ebookpocket.com Chapter 202
Chapter 202
“BrotherKwak,whatisthatmethod?”
ChwiDugaecouldnothelpbutasktowardKwakYeon.
“AreyouthinkingtogotoSouthSeaemple?”
ethoughtperhapstheycouldatleasthopefortracesthere—thougheventhatwouldbeafulltwomonthsold—sincethemostrecentsimilarincidenthadoccurredatSouthSeaemple’shermitage.
“o.”
KwakYeonshookhisheadandwenton.
“venifwegotoSouthSeaemplenow,thesituationwillbenodifferentfromtheWuyiSecthere.”
“Right—BojeongCounty,whereSouthSeaemplesits,isatFujian’snortheastedge;wewouldonlywastetimegettingthere...”
AsChwiDugaelethiswordstrailoffandlookedtohim,KwakYeonsaid:
“hataswell—butmoresobecausechasingfromthesceneofthecrimewillyieldlittle.”
“m?”
“heyareexceedinglymeticulousmen,aretheynot?”
“heyare.heyevendisguisedtheirhelperasanovicetokeeptheworkhidden.”
otonlythat—theyhadusedaclassictextasbaittogatheraoiststothemmortalodge.he“novice”hadplayedtheroleofadriveraswell.
“ftheyaresuchmen,theywouldhavebeenallthemorecarefulnearthescene.”
“heWuyiSectmusthaveinvestigatedasthoroughlyastheycould,andiftheypulledupnothing,itsurelywasso.”
odding,ChwiDugaewentonwithastifledlook:
“hat’swhysaidtheywon’tbeeasytofind.”
venifhemusteredeveryBeggarClanhandinFujiantoscourtheground,thechancesofgainwereslim.Allthemoresowithtimealreadywellpast.
“ntheotherhand—whatiftheplaceisveryfarfromthescene?”
“hentheircautionwouldnaturallyslacken.oweverdemonic,they’rehuman;there’salimittolivingeveronedge.Butifit’sfarfromthescene,therangewidensthatmuch,doesn’tit?tbecomesaneedle-in-the-sand.”
“Whatifwecannarrowthatrange?”
“fwecan,thechanceoffindingtracessurelygrows.BrotherKwak,then...”
ChwiDugaestarted,eyesopening.
“Youmeanthere’sawaytonarrowit?”
“heypreparedandexecutedtheabductionsoveralongstretchhereinFujian—andwithquiteanumberofpeople.Whatwouldthatrequire?”
“Ahideout?”
KwakYeonnodded.
“heywouldneedaplacewheretheycouldlivewithoutattractingnotice.”
“hat’sso—butwecan’tinsisttheymusthavesetupahideout.heirbasemightalreadybeinFujian.”
“ftheirbaseisinFujian,somuchthebetter.”
“Mm...”
AtthechillinKwakYeon’seyes,ChwiDugaefoundhimselfnodding.
“hat’strue.”
“nanycase,it’sunlikelytheykeptahideoutoutsideFujian.Movingabductedpeopleacrosssuchlongdistances#оvеlight#isaheavyrisk.”
venZhejiangorJiangxi,unlikethisborderprovinceofFujian,hadmanysectsandmartialofficers.
“BrotherKwak,Fujianaloneisvast—overtwothousandlinorthtosouth.”
hequestionwashowtonarrowit.
“Brother,putyourselfintheirplaceandimagineplanningthisfromthebeginning.”
Atthatoddanswer,ChwiDugaeknithisbrowsslightly.
“t’snopleasantthingtostandinademon’splace,but...first’dfixthetargets.nlythencoulddrafthowtosnatchthem.”
“Afterfixingtargetsanddraftingtheplan,then?”
“ext’dsecureaplacetostaythat’ssafeandsuitableforthework...”
Asheanswered,ChwiDugae’seyesflashedopen.
“Ah!Soyoumean—theywouldhavesetthehideoutinaplaceconvenienttoreachallthescenes.”
“Asexpectedofyou,brother.”
“BrotherKwak,don’tflattermetomakemebow.”
Blushingfaintly,ChwiDugaecontinued:
“Sofartherearethreescenes:MountWuyihere,DaheungempleinYong’anCounty,andSouthSeaempleinBojeongCounty.You’resayingthehideoutshouldbewhereit’seasytoreachallthree?”
“fcoursemyguessmaynotbeperfectlyright,buttheysurelykepttheirroutesshorttopreservesecrecy.”
“BrotherKwak,noneedforsuchmodesty.heveryideaoftrackingtheminreverseisexcellent.ah—thisnicknameChwiDugaesuitsyoubetter.”
heysaidthatsoberhehadthebestheadunderheavenandthuswascalledChwiDugae;butKwakYeonwonderediftheBeggarClaneaderhadchosenthenamefortheoppositereason.
nanycase,hehadnowishtoplayatbeingabeggar,sohespokequickly.
“You’retookind.Andthatnicknamesuitsyouexactly.”
“twasajest—noneedtogetsostiff.fyouaren’taaoist,youcertainlyactlikeone...”
Shakinghishead,ChwiDugaewenton:
“venso,therangeisnotrifle.Byillchance,allthreescenessitatFujian’sextremes.”
MountWuyilayatthenorthwestedge,borderingJiangxi;Yong’anCountywithDaheungemplewasatFujian’ssouthernend;andSouthSeaemplewasonthesouthseaatthenortheastedgeadjoiningZhejiang—callthemextremesindeed.
venatthetightest,theywouldhavetolayhalfofFujianintherange.
“Still,it’sbetterthansearchingallofFujian.”
“BrotherKwak—surelyyoudon’tmeanthatasajoke?”
SeeingthedarklightinKwakYeon’seyes,ChwiDugaestarted.
“You’reserious.”
Quietly,KwakYeonopenedhismouth.
“heirhideoutwillnotliefaroffFujian’scenter.nanycase,startingthereandwideningoutwardbydegreeswillbefastest.”
“Understood.’llsummoneveryBeggarClanhandinFujianandsetthemtosearch.”
“fwemakesuchaclamor,they’lltakealarm.”
fBeggarClanbeggarsswarmedandpokedaboutincrowds,theculpritscouldnotfailtonotice.
“hat’strue—butifwe’retofindthemfast,there’snohelpforit.”
“hosewhoalreadyworkthoseplaceswillsuffice.nfact,someBeggarClanhandsmayalreadyholdinformationonthem.”
“Mm?Whatdoyoumeanbythat?”
“t’sonlythattheBeggarClanhandsdon’tknowsuchmenexist—anddon’tknowit’simportant—sothememorieslieburiedintheirheads.”
“xplainitclearly.”
“Afterabducting,fromacertainpointtheysurelyusedwagons.oweverskilled,movingonlybymountainpathsistootaxing.”
“heywould.”
ChwiDugaenoddedatKwakYeon’swords.
heywouldhaveusedmountainpathsuptoapointtoleavenotracesnearthescene;oncefarenough,therewasnoreasontocontinue.
“nthatcase,theywouldhavedisguisedthemselvesasaconvoyoramerchantcaravan.iventhenumberabducted,theywouldneedatleastthreewagons.”
“Right.Asidefromconvoysorcaravans,therearealmostnocasesofmultiplewagonsmovingtogether.”
“venso,theremusthavebeensomethingdifferentfromaconvoyorcaravan.heywerehaulinglivingcaptives;thecargoitselfdiffered.”
“Youmeantheywouldhaveputpeopleinlargechestsandloadedthem?”
KwakYeonnoddedreadilyandwenton.
“heywouldhaveputthemtosleepandlockedthemin,buttheycouldnotbeatease.heinstantsomeonewokeandshouted,thewholeschemewouldshatter.”
fsuchathinghappenedonanopenroad,thelocalyamenwouldbeturnedonitshead.
“Sotheywouldhavestrictlypreventedanyonefromapproachingthewagons.”
“aulingtightlysealedchests—perhapscoveredoverwithothergoodsasdisguise—lockingdownthesurroundingssothoroughlyisnotordinary.nanycase...whatdoBeggarClanhandsdowhentheyspotacaravanorconvoy?”
“famoneyedpatronpassesthroughtheirpatchandtheydon’tbeg,they’renoBeggarClanhand.Ah!”
ChwiDugae’seyesflashedopen.
enowsawclearlywhatKwakYeonmeantbysayingthatsomeBeggarClanhandshadalreadyseenthem.
ookingathiswidenedeyes,KwakYeondroveinthewedge:
“fsomeBeggarClanhandencounteredsuchaconvoytwicewithintwomonths,wouldn’titbenaturaltorememberit?”
“fcourse!”
ChwiDugaenoddedwithnoisyvigor.
“fhedoesn’trememberthat,he’sunfittobeaBeggarClanhand.”
efeltasifthecloudbankinhisheadhadclearedinaninstant.
f,inoneplace,suchastrangewagontrainhadpassedtwicewithagapoftwomonths,thentheirhideoutmustlienearby.
nlythuscouldwagontrainssettingoutfromFujian’sextremestowardextremesshareadestination.
WhatonearthdoesthisDarkCavernaoisthaveinhishead?
ChwiDugaefelthishairstandonend.
ehadbeenunabletohelpbutmarvelattheaffairsKwakYeonhadhandledatAgyangandtheDongtingakemilitarystation.
Butinlessthantwomonths,hislevelofcalculationhadgrownmarkedlybeyondthattime.
ehadstrungtogetherfragmentarycommonplacestoseethroughthesituation.
Ah!Sothat’swhywashelplesslytakeninattheSeonyanginn!
ChwiDugaefreshlyrealizedthatanythoughtoftakingrevengeonKwakYeonwasnowforeveroutofreach.
venso,hefeltaquietpride.
“BrotherKwak—no,BrotherKwakofthesamestripe!”
“...?”
“hankyou.”
ecouldnotbringhimselftosayfortakingmeasaswornelderbrother.fhewerethoroughlydrunk,perhaps.
“nanycase—let’sgo.”
Bynow,thevillagelightsofSeonyangCountywereglitteringfaintlybelowinthedusk.
****
“Splendid!”
ChilSeogae,theSeonyangCountyBeggarClansub-branchchiefandaemok,pattedhisroundbellywithasatisfiedexclamation.
ehadjusteatenagrandsupperandstretchedoutinhishut.
Atlasthehadreclaimedhisownnest,stolenforatimebySub-BranchMasterChwiDugae;itfeltasifhehadgainedtheworld.
AtpresenttheSub-BranchMasterwastearingalongtotheMartialAlliance;he’dneverseehimagain.
hattoogaveChilSeogaeameasureofrelief.
Becauseuaehadsuddenlyorderedhimtoprocureafacecloth—withinhalfakeatthat—hehadhadnochoice,afraidofimmediateblows.
ehadroughlystitchedsomethingintheshapeofamask,buthehadtrembledincaseoftrouble.
henuaeleftSeonyangCountywithoutasound,andthatworryvanishedwithhim;hishappinessdoubled.
“i-yaa!oday,envytheemperornotatall!”
twasthemomentChilSeogaestretched,legsthrownstraight.
—Fwadak!
hehut’smat-flapwhippedopen,andablackhumansilhouettethrustin.
“Whichbastarddares,withoutascrapoffear,tocrawlintothebedchamberofthesub-branchchiefoftheworld’sforemostclan?”
—Smack!
nsteadofananswer,somethingcrashedintoChilSeogae’sface.
“Ugh!”
hinkinghewoulddie,struckdownbyanintruder’sambush,ChilSeogaecaughtarank,foulstenchfromthethingthathadhithisface.
Uegh!
Flailing,hetoreofftherag—orwasitadishcloth?—thatcoveredhisface.henhesawChwiDugaeatthehutdoor,roundeyeslifted.
“S-Sub-BranchMaster?”
“Yes,it’sme!”
SeeingthecoldsmilebloomatthecornerofChwiDugae’smouth,ChilSeogaerealizedwhathadjuststucktohisface.
owonderthestinkseemedfamiliar.