Chapter 24: In the Jianghu, One's Body is Not One's Own (13)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 24: In the Jianghu, One's Body is Not One's Own (13)
Eun-yeong was an assassin.
Three years ago, she had been sent to Xinxing County on a mission. She wasn't meant for immediate deployment; her orders were simply to wait for further instructions.
However, the operation collapsed before it even began. The handler responsible for delivering Eun-yeong’s next set of orders was found as a cold corpse. In response, the higher-ups cut their losses and restructured the organization.
Eun-yeong was forgotten.
“……”
She endured in silence.
Once she exhausted the silver taels provided for the mission, she began sleeping on the streets and simply starved. The organization’s rules were absolute: avoid any action that might leave a trail before an assassination. No matter how hollow her stomach felt, she never resorted to theft or robbery.
“……”
Day by day, she wasted away. Even when she drank her fill from a well, the water did little to mask the gnawing emptiness in her gut.
“……”
Thud.
While wandering the streets of Xinxing County with no destination in mind, Eun-yeong finally collapsed. Her body grew cold, and her vision blurred. Just as a shadow began to fall over her world…
“Hey! Young lady! Are you all right?”
The courtesan Cho-ran leaped into her life.
* * *
“And that’s how it happened. This poor girl was left on the street like a kitten caught in the rain… Oh, Young Master, you should try this too. This is Green Robe Fried Chicken, the pride of Cheongun Pavilion. It’s fried chicken chilled in a tea-infused marinade. It’s refreshing, sweet, and chewy. Here, say ‘ah’—”
“I-I can feed myself.”
How did things end up like this?
Yeon So-wol’s head was spinning. When they had asked why he was here, he had simply explained that he was being chased by the Three Dogs of Xinxing and some members of the Black Path.
For some reason, the courtesans’ reactions were explosive.
“Are those sons of bitches still at it?”
“Those Black Path bastards, I swear.”
“It’s the same here, isn’t it? You get a customer who seems like a particularly nasty piece of work, and it always turns out to be one of them.”
“Exactly.”
A sudden session of Black Path-bashing ensued. Even to Yeon So-wol, many of the stories were utterly appalling.
The trouble they caused at Cheongun Pavilion was apparently on the milder side. The pavilion itself was run by Xinxing County’s most powerful Black Path faction, so other thugs at least attempted to be on their best behavior.
The atrocities they committed outside, however, went beyond mere lawlessness. They were petty, pathetic, and utterly despicable.
“They go to a house in mourning, present a fake IOU, and insist the deceased parents owed them money. If the family doesn’t pay up, they cause a scene and threaten to seize the corpse.”
How could they do such a thing?
“They lure naive kids off the streets with promises of teaching them martial arts and take their money. Then they don’t teach them a thing—they just use them for errands, chores, and theft before abandoning them. If the kids protest, they beat them.”
They do that to children?
“And of course, loan-sharking with absurd interest rates is their bread and butter.”
How very textbook of them.
“I heard there are still some who kidnap people and secretly sell them off to farmers or large landowners in the countryside.”
How could they do that to another human being?
Yeon So-wol thought to himself, ‘They’re actual thugs and lowlifes.’
He had generally thought of all Jianghu members as gangsters, but his opinion had shifted after meeting Lee Yu-baek and seeing the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall. Of course, he was still suspicious of how the hall was so wealthy; they couldn’t have gotten that rich just by teaching martial arts. He’d noticed they seemed to be collecting protection money from the vicinity, which, in his mind, didn’t make them all that different from an organized crime syndicate.
But that was thinking by 21st-century standards.
Now, Yeon So-wol was certain: Lee Yu-baek and the people of the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall were, at the very least, people with standards—people who despised what was clearly wrong. If anything, they leaned toward good.
In contrast, the stories he was hearing now were so revolting they made him scowl. These were shameless men with no principles.
‘So this is the Black Path.’
Yeon So-wol found himself naturally chiming in as he listened to the courtesans’ stories.
“Really… How can such people exist? Do you think they’d only realize they were wrong if the same thing happened to them?”
“This is actually a huge improvement. Great Hero Lee Yu-baek cut down all the ones who really crossed the line.”
“He did?”
“Yes. Everyone in Xinxing County owes a debt to your father, Young Master Yeon. He’s not called a Great Hero for nothing.”
“I see. Thank you. I’ve learned something new again.”
It was then that the atmosphere shifted.
“……?”
The five courtesans had stopped talking and were staring intently at Yeon So-wol. The expert named Eun-yeong, however, remained uninterested, her gaze fixed on the window.
“Is something wrong?”
As Yeon So-wol swallowed nervously, the courtesans burst into cheers.
“Sister! Sister! Have you ever seen anything like it? A young master who actually listens?”
“I know, right? My goodness. How can a person be so lovely?”
“We can’t just sit here. Let’s get more drinks and food!”
“Yes, yes. These are stories that need to be told over a proper meal.”
“I’ll go get it!”
“……?”
Before Yeon So-wol could even protest, a table laden with drinks and fragrant dishes was set before him.
“This is on us. All you have to do is eat, Young Master.”
“Here. Try this. Ah—”
“I-I’ll get it myself.”
“Oh my. How adorable.”
Yeon So-wol couldn’t understand why they were acting this way. All he did was listen and agree with them.
Cho-ran smiled. “Some people get paid for telling interesting stories, but for people like us, the price of a good listener is far higher. It’s a rare thing, you see—someone who genuinely listens to what we have to say.”
Yeon So-wol’s innate sociability and sensitivity, combined with the power of active listening emphasized in 21st-century education, was a potent mix. Born and raised in a world of equality and not yet jaded by the ways of the Jianghu, he didn’t look down on them for being women or courtesans. He treated them with care and listened intently.
To him, it was just natural behavior—actions that, by modern standards, would merely earn a comment like, ‘What a polite young man.’
But in the eyes of the courtesans, his every action shone with a brilliant light. It was a demeanor and mindset a thousand years ahead of its time. In an instant, they grew fond of this young master, enough to freely share the stories they had kept locked away in their hearts.
“Me too. It happened to me, too. My parents couldn’t pay back the debt they owed the Golden Powder Gang, so I was sold here when I was eight.”
“I’m actually from a farming village. I don’t know where… When I was five, I was playing in my yard when some men came in, stuffed me in a sack, and took off. I cried and cried, and when I came to my senses, I was here.”
“Me? I was just born here. If your mom’s a courtesan, her daughter becomes one too. Sniffle. I miss my mom.”
“My story is similar. My parents were slaves. I think I was seven when my master sold me to the Golden Powder Gang. This was the gisaeng house they ran. Nothing special, right?”
“……”
Yeon So-wol was horrified. A flood of criminal testimonies and tales of injustice washed over him. It felt completely different hearing these stories now, knowing they were the personal experiences of the people right in front of him. The trembling in their voices and the raw emotion they carried resonated deeply.
Yeon So-wol glanced at Eun-yeong. She still wore an indifferent expression, nimbly picking up food from the table.
‘It’s ridiculous for me to say something like this when there’s an expert like her right here, but…’
In the end, he couldn’t hold back. “This might be overstepping, but… by any chance, do you need any help?”
To be here not by choice, but simply because of the status they were born into, or because they were captured or sold… wouldn’t that feel terribly unfair? Presuming to know another’s circumstances could be rude, but Yeon So-wol asked anyway. If there was something he could do to help, he wanted to.
Just as Lee Yu-baek had taken up his sword. Even if he couldn't fight nearly as well, he wanted to do something.
“Oh my?”
Cho-ran’s eyes widened. A gentle smile bloomed on her face. When she looked around, the other courtesans were all smiling as well. Only Eun-yeong remained apart, popping another meatball into her mouth.
“Do you know something, Young Master? That’s the first time we’ve ever heard that.”
“Heard what?”
“We’ve heard people offer to help us plenty of times. ‘I’m such-and-such a person, getting you out of here is nothing.’ ‘I’ll help you get justice for what you’ve suffered.’ But never like that. You’re the first person to ask, ‘Do you happen to need help?’ The first to ask what we think first.”
“……”
“Everyone else just assumes we need help. And why wouldn’t they? We’re low-born women, tumbling around like playthings for men. How pitiful we must seem.”
Cho-ran continued, her words flowing like a song. She was beloved and respected by the other courtesans, and they all listened quietly, nodding in agreement.
“But sometimes I think to myself… it’s just a matter of degree, isn’t it? Isn’t life hard for everyone? Unless you’re born the beloved child of a high-ranking official, life is a struggle.”
A farmer has a farmer’s struggles. A laborer has a laborer’s struggles. Everyone in the world was living a difficult life, and they all kept on living, even if they hated it.
“But nobody just walks up to a farmer or a laborer and asks, ‘Hey, do you need help?’” Cho-ran smiled faintly. “Of course, I hate it here, too. I was four when some man tricked me by saying he’d buy me sweets, and now twenty years have passed. I don’t even remember my parents’ faces. But still… I know my place. If I were to leave here now, what could I possibly do?”
All she had ever learned was how to sing, dance, compose poetry, and seduce men.
“Does anyone pay you for dancing and singing on the outside? Here, at least, I’m a courtesan who pulls her own weight. I can eat all the delicious food I want. But out there, I’d just be a fool. So what can I do? I have to bear it. I have to accept that this kind of life exists, too.”
Having said all this, she stuck out her tongue playfully. “Of course, if a rich man showed up and offered to save me, I’d follow him in a heartbeat.”
At that, the other courtesans erupted in protest.
“Look at her! What a liar!”
“Yeah, right! This is the same woman who refused Master Wang even after he begged you to marry him!”
“No! Master Wang is the type to get tired of me and throw me away.”
“As if! Do you know how much his face lights up whenever he sees you?”
“It’d still be life as a concubine!”
“Isn’t being a concubine better than being a courtesan?”
“How would you know? Have you ever been a concubine?”
Cho-ran gently stroked Eun-yeong’s hair. Even as she was being jostled, Eun-yeong was determinedly chewing a piece of Green Robe Fried Chicken.
“I told you. When I retire, I’m going to live with Eun-yeong. We’ll build a cozy little house.”
Yeon So-wol looked at them, an indescribable feeling clutching at his heart. The lives and thoughts of the people here were so very different from the 21st century.
Just then, there was a presence at the door.
“Ahem. Is… is Eun-yeong here?” It was the voice of an old man.
Cho-ran’s eyebrows shot up. “This old geezer, really…!”
As she stood up, fuming, the other courtesans tried to calm her.
“Cho-ran, be gentle!”
“Don’t just start screaming at him, okay?”
Cho-ran paid them no mind as she stormed out. A moment later, a sharp cry rang out.
“No! No! I said no! Eun-yeong is not working! How many times do I have to tell you?! I raised Eun-yeong with my own salary! You dare try to make her work? If that happens, the Pavilion Master dies, and I die with him! Got it? I swear I’ll get my revenge on the bastard who brought me here with the promise of candy!”
The old man’s voice faltered and then faded into the distance. Soon, Cho-ran returned, giving Yeon So-wol an awkward smile.
Just then, Eun-yeong, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up. “I can do it, you know.”
“What?”
“The work you do, sister.”
“Are you crazy?”
“It’s what you do. So I don’t mind.”
Smack!
Cho-ran slapped Eun-yeong on the back so hard the paper-covered door rattled.
“You say that one more time, and you’re not getting any dinner. You hear me?”
“Ugh…” Eun-yeong pouted and turned away, but Yeon So-wol noticed a small smile form on her lips.
“Hmph. Honestly.” Cho-ran glared at Eun-yeong before turning back to Yeon So-wol. “Anyway, thanks to you, Young Master, I feel a lot better today. I got to say everything I wanted to. Hmm. I’d like to repay you somehow…”
After thinking for a moment, Cho-ran exclaimed, “Ah! This will be good. Go and tell Great Hero Lee Yu-baek this: On the eighth of the fourth lunar month, the Chief Daoist of Yanggwang will be offering prayers at Gugeunsa Temple and then going for a boat ride on the Jipseong River. They’re planning a massive celebration, mobilizing a great deal of labor to launch ten thousand floating lanterns, ten thousand sky lanterns, and put on a grand display of iron flowers. Since it’s a procession for the Chief Daoist who oversees both Guangdong and Guangxi, the Xinxing County Magistrate is trembling in his boots, and even the Provincial Government is getting involved to make sure everything is perfect.”
Yeon So-wol imagined it. A dark night. The Jipseong River. Floating lanterns drifting, sky lanterns rising, and iron flowers scattering molten light like fireworks. In a world with little entertainment, his heart pounded. He desperately wanted to see it.
“Because of that, they’re issuing a strict curfew for the common people. Anyone who goes out will be severely punished. They’re going to give a strict warning specifically to martial artists to stay away. You should let Great Hero Lee Yu-baek know about this in advance.”
Yeon So-wol’s face fell. ‘How petty can they get…?’ Only the high and mighty got to see such a sight, even though the common people did all the work? In the 21st century, there would have been an uproar, but this was a class-based society.
“Yes. I understand. I’ll be sure to tell him.” Yeon So-wol replied, but he was inwardly puzzled. ‘But why tell my father this news…? Is it just a warning to be careful?’
As Yeon So-wol tilted his head, Cho-ran added, “Oh, and also. I heard a rumor that Seo Mu-ryang, the head of the Golden Powder Gang, is colluding with the Mount Cheonro Bandits. Well, you might already know. In this county, the only one crazy enough to do something like that is Seo Mu-ryang… Anyway, tell him that, too.”
“…Yes.” Yeon So-wol felt a slight chill. Colluding with bandits was a serious matter.
“Hmm. What else is there? Come to think of it, these aren’t direct gifts for you, Young Master… they’re all for Great Hero Lee Yu-baek. Isn’t there something we can give to our dear Young Master?”
Cho-ran and the other courtesans sank into thought. Yeon So-wol was a little flustered by their sudden desire to shower him with gifts. As he was debating whether he should stop them, Eun-yeong spoke up.
“There is.”
“There is?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Martial arts.”
As Cho-ran tilted her head, Eun-yeong pointed a finger at Yeon So-wol. “I can teach him.”
“Teach him what?”
“The art of silent walking. And how to detect it. He’s not very good at it. I noticed earlier.”
“Oh my?” Cho-ran glanced cautiously at Yeon So-wol. She knew Eun-yeong had such skills… but they seemed more suited for a thief. She was worried, since he was the adopted son of Lee Yu-baek, a man rumored to love the classics. A gentleman does not tread upon side paths, after all.
“Um. But I wonder if Young Master Yeon would want to learn such a thing…”
At that very moment, Fwip!
Yeon So-wol straightened the hem of his dopo. He corrected his posture as if he were at a job interview. Bowing his head deeply, he practically shouted:
“I absolutely want to learn!”