SERIES: Return Of The Divine Thief
CHAPTER: 21
Muryang gave his final instructions to the three people gathered in the room.
“Lodge Leader Jo, and Lodge Leader Heuk.”
Addressed as Lodge Leader instead of by his name, Jo Yangtae also replied with gravity.
“Speak, Lodge Master.”
“Yes, Lodge Master.”
“From each of your factions, select only your elite forces. Infiltrate the outskirts of Nannyeong Fortress within half a month and lie in wait.”
“Understood.”
“Understood.”
Hearing their replies, Muryang turned his head to look at Baekun.
“Senior Brother.”
“What is it?”
“You will be the temporary commander.”
“Temporary commander?”
“As commander, you will take overall command of the two forces led by Lodge Leader Jo and Lodge Leader Heuk in Nannyeong.”
“……Me? Why me, when the Lodge Leaders are here?”
Baekun was clearly flustered by the unexpected assignment.
Looking at him, Muryang continued, as if explaining to the two Lodge Leaders.
“The two Lodge Leaders know my intentions and will follow, but their subordinates will be different. The Red Bridge Faction and the Daewoong Faction. Until yesterday, they were practically strangers. If we mix them together, there will undoubtedly be power struggles.”
This was something that both Jo Yangtae and Heuk Cheolsan had been secretly worried about.
“If the Lodge Leaders step in directly, it might look like you’re just protecting your own people. But Senior Brother is a third party. He is the right person to unite and coordinate the two forces and command the operation.”
Of course, that was only the superficial reason.
Muryang had a hidden motive for entrusting Baekun with such a crucial mission.
In my past life, my Senior Brother jumped into this very incident all by himself.
Relying solely on his sense of justice, he fought alone against the massive Demonic Cult’s underlings and ultimately met a miserable end.
In this life, Muryang had no intention of letting him die like that.
‘The title of commander.’
It was the surest shackle and safety measure to keep him from running wild on his own.
How could someone in a position of leading numerous troops possibly charge into enemy territory alone, relying on his sense of justice as he had before?
Hiding his true intentions, Muryang gazed steadily at Baekun.
“You can do it, right?”
“Well… I suppose so, but…”
Baekun couldn't give a firm answer and looked back and forth between Jo Yangtae and Heuk Cheolsan.
Seeing this, Heuk Cheolsan was the first to respond.
“If you are the Lodge Master’s senior brother, our Daewoong Faction will follow any order.”
“The same goes for me.”
With Heuk Cheolsan and Jo Yangtae’s immediate agreement, Baekun realized he had no way out.
He briefly glared at Muryang, who was staring at him with a smile that seemed to say, ‘See? I told you so.’
“……Fine. If you all insist, I’ll do my best.”
Baekun stood up, clasped his fists to the two Lodge Leaders, and said.
“I may be lacking, but I will give it my all. I ask for your support.”
Jo Yangtae and Heuk Cheolsan also stood and clasped their fists.
Pleased by the sight, Muryang clapped his hands once.
“Excellent. Then, everyone’s roles are clear.”
He rose from his seat.
“I plan to leave for Heumju tonight. The three of you should discuss how to proceed from here.”
With that, Muryang left the room without another word.
The three men left behind fell into a heavy silence, each contemplating the great war that lay before them.
* * *
Heumju, a massive port city in the southern part of Guangxi Province.
This place where the sea met the land was incomparably more vibrant than Mui-hyeon or Uiju.
But it also seethed with just as much murky desire.
Muryang, concealing his identity, spent several days combing through every nook and cranny of Heumju.
By day, he disguised himself as an ordinary merchant.
He sat in a dockside tavern thick with the fishy smell of salt, listening to the rough conversations of the porters.
“Did you hear? They say not even an ant can get into the Heumjin Merchant Guild’s warehouse these days.”
“Of course I have. I wonder what kind of medicinal herbs they’re guarding so preciously. The eyes of the guys watching it day and night are downright murderous.”
Muryang tilted his cup, quietly digesting their conversation.
‘The Heumjin Merchant Guild. So this is the place Senior Brother mentioned.’
In this way, he moved about, listening to the rumors flowing through the city.
When night fell, he moved like a ghost across the rooftops of Heumju.
His first target was, naturally, the Heumjin Merchant Guild.
Scoffing at their tight security, he infiltrated the warehouse and clicked his tongue upon confirming the mountains of counterfeit medicinal herbs piled inside.
All of this was ‘poison’ that would addict the people and become funds for the Demonic Cult.
But Muryang didn't stop there.
‘Senior Brother’s information is accurate, but it’s possible there are other underlings of the Yu Clan besides the Heumjin Merchant Guild.’
Since Baekun tracked them from the outside, his information was bound to have its limits.
From that day on, Muryang began to thoroughly investigate every large merchant guild in Heumju.
He robbed the secret vault of the ‘Cheolchang Merchant Guild’ and stole a look at the secret ledgers of the ‘Hoepung Merchant Guild,’ which was said to have the most dealings with Nannyeong.
Night after night, he entered the bedrooms of Heumju’s most prominent guild masters as if they were his own home, combing through their letters and transaction records.
However, after several days of investigation, Muryang reached an unexpected conclusion.
‘There’s nothing.’
His keen eye couldn't find any trace of the Demonic Cult or any link to the Yu Clan.
‘I thought he was a doltish senior brother, but he’s surprisingly got the basics down.’
Muryang let out a small chuckle.
He spent one more day observing the Heumjin Merchant Guild, then found a sizable inn.
“Welcome! Are there more in your party?”
“Just me. The largest room for three days.”
“For the largest room, you’ll have to pay first…”
“I’ll pay upfront, so just send some simple food and hot water up to the room.”
The weight of the money pouch caused the inn worker’s attitude to change instantly.
“Ah, yes! Yes! Sir! I’ll have it prepared and sent up right away!”
Muryang went up to his room and finished his simple meal.
Then, he firmly bolted the door and meticulously sealed the windows.
Now, there was nothing to disturb him.
‘Shall we begin?’
He took out the strange materials needed to create a human-skin mask from his robes and spread them on the table.
Muryang’s hands began to move.
He first started kneading clay to create an intricate mold.
His hand movements were swift, without a hint of hesitation.
Everything he had stolen with his eyes over the past few days was being perfectly resurrected at his fingertips.
The master of the Heumju Merchant Guild, Yu Jinman.
The fine neck wrinkle formed from his habit of slightly bowing his upper body when receiving reports.
The characteristic smile where only the right corner of his mouth twisted upward when he was pleased.
Even the subtle asymmetry of the facial muscles that made it all possible.
Muryang began to perfectly replicate all of it on the clay.
* * *
Two full days passed.
The inn room where Muryang was staying was filled with the smell of cold food and strange medicinal herbs.
But Muryang paid no mind to any of it, completely absorbed in his work.
And on the night of the second day.
His hands finally stopped.
The face revealed under the candlelight showed no trace of clay or herbs.
It was the ‘face’ itself, capturing Yujinman's greedy smile, his arrogant gaze, and all his habits.
“This should be good enough.”
Muryang extinguished the candle.
Then, becoming a single streak of shadow, he launched himself silently into the darkness of Heumju.
A moment later, he slipped over the wall of the Heumjin Merchant Guild compound as silently as a shadow.
He was still in the shabby clothes of a boy, but it didn't matter.
After all, no one in this compound could detect him.
Besides, over the past five days, his feet had perfectly memorized every path and structure within the guild.
Before long, he stood before the door to the most luxurious and heavily guarded bedroom in the compound.
Like a wisp of smoke, Muryang seeped through the crack in the door. Inside, Yujinman was sitting at a desk, reviewing the notes from today's meeting.
Papat!
Muryang’s fingers sliced silently through the air.
In a fleeting moment, Muryang struck and sealed all of Yujinman's pressure points, subduing him in an instant.
“……!”
Yujinman’s eyes shot open from the suffocating pressure.
But his body was frozen like stone, unable to move.
He tried to scream, but not even a whisper of air escaped his throat.
Terrified, he stared straight ahead.
His eyes fell upon the intruder looking down at him.
And then, he witnessed the most terrifying and bizarre sight of his life.
The intruder who had subdued him had the exact same face as his own.
‘Me…? That’s… me…?’
But a greater confusion soon overwhelmed his mind.
The clothes worn by the man with his face.
‘What in the world is happening…?’
While he desperately racked his brain, Muryang, wearing his face, whispered in his ear like a devil.
“I’ll be borrowing your clothes and shoes.”
He began to undo Yujinman’s belt and remove his outer robes with unnerving calm.
Yujinman was horrified, but there was nothing he could do.
“I’ll need to wear these for a while, and it would be a problem if they got blood on them.”
At those words, Yujinman finally understood the intruder’s true purpose.
‘This bastard…! He’s going to kill me and take my place!’
He tried desperately to scream, but not even a whisper of air escaped his throat.
He struggled, his eyes darting frantically, but his petrified body wouldn’t even twitch.
He could only watch helplessly as his clothes and shoes were stripped away.
A moment later, Muryang hung Yujinman’s outer robes neatly to one side and approached him again.
One of his fingers extended slowly toward the space between Yujinman’s eyebrows.
‘……!’
The final terror of his life surfaced in Yujinman’s eyes.
Muryang’s finger lightly touched his brow.
And then, there was only one breathing soul left in the room.
Muryang looked down at the cooling body of Yujinman and muttered softly.
“Compared to what you’ve done, this is a very peaceful end. So, don’t feel too wronged.”
Muryang hid Yujinman’s corpse deep beneath the bed, changed into the clothes, and checked his reflection in the bronze mirror.
‘Hmm. Perfect.’
In the bronze mirror stood Yujinman, the head of the Heumju Merchant Guild and the faithful agent of the Yu Family.
Recalling the voice of Yujinman, which he had grown accustomed to over the past few days, he cleared his throat once.
Then he called out toward the door.
The timbre, pitch, and even the subtle intonations of his voice were identical to Yujinman's.
“Is anyone out there!”
“You called, Guild Leader!”
The guard on duty outside the door immediately opened it, entered, and bowed his head.
He didn’t notice the slightest change in his master.
“Go and bring me a large, durable cloth.”
“Yes, I’ll bring it right away.”
Yujinman was known for often requesting strange items.
Thus, the guard felt no suspicion, bowed deeply once more, and left the room.
Watching him disappear, a cold smile spread on ‘Yujinman’s’ lips.
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