The Brutal Tale of Songdo Street, Part 2
Kaesong’s permanent market usually opened at dawn and shut down by breakfast.
Which meant there were quite a few eating houses around to finish the day’s work. After sending Son Yu-jak off, Taesu wandered through the market stalls.
By the nineteenth century, even a yangban family would often buy in food for ancestral rites rather than make it themselves.
That was especially true of things like noodles, tofu, taffy, and sweets—foods that were not so easy to prepare at home. Joseon’s markets were so developed in the food business that you could have filmed a mukbang YouTube channel there and nobody would have blinked.
Still, it was a pity there wasn’t a single restaurant worth giving five stars. That was especially true of dessert; to a modern palate, it just wasn’t very sweet.
Food is probably better left to me anyway. Most of these people either get their ingredients from their own patches of land or from relatives, so they probably don’t have much incentive to take out loans or anything like that…
The closest thing to modern food was noodles.
The reason was different here and there—there it was because they had no wheat flour, here because it was supposed to be healthy—but Taesu had eaten 100 percent buckwheat makguksu before.
As he was picking at the noodle strands, half of them slipping away with every bite, he heard the Mountain Spirit’s voice.
[Not bad. What has just left your mouth is the very heart of hyeop.]
Taesu jerked and stared at the noodles. But he soon understood what the spirit meant and asked back, “So you’re not nagging me this time?”
[Why would I? One cannot live under the same heaven as the enemy who killed one’s parents. This time, you are right.]
“You’re saying it’s fine to make a child kill people?”
[Jin Mu-yang, the assassin who went with Jing Ke to strike down the First Emperor of Qin, had already cut down a man in the market when he was fourteen.]
The Mountain Spirit’s words, which Taesu had expected to stop there, continued a little longer.
[Those worthy of being recorded in the Biographies of Assassins are, in the end, incompatible with the law of any state. In China, they were usually lumped together with people who claimed to pray and cure illness. The Yellow Turbans and the White Lotus bandits were of that sort.]
“You mean fraud religions.”
Sooner or later, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rising in the south, and the Nian Army up north that could be compared to it, belonged to the same breed. Come to think of it, Taesu remembered that even the “sects” in martial arts novels were usually religious groups.
[But because they do not belong to the state, they have survived for thousands of years in China, where no dynasty has ever lasted three hundred. In the end, the great Ming emerged from White Lotus.]
If Kim Jwa-geun had been here, he could have compared it to the “history of the Samhan noble clans far longer than any state.” It would have made his hair stand on end, perhaps, but still.
[This land of Samhan has long cherished plainness, so heretical cults have a hard time taking root. Instead, there have always been many hyeopja among the peddlers and drifters of this land, like you. It may seem unlikely that a country ruled by such people will ever arise here, but if White Lotus once made the Ming, then it is not a thing wholly against reason.]
“What are you talking about?”
[Only that I understand what sort of country you and Cha Un-hong are trying to make. The sun is growing dark.]
It was the kind of wording that meant he had no intention of explaining further. Catching that, Taesu simply turned his head away.
Just as the Mountain Spirit had said, it was already getting late when Son Yu-jak appeared in front of him.
“You’ve got skills. How’d you find me?”
“You stand out too much with a body that big.”
Taesu lifted his bowl and drank the broth.
“So, how many did you kill?”
Son Yu-jak looked over his shoulder and gestured. Five or six children, who had been hiding unseen in the shadows all around the market, shuffled out one by one.
“We didn’t kill a single one, sir.”
Son Yu-jak said this while holding the dagger upside down.
“Who’d enjoy being a gnats’ ass that gets beaten to death and then only hears people say he helped throw a feast for the rats? We’ve only managed to swallow a little soybean cake from two of them so far, and the rest of us haven’t even been fed decent lees.”
“So?”
“Our circumstances are all a little different, but what made us this way wasn’t our nature or our own choice—it was men like Kim Sang-joon. If we’re going to kill anyone, it won’t be each other. It’ll be him.”
Son Yu-jak had chosen neither the consolation that most commoners would have settled for, nor the ruin Taesu had pointed toward.
It was nothing less than his own judgment.
The Mountain Spirit burst out laughing.
[Yes! Hyeop is precisely that which defies reason! Why would a man who knows rightness and justice ever become an assassin? This time you picked your man well.]
Taesu didn’t argue this time either.
He didn’t even say that this had been the outcome he wanted most of all.
He slapped the noodle bowl down.
“Fine. Then let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
The children Taesu had mentally dubbed the “First-Generation Members” followed him.
* * *
From one of the boys who had spent a long time with the Gnats’ Gang, Taesu had heard that Kim Sang-joon didn’t keep a private prison at his own house.
“He’s a teacher with an official post, after all, so he’s afraid of what people might say. A little outside the old capital from the market there’s a tavern run by a young retired courtesan. If someone needs to be grabbed, beaten, or stabbed, they say it all goes through there. We were paying them a little money too….”
Hmm. Then the job should be easy.
That meant those bastards were expendable too.
After we worked out a plan, by evening we split into groups and headed there.
I went alone. But thanks to the Mountain Spirit, it wasn’t hard to find.
[That brightly lit place ahead seems to be the inn. Judging by the mistress, her jacket barely reaches her armpits, she has hiked up her skirt as she works, and there’s a bluish tinge under her eyes from all the powder she’s put on; she is without question a courtesan by origin. Of those, she looks like one of the government women dragged here from her posting after some senior official altered the military registry.]
The spirit’s filthy knack—whether it was divine power or plain experience, I couldn’t tell—was so specific it was impossible to dismiss.
I went into the tavern carrying a yoke on my shoulders. The backpack seemed too noticeable, so I’d set it there and covered it with cloth.
The tavern was built around a courtyard in a U-shaped thatched house, with straw mats spread across the ground. It looked like there might even be a stable on the far side. A horse in Joseon—it was the first I’d seen up close.
The mistress was smoking a bamboo pipe as if she were only pretending to watch the chickens on the roost, while on the far veranda two thugs who looked like they’d still only be good for gang work even if they were reborn in the twenty-first century were fiddling with pieces of paper.
[They seem to be setting up a gambling table here, just as Son Yu-jak’s father used to do. On the backs of the card tiles, they’ve painted slightly different pictures so that only they can tell them apart. It’s a nest of con artists.]
There were different pictures on the back of each card? And there were actually fools willing to accept a game like that?
Ah, right. There were plenty of people who threw money into remote online gambling where they couldn’t even see the back, or anything else for that matter.
The two men on the porch, like all exemplary gamblers, didn’t seem to have any intention of gambling at all.
They acted as though they didn’t care about me one bit, judging from the thick voices they traded back and forth… but there was no way I’d miss that. I saw them rolling their eyes and checking me out.
When I walked far enough in to make it obvious I had business in the tavern, the mistress snapped, “Looking at that yoke, are you a salt peddler? We’ve got no room—our big jars are already full of kimchi and salted fish.”
“I’ve sold out too, so I’ve got no business there either. I was hoping for a drink and a place to stay.”
“You look like a peddler from five generations back, but the way you talk sounds like some nobleman. All the bun-out rooms are full too.”
“Then at least bring out a table of drinks.”
“You storm in at night and tell me to light the fire? What, are we welcoming a secret royal inspector? We’ve got cold liquor if you want to eat and choke on it, and we’ve got the leftover rice we were about to feed the dog.”
Damn it, had they noticed something? To be this rude to a customer in an evening drinking house?
[You’re no good at this. Let me handle it for a moment.]
“What?”
[I can’t keep it up long anyway. Don’t worry and hold the axe handle tight.]
Tell me not to worry when I’m dealing with you? What an absurd request.
Still, it did seem I’d just been a little thick-headed.
I did as the Mountain Spirit said.
I should not have done that.
* * *
Taesu hawked up a proper gob of spit and let it fly.
Then, despite the earlier and quite obvious order to get lost, he plopped down on the straw mat and crossed his arms.
“If it’s cold liquor, the mistress should warm it in her bosom. As for eating leftover rice, I’m not so shameless. Give the dog what you meant to give it in the first place. I suppose I can beat the mutt with this water club and boil it up.”
The mistress took the bamboo pipe from her mouth. The two little villains stared this way.
But Taesu didn’t even blink as he barked, “Since when does a market tavern turn away a traveler? And this inn even has a stable—don’t come telling me there’s nothing to eat at night. That’s like saying there are no gisaeng in Pyongyang Castle! Let’s see whether this old man doesn’t burn your whole tavern down just because you don’t want to tend a little fire!”
“No, I said I wasn’t taking any guests! What kind of harassment is this?”
As she said that, the mistress shot a look at the two thugs. They rose as one.
But the next instant, they had to stop.
From the sleeve of the Taesu who had his arms crossed, a heavy lump of silver rolled out as if by accident.
It was the very thing Cha Un-hong had exchanged for the bill of exchange.
Taesu went “Ahem!” and scooped it back up.
“What, did you think I was broke? Tsk tsk. Now that my merchant capital’s been seen through, I suppose I’d better be on my way. I heard this mistress here was famous for her beauty, so I figured at this price I could drive out every stray in the bun-out room and spend the whole night pounding leather with her, which is why I came.”
The mistress waved her pipe and sent the two men back to the porch. Then, clutching her skirt, she descended into the yard where Taesu was sitting.
“Then you’ve heard exactly right, sir. Forgive me for not recognizing you. The truth is, today just happened to be an unlucky day, so we emptied the rooms and shut work down. You know how even on Hansik we don’t light the fire stove, don’t you?”
“Hansik? Why are you still carrying on about Hansik from ages ago? Never mind. I’m leaving.”
“Oh dear. You’ve got the build of a tiger and a giant, but your guts are pickled sandfish. That won’t do for a man. I’ll take good care of you, I promise. Don’t let appearances fool you—I’ve served provincial magistrates, visiting officials, and county governors of every sort. If you’re comparing me to Chunhyang, I’ve done three times her work.”
So she really had been a government courtesan.
Taesu remained unmoved.
“Forget it. How can I go to bed with a woman who was snapping at me like that a moment ago? It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Unless, of course, you’ve got someone else.”
The mistress’s face shifted into hesitation.
But the silver Taesu had was too much.
Not only the money for her body, but if she could use the famous courtesan career to sweet-talk him and drag him into the gambling pit, she might peel off the rest of what he had too. If she played her cards wrong, this windfall might roll right back out of her hands.
At once, the mistress had an idea.
“...In that case, there is a suitable girl.”
It was the daughter of that Son family they had captured and locked up yesterday.
They were already in a bind with her, anyway.
Hadn’t they nearly been beaten to death after accidentally killing her mother? They’d had to use all of Kim Sang-joon’s influence just to clean that mess up.
Since the master’s orders were sacred, they’d brought the daughter back again, but if they killed another person, Kim Sang-joon might just abandon them this time. So, despite the complaints of the two men who only wanted a bit of fun, the mistress had left the girl locked up.
If I fleece the silver from that man and skim a little off the top to offer upstairs, then let the girl go, that should do it. If Kim Sang-joon gets his money, his anger should cool down too.
As for Son Yu-jak’s sister, all she had to do was promise that if she endured just this once, she could go home. The mistress made up her mind.
“Come this way.”
* * *
Only then did control return to my body.
It felt like watching a self-made black history video.
I’d worried the Mountain Spirit might seize my body completely, but he hadn’t lied.
[Huff, huff! I-I’ve done this much for you, and if you fail, you die.]
So it really was that hard.
[Not hard so much as painful. A filthy human body is poison to one who has cultivated the Way of the Immortals. I’m never doing that again.]
Huh. So I can make this bastard hurt? That’s pretty nice.
Before I could think too deeply about that, the door opened.
A little girl, shaking all over, came in carrying a table of drinks. I could hear the dishes on it rattling.
Her face was pale as paper as she sat down with one knee drawn up. She must have thought she was sitting down demurely beside me, but all I saw was a cat with its fur standing on end.
It was hard to reassure her casually, or say something like “don’t worry.” Joseon’s paper windows weren’t modern glass panes.
So all I could do was pretend to drink a few rounds of liquor. Surely they hadn’t put anything strange in it.
[You mean something like the Dreaming Powder from Outlaws of the Marsh? If there were a drug that convenient, everyone in the Seoul palace and court would have been using it. But when do you think they’d have time?]
They weren’t going to.
I drank, chewed a bit of jeon—surprisingly tasty—and waited for the signal.
I didn’t really want to, but I said a few flirty things too.
“Why are you so stiff? You don’t seem to be very experienced. Have a drink.”
The girl looked like she was about to start hyperventilating.
“...I’m the child of a commoner. Please, show mercy on me...”
Use your head. No doubt they were eavesdropping from outside—why would you say something like that? If I just left now, they’d beat you to death.
I clicked my tongue. Then I looked out the window as if nothing mattered.
What on earth were they doing, taking so long?
The time limit for a man who came here for this purpose had already run out. If I didn’t make a move soon, it would look suspicious.
I squeezed my eyes shut. It was part of the plan, but I still didn’t want to do it if I could help it.
I roughly slipped off my jacket. Son Yu-jak’s sister made such an awkward hiccuping noise that it was hard to listen to.
“Earlier, the mistress here was boasting that she was better than Chunhyang. Hearing that made me want to try a love song myself. You’re awfully stiff, so I’ll have to get the mood going. Come here. Let me carry you and we’ll play.”
The Mountain Spirit clicked his tongue.
[Are you commanding a regiment?]
Dammit. I’m not as shameless as you are when it comes to acting.
Still, thankfully, she was so terrified she didn’t seem to notice anything.
I coaxed and threatened her until I finally got her onto my back. She was so light I could barely feel her at all.
Now then, should I start whooping and laughing like Yi Mong-ryong?
Did a human really have to go that far? What kind of bastards were the Joseon officials who picked some fool like that to be a secret royal inspector?
Fortunately, my worries didn’t last long.
Because at last, the shout I’d been waiting for rang out.
“Fire!”
Those slowpoking gnats had finally done it.
As a racket erupted outside, I yanked the jacket tight and bound the girl and myself together.
“Hold on tight!”
Then I kicked the door open and burst out.
The mistress, who had been scrambling to her feet, was sent flying by the blow of my foot.
I felt no remorse whatsoever. I kicked her again for good measure and ran on.
* * *
When the Gnats’ Gang made trouble, their usual trick was to stab livestock brought to the market with skewers or untie the ropes and let them run wild.
It was groundwork, meant to throw the animals into a frenzy and make petty theft easier.
And this tavern had a stable.
Under the guidance of their new leader, Son Yu-jak, the Songdo Market Gnats’ Gang had shown perfect coordination.
While one group came dancing in with gakseolitaeryeong full of filthy insults about the mistress, the rest slipped into the stable and cut the bridles and reins.
Until the horses came bursting out, the mistress had thought this was just the usual antics of petty thugs.
That is, until the flames rose up on that side.
The gas Taesu had shared out a little of—leftover from setting fire to Villa Emperor’s private estate—and the matches were a huge help here.
The horses, seeing the fire, went even more berserk. One of the two thugs, not knowing any better, panicked and was kicked clean off his feet by a horse’s hoof.
The other grabbed a dung fork with a savage look on his face.
“You gnats are insane, aren’t you? Are you all out of your minds?”
In this age, no matter who they were facing, people always gave their all when it came to a showdown.
Even if the opponent was a grade-schooler.
The thug aimed for the child standing farthest forward and swung down with the fork.
“Move!”
Son Yu-jak shoved the child aside and went down with him. When the attack failed, the thug’s ferocity only increased.
He stood there huffing before the two children, who were trying to get back up.
“Look at you, having such a good time. If I don’t tear you all to pieces and eat you raw today, I’ll go hand my name back to my ancestors.”
But the thug would have done better not to boast so carelessly.
The next instant, he really did meet his ancestors.
“Out of the way, asshole!”
Taesu, racing straight toward him with the girl on his back, leapt in midair and hurled a flying knee.
The knee slammed squarely into the side of the thug’s face, and there was a truly literal sound of a pumpkin bursting. The thug, with what looked like one eye even bulging outward, collapsed without even getting the chance to make a sound.
Son Yu-jak stared upward, dazed.
Against the blaze, Taesu’s figure with the girl on his back looked like a true divine general.
Author’s Note
1. “Shassi” is actually “saesi” in proper Korean. The card-game swindle mentioned in the story was a real and common trick.
2. “Suui-sato” refers to a secret royal inspector.