Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Inside the safe they had worked so hard to pry open, there was nothing. While everyone looked at that empty space with dazed faces, Yang Goeng suddenly turned around and glared at Gang Sang-ju bound to the tree. And rushing over to him out of nowhere, he kicked his jaw and shouted.

“You shitty bastard! Where is my money!”

“Eup! Euk, eeup!”

Even though it was plain to see that Gang Sang-ju’s mouth was gagged and he couldn’t speak, Yang Goeng beat him up anyway. Only after thrashing him like that for a long while did he breathe heavily and remove the leather strap gagging Gang Sang-ju’s mouth. Blood flowing from his torn cheek and gums trickled down below his mouth.

Yang Goeng pulled him up by the collar and shouted.

“Tell me, you bastard! Where is the money!”

“…I, I don’t… know either… If it’s not there… I don’t…”

“Fuck! You dog bastard! You really didn’t have a single piece of proper information! You scammer bastard! I’m the retard for planning a job with information from trash like you!”

Gang Sang-ju shook his head with his swollen face.

“No… It really isn’t… This time, this time is unusual… Originally it wasn’t like this…”

After huffing for a long while, Yang Goeng eventually let go of the collar he held roughly and returned to his crew. Glaring at Jin Su-yeon as he did so, he spoke.

“…There is only one reason why a transport carriage that never had anything special would change. Right when it’s a trap. It’s certain this transport carriage was a trap created to wipe out you and your friends. Damn it, of all times to get caught in one…”

Seeing Yang Goeng scratching his head with an angry expression and the despondent look of the other crew members, Jin Su-yeon wore a slightly apologetic expression and spoke.

“Mm. I have nothing to say to you. I felt like it might be like this, and even if I want to tell you to just consider it bad luck, thanks to you, we also escaped the trap… Right, that will do. Fine. Wait a moment.”

Speaking so, she stood up from her spot and walked toward her tent. Returning a moment later, a small pouch was held in her hand.

“This is all I have to give. It’s not stolen money, but money I personally possessed. Here.”

Jin Su-yeon threw that money not to Yang Goeng standing in front, but to Jang Geon. Catching it, he found it quite heavy, the pouch full of silver coins.

“S-Su-yeon. You’re giving that money…”

“Sister…”

Seeing her hand over that pouch, the other people spoke to her as if asking if she was serious. However, she did not say a word to them. Jang Geon roughly caught on to the atmosphere and realized it was money with a story behind it, but he had no intention of returning it. Because he also needed money to eat and live, and if he left without any income right now, he might have to starve for a while.

Jang Geon opened the pouch, took about a third of the silver coins, put them in his pocket, and tossed the rest to Yang Goeng.

“Divide it appropriately among yourselves.”

Even though money had come into his hand, Yang Goeng’s expression was despondent. It was only natural. Hundreds of silver coins, perhaps over a thousand, had hovered before his eyes only to vanish like a mirage and turn into seven or eight silver coins, so it was enough to feel despondent.

However, the Gong brothers did not look too bad, perhaps because there hadn’t been any real dangerous work, and Geom Jung-chan, who appeared only now from wherever he had been, had no particular expression either. In truth, with his bow breaking, the biggest loss in this job was likely his, yet he was strangely unbothered.

Of course, it was a story Jang Geon no longer needed to care about. Having taken a few silver coins like that, Jang Geon dusted himself off and stood up. And he spoke to Yang Goeng.

“At first I wondered what kind of scam you were pulling, but watching the shitshow was entertaining at least. However, if we meet again next time and you ask me to do a job like this, know that you’ll really die then.”

“…Heheh. Brother Jang will end up doing it. Last time too, you said you’d never work with a scammer. But Brother Jang eventually did it. Next time, I will fetch a big job you really can’t refuse. Will you join then?”

Jang Geon did not retort, merely smiling softly. And lightly nodding his head to the Gong brothers and Geom Jung-chan as well, he spoke to Jin Su-yeon and the people here this time.

“Though it was not a great connection, we shared a bottle of liquor at least, so if possible, let us meet in a better place next time. Farewell.”

And going over to Jojo who was tied up, he hopped on, held a single torch, and slowly moved away into the dark path. Watching his departing back, Gong Pyeong muttered.

“Checking the safe was empty, he leaves damn cleanly… Fuck, Rang. Let’s go too. Even if there wasn’t a mountain of gold and silver coins, we earned pocket money, so that’s enough.”

“Yes, Brother.”

While Gong Rang answered politely, Gong Pyeong turned to Yang Goeng and spoke.

“If you have another job next time, call us. I’ll do it even if it’s not a big haul. And if I do it, my younger brother does it too. Whenever you need reliable swordsmen, come find us. You know where we stay, right?”

The Gong brothers left just like Jang Geon. Watching the departing people while toying with his chin, Yang Goeng turned to Geom Jung-chan and spoke.

“It’s time for us to go as well.”

Geom Jung-chan merely nodded without an answer. Unlike his lightheartedness until now, Yang Goeng bowed slightly to Jin Su-yeon with formal movements.

“Farewell. Since Seo Wi-ryang’s son died, it would be wise to lay low for a while. If you get caught, don’t think of revealing our identities. Well, you don’t really know anything proper anyway.”

“…Thank you for worrying.”

“Then.”

Finishing greetings, Yang Goeng and Geom Jung-chan each held a torch and leisurely left the Cheongsu Creek bandit campsite. Watching them scatter and move away in all directions, Jin Su-yeon soon began organizing people and baggage. It was to find a new hideout. As Yang Goeng said, since Seo Wi-ryang’s son died, it was time to quietly hide and lie low.

“What do you think?”

A short while later, having moved some distance away from the campsite, Yang Goeng asked Geom Jung-chan. The strange point was that instead of treating her like a subordinate as he had done until now, he spoke honorifically. However, Geom Jung-chan did not seem to care much about Yang Goeng’s change in attitude either.

“A truly peculiar, ahem, a-ahem. Ah, ah-ah.”

Geom Jung-chan stopped mid-sentence and cleared her throat. Thereupon, astonishingly, the voice that had been like a moderately low man’s voice changed to a slightly low woman’s voice instead.

“Ahem. A truly peculiar martial artist. Even though there is clearly no contact with the Imperial Army when tracing his past, the fact that he uses Block Meridian Technique, that peculiar form that returned Seo Sang-jeong’s spear, and the natural expert momentum steeped in his body, etc. At first, I thought he was a descendant of the Demonic Cult. Because there was intelligence that they have recently been expanding their influence centered on the New Continent.”

“…Is he not?”

Geom Jung-chan answered while riding atop her horse, twisting her entire body back and forth as if doing gymnastics.

“No. Although the demonic arts of the Demonic Cult have fewer side effects compared to other demonic arts, they are still not enough to hide from my eyes. He called himself Jang Geon, right? Mm. Perhaps he obtained a fortuitous encounter in the New Continent.”

“A fortuitous encounter?”

Geom Jung-chan, who had been a handsome youth, saw her body lines turn slender and her jawline grow sharper as she repeated the gymnastics. She, or rather her, pulled out a thick leather bundle from her upper robe, dropped it onto the ground with thuds, and continued speaking.

“It’s been a little over a hundred years since the New Continent sea route opened. That time is enough for old mountain sects that liked mountains and valleys to cross over, avoid public eyes, and establish their own houses. In fact, the current Martial Alliance Leader’s martial art also developed in that manner. Of course, the Alliance Leader himself is strong too.”

“However, Block Meridian Technique is…”

Geom Jung-chan chuckled softly.

“Dark Dragon No. 7, Block Meridian Technique is a technique good for subduing a defenseless opponent. Because poking a single spot does not activate meridian blocking. You saw it, right? Jang Geon poking here and there with internal energy in his fingers to knock Gang Sang-ju out. Rather than that, briefly choking his neck to render him unconscious consumes less internal energy. Or simply killing him. Other than that, well. Would it be used for stopping bleeding?”

Yang Goeng scratched his chin and asked back.

“Then what? Are you saying he is merely a martial artist who appeared through a combination of a suitable fortuitous encounter and talent?”

However, Geom Jung-chan could not answer Yang Goeng’s blunt question immediately.

“…Mm. That cannot be certain. Although he has not mastered demonic arts, given his martial prowess unbefitting his age, it cannot be definitively concluded that he is completely not a descendant of the Demonic Cult.”

At that hesitation, Yang Goeng’s eyes sparkled.

“Then…?”

“Yes. Continue gathering information on Jang Geon. Originally, you intended to secure operational funds through this job, right? I will request superiors to send operational funds. Do not spare funds, and investigate his tracks in the New Continent.”

“Yes! To the extent of my ability, I will gather all information regarding him!”

Geom Jung-chan, who was now no longer a handsome youth but a neat woman, roughly nodded at Yang Goeng’s answer, which turned completely humble at the mention of money. She used the name Dark Dragon No. 3 among the tentacles extended by the Imperial Court toward the New Continent, and since she did not work in only one region, she had many things to attend to other than Jang Geon right now.

This job too was merely helping out briefly after Dark Dragon No. 7, Yang Goeng, caught her as she was passing by. Though her arm was slightly injured due to the appearance of an unexpected expert, at any rate, the Dark Dragon Corps were not agents selected in order of martial prowess. This level of injury was worth carrying. There was also the fact that thanks to the Muscle-Bone Transformation Art, which adjusts muscle and bone positions, the wound would not open wide.

Just then, she suddenly realized that the cloth Jang Geon had used as a cowl and tied over her wound was still bound to the injury on her forearm. She gently shook it, watching the sticking-out cloth end flutter gently. A short while later, placing her gaze back forward and slowly driving her horse, she organized the work to be done.

The splotchy cloth tied to her forearm continued to flutter gently in the wind.

* * *

Parting with Yang Goeng’s crew and the Cheongsu Creek bandits, Jang Geon set his direction toward Cheongsu Village again while looking at the moon and stars, galloping out through the dark night wilderness. He intended to get a room at the inn and rest before it got too late at night.

And there was also the calculation that the place safest right now from those pursuing the bandits who raided the transport carriage would be Cheongsu Village. In Jang Geon’s own way, it was the thought of the darkest spot being right under the lamp. He drove Jojo along, thinking to himself that this might be a fairly decent plan.

Jojo, as if running in such cool, if not chilly, night was to his liking, galloped merrily while blowing out hot breaths. Still, the moon and stars were bright, so with Jojo’s ability, he would not sprain an ankle.

“Whoa whoa, slow down, brat. If you fall, I go down too.”

Of course, if he really fell, he intended to jump off promptly, but Jang Geon still soothed Jojo appropriately. If Jojo got hurt somewhere, he would have to stay here for a while, and for Jang Geon, who dislocated getting further entangled between Seo Wi-ryang and the Cheongsu Creek bandits, just imagining it was a dizzying feeling.

Shaking his head gently to clear his thoughts, Jang Geon appropriately entrusted his body to Jojo’s running, gazing at the sparkling Milky Way in the night sky. Feeling the wind brushing past his face as he looked up at that Milky Way, it felt as if he were riding a horse running through the sky toward that Milky Way.

The cold autumn night air filling his chest cooled his internal body as if empty. Looking up at the sky, Jang Geon unconsciously opened his mouth, pretending to inhale the stars and Milky Way fully into that empty chest. Then, imagining himself opening his mouth wide atop a galloping horse, he chuckled.

Just then, while galloping and playing by himself like that, something glowing reddish far in the distance caught Jang Geon’s eyes. Focusing internal energy into both eyes wondering what it was, Jang Geon’s expression froze completely. As if his soothing of Jojo just now had been a lie, he whipped the horse’s hindquarters, urging him to run faster.

“Jojo! Faster!”

Far in the distance, the Cheongsu Village inn was burning.