The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Jang So-gil's main daily routine was to sit in his seat, look at, read, write, and burn countless books and letters. To Yang Gwan, it was such a sigh-inducing, boring task that he couldn't help but yawn. If he had his way, he would have gone outside to swing his spear and practice, regardless of whether Jang So-gil was working or not, but since assassinations during such daily routines had the highest success rate, Yang Gwan could not leave his post.

Jang So-gil, as he kept yawning, stretching, and changing his posture to lie down, Jang So-gil clicked his tongue.

"Are you that bored?"

"I'm bored. No, Guild Master So, aren't you bored just sitting there and looking at that?"

"Bored? How can I be bored when this is such a rewarding job?"

"What on earth are those countless letters that you only look at them?"

It had been five days since Jang So-gil became an inspector. Where had the commotion of the day before he became an inspector gone? Jang So-gil had been in seclusion since then, doing nothing. The pretext was that he was waiting for Sama Hwi, but to Yang Gwan, it was a very strange thing.

All he looked at were letters and books, and the only people who came to the house were beggars asking for alms and charity. The people of Luoyang, who had been quiet after seeing the storm on the first day, were gradually quieting down, thinking that some crazy bastard had come to town. He did nothing.

Jang So-gil grinned. He looked quite pleased.

"This? It's a letter containing information."

"A letter containing information? Ah, were those beggars from the Beggars' Sect?"

"No. They are real beggars, not disciples of the Beggars' Sect."

"If they're beggars from the Beggars' Sect, they're beggars. What do you mean by real beggars?"

"You really don't know much, do you? Since you're free, I'll explain a little about the Beggars' Sect."

The Beggars' Sect, the organization of beggars, has an interesting organizational structure. Surprisingly, they are a rather close organization to the imperial family. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty placed low-ranking officials who had merits but minor sins in every corner of the world, and at this time, he gave them the title of 'Dantou'.

This title served a similar role to a candy given in exchange for being sent to a land thousands of miles away, and it was actually effective, so low-ranking officials considered becoming a Dantou a kind of opportunity.

The Dantou who received this title had the authority to rule over the beggars in the area they were appointed to. For any crime involving a beggar, the Dantou could judge and carry out a summary trial, and in return, they collected tribute from the beggars and paid it to the country as taxes.

In a way, it was a good thing for everyone.

No one wanted to approach the dirty and sick beggars. The appearance of an imperial official who directly managed them was rather a welcome thing.

It was also good for the imperial family. They could manage the public sentiment of the people, and although the money of each beggar was only a few coins, since their number exceeded one hundred thousand, it became a considerable amount when gathered. So at first glance, the relationship between the Dantou and the beggars seemed very amicable.

The problem was that this title of Dantou was hereditary. The son of a Dantou was a Dantou, and the daughter of a Dantou could also become a Dantou if her late father wished. Thus, once power was concentrated, it did not easily disperse, and the Dantou united the beggars for generations.

"Then, a few decades ago, an outstanding beggar named Hong Yukgyeon, who was called the 'Number One Beggar Under Heaven,' appeared and united all the Dantou with his divine Dog Beating Staff technique, creating a huge sect called the Beggars' Sect."

It was a rather long story, but Yang Gwan listened with interest and nodded his head.

"I knew about the Dog Beating Staff technique, but this is the first time I'm hearing about the history of the Beggars' Sect."

"That's probably right. Martial artists are only interested in martial arts and not in history."

"But what's this about real beggars and fake beggars?"

"Real beggars are people who have no choice but to become beggars. Soldiers who lost their limbs in the war, orphans who survived alone after losing their families to illness, merchants who went bankrupt while doing business, and so on. They are people who have no way to live if they don't beg."

"Then the fake beggars are..."

"They are the beggars of the Beggars' Sect who learn martial arts and wield the real power of the Beggars' Sect. They can't even be called beggars. A One-Knot Beggar who has learned martial arts superficially is one thing, but from a Two-Knot Beggar who has two or more strings on their belt, they are all beggars only in appearance. In reality, they probably have more money than you. From a Three-Knot Beggar, they also have the official title of Dantou and receive a salary. It's understandable that their heads are stiff."

"Hah..."

"What does it mean to have an official title? They say the government and the martial world are non-aggressive, but they themselves are officials and martial artists. When the time comes, they say they are martial artists, and when the time comes, they say they are officials. They are guys who stick to one side or the other only when it's convenient for them. And yet they beg, calling themselves beggars. It's a ridiculous thing."

The beggars of the Beggars' Sect had to wear dirty clothes called 'filthy clothes', but it was almost impossible to tell whether someone was a member of the Beggars' Sect or not by these dirty clothes. Even a Two-Knot Beggar, unless it was a formal event like a Beggars' Sect assembly for show, would usually take off their filthy clothes and wear neat, clean clothes, acting like a merchant or an official.

That's why Jang So-gil called them fake beggars with contempt.

"Anyway, these damn fake beggars use the real beggars as their underlings and gather information. The number of real beggars exceeds one hundred thousand, so it's only natural that they become the best information merchants in the martial world."

"That's probably right... no, wait. Then the beggars who frequently visit the house are not beggars from the Beggars' Sect?"

"Right. I was personally contacting them and having them gather information without going through the Beggars' Sect. It's cheaper this way, but it's also better because I can verify the authenticity of the information myself."

"But isn't that going to get you in big trouble?"

If you want to get information, you have to inquire with the Beggars' Sect. If you make a request to the Beggars' Sect, those of high rank in the Beggars' Sect, the Two-Knot or Three-Knot Beggars, will grasp the client's request and demand the correct fee, and the proper procedure was to collect the amount and exchange it for information.

But to ignore all that process and directly create a personal information source?

For the beggars being used, it was a betrayal of the Beggars' Sect, and for the client using them, it was an act of ignoring the Beggars' Sect, so the Beggars' Sect would not stand by idly.

So Yang Gwan's worry was perfectly normal...

Jang So-gil's lips stretched into a long smile.

"I'm doing it to get in big trouble."

"Wh-why?"

"Well."

He cheerfully waved the Ox-Ear brush he had received from Sama Hwi.

"Because my next prey is the Beggars' Sect."

The Ox-Ear brush danced, carving out the words 'Beggars' Sect' and 'the beggar's money'.

Yang Gwan finally realized that this crazy mad dog was now aiming for the beggars' money.

* * *

The headquarters of the Beggars' Sect is not in Luoyang. Their base was in Kaifeng, and this city of Kaifeng has quite a lot of stories. Every time the country changed and the owner changed, Kaifeng was burned and submerged in water. It was inevitable that many flood victims and fire victims would occur. So it was a city with more beggars than anywhere else, and for that reason, the Beggars' Sect started in Kaifeng. Therefore, in Kaifeng, the beggars are the ones in power. There, the status of the beggars was so high that it covered the sky and shook the earth, so even a messenger from the Martial Alliance could not act rashly.

But this was Luoyang. The center of the martial world where the headquarters of the Martial Alliance was located, not Kaifeng.

"Oh my, oh my, this is driving me crazy."

The Three-Knot Beggar of the Luoyang branch of the Beggars' Sect, Do Jibaek, put away the splendid silk clothes he usually wore and sighed under a bridge, wearing dirty filthy clothes that smelled of dog piss.

Today was the day of the Luoyang Beggars' Sect assembly, held once every fortnight. It was a meeting where five Two-Knot Beggars, fifty One-Knot Beggars, and countless White-Clad Knots confirmed each other's merits during that period, exchanged information, and those who deserved rewards received rewards, and those who deserved punishment received punishment.

But at such a meeting, news that could not be ignored was heard. The story that the new inspector of the Martial Alliance was building an information network by personally recruiting beggars without making a request to the Beggars' Sect.

The Two-Knot Beggar who brought the news, Oh Chungyeong, licked a sharp dagger and said.

"This is an act of completely ignoring us. Should we take him out, brother?"

"Hey, you crazy bastard! Take who out! He's an inspector of the Martial Alliance!"

"Brother, an inspector is a big shot, but can't we just stab him? If we stab him secretly, it'll be fine, won't it?"

Oh Chungyeong was a beggar who was a little special even among the beggars of the Beggars' Sect. He had learned hidden weapon techniques instead of staff, palm, or foot techniques. Although the hidden weapons were just chopsticks, sharply carved stones, or a short knife for peeling fruit, when internal energy was imbued in them, they became a force to be reckoned with. He could kill an ordinary person in an instant, and since it didn't leave much of a trace, it was a very effective assassination technique.

"Oh my, you ignorant fool. How are you going to handle the aftermath?"

Do Jibaek beat his chest in frustration. Oh Chungyeong, being a guy who had learned assassination techniques, had a big flaw of trying to solve everything with his fists and knives. The knife was very effective in controlling power struggles between beggars and the betrayal of subordinates, but if he pointed it at someone who was not a beggar, it would cause big trouble.

He shouldn't forget. This was Luoyang, the holy land of the Martial Alliance.

"And he's an inspector of the Martial Alliance, isn't he? Can you handle it?"

"It'll be hard to handle, but I'll try stabbing him even if it's hard."

"I'm not talking about killing him. I'm talking about the aftermath, you blockhead!"

"But, brother. Look at these bastards. Look at these eyes."

Oh Chungyeong waved his dagger and approached, tapping the heads of the beggars who had been buried in the ground with only their necks left. The number of beggars was quite large, as many as twenty, and they were all White-Clad Knots.

"If you look at these guys' eyes, what, they have no regrets. I have no regrets. Isn't that the look in their eyes? What will we get by stabbing these cunning little bastards? So, I'm saying that my anger will only be relieved if we stab that little brat inspector and kill him."

"That's true. No, but why are these bastards who were caught secretly selling information so confident? How much money did they receive to be so defiant? Did they receive gold?"

"They said it wasn't money."

"Then?"

"They said they all received something else instead of money. For example, yes. This little bastard."

The beggar Oh Chungyeong pointed to was a child who had been cooking for a One-Knot Beggar since he was young. That One-Knot Beggar really liked a dish called beggar's chicken. It was a dish where you buried a chicken in the ground and lit a fire on top to cook it. But one day, this child made a mistake while cooking and burned his hand. So, his ring finger and middle finger stuck together.

"They said he had it treated by a doctor."

"A beggar seeing a doctor, what a waste of money."

"That's what this younger brother is saying. He could have just died, but why did they even have him treated?"

With the doctor's house call fee and treatment fee, you could probably save that beggar's life 10 times over.

Do Jibaek licked his lips, thinking about the money.

"But it's a plausible method. Once you have their hearts, you don't need money from then on. They said he was a mad dog inspector, but he has a rather gentle side."

Oh Chungyeong spat out a glob of phlegm.

"Gentle my ass. It's easier to just beat them into submission, what's this freezing-to-death gentleness."

"Did they say the other guys were like that too?"

"They said he also provides free meals for the children."

"This is big trouble. It seems he's planning to do this properly."

"What do you mean?"

Cold sweat dripped down Do Jibaek's face. It was an unexpected situation.

"He's planning to recruit the lower ranks like this and take over our territory completely. What should we do about this?"

"So if we stab him."

"Ah, just shut up for a bit. Your brother is thinking."

"Before you think, if we just stab him."

"Someone drag that bastard out."

Do Jibaek wiped his cold sweat as he watched Oh Chungyeong brandishing his dagger and shouting at the top of his lungs. It wasn't something to be said here, so he had kept quiet, but he had a guess as to why Jang So-gil was acting like this.

'Shit. Don't tell me they found out about the embezzled money.’

(End of Chapter)