Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: In Search of Our Fortuitous Encounter (1)
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Tai Lake.
A lake that's inevitably mentioned in just about every wuxia novel, right alongside Dongting Lake—the origin of the term "jianghu"—and ranking third among the Central Plains' largest freshwater lakes after Poyang and Dongting.
"It's big, alright."
It's called a lake simply because there's no salt in the water and it's geographically pooled up that way, but to the naked eye, it feels like you're facing the open sea.
They say its surface area is about four times that of Seoul?
Oh, and it's so vast there are even islands inside. Not just one or two—around seventy of them.
"Bright too."
Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Huzhou.
Surrounded by these major Southern Jiang cities—what they call the "land of fish and rice," where every meal comes with rice and fish—the lake shines like a pearl of masculine elegance and renowned beauty. Is that why?
Even now, with the sun fully set, the lights from the grand pavilions lining the shore dazzle brilliantly, and the soft glow from the large and small pleasure boats crisscrossing the lake with lanterns hung from their prows makes it feel like broad daylight, no exaggeration.
"Never thought I'd recall the term 'city that never sleeps' from inside a wuxia novel."
Taking in the scenery at a glance, I grinned.
'And somewhere here lies the undiscovered tomb of the Founding Heavenly Demon, untouched by anyone.'
The Founding Heavenly Demon, Wi Cheol-jin.
Hmm. Actually, no.
More precisely, it's "Venerated Heavenly Demon," right?
'Wi Cheol-jin didn't found the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.'
The characters in the story kept calling him the Founding Heavenly Demon, so the term stuck in my mind too.
Strictly speaking, the founder of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—or the Demonic Cult—in 'Sword Genius of the Murim Academy' was a man named Hyeok Ryeon-geum.
So, the true Founding Heavenly Demon is actually that Hyeok Ryeon-geum.
'Wi Cheol-jin was a figure like his master, later venerated as the Demon Immortal in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.'
If we're being precise, "Venerated Heavenly Demon" fits better.
But whether venerated or founding, who cares?
'What matters is that Wi Cheol-jin's martial arts legacy and elixir essence are slumbering here in Tai Lake.'
Heading toward a cluster of pleasure houses with red lanterns hung out, a bit away from the Tai Lake shore, I quietly reviewed the original story.
Originally, the atmosphere at Mount Song, where cadets from the Righteous Martial Academy and Shaolin disciples should have been fiercely exchanging sweat and techniques, was utterly dismal.
It had to be.
Demonic cultists had invaded Shaolin's Sutra Pavilion in search of something, dragging the name of the Venerated Heavenly Demon Wi Cheol-jin back into the world in a massive incident.
With a scandal that big, neither the academy nor Shaolin's affiliated martial halls could conveniently hold their regular exchange matches.
Naturally, the exchanges were canceled, and the Martial Alliance Leader along with the alliance's top brass, Shaolin's Abbot, and the Righteous Martial Academy's Chancellor gathered at Shaolin for emergency discussions on countermeasures. Their conclusion? Cover it up. The academy's student council received orders to stay silent and withdraw from the matter.
But such commands always stir the youthful spirit and curiosity of the younger generation.
"What do you plan to do, Brother Jeong-hyeon?"
"The ancient sages said not to even tread in a master's shadow, but in this case, I want to investigate further, even on my own. As you all know, there was that incident with my close friend Yong-myeong's brother, and how can one who walks the righteous path ignore the Demonic Cult's name?"
"Exactly! Count me in to the end! Coming this far and folding just because the instructors say so? Not my style!"
"Will you join us, Brother Paeng? What about Lady Jeon-gal and Lady Eun?"
"I don't like sneaking around behind the instructors' backs, but this time, I agree. I'll go with you, Jeong-hyeon."
"Me too."
Thus, the younger generation's wills aligned for once, leading them to uncover a single clue.
[Find the true uninhabited island of Tai Lake.]
A pretty straightforward clue.
But its very straightforwardness made it a riddle.
"Tai Lake is so huge it has over seventy islands—does it mean one of them?"
"Even with all those islands, Wi Cheol-jin's tomb is something the demon cultists have scoured for over a century. Haven't they already searched every single one ages ago?"
"Classical Chinese often gets mangled if the annotations aren't specific."
The cultists in the original story couldn't crack that short clue pointing to Wi Cheol-jin's tomb, so they combed every major lake near the Central Plains—islands in Qinghai Lake, Dongting Lake, the North Sea, you name it—for over a hundred years.
Still no luck, so they wondered if "true Tai Lake" meant the sea sandwiched between the Central Plains and Joseon like a lake, and even ransacked the Yellow Sea.
'Failing that, they raided Shaolin's Sutra Pavilion, home to every martial arts manual and historical record—that kicked off the tomb-finding episode.'
But the protagonist's generation had the Jeon-gal family's legitimate daughter, famed as a genius from childhood and dubbed the Little Martial Marquis, plus Yin Xia Lian, the Thousand Gold Smile well-versed in Southern Jiang's customs. Together, they solved the riddle.
'The modifier "true" applied not to Tai Lake, but to "uninhabited island."'
[Find Tai Lake's true uninhabited island.]
Here, the "true uninhabited island" was a metaphor for the most despised slum in Tai Lake's pleasure quarters, where the old, sick retired courtesans who weren't even treated as people eked out a living.
That was when it happened.
As I walked, retracing the original plot.
A courtesan in splendid luo robes emerging from the entrance of a pleasure house with a sign reading "Lake Flower Pavilion" grabbed my sleeve.
"Young master! This humble girl is called Chun-aeng! Stay at our pavilion! We have cuisine, courtesans, musicians—whatever you desire, we provide. We'll take you to the moon or the stars if you wish!"
The original novel just says Jeong-hyeon and the others headed to the retired courtesans' village—no exact coordinates.
And even there, they had to seek out an old woman who knew where Wi Cheol-jin was buried.
So, to reach the village, a local ex-courtesan guide was needed. Lucky me—I'd found one.
I gently pried the courtesan's hand from my sleeve and spoke.
"You said you'd take me anywhere. Keep that promise."
Her promise to take me anywhere apparently didn't extend to actual places, as confusion clouded the face of the girl tugging my sleeve.
"Pardon?"
But in the wuxia world, courtesans and attendants like her are professions with considerable leeway.
'They double as low-level agents for info networks like the Hao Clan.'
In other words.
Give them a decent reason and the right amount of silver, and nothing's impossible for them.
I jingled the silver pouch at my waist and laid out my prepared backstory.
"I need to go somewhere, but being from out of town, everywhere looks the same."
"Tai Lake does have that vibe."
"So, I'd like to hire you as a guide. Bottom line—what's your price?"
Her gaze flicked to my silver pouch, and she replied.
"Hmm. Depends on where, doesn't it?"
"Not far. About the time it takes to burn one incense stick from here."
"One incense to get there means two coming and going? You're not taking me somewhere shady or trying anything funny, right?"
"If it seems that way, you can just leave, can't you?"
With the formal probing done, she made the first offer.
"Fair enough. Bottom line from me too: ten taels of silver. Ten taels, and I'll take you anywhere."
Ten taels?
Teeeeen taaaels?
Who does this lady think she's fleecing—a clueless tourist?
I shook my head firmly at the words.
"I'm from out of town, but I know Southern Jiang prices inside out—don't treat me like a mark. Ten's too much. Four taels."
"While I'm guiding, our pavilion's top flower can't solicit customers. Even discounted, eight taels minimum."
"I don't need you specifically. Third flower, fourth—hell, any girl from the house works. So, four taels."
"Why hand a catch like you to them? Six taels. No, absolutely not lower!"
"That's your problem. Tai Lake's full of locals—if you're not keen, I'll find someone else. Four taels."
"F-Five?!"
"Four. Taels."
"...Ugh. Fine, four taels!"
"Okay! Let's go!! Four taels!!!"
"Okay?"
"It's a good-luck word us Central Plains folk use."
"Tch. Fine, okay it is. So, where to? The only scenic spot within one incense stick is Tai Lake itself—and didn't you come from that direction?"
"Right. But the place I want isn't Tai Lake. It's the retired courtesans' village."
That was when.
At the words "retired courtesans' village" from my mouth, her eyes narrowed.
"...Why there?"
Well, that reaction was understandable.
To courtesans, the village was a sore spot, the dark shadow of their industry they didn't want to face.
'Gotta answer right.'
Wrong answer, and our four-tael verbal contract might fall apart.
But I'd anticipated this, so I answered smoothly.
"Believe it or not, back home I was a renowned man of leisure."
"You look it."
"?"
"Handsome enough that courtesans call you 'brother' and flock to you, yet unmoved by this flashy getup, haggling 'four taels, four taels'—shows you're hooked on the life."
"...Calling me a playboy? Or handsome?"
"You decide. So? How's being a man of leisure connected to the village?"
I took a breath.
Then recited my prepped backstory.
"Ah. I had a courtesan friend I was close to. Her mother lives in Tai Lake's village. I offered to fetch her, but she said her body couldn't cross the Yangtze or Yellow River."
"...Most in the village are like that."
I pulled out some dried poppy pod powder—ying su—from the pouch at my chest, a gift from Yin Xia Lian, ground fine.
"So, I thought I'd bring some pain-relieving medicine at least."
She let out a deep sigh, muttering, "Today's luck is really off."
As I wondered if the deal was off.
The self-proclaimed Lake Flower Pavilion top flower shook her head and spoke.
"Whoever this courtesan is, she's got a good friend. I'm jealous."
"You'll guide me?"
"Yes. Sure. I'll take you."
"Here, four taels."
"Keep your money. Those sisters aren't strangers to us—can't take coin for that."
Oh.
Money saved.
Of course, the "friend" was fictional, so I felt a tiny prick of guilt.
But with all the tabs the original owner racked up in North of the River, he'd have at least one courtesan pal, right? Not baseless.
Plus, bringing medicine to the village was true, so I celebrated pocketing four taels guilt-free, thinking.
'Lucky me.'
But then.
Chun-aeng tossed me a question.
"Young master?"
"?"
"We call it the village lumped together, but hundreds live there?"
"And?"
"Just wondering if you have a sure way to find your friend's mother among them."
Of course I do.