Murim in my Hometown - Chapter 48

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈

Chapter 48: Wolves

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The Hao clan did not immediately hand the opium merchant over to Pyo Holdeuk.

They first took him to another annex and questioned him briefly.

After being thoroughly beaten by the Black Night Gang men, the opium merchant was cooperative enough to spill ten answers for every one question.

His name was I Rim, a martial artist from Qinghai.

He was a criminal who had followed the standard course of the Black Path, starting as a petty thief, moving on to robbery and murder, then banditry, and finally opium smuggling.

He had made a deal with opium smugglers in Xinjiang and was returning to Gansu when he was discovered by the Martial Alliance inspector's group.

A fight broke out. All his companions died, and he barely escaped alone, shaking off his pursuers as he fled.

Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Hubei all had orthodox sects affiliated with the Martial Alliance, so he kept avoiding them until he drifted all the way to Seochon.

He claimed that was all the opium he had.

While the interrogation was underway, a small commotion broke out outside.

Apparently having learned of it somehow, Pyo Holdeuk arrived with a flushed face and burst out in anger.

“This is unacceptable! Why is the Hao clan interrogating an opium merchant pursued by the Martial Alliance? When I return to the Alliance, I will raise this matter officially.”

Only after Geuk Hwan handed over the opium merchant and soothed him with a few pleasant words did Pyo Holdeuk reluctantly return to the annex.

After resolving the opium merchant matter, I went straight to the Wandering Swordsman Inn.

If I wanted to prevent Bok Hagyu from pulling any tricks, I had to conclude the deal while Pyo Holdeuk remained in Seochon.

“It is all finished, so keep your promise now.”

“The Gang Leader is... not in good health.”

“Are you changing your story now? The Martial Alliance inspector is still with the Hao clan.”

Even under an open threat, Bok Hagyu calmly filled his own cup.

“Ask the Hao clan. Ask whether the Gang Leader has appeared anywhere recently.”

I recalled what Geuk Hwan had said. Jeok Chuyeong had suddenly vanished two years ago. Was it because he had fallen ill?

“Then when can I see him?”

“Wait a little longer. He must recover his vitality before a conversation is possible.”

Bok Hagyu did not give a definite answer. The words he spoke with such calm stubbornness were probably true.

He looked ready to willingly fight me if I drew my saber in anger. That would not open the way to the Gang Leader's residence, though.

He was brazenly unreasonable, but he seemed better than the kind of men who covered themselves with plausible excuses and lies.

I walked home through the dark night empty-handed. Not knowing when I would be able to meet Jeok Chuyeong left my thoughts unsettled.

A servant sent by Geuk Hwan was waiting in front of my house.

Puzzled, I went to Simhyang Pavilion, where Geuk Hwan said something absurd.

“It appears that inspector may be an impostor.”

I felt little reaction.

Everything was already over, so what did it matter now?

No...

If Bok Hagyu found out, he might draw his sword in outrage, saying that I had dared mock him with a fake instead of allowing me to meet Jeok Chuyeong.

My head suddenly began to throb.

“Did the Hao clan headquarters or the Martial Alliance send word?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then did the real Pyo Holdeuk appear somewhere else?”

“It is true that a Martial Alliance inspector named Pyo Holdeuk disappeared in Gansu while pursuing an opium merchant alongside martial artists from Kongtong Sect.”

“Then what made you suddenly change your mind?”

Geuk Hwan explained in a confident tone.

“After receiving the opium merchant, Pyo Holdeuk said he would leave early tomorrow morning and settled the entire fee for the commission. He paid quite generously with a bank draft.”

“Was the bank draft fake?”

“It was genuine.”

“Then?”

Geuk Hwan gave a faint smile at my puzzled expression.

“Martial Alliance officials never open their own purses. They mostly use Martial Alliance funds. They try to charge everything to public funds, not only official duties but even the money they spend eating and enjoying themselves at pleasure houses.”

Misuse of public funds was common in every organization.

Even when I worked as a hired swordsman for various factions, I had seen members spending public funds on food and drink more than once or twice.

Unless the amount embezzled was too large, it was usually overlooked in the name of boosting morale.

“The Hao clan and the Martial Alliance have a credit arrangement. Alliance officials may present their identity plaque and seal, add their Hand Seal, then use a fixed amount of public funds on credit. The Martial Alliance settles everything at once every half year. I have dealt with many Martial Alliance officials, but none have ever paid with a bank draft or silver.”

That was information only an insider would know.

That bastard Pyo Holdeuk had been caught here.

“Requesting the Hao clan's help to capture an opium merchant is clearly official business. Even an honest and upright official should pay with public funds according to the rules. I casually probed him because I was suspicious, and he did not even know public funds could be used. That would be impossible for a real inspector.”

“Are you going to capture Pyo Holdeuk and hand him over to the Martial Alliance?”

Geuk Hwan shook his head.

“The loss outweighs the gain. Our clan is an intelligence organization. The Pavilion Master's order is to avoid a clash, confirm where they go after leaving Simhyang Pavilion tomorrow, and report it.”

“How far will you follow them?”

“We have already sent messengers to every nearby branch. Whichever direction they go, we only need to follow them until we can hand off the surveillance to another branch.”

Who would the Hao clan sell this information to?

Probably the Martial Alliance.

They were serious criminals who had killed an inspector and stolen his identity. The Martial Alliance would have to send a pursuit-and-execution squad to hunt them down and execute them somehow if it wanted to save face.

“Will you come with us?”

“Is it a commission?”

“Yes.”

I could not meet Jeok Chuyeong right away, and I had nothing else urgent to do.

Pyo Holdeuk had clearly learned martial arts, but he did not seem like an extraordinary master. If we only followed him as Geuk Hwan said, there should not be much danger.

As I scratched my chin and considered it, Geuk Hwan suddenly brought up something unrelated.

“Did the Sun-Seeking Ginseng Herb I obtained for you help at all?”

“...I suppose it did. I did not use it myself, so I do not know for certain. Someone needed a spirit herb, so I sent it to them.”

“Is that so?”

Geuk Hwan merely dangled the subject, then calmly raised his teacup. I watched his reaction without making it obvious, then carefully asked,

“Did you get another spirit herb by any chance?”

“Of course not. Spirit herbs are rare. The one I gave you before was extremely difficult to obtain. It showed just how deep the Hao clan's goodwill and trust toward you were, Great Hero.”

“Then I will not be able to obtain spirit herbs at all from now on?”

“There is nothing that cannot be obtained. It simply takes time and costs a great deal.”

“Hmm.”

That meant there would be no more handouts.

It also meant that if I wanted to continue my damned internal energy training, I would have to keep earning money diligently.

“...When do we leave?”

“We will move about half an hour after Pyo Holdeuk leaves tomorrow.”

* * *

Early the next morning, Pyo Holdeuk and his guards loaded the opium merchant into a carriage and left Simhyang Pavilion.

Exactly half an hour later, our carriage followed after them.

Once we left the quiet morning streets, frost-covered fields and low mountains stretched widely before us.

The wind blowing through the open window was cold enough to make our breath steam.

“I do not know if I should really be riding in this.”

Hwanghae, sitting opposite me and looking out the window, still wore a dazed expression.

It was not easy to leave Seochon while avoiding the Black Night Gang's eyes. If he left on foot, he would be caught immediately.

So when we brought the opium merchant to Simhyang Pavilion, we also put Hwanghae in the carriage.

We had planned to wait for the right opportunity and send him away in a freight wagon headed for another city, but the chance came sooner than expected.

Geuk Hwan, seated beside me, spoke calmly.

“We only gave you an empty seat while following them, so do not worry about it. Come to think of it...”

Geuk Hwan leaned toward me and lowered his voice as though whispering.

“This is your first time moving with me, is it not, Great Hero Jeong?”

“It is. But can you leave the branch?”

Yehyang was the Pavilion Master's successor, but Geuk Hwan was the closest aide who handled affairs on the Pavilion Master's behalf.

He was also the Pavilion Master's guard.

“It cannot be helped. Great Hero Won and the other guest retainers are all away on business, so I must go.”

“What about the Pavilion Master's protection?”

“There are quite a few capable disciples at the branch besides me. They are all people who have received great kindness from our clan. They are skilled in martial arts, deeply devoted in faith, and loyal enough to throw themselves before a blade for the Pavilion Master.”

Faith...

There were surely loyal people even among those at the bottom of society, but I could not understand why he used the word faith.

There were no people or carriages traveling along the official road before sunrise. Pyo Holdeuk's carriage had vanished from sight as well.

Far away at the foot of a mountain, a Hao clan member on horseback waved a hand. The driver steered the carriage toward them.

As we rounded the mountain foothill, a familiar carriage traveling far ahead came into view.

Whether they sought the nearest Martial Alliance branch or the Martial Alliance's main headquarters in Henan Province, the quickest route would first be toward Hubei.

Pyo Holdeuk's carriage was heading toward Shaanxi instead of Hubei.

“So he really is a fake.”

The carriage racing along the official road suddenly left it and entered a densely forested mountain.

The long howls of wolves echoed at the intrusion of unwelcome guests.

“Did they notice we were following them?”

Geuk Hwan narrowed his eyes and fell into thought.

Hwanghae, who had been watching with us, suddenly recalled something and spoke quickly.

“There is an old mountain path if you enter that mountain.”

“Have you been there?”

“Yes. I have gone into every mountain in this area to gather firewood. That path looks blocked when viewed from outside, but it connects to the mountains behind it and stretches north. It was abandoned after the official road was built, so only people who know about it still know it.”

“If it leads north, they will escape into Shaanxi.”

Geuk Hwan clicked his tongue softly.

“They caught us completely off guard.”

Following them through the mountains was extremely dangerous. There were many places to hide, making it easy to lose them, and we had no way of knowing where they might be waiting in ambush.

After briefly considering the plan, Geuk Hwan shook his head.

“Let us only inspect the entrance to the mountain path, then withdraw.”

Our carriage also left the official road and headed toward the mountain. Hwanghae, Geuk Hwan, and I got down, while the driver hid the carriage in a secluded valley.

Awooooo.

Awoo, awoo.

As we entered the mountain, wolves that caught the scent of humans howled from all directions.

We moved slowly and silently, keeping watch on the brush to our left and right.

Before long, we spotted a stopped carriage. Beyond it was an overturned freight wagon, its wheels raised toward the sky.

The horse tied to the freight wagon was also dead on the ground. Flesh had been torn away in places, exposing white bone.

Awooo.

It appeared that the wolves still howling now had eaten it.

Two guards wearing Martial Alliance uniforms took chests from the freight wagon.

When they set them on the ground, Pyo Holdeuk threw open the lids and bent over them. He pulled out something wrapped in paper, unwrapped it, and examined the contents.

Small black lumps like mud.

“Is that... opium?”

“It appears so.”

After confirming the goods, Pyo Holdeuk cheered wildly, beside himself with joy.

“Ha ha ha! You bastard I Rim. You carried the goods off like your life depended on it, but they were all here! You damned bastard! You dared betray me?”

He kicked the opium merchant to the ground and beat him soundly, then shouted as he panted.

“Take everything out and load it into the carriage!”

“Yes!”

There were more than ten chests from the freight wagon.

All of them were filled with opium...

How much would that be worth in money?

The opium Hwanghae had bought was only as thick as one finger joint. Based on the price he had paid then, the opium there was probably worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Watching the opium chests being loaded one by one into the new carriage, I began to understand what had happened.

This opium merchant, I Rim, and Pyo Holdeuk's group were accomplices.

In Gansu, the real Martial Alliance inspector Pyo Holdeuk and martial artists from Kongtong Sect had ambushed them after they smuggled opium from Xinjiang.

While they were fighting, I Rim must have driven off alone with the freight wagon carrying the opium.

After killing Pyo Holdeuk and the Martial Alliance members, they stole their clothes and identities, then came to Seochon in pursuit of the traitor.

I Rim had avoided the official road and traveled along the mountain path with the carriage, but the horse must have fallen or the carriage overturned there.

It might have happened while traveling at night, or the horse may have collapsed and died from being overworked.

He could not abandon all that opium and flee.

So I Rim put some of the opium on his person and entered Seochon. He probably planned to use the money from selling opium to buy a new horse, hitch it to the carriage, and flee again.

Horses were expensive. Even an old packhorse cost at least two taels of silver.

Only people who had used opium would look for it. It could not have been easy to sell.

While loitering around a clinic, he happened to meet Hwanghae, who was looking for a way to ease his mother's pain, and sold him opium.

Not long after that, the group impersonating the inspector visited the Hao clan's Seochon branch.

Once I made that assumption, everything that had happened fit together smoothly.

Whooo! Whooo!

Geuk Hwan looked behind us at the cleverly imitated bird call and whispered lowly.

“Someone is coming. Let us move.”

We quietly stood and circled through the forest to higher ground. We hid beside a rock overlooking the entire area.

Five martial artists with their heads and bodies covered in black robes climbed the mountain path and approached Pyo Holdeuk's group.

Pyo Holdeuk stepped forward and shouted.

“Stop!”

The martial artists halted and removed the robes covering their heads.

The revealed faces were familiar.

It was Bok Hagyu, the Sole-Rending Squad Leader of the Black Night Gang, and his subordinates.

How did that man get here...

Pyo Holdeuk looked down on Bok Hagyu with an arrogant expression and snorted.

“You bastards, do you know who I am? How dare Black Path trash act against a Martial Alliance inspector...”

“Cut the bullshit!”

Bok Hagyu roared.

Thick killing intent seeped from his booming voice, which shook the mountain. It was chilling enough to make the wolves fall silent for a moment.

“Ever since you dared enter our gang and resort to lethal measures two years ago, the Martial Alliance has not even come near Seochon. Yet not an elder or squad leader, but some mere inspector thinks he can threaten us? If you are a real inspector, then I am the Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance.”

Bok Hagyu drew his sword and pointed it at Pyo Holdeuk.

“Hand over the clothes you are wearing, your identity plaque, and seal. Then I will give you a clean death without pain.”

Pyo Holdeuk's face went cold as he drew his sword. His subordinates also drew theirs.

Awooo.

Awoo, awoo.

Perhaps they had already caught the scent of blood, because the excited wolves howled fiercely.

Soon, someone would die and become food for those wolves.

But no one cared.

The one who died would not be them.

Bang!

The two groups of martial artists kicked off the ground and charged at each other.

Awooooo.