Chapter 19 There will be no injustice
There will be no injustice
Chapter 19 — There will be no injustice.
The reason Muk Yeo-jin deliberately caused such a commotion was nothing else.
The slaves sold at Chosongru’s black-market auctions are all detained after having been given the dokdan (poisoned pill/soporific).
And when the payment is made, the rujoo (householder) then hands the antidote to the buyer.
Bu-yeon’s sister, Bu Yeong-seol, too, would already be in the state of having taken the dokdan.
So if they rashly infiltrated Chosongru now, there was a danger they could not guarantee Bu Yeong-seol’s life.
‘Besides, Chosongru will have Gwangcheonmun’s men posted on watch everywhere as their backing.’
No matter how third-rate the ruffians, even the current Muk Yeo-jin would find it strenuous to handle a whole sect alone.
‘Unless there is no one to protect, this is not the time for reckless bravado.’
Therefore Muk Yeo-jin decided to participate himself in the black-market auction held at Chosongru.
That way would be the most natural method of approach.
As is usual with secret black-markets, participation is only possible via an introducer.
The disturbance in the guesthouse was a kind of event to summon that introducer.
‘If a rumor spreads that an unknown wealthy man with skilled retainers has come to Zhejiang, those attracted by the smell of money will inevitably show up.’
Sure enough.
Not long after, the innkeeper who had served the food earlier placed a small note on the table and left.
“The bait has taken. Bu-daein, just act arrogant. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Bu-yeon nodded with a tense expression.
The two finished their meal at the guesthouse, went to the address written on the note, and entered the room to which the attendant led them.
There sat a man with a bulging belly, oil trickling from the corners of his mouth.
The man casually poured fragrant tea and introduced himself.
“Oh ho. It’s an honor to meet you. I run, on a small scale, an ‘sangdan’ — my name is Gok Pansu.”
Sangdan — what a thing.
From behind the man his guards reeked strongly of rotten blood.
To any onlooker it was plain that these were no more and no less than scum engaged in human trafficking.
Still, to those who regarded selling people as a business, running a ‘sangdan’ might be considered appropriate.
Bu-yeon, born with a good eye for people, instinctively felt disgust toward Gok Pansu.
Soon Bu-yeon’s cold voice rang in the room.
“You have a face that makes me want to vomit just to look at it. If you stay any longer the food I ate earlier will come back up. Spit it out — why would a vermin like you summon me?”
Muk Yeo-jin inwardly chuckled at Bu-yeon’s cutting words.
He could not be someone who had worried about how to act arrogantly on the way here.
Gok Pansu frowned.
To be met with such insolence at once!
At the same time, the guards behind him kindled killing intent.
Now it was Muk Yeo-jin’s turn to step forward.
Taking one step and full of contempt, he sneered.
“To have the audacity to look at your lord with murder in your eyes. These are creatures that need etiquette injected into them.”
They spat curses and drew swords.
Muk Yeo-jin seemed to take one more step and was suddenly right among the guards.
“Ugh!”
A wondrous body-moving technique.
The guards were stunned.
They swung their swords desperately, but only sliced empty air.
Pow!
There was no need for Muk Yeo-jin to unfold Sanwangmu fully.
With a slight extension of his right palm, two guards’ jaws turned at once.
One guard, who had lost his wits in a single blow, collapsed to the floor.
Muk Yeo-jin grabbed Gok Pansu’s hair as the man stared about in stupefaction and slammed his head down onto the table repeatedly.
Bam! Bam!
“Ugh! Urrgh!”
Muk Yeo-jin picked up a teacup from the table, sniffed the tea, and scowled.
“To attempt to make us drink Monghonsan. You will have no injustice even in death, will you?”
Monghonsan is a kind of soporific that muddles the mind.
“Gr–great hero, some misunderstanding… ugh!”
Clang!
Muk Yeo-jin brought the teacup down on Gok Pansu’s skull.
“Urrgh! Great hero, it’s a misunderstanding… gag!”
Muk Yeo-jin did not wait for his reply and continued the beatings.
Whack! Thud!
Despite being struck relentlessly, Gok Pansu strangely felt his mind grow clearer.
That realization only deepened his terror.
‘Ah, at this rate I’ll really die.’
Just as that thought lodged in his head, Muk Yeo-jin lifted the entire teapot as if to smash his skull with it.
At that moment, Gok Pansu, a mess of tears, snot, and blood, grabbed Muk Yeo-jin’s pant leg.
“Oh-ho, great hero, it was my fault. I did everything wrong. Please spare me. I’ll do anything.”
The teapot poised to strike fell silent and stopped.
Muk Yeo-jin stared coldly at the man collapsed on the floor and said in a low voice.
“There will be no next time.”
Thud!
Gok Pansu slammed his forehead to the floor and answered loudly.
“Is there any doubt! Great hero!”
Brushing the blood stains from his long coat, Muk Yeo-jin returned and Bu-yeon whispered.
‘How did you know the tea was drugged, Muk-gongja?’
‘The tea was not drugged. Smelling it, it was good quality Longjing tea.’
Bu-yeon opened his eyes wide.
‘Oh? Then why?’
‘It was a kind of warning. A warning that if they tried any tricks on us it would not be pleasant. And it gives them a pretext to exploit us if needed.’
Bu-yeon inwardly shook his head.
To make a person half-dead for the sake of a warning.
He thought that perhaps he was mixed up with far more brutal people than he had imagined.
But everything was being done to find his sister, so on the other hand he felt gratitude.
With the table set, it was now Bu-yeon’s turn to lift a spoon.
“Gok Pansu, is it?”
“Yes! Yes! That’s right, great man.”
“Tell me, in full, every little thing you do. If I judge you useless I will immediately separate your head from your body.”
At that murderous threat Gok Pansu trembled all over.
He thought that if he lied poorly, he would not even be able to pick his bones up afterward.
“I… I handle the menial work for the black-clan Gwangcheonmun. I’m in charge of kidnap and confinement, mainly capturing women with nowhere to go and supplying them to the Hong-ru….”
In short, he was garbage not even worth as fertilizer. A vein stood out on Bu-yeon’s forehead.
His sister would have been taken by such scum and placed in the present situation.
He felt pathetic that he had even had a sliver of sympathy for Gok Pansu until just now.
But now was not the time to vent fury at such filth.
Calming himself, Bu-yeon spoke in a confidential tone.
“You say you belong to Gwangcheonmun… so you have ties to that Chosongru as well?”
Gok Pansu’s eyes glittered.
‘Their objective was the black-market of Chosongru!’
He felt as if he had found the only route of escape in a dead sea.
“Yes! Yes! That’s right. Chosongru’s black-spot has such strict security that it’s not a place anyone can join simply by having money, but if I vouch, I can arrange seats for two of you.”
Muk Yeo-jin and Bu-yeon nodded to each other.
They had hooked a very large fish.
Muk Yeo-jin then took from his bosom a dark-colored pill and tossed it to Gok Pansu.
“Eat it.”
Gok Pansu’s eyes trembled as if in an earthquake.
“Gr–great hero, what is this?”
“Why ask when you know? It’s the dokdan you love. If we get what we want at Chosongru, then I will give the antidote.”
Gok Pansu’s face went ashen black.
“Great hero! Never! Never deceive us….”
“Eat.”
Under Muk Yeo-jin’s chilling aura, Gok Pansu, with tears in his eyes, had no choice but to swallow the dokdan.
‘Wahh, I’ve met a proper master…’
Watching the despondent Gok Pansu, Bu-yeon whispered slyly.
‘That dokdan will be fake, right?’
Muk Yeo-jin snorted a laugh.
It seemed Bu-yeon was getting rather used to how he handled things.
On the following night, when dusk lay over the earth, the two rode in the highest-class carriage Gok Pansu had prepared.
Muk Yeo-jin and Bu-yeon had their faces completely covered with veils and wore long coats so not a hair was visible.
After running for about two sijin, the carriage finally arrived at Chosongru.
A seven-story pavilion, ostentatiously splendid in appearance.
But their party’s objective was not the pavilion itself but the black-market held beneath it.
Gok Pansu led the carriage to the pavilion’s rear gate.
There were far more guards posted than expected.
“Hey Pansu, long time no see. We should drink soon.”
“Uh, uh, yes. Today I have important guests, so clear the way.”
As he slipped a silver coin into the hand of a guard, the man glanced at the back seat and silently made way.
Muk Yeo-jin, satisfied that entry into Chosongru had gone more smoothly than expected, nodded.
“You’re quite useful.”
“Haha. Thank you. My lords can go down below.”
Following a hidden stone stair in the corner of the pavilion, they descended, and the underground space where the black-market was held revealed itself.
Contrary to expectations of a gloomy atmosphere, the interior was as dazzling as the pavilion’s exterior.
‘It’s considerable in scale.’
A large number of guests had also gathered to participate in the auction.
There were easily over a hundred men with veils on their faces.
‘So even they dare not show their faces — disgusting men.’
Muk Yeo-jin, pretending otherwise while surveying the surroundings, could not suppress a shudder.
‘There are actually people from the righteous factions here.’
Gok Pansu had said that among the black-market’s patrons, sa-hal were people of the Baek-do righteous sect.
Though inwardly Muk Yeo-jin had doubted whether men of principle would partake in human-trafficking auctions in such numbers…
‘That feeble, hastily gathered qi is definitely righteous qi.’
If not fully from the righteous faction, at least there were righteous people openly present in this place.
These were the kinds of men who were pests corroding the Central Plains.
He wanted to draw his sword and slaughter them all at once, but their numbers were too many.
Unfortunately, with their present strength it was out of the question.
‘One more reason to hurry and grow stronger.’
Muk Yeo-jin stifled the rising disgust and concentrated on gauging the internal atmosphere of the auction.
And after a short while—
“Thank you, honored guests, for visiting Chosongru’s black-spot tonight. I am Chosongru’s rujoo, Geohan-su,”
The head of Chosongru appeared and announced the start of the auction.