The night of Dongting Lake, where even the bright lights had gone out.

A sense of desolation hung over a tavern on the outskirts of the city, where the boisterousness of drunkards had disappeared.

Even the drunkards had staggered home, but the tavern owner, unable to close the shop, remained alone, asleep, slumped over a table next to the reception counter.

It was because there were still customers left.

Five guests sat occupying a corner of the tavern.

How could a business owner chase away customers?

It wasn't a business that had a set closing time in the first place.

Although the outdoor lights were turned off, the day's business would only end when the last customer left.

But the customers sitting in the corner didn't even seem intoxicated.

They sat with their backs straight as if in a serious meeting, conversing in low voices that couldn't be heard by those around them.

"The boatman?"

"We couldn't find him."

"Couldn't find him?"

"That's right. He disappeared without a trace after launching the boat from the north ferry. We investigated those who knew him, but..."

The young man, so thin that his complexion was pale, trailed off, and the middle-aged man's face contorted.

The middle-aged man and his party were searching for a person.

A boatman who operated a cruise ship from the north ferry.

His name was Kang Ju, age forty-two.

He had no family.

So it was very difficult to find his whereabouts. But they tracked him persistently, and as a result of questioning those engaged in the same trade nearby, they were finally able to find out.

"At that time, the Beggars' Sect was stirring up not only the northern streets but the entire Dongting Lake."

"..."

"It must have been a hindrance to carrying out the commission, so Jasu must have tried to get out of here."

"That's right. We have already confirmed that Jasu, Sagyo, and one other man were on the cruise ship that Kang Ju was driving."

"Hmm..."

The middle-aged man, and the four young men sitting in front of him, were assassins.

The Jingagu. It was an assassin organization that was not well known to the world, although they had carried out countless commissions and many had died at their hands.

And two months ago, the Jingagu's Special Class assassin, Jasu, and three assistant assassins visited Dongting Lake for a commission.

The target was the young family head of the Gongson family. Jasu was tasked with killing him and retrieving one item.

But before the commission, the mother-bugs of Jasu and the assistant assassins, which were kept at the Jinkagu, died sequentially.

What was even stranger was that the killing had been successfully carried out.

The young family head of the Gongson family was poisoned, cremated, and his ashes were scattered.

The world didn't even suspect that his death was due to a commission. It was such a clean job that neither the government office nor the Beggars' Sect, which was said to be searching Dongting Lake like looking for lice at the time, paid any attention.

It didn't make sense.

The assassin who was supposed to carry out the commission died, but the commission was completed?

Also, it was a matter that could not be ignored.

At that time, the Jinkagu's commission was not limited to Gongson Seung's life.

A certain item, that was the real core of the commission.

Something the Jinkagu had to find.

What if someone with the same purpose killed Jasu, carried out the commission, and then stole the item?

They had to find it.

So, the Jinkagu's investigation team was dispatched.

The middle-aged man, Kyusu, was one of the Jinkagu's Special Class assassins and, as the leader of the investigation team, visited Dongting Lake with four second-class assassins as assistants.

Since quite some time had passed, there were almost no one who remembered the situation at that time. The most certain way was to find out through the Beggars' Sect, but how easy would that be?

The group that shady assassins were most reluctant to deal with was the Beggars' Sect and the Hao Faction.

Because if they tried to get information, those curious punks might try to catch their own tails, which would be troublesome.

Even if it was difficult, they had no choice but to find out for themselves. And they finally found Jasu's whereabouts that people remembered.

A cruise ship.

But it had disappeared after setting sail.

So, the whereabouts of the two people who were on the cruise ship with her were absolutely necessary.

The boatman and the young man.

But their whereabouts were also unknown. If they had left, they should have arrived somewhere, but both the people and the boat had disappeared as if they had evaporated without a trace.

"Special Class."

"...?"

"I heard a strange sound from a fisherman living on the south bank of the river."

"A strange sound?"

"Yes. He said that although there was no storm that night, there was the sound of water splashing in Dongting Lake."

"Water splashing?"

"He said he heard it faintly in his sleep, so the reliability of the testimony is low... but it's bothering me."

"Hmm."

A deep furrow formed on Kyusu's brow at the words of the second-class assassin, Jeongrang.

The fisherman could have misheard.

Didn't he say it was in his sleep?

But...

"The time?"

"It's not exact, but the fisherman said he saw the moon on the southern edge of the sky, so I think it was between the hour of the rat and the hour of the ox."

The day of the incident was a cloudy day. So if he had seen the moon peeking through the clouds, it might have been a quite impressive memory.

The hour of the rat and the hour of the ox. It was the time when the night was the deepest in a day.

"At that time... are there any boats that would be active in Dongting Lake?"

"Well..."

"It was a time when even the fisherman was woken from his sleep. Would there be any boat on Dongting Lake at that time?"

Kyusu, who had been thinking quietly, opened his eyes wide and said.

"Water bandits. The Gunsan Stronghold of Dongting Lake!"

"Ah! I see. If it's the water bandits, they must have set up a guard."

"Yes, if a fisherman on the south bank of the river could hear the splashing... it must have been heard clearly near Gunsan!"

As the clue to the case seemed to appear as if a curtain had been lifted, Kyusu shot up and shouted.

And the tavern owner, startled by the sound, wakes up with a start.

"...Is there anything you need?"

Even while yawning and rubbing his eyes, the tavern owner was faithful to his role.

But.

"Huh?"

The table was empty. There were only empty wine bottles and leftover food, but no people.

The tavern owner stared blankly at the empty seats.

They were men. They wouldn't have gone to the outhouse holding hands as a group...

The tavern owner's face, which had been puzzled, contorted violently.

He waited until this hour without even closing the door, but could it be that these punks... dined and dashed?

"Ah, these sons of bitches... I shouldn't have slept..."

Although he waited in case, the tavern owner dropped his head helplessly due to the customers who had no intention of returning.

They were really damn punks.

How much was the alcohol? To think they would run away without paying while he was asleep.

* * *

The six islands clustered together on the south side of Gunsan, Dongting Lake.

It was the territory of the Gunsan Stronghold.

Although the location of the stronghold was secret, since both the government and the Beggars' Sect knew about it, should it be called an open secret?

So they defended it by setting up a high stockade, and surveillance was essential.

They hid watchtowers on high trees and placed water bandits in shifts every hour.

But they were born water bandits. There was no way they would do their job properly.

In fact, wasn't it a place that no one had dared to invade until now?

The water bandit, Pilu, who had woken up for his shift, came up to the watchtower with a bottle of wine to relieve the boring time.

"You're here?"

"Yeah. Good work."

"You too."

After the shift change, his colleague went down, and Pilu yawned long and looked at Dongting Lake.

It's quiet. Serene and...

"Aha-ham."

The moment he yawned long and put the wine bottle to his mouth.

Puk!

A sharp pain spread through his side, and a piece of metal was embedded in it.

"Kkeu-eu..."

Teok.

Before a groan could escape, a hand covers Pilu's mouth.

"Shhh..."

The assailant, who had brought a finger to his mouth over the mask, smiled with his eyes.

He didn't know when he had appeared, but there were three more people in the watchtower besides him.

A-an attack?

At Pilu's gesture of struggling to ring the alarm bell, the masked man threatened kindly.

"It's below the ribs. If I twist it here, you'll die. Let's not make a fuss, life is precious, isn't it?"

Pilu stopped struggling and nodded his head eagerly.

"Yes, good boy. I'll ask you a few things, and if you answer faithfully, nothing will happen."

Nod, nod.

As Pilu nodded with wide-open eyes, the masked man removed the hand that was covering his mouth.

"I'm looking for a boatman."

"A b-boatman?"

"About two months ago."

"...?"

"I heard there was a disturbance near the Gunsan Stronghold."

Pilu retraces his memory at the masked man's words.

A disturbance two months ago...

"There was. There was definitely such an incident."

As soon as he remembered, Pilu explained the situation at that time in detail.

Because life is important.

"At the chief's command, the surveillance fleet moved, and the Fish Dragons were deployed. I remember it clearly because our stronghold suffered quite a lot of damage."

"Oh? Really? Then what about the people who were on the boat at that time?"

"I heard there were four of them: a dancer, a dance boy, a boatman, and a young man around the age of twenty."

The masked men exchanged glances at Pilu's words.

It became clear that Jasu had had a problem with the water bandits.

Since the commission was carried out afterwards, Jasu must have been safe at that time. But since she had disappeared, more questions and answers were needed to know the situation at that time.

"Good, good. That's all you have to do."

"Thank you."

"What happened to the boatman and the young man around the age of twenty?"

"I don't know about the boatman, but the young man came to the stronghold."

"Only the young man?"

"Yes, he was alone."

"What about the dancer and the dance boy?"

"I didn't see them."

The masked men's eyes narrowed at Pilu's answer.

The young man alone? The boatman? And Jasu?

The situation began to get a little complicated.

Naturally, their interest shifted from the boatman to the young man.

"Alright, then what happened to the young man who was captured?"

"Pardon?"

"...?"

"He wasn't captured."

"What?"

"The surveillance fleet master, Lord Ojang, personally brought... no, escorted him. He met with the chief right away."

"He met with the chief?"

"Yes."

What was this?

Not only was he escorted, but he had a meeting with the chief right away?

He began to be curious about the young man's identity.

He felt that the key to Jasu's whereabouts was with him.

"That young man... who is he?"

"I don't know that either."

"You don't know?"

"Yes. He was gone at some point."

"At some point? Do you mean he disappeared secretly?"

"Yes. I saw him come, but no one saw him leave."

The young man's identity became more and more suspicious.

"Then who knows?"

"Well, Lord Ojang, the deputy chief, Brother Ilgwang, and the chief will know."

"Hmm..."

The masked men continue to exchange glances at Pilu's words.

Now what they had to do was clear.

But it was not good to touch the Gunsan chief.

Not only was he called the Lord of the Xiang River, but wasn't he the master of one of the Eighteen Strongholds of the Yangtze River?

What remained were the surveillance fleet master named Ojang and the deputy chief, Ilgwang.

They had to meet them, confirm the young man's identity, and leave quickly.

"Um... I've told you everything I know. The knife in my side... it hurts so much. Like I'm going to die."

Pilu asks, his face contorted in pain.

"Alright, you did well."

"Ah, thank... keo-eok!"

The knife, which had been embedded deeper, soared above the ribs and tore through the organs, causing Pilu pain.

Since his mouth was covered to prevent him from screaming, Pilu struggled until his breath was cut off. And then he became quiet.

Kyusu, who was looking at his limp figure, said.

"Jeongrang, Opil."

"Yes."

"Find the punk named Ojang and confirm the young man's identity and whereabouts."

"Yes."

"Nuang, Wicheok."

"Yes."

"You will find the deputy chief with me. Move quickly."

"Yes!"

At Kyusu's command, the assassins split into groups and scattered.

The watchtower they had left.

"Kkeu-eu... these sons of bitches."

Was it because he was so wronged to have died even after telling them everything, believing their words that they would spare him?

As if he had a last burst of energy, the string connected to the bell that announced the enemy's invasion comes into Pilu's fading eyes.

That pathetic gesture, which was nothing more than a wiggle...

Deng.

He pulls the string with difficulty, with difficulty, and creates a sound inside the bell.

The sound was small. But since it was a quiet night, it was enough to wake the stronghold.

(End of Chapter)