The Needle in the Brain
As soon as they entered, Constable Jang Ho rushed forward and bowed his head deeply.
“Please forgive me. While we were keeping watch, we were discovered by the culprits… and Gok-un is dead.”
Startled, County Magistrate Do-gyeom spoke up.
“Tell me exactly what happened. Leave nothing out.”
“After the criminals climbed over the wall, we heard a loud scream, so we peeked inside from beyond the wall. We should have withdrawn at that point… but I got greedy wanting a clearer look at their faces and stayed in place. That’s when my eyes met the woman’s. Gok-un and I immediately retreated and fled in opposite directions. So at least one of us could survive and deliver the news… I managed to hide in another house and survive, but when I came back out a short while later, Gok-un was lying dead in the alley as if he were asleep.”
“Good heavens! So that’s what happened. This wasn’t your fault, so don’t blame yourself. It was a dangerous mission where anyone could have died. Now, tell me everything you remember about their killing methods and appearances.”
“It was a middle-aged man and woman. The man used a hengdao, and the woman seemed to use hidden weapons.”
“Hidden weapons?”
“Yes. The constables suddenly collapsed, and it looked like she was pulling something out of their heads.”
“Did you see their faces clearly?”
“Yes. The man had a goatee and a fierce, cruel face. The woman had a kind, benevolent face like the Bodhisattva Guanyin. It was the first time I realized someone with a face like that could kill people without batting an eye.”
After listening up to that point, Dan Yeop examined the corpses scattered across the courtyard.
He then stepped onto the inner hall’s veranda and inspected the constables’ heads.
They had said she pulled something from their heads. Sure enough, one constable had a millet-sized blood scab on his temple.
Just in case, he checked the other constables’ temples as well, but her skill was so refined that no blood scabs were visible on them.
At that moment, Constable Ma-han burst out of a room, suddenly doubled over, and vomited with a loud urgh!
When his eyes met Dan Yeop’s, Ma-han spoke with a pale, horrified face.
“Hoo… That bastard chopped up Chief Constable Choe Eon inside the room.”
Dan Yeop, who had been examining the cause of the constables’ deaths, entered the room a little later.
But even he couldn’t endure it for long and came right back out.
Once outside on the veranda, his stomach churned violently, but he clenched his teeth and held it in. He didn’t want to look weak in front of County Magistrate Do-gyeom and the constables.
Finally, County Magistrate Do-gyeom entered the room himself.
He emerged quite some time later, his expression almost completely unchanged.
Though the night had grown deep, Dan Yeop did not return to Son-taek. Instead, he went back to Jangan County Office with the constables.
It was to examine Gok-un’s corpse, which had been moved to the morgue.
Jangan County Office. Morgue.
While examining Gok-un’s body, Dan Yeop discovered a millet-sized blood scab on his forehead—the same kind he had seen on the constables’ temples.
He touched it with his finger just to be sure, and it fell off with a soft plop.
He then spread his qi sense across Gok-un’s forehead and felt a strange, alien sensation.
Using a small pair of forceps kept in the morgue, Dan Yeop carefully extracted it.
This is…? A needle?
But it was far too thin and flexible to be called a needle.
For now, he neatly wrapped the needle in white cloth.
Just then, County Magistrate Do-gyeom entered, saying he wanted to see Gok-un’s corpse.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes. It appears to be a hidden weapon. This came out of his forehead.”
Dan Yeop handed over the white cloth containing the needle.
When County Magistrate Do-gyeom opened it and saw the contents, a low groan escaped his lips.
“Hmm… There’s only one place capable of crafting something this precise from metal…”
“Where is that?”
“It’s Mannyeon Cheoljang in Seonin-bang.”
“At first light, I will investigate Mannyeon Cheoljang.”
“Do that. I’ll look into female experts skilled in hidden weapons. Go and rest now. You look terrible.”
“Yes, sir. Please rest as well, Your Honor.”
“I intend to. For tonight, just sleep in the constables’ quarters. I’ve told the other constables and patrolmen assigned to this mission to do the same.”
“What about you, Your Honor?”
“I’ll make do with a corner of my office.”
“……”
Watching County Magistrate Do-gyeom, Dan Yeop thought that this was no way for a government official to live.
Dealing with corpses day after day, never getting proper rest.
And it wasn’t even particularly well paid.
As he was about to leave, Dan Yeop suddenly asked,
“Your Honor, why did you become a magistrate?”
“To serve the people, of course. What other reason could there be?”
“The officials who died probably started with the same intention, didn’t they?”
“I suppose so.”
“Then what turned them into monsters?”
“Until recently, I thought I knew the answer. But these days, I’m not so sure. Since I’m curious too, why don’t you, being the wise one, think it over and give me the answer?”
“Goodness! I shouldn’t have asked something so pointless. I’ll take my leave now. Please rest well.”
Dan Yeop hastily said his goodbyes and left the morgue.
94. You bastards from the Cha-mun, right? Wash your necks and wait!
All living things—whether for better or worse—inevitably change.
The same was true for the Jangan County branch of Haomun.
Like the other branches of the Ten Blades, the Jangan County Haomun had endured contempt and disdain.
The members of Haomun had accepted that treatment as natural.
They were people who had joined knowing full well how Haomun was regarded.
Then, three years ago, the first opportunity for change arrived for those who had spent their days being kicked around.
They marched on the Hadong Province branch in order to unify all Ten Blades branches under one banner.
It wasn’t a fight over mere territory, but a battle for a greater cause. In it, they tasted a strange ecstasy, as if they had finally become something more.
But the dream did not come true.
Thanks to the fierce resistance of the Hadong Province Haomun, the Jangan County branch was forced to abandon everything and retreat.
While the Jangan County Haomun was drowning in defeat, the Jin-sam-dae-do-beop created by Dan Bul-wi and Dan Yeop rekindled the dying embers.
A seed of hope was planted in the hearts of the members: Perhaps we too can become like the Beggars’ Sect?
And when spring came, that seed sprouted and grew rapidly.
The current leadership had learned the Jincheonji Dobeop and Jinbaekryu Dobeop, while the regular members had learned the Jincheonji Dobeop.
Just the Jincheonji Dobeop alone had sent the members’ morale soaring into the heavens.
They had realized it themselves.
That the new Jincheonji Dobeop they had learned was as powerful as the introductory martial arts of the Five Great Sword Schools.
Naturally, their necks stiffened with pride, and strength filled their eyes.
Seosi (West Market), Boseon-bang.
Hyangmanru.
Early evening.
Oh-san and Maeng-tak, porters for the Cheonri Pyo-guk, were eating vegetable soup and fried pancakes while sharing stories of their exhausting day.
Mostly Maeng-tak talked while Oh-san listened.
“…That’s when I twisted my ankle. The moment I saw the Pyo-guk sign, all the tension left my body. But it wouldn’t heal? Damn it, my ankle swelled up like a balloon. I really thought I’d broken the bone, you know?”
“So that’s why you missed the escort mission to Gangnam?”
“What choice did I have? It took a full two months for the swelling to go down. I should’ve been embracing beautiful women in Gangnam back then.”
“Hey, it’s nothing special. Myeongwolru is way better.”
“Really?”
“I went to Gangnam back then, remember? I’ve never seen anyone as good as So-hyang.”
“So-hyang’s pretty nice. That slender body and those perky tits… damn.”
As the conversation grew increasingly vulgar, a middle-aged man eating with his group at the next table finally spoke up.
“There are other people here. Could you keep it down a little?”
Maeng-tak flinched for a moment.
But once he saw that the other party was an ordinary civilian, he exploded in anger.
“What? Who the hell are you to tell me what to do in a restaurant, you son of a bitch!”
When Maeng-tak fired back with curses, the middle-aged man’s face flushed red with humiliation.
But apparently not wanting to fight, he simply turned his head away.
Seeing the man act weak, Maeng-tak pressed even harder.
“A guy who couldn’t even take a single punch from me dares to flap his lips? If you want to live a long life, shut your damn mouth and eat quietly. Got it? Or do I need to shove chopsticks straight into your eyeballs?”
The middle-aged man and his companions seemed to have lost their appetites. They stopped eating and simply left the restaurant.
Maeng-tak then declared triumphantly,
“Where do those dog bastards get off acting so high and mighty?”
“Hey, how are they supposed to eat if you tell them to shut their mouths?”
“Who cares? Let them figure it out themselves. Not my problem.”
Maeng-tak and Oh-san chuckled as they continued their meal.
But their moment of joy didn’t last long.
Just as they were finishing their food, three burly men entered the restaurant.
The three walked straight toward Maeng-tak and Oh-san’s table without hesitation.
The man in the lead—Jeon Jo from the Yukhap-bang—slammed his hand hard against the back of Oh-san’s head.
With a loud thwack! and stars exploding in his vision, Oh-san whipped around.
But the moment he recognized Jeon Jo, Oh-san hurriedly stood up and bowed obsequiously.
“Brother Jeon, it’s been a while.”
Maeng-tak belatedly scrambled to his feet and bowed his head as well.
“Brother Jeon.”
Jeon Jo looked back and forth between Oh-san and Maeng-tak before speaking.
“Which one of you fucking bastards dared to mess with the older brother of our Hyangju-nim?”
Oh-san was so startled he shook his head violently.
“What? We’ve never even met Hyangju-nim!”
“You crazy bastard. If you’d actually messed with Hyangju-nim, you’d already be dead. You wouldn’t be standing here talking to me. I said I’m Hyangju-nim’s older brother. I heard some dog bastard caused a huge scene here earlier, forcing them to leave in the middle of their meal. Which retarded son of a bitch acted so arrogantly? You’ve inconvenienced me, so I’ll break one of your legs. Was it you? Or you?”
Without realizing it, Oh-san’s eyes darted toward Maeng-tak.
Jeon Jo immediately stepped toward Maeng-tak.
“So it was you?”
If this had happened last year, Maeng-tak would have frozen like a frog before a snake.
But after recently mastering the Jincheonji Dobeop, his confidence had soared to the skies. He was no longer the same man.
He flipped the table over and leaped out the window.
Crash!
Jeon Jo hurriedly chased after him.
The other two men began beating Oh-san.
“These crazy bastards are actually resisting?”
“They must want to die!”
“Ugh! Ack!”
As he was getting pummeled by the two men, the look in Oh-san’s eyes changed.
Maeng-tak, the one who had actually done wrong, had run away, leaving him to take the beating instead. The injustice of it made him furious.
Oh-san rammed his body into one of the men, then leaped out the window as well.
“Argh!”
The man who fell with a scream didn’t get back up. Something was clearly wrong with him.
The other man cursed furiously as he chased after Oh-san.
“You son of a bitch! Stop right there! If you run, the entire Haomun will pay for it!”
But Oh-san didn’t stop.
In fact, as he ran, he even started cackling with exhilaration.
He had always been the one getting beaten by the Yukhap-bang bastards. Today, finally landing a solid hit felt incredibly refreshing.
Oh-san ran toward the place he thought Maeng-tak would have gone.
Sure enough, when he entered the crowded tavern street, he saw two men facing off in the distance.
Jeon Jo was holding a hengdao, while Maeng-tak wielded a ring-handled blade.
People from orthodox murim sects usually fought in secluded places, but those from the unorthodox factions and Haomun didn’t care about location.
They had already exchanged several moves. Killing intent burned brightly in both their eyes.
“You son of a biiitch!”
With the mindset that whatever happened, happened, Oh-san drew his own ring-handled blade and swung it at Jeon Jo.
“These crazy bastards have all lost their minds at once!”
Jeon Jo hurriedly sidestepped and parried the blade with his hengdao.
Clang—!
In the past, Oh-san would have swung wildly until he exhausted himself. But this time, he used the rebounding force to unleash the Hengso Sanjeol.
Shiiiing—!
Startled by the momentum, Jeon Jo instinctively took a step back.
In that instant, Maeng-tak, who had been waiting for an opening, struck Jeon Jo’s back with the Cheonroe Nakcham.
Jeon Jo rolled across the ground in shock, but he couldn’t completely avoid the blow.
When he scrambled back to his feet, the burning pain in his back told him he had been hit.
As he slowly retreated, he noticed bloodstains on the ground.
His own—