Not Poisoning, But Injury by Excessive Contact
The verdict for the young man and woman who had committed not the five faults of poisoning, but rather injury by excessive contact, was delivered as a forced wedding.
“I ought to speak with Elder Brother about this. Looks like we’ll have to rush the ceremony… At this rate, if we’re not careful, a grandson of the main line will arrive before the wedding even happens…”
“N-no! I-I haven’t done anything except… except kissing!”
“Hm?”
“Th-that’s not what I… I mean… Hwaaaaah…”
Eumbong’s wail rang out so mournfully it seemed she had poured inner force into her voice itself. Her bitter, wronged cry burst forth, yet in this era, kissing? Borrowing Hwa-eun’s words, wasn’t that the sort of intimacy reserved for husband and wife?
They had already been betrothed, so perhaps the conclusion simply landed in the direction the two of them preferred.
Thus the Earth Dragon poisoning incident was closed as nothing more than the blunder of two hot-blooded youths who could not control themselves. Yet the aftershocks reached me, Hwa-eun, and even our children.
What I mean is this: neither Hwa-eun nor I possessed a high enough realm in poison arts. We could identify the toxin, but we could not draw out the poison that had already spread through the body.
To treat Jiryong, therefore, we needed either the family head—my father-in-law—or a Tang Clan master of Man-dok Shin-gun’s caliber. For that reason the Divine Thief, who was to escort us, had to make another trip back to the Tang Clan.
When poisoning symptoms begin to affect the nerves, the sooner the treatment, the better. Leave frequent convulsions and other neurological issues untreated, and they can become permanent nerve damage. Nerves are exquisitely sensitive organs; sustained, excessive stimulation can destroy them in an instant.
When I explained that fact to the military advisor, Elder Jegal Hu, the person he chose was the Divine Thief. If you needed someone brought quickly, there was no one in the Murim better than that living bullet taxi.
And so our journey was delayed by a few more days.
“What? You’re telling me to haul that old Man-dok Shin-gun over here on my back?”
“I must ask this of you, Elder Divine Thief. They say his condition will not worsen, yet prolonged symptoms are never good…”
“Why not just send any quick-footed fellow to fetch the old man?”
“We would need someone as fast as you, Elder…”
“I refuse. Of all people, Man-dok Shin-gun! Just being near him makes my poison rise…”
At first even the Divine Thief balked. He and Grandfather seemed to have a sort of friendly rivalry, after all. But once the greatest elder of the Murim Alliance himself stepped in, the Divine Thief could not utter another peep and had to race straight to Sichuan.
“Divine Thief, I must ask a favor. With the Blood Sect affairs, I need every free hand focused outward. Can we afford to have our military advisor distracted by family matters?”
“Ah… very well. If the Fist Emperor puts it that way…”
Perhaps because he was a thief, he could not so much as twitch before the head of the Murim’s public institutions.
“Elder, you must be sure to tell the children that we will be a few days late.”
“I said I know already.”
Even Man-dok Shin-gun, who hated being carried, could not refuse a personal letter from the Alliance Leader. In the end he hurried so much that he arrived at the Murim Alliance gates looking thoroughly put-upon—only three days for the round trip, faster than our own journey had been.
And then the treatment of Jiryong began. As a free bonus, Eumbong was treated as well.
“I have drawn out a fair amount of the scattered toxic energy, but you will need prolonged treatment. The period of poisoning was long. Far too much toxin has been absorbed into the body; extracting it all in a short time is impossible. Still, you will no longer have trouble moving, and your body will return to normal. Once you feel better, come visit the main house.
“For a while yet your eyes or mouth will twitch, and you may limp in an arm or leg. Thanks to So-ryong’s advice we treated you quickly, yet after such long poisoning, full recovery of the symptoms will take quite some time.”
“Thank you, Elder Man-dok Shin-gun.”
“And you—come here as well. The fact that you show no abnormality after eating the same thing only means the symptoms have not yet appeared. You are almost certainly seriously poisoned yourself.”
That evening, after Man-dok Shin-gun had finished the long treatment and returned to the lodging, Hwa-eun and I went to the guest hall to pay a sick visit—partly out of courtesy, since Jegal Yong-cheon belonged to one of the Seven Great Families.
When we arrived outside the quarters where Jiryong was staying, laughter drifted from within.
“From now on your nickname isn’t Earth Dragon—it’s Byeokho, the Wall Lizard!”
“Wahahaha! Byeokho!”
Inside we could hear the familiar voices of Jiryong, his girlfriend Eumbong, and the friends who seemed to be Sword Dragon, Fist Dragon, and Gungbong.
“Cheonrang, do something!”
“Hey, you lot, stop it already!”
“That’s right. Enough. You’re embarrassing Eumbong. Though… why is she embarrassed, exactly?”
Byeokho? That’s just another word for gecko, isn’t it?
They were clearly close enough friends to tease him mercilessly. Still, “Byeokho” meant gecko. Curiosity piqued, I called through the door. We were going in anyway, and the conversation already involved something that interested me.
“Is anyone home? Jiryong? It’s So-ryong of the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“Oh! Young Hero So-ryong! Come right in!”
The delighted welcome came the instant they heard my voice. Stepping inside, I found the remaining members of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes—everyone except Big Brother Peng’s group—seated around the table. Eumbong’s ears were bright red, though.
“I heard the treatment was finished, so we came to check on how you’re doing.”
“Ah, I should have been the one to seek you out, but in this condition… From what Eumbong has told me, I owe you a great debt, Young Hero.”
The first time we met he had seemed rather high-strung and stiff-faced; perhaps that had been the mercury poisoning, for both his speech and expression were now far gentler.
“Not at all. What great debt? Elder Man-dok Shin-gun did the treating. I merely offered a few words.”
I answered with modest deflection, but Jiryong’s face turned serious.
“No. You uncovered what I was poisoned by and saved not only me but Eumbong as well. Of course I must thank you.”
His left hand still trembled, and even the corner of his mouth twitched from the lingering effects of the poison, yet he forced himself through a formal clasped-fist salute toward me.
Once the brief sick-visit formalities were over and Eumbong had poured us tea, I asked about the “Byeokho” remark I had overheard at the door.
“By the way—I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping, but as I came in I caught the word ‘Byeokho.’ What was that about?”
Ptoo!
Ptoo!
Sword Dragon and Fist Dragon, who had been drinking tea at the same moment, both sprayed their mouthsful. Gungbong, caught in the middle, took the full blast and stared at them with a blank face.
“Uh…”
Even while handing Gungbong a scrap of cloth, they could not hold back the snickers.
“Kh-hup…”
“S-sorry, Gungbong. Pff—”
Hwa-eun and I exchanged bewildered looks. Jiryong scratched his head awkwardly and answered.
“When my benefactor asks, I can hardly refuse to explain… It’s nothing much, really…”
“Cheonrang!”
“But the benefactor is curious. I can’t just not tell him…”
“B-but…”
Eumbong tried to stop him from speaking, yet the explanation continued.
“Ahem… Cinnabar isn’t something people normally eat, is it?”
“Well, no.”
“The only creatures that eat cinnabar are stone lizards, right?”
“Stone lizards?”
Stone lizards meant geckos—why on earth would a gecko eat mercury? Seeing my blank expression, Hwa-eun murmured helpfully from beside me.
“Ah, you mean the geckos raised to produce palace-guarding sand?”
“Y-yes, exactly.”
“Ah…”
So that was it. Jiryong was referring to a story I had once heard at the Namgung Clan—the tale of the abused lizards raised for virginity tests. They sealed a gecko in a jar, fed it cinnabar its entire life, then ground it up and used the paste to mark a woman’s body; if she was still a virgin the mark would never fade. Utter nonsense, of course.
“But what does that have to do with the lizard?”
Just as I wondered why he had suddenly brought up the abused gecko, Eumbong kept jabbing him in the side, signaling him not to continue. Jiryong avoided her eyes and pressed on.
“Ahem… So the lizards raised to make palace-guarding sand prove a woman’s chastity, don’t they?”
“Well… supposedly.”
Whether they actually proved anything was doubtful, but since even the Namgung daughter had used one to clear her name, I nodded.
“Yes, well… In other words, they protect a woman’s honor. And since I ate an entire jar of cinnabar and thereby protected Eumbong’s chastity… my friends claim that was exactly like the behavior of a gecko raised for palace-guarding sand…”
“What?”
“But I’m one of the Five Dragons, so rather than a mere stone lizard, a ‘Byeokho’—with the character for tiger—suits me better. Just a joke, really…”
In short: even though they had kissed so frequently and so often, they had never gone any further. Therefore, the friends teased, he was just like a cinnabar-fed gecko that existed solely to guard virginity.
Kh-hup…
I tried to hold it in, but the laugh burst out. I had wondered what sort of people the Five Dragons would be; these fellows turned out to be thoroughly entertaining.
“Wahahaha! So you’re sworn brothers with that fellow Do-ryong? Then just call me Big Brother too.”
“Of course—if you’re Do-ryong’s little brother, you’re little brother to all of us.”
“Hey, why are you lot making my benefactor into your little brother?”
“So that we can become your big brothers, of course. So-ryong saved your life, so naturally he should be treated as an elder brother.”
“What?!”
“Wuhahaha!”
Sword Dragon was Doho Mujin, senior disciple of the Zhongnan Sect; Fist Dragon was Hwangbo Yeong, eldest son of the Hwangbo Clan. Both were bold, free-spirited men. Natural social butterflies, they put everyone at ease within a few sentences, so that what was meant to be a brief greeting stretched late into the night.
“But… if someone saves your life, do you normally take them as a big brother?”
“Eh?”
Gungbong possessed the same airheaded charm as her appearance suggested; she was a disciple of the mysterious Myohwa Palace.
Ah, don’t mind Gungbong—she’s always like that.
Gungbong has a pure sort of beauty, though.
The Murim Alliance did not sell alcohol inside its grounds, yet somehow liquor appeared, the others insisting that a day like this demanded a proper drink. A drinking table was laid in no time.
“Little brother should have a cup too.”
“I’m still underage…”
“I started at twelve, so it’s fine.”
And once the wine was poured, song could not be missing. The two of them immediately began pestering Eumbong to perform—after having teased her so mercilessly earlier.
“Eumbong, shouldn’t you let our benefactor hear the sound of your dizi?”
“Exactly! Not for the wine—just play the dizi once for the benefactor.”
“Haa…”
Eumbong looked unwilling, yet I myself had never once witnessed sound arts, so I asked out of curiosity.
“If it wouldn’t be an imposition, might I have the chance to broaden my horizons? I’ve never seen sound arts before.”
“If Young Hero So-ryong, our benefactor, requests it…”
From her sleeve Eumbong drew a jade flute—so “dizi” simply meant a Chinese transverse flute.
Peereeree.
A truly mournful and beautiful melody filled the room; we were still admiring it when the demonstration of sound arts followed. Perhaps still annoyed at Sword Dragon and Fist Dragon, she made them both nod off, then snapped them awake with a sharp, ringing tone.
Huh!? That is…
Seeing my startled expression at the final ringing note, Eumbong asked,
“Was the dizi of our Wolyeong Palace listenable?”
“Of course. I was deeply impressed.”
Hwa-eun nodded in agreement as well. Satisfied by our praise, Eumbong smiled and reached into her sleeve again—only to pull out a mother-of-pearl case and freeze in dismay. Inside the case was the very jar that had caused all the trouble. After the chaos of the poisoning, she had absentmindedly taken it out again.
“Ah… force of habit… Cheonrang bought it for me, but I should just throw it away.”
“Next time I’ll buy you one made from safflower.”
“But that isn’t very good for the lips…”
Listening to the exchange, I sensed there was a story. When I asked, I finally understood why she was so particular about coating her lips.
As a practitioner of sound arts she used the flute as her primary weapon (of sorts). Long practice sessions often left her lips cracked. Wolyeong Palace, being a martial house, paid little attention to such things and at most applied a bit of oil when it grew severe. Jiryong, pitying her chapped lips, had bought her rouge, and that was how their courtship began.
Their kisses, it turned out, had been a kind of treatment check—to make sure her lips stayed soft and moist.
“So that was the reason.”
“Yes, well…”
Eumbong flushed with embarrassment after the explanation. The atmosphere grew a little awkward, so I seized the chance to change the subject and ask about the question that had arisen during her final note.
“Ah, Eumbong—while listening to your performance a thought occurred to me. If it wouldn’t be rude, might I ask for some advice?”
“Advice?”
She tilted her head, then smiled and nodded.
“Of course. You saved both my life and Cheonrang’s—I ought to help however I can.”
“Actually, that sharp ringing sound you just demonstrated… I heard something similar not long ago. The moment I heard it my internal energy was thrown into chaos and I couldn’t gather my wits. Is there any way to defend against that sort of thing?”
“What? You’ve been struck by sound arts before?”
The ringing note at the end of her technique had instantly recalled the wingbeat of the Strange Cry Tiger Cub—the sound that robbed a person of their senses. If she was a master of sound arts, she might know a countermeasure.
“It’s classified, but the five of you aren’t the sort to go spreading secrets. The truth is, in Yunnan…”
It was confidential, yet it was information I would need someday when we finally hunted the creature. Moreover, with the Five Poisons Sect already allied with the Blood Sect, there was no guarantee the Strange Cry Tiger Cub would never appear in the Central Plains. So I explained the whole affair in front of all five of them.
“…and that is what happened.”
“Ah, so that’s why you never gave us the full details about Sword Phoenix and Big Brother Peng at the time.”
“Yes, Big Brother Hwangbo.”
“Is Sword Phoenix all right?”
“Yes. All three of them are receiving treatment at the Beast Palace, so you needn’t worry.”
“That’s a relief.”
After a few worried questions about Big Brother Peng’s party, the mood settled. Eumbong half-filled one of the wine cups that had been set out with the refreshments, then had Sword Dragon tap it with a chopstick.
Ting. Ting.
“Sound spreads like the ripples a stone makes when it falls onto a still surface. If you can find the opposing sound and make the two collide, they cancel each other out like this.”
As soon as she finished speaking she raised her flute and began to play. The note of the flute and the ringing of the wine cup under Sword Dragon’s chopstick both vanished at once.
Ah! It’s a kind of noise cancellation!
I had thought she was merely a kissing addict, but she turned out to be surprisingly talented. Eumbong was a debuffer capable of weakening an opponent—and the perfect hard counter to the Strange Cry Tiger Cub!
I immediately made my pitch.
“Eumbong, when the time comes, would you grant me one favor? When we go to catch that Strange Cry Tiger Cub, I’d like you to come along and block its cry. If you do that much for me, I’ll craft something both of you need.”
“It would be for the sake of the Murim, so of course we should help… but something we need?”
Eumbong tilted her head at the mention of a gift, clearly curious what I intended to make for the two of them.
What else?
A non-toxic lipstick that would keep their lips soft and moist so they could kiss as much as they wanted.
Go ahead and kiss to your heart’s content. Don’t worry about a thing.