A Promise Kept
Today was the day rations arrived at the Fairy Gate Underground Dungeon. Once a week, the servants of Fairy Gate cleaned the cells and distributed food to the prisoners — the barest scrap of mercy the sect was willing to extend, just enough to keep the condemned alive.
The meal was a handful of withered dried provisions, water, and a fistful of millet. Absurdly little to last a week, of course, which meant every prisoner had to hoard every crumb and stretch it as far as it would go.
On any other day, ration time would have been the closest thing to happiness this hellish prison had to offer. Today, however, Chu Pawol was in a foul mood. According to that man, the guards from Fallen Phoenix Prison would arrive in a few days. Every hour felt like hell, as if he were a condemned man already counting down to his execution. Worse still, he had no idea whether the last rope he'd seized was rotten through or a genuine lifeline. He didn't trust that sly bastard one bit — and yet he had no choice but to depend on him.
"Lately it's been exhausting. Why is there so much cleaning? I hate this whenever someone important is coming."
Chu Pawol pricked up his ears at the servants scrubbing the dungeon.
"I heard they'll get here around tomorrow? Looks like they're arriving earlier than planned."
"Who are they, anyway? It's been ages since anyone from the Murim Alliance came calling."
"I caught a bit of what the Head Disciple was saying. Sounds like they're coming from Fallen Phoenix Prison."
Chu Pawol's eyes flew open. He rattled the bars and shouted.
"W-wait! Hey! What did you just say? Guards from Fallen Phoenix Prison? And they're coming tomorrow!?"
The two servants stopped cleaning and turned their gazes on him.
"I overheard the Sect Leader talking with the Head Disciple a little while ago. The Murim Alliance people are arriving sooner than expected — looks like they'll be here tomorrow. They're coming out of Fallen Phoenix Prison, so they might even be here to collect you. Heh heh!"
"Hey. Mock a dying man like that and heaven'll punish you later."
"Heh. That so? Your words had a bit of a bite to them too, though."
"Hehe. So what? It's the truth."
The two of them finished their cleaning with hearty laughter and left the dungeon. Chu Pawol slammed the bars and ground his teeth. His eyes had gone blood-red, like something out of a ghost story.
"That bastard lied to me!?"
A short while later, someone appeared in front of Chu Pawol's cell. The moment he saw him, Chu Pawol jabbed a finger and shouted.
"Hey! This isn't what you told me! The Fallen Phoenix Prison guards will be here tomorrow!"
Jongchil, a rice ball in his hand, tilted his head at him.
"The hell are you on about? I come all the way down here with food and you're spouting this weird bullshit. You don't want this, then?"
He tossed the rice ball up and caught it, as if playing catch. On any other day, the sight would have made Chu Pawol's eyes roll back in his head. In this hellish dungeon, food was more precious than a woman. But the rice ball didn't even register in Chu Pawol's vision.
"I heard it from the servants who came to clean! The Murim Alliance people are arriving tomorrow!"
"Sounds like you overheard some weird nonsense. No idea what those bastards are scheming, running their mouths like that. I distinctly heard the Murim Alliance people were coming in three or four days. Since when would a couple of cell-scrubbing bastards be in on information that important?"
"Th-then aren't you just a servant yourself? Now that I think about it, that's strange. How did you know when the Murim Alliance people were coming?"
"I'm the Head Disciple's personal servant. Doesn't it click when you see me walking around with the keys to this cell? I attend the Head Disciple closer than anyone. If it's information about this sect, I know it inside and out."
Even so, the servants' words refused to leave Chu Pawol's head. If the Fallen Phoenix Prison guards arrived, he would be walking into hell while he was still breathing. He would rather die than let that happen.
"Hey! I'm begging you. The Murim Alliance people might show up tomorrow. Please, let me out."
"Don't talk crazy. The place is crawling with sentries. If they catch you and you sing about how I let you out, I die too. Relax. I'm already laying the groundwork to get you out. The day I spring you, I'll have it looking like I was at the inn in the village the whole time."
"Kh! If you don't let me out right now, I'll report everything you've done to them!"
"Heh heh! Why's that brain of yours so slow? Who's going to believe a word you say while you're locked in this cell? All I have to do is say the erotic demon was thrashing around before he died, and that's the end of it. I'm the Head Disciple's favored personal servant. You're the infamous erotic demon who screwed ten thousand women. I don't need to tell you whose word carries more weight."
Chu Pawol sank into thought. The blade was already at his throat. If the Fallen Phoenix Prison guards came, he was a dead man anyway. In that case, he wanted to at least try something — anything — to stay alive before they did.
"Hey! I'm a master of stealth. That's how I've given the slip to countless martial artists all these years. So please, let me out. As long as those bastards don't catch me, that's all that matters, isn't it?"
"And I'm supposed to take your word for that? What are you plotting? Don't tell me you've got some other bastard lined up to help you. Just trust me and wait. I'll get you out of here myself."
Chu Pawol was ready to burst. This was a matter of his life. The blood vessels stood out in his eyes. In the end, he played his last card.
"If you don't get me out of here right now… you will never obtain the Yin Arts of the Yin-Yang Harmony Technique!"
The Yin-Yang Harmony Technique was the only chip Chu Pawol had left to play.
"Hm? That won't do. What, you don't want to live?"
"I already have no way out! If I'm a dead man anyway, there's no reason to do anyone else any favors! Heh heh! You'll never complete that Yin-Yang Harmony Technique you're so desperate for!"
This was the last move Chu Pawol had. If even this failed, he would have no choice but to accept his death. Jongchil put on a look of consideration at the reaction.
"Hrm. Coming at me like that all of a sudden. Then the negotiations are off. Chu Pawol. Die well. I thought you were a reasonably clever bastard. Shame."
With that, he turned his back. Only after Jongchil had left the dungeon did Chu Pawol pound the floor and howl.
"AAAAAGH! I don't want to die!"
"Here's the money I promised."
I pressed a few iron coins into the hands of the guys who cleaned the dungeon.
"Hehe! Tonight I can knock back some sorghum wine and get my arms around Hyangdan."
"We're happy to take the money, but why'd you have us do something like that all of a sudden?"
"Because it's fun. How was that bastard's face? Worth watching, wasn't it?"
"Pff! You really are a nasty piece of work. Those rotting eyeballs of his were a sight to behold, I'll give you that. To think a guy like that is the legendary erotic demon. When I first heard 'erotic demon,' I figured he'd be some incredible looker. Turns out he's a complete freak."
"All right, all right. Good work, both of you. Take this money and go hold a woman for a change. And this wine — a friend of mine gave it to me specially. One bottle of this costs a whole tael of silver."
"A-a tael of silver for one bottle!? Whoa. What's going on all of a sudden? Did some land you bought shoot up in value?"
"Good things are better shared, aren't they? Go enjoy your last supper… no. Your finest feast."
"Thanks, really! Heh heh. Glad I get to work with a friend like you."
I'd used the dungeon-cleaning crew to rattle Chu Pawol. By now the bastard would be drowning in despair. And I'd done it for a reason.
I still hadn't fully mastered the Yin-Yang Harmony Technique. If I learned that erotic art, it would register as a skill — that was my judgment, based on the precedent of Holy Arrow.
Of course, it's only a guess.
But given that bastard's personality, the odds of him teaching me the Yin Arts after walking out of this prison were as close to zero as they got. And I had not the slightest intention of letting him live in the first place. The man had his hands around my weak point, for all intents and purposes.
Which meant I had to learn the Yin Arts from him while he was still inside that cell, no matter what it took. Ordinary persuasion was never going to work, so I'd shaken him instead. He would be in agony right about now. Even in the real world, they say you don't tell a death-row inmate the hour of his execution.
All right. I'll pay him another visit around dawn.
If I left it too late, he might hang himself. After taking Dan Yuha in my arms — she had come to me for treatment — I headed down to the underground dungeon.
Chu Pawol was, as expected, wasted away like a corpse. He clearly hadn't been sleeping. Then again, if the bastard had nerves thick enough to sleep through a situation like this, my threats wouldn't have moved him in the first place.
He barely tilted his head when he saw me enter the dungeon.
"Come to mock me?"
"No. I just heard the news from the Head Disciple. You were right — the Murim Alliance people got here fast. She said they'll arrive tomorrow. Sorry. I was wrong."
Even my calm admission didn't draw any particular anger from Chu Pawol. He'd already poured out every emotion he had. The light in his eyes was dead.
"Heh. Right. Of course. Then I'm a dead man."
Resignation hung in his voice.
"Maybe. Then again, maybe not."
As I said it, I drew out the cell key. Chu Pawol's eyes flared wide at the sight of it. He looked like a man who'd glimpsed a single thread of hope from the bottom of a pit in hell — like a withered desert sprout unfurling its leaves at the one rain that fell all year.
I couldn't help a quiet laugh. Chu Pawol's hope was a hollow one.
"That's…"
"A key. The key to this cell. Right now, as far as anyone knows, I'm at the village inn with my arms around a courtesan named Hyangdan. If I open this door with this key… you can escape. Whether you make it out alive after that depends on you."
"Yes! That's it — this Chu Pawol isn't the kind of man who dies in a place like this! Open it! Send me out of here with that key!"
"There's a problem, though. If I do, I don't get the Yin Arts you promised me."
"Damn it! I'll teach you later! I have to be alive first before I can teach you anything, don't I?"
"No. Once you walk out of here, me learning the Yin Arts becomes impossible. Teach me the Yin Arts right now. Then I'll open it."
"That's insane! There's no time! Those bastards will be here tomorrow!"
"It's more than enough. The night is long. I learned the Yang Arts in a matter of days. You said so yourself when you taught me the Yang Arts, didn't you? Learn one — Yang or Yin — and the other comes far more easily. Like you said, time is short. Teach me the Yin Arts. Now."
If he gave up even after I'd pushed him this far, I'd have no choice but to abandon the Yin-Yang Harmony Technique myself. But the man was already under enormous mental strain. There was something close to madness in the way Chu Pawol's eyes locked onto my key. I dangled it openly and spoke.
"There won't be another chance. Time's only getting shorter."
"…… Damn it! Fine! You bastard! If you break your word, I'll curse you even from the grave! I swear it!"
"Understood. I keep my promises. Teach me the Yin Arts, and I'll let you out."
And so an impromptu martial lesson began on the spot. He taught me the Yin Arts as fast as he possibly could. Just as he'd said, the Yin Arts ran on much the same principles as the Yang Arts. I finally understood what he'd meant — learn one, and the other follows on its own.
In a single night, he taught me the Yin Arts in their entirety. By the time the lesson ended, his hair had gone completely white. His skin had lost all its elasticity; he looked as if he'd aged twenty years. He'd burned through every last scrap of energy he possessed just to teach me.
"That's everything. I've kept my end. Now it's your turn."
That was what the bastard said. I couldn't take his word for it.
It still hasn't registered as a skill. Was I wrong? Or is this bastard Chu Pawol still holding something back?
The latter, most likely. He and I had been holding clubs behind each other's backs right to the end. I nodded for the moment and turned the key in the cell door.
Creeeak.
The door swung open, and the bastard cheered, his eyes shining bright. I even unfastened the shackles bound around his ankles.
"Follow me slowly. I'll check the guards outside."
I took the lead. He trailed behind me at a careful pace. As I walked, I turned over how else I might screw the bastard over.
"This is the gap in the watch. Lucky."
In truth, the dungeon had never had any guards to begin with. I said it anyway and led him on. When he came up from the underground dungeon and drew in a lungful of cool outside air, his face filled with rapture.
"I'm free! Free! Hahaha! This Chu Pawol still has so many women left in this world to screw — I'm not dying yet! Hey! Thank you, truly! I'll be honest, I had my doubts right to the end. I was afraid you wouldn't keep your word! You're a true martial artist of the Orthodox faction!"
"I'm not a martial artist!"
"Doesn't matter. I'll be honest — there's a true essence of the Yin-Yang Harmony Technique I still haven't taught you. Without it, the Yin-Yang Harmony Technique remains an incomplete art. If you'd betrayed me, I had no intention of ever teaching it. But this is fortunate. You kept faith with me, so I'll keep faith with you to the end."
My heart hammered in my chest. I knew it. This cowardly bastard had been planning to stab his savior in the back right to the very last moment.
Unforgivable.
Chu Pawol pulled something from inside his trousers. I frowned. Filthy bastard.
"This is the final true essence of the Yin-Yang Harmony Technique. You've already learned both the Yin Arts and the Yang Arts, so you'll be able to master this on your own. Thank you. You're as good as a sworn brother to me!"
He said it with real feeling. I'd expected as much. A thick-headed bastard like Chu Pawol was never going to reach the end without one last card tucked away.
That said, I'd figured he would shout something like You idiot! There's still something I haven't taught you! and make a run for it. Unexpectedly gentlemanly of him. Almost made me feel bad about killing him. Well. I was still going to kill him.
"Thank you, Chu Pawol. I won't forget you."
"I wo— ghk!"
I drove the dagger I'd been hiding into Chu Pawol's belly.