Even Theft Needs Teamwork (3)

Slip.

There was no point making Cheong Yeon steal—he didn’t look like he’d pull it off properly anyway. So after darkness covered the world, Neung Je-gang opened the inn window and went out alone.

“Heh-heh-heh!”

With a face covering on, he looked exactly like a thief.

What he was aiming for wasn’t Paeng’s household. First came the prep work—he had to hit the local government clerk who had colluded with the Paengs, knock him senseless, and make sure he could never pull this kind of stunt again.

Since it was only a small rural office, even the lights were dim. It was probably a manpower shortage.

A Chief Clerk was a ninth-rank official. In the central government it was nothing special, but in a place like this he might as well be the king. Even petty functionaries without rank could swing absolute authority—so a Chief Clerk here was practically the law itself.

Slip.

Greedy people didn’t keep valuables far away. They kept them close.

Neung Je-gang found a chest under the bed. He had already pressed the sleepers’ acupoints, so there was nothing to hesitate over.

“Whew…!”

Inside weren’t copper coins. There were silver ingots, gold ingots, and even promissory notes—no wonder people would pay money just to buy an office.

If he could squeeze this much out of a tiny village, how rich would he have gotten in a bigger post? That kind of “talent” wasn’t something just anyone had.

Neung Je-gang carried the chest outside and leapt away—toward a huge tree at the edge of the village.

He rolled aside a large boulder beside it and buried the chest beneath, then restored the boulder exactly as it had been and returned to the Chief Clerk’s bedroom.

This time, what he needed was proof of the Chief Clerk’s crimes. If he only took the money, the man would just go right back to sucking the people dry. He needed to make sure the bastard could never hold office again—strip him down into a beggar.

He pocketed the land register and the tax ledgers. He planned to toss these to the Eastern Depot in a slightly larger town on the way out.

After collecting everything he needed, he went to the Paeng household.

“Hm? Hah. Did they catch on?”

Whether it was the maid-girl or Paeng’s daughter, he couldn’t tell—but as if they’d predicted he would move, the whole house was lit up bright, and sturdy men of unknown identity stood ready with weapons.

Of course, that still couldn’t stop Neung Je-gang.

“What happened?”

An old man’s voice. That was probably the “pig-like Paeng Mun” the farmers had talked about.

“Yes, Father. They haven’t moved at all in the inn.”

A young man’s voice—Paeng Mun’s son.

“Really? See? Didn’t I say it was pointless? Why would those people meddle in someone else’s business? We just wasted money hiring men.”

“No, Father. They were definitely plotting something. I’m sure of it.”

A woman’s voice. It was the daughter’s—he hadn’t heard it even once when she’d been “captured” by the farmers. Apparently she’d been frightened, but still sharp enough to watch everything.

“If they planned something, why would they save you? Think about it—doesn’t it feel strange? Either way, if nothing happens, that’s a relief. Now then—did you contact Beijing?”

“Yes. I sent a letter with a messenger, along with our intentions.”

“Good. If that goes through, we won’t have to use the Paeng name in secret anymore. We’ll officially become Paeng family.”

“But it’s taken too much money. The monthly payment to the Chief Clerk isn’t small either….”

“Once we’re recognized by the Paeng Clan, why would we pay some Chief Clerk at all? We bribe him now because we have no power. But once we’re officially acknowledged, we won’t need to care about him.”

“But what if he uses that as leverage to threaten us…?”

“If things go well with the Paeng Clan, I’ll send you to them. There, you’ll bring back Paeng martial arts.”

“Martial arts? Even if they acknowledge us, would they really teach us their clan arts?”

“Who said I wanted the clan arts? Even what low-ranked guards learn is fine. Bring back anything—enough that we can open a training hall in this village. Heh-heh-heh… If we run a dojo under the Paeng name, who in Hebei would dare pick a fight with us?”

“Ah… Father, you truly are amazing.”

Listening from outside, Neung Je-gang nearly yawned. These people really thought the Hebei Paeng Clan was some cheap gang you could buy your way into. Money in, family badge out.

He decided to wait a bit longer, to see if they revealed any other schemes.

But it seemed they had nothing more to say, and they dispersed.

Neung Je-gang made his move when Paeng Mun’s breathing grew even.

Pfft.

He entered, pressed acupoints, and searched everywhere—but no jackpot. Just like they’d said, it looked like most of the money had been sent off toward the Hebei Paeng Clan.

With no choice, he gathered what he could and was about to leave—then he went to the son’s room.

“As expected.”

A father that greedy didn’t produce a son with clean hands. In the son’s room he found even more money than the father had.

He must have spent from his father’s pile when he wanted, but skimmed for himself first whenever money came in. That was embezzlement 101.

“What about the daughter?”

Since he had already started, he checked her room too—and froze.

The real jackpot was with the daughter.

Real or fake, the chest was packed with jewelry and ornaments of every kind. If even half of it was genuine, it looked like it could easily be worth tens of thousands of nyang in cash.

‘Either way—I’ve cleaned them out. Time to go.’

Neung Je-gang buried it under the boulder at the village entrance as well, then returned to the inn.

Cheong Yeon was waiting in the dark, still awake.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah.”

“Whew…!”

“I did the work—why are you sighing?”

“Next time something like this happens, please give me a job too. Sitting around doing nothing… it suddenly felt pathetic.”

“Pathetic? Why?”

“Because… if I can’t even step up for something like this, what right do I have to talk about living for the people. Something like that.”

“What? Hah. If you have time for thoughts like that, sleep. When it’s morning, we might get hauled into the authorities.”

“Haul us in? Did you leave traces?”

“In a small village, outsiders like us are the only suspects. Of course they’ll suspect us.”

“Then what do we do?”

“What’s there to worry about? We have nothing on us.”

“Even so, getting dragged in will be a pain….”

“All we have to say is one thing: tell them to run an identity check with Beijing. If the Eastern Depot guarantees our status, what’s there to fear? I was an Inspector-General of the Eastern Depot, after all.”

“Heh. True.”

There were two organizations corrupt officials feared most: the Eastern Depot, and the Surveillance Commission. Once you got caught by either, your life was basically over.

Things unfolded almost exactly as Neung Je-gang expected. At dawn soldiers poured in, and after dragging Neung Je-gang and Cheong Yeon to the office, all they said was: contact the Eastern Depot.

“Eastern Depot…!”

At that one phrase, even the Chief Clerk and the soldiers went pale. The thought struck them: We messed with the wrong people.

“Still, you’re saying we stole money… but what money, exactly, do you claim we stole?”

Neung Je-gang asked the question back at them.

The Chief Clerk floundered. How could he admit it was bribe money he’d gathered from people connected to the Eastern Depot?

But they still had to confirm whether these two really had Eastern Depot ties.

“Then… what are your names?”

“That one used to be a Teaching Commander in the Eastern Depot’s financial division—Cheong Yeon….”

“G-ghk! A Teaching Commander?!”

It looked like the Chief Clerk’s breath might stop.

“And I’m Secret Shadow.”

“Secret Shadwo?”

He tilted his head. He’d probably heard the name somewhere—after the chaos in Beijing, it had become one of the most famous names around.

And the functionary beside him seemed to remember. He hurriedly whispered in the Chief Clerk’s ear. The moment the Chief Clerk heard it, he looked ready to faint.

Now he didn’t even dare say “let’s verify it.” Even a former Teaching Commander was a mountain he couldn’t bear—but an Inspector-General?

“We’re not convicted yet, so don’t throw us in the jail. Until our identities are confirmed, where are we staying?”

“C-confirmed…? You can just go.”

“What nonsense is that? If there was a theft, of course you should investigate. Assign us quarters and keep investigating.”

At Neung Je-gang’s words, the Chief Clerk had no idea what to do. Normally, anyone suspicious got tossed into the jail first—guilty or not.

But now he couldn’t. If he locked them up and they really were who they said, the fallout could crush him.

“W-what are you idiots doing? Escort them properly!”

He took it out on the underlings.

The place they guided them to was a lavish guest lodge built for high-ranking visitors.

Thanks to Neung Je-gang’s shamelessness, the two of them got a much better stay than the inn—without paying a single coin.

That same day, the Paeng household also filed a report: they’d been robbed.

Naturally, the suspicious ones were Neung Je-gang and Cheong Yeon—but the Chief Clerk actually scolded the Paengs harshly and sent them away.

Even if the two were the culprits, once their identities were confirmed, the Chief Clerk would have to send them off—even if it meant bribing them.

“Are we just going to keep staying like this?”

“Then what? We’re suspects for now.”

“They probably wouldn’t even stop us if we just left.”

“Then we’d look like we admitted we did it. I also want to see how they act once our identities are confirmed. And we’re not in a hurry—let’s watch it through to the end.”

Neung Je-gang lounged in leisure. The message would arrive soon enough—Beijing wasn’t that far.