Monopolizing Fortunes (128)
Monopolizing Fortunes (128)
"Who are those people?"
"I heard they're some thugs from the Underworld?"
"Huh? Underworld thugs? Are you joking right now?"
"The joke is this situation where Underworld thugs are being treated like honored guests."
The dozen or so warriors whispered among themselves as they watched the scene unfold.
"But didn't they say that Wang Du-sik, the one the Alliance Leader brought, is also a thug?"
"Wang Du-sik is exceptional, though. They say even Hall Master Gong Ja-pyeong of the Haewoldang can't beat him easily."
Do Tong-dal and Wang Du-sik faced each other with three jang between them.
"Oh? Looks like Wang Du-sik and that person are about to spar?"
"Do you know who that person is?"
"I don't, but the Alliance Leader was treating him like a guest. Strategist Ha was practically doting on him."
"He's still just a thug. Maybe they've got something on him."
They thought they were whispering, but every one of them had exceptionally sharp hearing. Hwangmi Dal, being the oldest, had the sharpest of all.
'You little bastards! Just wait until the sparring is over!'
Unaware of the rough days being foretold for them, the Northern Unorthodox Alliance warriors fixed their eyes on Do Tong-dal and Wang Du-sik.
"Brother, you have to keep your promise!"
"Of course."
"Then here I come!"
By the time the words ended, Wang Du-sik had already reached Do Tong-dal's nose. His speed was clearly faster than when they had first fought.
Do Tong-dal blocked the fist swinging at his face. With a dull sound, Do Tong-dal's body was pushed back a full jang. The force was enough to make his blocking arm ache.
Wang Du-sik quickly closed in and swung his fist again. What Do Tong-dal wanted to test wasn't Wang Du-sik's offensive power.
Leaning his body back to let the punch slip past, Do Tong-dal kicked up at Wang Du-sik's chin.
Clack!
It had clearly connected squarely with the top of his foot. But Wang Du-sik paid it no mind and lunged at Do Tong-dal.
Startled, Do Tong-dal twisted his body sideways and narrowly avoided Wang Du-sik's attack.
"That much won't work on me, brother."
His expression truly showed no sign of discomfort. Wang Du-sik's attacks had grown sharper, his speed had increased, and his body had become unrecognizably tougher.
'Oh-ho! Not bad. Let's see if he can take this too.'
Wang Du-sik had gotten faster, but Do Tong-dal hadn't been idle either. Thanks to squeezing in training whenever he could find the time, he too had grown stronger than before.
So Wang Du-sik's speed couldn't catch up to Do Tong-dal. Do Tong-dal's feet repeatedly struck Wang Du-sik.
Messy footprints were stamped all over his face, upper body, and lower body alike. Wang Du-sik would briefly retreat and then lunge again, hesitating before attacking, announcing his continued vigor.
Do Tong-dal slipped away like an eel while striking every part of Wang Du-sik's body. From Wang Du-sik's head to his toes, there wasn't a spot left without a pale footprint.
'He's gotten tougher than before. This should be enough.'
Instead of Wang Du-sik, who was huffing and chasing after him, Hwangmi Dal shouted.
"You coward, running away and throwing girly little kicks!"
Receiving fierce glares from Namgung Seol-rin and Ha Su-ran, Hwangmi Dal mumbled, "No, that wasn't an insult......" and trailed off.
Do Tong-dal had been planning to end it around now anyway. He launched his body into the air and kicked the chin of the charging Wang Du-sik. No matter how much one trained in the Vajra Body-Acquisition Art, the chin was a vital point that was hard to condition.
While Wang Du-sik faltered, Do Tong-dal rotated horizontally in the air and struck the chin once more, then spun another full turn without touching the ground and delivered a final blow.
After taking three consecutive hits to the chin, Wang Du-sik slumped down on the spot. An ordinary martial artist would have had their jaw blown off or their neck broken, but Wang Du-sik staggered and struggled to rise.
"You stubborn fool, take a rest."
Only when Do Tong-dal's instep slammed into his temple did Wang Du-sik topple sideways and lose consciousness.
Namgung Seol-rin approached Do Tong-dal and spoke.
"He seems even tougher than back then."
"Right? The old man seems to have a knack for raising people."
At Do Tong-dal's praise, Hwangmi Dal let out a fake cough.
"Ahem! I do have a certain abundance of talent in that area."
Do Tong-dal grinned.
"Since you've raised him so well, old man, I'll take him off your hands and put him to use."
"Put him to use? For what?"
Do Tong-dal pointed at Wang Du-sik, who was grinning in his sleep as if dreaming of something.
"This guy."
"What would you use that useless lump for?"
"I need someone tough enough to survive even brutal torture. Du-sik is perfect."
* * *
Having heard everything Do Tong-dal had to say, Wang Du-sik just blinked. It was clear he didn't understand what was being said.
"Got it?"
As expected, his head shook from side to side.
"Then I'll explain it one more time. I told you the First Prince is dead, right?"
"Yes."
"You're going to be the culprit."
"But I didn't kill him?"
"We're going to say you did. He was a bastard who deserved to die, so he died well."
"So you killed him, brother?"
"Yeah."
"Then how do I become the culprit?"
"Because the authorities will arrest you."
Wang Du-sik scratched his eyebrow.
"I don't like the authorities."
"Just bear with it this once. Things will get better later."
"The First Prince is the emperor's son, isn't he? If I'm caught as the culprit, I'll die......"
He wasn't so stupid as not to know that.
"I'll keep you alive, so don't worry. Though it will be a bit painful."
"Pain is fine."
"You might swell up and bleed a lot......"
"A man should endure that much."
"You'll be caught and strung up, swell up a lot, bleed a lot, all that......"
"If a man's scared of that, he ought to cut his own balls off!"
Do Tong-dal patted Wang Du-sik's shoulder with a proud expression.
"That's why you're my little brother! Once this job is done, I'll put the prettiest courtesan in the pleasure house of your choice on your arm and pour you the finest wine!"
"Really? Can I pick the pleasure house?"
"Of course! Hangzhou is fine, Beijing is fine, anywhere! Even if I have to buy an entire pleasure house, I'll take you there!"
"You're the best, brother! Brother! I love you!"
Do Tong-dal patted the back of Wang Du-sik, who was clinging to him disgustingly. He needed at least this kind of hope to endure the brutal torture.
After Wang Du-sik left the room saying, "Then I'll go get ready to leave!", Namgung Seol-rin asked.
"Will Du-sik really not die?"
"I'll have to make sure he doesn't."
"Is that possible?"
"I'll have to make it possible."
"So there's no guarantee?"
"That's why I'll be busy once we get to Beijing. If the Beggars' Sect had done their job properly, I wouldn't have had to see that Censor Yang's face so soon."
Jang Yu-seom, who was following Do Tong-dal out of the room, asked.
"You said you'd make Wang Du-sik the culprit, but is that possible? We were all wearing masks, weren't we?"
"Just put a white sword and a mask in his possession."
"Will they be fooled that easily? Even if the face is covered, the build is quite different."
"Only one person needs to be suspicious. There's always someone with a suspicious nature everywhere. After that, it'll roll along naturally like a cart going downhill."
Seeing only what one wants to see and hearing only what one wants to hear is human nature. They'd be hounded day and night to catch the culprit, so when someone who looked the part appeared, they'd all pounce on him with delight.
And decisively, if he knew where the First Prince was buried, Wang Du-sik would be a culprit who couldn't talk his way out of it.
Ha Su-ran asked.
"Is there anything we can help with?"
Hwangmi Dal cut in.
"Help with what? That bastard's someone we should be avoiding."
"The Makya Sword......"
"I will pledge my life in loyal service! What must I do?"
"Go and help the Beggars' Sect Leader."
"Me, help that beggar old man? Why?"
"The Makya Sword......"
"I'll go help right away! How could I sit idle when the safety of the world is at stake! But what exactly should I help with?"
"Do I have to spoon-feed you? If you've rolled around the martial world to that age, you ought to find work to do on your own."
He felt a surge of anger inside, but he repeated the words "Makya Sword" in his mind and suppressed it.
'You bastard! Just you wait! Once I get my hands on the Makya Sword......!'
He couldn't think of anything specific to do right then, but before and after possessing the Makya Sword would clearly be different.
After shoving Hwangmi Dal off to the Beggars' Sect Leader, Do Tong-dal headed back toward Beijing. The thought crossed his mind, 'Nothing gets done without me,' but since he'd brought it on himself, there was nothing to be done about it.
Do Tong-dal first took Wang Du-sik to Hwangnyeong Mountain and showed him where the First Prince was buried.
"Remember the surroundings well. You can use that rock that looks like a cow as a marker."
"How does that look like a cow?"
"Then what does it look like?"
Wang Du-sik stared at the rock for a long while, answered, "A rock," and got smacked on the back of the head.
"Just say it looks like a cow. And describe that crooked pine tree over there too."
Do Tong-dal made sure Wang Du-sik thoroughly memorized the spot where the First Prince was buried.
"So do I turn myself in now?"
"No, there's someone you need to meet first."
Yang Su-pan, who had received Do Tong-dal's message, came running at full speed.
"I thought you wouldn't come for a while, but you came sooner than expected."
"How's the mood in the imperial palace these days?"
"Turbulent. The First Prince's faction is thrashing about."
"They must be raising their voices saying he's only missing, not dead yet."
"They're singing songs of hope, but deep down they probably think he's dead too. The Second Prince is openly pleased. Though with his older brother missing, he didn't even show a hint of grief."
"He was always scum, so it's nothing new. The Third Prince's side is working as instructed, right?"
"Of course. The one shouting loudest that the First Prince is only missing and not dead is the Third Prince himself. Thanks to that, His Majesty the Emperor, even from his sickbed, praised the Third Prince for his deep brotherly affection."
"As time passes, the First Prince's people will attach themselves to the Third Prince. It would be awkward for them to go to the Second Prince, who they've been at odds with like dogs and monkeys. The Third Prince just needs to carefully roll the snowball and grow it."
"You didn't come all the way to Beijing just to say that, did you......?"
Do Tong-dal gave Wang Du-sik a light smack on the back.
"I've caught the culprit who abducted the First Prince."
Yang Su-pan looked at Wang Du-sik with a bewildered expression.
"What do you mean?"
"This guy is the one who abducted His Highness the First Prince."
"I saw the description of the suspect given by the Embroidered Uniform Guard who escorted the First Prince. The face was covered by a mask, but that build is just......"
"Just insist on it. There's a white sword and a mask, after all."
"Will that be enough?"
"If we say this guy is the culprit, do you think they won't arrest him just because he doesn't match the description?"
"They'll come running like mad to grab him."
"Then they'll torture him. What happens if, in the process, he confesses where the First Prince's body is buried?"
"Then that bastard is the culprit."
Do Tong-dal said to Wang Du-sik.
"This is Censor Yang. Greet him."
"Is that mister stronger than me?"
"Huh?"
"I only bow to people stronger than me."
"Hey, he's like a brother to me, so just greet him!"
Wang Du-sik gave only a curt nod with a dissatisfied expression. Yang Su-pan wasn't offended at all by Wang Du-sik's rudeness.
Do Tong-dal's words, "like a brother to me," resonated in his chest. His feeling of regarding Do Tong-dal as a real younger brother wasn't a one-sided affection.
To Yang Su-pan, who was getting choked up over a small thing, Do Tong-dal said.
"Censor Yang, please protect this guy's life."
"How would I do that?"
"First, assign the physician in black to him. An important suspect can't be allowed to die, so the excuse works well enough."
"That should be possible."
"And if possible, make sure the torturer is also one of your people, Censor Yang."
"If we fake the torture, we'll be found out......"
"The torture can be real."
"Huh?"
"I chose this guy precisely because he can endure even the harshest torture. So really torture him, but just enough that he doesn't die."
"How much is that?"
"I'll speak with the physician in black separately."
Do Tong-dal whispered low enough that Wang Du-sik couldn't hear.
"You can go far enough that it seems like he might actually die."
"Understood. To meet the physician in black, I'll have to enter the imperial palace. Will you come?"
"I don't even want to piss in that neighborhood. Tell the physician in black to come here."
That evening, the physician in black did come, but not alone. At the news that Do Tong-dal had arrived, not only the Third Prince Ju Hyeong-seon but also Ju Seo-in came along.
"My husband!"
* * *