Simhyangru
Gu-sam wore a proud grin and started boasting to his heart’s content.
“So I won, right? That’s fine, Dae-cheon. Victory and defeat are just part of the same thing, after all. I knew a day like this would come someday. I’m only a little stunned that it came so fast, but what can you do? The front wave of the Yangtze gets pushed by the wave behind it; that’s simply the way of the world...”
I listened in utter disbelief and, before I knew it, he had turned me into some old man shut away in the back room.
“You’re a grandmaster when it comes to running your mouth. Even the abbot of Shaolin, with all his profound cultivation, would probably suffer qi deviation and break his monastic precepts if he had a war of words with you.”
“Haha, you flatter me.”
“Shut up and use Rannachal.”
“Yes, sir. Here I come!”
This time, I didn’t counter him. I just watched straight on.
The tip of the staff Gu-sam swung was slow and carried very little force. There was no sharpness to it at all, but as a way to study the technique closely, it wasn’t bad.
Rannachal really was a troublesome combination to deal with.
You couldn’t simply knock it outward and then flow with the motion into a thrust from the inside; the rhythm made that impossible.
If I tried to throw off the spear strike head-on, a saber could never overpower the raw strength behind spear work. But if I moved back or to the side, the spearhead would follow immediately.
If I could cut the shaft, that would be ideal, but if I failed, I’d end up with a hole in my body instead.
So I focused on the constantly moving tip of the staff from a safe distance.
Its line of attack surged outward, then inward, then drove forward again, like waves crashing against a cliff face.
Quaint rock formations I had seen in Hangzhou. The hot, salty wind that blew under the dazzling sun. The sea rolling and surging like a dance. Fishing boats riding the waves forward...
When I called that image to mind, I seemed to catch hold of something.
After I had gotten the trajectory firmly into my eyes, I kicked off the ground and rushed him.
Instead of blocking or letting the thrust slide away, I set the blade of my saber diagonally and pressed it against the staff.
Following the swaying motion of the staff as though it were a boat riding the waves, I stepped with my footwork and closed the distance in an instant.
Just as the saber seemed about to touch the fingers gripping the staff, Gu-sam gave a startled cry and let go.
“Let’s do it again. I won’t hit your hand, so don’t drop the staff.”
This time, I slipped past the tip, drove in, and then struck the staff as I shifted the angle of attack. The saber rebounded upward like a waterbird kicking off the surface of a lake and came to rest beside Gu-sam’s neck.
“Hooaah...”
Gu-sam, who had been going on about how the student surpasses the master and whatnot, widened his eyes in a full-body shiver.
It was a bold and exquisite move, but I wasn’t satisfied with it.
It had worked because Gu-sam was holding a staff for the first time today.
If he had been a proper spearman, he would have smashed me with the shaft or retreated before I ever had the chance to press the blade against it.
Still, it felt like I had gained one hidden card. If I kept training, I’d grow more familiar with it, faster too.
I set the saber down, brushed the dust from my clothes, and washed my face with cold water.
When I untied the bundle and opened the food box, Gu-sam finally noticed the official uniform and cheered.
“I knew it! I knew you’d pass!”
“Don’t bring food tomorrow.”
“Ooh, Simhyangru...”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I still don’t know where I’ll be working.”
I was curious enough to want to see what everyone was making such a fuss over at Simhyangru.
But for guard duty, a quiet warehouse or a trade caravan would be far better.
The most exhausting, most meaningless thing in this world was dealing with a stubborn drunk.
And if that drunk had money and power, so that you couldn’t lay a hand on him, then even clenching your fist became difficult. The saber at your waist was useless too.
All you could do was bend yourself lower than was fit for a man and keep reading the room with humiliating care.
No martial artist wanted to live that way. At least, I didn’t.
*
The next morning, I belted on my willow-leaf saber and left the house early.
Not wanting to draw attention, I didn’t wear the uniform. I wrapped it in cloth and slung it over my shoulder instead.
It was still early, before sunrise, so the area in front of Yongcheon Escort Agency was quiet. At the main gate, I showed my temporary identification, and the guard gave me an up-and-down look.
“You’re the one who passed yesterday?”
“That’s right. Has anyone else passed besides me?”
“No one that I know of. Go to the escort hall.”
When I got there, the middle-aged man who had given me the uniform and temporary ID yesterday told me my assigned post.
“Simhyangru?”
“That’s right. Night duty. Hmm? Don’t like it?”
“...It’s fine.”
Maybe my reaction was different from what he had expected, because a strange look of curiosity entered the man’s eyes.
“Have you ever been badly hurt by a woman?”
“No.”
“Were you a novice monk who returned to secular life?”
“Of course not. Is there some sort of problem?”
“No, not really... It’s just that when people hear Simhyangru, they all light up. They’d kill for a chance to work there, so you don’t exactly look thrilled.”
“Being humiliated by drunks in front of beautiful women sounds pretty miserable, doesn’t it?”
The middle-aged man gave a snort, as if he understood what I meant.
“Simhyangru isn’t like ordinary taverns or pleasure houses. While you’re on duty, you probably won’t even get a good look at the customers. Nobody comes there on foot.”
After hearing a few warnings, I left the escort agency and headed into the city.
The morning sun, rising from the slope of the eastern mountain, was already sharp enough to sting. It was full summer now, with thick growth in the hills and fields and the fresh smell of grass hanging heavy in the air.
I ate a simple breakfast of plain rice porridge at Poongcheon Inn, took hot water for tea in a bamboo tube, and then headed home.
After leaving the yard alone for several days, weeds had grown up all over the once-clean ground. Vines had also begun to creep up the wall.
I pulled the weeds and vines, tossed them on the back hill, and practiced the Nameless Saber Technique and the methods for breaking Rannachal.
I kept swinging my blade until around noon, when the sun was directly overhead. Then I took off my shirt and washed the sweat from my face.
After drinking some tea that had cooled to a cold bitterness and catching my breath, I lay down on the wooden porch.
Chewing on tough, foul-smelling cheap jerky while staring at the blue sky beyond the wall, I somehow felt like a goat out in the fields.
I spent the afternoon at an unhurried pace, and when the sun finally began loitering near the western mountains, I left the house again.
I ate an early dinner at Poongcheon Inn and got up in good time. After shaking off Gu-sam, who insisted on seeing me off, I walked toward the main road that ran through Seochon.
The eight-story pavilion of Simhyangru was the tallest building in Seochon, so it was easy to spot from anywhere. Finding it along the road was simple enough.
A wall higher than the buildings around it. Two escort guards standing watch in front of the closed main gate.
As I approached, the gate guards, who had been chatting with bored faces while watching passersby, stared at me with wary eyes.
From a safe distance where their blades couldn’t reach, I explained my business and showed my temporary ID. Only then did their expressions soften.
“The new one, huh? Then where’s your uniform? Don’t tell me you didn’t get one.”
“I brought it separately so I wouldn’t end up in some pointless scuffle.”
“Hmm. Follow me.”
One of the guards opened a side door beside the main gate and motioned me in.
Inside the wall, everyone was busy preparing for business.
Servants were sweeping the stone-paved walkways, and cooks were carefully checking the ingredients behind supply carts.
The various buildings were plain in appearance. If not for the eight-story pavilion standing there without its lanterns lit yet, one might almost have mistaken the place for a private estate instead of a pleasure house.
“That pavilion is Simhyangru?”
“Yes. The main building.”
“It doesn’t feel like a pleasure house.”
“It’s different once night falls.”
Without making much of it, the guard glanced at the pavilion and led me toward the dormitory.
Yesterday, during my interview at the escort agency, there had been a man who disliked me.
He had objected on the grounds that I might get distracted by the powder on the courtesans’ faces and cause trouble.
The way he had stayed sharply guarded against a stranger he had never even met told me I’d be seeing a lot of him in the future.
And sure enough, that middle-aged man was the chief of security at Simhyangru.
Escort Leader Jo Gyeong-jik.
He had a solid build and a sullen face. For a martial artist, his features were rather unremarkable, but the deep crease of his brows was sharp enough.
In his expression and gestures, there was the faint, arrogant confidence of a man who had weathered every sort of storm. If we ever crossed blades, he would not be easy to deal with.
Jo Gyeong-jik had one man stand aside and sat down alone, looking up at me in silence.
He wore a face full of dissatisfaction, as if the situation itself offended him.
As I quietly endured his sour gaze, Jo Gyeong-jik slowly stroked the broadsword resting on the table and spoke at last.
“It’s been more than two years since I took responsibility for Simhyangru’s security. A lot of men have come and gone in that time. Some of them tried to pester the courtesans, and some were caught stealing from the pavilion. What do you think happened to those men? Did we hand them over to the authorities? No. I’m not nearly kind enough to show mercy to trash who dirtied the name of our Yongcheon Escort Agency...”
The purpose of his long-winded intimidation was obvious enough.
When a swordsman of uncertain background was being used, you always had to watch your back, even if only once or twice. If you intended to keep him beneath you, the need was even greater.
How many men who chose to swing a blade and kill for a living, rather than work honestly and sweat for their pay, were actually decent?
The majority of martial artists were rotten at heart or criminals with filthy intentions. No one knew when the human face would be stripped away, or where a blade might turn next.
If I caused trouble here, the punishment wouldn’t end with me alone.
Since he was the chief of security in name and title, Jo Gyeong-jik would not be able to escape blame either.
He would hardly welcome the idea of pulling guards off duty to send them on escort jobs and filling the empty posts with the likes of random wandering blades.
Even Pung Gang-ik, who had confidently declared there would be no problem because we had only sparred once, would probably have answered differently if he had been sitting in that chair.
The fierceness in Jo Gyeong-jik’s harsh tone and expression was not hostility toward me, though it carried the shape of it.
A man at the level of escort leader might not have low martial skill, but he didn’t seem strong enough to suppress me outright.
What he was really worried about was whether he could control some young hothead with real talent, someone skilled enough to fight Pung Gang-ik evenly.
In a situation like this, there was only one thing I could do.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I lowered my head and gave him a polite clasped-fist salute.
Seeing me respond so obediently, without any sign of irritation, Jo Gyeong-jik finally let out a breath and waved a hand dismissively.
“I’ll be watching. Change into the uniform and take over from the day shift.”
*
Once the sun went down and dusk settled in, lit blue lanterns were hung from the eight-story pavilion. They were bright like flowers blooming at night, arranged with some style and without vulgarity, but no matter how they dressed it up, it was still a pleasure house.
Watching the people moving briskly about to prepare for the guests, I suddenly grew curious.
What kind of men came here to drink?
Seochon had prospered enough that I barely recognized it anymore, but it still didn’t seem like the sort of town that could support a place like this on sheer local business.
Fortunately, my curiosity was answered quickly.
“None of Simhyangru’s customers are from Seochon. They’re all men with a bit of weight from nearby cities, coming out for a jaunt and then turning into regulars.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m telling you. There are rich merchants’ sons, too, and plenty of young masters from all sorts of prominent families. However they’ve done it, even the prefect and other high officials stop by now and then. You know the Black Night Gang shakes down merchants for protection money, right?”
“I’ve heard.”
“The officials know too. They just pretend not to. A portion of that protection money makes its way to the yamen as well. But Simhyangru is the exception. The officials keep a special eye on this place because they don’t want anything reaching the prefect’s ears that might bother him. That’s why the Black Night Gang doesn’t dare show its face around here. Thanks to that, our work’s a lot easier...”
The senior guard assigned to the night shift with me was a slick-looking escort in his forties.
His name was Bang Jo-in.
He was the kind of ordinary blowhard who lived off bragging and chatter, the sort you found in every crowd.
Bang Jo-in and I pushed open the front gate of Simhyangru and took our places on either side to begin the night watch.
Where were you from, how old were you, and on and on. Bang Jo-in’s questions had no end.
Only after I played along with him for a while and then turned the conversation back toward Simhyangru did I finally manage to escape his barrage.
Bang Jo-in licked his lips as though he’d been waiting for the chance, then launched into another long-winded lecture.
“That pavilion over there on the left side of the eight-story building is the ingredient storehouse. Behind it’s the servants’ quarters, and then there are the outbuildings lined up farther back... There’s nothing much to see in the other places, but if you can avoid it, don’t go anywhere near the annex at the far right corner of the wall.”
“Is there some problem there?”
“That’s where the guests stay.”
“Guests?”
Bang Jo-in lowered his voice, glancing through the open gate.
“They’re men the proprietor has taken in. All martial artists from out of town. Their job is to eat and practice their blade work in the annex. They all look rough as hell and have the worst damn temperaments. If you even pass nearby, they’ll accuse you of spying on their techniques and try to gouge your eyes out with a saber. Damn it, the wall’s so high you can’t even see in, but they still look for excuses to hassle people for no reason.”
“There are guest martial artists, and the proprietor still left security to Yongcheon Escort Agency?”
Bang Jo-in snorted.
“You ever seen guest martial artists who were steady and conscientious about anything? If you posted men like that with murderous faces in front of a pleasure house, the customers would run for the hills. There’s also the Black Road nearby, so it’s better to keep them close and use them.”
Thinking of the sects and families that had hired blade-wielders before, I could see the point.
No matter how short you were on strength and had to rely on outside help, you still needed to possess enough force to defend yourself.
If you didn’t, you were eaten alive.
Whatever relationship Yongcheon Escort Agency had with them, I doubted the proprietor was pleased about depending on outside power.
If things went wrong, he could lose Simhyangru.
In that sense, keeping a few trustworthy masters nearby, men he could put to work as he pleased, was only natural.
“Want me to show you something interesting?”
Bang Jo-in’s voice suddenly turned sly. While I watched in silence, he pulled something from his robes.
“Know what this is?”
“...Looks like a set of dice pieces.”
“That’s right. You play?”
“No.”
“Good heavens, young man, what’s the point of living if you don’t enjoy a good game? Do you know how many pips this is?”
“It’s five.”
“Right. Five pips. Keep your eyes open and watch closely.”
Bang Jo-in stuffed the dice piece into his right hand, kneaded it there for a few moments as if he were about to show me something miraculous, and then opened his hand again.
It had become eight.
“Well? Pretty good, right?”
Seeing the dumbfounded laugh on my face, Bang Jo-in grinned with smug satisfaction.
In this world, some of the men who got stabbed to death after irritating other people were blowhards. Some of the men who met a violent end while coveting another man’s purse strings were gamblers.
Bang Jo-in was both. A blowhard and a gambler.
He strutted about, showing off a pitiful trick that wouldn’t have fooled anyone at a backwater country gambling den.