Several carriages stopped at the main gate of the Choi Family Manor. Dozens of Underworld Clan members poured out and drew their blades. The gatekeepers, who had been watching, thinking the mistress and her entourage who had supposedly left for the Western Village were returning, were terrified and fled for the mountains.
An Underworld Clan member who had climbed over the wall opened the main gate. Only the servants who did the housework were in the manor. Through the servants, who were trembling and begging for their lives, thinking a band of thieves had descended upon them, it was confirmed that not a single guard remained.
Choi Sa-deuk's wife and children were also gone. They had been sent to her family's home for safety a few days ago, they said.
"Search every corner and bring everything out."
"Yes!"
The Underworld Clan members, having received their orders, formed groups and scattered to the various buildings of the large manor.
"Are you looking for evidence of salt smuggling and human trafficking?"
"The evidence is sufficient. It was our clan that informed the master of the Black Night Gang of Choi Sa-deuk's identity."
I was at a loss for words for a moment at the outrageous statement.
"…The Underworld Clan has joined hands with the Black Night Gang?"
"We're just using each other for a moment. Both sides."
It was truly fitting for the martial world, where conspiracies and schemes were rampant. This was not simply robbing an empty house. If they had planned this with the Underworld Clan, then by now the Black Night Gang would know that the Blood Snake Gang and the Heaven-Shattering Sect were on their way.
The outcome of the fight was plain to see. The Blood Snake Gang and the Heaven-Shattering Sect would suffer a crushing defeat, and Choi Sa-deuk would lose everything.
"If you had evidence, wouldn't it have been much easier to just turn Choi Sa-deuk over to the authorities?"
There was no need to get help from the prefectural city or the county magistrate. No official would refuse the credit for catching a salt smuggler and a human trafficker. Ye Hyang shook her head with a resolute expression.
"I can't let others take revenge for me. The main clan will handle this case. In the way of the martial world. Let's go in too."
There was more than one or two buildings to search, a testament to how much money he had made. I stepped onto the stone stairs, went up to the wooden floor, and slid open the door to the family head's hall, which the Underworld Clan members had not yet entered.
Ye Hyang went down the hallway to the master bedroom, while I headed to the study. The entrance doors, covered with high-quality paper, were open on both sides. It made sense, given how hastily he had left.
I took a step inside and stopped. It was a mess. Books from the bookshelf were scattered on the floor, and all the drawers were pulled out.
The door of a secret safe built into the wall behind a fallen folding screen was also half-torn and dangling. I peeked inside just in case, but the safe was empty. Could one of the servants have had second thoughts, stolen the valuables, and run away?
It was a plausible guess, but a familiar face came to mind.
Ho Yeon-geom.
He had withdrawn so meekly without a single protest, even though he hadn't received payment for the robbery. I had a feeling he was up to something, and it seemed he had waited for the Choi Family Manor to be empty before climbing the wall. No, he probably hadn't even left the manor.
He must have hidden somewhere in a warehouse or pavilion and then snuck out after everyone left. It wouldn't have been that difficult, given the chaotic situation with the battle against the Black Night Gang. For a man who was supposed to be a martial artist of the righteous sect, he had truly hit rock bottom.
A murdering robber by day, a thief by night. How did such a major criminal, who was better suited for the dark path, get the undeserved title of 'Sword imbued with noble spirit'? It wasn't like I was in a position to talk, but at least a hypocritical title like that was not attached to my name.
Ye Hyang entered the study.
"Did you find anything?"
"I wasn't the one who searched this place. Someone was here before me."
"What? Who…"
"Do you remember the middle-aged martial artist we saw in the inner chamber earlier?"
"You mean Great Hero Ho Yeon-geom?"
"You know him?"
"He stopped by the Deep Fragrance Pavilion a few times to make a request of the Underworld Clan. I saw his face briefly then."
"I think it was Ho Yeon-geom's doing. He was so quiet earlier, it seems he was planning to rob the empty house."
"If it's Great Hero Ho Yeon-geom… he's more than capable of that."
Ye Hyang agreed so easily it was almost startling.
"What kind of man is this Ho Yeon-geom?"
"He was once a promising talent of the younger generation, but after his sect fell, I heard he roams the martial world, living as a righteous hero."
Righteous hero, my foot. More like a murdering robber. I was about to reveal that Ho Yeon-geom was the one who had ambushed the carriage and committed the slaughter during the day to steal the heart method or whatever it was, but I stopped.
There was no clear evidence. I was just intuitively certain, based on the sharp smell of blood, his build, and the circumstances. If I opened my mouth carelessly, I might get into an unnecessary fight if I ran into Ho Yeon-geom later.
"He was with some young women?"
"They are probably his junior martial sisters."
Should I say the bond between the martial siblings is strong, or that the sect's foundation is rotten? After checking all the other rooms, we came outside. A young Underworld Clan member came running from behind the detached houses.
"We found it! It's in the detached house."
The stairs leading down to the basement opened into a large space about the size of three rooms. A musty stench vibrated in the thick darkness. When a torch was thrust in, large chests stacked on one side were revealed.
As the light moved to the other side, something flinched inside a prison cell with iron bars. Before I could stop her, Ye Hyang strode forward. Standing in front of the bars, Ye Hyang's breathing grew ragged.
I stood next to her and held up the torch. From within the filth, emaciated girls looked up at the adults apathetically with hollow eyes, like burnt-out ashes. It seemed Choi Sa-deuk hadn't completely washed his hands of his old ways, even after reviving his family and laundering his business.
Or perhaps he had kidnapped the children for his own personal use. Ye Hyang roughly pulled on the door. It didn't budge.
After checking the tightly wound chains and the padlock, she drew her sword.
"Wait. It's useless to use a sword. You'll only damage the blade."
I looked around and found something suitable. Among the vicious weapons hanging on the wall, whose purpose I did not want to imagine, I found a hammer and took it in hand. I smashed the padlock in one go and opened the door.
The children flinched and huddled in the corner. The children who had been dragged out of here probably never returned, so it was understandable that they were afraid. Ye Hyang couldn't easily step into the prison cell filled with deep despair.
It didn't seem to be because of the nose-piercing stench that was enough to give one a headache.
"... Please give me a water bucket. And please tell the kitchen to make some porridge."
There were other Underworld Clan members around, so her asking me specifically seemed to mean she wanted me to give her some space. I obediently handed her the water bucket and turned around. The Underworld Clan members opened the lids of the chests and checked the contents.
Palm-sized silver ingots glistened crimson in the light. I went back up to the ground level. The stench faded as I breathed in the night air, but the dark cloud hanging over my heart grew even heavier.
I took the oldest maid to the kitchen and had her make porridge.
"There were children locked up in the basement prison. Do you know anything about that?"
The maid kept her head down and stirred the porridge, trembling.
"... We don't know what the master does."
Even if she knew, what could she have done? Interrogating her would be meaningless. Before the porridge was fully cooked, Ye Hyang brought the children out.
The children were as gaunt as burnt trees. So miserably so that it was hard to expect new shoots to sprout, flowers to bloom, and fruits to bear on their branches someday. I don't know how she soothed them, but the children walked while clinging tightly to the hem of her clothes.
The smallest child, who didn't even have the strength to move, was limp in Ye Hyang's arms. Though they must have met for the first time today, there were many strangely similar things about their gazes and auras. As if Ye Hyang herself had been locked in that prison with those children for a long time.
A senior Underworld Clan member took the servants to the basement, and they brought out the chests loaded with silver ingots and loaded them onto the carriages. They were so heavy that three grown men groaned while lifting them. All of Choi Sa-deuk's valuable assets, except for grains like rice and cereals, went into the cargo holds of the carriages.
Silver taels, scrolls and pottery, even swords. After finishing their work, the male and female servants were all locked in a warehouse. I thought that was the end of it, but Ye Hyang placed a chair in front of the main building and sat down.
"There's one more thing we need to take."
It wasn't hard to guess.
"Choi Sa-deuk's head?"
Ye Hyang nodded and fed porridge to the child in her arms with a spoon. Although it was midsummer, the mountain wind was quite chilly at night without the sun. Not knowing when Choi Sa-deuk and the remnants of the Blood Snake Gang might return, everyone lit braziers here and there in the yard and rested while remaining vigilant.
The rescued children didn't want to go into the rooms either. They all insisted on staying near the Underworld Clan members. It seemed they instinctively realized that they were safe with the people here.
The Underworld Clan members, with complicated expressions, ladled porridge into bowls and fed the children. No one asked how they had been kidnapped and brought here at an age when they should have been doted on at home. The situation wasn't over yet.
It was too early to let our guard down and get sentimental. After feeding the children, the adults also filled their stomachs with food brought from the kitchen. Hee-hee-hing~ Pfft~ The horses tied to the carriages, perhaps smelling the food, snorted and neighed.
The Underworld Clan members, who also served as coachmen, ran over and pulled the horses and carriages into the manor. They unhitched the horses from the carriages and gave them water and hay. The well-fed children began to doze off while warming themselves by the fire.
One by one, they were carried to a room and covered with a blanket. Both men and horses ate and rested quite comfortably in the masterless manor. The actual owner of the house was probably struggling in a pandemonium right now, having fallen into a trap set by the Black Night Gang.
Perhaps he had become a companion on the road to the underworld, along with the Blood Snake Gang and the Heaven-Shattering Sect. Swords have no eyes, and on a dark night like this, it's hard to distinguish friend from foe.
In a dim situation where you can't see anything properly, once screams are heard and blood starts to fly, it's human instinct to swing your sword first. When you're extremely agitated and just start stabbing whatever you see, you often end up stabbing your own side. I too had been caught in such chaotic battles and barely survived.
It was a dogfight from hell where you didn't even know who you stabbed or where you were stabbed. A summer night is short, but that one night spent at the Choi Family Manor was longer than a winter night. By the time the last embers in the brazier lost their warmth, the sky began to brighten hazily.
The mountain birds noisily greeted the morning.
"They're coming."
The Underworld Clan member who was on night watch looked out the main gate, then returned to wake his comrades. Everyone quietly got up and stretched. The clattering sound of a carriage grew louder and then stopped in front of the main gate.
A dull thud of something rolling onto the ground. A grunt-like groan. Someone pushed open the main gate with a labored cough and entered.
It was Choi Sa-deuk. Did he manage to escape disaster because he had followed the Blood Snake Gang at a slight distance? Perhaps the Underworld Clan had arranged with the Black Night Gang beforehand not to kill Choi Sa-deuk, but to let him go.
Even if he survived by a hair's breadth, the only place Choi Sa-deuk could return to was the Choi Family Manor. Overnight, Choi Sa-deuk had become a beggar. His expensive silk clothes were torn here and there, and there was blood on his face.
The image of a well-known influential figure in the region, the hero of the family who had revived the fallen Choi clan, was nowhere to be seen. The ambition and confidence with which he had boldly declared he would take Jeok Chu-yeong's head also ended as emptily as a drunkard's bluff.
All that was left was a shabby appearance and a sense of helpless defeat. Was it because he was too exhausted, or because he had let his guard down upon returning home? Choi Sa-deuk didn't even notice the dozens of martial artists standing before him with their swords drawn.
He took a few steps, then inadvertently raised his head, and only then did his eyes widen in shock. The guard following behind him looked around, took a step back, and then just ran away. Five Underworld Clan members climbed a ladder that had been leaning against the wall and chased after him.
The sound of weapons clashing was heard, and then with a death scream, the guard's thread of life was cut. Choi Sa-deuk swallowed dryly and slowly backed away. Then he saw Ye Hyang and me and blinked his dazed eyes.
His eyes were full of confusion rather than fear. He seemed to understand that the unidentified martial artists were Underworld Clan members, but he couldn't comprehend why they were here. As his stiff brain slowly started to work, Choi Sa-deuk's face twisted viciously.
Killing intent filled his bloodshot eyes. Clutching the sheatheless curved saber, Choi Sa-deuk ground his teeth.
"You sons of bitches, you dare set me up?"