The Man Named Jang Po
The counterfeit ghosts that had overrun Hangzhou were vanishing.
The black-path thugs who had styled themselves Hangzhou Ghosts dwindled at a startling pace.
"Young Master! This one's finished too!"
Like autumn leaves stripped by a hard wind, the fakes disappeared one after another.
There was only one problem.
If you did not personally hold the illegal dens you had cleared, some other black-path gang would always come pouring in to take them.
"…Heh. Never thought I'd snatch a place this easily."
In other words, every time Gwak Yeon and Cheon Gang cut down a black-path operator and walked away from his front business, another outfit would slip in and claim the seat for themselves. It was never just one or two.
But Gwak Yeon's answer to that was simple.
"Again."
"Y-you—?!"
"Die."
"Wai—ghk!"
Whenever they showed their faces, he caught them. Put another way: every time a black-path dog, greedy for the ruins of a smashed fake Hangzhou Ghost, stuck his head up, Gwak Yeon walked straight in and cut him down. And then he did it again.
"Guh—!"
The fakes who threw themselves endlessly into this world were cut down without end.
Cut down. Cut down. Cut down.
Again, again, again—
Slowly, the rate at which new self-proclaimed Hangzhou Ghosts appeared began to lag far behind the rate at which they were being wiped out.
Thud.
By then they had even developed a feel for it. Working in tandem with Cheon Gang, whose skill had climbed sharply, had become second nature.
"This is fun—! So fun—!"
"Shh."
"Don't talk. Move quietly."
On especially dark nights they even brought Heoksijo along in secret, and the days spent hunting those who claimed the name of Hangzhou Ghost only multiplied.
Until one day, after they had finished off a fake whose strength and following outstripped anything they had faced before—
Thud.
Gwak Yeon tilted his head.
Still without the thing he had been waiting for, he turned his steps elsewhere.
"…I hear the swarm of Hangzhou Ghosts has already fallen below ten."
A secret manor wrapped in thick fog.
"I expected you would stop by at least once before this. You surprise me. Hasn't it been well over a fortnight since you returned from Hebei to Hangzhou?"
"Haha."
As the blacksmith Ha Mu-won let a hint of wounded feeling into his voice, Ha Baek-gyeong, strolling by the pond, only smiled and fanned himself.
Gwak Yeon smiled with them. Ha Mu-won grumbled at him.
"So. Why are you here? At this hour."
"Because… the answer isn't coming as easily as I hoped."
"Ha!"
Gwak Yeon's frank admission put a strangely pleased look on Ha Mu-won's face. The blacksmith raised a finger and pointed at the scabbard hanging at Gwak Yeon's waist.
"That hard, was it?"
"Hm?"
"Even the new Hangzhou Ghost who slipped back into the city and went to work without a word—still found the secret of that sword a little beyond him, did he?"
"Ah. This scabbard."
"So the clue is—"
Ha Mu-won never finished the sentence.
Shhk.
Gwak Yeon settled into stance and drew. The blade-wind that leapt from the sword sheared clean through the dense fog hanging over the far side of the manor.
Ha Mu-won blinked blankly.
"More useful than I expected. The more I look at it, the better the sword. Strength and edge go without saying—but I never imagined it had tricks like this as well."
"Th-that's not all of it!"
"I thought as much. As you said last time, its true worth shows the more you use it. There must still be secrets that haven't come to light."
"Ha! And I'm not telling you those! By rights, a man has to be worthy—"
"Yes. That is the plan."
"?!"
"I intend to uncover them myself, in my own time. I didn't come to see you today about the sword."
Ha Mu-won, who had been winding up to boast over the treasured blade he had forged for Gwak Yeon, was left with his mouth open and a thoroughly blank look on his face. His younger brother, Ha Baek-gyeong, took over the conversation.
"Then what brings you here today?"
"I came because I'm curious about a fellow named Jang Po."
"Ah."
"I've beaten down most of the black-path dogs who were running wild under the name Hangzhou Ghost… but that most famous one never showed himself."
"Jang Po."
Ha Baek-gyeong nodded as he spoke.
"In truth, his name had already begun to spread through the back alleys even before the flood of fakes."
"I see."
So the man said—but Gwak Yeon already knew.
A few days ago, he had finally remembered.
…Ma Gwan-wol.
Back when he had used a vampire's power against Ma Gwan-wol, master of the Honcheon Sect, the man who had been tormenting the cook at Jeowun-banjeom—the name of the man Ma Gwan-wol claimed to have recruited from outside Hangzhou had been Jang Po.
Even so.
"Then where is this Jang Po—"
"That, I do not know."
Ha Baek-gyeong cut him off cleanly. To a Gwak Yeon who looked suddenly drained of purpose, he went on with a curious expression.
"The man doesn't run any enterprise, nor does he lead a following. Appearing without warning or omen, slaughtering other Hangzhou Ghosts nest and all, and vanishing again—that is Jang Po's way."
Ha Baek-gyeong pointed the tip of his fan at Gwak Yeon.
"Rather like… you."
Gwak Yeon's brow lifted a fraction. Could this Jang Po also be—
"But!"
Seeing that look, Ha Baek-gyeong gave a small shake of the head.
"I do not believe he is cut from the same cloth as you, Young Master. He travels with a rather unsavory companion."
"You just said he leads no following."
"Exactly one."
He raised a single finger and murmured.
"We have at least that much: the fact that someone moves with him."
"Who?"
"A man named Yuk So-wan. After failing the provincial examinations, he made a living as strategist for one black-path band or another."
"The provincial examinations?"
"That's right! Kha-ha! Do you think just anyone passes the provincial exams? Without a head like my little brother's—"
"…Brother."
"Ahem. Carry on."
Ha Mu-won, who had butted in so abruptly, waved a sheepish hand. Ha Baek-gyeong resumed the explanation.
"That he could smash so many of the fakes' front businesses and still keep his own identity hidden… I believe was only possible because that Yuk So-wan stood at his side."
"Mm."
Gwak Yeon agreed. He no longer moved with the perfect secrecy of his vampire nights, and the fact that the second young master of the Seoho Gwak Family was the Hangzhou Ghost was hardly a complete secret these days.
And yet this Jang Po was still no more than a ghost story among the black path. Beyond the claim that he was monstrously strong, not a single solid fact about him had come to light.
Ha Baek-gyeong was saying that all of that was Yuk So-wan's handiwork.
"But isn't it the same? That man will be as elusive as Jang Po himself—"
"I have a place in mind."
"Where?"
"In his early days among the black path, Yuk So-wan suffered a severe humiliation at a certain brothel. Judging from the various accounts I have gathered of his temperament, I believe he will eventually aim for that place."
"Eventually?"
"Yes. Its master also styles himself a Hangzhou Ghost. He already ran an illegal house; to swell his influence he took up the name as well. Among the known fronts of the fakes, it is the largest and most dangerous I know of."
"What is it called?"
"Hohyungru."
"Hohyungru."
Gwak Yeon nodded. He had heard the name only yesterday while cutting down yet another fake. He had been meaning to go soon anyway. Convenient.
"Thank you. You've been a great help."
"Nothing else you wish to know?"
"Ah—wait."
Gwak Yeon lifted his head as something occurred to him.
"Do you happen to know anything about Hangzhou's secret auction?"
"Hoh."
The Ha brothers exchanged a look of genuine surprise. This time Ha Mu-won asked the question.
"And where did you hear about that?"
"A vicious dog from near Hebei told me. Before long, a strange man called Goechok means to take part in Hangzhou's secret auction."
"Hrmmm."
While Ha Mu-won folded his arms and thought, Ha Baek-gyeong spoke in a grave tone.
"If you would come again a little later, may I sort the matter out and tell you then?"
"You… have information?!"
"It is a place we have had our eye on for some time. But false reports swarm so thickly that I fear a careless word would do more harm than good. I will sift what we have gathered and separate the gold from the dross. Please return in a week."
"…Very well!"
Gwak Yeon's face brightened. He had not even expected information on the underground auction.
"I'll come again in a week. Once I've settled Hohyungru, it should be no time at all."
"Be careful."
Ha Mu-won's warning followed him.
"This Jang Po is a different breed from every Hangzhou Ghost you have met so far."
"Do you think… I will lose?"
The coolest smile Gwak Yeon had worn yet.
A grin.
A few days later.
Crack!
The top floor of Hohyungru.
Blood spattered every pillar of the finest room. Amid corpses whose chests had been split open, a man with a long scar across his face knelt and shook.
He was the master of Hohyungru—a man who had held considerable power even before he ever claimed the title of Hangzhou Ghost, strong enough that no fake had dared touch him lightly.
Now his face, smeared with tears and blood, was rigid with terror.
"Remember?"
The man standing over him with folded arms, snickering, was Yuk So-wan.
"Back then you forced drink down my throat. So—how does the wine taste tonight?"
"Aah-haa-oo!"
"What? Can't hear you."
"Aaugh-heh-aa!"
"Ahh~ So you're sorry?! Then you have to take your punishment."
Crunch!
Yuk So-wan drove another wine bottle into the gaping mouth of the Hohyungru master, who had already lost several teeth. A bone-chilling scream tore from the man's throat—and in that same instant, the hand of the giant standing behind them moved.
Thud.
The master died on the spot.
Drenched in sweat, Yuk So-wan stared in dismay at the one who had killed him.
"L-Lord Jang Po?!"
"Hungry."
"Ugh!"
For a moment Yuk So-wan's gorge rose. Rage flooded him toward the man who had killed the one he had meant to torment at leisure.
This mad halfwit of a bastard!
And it was not only now. Earlier, while the courtesans and servants of Hohyungru screamed and fled, the fool had stood there idly picking his nose.
—Kyaaaaaaah!
—Lord Jang Po! Catch them all for me!
—Don't wanna.
—What?!
—Are they bad people?
—Th-that's…
He had meant to drag a few pretty girls back with him, and had gotten only that indifferent reply.
The man was listening less and less. Having to invent a new lie every time this idiot started picking over rights and wrongs had grown thoroughly tiresome of late.
Time to test him?
Yuk So-wan stroked his dantian.
Eumyang-go. The Yin-Yang Gu.
Of the parasites Great One Goechok had given him, Yuk So-wan had already swallowed the Yin Gu. He had long since slipped the Yang Gu into the giant as well.
But what if it doesn't work?
He was still afraid. Afraid that a command forced through the Eumyang-go would fail to move this monster. Afraid of what the creature might do if it grew angry at the sudden change in a man who had always grovelled before it. After everything he had seen, the worry was only natural.
We've almost finished the Hangzhou Ghosts… If I can just get a leash on this one, it's over.
He had already passed Great One Goechok's test. He only needed to shut his eyes and take the first step toward controlling the monster—
Gulp.
That was when the presence of new intruders rose from the floors below the pleasure house.
The reek of blood was thick enough to choke on.
Black-path corpses lay strewn in every direction.
Before a broad courtyard planted with trees, a fallen signboard lay on the ground.
Hohyungru
Gwak Yeon looked up from it. Slowly he raised his eyes to the top of the five-story pleasure house said to deal in the finest aphrodisiacs.
Splash.
Cheon Gang stepped through the pools of blood toward the entrance, muttering.
"Looks like someone already tore the place apart."
"So it seems."
"Ugh, the stink of blood. These bastards all look dead to me, Young Master."
"Look up there."
"Ah."
A human silhouette showed on the upper floors. If what they had heard was true, that would be the man called the apex among the black-path packs that had worn the name of Hangzhou Ghost.
…At last.
It had taken longer than expected, but it had been worth a great deal. He had drunk blood between the purges, of course—and in the process he had raised Cheon Gang's and Heoksijo's strength, and learned how much risk they were willing to take to cut down the wicked.
This can run longer than I thought. Their growth rate alone—
Then Cheon Gang, climbing a stair cluttered with black-path bodies, reached for the door-ring of the hall.
"I'll go in first."
"Wait—"
Gwak Yeon felt the presence explode from beyond the door like a thunderclap, and opened his mouth—
Crack!
With a sound like a bursting drum, the doors shattered. In the same breath Cheon Gang went flying backward in a straight line.
"Gah—!"
"Cheon Gang!"
Gwak Yeon saw the iron staff—raised just in time across the man's solar plexus—already bent out of true. And from the entrance, with a roar that shook the air—
"What are you—!"
—a monster of no ordinary kind stepped into view.
A massive man of solid build, iron staff in hand. Facing a creature who looked strong even at a glance, a twisted smile touched Gwak Yeon's lips.
"So you're… Jang Po?"
Thump!