As True as a Dream Chapter 82

“Well, ma’am, we did our best. But just as we were about to grab the girl, a man showed up and…”

 

“A man?”

 

“I thought we knew each other, I was pretty tired and Jung-man wasn’t feeling well either, so I decided to back off… Ugh!”

 

A wooden barrel of cutlery flew into the man’s face, smashing his cheekbone.

 

The spilled silverware clattered to the floor as it hit the man.

 

Another ashtray flew out of Mrs. Na’s hand, twisted like a demon, and landed on the man’s shoulder.

 

“You son of a bitch! You should have killed him with her! You just come back because you’re afraid of getting hurt?”

 

Then she picked up whatever she could get her hands on and threw it at the man.

 

The man gritted his teeth and endured her ferocity.

 

Outside the darkened window, a dozen crows perched side by side on the building across the street watched the scene through the window.

 

Soon there was the sound of shattering plates, and a man with a bruised face came out of the shop and ran down the street muttering profanities.

 

Half of the crows flew after the man, while the other few stayed behind to keep an eye on the noodle shop with the “Mrs. Na” sign.

 

Mrs. Na, cutting her minutes inside, didn’t notice the dozens of eyes on her.

 

“An acquaintance of my father’s, I don’t know anything else… His name is Chul-sae. Do you know him? I have a question about the past. Do you know Chul-sae, Mrs. Na?”

 

Mrs. Na clenched her teeth as she remembered how Hae-Joo had suddenly come to her at dusk and asked about Kim Sang-jin.

 

It was easy for her to understand why Hae-Joo was looking for Kim Sang-jin.

 

They’d only had contact with him once since he left Gyeongseong and settled in Gongju.

 

So it was old hat to ask.

 

‘Guishan Dao!’

 

‘Why is Hae-Joo looking for Guishan Dao?’

 

She was quite the informant in this area.

 

Two months ago, when the rumors about Guishan Dao started to spread in this area, she was quite worried.

 

She even wondered who would be looking for Guishan Dao, who had disappeared eight years ago.

 

The lucrative reward for the Guishan Dao was very tempting, but for Mrs. Na, the lasting benefit was more important than the immediate gain.

 

She had a reputation as an informant who knew the “degree” and “conscience” of this area, and her business was very prosperous as a result.

 

Therefore, she did not interfere or get involved in the fishing industry.

 

In fact, eight years ago she was the one who sold it to General Saito of Japan.

 

It was actually funny.

 

As long as the person who buys and sells information makes money, who cares about decency and conscience?

 

But some of her clients were part of the independence movement, so the “reputation” of maintaining “decency” and “conscience” was important. 

 

If it were discovered that she had sold an artifact of immense value belonging to this country to General Saito, a Japanese soldier, eight years ago, there would be no place for her in this country.

 

That’s all.

 

She would be branded by the rebels as a traitor to her country and disposed of like a rat or a bird.

 

Besides, she couldn’t and wouldn’t ask Hae-Joo to find Kim Sang-jin.

 

Kim Sang-jin was already dead.

 

The night she received the Guishan Dao from Yangbu and gave the painting to General Saito, he wrote in her hand.

 

“Didn’t your guests know that you stole such a valuable painting from the auction and sold it to the Japanese?” 

 

“Didn’t you know that you were able to establish yourself as an informer in Gyeongseong because you were so visible to the independence fighters?”

 

“Shut up, Kim Sang-jin! Why are you talking about this?”

 

“I was the one who made all the contacts with Yangbu. Why did I only get three out of ten? Do you have any idea how much I’ve been hurting for the past two days?”

 

“I saved this client, I orchestrated the deal, you get what you pay for!”

 

“Hey, don’t you think you’re not the kind of cheap girl I’d sell myself for? Isn’t that what first love is? It’s cruel, isn’t it? Poor Yangbu. I never thought that the girl he’d loved all his life would be like this.”

 

“What do you want to say?”

 

“Give me more money. I’m the one who played hard, right? You should give me seven out of ten. Or I’ll blow the whistle on your customers for what you did!”

 

Chul-sae, that bastard dared to threaten me and demand money!

 

The important thing was that this wasn’t the first time Kim Sang-jin had threatened her, and it wouldn’t be the last.

 

He would probably threaten her again and again and try to extort money from her.

 

So she stabbed Kim Sang-jin to death with the knife she carried for self-defense and threw it into the Baekma River.

 

Afterwards, she returned to Gyeongseong and set up her secret service business with the 10,000 won that Governor Saito had paid her for the painting.

 

She was now considered the most reliable and virtuous informer in Gyeongseong.

 

So she couldn’t let Hae-joo get away with trying to scratch and claw her way into the Guishan Dao.

 

“What should I do?”

 

Mrs. Na, who was sitting in the middle of the wrecked shop, biting her nails, frowned.

 

“And just as he was about to grab the girl, a man appeared and…”

 

The only men around Hae-Joo are either related to the Iori Automobile Trade Association or the recently engaged owner of Song Yue.

 

At this point, an eerie smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Na Na’s mouth.

 

For a few days now, rumors had been circulating that the governorate was looking for someone who might be looking for the Guishan Dao.

 

She had already found out who put the bounty on Guishan Dao, and she knew that it was the owner of Song Yue Pavilion.

 

“The owner of Song Yue Pavilion is looking for Guishan Dao… and Hae-Joo is looking for the whereabouts of the migratory bird… it can’t be a coincidence, right?”

 

Mrs. Na realized that she might get her tail stepped on if she made any more moves herself, so she quickly came up with a good idea.

 

If she couldn’t do it herself, she could borrow someone else’s hand.

 

The next day, when the curfew was lifted and the sun came up, Mrs. Na left the noodle shop early in the morning.

 

 

* * *

 

Governor Saito’s private residence.

 

In Saito’s study, there were papers on the desk about the worms Lord Manzai had mentioned.

 

Classified as a very minor monster in the folklore of the Yuan Dynasty, the records of the Hae-Seol were very brief.

 

Saito rubbed his forehead as he read and reread the scant amount of information that could be called data – a few lines from a book of threads, a single mention in a shaman’s journal.

 

“[Hmph.]”

 

Once before, he’d asked his master for more details about the Hae-Seol theory.

 

He only knew that it existed, but otherwise he was a blank slate.

 

The monster was in Mao’s body, and now that it’s gone, he might think it’s over.

 

But Saito felt something was wrong, and he couldn’t let go of that part of the story.

 

‘Why was Hae-Seol in Mao’s body?’

 

‘What if something like that happened again?’

 

‘Would he still have to hope that the almighty Lord Man Insa would take care of it on a whim?’

 

The boils on Mao’s body happened to appear after her birthday party.

 

The timing was too bad to be a coincidence.

 

His intuition warned him that it was someone’s malice.

 

Bam!

 

“[Your Excellency, it’s me.]”

 

Turning to the doorway, Saito put down the note in his hand and said,

 

“[Come in.]”

 

His henchman, who soon entered the door, saluted and went straight to the point.

 

“[When the lady found out that the owner Song Yue and his fiancée had returned to Gyeongseong, she sent the fiancée a box containing a dead mountain bird, and also sent someone to watch over Mr. Ban Yi Ho.]”

 

“[Is that all, any other actions?]”

 

“[He is still at the residence].”

 

Saito remembered the arrogance of the owner of Song Yue whom he had met at Mao’s birthday party.

 

He remembered Mao’s excitement when she told him that his unmasked face was ecstatically beautiful and that she wanted to have it.

 

Saito had recognized him right away.

 

He wasn’t the kind of man who could be intimidated or cajoled into blending in.

 

As far as he could tell, he had no ties to the rebels, and certainly no ties to Japan or any other foreign power.

 

Indeed, the owner of Song Yue was an island, standing alone in this vast land, with only the story of a curse to keep him company.

 

His daughter, Mao, had set her sights on the arrogant man.

 

Moreover, Mao’s obsession will never end until she has the owner of Song Yue in her possession.

 

And the more he forbids her, the more greedy she becomes.

 

“[Just keep an eye on him, and let me know if he leaves the mansion.]”

 

The curse reads, “Whoever touches the Song Yue Pavilion must die.”