Why would Bang Jo-in have bought Sister Soso’s house? And with what money? The original ledger only listed the names of the buyer and seller; the transaction amount wasn't recorded.
It was obvious without even looking. He must have been strong-armed into selling it for a pittance. So, was Bang Jo-in in league with the villains who seized the reservoir and cut off the water, the ones with sabers at their waists?
Probably.
The commotion they caused must have been to drive the residents out and swallow up the Western Village. It was unlikely they would have done all that work only to stand by and watch an outsider they didn't even know roll in and snatch up the land and houses.
Bang Jo-in must have resold the house and made a considerable profit. When I first met him at the escort agency, he was a poor gambler. Did he gamble away all the money he made then?
I recalled the image of Bang Jo-in I had seen and heard for myself. A strong sense of unease made me shake my head. Bang Jo-in didn't have the guts, the brains, or the martial ability to fight with vicious members of the dark path who wouldn't hesitate to kill just to make a fortune.
It was much more plausible to assume he had been paid to lend his name. Who were the ones who drove out the residents and swallowed the Western Village? Naturally, the Dragon Sky Escort Agency came to mind.
The Dragon Sky Escort Agency seemed like an ordinary escort agency, the kind you could find in any city. That was why I hadn't been particularly suspicious until now. My thoughts changed when the escorts ambushed the kidnappers and stole the opium.
The Dragon Sky Escort Agency was no ordinary escort agency. Since they'd even stooped to dealing in opium, they were capable of more. How was the Dragon Sky Escort Agency able to establish itself in the Western Village first?
From Sichuan to this Western Village, it takes more than a month even if you ride a horse along the main road. Even if you use the waterways and come by boat via Zhongqing, it takes at least half a month.
How did Gam Hu-jeong know that there was a suitable vacant lot to set up an escort agency in such a distant, unfamiliar, and remote place? For greedy and vile men of the dark path to have coincidentally pulled a stunt to drive out the residents at just the right time, the situation was too convenient.
It made more sense to think that Gam Hu-jeong, who had been pushed out of Sichuan, found this place while looking for a place to settle and drove out the residents himself. Coincidentally, most of the escorts used broadswords. Seven years ago was before Bang Jo-in joined the Dragon Sky Escort Agency.
Did he become an escort because of this incident? Did he lend his name on the condition that they would accept him as an escort? Perhaps it was the work of other men of the dark path, unrelated to the Dragon Sky Escort Agency.
Even if I wanted to ask, Bang Jo-in was long dead. Who did the other residents of the Western Village sell their land and houses to? I turned the pages and checked the buyers who had purchased the land and houses directly from the original owners.
They were all names I had never seen before. The tip of my finger trembled as it scanned down the original ledger. Bang Jo-in’s name appeared again.
This time, he had purchased the fields and paddies in the southwest of the village from the original owner.
“Are you not done yet?”
An official at his desk stroked his goatee and stared at me with a sullen expression.
“Almost done, sir. But I must say, you look even more distinguished than the last time I saw you.”
Even as Oh-seong bowed and scraped beside me, the official put on airs with a displeased face.
“It’s not like you’re studying literature. What’s there to see in a ledger? Be careful turning those pages. If that ledger tears, you’ll learn just how strict the national law is with a fire on your backside.”
It was a threat that he would have me flogged if I didn't finish quickly. I wondered if a man who had taken so many bribes had any right to say such things, but I was in no state of mind to talk back. After checking the original ledger from beginning to end, I left the authorities' office.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“If you have any other business, please feel free to call on me anytime it’s convenient!”
Oh-seong, having received a generous fee for his services, hummed a tune as he disappeared. I watched his back for a moment before heading towards the center of the Western Village. Bang Jo-in's name appeared a total of three times in the original ledger.
There was no way Bang Jo-in could have actually purchased all that land and all those houses. Bang Jo-in was dead, but thankfully, I knew one person I could ask. Jo Gyeong-jik, the head of security at the Deep Fragrance Pavilion, who was acquainted with Bang Jo-in’s father.
Perhaps he was the one who acted as a bridge between Bang Jo-in and the Dragon Sky Escort Agency. I didn't know if he would answer truthfully if I asked, but if he lied, that alone would be enough to sketch an outline of the truth.
Usually, when I came to the Deep Fragrance Pavilion, I would go straight past the main hall to the detached houses to meet Geuk-hwan or Won Seo-gang. Today, for the first time since quitting as an escort, I visited the escort quarters. I thought he might refuse, saying he was busy, but Jo Gyeong-jik readily met with me.
Unlike before, he offered me a seat. He didn't offer tea, as if to say I should keep my business brief.
“It’s been a while.”
“It has.”
Since we were no longer in a superior-subordinate relationship, he also used half-formal speech.
“Are you very busy?”
“What’s there to be busy about for a guard dog watching a house?”
Jo Gyeong-jik appeared calm on the surface. Did he not know that the Underworld Information Clan’s mood toward the Dragon Sky Escort Agency was not good because of the escorts’ theft of the opium? That was unlikely.
If he were that dense, Gam Hu-jeong would not have appointed him as the head of security for the Deep Fragrance Pavilion.
“I heard you’ve become a house guest of the Underworld Information Clan?”
“I was lucky.”
“Is that so?”
The atmosphere was subtly wary, so I went straight to the point.
“It’s about the deceased escort, Bang Jo-in.”
Jo Gyeong-jik’s eyes narrowed.
“What about him?”
“He was the one who purchased the house I’m living in from the original owner.”
“Is that so?”
As if caught off guard, Jo Gyeong-jik looked disconcerted. It seemed he thought I had come to investigate as a house guest of the Underworld Information Clan.
“You didn’t know?”
“I didn’t. He wasn’t the type to tell me such things. He got up to all sorts of mischief in the Western Village, tsk.”
“By any chance, do you know who the Dragon Sky Escort Agency bought its land from when it was first established?”
“I don’t. How would I know something like that?”
Jo Gyeong-jik shook his head, his face stiff. Just because he didn't say it didn't mean he could hide everything revealed in his expression. If I read him correctly, it wasn't that Jo Gyeong-jik didn't know.
It was that he couldn't say, or it was awkward to say. After probing a little more, I stood up. It was a short conversation with little substance, but it was enough to turn my suspicion into certainty.
As I left the Deep Fragrance Pavilion and walked home, I slowly mulled over my thoughts. Bang Jo-in had clearly just lent his name to the Dragon Sky Escort Agency. The original ledger I had seen earlier also had a record of the sale of the land where the Dragon Sky Escort Agency now stood.
The person who bought the land from the original owner was an unfamiliar man, and after several steps, the land was passed on to the agency master, Gam Hu-jeong. Why go through such a troublesome process of buying and selling? It must have been because problems could arise later if the escort agency purchased the land and houses directly.
If, by any chance, the authorities decided to hold the ones who drove out the residents accountable, they would surely look through the registry. They would start by catching and torturing the buyers who purchased the properties from the original owners. So, they inserted buyers in the middle to cover their tracks in advance.
The other buyers must have also been paid to lend their names. The huge profit from reselling the land and houses was probably pocketed by the escort agency. The Dragon Sky Escort Agency was quite large for a backwater escort agency.
The pavilions were tall and there were many buildings. The thought that it was all money earned from selling the land and houses stolen from the residents made my anger flare and my blood boil. I wanted to run to the escort agency right now, grab either Du Ja-ryeom or Gam Hu-jeong, and demand an explanation.
My head grew hot as I reached for the long blade at my back. I took a deep breath and coldly assessed my chances of winning. Judging by their auras alone, Du Ja-ryeom and Gam Hu-jeong were definitely not beneath me.
But I was no longer the person I used to be. It had been less than a year since I returned to my hometown, but I had grown unbelievably strong in that time. I had achieved a decent level with the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique, and my sword technique training was also beginning to show results.
Above all, I had the powerful trump card of ‘inner energy.’ I could surely defeat not only ordinary martial artists but also most masters. I had even defeated a terrifying inner energy master from the Heavenly Mountains.
I didn’t know the extent of Du Ja-ryeom’s or Gam Hu-jeong’s hidden martial ability, but I wouldn't be easily defeated. But even if I turned the escort agency upside down, it wouldn't bring Sister Soso's family back.
It would be the same even if they were the ones who truly seized the reservoir and stole the land and houses of the Western Village residents. It wasn't the escorts who put the homeless villagers on a wagon and took them somewhere; it was Jeok Chu-yeong.
If I clashed with the escort agency now, things would get out of control. Neither the Black Night Gang nor the Underworld Information Clan would confront the Dragon Sky Escort Agency for my sake. At most, they would provide a hideout for me.
Determining who was right and making them pay for their sins could wait until after I found Sister Soso's family. Forcing myself to calm down, I glared in the direction of the Dragon Sky Escort Agency for a long time before cutting across the swaying barley field toward home. Someone was waiting in front of the gate.
A familiar member of the Black Night Gang who recognized me quickly stood up and bowed his head.
“The squad master is looking for you.”
“What is it about?”
“The master has opened his eyes.”
* In the bedroom of the Crouching Dragon Hall, Jeok Chu-yeong lay as always. The monk Gwang-hyo, a house guest of the Underworld Information Clan who was watching over him, stared at me blankly. He wore the same black robe as before, but not the straw hat.
Bok Ha-gyu let me into the bedroom, then closed the door and withdrew. Without going any further, I stood by the door and carefully watched Gwang-hyo's every move. This damned monk had asked about my school and pointed his Buddhist saber at me while we were rescuing the Lord Prefect’s grandson.
I didn't think he would do the same here, but a moment of carelessness against a master of his level could lead to a swift and anticlimactic defeat. I slowly began to raise my inner energy so I could quickly retreat or counterattack if necessary. Gwang-hyo silently watched me as I openly showed my wariness, then took out a scroll.
“I have found a way to treat Master Jeok. I need your help.”
“Wait. Before that, there is something I want to confirm with Master Jeok first.”
“Go ahead.”
Gwang-hyo readily agreed and closed his mouth. As I took a few steps closer, Jeok Chu-yeong, still lying down, only turned his eyes to look up at me. I wondered if a conversation would even be possible, but thankfully, Jeok Chu-yeong’s eyes were clearly focused as he looked at me.
“Are you the one?”
Jeok Chu-yeong's voice, seeping through his dry lips, was much heavier than I had expected. It was a weak but impressive voice, one that seemed to hold an unbending will or stubbornness that wouldn't break even while dying from Hidden Force.
“If you’re asking if I’m the person who carried Master Jeok and escaped during the commotion at the Black Night Gang headquarters a while back, then yes. I am that person.”
Jeok Chu-yeong nodded his head ever so slightly on the pillow.
“What is it you want to know?”
“Do you remember putting the people of the Western Village on a wagon seven years ago?”
Jeok Chu-yeong slowly blinked his heavy eyelids, lost in thought for a long time before answering with difficulty.
“I remember.”
Was it the truth... He might just be making something up because he needed my help. Seeing how Bok Ha-gyu loyally trusted and followed him, Jeok Chu-yeong probably wasn’t just a common villain.
Even so, he was a man of the dark path with the cruel title of the Black Killing Sword. He didn't just take the villagers; he spent money to mobilize a wagon for them. I didn't want to believe it, but it was highly likely that he had sold Sister Soso's family somewhere.
Just like how I was kidnapped by a fake relative and sold to a gambling den. By the standards of the dark path, not killing them might have been considered a great mercy. Starting from the gambling den, I had rolled around the bottom of the martial world, reading the expressions of countless people and discerning their schemes.
I wasn't always right. I was wrong many times and even suffered setbacks from misjudging completely. But today, I absolutely could not be deceived.
I had to perfectly distinguish truth from lies. Like a tiger stalking its prey, I watched his expression, his gaze, his voice, his breathing, and even his slightest movements, and asked.
“Those people, are they alive?”
“They are alive.”
It didn't seem like a lie. A sense of relief spread through one side of my chest, but I flinched for a moment. Was it possible I was accepting it as truth simply because I wanted to believe they were alive?
I coldly re-examined Jeok Chu-yeong's expression. There was still no feeling of a lie. It took a considerable amount of willpower to hide the truth and deceive others.
One had to carefully choose their words to match the other person's reaction and put on a plausible expression. When one’s body and mind were weak, it was not easy to deceive others. That was why people were made to drink until they were dead drunk or beaten to a pulp to find out the truth.
Nowhere on Jeok Chu-yeong's pale, haggard, and weary face was there any sign of pretense or hidden motives. He was stating the facts he knew as he remembered them.
“Where are those people now?”
My voice trembled with anticipation, but Jeok Chu-yeong's eyes grew so distant that my heart sank. His gaze was strangely eerie, as if looking down at some corner of the underworld. After a suffocating silence, he finally opened his mouth.
“Shaanxi Province.”