WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈

Chapter 19: Maek Jade

──────

The man in black who emerged from the alley melted into the gloomy night streets.

The sun had set, and the mountain breeze had washed away the heat, but it was still too early to sleep.

Though it was some distance from the busy district and few pedestrians passed by, the taverns were lively.

I sheathed my willow-leaf saber and quietly followed him.

The man in black did not enter a tavern. He went into an inn, came out a short while later, and began walking again.

He visited a shabby fortune-telling shop tucked away in a corner, then pounded on the door of a darkened clinic until he woke someone and went inside.

After wandering around Seochon's streets for quite some time, he slipped into an alley between the buildings.

I followed him around several corners, and a heavy silence settled over the place.

Once my own footsteps were the only sound I could hear, I knew something was wrong.

Trying my best not to make a sound, I carefully drew my willow-leaf saber.

Staring at the corner where the man in black had disappeared, I backed away.

Perhaps sensing my hesitation, a dark figure slowly emerged beside the corner.

A white gleam flashed from his eyes within the shadows.

"I wondered how far you'd follow me. You're rather perceptive. Did Ban Hoyang send you?"

The voice, faintly smoldering with killing intent, was unfamiliar yet strangely familiar.

"Have we met before?"

"If you can escape from here, then perhaps we will next time. But that will not happen."

The man in black had already drawn his sword and lunged forward.

He closed the distance in an instant and immediately aimed for my shoulder.

I calmly swung my willow-leaf saber and blocked the strike.

As I tried to drive my saber down from above with the momentum, the deflected sword bent strangely like a snake and leapt over my blade.

Startled, I knocked the sword aside and kicked at his groin.

The man in black twisted aside, redirecting my kick as he targeted my flank.

I gritted my teeth and knocked aside his sword with the willow-leaf saber, only for sharp sword strikes to rain down upon my thigh from an exquisite angle.

I fiercely pressed forward with the most powerful technique among the Nameless Saber Art's forms, then barely escaped into his blind spot with Footwork.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

After exchanging five moves in an instant, both the man in black and I retreated several steps at the same time.

The bloodshot killing intent in his eyes deepened as he shook off the residual force from his sword.

I was equally surprised.

Why were there so many masters in a backwater village like this...

As I clicked my tongue inwardly, the man in black slowly circled sideways with his sword aimed at me, as though trying to claim the advantageous position.

Moonlight fell at an angle, revealing his face beneath the bamboo rain hat.

Just as I thought. I had not heard wrong.

He was a swordsman I had met before.

What was his name again...

"Won Seogang?"

I must have gotten it right, because the swordsman flinched and glared at me.

"So you were Ban Hoyang's subordinate after all."

"I told you, I don't know that man. Didn't you get a bottle of liquor from me before? At the tavern across from the gambling den in the back alley. On the rainy day."

I stepped sideways as well, exposing my face to the moonlight.

He did not seem to be someone who easily forgot favors or grudges. He soon recognized me.

"...Jeong?"

"Jeong Daecheon."

His puzzlement lasted only a moment. Won Seogang's voice turned cold again.

"Are you Ban Hoyang's subordinate?"

"I don't know who that is, but I've never even seen his face."

"Why were you following me?"

"You climbed over Simhyang Pavilion's wall, so I followed to see what was going on."

"How did you know I would climb over the wall?"

"I saw you from inside."

"Inside?"

"I work there."

It seemed he could not make out my escort uniform in the dark.

I pointed at the two characters for Yongcheon on my left breast. Won Seogang narrowed his eyes as he stared, his expression turning uneasy.

"...You're an escort?"

"I haven't been doing it long. Though I don't think I'll even last a month."

Won Seogang gave a quiet laugh as if seeing me anew and slowly lowered his sword.

"I thought you were nothing but a blade-for-hire, but you're living a fairly decent life."

He did not sound mocking. He seemed genuinely surprised, as though he had thought I was gutter trash but perhaps I was not quite that low.

It was not a particularly pleasant reaction.

"Do you know that an escort was murdered inside Simhyang Pavilion's walls last night?"

"I heard."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"It has nothing to do with me."

"Then what about the three Black Night Gang men who died violent deaths two nights ago?"

"That may have something to do with me."

When I looked at him as if to say, So it was you, Won Seogang frowned.

"I did not kill them. I merely witnessed it. There was no mercy in the killer's hands. All three had their heads cut off on the spot."

"Did Ban Hoyang do it?"

I had only guessed based on what I had just heard, but Won Seogang did not deny it.

"If we're going to keep talking, let's go somewhere else. They say even mice listen to words spoken at night."

Won Seogang looked up at the buildings beyond the wall, then sheathed his sword.

"Let's do that."

I sheathed my willow-leaf saber as well.

"This way."

Keeping a suitable distance, I followed Won Seogang out of the long alley.

A quiet night street stretched before us. We entered a nearby tavern and sat in a secluded corner.

Won Seogang ordered liquor and took out his coin pouch.

"You treated me well last time. This time, I'll pay."

"I can't leave my post for long."

"I don't intend to get drunk either. We'll just wet our throats while we talk."

The waiter filled our cups with the liquor he brought out. Won Seogang and I each emptied a cup without a word.

As I exhaled with the fierce heat of the liquor, the lingering excitement from our fight finally began to fade.

"Was the guest staying in the detached residence you?"

"A guest... I can't exactly call myself that, but I suppose I can't protest if others do."

"Why make a hobby of climbing walls when there's a perfectly good gate?"

Won Seogang gave a quiet laugh and began spouting nonsense.

"Have you heard the saying, 'The Dao has no gate'? A person walking the great path has no use for fixed rules. Wherever I go becomes a gate and a road."

"It isn't because you dislike running into the gatekeepers whenever you use the front gate?"

"That's part of it. Wait a moment."

Won Seogang pulled a small bamboo tube from his robe.

He took out a rolled piece of oil paper and unfolded it.

It bore a portrait of a middle-aged man with drooping eyes and plump cheeks.

Beside the face, his name, age, and physical features were written in detail.

Ban Hoyang, forty-five years old...

"Have you seen someone who looks like this?"

"I haven't. I take it he deserves to die?"

"Death alone would not be enough."

Deep emotions churned in Won Seogang's cold, sharpened eyes.

There was a saying that once someone began living as a martial artist, they spent half their life doing things that earned others' grudges, and the other half pursuing revenge.

Won Seogang claimed that vengeance was his to carry out, but like all martial artists, there could not be only one or two people nursing resentment toward him and waiting for their chance.

Just as he had gritted his teeth and chased down his enemy, driven a blade into his body, and cut off his head, Won Seogang would someday meet the same end.

When everything was settled through strength and violence, it felt satisfying in the moment, as though one had won. But it always ended that way.

Like bloodstains that could not be scrubbed away no matter how often they were washed, killing only piled up more grudges.

If he survived to the end, he would stand alone atop a mountain of corpses, something no longer human.

With no loved ones, no family, no friends, and not even a neighbor with whom to exchange a word.

Of course, it was none of my concern. My own situation was not so different.

"What about the other guests in the detached residence?"

"What about them?"

"I think the escort who died yesterday had been stealing. Judging from how his heart was pierced in a single strike, the other person appeared to have been a martial artist."

Won Seogang let out a hollow laugh as he raised his cup.

"Must have been that bastard who once lurked around the detached residence and got taught a lesson. He never showed his face again afterward. If he had been caught climbing the wall and killed on the spot, they would have reported it openly to the pavilion master. They caught a thief. What would there be to fear?"

"How many martial artists are in the detached residence?"

"If you want to know, ask the pavilion master."

"What exactly is Simhyang Pavilion?"

Won Seogang looked at me as though I were pathetic for not knowing even that.

"What do people do in a pleasure house? Important people and idle rich men with nothing but money devote themselves to drinking and entertainment while enjoying the good times."

"It's too large for an ordinary pleasure house, isn't it? There are five detached residences. And the pavilion master's guards are no ordinary people."

"If you're that curious, ask the pavilion master."

Won Seogang avoided answering directly and sipped his liquor.

He did not seem to be holding his tongue because he wanted to avoid troublesome matters.

What I sensed from his tone and expression was caution, along with a little fear. It was as if he were taking a step back because he did not want to offend the pavilion master.

Martial artists were criminals who lived on their own inflated sense of importance.

Even street thugs spent their days glaring and throwing punches until someone broke their nose.

The pavilion master I had met just before was not someone important enough to make a master like Won Seogang watch his words so carefully.

Then surely...

Did Simhyang Pavilion have another true owner?

Villains who trampled on weakness, tore their victims apart, and filled their own bellies were not confined to the martial world.

No matter how powerful a wealthy household was, if its master died and only his wife and young children remained, distant relatives, servants, and every sort of bastard often seized its property until the family was ruined.

A pleasure house on Simhyang Pavilion's scale could not have been built through the efforts of an obscure courtesan alone.

The pavilion master was only the public face. There had to be someone powerful backing the place.

As I considered how to coax this man into opening his mouth, Won Seogang asked casually, "Do you work as an escort for money?"

"Isn't that why everyone does it?"

"If you need money, how about working with me?"

"I don't think we're close enough for that."

"Isn't this the sort of world where a friend of ten years stabs you in the back, while someone you met today becomes your savior? I have a good feeling about you, Hero Jeong. That saber art just now was pretty decent too. I didn't use killing moves because I intended to subdue you and question you, but I didn't expect to fail to leave even a scratch during five exchanges. The attack on my groin was impressive as well. Twenty taels of silver. What do you say? I'll give you ten taels in advance."

"Is it Black Night Gang business? That enemy you mentioned earlier?"

Won Seogang slowly nodded.

"He has hidden himself deep away. I stand second to none with a sword, but breaking through alone won't be easy."

"Was the Black Night Gang that formidable? I heard its leader was an Unorthodox Faction master with an alias."

"Black Slaughter Sword Jeok Chuyeong?"

"That must be the man."

"Hmph. Even with an alias like that, he's merely a black-hearted murderer. We should end his life as soon as possible, so he piles up less evil karma and might at least reincarnate as a beast in his next life."

"Have you met him?"

"I will soon enough."

Won Seogang answered as though displeased and refilled his cup.

"So the Black Night Gang has more than one or two masters?"

"It's different from how it looks. Aside from Jeok Chuyeong, there are several more troublesome men. Its rank-and-file numbers are considerable as well. For a Black Path faction in a town like this, it has substantial strength."

"So even if things go well, I'll get stabbed."

"Do you fear being stabbed when you're a martial artist who carries a blade?"

"I'm trying to wash my hands of that life."

When I pointed at the escort agency's name on my left breast, Won Seogang's eyes clouded over for a moment before becoming clear again.

Just as they had when he seemed to be dwelling on a painful past before an empty liquor cup in the middle of a night of pouring rain.

"...If washing could truly make it go away, I would've quit long ago."

Won Seogang shook his head and downed his liquor.

"Think it over. I'll need to remain at the detached residence for a while. If you mention my name, those people won't hassle you."

Won Seogang fastened his sword at his waist and put on his bamboo rain hat.

I emptied my cup and stepped outside as well.

I watched Won Seogang disappear into the back alley, then turned around.

When I reached the alley overlooking Simhyang Pavilion's main gate, I realized things had become troublesome.

If the fellow called away by the pavilion master came walking in from outside, they would find it suspicious.

Perhaps I should have asked Won Seogang how he returned to Simhyang Pavilion unnoticed.

Part of me wondered why it mattered. None of them tried to speak to me anyway.

When I appeared, the two escorts guarding the gate looked at me in confusion. As expected, they did not ask why I was coming from there.

When I returned to my post, the escort who had replaced me yawned and moved aside.

"The man's back, so I'll be going."

The middle-aged escort narrowed his eyes and glanced at me before shaking his head.

I had to report my conversation with the pavilion master to Jo Gyeongjik. I did not particularly want to do that now. If it was urgent, he could summon me himself.

With my thoughts relaxed after several cups of liquor, I carefully reviewed what had happened. Everything at the pavilion master's residence. The brief exchange with Won Seogang. Even the information I had obtained from him, one piece at a time.

Various questions and impressions tangled together like knots, gathering at a single point.

I turned and looked up at the main building, brightly lit with red lanterns.

What exactly was Simhyang Pavilion?

* * *

After finishing work the next morning, I wandered through Seochon's streets carrying the jade carving I had picked up near the detached residence.

Seochon had grown fairly prosperous, but it still had no jeweler specializing only in gemstones.

After asking around, I found a shop dealing in antiques such as old books and porcelain.

An elderly man sat in front of the shop with a long tobacco pipe in his mouth, idly watching the years pass by. He recognized the jade carving at once.

"It has been a very long time since I last saw one of these."

"Do you know what it is?"

The old man nodded.

"This is a Maek Jade."

"There's such a jade?"

I knew of jasper and green jade, but Maek Jade was something I had never heard of.

"It does not refer to a kind of jade. It means jade carved in the shape of an animal called a maek."

"What is a maek?"

"It does not truly exist. It's an imaginary animal, like a qilin or a dragon. It has an elephant's trunk, a cow's tail, and tiger's paws. They say it mainly feeds on human nightmares."

"Then is this merely an ornament?"

"I understand it was used in the Hubei region long ago. People would place it beneath their pillows when they slept, believing the maek would devour bad dreams and evil spirits. They would give them to newborn babies in hopes of health and long life."

The old man held the Maek Jade close to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"It has been handled so much that the jade is worn nearly smooth. If you don't look closely, you wouldn't even know it was a maek. It was repaired with gold after breaking, so it seems to have been used for a long time by a family of some means. The jade itself is of middling quality. The carving is not particularly skilled either, but they would still have paid ten taels of silver for it when they bought it."

"How much is it worth now?"

Without much thought, the old man immediately shook his head.

"Who knows. I don't know if anyone would buy it even knowing it is a Maek Jade. There is nothing good about keeping a Maek Jade someone else used. Since it's a maek that has eaten nightmares, people say it brings bad luck. No one even touches them. It would be best to get rid of it quickly or throw it away. Superstition is superstition, but avoiding things that leave you uneasy puts the mind at ease."

The old man returned the Maek Jade and put his long tobacco pipe back in his mouth.

Even after I left the shop, he did not stop me. It did not seem like he was trying to lowball me.

On my way home, I tried to guess who the Maek Jade's owner was.

It did not belong to Bang Join.

If he had owned something like this, it would have been put up as gambling stakes long ago.

If he had stolen it, he would have tucked it into his robes along with the silver. It was strange for only the Maek Jade to have fallen out when the coin pouch was intact.

It made more sense that it belonged to someone else who had lost it.

Had the person who killed Bang Join dropped it during a struggle? Or had an honored guest visiting Simhyang Pavilion lost it while drunk?

When I got home and removed my clothes, I dropped the Maek Jade on the floor. Fortunately, it neither broke nor cracked.

As I bent down to pick it up, something suddenly flashed through my mind.

Gambling tiles.

What had happened to the gambling tiles Bang Join always held and fidgeted with...?

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried