Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Episode 9 - Mission, Intelligence (4)
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The Dragon-Phoenix Squad, having safely passed through the inspection at Henan Province, headed to a small manor.
This manor, with its quaint pond and unnamed flowers, was a place the Alliance had prepared in advance for their investigation of unknown duration.
The largest room in the manor.
Dang Hwa-seo removed her stifling disguise and spoke to the squad members.
“As I mentioned before, we must find and capture the demons hiding here.”
“Capture them?”
“Yes, it would be best to take them alive. We need to extract every bit of information we can.”
Mok Ri-won nodded as if he understood.
Dang Hwa-seo set that aside and continued.
“We don’t know exactly where the demons are hiding. Zhongnan Sect and Mount Hua Sect are conducting open investigations, but the results have been lackluster.”
“So we have to start investigating from scratch.”
Il-un’s expression grew serious.
Even Zhongnan Sect and Mount Hua Sect, who had roots in Shaanxi, hadn’t found the demons, and now they had to do it without any leads. It was a daunting task.
Mok Ri-won groaned amid the sinking atmosphere and ventured a thought.
“Could it be that the Black Dao folks who were lurking here were wiped out and the demons took their place? Like last time in Wunan, when demons disguised themselves as bandits.”
“Yes, it’s happened frequently in other regions too. But the possibility is low here.”
“Why is that?”
“Because this is Shaanxi.”
Jegal San answered.
“Shaanxi?”
“Zhongnan and Mount Hua are here. With two Daoist orthodox sects concentrated in the area, Black Dao doesn’t thrive in Shaanxi.”
“Mm...”
Mok Ri-won’s groaning deepened.
“This is trouble. So you have no plan right now, little sister?”
“I do have one.”
Mok Ri-won’s eyes widened.
Dang Hwa-seo smiled faintly and said,
“Why do you think we came here disguised as scoundrels?”
“Ah!”
“We’ll turn this city upside down. If there are demons among those we provoke, they’ll surely target us. They can’t afford to draw attention to the city where they’re hiding.”
No one thought it was too optimistic or hasty.
“That’s right! Demons, corrupted by demonic arts, prioritize emotions over reason! Striking at their unease is the way to go?!”
“Exactly.”
Mok Ri-won sprang to his feet.
His fists were clenched tight, showing his passionate state.
“Got it! I’ll click my tongue as enthusiastically as I can!”
The other squad members burst into laughter at his words.
He’d made a resolute vow, but all he planned to do was click his tongue.
It was so ridiculous and innocent that smiles bloomed naturally.
*
The morning after they had fully rested from the journey.
The squad dove into full-scale ‘scoundrel acting.’
They started at an inn.
“Is this swill what you call food for money?!”
When Dang Hwa-seo snarled viciously, Namgung Jincheon, disguised as the brutish youngest brother, hurled a bowl of food to the floor.
Mok Ri-won clicked his tongue with a ‘tsk’ and stared into space, while Jegal San turned pale and trembled repeatedly.
Hye-un kept his head bowed, and Il-un served as the footstool again today.
Truthfully, such ruffian behavior didn’t sit well with them, but they had no choice.
They needed to build infamy.
Not just any infamy.
It had to spread throughout the city of Henan Province, including their names and even the manor where they were staying.
Enough to draw the eyes of the entire city.
After their antics at the inn, the squad continued their scoundrel act diligently.
In the market, they kicked over a merchant’s fruits, spat on silk at a fabric shop.
They handled raw meat with bare hands at a butcher’s, and deliberately bumped shoulders with passersby to pick fights.
However, their consciences pricked at pure villainy, so the Dragon-Phoenix Squad’s atonement was simple: money.
“What’s with that look? Ah, right. You have to sell this crap, and I ruined it for you?”
“N-No, sir! How could I...!”
“Shut it, you worthless scum! Take this and get lost, you lowly wretch!”
Clink!
After every act, Dang Hwa-seo tossed silver taels at the merchants with venomous words.
Exactly the value of the damaged goods.
The merchants’ expressions turned subtle upon checking, but that didn’t make them any friendlier.
Humans are inherently sensitive to attacks on themselves, after all.
The squad’s intent was working perfectly.
It took exactly five days for the infamy of the ‘illegitimate triplets’ to spread widely in Henan Province.
*
“I’m dying.”
In the manor’s courtyard, Mok Ri-won muttered with a pallid face.
Dang Hwa-seo gave an awkward smile and patted his shoulder.
“What can we do? It’s the mission.”
“But I feel so sorry for the people...”
Mok Ri-won’s pitiful expression tugged at the heart.
It was partly his looks, but also because the mental strain on him was real.
Mok Ri-won, who had never spoken harshly to anyone in his life.
Mok Ri-won, who approached strangers with kindness.
Such a man was deeply wounded by the resentful glares.
“Are you okay, little sister?”
“I’m used to these looks from when I ran away from my clan.”
Proving her words, Dang Hwa-seo’s complexion was no different from usual.
No need to go far—just think of Suyang County in Gangseo Province, where she ran a brothel and endured vicious words from Black Dao framing her.
Dang Hwa-seo was all too familiar with resentment.
“Mm...”
Sympathy flickered in Dang Hwa-seo’s eyes.
Mok Ri-won, hugging his knees and staring pathetically at the pond, looked so pitiable.
Her next words reflected that.
“...If it’s too hard, why not rest tomorrow?”
“N-No! Everyone’s struggling—how could I alone rest?!”
Mok Ri-won belatedly noticed her gaze and straightened up.
But he couldn’t hide his gaunt cheeks.
Dark circles hung under his eyes.
Dang Hwa-seo unconsciously reached out.
Poke.
As her finger touched his cheek, Mok Ri-won flinched.
When her thumb brushed under his eye, his heart tickled oddly for some reason.
“You’ve gotten so gaunt... This won’t do. Today, no soba noodles or baekju—something else.”
Normally, he’d panic and shake his head.
But Mok Ri-won’s insides tickled so much from her touch that he barely registered the words.
All he could do was nod blankly.
Staring at Dang Hwa-seo, he felt embarrassed by her worried look and turned to the pond.
Thump.
Thump.
His heart pounded like drums, panicking him.
Raised only in martial arts, he didn’t yet know the name of this feeling.
*
A massive manor lit brightly by lanterns even in the dark night.
It looked cozy and lively from outside, but the faces inside were grim.
No—cowering.
Crunch!
The eerie sound from the inner quarters.
The bloody scent wafting with it.
Yet it was all too familiar to them.
For a full month now, not a day without the stench of blood. In the manor’s outhouse, a boy huddled.
‘Again...’
Another death.
He’d lost count.
Wondering who died today held no meaning now.
Whoever it was, surely the family of someone who dared resist.
The boy pulled up his frayed sleeve to wipe his brimming tears.
Still, tears kept flowing; he sobbed and trembled.
The boy wished for one thing.
That the one killed inside today wasn’t his mother.
Wasn’t someone close to him.
Selfish, but cornered, he had no room for scruples.
He just prayed.
To who, even he didn’t know.
Holding his breath to stifle sobs, his body shook.
That was the moment.
“Found you.”
The outhouse door burst open.
The startled boy looked up.
“Eek!”
His legs gave out, body slumping to the filthy floor.
Even then, something blurred his vision.
‘D-Demon...!’
The man’s bulging eyes evoked a fiend.
*
The Dragon-Phoenix Squad pushed their scoundrel act today too.
Now accustomed enough to improvise.
Namgung Jincheon, venting frustration from the human-skin mask, used Il-un as a footstool again, tossing fruit from atop.
Another merchant took it to the face.
“Tastes like garbage.”
The merchant’s face flushed red, but he didn’t retort.
Rumors swirled: these triplets were sons of a famous Gangseo Province landowner.
What if the landowner raged over harm to his sons?
What if he hired martial artists for revenge?
A mere commoner merchant feared that.
He could only tremble and submit.
“S-Sorry...”
As the merchant bowed, Mok Ri-won frowned again.
His recent pallor made the expression look fierce.
But inside, Mok Ri-won was burning up.
It’s to catch the demons.
For the Alliance.
Even steeling himself that way, seeing an innocent commoner bow in fear was hard.
Mok Ri-won, who just wanted to make people smile with his sword, felt deep disgust at acting the villain.
‘...For the greater good.’
Was such an excuse right?
Did sacrificing the few for the many suit a hero?
His thoughts deepened.
Dang Hwa-seo noticed Mok Ri-won’s mood instantly.
After all, she’d heard his heart yesterday.
Her heart ached, but with no choice, she simply gripped his hand tight.
Done secretly, out of others’ sight.
Mok Ri-won’s fingertips trembled.
Dang Hwa-seo stroked it gently and whispered softly.
“Sorry. Just endure a little longer.”
No better method available.
Ordinary tactics wouldn’t draw out the demons.
As she whispered, Mok Ri-won bowed his head.
“...Got it.”
It’s a mission—no whining.
As he resolved himself—
Thud.
A boy grabbed Mok Ri-won’s arm.
Mok Ri-won turned, then widened his eyes.
“P-Please... save me...”
The boy’s face was covered in bruises.
No strength in his body, reeking of blood and filth.
Trembling, tears streaming, he spoke.
Thud.
Then collapsed right there.