Memorization
Sichuan Tang Clan had long inspired fear even among the righteous martial artists, for it was a household that prized ruthless techniques and repayment of debts above all else.
Yet thanks to the will of the clan’s founding leader, who had been a physician, the fact that they used poison never became a true scandal.
"Poison is not meant for taking lives. Its purpose is to save and preserve them. Even if the target is an enemy, do not use poison lightly unless destruction is at your doorstep."
Following the founder’s teachings, later generations practiced the palm techniques and hidden-projectile arts he had left behind, and poison was used only in the service of medicine.
Perhaps because of that history, even orthodox martial artists who had initially looked on them with suspicion gradually began to accept them as allies.
Still, that was only to the extent that they did not object to the use of poison.
As for keeping close to them, that was unsettling in a way no one could quite help. After all, they were human beings before they were martial artists.
That feeling had grown even stronger after a few people who had picked fights with Tang Clan disciples spent several days and nights writhing in vicious stomach pain.
And so, just as the tension between the orthodox and the Tang Clan was beginning to turn awkward again, someone appeared.
No one knew how he had managed to drift all the way to Sichuan alive, but a martial artist of some renown from the unorthodox side came to stand before the Tang Clan’s gates with a single saber slung over his shoulder and shouted:
"I’m so hungry I could drop dead after that long journey! I heard there are some rather famous people here, so why not show a little hospitality?"
This was no time when the orthodox and unorthodox factions were at peace. To brazenly demand a meal in the very heart of enemy territory was absurd.
The Tang Clan’s gates were opened all the same, but everyone watching could already imagine the man’s fate once he stepped inside.
And yet, what was this?
The very next day, that lunatic from the unorthodox faction walked out of the Tang Clan on his own two feet, perfectly intact.
Unable to contain his curiosity, one martial artist approached and asked what had happened.
The man burst into hearty laughter and replied, "They served me an incredibly luxurious meal."
That single remark spread through all of the Central Plains in no time at all, and even those who had always kept a wary distance from the Tang Clan took notice.
"They treated an enemy that lavishly? Then they can’t possibly treat us any worse."
"I was planning to stop by someday anyway to look for some rare herbs. This is perfect—I should go now."
"Well, he did start the trouble first. Isn’t that why he ended up like that?"
After that, the Tang Clan carefully welcomed every visitor who came through its doors, and in return the unease lingering in the hearts of orthodox martial artists melted away like snow.
From that incident on, the Tang Clan continued to offer every guest a meal without stint, and the guests, in turn, repaid that goodwill by cleaning their plates with obvious enjoyment.
It had clearly become a kind of custom, though.
"There’s still more, so take your time. Have some water too."
Dang Gangjin looked back and forth between Cheongwol and the empty dishes with faint bewilderment.
Had all of that food truly gone into that woman’s stomach?
"Yes, thank you. And please, speak comfortably. Seo-ah calls you older brother, doesn’t she?"
Perhaps because she had eaten to her heart’s content and was in a better mood, unexpected words slipped from Cheongwol’s mouth, who usually kept a certain distance from others.
"I won’t refuse. In return, you should call me older brother as well, not Young Clan Leader."
He accepted readily enough and even granted her a more familiar form of address, but for some reason her reaction was ambiguous.
"Ah..."
And there was one more thing he disliked: why was the Seomun fellow glaring at him with such insolent eyes from the beginning?
"For now, that’s a little difficult. Once I’m used to it, I’ll call you that."
Cheongwol gave an awkward smile, and Dang Gangjin slowly nodded.
"Call me whatever feels easiest. By the way, it looks like you’ve finished everything. Would you like more?"
By the time this plate was cleared, it would already be the second time the table had been filled again.
And yet Cheongwol’s eyes sparkled as she boldly asked for a third serving.
"...Would that be all right?"
---
After finishing the meal with fragrant yet slightly bitter tea, Dang Gangjin brought up the matter he had not been able to conclude during the day.
"I’ve already sent a letter to the clan leader regarding the jade that you brought. I can’t promise anything, but if it isn’t him, then I doubt anyone else in the Tang Clan will know what it is."
He had said he would stop asking, so why was he bringing this up now?
Cheongwol’s expression hardened, and Dang Gangjin let out a faint smile.
"Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I won’t make an issue of it. It’s still trivial for now, but I give you my word on my honor."
It was weighty enough, coming from the Young Clan Leader of the Sichuan Tang Clan, but whether the same attitude would hold if the topic of the Im family ever came from the clan leader’s own mouth was another matter entirely.
...Still, if I get the chance tomorrow, I should run. For now, I need to tell Seo-ah and Hwi first...
"I suppose I haven’t seemed very trustworthy."
Dang Gangjin, seeing that Cheongwol still could not hide her unease despite his obvious goodwill, reached into his robes and took out a hidden weapon of unusual workmanship, then held it out to her.
"For a Tang Clan martial artist, this is a special mark engraved on a hidden weapon, one that is given only once in a lifetime. If my words prove false, I’ll take it back then."
The moment he extended the hidden weapon, Dang Sohye shot to her feet, and Seomun Hwi and Ak Seo-ah also looked startled.
"Older brother!"
Once she heard the details attached to the hidden weapon, Cheongwol was also shocked and waved her hands in refusal.
"That’s right. Just your words earlier, Young Clan Leader... no, older brother, were already more than enough."
She hesitated over calling him older brother, reluctant to use such a familiar term for another man, but if she wanted to return his kindness, she had no choice.
Dang Gangjin also felt that he may have gone a little too far, but he was satisfied that he had brought those words out sooner than expected.
Strangely enough, this is bothering me.
Perhaps because there was something in her that resembled his younger sister, Dang Sohye, he found himself treating Cheongwol with a warmth he could not even explain to himself.
"Thank you for saying so."
After Dang Gangjin put the hidden weapon away again, Dang Sohye sat back down only after directing a sharp glare at Cheongwol.
After a brief, awkward silence, Ak Seo-ah spoke cautiously.
"It seemed familiar, and now I see why—it’s like the hidden weapon we received at the inn. Isn’t that right, Cheongwol-sojeo?"
At Ak Seo-ah’s question, Cheongwol smiled lightly and nodded.
"Yes. The one I received then seems to be the hidden weapon that older brother mentioned."
As she spoke, she carefully took out the hidden weapon from her robes and placed it down.
The moment Dang Gangjin confirmed it, his previously relaxed gaze narrowed.
The inn, and the Tang Clan’s special hidden weapon.
There were far too many overlapping details with the incident the Beggars’ Union senior monk had told him about.
As if at last the first thread of a case hidden in darkness was finally within reach, Dang Gangjin bit his lip.
"Could the inn you mentioned be the one at Ohwahae?"
---
Had she made some mistake?
The more they spoke about what had happened at the inn, the darker Dang Gangjin’s expression became.
Especially when they mentioned that the man in black had used swordplay that stirred the wind—at that point, a sharp current of energy could be felt from him.
For a martial artist of his level to let his qi leak out unconsciously, his emotions would have to be running dangerously high.
Of course, it could have been righteous anger at hearing that the innkeeper had been mistreated by a martial artist, but it seemed as though something else lay beneath it.
As she walked while mulling over an answer that refused to appear, Seomun Hwi suddenly spoke from her left, his voice thick with displeasure.
"To ask a woman you met today to call you older brother—does the Tang Clan’s Young Clan Leader have no shame?"
Then Ak Seo-ah stepped in at once from the right, almost as if to defend him.
"Older brother would hardly have said it with any special intent."
So she really did have feelings for Seomun Hwi, and yet she seemed displeased at the thought of her own blood brother being slandered.
Seomun Hwi, who would normally have let it end there, strangely enough showed no sign of backing down this time.
"I don’t like the way he throws around words like that so lightly."
She already had enough on her mind—why were these two acting like this too?
When Seomun Hwi seemed ready to keep pressing Ak Seo-ah, Cheongwol reached out and stopped him.
"Enough. Why are you fighting over something this trivial?"
At that, both of them turned to her and spoke at the same time.
"It’s not trivial."
"It is not trivial."
What exactly was so intolerable about Dang Gangjin to Seomun Hwi, and why was Ak Seo-ah taking his side when she loved him?
Her head beginning to throb, Cheongwol pressed her temple and let out a long sigh.
"Both of you, move aside. Let me walk alone for a bit."
---
In the thick darkness, Dang Gangjin relied on a small lamp as he replayed the words Cheongwol and Ak Seo-ah had spoken over and over again.
The black-clad man’s sword technique that had stirred the wind. The sharp sword marks left at the scene.
And the crude disguise that even the innkeeper had noticed at a glance.
Every circumstance pointed toward the Qingcheng Sect.
And yet that very fact only deepened Dang Gangjin’s distress.
Even if it were true, the orthodox martial world was already divided in two. Was it not?
The Qingcheng Sect would claim the evidence had been forged, and that would only fan the flames of the more warlike martial artists within the Tang Clan.
That much, at least, must be stopped.
Even if the day ever came when the orthodox sects, split apart for good, drew blood and clashed with one another, he had to prevent Sichuan from becoming the place where it began.
Had his father and clan leader, Dang Hyeongeuk, not also gone to Namgung Clan Estate for that very reason?
Moreover, he could not dismiss the possibility that this was all part of someone’s scheme to drive a wedge between the Qingcheng Sect and the Tang Clan in order to create exactly such a situation.
"Haa..."
He had thought himself prepared by now, yet the sight of his own existence feeling so unbearably small made Dang Gangjin give a dry laugh.
...How does Father bear such a heavy burden all alone?
Whoosh.
As the steady flame flickered lightly in the draft, Dang Gangjin’s gaze naturally drifted to the door.
It was deep into the night, so who had come looking for him?
His eyes, fixed on the figure standing in the darkness, widened at once when he heard the familiar voice.
"Older brother, may I come in for a moment?"
---
