“Brother Kwak, what is that method?”

Chwi Dugae could not help but ask toward Kwak Yeon.

“Are you thinking to go to South Sea Temple?”

He thought perhaps they could at least hope for traces there—though even that would be a full two months old—since the most recent similar incident had occurred at South Sea Temple’s hermitage.

“No.”

Kwak Yeon shook his head and went on.

“Even if we go to South Sea Temple now, the situation will be no different from the Wuyi Sect here.”

“Right—Bojeong County, where South Sea Temple sits, is at Fujian’s northeast edge; we would only waste time getting there...”

As Chwi Dugae let his words trail off and looked to him, Kwak Yeon said:

“That as well—but more so because chasing from the scene of the crime will yield little.”

“Hm?”

“They are exceedingly meticulous men, are they not?”

“They are. They even disguised their helper as a novice to keep the work hidden.”

Not only that—they had used a classic text as bait to gather Taoists to the Immortal Lodge. The “novice” had played the role of a driver as well.

“If they are such men, they would have been all the more careful near the scene.”

“The Wuyi Sect must have investigated as thoroughly as they could, and if they pulled up nothing, it surely was so.”

Nodding, Chwi Dugae went on with a stifled look:

“That’s why I said they won’t be easy to find.”

Even if he mustered every Beggar Clan hand in Fujian to scour the ground, the chances of gain were slim. All the more so with time already well past.

“On the other hand—what if the place is very far from the scene?”

“Then their caution would naturally slacken. However demonic, they’re human; there’s a limit to living ever on edge. But if it’s far from the scene, the range widens that much, doesn’t it? It becomes a needle-in-the-sand.”

“What if we can narrow that range?”

“If we can, the chance of finding traces surely grows. Brother Kwak, then...”

Chwi Dugae started, eyes opening.

“You mean there’s a way to narrow it?”

“They prepared and executed the abductions over {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} a long stretch here in Fujian—and with quite a number of people. What would that require?”

“A hideout?”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“They would need a place where they could live without attracting notice.”

“That’s so—but we can’t insist they must have set up a hideout. Their base might already be in Fujian.”

“If their base is in Fujian, so much the better.”

“Mm...”

At the chill in Kwak Yeon’s eyes, Chwi Dugae found himself nodding.

“That’s true.”

“In any case, it’s unlikely they kept a hideout outside Fujian. Moving abducted people across such long distances is a heavy risk.”

Even Zhejiang or Jiangxi, unlike this border province of Fujian, had many sects and martial officers.

“Brother Kwak, Fujian alone is vast—over two thousand li north to south.”

The question was how to narrow it.

“Brother, put yourself in their place and imagine planning this from the beginning.”

At that odd answer, Chwi Dugae knit his brows slightly.

“It’s no pleasant thing to stand in a demon’s place, but... first I’d fix the targets. Only then could I draft how to snatch them.”

“After fixing targets and drafting the plan, then?”

“Next I’d secure a place to stay that’s safe and suitable for the work...”

As he answered, Chwi Dugae’s eyes flashed open.

“Ah! So you mean—they would have set the hideout in a place convenient to reach all the scenes.”

“As expected of you, brother.”

“Brother Kwak, don’t flatter me to make me bow.”

Blushing faintly, Chwi Dugae continued:

“So far there are three scenes: Mount Wuyi here, Daheung Temple in Yong’an County, and South Sea Temple in Bojeong County. You’re saying the hideout should be where it’s easy to reach all three?”

“Of course my guess may not be perfectly right, but they surely kept their routes short to preserve secrecy.”

“Brother Kwak, no need for such modesty. The very idea of tracking them in reverse is excellent. Hah—this nickname Chwi Dugae suits you better.”

They said that sober he had the best head under heaven and thus was called Chwi Dugae; but Kwak Yeon wondered if the Beggar Clan Leader had chosen the name for the opposite reason.

In any case, he had no wish to play at being a beggar, so he spoke quickly.

“You’re too kind. And that nickname suits you exactly.”

“It was a jest—no need to get so stiff. If you aren’t a Taoist, you certainly act like one...”

Shaking his head, Chwi Dugae went on:

“Even so, the range is no trifle. By ill chance, all three scenes sit at Fujian’s extremes.”

Mount Wuyi lay at the northwest edge, bordering Jiangxi; Yong’an County with Daheung Temple was at Fujian’s southern end; and South Sea Temple was on the south sea at the northeast edge adjoining Zhejiang—call them extremes indeed.

Even at the tightest, they would have to lay half of Fujian in the range.

“Still, it’s better than searching all of Fujian.”

“Brother Kwak—surely you don’t mean that as a joke?”

Seeing the dark light in Kwak Yeon’s eyes, Chwi Dugae started.

“You’re serious.”

Quietly, Kwak Yeon opened his mouth.

“Their hideout will not lie far off Fujian’s center. In any case, starting there and widening outward by degrees will be fastest.”

“Understood. I’ll summon every Beggar Clan hand in Fujian and set them to search.”

“If we make such a clamor, they’ll take alarm.”

If Beggar Clan beggars swarmed and poked about in crowds, the culprits could not fail to notice.

“That’s true—but if we’re to find them fast, there’s no help for it.”

“Those who already work those places will suffice. In fact, some Beggar Clan hands may already hold information on them.”

“Mm? What do you mean by that?”

“It’s only that the Beggar Clan hands don’t know such men exist—and don’t know it’s important—so the memories lie buried in their heads.”

“Explain it clearly.”

“After abducting, from a certain point they surely used wagons. However skilled, moving only by mountain paths is too taxing.”

“They would.”

Chwi Dugae nodded at Kwak Yeon’s words.

They would have used mountain paths up to a point to leave no traces near the scene; once far enough, there was no reason to continue.

“In that case, they would have disguised themselves as a convoy or a merchant caravan. Given the number abducted, they would need at least three wagons.”

“Right. Aside from convoys or caravans, there are almost no cases of multiple wagons moving together.”

“Even so, there must have been something different from a convoy or caravan. They were hauling living captives; the cargo itself differed.”

“You mean they would have put people in large chests and loaded them?”

Kwak Yeon nodded readily and went on.

“They would have put them to sleep and locked them in, but they could not be at ease. The instant someone woke and shouted, the whole scheme would shatter.”

If such a thing happened on an open road, the local yamen would be turned on its head.

“So they would have strictly prevented anyone from approaching the wagons.”

“Hauling tightly sealed chests—perhaps covered over with other goods as disguise—locking down the surroundings so thoroughly is not ordinary. In any case... what do Beggar Clan hands do when they spot a caravan or convoy?”

“If a moneyed patron passes through their patch and they don’t beg, they’re no Beggar Clan hand. Ah!”

Chwi Dugae’s eyes flashed open.

He now saw clearly what Kwak Yeon meant by saying that some Beggar Clan hands had already seen them.

Looking at his widened eyes, Kwak Yeon drove in the wedge:

“If some Beggar Clan hand encountered such a convoy twice within two months, wouldn’t it be natural to remember it?”

“Of course!”

Chwi Dugae nodded with noisy vigor.

“If he doesn’t remember that, he’s unfit to be a Beggar Clan hand.”

He felt as if the cloudbank in his head had cleared in an instant.

If, in one place, such a strange wagon train had passed twice with a gap of two months, then their hideout must lie nearby.

Only thus could wagon trains setting out from Fujian’s extremes toward extremes share a destination.

What on earth does this Dark Cavern Taoist have in his head?

Chwi Dugae felt his hair stand on end.

He had been unable to help but marvel at the affairs Kwak Yeon had handled at Agyang and the Dongting Lake military station.

But in less than two months, his level of calculation had grown markedly beyond that time.

He had strung together fragmentary commonplaces to see through the situation.

Ah! So that’s why I was helplessly taken in at the Seonyang inn!

Chwi Dugae freshly realized that any thought of taking revenge on Kwak Yeon was now forever out of reach.

Even so, he felt a quiet pride.

“Brother Kwak—no, Brother Kwak of the same stripe!”

“...?”

“Thank you.”

He could not bring himself to say for taking me as a sworn elder brother. If he were thoroughly drunk, perhaps.

“In any case—let’s go.”

By now, the village lights of Seonyang County were glittering faintly below in the dusk.

****

“Splendid!”

Chil Seogae, the Seonyang County Beggar Clan sub-branch chief and Gaemok, patted his round belly with a satisfied exclamation.

He had just eaten a grand supper and stretched out in his hut.

At last he had reclaimed his own nest, stolen for a time by Sub-Branch Master Chwi Dugae; it felt as if he had gained the world.

At present the Sub-Branch Master was tearing along to the Martial Alliance; he’d never see him again.

That too gave Chil Seogae a measure of relief.

Because Hu Gae had suddenly ordered him to procure a face cloth—within half a ke at that—he had had no choice, afraid of immediate blows.

He had roughly stitched something in the shape of a mask, but he had trembled in case of trouble.

Then Hu Gae left Seonyang County without a sound, and that worry vanished with him; his happiness doubled.

“Ei-yaa! Today, I envy the emperor not at all!”

It was the moment Chil Seogae stretched, legs thrown straight.

—Fwadak!

The hut’s mat-flap whipped open, and a black human silhouette thrust in.

“Which bastard dares, without a scrap of fear, to crawl into the bedchamber of the sub-branch chief of the world’s foremost clan?”

—Smack!

Instead of an answer, something crashed into Chil Seogae’s face.

“Ugh!”

Thinking he would die, struck down by an intruder’s ambush, Chil Seogae caught a rank, foul stench from the thing that had hit his face.

Uegh!

Flailing, he tore off the rag—or was it a dishcloth?—that covered his face. Then he saw Chwi Dugae at the hut door, round eyes lifted.

“S-Sub-Branch Master?”

“Yes, it’s me!”

Seeing the cold smile bloom at the corner of Chwi Dugae’s mouth, Chil Seogae realized what had just stuck to his face.

No wonder the stink seemed familiar.