The Imperial Summons
The Great Hall of the Huang Empire.
“Hoh…”
The great hall, where dozens of ministers stood arrayed in ranks, had lost every trace of its usual solemn quiet and buzzed with noise.
The cause was the mountain of treasure heaped at its center. Precious objects of uncommon quality rose high enough to form a small peak of their own. This was the wealth sent by Sichuan Prefect Sama Yeom. Even the portion stacked here, if sold carefully over time, would easily fetch several hundred gold nyang—and that was said to be only a fraction of the whole. Astonishment was inevitable.
Seated upon the throne, the present Emperor, Yu Gyeong, read the memorial from Sichuan Prefect Sama Yeom and asked,
“What is the total value of the wealth sent by Sichuan Prefect Sama Yeom?”
“Fully five thousand gold nyang’s worth, Your Majesty!”
“Five thousand…!”
“To think a family that abandoned humanity and trampled the laws of the realm could amass such vast riches…!”
“Prefect Sama Yeom has rightly restored the solemn statutes of the nation…!”
The ministers, staggered by the sum, each in turn denounced the Golden Family’s corruption and praised Sama Yeom’s merit—yet
“Hmm…”
Yu Gyeong merely tapped the arm of the throne, lost in thought, and the ministers, reading his silence, closed their mouths. Watching them, the Emperor snorted inwardly.
Honey on the lips, a dagger in the belly. Obedience on the surface, rebellion behind the back. The old sayings rose unbidden at the sight.
At moments like this they looked like loyal subjects of a thousand ages, but Yu Gyeong knew their true natures well. Men who would do anything for one more scrap of power.
Hyeok Gi-rin…
Whenever he thought of Hyeok Gi-rin, regret filled him. The younger sibling who had left for the Murim claiming that their very existence was a spark for imperial power struggles.
This affair alone proved it. Bowing to merchants for the sake of a junior of the Jeomchang Sect, suffering humiliation amid the shifting power of the region—none of it would have been necessary had they remained in the palace.
If not for these damned ministers and their endless contests for influence, that child could have stayed within the imperial family without ever resorting to cross-dressing, free of every care.
Fresh anger surged.
Yet this was no time to dwell on the ministers’ ways.
This is not Sama Yeom’s method.
Reading further, Yu Gyeong thought as much.
Sama Yeom’s appointment as Sichuan Prefect had been half the Emperor’s will and half the man’s own. Sama Yeom had always doted especially on Hyeok Gi-rin, and Yu Gyeong had needed a reliable ally planted in Sichuan, where the Jeomchang Sect stood.
Had Hyeok Gi-rin suffered injustice, Sama Yeom would have exacted proper retribution on his own. Such matters would never even have appeared in a memorial. The problem lay in the manner of the memorial’s submission and in the content itself.
Uprooting a merchant house as vast as the Golden Family justified a delayed report; that much was no issue. But the handling of the affair stood far removed from Sama Yeom’s usual practice.
He sends memorials readily enough at other times—why wait until every thread was already cut before submitting one now?
The method of resolution raised further questions. It was not the path Sama Yeom would choose. Requesting the Tang Family’s cooperation was one thing. But the voluntary aid of Sichuan’s sects? The carving of a stele? A plaque of gratitude?
Hyeok Gi-rin’s movements were recorded with curious detail, and the handwriting confirmed Sama Yeom as the author—yet for this single incident the style of work was utterly unlike him.
Hyeok Gi-rin, Tang Do-gyeong, Tang Do-yeon, Yeo Il-ye… the Sichuan Wanderer?
“Hmm…”
With the cooperation and assistance of the Sichuan Wanderer—a local collaborator then carrying out the escort commission for Hyeok Gi-rin…
The Sichuan Wanderer spread Hyeok Gi-rin’s chivalrous renown throughout the inns…
Using the Silver Grudge Token in the Sichuan Wanderer’s possession to restrain Yeo Il-ye, disciple of the Jeomchang Sect…
Tang Do-gyeong, together with the Sichuan Wanderer, devised the plan that drew the response of Sichuan’s sects…
The wanderers raided the Jam-bong Gate…
Yeo Il-ye has departed to arrest the remaining villains; Hyeok Gi-rin and Tang Do-gyeong have each returned to their main sect and main family. At present the Sichuan Wanderer travels with Hyeok Gi-rin toward the Jeomchang Sect…
Sama Yeom’s memorial spoke only of Ho Cheon-an; every mention of Heukmyo had been omitted. Her deeds had taken place in the shadows and were difficult to set down in an official report—and the mere revelation of her existence to the imperial court would itself have been a problem.
Thus, though the text named a “Sichuan Wanderer,” every exploit recorded belonged to Ho Cheon-an alone.
Sichuan Wanderer. Yu Gyeong rubbed his chin and pondered. This figure appeared with strange frequency throughout the memorial. A connection to Hyeok Gi-rin seemed certain… yet what purpose had driven Sama Yeom to include such detail?
Hmm. If this is handled well…
If handled well, might he not summon Hyeok Gi-rin to the capital once without complication? Not as a member of the imperial blood, but as one of the people who had purged the corrupt and restored a vast sum of gold to the national treasury—he could advance the justification of personally bestowing praise.
“Having read the memorial, I feel the labors of the Tang Family, holders of the Zhongyangjin rank, and of Sichuan Prefect Sama Yeom. Tang Do-gyeong, who led the volunteer army, shall be appointed Jiaowei. To Sama Yeom I grant as reward a portion of the lands confiscated from the Golden Family.”
Yu Gyeong pictured Hyeok Gi-rin. The year they came of age—after that hard-won meeting he had not seen their face again. Already six years had passed. The realization filled his heart with longing.
Yes. What harm in pressing a little? So long as they did not face each other as members of the same imperial house, what if he simply watched from afar—as one of the people and as Emperor? The urge to see with his own eyes how Hyeok Gi-rin had grown, how they had lived, crowded his thoughts.
“Your grace is boundless!”
“Yet besides these, the memorial records several chivalrous heroes who strove to set right the laws of this Huang Empire. Though they hold no office, I wish to praise those who expended their strength for the realm.”
While the ministers stirred at the unexpected turn, Yu Gyeong continued.
“The one named Yeo Il-ye still moves to set the banner of the world aright; I shall convey my will to the Jeomchang Sect in their stead. But the one called the Sichuan Wanderer, and Hyeok Gi-rin—I shall personally commend their merit. This is an imperial decree!”
The command to summon Hyeok Gi-rin and Ho Cheon-an to the imperial palace was sealed.
Life at the Jeomchang Sect had now stretched nearly two full months.
Days spent teaching sleight-of-hand to the senior masters while occasional news of Yeo Il-ye’s vengeance drifted in, and learning martial arts in turn.
The seniors who had drawn close enough to the children now wore many worries. They were searching for the answer of how best to guide the young ones they had come to know at close range.
The reward-and-punishment assembly, fashioned by plucking only the useful parts from the prayer meeting, seemed to have worked well on the children. In the end, praise the good, make the wrongdoers reflect, correct their conduct, and weave a little joy into the process…
Hmm. Damn hard.
Since the children’s education now rested entirely with the seniors, I only dropped by now and then to teach a few tricks of the hand.
Other changes had come as well. First among them: the single-attribute spiritual medicine had been completed and consumed. The flow of qi felt a little freer, yet without the Spiral Formula normal circulation remained impossible.
“Ughiiiik…!”
And Heukmyo stood truly at the very threshold of the Super-Peak wall.
Crack. Crack-crack!
Palm force bloomed in her hands and burst outward like carbonation escaping a bottle of cola, popping and fizzing. Every time I saw it I craved a cold drink, but I could hardly smack my lips and mutter nonsense about cola while she strained to break through.
Stripped of that useless craving, the sight was pure torment. The core of Gang kept forming—only to shatter an instant before it could solidify. Just a little more, a fraction more, and she would step into Super-Peak.
“Uwaaak!”
Heukmyo rarely lost her temper, yet now she slammed palm force into the floor. Her mental strength had clearly reached its limit. Hyeok Gi-rin, who had been sweating and cheering her on, wore a matching look of regret.
For a full week the same razor-edge failure had repeated—Heukmyo had every right to boil, and Hyeok Gi-rin every right to feel drained.
Today the expectations had been especially high.
“I’m sorry, senior… even after you gave me the spiritual medicine.”
“Don’t be. I couldn’t take it myself anyway. Besides, it came from Sama Yeom—if that counts as a fortuitous encounter, then you deserve a share of it too.”
Heukmyo had swallowed the third pill received from Sama Yeom. I had hoped that either a lack of internal energy or the process of absorption itself might tip the balance… but the Super-Peak wall was not so easily climbed.
“If only one small fragment more remained, the Super-Peak realm would open… a pity.”
“Haaa…”
We were just about to soothe the disappointment and head for the seniors’ quarters when a voice called out.
“A letter has arrived for the Wanderer and for Great Senior Disciple Hyeok Gi-rin.”
A letter from Sichuan Prefect Sama Yeom.
“Heh… heh…”
After reading the letter I could only laugh hollowly at the sheer absurdity. So I was to present myself in the capital and have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor?
Sama Yeom would certainly have stripped the Golden Family down to its last root and poured every coin into the national treasury. That the sum was astronomical I could easily believe.
“Hmm…”
It was not a bad thing. An Emperor’s personal commendation usually promised a reward of considerable size.
It might even be a chance to obtain earth-attribute spiritual medicine—and any number of other benefits besides.
The problem was this:
“There’s no way a contribution of this scale earns an audience with the Emperor.”
Even among high provincial officials, many had never set eyes on the imperial face. Yet for a few merits earned in Sichuan the Emperor himself wished to meet us? Far too suspicious.
Had Hyeok Gi-rin received the same letter from Sama Yeom? I set out at once to find them.
“Have you by any chance received a summons from His Majesty the Emperor?”
“You as well, Wanderer?”
I nodded. A crease formed between Hyeok Gi-rin’s brows.
“Huu… what sort of situation is this?”
They looked just as bewildered. What—had there been no prior exchange with the palace? I had hurried over certain they would know something, yet it seemed Hyeok Gi-rin, like me, had been summoned in complete ignorance.
“For now… we will have to move.”
“We must.”
First we would stop in Sichuan Province, meet Sama Yeom, and learn exactly how the present situation was unfolding.
For a completely unexpected reason, at a completely unexpected time, our return to Sichuan had been decided.