“Heave-ho.”
Tang Soso tied a man up tightly with a rope, hoisted him up, and tossed him into a corner. She dusted off her hands and shook her head.
“I think that’s about the last of them.”
“Why does cleaning up take longer than the actual fight?”
“Tell me about it.”
Tang Soso sighed as she surveyed the scene before her.
“Groan…”
“Ugh… I’m… dying…”
The members of the Black Fish Union were strung together like dried corvina fish, moaning with various broken bones. Since their numbers far exceeded a hundred, tidying up was an ordeal in itself.
“Argh… I really think I’m gonna die…”
“Oh, really?” Tang Soso replied in a sweet, helpful tone. “That’s lucky. I happen to be a physician. Does anyone need treatment?”
As Soso smiled, holding up a long acupuncture needle, the union members collectively shut their mouths as if they had rehearsed it.
“Then stop your whimpering and stay quiet. Unless you want me to drive this needle through your forehead.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
After glaring at the thugs with murderous eyes, Tang Soso turned and shouted, “Sahyung! We’re mostly done over here!”
“Oh, yeah?”
Hearing this, Chung Myung smacked his lips with a look of regret.
“Wow. You’re a tough one. You still won’t get angry even after all this?”
“…….”
“Tsk. I was going to rip your head off the moment you lost your temper.”
“P-please… spare me…”
“Fine, fine. I’ll let you live.”
“Th-thank you…”
Seo Gun-Hong, who now looked like a bloated steamed bun, nodded feebly without even being able to open his eyes properly. Then, he simply keeled over.
“What’s up with him?”
“Don’t ask ‘what’s up.’ It’s a miracle he lasted this long.”
“But I hit him softly? Tsk tsk. Thugs these days have no stamina.”
“…Even iron would bend if you beat it for half a day.”
“Hey, I said I hit him softly!”
“I should just stop talking.” Baek Cheon shook his head. “Soso.”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“It’s mostly wrapped up, so I think we can head out soon.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes. I checked, and… well, that Sect Leader guy? Huh? Where did he go?”
“He’s right in front of you.”
“…How did a human being end up looking like that? Anyway, this man kept his affairs quite organized. He recorded all the high-interest loans and extorted goods in a ledger. It’s more detailed than the ledgers of our Finace Hall.”
Baek Cheon looked at the fallen Seo Gun-Hong with an incredulous expression.
“How is a thug so meticulous?”
“Exactly. With that kind of talent, he should have just been a merchant.” Tang Soso shrugged and continued. “The Beggars’ Union can handle the rest. They’ll return the money to the victims and compensate those who suffered. Selling this manor alone will fetch a fortune.”
Baek Cheon furrowed his brows slightly. “If it’s just that, we don’t necessarily need the Beggars’ Union’s help.”
“Actually, there’s more to it.”
“Hm? Why?”
“Looking at the ledgers, it seems these people were involved in human trafficking.”
“…They sold people?” Baek Cheon’s face darkened instantly.
“It looks like they sold off those who couldn’t repay their high-interest loans. We have no way to track them down even with the ledger, but…”
“The Beggars’ Union can find them. I see what you mean.”
In that case, it was better to leave it entirely to the Union rather than splitting the task. Having two heads only complicates the work.
“Branch leader Beggar Sun-Hak is trustworthy.”
“I can’t believe how different he is from Branch Leader Hong Dae-Kwang.”
“I’m telling you, I see the Beggars’ Union in a new light now.”
Chung Myung poked the unconscious Seo Gun-Hong with his foot and said, “While they’re at it, tell them to recover the ten thousand coins we ‘borrowed’.”
“…From the money here?”
“Well, we did the work, so we should get a service fee. Looking at this manor, ten thousand coins won’t even be missed.”
“I suppose so. But wait, didn’t you request that money from the Hwa-young Branch?”
“We can just give that back.”
“Then send a message quickly so they don’t send it—”
Chung Myung grabbed Baek Cheon’s shoulder.
“…….”
“I said we can give it back. Eventually.”
“You devil.”
Baek Cheon sighed in exasperation. However, he didn’t feel like scolding Chung Myung this time.
‘To think they were involved in human trafficking.’
He knew thugs had no morals, but he hadn’t expected them to be this vile. If Chung Myung hadn’t been stubborn and had just left, there would have been even more victims.
“Shall we head back now?”
“Oh, wait a second.”
Chung Myung grabbed one of Seo Gun-Hong’s legs.
“…….”
“Why?”
“Are you taking that with you?”
Chung Myung looked at him as if he were asking something obvious.
“Honestly, Sasuk, you’re being naive again.”
“…About what?”
“Do you think a guy who kept such meticulous ledgers didn’t have a private stash?”
“…….”
“A few more hits and it’ll turn up. We have to make him spit out every last cent hidden in his underwear. The rod always knows the answer.”
“…Fine, whatever.”
While Chung Myung was equally meticulous in his own way, Baek Cheon figured it was fine since his goals were different.
“Now then, um…”
“Yeah. Just one thing left to settle.”
“Amitabha. This humble monk agrees.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to one spot.
“…….”
Feeling their eyes on him, Seok Han-Bin instinctively hunched his shoulders.
“Now then.” Chung Myung grinned at him. “Shall we have a little chat?”
“Hiccup.”
Seok Han-Bin let out an involuntary hiccup.
Whack! Whack!
“Ack! Argh!”
“You brat! You little rascal!”
“Aaaaaagh! It hurts! I said it hurts!”
“I’m hitting you because it’s supposed to hurt! You little punk, you couldn’t even wait a few days before gambling again?”
“I said it hurts!”
“And you have the nerve to yell!”
Chung Myung’s switch mercilessly lashed Seok Han-Bin’s calves.
“What are you going to become when you grow up? Huh? Do you know how I raised you!”
“Chung Myung-ah, you’re too immersed… The dialogue is getting weird.”
“Ah, sorry. I got a bit nostalgic.”
Chung Myung lowered the switch. Seok Han-Bin, whose calves were covered in bright red welts, grumbled indignantly.
“Even my father never hit me.”
“Ah, that’s because you don’t have a fath— Mmph!”
“Hey. Let the words pass through your brain before they leave your mouth.”
“Seriously, that trap of yours is a problem whenever it opens.”
Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, who had naturally covered Chung Myung’s mouth, clicked their tongues.
“Let go!”
Chung Myung pushed their hands away and was about to yell at Seok Han-Bin again when he suddenly whipped his head around.
“Are you not listening properly?”
Kiii…
Baek-Ah, who was holding a boulder the size of three grown men, flinched and hoisted the rock higher.
“Try letting that down. The moment that rock touches your head, you’re touching the gates of hell.”
“…….”
“You damn marten. If I feed and clothe a mere beast, you should earn your keep. You drink booze and neglect your work? You really want to die, don’t you?”
Tang Soso whispered to Yu Yiseol, “Did he ever feed or clothe them?”
“Never. Especially not that one.”
It was an unfair accusation for Baek-Ah, who lived on Mount Hua and found his own food and sleep, but what could he do? The one with the power was the bully.
“People and beasts alike! Seriously.”
Seok Han-Bin and Baek-Ah dropped their heads simultaneously.
However, Chung Myung glared at them without a shred of sympathy. He had been fooled far too many times.
“Next time, it won’t end like this. I’ll literally skin you alive.”
“Geez.”
“Where do you think you’re going now, punk!”
“To wash! I have to wash where I got hit! I’m bleeding!”
“…Ahem. Be careful. Don’t wander off somewhere else.”
“I won’t!”
“And stop! Yelling at me!”
“Ugh, seriously!” Seok Han-Bin shouted back grumpily and ran outside.
While the Mount Hua disciples shook their heads, Chung Myung swished the switch through the air a couple of times.
“What are you doing?”
“No, just…” Chung Myung scratched the back of his head with a rare, awkward expression. “I was wondering if this was how it felt.”
Seeing him wear a somewhat distant, nostalgic expression made Baek Cheon’s face twist.
“Ah, that’s actually creepy. Why? Did that feel ‘special’ to your hands too, you bastard?”
“Hey, do I look like someone who enjoys hitting people? Why would I care about ‘hand-feel’?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
“You looked the happiest just now.”
“…….”
Left speechless, Chung Myung cleared his throat unnecessarily.
“But do you think he’ll really wander off again?”
“Hmm, well. He does have a track record.”
“He won’t.”
“Huh?”
Everyone in the room turned toward Yu Yiseol. She was staring blankly at the door where Seok Han-Bin had exited.
“It’s just awkward.”
“Awkward? What do you mean, Sago?”
“It’s hard. Changing your way of life. Especially when it’s not by choice.”
“Hmm.”
Baek Cheon tilted his head, finding it difficult to understand. “I can’t really relate.”
“Of course you can’t. You’re the person who broke through a path you were never supposed to take through pure grit.”
“Wouldn’t you call that madness rather than grit?”
“…I don’t think you’re one to talk, Soso.”
Clearing his throat softly, Baek Cheon asked Yu Yiseol again, “So what should we do? Should we follow him?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“He’s already gone.”
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon flinched and looked around. “He’s already gone.”
Realizing that Chung Myung had already vanished from the room, Baek Cheon let out a hollow laugh.
Splaaaaash.
“Agh!”
Seok Han-Bin trembled. The moment the cold water touched the welts from the switch, a stinging pain washed over him.
“It really hurts…”
But he didn’t feel like complaining. If they hadn’t saved him, his wounds wouldn’t have ended with just this.
“Whew.”
After cleaning his wounds, Seok Han-Bin sat down on a rock jutting out by the stream. He looked up at the stars filling the night sky.
‘What am I even doing?’
He didn’t know. He didn’t know what he was doing now, or what he intended to do.
At some point, everything felt like it had turned into a mess. Everything had seemed so certain before they arrived, but now he doubted if those certainties were ever real. Had he actually seen something?
“There’s no use worrying about this alone…”
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“Why so melodramatic?”
“…What are you doing here?”
“Here.”
At that moment, Chung Myung, who had walked up to him, threw something. Seok Han-Bin caught it reflexively and checked the item in his hand.
“This is?”
“Ointment. Put it on.”
“…You really are the type to give the disease and then the medicine.”
“That’s just how it is. I used to apply this a lot back in the day, too.”
Chung Myung chuckled as he approached and flopped down on the rock next to Seok Han-Bin.
“Did you come all this way just to give me this?”
“Well, that was part of it.”
“Pardon?”
Chung Myung grinned and pulled something from his robes, giving it a slight shake.
Slosh, slosh.
A heavy, pure white bottle filled with liquid swayed in front of Seok Han-Bin.
“Want a drink?”
It was strange. Against the backdrop of the moon in the sky, that smiling face looked ridiculously cool.