The Gilded Guests
The following afternoon, Ouyang Qiangang was deep in his analysis of the pattern carved into the pavilion's rooftop when it happened.
The front courtyard of the Ouyang Clan Manor erupted into an uproar.
Tling-tling—
Ta-da-da-da-da—
A crisp chime of bells rang out over the frenzied clatter of horseshoes.
What's going on out there?
Ouyang Qiangang moved to the window. The annex where he lodged stood on high ground, commanding a clear view of the front courtyard below.
Clop-clop— clop-clop—
Through the weathered front gate of the Ouyang Clan Manor rolled a carriage that carried extravagance to its very limit, escorted by four mounted warriors.
Trimmed in gold ornament from end to end, the carriage blazed dazzlingly in the sunlight, and the horses themselves gleamed as though every hair on their coats had been polished. The mere clothing of the driver and his guards would have amply covered a month's living expenses for the entire Ouyang household.
What's with these people?
"Doctor, the crest of Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor is engraved clearly on the carriage."
Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor... isn't that Dong Yeon-hwa's maiden house?
"That is correct."
A young man and woman, both looking to be around twenty, stepped down from the carriage.
The man wore a long blue silk robe whose luster and delicate embroidery marked it at a glance as a masterpiece ordinary people would struggle to glimpse even once in their lifetimes. The woman, for her part, was dressed in resplendent pink silks, the jeweled hairpins adorning her hair scattering rainbow light beneath the sun.
Every glance, every gesture overflowed with the arrogance of those who believed themselves chosen, exceptional beings.
And in the eyes with which they surveyed the Ouyang Clan Manor lay a coldness, and a subtle contempt, they could not have hidden no matter how they tried.
Ouyang Qiangang — thirty-eight years old on the inside — could hardly have failed to notice the atmosphere radiating off them.
He furrowed his brow.
Kids who seem determined to advertise their golden-spoon birth with every inch of themselves... God, they're insufferable.
"This is a world where a hierarchy of wealth and power is rigidly maintained. People from a house of Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor's caliber belong, from the moment of birth, to the very top of that order."
Don't talk as if that's unique to this place. Earth wasn't so different.
"That is true... but still."
Ouyang Qiangang murmured inwardly with a wry smile.
So the bluster-filled brats came calling... I've got a feeling something annoying is about to start.
Before long, the clan's chief steward, Cho In-chung, came hurrying out and ushered the pair inside.
Then, not long after, Hwang Nodae's voice sounded outside Ouyang Qiangang's door.
"Young Master, guests have arrived from Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor. The Patriarch requests that you come and attend him."
Ouyang Qiangang opened the door and faced him, tilting his head.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"No doubt so that you may exchange greetings with the cousins who have come to visit after so long an absence."
Ouyang Qiangang asked nothing further and stepped out of his room.
Hwang Nodae, walking at his side, spoke up.
"Young Master, the visitors from Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor are the grandchildren of Old Lord Dong, and, as I mentioned earlier, they are your cousins."
"And?"
"Think twice before voicing what is on your mind."
"Why would I need to do that?"
Hwang Nodae asked with a bewildered expression.
"Have you perhaps forgotten, Young Master, in what straits the clan currently finds itself?"
"That's right — my headaches have been so bad lately that things keep slipping my mind. So walk me through it, Nodae."
"Haah..."
The state of the Ouyang Clan Manor, as laid out by the sighing Hwang Nodae, was wretched.
Through the Orthodox-Demonic Great War, the clan had rapidly lost the fields and wealth it had once possessed. Had Gu-yang Baek not married Dong Yeon-hwa after the death of Seol Hyang, his first wife, and drawn on the support of his father-in-law Dong Hyeon-do, the main family would not have held on at all.
More than that — the thirty-odd warriors guarding the manor and the twenty-odd servants and maids were, at present, all on Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor's payroll, and their monthly wages came from there as well. He had known the clan had fallen on hard times, but he had never imagined it was this dire. Ouyang Qiangang's mouth fell open.
So this... the Ouyang Clan is a name and nothing more. In practice we're a colonial(?) family living under Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor's thumb...
Having finished his brief account, Hwang Nodae said,
"Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor does not regard this clan with goodwill alone. I would ask that you avoid giving them any grounds to find fault with you, Young Master."
"Understood. I'll be careful."
Arriving at the main hall, Ouyang Qiangang found the flamboyantly dressed couple from the carriage seated across from Gu-yang Baek and Dong Yeon-hwa.
Dong Yeon-hwa looked as composed as ever, and Gu-yang Baek's face was utterly blank.
And yet Ouyang Qiangang sensed that something about the two of them was strained.
Just then, the young woman turned to him with a smile.
"Cheon-gang, little cousin! Have you been well?"
Her tone was as gentle as her expression, but far from putting him at ease, it left Ouyang Qiangang feeling vaguely disgusted.
This woman... she's smiling, but not a trace of it reaches her eyes. If I'd run into her anywhere else, I'd have sworn she was a psychopath.
"I understand your displeasure, Doctor, but that characterization is rather..."
I can't help being blunt. That's a textbook psycho smile. You're telling me it doesn't look like one to you?
"It does... look somewhat like one."
Then the woman's next words drilled into his ears.
"It's been so long, hasn't it? Nearly three years now? But my — you've grown even thinner than before, and so gaunt. Seeing you like this truly breaks my heart. Aunt and Uncle must be worried sick over you."
Beside her, the young man chimed in with a theatrical sigh.
"She's right, Cheon-gang, my dear cousin. Even three years ago your illness looked anything but light. This Nine Yin Severed Meridians is a truly fearsome affliction. For the eldest son of a prestigious clan to lie so sickly — I shudder to imagine where the family's future is headed."
As the two of them carried on as though they knew him intimately, Ouyang Qiangang hurriedly rifled through his memories.
Fragmentary recollections involving the pair surfaced in his mind.
Ah, right. Dong Ha-jin and Dong Seol-ah... Dong Hyeon-do's grandchildren... They strike me as even more arrogant than when this body's original owner last met them.
Even within the ten percent of his memories that Akasha had restored, these two were filed under 'troublesome people to deal with.'
Of course, Ouyang Qiangang betrayed none of it, returning their greeting with a respectful cupped-fist salute.
"Brother Ha-jin, Sister Seol-ah. It has been far too long. You must have had an exhausting journey."
Dong Seol-ah raised her sleeve delicately to her lips and let out a refined trill of laughter.
"Hoho, our Cheon-gang is as courteous as ever."
Dong Ha-jin followed her lead, giving Ouyang Qiangang a leisurely once-over from head to toe.
It was an unpleasant gaze — that of an appraiser inspecting a rare but defective piece.
"Cheon-gang, our grandfather exerts himself on every front for your recovery, so don't despair too deeply. Miracles, after all, have a way of arriving at the moments least expected."
These two are descendants of a merchant house and nobody ever taught them to manage their expressions? Who's supposed to be convinced by words delivered with faces that fake?
But outwardly, Ouyang Qiangang put on the look of a man deeply moved.
"I am deeply grateful for such undeserved concern from my grandfather and from you both, but there is truly no need to trouble yourselves over me. My father and mother are already laboring devotedly on my behalf."
Dong Seol-ah turned to Dong Yeon-hwa, her tone suddenly weighted with meaning.
"Aunt, Grandfather asked me especially to convey his regards to you."
For an instant, Dong Yeon-hwa's expression stiffened almost imperceptibly, then smoothed back into a gentle smile.
"I see... Give Father my thanks for his concern."
"Doctor, the micro-muscles of Dong Yeon-hwa's face are not in agreement with her vocal frequency. She appears to be under severe psychological strain."
Why?
"I do not know. For all that I am a superintelligent AI, drawing conclusions from a total absence of data is beyond me."
You announce your ignorance with remarkable confidence.
Clicking his tongue, Ouyang Qiangang pressed on.
Considering Dong Yeon-hwa's reaction, those two didn't come here simply to see how their aunt's family is doing, did they?
"Correct. My assessment matches yours, Doctor."
Dong Ha-jin and Dong Seol-ah lost interest in Ouyang Qiangang and turned to trading words with Gu-yang Baek and Dong Yeon-hwa.
Ouyang Qiangang sat quietly in his seat, playing the part of a boy who understood nothing, while in truth he concentrated hard — reading the subtle trade of glances and the meanings buried between the lines of their conversation.
Then, at a certain moment, Akasha's voice rang through his head.
"The comprehensive analysis of Dong Ha-jin and Dong Seol-ah's language proficiency, logical progression, and the range and complexity of their vocabulary is complete."
Anything special?
"Both have completed a systematic higher education and can be judged to possess considerable intellectual ability. Furthermore, the acuity of their gazes and their capacity to hold their bodies in balance are far superior to an ordinary person's, which suggests they have trained in the martial arts to at least a certain level."
Ouyang Qiangang nodded inwardly.
Born with a golden spoon, you'd expect at least that much as standard equipment.
"The patterns evident in their speech and conduct suggest 'a sense of chosenness hardened by their environment' and 'a want of consideration for the positions of others.' Distinct from their intellect, their empathy and their flexibility in reading a situation may be sorely lacking."
In plain words — clever, but self-centered and emotionally stunted elite psychopaths?
"An extreme framing, Doctor — but an admirably concise summary."
Dong Ha-jin looked at Ouyang Qiangang once more and said,
"Cheon-gang, it must be stifling, shut up in the house because of your illness. Setting aside any part in the family's affairs, even tending your own health seems more than you can manage... tsk, tsk."
Dong Seol-ah chimed in, wearing the expression of someone rather enjoying herself.
"Exactly, brother. Father, too, always sighs whenever Cheon-gang comes up. 'I believed him timber fit to become the pillar of the Ouyang Clan, but the sickness has barred his road ahead — a truly lamentable thing,' he says."
Dong Ha-jin nodded along and took up the refrain.
"He does say such things often. With a body so frail, forget restoring the Ouyang Clan to its feet — the boy seems hard pressed even to look after himself. It is heartbreaking beyond all words."
Ouyang Qiangang kept his face perfectly calm, as though the meaning threaded through their words had sailed clean over his head.
Of course, his true thoughts were another matter.
These bastards are smiling while they pick at me? What do they stand to gain by baring their fangs at me like this?
"Doctor, hostility can be read in the deepest layer of their eyes."
I saw it too. Why on earth are they acting this way?
"Insufficient data prevents certainty... but they appear to harbor some other objective. This feels categorically different from mere rivalry or contempt."
Hm... mysterious.
But outwardly, he still wore nothing but a look of abashment and apology.
"My frail body causes the family worry on so many fronts. I, too, can only lament my own condition."
"Your acting grows more accomplished by the day, Doctor. At this level, you would pass with ease as a deep-cover operative for an intelligence agency."
Thirty-eight years of social experience doesn't just evaporate.
Then Dong Ha-jin cast a careful glance at Dong Yeon-hwa and said,
"Aunt, later... there is something I would like to discuss with you in private. Might I see you briefly, when you have a moment?"
Dong Yeon-hwa's expression froze for an instant before she answered.
"Enough of that. You have traveled a long way and must be tired. Go and rest."
She was plainly in no mood to let this uncomfortable atmosphere drag on.
Dong Ha-jin gave a small nod.
"Thank you for your consideration, Aunt. Grandfather has also bidden us to look more closely into the situation here. We will be imposing upon your hospitality for a few days."
Ouyang Qiangang's eyes deepened.
What's their angle, insisting on staying for days under a roof whose disgust for them is on open display?
He stole a glance at Gu-yang Baek.
The man wore his mask of blankness well, but deep within his eyes a bitter sorrow and a quiet shame drifted like silt.
Gu-yang Baek... when you put on a face like that, I can't help burning to know what those bastards are really here for — and what hidden weight you're carrying...
His mind held Gu-yang Baek and Dong Yeon-hwa at enough of a distance to call them by their bare names — but his heart's reaction was another story entirely.
His chest felt heavy, and it throbbed with a dull ache.
A wry smile surfaced at the corner of Ouyang Qiangang's mouth.
So even in death, the blood knows its own...