The Return of Cheongryu Geomhyang
He had ridden hard and straight from Mount Hwangshan all the way to Yeongseong in Henan.
Now he stood at the foot of Woloksan, a mountain famous for its deep valleys so steep that even moonlight seemed to drown in them.
To reach the main gate of the Yaweol Sect he would have to pass the assassins hidden along the way.
Shall I slip in quietly?
Uncheon moved without a sound, making no more fuss than necessary. His footwork never paused as he climbed. By the time a single incense stick’s worth of time had burned, he stood at the edge of a cliff that looked straight down into the gorge.
Whiiiiing—
Wind roared up from the depths below. Across the chasm the main gate of the Yaweol Sect came into view.
The sect was a fortress said to be impregnable. The only way in was across that gorge, and unless a man’s lightness skill was truly exceptional he could never clear the gap. A long wooden bridge had to be lowered for anyone to cross.
Yet—
…I think I could make it now.
Two years had changed him; confidence sat easy in his bones.
Still… after so long away, I ought to arrive the proper way.
Uncheon raised his voice so that it carried cleanly across the void.
“Hello over there!”
Inner energy rode the words all the way to the far side. The guards at the gate startled and peered down.
“Someone’s over there?”
They stared, bewildered, at the blue-robed man waving cheerfully from the opposite cliff.
“What the hell are the ones below doing? How did this fellow climb all the way up without anyone stopping him?”
No one had sensed so much as a breath of him until he chose to show himself. The guards still had no idea who the smiling stranger was.
Then the blue-robed man’s voice rang out again.
“I am Cheongryu Geomhyang!”
“……!”
Cheongryu Geomhyang?
The guards froze. Hadn’t the whole world been told he died two years ago at Tangshan?
“H-hurry, raise the emergency signal! Ah—no, wait—!”
Piiiiiiing—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Guard Andong stammered in panic. He had meant to order someone to run inside and report, but the words tangled. A quick-handed subordinate had already fired the emergency signal flares. Andong stared blankly at the bursts exploding overhead.
“Ah… I’m dead.”
Gong Hwaseon rose at the sudden crack of signal flares from the main gate.
“That sound…”
It was the urgent call that meant enemies were attacking.
Whoosh.
Inbyeok Salgaek Chae Eunjang flung the door open and strode in, urgency written all over him.
“Sect Leader, it seems enemies have invaded. I will confirm where they came from and return.”
“No. We go together.”
If foes had already reached this far, waiting was pointless. The best chance was to stop them at the main gate before they entered the sect proper. The standing order was clear: the moment the signal flares went up, every assassin and killer of the Yaweol Sect was to race to the gate without exception.
Gong Hwaseon and Chae Eunjang ran outside with their subordinates hard on their heels. Behind them the Yaweol assassins poured forth, killing intent rolling off them in waves.
Yet the closer they drew to the gate, the stranger things felt.
What is this?
If enemies had truly broken in, the gate should have been in uproar. Not a single clash of steel or shout reached them.
When Andong saw the full force of the Yaweol Sect charging toward him at full speed, the color drained from his face.
Thud!
He dropped flat to the ground as though trying to glue himself to the earth. The other gate guards kept their distance and hung their heads.
“S-Sect Leader!”
Chae Eunjang understood at once that something had gone very wrong.
“What is the meaning of this?”
His voice cracked like thunder.
“Th-that is…”
Andong could not form a proper answer. While he floundered, Chae Eunjang and Gong Hwaseon scanned the surroundings. There was no invading enemy in sight.
“I—I was so startled that one of my men fired the signal flares too quickly. I beg your forgiveness!”
“Who in the world arrived to cause this chaos?!”
Chae Eunjang roared and looked across the gorge at the blue-robed man standing on the far cliff. The face was familiar.
“Can it be… Young Master Namgung?”
“It’s him! He really is alive!”
Tears welled at the corners of Gong Hwaseon’s eyes as she watched Uncheon waving from the distance.
Kuuuung!
The wooden bridge thundered down. Gong Hwaseon watched Uncheon walk across it, his bright expression unchanged from the old days.
His cheerful voice floated over.
“Sect Leader, Hall Master Chae—both of you came out to greet me. Have you been well?”
“Young Master Namgung… this is not a dream, is it?”
“Not a dream. You even set off fireworks and gathered everyone to welcome me—I’m grateful. I never expected such a warm reception.”
“Hahahaha! The gate guards must have been so overjoyed to see Young Master Uncheon alive that they decided to celebrate with true enthusiasm!”
Chae Eunjang threw back his head and laughed. Uncheon of course knew perfectly well what the emergency flares meant.
Uncheon looked at Andong, who still trembled with his head bowed low.
“Thank you for the celebration.”
“……”
“I must have startled you by arriving so suddenly. Don’t worry—nothing will come of it. Hall Master Chae, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Understood. For your sake we’ll pretend this never happened.”
Uncheon glanced around. Nearly the entire Yaweol Sect seemed to have gathered, yet one face was missing.
“Even with all this, Master must still be in the Elders’ Hall.”
“After you vanished he barely stepped outside the place.”
“Then I should go see him. I bought good wine on the way here. Forgive me, but may I greet Master first and then come pay my respects to the Sect Leader?”
“Huhu, by all means.”
Uncheon met Gong Hwaseon’s eyes once more, then unfurled his footwork toward the Elders’ Hall.
“Not even curious what all the fuss is about…”
The sound of the emergency flares had reached the Elders’ Hall as well. Yo Chusang, however, found the whole business too bothersome to move. He would go out later if things truly grew urgent.
Whoosh, whoosh.
He stretched out a hand.
“……?”
The wine jar that should have been there was gone.
His breathing stopped for a single sharp beat. Wine jars did not grow legs and run away.
Someone has entered.
The only people in the Yaweol Sect skilled enough to pierce his senses and approach this close were the Twelve Earthly Branches Assassins. And those fellows would never hide their presence when coming to see him.
An outsider, then.
Quietly he prepared to send the hidden blades in his sleeve flying.
At that moment—
“Master, your disciple has brought good wine.”
“……?!”
A blue-robed figure slowly took form right before his eyes.
“Master, your disciple Uncheon has returned. Have you been well all this time?”
“Is it truly… Uncheon? Am I so drunk I’m seeing ghosts?”
Uncheon stepped close and bowed deeply.
“This unworthy disciple caused Master great worry. Only now have I managed to come and see you.”
“Ha—hahaha! Hahahaha! I knew it! What mad fools dared claim my disciple was dead?!”
He had always believed Uncheon was never fated to die in some ditch. Yo Chusang pulled the young man into a long embrace, then stepped back to examine his face and frame.
“You’ve lost a great deal of weight.”
“This is Guonchunju—Nine-Brewed Spring Wine. While Master drinks a cup, your disciple will tell you everything that happened.”
“Haha, isn’t this the wine Mengde of Wei so loved during the Three Kingdoms? To bring such a treasure—excellent!”
Uncheon sat and poured. Yo Chusang drained the cup in one go. The wine’s famous smooth flavor bloomed with the sweet fragrance of pear blossoms.
Uncheon told him everything from the moment Maegwang exploded until the great Tangshan earthquake finally let him crawl free. No side dishes were needed; the story itself was feast enough.
“Survived on minnows and toads? Remarkable. We’ll have to put some meat back on your bones.”
“I’ve already begun putting weight back on these past days, so you need not worry.”
“You’ve suffered much. Ah—did you see your parents?”
“I stopped at the family residence on the way here.”
“Good. They must have been overjoyed.”
“Yes, Master.”
Yo Chusang felt he could die without regret. That his disciple lived was joy enough; that the boy had come straight to him after visiting the Namgung Family made the old man even more grateful.
“Master, I only exchanged brief greetings with the Sect Leader at the gate. I’ll go see her now.”
“Go. The Sect Leader has worried herself sick as well. Even if the Namgung Family said nothing, how could she not feel the weight of their eyes?”
“Indeed.”
As Uncheon rose, Yo Chusang suddenly asked,
“But… why did they fire the signal flares and raise such a ruckus at the gate?”
“They must have been startled to see me.”
“Tsk tsk tsk. Startled enough to fire the emergency flares? Youngsters these days simply aren’t what they used to be. At my age I shouldn’t meddle in the sect’s affairs, but watching them is still enough to make a man despair.”
He tossed back another cup with a look of pure dissatisfaction. The fragrance of the wine spread through his whole body as it went down.
“Keuh… now that’s good.”
Even looking at the man standing before her, Gong Hwaseon still felt as though it could not be real. Yet he was truly alive.
She listened to every detail of what Uncheon had endured.
“You truly suffered a great deal.”
“I heard the Sect Leader also endured much heartache.”
“Thankfully the Namgung Family never said a word about it. I was grateful for that.”
The first thing Gong Hwaseon had feared after news of Uncheon’s death was how the Namgung Family would move. Yet they had remained utterly silent. Had it been any other house, the outcome would have been far different.
“Nothing else of note happened while I was gone?”
“No major incidents.”
“That’s a relief. And I also feel I owe the Sect Leader an apology.”
“For what?”
“I promised to aid the Yaweol Sect for two years, yet I accomplished nothing. I couldn’t even finish the Tangshan matter properly.”
“Not at all. The Tianxia Merchant Group paid the full fee for that contract. They said recovering Moyong Jeok’s body was more than enough, and they even paid extra for saving his life.”
“Ah—that’s good to hear.”
Knowing he had at least been of some small help to the Yaweol Sect eased his mind.
“You didn’t stay away for two years on purpose, Young Master Uncheon. Your contract with this sect is finished.”
Gong Hwaseon already understood she could not keep him. Regretful as it was, she believed the bond with the Yaweol Sect had reached its end.
Uncheon thought differently.
“The contract with the Yaweol Sect may be over, but I still share a bond with Master. If ever you have need of me, I will help without hesitation.”
“Ah… yes. If Young Master Uncheon is willing to lend his strength, we would be most grateful.”
A face suddenly rose in Uncheon’s memory.
“By the way, is Senior Brother Jeong Cheong progressing well in his training?”
“……”
Gong Hwaseon could not answer at once.
This…
Uncheon instantly understood that something difficult had befallen the man.
Chae Eunjang spoke in her place.
“Young Master Uncheon, a problem has arisen with him.”
“What happened?”
“He went out on a mission with Haeseong Salgaek.”
“What sort of mission?”
Chae Eunjang glanced at Sect Leader Gong Hwaseon. Without her leave he could say nothing more. She nodded immediately.
“They were to retrieve a letter that would prove a certain relationship between the Beggar Chief of the Beggars’ Sect and an unknown party.”
“The Beggar Chief of the Beggars’ Sect… isn’t that an almost impossible contract? Who even requested such a thing?”
“That’s the strange part. The one who placed the contract with us was Ssangnoeja Ganjimok. Do you know him?”
“I do.”
Even someone with little interest in the murim could not fail to know Ssangnoeja Ganjimok—closest aide and strategist to Baekri Jong-yong, Military Advisor of the Wulin Alliance.
“Then the true client is the Military Advisor of the Wulin Alliance?”
“It can hardly be otherwise. Ssangnoeja is not a man who moves on his own.”
Baekri Jong-yong was also the uncle of Baekri So.
“If the evidence they want is a letter from the Beggar Chief, that means infiltration of the Beggars’ Sect itself, doesn’t it? Even a Wulin Alliance Military Advisor should know that slipping into the Beggars’ Sect is no simple task, no matter how skilled Yaweol assassins may be…”
“Of course he knew. Which is why Ssangnoeja told us he would provide the exact time and place where a messenger carrying the Beggar Chief’s letter would pass.”
“Hmm… even so the contract would still have been difficult. The target is none other than one of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang—the Beggars’ Sect.”
“……We thought that knowing the place and time would be enough, even if the opponent was the Beggars’ Sect.”
Uncheon shook his head. The real reason lay elsewhere.
“That may be part of it, but I suspect Ssangnoeja offered a contract fee the Yaweol Sect simply could not refuse.”
Gong Hwaseon conceded the point.
“You’re right. They offered a sum equal to nearly half a year’s operating funds for the entire sect.”
“Half a year… they certainly have money. If they can throw around that much gold they could simply act themselves. The fact they didn’t means they have a reason.”
Clearly they wanted to avoid any risk of exposure.
“As you say, Young Master Uncheon, even if the theft of the letter was discovered, they wanted no harm to touch them. Their identities must remain hidden.”
Uncheon looked at her.
“What went wrong during the contract?”
“They were spotted by Beggars’ Sect disciples while infiltrating. If they had simply killed the witnesses the aftermath would have been cleaner, but the beggars want them alive. They’ve cast a Heaven-Earth Net and are hunting them down.”
“Hmm… so someone needs to go pull Haeseong Salgaek and Senior Brother Jeong Cheong out from between the Beggars’ Sect’s fingers.”
“Yes, exactly.”
Rescuing the two men from the Beggars’ Sect’s encirclement was no easy feat. How many martial artists in the world could slip cleanly through a Beggars’ Sect Heaven-Earth Net?
Yet no matter the difficulty, they could not abandon Haeseong Salgaek and Jeong Cheong. If the Yaweol Sect’s involvement came to light, trouble with the Beggars’ Sect would become endless. The two had to be extracted as quickly as possible.
Gong Hwaseon and Chae Eunjang watched Uncheon as he fell into thought.
“It won’t be simple, but I’ll take this on. In the end we simply need them brought back safely, do we not?”
“Young Master Uncheon, will you truly handle it yourself? The opponent is the Beggars’ Sect.”
“The fact that it’s the Beggars’ Sect doesn’t mean we can refuse. What matters is that they return alive and uncaptured, no matter what happens.”
Chae Eunjang spoke.
“If you need support, say the word.”
“I’ll go alone. Just tell me where they are right now.”
“Understood. They are…”
Chae Eunjang gave him the current location of Haeseong Salgaek and Jeong Cheong. With the net tightening by the hour, every moment counted.
“The situation looks urgent. I’ll move quickly. We can talk of other matters after I return. And we should certainly have a word with Ssangnoeja, shouldn’t we?”
“You mean to meet him in person?”
“Of course. We received faulty information; we are entitled to compensation.”
Neither Gong Hwaseon nor Chae Eunjang had even considered that angle.
“May I also take charge of the matter concerning the messenger?”
“Do so.”
“I’ll bring back good results.”
Watching Uncheon prepare to leave at once, Chae Eunjang asked,
“You mean to go this very moment?”
“I’ll explain the situation to Master briefly, then leave immediately.”
“Young Master Uncheon, I’m sorry to thrust such a difficult task on you the moment you return… and yet I’m more grateful than I can say.”
“Save the thanks until I’ve brought them back. I’ll take my leave first.”
Uncheon rose from his seat.
Whooosh!
Then, like a gust of wind, he vanished without a trace before their eyes.
Chae Eunjang felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
“Sect Leader, they say even when the sky falls there is a hole to climb through. It seems the saying is true.”
“It does.”
Though nothing had yet begun, Gong Hwaseon already felt her heart grow calm.