43. What a Strange Thief
Hazy starlight filtered through the window, seeping into the room. The bedroom was adorned with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and ornate decorations tailored to its master's tastes. Gye Cheon-bing sat rigidly on the bed.
"Miss, you went to Wayong Hall? Is that true?"
"……."
It was the question from the maid who had quietly entered the room. But Gye Cheon-bing kept her lips tightly sealed, offering no response.
The middle-aged maid simply stared at her in silence, saying nothing.
Silence stretched on between them. Though she was her attendant, this woman had raised her since childhood—like a wet nurse, more like a mother. In the end, Gye Cheon-bing let out a deep sigh and had no choice but to speak.
"Yeah, I went to Wayong Hall. I know! I know I messed up! So don't you dare say a word!"
"You've already said plenty, miss. You've already committed the blunder. What did you say when you were there?"
"……Ugh, damn it!"
"You need to be honest with me if you want me to clean this up—or report it to the family head. Shall I go with the latter?"
"Nurse!"
"Tell me. What did you say at Wayong Hall?"
Gye Cheon-bing cleared her throat slightly and replied curtly.
"I said I'd definitely kill him. Told him to prepare himself."
"So you issued a death threat. And what did the Young Cult Leader say to that?"
In that instant, Yong Baek-heon's voice echoed in Gye Cheon-bing's mind. A voice that, after not hearing it for so long, sounded far more masculine.
—If you desire it, then try. Spending a 'hot night' with my senior after so long wouldn't be so bad.
Crazy bastard. He's utterly insane.
Even as she thought that, Gye Cheon-bing's face flushed red. She felt confused. She knew exactly what he meant, yet his words inexplicably made her heart race. It undermined all the desperate thoughts of killing him she'd harbored.
Do I still have feelings for him?
No, impossible. He had been the worst kind of lover—beyond words. Recalling her long-buried resentment, Gye Cheon-bing let out a small sigh.
Now my head's all messed up for no reason.
The maid was still gazing at her steadily. Gye Cheon-bing could only offer an excuse-like response.
"Nurse, Yong Baek-heon isn't the Young Cult Leader anymore. And no matter what he said, it changes nothing. I'll definitely kill that bastard."
"Sounds like Young Master Yong gave you a strange reply."
"……He told me to apologize. Said an uninvited guest like me was being rude."
"And?"
"Told him to shut his trap and left!"
"Hmm."
The maid narrowed her eyes, lost in thought for a moment. Then she nodded lightly.
"Understood. If it's just that much, I won't need to report it to the family head."
"Right?"
"Yes. But in exchange, never set foot in Wayong Hall again. Promise me."
"Got it. Don't worry. I'll be going back in a fortnight anyway."
"Good night."
"Yeah."
Once the maid left and she was alone, Gye Cheon-bing lay neatly on the bed and closed her eyes. From not far away came the sound of dogs barking.
Woof! Woof woof……!
A 'hot night' after so long, huh.
What nonsense. But that voice wouldn't leave her mind. Combined with Yong Baek-heon's somehow changed gaze, which she couldn't forget, Gye Cheon-bing lay awake for a long time.
So the next morning, when she witnessed the chaos inside the manor……
"What? Am I still not awake?"
It was hard to tell if the scene before her was a dream or reality.
* * *
In my personal theory, scaling a wall was an act divided into three stages. First, stealthily approaching the wall. Second, reaching the top and scouting a landing spot.
[And the last?]
'Landing without a trace. So no guard, no matter who, realizes I've infiltrated.'
In that regard, the Gye Clan Manor was a particularly tricky site. This demonic family had a hobby that gave nocturnal intruders major headaches.
'They sure raise a ton of dogs.'
Of course, not pampered pets—these were wolf-like hunting hounds. Not as massive as the great black wolves Ok Geum-ran and I had hunted, but far more systematic and organized in their movements.
The manor's guards each led one such fierce hound. I spotted them clearly during the second stage of scaling the wall.
'If I go in like this, my scent will linger. They'll track me down immediately.'
[Tsk tsk! That's why the Gye Clan can't surpass the Yarul or Bok Clans.]
'Because they're dog-like?'
[……Where did you pick up such rotten jokes?]
'Sorry.'
Bongmareung's disdain for the Gye Clan Manor stemmed from something else. As a noble demonic spirit, he simply disapproved of relying on beasts' power. But I couldn't fully agree—because I planned to borrow a beast's power myself.
Gazing at the darkened manor, I thought:
'I wonder if these guys can play their part properly.'
I had to trust them. I pursed my lower lip with my fingers and blew sharply.
Pheeet!
A short, shrill whistle—like a mountain bird's cry—rang out. The signal to commence the operation.
At that moment, new shadows stirred.
"Ookee!"
"Kikik!"
"Kik!"
Three young spirit beasts—sam-mi-ho—appeared. The ones I'd fed and raised at Wayong Hall over the past few days.
I'd named them One-tail, Two-tail, and Three-tail, and we'd grown close.
[They probably see you as their dead sire. You avenged them by killing those wolves and buried their father's body—they must be grateful.]
'Or they just follow me 'cause I feed 'em?'
[Don't underestimate the spirit beasts of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. They have virtues superior to humans.]
He was right. In just days, the sam-mi-ho had grown rapidly and proven incredibly clever. They couldn't speak like humans, but they were quick-witted, carrying out my commands flawlessly. Above all, as spirit beasts, their instincts let them move as one.
That's why I'd enlisted their help for this infiltration.
'When I signal, One-tail, Two-tail, and Three-tail will cause a ruckus from different spots.'
[That'll ignite a dogfight between the hounds.]
'Not guaranteed, but it should create an opening.'
But my expectations were way off. It wasn't just an opening—they created total mayhem.
The three sam-mi-ho brothers put on a spectacular show.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"What the hell? Why are you suddenly freaking out? Hey, you mutt! Get over here!"
The patrolling guards inside the manor started dashing about in panic. Their hounds had bolted wildly, ignoring even their masters' commands in their frenzy.
I slipped into the manor amid the chaos. Then I realized what the sam-mi-ho were doing and let out a chuckle.
'They're sprinting around shitting and pissing everywhere?'
The acrid stench stinging my nose told the tale. No wonder the dogs went berserk.
I clicked my tongue.
'I didn't instruct them to go that far.'
[As this spirit said earlier—they have superior traits to humans.]
'True, no human could pull off a tactic like that. Who'd go around driving dogs mad with shit and piss?'
[That said, the smell is quite…….]
'Worth every bit of feed I lavished on the sam-mi-ho.'
I melted into the chaotic manor. Thanks to proper lightness skill training, my movements were incomparably swifter than before. Geuk-cheon Gu-ryun-gong reaching the fourth star contributed too.
In one breath, I pierced the darkness and reached my target: a large stream cutting through the manor's heart. The lifeline sustaining the Gye Clan Manor.
[Oh ho. They're using waterwheels to harness the water's power?]
Dozens of waterwheels lined the stream's edge, proudly spinning. They ground grains and irrigated fields via connected channels.
I planned to destroy two of them. Since Gye Cheon-bing had insulted two people.
[Why not smash them all while you're at it? You could shove the Gye Clan behind the Beom Clan this time.]
'No need to go that far.'
Plenty of ordinary folk relied on this water too. I aimed to teach a lesson without fatal damage.
[How this time? Blow them up again?]
'What? You want me to steal the blue-and-white porcelain amid that racket? No way.'
[Then how do you topple those massive, heavy contraptions?]
'Precisely because they're massive and heavy, they're easy to topple.'
I stealthily approached a spinning waterwheel drawing up stream water. Then I pulled out my prepared tool—nothing special, just a thick iron rod.
[With that alone, you plan to fell something that big?]
'More like make it collapse on its own. Being so big and heavy means any imbalance is