093
093
Han Gu-man, a fifth-grade disciple of the Beggar Sect called Daichwita, spread a straw mat near Xuchang's north gate and watched everyone who passed.
'Those who entered earlier were the Namgung Clan, weren't they? Exploding Dragon is driving the front carriage with a full troop of warriors behind... That means Namgung Yurin has joined the contest.'
Namgung Yurin, entering the fray.
Scratch, scratch.
Han Gu-man slid a hand into his trousers and scratched near his privates.
Passersby glared at him with disgust and walked on, but Han Gu-man's hand was busy recording words on his thigh with a piece of sharp charcoal.
Just then, a woman entered through the north gate. She had concealed her identity and come alone, a single sword wrapped in cloth at her waist.
A female master confident in her skill. Above her veil, the corners of her eyes held faint wrinkles that could not belong to anyone in her late teens.
Tap, tap.
The moment he saw that distinctive gait, Han Gu-man recognized her at once.
'Ok Seon-ru has come too.'
First Tears Victory Sect—also competing.
There was only one reason Han Gu-man was gathering this kind of intelligence.
Gathering intelligence was originally the Beggar Sect's work, but there was no need for a fifth-grade disciple to step forward personally.
'If those old bastards hadn't taken the Murim's money and eaten it all up.'
Still, since the Murim Alliance had formally requested the Beggar Sect's assistance, his job was to pose as a beggar and gather information on everyone visiting Xuchang.
"Oh my... how pitiful. At least buy yourself a bowl of noodles."
"Ah, Miss! Thank you!"
Ok Seon-ru, who was passing by, placed two silver coins into Han Gu-man's begging bowl. He immediately prostrated himself and began to praise her.
"These eyes of mine have been blinded, bewitched by beauty! Ah, a woman as lovely as Seo Si—not only is her outer appearance beautiful, her heart is as fair as snow! Thank you, I shall use it well. May you be blessed with every good thing!"
"Ah, yes, yes."
Startled by Han Gu-man's gratitude, Ok Seon-ru hurried off.
Han Gu-man kept knocking his forehead to the ground until Ok Seon-ru vanished into the crowd, then he stuffed the two nyang of silver inside his trousers and resumed recording information.
'No disciples following her as usual. Presumed to be entering alone.'
Han Gu-man recalled Ok Seon-ru's age.
It seemed questionable whether a woman clearly past the bloom of youth could participate in the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle, but the Murim Alliance Leader's warped desire had made it possible.
— Let us allow those up to thirty years old to participate!
— Only until exactly thirty! Until last year it was twenty-nine!
The age limit, originally twenty-nine, had been extended to thirty as the year turned over.
The Murim Alliance Leader's intention was to abolish the lower limit altogether, and with the vigorous support of many thirty-year-old women, the age restriction had been greatly relaxed.
There was a rumor that her real age was twenty-nine and she had deliberately added a year, but either way, she was now able to enter the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle.
'A Six Phoenix at age thirty. Why, when she already holds the name Seven Star Sword?'
Was she so chagrined that her disciple had lost to Moyong Ran's blade? Or did she have some other purpose?
Han Gu-man bet on the latter.
'She turns thirty this year. There is no path left except to gain the title of a Six Phoenix and marry into a great sect.'
The Six Phoenixes seat was a place that ranked the six strongest women in the martial world, but for many sects it also served as a chance to showcase the finest merchandise on the marriage market far and wide.
'If you wed her to a sect's disciple and she bears a child, the next generation's Nine Dragons and Six Phoenixes are practically guaranteed.'
Or, when a faction failed to produce a Nine Dragon or Six Phoenix from its own ranks, they often tried to turn such martial artists into blood relations and make them members of the sect.
In short, Ok Seon-ru had entered the competition for marriage. Whatever sect or clan the man belonged to, once she became a Six Phoenix, opportunities to meet even the Nine Dragons would naturally arise.
'Who knows. Among the Nine Dragons there might be a man with that particular taste.'
Older, mature, a fine lady. Late childbirth was a concern, but as long as the tastes matched, it wasn't a bad thing.
'Even the Murim Alliance Leader is like that.'
In fact, the Murim Alliance Leader Dokgo Ja-yeong's case was exactly that.
Originally not a person of the Dokgo Clan, he had risen to become the foremost of the Nine Dragons of his generation with his own sword art alone. The Dokgo Clan, highly valuing his talent, took him in as a live-in son-in-law, and he inherited the surname "Dokgo."
His wife was already dead, but it was said she had given birth to the most beautiful daughter in the world before she died. Having lost his wife, Dokgo Ja-yeong became the head of the Dokgo Clan and the Murim Alliance Leader, leading the clan while monopolizing the attention of countless widows.
'Among the Nine Dragons and Six Phoenixes, there was not a single man or woman who remained unmarried.'
In any case, the title of Nine Dragon or Six Phoenix was a symbol of honor to some, but to others it was a stepping stone to a successful betrothal.
Who else might be drawn into Xuchang, bewitched by the demonic nature of the two phoenix seats?
"...Huh?"
In that instant, Han Gu-man felt a cold chill. A sudden sensation as if his feet were freezing, and he slowly turned his head toward the source of the energy.
"Hiiik!"
Right in front of him, a black-haired woman was crouching. Her hair, smooth as silk, hung below her brows, and her lower face was covered by a black face veil.
"Wh-What is it?"
"A beggar."
"Wh-What?!"
"He's a beggar."
At the woman's indifferent words, Han Gu-man reflexively bristled. It felt like she had said it twice on purpose, which made it even more infuriating. It was true that he was a beggar, but being called a beggar so bluntly stung for no reason.
"So pitiful."
Jingle, jingle. The woman took a small bead from her bosom and gave it to Han Gu-man as alms. The bead was so transparent inside that he could see through to the other side.
"Here, take this. Go buy some wheat noodles."
"Ah, ah, thank you."
His response was far less enthusiastic and much more mechanical than when Ok Seon-ru had donated silver.
"I will use the money a beautiful person gave me well. Thank you."
Unlike silver coins whose value could be gauged immediately, a bead that was very likely trash did not warrant a high-class reaction.
Had she pulled out gold coins, he would have planted his arms on the ground, raised his legs vertically, and kowtowed as if heaven and earth were reversed, but the value of a glass bead remained unconfirmed.
"I will use it well. Thanks to you, I have earned my daily bread once more."
"Take heart. No matter how hard life in this world is, you didn't leave home to suffer like this."
"...Thank you?"
Han Gu-man felt awkward at the sudden sermon. This was not what he wanted. If you are going to preach, at least give a bit more money.
"That's right. Instead of begging like this, why don't you get a proper job and work?"
"Kk."
"Do your parents know you live here clinging to other people?"
"Keheok."
"I saw that liquor you bought with what you begged right there next to you. Surely you aren't drinking on alms?"
"......."
His pride was wounded enough to make answering difficult, but he had received something, so he had to reply. Han Gu-man calmed his twisted insides, knocked his head to the ground, and prostrated himself.
"Oh dear, this humble one's profession is exactly this. Clinging to other people, you say? I merely earn my keep by drawing the sympathy of countless martial heroes."
"Really? Then you did have a proper job. I see... So being a beggar was a job too!"
The woman clapped her hands and answered her own question as if she had realized something. Then she nodded to herself and left.
"......Is she crazy?"
Could a person look down on someone like this just for giving a single bead? Han Gu-man slowly gathered his mat, his gourd bottle, and the begged money and tidied up his spot.
"Damn, this is no good."
His mood was foul, so continuing to beg felt utterly pointless. Han Gu-man returned to the Beggar Sect branch, cleaned himself up neatly, and then, in a reasonably presentable state, took the silver and the bead to a jeweler.
"Say, shop owner. Can you possibly appraise this?"
"Hm? What is it? ...Isn't this cold jade?"
"...Cold jade? What's that?"
"A bead that mostly circulates from the North Sea Ice Palace. In all my life, I never thought I'd see such a thing..."
Gulp. Han Gu-man's hands and feet trembled. As a beggar of the Beggar Sect and as the owner of the glass bead, he began to feel excited that an Ice Palace item had come from that woman.
If she was a high personage from the Ice Palace, it was certain to be worth more than gold coins!
"So, how much is it?"
"Twenty nyang of silver."
"......."
At the subtly high price, Han Gu-man nodded.
'Considering she put on that act over twenty nyang of silver, it's tolerable.'
"Sell it to me. It's still pretty, so my daughter would like it if I gave it to her."
"...Thirty nyang."
"You beggarly bastard. Trying to rip me off? Twenty-two nyang. Not a coin more."
"Damn, just give it. I'll drink some cloudy wine on the way back."
Han Gu-man sold the cold jade, took the silver, and headed straight to the branch. It rankled a little, but since it was free money, he could drink with a light heart.
Sometime later.
By the time he learned that the bead was a top-grade gem called Winter General and that the imperial palace had purchased it for a huge sum, the jeweler had already vanished from Henan Province.
* * *
"It has been a long time. How good to meet again like this, Acting Sect Leader."
"I greet the Alliance Leader."
"Daoist Hyeon-ji as well. Thanks to your mediation at the last Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, we handled the matter between Mount Hua and Kongtong smoothly. Daoist Hyeon-jil, it's been a long time for you too, hasn't it? Hahaha! The same man who used to pester me about when I would marry back in my youth... And Daoist Hyeon-ju..."
Sagong Hee watched the Murim Alliance Leader exchange personal greetings with each Daoist who had come to the Murim Alliance, and she nodded lowly. As the head who guided the massive organization known as the Murim Alliance, the Alliance Leader remembered countless people from the martial world he had crossed paths with.
"Haha! How could I forget? The duel you and I fought that day in Hubei..."
He revealed that he had not forgotten the other person, thereby drawing the conversation onward. Sagong Hee carefully engraved the Alliance Leader's manner of speaking—the way he brought up past minor connections—into her mind.
'How many people can he remember like that?'
If one day she herself became the Wudang Sect Leader, would she have to treat everyone she met in the same way? When her own turn came, Sagong Hee bowed her head in greeting.
"A pleasure to meet you, Taiji Flower! I am honored that you have made the long, difficult journey."
"The Alliance invited the White Path's Number One Flower; how could I not come?"
"Huo-haha! As expected, your confidence is remarkable!"
"I am remarkable in many ways."
At Sagong Hee's words, the Alliance Leader flinched slightly and his eyebrows twitched. No matter how much he was a middle-aged man with a family and great self-restraint, before Sagong Hee's remarkableness, he lost some of his composure.
"Now, now. Let us eat first and then talk."
"Ooh!"
The Daoists cheered, and Sagong Hee gave a bitter smile. The dishes before her were formidable opponents she had yet to overcome.
In that case, I shall eat and eliminate you.
Sagong Hee moved her chopsticks modestly, yet at a speed and stealth faster than anyone. As she wielded her chopsticks using the sword control art of the Taiji Wisdom Sword and ate without a sound, the Murim Alliance Leader's expression grew stiff and he blinked.
A single shichen later.
After finishing the meal, drinking tea, and exchanging pleasantries, the Murim Alliance Leader brought up the main topic.
"Ahem. I apologize to the guests from Wudang, but I would like to provide a villa inside the Alliance compound as accommodation."
"Huh? Alliance Leader, would that not be special treatment?"
At the Alliance Leader's excessive hospitality, Sa Jeong-hu stepped forward and discreetly declined.
"Even though we have been invited, if the entire party stays in a villa, there may be a great uproar. What worries you, Alliance Leader, is the numerous people who will swarm here to see the Taiji Flower, is it not?"
"That is so. In fact, even the Henan Provincial Governor wishes to see her, and most people within the Alliance want to meet the Taiji Flower."
Even if just one of the Six Phoenixes came, her popularity would shoot through the heavens—and here it was none other than the White Path's Number One Flower who had come to Xuchang as a supporter?
"Annoying incidents will certainly arise frequently. I hope that Wudang will not refuse. Other sects will also fully understand the situation."
"But Alliance Leader, in that case, how about allowing only the Taiji Flower to reside in the villa? The elders will arrange separate lodgings. And we from Wudang will take turns in pairs, two at a time, to stand guard as dharma protectors over the villa."
"Mm... If Daoist Hyeon-ta insists to that degree."
The pressure of the entire Wudang party using the villa.
The pressure that once inside the villa it would be difficult to arrange separate lodgings.
And the pressure of finally coming from Hubei to Henan only to be confined inside the villa.
'We came all the way to Henan, we can't be cooped up!'
In many ways, it was a burdensome affair for the elders. The villa and its grounds sat like an island in the middle of a lake that spread within the city—unless something extraordinary happened, troublesome people would have no chance to bother Sagong Hee.
"My disciple, I am sorry. Inevitably, for the duration of your stay here, you will reside in the Alliance Leader's villa."
"That is fine."
"I shall guide you. Let us go."
The Daoists left the Alliance compound to secure their own lodgings. The Alliance Leader stepped away from the dining area and pointed to the long bridge leading to the villa.
"Go straight along here, and you will reach the villa. I have given detailed instructions to the child who is there, so I hope you will be a companion to them for a while."
"A companion... I understand."
Sagong Hee already knew what she needed to know. She clasped her hands in a martial salute, turned her body, and walked toward the villa—the wide island that sat isolated in the middle of the lake.
And when she had reached roughly midway across the island.
"......!!"
Someone lunged from behind and covered Sagong Hee's mouth.