Separation Carried Out, Reunion by Fate
The place where a thousand poisons were bred and controlled, a domain that looked down upon the whole world when it came to hidden weapons and their use.
Though they belonged to the Orthodox camp, they had won their name less through virtue than through notoriety, thanks to their savage family traditions and merciless hand with the blade.
The Sichuan Tang Clan.
At the heart of those fearsome people’s domain, Seomun Hwi sat calmly and lifted his tea.
"How does the tea taste? Since the Young Clan Leader of the Seomun Clan has come, I prepared something special."
There was a heavy, seasoned, and oppressive air about Tang Hyeongeuk—one difficult to approach lightly.
Looking at the clan leader, whose presence resembled his father’s yet carried an entirely different flavor, Seomun Hwi gave a slight nod.
"I do not know tea well, but it is certainly a little different from the ones I have had before."
Seeing Seomun Hwi uphold courtesy without indulging in needless formality, a faint smile spread at the corners of Tang Hyeongeuk’s mouth.
"You truly are the spitting image of him."
For a brief instant, surprise flickered across Seomun Hwi’s face, but he soon asked evenly, "What do you mean?"
"Nothing more than a thought prompted by your father, that is all. Pay it no mind."
"Understood."
They had barely exchanged a few words, yet what exactly had he seen to make him say Seomun Hwi resembled his father?
Thinking that, Seomun Hwi reached into his robes and produced a letter bearing the clan leader’s seal, then handed it over.
"This is the letter I was instructed to deliver to Clan Leader Dang."
"Mm."
Tang Hyeongeuk scanned the letter quickly from top to bottom, then folded it carelessly and set it aside.
"These are words that could just as well have been sent by messenger. To my eyes, this letter seems to be no more than a pretext."
"Pardon?"
"Why look so startled? You did not come here only on clan business either, did you?"
As though it were of no concern, Tang Hyeongeuk looked at Seomun Hwi.
So this was the finest dragon among the younger generation, the one whose name had spread across the Central Plains. It seemed the reputation was no empty boast.
His qi is refined to an unusual degree. And his appearance is excellent as well... At this level, Sohye should have no complaints.
Outwardly, she seemed like a daughter who spent her days in silence, training only in poison techniques and hidden weapons, but that was nothing more than the surface.
In truth, her temperament was so difficult that she had given him endless headaches all these years.
To put it bluntly, he had investigated every eligible man of marriageable age in Sichuan.
Only one thing troubled him: Seomun Hwi was also the Young Clan Leader of one of the Six Great Clans, so he could not be taken in as a live-in son-in-law.
...It cannot be helped. This is not a time to crouch and wait; it is a time to bare our claws.
When orthodoxy and belief were set against one another, each side staking everything on its own convictions.
It was a struggle so tangled that good and evil could not be neatly divided.
And if the Tang Clan could only survive that fire—fire that might burn the whole of the Central Plains to ash—then Tang Hyeongeuk was prepared to bear any cost.
"It is hardly something to boast of, but my daughter’s martial skill is quite excellent. And though I say it as her father, her looks are not lacking either. So..."
Before he could finish, the door to the clan leader’s chamber was suddenly flung open with a clack.
Though no guard stood at the entrance, this was still one of the Tang Clan’s most restricted places, not somewhere anyone could enter as they pleased.
There was only one person in the Tang Clan who could open such a door and treat the room as though it were her own.
The pride of the Sichuan Tang Clan and Tang Hyeongeuk’s treasured jewel.
And among the younger generation, the woman known as the Poison Phoenix, Tang Sohye.
"I heard I was called for."
Unlike her brazen entrance moments ago, Tang Sohye’s voice was polite and calm as she greeted her father.
"You came at exactly the right time. I was just about to speak of you. Young Clan Leader, this is my daughter Tang Sohye, the one I mentioned earlier. Sohye, you’ve seen him a few times before, but this is Young Clan Leader Seomun Hwi."
Tang Sohye swept Seomun Hwi with an indifferent glance, then crossed to his side and sat down without a word.
Up until now, whenever he brought in a man suitable to be her match, she would take one look and turn away on the spot.
But this time, she seemed unmistakably interested, and that made Tang Hyeongeuk’s expression turn subtle.
He had thought he wanted this man as a son-in-law, but seeing his daughter’s reaction turn out so completely opposite of every time before, he found Seomun Hwi annoyingly likable for no reason at all.
After all, a man was not all about looks.
Yet Tang Sohye had no way of knowing her father’s thoughts, and only continued to stare at Seomun Hwi.
"If I recall correctly, we have exchanged greetings a few times before. I am Seomun Hwi, Young Clan Leader of the Seomun Clan."
Even as he spoke first, he again felt that strange sense of familiarity when he looked at Tang Sohye’s face.
A pair of softly tinted green eyes.
Beauty that could not be hidden, even in the midst of her composed bearing.
At the very least, there was no one he knew who resembled her, and yet why did he always feel this way when he saw her?
"I am Tang Sohye, daughter of the Sichuan Tang Clan. I do not know what the future holds, but I look forward to your care."
Watching the two of them meet each other’s gaze, Tang Hyeongeuk clicked his tongue softly.
I needn’t have stepped in at all.
"Then, we’ll be on our way."
"I am truly in your debt!"
Before leaving, Cheongwol and Ak Seo-ah stood at the inn’s entrance and offered their final farewells to the innkeeper and his wife.
It had been a brief acquaintance, and yet perhaps because they had been through something they would never forget for the rest of their lives, there was a touch of both relief and regret on their faces.
The innkeeper seemed to feel the same. Grinning, he placed a rather heavy bundle into Ak Seo-ah’s hands.
"What is this?"
"I checked around and found some leftover ingredients, so I packed up a little food. Share it between you, and it will cover two meals easily. Take it with you."
"Innkeeper...!"
At his thoughtful kindness, given even at the very end, Ak Seo-ah grew misty-eyed with emotion.
"We didn’t really do anything so grand, and yet it feels as though we’ve caused you far too much trouble."
Cheongwol looked apologetic, but the innkeeper shook his head.
"Doing what is righteous and chivalrous is naturally not a grand thing. If anything, that is what makes it difficult. Since you accomplished such a difficult thing, this much goodwill is only proper for you to receive."
"...You really do know how to say the nicest things."
"It’s a skill honed from working in an inn. One must live somehow."
At his unexpected joke, everyone—including Cheongwol—burst into laughter.
A little later, as the laughter slowly faded, the four of them finally realized that the time for parting had arrived.
"I hope that someday our paths will cross again, and we can meet once more."
As Cheongwol first bowed politely with clasped hands, Ak Seo-ah followed suit.
"Where there is meeting, there must also be parting! But so long as one walks the same path of righteousness, there will surely come a day when our roads overlap again!"
Was it because of the resolve in Cheongwol’s salute?
Or because of Ak Seo-ah’s spirited clasp of the fist?
Within the innkeeper’s heart, where he had thought even ashes had long since vanished, a tiny spark stirred awake.
It was so shabby and fragile that it hardly deserved to be called a spark at all, and yet it shone as though determined to announce its own existence.
He clenched his right hand tightly and covered it with his left, fanning that spark with all his might, as though it might be the last he would ever see.
"A martial man of the Tang family, Tang Gwoncheol! I offer my final respects to my benefactors!"
What did it matter if the flame had gone out once before, or if this spark might never burn again?
Right now, in this very moment, the flame kindled by a single warrior was burning so brightly, so beautifully.
Knowing that one day they, too, would kindle such flames of their own, Cheongwol and Ak Seo-ah only smiled and set out on the road again.
Like wandering heroes straight out of a story, chasing the wind and riding the clouds.
Even after the two disappeared beyond the hill, the innkeeper did not relax his posture for some time.
His wife, understanding that this was his own way of saying goodbye, quietly stayed by his side.
He was not only seeing Cheongwol and Ak Seo-ah off—he was also laying down, at last, the part of himself that had never quite let go of the life of a martial man, even while running this inn.
"Dear..."
How much time passed like that?
By the time the sun hanging high in the sky had tilted halfway toward the west, the innkeeper finally moved his head.
Then, with a sheepish smile, he drew in his wife, who had remained faithfully at his side, and held her close.
"I’ve been foolish and acted like an old man with no sense of restraint, haven’t I, wife? Since I’ve already been shameless, I might as well say it now. Thank you, truly, for living your life with me."
At her husband’s sincere, awkward confession, his wife smiled too and gave a small nod.
"If you know that, then do better from now on. Of course... you have been doing well until now as well."
"Wife..."
The two embraced a little longer, then gently pulled apart and looked toward the road where Cheongwol and Ak Seo-ah had disappeared.
"But are you really all right?"
"About what?"
"The thing you gave to Cheongwol, of course. It was something you treasured very dearly."
At his wife’s words, the innkeeper shook his head as though telling her not to worry.
"A sword that is never drawn is meaningless, and so is a hidden weapon that never leaves the sleeve. Besides, it has left its unworthy master and met one far more deserving, so I’m certain it is happier now."
"...I worried for no reason."
"No. And... to be honest, there was another reason as well."
"Another reason?"
At his wife’s question, the innkeeper nodded, recalling the face of one woman he had never forgotten no matter how many years passed.
"It reminded me of the young lady I once served while I was at the Tang Clan. Cheongwol looked so much like her that, honestly, I was a little startled."