Arrival of the Evil Spirits [1]
“A pleasure to meet you. Though I am hardly adequate for the role, I am Lee Yun, the one who manages the household affairs of the Wiji Clan.”
A neatly dressed man in yellowish-brown martial robes cupped his fists in greeting. The man seated across from him rose in answer.
“Hm? Where is the clan head?”
His hair held a reddish cast. Narrow, slit-like eyes sat beneath it. He wore a shabby leather vest over lean, copper-skinned muscle, thick calluses layered across his palms. The man kept glancing about, searching for the other party’s clan head.
Lee Yun, the man in yellowish-brown robes, answered with cold finality.
“There seems to have been a misunderstanding. The head of the Wiji Clan is not of a station to appear in person for so minor a matter.”
“Oh.”
The man opposite him looked impressed.
“A minor matter, you say. So you regard us as a minor matter…”
He nodded slowly. Lee Yun continued.
“There will be no difficulties with the proceedings. The Wiji Clan’s household runs under my responsibility, so if you need anything, speak to me or—”
Lee Yun politely indicated the youth beside him.
“To Young Master Wi Ryong-ha, who will one day be master of the Wiji Clan. Everything will be resolved.”
“Wi Ryong-ha? The eldest son of the Wiji Clan?”
The narrow-eyed man looked across at the youth. Beside Lee Yun sat a young-faced man with an irritated expression, one leg crossed over the other. A jade ring adorned Wi Ryong-ha’s finger. Gold circled his wrist. A silver-plated sword hung at his waist. Behind him, seven men who appeared to be his guards glared with open intimidation.
The narrow-eyed man spoke.
“Hmm. Well, in that case we can talk.”
Warm afternoon sunlight spilled into the inn. It was an establishment managed by the Wiji Clan. Waiters hurried this way and that. From the kitchen came the bubbling sounds of cooking. Beneath the pleasant sun the innkeeper greeted guests with lively cheer. People shared cups of wine and swapped martial tales with gusto. A pregnant woman sat dozing, one hand stroking her swollen belly.
Lee Yun addressed the red-haired, narrow-eyed man who was looking around with interest.
“It may fall short of the Five Great Families at the heart of the Central Plains, but this is still a reasonably prosperous land. Did you see much on the way here?”
The narrow-eyed man nodded.
“Yes, quite impressive. Well managed. Fertile soil, bright faces on the people… It seems a good place to live. Even though it sits so far north it borders the North Sea Ice Palace.”
He muttered under his breath.
“I underestimated this fertile land far too much.”
Lee Yun answered with open pride.
“Indeed. Here, not even the Hebei Peng Clan—one of the Five Great Families under heaven—can interfere.”
The narrow-eyed man nodded and glanced sideways.
“You think so too, right? Cha Ryu-ja.”
“….”
Beside Dokgo Cheon stood a man a full head taller, with a chilling presence. His lips were torn in a scar that climbed all the way to his right eye. A blue-tinged wind-riding robe wrapped him like black waves down to his ankles. Cha Ryu-ja did not blink even once.
“….”
Like a bird of prey’s eyes, only the black pupils against the whites bored into Lee Yun without wavering. Lee Yun wiped the cold sweat trickling down his nape and forced a laugh.
“Ha… haha. This Cha Ryu-ja fellow over there has quite the frightening face.”
The narrow-eyed man gave a short “Ah” and scratched the back of his red head.
“This friend had his eyelids cut off, so he doesn’t blink much. Cha Ryu-ja, ease up on the eyes, will you? You’re making him uncomfortable.”
“….”
The tall man slowly lowered his gaze to the floor. The narrow-eyed man sighed briefly and shrugged with playful nonchalance.
“He’s a bit of a brute, so please bear with him. Now, about the contract we discussed beforehand—”
“You’ve been talking smoothly enough from the start. Moyong Family.”
Wi Ryong-ha, eldest son of the Wiji Clan, cut him off, stroking the jade ring on his finger as he spoke with sharp edge.
“No manners. Is that the courtesy of your Moyong Family?”
Lee Yun turned to the youth in some fluster.
“Young Master Wi Ryong-ha.”
“No, Lee Yun, stay out of it. These people from the center of the Central Plains, thinking they can look down on us just because they came from there.”
Wi Ryong-ha clicked his tongue and looked the narrow-eyed man up and down.
“Coming to see me of the Wiji Clan dressed like that? And from the looks of it, empty-handed with no gifts either.”
“….”
The narrow-eyed man blinked. Wi Ryong-ha spoke as if he could scarcely believe it.
“You should know we have ears as well. You seem to be under some misconception. This meeting was arranged because you asked us for it. Did you think we’d bow and scrape and roll out the carpet just because you’re one of the Five Great Families or whatever?”
“…Ah.”
The narrow-eyed man gave a short laugh. Wi Ryong-ha continued.
“The waters of the Yellow River keep flowing. No matter that the Five Great Families are the five most renowned for wealth and power in the Central Plains, that is a thing of the past. Especially your Moyong Family of late—though you seem to have tried desperately to hide it.”
Wi Ryong-ha looked back and forth between Cha Ryu-ja and the narrow-eyed man with open contempt.
“After the clan head’s death, you’ve been fighting a blood feud among yourselves under the surface almost on the scale of the Orthodox-Demonic War, haven’t you? So the Moyong Family’s fortunes have declined until they’re worth less than dust.”
“….”
“In the end, short on money and everything else, you swallowed your pride and came all the way here to join hands with our Wiji Clan. So shouldn’t you show the proper decorum for that? At the very least, kneel.”
“Y-Young Master!”
Lee Yun cried out. The narrow-eyed man smacked his lips.
“Even a rotten herring is still a herring, I suppose. Being a young master of a clan, your tongue is quite sharp.”
“And what about a bug like you, wearing a leather vest even our gatekeeper wouldn’t put on? Seeing as you haven’t even given your name yet, you don’t know the first thing about conversation.”
The narrow-eyed man scratched his cheek with a copper-skinned finger.
“I guess I’m nervous since it’s been a while since an official occasion… I haven’t even introduced myself.”
He cupped his fists lightly.
“A pleasure. I am Dokgo Cheon, right-hand man to Young Master Moyong Jinryong, eldest son of the Moyong Family.”
Lee Yun’s eyes flew wide.
“What—Dokgo…?”
Wi Ryong-ha exploded in fury.
“I was clearly told a direct descendant of the Moyong Family of the Five Great Families would come in person! Not even a direct line bearing the Moyong name, but Dokgo?!”
As if it were nothing at all, the red-haired, narrow-eyed man—Dokgo Cheon—looked around.
“Just as with you, there’s no way the eldest young master of the Moyong Family would come for so minor a matter, is there? So I, who am also his right hand, came instead.”
Dokgo Cheon opened his slit eyes a fraction and smiled.
“We call this even, don’t we? Tit for tat.”
Lee Yun roared.
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“No need to worry. I have some authority of my own.”
“Even if you are one of the Five Great Families, what arrogant—”
“I said no need to worry.”
“If the words are already different from the start like this, what are we supposed to trust you for—”
“This fucking… I said no need to worry.”
The air froze solid.
Wi Ryong-ha stopped mid-tap of his foot, still in his insolent posture. His arrogant eyes went round as a rabbit’s. Lee Yun stammered.
“W-What did you just say?”
“Thinking about it, I just got out of prison after a long stretch… I’m not used to conversations between people.”
Dokgo Cheon nodded to himself and stood.
“I forgot a truly important message to deliver.”
“An important matter…?”
Dokgo Cheon lifted his chair. Cha Ryu-ja’s unblinking eyes were once more fixed on Lee Yun without a flicker.
Screeech…
Dokgo Cheon dragged the chair one-handed toward the entrance.
“Uh, guest? Why the chair—”
A waiter stared blankly at him. Dokgo Cheon closed the inn’s only door.
Clack.
He lowered the iron bar and locked it.
Thud.
He jammed the chair hard into the door handle, barring it. Lee Yun stammered.
“W-What are you doing right now?”
“Has peace rotted your brains so thoroughly you’ve lost all sense…? Still don’t understand?”
Dokgo Cheon lifted his head.
“You know why I looked for your clan head first? We didn’t come for negotiations.”
Cha Ryu-ja rose to his full massive height. Wi Ryong-ha’s eyes widened. The eyes of the guards behind him widened as well.
Like a white flash cutting through the air, Dokgo Cheon spoke.
“We came to devour you.”
“…!”
BOOM!!!
Cha Ryu-ja’s enormous foot kicked the chair aside. He snatched Lee Yun’s head and smashed it into the pillar beside them.
Thud!
Lee Yun’s skull burst. Wi Ryong-ha screamed.
“What kind of barbarian act is this—Aagh!!!”
Cha Ryu-ja’s huge hand shot out like light and seized Wi Ryong-ha by the hair. An oak table stood below. Cha Ryu-ja’s forearm swelled. Wi Ryong-ha’s head was driven full force into the table.
“Hup!”
Bang bang bang!!!
Dishes flew into the air. Side dishes overturned. Wi Ryong-ha’s head was slammed into the table again and again in a mad frenzy.
BOOM!
The table split clean in half. In Cha Ryu-ja’s grip, Wi Ryong-ha hung limp as a wet rag, forehead cracked open and soaked in blood.
“Young Master!”
Only a beat late did the guards grasp reality. They drew their swords in horror. That trained men reacted so slowly only proved how far this had strayed beyond every bound of common sense. Even green-forest bandit chiefs meeting one another would never commit such an act. This was a meeting between orthodox clans—and not some border family, but one of the Five Great Families.
The guards shouted.
“How can this happen at an official meeting between clans!”
“The Moyong Family has truly gone mad! If this spreads through the jianghu, how will you handle the aftermath…!”
“Truly worse than the unorthodox, you bastards—!”
BOOM!
The head of the martial artist who had raised his voice toward Dokgo Cheon burst in a single blow.
“…!”
Where the head had been, a fist-sized weight now hung.
“How dare you speak disrespectfully to Big Brother Dokgo Cheon.”
Clatter.
With a rattle of chain the weight was reeled back into Cha Ryu-ja’s massive grip. Dokgo Cheon smiled brightly.
“I’m a bad guy? The story will spread through the jianghu?”
Thud!
It was an axe. The lead guard tried to cross his sword in the space of a breath. But the heavy hand-axe, swung in a red flash, snapped the blade and split the man’s head clean in two.
“Today’s events won’t spread at all. Even the old man of the Lower Gate won’t know. Why?”
Dokgo Cheon swung the axe. It came down on the nape of the young waiter who stood frozen and trembling beside him.
“Aaah.”
The waiter’s eyes went round as he flailed the hand still holding his tray. He gurgled, then collapsed with a clatter. The inn was full of customers. A pregnant woman clutched her slightly swollen belly and retreated in shaky steps. Dokgo Cheon swept his hair back, face spattered with blood.
“Because all of you are going to die today. And since I’m kindly telling you this fact—”
Dokgo Cheon smiled at the warriors before him.
“I’m a good person now, right?”