Set It Ablaze

The meeting was over. Lady Sang had summoned Yi Jeong, and the two of them wore identical expressions — beaming smiles. These were not polite, practiced smiles. They were the genuine smiles of people who truly believed they had won.

"Mother! You've done it at last."

"Yes. It's done."

They were not merely talking about having seized Cheonhwaru.

"By now, Father must have already settled on making me the clan heir, hasn't he?"

"He has. No matter what Yi Do accomplished, for Father to take it away and hand it to you — that is a decision that could only come from a man who had already resolved in his heart to name you heir."

"Lately the second son has been creeping up the ladder again, but now I needn't trouble myself watching him anymore. It puts me in a fine mood, Mother."

"Tsk, you rascal. Anyone else might deserve scorn, but you must treat the second son well. You know the reason as well as I do."

"...I do. I know, but... the Woon Clan is a family under the Yi Clan's banner, is it not? Once we possess the Yi Clan itself, the Woon Clan and every merchant house the clan runs will be ours. Why on earth must we treat them kindly?"

Lady Sang swallowed a sigh rising from the very depths of her chest. What am I to do with this thoughtless boy.

"Listen to me. To become the head of a clan means to bear responsibility for every soul in it. If you wish for others to follow you, it is only natural that you treat them well in return. Do that, and they will all look up to you, striving to catch your eye even when you ask nothing of them. That is how you must think. Yet here you are, already itching to cast aside whatever rubs you the wrong way."

Yi Jeong flinched, then smiled awkwardly, though the grin never left his face no matter what anyone said to him. Cheonhwaru, of all places — the premier pleasure house of Jangryeong Commandery, home to the finest courtesans in the region, and the very establishment Yi Jeong frequented most. And now he was to become its master. Every courtesan within its walls would belong to him.

Lady Sang clicked her tongue.

"Compose yourself."

"Mother, I've gathered my wits. I'm not the man I was before."

"Hmph. Then hear me once more. Do not carelessly sow your seed among lowborn things. If you must spill it, spill it upon the daughter of a proper family. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mother."

Of course, his words and his thoughts were two different things — in Yi Jeong's mind at that very moment sprawled a veritable paradise of wine and wanton flesh.

I walked without hesitation. I did not bother to think things over deeply — everything had unfolded in plain sight. Lady Sang had wheedled Yi Se-geuk, and Yi Se-geuk had caved. Yi Jeong, that blockhead, was already rubbing his hands together over this windfall he'd done nothing to earn. What more was there to consider?

I have never once let slide those who dared steal what was mine. They will pay the price. But before that, there was something I needed to do first.

Everyone welcomed me as I stepped into Cheonhwaru.

"Welcome, our new Pavilion Master."

Seeing Jo Hyeon's bright smile, I felt a flicker of guilt. I waved a hand vaguely, and everyone fell silent. I quietly pulled out a chair and sat. I had already sorted out exactly what to say on the way here.

"Your attention, please."

All eyes turned to me.

"It pains me to say this at our first meeting."

Confusion bloomed across the room. I continued without pause.

"As of today, Cheonhwaru closes its doors."

"...I beg your pardon?"

"Jo Hyeon."

"Y-yes?"

"Bring the documents."

Trembling, the boy handed me the bundle he had prepared in advance. I skimmed through it — yes, these were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the employment contracts I had told him to ready.

"A great many people here owe debts to Jeok Gae-san. Some as small as a single tael of silver, others running into the thousands."

My gaze swept past the maids and settled on the courtesans standing with their hands folded neatly before them.

"Some of you were sold into this place."

The air grew heavy. I had no intention of commenting on it. Everyone carries their own circumstances.

"These contracts contain everything about you. Your hobbies, your debts, your names, your hometowns — there is so much I could hardly list it all."

"..."

"To me, these are nothing but scraps of paper. To you, they are chains."

I flicked the fingers of my opposite hand. A flame bloomed to life above my fingertip, and I pressed it straight against the bundle of contracts. Sparks crackled. The fire caught slowly at first, but it swelled in the blink of an eye. Every pair of eyes in the room went wide. Before long, every last document had burned to ash.

"There. Your chains are gone."

"Uh... Pavilion Master...?"

I tossed the question at the bewildered Jo Hyeon as though it were an afterthought.

"Jeok Gae-san had a personal vault, didn't he? Did you find it?"

"...We found it, but not the key."

"Doesn't matter. Bring it down."

Jo Hyeon went upstairs with two maids and came back down hauling an enormous safe, three grown men's burden by any measure. It hit the floor with a resounding thud. What on earth had he hoarded in there? I had my suspicions. I walked over without a word, poured strength into the tip of my foot, and drove my hand straight down.

It glittered. So that wretch Jeok Gae-san hadn't been incapable of paying his debts after all — even a rough glance told me the hoard exceeded ten thousand taels of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠silver.

"Jo Hyeon."

"Yes."

"How many people do we have here in total?"

"...Forty-nine, counting me and excluding yourself, Pavilion Master."

Forty-nine. That would do.

"Divide it among them. All of it."

"...Every last coin?"

"Yes. I took their livelihoods from them by force, so it's the least I owe them. Don't you think?"

"...Well, yes, but... aren't you even a little tempted?"

"Not in the slightest. That much is enough for each of them to start a new life. Sort it out among those who worked the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠longest, those who did the hardest labor, those who contributed the most, and distribute it accordingly."

"...Understood."

"And — the man called Hwang Jang-su, was it?"

A middle-aged man stood silent among the crowd. At my call, he lifted his head. A former imperial chef, the man responsible for every meal served in Cheonhwaru. His two eyes were remarkably clear. Clear the way a martial artist's are.

"Yes. I am Hwang Jang-su."

"See me privately."

I jerked my chin toward the back, and with a puzzled expression on his face, Hwang Jang-su followed me to a quiet corner of the pavilion. He spoke first.

"May I ask why you wished to see me alone?"

"You may. Do you intend to keep cooking?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"...Because I want to cook."

"I see. And will you never return to the Murim?"

Hwang Jang-su's brow twitched.

"...I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. I am merely a cook."

I let out a short laugh.

"Enough. You needn't perform for me."

"...Perform? I really don't—"

"I said you needn't perform. Thousand-Faced Assassin, Hwang No-baek."

In that instant, a monstrous killing intent erupted from Hwang Jang-su's — no, Hwang No-baek's — body. I didn't so much as blink. If anything, it was Hwang No-baek who was thrown off balance.

"...How did you know?"

"There are ways of knowing everything."

"...Is there something you want from me?"

"There is. If any of the ones over there are worth taking, take them with you."

"Why do you speak as though giving me orders?"

I smiled.

"Because, for the moment, I am still your employer."

"...If you know my alias, then surely you know what realm I stand at."

How could I not? The name Thousand-Faced Assassin had all but vanished from memory by now. Few knew it — but those who did feared it above nearly all others. Roughly twenty years ago, exactly seventy-six martial artists had died at the Thousand-Faced Assassin's hands. Of those seventy-six, all but six — seventy in total — had been masters of the Four Realms of Qi Condensation or higher. According ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to what was known, the assassin's cultivation stood at the very least at the Five Qi Returning to the Origin, if not the Realm of Harmony, the first stage of the Heaven-Earth Realms.

About ten years from this very moment, the Orthodox-Demonic War would erupt. The Thousand-Faced Assassin would resurface in that war, and fail in an attempt to kill the leader of the Murim Alliance. A digression, perhaps — but that Alliance Leader was none other than the Heavenly Sovereign, Yeo Jung-cheon, one of the Ten Greatest Masters under Heaven, the man who had slain me in my past life. Why the assassin had attacked him, I didn't know. I'd never cared enough to find out.

But I did know, with certainty, the extent of his mastery of disguise. And I knew that he had been living as a cook in Cheonhwaru, here in Jangryeong Commandery.

"I must hear it. How on earth did you discover my identity?"

His aura turned fierce. Under the torrent of his killing intent, every nerve in my body stood on end. Frowning, I took a single step forward.

"One final warning."

"..."

"Sheathe your killing intent."

"And if I do not?"

The answer to that was simple beyond measure.

"I will kill you."

"...You know my alias, and still you would kill me?"

"Why? Do you think I can't?"

"Ordinarily, a martial artist of the Heavenly Circulation Realm could not lay a finger on a master of the Five Qi Returning to the Origin. I am not the Jeong Rin you killed here recently."

"No. You're not different at all."

"...Pardon?"

I extended my index finger and pressed it against Hwang No-baek's chest.

"Whoever you are — if I intend to kill you, you die."

"..."

"The first flare was born of shock, so I'll let it pass. The second was a failure to read the situation, so I'll let that pass too. There will be no third. Show me your killing intent one more time, or scheme to climb over me, and here and now I will gouge out both your eyes and crush your dantian. Do you understand?"

The man, who had been staring mutely at my finger resting against his heart, slowly drew his killing intent back in.

"...You are a truly remarkable man."

"As long as you understand, that's enough."

I lowered my hand as well. I had meant every word. Sharp eyes there may be in this world, but none among them could perceive that. Let me say it plainly: a moment ago, with that one finger, I could have killed Hwang No-baek. I simply chose not to. Had I done so, I would have been forced to kill every single person in that room.

Whether he had sensed something of this or not, Hwang No-baek wore a peculiar expression as he asked,

"Why on earth is Cheonhwaru closing its doors?"

"Do you need to know?"

"I would like to — but I can see you have no wish to tell me. Then I won't ask."

I gazed for a while at Jo Hyeon and the rest of the Cheonhwaru household, then spoke slowly.

"What I said earlier stands. I'll give you enough to open an inn or a tavern and still have coin left over. If there is anyone among them you wish to take, take them."

"I don't understand. Why go this far? In the end, they're strangers to you, are they not? And yet you hand over such a fortune."

He meant the Cheonhwaru household standing over there.

"Strangers or not, did I not take their livelihoods from them? Then they are owed fitting compensation. Am I wrong?"

"...Normally, one gives nothing and casts them out. If they owe debts, you drag them along by force to collect. You fit neither of those molds, young master."

I had no particular desire to explain myself.

"If they carry that fortune out of here, it may bring great calamity upon them."

"However they spend it, however they suffer — they were given a choice, were they not?"

"..."

"The people in this world who are granted such a choice are exceedingly few. What choice they make, what outcome they face — that rests on their shoulders. Must I concern myself with that as well?"

"...Well. Being handed a chance at a fortune overnight is indeed more grace than anyone deserves."

More than that, though —

"Jo Hyeon, over there. What do you make of him?"

"Do you mean the difference between how he rejoiced at becoming Vice Pavilion Master and how he looks now?"

I shook my head.

"I'm asking how he'd fare as your disciple."

"...His talent is not lacking, but if I took him as a disciple, his late start in the martial arts would hold him back."

"And would you take him?"

"Well... his character isn't bad. I had considered taking him along, at any rate."

"Then it's settled. Take him."

"...You truly are an incomprehensible man. Why do you trouble yourself this much? It's not as though you've known him long."

I turned my head and met Hwang No-baek's eyes with my own.

"Is the length of time important?"

"Normally, yes."

"No. Not to me. Whether someone has become my person or has not — that is all that matters. The boy kept faith and kept his promise. Now it is my turn to keep mine. I intended to grant him the Vice Pavilion Master's seat and, before many years passed, the Pavilion Master's seat as well — but events went astray. Then he is owed a fitting price in return. Am I wrong?"

"...Ordinary people of the Murim do not act as you do."

"That is because I am no ordinary martial artist. Take him. And train him until he can at least protect his own hide."

Hwang No-baek still seemed unable to make sense of the situation.

"But — you've burned the employment contracts and shut down Cheonhwaru entirely. Am I still your hired hand?"

"So, what is your answer?"

Hwang No-baek let out a helpless laugh.

"Very well. I will take Jo Hyeon, a few of the courtesans over there, and a few of the maids. On the condition that you pay us handsomely."

"Planning to open a restaurant?"

"Yes."

"Take whatever you wish and send everyone else out."

"And what will you do, young master?"

"I'm leaving. Now."

I walked straight out. I could feel their dazed stares on my back, but I paid them no mind.

Once outside Cheonhwaru, I clasped my hands behind my back. The sun that had hung in the darkening sky had sunk completely below the horizon. Before long, everyone inside the pavilion filed out.

I asked Jo Hyeon, "Is everyone out?"

"Yes. It's completely empty."

"Good work."

"...It was nothing."

I looked at Cheonhwaru once more. A four-story building. Honestly, I was sorry to lose it. I had planned to take full possession of it and later bring my Master here — it seemed like it would have made a perfect hidden refuge. But that plan had crumbled before it ever began.

Those who try to steal what is mine will pay the price, without fail. And those who made me act this way will pay it too.

I spoke quietly.

"Set it ablaze."

"...Pardon?"

All they would carry away was ash.

"Don't make me say it twice. Burn it so thoroughly that not a trace remains."

If it cannot be mine, I will shatter it instead.