The Female Knight-Errant
The corridor leading into the inner quarters felt as dark as a tiger’s den. It was like walking with a hand clamped around my throat.
“...Why are you looking for me?”
Tang Hye-seo answered with perfect calm. “Nothing much. I told them what happened at the black market, and they said they had a few questions for you.”
My aunt was alone in her room, reading a book.
I handed my broadsword to Tang Hye-seo and stepped inside. The door closed behind me.
“Sit.”
A teacup had already been set across from the table, warm steam rising from it as if it had only just been poured.
Forcing my reluctant hands to move, I picked up the cup.
This middle-aged woman of high station saw me as nothing more than a stray ronin. If she needed to, she would probably use poison without a second thought.
But not yet. There was no reason to go to all this trouble just to kill some insignificant wanderer.
I brought the cup to my lips and took a sip.
My nerves were too wound tight for me to tell what it tasted like. I didn’t know the tea’s variety either, but it was enough that it wasn’t poisoned.
“It has a pleasant fragrance.”
Maybe she liked the boldness I’d shown. My aunt’s cold expression seemed to soften a little.
“So you’re from Seochon?”
“Yes. I became an orphan when I was young, drifted around for years, and came back this spring.”
“...Homesickness for your old home, then?”
My aunt nodded, her face faintly wistful.
Huh?
I tilted my head at the odd sense of dissonance. No, it was more than that — it was déjà vu.
I had heard the exact same words from someone before. Even the tone, the expression, and the little motion of the head were just like it.
Probably a coincidence.
Returning to the old hill first was a phrase people often used to speak of longing for home.
And people who carried that kind of longing often wore the same look and moved in much the same way.
“Hye-seo is sharp and curious. I don’t know how she ended up taking an interest in you, but...”
My aunt toyed with the teacup and studied me closely, as though trying to discover what about my face had drawn her niece’s attention.
I couldn’t avoid her gaze, so I met it head-on.
Her face was that of a woman fading into middle age, the traces of age spots and fine lines impossible to hide, but the remnants of a beauty that must once have been dazzling were still vivid.
Perhaps because we were family, there was even a faint resemblance between her eyes and nose and Tang Hye-seo’s.
My aunt spoke slowly. “Martial artists are the sort who want to roam the world freely and live without restraint. Female knights-errant are no different. They all want to break free of the duties and conventions placed on a daughter of the clan and fly wherever they please. That’s only natural. They were born into martial families too, after all, and have trained in martial arts since childhood so they could grow strong...”
I had never seen a woman among the ronin in any city I visited.
The harsh underworld, teeming with dark men like a nest of vermin, was no place women could endure.
The female knights-errant I did see were mostly daughters of martial families, and even when they traveled the jianghu, they never went alone.
From filthy martial artists with lust in their nicknames to every sort of black-market thug, wastrel, ruffian, and even bandit, there was no shortage of men looking to prey on a female knight-errant.
“The path of a female knight-errant is different from the women of noble families, who sit quietly embroidering until they’re married off to some man they’ve never even met. They never know when or how things will turn, so they’re honest about their feelings, bolder than men, and sometimes even throw themselves willingly into a place where death is waiting. Do you understand what I mean?”
I didn’t. But I couldn’t exactly say that, so I stayed silent and listened.
“As for playing with fire, that’s the business of the people involved, so it’s none of my concern. What I do care about is making sure you don’t bring shame or harm to the Tang Clan. If you keep acting carelessly, there’ll be no point in blaming me later...”
I was so stunned by what I was hearing that I wondered if I’d misheard her. I’d never imagined I’d hear something like this in a room like this.
I had no idea how I was supposed to react, or what I was supposed to say. It didn’t even sound like she wanted an answer.
My aunt had already made up her mind. She was simply informing me.
As I sat there in a daze, I heard movement outside.
“Aunt, the black-market merchant is here.”
“Bring him in.”
The door opened, and Tang family men came in escorting a small middle-aged man.
Salt smugglers and opium dealers usually did their work in the field, so they were all vicious looking to a fault.
They had to tangle with men who’d draw steel in the middle of a transaction and cut down traitors too, so without some personal fighting skill, they wouldn’t survive.
Among black-market merchants, there were indeed a few notorious bastards like Choi Sa-deuk.
But most of them were just businessmen, like the herb dealer in the black market, defending their shops and making a profit.
This black-market merchant who had come here on his own after being exposed in the pursuit looked nothing like a martial artist, neither in appearance nor in the aura he gave off.
With a stiff, frozen face, the merchant folded his hands and bowed.
“I am Mo Seok, and I run a business in Baekgye-hyeon.”
“You had the audacity to use tracking incense on a Tang family member. I assume you were prepared for the consequences?”
Mo Seok looked every bit like a man who’d spent his life writing ledgers rather than swinging a blade, and he pointed at me at once, trying to deny everything.
“It’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t use it on a Tang family member. I only scattered a little on that man there. He isn’t from the Tang Clan, is he?”
So the Tang Clan really did frighten him that much.
When Tang Hye-seo and I were together, he hadn’t dared come near us for fear of what might happen afterward, so instead he’d sent some half-baked drunkard when I was alone.
If Tang Hye-seo had been there when he used the tracking incense, she would have noticed instantly. He probably hadn’t had a choice.
Tang Hye-seo suddenly cut in from the side. Mo Seok flinched and turned his head.
“The tracking dog that followed us is outside, yes?”
“Yes, but why...”
“Hand him over to the main house as an apology. He doesn’t seem to have been trained properly anyway, so it won’t be much of a loss. Songhu, go bring Hwangho in.”
Before the owner had even agreed, the Tang family man receiving the order left the inner room.
Mo Seok only looked around in embarrassment. He didn’t dare refuse, not with guilt already weighing on him.
My aunt’s interrogation resumed.
“Why did you lay tracking incense on him and follow him?”
“I thought I’d speak to him quietly. There are too many eyes in Baekgye-hyeon...”
“Were you planning to figure out where we were gathering and then place a bounty with the Assassin Society?”
Mo Seok went pale and waved his hands frantically.
“Absolutely not! I’m only a black-market merchant. I have no grudge against the Tang Clan at all...”
“Don’t try to lie to me!”
My aunt, suddenly flaring up, hurled the teacup.
The cup struck Mo Seok in the chest. He trembled with fear and froze solid. Tea spilled across his robe, staining it dark.
My aunt let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair.
“...I went too far. Go change your clothes.”
“I-I’m fine. It’ll dry if I leave it.”
“Hye-seo, give him another set of clothes.”
Even though the merchant tried to refuse, my aunt didn’t even pretend to hear him. Mo Seok was practically dragged out by force.
My aunt took out a fresh teacup and poured another serving. Her face and manner were calm again, as if the outburst had never happened.
It seemed the thrown cup hadn’t been a mistake.
What was she aiming for?
A search of his body would have been done outside.
Was she trying to seize the upper hand before the real conversation began?
In the lair of the Tang family, infamous as it was, being stripped of even one’s clothes would first bring shame and humiliation — and after that, the fear would only deepen.
After a while, Mo Seok returned in clothes provided by the Tang Clan.
Plain martial attire, nothing special, but the fact that it matched the robes worn by the Tang family men standing behind him carried a rather ominous meaning.
Maybe while dressing him, they had whispered that if he behaved himself, the Tang Clan might take him under its shadow.
For a black-market merchant, that wouldn’t have been a bad deal at all if he could really align himself with the Tang Clan.
I wasn’t sure whether this was just the way they always did things or whether everything was proceeding with practiced ease, but this old female knight-errant’s calculations were anything but ordinary.
It was clear she wasn’t simply leading this affair because of her status.
“Sit and speak.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
As Mo Seok cautiously settled into the seat I had just vacated, a fresh teacup was placed before him.
My aunt asked, “Where is the letter-carrying pigeon sent by the black-market merchant in Sichuan?”
Mo Seok’s expression had somehow grown much more at ease as he answered, “It’s true that I’ve exchanged messages by pigeon with a black-market merchant named Gye Yeong in Sichuan from time to time. But I haven’t heard from him this year. The last time we were in contact was last autumn...”
My aunt raised a hand, stopping him, then turned to me.
“You can go now. From here on, this is the Tang Clan’s business.”
I’d been waiting for an excuse to slip away anyway, so I quickly cupped my hands in salute and stepped outside.
I let out a long breath.
Even with the cold wind on my face, my restless thoughts refused to settle. As I stared up at the half moon hanging in the night sky, the things my aunt had said tangled together in my head without order or pattern.
What on earth had Tang Hye-seo said about me to make my aunt say something like that?
I wandered aimlessly for a while, then suddenly came to my senses. Tang family guards were posted all over the back garden.
I didn’t have anyone actively hostile to me here, but just knowing there were poisons and hidden weapons nearby made me uneasy.
I ought to head back soon.
Scratching my head, I turned around.
Tang Hye-seo was in one corner of the garden, petting Hwangho.
Whatever she’d done, the dog that hadn’t come within a hundred paces of anyone earlier was now lying on its back, panting with its belly exposed.
“The Tang Clan has plenty of tracking dogs too, doesn’t it?”
“It does.”
Tang Hye-seo rubbed Hwangho’s belly with mischievous hands.
“This one’s a failure. It likes people too much, so it’s not very good at staying loyal to an assignment. That black-market merchant probably got hold of some tracking incense by chance and tried to train it himself, clumsily. Even if we take it back to the main house, it’ll probably get pushed aside by the other tracking dogs and eventually be put down.”
“Then why ask for it?”
It couldn’t simply be because Hwangho was cute. There were plenty of stray dogs in Seochon too.
Once they’d gotten used to people, it wasn’t hard to win them over by tossing a bit of food. If you were willing to walk around a little, you could get yourself a puppy or two.
Tang Hye-seo kept stroking Hwangho and turned her head toward the inner room, her eyes thoughtful.
“If that black-market merchant, Mo Seok, has been lying to us or is still hiding something, then this little fellow will have to step in. He’s been sniffing the owner’s scent for a long time, so no matter where he hides, it’ll find him in no time.”
It was a level of calculation that left me speechless. Using the tracking dog that had followed us to track the merchant himself.
“I’ve also sealed the clothes the merchant was wearing so the scent won’t escape, so I doubt we’ll lose him. Since he likes people, he’ll probably be thrilled to lead us straight to his old master.”
Had she planned to splash tea on him and take his clothes from the start? Tang Hye-seo and my aunt weren’t just alike in appearance.
The more I listened, the more uneasy I felt.
“What should I do about the tracking incense on my clothes?”
Tang Hye-seo took a small bamboo tube from her bosom.
“Dissolve this in water, soak the clothes thoroughly, and wash them. The tracking scent should disappear. You should wash yourself too, while you’re at it.”
Her business was finished, and now I could go back.
I patted Hwangho on the head and was about to stand when I hesitated.
Had Tang Hye-seo heard what my aunt said to me from outside?
“What is it?”
Since I kept staring at her, Tang Hye-seo tilted her head.
“...Nothing. Let’s talk later.”
Shaking my head, I left the detached building and headed home.
The next day, I met Bok Ha-gyu at the ronin inn.
Maybe because blood had only just been spilled, Black Night Gang men were lined up thickly outside the inn and all through the first floor.
The innkeeper gave me a tearful look, but this wasn’t something I could do anything about.
“You really finished off the Blood Evil Gang?”
“It’s done.”
“Seeing the guards this tight, I’m guessing there are still leftovers.”
Bok Ha-gyu gave a bitter smile around his teacup.
“What can you do? I can’t go chasing after every last one of them just because they jumped a wall in the middle of the night and ran.”
“I heard in Baekgye-hyeon that their hall master was the biological older brother of the Blood Evil Gang leader.”
“You mean that rigid old man with the white beard?”
“You know him?”
Bok Ha-gyu nodded calmly.
“Back when he was young, he was a blade-wielding thug called Blood Yaksha. He and his younger brother used to cut people up together for one of the black-path factions in Hunan, then he killed the gang leader and swallowed the whole organization. After that, he drifted here.”
“Did you kill him?”
Bok Ha-gyu scratched his chin with a troubled look.
“I cut off one arm all the way to the shoulder, so he’s probably dead. I gave him a slash in the stomach too. He’d gotten pretty old since the last time we met. Still, for a vicious bastard, his saber technique was sharp enough.”
“Then he might still be alive.”
“Even if he is, he’s on borrowed time. At that age, a man can barely survive a cold without wheezing himself to death, and he’s lost an arm on top of it. He won’t last.”
“Did you get what you wanted?”
“I did. Want to take a look?”
Bok Ha-gyu studied me as if testing me.
“Let’s see it.”
Bok Ha-gyu took a book from his robes. Nothing was written on the cover. I took it from him, opened it, and read the first page.
The first page revealed the origins of the Internal Energy Cultivation Method.