The Madman's Path to Anchiyunbugu
Igonahap glanced sideways at Kunuma, sizing him up from every angle.
Kunuma was a terrifying warrior in his own right.
If it was him, then surely he could bring down even that Temusi'i without breaking a sweat.
And if so, he could not only reclaim a measure of the humiliation he had just suffered, but also eliminate one of the men who held his weaknesses in their hands.
But this was a matter of using poison against poison, and that meant caution was called for.
Worse, Kunuma was a man beyond anyone's control.
A stray spark, if it jumped the wrong way, might well burn Igonahap himself to ashes. He had to watch his step.
Igonahap spoke carefully.
"Of course, I don't imagine even you can kill that fellow. He is the man who bested my father's sworn brother, after all."
Kunuma snorted.
"But if you crush him, might you not gain something from it?"
"Hm."
Kunuma nodded, as if in agreement.
"Where would I go to find him?"
"Well. From what I hear, he went off to pay a visit to Anchiyunbugu. So that's where he'll be, most likely."
"Is that so?"
Kunuma rose to his feet in one swift motion.
Igonahap jumped up after him in alarm.
"Wait—shouldn't you at least eat something and rest before going?"
"A bullock's horn is drawn out by steady pulling. My men are already standing by near Anchiyunbugu, so it works out well enough."
"I beg your pardon?"
Igonahap's face went gray.
Kunuma was even more of a madman than he had imagined.
"Hold on, Commander Kunuma. Let's confirm everything properly first. Verify whether Temusi'i is even at Anchiyunbugu—and above all, even if he is there, you absolutely cannot storm the place. That place is..."
"I have no intention of troubling you or Dudu Lee Man-ju."
With only those words, Kunuma turned to leave.
"Samuhatu, Kumai. We're done talking. Move out."
"Yes, sir."
Samuhatu and Kumai flashed a grin at Olanggamokya.
Olanggamokya returned a stiff, wooden smile.
A thought flashed through Igonahap's mind: this cannot be allowed to happen.
Kunuma had always been unpredictable, and now that he had lost his younger brother, he was worse than ever.
If Kunuma, furious clear to the ends of his hair, recklessly charged into Anchiyunbugu without weighing fire from water...
'This is disastrous. What happens to that wretch Temusi'i is no concern of mine, but—'
A chill ran down Igonahap's spine.
It wasn't only Temusi'i who held his weaknesses—Tung Jugang and that woman Wolyeong knew them too.
Which meant Onyan Isiha would know as well.
Even if Kunuma did kill Temusi'i, Onyan Isiha could easily guess that Igonahap stood behind it all.
And if it was taken as a breach of his promise, his shameful secret might be dragged out before the whole world.
"Hey! Irongha!"
"Yes, Dudu?"
Irongha, who had been standing there at a loss until then, answered.
"Follow Kunuma."
"M-me, sir?"
Irongha had no great desire to trail after Kunuma either.
The man's notoriety was spread far and wide across the Jianzhou Guard, and even Igonahap and Irongha, whose cruelty to women had worn a groove into their habits, were committing mere children's pranks compared to him.
"Yes. Make sure that wretch doesn't do anything reckless at Anchiyunbugu."
"And how am I supposed to stop him...?"
Irongha's face crumpled into a look of near-tears.
Igonahap snapped in irritation.
"Ugh! Figure out how—just stop him somehow!"
At Igonahap's roar, Irongha shrank back and shot out of the tent like an arrow.
He felt Olanggamokya's eyes turn toward him, and Igonahap waved a hand in dismissal.
"Enough. Leave me alone for a while."
"Yes, Dudu."
Olanggamokya withdrew.
Left alone, Igonahap began to pace, venting his frustration at everything in sight.
"Damn it all, curse it!"
It was unbelievable. Of all the things that could happen—here he was, worrying that that cursed Temusi'i might come to harm!
Hong-wi had not the faintest dream that Kunuma was hunting him.
He had drunk late into the night with Tung Jugang, and the next morning he rose, pressing a hand against his throbbing head.
Fragmented memories of the previous evening floated up in his mind, piece by piece.
"Ho-in. Are you well?"
But Ho-in was nowhere to be found.
"Where on earth has that fellow gone?"
Hong-wi decided to wash his face first. As he splashed the cold spring water he had scooped into a gourd over his head, his mind snapped awake.
Just then, he heard footsteps.
"Ah, Temusi'i. You're up quite early, aren't you?"
Tung Jugang grinned.
"How do you feel?"
"Passable... Have you by any chance seen Ho-in?"
"Isn't that him coming over there now?"
Hong-wi turned—and there indeed stood Ho-in.
But the man's appearance was beyond description.
His face was white as a sheet, and he staggered along, wheezing for breath with each step, looking less like a living man than a corpse out for a walk.
"What on earth is the matter?"
Hong-wi asked in alarm, but Ho-in's only answer was a groan. He lurched around the back of the lodgings—and then, with a tremendous heave, emptied his stomach.
Hong-wi thumped him on the back.
Tung Jugang looked down at him too.
"The mayuju went too far last night, I see."
Mayuju, brewed from mare's milk, was in truth said to leave a milder hangover than grain or fruit wines. Even allowing for Ho-in's weak head, he had clearly drunk a great deal.
As Tung Jugang looked around, his eye caught the Kakduri and Tanduri brothers stumbling out, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"Didn't I tell you not to let him drink so much?"
"Huh?"
Kakduri, still half asleep, blinked back at him blankly.
When Tung Jugang pointed at Ho-in, the two brothers took one look and burst out laughing.
"Ah... that fellow drinks down everything you hand him, slick as anything. We got along famously."
"A dull sort when sober, but with liquor in him he turns into quite the entertaining one."
The two said in unison.
Tung Jugang shook his head.
"Go give him a hand. It looks like a bad one."
"Yes, sir!"
The Kakduri brothers, having grown fast friends with Ho-in overnight, rushed over at once and took turns pounding his back.
Between the retching and the splattering, quite a racket arose.
Hong-wi drew near Tung Jugang.
"So—you'd like to go see Heo Jo?"
"I would. I've been curious to meet him myself."
At Hong-wi's words, Tung Jugang nodded readily.
"Then since the matter's been raised, let's go today."
"Today?"
"It's only half a day's journey. Though we'll have to wait until the sun sits at high noon before your friend here comes back to his senses."
Fortunately, it took less time than Tung Jugang had predicted.
Still pale, but with a little color restored to his cheeks, Ho-in offered Hong-wi his apology.
"I beg your forgiveness for my disgrace."
"Say no more of it. I mean to take the air with Tung Jugang today."
"Then I shall come along as well."
"In that condition? Don't overdo it."
Hong-wi looked at Ho-in with concern.
In the early years after Joseon's founding, accidents from drinking had been quietly frequent. Lee Bang-woo, King Taejo Yi Seong-gye's eldest son, had loved the fine liquor soju until it sickened him and killed him, and the founding general Hong Yeong-tong had mounted his horse stone drunk, tumbled off, and died.
"I'm quite well, I..."
Ho-in answered through gritted determination, but no matter how one looked at him, he was in no state to sit a horse.
Just then Kakduri came over with his younger brother Tanduri, carrying a great water jar between them—and dumped it straight over Ho-in's head.
"Aaagh!"
"Nothing sobers a man faster than this!"
Kakduri roared with laughter.
Ho-in, looking for all the world like a drowned rat, glared at them sideways.
"Now that's what I call a disease before the cure. Just you wait—I'll have my reckoning someday. If it weren't for this mission of mine, I'd win for certain."
"Still, for a Joseon man you held your drink well! Heh heh heh..."
They bickered and jostled, but the mood among the three of them was warm as could be, and they all laughed together.
"So where are you headed, elder brother?"
"Temusi'i and I are going to see Heo Jo. About time I introduced him to this fellow too."
"Ahh."
The Kakduri brothers nodded.
"Should we come along too?"
"Planning to strip the temple's larder bare, are you?"
Tung Jugang laughed heartily.
Just then Keshine, Sonata, and Hasutai came in.
Sonata called out.
"Only just awake, are you? We've already made a full round and come back. And where might you be headed, if I may ask?"
"You heard everything and ask anyway."
At Tung Jugang's words, Sonata grinned widely.
"Going off to visit Heo Jo and taking only Temusi'i with you? Now that hurts my feelings."
"We're going unannounced and uninvited—it wouldn't do to bring the whole company."
Sonata conceded the point to Keshine.
"True enough, but it's been so long since we saw that merry monk that I find myself missing him, is all."
"A long time? It's barely been a month."
Keshine chuckled.
"If you're taking Temusi'i's young brother along anyway, give him a gift—we've done nothing but eat off his table. Take Sonata with you. Better yet, why not invite him to visit our stronghold?"
"Now that's a fine thought. Until now it's always been us going to him—time we returned the hospitality."
Tanduri shouted in agreement.
The Kakduri brothers smirked.
"This time we simply must see that big oaf drink himself under the table."
"Dream on! And how many times has it been now, that you dropped first while talking big? We had a miserable time hauling the two of you back to the stronghold."
"Indeed we did. Someone had to be carried in on someone's back."
Tasbuka said as he entered with Tashari.
Kakduri looked a little glum.
"Every single time, damn it. Now it's become a matter of pride for me."
"Look at that build—when would liquor ever best a man like that?"
Hong-wi folded his arms and smiled.
The more he heard, the more he longed to see this monk Heo Jo for himself.
"This time, be sure to bring Heo Jo back with you. We must entertain him royally. We'll keep the hunt going in the meantime."
"Yes, yes! Understood."
Tung Jugang raised both hands, laughing, then turned to Hong-wi.
"Get ready to go. And you, Ho-in—are you well enough?"
"Much improved, sir."
"Good. But change your clothes first. Here—Kakduri! Lend this fellow something to wear."
The group threw themselves into preparing gifts for Heo Jo. The Kakduri brothers hauled a sack of well-aged mayuju out of the storehouse, while Tashari and Tasbuka wrapped a whole boiled-and-roasted wild boar in a straw mat and carried it along.
"Isn't this rather too much to bring?"
At Hong-wi's question, Sonata grinned.
"Consider Heo Jo's capacity for drink and food, and this hardly counts as much. This much will vanish in a single evening meal, I'd wager."
Hong-wi was astonished.
"What a truly formidable monk!"
"Oh, formidable is exactly the word."
Tung Jugang gave his brothers his parting instructions.
"The area around Anchiyunbugu has been strangely quiet lately, and it bothers me. Stay on your guard."
"Quiet is a good thing, isn't it?"
At Tanduri's question, Tung Jugang shook his head.
"Not this time. Think about who that man's elder brother is, and this much quiet starts to feel ominous."
"Don't worry yourself too much."
Keshine said.
"Go and enjoy yourselves."
The autumn weather was crisp and clear. The temple where Heo Jo dwelt lay to the southwest—they would descend toward the road to Hwangseongpyeong, then turn west and travel a long way.
"We'll arrive late in the afternoon."
"I see. But you said that monk Heo Jo lives alone, did you not?"
It was Hong-wi's question.
"I did."
"How does a man live alone in a place like this? Ah—what I mean is..."
"Ha! It's true this is no place for a man to live alone in comfort, I'll grant you that."
Tung Jugang grinned.
"Marauding bandits do sometimes come calling, and it's true enough—but every time they do, he rings his temple bell for them."
"Is that so? Heo Jo holds them off alone?"
"He does. Bandits worth their salt can't so much as twitch against him. His name carries far and wide in these parts."
Hong-wi's curiosity about this monk Heo Jo grew stronger still.
What sort of man could he be?
Just as they quickened their pace, the sound of hoofbeats rose behind them.
"What is that?"
At Hong-wi's question, Tung Jugang frowned as well.
Sonata tilted his ear toward the sound, then spoke.
"Three riders."
Who could it be, coming unannounced?
They had not yet left the borders of Anchiyunbugu, so it could hardly be bandits—but still...
The four of them tensed.