Dang Gangjin
Though there had been a slight mishap, the two of them had entered the inner courtyard without any serious trouble.
It was a place not even outsiders, let alone the Tang Clan’s collateral branches, could easily come and go from, yet it seemed the family token of the Shandong Ak Family carried a weight of its own.
"I’ve informed the young clan leader that the two of you have arrived, so he should come for you soon. And if anything is inconvenient, please stop one of the passing maids and let her know."
Once the person who had guided them to their lodging within the Tang Clan had gone off, a sound thick with shame escaped Ak Seo-ah’s lips.
"Uuugh..."
Seeing her ears redden all the way to the tips, Im Cheongwol let out a quiet laugh.
"I told you not to worry. This is your first time at the Tang Clan too, isn’t it? How were you supposed to know there was a separate gate for honored guests?"
In truth, the Shandong Ak Family had a similar gate as well, but Ak Seo-ah wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.
Once they stepped into the room, Cheongwol’s eyes widened at how much larger and tidier it was than she had expected.
"Did they send us to the wrong place? Feels like five people could stay here, not just two."
Unlike Cheongwol, who kept turning her head this way and that to admire the furnishings and decorations, Ak Seo-ah set her bags down beside the bed with the air of someone who had come home.
"This should be the right place. By the way, Cheongwol-sojeo."
"Hm?"
Cheongwol, who had been stuffing her cheeks full of mooncakes from the table so quickly they looked ready to burst, finally turned to glance at her.
"Would you mind telling me why you came to the Tang Clan?"
"..."
Had she swallowed too much at once?
Cheongwol’s chest grew heavy, as though a lump of stone had dropped inside it.
"If it’s difficult to say, you needn’t tell me. But we’ll be meeting the Tang Clan’s young clan leader soon, so if there’s anything I can do to help, I want to give you all the support I can."
Sitting on the bed, Ak Seo-ah watched Cheongwol and tapped one toe idly against the floor.
Sogayul had warned her not to bring up family matters unless absolutely necessary, so no matter how friendly Ak Seo-ah was, she had no intention of speaking carelessly.
But many years had already passed.
Even if they found the artisan who had made it, it would be fortunate enough if that person merely remembered having worked on it, let alone for whom it had been made.
In other words, Cheongwol knew as well that learning who her parents were through the jewel itself was, in truth, almost impossible.
Coming to the Tang Clan was simply the act of a child hoping to remember her parents in some small way—and of someone who could not bring herself to give up the last faint hope she had left.
As far as Cheongwol was concerned, there was no reason not to tell Ak Seo-ah.
Having made up her mind, Cheongwol slowly reached into her robes.
A moment later, a flower-shaped jade ornament of translucent green appeared in her palm.
"I’ve seen plenty of jade pieces before, but I’ve never seen one carved this delicately or beautifully. You could buy a whole estate with this and still have money left over."
Ak Seo-ah’s eyes shone as she looked at the jade.
"It’s an heirloom my mother left behind."
"...You could have said that sooner. I’m truly sorry..."
As Ak Seo-ah dropped her head with a miserable little thump at the abrupt response, Cheongwol chuckled and came to sit beside her.
"It’s all right. You asked why I came to the Tang Clan, didn’t you? I heard before that there are only a handful of people in the Central Plains capable of such carving, so I came hoping the Tang Clan might know something."
---
The smithy was so hot that even a single step inside felt as though it might steal one’s breath away.
Dang Gangjin, the Sichuan Tang Clan’s young clan leader, sat alone in its center with his shirt thrown open.
-CRASH!
A massive hammer arced through the air and slammed down onto the anvil, sending bright sparks flying from the heated metal.
Between one strike of the hammer and the next, ten stray thoughts rose in his mind.
He had originally begun this to settle his heart, but for some reason, tonight his worries only spread farther with every blow.
"Haa..."
Dang Gangjin set the hammer aside and carefully lowered the heated iron into the water.
Bubbles burst upward as the water roared and boiled, and slowly, the metal began to regain its original color.
But that was all.
Far from shaking off his thoughts, he felt as though every one of them had seared itself into him like slag and would not come loose.
Staring into the fierce flames of the furnace, Dang Gangjin’s mind turned to the beggar’s sect member who had come to find him under cover of night two days earlier.
Judging by the six knots at his waist, he was one of the people inside the Beggar’s Sect who was respected and trusted enough to be called a law beggar.
Before even offering proper greetings, the law beggar had gone straight to the point.
"A couple who ran an inn at Ohwahae appear to have fallen victim to some misfortune, likely at the hands of martial artists from the Qingcheng Sect. The man among them was a Tang Clan martial artist, though only from one of our collateral branches."
Leaving behind the beggar’s sect member who had appeared without warning, delivered his message as if issuing an order, and vanished, Dang Gangjin had taken only a small contingent of martial artists and gone secretly to the scene.
There were traces everywhere of someone having tried, clumsily, to erase what had happened.
Gravel split cleanly apart as though cut by a razor-thin wind blade.
Scraps of clothing, soaked through with blood, half-buried in the dirt.
Did they try to conceal it but simply not have enough time? Or was this meant as a taunt, left here for us to see? If this is the work of some faction trying to drive a wedge between Qingcheng and us...
Though the two sects were currently split, there was no reason for Qingcheng to launch such a brazen provocation.
The fire raging in his chest told him to swallow the enemy whole at once, yet the enemy’s identity and intent remained hidden in shadow.
What’s more, the fact that this had happened while Clan Leader Dang Hyeongeuk was away meant that, however much he hated to believe it, there could be an informant inside the clan.
In such a situation, to act only on rage would be unthinkable.
The Tang Clan’s Hell Flame Scorpion never forgets a grievance, though time and place may change.
Just as he was forcing his boiling anger down with cold reason, one of his attendants approached to announce the arrival of important guests.
"Young clan leader, there are people here you should see."
"If it isn’t related to that matter, I told you to handle everything else for the time being, did I not?"
Dang Gangjin frowned slightly, voicing his displeasure, but the attendant merely nodded with complete composure.
"Yes. However, Ak Seo-ah-sojeo of the Shandong Ak Family has come to visit."
---
Cheongwol waited anxiously in the room for the Tang Clan’s young clan leader to arrive.
They said high expectations led to great disappointment, and she had tried her best to steady her heart.
But this was no ordinary object—it was something her mother had left behind. How could she possibly remain calm?
One of her feet began to tremble on its own, and before she realized it, a small laugh slipped out of her.
If my heart won’t obey me, then even my body won’t move the way I want. I should have listened to Master and put more effort into my cultivation.
Her belated regret lasted only a moment before the door abruptly opened, and Cheongwol sprang to her feet and turned.
"Brother!"
Ak Seo-ah, who had been sitting beside her, also broke into a bright smile and threw herself into his arms.
"...Seo-ah. You’re no longer a child, so I’ve told you not to hug me like this."
Though his words sounded like a mild rebuke, Dang Gangjin’s eyes were full of affection.
"I’m sorry. But it’s been so long since I saw you, Brother. I can’t help myself."
"Yes. I’m glad to see you too."
As his large hand gently ruffled Ak Seo-ah’s hair, Dang Gangjin’s gaze finally shifted to Cheongwol.
"..."
Under that penetrating stare, Cheongwol gave an awkward little smile.
"I’m Cheongwol, from Qinghae Province."
"Brother, Cheongwol-sojeo is my dear friend. She had business with the Tang Clan, so I came with her."
Only after hearing both their voices did Dang Gangjin seem to gather his scattered wits.
"I’ve been rude to a guest. I am Dang Gangjin, the Tang Clan’s young clan leader."
He smiled awkwardly, but his eyes remained fixed on Cheongwol.
...Was it just my imagination?
At first glance he had seemed somewhat familiar, but when she looked again, there was almost nothing in him that resembled anyone she knew, and her head tilted of its own accord.
"Please, sit."
Once he took the seat of honor, Cheongwol and Ak Seo-ah sat down as well.
"So, Cheongwol-sojeo, what brings you to our Tang Clan?"
His handsome features obscured it to some degree, but judging by her dress and her clumsy manners, she was clearly not a daughter of some noble household. If not for being Ak Seo-ah’s friend, he would never have crossed paths with her at all, so surely it was not a matter of great importance.
Thus, Dang Gangjin wore an easy expression and gave a light laugh.
"First, thank you for meeting us like this. Since you’re the young clan leader of the Tang Clan, I’m sure you’re terribly busy..."
"It’s nothing. If you’re Seo-ah’s friend, then this is no trouble at all."
When Dang Gangjin showed her kindness once more, Cheongwol finally felt her shoulders loosen and carefully took the item her mother had left her from her robe.
"...Could you tell me whether this jade ornament was carved in the Tang Clan? If not the Tang Clan, then I’d like to know where it was made."
"This is..."
As Dang Gangjin looked at the jade, his expression changed one step after another.
"May I take a closer look?"
"Yes."
With her permission, he took it in his own hand and brought it close to his eyes, turning it this way and that to examine it.
The flower carving itself was already the sort of work that could be called a feat of craftsmanship, but to think that dozens of petals had been engraved so vividly they seemed ready to tremble at any moment.
And this shape is almost...
After staring at it for a long while, Dang Gangjin finally set the jade down and let out a soft sigh.
"...To get straight to the point, this was indeed carved in the Tang Clan."
"Then you can tell me who carved it too...!"
Just as color began to rush into Cheongwol’s face, Dang Gangjin’s eyes turned cold.
"Before that. I don’t know whether you’re aware of this, but as the Tang Clan’s young clan leader, there is something I must confirm."
"...Yes? What is it..."
Sensing the air in the room shift at once, Cheongwol felt a chill creep up her spine.
"Now that I look more closely, each petal contains the subtle principles of Tang Clan martial arts. And not the outer hall’s martial arts either—the inner hall’s. In other words, it can only have been carved by someone from the direct line who has reached an extremely high level of cultivation."
"..."
Meeting her pale face without wavering, Dang Gangjin asked sharply, "Where, exactly, did you get this?"