Chapter 117: Stolen Goods (3)

Translator: bjgoofy

-Rip.

The moment two piping-hot ducks were laid out on the ground, his Sworn Younger Brother Gal Ji-hong tore off a leg, thrust it forward, and asked.

With an expression that said he could not hold back a second longer.

"Come, come, Hyung-nim, stop drawing it out and tell me who it is already. Your little brother is dying over here."

He had built the suspense up so high that the anticipation was clearly eating him alive.

After all, he had said he needed to obtain Heavenly Silkworm Thread for his disciple, and for months now every lead had come up empty.

From what the Beggar Emperor had heard, the process involved hatching the eggs, feeding them until they grew large enough to spin cocoons in preparation for becoming moths, and only then could one draw Heavenly Silkworm Thread from those cocoons. The problem was that no one knew what they ate, so his precious larvae kept dying.

"Hey, you fool, at least let me have a taste first before I talk."

-Slurp.

The moment the duck leg entered his mouth, a wave of rich, savory duck fat washed over his tongue.

Wearing a blissful expression, the Beggar Emperor sucked one duck leg clean, then grabbed and tore into the second as he asked.

"By the way, if you're passing down Heavenly Silkworm Thread, your disciple must be no slouch, eh?"

"You mean her? She's a girl, so I worried at first, but she's limber and graceful. In her later years, she'll surely surpass me. No question about it.

Well, even now she handles most of the work in my place. This time, all those sericulture masters were stolen by that girl, you know.

Even as things stand, she's already at about seventy to eighty percent of my skill."

"Oho.... Then what if the person I'm about to name belongs to one of the Nine Great Sects or Seven Great Families? Would you still send that girl?"

"You mean her? Wouldn't that be a fine opportunity to test herself against the Nine Great Sects or Seven Great Families? Does this person belong to one of them? Even better, then."

At his Sworn Younger Brother Gal Ji-hong's answer, the Beggar Emperor rolled a duck bone around in his mouth, and a thought flashed through his mind.

He smiled and asked in return.

"If she's caught stealing from one of the Nine Great Sects or Seven Great Families, even if it's your disciple, you'd have to grant three wishes. You'd still send her?"

"Ah, well, that's the pact with the murim, so of course I'd honor it. But honestly, when would that ever happen? The Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Families don't exactly go out of their way to catch me.

After all, whenever I take something, I repay them with something worth even more."

"Still, if she gets caught, a pact's a pact, so you'd have to honor it, yes?"

"Well, sure. But even at only seventy or eighty percent of my skill, there's no way my disciple gets caught. She wouldn't be fighting the people of the Nine Great Sects; she'd just be slipping in and making off with the goods."

At his Sworn Younger Brother Gal Ji-hong's words, the Beggar Emperor nodded and thought.

He would take this chance to repay a certain debt to that boy.

Honestly, the woman that boy had helped was the very woman the Beggar Emperor had been searching every avenue to help himself.

The only reason he had been unable to act was that a disciple of an orthodox murim sect was involved, and without clear evidence, his hands had been tied.

Yet that boy had handled the matter cleanly, so he deserved to be rewarded.

From what the Beggar Emperor had heard through the Murim Alliance, the Energy Scattering Poison used to repel those Blood Cult bastards this time had also been found and sent to the Alliance by that boy.

And that was not all.

Had he not also rendered tremendous service in locating and recovering the Secret Martial Arts Manual for Blood Water Poisonous Claws?

As an elder of the murim, it was only right to bestow a reward.

Well, the boy had also sent Yellow Powder Bugs without letting them get separated, too.

His Sworn Younger Brother Gal Ji-hong might be ignorant of most things, but his skills were exceptional. Three acts of assistance from him would make for a handsome reward indeed. With that thought, the Beggar Emperor smiled inwardly as he sucked on the duck leg.

And when the second duck leg had been stripped down to nothing but bone, he turned to his Sworn Younger Brother Gal Ji-hong and began to speak.

"Then listen well."

"Ooh. Yes, who is it?"

"I'll tell you, but the boy isn't very old, so under no circumstances must your work put the child in harm's way. Understood? Tell your disciple to take extra care when she brings him."

"Well, of course. But wait, did you say young?"

"That's right. I'm told he's just a bit past fifteen."

"What? That young, and he'd actually be of help?"

"Don't worry. If it's that boy, he'll certainly be of use to you."

"Come on, still, isn't that too young?"

"You fool, if that boy can't help you, then there's no one in all the Central Plains who can. So stop worrying. All you need to do is make sure the boy doesn't get hurt."

"Who on earth is he that you're hammering this it so hard? Is he the Emperor's own son or something?"

Gal Ji-hong tilted his head at the Beggar Emperor's repeated admonitions.

The Beggar Emperor flicked a duck bone at Gal Ji-hong's forehead and spoke.

"He is a boy who has received the martial arts of the Murim Alliance Leader, and he is the live-in son-in-law of the Tang Family."

"The, the Fist Emperor's successor?! Wait, the Fist Emperor said he'd never take an heir, so what changed?! And, hold on, the Tang Family's live-in son-in-law?"

Gal Ji-hong jolted with shock at the mention of the Fist Emperor's successor.

Grabbing and tearing into the third duck, the Beggar Emperor spoke.

"That's right, you fool. So handle this with care."

"O-of course I will. The Fist Emperor's terrifying when he's angry. But then, should I go myself? If Yeong-ryeon slips up by accident, that could be trouble."

At the mention of the Fist Emperor's successor, his Sworn Younger Brother Gal Ji-hong considered going in person.

The Beggar Emperor flinched and scolded him.

"You fool, that's no way to raise a disciple. You have to entrust important tasks to her from time to time; that's how the child grows. If you step in every time it matters, how will she ever develop? And how do you think she'd feel? I never raised my disciples that way."

"I suppose if I said I'd handle it myself, she'd feel hurt, thinking I didn't trust her?"

"Exactly, you fool. Leave it to the girl, and you stay here with me for a few days and drink."

"Well, why not? It's been ages. Heh heh heh."

Gal Ji-hong roared with laughter at the Beggar Emperor's words, thrilled at the prospect.

The rascal made one last request.

"By the way, Hyung-nim, you'll put together a proper dossier on the Tang Family for me, won't you? You know that, right?"

"Of course, you fool. Since it's your disciple going, I'll put together a thorough one and send it along."

And of course he would put it together well.

With every detail about the venomous creatures inside the Tang Family conveniently left out.

And the moment Gal Ji-hong's letter arrived at the Tang Family, the Beggar Emperor resolved to quietly send someone with orders to raise the Guard Flag.

The boy walked around with centipedes coiled about his body. At the critical moment, when the centipedes burst out and swarmed Gal Ji-hong's disciple, that would seal the capture.

Since the boy handled venomous creatures so well, he could certainly keep them from biting anyone.

***

-Chirr?

-Hisss?

Cho and Yohwa let out sounds of faint surprise at Hwa-eun's fierce words.

And no wonder. Being told to bite anyone they saw at night had startled the gentle creatures.

Outside of defending themselves or protecting me, they were not the sort to harm people on a whim.

And they were not the only ones startled. As the one marked as the target of a theft, I was naturally just as taken aback.

Someone coming to steal me meant someone coming to carry me off.

It meant I might end up being trafficked.

So I asked the elders, my voice shaken.

"Does the Divine Thief steal people too?"

"It happens now and then. When the Divine Thief needs someone's help, he takes them. It shouldn't be anything serious. His creed requires him to steal everything, so that's just how he operates. It seems he needs your help with something. I wonder what it could be?"

"My help?"

I couldn't fathom why a thief would covet me, or what kind of help I could possibly offer him. When I wore that look of bafflement, the answer came.

"If he's after you, it's probably that, isn't it? The fact that our son-in-law is skilled with venomous creatures."

"Ah, right. Of course. That must be the reason. Other than that, there's really no cause for the Divine Thief to come looking for you, Soryong."

According to Grandfather and my father-in-law, the notice of theft had been sent because of my skill with venomous creatures.

From beside me came the sounds of the little ones.

-Chirr, chirr chirr?

-Hisss, hisss hisss?

The feeling flowing from Cho was, 'Mama really bite? Just bite? Really okay to bite? But they'd die?' She was checking again and again.

'Right. When Hwa-eun's not in her right mind, at least you kids should be the sensible ones.'

Just as I was feeling glad that our little ones were growing up more well-behaved than expected, Hwa-eun, who could not read Cho's feelings but understood the gist, nodded.

"Wait just a moment. Let me talk with the elders, and I'll let you know."

Hwa-eun seemed absolutely furious at the idea that a thief called the Divine Thief was coming to steal me, but she held her anger in check and made a request of the family elders.

With a look of utter resolve.

"Grandfather, Father, Mother, I want to raise the Guard Flag."

"The Guard Flag, you say?"

"The, the Guard Flag?"

"My, Hwa-eun is truly livid, isn't she? Well, I can't blame her.... Soryong is yours, after all."

The elders looked stunned at the mention of the Guard Flag.

I had no idea what any of this meant and was watching Hwa-eun for cues when she turned to me with a slightly chilling smile and explained.

"The Guard Flag uses the character 'sul', meaning 'dog', so it's a flag with a dog emblazoned on it."

"A flag with a dog on it?"

"Yes. The character for 'dog' closely resembles the character meaning 'to guard', so it's a flag that signifies defense.

When one of the Nine Great Sects or Great Families receives a letter from the Divine Thief announcing a theft, they have two choices.

They can place the item to be stolen somewhere conspicuous and let the Divine Thief take it at his leisure, choosing to receive the Divine Thief's assistance in return later.

Or they can raise the Guard Flag, declaring their intent to stop the theft.

Of course, if they choose to fight and fail, they lose the item and receive no compensation at all. But if they succeed, they earn the right to make three requests that the Divine Thief absolutely cannot refuse."

'What is this, a genie in a lamp? Three wishes for catching a thief?'

The notion that catching the thief earned you three wishes drew a scoff out of me.

But then, just as the saying goes that ten men cannot stop a single thief, I thought it could hardly be easy to stop one. So I asked again.

After all, if he was the Divine Thief and one of the Five Emperors, his thieving skills would be formidable, and his martial arts would be nothing to scoff at either.

"But if he's the Divine Thief, he must be an extraordinary thief, and as one of the Five Emperors, an extraordinary martial artist. Can we really stop him?"

At that, Hwa-eun seized both my arms and answered.

"When the Divine Thief steals a person, no one knows if they'll come back in a month, a year, or ten years. Do you want to be stolen?"

"N-no. I don't, but...."

"And as Mother said, Soryong is mine. What woman would just hand over what's, what's hers without a fight? I will stop him, no matter what it takes!"

'Wait, there are this many people here and she just comes out with a confession like that?'

He's mine, so I won't let anyone take him! That was the gist, and I would be lying if I said it didn't feel good.

Still, worry was worry.

I asked again in a careful voice.

"Has any other family or sect ever managed to stop the Divine Thief?"

At that, Hwa-eun flinched and stammered.

"N-no."

Of course. Why was the Divine Thief called the Divine Thief?

Because he had never once been caught, naturally.

If he had been caught, he would not be the Divine Thief; he would just be a convict.

I understood her frustration, but the thought of declaring they would resist only to be robbed blind and left with no compensation made me uneasy. When that worry showed on my face, Hwa-eun pulled Cho into an embrace and spoke.

"But we can definitely catch... no, we can stop him!"

"How?"

When I tilted my head at her words, so full of conviction, Hwa-eun looked up at Cho and said.

"We have these children, don't we? No matter how uncanny the Divine Thief is as a thief, that only applies to people. Surely he couldn't even imagine that these children would be standing guard?"

"Oho?"

Now that I thought about it, Hwa-eun had a point.

No matter how great the Divine Thief might be, he would only be accustomed to evading human eyes. If Yohwa's meticulously woven web of spider silk blanketed the compound, and if Cho, who could see perfectly in the dark, kept watch from the sky, who could possibly steal me?

On top of that, if I was inside the hive, hundreds of Golden-Furred Bees would guard me even in the dead of night. Add Ice and Snow's close-range defense, and Hyang lying in ambush inside my body ready to spring out at a moment's notice?

'This might actually be doable?'

I had thought Hwa-eun was just lashing out in anger, but as expected of the ever-sharp Hwa-eun.

It seemed I was not the only one who thought so. Grandfather, Father-in-law, and Mother-in-law were all nodding along.

"Indeed. As Hwa-eun says, the Divine Thief knows only how to evade human eyes. How could he know those children would be there?

I lost to the Divine Thief ten years ago in a mere four hundred and seventy-five techniques and failed to claim the title of Poison Emperor, but this time, I'll smear that old man's face with humiliation. Ha ha ha!"

"This seems like a fight worth having."

"Sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

"The Beast Palace warriors I brought along have wolves with them, so those wolves will guard Soryong too."

Just as Dragon's Pool and Tiger's Den described a place where dragons lurked and tigers laired,

this place was Spider's Thread and Centipede's Den, a lair of webs and venomous creatures, the Tang Family fortress guarded by every manner of beast and poison.

"Raise the Guard Flag above the Nine Progress Gate of the Tang Family! Let's catch ourselves a thief!"

Operation Catch-the-Thief, with the whole Tang Family united in purpose, began now.

The Man of Ten Thousand Poisons' exuberant cry drifted out into the darkening slopes of Tang Family Mountain.