he’s lost, so the blade seems to have missed any vital organs. As for the amount of blood he lost, I can’t do anything about that. We’ll have to wait and see when he wakes.”
Doctor Sang had saved Gu-sam before, too, after he’d been beaten senseless and fallen unconscious. This time, I could only trust him again.
I left an ounce of silver and headed to Poongcheon Inn.
Ideally, I wanted to handle the Black Night Gang business at the Drifter’s Inn, but I couldn’t spend the night there.
Poongcheon Inn was packed with evening guests.
Since I’d never come at this hour before, Gu-sam tilted his head when he saw me.
“Got a vacant room?”
“A room? I do, but you’re not actually planning to stay, are you?”
“If anyone asks for me, tell them right away.”
I paid generously and stretched out on the bed in the room.
Once I’d relaxed and stared up at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
How had things gotten tangled up like this?
What if Bok Ha-gyu had taken me to the front gate instead of the back door? Would the little assassins have been waiting there too?
If there hadn’t been any little assassins, I might have met Jeok Chu-yeong by now...
Maybe it was for the best. Anyone could see that the Black Night Gang was on the verge of internal conflict.
If Jeok Chu-yeong wasn’t in any condition to talk, then Bok Ha-gyu would have to make the first move and seize the Black Night Gang if he wanted to keep it alive.
Bok Ha-gyu knew that very well. The fact that he hadn’t taken long to think it over said as much.
About half a shichen later, Gu-sam knocked on the room door.
When I went downstairs, one of Bok Ha-gyu’s men was waiting at the back entrance. He delivered the message orally rather than in writing.
“Tonight, at the beginning of the Chou hour. He said to come through the back gate.”
“Tonight? Are you sure?”
“Certain.”
At the beginning of the Chou hour, there were only two shichen left. If we were going to answer, we had to move quickly.
Fortunately, Won Seo-gang hadn’t gone anywhere and was still holed up in the annex at Simhyangru.
“Tonight, let’s go over the wall.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? All of a sudden?”
He still didn’t know what had happened in the back alleys.
I explained it calmly, piece by piece.
The little assassins from the Assassin Society. Bok Ha-gyu’s injury. The fact that he’d decided to strike first before the other two leaders could move.
Won Seo-gang’s bewildered expression slowly turned into a look of fierce delight.
“Well, this is turning into a very strange affair.”
“Is it possible? If not, we can push it to tomorrow.”
Won Seo-gang shook his head firmly.
“The fact that Bok Ha-gyu said tonight means the mood inside the Black Night Gang is anything but normal. Even if I were Im Ja-gyeon or Seon Do-mu, I wouldn’t let tonight pass quietly. If we miss this too, we may never get another chance. Let’s see it through tonight.”
“Will there be time to send word to the masters who’ll be coming with us?”
“There will. They’re all here.”
“...Here, in the annex?”
At my puzzled reaction, Won Seo-gang snorted.
“Is there anywhere better in Seochon to gather people without the neighbors sticking their noses in?”
“Who? Who exactly?”
Won Seo-gang clicked his tongue.
“For one, there’s a fellow from the Orthodox Faction with the epithet Hoyeongeom...”
I blinked in disbelief and cut him off.
“Hoyeongeom? You brought that man in?”
“You know Hoyeongeom?”
“I know him well.”
I told him how Hoyeongeom and his group had ambushed a carriage on Choe Sa-deuk’s orders and turned it into a murder-robbery.
Won Seo-gang stared at me with a serious expression.
“In case you were wondering, what we’re about to do now is climb over someone else’s wall. It’s theft. We’ll probably end up killing people too. They’re all Black Dao men, but murder is still murder. It’s a bit awkward for us to be condemning murderers and robbers, isn’t it?”
I wasn’t exactly pleased, but he wasn’t wrong.
“Just Hoyeongeom?”
“One more. A rather well-regarded righteous hero. I looked into him; his skill isn’t bad, and he’s definitely not the sort to stab us in the back. Come and see.”
Passing through the back garden and into the room across from it, I saw familiar faces.
A black-clad man in his thirties with a stern expression, and two young women about my age.
Hoyeongeom and his junior sisters.
We exchanged the usual greetings, and then I was left speechless.
A middle-aged man with the broad, heroic face of someone who looked every inch the righteous hero gave me a formal clasped-fist salute.
“I’m Hwang Gang-ju. It’s an honor to lend a hand in punishing the vicious band of Black Dao scum that suck the blood of ordinary folk.”
I didn’t know how much he’d been paid, but Hwang Gang-ju looked brighter than a lantern at a festival.
The difference between now and the back alley outside the martial tournament hall—when he’d been crushed by despair—was as wide as heaven and hell.
He was so fired up, like a junior hero heading off to suppress bandits, that he didn’t even recognize me, the one who’d written his name down for him at the tournament hall.
Once introductions were over, Won Seo-gang spoke.
“You must have been bored waiting all this time. Now the time has come, Hoyeongeom. Tonight we make our move.”
“Good. I was starting to feel uncomfortable stuffing myself for free while doing nothing.”
Hoyeongeom showed confidence, and Won Seo-gang turned his eyes to the next man.
“Are you ready, Hwang Daehyeop?”
“With nothing but righteous conduct untainted by shame and a single blade in hand, what more would I need?”
As Hwang Gang-ju declared the ambitions of a great hero, Won Seo-gang ended the brief exchange with a satisfied expression.
“Good. Then we depart in an hour and a half. The target is the Black Night Gang.”