Receiving By The Doe, Repaying By The Mal (3)

The sun had crossed over the western mountains. Darkness gradually pushed in, and soon it was night. Seon-yeong was a highland over seven hundred jang above sea level. Since mountains surrounded it on every side, once the sun set, darkness came quickly.

Three people were piercing through the darkness. Two of them moved with pure lightness, but one person was kicking up clouds of dust. Even in the darkness, the dust was clearly visible.

It was certainly true that holes had opened in the perimeter after the Soul Hunters disappeared. After all, even when Ma-jil stirred up that much dust, no one blocked their way.

The bamboo grove behind the Governor-General Office.

That was the best place nearby to hide themselves.

“The problem is that whether it is wealth or top-secret documents, they will be in Deung Myeong’s residence. And we do not know where in the residence they are hidden……”

“Then what do we do?”

“That is why I need you two. I intend to use the same scheme the enemy used.”

“Yes?”

“That fellow Deung Myeong tried to use himself as bait to kidnap Princess Gongbu.”

“Then?”

“Yes. This time, I will become the bait and lure out the fellows inside the Governor-General Office, and while I do that, you will search Deung Myeong’s residence and find them. Even if you cannot find the documents I need, take everything that can serve as military funds. That is also one way to reduce the enemy’s strength. Is this what they call in Joseon receiving by the doe and repaying by the mal?”

“Understood.”

Gongsun Gyeong-in’s hands trembled lightly. He was about to step back onto the path of a thief, which he had cut off for ten years. Moreover, now he did not have to worry about being chased. They were even encouraging him to steal as much as he liked. Where else in the world could there be such a good workplace?

This was something that happened when he returned to his original quarters and packed his belongings after deciding to follow Neung Je-gang. The Squad Leader, who had usually looked down on him as a foreigner in a way that was not quite contempt yet was contempt all the same, came in. That bastard shouted at him, asking what he was doing as he packed his things.

At that time, Gongsun Gyeong-in looked awkwardly at the Eastern Depot messenger standing outside the tent, waiting for him. He was asking whether it was all right to say he had become part of the Eastern Depot, but the Eastern Depot messenger, for reasons unknown, drew a finger across his own throat. It meant he could kill him. The Eastern Depot was indeed the Eastern Depot. To tell him to kill someone just because he cursed a little.

Gongsun Gyeong-in had no intention of doing that. No matter how badly the man had treated him, he could not murder someone for such a reason. Instead, he beat him nearly to death. It was the moment he revealed the martial arts he had hidden all this time. In a single instant, he vented on that bastard all the scorn and contempt he had suffered as a low-ranking soldier for ten years.

The bastard fled. Of course, Gongsun Gyeong-in had deliberately let him go. But it seemed the bastard ran to the Hundred-Man Commander and tattled. The Hundred-Man Commander came running with Squad Leaders and soldiers.

‘He must have thought insubordination had occurred. Kkeul-kkeul-kkeul!’

Just thinking of that moment even felt exhilarating.

Gongsun Gyeong-in waited for them while holding the identity plaque the messenger had given him beforehand. It was an identity plaque showing that he belonged to the Eastern Depot. Everyone from the Hundred-Man Commander downward sprawled flat on the ground. Even an ordinary Eastern Depot agent was equal in official rank to a Hundred-Man Commander in the army. But there was the name of the Eastern Depot, was there not? Even if they were the same rank, the Eastern Depot held one level more authority.

“You bastards……”

Gongsun Gyeong-in left those stylish words behind and came to the Eastern Depot with his belongings. As he did, he felt burning gazes on the back of his head, whether they were envy or jealousy.

The Eastern Depot was a splendid workplace.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Hm?”

Gongsun Gyeong-in did not like this fellow called Ma-jil. It was one thing that he pretended to be close for no reason just because they had become Eastern Depot agents together, but even his appearance was completely off. On top of that, what kind of name was Ma-jil? If one was going to name someone, one should give them a good name.

Still, what he disliked most decisively was that Ma-jil spoke casually to him. Gongsun Gyeong-in was now entering his fifties. Ma-jil, even if one were generous, was in his late thirties? And yet he tried to speak as an equal.

‘I should teach him a lesson once, this bastard.’

Gongsun Gyeong-in harbored such thoughts inside. Determining who stood above whom was the law of the wild. In the survival-of-the-fittest world of the rivers and lakes, the strong stood above.

“Where is Captain?”

Because Cheong Yeon and Ma-jil called him Captain, Gongsun Gyeong-in had also come to call Neung Je-gang Captain. His position was also bodyguard to the Eastern Depot Deputy Commissioner. Since he had not formally entered, he could only receive a post that did not exist without Neung Je-gang.

“He went. Once it gets noisy in a little while, we go in.”

“Really? When did he go?”

“When you were grinning like an idiot, thinking about something.”

At Ma-jil’s words, Gongsun Gyeong-in’s face reddened. It must have been when he was thinking about the moment he beat up the Squad Leader.

“By the way, you must already know everything about me, so what is your relationship with Captain?”

Gongsun Gyeong-in asked Ma-jil. He could not understand how Neung Je-gang and such a fellow could be close.

“Me? I was locked up in the Forbidden Demon Prison. But the Captain pulled me out.”

A sly human like Ma-jil would never say that they had escaped together. That was something better known by as few people as possible.

At any rate, the term Forbidden Demon Prison caused Gongsun Gyeong-in to reconsider Ma-jil. The Forbidden Demon Prison—did that not mean he had been the absolute dregs of humanity?

‘Th-this is not someone I should touch.’

He began to feel fear toward Ma-jil. It was a sense of danger that if he provoked him for no reason, he might be killed without anyone knowing.

Because of that, he also came to feel a slightly deeper fear toward Neung Je-gang, who had taken a prisoner out of the Forbidden Demon Prison and used him as a subordinate. If he was not confident he could take responsibility for the things Ma-jil did, he could not have done such a thing.

“Hm? It is now.”

Ma-jil tapped Gongsun Gyeong-in, who had once again spread the wings of imagination.

“Wh-what?”

“What are you thinking about again? Tense up a bit, will you? Let’s go. Captain has already started.”

Ma-jil ran forward and leaped over the rear wall of the Governor-General Office.

“Ptooey, ptooey!”

As he followed behind, Gongsun Gyeong-in was covered in the dust Ma-jil kicked up. Gongsun Gyeong-in spat, wearing an irritated expression, but he could only endure it. Was the man not from the Forbidden Demon Prison?

‘Enduring is winning. Endure it, Gyeong-in! Damn it! I should have learned lightness skill properly long ago, damn bastard!’

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming quickly?”

From beyond the wall came the urging voice of that annoying Ma-jil.

Whoosh.

Gongsun Gyeong-in leaped over the wall like a painting.

“I will lead from here.”

If he followed behind, he would not know when he might be covered in dust again, so he stepped forward first.

“Do as you like.”

Ma-jil readily agreed as if it did not matter much. To him, it did not matter who led. In any case, he was not the one eating dust.

After entering the Governor-General Office, Neung Je-gang went first to the Jieun Territory warriors’ quarters. The Jieun Territory warriors were gathered in a place where several beds had been prepared in a large room.

“But what is that bastard doing, still not back yet?”

“He got his hands on a woman for the first time in a while, so he must have lost track of time. In any case, I told you that lecher should have been removed from our Jieun Territory long ago.”

It seemed they were talking about U Ha-pyeong. Whether men or women, everyone was the same in speaking behind the backs of those who were absent.

Neung Je-gang clicked his tongue. The fellow who had died by his hand had not been very welcomed even among his companions. As it turned out, he had been a pitiful fellow.

“Shall I begin now?”

Srrng.

Neung Je-gang drew his sword.

“If you beat the dog, its master will come running.”

If he struck Jieun Territory, Deung Myeong would come running. If he then leisurely lured him and ran far away, the first stage of the plan could be called a success.

Crash!

Neung Je-gang’s body broke through the door and entered.

“Wh-what?”

The men who had gathered and exchanged idle chatter were bewildered by the sudden situation. They wondered what madman had gone insane enough to seek death.

Slash.

But they did not need much time to escape their bewilderment. A rainbow of blood had appeared before their eyes, so how could they have time for idle thoughts?

One person died without even a scream.

“Oops! I should kill them in a way that makes them scream, shouldn’t I?”

Neung Je-gang had made a mistake. Now was not the time to kill quietly. He had to make matters as noisy and chaotic as possible.

“You bastard, die!”

“Chahap!”

But there was no need to pay attention even to that. Even without being told, the enemies were shouting on their own, were they not? Since they were helping him on their own, there was no need to go to the trouble of stopping them.

Slash, slash.

Two more people lay in blood.

Bang!

After killing three men like that and driving everyone into an excited state, Neung Je-gang broke through the wall and fled outside.

“Catch him!”

“Kill him!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

The Jieun Territory warriors each shouted as they chased Neung Je-gang.

“Kyaaaak!”

As if to add harmony to it, the women who were coming out of Deung Myeong’s residence screamed loudly enough to burst Neung Je-gang’s eardrums.

“What is it?”

Only then did that fellow Deung Myeong appear, strolling out.

“I asked what was going on.”

Deung Myeong asked once more as he watched Neung Je-gang flee and the Jieun Territory warriors chase him.

“It is a raid. Three have already died.”

One Jieun Territory warrior approached and reported.

“A raid? Then why do I not see the others?”

Deung Myeong frowned as if annoyed.

“Last night, Jeong Mok-ja was murdered in Seon-yeong. So everyone has gone out to catch the culprit. It seems that fellow aimed for that opportunity and raided this place.”

“Really? But three men died?”

“Yes.”

“Jieun Territory is now getting beaten by every random bastard. Is it because Byeon Bong is gone after all?”

Deung Myeong spoke curtly. Seeing them fail to handle one man made flames of anger surge inside him.

“Wait, one man? Is this perhaps retaliation for what I did? Kuhahaha! This is not something to take lightly, is it?”

If the enemy truly was only one person, it meant he had that much confidence. It was not a problem that could simply be laughed off.

“Tell them not to lose him. I will go soon.”

“Yes.”

Deung Myeong went inside, took the flexible sword he had put down, and fastened it to his waist. Then he came outside again and ran toward the place where the noisy commotion was still continuing.

The moment he disappeared, two faces peeked out from the corner of the building.

“He’s gone. Let’s go in.”

They were Gongsun Gyeong-in and Ma-jil.

There was actually nothing much in Deung Myeong’s residence. In Ma-jil’s eyes, apart from a few pieces of furniture, it was just an ordinary large hall.

But to Gongsun Gyeong-in’s eyes, everything looked different. That was because he had eyes that saw not the exterior of a building, but its interior.

Tap-tap, tok-tok.

Gongsun Gyeong-in took out a small piece of wood and tapped various places on the building’s wall with it. Then, at some point, he began tapping one wall intensively.

“What? Did you find something?”

Ma-jil approached.

“There is a space behind this.”

Gongsun Gyeong-in answered carefully.

“A space? Isn’t that obvious? There seems to be a room next to it.”

“What? How did you know that?”

“There is a door over there.”

Ma-jil pointed to one place with his finger. There really was a door there. It was a door leading behind the wall Gongsun Gyeong-in had tapped.

“H-hahaha! It has been so long that my senses have dulled……”

Gongsun Gyeong-in gave an awkward laugh. He was embarrassed. Even so, in the past, he had been a renowned thief, but in ten years, he had grown this dull.

“Haha, hahaha!”

He laughed for no reason and went inside through that door. That place was Deung Myeong’s bedroom.

In Ma-jil’s eyes, the bedroom also had nothing much. But Gongsun Gyeong-in spared no effort in flipping the bed over, tapping the walls as before, and moving the furniture.

“Did you find it?”

Ma-jil did nothing and merely stood still, asking like this whenever he grew bored.

“This is strange. I can definitely smell it……”

Gongsun Gyeong-in instinctively felt that there was something here. It was the instinct of a born thief. But nowhere could he see a secret door or a safe. Even though he had searched everything.

Gongsun Gyeong-in stood in the center of the room and swept his gaze over the whole place one more time. Then, at a certain moment, he stopped at one point. At the end of that gaze stood Ma-jil.

Thinking about it, the spot where Ma-jil was standing was the only spot in this room he had not examined.

“Move aside.”

He pushed Ma-jil away and lifted the rug on the floor. Then there was a large square trace there. It was a large, wide stone blocking something.

Gongsun Gyeong-in looked for the mechanism that moved that stone. But it was not something moved by a mechanism. It was simply a large stone, no, a rock. To open it, that rock had to be lifted out, but he had no way to lift up a smooth rock with no place to grip.

“Damn it! This is a door that only those with immense internal power can move.”

Deung Myeong had made a door that could only be opened and closed by using his own immense internal power. With this, even if one knew there was a secret storage entrance there, they could not steal anything because they could not lift the stone out. It was an ignorant but certain method that even a once-in-a-generation thief like Gongsun Gyeong-in had no choice but to give up on.

“There is no method. I give up. Damn it! I was going to make a big score for the first time in a while, but to think I would run into something this stupid.”

He grumbled and stood up. But Ma-jil’s actions began from then. He slowly walked from one side of the room and measured the distance to where the stone was. Then he tapped Gongsun Gyeong-in’s shoulder.

“Let’s go out. Now I will show you my skill.”

“What?”

Gongsun Gyeong-in could not understand. Was Ma-jil saying he would rob what Gongsun Gyeong-in had given up on?

Ma-jil went completely outside the building. Then he went to a secluded place behind the building and found bare ground.

“This should do. It is not easily visible from outside.”

Gongsun Gyeong-in could not understand Ma-jil’s behavior. He also could not understand why Ma-jil had come outside after saying he would show his skill.

But in an instant, his eyes flashed and grew twice as wide. Ma-jil seemed to stir the ground a few times with his hand, and then, was a dark tunnel not being dug? It was an underground tunnel of a divine method that did not even create the piles of earth that were the most troublesome when digging tunnels.

‘Ohhh! Th-this is……? I have seen the ultimate realm of tunneling. This person is the god of tunnels.’

Gongsun Gyeong-in exclaimed in admiration again and again. He now felt that he understood why Neung Je-gang had taken Ma-jil out of the Forbidden Demon Prison. Deep in his heart, respect for Ma-jil surged up in waves.

‘Ohhh! You are the master in my heart.’

Did Ma-jil know? That one follower of his had just been born, and that the one bearing the name of the great Divine Thief Hands had fallen for him?

Neung Je-gang was anxious. If Deung Myeong did not come, today’s operation would be a complete failure. No, perhaps Ma-jil and Gongsun Gyeong-in might be put in danger.

‘I should go back and check after all.’

He changed direction and tried to return toward Deung Myeong’s quarters. But only then was Deung Myeong showing himself.

“Damn it! That accursed bastard, taking his time……”

After seeing Deung Myeong and feeling relieved, he attacked the Jieun Territory warriors in earnest. Now that the dog’s master had appeared, the dogs were no longer needed.

Saaak.

The meaningless exchange of offense and defense changed at that moment. Neung Je-gang’s hidden energy erupted. It was a powerful energy that made Deung Myeong’s chest, which had been approaching indifferently, turn cold.

“What is this? What? Who are you?”

Deung Myeong’s voice trembled. Anxiety surged up that even the internal power he had built by absorbing his own younger sister’s primordial yin might not be enough to handle this.

‘I must kill this man now. If I let him go now, I may have no future……’

Like a wild beast instinctively recognizing its natural enemy, Deung Myeong panted, and his eyes became bloodshot. He drew his flexible sword. He poured all the internal power in his entire body into the flexible sword.

Patz-tztztzt!

The flexible sword stiffened like a pillar of steel, and his internal power transformed into sword aura, wrapping around the flexible sword. It was sword aura with a clear red light, no, a reddish light like the sky at sunset.

“Yaaaap!”

An attack containing a killing intent that absolutely had to kill was fired through Deung Myeong’s flexible sword toward Neung Je-gang, who was trampling over the Jieun Territory warriors. Exploding light covered Neung Je-gang and everything around him.

Kwaaang!

An explosion of light erupted.