Sambong-hyeon
The entrance of the Asura Sword Sect's Sect Master Hall bore the emblem of the sect itself: a single chariot at its center, wreathed in flames at the east, west, south, and north.
The doors opened.
A man stepped into the Sect Master Hall. He had been walking slowly, but now he stopped mid-stride and lifted his gaze upward. Fixing his eyes on the man seated precisely thirty steps above, he took a fist-cord salute.
"I present myself before the Sect Master."
Dokgo Dan-ya smiled faintly.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of a private audience with our Asura Pavilion Master?"
"There is something I wish to ask about the Branch Master you recently appointed."
"Speak."
"It may be an impertinent question, but — why did you take him into the Asura Sword Sect?"
It was, admittedly, an overreaching question. However exalted a position the Asura Pavilion Master held within the sect, second-guessing the decisions of a sect's master was simply not done.
And yet.
Between these two, it was possible. Back when Dokgo Dan-ya was still the Young Sect Master, Sangguan Yeonhwi had been a second-generation disciple of the Asura Pavilion. Their bond had endured for more than thirty years, and in a private audience like this, such frank conversation came easily.
"Why I took him in... hmm. Asura Pavilion Master."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"What do you make of the Asura Sword Sect's current situation?"
"...I would say it is not good."
"Not good? That's a rather evasive answer."
"...To put it plainly, it is bad."
"Yes. It is bad. Why is it that the demons of the Millennium Demonic Cult appear only in the Jeok Murim, of all places?"
"..."
"Near Yeonseong, where the Yin-Yang Sect resides. Near Jungsu Commandery, where the Pacheon Fist Sect sits. Near Wisu Commandery, home to us, the Asura Sword Sect. Why is it only in these regions that traces of the demonic cult keep surfacing?"
Dokgo Dan-ya slowly took his seat.
"Someone is setting a board. A very large one."
"Do you have any suspicion as to who?"
"I wouldn't say no one comes to mind. It could be the Murim Alliance's Heavenly Emperor. It could be the Sword Emperor of the Emperor Sword Sect. Or it could be all five of the great sects, save for the three I've just named."
Dokgo Dan-ya was grave. The easy smile that was his usual mark of leisure had vanished entirely.
"And in the midst of all this, the elders are split down the middle — and so the disciples beneath them are split as well. Asura Pavilion Master."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"Is it that you object to naming the Cruel Demon as Branch Master?"
"I do not object. But... if we lose a resource we worked so hard to bring in without ever putting it to proper use, wouldn't that be a bitter waste?"
It wasn't that Sangguan Yeonhwi disliked Yi Do. Quite the opposite — he liked him.
Setting aside questions of his character or temperament, it was his talent that impressed. Seventeen years old, and already at Samhwachwijeong. How far, then, might the boy eventually climb? Yi Do might or might not end his days buried in the Asura Sword Sect, but his future blazed bright. Taking the rumors and recent events together, this was hardly a man anyone could stab in the back without paying dearly.
That was why Sangguan Yeonhwi faltered, however briefly, at Dokgo Dan-ya's next words.
"Amusing, isn't it?"
"...I beg your pardon?"
"He's entangled with the Emperor Sword Sect — and now he's carrying off one of the Emperor Sword Sect's own shadows to his branch pavilion. I find it endlessly entertaining. Apparently you don't."
No matter how exquisite Myeong Hyeon's art of disguise, Dokgo Dan-ya belonged to the handful of hands one could count on two fingers among the strongest in all the murim. The world believed him to be at the Realm of Entering Divinity, but it was beyond doubt that he was a master of the Realm of Myth.
That no one knew Dokgo Dan-ya stood not merely in the Realm of Myth, but well past its midpoint — that was the fatal miscalculation made by both Myeong Hyeon and the Sword Emperor. Had he been at the mere threshold of the Realm of Myth, Myeong Hyeon's true identity would never have been detected. Which raised the question: why had Dokgo Dan-ya left him untouched?
"I meant to watch a while longer and see what game he was playing — and now he proposes to take the man away. Do you think he knows his true identity?"
"There is no evidence, and I have not asked him directly, but my instinct says with certainty that the Sambong Branch Master knows who Myeong Hyeon is."
Dokgo Dan-ya smiled gently.
"Yeonhwi."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"What do you think the Asura Sword Sect needs most right now?"
"...Unity."
"You know it well. As things stand, the sect is being torn apart from within — condemned as a demonic sect or not, the internal factions will shred it to pieces before long. And even if I hold the line, I can't exactly kill them all, can I?"
It was no lie. That was the ordinary man's reasoning: even if the factions formed cliques, they were still part of the sect's strength. Kill them all, and the Asura Sword Sect would only grow weaker.
Yi Do was the exception. And that, paradoxically, was why Dokgo Dan-ya liked him.
It was why he had given the man both an unofficial post and an official one. Hadn't it already been proven? Yi Do did his work well, and his talent was exceptional. A martial artist whose future promised everything. A man who could not, under any circumstances, be allowed to slip away. That was Yi Do.
"Come to think of it, the Jeok royal house is sending an envoy today, is it not?"
"Yes. We've been tracking their movements continuously — they should arrive before the hour of the snake."
Their purpose was obvious. Hand over Yi Do, something of that sort. There was no other reason to come.
"What of the matter with the Kang family?"
"The Pacheon Fist Sect is lodging protests, but we are ignoring them. They have their own sins to answer for, so they won't want to make a storm of it."
"Just in case, keep a couple of branch pavilions on standby."
"Understood."
"And the matter of the Uigyeong Pavilion?"
"It has been handled — though Elder Chodong and the Pavilion Master are furious."
Dokgo Dan-ya laughed outright.
"Let them be."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"You're curious, aren't you. How far he'll go."
"..."
"Yi Do said this to me: that he would regard the gains of the Asura Sword Sect as his own gains. Then as Sect Master, shouldn't I regard his gains as mine?"
"Blood may yet flow within the sect."
"Then it's something we must weather once. Without blood, how can anyone speak of unity?"
Every word of it rang true.
"Have all your questions been answered, then?"
"Yes. I've gotten more than enough."
"Good. Then how about a friendly spar, for old times' sake?"
Sangguan Yeonhwi burst out laughing.
"Are you planning to appoint a new Asura Pavilion Master today?"
"Hardly. You've been loafing at the threshold of the Realm of Harmony long enough, haven't you? Time to climb."
The Asura Pavilion Master drew his sword.
"Then I shall not decline."
The two of them crossed blades, and before long, the envoy from the Jeok royal house arrived.
Sambong-hyeon.
It was a place one reached only after traveling a long way south from Wisu Commandery, where the Asura Sword Sect was headquartered.
Five powers in total exercised very great influence over Sambong-hyeon:
One Sect, One School, Three Families
Their histories were long; they were the old guard of Sambong-hyeon, rooted in its soil for generations.
Myeong Hyeon picked up the thread.
"I don't know a great deal myself, but to tell you what I do know — of the sixteen territories under the Asura Sword Sect's dominion, Sambong-hyeon is the one where its influence is weakest."
It could hardly be otherwise. For all the Asura Sword Sect's might, no sect could rule lands that far removed from its seat. Sambong-hyeon was exactly that kind of place.
To reach Sambong-hyeon from the sect, one first had to cross two mountains, then pass through two more cities lying between them. A martial artist of sufficient realm might sprint madly and arrive within a day or two, but an ordinary traveler would need at least seven days on foot. Even assuming one rode, at least one of the two mountains was so treacherous that the road forced a long detour — and the journey still took roughly the same time.
Ordinarily, the sect would never have claimed this place as territory.
And yet there had been one compelling reason a branch had to be established here: Sambong-hyeon, too, was border country. It resembled the case of the Seok Family Manor, but strictly speaking, it was worse. With the great mountain of Bibong straddling the frontier, every manner of smuggling sprouted from its slopes — which meant the martial sects could hardly avoid planting themselves here, and the Asura Sword Sect could hardly permit the Pacheon Fist Sect to monopolize those profits.
And so the Asura Sword Sect had established a branch as well. That branch was the Sambong Branch.
Myeong Hyeon and I entered it. The building was a former inn that the sect had purchased at fair price and converted for its use: two floors above ground, one below. Ordinarily, branch members trained in the basement and climbed to the second floor to sleep.
I inspected the interior in silence. A sigh escaped me.
"Is this for real?"
"...It usually wouldn't be, but I'd say this place has its own particular character, wouldn't you?"
"You've got a gift for comedy. Character?"
Dust blanketed the first floor, kitchen included, and the second floor — the sleeping quarters — was no better. Not dust gathered here and there, but a uniform film over everything. Call it the residue of at least a month's disuse. There was no way in hell that qualified as "character."
More to the point — where were the two branch members who had been assigned here before?
Something stank.
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue and spoke.
"Tell me about the previous Branch Master."
"Hmm... I don't know the details myself, but I'll tell you what I've heard. The previous Branch Master of Sambong was a woman named Un Mi-rang, known in the murim by the epithet Sword Phoenix of Jiangnan. Her realm of attainment was said to be Samhwachwijeong."
I quietly dragged a dust-caked chair backward and dropped into it, then gestured for him to continue.
Myeong Hyeon went on.
"Some time ago, the Sambong Branch pursued a thief near the border."
"A thief?"
"Yes. According to the report, he was called the Thousand-Li Divine Thief. This Thousand-Li Divine Thief supposedly stole thirty Asura Pills from the branch and fled across the border — and every branch member of Sambong chased him, pressing all the way into Jangan Commandery, Pacheon Fist Sect territory."
My brow twitched. It was a reaction to something that didn't sit right in Myeong Hyeon's account, but I let it pass for the moment.
"Jangan Commandery is larger than Sambong-hyeon. It's crawling with merchants of every stripe, and bristling with martial artists from sects with real names in the murim. Chasing him that far is one thing — but the report says that to flush out the Thousand-Li Divine Thief, they turned the place over top to bottom. Raided sects, and so on."
"So they died for it?"
"Yes. According to the report, all of Jangan Commandery rose up as one, like a net of heaven and earth cast over them — foreign invaders had crossed the border, they claimed, and so on."
"Does that make any sense to you?"
"Not ordinarily. But that's what the report says, so something of the kind must have happened. One thing is certain: all of Jangan Commandery rose as one body."
Then only one explanation remained.
"Someone incited them. Or it was planned in advance."
"That seems most likely."
People do not rise up on a whim. This had to have been premeditated. They had walked into a trap.
That was when Myeong Hyeon spoke again.
"Un Mi-rang was violated to death by fifteen men. The three female branch members who served under her were violated to death as well. The rest were torn limb from limb, and then beheaded."
I froze.
"What?"
"...It's ugly enough that I hesitate to repeat it. Shall I go on?"
"That's enough."
I drummed my fingers slowly against the table.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
My thoughts arranged themselves. Truly, they did.
"A goddamn mess."
It was a goddamn mess.
"Why did the Asura Sword Sect leave this untouched?"
"There was resistance."
"Resistance?"
"Yes. The one who pushed hardest for a thorough investigation was the Asura Pavilion Master — but no matter how central his post, he cannot exert that much force if the other elders oppose him."
"Which elders?"
"Elder Chodong, among several others. They were reluctant to dig too deeply into this affair."
"Why?"
"The obvious. The atrocity happened in the Yeon Nation. The border region, granted — but unmistakably Yeon soil. If warriors of the Kingdom of Jeok pushed into it, that would be tantamount to declaring war. So... they let it slide."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"And the Great Elder? He just stood by?"
"You know how he is. He's a man of the sect, but he pays little mind to its affairs. Until recently he was raising hell about leaving the sect entirely... Frankly, there's a good chance he doesn't even know this happened."
"And the Sect Master?"
"He was in seclusion. He broke his seclusion only after the elders had already declared the matter closed. If you're counting the days precisely, he emerged two days before the Branch Master entered the sect. Hmm..."
Myeong Hyeon stopped mid-sentence and stole a glance at my face. I wondered why — until I caught sight of my own reflection in the window and understood.
My face had gone to ice. No smile, nothing — a mask of perfect blankness. I had worn this expression a handful of times before, and each time, someone had invariably ended up dead.
"Myeong Hyeon."
"...Yes."
"An organization owes certain things, without exception, to those who serve it faithfully. Do you know what they are?"
"...Hmm. Recognition?"
"Recognition... not wrong, as far as it goes. But wrong as an answer to my question. An organization must offer protection."
"Protection?"
"Whether it can protect its own members — that is what determines an organization's worth. If one of them dies unjustly, the organization must avenge him."
"..."
"What did those who gave their all and threw their bodies into the fire ever expect in return? The organization that holds them must acknowledge them, must shield them, and if they die, it must exact retribution without fail. Break that principle, and the organization can no longer function as an organization at all."
It was no accident that the Murim Alliance and every great sect rose up in fury whenever their disciples were killed. The members of any organization always believe the same thing: that if something happens to them, the organization will protect them in some fashion — or avenge them.
Shatter that belief, and the organization has already breathed its last.
And now I saw it clearly.
"The Asura Sword Sect deserved to be annihilated."
"...I beg your pardon? Annihilated?"
"More to the point — the Sword Phoenix of Jiangnan, was it?"
"Yes. Un Mi-rang, the Sword Phoenix of Jiangnan. A woman who made her name in Jiangnan Commandery. Her family seat was the Un Family Manor here in Sambong-hyeon."
The Un Family Manor of Sambong-hyeon.
Committed to memory.
"Myeong Hyeon."
"Yes."
"I'm giving you an order."
"...What is it, and why does it feel so heavy? I was hoping for something light."
By my standards, it was a fairly light order.
"Go bring me the Thousand-Li Divine Thief."
Myeong Hyeon's mouth fell open.
"...Me?"
"Yes. You."
"Come on, how am I supposed to catch a man like that? I don't even know where he is."
I reached back into the memory of my past life.
"Na Mu-gi, the Thousand-Li Divine Thief, has two children. One is in Dorimjin, in the Yeon Nation; the other is in Donggang-hyeon. The child in Dorimjin runs an inn. The child in Donggang-hyeon serves there as a Patrol Officer."
Myeong Hyeon swallowed hard.
"Are you certain?"
"I am."
"...This is insane. You're telling me to travel all that way, at my current realm, and bring back the Thousand-Li Divine Thief? As I understand it, he's at Samhwachwijeong. It's impossible. Truly."
"Release the blood pathways you've been suppressing."
"..."
"I'll bear the responsibility. Release them."
"...And how exactly would you bear it? If it comes out that I've learned demonic arts, it won't just be the Branch Master — the entire Asura Sword Sect will be thrown into chaos. It is not a matter to be treated lightly."
I rose from my seat and closed the distance to him. Myeong Hyeon looked up at me.
"If you die in the middle of this mission, what choice do you think the Sword Emperor will make?"
"..."
"He will deny your connection to him. If it ends there, you may count yourself lucky. He will kill everyone except those he is certain can seal their own lips. Your lover in the Yeon Nation will be among them."
"...What exactly are you trying to say?"
What was I trying to say? It was simple.
"If you're going to pick a side, pick it properly."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"I still have my doubts about you, but you and I want the same thing. You want the Emperor Sword Sect destroyed. Strictly speaking, what you want is to slip free of the Sword Emperor's grip — but looked at broadly, it's the same thing. And to manage that, the Sword Emperor has to die."
"..."
"If you become fully mine, I will not turn a blind eye to your family. Gratitude repaid in gratitude; enmity repaid in enmity."
I reached out and laid a hand on Myeong Hyeon's shoulder.
"Do you still not understand?"
Slowly, I tightened my grip.
"I am offering you a chance. Right now."
"..."
"Haven't you already moved in the shadows countless times? You're confident you won't be caught. Am I wrong?"
"...No, you're not."
"Then what is there to hesitate over?"
"..."
"If you don't want to do it, don't. I'll simply do things my way."
Just as I was about to let go —
"That hurts."
"What does?"
"My shoulder. And my heart, come to that."
Myeong Hyeon was no fool. The Thousand-Li Divine Thief I had just described and his own circumstances were one and the same.
"Toy with me all you like, but kindly refrain from threatening me by waving my weaknesses in my face."
A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it.
"Since that night we camped out, have I ever once threatened you?"
"...No, you haven't."
"And I never will. I have no intention of it, and no need. Do you want my word on it?"
"...Yes."
"You have it."
Myeong Hyeon dragged a hand down his face and let out a long, deep sigh.
"Fine. I'll go catch your Thousand-Li Divine Thief."
"How long do you need?"
"Even moving as fast as I can, there's a process to see through once I get there... If fortune truly smiles on me, I could have him here within a fortnight."
I pulled ten Asura Pills from my pack and handed them to Myeong Hyeon.
"Shorten it."
Staring at the ten pills in his hand, Myeong Hyeon asked me:
"...Do you trust me? What if I run off with these?"
"Are you going to run?"
"..."
"If you're going to, then run."
"...So then you'd kill my lover in the Yeon Nation. Is that it?"
I shook my head.
"What on earth have you been listening to?"
"Excuse me?"
"I told you — no threats. Whether you flee or one day point your sword at me, I will not touch your lover. If that woman ever points a sword at me, that's another matter — but I will never be the one to strike first."
Myeong Hyeon was visibly thrown.
"The choice is yours. Bring me the Thousand-Li Divine Thief within ten days."
"...You truly are a man no one can figure out."
Pill in hand, Myeong Hyeon turned and strode for the door. Just before crossing the threshold, he paused and threw one last line over his shoulder.
"I'll have him here in seven."
A smile crept across my face.
"Good."