The Shandong Five Evils
Ja Gangcheon sat across from Yeonhui in the rear garden pavilion. As always, Cheongu was at his side.
Bluff. Before this meeting is over, I’ll have her crawling beneath my hand.
Yeonhui steeled herself.
Despite the ruthless resolve in her heart, a radiant smile still bloomed across her face.
“I thank the Lord of the Manor for his hospitality.”
“Just speak comfortably. We’re not the sort who need to stand on ceremony with each other.”
“Relationships can always be improved.”
Fortunately, Panseok had brought tea, and Yeonhui was able to steady herself as she lifted the cup.
But before the warmth of the teacup even reached her lips, Ja Gangcheon pressed her.
“What information do I need to know?”
“Have you heard of the Shandong Five Evils?”
Ja Gangcheon’s gaze flicked to Cheongu beside him. It was an automatic habit whenever he encountered something he didn’t know. And Cheongu was always right there to supply the answer.
“They’re famous experts from Shandong Province. Five of them travel together, and they call themselves the Shandong Five Heroes. Everyone else who knows their crimes calls them the Shandong Five Evils.”
“Why them?”
It was Yeonhui’s turn to answer.
“They’re coming to Gyounam. They’ll arrive within three days.”
“So why?”
“Obviously, they’re coming for you, Lord of the Manor.”
Ja Gangcheon felt the conversation circling something without landing. He began to suspect Yeonhui was deliberately steering it this way.
“Sister. Just leave.”
“Pardon? Why the sudden dismissal…?”
“I hate people who beat around the bush and test the waters. When those Shandong Five Evils or whatever show up, I’ll just catch them and ask myself.”
“The Shandong Five Evils are by no means opponents one can take lightly…”
Yeonhui had to stop. Ja Gangcheon’s face had gone bored, as if he had lost all interest.
No man had ever looked at her that way before.
“It’s because of the black market.”
At those words, life returned to Ja Gangcheon’s eyes.
“What about the black market?”
“Every organization currently eyeing Gyounam wants one thing—the black market.”
“Haomun as well?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
At last, real information was being exchanged.
“Many groups are after Gyounam’s black market right now. That means they’ll inevitably have to fight Deungmyeong Manor. I have a way to stop that.”
Even without seduction, Yeonhui was an excellent negotiator.
The position of Haomun branch leader was not one that could be climbed on beauty alone.
“Just how much money does the black market make for it to be like this?”
“The Twin Killers of the Ghost Face never used the black market properly. Even so, they earned more than Gyounam’s trade market. If I move that market, I’m confident I can grow it to at least five times what it is now.”
This was what Haomun did best.
Of course, that much under-the-table money would go into it.
Staying within bounds was also Haomun’s specialty. And with their vast manpower, they could connect every kind of goods to every kind of buyer.
“And if I refuse?”
“We’ll persuade you. Our Haomun will resolve everything through dialogue to the end—but I can’t guarantee the same of the other organizations.”
“Anyone listening would think Haomun came here to help me.”
“We do many things for profit, but right now we’re offering you a proposal that works in your favor, Lord of the Manor.”
Yeonhui dropped the seduction and began serious negotiations.
“Hand the black market over to Haomun. Then we’ll solve every problem for you.”
When Ja Gangcheon did not interrupt, she brought out the decisive offer.
“The moment Haomun seizes the black market, the other organizations will have no reason to attack you. Our Haomun will deal with them instead.”
The logic was simple enough that it needed no suspicion.
Right now they treated Ja Gangcheon as the owner, so they attacked him. If the owner changed to Haomun, the target of the fight would change as well.
“And one more promise.”
There was an immutable principle in negotiation.
Mutual benefit.
Weigh the present situation on a scale and Deungmyeong Manor would inevitably feel it was taking a loss.
So something more had to be added to the balance.
“We’ll protect your convictions, Lord of the Manor.”
“Convictions?”
“While Haomun controls the black market, we’ll keep every black society from setting foot here. In addition, we promise to engage in no activity beyond the operation of the black market itself.”
That last part was rather interesting.
It meant Haomun would handle the very things Ja Gangcheon cared about.
The problem is that the promise comes from Haomun.
That name alone erased any trust.
“Hmm. Got it. Is that the end of the proposal?”
“Is it insufficient?”
“It’s not satisfying.”
“Why?”
Ja Gangcheon spoke as if the answer were obvious.
“If I have to give the black market to someone, Haomun is the worst possible choice. Better to hand it to the Shandong Five Evils. Those guys. There are only five of them, so there’s less they can do, and they’d be easier for me to manage.”
“Managing them is impossible.”
“Then there’ll be other organizations. If the black market is that valuable, there must be plenty of people after it, right?”
Yeonhui was fighting to keep her composure, but inside she was uneasy.
Does he actually intend to negotiate with other people?
She had been certain Ja Gangcheon would never hand the black market to anyone.
Looking at everything he’s done so far, it’s certain.
Not expectation—conviction.
If he were the kind of man who could negotiate, he would never have wiped out the existing black societies and even disbanded the Black Ship Gate.
It’s a lie.
Yeonhui did not doubt the conclusion she had reached.
“Lord of the Manor, you cannot negotiate with anyone other than Haomun.”
“Why not?”
“Because they will not yield. And you will not be able to endure it.”
She spoke as if delivering a prophecy.
“If you have conditions you want, state them. This is a chance for no one to get hurt and for both sides to obtain what they desire in peace.”
She pressed him.
“When the fighting starts, who do you think will be in the most danger?”
“Me?”
“The East Sea Trading Company.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re already flaring up just from me mentioning it—do you think others don’t know that? If they can’t force you to submit with strength, they’ll use other people’s lives to threaten you.”
Yeonhui warned him of the greatest danger.
“That’s what fighting is. Once it begins, you always regret it. So the wisest course is to end it before the fighting starts.”
She was not wrong.
Seeing Ja Gangcheon’s emotions waver, Yeonhui finally believed she had seized the initiative.
I can yield a few more things.
Considering the enormous prize that was the black market, she could afford to let him save a little face.
At that moment, Ja Gangcheon spoke.
“If you’re finished talking, leave.”
“If you send me away like this, you’ll regret it.”
“I know. So go.”
Ja Gangcheon finally drove the dumbfounded Yeonhui out of the manor.
After she was gone,
“Cheongu. Will the East Sea Trading Company really be in danger?”
“If the fighting drags on, there’s that possibility.”
Honestly, he was worried.
He hoped the people who had weathered so many storms with them would not meet misfortune.
“Gangcheon. You weren’t planning to manage the black market yourself anyway, right?”
“Right.”
“Having Haomun instead of a black society is a bit bothersome, but not to the point it’s unacceptable. They’ll even keep the black societies out for us.”
“I think so too. I don’t want constant fighting in Gyounam either.”
“Then why did you throw her out?”
“She asks for the black market while talking as if she’s doing me a favor.”
“So you kicked her out because it pissed you off?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then?”
“Those people are under the delusion that they’re helping me.”
At that, Panseok, who had been listening quietly, cut in.
“Hyung-nim. Isn’t that kicking her out because it pissed you off?”
Cheongu wore the same expression.
Ja Gangcheon realized there was a decisive difference between their thinking and his own.
“Hmm. You’ll understand soon enough. Just watch for now.”
Finding it hard to explain with words, Ja Gangcheon decided to show them through action. That opportunity arrived three days later.
The East Sea Trading Company was full of vitality.
The busy summer had passed, and when they settled the accounts the money pouches were ready to burst.
Most of the company members the pirates had sold off had returned as well. Five had never come back alive, but they had no choice but to be content with that.
Having finished the weight that had pressed on their chests, the East Sea Trading Company moved even more busily, as if trying to leave their dark past behind.
Moreover, with the manpower office seizing more than half of the port labor market, the treatment ship owners received had changed completely.
Without the East Sea Trading Company’s labor office, it was difficult not only to fish but even to supply materials—and nearly impossible to replenish the sailors needed for a voyage.
Dark clouds gathered over the East Sea Trading Company, which had known nothing but good fortune, only as evening fell and the sunset painted the sky.
Five men appeared on the southern market street, their weapons boldly displayed.
All of them wore gray clothes, each embroidered with a different beast—dragon, tiger, snake, wolf, and eagle.
Anyone from Shandong Province would have heard of that attire at least once, and the ominous epithet rose unbidden in every mind.
The Shandong Five Evils.
It was a crowded evening street, yet not a soul ventured near them.
People parted before them like the sea. They walked through the gap and arrived at the very center of the southern market.
“Is this the East Sea Trading Company?”
The eldest of the Shandong Five Evils asked. He was called Dead-Faced Lang for a face that looked like a corpse’s.
“Yes, it is. What business brings you here?”
The company member who had stopped work to answer trailed off the moment he saw the man’s appearance.
“The company master is inside, isn’t he?”
“What is this about…?”
“You’re a man with a lot of questions.”
Dead-Faced Lang seized the company member’s head.
Just as the man was about to scream from the crushing pain—
Bang!
Something smashed into Dead-Faced Lang’s face dead-on.
He hurriedly crossed his arms to block, but the tremendous force still lifted his entire body into the air.
Thud-thud-thud!
Unable to regain his balance, Dead-Faced Lang finally stopped after rolling five full turns across the ground. Even then he could not collect his wits and simply lay there staring blankly at the sky.
“Who the hell do you think you’re touching?”
Ja Gangcheon stood facing the Shandong Five Evils as if he had been waiting for them all along.
Having witnessed their eldest’s humiliation, the remaining four wore unpleasant expressions, yet their composure did not crack.
“So you’re the lord of Deungmyeong Manor?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
The reason Ja Gangcheon had appeared at the perfect moment was simple: he had been waiting from the start.
From the instant the Shandong Five Evils set foot in Gyounam, he had assigned people from the East Sea Trading Company to track their every move.
The moment he saw them causing trouble in front of the company, he had come running.
“Uncle, are you all right?”
He had prepared in advance, but even he had not expected them to grab a man’s head without warning.
“Yes, Lord of the Manor. I’m fine.”
He claimed he was fine, yet he was still frowning as if the pain lingered.
“Uncle Seok-ho, take him to the physician.”
“Yes, Lord of the Manor.”
After handing the injured man to the tall Seok-ho, Ja Gangcheon turned back to the Shandong Five Evils with a thoroughly unpleasant expression.
“You shouldn’t have touched people.”
“What’s so important about the life of trash like that?”
The one who stepped forward was the second brother—so fat he resembled a jar. Every time he spoke, the flesh under his chin folded over itself.
Toward the man approaching with casual confidence, Ja Gangcheon spoke with deliberate force.
“That one man’s life is more important than all five of yours.”
“You’re a madman.”
They had not come here to trade insults.
Ja Gangcheon did not bother waiting. He struck first.