Chapter 44: In the Human World, April's Fragrance Ends (15)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 44: In the Human World, April's Fragrance Ends (15)
"He never could have imagined that laying a hand on a single courtesan would lead to this. The karmic bonds and retribution of the mortal world are truly that complex and heavy."
Cho-ran's ears perked up at the sound of the voice.
"Uhm… I, I tried drawing Young Miss Eun-yeong, too! I-I'm not very skilled, but still. It’s Young Miss Eun-yeong sitting under a willow tree. Hello? …Was my drawing really that bad?"
"I'll buy it."
"Pardon?"
"And that one next to it, please. Is this Eun-yeong's back?"
"Yes. It's the back of Young Miss Eun-yeong as she was dozing off while standing. …A-And it's absolutely not because I'm bad at drawing her face that I drew her from behind!"
"I'll take it. I'll buy them all."
"…!"
Cho-ran bought every single unsold drawing of Eun-yeong.
Her husband, Master Wang, stood beside her, silently paying the merchants with silver taels.
"Thank you."
In response to Cho-ran's gratitude, Master Wang simply shrugged. He kept his face turned away, trying to hide his reddened eyes.
Cho-ran's lips trembled as if she were on the verge of tears.
She sniffled once, took in the sight of the festival so full of Eun-yeong’s memory, and closed her eyes.
The boisterous sounds of the crowd.
The refreshing, sweet scent of incense.
Even with her eyes closed, the scene of the festival rose before her, so vivid she could almost touch it.
Patter, patter.
It was as if she could see Eun-yeong weaving through the crowd with the grace of a cat.
Glancing around cautiously, she would patter over unnoticed, deftly snatching up sweets before vanishing back into the throng.
The thought of it…
…made her heart, which had shrunken as if to disappear, feel like it was stretching out again, just a little.
Cho-ran opened her eyes. She instinctively looked for Yeon So-wol.
Yeon So-wol, who had been watching her intently from afar, slowly turned his gaze away, as if he had just happened to glance in her direction while surveying the area.
This time, Cho-ran looked for her husband.
He, who had been by her side the whole time, was now a short distance away, surrounded by others.
They were all dignitaries of Xinxing County—people her husband had never been able to associate with before.
"Excellent. It's a splendid idea. A memorial shrine for Young Miss Eun-yeong. In fact, my family was already planning to hold a memorial service for her every year."
"Haha. That's wonderful. It is only right. A grudge like that must be resolved. To think she was cut down in the prime of her life after executing the villains who were eating away at Xinxing County."
"Indeed. We must step up. Let's build the shrine, and if possible, hold the memorial services together—even if Master Wang's household takes charge of the rites."
"Wonderful. I'm so pleased!"
Her husband's face was beaming. He had finally been given a reason to associate with the local dignitaries he had always wanted to befriend but couldn't due to his lower standing.
Guessing as much, Cho-ran felt happy for him, but also a little sad.
You… you just keep helping me, right to the end.
She glanced again toward Yeon So-wol.
Just then, his gaze was once again passing over her.
A small smile touched Cho-ran's lips, and with a lighter heart, she looked around the festival.
The conversation heating up the festivities had now shifted to the story of Li Bai and Hang In-woo.
"The tale of loyalty between Young Miss Eun-yeong and Young Hero Yeon is a fine one! But that's not the only story we have here in Xinxing County."
"What else is there?"
"There is! If the son is such a tiger, imagine what the father is like!"
"Ah…!"
"That's right. I'm talking about Faction Leader Hang In-woo and Great Hero Li Bai."
Cho-ran already knew the story, but she paused to listen, her eyes sparkling.
Hang In-woo was not originally from Xinxing County. He was from Shaoguan, in the eastern part of Guangdong Province.
For reasons unknown, when he was discovered on a wild mountain near Xinxing County, he had been stabbed repeatedly, his chest and abdomen sliced wide open.
Normally, that would have been the end of it. An unidentified martial artist found dead on a mountain.
But Hang In-woo was incredibly lucky. He was spotted by Li Bai, who happened to be passing by.
Li Bai cared for Hang In-woo with the utmost devotion.
He urgently acquired Golden Wound Medicine, which was said to be rarer than gold, paying two or three times the market price to treat the external injuries. He scraped together all the wealth he had accumulated, along with the assets of the martial arts academy inherited from his master, to buy an elixir and fed it to Hang In-woo to heal his internal injuries.
And that wasn't all.
Despite being a martial artist who had only just managed to kindle his True Fire, he personally guided Hang In-woo's qi to help him absorb the elixir, risking his own life in the process.
Everyone had scoffed at him.
Why would he go to such lengths for a complete stranger? Was he a fool?
At the time, Li Bai had replied:
"My master was unjustly killed by his own disciple. I killed my senior fellow disciple with my own hands. So… now I just want to see a martial artist who survives."
Everyone could only click their tongues in disapproval.
And so, Hang In-woo survived.
Li Bai nursed him until he had fully recovered. After his recovery, he even personally instructed him in martial arts. He didn't pass on his own techniques, but rather gave advice and oversaw Hang In-woo's training in the martial arts he already knew.
And so, they did not become master and disciple, but sworn brothers.
At this, people scoffed again.
Judging by Hang In-woo's level, they said he would never become a first-rate martial artist, no matter how much help he received. And even if he did, why bother? Did he think everyone who received a favor was grateful?
But Hang In-woo, as if to prove them wrong, reached the realm of a first-rate martial artist in just two years and joined the battle against the Yeoljeong Sect, saving Li Bai's life.
And that was how Li Bai became the number one martial artist in Xinxing County.
"If it weren't for Li Bai, he would have died right there. Even if he had survived, Hang In-woo would have scraped by as a second-rate martial artist for the rest of his life. But thanks to Li Bai, he rose so high," the storyteller exclaimed with gusto.
"But Hang In-woo is a man who knows loyalty. He threw his life on the line to fight alongside Li Bai. And that's not all. Right now, he has mobilized all his faction members to search for an elixir. What do you think that's for?"
"Ha! It must be for Great Hero Li Bai!"
"That's right. It's for Great Hero Li Bai. I heard he suffered some internal injuries in the last battle. He must be trying to heal them."
"He's repaying a debt of an elixir with an elixir!"
Satisfied with the chorus of answers from all around, the storyteller nodded.
"Correct. This is the loyalty of the men of the Jianghu. It began with Li Bai and Hang In-woo, was passed down to his son, Young Hero Yeon So-wol, and then on to Young Miss Eun-yeong."
"Incredible!"
Clink, clank. The sound of cups striking each other rang out noisily from all directions.
A warm tear trickled down Cho-ran's cheek.
She turned to look at Yeon So-wol.
And once again, his gaze was just passing by her.
Cho-ran strode toward Yeon So-wol.
He stood with his back straight, his white dopo fluttering softly in the breeze. His slowly roaming gaze assessed the movements of the people at the festival—the ones he needed to look after.
His eyes, having just passed over Cho-ran, returned to her.
"Young Master Yeon."
She stepped within two paces of him and spoke, her lips tight as if holding back a flood of emotion.
Yeon So-wol quietly looked back at Cho-ran. His eyes were cautious, as if he didn't know how to treat her, as if he couldn't guess her state of mind.
"I like the Jianghu," she said.
"I live my life covered in the dust of the mountains and fields, so I could never say I understand it all. But still, I think… I think I like the Jianghu now. Even if I can't live in it. Just the fact that such a place… exists somewhere in this world. I think I like that. Just that."
She bowed low, her body so long and graceful she looked as if she might fly away.
"Thank you. It was wonderful… to have been able to go boating, even for a moment, on the river and lake that belong to you and Eun-yeong."
Yeon So-wol's lips parted, but no words came out.
Cho-ran smiled as if she understood everything and said, "May you always remain so vividly red."
Yeon So-wol bowed his head deeply. A small smile touched his lips as well, born from a sense of relief.
*
"Jin Geol."
As the sun began to set and the day's festival drew to a close, Yeon So-wol called out to his new friend.
"What."
"Are you out of money?"
"Why?"
"You were awarded a gold tael for your poem back then, weren't you?"
"I was."
"Then why are your clothes still in that state?"
"Heheh." Jin Geol laughed. "I had a few drinks. The expensive kind."
"With a whole gold tael? On drinks?"
Yeon So-wol tilted his head. A direct comparison was difficult, but if he had to put a number on it, a single gold tael carried the weight of about ten million won in 21st-century South Korea. And he'd spent it all on alcohol?
"I ate some delicious food, too. Treated my drinking buddies. Treated some ladies. And went on a boat trip."
"…"
Yeon So-wol was speechless for a moment. "So you blew it all? In just a few days?"
"I did."
"Then you must be broke?"
"No. Actually, I have some."
Jin Geol pulled a gleaming gold ingot from his robes and flashed it. It was the same gold he had seen before the Chief Daoist of Yanggwang.
Yeon So-wol's eyes widened. "Didn't you just say you spent one tael?"
"I did."
"Did you have another one to begin with?"
"Nope." Jin Geol grinned. "Truth is, I grabbed another one while pretending to receive the cup."
Yeon So-wol's eyes trembled with shock and horror. "Y-You stole it?"
From the Chief Daoist of Yanggwang?
"Hey now. Stole it? Who do you take me for, a thief?"
Aren't you, though?
"I merely scooped a cup from an overflowing river."
You're definitely a thief.
Yeon So-wol was at a loss for words. "…What were you thinking, doing something like that? What if you got caught…?"
Jin Geol gave Yeon So-wol a meaningful look.
"The Chief Daoist of Yanggwang is a civil official. He may have studied Sage Learning, but that just means his predictions and judgments are outstanding. He can't read movements directly like a martial artist with their Qi Sense."
"…But the General Military Commander was there, too."
"I saw him. He was looking elsewhere. No matter how peerless an expert is, he can't see everywhere at once. Besides, as an official of the court, his Qi Sense is a bit weaker. And my hands are a bit fast."
"…"
"So-wol," Jin Geol said, as if boasting. "I don't gamble unless I'm sure I'll win."
Yeon So-wol thought to himself that all martial artists were crazy bastards and should never be trusted.
"Hm? That's a disrespectful look in your eyes."
"No. Not at all."
"Hah. Honestly. This is unfair. The world is full of crazy bastards, so why are you looking at me like I'm a madman?"
"It can get crazier than this?"
"Of course. A man I know, Yeon Seon-hong, once roared at the Chief Daoist of Yanggwang, 'What do you know of the people? Aren't the doctrines of Sage Learning nothing but useless speculation?'"
"…No way."
"It's true, isn't it? I saw it myself."
"No, I mean…" Yeon So-wol felt his words catch in his throat.
"I've rarely seen anyone that crazy. Especially among our peers. There's definitely no one like that here in Guangdong. You'd have to go elsewhere to find even a few."
Yeon So-wol flinched. Someone would actually do something that amounted to fabricated slander? A person?
Martial artists really are…
As Yeon So-wol shook his head, Jin Geol grinned. "I'd like to introduce you to those lunatics someday."
"…Well, maybe that day will come eventually."
Though he said that, Yeon So-wol didn't think that day would come anytime soon. He still had much to learn from Li Bai, and after that, he needed to find another master to learn from. For at least a few years, he'd be too busy training in martial arts to associate with the madmen of other regions.
…And I'm not sure I even need to associate with them.
To them, swiping a gold coin from the Chief Daoist of Yanggwang was no big deal. If that was true, it was terrifying.
"Who knows. You might meet them sooner than you think."
"We'll see if the circumstances and timing are right. It'll be difficult for at least a few years."
"Predictions like that are wrong more often than they're right, my friend."
"…Is that a curse?"
"No. It's just… that's really how it is. That's how the world works. Things just pop up when you least expect them."
"Definitely a curse."
"…Being too sharp won't make you popular, my friend."
Yeon So-wol and Jin Geol bickered as they finished the last of the wine bottle together.
And so, the festival slowly came to an end. The people, who had been treated to a feast until their bellies were full, chattered about the festival wherever they went.
The scent of incense… the food… the wine…
But there's this young knight-errant named Yeon So-wol…
And a woman named Eun-yeong, the sworn sister of a courtesan named Cho-ran…
And men named Li Bai and Hang In-woo…
And so now, Li Bai, Hang In-woo, Yeon So-wol, and all the martial artists of Xinxing County are going to Mount Cheonro…
Sometimes, a good story travels faster than a galloping horse.
All of Guangdong came to know of Li Bai and Yeon So-wol, and their hearts began to swell at the thought of the Mount Cheonro subjugation.
"…Should we go? I'd like to get to know them."
"Ah! Truly admirable. I must see them for myself."
Living lives far from ordinary themselves, the people of the Jianghu, whose likes and dislikes were clear, began to turn their gazes toward Xinxing County, their hearts stirred by the tale.
As April drew to a close, a piece of news sent a jolt of heat through Xinxing County.
"Ha! I hear Hang In-woo finally found an elixir? An incredible one, at that."
"They say with that, not only can Great Hero Li Bai's internal injuries be healed, but he might even advance a realm in his cultivation!"
"What joyous news!"
"The grace he bestowed has returned to him like this."
"Does this mean there will be another festival?"
"I don't know about that… but there will surely be one after the Mount Cheonro subjugation."
"Hahaha, I'm excited already."
It was the last day of April.
Hang In-woo, who hadn't even shown his face at the festival while searching for the elixir, sent a messenger. Since there was much to celebrate, he suggested they share a drink after so long.