The Black and White Demon Ghost Awakens
The Black and White Demon Ghost regained consciousness about two shichen later.
"Ugh..."
Her slender, emaciated hands and feet were bound tightly. She reflexively turned her head, searching for her companion. Unlike her ropes, her partner seemed to be sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world.
The sun had set, and only the faint glow of a bonfire was visible in the distance. Accompanying it were boisterous voices. They were still on the Zando trail. She had to find a chance to escape somehow.
Her cunning eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, and just as she curled up to try loosening the ropes—
"Don't even think about it."
"Ack!"
A light hand chop struck the Black and White Demon Ghost's head. It hurt so much she nearly teared up.
"Looks like you're coming to. Want a bowl too?"
Even as she took the hit, the Black and White Demon Ghost bit her lip. Lowering her voice, she tried to sound threatening.
"You'd better untie us right now. Our mountain stronghold isn't far from here. There's a real Black and White Sword Ghost there... Aaaagh! Ack!"
"A young girl like you, lying through your teeth. Who taught you to do that?"
"G-Girl?"
She instinctively raised her bound hands to check—her mask was already off. Instead of the crudely carved wooden mask, she felt smooth skin.
"For a vicious demonic bandit, you're awfully delicate-looking. Live according to your looks—don't play at being a mountain bandit like this."
"You should thank this ajusshi. If not for him, you might've really died."
"......"
A beautiful woman passing by added her two cents. The Black and White Demon Ghost eyed their faces sullenly, but she couldn't place them. If they were such experts, rumors would have reached even Yeonggang, where she'd grown up.
Then again, if she'd recognized them, she would've fled long ago. They were careful about choosing their targets.
Yet here she was, captured.
The graceful woman held out a bowl of rice porridge.
"Here, food. Eat before it gets cold."
Steam rose invitingly from the porridge.
"I-I'm... a warrior of the jianghu. I can't eat something like this..."
The Black and White Demon Ghost tried to act aloof even here, but her starving stomach betrayed her. Gurgle. An embarrassing rumble echoed through the Zando night.
"......"
"You say 'thank you.' If ajusshi says you're from a noble family, you need to mind your manners."
"Thank you..."
With her hands tightly bound, she barely managed to pick up the spoon. Tears welled up unbidden. She'd known this life couldn't last forever, but now it might all be over. Her resolve crumbled.
"Th-There are... kids at the stronghold... Please spare them. They don't know anything."
"Those kids?"
"Pardon?"
Looking again, she saw other children near the bonfire. The lively laughter she'd heard earlier came from there. The kids were mingling with the escorts, listening raptly to some exciting tale.
Suddenly, the Black and White Demon Ghost felt utterly foolish.
"Even in hard times, do you think we can't spare a few meals for hungry children?"
It was a given, but when Jang Cheon had surged up using the awl pestle, he'd spotted a child shaking a wooden bucket. That led him to drag out a few more hiding in the main base.
"Why...?"
"You haven't stained your hands with blood yet. Consider this reward for not crossing that final line."
Jang Cheon knew. Those who'd killed had a different look in their eyes, a different scent. The smell of blood clung not to the flesh, but to the soul.
These ones hadn't. They'd scared people off and survived by looting the leftover food and goods.
"But you'll pay for your crimes. We'll hand you over to the authorities, so don't think you'll walk free."
There was no way to live forever in this wasteland, and turning them over young, when they might still appeal to mercy, was the better option.
The Black and White Demon Ghost fell silent. Instead, she etched Jang Cheon's face deep into her memory with her gaze, then quietly woke the fake Black and White Sword Ghost slumped beside her.
"Get up."
"Ugh... Big sis?"
"Get up and eat. Then you'll have strength."
"Yeah. I'll eat a lot and get strong."
The fake Black and White Sword Ghost, clueless as ever, happily shoved his face into the bowl. Watching him, the Black and White Demon Ghost sighed. That kid had been pretty clever once. He was just groggy from sleep.
*
It took another half shichen for the demon ghost to open up.
"I'm originally from Yeonggang. My name is Yi Sojin."
Yeonggang was a small town between Geomgak and Hanzhong. It served as a stopover for travelers crossing the Zando, with inns and brothels, but nothing particularly special otherwise.
But last autumn, strange things began happening.
"......A bizarre monk appeared. He hid his face under a red sallet hat, and for some reason, he completely won over the county magistrate."
The Yeonggang magistrate had been unremarkable before. But around autumn, he became obsessed with the monk's words and started arbitrarily imprisoning people on flimsy pretexts.
"It got to the point where no one could go out to harvest the fields. So my father stepped up as representative to protest."
"Your father as representative means..."
"Yes. I'm the daughter of a humble family. Now wiped out..."
Yi Sojin's father had gone to the magistrate with the inn and brothel owners, plus a few landowners who had meager yields. But he never returned that night.
Instead, the magistrate sent soldiers to their home. The family fought back like thunderstruck, but it was futile. Only the youngest daughter survived by hiding in the buildings, and using her wits, she fled to the Zando with a few kids, evading pursuit. That was the birth of the infamous Black and White Sword Ghost.
"......I'd heard rumors of a scum called the Black and White Sword Ghost near Seongdo. I planned to go down to Geomgak come spring, confess my crimes, and spread word of Yeonggang's plight. I know we've sinned. But at least... avenge my parents..."
"Hm."
Jang Cheon nodded calmly at her words. Cheon Sohyang was already fuming at the magistrate.
She pounded her little fists on her knees, venting her rage.
"We have to go make that rotten magistrate pay right now!"
"That's not for us to know."
But Jang Cheon muttered,
"If you blindly believe people's words, you'll fall into traps. We can't judge based on her story alone. Remember that in the jianghu: beware children, elders, and women."
This girl had already tried tricks several times, after all.
They'd have to stop by Yeonggang with the High Chang Escort Agency anyway. The Zando's exit was fixed.
Glancing at Yi Sojin, who was biting her lip, Jang Cheon rose to leave.
Tomorrow, they'd know. Whether her words were true or not.
*
And a day later, the escort finally arrived at Yeonggang.
At first glance, everything seemed fine. Soldiers guarded the checkpoint normally, and people moved about the village inns without issue.
Yet for some reason, Yi Sojin trembled in fear.
"......!"
"See something?"
"N-No, I must've been mistaken. It's nothing."
The girl shook her head vigorously. Jang Cheon seemed unconcerned, turning to Yi Cheolryeong.
They needed to hand over the Zando kids to the authorities, but it depended on how far the escort was going.
"Planning to stay here tonight?"
"No. We can't delay even a moment—we'll find an inn in Hanzhong."
"Then could you take these little demons? Handing them to the yamen should earn a reward."
"Agreed."
Having heard their story, delivering them directly to Yeonggang's yamen felt uneasy. These pint-sized bandits would go to the Hanzhong yamen, half a day's ride away.
If the kids' tale was true, the officials might help.
"And you, sir?"
"I'll stay in the village tonight. No rush on my journey."
"Understood. Thank you for your help thus far."
Thus, Yi Cheolryeong and Jang Cheon's paths diverged.
Yi Cheolryeong handed over the fake Black and White Sword Ghost's bounty plus the promised fee, then hurried on.
Now only Jang Cheon and Cheon Sohyang remained in Yeonggang.
His disciple said,
"Ajusshi, you sent them away on purpose, right?"
"Yes. You noticed too?"
The High Chang folk had been fine company, but what came next might be too much for them.
Above all, Jang Cheon had already sensed something off.
"The sounds are wrong. Deploy your Earthly Purity Technique."
Jianghu warriors could hear surroundings better than just pricking up their ears. As Cheon Sohyang circulated the incantation Jang Cheon taught her, her hearing expanded.
Soon, she understood the anomaly.
"......The conversations are weird."
Inn errands calling customers, endless laughter from brothels. Yeonggang's bustling markets.
But amid it, strange people lurked. Like those three elders sitting idly under a big tree, seemingly enjoying the afternoon.
At a glance, just chatting pleasantly. But—
"Does the Damhyang Sword Master's Geomgak shine gray under moonlight?"
"Crumbling toes, dig for cloud gold from the earth—thirty taels. Eat the golden magistrate's memorial rite tasty."
"Ah, that was mixed with guasha and birthed!"
It made no sense. Not sentences at all.
Faced with this bizarre scene, Cheon Sohyang shrank back slightly, and Jang Cheon's eyes slowly darkened.
"Let's take a look."