A Curious Bond
"Big Brother, please take this."
In Ham Cheon-yeong's hands was a cloth-wrapped bundle of clothes.
"These are the robes we prepared for you."
They undid the wrapping and found what looked like newly tailored blue martial robes. In all his life, Po Un had never worn blue. He had always favored black or brown, colors that hid the dirt, or else simply borrowed someone else's. When Seo Joo-cheon stared at the garments, Ham Cheon-yeong smiled.
"Our youngest rushed out and found these, saying you had nothing decent to wear. She mentioned we'd made a good bit of money this time. And she said that whatever anyone else might put on, it was high time Big Brother wore blue. Please put them on, if only for her sake."
Seo Joo-cheon had no intention of being stubborn over something like this.
"Fair enough. I am the First Hero, after all. White robes might be a stretch, but I suppose I can manage blue."
"Of course, Big Brother. Shall we prepare white robes next time, to match your epithet? Now that I think about it, that might be even better."
"White robes are still a luxury. People like us, always on the move, can't keep white robes clean."
Even in the modern world, Seo Joo-cheon had rarely bought anything white — too much trouble to maintain. For wandering martial artists, wearing white was nothing short of extravagance.
"Once you take your post as a hall master at the Yongcheon Sect, I'll have white robes prepared."
The thoughtfulness of his sworn brothers warmed Seo Joo-cheon's chest.
If I grow this attached and then have to go back to the real world, it's going to hurt.
He had no way back for now, but someday he would return, and when that day came he might not want to leave. Even now, synchronized with Po Un, he loved these three sworn siblings more than blood family.
He had drifted off in thought, and only snapped back to himself when Ham Cheon-yeong stepped outside so he could change. He stripped and looked down at his chest.
The light that had been shining near his heart was gone.
Judging by this, Jang Hyeon-nam must have completely purged the poison. Otherwise the light wouldn't have vanished as if nothing had happened. He's probably become an even stronger master.
In the original story, Jang Hyeon-nam had grown stronger fighting the unorthodox crowd at Namcheon Inn.
He must have taken the Purple Lesser Pill and completed the Heavenly Emperor Heart Art.
The Heavenly Emperor Heart Art was a martial art Seo Joo-cheon had prepared specifically for Jang Hyeon-nam. The worry that something might have gone wrong with him vanished at a stroke.
Originally, the story had been structured so that Jang Hyeon-nam would obtain the Stalactite Milk during the elixir scramble currently raging through Weinan, swell his inner energy, and complete the Heavenly Emperor Heart Art.
So he completed it with the Purple Lesser Pill instead of the Stalactite Milk. Either way, the fact that he finished the Heavenly Emperor Heart Art means the story's main backbone is still intact. That's a relief, at least.
He changed and stepped outside. Ham Cheon-yeong was waiting. The two of them headed down the corridor toward the guest room on the opposite side, where the woman was staying.
No sooner had they entered the hallway than they ran into Dang Seol-yong. She was standing there as if she had been waiting. Dressed as a man, she had finished preparing to leave, two escort warriors at her side.
"You're leaving, I see."
"Before I go, I felt it was only proper to pay my respects to Hero Po, if to no one else."
Seo Joo-cheon had not expected this kind of courtesy from Dang Seol-yong. She was a proud woman who would never have bothered to bid farewell to some ordinary unorthodox martial artist. That meant his standing had risen — and that he now had a place in her circle of relationships.
"Without Young Miss Dang, this fight would have been truly difficult. Thanks to you, we rescued Young Miss Baek without taking heavy losses."
Dang Seol-yong smiled faintly.
"Other people's praise never meant much to me. But hearing it from Hero Po... that feels rather nice."
"Then I thank you."
"We'll meet again, I'm sure."
When she said that, Seo Joo-cheon spoke.
"Our paths diverge, so I can't promise when we'll see each other again. I only hope I never meet Young Miss Dang as an enemy."
"A man praised as the First of the Four Heroes would hardly end up my enemy. And the next time we meet, Hero Po will surely have become someone even greater. I'll look forward to that day."
Unexpected words poured from Dang Seol-yong's lips. He found himself wondering whether she had always been a woman who knew how to praise people like this.
She clasped her fists in a martial salute. Seo Joo-cheon and Ham Cheon-yeong returned the gesture.
She really is cool about leaving, isn't she.
Watching Dang Seol-yong turn without a shred of lingering attachment and walk out of the inn, he fell into a curious mood.
"Where are they heading so early, though?"
Seo Joo-cheon answered Ham Cheon-yeong's question.
"They're after something very precious."
"Something precious?"
The martial artists of Shaanxi had been in an uproar over the Stalactite Milk.
Was the commotion supposed to be this intense?
Seo Joo-cheon realized that something in the original setting had gone off-script again. The Stalactite Milk was supposed to belong to the Mount Hua Sect.
The setting went like this. The Xi'an Escort Agency, run by Pyo Byeong-jik — a secular disciple of the Mount Hua Sect — had taken on an escort job transporting cargo all the way to Dunhuang, in the territory of the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission. Near Dunhuang rose the sharp peak of Mingsha Mountain, and on that mountain was a spring called Crescent Spring that had never once run dry in thousands of years.
After completing the escort, Pyo Byeong-jik went sightseeing on Mingsha Mountain, fell into the flowing quicksand near Crescent Spring, and was sucked underground. There he discovered a small pool where water dripping from the spring had gathered for millennia, concentrating the vital essence of Mingsha Mountain. That was the Stalactite Milk.
Pyo Byeong-jik, a man who loved the Mount Hua Sect more than anyone, kept the elixir secret even from his own escort captains and guards, intending to present it to Mount Hua, and brought it back into Shaanxi. He used it, however, to boost his son Pyo Seon's inner energy. When Pyo Seon's power suddenly surged and he achieved one Gapja, he could not contain his joy and bragged to everyone around him.
That was how the escort captains and guards learned of the Stalactite Milk's existence, and the story gradually leaked out. From the moment they started heading back into Shaanxi, people began targeting it.
First, upon receiving Pyo Byeong-jik's report, the Mount Hua Sect dispatched Baek I-jin and four Plum Blossom Swordmasters, who hurriedly left the mountain to receive the elixir. Baek Seol had come along hoping to use it to cure her illness.
Seo Joo-cheon had designed this entire elixir scramble for one purpose: to give Jang Hyeon-nam a fateful opportunity. After many twists and turns, Jang Hyeon-nam would obtain the Stalactite Milk, achieve three Gapja, and be reborn as a truly invincible secular disciple. So this scramble was an enormously important event for him. It would allow him to save his clan from the brink of annihilation and crush the forces arrayed against them.
One of those hostile forces was the Yongcheon Sect. Desperate to rapidly train martial artists to attack the Jang Family Clan, the Yongcheon Sect had invited battle-hardened masters like the Four Evils of Shaanxi to serve as hall masters. They would stay at Namcheon Inn and be killed by the protagonist, Jang Hyeon-nam.
That was how the original scenario had been written. Now only the main framework remained, and the smaller branches had changed, so even Seo Joo-cheon would have to collide with the events himself to know where the story would bounce.
Still, just knowing a few facts puts me ahead. Who has the Stalactite Milk and where they're headed shouldn't have strayed from the base setting. It hasn't so far.
If Pyo Byeong-jik had properly delivered the elixir to the Mount Hua Sect, other martial artists would have had no reason to get involved. There was not a soul in the jianghu who would dare try to snatch an elixir from Mount Hua.
But Pyo Byeong-jik had the jade bottle containing the Stalactite Milk stolen from him — by none other than the Black-Faced Drifting Blade, a man of considerable fame in the underworld. From the moment that bladesman seized it, the scramble became a free-for-all for whoever could take it from him next. That was why even Dang Seol-yong and Daoist Go Jin had gotten involved.
Officially, martial artists had gathered under the pretext of recovering the elixir from the Black-Faced Drifting Blade and returning it to Mount Hua. But who would believe that? Find it, swallow it, done. And yet no one had managed to take the Stalactite Milk from him. He was a First-Rate bladesman, not easy to attack, and he was a master of disguise.
Seo Joo-cheon knew why the Black-Faced Drifting Blade had stolen the Stalactite Milk and where he intended to take it. The man still had time to hide. The person who would provide him a hideout had not appeared yet.
That person was a master dispatched by the unorthodox Yeosan Sect to kill Jang Hyeon-nam, after they received word that he was returning to the Jang Family Clan. But because Jang Hyeon-nam joined up with Baek I-jin at Namcheon Inn, they failed to kill him. That was when he would meet the Black-Faced Drifting Blade — they had been sworn brothers as fellow bladesmen for a long time, so he would arrange a hideout.
To find the Black-Faced Drifting Blade, all one had to do was follow the Yeosan Sect master coming into Namcheon Inn. He would definitely stay there for a day or two to kill Jang Hyeon-nam.
Mid-thought, Seo Joo-cheon slapped his own head as something suddenly occurred to him.
"You idiot!"
Right now Namcheon Inn was occupied by the Mount Hua Sect and orthodox martial artists, making it nearly impossible for unorthodox or underworld martial artists to enter. Even ordinary guests could not get in. There was no way the White Salt Blade, Jeo Pung, would take a room at Namcheon Inn.
Which means he's far more likely to be staying at a nearby inn.
The Karma Missions had been unfolding so urgently that he had not had the leisure to think this through carefully.
Even if he's staying at another inn, he'd have come by a few times looking for an opening. The fact that he didn't approach when Jang Hyeon-nam was recruiting martial artists means he hasn't entered Weinan yet.
That made him start examining the people gathered at the inn more carefully. Even martial artists who greeted him in passing, he looked at twice.
As they approached the guest room where the woman was staying, they saw Baek Seol and Dokgo Ho-in together. The two of them were talking without any Mount Hua escort warriors present. The wariness had dropped considerably, since he was an unorthodox martial artist who had saved Baek Seol and helped the Mount Hua Sect.
"Is Third Brother all right?"
"He's content that he saved Young Miss Baek with one arm. I think he's finally set down the burden he's been carrying."
It was not hard to understand. Dokgo Ho-in must have believed he had abandoned Baek Seol out of cowardice, and now that he had saved her through his own sacrifice, that weight would have lifted. Perhaps because of that, his expression as he faced her looked at ease.
"He told me he can finally let go. He said that when his arm was cut off, the obsession was cut off with it."
Through a tremendous loss, Dokgo Ho-in may have found a fullness of heart. If so, he would have reached a state where he could be content so long as the woman he loved was happy, no matter whom she ended up with. The moment you cast off the obsession that her happiness must be shared with you, the spirit itself matures a step further.
"Third Brother's martial arts are going to improve by leaps and bounds."
He looked forward to the enlightenment that spiritual maturity would bring.
"He used to have nightmares about Young Miss Baek every time he closed his eyes. He says he doesn't have them anymore."
"So now he's down to just one nightmare."
Ham Cheon-yeong nodded.
"That's right. All that's left now is vengeance for his clan."
While they talked, they arrived at the guest room where the woman was staying.
A refined voice drifted from inside, as if she had heard their approach.
"Is that Hero Ham?"
"It is."
"Is Hero Po with you?"
"He is."
"Please come in."
Seo Joo-cheon answered after a rustling sound from within.
"Pardon the intrusion."
He opened the door and stepped inside. Kang Chu-mi was sitting in the room. He had been told she was nowhere to be found, but she had been staying here all along.
"You've been here the whole time, youngest?"
"Yes. This lady asked me to stay by her side."
Kang Chu-mi's appearance was, at a glance, rather far removed from that of an orthodox heroine. The form-fitting martial robes she wore were not something a demure orthodox swordswoman would put on. The fact that a woman who looked so refined had asked Kang Chu-mi — who looked more like a demonic heretic than a Mount Hua disciple — to stay by her side said a great deal.
"This humble girl must first pay her respects to Hero Po."
The woman suddenly rose and performed a deep bow toward Seo Joo-cheon. The unexpected kowtow startled him. She stood after the greeting and spoke.
"You saved this girl when she had been kidnapped by the Undying Demon, and suicide seemed her only remaining choice. You are the savior of my life."
At a glance she showed no signs of having trained in martial arts. She was beautiful, but a sickly pallor was the one flaw in the jade. Her wan complexion and parched lips proved it.
"I happened to save you while fighting the Undying Demon."
"I've heard as much. They said you mistook me for Young Miss Baek. Thanks to that, I kept my life. I've already expressed my gratitude to Young Miss Baek as well."
The woman continued.
"So many martial artists at this inn have been singing Hero Po's praises until their mouths ran dry. That's why this girl made up her mind and requested to see you."
He glanced at Kang Chu-mi, who shook her head. Her eyes said she did not know anything either.
"If you'd asked Young Miss Baek I-jin, you could have returned home under the escort of Mount Hua disciples without any trouble. Did you call for me with some other purpose in mind?"
At Seo Joo-cheon's words, the woman's eyes lit up.
"Before I say anything further, I should properly introduce myself. My name is Do Ok-myeong."
The moment he heard the name Do Ok-myeong, Seo Joo-cheon's eyes went as round as bells.
What? What's this woman doing here?