The Spider's Web
Have you ever seen a sparrow caught in a spider’s web?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“If the spider’s web is the law, then they are the sparrows. Think of it as the natural order of things.”
“……”
While Jang Ho the constable stood with a bitter expression, Ma Han the constable spoke bluntly.
“Constable Jang, isn’t that exactly why the Cheonlyeon are running wild? You already know the answer, so why ask?”
Do-gyeom the county magistrate scolded him at once.
“Constable Ma Han, refrain from saying things that could be misunderstood.”
“Ah, yes. Then shall we begin surveillance starting today?”
The flustered Ma Han quickly changed the subject.
Do-gyeom didn’t press the matter further and answered the question.
“Until sunset, we’ll leave it to the regular patrols of the constabulary. We will begin our own surveillance once the gates are closed. Find suitable constables to accompany you and secure hiding spots in advance.”
Jin Seung the constable asked,
“Then what about sleep?”
“Take turns with the constables. Just endure it for a few days.”
“What if the culprits don’t show up? How long do we have to stay out here?”
At that, Jang Ho glared and shouted,
“We haven’t even started and you’re already jinxing us! After reading the ledger, how can you say something like that? Even I, a constable, am furious. Do you think the Cheonlyeon will just sit still?”
It was a remark clearly meant for Do-gyeom, who had spoken of spider webs and sparrows.
Do-gyeom shook his head slowly and simply left the constabulary office.
Dan Yeop spoke in his place to the constables who would be assigned to surveillance.
“From now on, watch your mouths. As the county magistrate said, if anyone learns what we’re doing, we’ll all be sent to the battlefield at Anseo Dohu-bu. You all know how nasty those high officials can be. I have confidence that I can achieve merit and return, but can all of you say the same?”
“……”
The constables clicked their tongues with sour faces.
It was true. High officials were more than capable of doing exactly that.
“Everyone, be careful with your words. What comes next is crucial, so listen carefully. The culprit will kill someone again today or tomorrow. I believe the next victim will be either Wang Mun, the Dongjungseomunhapyeongjangsa (a chancellor), or Choe Eon, the Jwaugeumowi Daejanggun (the man responsible for defending Chang’an Castle).”
Jang Ho asked with a puzzled look.
“Is there a particular reason it has to be them?”
“In the case of Minister Yang Jin, the news didn’t spread properly. The government responded quickly, but more importantly, there were no neighbors to spread the rumor. The next target will be chosen from a more densely populated residential area. That way, the news will spread like wildfire across Chang’an.”
“Aha! If that’s the reason, then the residences of Chancellor Wang Mun and General Choe Eon are perfect. The houses are packed tightly around them, and they’re not far from the shops either.”
“Exactly. Let me repeat myself: only confirm the culprit’s method and face. It will be difficult since it’s at night, but you must keep your distance. A general impression is enough, so there’s no need to approach too closely. If you catch their eye, none of you will survive. Therefore, be satisfied with watching from as far away and as secretly as possible. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Even if you told us to get closer, we wouldn’t.”
“Don’t worry. These days, the high officials keep their mansions brightly lit all night, so we can see clearly even from a distance.”
A short while later, the constables scattered to prepare for their night watch.
Somehow, Dan Yeop ended up paired with Do-gyeom.
Since Dan Yeop still didn’t have any constables he could fully trust, Do-gyeom had decided to accompany him personally.
The two of them were assigned to watch Chancellor Wang Mun’s residence in Anheung District.
Deep into the night.
Two men sat behind an old cart, completely covered in raincoats woven from sedge.
It was Dan Yeop and Do-gyeom, monitoring Wang Mun’s house.
When the bell signaling the hour of ja (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.) rang, Do-gyeom whispered,
“Do you really think the culprits will appear here?”
“Nine times out of ten, if not here, they’ll head to General Choe Eon’s house.”
“That would be fortunate, but…”
Do-gyeom trailed off.
He knew all too well how relentlessly the high officials had been hounding them these past few days.
It was bad enough that County Magistrate Jo had even permitted this operation, which could cause a major scandal if discovered.
As the night deepened, Dan Yeop sharpened his senses.
He desperately hoped the culprits would come to Wang Mun’s residence.
If they did, he planned to arrest them immediately without hesitation.
In his heart, he wanted to guard both places, but unfortunately, General Choe Eon’s mansion was in Yeongmu District, making it impossible.
Come here. Come this way…
Contrary to Dan Yeop’s wishes, at that very moment the culprits were lurking in the darkness, staring at the residence of Choe Eon, the Left and Right Gold Raven Guard Grand General.
The moment the bell signaling ja fell silent, the two figures shot into the air and vaulted over the wall in a single leap.
Soon after, a chorus of short, dying screams rang out violently.
Jang Ho, who had been hiding, whispered to the constable Gok Un beside him.
“They’re here. Keep your eyes sharp and watch carefully.”
“Yes.”
The two men stared at the general’s residence without making a sound.
Choe Eon’s Residence.
When the uninvited guests suddenly dropped from the sky, the government troops guarding the inner courtyard rushed toward them in a swarm.
Immediately after, Lee Chung, the special commander, drew his saber and shouted,
“Who are you people!”
The man slowly drew his own saber and answered.
“Myeoldo (Destroyer of the Way).”
The man who called himself Myeoldo then leaped like a tiger and descended upon the government troops.
Myeoldo plunged into their midst, yet not a single clash of blades could be heard.
Shhhk—shhhk—shhhk—!
Only the endless sound of blades slicing through flesh echoed.
Before long, Myeoldo had already passed through the soldiers and flicked the blood from his saber into the air.
Drops of blood fell to the ground with a patter.
At the same time, more than ten government troops collapsed like wooden logs.
The woman, who had been watching with indifferent eyes, stepped forward.
The next instant, her figure was already standing on the veranda.
Just as she reached out to open the door—
The door suddenly burst open and a blade shot out.
Right before being pierced, the woman’s body slid backward smoothly.
Three military officials then leaped out onto the veranda.
While the officials stood guard in front of the door, late-arriving hired guards poured out from the moon gate after hearing the commotion.
There were no fewer than thirty of them.
Yet Myeoldo, standing in the courtyard, didn’t even blink.
The hired guards spread out widely and began to pressure him.
The military officials who had come out onto the veranda kept a wary eye on the woman while glancing toward the courtyard.
The fate of the inner residence would be decided by the outcome of the hired guards’ fight.
Then the hired guards charged at Myeoldo like a surging tide.
What had happened to the government troops earlier repeated itself.
Myeoldo, who had leaped into the midst of the thirty-plus hired guards, moved between them as freely as if swimming through water.
From left to right, then right to left.
The three military officials watching from the veranda gradually stiffened.
The man moved like a farmer harvesting crops.
Wherever he passed, the hired guards collapsed silently as if by magic.
When the man returned to his original position, not a single hired guard remained standing.
The military officials, prepared to die, charged toward the woman.
Or at least they tried to. After taking a single step, they all fell to their knees.
Shockingly, all three officials died while still in a seated position.
The woman approached them and slowly pulled out hair-thin needles from their temples.
Myeoldo brushed past her and entered the room first.
Choe Eon, who had already drawn his saber, roared at the man.
“You bastard! Are you a dog of the Cheonlyeon?!”
“Choe Eon, you know your own sins!”
“The only ones who call me a criminal are rebels like you! I have worked to place the empire on a solid foundation…”
“No. Everything you did was to satisfy your own greed. You claimed all the credit while doing nothing, blamed your subordinates for every failure, and destroyed countless families. You sent generals you disliked to their deaths on the front lines, then drove their fatherless children back into war until their bloodlines were extinguished. And you lent money to the widows left behind, eventually swallowing their households whole.”
“Don’t slander me! That was all the result of my chief steward’s misguided loyalty! It has nothing to do with me!”
“And yet you kept that chief steward by your side for life. You forgave every single one of his crimes.”
“Hmph! Stop with the nonsense and kill me if you’re going to. I do not fear death.”
“Whether you fear death or not is irrelevant. I’ll cut off all your limbs and see if you can maintain that proud attitude with only a torso left.”
“Hmph! A traitor who will flee with his tail between his legs the moment the Gold Raven Guards arrive dares to bluff!”
“Will I really?”
With those words, a flash of blade light erupted.
Both of Choe Eon’s hands, still gripping his saber, thudded to the floor.
Another flash of blade light.
This time, both of his knees were severed.
Choe Eon flailed his severed limbs inside the pool of blood he had spilled.
Overcome by terror and despair, he seemed half out of his mind.
Myeoldo asked him,
“Shall I spare you?”
“S-spare me! If you spare me, I’ll do anything!”
“Yes, that’s more like the Choe Eon I know.”
Smiling faintly, Myeoldo slowly drove his blade into Choe Eon’s mouth.
“Uuuuurgh—.”
The woman who had retrieved her needles from the veranda—Bul-yeom Seon-ja—looked at Myeoldo and said,
“Your disgusting habits haven’t changed at all.”
“It’s entertaining, isn’t it?”
Clicking her tongue, Bul-yeom Seon-ja suddenly whipped her gaze toward the courtyard.
Jang Ho and Gok Un, who had been cautiously peeking over the wall, quickly ducked their heads down.
Jang Ho whispered to Gok Un,
“Run.”
The two men immediately fled in different directions.
It was a prearranged plan: if discovered, they would split up.
After running for some distance, Jang Ho used his wits and vaulted over the wall of a nearby house.
Meanwhile, Gok Un, whose mind had gone completely blank, ran without looking back.
He believed the farther he went, the safer he would be.
Just before collapsing from exhaustion, he hid in the shadow of a wall and gasped for breath.
“Haa! Haa! Haa!”
At that moment, a tiny red dot appeared on Gok Un’s forehead.
Feeling a sting, he unconsciously brushed his forehead with his palm—then slowly toppled sideways.
Bul-yeom Seon-ja flew to the opposite side without even time to retrieve her needle.
But something was wrong.
The government official she expected to find here was nowhere to be seen.
“Damn it!”
As she scanned the surroundings, Myeoldo dropped down beside her.
“What happened?”
“It seems I missed one.”
“Hmph! Even the great Bul-yeom Seon-ja has grown old. To lose track of prey you were chasing.”
“This is no time to be relaxed. We might have been followed.”
“It was about time we got caught anyway. Does it matter? At most, they’ll just send more constables or patrolmen.”
“The county magistrate might request help from the Cheondo Association.”
“You’re panicking and your head isn’t working properly. Even if the magistrate makes such a request, the Cheondo Association will only pretend to help. They are not enemies of the Cheonlyeon. At least not yet.”
At those words, Bul-yeom Seon-ja regained her composure.
As he said, the Cheondo Association and Cheonlyeon were not yet openly hostile toward each other.
Myeoldo continued.
“Besides, the movements of the Cheondo Association are already within our grasp. Shaking them off is as easy as eating cold porridge. Let’s go.”
The two figures soared into the air, then abruptly changed direction at a height of roughly fifteen meters before vanishing into the distance.
It was a supreme lightness technique known as eogichungso.
Dan Yeop and Do-gyeom, who had been monitoring Chancellor Wang Mun’s residence in Anheung District, immediately rushed to Yeongmu District upon hearing news of the massacre at General Choe Eon’s home.
When the two arrived at the general’s mansion—