The True Masters of Shandong
Gu Donggu heard the sounds.
A man who had lived by nothing but his wits, he knew exactly what those irregular booms and screams meant.
A fight on the day Hwangbo Taeseong left…
He was almost certain the Hwangbo Clan was involved.
So whose side am I supposed to root for?
Even now, Gu Donggu was calculating which faction might offer him a way out.
While he fretted, the warehouse door creaked open.
His heart hammering, he looked toward the entrance. The man who stepped inside still wore clothes stiff with blood.
“You son of a bitch.”
The curse slipped out on its own. Hwangbo Jeong—the same man Gu Donggu had beaten whenever he had strength left these past few days—had returned.
“S-spare me, Merchant Lord!”
“Isn’t it a little late for that?”
With those words Gu Donggu knew his fate was sealed.
“If you kill me I’ll become a ghost and haunt you forever!”
“That doesn’t sound bad at all. Killing you once wouldn’t be enough anyway.”
“You bastard! Please, spare me! I’m begging you! Do you have any idea how hard I’ve fought just to stay alive?!”
Gu Donggu had endured every humiliation to reach this point.
“I’ve lived like a dog, so fine—I can die like filth! But I should’ve gotten to enjoy myself at least once! Just once I should’ve lived high and mighty before I went!”
The injustice still burned in him. He had chosen the path of a villain and clawed his way forward, only to end up like this.
“Still nothing but filth coming out of your mouth. When a worm starts speaking human words, of course it’s disgusting.”
Hwangbo Jeong glanced around, then picked up a club—the very same club Gu Donggu had once used on him.
“S-spare me!”
“You’ll be begging me to kill you soon enough.”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The beating began. Gu Donggu’s body could not withstand the enraged blows.
“Ugh! Gah!”
At first he screamed with every strike, but the cries grew weaker.
“S-spare…”
Even the voice that had begged for life until the end dwindled away.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After a while the only sound left was the dull impact of a club striking a bundle of straw.
“Hah… hah…”
Crack!
The club finally snapped. Only then did Hwangbo Jeong catch his breath, the air rasping at his throat, and fling the broken wood aside.
“Worm bastard.”
Gu Donggu no longer moved. He had died curled in on himself, trying to lessen the pain even a little.
“Did you really think you could humiliate me and still walk away alive?”
After lecturing a corpse, Hwangbo Jeong sank down where he stood. Long imprisonment had left his body weak; he had reached his limit.
Yet none of that mattered.
“Now this manor will be mine. Everything will go back to the way it was.”
“How is any of this going back to the way it was?”
The sudden voice made Hwangbo Jeong whip his head around.
“Y-you—why are you here?!”
In Hwangbo Jeong’s eyes, Ja Gangcheon looked like a ghost crawled up from the underworld. There was no way the boy could be standing before him, unharmed and alive.
“You found a place that suits you. Looks like you were pretty comfortable here.”
Ja Gangcheon kicked the stunned man hard in the knee.
Thud!
Hwangbo Jeong toppled, thrashing in pain, yet still glared up at Gangcheon. Then he felt something catch against his back.
He turned his head and found the corpse of Gu Donggu. Only then did he realize he was lying side by side with the man.
“How it happened—ask them in the underworld. Plenty of people are waiting for you already.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
Thud!
Ja Gangcheon kicked the thrashing man’s jaw.
“Guh…”
Blood poured from the shattered jaw. The light faded from Hwangbo Jeong’s eyes, and he drew his last breath beside Gu Donggu.
A little past midnight, Yeonhui received a report she could scarcely believe.
“What did you just say?”
“Panseok and Cheongu captured the Hwangbo Clan’s vice-steward who was waiting outside Deungmyeong Manor.”
“Captured him—and took him back inside the manor?”
“Yes, my lady. What’s more, not a single person from the Hwangbo party who entered the manor has come back out. After the vice-steward was seized, Song Jain searched the surroundings. She recognized me and told me to deliver a message to the Branch Leader.”
The messenger swallowed hard, face tight with tension, and waited for the next words.
“She said the barley tea one drinks on an empty stomach in the morning is good for the skin.”
The moment Yeonhui heard that, she rose from her seat.
“Deungmyeong Manor won?”
Song Jain’s message meant: come to the manor in the morning. For that to be possible, they first had to repel the Hwangbo Clan’s attack.
She had hoped for it in secret, yet never truly believed it could happen. The clan head of the Hwangbo Clan and two of the Elder Council’s absolute masters had gone together. Even Song Jain’s power could never have stopped that force alone.
Even if Song Jain somehow held off the two elders, that would mean the Lord of Deungmyeong Manor dealt with everyone else…
Panseok and Cheongu were not yet strong enough to tip a battle like this.
“Was there anyone else who entered the manor?”
“No one.”
Then her entire assessment of Ja Gangcheon would have to be rewritten.
Just what kind of monster is he?
Yeonhui paced in tight circles, excitement plain on her face—a habit that surfaced whenever her thoughts ran deep. She walked faster, sorting the tangled threads one by one.
Winning the fight does not end the war.
The result was shocking, yet the Hwangbo Clan’s strength was far from broken. With numbers and wealth that effectively made all of Shandong theirs, they still loomed large.
Things are only going to get harder.
Today’s battle must have been fought under the clan’s carelessness. Ja Gangcheon himself had said as much. From now on it would be open war, and the fights ahead would be far more dangerous.
We need a force like our Haomun.
The invitation for tomorrow morning was almost certainly about that.
“This is getting interesting.”
At last she stopped walking.
In the early hours before dawn, long before the sun would rise, Yeonhui could wait no longer and went to the manor. Seeing torches still burning along the walls, she knocked on the great gate.
At first there was no answer. She knocked again, and the door finally opened.
“Is this what you call morning?”
Song Jain stood in the doorway. She had clearly been standing watch.
“This humble girl simply prefers to start her day a little early.”
“Truly shameless.”
“I only came a bit early because I was worried.”
“That is not why I called you shameless. Calling yourself a ‘humble girl’—are you not even a little embarrassed?”
“Ah. In that case, not in the slightest.”
“Fine. That too is a talent.”
Song Jain stepped aside so she could enter.
“I allowed your visit today only because of your acquaintance with the Lord.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
In other words: as Haomun’s branch leader, do not overstep.
The moment she stepped inside, the wind carried the thick scent of blood. Following it with her eyes, she saw corpses laid out neatly across the front courtyard. Song Jain made no effort to hide them, so Yeonhui could examine each face.
“It was real.”
Her prediction had become fact. Starting with Hwangbo Baek, the two elders and the bodies of the Fierce Tiger Unit lay in rows.
“I don’t see Hwangbo Taesan’s body.”
Even in her shock she noticed the absence.
“We kept him as bait.”
They had not merely won the fight—they still had the leisure to take a hostage.
“Next time I want to watch the fight myself, even if it costs me my head.”
“Even if it really does cost you your head?”
Yeonhui looked at Song Jain with an expression that said such a thing was impossible, then quickly averted her gaze. She had realized Song Jain was not the sort to joke about such matters.
Fortunately, before the awkwardness could deepen, the voice she had been waiting for arrived.
“Noona. You’re here?”
“Lord of the Manor. You’re unharmed.”
The bright smile she wore now was nothing like the ones before.
“That’s a safe smile today.”
“I was genuinely worried.”
“I know. That’s why I invited you first.”
“From the looks of things, it seems there’s a great deal I can help with.”
“No. Just play the mediator, same as before.”
That was not what Yeonhui had expected.
“The Hwangbo Clan ignored the mediation terms and attacked our manor—barely three double-hours after the negotiations ended. Spread that to the world. We’ll handle the rest ourselves.”
The rumor would of course include the fact that Deungmyeong Manor had eliminated the core figures of the Hwangbo Clan.
Will anyone even believe it?
Once a real war for dominion over Shandong began, people would have no choice but to believe, whether they wanted to or not.
“Justification alone won’t be enough. Now that the Hwangbo Clan has lost all pretense of righteousness, they won’t bother with face anymore.”
Yeonhui knew that with Ja Gangcheon, blunt speech worked best.
“The fights ahead will only get harder. Take Haomun’s hand before you’re forced onto the defensive. I’ll do everything I can so you can keep your principles.”
She spoke with fierce resolve. Ja Gangcheon only shook his head.
“Is that a refusal?”
“I’m not refusing because it’s Haomun. There were already people meant to stand with us for this.”
“Who?”
Yeonhui asked even though she expected no answer. To her surprise, he replied without hesitation.
“The real masters of Shandong.”
“The real masters…?”
“The people the Hwangbo Clan crushed by force and dissolved.”
The first name that rose in Yeonhui’s mind was the Jangpung Escort Agency. Of all the groups that had vanished from Shandong, that was the one whose destruction she most regretted. They had held nationwide renown; even she had privately mourned their fall.
Though their stubborn refusal to work with us to the end was irritating.
Still, hearing Ja Gangcheon’s plan, she had to admit it was thorough.
“From Hwangbo Baek’s raid to your response now—you planned for all of it from the beginning.”
“Of course. I’m not someone who acts without thinking.”
When Yeonhui gave a wry smile, Ja Gangcheon confessed the truth.
“Cheongu thought up about eight-tenths of it? No, nine-tenths. But one-tenth was mine.”
In reality the Jangpung Escort Agency had been Ja Gangcheon’s own idea. The broader plan—to rally not only them but every group the Hwangbo Clan had destroyed—had been Cheongu’s.
“Chief Manager Cheongu’s plan is excellent. The Hwangbo Clan will be surrounded by enemies and find it hard to move freely. You’ll also fill the power Deungmyeong Manor lacks, seize the initiative in the conflict, and claim a righteous cause. Everything that was missing is filled in one stroke.”
Throughout her analysis Yeonhui kept marveling inwardly.
“I’m glad you have so many good people around you, Lord.”
“What about you, Noona? Are you a good person for me?”
“I’m not a good person by nature, but I like to think I’m a good person for you. After all, I keep letting you take advantage of me without holding back.”
“Letting me take advantage? Fine by me. That’s why I prepared a gift.”
“A gift?”
Ja Gangcheon handed her a document. This was the reason he had called her so early.
“I was going to give it to you once the fighting was over.”
What Yeonhui received was a deed of sale.
“This is…”
“Gu Donggu’s brothel. You already know it’s in Jisanpo, right?”
“Did Chief Manager Cheongu prepare this as well?”
“Yeah. He said you’d like it.”
Once again a chill ran down Yeonhui’s spine at Cheongu’s insight. In truth, when large underground deals were struck, she had always lacked a proper place to entertain clients. Brothels felt too light; the black market itself never gave the sense of genuine hospitality. Going elsewhere, however, was constrained by the contract with Deungmyeong Manor. Cheongu had noticed and handed over the secret brothel in Jisanpo. She would probably never run it as a brothel—more likely turn it into a private reception hall.
“I’ll accept it gratefully.”
Outwardly composed, she knew the Jisanpo reception hall was an excellent gift. Beyond the brothel itself, she would now have free use of the small harbor of Jisanpo—an ideal spot for discreet, high-value transactions.
“Since I’ve received something, I’ll work hard to help. I’ll make sure the world knows that the master of Shandong is changing.”
“Save that for later. Have a cup of tea before you go.”
“If it’s barley tea, I can hardly refuse.”
Smiling, Yeonhui followed Ja Gangcheon toward the rear garden. Midway she turned, struck by a sudden, chilling realization.
Have we been holding this entire conversation right next to Hwangbo Baek’s corpse?
Being with Ja Gangcheon had made her forget the meaning of the bodies and lose herself in the talk. That only proved how comfortable the aura he carried truly was.
An awl in a bag. After this, the world will know his name.
She was certain a great wind was about to rise from Gyounam.