“I feel nauseous…”
As I awkwardly tried to improve the atmosphere, I guess drinking all that strong liquor was my downfall.
It seems my stomach is practicing to regurgitate Kang Yoon-ho in eight parts.
I need to soothe my stomach.
Barely getting up from the bed, I leaned against the wall and headed to the living room. Should I ask Si-bi to make some hangover soup?
“Huh? Miss Ha-yeon?”
As soon as I stepped into the living room, I saw Ha-yeon placing side dishes on the table.
“Sit down. I’ve made hangover soup. I’ll bring it out.”
Im Ha-yeon said to me with an expression like a new bride preparing her husband for work.
“Master Kang, I’ve brought honey water. Please drink it.”
Miss Zhuge offered me a bowl full of honey water.
“Thank you. But what’s going on with you two?”
Where did that atmosphere from yesterday go? Here they are, waiting for me with friendly smiles?
“Master Kang, I’ll apply the golden ointment. Please give me your arm.”
“After drinking that strong liquor, do you think I’ll be able to go to work later? Should I send someone to tell them I’ll take the day off?”
“……”
Is this a dream?
Am I still drunk?
Are they putting on an act?
Or maybe…?
As I stood there in a daze, Im Ha-yeon sighed softly and approached me.
“Are you telling me to leave your side and live a normal life? Yes, indeed. Being by your side, it seems I can’t live a normal life after all.”
“……”
It wasn’t an expression of consent; it felt like a last meal for a condemned prisoner.
Alright. No matter what decision they make, I’ve decided to accept it. I tightly closed my lips and waited for her next words.
Seeing my expression stiffen, Im Ha-yeon held my hand and smiled gently.
“So instead of treating me normally, you have to treat me specially.”
What? It took a long time for my brain to process that.
“Miss Ha-yeon…”
You’re giving me your consent. You really are consenting.
“I’ll let you feel the gratitude later, so turn around and go back.”
As I tried to approach her, she seized my body and turned me in the opposite direction.
“Master Kang!”
Maybe it’s because I felt suddenly isolated. Behind me, Miss Zhuge was looking at me with big, innocent eyes, hands folded in front of her.
“Miss Zhuge.”
Did the two of them plan this together?
Keeping Im Ha-yeon behind me, I cautiously stood in front of Miss Zhuge.
“Master, Master Kang is a really bad person.”
Miss Zhuge dropped her gaze and squeezed her wrist with her hand, expressing her discontent to me.
“I’m sorry.”
“But now I’m also… liking you, the fiancé of someone else. I… I’m a bad girl too.”
Miss Zhuge looked at me with a face so red it could rival a tomato.
“What?”
“So, I want to turn this fake relationship into a real one.”
Miss Zhuge cautiously raised her trembling hand towards me.
“Miss Zhuge…”
After so much contemplation, how could I refuse the hand she extended to me?
I carefully grasped Miss Zhuge’s hand, treating it like a precious treasure.
“Wah…”
It would be troublesome if my expression crumbled in an instant.
“Miss Ha-yeon.”
I called out to the Ha-yeon behind me.
“Uh-huh. Me too.”
Im Ha-yeon stepped closer and teasingly extended her hand.
A man with a fiancée. How much betrayal must she feel at my confession?
How much resentment must she have held for wishing to stay by that man’s side? How much did the two women ponder last night?
“I’ll do well. I really will.”
The women who, after much thought, decided to stay by my side.
All I could do was take their hands once more and promise them.
———
“Miss Ha-yeon, let’s start seriously preparing.”
I managed to compose my emotions and sat down at the table. The hangover soup that Miss Ha-yeon prepared was delicious—except a little too salty.
“Yes.”
“What preparation?”
Miss Zhuge tilted her head curiously as she sat at the table, asking me.
“We’re going to begin planning how to eliminate Miss Ha-yeon’s identity as a courtesan.”
“Uh, what kind of work is that? I’ll help you!”
“Miss Zhuge. With your help, we would be unstoppable.”
Do they feel like we’ve become a community of fate? It surely feels more manageable with Miss Zhuge’s assistance.
“What exactly are you planning to do?”
As I glanced awkwardly at Im Ha-yeon, she spoke to Miss Zhuge.
“First, we’re thinking of scouting wealthy houses to break into at night.”
“…What?”
Should I be surprised by that?
Feeling my stomach settling with the soup, I opened my mouth to explain our goal to Miss Zhuge.
“We’re going to make Miss Ha-yeon the most famous thief in Hubei Province.”
“Wh-What?!”
———
“Here are the documents sent by Hao-mun about the wealthy individuals of Wuhan.”
In my office, Im Ha-yeon handed me a box of documents that came from Hao-mun. It seems that this box multiplies faster than insects.
I mean, I’m the boss here, isn’t this a bit much?
Getting a few well-organized documents completed by my employees working tirelessly for a week, only for this to be the plan?! Can’t someone make documents properly?! I want to escape this hell of paperwork.
“It would be good to scout for targets here. Miss Zhuge, could you help me organize the documents?”
“Uh, sure…”
As I handed her the documents, Miss Zhuge looked at me cautiously before accepting them.
Maybe the idea of helping with theft doesn’t sit well with her.
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
“I understand Master Kang’s intentions. And I want to help Ha-yeon unni, so it’s fine.”
Is that so? That’s good to hear.
“Let’s leave the document organization to Miss Zhuge for now…”
Then I should utilize the assistance of the Zhuge family for automating my martial arts administration.
“Uh?”
Before her dissatisfaction could explode, I quickly stacked the box of documents beside Miss Zhuge.
“Miss Ha-yeon and I should discuss something more important.”
“Is there something more important than finding a house to break into?”
That’s something Miss Zhuge will handle.
“It’s self-promotion.”
Now that I’ve escaped the paperwork hell, it’s time for us to unleash our creativity.
“Self-promotion? Didn’t Hao-mun agree to handle the rumors?”
“To actively utilize those rumors, I’m saying we should promote ourselves as well. We need to let people know that ‘The Shadowless Thief’ exists. For example, we could show a symbol during our activities.”
So far, the plan revolved around being righteous thieves. We need a way to reveal that the identity of the righteous thief is The Shadowless Thief.
“Just as the Yellow Turban rebels wore yellow headbands?”
“Exactly. Are you thinking of wearing a short skirt and fluttery clothes?”
Traditionally, when people think of phantom thieves, clothing is half the battle.
“Are you suggesting that I dress like a courtesan just to get caught? If a thief gets caught, they’ve already failed.”
“I was thinking of a method where you shake a stick and disappear into a jar, and after you cover yourself with a cloth, when you open it, you’re gone…”
“I can’t perform any tricks like that…”
“Hmm.”
Why can’t we do that?
When you think of a female phantom thief, the stereotype is to wear flowy clothing, having long hair tied up high, waving a wand while gathering treasures—it’s practically a basic requirement.
Oops.
Even the current outfit of The Shadowless Thief is unique in that it’s not exposing but rather form-fitting. Maybe we could add some decorations or fabric to create a similar outfit but with only a slight change compared to season 1 and season 2.
“Is it just me, or am I sensing some selfish intentions here?”
Im Ha-yeon looked at me with a somewhat suspicious expression.
“How about leaving behind evidence?”
She noticed quickly.
“Evidence?”
“Like leaving a black cloth at the location of a stolen item or writing ‘The Shadowless Thief’ there. Once something gets stolen, people would gradually find out who did it. That peculiar behavior will spread the rumors better.”
Classic thief methodology—leave your mark at the scene of a crime. How cool does that sound?
When I looked at her confidently, Im Ha-yeon slightly furrowed her brows, seeming displeased.
“Have you heard any old stories about that man?”
“What are you talking about?”
The person she’s referring to would be none other than Mr. Wang—the previous Shadowless Thief.
“I heard that man once broke into a mansion guarded by the Nine Great Sects and left stamps on the sleeping martial artists’ faces. I’ve heard the martial artists were embarrassed and furious about it.”
“Ha ha ha.”
In the past, to do something like that to the martial artists of the righteous sect, who are the pillars of the Nine Great Sects, Mr. Wang was something else during his prime.
“It’s definitely a good idea. It would be wise to remember to leave a mark as a symbol.”
Im Ha-yeon nodded, smiling.
“Yes, let’s do that. And…”
Once we decide on a symbol, we might have a problem.
“What do you mean?”
“Once Miss Ha-yeon starts acting, the rumors will spread, but I was wondering whether there’s a way to spread the rumors publicly all at once.”
We need to make her the best thief in Hubei Province quickly.
The people from Hao-mun are from the lower class, so the rumors will spread gradually from the bottom up, but I wonder if there’s a more certain and faster way.
“A thief’s not going to hand out flyers, right? Isn’t that enough?”
That’s a valid point.
It’s not like we could announce, ‘I am The Shadowless Thief, and I will show you mirage-like thievery!’ and distribute flyers.
Oh? Flyers?
“Wait a sec!”
I jumped up and began rifling through the drawers.
“What are you looking for, Master Kang?”
“What’s this?”
As I pulled out a rough draft of a novel filled with numerous corrections.
“What’s this?! It’s my novel, isn’t it?”
Im Ha-yeon’s work, written in Yichang.
“Did Ha-yeon unni write a novel?”
“A-Ah, no! Don’t! Don’t you dare bring that up?!”
As Miss Zhuge was about to rise out of curiosity, Im Ha-yeon hurriedly tried to hide the draft.
“We’ll complete it and publish it.”
“This?”
“It’s a novel about a thief. Why they rob the rich, why they distribute to the poor. It’s a story imbued with the essence of The Shadowless Thief. Although I’ll need to make extensive revisions to the original content.”
I’ll need to reassemble the structure, but just like a doctor could write a doctor’s novel, it shouldn’t be too hard to write.
“Wouldn’t that create problems?”
“Of course, I’ll ensure it won’t lead to issues before the release. Initially, it might not be popular, but what if later, when Miss Ha-yeon begins her righteous thievery…?”
“…It’ll become a hit in no time.”
“And if someone raises a fuss, we can just say it’s a coincidence and stop the publishing. After all, it’ll serve as a flyer. What do you think?”
“My story isn’t about a righteous thief and will take an incredible amount of time, though?”
“I’ll help you from start to finish. Though it might take a bit, it’ll be good enough to serve at flyer level. Once it’s promoted at the Tea Bookstore, the sales will be guaranteed.”
The narrative of The Shadowless Thief will be promoted through the novel.
If people can learn about not just the thieves but also their past and objectives, the rumors will spread even faster.
“Maybe you wouldn’t know, but a first-time novelist like me…”
“Publishing a novel is Ha-yeon unni’s dream. Why not take the chance?”
Im Ha-yeon will definitely find it feasible, considering that she’d also promote it not only at the bookstore but herself too.
Staring intently at me for a while, Im Ha-yeon then lowered her gaze and shook her head.
“My wish was to write a novel to free myself from being a courtesan. The truth is, I was more focused on the meal than the offerings.”
“Now’s the perfect opportunity.”
“My dream is being fulfilled thanks to you.”
Im Ha-yeon approached me as if handling her precious hope and dusted off my shoulder.
“Miss Ha-yeon…”
“While I do want to try writing a novel, there’s something else first, right? When everything’s resolved one day, I’ll write my novel through my own efforts.”
Her longstanding dream was to shed her identity as a courtesan, rather than write a novel.
I gazed into her blue eyes for a moment, reflecting on how precious it was to her before nodding my head in agreement.
If that’s her intent, then I must respect it.
“Well, if Miss Ha-yeon says that, then I have no choice.”
I nodded, putting aside my disappointment.
“Thank you. Now, let’s help Miss Zhuge with the document organization.”
“…I never said I gave up completely.”
We still need to promote ourselves.
I’ve got another idea.
“Yes?”
Im Ha-yeon’s eyes widened.
“Instead of Ha-yeon unni writing and me helping, what if I write the novel and Ha-yeon unni helps me?”
Im Ha-yeon may say it’s impossible, but I believe it’s something I can manage.
“Would you really be writing a new novel under Ho Pil’s name? I wouldn’t want to tarnish my name by writing a work that’s just at flyer-level.”
That’s true.
With all the background, settings, characters, and plot to rewrite, it might be faster just to start robbing.
But I had another way.
“I’ll write the next story of the novel I was working on.”
“The fourth volume of The Rise of the Tang Family? But there’s already a next story that—”
“I’m not talking about The Rise of the Tang Family.”
I stood up from my seat and walked to a corner of my office, standing in front of a tightly wrapped cargo.
It’s not the right time yet. Still, one day, it will come.
Like the lingering regret remaining in my heart, I slowly unwrapped the potential I had stored in a corner of my large office.
“Why wouldn’t you unpackage? What’s that? Even if I ask, I wouldn’t get an answer, would I? What’s the secret?”
“It’s my regret.”
“What?”
The two women couldn’t contain their curiosity and approached me as I revealed my regret.
“Master Kang? What’s that?”
What I presented before them was the hope I discovered in this world.
A record of my devastating failures and evidence of when I stood back on my own two feet during my toughest times.
It’s a lingering regret in my heart, a story I wanted to publish one day when the time was right.
“I’m planning to write the next story of this book.”
I showed them the title of the book once more.
“Chronicles of the Wind and Cloud Heroes?”
