Which Will It Be—Ghost or Monster? (5)
The Yangtze River.
The lifeline that cut through the heart of the Central Plains, and the center of all commerce and transport.
So it was only natural that the docks were packed shoulder to shoulder with those hoping to cross the river by boat, and those bound for distant regions along the great artery of the Yangtze. It was a sea of people.
“Hurry, hurry, get on! Quickly! We’ll be departing soon!”
“Don’t push! Ah, I’m going to fall!”
People hurried across the planks laid between the moored vessel and the harbor. Their clothing was a patchwork of every imaginable style.
Just as it seemed everyone who meant to board had already done so, a sailor collecting fares craned his neck and bellowed, “Anyone else? If not, we’re leaving!”
Then he hauled up the plank and raised the anchor. At once the sails filled, and the ship began to move slowly away from the dock. It was when the vessel, riding the proud current of the Yangtze, was drifting farther and farther toward the center of the river that—
“Waaiiiit!”
Someone far off shouted and came running at full speed.
“Wait! Just wait a moment! I have to get on that boat!”
An oddly powerful voice.
No, not especially loud, in truth—but somehow it cut straight into the ear with startling clarity.
The man standing at the bow, looking back with regret toward the shrinking harbor, clicked his tongue. “You should’ve come a little earlier! We can’t turn the ship around. Take the next one!”
The vessel was already well beyond the harbor. Once a ship had set out, there was no turning it back, so the sailor’s words were perfectly reasonable.
But the man sprinting after it clearly did not agree.
“That won’t do!”
Without slowing in the slightest, he raced like a madman toward the riverbank.
“W-wait!”
“What in the world is he planning to do?”
Passengers on the boat and people on the dock alike murmured in astonishment, eyes wide as they watched him.
By then, the ship was already more than ten jang from shore. And yet that man showed no sign of giving up—he looked ready to leap all the way onto the deck.
“He’s going to hurt himself at that rate…”
“Bah. He’ll probably leap partway and dive the rest.”
“How’s he supposed to catch a ship by swimming? It’s not like the boat will stop and wait for him. The sails are already up!”
And then—
“Taaaaat!”
The runner’s speed suddenly spiked, and in the next instant he shot into the air like a bird. At the same time, everyone’s gaze followed him skyward.
“Wooooah!”
“My heavens! What is that!”
He rose like a hawk, turned a full circle in midair, and then, in one breath, covered the distance of more than ten jang and descended onto the ship.
BOOOOM!
He landed precariously on the railing, but even so, it was an astonishing sight.
Those watching from the dock and those looking on from the ship’s deck alike stood there with their mouths open, then broke into applause. Exclamations of admiration burst out one after another.
“He’s not a bird, is he?”
“Incredible. Truly incredible! Is he a martial artist?”
Then one of the onlookers caught sight of the word Special embroidered on the bundle strapped over the man’s shoulder and gasped.
“He’s a Special Express Courier! A Special Express Courier from Eunha Express!”
“Oh? From the Eunha Merchant Guild?”
“So that’s him! The Special Express Courier of Eunha Express, the one they say flies like the wind! This is my first time seeing one in person!”
At the mention of Special Express Courier, everyone on deck began to murmur and crowd around the man.
Smiling faintly, he clasped his hands and bowed to the people around him. “Thank you. Thank you very much. However, I am currently transporting cargo, so please do not come too close. I ask your understanding.”
At his polite request, those pressing in nodded and stepped back one or two paces.
Eunha Express’s Special Express Couriers were famous for charging high fees precisely because they also transported high-value goods.
Of the countless escort houses in the world, wasn’t the reason Eunha Express had recently risen to such towering fame due precisely to the existence of those couriers?
Anyone who worked in the trade—or even anyone with a passing interest in the affairs of the world—knew of them. Special Express Couriers who could run ten thousand li in a single breath and deliver goods exactly on time, within a period no ordinary escort house could even dream of matching.
“You must have it rough. Where are you headed?”
“Haha. I’m afraid that’s also something I can’t say. I hope you understand.”
“So he really is a Special Express Courier from Eunha Express. Just as I thought.”
“Of course. Didn’t you hear? The high officials of the capital even draw lots and wait their turn just to have their cargo handled by them.”
“Amazing. Truly amazing. I’d like to entrust something to them myself.”
“And do you have anything valuable enough?”
“Hey now, you! It’s not as though Eunha Express only takes Special Express cargo, is it? They’ll handle ordinary shipments too.”
The Special Express Courier, So Jeong-bok, smiled to himself.
People recognize us wherever we go now.
Of course, he was a disciple of the Ghost Sect.
Ever since the sect master’s decision to begin carrying special cargo, enough time had passed that people all over the world now recognized Eunha Express’s Special Express Couriers.
It really was the right thing to do.
How fierce had the internal resistance been when the sect master first announced that they would begin transporting cargo?
It hadn’t just been the elders, who lived and died for face. Even the disciples assigned to the work had many who obeyed only because they could not defy the sect master’s order, while inwardly feeling deeply displeased.
But now the disciples who remained behind in the Ghost Sect to train instead envied those who went out on escort runs, eagerly hoping for their own turn to come so they too could leave on assignment.
Come to think of it, my own rotation isn’t far off either.
Once he completed his assigned period, he would have to return to the Ghost Sect, trade places with someone else, and spend a while training there. Thinking about going back made him sigh without meaning to.
He had not understood before. Not truly. He had not realized how much one’s perspective widened by seeing the world directly, by experiencing so many things in person.
Compared to the cramped, suffocating Ghost Sect hidden away in the mountains, where one spent every day training from dawn to dusk, this life was practically luxury.
And if I finish this escort run, I’ll have nearly saved up the amount I was aiming for…
The Eunha Merchant Guild was truly generous.
Every time they took on a delivery, they paid wages properly. Of course, since part of the fee they received went to the Ghost Sect, and then their own share was divided from that, the percentage was not especially high—but even so, it was an amount the disciples of the Ghost Sect could scarcely have imagined.
Without needing to build martial prowess or make a name for himself as a warrior, simply continuing this line of work allowed one to earn more money than most could ever hope to see in a lifetime.
No—if one spoke purely in financial terms, he might even be able to amass wealth beyond comparison.
So the disciples of the Ghost Sect worked diligently without slacking, and thanks to that, the renown of Eunha Express’s special cargo service only grew day by day.
And on top of that…
- Mwahahahahahaha! The storeroom is so full there’s nowhere left to put anything! We need to expand the warehouse! The warehouse!
“……Well now.”
The Ghost Sect had been changing day by day too.
The ramshackle old buildings were being torn down, and neat new structures were rising in their place. Lately, there were even rumors that the sect master was planning to relocate the Ghost Sect entirely to a bustling walled city.
So Jeong-bok found himself constantly realizing anew just how much money could change.
Then a small whisper brushed past his ear.
“Still, isn’t that dangerous? Everyone knows Special Express Couriers carry valuable goods. If he’s traveling alone like that…”
“You’re talking nonsense because you don’t know any better.”
“Huh?”
“Haven’t you heard the rumors that Mount Hua stands behind the Special Express Couriers? No matter how desperate a bandit may be for money, how could he possibly dare touch a shipment protected by Mount Hua Sect? To the demonic factions, Mount Hua is no different from the god of death.”
“Ah! R-right, right! If it’s Mount Hua Sect, then of course the evil factions would tremble.”
“I heard that after Mount Hua wiped out Dae-byeol Bandit Band last time, even the Green Forest bandits lost the nerve to so much as think about laying a hand on Eunha Escort House. They only have one life too, so naturally they should.”
“Heh. Hearing it like that is pretty funny. If Mount Hua can do that, then the Nine Sects and One Gang could do it too, couldn’t they? Yet they’ve been sitting on their hands this whole time, haven’t they?”
“Compassion and righteous hearts are different, that’s all! Anyway, that’s why the Special Express Couriers are safe, and why even the high officials trust them. Eunha Sangdan trusts them too, which is why they included the condition that if anything goes wrong with what a Special Express Courier is carrying, they’ll pay an enormous sum in compensation.”
“I see. Now I understand.”
So Jeong-bok snorted silently to himself.
They don’t know. They don’t know that the Green Forest doesn’t avoid touching them because it’s scared of Mount Hua—it’s because it’s allied with Mount Hua.
He found himself wondering what expression those people would make if they knew that, before coming here, he had rested comfortably at a nearby mountain stronghold and even eaten a hearty meal there.
So Jeong-bok, casually resting the bundle of cargo against the railing, scanned left and right out of habit.
If he were on solid ground, he was confident he could slip away in an instant from anyone who tried to steal the cargo. Every disciple of the Ghost Sect was skilled in lightness arts.
But on a ship like this, with nowhere to flee, he had to be even more vigilant than usual.
Three more days after disembarking, and I’ll have reached my destination. Then, before I return to the Ghost Sect, I can make another one or two runs. I can enjoy myself in shifts on the way back, after all…
The ship carrying So Jeong-bok sailed onward without pause. Along both sides of the vessel, as it followed the river’s current, nature unfolded in all its breathtaking splendor.
How long had they traveled like that?
By the time the sky had begun to darken, the sailors came onto the deck and called out, “You may fall overboard at night, so please stay away from the railings. And it gets cold on the river at night. The cabins may be cramped, but there’s enough space for everyone here to sleep, so please go inside and rest.”
The passengers watching the sunset rose one by one at those words and headed for the cabins. But then, from the bow, a frantic voice suddenly rang out.
“W-wait! Over there! T-there!”
The sailor hurried toward the bow.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“There! Look there! That ship!”
“Hm?”
The sailor quickly craned his neck and looked in the direction the man was pointing. A ship was slowly approaching from the other side.
“What’s the problem? It’s just an ordinary boat, isn’t it?”
“T-the direction is wrong. At this distance, they should be turning their bow, but even when we turn ours, they keep coming straight toward us.”
“What?”
The sailor’s eyes wavered slightly.
“Then…”
There was no doubt that the other ship was approaching this one, which meant it had some business here. But what business could there possibly be on this river?
And then, in that very instant—
“B-brother! Over there!”
The approaching ship raised its sail.
That in itself was not unusual, but the problem was the emblem painted upon it.
The unmistakable form of a ferocious black dragon.
“Water Bandit Sect!”
“It’s the Yangtze Water Bandits!”
“Damn it all!”
There was only one place on the Yangtze River that could use that mark: the coalition of eighteen water bandit factions, the Yangtze River Eighteen Water Bandit Factions.
“B-bandits!”
“The bandits are coming!”
The people aboard the ship went into complete panic the moment they heard the words Water Bandit Sect and began to shout and stagger about. Meeting river bandits on this vast waterway, with nowhere to escape, was the very definition of disaster.
But it was already too late to avoid them. The ship flying the black dragon banner was closing in faster and faster.
So Jeong-bok’s face began to harden, ice-cold.