Monopolizing Fortunes (54)
Monopolizing Fortunes (54)
"Well...... I never got the chance to go."
"Haah—! Would you look at this poor fellow. To think you still haven't been to such a fine place."
Namgung Seol-rin burst out.
"Fine, my foot!"
"Seeing Seol-rin flare up like that, it must be quite a place. Shall we go today, then?"
In truth, Namgung Cheol-hyeon had no illusions about pleasure houses. If anything, they were places to avoid, since they only interfered with his training.
Even so, he said he would go to the pleasure house to humor Do Tong-dal. That really was his intention.
That thought did not change even when the table was set and the courtesan came in. Even when a beautiful entertainer played the zither, he felt nothing special.
But the moment a single cup of Sagiju went down, his thinking changed.
"Ohh—! This liquor, the taste......!"
He could not put it into words. He did not particularly enjoy drinking, but he did drink occasionally with the clan head, Namgung Baek-jung. So liquor was not unfamiliar to him, yet the Sagiju made every drink he had ever tasted seem like swill.
Once the liquor went down, the entertainer's music sounded different too, and the courtesan's skin brushing lightly against him sent a thrill through him.
That day, Namgung Seol-rin was not there either. It was thanks(?) to Do Tong-dal desperately stopping her from coming along.
The night of three intoxications—drunk on liquor, drunk on music, drunk on the courtesan's soft skin—grew late.
For Namgung Cheol-hyeon, who had lived as rigidly as steel as the young head of the Namgung Clan, it was the first time in his life he experienced hours as pliant as bamboo.
When the night had ripened and it seemed one more drink would leave him unable to do anything else(?), Do Tong-dal called an end to the drinking.
"No, I should...... go home now......."
"You would leave after getting me all heated up like this? That simply will not do."
The courtesan throwing her whole body at him was a more difficult opponent for Namgung Cheol-hyeon than the greatest master under heaven.
"Why make it hard? You came to a pleasure house, so follow the rules of the pleasure house. Take good care of him."
Yeon Ja-yeon, seated beside Do Tong-dal, spoke.
"She's one of the finest in our house, so she'll serve him well."
He did not know what "finest" meant, but since Yeon Ja-yeon vouched for her, she would surely do well.
Namgung Cheol-hyeon thought, 'This is wrong,' yet he did not push the courtesan's hand away.
"Look at him, he's a virgin, a virgin. Heh heh heh......."
Do Tong-dal wore a lecherous grin, while Yeon Ja-yeon and Ja Su-yeong, who had been performing together, exchanged a look.
"Right, today it's your turn, Su-yeong."
"Thank you, Mistress Yeon."
* * *
At Hwang Chan-seok's words, Wang Chil's brow furrowed sharply.
"Opium?"
"Yes. We must pay for one hundred twenty geun of opium by the day after tomorrow."
"The Red Tiger Society does not deal in opium or human trafficking. That has been an iron rule since our first Society Leader. Send the opium back."
"The thing is, we haven't received the opium yet."
"And we're supposed to pay?"
"Opium is normally paid for in advance, and the goods are received later."
"Good. Tell them we won't be buying opium from now on."
Hwang Chan-seok scratched his head with a troubled expression.
"He's not someone we can send away that easily."
"What's the problem?"
"The opium dealer, a man called Mo In-sang, is a rough sort that even the Underworld finds unpleasant to deal with."
"What, a knife won't stick in his belly?"
"Among Mo In-sang's men there is one master, said to be a first-rate martial artist even by the standards of the martial world. Not only Hangzhou, but Underworld societies in other regions also do business with Mo In-sang, and three Underworld societies have been utterly ruined after crossing him the wrong way. So how about we just pay this time and slowly cut off dealings?"
"A first-rate master? Working under some opium peddler? First-rate masters must all be dead."
"People thought the same of the Red Tiger Society's two Protectors and Coordinator Do, and they all got burned."
"You're comparing Tong-dal and the two Protectors to some opium junkie?"
"Of course that's true, but they're such vicious men......."
"Rules are rules! If we break them for this and dodge them for that, everything goes to hell later. Enough talk. Cut off the dealings."
As long as Do Tong-dal, Jang Yu-seom, and Namgung Seol-rin were here, no one could touch the Red Tiger Society. Wang Chil believed that.
* * *
Two dreamlike days passed. It was the first time in Namgung Cheol-hyeon's life that he had ever let himself go. They were also the only two days since he had begun learning martial arts that he had not thought about his training.
"Brother, did you enjoy it?"
"I did. Heh heh heh......."
Namgung Seol-rin shook her head and muttered, "This is why you have to choose your friends well."
"A life without rest wears you out quickly. Life is long, and there's plenty of time to train in martial arts. Take a break like that now and then. Only now and then, of course. And don't stop by any pleasure houses on the way."
At Do Tong-dal's words, Namgung Cheol-hyeon replied with a smile on his face.
"If I go to a pleasure house, it'll only be Cheonsangru...."
"Brother!"
When Namgung Seol-rin flared up, Namgung Cheol-hyeon whispered to Do Tong-dal.
"Next time, we'll have to meet in secret."
"Sure. Come visit when you're tired. Hangzhou is always a place for you to rest."
After a farewell embrace with Do Tong-dal, Namgung Cheol-hyeon said to Namgung Seol-rin.
"Take care. Stop by the clan now and then and see Father and Mother."
"I will."
With that, Namgung Cheol-hyeon ended his short rest in Hangzhou and departed. Watching him walk away, Do Tong-dal muttered.
"Hope the aftereffects don't hit him."
"This is all because of you."
"Would you rather your brother live as a bachelor his whole life and die old?"
"That's not what I—! Let's stop talking. Stop."
They were bickering as they turned to go inside when they heard someone shouting, "Coordinator Do!"
The person running toward them from afar, calling Do Tong-dal at the top of his lungs, was Jang Baek-dong.
"Did something happen?"
"At the Black Dragon Society headquarters...... no, at the Hwangun Branch, our people were attacked!"
"Our people were attacked?"
"Opium dealers came and smashed up twenty of our people and dragged off Branch Chief Hwang Chan-seok!"
"What?"
Do Tong-dal and Namgung Seol-rin hurried toward the Hwangun Branch. Though it was a branch, it had once served as the headquarters, so it was quite large.
The first floor, over a hundred pyeong, was strewn with broken desks, chairs, and tables. There was no small amount of blood visible here and there.
As they were about to go up to the second floor, Wang Chil arrived.
"Tong-dal!"
"I just got here too, so I don't know what happened."
"I know."
"What happened?"
Wang Chil told Do Tong-dal about the warning Hwang Chan-seok had given and held out a letter.
—If you want your people alive, bring the opium money and come to my house.
That was what the letter said.
"Where is this Mo In-sang's house?"
"I know that."
Jo Mu-geun, who had come with Wang Chil, stepped forward. He was a thug under Hwang Chan-seok.
"Where?"
"Fuyang County."
"Fuyang County is less than a day from here."
"Their opium fields are on Cheongu Mountain there."
"Go and bring a carriage! The fastest two-horse carriage!"
Just then, Jang Yu-seom also came running after hearing the news.
"I heard Branch Chief Hwang was kidnapped?"
"Yes. We're about to go rescue him."
Jang Yu-seom said.
"Do we need to bring that many people? The three of us and one guide should be enough."
Namgung Seol-rin alone would have been sufficient, but having Jang Yu-seom along made for an even better combination.
"We should be able to arrive before sunset tomorrow."
As long as Hwang Chan-seok was alive, rescuing him would not be difficult. Wang Chil said.
"Be careful. From what I heard, they were taken down by a single man."
"What's there to worry about when both Protectors are going together?"
"True, but my dreams were unsettled last night."
"It was just a stupid dream."
The three climbed aboard before the carriage Jo Mu-geun had fetched even came to a stop. Jo Mu-geun drove the carriage quite skillfully.
Jang Yu-seom said.
"I heard before we left that the opium gang is fairly large."
"What's there to worry about?"
"Should we kill them all?"
Unless one was a murderer, killing people was not a pleasant thing.
"Unless something special happens, there's no need to go that far."
* * *
Hwang Chan-seok was shoved roughly into a corner of the hut. The rope bit into his wrists until blood flowed, but no one made any move to untie him.
With his hands bound behind his back, it was hard even to sit upright. He sat with his back against the wall, and a wooden chair was placed right in front of him.
Mo In-sang sat in the chair with its back facing forward. Like the six men in the hut, Mo In-sang's teeth were nearly black. It was a trait of opium addicts.
"How does it feel to suddenly become so valuable?"
"Valuable?"
"You're worth one hundred twenty nyang of silver now."
It was the money the Black Dragon Society had agreed to pay Mo In-sang.
"Ah! And if I count the trouble of hauling you all the way here, I ought to squeeze out even more. Heh heh heh......."
Just then, a man came staggering up from behind Mo In-sang.
"Hey...... some medicine......."
The man, gaunt as if skin had been stretched over bones, with disheveled hair, was trembling violently.
That man had beaten down twenty people in an instant and kidnapped him. Looking at him now, it was hard to believe he possessed that kind of skill.
"Can't you see I'm talking? Wait."
"Hey...... some medicine......."
"You little shit! I said wait!"
Mo In-sang sprang to his feet and struck the disheveled man with the whip at his waist.
Though he could easily have dodged, the man stayed prone and took the blow from the whip full-on.
"I'm...... sorry...... hey...... some medicine......."
"Fuck, you damn addict. Hey! Give this bastard some medicine!"
One of the men led the disheveled man out of the hut. Mo In-sang sat back down in the chair and asked.
"Where were we?"
"Coordinator Do is coming to cut your throat."
"Coordinator Do? Who's that?"
"You don't know Do Tong-dal?"
"He's not my father, so why should I know him? You fucking bastard!"
This time the whip fell on Hwang Chan-seok. Each time the whip struck his body, it felt as though chunks of flesh were being gouged out.
Even through that pain, Hwang Chan-seok spat out curses.
"You bastard! When Coordinator Do gets here...... you're dead! You dog!"
"You stupid fuck! I'm a god here! I kill who I want to kill and spare who I want to spare! Martial arts masters and all that bullshit don't mean a thing! Got it?"
Unable to endure Mo In-sang's whipping, Hwang Chan-seok blacked out.
"You fucking vicious bastard. Ptui!"
Mo In-sang cracked the whip in the air to shake off the blood and muttered.
"As long as that addict is around, no one can touch me. No one."
* * *
The carriage could only go as far as the middle slope of Cheongu Mountain.
"We have to climb about one shichen from here."
Jo Mu-geun had thought his stamina was quite good. He was especially confident that no one could outpace him on a mountain.
But the three people following behind him were faster than a man who had lived his whole life as an herb gatherer.
If they had not needed him to guide the way, they would have passed him long ago and vanished far ahead.
After climbing the slope without rest for half a shichen, his breath came in gasps, but the three showed no sign of fatigue.
The thought, 'I wish he'd climb a little faster,' was written all over their faces, but Jo Mu-geun looked so exhausted that they could not press him.
"Let's rest a bit before going on."
At Do Tong-dal's words, Jo Mu-geun slumped to the ground. He was breathing so hard his eyes felt like they would pop out.
"The opium field is pretty deep in the mountains."
"At...... at this speed...... it's...... about...... one ke......."
"Don't talk. Just breathe."
"Yes. Hah! Hah!"
Jo Mu-geun swore he would never climb a mountain with those three again.
"There's someone."
At Jang Yu-seom's words, Namgung Seol-rin also looked toward one spot.
"What should we do?"
"They'll be guarding the opium fields. Leave them."
Unless rescuing Hwang Chan-seok required stealth, they would have to meet Mo In-sang anyway.
After resting for about half a ke, they climbed again. When Do Tong-dal said, "You can go slowly," Jo Mu-geun found himself saying, "Thank you."
They had climbed for about half a ke when two men burst out through the dense forest.
"Gah!"
Jo Mu-geun was the only one startled. The two men, rolling their unusually yellow eyes, gestured for them to follow.
Do Tong-dal muttered.
"Selling opium must make good money. You'd think they'd live somewhere a little more respectable."
The clearing appeared suddenly. The forest ended as if cut with a knife, revealing a space of about two hundred pyeong covered in short grass.
Ten huts stood in a row along the forest's edge.
BANG!
The front door of the hut near the middle of the ten burst open and a man came out.
* * *