Chapter 28: Heuksangbang Raid-2
Chapter 28: Heuksangbang Raid-2
This matter began when Ma Jong-hwan, one of the era's most renowned physicians, received a commission from Heuksangdo-gaek Go Ju-yong, master of Heuksangbang — a faction that was a subordinate to the Eight Great Families of Guizhou and the ruler of Guizhou Fortress's southwestern region — to manufacture spirit medicine.
Ma Jong-hwan, who had been promised a substantial reward and manufactured spirit medicine of excellent quality as his reputation suggested, performed his craft so superbly that Heuksangdo-gaek Go Ju-yong proposed that Ma Jong-hwan swear allegiance to Heuksangbang.
However, Ma Jong-hwan, who had originally been renowned as the foremost among the wandering doctors of the jianghu, could hardly have been impressed by Heuksangbang, the mere ruler of some backwater corner of Guizhou.
Naturally, he refused, and Heuksangdo-gaek Go Ju-yong consequently came to harbor a grudge against Ma Jong-hwan.
So, while conducting a background investigation to seize upon Ma Jong-hwan's weakness, he discovered the fact that Ma Jong-hwan had recently been attempting to manufacture spirit pills using his own secret method.
The truth was that the reason he had manufactured spirit medicine under Go Ju-yong's commission had been because he needed money to produce the spirit pills.
There was no way Go Ju-yong, having learned this fact, would stay still. He secretly tracked Ma Jong-hwan, waited until the spirit pills were fully complete, and then ambushed him.
Ma Jong-hwan, whose martial arts were not entirely weak, managed to escape with the spirit pills, but unfortunately, his two children did not fare as well.
His two daughters (there were also rumors that they were a son and a daughter, not two daughters) had been captured by Go Ju-yong.
Go Ju-yong naturally used his two daughters as hostages to threaten Ma Jong-hwan.
If he wanted his children to live, he was to obediently hand over the spirit pills.
In such a situation, an ordinary father would have tearfully exchanged the spirit pills for his two daughters, but unfortunately, Ma Jong-hwan was no ordinary father.
So eccentric was his temperament that the character 'goe' — meaning strange or eccentric — was embedded within his very epithet: Saengsagoeui Ma Jong-hwan.
Enraged, rather than handing over the spirit pills, he instead used his own spirit pills to place a bounty throughout the entire martial world.
To whoever killed Heuksangdo-gaek Go Ju-yong, he would give five of his spirit pills, superior even to Small Reversion Pills.
Startled, Go Ju-yong hurriedly mobilized the full strength of Heuksangbang and began pursuing him.
With one wrong move, his life could be targeted by masters whose burden he could not bear.
Now, he found himself in a position where he had to capture Ma Jong-hwan as quickly as possible, if only for his own survival.
When I explained up to this point, Bi Sa-yeong asked me with a face full of discontent.
"I understand your story well enough, but what does that have to do with us, who came out on our precious leave, hiding by the walls of Heuksangbang?"
At that question, I rebuked him with a deliberately stern expression.
"Sa-yeong! Could it be that you, as a disciple of the prestigious orthodox Bi Sect, heard this unrighteous tale and yet your blood did not boil?! If so, I cannot help but be disappointed in you! I have always taken pride in the very fact that I was learning the ultimate techniques of the Bi Sect, a renowned and prestigious orthodox sect, and yet how could you...!"
When I spoke to that point, Bi Sa-yeong squeezed his eyes shut and surrendered.
"Alright! Enough! I'll do it, I said I'll do it! If I just do it, that's fine, right!"
Then, when Bae Jong-gwan beside him tried to open his mouth to say something, I preempted him with a solemn expression.
"Jong-gwan, you who have mastered the Diamond Body Invulnerability Heart Art of the Geumgangbulgoe Sect, a prestigious and renowned orthodox sect, will naturally agree with my intentions, will you not? Am I wrong?"
Bae Jong-gwan, who had been about to speak, closed his mouth again and nodded with a deflated face.
At that moment, Squad Leader Seolpung, who had been listening beside us with a resigned expression, muttered.
"I'm not exactly from an orthodox sect..."
"Anyway! That is why we came all the way here — to establish true righteousness in this utterly unrighteous and inhuman situation!"
Of course, after establishing righteousness, I did plan to receive a few spirit pills as well, but that was not the important part.
What could be more important than righteousness, after all?
Beside me, Squad Leader Seolpung also muttered, 'I came because you said you'd treat us lavishly,' but I decided to pretend I had not heard.
Then Bi Sa-yeong asked.
"But even if that's the case, isn't it a bit strange that we're here? Shouldn't we have gone to find this man Saengsagoeui Ma Jong-hwan and help him instead? Why did we come here?"
I answered his question while wagging a finger.
"Tsk, tsk, think carefully. Why did Saengsagoeui Ma Jong-hwan not exchange the spirit pills for his children, but instead place a bounty on Heuksangdo-gaek Go Ju-yong?"
"Hmm... because he's eccentric?"
Bi Sa-yeong's answer might not have been entirely wrong.
In fact, everyone in the martial world believed just that.
I, too, would not have known if I lacked the memories of my previous life.
But I, who already knew what was to come, asked him in return in a low voice.
"If Saengsagoeui had handed over the spirit pills, would Go Ju-yong truly have released Saengsagoeui's daughters and the man himself? Not just a few spirit pills he currently possessed, but the very man who could continue to produce such spirit pills in the future?"
"...Huh?"
"Ahhh!"
"He has a point!"
Go Ju-yong, who had just recently stabbed a man he had business dealings with in the back, could not possibly have kept that promise.
Bi Sa-yeong spoke with an expression of just having understood.
"So Saengsagoeui knew that Heuksangdo-gaek would never keep his promise anyway."
"That's right. And there's one more thing. By doing this, he made Heuksangdo-gaek perceive his daughters as having no value as hostages. He made him lose interest."
"Ahhh, I see."
"Indeed. Now, his daughters will vanish from everyone's attention, and all focus will be solely on the spirit pills and Heuksangdo-gaek."
Squad Leader Seolpung and Bi Sa-yeong nodded with expressions of admiration.
Bae Jong-gwan glanced at me as if he still had not understood, but I decided to just pretend not to notice.
Well, understanding it on the spot was not what mattered, anyway.
In actuality, in my previous life, Ma Jong-hwan's intention had been about half successful.
Go Ju-yong and his subordinates were annihilated by the masters who came seeking the genuine spirit pills, after all.
However, when Go Ju-yong died, his enraged son Go Mu-sang killed Ma Jong-hwan's two daughters, and in the end, everything concluded as a tragedy.
At that time, Ma Jong-hwan had shed tears of blood and sworn to serve for life whoever ground Heuksangbang completely into dust.
And his vow was ultimately fulfilled alongside the vanished Heuksangbang.
Squad Leader Seolpung now spoke with a calm, comprehending gaze.
"Then our task must be to rescue Ma Jong-hwan's daughters first."
As expected of the squad leader.
I nodded with a faint smile.
"That's correct, Squad Leader."
Then Bi Sa-yeong asked.
"But how? No matter how you look at it, Heuksangbang is still one of the Guizhou Eight Great Families, a faction counted among the best in all of Guizhou Fortress. Is such a thing possible with just us? And how are we to know where they are imprisoned?"
It was a good question.
It was precisely to find that out that I had stopped by the Hao Gate branch office earlier.
"See here, first, under normal circumstances, it would naturally have been difficult. But right now, Go Ju-yong is out leading the majority of the faction's strength. In short, this place is an empty house right now. Furthermore, I commissioned Hao Gate earlier and looked into the likely places where the daughters might be imprisoned. The anticipated locations are roughly three: the Thunder Prison, the warehouse, and a secret vault said to be in Go Ju-yong's residence. We will split up and hit these three locations."
I drew a rough layout of Heuksangbang on the dirt ground and marked the locations of the three places.
"The Thunder Prison side seems to be the most heavily guarded. So, Squad Leader, you take the Thunder Prison side. The warehouse side is somewhat less busy, so Sa-yeong, you take that side. I will hit the secret vault in Go Ju-yong's residence."
At my words, the squad leader and Bi Sa-yeong's eyes gleamed as they nodded. Then Bae Jong-gwan glanced at me and asked.
"Uh, then what about me? What should I do?"
Receiving the question, I looked intently into his eyes and answered.
"Good question, Jong-gwan. You are going to have to do the most important job, something only you can do."
"Th-the most important job?"
***
At the main gate of Heuksangbang, eight warriors wearing their blades were yawning as they stood guard.
"Night duty two days in a row, there isn't a place on my body that doesn't ache."
"Is that all? We have to stand it again tomorrow, don't we? If that bastard Saengsagoeui isn't caught, we might have to keep standing it long after, too."
"Just thinking about it is ghastly. All this hardship because of that raccoon-like bastard. I do wish he gets caught soon."
"Hmph! Strictly speaking, that guy did nothing wrong. Wasn't this because of the faction leader's greed to steal his elixir? On top of that, it was the faction leader who dragged nearly all the personnel out just to catch that one bastard."
"Hey now, have you gone mad? What if someone hears you!"
"Who's going to hear? There's no one here but us. Come to think of it, they say Saengsagwoe-ui's daughters are quite pretty — want to go sneak a taste when no one's around?"
"Heh heh heh! You're truly insane."
That was when they were chatting idly.
In the darkened clearing up ahead, a massive shadow revealed itself.
"Wait! What is that?!"
"Huh?!"
As the gate guards fixed their tense gazes forward, they soon realized that the massive shadow was a muscular giant.
The giant, with an imposing physique, was tromping toward the main gate.
Once it became certain that his destination was the main gate of Heuksangbang, one of the gate guards shouted.
"Halt! State your identity and business! What business brings you to Heuksangbang at this time of night?!"
Then the giant, who had stopped squarely in place, spoke.
"I am called Bae Jong-gwan of the Geumgangbulgoe Sect! Having long admired Heuksangbang in my heart, I came here straight from the mountains, wishing to join the faction! Let me meet the Bangju!"
At such an absurdly sudden declaration, the gate guards gaped in disbelief.
"Geumgang... what was that? Geumgangbulgoe Sect?"
"You came to enlist? In the dead of night?"
"And on top of that, you want to meet the Bangju? Is he insane?"
But Bae Jong-gwan, who had been instructed by Seonwoo Jin to be utterly shameless no matter what, paid no heed to their reactions.
He simply shouted again, even louder.
"I have come a long way on foot to reach this place! Let me meet the Bangju at once!"
One of the warriors, grimacing at the booming voice, tried to reason with him.
"Look. If you want to enlist, come back when it's daylight. If you raise a ruckus like this in the dead of night, it could invite misunderstandings, could it not? Besides, how can you meet the Bangju just because you say you've come to enlist? He's someone even we rarely get to meet."
The gate guard's words were perfectly logical.
It was an exceedingly difficult question for Bae Jong-gwan to respond to with quick wits.
But Seonwoo Jin had already prepared for this.
He had told him to simply ignore any complicated questions.
Bae Jong-gwan paid absolutely no attention to what the warrior had just said and shouted again.
"I am Bae Jong-gwan, disciple of the Geumgangbulgoe Sect! Let me meet the Bangju at once! I said let me meet him now!"
The gate guards finally realized that something was off about this man.
They now began to threaten Bae Jong-gwan with menacing expressions.
"Shut your mouth! If you really want to enlist, come back in the daylight! If you cause any more commotion, I'll cut you down!"
At that, Bae Jong-gwan snorted with genuine derision.
"Cut me down? The likes of you? Hahaha! How laughable!"
At the sight of Bae Jong-gwan bursting into laughter and sneering, the gate guards grew truly enraged.
After all, the warriors of the unorthodox Heuksangbang were not exactly known for their patience.
"This bastard! Truly a wretch who needs to see blood to come to his senses!"
With that cry, one of the gate guards truly lunged at Bae Jong-gwan and drew his blade.
"Hyaaap!"
But the very next moment, he immediately realized something was wrong.
Clang!
"Ugh?!"
The sensation and sound of cutting into a body felt somehow strange.
Just as he was flustered by the blade and hand vibrating as if he had struck an iron pillar, Bae Jong-gwan fixed him with a terrifying glare and spoke.
"Did you really think you could cut me?!"
Then he seized the man's body with one hand, yanking him up, and hoisted him into the air.
"Uwaaahk! Y-you bastard!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
No matter how wildly the warrior slashed his blade against Bae Jong-gwan's arm, it was utterly useless.
Only the sound of striking metal rang out.
After hoisting the warrior aloft, Bae Jong-gwan promptly hurled him with all his might toward the main gate.
The warrior screamed as he flew through the air.
"Uwaaaaahk!"
Kwaaang!
The main gate shuddered violently with a tremendous noise.
The warrior who had slammed into the main gate with his own body was sliding limply to the ground, flattened out like a frog.
A body that produced only the sound of metal even when struck with a blade, combined with monstrous strength that could fling a man like a pebble with one hand.
The gate guards could no longer take him lightly.
They immediately drew their blades and began to surround Bae Jong-gwan.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
"Don't move!"
"How dare you run wild at the main gate of Heuksangbang!"
At that, Bae Jong-gwan shouted as if feeling wronged.
"Who ran wild?! Did that man not strike me first?!"
At that moment, the main gate opened and Yo Jeok-sam, the patrol leader of Heuksangbang, came rushing out.
"What is this commotion?!"
The warriors brightened upon seeing his face.
But it was Bae Jong-gwan who spoke first.
"I am Bae Jong-gwan of the Geumgangbulgoe Sect! I came to enlist in Heuksangbang, but these men struck me with a blade without any warning!"
This, too, was by Seonwoo Jin's instruction.
Whenever someone who looked high-ranking appeared, he had been told to unconditionally claim he had been unjustly attacked.
At Bae Jong-gwan's words, Yo Jeok-sam's eyes went wide and he looked at the warriors.
"Is what he says true?"
Then the warriors immediately began sweating profusely and making excuses.
"N-no. That is...."
***
In the quiet night sky, a booming voice and the crashing sound of Kwaang! echoed faintly.
It seemed Bae Jong-gwan had started.
I glanced left and right and spoke briefly.
"Let's go!"
Clad in black, we shot up like birds of prey and silently vaulted over the wall, stealthy as night-faring cats.
Not a single sound could be heard.
We exchanged glances in greeting, then scattered in an instant to our assigned directions.
I was assigned the front.
While I moved stealthily between the buildings, I encountered almost no one wandering about.
It was a clear sign that Heuksangbang was short on manpower.
But moving furtively while dodging the few people I did encounter, I finally arrived at a three-story pavilion where proper guards were deployed.
That appeared to be the Bangju's residence.
Four warriors guarded the main entrance, and four more circled the building on patrol.
With the security quite tight, infiltrating from the rear seemed preferable to the main gate, so I hid quietly at the back of the building and watched for an opening.
But the patrolling warriors had no blind spots in their sightlines, more than I had expected. They were moving like meshing gears.
I suddenly recalled books I had read in my father's study.
Among them were books on the secret arts of assassins.
Volumes detailing stealth techniques and infiltration methods.
What did they say again?
The best strategy for infiltration was a diversion — feint east, strike west, was it?
I quietly slipped away, climbed onto the rooftop of another quiet building, then returned a short while later.
And I waited.
I had plucked a single roof tile and hung it by a blade of grass — soon enough, the grass, unable to bear the weight, would snap.
Then the tile would fall.
Per-seok!
Just like that.
"What was that sound?!"
"Who goes there?!"
The patrol guards immediately shouted and dashed toward the noise.
"What? It's just a fallen roof tile."
"Why would an intact tile fall?"
"Maybe it was damaged during that gale the other day? We should inform the inner hall and have it repaired later."
"Damn, that startled me. Especially with things so noisy at the main gate."
By the time they checked the tile and returned, I was already inside the pavilion, having climbed through a second-story window.
The window had been latched, but releasing sword qi through the crack to slice the latch without a sound wasn't terribly difficult.
As expected, no one was on the second floor of the pavilion.
I moved without a sound, taking the stairs up to the third floor.
I'd been told that the Bangju's quarters were on the third floor.
The third floor, too, was silent.
I had heard that Heuksangbangju Go Ju-yong hated having anyone come to his private quarters and kept everyone away — and sure enough, it seemed that was true.
I smiled in satisfaction and quietly eased the door to the Bangju's room open. That was when it happened.
I found myself locking eyes with a young man sitting on the Bangju's bed, stripped utterly bare.
"Huk!"
Both of our eyes grew wide as if about to burst from our sockets as we stared at each other.