WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈

Chapter 69: Hawk

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Had I heard wrong...?

No matter how many times I questioned my ears and went over it again, the conclusion remained the same.

That monk had been a master of internal energy.

Thinking back on it now, it had been strange.

Could the deputy hall master of the Tang Clan’s Detoxification Hall really have unleashed dozens of hidden weapons in a dark forest at midnight, only for them all to be knocked aside with a single Precept Saber?

The saber art the monk had displayed then was still vividly etched into my mind.

It was as though he was drawing lines rather than cutting with his blade.

Could mere mastery of forms and martial skill produce that much power?

He must have used internal energy.

Why had I failed to notice then?

The night had been too dark, and poisoned hidden weapons had been flying everywhere. There had been no time to pay attention.

I had not yet learned internal energy, nor had I ever seen a master use it.

It would have been stranger if I had recognized it.

I did not know how profound one’s internal cultivation had to be to use true qi guidance to confine Hidden Force within another person’s dantian.

Still, one thing was certain. It was a level so distant that I could not even dare imitate it.

Why would such an absolute master be serving as a guest retainer for the Hao clan in Seochon?

Who in the world was he...?

Could he be a Shaolin martial monk?

Not every bald man in monk’s robes was from Shaolin Temple. There were many other renowned temples and martial monks throughout the Central Plains.

Alongside the Wudang Sect, Shaolin was one of the foremost orthodox sects among the Nine Great Sects.

If he were a senior Shaolin monk, he would hold a high position even at Mount Song. There was no reason for him to waste his internal energy and time saving the leader of a Black Path gang in a rural village like this.

Perhaps he was pretending to be a monk to conceal his sect.

That sounded more plausible.

There were wandering martial artists who dressed like monks as well. They would gorge themselves on meat and liquor, then clasp their hands and chant, “Namo Avalokiteshvara,” only when it was time to kill someone.

Could this monk be one of those shameless fake monks?

Oddly enough, the monk did not seem to recognize me.

My face might have been unclear through the gap beneath his conical hat.

But even after hearing my voice, he showed no surprise or discomfort.

Did he not remember me?

I had never spoken with him, but I had heard his voice before. At the Pavilion Master’s residence when the Tang Clan members arrived.

He must have heard my voice then as well...

“Did Gang Leader Jeok wake up at some point?”

The monk’s question drove away my thoughts, and I quickly answered.

“Yes. He opened his eyes briefly, but soon fell asleep again.”

“Did he say anything?”

“He asked who I was, so I told him that I was helping him hide at Squad Leader Bok Hagyu’s request.”

“Anything else?”

“I do not know what you mean, but that was all. Nothing else happened. How much has Gang Leader Jeok’s condition improved?”

The monk remained silent for a moment, as though carefully considering my words.

Now that I thought about it, he had every reason to suspect I had done something to Jeok Chuyeong.

“The Hidden Force in his dantian is a little more stable than before. The flow through his blood vessels has become a little smoother as well.”

“...Could it be because he had been lying down all this time, then finally got some fresh air?”

“Fresh air? Hmm...”

It was ridiculous nonsense, but the monk seemed to seriously consider even that possibility.

His attitude toward Jeok Chuyeong’s Hidden Force was extremely cautious and deliberate.

He seemed to be putting far more effort into this than someone merely helping in exchange for payment.

What kind of relationship did he have with Jeok Chuyeong to go this far?

After a long silence, the monk broke it with a dismissive wave.

“Very well. You may leave now.”

That was unexpected.

I had thought he would demand to know whether I had used true qi guidance.

I had even tensed up, expecting him to draw his blade to determine whether I could use internal energy. Yet his reaction was far too calm.

This could not be the end. He was probably putting me at ease while intending to watch me.

If this monk remained at Simhyang Pavilion, we would inevitably cross paths again.

Bok Hagyu followed me outside and called for a servant to guide me.

“Wait in the guest room. I’ll be there shortly.”

The guest room stood behind Wolong Hall. With its own wall and garden, it was practically a separate residence.

Tang Hyeseo stood in the garden with her arms folded, looking up at the sky.

When I approached, she pointed upward.

“Look over there.”

Beneath the blue sky, a large hawk circled here and there in search of prey.

It was an ordinary sight, nothing remarkable.

“Someone may have intercepted the carrier pigeon along the way.”

I stared at the hawk, unsure what she meant, then suddenly understood.

“...Using a hawk?”

Tang Hyeseo nodded.

“It happens sometimes. Hawks are natural enemies of carrier pigeons. That is why the military releases dozens of carrier pigeons at once when sending an urgent dispatch.”

“Are you saying that bird intercepted the carrier pigeon?”

Tang Hyeseo gave a hollow laugh and looked at me as if I had said something absurd.

“Do you think there is only one hawk in the world? They would have a separately trained hunting hawk.”

“The Hao clan uses carrier pigeons too, as far as I know.”

“Probably. The Tang Clan used carrier pigeons when they stayed in Seochon before. No hawk intercepted them then.”

“Then it does not seem likely to be a hawk.”

“They would have released one to coincide with the pigeon’s arrival. They would not be indiscriminately capturing every carrier pigeon across a wide area.”

“Who would do such a thing, and why?”

Tang Hyeseo shrugged.

“That is what we need to find out now.”

A short while later, Bok Hagyu came to the guest room.

Sitting around the table between the Black Night Gang and the Tang Clan made me so tense that I could barely tell where the tea was going.

I expected the atmosphere to turn hostile, but it proceeded surprisingly calmly and reasonably.

Tang Hyeseo mentioned the carrier pigeon a Sichuan Black Market Merchant had sent to this area.

Bok Hagyu shook his head, saying he had never heard of it. The Black Night Gang did not use carrier pigeons.

“I have never even seen a carrier pigeon in my life. Most people in the martial world are probably the same.”

I quietly nodded in agreement.

I had only heard of them. I did not even know what a carrier pigeon looked like.

That was only natural. Carrier pigeons were expensive means of communication used only by the military, imperial family, or large sects. Ordinary people would never see or use one in their lives.

Tang Hyeseo tested him lightly and caught him off guard at times, but she neither seized on anything he said nor used the Tang Clan’s name to intimidate him.

Contrary to my initial concern, we left the Black Night Gang without an argument.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It is nothing. I was only wondering whether the conversation was enough. It did not seem like we gained much.”

Tang Hyeseo looked back at the Black Night Gang with a strangely satisfied smile.

“It does not matter. We came to test the waters today. The Black Night Gang’s walls are higher than I expected. They have also made the paths between buildings fairly winding and complicated. They have put considerable effort into preparing for an outside attack...”

A chill ran down my spine, and I stopped without realizing it.

Only then did I understand Tang Hyeseo’s true purpose in bringing me along to visit the Black Night Gang.

She had not come to meet Bok Hagyu.

She had come to scout the place in preparation for the possibility that they might one day need to launch a surprise attack on the Black Night Gang.

Thanks to me, Tang Hyeseo had achieved her goal very easily. She had entered comfortably through the front gate and inspected the area around the Gang Leader’s residence.

“Do you suspect the Black Night Gang?”

There was no possibility that the Iron Armguard leaked from the Tang Clan had made its way to the Black Night Gang through a Black Market Merchant.

If Bok Hagyu, Im Jageon, or Seondo Mu had possessed an Iron Armguard, one of them would have used it during the recent clash.

But nowhere had any strange device appeared that fired hidden weapons or sprayed poison.

Tang Hyeseo thought differently.

“I am not excluding them from suspicion.”

“What about Yongcheon Escort Agency?”

“The same applies there.”

“I heard the escort agency master was a Lay disciple of the Mount Qingcheng Sect. Would that not mean he has ties with the Tang Clan as well?”

“There must be some connection. Let us go have tea.”

My thoughts were a tangle as I walked beside Tang Hyeseo.

The Tang Clan members had begun moving seriously in Seochon. I could not even guess how things would unfold.

* * *

Scree!

The piercing cry of a bird of prey echoed through a deep mountain valley.

A large hawk spread its wings wide and slowly glided toward the ground. It moved far too slowly to be hunting prey.

Flapping its wings, the hawk landed not on a tree or a rock, but on the thick leather glove wrapped around a black-clad person’s left arm.

“Eungjo, you have worked hard.”

After confirming that there was nothing in the hawk’s talons or beak, the black-clad person took out a hood.

The hawk calmed once its eyes were covered. Carrying it in hand, the person hurried down the slope.

Three large carriages were hidden on one side of the valley. The black-clad person headed for the first one.

“Head Escort Pung. Eungjo has been retrieved.”

The rear door of the carriage opened with a Clack!, and Pung Gangik stepped outside. He narrowed his bloodshot eyes, worn down by exhaustion.

“What is the result?”

“We searched every part of the Hubei direction, but found nothing.”

Pung Gangik let out a discouraged sigh.

They had finally captured the opium merchant who had stirred up Seochon, then squeezed him dry until his death, but had obtained nothing useful.

Everyone knew that the Ming Cult and White Lotus Sect followers dividing Tianshan had come into conflict over their interests.

The real Martial Alliance Inspector named Pyo Holdeuk, or whatever his name was, had been roaming Qinghai and Gansu however he pleased.

Then he had caught the trail of a Manichaean Sect opium merchant and attacked. He had underestimated his opponent, only to be killed instead and have his identity taken.

Even the opium merchant did not know how much the real Pyo Holdeuk had uncovered or how much he had reported.

Pung Gangik stared silently at the hunting hawk perched on the handler’s arm.

On the battlefield, he had entrusted his life to the comrades standing beside him. That was how he had survived.

How much could he trust this mute beast? It had helped several times before. Would it do so again this time...?

“Take turns resting while continuing to watch Hubei. The Martial Alliance will move soon. Before then, they will surely send a carrier pigeon to Simhyang Pavilion. We must secure it.”

“Yes. I will see to it.”

Once the hawk handler withdrew, Pung Gangik prepared to return to the escort agency. He had mountains of work to do. He could not remain here forever.

Amid the subordinates moving busily about, someone rode up in a hurry.

“Head Escort. Something has happened at the escort agency.”

“What is it?”

“A Tang Clan member has arrived.”

Pung Gangik’s face twisted at once.

“A Tang Clan member? Do you mean the people staying at Simhyang Pavilion?”

“Yes. A middle-aged woman has arrived leading Tang Clan martial artists.”

There was only one middle-aged Tang Clan woman at Simhyang Pavilion.

The Sichuan Poison Beauty, Tang Johui.

In her youth, she had been a renowned beauty in Sichuan, a bold and passionate heroine with hot blood.

Now, she was a full-fledged Poison Hand of the Tang Clan, calculating and merciless toward anyone who had earned her enmity.

An ominous feeling churned in his chest.

Pung Gangik anxiously swallowed and turned toward the escort agency.

It felt as if screams and the scent of poison might come flying in on the blade-like wind brushing past his ears at any moment.

What had they learned before coming?

The mood in Sichuan’s martial world had become extremely grim after Tang Dohun stole the Iron Armguard.

That was why Pung Gangik, who had left for Sichuan the previous summer as part of a large escort convoy, had hurried back with the Chief Head Escort.

Upon hearing that a group of Tang Clan members had been dispatched to Seochon, they had been shocked and ridden through the night to get ahead of them.

The Tang Clan had settled into the Seochon branch of the Hao clan some time ago. Why was Tang Johui only moving now?

No matter how much he thought about it, it did not seem like they had caught wind of anything. If they had, they would have attacked the escort agency as soon as they arrived in Seochon.

The Sichuan Tang Clan and Yongcheon Escort Agency had neither a good nor bad relationship.

When the escort agency master had struggled to establish Yongcheon Escort Agency in Sichuan, no one had entrusted them with an escort run.

The connections and influence of the already established escort agencies stood like an iron fortress, making it nearly impossible to break in.

The fact that Escort Agency Master Gam Hujeong had been a Lay disciple of the Mount Qingcheng Sect had been no help at all.

The other escort agencies in Sichuan all had Mount Qingcheng, Emei, or the Tang Clan backing them as well.

The first to entrust them with goods had been the Sichuan Tang Clan. That had been thanks to Tang Johui’s efforts.

Even that happened only once or twice.

In the end, they had been unable to overcome the local hostility and had to turn their backs on Sichuan. Thinking of those days, a face suddenly came to mind.

“Is the Chief Head Escort at the escort agency?”

“Yes, he is.”

“...That is a relief.”

His heart felt a little lighter at the thought that he would not need to entertain the troublesome Tang Clan members himself.

Du Jaryeom was more than capable of handling Tang Johui.

After all, Tang Johui had given work to Yongcheon Escort Agency solely because of Du Jaryeom.

Perhaps she had come under the pretext of Tang Clan business just to see Du Jaryeom.

“We are returning to the escort agency.”

When Pung Gangik climbed into the carriage, one of the black-clad people took the reins from the driver’s seat.

“We will depart.”

“Yes. Let us go slowly. Slowly.”

If they hurried back for no reason, they might run into the Tang Clan members.

He did not want to interrupt the two of them reminiscing after so long, either.

Was it called yearning for one’s roots...?

Even a fox, when it dies, turns its head toward the burrow where it lived.

They had once wanted to become a home to one another. The regrets built up over the years would not be easily resolved.

“Hometown...”

Beyond the swaying carriage window, Seochon’s sky was a clear, cloudless blue.

The first snow was probably falling in the north by now.

The north had spring, summer, and autumn too.

Yet the only season that always came to mind was winter, when heavy snow fell as though the sky itself had collapsed. Beautiful, yet harsh and impoverished...

Sometimes he missed it, but he would not return. When he put down his spear, his connection to the north had ended as well.

All that remained was the life of a Yongcheon Escort Agency Head Escort, living with a blade in hand.

Still, the sky in the north had been better...

While Pung Gangik was lost in fleeting thoughts, the carriage emerged from the narrow, winding mountain path and reached the main road.

As it rounded the mountainside, Yongcheon Escort Agency came into view in the distance.

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