Even in Haste, Salvage What You Can
Ham Cheon-yeong and Kang Chu-mi exchanged a look. Ham Cheon-yeong, whose inner energy had yet to reach One Gapja and thus could not use Voice Transmission, quietly drew close and whispered.
"Our Big Brother's acting is something else, isn't it?"
"Yes, Second Brother. I'd say he's at least supporting-actor material for a Jianghu opera."
"From where I'm standing, that's a lead-actor performance."
The two of them smiled as they traded these words. Then they, too, slipped into their roles.
"Ah, what are we to do, Daoist Gojin?"
Kang Chu-mi began vigorously kneading the stump of Daoist Gojin's severed knee.
"Aaaagh! Don't touch it!"
Tears and snot streaming down his face, Daoist Gojin howled. A Qingcheng Sect disciple tore strips from his own robes and bound the wound with fierce, hurried wraps.
"Aaaargh!"
Daoist Gojin trembled in agony, staring down at himself as he shrieked.
"My leg! My leg! Give me back my leg!"
Hearing this, the Qingcheng disciple hurriedly scooped up the severed limb and brought it over.
"Aaaagh! You idiot!"
Without warning, Gojin struck the disciple square in the chest with his palm.
"Ghk!"
The Qingcheng disciple was sent flying a full zhang through the air and crashed to the ground. As if something had just occurred to him, Gojin shouted toward Dang Seol-yong.
"Miss Dang! Miss Dang!"
Dang Seol-yong regarded him without answering. Not a shred of pity showed in her eyes.
"The sleeping poison—please, poison me with the sleeping poison!"
Even in a moment like this, Daoist Gojin's petty cunning was working at a terrifying clip. Dang Seol-yong looked down at him in silence, then shook her head.
"Unfortunately, I used every last drop of the sleeping poison. I have none left."
At that, Daoist Gojin's screams only climbed higher.
"Th-then at least the paralysis herb! You must have paralysis herb!"
Paralysis herb was a medicinal anesthetic carried for treatment.
"That, too, is gone."
Both her answer and her gaze were ice-cold.
"Y-you're lying. Don't you lie to me! Hand it over this instant! If you don't, I'll kill you!"
When Gojin finally resorted to outright threats, the faces of the Qingcheng disciples went ashen. Seeing Dang Seol-yong's eyes turn glacial, one of the disciples approached Gojin and pressed several acupoints along his nape and skull.
"Martial Uncle, if you cannot bear it, this disciple will seal your sleep meridians."
Daoist Gojin's screams and shouts vanished, and silence settled over the Gwak Family Manor.
While everyone else performed, Seo Joo-cheon stood alone offstage.
The Undying Demon Hyeok Chung is at the Suo River? Then the traces the Mount Hua Sect tracking team found along the Suo River belong to the Undying Demon. Good God. Jang Hyeon-nam is in danger.
No matter how much protagonist buff Jang Hyeon-nam enjoyed, he could not defeat the Undying Demon Hyeok Chung, a Peak master. Rank was rank. A gap like that did not simply vanish because the story wished it so.
He'd be lucky just to survive on protagonist buff alone.
But this was not a novel. It was reality. And in reality, that disparity could not be closed. Seo Joo-cheon's mouth went dry.
Still—Jang Hyeon-nam might not even run into the Undying Demon. The Suo River isn't some ditch. The odds of the two of them crossing paths on a river that wide have to be slim.
He started rationalizing, trying to soothe himself. He had obtained the Three Harmonious Swords, but the ability only functioned properly once he possessed One Gapja of inner energy. Against small fry, the Time Dilation Authority took hold easily enough— yet even against someone of Mi-u's caliber, the window it opened was brief. Which meant that against a man with the Undying Demon's cultivation, the Time Dilation Authority might not activate at all.
He hadn't understood that while he was cutting down mediocre martial artists. Facing Mi-u had made it painfully clear. A bitter taste filled Seo Joo-cheon's mouth. If he had synchronized with the protagonist instead of Po Un, the Time Dilation Authority would have worked properly even against opponents of overwhelming inner energy.
This is no time to stand here thinking.
First he had to speak with Dang Seol-yong. He needed her help, whether she liked it or not.
"Miss Dang. As he died, a Macheon Chong warrior said the Undying Demon Hyeok Chung was on his way."
"The Undying Demon Hyeok Chung!"
Dang Seol-yong started at the name. The Undying Demon Hyeok Chung was one of the masters the Jianghu mentioned with uneasy regularity — a monster who did not die when run through with a sword, whose severed wrists grew back. The martial world claimed he had learned a devil's sorcery. Seo Joo-cheon knew the secret of that regeneration. He meant to obtain it and restore Dokgo Ho-in's arm. With that secret and the Layer ability, there was a real chance of regenerating the limb.
"And?"
Still unsure of what he intended, Dang Seol-yong waited for him to speak again.
"They say the Undying Demon is coming by way of the Suo River."
Dang Seol-yong was a sharp woman. She grasped his meaning at once.
"Ah. Then what the tracking team found was the Undying Demon's location."
She broke off, her voice climbing as the implication struck her.
"In that case, Young Hero Jang is very likely to encounter the Undying Demon."
Seo Joo-cheon nodded.
"That's right."
The reaction he had hoped for did not come. Then again, Dang Seol-yong had no reason whatsoever to risk herself for Jang Hyeon-nam. She had already achieved her original objective. She knew now that Macheon Chong possessed sleeping poison; there was nothing further to investigate. Even coming as far as the Gwak Family Manor to help them might have been nothing more than the conscience of someone who still belonged, however loosely, to the orthodox martial world.
Dang Seol-yong spoke quietly.
"Unless Young Hero Jang is a fool, he wouldn't pick a fight with the Undying Demon, would he?"
Seo Joo-cheon let out a breath.
He is a fool. He doesn't dodge injustice, and he doesn't dodge a strong enemy either. I wrote his personality that way. Of course I know.
Hearing the heat in his own voice, he forced it down.
"From the little time I spent with him, Young Hero Jang did not strike me as a man who would run just because his opponent was the Undying Demon. If anything, he seemed the sort who would fight with his life already spent. That's why I'm worried."
By now, he thought, she ought to say it: Then let's go help him. He clung to that thin thread of hope.
"If we went — no, if every Mount Hua disciple at the inn and every martial artist there went — could we defeat the Undying Demon?"
Arguing against a view that negative would have been foolish. That she had spoken at such length was itself a polite way of saying she wanted no part of the Undying Demon's affairs. Seo Joo-cheon gave up on her help.
"Qingcheng disciples, take your Daoist to a physician at once! If you delay even a little, the blood loss could turn fatal."
The surviving Qingcheng disciples hurried out of the Gwak Family Manor with Gojin in tow. Seo Joo-cheon turned to the martial artists who had come from the inn.
"I ask that you carry this news to Miss Baek at the inn."
One of them asked,
"And what does Hero Po intend to do?"
He asked because Seo Joo-cheon was not returning to the inn with them.
"Hah. I believe I should go to the Suo River. I'm worried about Young Hero Jang."
At those words, the five martial artists looked at Seo Joo-cheon with something like reverence. The Shaanxi Four Fiends were unorthodox martial artists, no matter how anyone dressed it up. And yet this man was staking his life to save a rising star of the orthodox path.
"I cannot go, knowing I would be of no help at the Suo River. Hero Po — please bring Young Hero Jang back safely."
Seo Joo-cheon smiled, bitter.
"If that is possible, I shall."
The five martial artists left the Gwak Family Manor. Seo Joo-cheon turned to Ham Cheon-yeong and Kang Chu-mi.
"You two stay here and clean up."
Ham Cheon-yeong bristled.
"Big Brother, what is there to clean up? You mean to leave us behind?"
Ham Cheon-yeong was certain Big Brother was parking them here for their own safety, away from a battlefield where he might have to face the Undying Demon. He knew that if they truly met the Undying Demon in combat, they would not survive. Which was exactly why he could not stay.
"What are you saying? I will follow you, Big Brother, no matter what!"
"Big Brother, if you put it like that, it hurts. We'll die at your side even if it kills us."
"Chu-mi. Don't forget what I instructed you to do."
"I still don't want to."
Seo Joo-cheon had been trying to peel both of them off a dangerous road. When Kang Chu-mi insisted on coming as well, he changed tack.
"Fine. Then you stay and do the work I gave you. I'll take Second Brother only."
"I want to go too!"
"No!"
"This is your Big Brother's request. What I asked you to do is truly important."
"Tch!"
Ham Cheon-yeong piled on.
"That's right. You stay and handle what Big Brother entrusted to you. I'll assist him."
Kang Chu-mi stared at the two of them, then said,
"Fine. But if either of you come back hurt, I might just kill you myself. I can barely stand looking at Third Brother as it is. Got it?"
Seo Joo-cheon and Ham Cheon-yeong smiled at her. Dang Seol-yong watched the three of them in silence, their conversation so thick with affection it almost made her squirm. Their sworn brotherhood made a lump rise in her throat — and at the same time, the sight of people who were not of the orthodox path looking more orthodox than the orthodox themselves set her heart trembling. Scenes like this were almost never seen in the Tang Clan. For the first time in a long while, Dang Seol-yong felt the sounding board of her chest ringing hard.
"Miss Dang. Thanks to your help today, we were able to wipe out the enemy with little loss. I am grateful. And I leave Miss Baek in your care as far as the inn."
Baek I-jin, one of the heroines, still could not speak. Her sealed acupoints had not been released. Her whole body was rigid, her inner energy blocked; she could not even move properly. Acupoint sealing, if unsealed by the wrong hands, easily invited qi deviation. They had no choice but to borrow the hands of a Plum Blossom Swordmaster with sufficient inner energy. Baek I-jin tasted despair at her own helplessness. On top of that, the fact that she would have to reach the inn by the Tang Clan's hands — a clan she did not particularly care for — was almost more than she could bear.
"Don't worry. I will see Miss Baek there safely."
"Until we meet again."
Seo Joo-cheon showed Dang Seol-yong neither resentment nor disappointment. He already knew she had done her part. And so, for the first time in her life, Dang Seol-yong felt sorry that she could not help.
This man has a talent for making people feel guilty.
That did not mean she was fool enough to walk into a place she might die.
"Take care of yourself. If you're injured, I will treat you. If you return unharmed, I will serve you the Tang Clan's finest wine."
"You are kind to say so."
If wuxia readers had been watching, the scene would have been packed with things they would not like. They would have cursed the author for writing orthodox martial artists with so little chivalry. In a novel, the warriors from the inn and Dang Seol-yong alike would have steeled themselves to fight the Undying Demon with their lives already spent. Reality, however, was supremely rational and cold-blooded.
Seo Joo-cheon turned to Ham Cheon-yeong.
"Let's go!"
He turned without a shred of lingering and shot away on his lightness skill. Watching him go, Dang Seol-yong was overtaken by a strange swell of feeling she had not known in a long time.
Kang Chu-mi slipped out of the Gwak Family Manor at speed. Dang Seol-yong asked her escort warriors,
"If I told you to come with me somewhere I might die — would you go?"
"Of course. We would."
The two escorts answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Could I do that, when I myself cannot?
For a moment Dang Seol-yong felt herself shrink. She pulled herself out of that brief dip of the heart, looked at Baek I-jin, and said,
"Miss Baek, forgive me — we need to move, so I will press your sleep meridians for a moment."
Once she had done so, Dang Seol-yong turned to her two escorts.
"There's no one left here. Search everything."
"Yes!"
Dang Seol-yong was not a woman who would walk away from a hideout like this empty-handed. Seo Joo-cheon had written her as calculating and pragmatic, and she moved exactly as he had set her down. Money to run a hideout, or information — either would do.
About half an hour later, the two escorts reappeared, carrying several documents and a leather pouch that looked comfortably fat.
"Miss, this is all of it. Would they leave anything important in a hideout like this? Shall we search further?"
"No. That's enough. Analyze it later. Let's go. We need to watch how things unfold back at the inn."
Dang Seol-yong and her two escorts left the Gwak Family Manor, and the place was left with nothing but a thick, clinging reek of blood. The instant they vanished, a figure vaulted the wall and came in.
"Big Brother was right, as usual. He said that Tang Clan wench would turn the manor inside out."
Kang Chu-mi, having come over the wall, cursed under her breath as she watched Dang Seol-yong recede into the distance.
"She just wasted my time. I need to find it fast and get to Big Brother."
Kang Chu-mi moved toward the pavilion laced with traps. Once she had gone down into the cellar, she walked the secret tunnel with a question turning in her mind.
How did Big Brother know about this too? It's really strange.
She would never have found the passage into this underground without him telling her. It was not under a painting, a folding screen, or a carpet — none of the usual places. The way down required climbing onto the roof and descending along the wall before the entrance could even be found. That was why even the Tang Clan, for all their mastery of mechanisms and formations, had missed it.
Who would ever think an underground entrance was in the ceiling?
That Big Brother knew of an entrance no one else would find was, no matter how she turned it, odd. But that was not what mattered now.
He's really changed. Risking his life to save that young hawk-nosed Taoist brat. He used to say if you're unorthodox, live like it — and now he's playing at being an orthodox hero.
Kang Chu-mi did not like it. And yet it was also true that Big Brother had never looked more magnificent. When other people looked at him the way one looks at a hero of the Jianghu, a swell of pride rose in her for no reason she could name.
While her thoughts wandered, she reached the end of the tunnel.
"It's here, just like he said."
Exactly as Big Brother had told her, the hideout's vault was waiting. The cavern was so well concealed that the vault itself was poorly guarded. She opened a door the size of a cart, and inside, gold ingots were packed to the walls. At a glance there were hundreds of them.
"Whoa!"
Gold lit the darkness, and a gasp escaped her of its own accord. Beneath the ingots lay scraps of paper and bundles of promissory notes.
More than I expected.
The notes had been gathered to send on to Macheon Chong headquarters — more than ten bundles of them. Kang Chu-mi swept every last one into a sack.
"This is it."
She found a small gold box, just large enough to hold a jade ring. Inlaid on the lid were the characters for the Violet Dawn Pill. Big Brother had said there might be a Violet Dawn Pill in the vault.
Ordinarily, when a direct descendant of the Mount Hua Sect or a captain of the Plum Blossom Swordmasters first went out into the Jianghu, the sect leader bestowed upon them a single pellet of the Violet Dawn Pill, Mount Hua's precious spiritual medicine, against an hour of crisis. Baek I-jin had always carried hers, in case the need arose. While dressing her, Seo Joo-cheon had noticed the pill was missing and guessed it had been hidden in a secret vault. He had figured the underlings would have locked it away to present as tribute to the Undying Demon Hyeok Chung — and he had been right.
Seo Joo-cheon had not expected this many gold ingots and promissory notes. The original objective had been the Violet Dawn Pill. That alone could give Dokgo Ho-in hope — a way to fill, even a little, the hollow left by a lost arm.
When two great sacks were packed to bursting, Kang Chu-mi rose. The weight was heavier than she had expected, but with her increased inner energy she lifted both without strain and slung them over her shoulders. She slipped quietly out of the Gwak Family Manor and headed for the wooded hill where they trained every dawn.