Sworn Brothers
Having missed the greatest fated opportunity that should have been his, Jang Hyeon-nam sat before a table of food with no appetite at all.
If a reader saw this as a novel, they'd probably tell me I could just create the Southern Splendor Immortal Art all over again, wouldn't they?
He was an author, after all — the thought had crossed his mind. He possessed the Fusion Creation ability, and he was the writer who had created this world. What couldn't he do? Seo Joo-cheon had the same idea, and the moment they returned to the inn he sat down with brush, paper, and ink and tried to write the Southern Splendor Immortal Art.
And then he understood.
In the novel, I only ever wrote the name and the realms of the Southern Splendor Immortal Art. That was enough for it to exist as a martial art on the page. But this is reality now — I can't even produce a single line of the mantras.
He felt the difference all over again. Still, a flicker of hope remained. He had already gained a few abilities simply by being the author. Perhaps, in time, the power to create martial arts would come to him as well. The sense of loss was greater than Seo Joo-cheon had expected. He had never even considered the possibility that they might fail to find the Southern Splendor Immortal Art.
"Big Brother. You said you were hungry — why aren't you eating?"
Kang Chu-mi asked, her voice laced with worry, watching Seo Joo-cheon stare blankly at the food like a man who had lost his soul.
"Hmm? No, it's nothing. I'll eat."
Seo Joo-cheon snapped back to himself and ate without tasting a thing — he couldn't even tell whether the rice was going into his mouth or his nose — then stood up.
This won't do. I'll have to go to the Soyo Martial Arts Hall and ask around.
He was about to excuse himself from the group and slip away when he spotted Jeong Geum-sik bursting into the inn in a breathless rush.
"I found them."
At those words, everyone at the table shot to their feet, tea still in hand.
Jang Hyeon-nam asked,
"The culprit?"
Jeong Geum-sik nodded.
"You mean he's in this town?"
Sang Ryo asked quietly.
Jeong Geum-sik scanned their surroundings before answering.
"That's right. He arrived yesterday, and from the look of it he'll be staying through tonight. Which means he almost certainly intends to assault a woman here as well."
"Just because he's staying another night, you assume he'll commit an assault?"
Jeong Geum-sik grinned.
"These people never linger. Every extra day they delay, the cost of the escort run balloons."
"These people?"
"You're saying the culprit isn't working alone?"
The more Jeong Geum-sik talked, the deeper Jang Hyeon-nam sank into confusion.
"Just who are they, that they'd do such a thing?"
"We're going to where they are. Right now."
"Then let's go at once."
Jang Hyeon-nam started forward, taking the lead. But Seo Joo-cheon held him back.
"Young Hero Jang, let's not rush in blindly. We move according to plan. First, Sanho-ong and Yu Seong stay here. Third and Fourth stay as well."
To Hak Yu, the order was clearly born of hard-won Jianghu experience. If Jeong Geum-sik was leading them into a trap, they would leave behind anyone who would only be a burden.
"Why do we have to stay?"
Kang Chu-mi asked, her face making it plain she wanted to come along. Seo Joo-cheon fixed her with a cold look.
"For just in case."
Dokgo Ho-in understood the meaning at once and held Kang Chu-mi back.
"Listen to Big Brother."
"Aww, come on! I want to see the culprit too."
Jeong Geum-sik laughed.
"Hahaha. You'll know soon enough, so don't worry. You'll all get to see them later."
He sounded so certain that one might have taken him for a blowhard. No one had the faintest idea who the culprit actually was. Seo Joo-cheon was no exception.
I have no idea who he's talking about.
He had been about to leave for the Soyo Martial Arts Hall, but he followed Jeong Geum-sik instead. The martial hall could wait. The culprit, if they didn't see him now, might vanish. Seo Joo-cheon knew Jeong Geum-sik well enough to know the man was neither a braggart nor a liar.
In the end, only Jang Hyeon-nam, Sang Ryo, Seo Joo-cheon, and Ham Cheon-yeong went with him. Worried, Seo Joo-cheon offered a word of caution.
"Young Hero Jang, if a fight breaks out, don't get involved. This is Hero Jeong's matter to settle. He's the one who's been tracking the culprit all this time. Besides, your wounds haven't fully healed. Don't push yourself."
Jang Hyeon-nam smiled at Seo Joo-cheon, who was looking out for him yet again.
"I feel this from time to time, but Hero Po, you truly are like an older brother to me. You always worry about me so."
It wasn't sarcasm. He meant every word.
"We've shared life and death together, haven't we? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it brotherly affection."
Seo Joo-cheon mixed the sentiment with a light jest.
"Haha, that's true. That's true. Brotherly affection — yes, you could call it that."
Then Jang Hyeon-nam stopped dead in his tracks.
In truth, Jang Hyeon-nam had carried that wish with him ever since the Namcheon Inn. Unorthodox though Hero Po was, his chivalry and sense of justice ran deeper than those of many martial artists from the great Orthodox sects. Being dismissed as Unorthodox for that very quality had always left a bitter taste. And the way the man constantly tried to protect him — those glimpses of genuine care had only drawn Jang Hyeon-nam closer.
Moved by the righteous figure Seo Joo-cheon had cut at the Namcheon Inn, Jang Hyeon-nam had honestly wanted to honor him as an older brother. Seo Joo-cheon had declined at the time, so he had held his tongue, waiting for another chance that never quite came. Now, at the mention of brotherly affection, the words tumbled out.
Jang Hyeon-nam knew perfectly well that his family would not look kindly on a sworn brotherhood with an Unorthodox martial artist. But once they heard of the chivalrous deeds of the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes, they would offer praise rather than reproach. The Jang Family Clan already hosted a fair number of Unorthodox and Black Path warriors as guest retainers. Jang Hyeon-nam knew his father's temperament was much the same, which was why he could make the proposal at all.
Seo Joo-cheon declined with polite reserve.
"Young Hero Jang, you are a disciple of the Wudang Sect and an heir of the Jang Family Clan. I am not certain it would be proper for you to become sworn brothers with an Unorthodox man like me."
That was what he said. What he thought was another matter.
Yes. If I become sworn brothers with Jang Hyeon-nam now, it'll be much easier to stay in contact with him. We need a connection that lets us come and go — and nothing serves that purpose better than a sworn brotherhood.
Once Seo Joo-cheon joined the Yongcheon Sect and Jang Hyeon-nam returned to the Jang Family Clan, finding reasons to meet would not be easy. They might never see each other again. He had been turning over every possible pretext to forge a lasting link with Jang Hyeon-nam.
"Hahaha! Don't worry about that. The Jang Family Clan started as a merchant house. Unless someone walks the Demonic Path, we don't fuss over origins. We have no small number of Unorthodox and Black Path warriors in the household. Besides, I'm a lay disciple — I don't even have a Daoist title. I follow the laws of the secular world, so please don't trouble yourself over it. And the Jianghu is full of Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Black Path figures who have formed beautiful friendships. There's no reason we can't follow their example."
Seo Joo-cheon had, in fact, written into the Invincible Lay Disciple's character that he would associate with people without regard to their origins.
"If Young Hero Jang puts it that way, this Po is truly overwhelmed. Forming a sworn brotherhood in the middle of the street wouldn't be proper, though. Let's settle Hero Jeong's business first, then return to the inn and discuss it properly."
"A most sensible suggestion."
Jang Hyeon-nam was so delighted at the prospect of becoming sworn brothers with Seo Joo-cheon that he nearly bounced on his feet.
Sang Ryo watched the two of them and smiled. To his eye, Seo Joo-cheon was a martial artist destined to make his mark on the Jianghu. The men who had transformed from the Shaanxi Four Evils into the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes had more than earned that right. They had proven it at the Namcheon Inn, and then some. And Sang Ryo, who had already quietly resolved in his heart to follow Jang Hyeon-nam, was glad to see the bond between them.
"Ah, while we're at it, I'd like to join in myself."
Jeong Geum-sik tried to casually insert himself into the sworn brotherhood. Ham Cheon-yeong stepped in.
"Forgive me for saying so, but discussing sworn brotherhood with a man who hasn't even properly revealed his identity doesn't seem right."
It wasn't only Ham Cheon-yeong. Jang Hyeon-nam knew Jeong Geum-sik was hiding who he was. No fool would become sworn brothers with a man who wouldn't name his sect and whose very name might be false.
An awkward Jeong Geum-sik promptly changed the subject.
"We're here. You'll see the culprit soon."
The place Jeong Geum-sik had led them to was an inn.
The culprit is at an inn?
The group exchanged glances, trying to guess who it might be.
A long line of cargo wagons stood beside the inn. More precisely, they were escort wagons laden with cargo, and banners were planted on each one.
Ham Cheon-yeong murmured as he looked at the escort flags.
"So the Xi'an Escort Agency is staying here."
The Xi'an Escort Agency — the very escort company that had set the scramble for the spiritual elixir in motion.
Watching Jeong Geum-sik study the escort guards inspecting cargo around the wagons, Seo Joo-cheon felt a shiver run through his entire body.
It can't be.
Matching Jeong Geum-sik's words against what he knew, he understood at once why the man had come to the inn where the Xi'an Escort Agency was staying.
The sexual assault murders started in the borderlands of the Shaanxi Xingdusi and continued all the way here. And that route matches the Xi'an Escort Agency's escort run. They were on their way back from a job in Dunhuang, which falls under the Shaanxi Xingdusi. When the assaults and killings started along the agency's path, Jeong Geum-sik suspected them.
Then the thought went deeper.
What if they deliberately exposed the Gongcheong Seokyu — the Stalactite Milk — to cover this up?
A chill crawled over his skin.
Jeong Geum-sik suddenly vaulted onto a rooftop on the opposite side, then leapt down with something clutched to his chest. A stray cat thrashed in his arms. A few strokes of his hand, and the animal went still. Jeong Geum-sik walked toward the escort guards with the cat in his arms.
What's he going to do with a cat?
Unable to read Jeong Geum-sik's intent, Seo Joo-cheon found himself watching with genuine interest.
"To think I'd find Shaanxi's finest escorts right here."
Jeong Geum-sik sauntered up, laying on the flattery. The guards, who had been on alert, broke into easy smiles. Neither his appearance nor his inner energy marked him as anyone worth taking seriously.
"The Xi'an Escort Agency is the largest in Shaanxi. That's only natural."
Seeing that the man carried no weapon and wore the coarse hemp martial robes typical of wandering vagrants, the escort puffed up with pride.
"A friend of mine left a year ago saying he was going to work as an escort for the Xi'an Escort Agency. I don't suppose he works here?"
"Is that so? What's his name?"
"Hwang Cheon. Ever heard of him?"
"Hmm. I've been with this agency for five years, and I've never heard that name. If he were a wagoner, maybe — but an escort? No."
The man spoke with a faint air of looking down on him. Jeong Geum-sik let out a cry of dismay and dropped the cat.
"Ah, damn it! Heo Seo! Where do you think you're going!"
The cat darted toward another wagon, and Jeong Geum-sik shouted after it. The escort's face flushed scarlet.
"Your cat's name is Heo Seo?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
Seo Joo-cheon had written into the novel that every escort in an agency embroidered their name in small characters across their chest.
So that guard's name is Heo Seo. Jeong Geum-sik's personality is even nastier than I wrote it.
He laughed inwardly.
"Come here! Heo Seo!"
Jeong Geum-sik darted this way and that, chasing the fleeing cat, weaving through dozens of escorts until he finally caught it.
"Sorry for the commotion. This Heo Seo is a real bastard of a cat."
"Ahahaha!"
The escorts burst into roaring laughter at the cat that shared a colleague's name.
"There's an escort named Heo Seo among us. What a coincidence."
Jeong Geum-sik seized on the comment at once.
"Oh my! Is that so? This cat has the same name as an escort of the Xi'an Escort Agency? What an honor! Heo Seo, you hear that? You should be proud, you little beast!"
After a round of shameless theatrics, Jeong Geum-sik strolled back to where Seo Joo-cheon stood. Jang Hyeon-nam asked the man who had just staged a scene worthy of a Beijing opera,
"What on earth was that business with the cat?"
Jeong Geum-sik opened his mouth quietly.