The Blue Snake Gang was a Black Path faction currently locked in an increasingly vicious territorial dispute with the Red Bridge Gang, to the point that bloody clashes had become commonplace.
For the Blue Snake Gang to have secretly stockpiled a large quantity of poison bombs was therefore a serious problem for the Red Bridge Gang.
“Young friend. What you just said isn’t something to be taken lightly. Can you guarantee it’s true?”
Gu Ak was no longer agitated. If anything, he had become coldly composed, his expression deadly serious.
Yanghwi, in complete contrast, casually nodded.
“Want me to bet my life again?”
“...You did it before too, but you really do wager your life easily.”
“Because I’m sure.”
There was a simple reason Yanghwi knew about the Blue Snake Gang’s secret cache.
In his previous life, something had gone wrong and the poison bombs had exploded, killing commoners throughout the surrounding area en masse.
It had happened the day after his formal adoption. Even with everything going on at the time, there had been no way he could have missed an incident that large.
Come to think of it, that accident was how they discovered the Blue Snake Gang had a spy inside the Red Bridge Gang in the first place.
An accident had occurred at the place where they had hidden both their secret funds and their trump-card weapons.
Naturally, the Blue Snake Gang had been thrown into turmoil, and one of their spies had grown nervous enough to expose himself.
Later, a bloodbath would erupt within the Red Bridge Gang, after which the Blue Snake Gang would ultimately seize dominance over the surrounding area.
But none of that mattered right now.
“On the very outskirts of Agan County, there’s an abandoned manor with a plaque that says ‘Shen Family Manor.’ Two or three beggars live there. Except they’re actually members of the Blue Snake Gang in disguise.”
“And what makes you think that place is one of their secret caches?”
Yanghwi spent a moment piecing together a plausible explanation for Gu Ak.
“I went in because I saw a band of beggars and thought I could spend the night with them. They beat the hell out of me and threw me out. So I held a grudge and started watching them, looking for a chance to get even....”
“And?”
“Those supposed beggars bathed once every three days.”
“That’s all the evidence you have?”
“Of course not. I thought it was strange, so I kept an eye on those bastards. And then....”
“Then?”
“Later, I saw one of them walking around the marketplace dressed in the Blue Snake Gang’s uniform.”
Gu Ak stared at him incredulously.
“So your memory is supposed to be that good?”
“Anything I pay close attention to just refuses to leave my head. It’s almost painful. The curse of a peerless prodigy, I suppose.”
“I can’t just take your word for it.”
Gu Ak went to a nearby old bookshop, bought a book, and tossed it to Yanghwi.
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Memorize at least ten pages. Then I’ll believe you.”
“Fifteen minutes? How generous.”
In half that time, Yanghwi had read more than half the book and begun reciting it aloud.
Amazingly, he did not get so much as a single word wrong.
“...So it’s true.”
“As the son of an honorable orthodox martial family, how could I possibly sully my lips with lies!”
“How did you know there were poison bombs?”
Yanghwi immediately sullied his lips with a lie.
“I remembered a peculiar smell coming from the place. Later, when I was begging alms from a passing martial artist of the Tang Clan, I smelled something similar.”
The Sichuan Tang Clan.
One of the Five Great Clans, renowned above all for its mastery of poison and hidden weapons.
“A smell similar to someone from the Tang Clan.... I can’t say for certain that they’re poison bombs, but there’s definitely poison there. And enough of it for the smell to carry.”
Gu Ak decided that was enough circumstantial evidence to warrant checking the place.
“Young friend.”
“Yes, Brother Gu?”
“I take eighty. You take twenty.”
“Do you have no sense of fair dealing?”
“If you don’t like it, go by yourself.”
Gu Ak looked utterly confident.
Giving this brat eighty percent of whatever was hidden there was simply too much, as far as Gu Ak was concerned.
But—
Yanghwi immediately answered as if he had expected exactly that.
“You think this is the only useful thing I know?”
“....”
Logically speaking, there was no reason he should know anything else.
He had already produced two pieces of information no one else knew. Surely he could not have more.
And yet...
Something about Yanghwi’s absolute confidence bothered Gu Ak.
Setting aside how outrageously precocious the brat is, there’s no denying he’s clever. He doesn’t seem to have any aversion to Black Path people either. Winning him over now and putting him to use later might not be such a bad idea.
With that thought, Gu Ak decided to yield a little.
“Exactly half each. I’ll show some generosity because I’m fond of you, young friend.”
“Hmm. Since I’m particularly fond of you as well, Brother Gu, I suppose I can yield once out of a younger brother’s duty.”
...This insolent little brat.
He never lost. Not even once.
“Then wait here.”
“Whoa, Brother Gu. Take me with you.”
“No. I’ll be using a lightness technique. If I bring you along, I’d have to carry you on my back.”
For Black Path men, who in some respects cared even more about face than orthodox martial artists, that was simply unthinkable.
“You don’t know the terrain around Shen Family Manor or the behavioral patterns of the men disguised as beggars. You’ll need to ambush them and subdue all two or three at once if you don’t want an uproar.”
“....”
Yanghwi had just turned the unthinkable into the inevitable.
*****
Thus, after putting Gu Ak to work as a fast and convenient means of transportation, Yanghwi arrived near Shen Family Manor in complete comfort.
Just as he had said, three beggars were staying inside the manor.
Yanghwi leaned toward Gu Ak and whispered into his ear.
“Look. Evening’s almost here—the best time of day for begging—and those fellows aren’t even out asking for alms.”
“They certainly are suspicious. We’ll wait until nightfall and strike then.”
Yanghwi immediately rejected the idea.
“No. If I get home too late, Father might scold me.”
Gu Ak could only stare at him again, utterly dumbfounded.
What the hell did this little brat think an ambush was...?
“I have a plan. Leave it to me.”
Yanghwi spoke confidently, stripped off his clothes, and put on the rags he had brought with him.
I knew something like this might happen, so when I gave alms to those beggars earlier, I got some clothes my size in return.
After smearing dirt over his face as well, Yanghwi transformed into a beggar child in the blink of an eye.
“When I give the signal, rush in and subdue them.”
With that, Yanghwi entered a nearby house.
“Um, mister. Could you spare me some food?”
“We don’t have any rice left today. Sorry, child.”
“That’s all right. I’m not asking for alms. I’ll pay for it.”
Yanghwi handed over a few coins and received some food along with a broad gourd bowl, then prepared it in a way befitting a beggar.
In other words, he sprinkled some dirt into it and mixed the whole mess together.
Once his preparations were complete, Yanghwi charged straight toward Shen Family Manor.
“Ahem! You’ve got company!”
Watching from behind, Gu Ak involuntarily covered his eyes.
He said he was going to lure them out, and this was his plan?
So it wasn’t that his guts were hanging out of his belly. The Dragon King of the East Sea must’ve ripped them clean out already.
“You’ve got company! Company!”
Oblivious to Gu Ak’s thoughts, Yanghwi continued shouting at the top of his lungs to attract the beggars’ attention.
“What beggar is that...?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Quit bothering us and get lost.”
All three looked irritated, but there was a distinct wariness in their movements, as though something had put them on edge.
Yanghwi grinned broadly and shouted again.
“What beggar? I heard there were some strange beggars around here who never even go out begging, so this young brother graciously begged up some food and brought it over himself. Come on, let’s eat together!”
The three beggars frowned in unison when they saw the food in Yanghwi’s bowl.
“We’re not hungry. Get lost.”
“You’re turning down food because you’re not hungry? Are you people even real beggars? Any proper beggar knows that when food’s available, you stuff it in your belly first and worry about the rest later.”
When Yanghwi gave them a deeply suspicious look, all three faces stiffened.
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to get lost!”
One of the beggars closed the distance, apparently intending to throw him out by force.
Yanghwi’s extraordinarily sensitive senses immediately gauged the man’s level.
Second-rate. There’s absolutely no way I can beat him as I am now, but....
Even so, Yanghwi was completely confident.
Because the man was not merely off guard.
He did not regard Yanghwi as an enemy at all.
There was a saying in the martial world: beware of women, old men, and children.
Its true lesson was simple.
Never let down your guard.
“At least take one bite—whoa!”
Yanghwi ran forward with an innocent smile, then pretended to trip over a stone and spilled the food.
The man instinctively moved to avoid it.
For the instant the flying food obscured his vision—
Yanghwi took one long step forward.
Still carrying the momentum of his feigned stumble, he slammed his foot into the ground.
Thud!
He had no internal energy.
But he compensated for the lack of power with the force of that single stomp.
The force traveled up from his foot, surged through his waist, and flowed into his hand without the slightest loss.
Wham!
The palm of a child who could not even be called third-rate smashed upward into the jaw of a second-rate expert.
“Ugh....”
This is the martial world, asshole. Drop your guard and even an ordinary man can stab you to death.
The man immediately lost consciousness and collapsed.
Just as the other two beggars sprang up in alarm, Gu Ak—wearing a mask he had somehow obtained and already having slipped into position—knocked both of them unconscious at the same time.
Oh. As expected of a first-rate expert. Against second-rate fighters, he ought to be able to manage this much.
As Yanghwi looked at Gu Ak and decided he was reasonably useful, Gu Ak spoke.
“Young friend. Not bad.”
“Where did you get the mask?”
“Any proper Black Path man carries at least one mask on him. More importantly, you said one of them would go down. So that’s what you meant.”
There was genuine admiration in Gu Ak’s eyes.
“There wasn’t a single wasted movement. Where did you learn martial arts?”
“A young boy needs a hidden trick or two if he wants to survive among bands of beggars. I begged scraps of martial arts with my eyes wherever I could.”
“...What extraordinary talent. So that’s why Clan Head Baek adopted you.”
“Not ‘Clan Head Baek.’ It’s ‘the Clan Head.’ Anyway, let’s search inside.”
“Right. We should hurry. There are bound to be other lookouts watching this place from a distance.”
Finding the concealed storage area inside Shen Family Manor did not take particularly long.
Mostly because Gu Ak, true to his Black Path roots, simply smashed everything apart and searched every corner.
Before even the time it took to eat a meal had passed, they discovered piles of gold, various hidden weapons, and a crate filled with poison bombs.
“This is... an enormous amount.”
Converted into silver, its value came to a staggering ten thousand silver pieces.
Gu Ak’s expression hardened.
“With the Blue Snake Gang’s income, there’s no way they could keep this much wealth in a single secret cache, never mind outside their headquarters.”
Yanghwi had the same question.
This, however, was one mystery his memories of his previous life could not solve.
“Who cares? The important thing is that all this wealth is in our hands now.”
“We can’t carry all of it with us. What a waste.”
“You still have to carry me, so I suppose we’ll only be able to take the gold and the poison bombs.”
“With this much wealth sitting here, carrying you seems like the greater waste.”
Gu Ak smirked as he looked at Yanghwi.
“True. All the lookout saw was some beggar child entering the manor. And while you did launch a surprise attack, Brother Gu, you were wearing a mask.”
Yanghwi smirked right back and stared Gu Ak directly in the eyes.
“So what will you do? Leave me here and keep all the spoils for yourself?”
After a brief hesitation, Gu Ak shook his head.
“We’ll take only the gold and poison bombs.”
Meaning he would carry Yanghwi back after all.
Just as I thought. He isn’t rotten to the core.
Grinning, Yanghwi stuffed his clothes full of gold, picked up the crate of poison bombs, and climbed onto Gu Ak’s back.
The two soon returned to the vicinity of Baek Family Manor.
“We agreed to split the spoils evenly, but as your little brother, I believe all the poison bombs should go to you, Brother Gu.”
“I had no intention of handing something this dangerous to you in the first place.”
“Then let’s divide it like this. I’ll take the gold, and you take the poison bombs.”
“The poison bombs aren’t worth half as much as the gold.”
“Show some generosity. Poison bombs are extremely difficult to obtain at all, aren’t they?”
Gu Ak suddenly felt a powerful urge to punch that mouth.
The brat constantly said things that were infuriating, yet somehow left him with nothing to argue against.
“Whew. Fine.”
Apparently too tired even to continue bickering, Gu Ak picked up the crate of poison bombs and launched himself away.
He just leaves without even saying goodbye?
Yanghwi could work on fixing those manners later.
With his clothes stuffed full of gold, he strode proudly up to the Baek Family Manor and threw open the gate.
Baek Muryang, who had been pacing through the courtyard, whipped his head toward the entrance.
“Father! Your son has retur—ned....”
Yanghwi knew the instant he saw his expression.
His father was furious.
“Baek Yanghwi! What in the world have you been doing out until this hour?!”
This is bad. Once Father gets angry, his lectures last at least four hours.
Yanghwi pushed his natural intellect to its limits in search of a solution.
Then he realized there was a very simple one.
“Father! I made money!”
“And you even had Blood Axe Gu Ak escorting you around! After doing something like that, what do you mean you made mon—what... money...?”
The fury vanished from Baek Muryang’s face the moment he saw the pile of gold Yanghwi held out.
There was simply too much wealth in front of him to remain angry.
“What in the world have you been doing?”
Yanghwi grinned at the question.