Shadow in the Candlelight
In a detached pavilion placed at their disposal within Bamboo Forest Manor, Dong Seol-ah dropped her teacup onto the table with a sharp clack, her face full of displeasure.
"Brother, I can't bear this any longer. Grandfather's grand design has been held up for thirteen years, all because of that one sickly Ouyang Qiangang!"
Across the table, Dong Ha-jin went on savoring his tea in calm silence. He replied without so much as lifting his eyes.
"Don't be hasty, Seol-ah. Everything has its proper order. Even Grandfather is content to wait, is he not?"
"Order? Why take the long way around when the shortest road is right in front of us?" Dong Seol-ah pressed on in a sharp voice, as though the answer defied comprehension. "Tonight, if I have the man I brought with me quietly dispose of Ouyang Qiangang, everything becomes simple. Gu-yang Cheon-gi would step naturally into the position of Young Clan Head, and digging out the secret of the Treasure Map Grandfather desires so badly would become far easier as well."
At that, Dong Ha-jin set down his teacup and looked at his sister with eyes that found her pitiable.
"Foolish talk. If Ouyang Qiangang were to die the very night we arrived here, who do you suppose Gu-yang Baek would suspect first?"
Dong Seol-ah answered with a sneer.
"And what if he does? He has no evidence. What could he possibly do to us, the direct bloodline of Gold Pagoda Mountain Manor?"
Dong Ha-jin clicked his tongue.
"Fallen though the clan may be, he is still the head of the Ouyang Clan. Underestimate him carelessly, and it may cost you dearly."
"You speak far too generously of this Gu-yang Baek, Brother."
Open contempt for Gu-yang Baek dripped from Dong Seol-ah's voice.
"From what I could see, he looked like nothing more than a dog whose home had become a house of mourning. Ho ho."
Dong Ha-jin let out a long sigh.
He knew all too well that his sister was clever, and that her arrogance clouded her judgment at exactly such moments.
"Do nothing reckless, Seol-ah. This matter must proceed slowly and surely, precisely as Grandfather has planned. I won't say it twice. Do you understand?"
Dong Ha-jin warned in a stern voice.
Dong Seol-ah nodded with fine obedience, but there was nothing in her eyes that intended to heed a single word her brother said.
Back in his room, Ouyang Qiangang gave his body a light shake, clasped the jade statue in one hand, sat down, and folded himself into a full lotus position.
The chill rising from deep inside his chest made it hard even to breathe. He ran the upgraded Transcendent Heart Sutra Plus, guiding the statue's warm energy down into the Qihai point of his lower abdomen. As he circulated the faintest thread of qi with 4-2-6 breathing, his chest, which had felt as though it would freeze solid, gradually warmed.
"Whew……"
Finishing the circulation, Ouyang Qiangang exhaled a long breath and opened his eyes.
This body is a real piece of shit……
On Earth, chronic exhaustion from his research had worn him down, but his body had been a healthy one. He jogged every morning, and over his lunch breaks he put in an hour or so at the gym in the basement of the lab. Research was a war of stamina; without that kind of upkeep, a man could collapse right at his bench.
Unlike those days, this boy's body was so frail that a strong gust of wind seemed capable of carrying it off. A few steps left him gasping, and cold crept through every corner of him at all hours; even trying to look on the bright side, that was not easy to accept.
Then Akasha's voice sounded.
The Transcendent Heart Sutra Plus is performing very well. The intensity of the cold has dropped by 2 percent.
So that's why, then — my symptoms do seem to be fading little by little. My stamina seems to be picking up a bit, too.
Correct. It is not a cure, but symptom management is now firmly within our grasp. Your overall condition measures as improved by roughly 7 percent.
Akasha continued in a bright tone.
Doctor, I believe I've uncovered the secret encoded in the patterns of the jade statue.
Oh!
Ouyang Qiangang let out a cry of delight and broke into a wide grin.
Uploading the analysis results as a visual feed.
With her words, a space of pure white unfolded inside Ouyang Qiangang's brain like a cinema screen — a mental world of Akasha's making. There, the person-tall jade statue of the Cloth-Bag Buddha appeared, and then, as if electric lamps were being switched on one by one, the patterns across its surface lit up in sequence, washing over in blue.
Curiously, though, the light varied in strength. Ouyang Qiangang caught the meaning at once.
So that's the order to press the patterns in — and the differences in how hard?
Precisely. These patterns are presumed to function as a kind of password system.
A password?
Yes. Just as I've shown you, the hidden secret will reveal itself only when each part of the pattern is pressed in a specific sequence, with specific pressure.
Ouyang Qiangang's eyes gleamed.
Then what happens once the password is entered?
Something will most likely activate or be revealed, but what exactly, we won't know until it is actually attempted. I can detect that another layer lies hidden beneath the statue's surface; what is inside it, I have not been able to determine.
So it's a complete unknown.
Correct. It is a craft of this world, and my analytical capabilities still have limits here.
Ouyang Qiangang turned the statue over in his hands as he spoke.
On the outside it's just a carved figure, but something is actually hidden inside it?
That is correct.
Could it have something to do with my illness?
Hard to say… The Ten-Thousand-Year Warm Jade was given to you because it helps with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, so this may be an extension of the same intent — but what it is, we will only know once it is opened.
Ouyang Qiangang sank into thought.
A password hidden this elaborately — did Dong Yeon-hwa or Dong Hyeon-do know about it?
I don't believe so. If they had known, they would have explained its use from the start. All they said was 'keep it on your person at all times,' was it not? Most likely they, too, think of it as nothing more than a jade statue.
Gripping the statue tight, Ouyang Qiangang said,
Either way, the curiosity is killing me. I'm entering the password right now.
Akasha reined him in.
Doctor, I would prefer you approach the input with more care.
Why? Have you detected some danger?
Not that I have detected — but a secret hidden this elaborately may well carry a security mechanism to keep it from being opened carelessly. Enter it incorrectly, and it could self-destruct, or lock itself permanently.
Ouyang Qiangang furrowed his brow.
I recommend re-verifying the pattern through repeated simulations and waiting until the probability of success exceeds 95 percent. It currently stands at 83 percent.
Hm… that's still a fairly high number, isn't it?
Doctor, if it fails, the damage may be beyond undoing. Better to be certain.
Ouyang Qiangang looked down at the statue, disappointment written across his face.
Fine. Then how much longer do I have to wait?
I can crack it by noon tomorrow. Possibly sooner. Once I have analyzed the patterns down to their finest details, I will be able to derive the password with better than 99 percent accuracy.
Nothing to be done, then. I'll wait.
Thank you, Doctor.
When he turned his head toward the window, darkness stared back at him. While he had been absorbed in the statue, night had fallen without his noticing.
Hwang Nodae brought in his supper.
"Young Master, it would be best to retire early tonight. Entertaining those guests all day must have worn you thin."
"You're right. I really am tired."
Ouyang Qiangang smiled bitterly to himself. The physical exhaustion was no small thing, but the fatigue of the mind felt several times heavier.
After Hwang Nodae withdrew, Ouyang Qiangang finished his meal and sat down at his desk.
You're not going to rest?
The time this body has left is short. I can't go stretching it out just because I'm tired.
Ouyang Qiangang opened a book.
The body's original owner had evidently been a man of wide-ranging tastes: the shelves held volumes spanning every field — humanities, history, astronomy, fate calculation, architecture, medicine, botany, and beyond. Ouyang Qiangang devoured them at an astonishing pace.
Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip—
It looked like nothing more than page-turning, but the reality was entirely different. He was committing the contents to memory in full — and comprehending them as he went.
Akasha, thanks to you, I feel like a supergenius.
You were always a genius, Doctor.
Not to this degree. Without your information processing and analysis fused with me, results like this would be impossible.
That plays its part, but the body's original owner also seems to have possessed an uncommon intellect. Signal transmission between neurons, synaptic activity, the connectivity of the brain's networks — all of it is exceptional.
You mean its global connectivity and local efficiency are outstanding?
Yes. This brain is optimized so that its neural networks can process information quickly and efficiently. I am condensing and analyzing the books' contents and delivering them in optimized form, but watching the brain take it all in without strain says plenty on its own.
So a child with a gift that precious died.
Perhaps think of it as living again as you, Doctor.
Sure, sure.
Then it happened.
Ouyang Qiangang felt the yellow candle flame beside his bookshelf tremble, ever so slightly. A flame flickering with no wind to stir it could only mean one thing—
> Doctor! Danger!
In the same instant the warning rang out, Ouyang Qiangang raised his head. A masked man of powerful build stood before him. Wrapped head to toe in black night clothes, eyes glinting with killing intent, the intruder was like death's own shadow.
In a flash the candle died, and the room sank into perfect darkness.
"Who—"
Ouyang Qiangang had barely begun to ask when the masked man, giving no answer, thrust out a fully open palm.
Vwoooom—
An invisible, formless palm force tore through the air with a faint crack and shot toward Ouyang Qiangang's chest. Akasha's desperate warning hammered through his mind.
> Doctor! Danger! High-density energy signature inbound! Evade immediately!
He wanted to dodge, but a body this sickly was never going to move as he willed it. Before the warning had even finished, the formless force, laden with a chilling killing intent, struck his chest dead center.
BAM!
Khak……!
An impact like a blow from a colossal hammer — and searing pain lanced through every inch of Ouyang Qiangang's body. In the instant his consciousness was dragged down into the dark, he seemed to faintly catch Akasha's final, fragmentary cry.
> Emergency… protocol… forced… exec——
Ouyang Qiangang lost consciousness then and there, his body flying like a sheet of paper, slamming into the wall, and tumbling to the floor together with the bookshelf.
CRASH—!
Bright red blood poured from his mouth and nose like water from a spring.
The masked man was just moving in to confirm whether his target lived or died—
BANG!
The door burst open, and Hwang Nodae appeared.
"Young Master!"
At the sight of Ouyang Qiangang collapsed and coughing up blood from mouth and nose, sparks flew from the old man's eyes.
"How dare you lay a hand on the Young Master!"
With that furious roar, a terrifying killing intent erupted from his entire body. The aged, powerless servant of ordinary days was gone without a trace — as if some sleeping beast had awakened.
"Hmph!"
The masked man snorted and flung another palm force at Hwang Nodae.
But Hwang Nodae was no Ouyang Qiangang.
Shwaaaaah—
From his right hand burst a crimson energy seething with dreadful heat, and it stripped the masked man's palm force of its power in a single stroke.
"Wha—!"
While the masked man was still reeling, Hwang Nodae was already driving his fist forward.
"Twenty years I have endured… but today, I cannot!"
SHWAAAK!
Hwang Nodae's fist flew straight for the masked man's chest.
BAM!
The moment fist met palm, the masked man rode the rebound and flung himself toward the window. His objective was already accomplished; there was no reason to trade blows with an opponent he had never planned for.
"Why you—!"
Hwang Nodae moved to give chase, but the intruder was already through the window, melting into the darkness.
Shweeee—
Hwang Nodae ground his teeth and clenched his fist — then, worried for Ouyang Qiangang, abandoned the pursuit.
"Young Master! Young Master! Stay with me!"
He gathered Ouyang Qiangang, whose breathing had grown faint and shallow, into his arms. A short while later, as if by a miracle, the young man let out a low groan, and his eyes slowly opened.
"Nnnggh……"
The haze clouding his eyes little by little sharpened into focus.
"Hwang… Nodae……?"
Like a voice carried from somewhere very far away, thin and crackling with static, Akasha's words flowed into his consciousness.
> System stabilizing… disengaging nanobot system defense……