Even If You See Us as Dogs and Pigs
Yeogwi had already picked through the treasure room and packed the choicest pieces into several bundles. Yi Yeok and the others shouldered them one by one and made a hurried departure.
"The moment they reach the Yangcheon Sect, they'll realize their things are gone. We'll be the first ones they suspect. Let's move."
Only when they had put many miles between themselves and the cliff did they allow themselves a brief rest.
"Cultivators really are a different breed," Mo Yeong said. "I thought they might harass us. Maybe even try to kill us. They were surprisingly generous, though."
"True enough. People always say the immortal sects look at worldly folk as less than commoners—dogs and pigs. Maybe that was just an empty rumor, spread by people scared stiff of power on another level?"
Yeogwi tilted his head as well.
"Well, maybe the immortal sects aren't what the rumors claim. Maybe it's only the Yangcheon Sect that's like that. Or maybe we got the wrong idea entirely. Either way, it worked out, so who cares."
Yi Yeok settled the matter with easy indifference and turned to Yeogwi.
"Turtle. What the hell happened? Did you pick a fight with those Black Phoenix Hall bastards over the treasure?"
"Damn it, I don't know the details either. I was inside, asleep while I waited for you, and they came pouring in and jumped me. Didn't even give me a chance to talk."
"Hmph. Idiot. Soft as wet paper."
"Tch. You think you can win against numbers? I still cut down half of them. But that Jin Seo bastard was on another level."
"Only half? Then where did the other half go?"
"They found another secret door farther in and went through it. Thief, you were right. Hidden weapons, blades, poison mist—the whole lot went off. But those bastards didn't look scared at all. They kept pushing forward, one of them dying with nearly every step, until only Jin Seo was left, and he came out carrying that one box. You showed up right after."
Yi Yeok recalled the countless wounds Jin Seo had already been carrying. So they hadn't come from Yeogwi after all. If he hadn't seized the opening those wounds and his opponent's carelessness had left him, he never could have put the man down in a single stroke.
He took another look at the bronze box he had kept. Delicate patterns were engraved across its surface, and though no lock showed on the outside, it would not open. He could almost believe it was a solid lump of bronze cast in the shape of a box.
"Why did they want the Celestial Indigo Stone dagger? It was the shabbiest treasure we found."
"Beats me. But it was the first thing they went looking for. They spent a good while snarling at me, demanding to know where it was."
"So you just told them I'd taken it?"
"Shit. What was I supposed to do? They looked ready to take my head off right then and there."
Yi Yeok sank into thought. The Black Phoenix Hall men—Jin Seo, at least—had clearly known the secret of this bronze box and the Celestial Indigo Stone dagger.
"Killed him too fast."
But if he hadn't struck the instant an opening appeared, he could not have been sure of victory.
"If I get the chance someday, I ought to pay Black Phoenix Hall a visit," Yi Yeok muttered. "Anyway. What did you get from the Yangcheon Sect?"
"Medicinal herbs and elixir pills. Easier than I thought. If I'd known, I'd have come better prepared and cleaned the place out. Still, greed's a bad habit on a thief's path. I'll just go back another time."
Yeogwi's eyes lit up.
"Let's split it now. And I want my share of those immortal stones you just got."
"Oh, come on. The Yangcheon haul, maybe—but the immortal stones? I earned those myself."
"Bullshit. If I hadn't put my life on the line against those Black Phoenix Hall bastards, would you even have had the chance? And have you forgotten what you promised me that night?"
He seemed to mean the night he had taken An Eun-chae's commission and given up the bounty on Yi Yeok's head. Mo Yeong, who had no way of knowing that, went pale with shock.
"That night? What did the two of you do? Yeogwi, you bastard! You dared lay a hand on my darling?"
Yi Yeok winced and decided to give Yeogwi what he wanted, if only to shut Mo Yeong up.
"Enough. Both of you, stop. Fine. What we took from the treasure room, what we got from the Yangcheon Sect, and the immortal stones I received—I'll give each of you three shares out of ten. Mine is four. Fair enough?"
Everyone agreed. It stung a little, but keeping his word, and not leaving his accomplices feeling shorted, mattered more than anything else to a thief who meant to stay alive. He had no choice.
Even after the split with Yeogwi and Mo Yeong, what remained for Yi Yeok was considerable. The biggest haul in years—perhaps the biggest since he had first set foot on a thief's path.
"Impressive. With this much, we could buy our way into an immortal sect one more time, couldn't we?" Mo Yeong said, marveling. She fell briefly into thought. "So what are we doing now?"
Yi Yeok and Yeogwi realized she had something to propose, and looked at her as if waiting to hear it.
"Are we really going all the way back? Hauling this weight across the gorge again would be a misery. Why not head straight for the Nokhyeon Sect instead? We all have to go there anyway."
"Wouldn't it be better to go back first and stash what we got this time?"
"Yeogwi, you really don't know anything. Getting into an immortal sect isn't the end of it. From basic living expenses to the precious materials you need for cultivation, every last bit of life in a sect costs money. Even if we went back, we'd still have to carry this much wealth with us when we left for the sect."
Yeogwi's eyes flew wide, caught off guard. He had already spent no small sum just to earn the right to enter an immortal sect, and it had never occurred to him that the spending would continue after that. He thought for a moment, then turned to Yi Yeok.
"Thief. Made up your mind? You coming to the Nokhyeon Sect with us?"
"Darling, you've got the qualifications. I have two tokens. All we need is the extra fee, and what we got this time is more than enough."
Yi Yeok fell into brief thought. If he meant to reach the Guryeong Immortal Sect someday, this was clearly a good chance. And if Yeogwi and Mo Yeong were with him, even something unexpected would be far easier to weather than facing it alone.
"All right."
At his answer, Yeogwi's and Mo Yeong's faces brightened. They, too, would feel far more secure with him along.
Yi Yeok looked at the two of them, pleased as they were, and grinned.
"We've all seen it now. An immortal sect isn't anything so tremendous. Let's go. We leave right now. We'll walk into the Nokhyeon Sect with our heads high and show them what the people they take for dogs and pigs can actually do."