Chapter 27:
Incognito Journey (2)
“Well, well, what brings these fancy Hanyang lords to a place like this?”
“Did you get lost looking for a courtesan house?”
The bandits exchanged jests, cackling among themselves. Facing them, Shin Soo-hyuk, the Captain of the Royal Guard, shot Yeonsangun a glance, silently awaiting orders. His eyes signaled readiness to draw his sword and cut them down in an instant. But Yeonsangun, unfazed, continued chewing his beef soup and drained the last of his rice wine.
Without so much as a glance, he pulled a bundle of coins from his sleeve and tossed it onto the tavern’s dirt floor. “Take what you want and leave without harming anyone.”
The bandit leader, Cheon Dal-sam, stared in disbelief before stepping closer, his face inches from Yeonsangun’s, letting out a guttural snarl. “What did you just say, pretty boy?”
“I said to take those coins and get your ugly face out of here,” Yeonsangun replied coldly, still not looking up.
Cheon Dal-sam’s expression twisted at the dismissive tone. Drawing a sharp dagger, he brandished it threateningly. “You must have a few extra lives to spare, huh?”
“That’s what I’d like to say to you,” Yeonsangun shot back, calmly finishing his rice wine.
Stunned by the unexpected retort, Cheon Dal-sam burst into raucous laughter. “Wow, this guy’s got some wit. Hilarious!”
As he laughed, his men joined in, trying to mask their momentary unease with bravado. But seeing Yeonsangun, still in his scholar’s robe, smirking as if mocking them, Cheon Dal-sam began to feel like a fool.
“Laughing? You’re laughing in this situation? Want to see a corpse today, pretty boy?” His voice grew harsh.
Watching the scene, Shin Soo-hyuk’s hand slowly moved to his sword’s hilt. At that moment, a bandit near Ji-yeong shouted as if he’d made a discovery. “Boss, come look at this one! Smells different!”
Cheon Dal-sam, who had been glaring at Yeonsangun, turned and strode toward Ji-yeong. Leaning in close, he sniffed her aggressively. “Hmm… definitely a woman’s scent.”
He grabbed her chin roughly, tilting her face side to side. “Look at that—too pretty for a man.”
“Ugh…” Ji-yeong grimaced as if a bug had touched her, but Cheon Dal-sam’s beastly eyes gleamed with excitement.
“There’s an easy way to find out,” he said, yanking at her jacket.
“Eek!” Ji-yeong clutched her collar, but her startled yelp had already betrayed her.
“Heh heh… a woman, as I thought,” Cheon Dal-sam sneered, revealing a gap-toothed grin.
At that moment, a chilling voice came from behind. “Hey, ugly.”
“Who’s that now…?” Cheon Dal-sam spun around, furious at being called ugly again.
What flew toward him was a clay bowl of steaming beef soup.
Crash
The bowl shattered against his head, scalding broth streaming down his face. “Argh!”
Whether from the impact or the burning broth—or both—Cheon Dal-sam screamed, writhing on the floor. The one who had hurled the bowl was none other than Yeonsangun, a faint smile on his lips but his eyes blazing with fury.
“You dare!” Seeing their leader collapse, four or five bandits raised their blades.
“Yah!” One charged, swinging his weapon, but a flash of metal streaked past. Shin Soo-hyuk, now holding his drawn sword, stood in a stance—Byoduse, the fastest of the 24 Joseon sword techniques.
“Next is your neck,” he said coldly.
The attacking bandit glanced down to see his blade’s handle cleanly severed, now lying on the ground. “Eek?”
Terrified, he collapsed, and the remaining bandits, intimidated, began to back away. Despite their numbers—five against one—they sensed this was no easy fight. Exchanging glances, they quickly shifted tactics.
“Yah!” One bandit darted forward, grabbing someone and pressing a sharp blade to their throat—a cowardly attempt at hostage-taking. The hostage was Ji-yeong.
“Drop your sword, or this one—no, this woman—meets her end!”
Ji-yeong’s head spun, a blade now at her throat. Shin Soo-hyuk, sword drawn, couldn’t move recklessly; her life was at stake. Glancing at Yeonsangun for guidance, she saw him looking utterly indifferent.
“Do as you please,” he said.
“What…?” the bandit stammered.
“Kill her or let her live, it’s your choice. But know this: afterward, not one of you will be left alive.”
His tone was calm, but his eyes glinted with a strange madness. “I’ll make each of you regret being born.”
“What kind of guy…?” The bandits faltered, unnerved by his eerie gaze. His words didn’t sound like a bluff, and threatening someone who didn’t care about the hostage was pointless. They faced a choice: retreat or fight to the end.
As the tense standoff continued, a jester’s mask suddenly rolled into their midst, painted bright red.
Following it, a tall man in a red short robe strolled in, picking up the mask. “Whoops, this darn mask rolled right in here, causing a ruckus,” said Gong-gil, grinning amiably, out of place in the tense scene. Then he added, “So, you folks done with your business?”
“What nonsense is this?” the bandits snapped, already on edge.
As their attention shifted to Gong-gil, a frantic voice rang out. “L-Let’s go!”
It was Cheon Dal-sam, his face red from the scalding broth, scrambling to his feet. “Boss, what’re you saying?”
“I said let’s go! Hurry up and follow, you idiots!” Without finishing, he bolted out of the tavern. The other bandits, bewildered, grabbed what little loot they could and fled after him.
“Are you hurt?” Yeonsangun asked Ji-yeong calmly as she clutched her collar, trying to steady her nerves.
“I-I’m fine. It’s nothing,” she said, though her body still trembled. She’d faced countless dangers, but having a bandit’s blade at her throat was a new low. And hadn’t Yeonsangun just said he didn’t care if she lived or died? Even if it was a ploy to escape the crisis, it stung.
“He’s definitely an untrustworthy psychopath,” she concluded, narrowing her eyes.
Surprisingly, Yeonsangun then tossed a bundle of coins to the trembling tavern mistress. “Use this to clean up.”
Was he showing kindness to a commoner? The mistress cautiously picked up the coins as he continued, “Report this to the authorities at dawn, but say nothing of our group. If you do, you won’t walk away unscathed. Understood?”
She nodded frantically, terrified. His actions made sense: if she mentioned the incognito group, the authorities might pursue them, forcing Yeonsangun to reveal his identity and undermining the secrecy of his journey.
“Of course, it’s just to silence her,” Ji-yeong thought. As expected, Yeonsangun wasn’t acting out of pure compassion.
Regardless, with an incident big enough to involve the authorities, they couldn’t stay. Yeonsangun issued his order. “We cross the pass tonight. Rest comes later.”
Though not a full moon, the soft moonlight was enough to illuminate the mountain pass. Yeonsangun and Ji-yeong rode horses, while Gong-gil and Shin Soo-hyuk led the reins. Unlike their departure from the palace, Shin Soo-hyuk and Ji-yeong had swapped roles.
“Sorry, Captain. I should be leading the horse…” Ji-yeong said.
“No, it’s not right for a lady to walk while a man rides. During the day, we had no choice with others watching, but at night, this is proper,” Shin Soo-hyuk replied.
Indeed, it looked odd: a man in a horsehair hat riding while a scholar in a wide hat led the horse.
“What’s proper about this? What a ridiculous sight,” Gong-gil grumbled, leading another horse.
“Watch your tongue! His Majesty approved this,” Shin Soo-hyuk snapped.
“Oh, so you’re taking credit for His Majesty’s orders now?”
“Do you want to die? Shut it.”
“Yessir, understood,” Gong-gil replied sarcastically.
Shin Soo-hyuk eyed Gong-gil’s back suspiciously. The jester was an enigma. Despite being summoned by the king, his sudden presence in the palace was questionable. Their first encounter had been at the market, where Gong-gil, in his jester mask, had blocked Shin Soo-hyuk’s strike with one hand—a move no ordinary person could pull off.
“Even if it was brief, that wasn’t the movement of a commoner,” Shin Soo-hyuk thought. And the bandits fleeing at the sight of his mask? It was baffling.
Glancing at Yeonsangun, who was dozing lightly on his horse, Shin Soo-hyuk saw his chance to confront Gong-gil. “Hey, jester.”
“What now? I’m exhausted.”
“Who are you?”
Gong-gil turned, flashing a cryptic smile. “Who? A jester, obviously.”
“Why did those bandits flee? My eyes don’t lie—speak the truth.”
With a resigned sigh, Gong-gil began. “Do you know what ‘jester’ means?”
“…”
“The character for ‘broad’ and ‘great.’ In Joseon, we’re the broadest and greatest. We’ve been everywhere, from one end of the land to the other.”
“Go on.”
“Wandering as we do, we get tangled up with all sorts. The sword gangs of Guwolsan, the armed monks of Jirisan—we owe them, and they owe us.”
“And?”
“Think about it. Crossing those groups brings trouble. Favors or grudges, they all come with strings.”
Gong-gil pointed to the jester mask on his head. “My father was the leader of our troupe, a legend among jesters. You nobles might not know, but to us, he was larger than life. This mask is his heirloom. A lifetime as a jester means this mask is tied to countless people.”
“So the bandits fled because of it?”
“Believe it or not, it works more often than you’d think.”
It wasn’t entirely convincing, but pressing further seemed pointless. Then—
“Shh!” Shin Soo-hyuk hissed, raising a finger to his lips.
“What is it?”
The group halted. Silently, Shin Soo-hyuk pointed to a spot in the bushes. There, under the moonlight, two glowing eyes gleamed. A low, chilling growl echoed through the forest.
