WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈
Chapter 46: Bok Ha-gyu
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There was no one in the Wandering Swordsman Inn.
Not only were the swordsmen who usually sat around like earthbound ghosts gone, but so were the waiter, the cook, and even the innkeeper.
The second floor was quiet as well, so the guests had all been driven out too.
Only lanterns burned brightly throughout the inn, making the empty interior feel eerily desolate. It looked as though something had happened just moments ago and everyone had been killed.
The Black Night Gang did not spare lamp oil despite the lack of people because this was their event.
I did not know what kind of person ran the Wandering Swordsman Inn, but if the innkeeper wanted to keep doing business in Seochon, there was nothing to gain by falling out of favor with the Black Night Gang.
Perhaps because land was cheap on the outskirts, the interior was about twice as large as Pungcheon Inn.
The tables had been spread far apart to prevent quarrels, leaving no chance for shoulders to bump as people passed.
The ceiling was high, and there were several windows.
I imagined how I would fight if I drew my long saber here while securing escape routes in my head.
I could not fight at Pungcheon Inn. But walking into the Black Night Gang's base on my own would be madness.
So I had no choice but to choose the Wandering Swordsman Inn.
I had felt it the last time I came here too, but it was perfectly located for an inn meant for wandering martial artists who often needed to flee.
Beyond the back door, narrow alleys twisted together like sheep intestines. The walls were low too, so if I climbed over a few, they would have a hard time tracking where I had hidden.
Outside the western windows stretched a broad field of reeds that reached up to the waist. With darkness settling over it, it looked as black as a mudflat.
If things went badly and the deal fell through, I could jump in there. Pursuing me would be almost impossible.
I understood why the opium merchant had dealt with the woodcutter here.
They might have hidden a few men in the reed field, but on a moonless night like this, even a tightly laid encirclement could be broken through easily.
They could not simply set the reeds on fire in anger, either. In the dry autumn weather, the flames would engulf everything from the shanties in the slums to the busy streets in an instant.
If the city became a field of ashes, no amount of bribes from the Black Night Gang would make the authorities look the other way.
I loosened my long saber and sat by the window. My mouth was dry.
I went into the kitchen and found a teapot. Bottles of liquor on one side of a shelf caught my eye.
Should I have some free liquor? My mouth watered, but I could not bring myself to reach for it. Dulling my senses bothered me more than the idea of relaxing with a drink appealed to me.
A squad leader in the Black Night Gang would be a fairly skilled martial artist. I needed to stay sharp.
I carried the teapot back to my seat.
As I sipped the cold, bitter cheap tea, I sensed someone approaching the inn.
A moment later, the door opened.
A sturdy middle-aged martial artist with a fierce face like one of the Four Heavenly Kings stepped inside.
“Who are you?”
“I am Bok Hagyu, Sole-Rending Squad Leader of the Black Night Gang.”
Bok Hagyu. I had seen the name in the information on Jeok Chuyeong.
One of the three closest men who had followed the Black Night Gang leader from Hunan.
“I don't know whether you have someone backing you, but if you made me come here for nothing, you will pay dearly.”
Bok Hagyu ran a hand over the sword sheath at his waist, his eyes flashing with vicious light.
He gave off his savage presence without restraint, like a starving bear.
He was on a different level from the small fry who had stormed into Pungcheon Inn earlier, doing nothing but scowling and unable to even draw their swords.
A man like that using a sword would not be easy to handle.
I quietly calmed my heated breath and answered evenly.
“Then do so.”
Bok Hagyu did not come any closer. He pulled over a chair and sat at a nearby table.
There were roughly fifteen paces between us.
That was probably the minimum distance Bok Hagyu believed would let him stop a surprise attack from me.
He did not seem to think much of me, but he was not underestimating me either. I thought he could have come closer.
Still, we could not sit across from each other with just one table between us.
If we came within sword range, my survival instincts would make my hand itch to cut him down before he could cut me, and we would not be able to talk properly.
Without wasting time, I got straight to the point.
“A Martial Alliance man is at Simhyang Pavilion.”
Bok Hagyu's thick brows twitched. I had written it in the letter too, but he must not have believed it. He had taken the bait properly.
As expected, nothing worked on the Black Path as well as the Martial Alliance.
The Martial Alliance was what made Black Path men wake screaming from nightmares. It spoke of eradicating great evil and upholding chivalry, then killed people whenever it pleased.
“It is Martial Alliance Inspector Pyo Holdeuk.”
He looked as though he had never heard of the name. That made sense. Pyo Holdeuk and his guards had ridden straight into Simhyang Pavilion in a carriage.
If the Hao clan had kept people's mouths shut, it would be difficult for anyone outside to know.
“I hear he tracked an opium merchant from Gansu all the way to Seochon. He hired me to find proof that the Black Night Gang and the opium merchant are working together.”
Bok Hagyu finally spoke.
“The Black Night Gang does not deal in opium.”
That seemed to be true. Seochon had gambling dens and brothels, but no opium dens.
Since returning home, I had not heard a word about opium. Not until that opium merchant suddenly appeared.
I could roughly guess why the Black Night Gang did not deal in opium.
Once someone became addicted, they would lie around smoking the drug until they died.
If all the suckers who should be drinking at taverns, playing gambling tiles in gambling dens, and rolling dice were doing that instead, the businesses would inevitably fail.
It would also be troublesome if men in debt smoked opium and lay around.
Even the worst debtors who took out King Yama loans, infamous for their murderous interest rates, and dared them to cut open their bellies never actually had their bellies cut open. They somehow frightened them into repaying.
A city swept by opium would be filled only with ruined people, emaciated and wasting away. Opium addicts did not work or pay taxes.
The government did not ban and crack down on it for no reason.
“The truth isn't important. If the inspector wants to tie you together, then he will. That man is desperate to earn merit, so his eyes have gone wild. He's determined to drag the Black Night Gang into this somehow. He tracked an opium merchant and uncovered the Black Path faction behind him. Wouldn't that satisfy the Martial Alliance?”
Whether the evidence was real or fabricated, the Martial Alliance leaders would not care.
There were no good Black Path factions in this world, after all.
They only had to wipe out a criminal organization like the Black Night Gang as an opportunity to display the Martial Alliance's reputation and strength.
“I hear he can summon Martial Alliance strike forces from Hubei and Zhongjing as soon as he gets evidence.”
The Heavenly Dragon Squad, the Heaven-Aligning Squad...
Their names sounded impressive, but every one of them was a chivalrous butcher from the Nine Sects or Five Great Families, hardened by killing Black Path men.
Bok Hagyu said nothing. He only studied me with cold eyes.
As though he were trying to see exactly where the truth ended and the bluff began.
He could have flared up and told me to try it if I dared, but he did not waver in the slightest.
He was not only strong in martial arts. His resolve was as solid as iron.
What sort of man was Jeok Chuyeong, to command someone like this?
It was not because I was impressive that I could summon a Black Night Gang squad leader with a short letter, meet him alone, and pressure him this much.
It was because I had the backing of a Martial Alliance inspector.
I had threatened him and pushed him into a corner. Now it was time to offer a deal.
“I will prove that the opium merchant has nothing to do with the Black Night Gang.”
When I offered a solution, he finally said what I wanted to hear.
“What do you want?”
“I want to know where your people took the residents of Seochon seven years ago.”
Bok Hagyu's face twisted fiercely.
“What kind of trick is this? Don't you know the Black Night Gang settled in Seochon long after the escort agency was established?”
“Is that so? Then we have nothing more to discuss.”
I picked up my long saber and stood. Staring straight at Bok Hagyu, I gave him a low warning.
“Go back to the Black Night Gang and wash your neck. When the Martial Alliance strike force arrives, it will be cleanly cut off and hung in the market.”
“Hmph. Have you never considered that your neck might be cut first?”
Bok Hagyu snorted as though completely at ease.
“Do you think killing me will stop the Martial Alliance? You may save your lives if you flee, but your faction will have to close down and lose all its businesses. What will you do?”
Bok Hagyu asked in return.
“Why are you looking for the residents of Seochon?”
“They are my family and my neighbors.”
“Are you from Seochon?”
“I left ten years ago and returned recently. Someone witnessed Jeok Chuyeong putting the residents into carriages and taking them away. Stop pretending you don't know and accept my offer.”
“I don't know. I was not in Seochon seven years ago. But the Gang Leader may know.”
“Then let me meet the Gang Leader.”
Bok Hagyu thought for a long time.
“The Martial Alliance... The Martial Alliance...”
As he quietly repeated the words, Bok Hagyu's gaze grew chillingly deep and unfocused, as though he were sinking into an abyss.
When Bok Hagyu raised his head again, a sinister smile, as sharp as a knife cut, rested on his lips.
“Fine. I will let you meet the Gang Leader. After this matter is over.”
“If you go back on your word, you will not get a second chance.”
“Make sure you don't change your story after meeting the Gang Leader either.”
Bok Hagyu abruptly stood. The deal was over, so I thought he would leave, but he walked into the aisle and drew his sword.
Shiiing.
The chilling sound of metal, like a beast baring its fangs, echoed through the silent inn.
Beyond the sword pointed at me, Bok Hagyu's wide-open eyes burned fiercely.
“That three-inch tongue of yours has wagged enough. From now on, I will measure the weight of the words you spoke.”
Without a word, I stepped away from the table and drew my long saber.
I had expected things to go roughly like this.
Whether they belonged to the Orthodox Faction, the Unorthodox Faction, were chivalrous heroes, or Black Path men, the thing martial artists hated most was losing to someone who only knew how to flap their mouth.
Only after fighting and getting beaten did they finally accept that they had lost.
Bok Hagyu's face had turned red with anger. He seemed to be seething over being called out here and forced into an unwelcome deal.
He likely wanted to test my skill and, if possible, land a blade strike to subdue me and hang me upside down.
I had no intention of avoiding it.
If I learned Bok Hagyu's skill, I could judge roughly how strong Jeok Chuyeong was.
Bang!
Bok Hagyu kicked off the floor and charged. He was swift and imposing, like a charging bear.
His blade caught the lantern light and flashed coldly as it flew toward my chest like an angry claw. It was a strike meant to force me back.
No matter where I dodged, he intended to seize the momentum and press in with relentless thrusts.
Gripping my long saber with both hands, I knocked the sword aside with a supreme technique of the Heavenly Steel Saber Method.
Clang!
Even with my weight behind it, I only pushed the sword back about two handspans. His sword force was strong enough to make my grip tingle.
Bok Hagyu's eyes flashed as he brought his sword down vertically.
I used Footwork to evade left and kicked at Bok Hagyu's ankle. At the same time, I swung my long saber horizontally at his chest.
Bok Hagyu twisted his sword path unexpectedly, blocked my saber, and retreated several steps.
This was my chance.
I advanced without hesitation and unleashed a storm of continuous slashes.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
It was the most aggressive supreme technique among the First Eighteen Forms of the Heavenly Steel Saber Method, with each strike fitting together without a gap.
I expected to cut at least one part of his arms, legs, or torso, but remarkably, Bok Hagyu blocked them all even as he was driven back.
Won Seogang had said he could not easily move against the Black Night Gang because the three men under Jeok Chuyeong were troublesome.
Now that I had fought one of them, he truly was highly skilled.
Were the other two as strong as Bok Hagyu? Jeok Chuyeong was their leader, so he had to be stronger.
“Graaah!”
Bok Hagyu roared and rushed at me. As though trying to make up for being driven back, fierce sword forms poured toward my vital points.
The shower-like sword strikes hammered against my blade like hail falling on a roof.
I swung my long saber to make distance, then grabbed a chair beside me and threw it.
Using the moment Bok Hagyu's vision was blocked, I slipped to the side. Bok Hagyu did not avoid the chair and simply swung his sword.
Bang!
The chair split apart as cleanly as tofu.
It might have seemed insignificant, but cutting wood that cleanly with a sword or saber required a completely steady blade.
Through the falling debris, Bok Hagyu's coldly gleaming eyes appeared. His gaze passed over the empty space ahead and turned to the side.
Before he even saw me charging in from his blind spot, his body reacted first.
I had clearly caught him off guard, but perhaps he had expected it from the moment the chair flew at him. Bok Hagyu responded more calmly than I had thought.
He wrapped his sword around the thrusting saber tip and deftly knocked it away, then threw a punch at my face.
It was too late to dodge.
I twisted my upper body and raised my left hand to block the punch. My body tilted backward, and I lost my balance.
Bok Hagyu lunged at me. I kicked him in the chest and used the rebound to retreat.
Bok Hagyu, who had lost his balance as well, hurriedly used his footwork to keep from falling.
Bang!
He only stopped after crashing into the wall of the inn.
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