Mae Yeong-ok
After finishing everything he had come to do at the Murim Alliance, Byeokunja moved like the wind and returned to Mount Zhongnan in Shanxi.
Mount Zhongnan, south of Chang’an, rose from the Qinling Mountains.
As soon as Byeokunja came back, the disciples who spotted him bowed so low it seemed their waists might snap.
“We greet Grand-Martial Uncle!”
Byeokunja gave them a single wave and then strode between the mountain paths like a passing breeze.
Once he vanished from sight, the disciples let out long breaths of relief and went back to their work.
And today, thankfully, that cantankerous grand-master had simply passed through without causing any trouble. They practically rejoiced at the thought.
By the time Byeokunja had returned to his secluded hermitage near Mount Zhongnan’s Lone Peak and changed clothes, a woman approached it with light, graceful steps.
She looked to be around thirty at first glance—a stunning beauty—but in truth, she was far older than that.
The heroine of Jongnam. The woman even the current sect leader quietly avoided whenever possible.
One of the few who could trade barbs with the prickly Byeokunja.
Mae Yeong-ok, the Thorny Immortal.
“What is it? It’s you, Yeong-ok?”
“Who else in this world would look after Grand-Uncle if not me?”
“Look after me? Hah. Don’t give me that. Nobody wanted to drink with me, so you must’ve come running over the moment you heard I was back!”
“Ha! Grand-Uncle, really—who exactly do you think would be coming and going from this hermitage if it weren’t me? Should I go back?”
“Enough. You’ve come all this way—where do you think you’re going? Come in and sit down.”
Mae Yeong-ok snorted softly at her grand-uncle, then took a seat on the wooden porch.
Byeokunja brought out a wine jar and cups from inside, poured her a drink, and silently sipped from his own cup.
“You said you were going out to handle something. Did it go well?”
“If I went out there myself, what could possibly go wrong? It’s just that things didn’t end cleanly, so I’m not satisfied.”
“What was it, then? You didn’t even mention a word before you left.”
“Because it was that secret.”
“So you still can’t tell me?”
“It’s not hard to tell Grand-Uncle, since you’re not the sort to go blabbing indiscriminately.”
“Oh? Then tell me. What on earth was so important that you had to hide it and sneak off?”
Mae Yeong-ok stared at Byeokunja for a long moment, then parted her red lips.
“You know what I meant earlier, don’t you, Grand-Uncle?”
“Aigoo. You mean I shouldn’t go around spouting things outside, don’t you! What exactly do you take your grand-uncle for?”
“What do I take you for? A busybody with a terrible personality, that’s what! And once you’ve had a drink, your mouth gets even looser!”
“Tch. Tsk.”
At that, Byeokunja drained his cup as if he had nothing to say.
He wanted to argue, but it wasn’t easy to do that in front of Mae Yeong-ok.
He had simply made far too many mistakes over the years.
“It concerns the outer lands. Something related to the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“The North Sea Ice Palace?”
Byeokunja’s eyes widened at the words.
“Yes, the North Sea Ice Palace. They sent a child to look for something. Because of the treaty with the Alliance, they couldn’t send anyone openly, so they sent only one child.”
“Oh? Really? I met that child.”
“What? Grand-Uncle? That child has been with me the whole time. Where exactly did you see him?”
“In Kaifeng.”
“Have you finally lost your mind? That child has been with me in Luoyang the whole time.”
“Ha! So now you’re calling your grand-uncle a senile old fool? Listen here, brat. White hair, blue eyes, surname Baek, and he used Ice Soul Divine Art, didn’t he? Even if I were addled, do you really think I’d mistake that?”
Mae Yeong-ok frowned as though he had said something absurd.
“Among those who came from the North Sea Ice Palace, are there people who don’t have white hair or blue eyes?”
“No, I’m telling you I saw him! I saw him use Ice Soul Divine Art with my own eyes!”
Mae Yeong-ok still didn’t look convinced. Her eyes narrowed at Byeokunja with suspicion.
“It was already several days ago! More than ten days, in fact! As for when that was…”
“No. Then it must be wrong. That child never went anywhere near Kaifeng. He stayed near Luoyang the entire time.”
“Then what was the child I saw? A twin, perhaps? Or were there several children from the North Sea Ice Palace?”
“Neither. It was definitely just one child from the North Sea Ice Palace. Hm…”
Mae Yeong-ok suddenly grew serious. After a moment lost in thought, she muttered again.
“Then this could be a problem.”
Byeokunja, too, stroked his beard and frowned.
“Are you saying there could be another explanation?”
“If the child Grand-Uncle saw truly had white hair, blue eyes, and used Ice Soul Divine Art, then that would mean only one of them came down to the Central Plains.”
“That’s true…?”
“If so, it would be a serious breach of rules. And it could mean the North Sea Ice Palace has some other scheme behind this.”
“What?”
“Come to think of it, it didn’t make sense that they had lost such a manual in the first place…”
“A manual?”
“The child from the North Sea Ice Palace said they had come to retrieve the manual for Ice Soul Divine Art. Said something about Sintu having stolen it.”
“Ha-ha. They really said that? Sintu stole the manual for Ice Soul Divine Art? That’s not even funny enough to pass as a joke.”
“I didn’t believe it at first either. In any case, this isn’t the time to sit around sharing cups. Grand-Uncle. Please stand up.”
“Eeh? What do you mean, stand up?”
“Shouldn’t we go straight to the Alliance? And then find that child again and hear everything in detail?”
“Right now? You little brat! I just got back from Kaifeng!”
“Hah. Is that what matters? And you still call yourself the Sword Revered who represents the martial world?”
Byeokunja, the Sword Revered.
The man whose name would be counted near the very front whenever the martial world’s greatest experts were ranked.
The title of Venerable was not one that could be worn lightly.
And when one considered how many swordsmen existed in Murim, that was all the more true.
“Tch. Fine! I know your temperament all too well! If I don’t get up now, you’ll drag me there by force anyway, won’t you?”
“If you know that, then rise at once, Grand-Uncle.”
“At least let me finish my drink before we go! What’s the rush, when Kaifeng is only that far away?”
Mae Yeong-ok rose to her feet and stared straight at Byeokunja, but he ignored her gaze and leisurely emptied his cup.
“Agh. I’m going to choke on this wine. Fine. Let’s go. Yes. Let’s go!”
Thus, Byeokunja and Mae Yeong-ok left the hermitage once more and headed down the path.
When the disciples saw them, they bowed twice as quickly as before, and after the two passed by, they clutched their chests with expressions that said their hearts could not handle this.
It was only natural. If Byeokunja and Mae Yeong-ok were together, mistakes that hadn’t even existed before had a way of suddenly appearing.
So when they heard that the two were headed to Kaifeng because of business, the disciples’ faces lit up brighter than the sun.
Byeokunja was a fairly easygoing man, but Mae Yeong-ok was not.
The Murim Alliance, reached at night. Normally, once the sun had set, entry to the Alliance was prohibited.
But Mae Yeong-ok was not a woman who bothered herself with such things.
Nor were there many in the Murim Alliance who could stop her.
“Alliance Leader!”
And so she went straight to the Alliance Leader’s office.
When Tae Cheonheon saw the woman entering his office, he shut his eyes tightly, then sighed and spoke.
“Yeong-ok. It is not proper to arrive so suddenly at this hour. And you, Senior? Why did you come with her?”
“How else would I have come? This child kicked up such a storm that I had no choice but to follow!”
The Alliance Leader found himself thinking, So the root of all this trouble is Mae Yeong-ok after all… before offering the two a seat.
As soon as they sat down, Mae Yeong-ok got straight to the point.
“Alliance Leader! Wasn’t there only one child who came from the North Sea Ice Palace this time?”
“What are you talking about? A child from the North Sea Ice Palace? Of course there was only one. How could several people come from the North Sea Ice Palace?”
Mae Yeong-ok immediately explained the situation, and after hearing her out, the Alliance Leader frowned before answering.
“More than two?”
“I’ve already seen two. What’s to say there aren’t more?”
“Hmm. Wait here a moment. Great Protector!”
Then, from a room that had seemed empty, a man suddenly appeared.
A man wearing a mask. The Murim Alliance’s Great Protector, always stationed at the Alliance Leader’s side.
“Go and fetch the hall master of the Hidden Shadow Hall.”
The Great Protector disappeared at once, and the Alliance Leader tapped the table a few times before looking at Byeokunja and saying with an apologetic expression,
“I completely forgot that Senior was here and hadn’t even served tea.”
He prepared tea, and while they waited for the Hidden Shadow Hall master to arrive, the three of them sat drinking for a while.
“Alliance Leader? You summoned me?”
Soon, the Murim Alliance’s Hidden Shadow Hall master entered the office, and upon seeing Byeokunja and the Thorny Immortal there, he bowed respectfully.
Byeokunja was one generation above the Alliance Leader, while the Thorny Immortal and the Alliance Leader belonged to the same generation. It was only natural that he would be so deferential.
The Alliance Leader had the Hidden Shadow Hall master take a seat and relayed what he had just heard.
The Hidden Shadow Hall master nodded as if he understood, then looked at the three of them and spoke.
“I had already found one strange point. Recently, reports have been circulating from odd places about someone said to be from the North Sea Ice Palace. And there have been some very peculiar rumors as well.”
“Peculiar rumors?”
At the Alliance Leader’s question, the Hidden Shadow Hall master told them everything he knew.
“News spread that the deputy chief of a hidden gang on the Yangtze waterways had been captured, and that bandits had been wiped out.”
“The deputy chief of a waterways gang? Bandits? All of a sudden?”
The Alliance Leader looked as if he were asking whether the explanation was even correct.
The Hidden Shadow Hall master scratched his cheek, sounding a little uncertain himself, then spoke again.
“Yes. And the route is odd as well. It seems he’s heading southwest. Furthermore, he’s currently traveling with a child from the Hebei Paeng Clan and a child from the Moyong Clan.”
This time, not only the Alliance Leader but Byeokunja and Mae Yeong-ok too wore expressions that clearly said, What are you talking about?
“Southwest? Southwest from where?”
“Judging by the route, it appears to be Jegal Clan Manor. That’s where the children from the Hebei Paeng Clan and the Moyong Clan are headed.”
As soon as she heard this, Mae Yeong-ok rose from her seat.
“No. Yeong-ok. You’re planning to go right this instant?”
“Then do you expect that child to come here if I stay?”
“Yeong-ok. Maybe try respecting your senior a little. And it’s already night; leave at daybreak tomorrow. Are you planning to race all the way to Hubei in the middle of the night?”
After hearing that, Mae Yeong-ok realized she had overdone it.
“Fine. Then at least prepare somewhere for me to stay, Alliance Leader.”
“Good heavens. You really do act as if I’ve been keeping it in reserve for you. Fine, fine. Since that’s how it is, take Senior with you and let him rest.”
“And some good wine, too.”
At that, Byeokunja, seated beside her, broke into a broad grin, and his disciple looked thoroughly pleased.
The Alliance Leader shook his head.
Looking at those two from the Jongnam Sect, he could only think that he had been a fool to stop them at all.
He even found himself wishing they would hurry up and leave.
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