WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈
Chapter 62: Black Night Gang
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After meeting Hoyeongeom’s party and Hwang Gangju, I stepped outside. Won Seogang lowered his voice as we walked down the corridor.
“Did you notify the Hao clan too?”
That caught me off guard. Things had been so urgent that I had not thought of it.
We could proceed into the Black Night Gang on our own, but the Hao clan needed to know.
Won Seogang was staying in an annex of the Hao clan branch. If things went wrong, Im Jageon and Seondo Mu might attack this place.
Even aside from that, we needed to share some information with the Hao clan.
If we caused a major incident in Seochon while disregarding the Hao clan, the relationship and trust we had built so far would suffer.
We might even be able to get their help.
“I’ll go.”
As I hurried out of the room, someone suddenly came to mind.
“Let’s bring Jin Seokman too.”
“The brewery worker?”
Won Seogang looked at me in confusion.
“Didn’t they say they’d open the door for us from inside? Then we don’t need him. It’s not as if he knows the Black Night Gang’s internal layout better than its own members do.”
“We can’t rely on Bok Hagyu alone. Out of everyone gathered here, not one person has actually been inside the Black Night Gang.”
There might be information Jin Seokman had not mentioned, or details he had dismissed as too trivial. It might not be much help, but one never knew.
“Better to bring him than regret it later. We have nothing to lose.”
My agreement with Jin Seokman was only that he would provide information on the Black Night Gang and enter with us when we crossed the wall.
Whether he robbed the vault or opened a warehouse once inside was his own business.
“That is true. Fine. I’ll send someone.”
I left the annex and ran to the Pavilion Master’s residence.
My steps slowed near the annex where the Tang Clan members were staying, then quickened again.
The Tang Clan had nothing to do with this.
If a clash broke out between factions inside the Black Night Gang, the place would become chaos in an instant.
If I told the Tang Clan members carelessly and they got involved, I might be struck by a stray hidden weapon and die.
“I’ve decided to infiltrate the Black Night Gang with Great Hero Won.”
After hearing a brief explanation, Geuk Hwan led me into the reception room.
It had been a while since I’d seen Pavilion Master Hong Hui. She was still an elegant beauty and a capable mistress of the house, skilled at handling people.
She did not rush me. Instead, she calmly offered me a seat. Only after I had moistened my throat with fragrant premium tea and taken a moment to catch my breath did she begin speaking.
“You are going to the Black Night Gang?”
“Yes. I plan to leave with Great Hero Won’s party in three hours.”
“So that is what happened... It is certainly a night too good to miss.”
“You already knew?”
Hong Hui smiled faintly.
“I heard that a knife fight broke out in a back alley and Squad Leader Bok was injured. He has long been at bitter odds with the other two Squad Leaders. About half his subordinates are outside Seochon because of the Blood History Gang matter. If a knife fight didn’t break out under such circumstances, it wouldn’t be the Black Path...”
So the ominous signs I had noticed in the alley earlier were not merely my imagination.
Hearing it from the head of the Hao clan branch, who gathered all the information in Seochon, made it certain.
Whether we intervened or not, a major incident would occur in the Black Night Gang tonight.
“There couldn’t be a better time to exploit the confusion. How many are going?”
“Seven, including me.”
“Even if you take advantage of the chaos, that won’t be easy with so few.”
“Squad Leader Bok has agreed to help us from within.”
Hong Hui’s eyes widened slightly.
One of the three Squad Leaders leading the Black Night Gang in place of its bedridden Gang Leader was cooperating with us. That was more than enough to overturn the entire situation.
Hong Hui studied me intently, her eyes gleaming with interest.
“I’ve felt this for some time, but Great Hero Jeong, your plans have an uncanny way of catching people off guard. You haven’t met Squad Leader Bok many times, yet you’ve brought this about so skillfully. Thank you for informing our clan in advance.”
“Of course I should inform you. What will the Hao clan do?”
“Our clan won’t intervene.”
Hong Hui clearly drew the line.
They had no debt of gratitude or grudge to settle with the Black Night Gang, so watching from the sidelines was likely best. Erasing a martial-world faction and absorbing its power was not the Hao clan’s way of surviving either.
“Is there anything you need?”
At the unexpected goodwill, my mind began turning quickly.
The fact that Hong Hui had asked first meant she was willing to help within reason.
“Could you provide one large carriage, a driver, and a few guards?”
I hoped it would not come to that, but if Wolong Hall was breached, we might have to extract Jeok Chuyeong depending on the situation.
“That much is possible. But I have one request.”
“Please, tell me.”
“After this is over, arrange a meeting with Squad Leader Bok. There are many matters we must discuss and settle for Seochon’s future order.”
“Couldn’t the Hao clan contact him directly?”
When Bok Hagyu had been cornered while fighting Pyo Holdeuk, he had asked Geuk Hwan for help.
They had likely communicated enough already. There was no reason for me to get involved.
But the head of the Hao clan’s Seochon branch thought differently.
“Squad Leader Bok is so overly straightforward that he is difficult to deal with. I would like Great Hero Jeong to act as a bridge between us.”
I laughed at the absurd suggestion and waved a hand.
“He’s not the sort of man who will obediently listen to what I say.”
Bok Hagyu had plenty of nerve and a firm resolve. He was not a man easily swayed by others.
He appeared simple-minded, but his judgment and ability to adapt were above average.
Even looking at how we had become involved so far, it might have seemed as though he had acted according to my wishes. Yet he had settled it all by promising to let me see Jeok Chuyeong later.
Still, Hong Hui smiled confidently.
“He will probably listen.”
When I returned to the annex after finishing our conversation, Jin Seokman was waiting for me.
While everyone else burned with fighting spirit, he alone was stiff as stone, unable to breathe properly.
I wondered if he could even cross the Black Night Gang’s threshold like that.
“We leave soon. What will you do? If you are afraid, stay behind.”
“...I’ll go.”
As though he had been waiting for this day, Jin Seokman gritted his teeth with venom in his eyes.
To pay off gambling debts, save the lover about to be sold to an old man from a wealthy household, and begin a new life, he had no choice but to cross the Black Night Gang’s wall.
The opportunity had come suddenly, but it was not a bad time for theft.
Ordinarily, even if he scaled the Black Night Gang’s wall, patrols would make it difficult to steal even a lump of cold rice from the kitchen.
But if fighting broke out, people died, and the inside descended into confusion, it would be the perfect time to enter wherever he wished and loot the place.
“Do you have a weapon?”
Jin Seokman shook his head.
“I don’t need one. It’s not like I’d beat those bastards by swinging a sword around clumsily. Better to disguise myself as a servant.”
After asking him everything that came to mind about the Black Night Gang’s interior, I prepared to go out as well.
I checked the edge of my long saber, the dagger strapped to my ankle, and the bamboo tube hidden in my left hand.
I also packed plenty of Gold Wound Medicine and bandages.
“I should have found a Pigskin Vest or Chainmail...”
Thinking I might have to fend off several opponents on all sides in the dark, I even regretted the Pigskin Vest I had thrown away because it was too worn out.
After making every preparation, I was chewing jerky and reviewing the escape routes when Won Seogang opened my door.
“It’s time. Let’s go.”
I fastened my long saber behind my waist and stepped outside. Everyone was waiting before the main gate.
I suddenly remembered my days as a wandering martial artist.
Back then, I had crossed walls in the middle of the night with groups like this several times. Some died inside, while others escaped unharmed.
I had always been among those who survived. What about this time? I did not particularly want to know.
Fortunately, the expressions of the companions who would walk the boundary between life and death with me tonight looked much like mine.
Everyone was merely running toward their own goal.
Like arrows already loosed.
I was the same. I would not stop.
I nodded and descended the steps.
* * *
After leaving Simhyang Pavilion, we traveled only through the darkest alleys we could find.
It was a bright night, with shadows falling upon the walls whenever the moon emerged from behind the clouds.
It was not an ideal night for a covert infiltration. Still, we would be able to distinguish friend from foe clearly, so no one would be stabbed by a stray blade.
The corpses of the Child Assassins had all been removed from the back alley we had visited at sunset.
Someone had even washed the place clean with water, so there was barely any smell of blood left.
There was no way the officials who would not move without bribes had done it. Bok Hagyu had probably taken care of it.
That would not erase the unpleasant scandal, but it was far better than leaving children’s corpses lying around.
At the end of the alley, the Black Night Gang’s rear gate, which we had tried to enter earlier, appeared between the high walls.
We hid in a line beneath the wall’s shadows and waited.
A cheerful song drifted from somewhere nearby. It came from a drunken, tongue-twisted voice reeking of warm liquor.
The night wind carrying the chill of early winter stung my face. Shivering, I tucked my stiffening hands into my pockets.
As I exhaled white breath, I turned my head to the side.
Several puffs of breath formed and vanished in the deep darkness, each a different size.
Someone seemed to be grinning. I could see white teeth.
When it seemed to be around two in the morning, I knocked on the rear gate.
A moment later, the sound of a bolt being drawn came from within, and the thick wooden door opened inward.
There was no response beyond the door, which gaped open like a huge mouth.
I swallowed hard, held my breath, and strained my ears.
If this was a trap, this was the last point of no return, where life and death would be decided.
After exchanging looks with Won Seogang, I took the lead because I had met Bok Hagyu before.
With my left hand gripping my scabbard so I could draw at any moment, I quietly crossed the threshold.
Inside was a wide rear yard large enough to park several cargo wagons.
As I walked quickly, I surveyed the surroundings. There was no one in the yard, around the garden trees, or near the buildings. The Black Path member who had opened the door had apparently withdrawn far away and was nowhere to be seen.
The others followed one by one, keeping low and moving stealthily.
There were seven of us: Won Seogang, Jin Seokman, Hwang Gangju, Hoyeongeom, his two junior martial sisters, and me. Two of us were women.
Only then did Bok Hagyu emerge from beneath the eaves across the yard.
Everyone reflexively gripped their weapons.
Bok Hagyu let out a heavy sigh when he saw the group of martial-world practitioners bathed in moonlight.
“...Is this everyone?”
Won Seogang stepped forward and replied calmly.
“Isn’t shaking up the other side what you want, Squad Leader Bok? Skill and nerve matter more than numbers for that. You won’t be disappointed, so watch us. Where is Ban Hoyang?”
Everyone except me seemed to be meeting Bok Hagyu for the first time, but introductions were skipped because of the urgency.
Bok Hagyu stared at Won Seogang as though measuring his martial ability and bearing, then beckoned to a subordinate.
“Ban Hoyang is holed up in Mad-Breaking Hall, where Im Jageon is staying. Follow this man.”
“Brother Won, I will see you later.”
“Good luck to you as well, Brother.”
After their brief farewell, Won Seogang disappeared between the buildings on the left with Hwang Gangju, following the guide.
“We’ll handle Seondo Mu’s side.”
“Five-Phoenix Hall is that way.”
Hoyeongeom and his two junior martial sisters also headed down the path to the right with a Black Path member. Jin Seokman, who had been standing at the back, quietly slipped away into the darkness.
Only Bok Hagyu, his three guards, and I remained.
“What about Gang Leader Jeok?”
“He is where he always is. This way.”
Bok Hagyu entered a narrow, dark path between the buildings and the wall. It was far more secluded and hidden than the internal passage Jin Seokman had told us about.
We could be attacked at any time, but Bok Hagyu could not move quickly because of his injured leg.
“Is your leg all right?”
“It is fine.”
“Wasn’t that the leg Pyo Holdeuk injured before?”
“Urgh.”
Bok Hagyu did not hide his displeasure.
A wound to the leg could be just as dangerous as one to any other vital point. If the blade went in deep, one could die before having a chance to do anything.
Being stabbed twice in less than a month was damned misfortune, but it was a great blessing that he had not died or been crippled.
Once we came out along the path behind the warehouse, the three-story building where the Gang Leader stayed was right before us.
Despite the grand plaque reading Wolong Hall, it was only about the size of Simhyang Pavilion’s annex.
The gang members standing guard recognized Bok Hagyu and bowed their heads. There seemed to be around twenty of them. They must have been carefully chosen, because all of them had sharp eyes and impressive bearing.
“Here.”
Deep within the inner chamber on the first floor, Bok Hagyu straightened his clothes and carefully opened the door.
It was a bedroom decorated with lavish furniture and ornaments.
Someone lay atop a thick silk mattress in the middle of the room.
Only the face was exposed beyond the blankets.
The lamps lit throughout the room were bright, but it was not easy to recognize who it was.
Sunken cheeks thin enough to look hollow. Protruding cheekbones. Even the closed eyes had deep, hollow sockets.
He looked every bit like an invalid.
I recalled the face I had seen in the Hao clan’s facial composite.
Regular features. Thick eyebrows that seemed ready to twitch. Eyes full of sharp intelligence.
Faint traces of a handsome man, one who would not have been out of place among the Orthodox Faction’s rising junior talents, remained here and there across his gaunt face.
The Gang Leader of the Black Night Gang, who had collapsed after being struck by Hidden Force and had been suffering from internal injuries for two years.
Jeok Chuyeong was before me.
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