Speak of the Tiger
Not a bad way to kill some time, all things considered.
Yoo Eunhyeon muttered the thought with a satisfied little smile. Curiosity had been all that drew him in at first, yet looking back he had come out ahead on every count. He had not lost a single coin—and he had even picked up a finer touch for handling natural energy. By any measure, it was an excellent night’s work.
“The only real problem is that I enjoyed myself a little too much,” he grumbled, scratching his head with a sheepish grin. He had only meant to while away the hours; instead he had gotten so absorbed that sleep now felt miles away. With a sigh he crossed the inner courtyard toward his room.
“Looks like those two still aren’t back.”
Even though the night had grown deep, not the faintest stir came from Ju Yu-ryeon and Ho Won-jik’s rooms. He was about to shrug it off and step inside to loosen up when he suddenly stopped, turned, and looked out at the sky. The darkness was still thick, yet the first pale hints of dawn were already gathering. If they intended to return at all, it would be soon.
“Maybe I should go meet them halfway.”
There was no guarantee he would run into them, but sleep was not coming anyway. After a brief debate with himself he ducked into his room, grabbed the Black Gold Wave, and headed out.
Where on earth have those two gotten to?
Yoo Eunhyeon walked the night streets, scanning every side street. He had assumed they would be nearby and had only checked the main thoroughfares; neither of them was anywhere in sight. With no other choice he drifted farther and farther from Sugyeongru, peering into every alley and corner.
Changsha was a big city, and even at this hour a few figures still drifted through the lanes. Given the time, most were either drunks or hard-faced men who looked ready for trouble. Several of them stared at Eunhyeon as if sizing up prey.
Step into a dark corner and something unpleasant is bound to happen…
A street brawl in the middle of the night—just thinking about it was exhausting. He was trying to slip past quietly when someone stepped squarely into his path.
“Hey there.”
The man who raised a hand in greeting was a familiar face—the very fellow who had been working the needles at the gambling table a short while ago. He regarded Eunhyeon with an odd expression.
“Got a minute to talk?”
“Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now. If you’ll excuse me—”
Eunhyeon tried to step around him. The man immediately blocked his way again, as if he had been waiting for exactly that.
“Now that stings. We were having such a good time together just now… Surely you can answer a couple of questions?”
Eunhyeon looked up at him without a word. The fact that the man had tracked him down at all meant he had noticed something.
Sure enough, the words Eunhyeon expected soon left the man’s mouth.
“You pulled some kind of trick back there, didn’t you?”
“Trick? What trick?”
Eunhyeon tilted his head, the picture of innocent confusion. Just as the man had left no proof of his own needle work, there was nothing to show that Eunhyeon had interfered either. So he simply played dumb. When Eunhyeon refused to crack, the man’s face hardened.
“You’re really going to play it that way?”
The man muttered the words under his breath. At once a menacing aura began to roll off him; he clearly had no intention of walking away quietly.
“Is there some trouble here?”
A constable on night patrol, sensing the hostile energy, approached the two of them. Two men standing and talking on a quiet street at this hour must have looked suspicious. Eunhyeon had no desire to cause a scene and tried to laugh it off.
“Haha, nothing of the—”
“It’s none of your business. Keep walking.”
The man, however, snapped the words out as if the constable’s interference were a personal insult. Whether the officer’s face darkened or not, he repeated himself even more roughly.
“Didn’t you hear me? Mind your own business and move along.”
“What did you just say? You dare talk back to an officer of the yamen?!”
The constable roared and yanked the club and rope from his belt. The man only sighed.
“Tch. What a nuisance.”
His hand moved like lightning. The constable flung an arm up on pure instinct, but it was already too late. He staggered for half a breath, then crumpled straight to the ground. Eunhyeon frowned at the tiny needle lodged in the side of the man’s neck.
That technique…!
It was a throwing art with not a single wasted motion. The constable had probably never even felt the pain.
The man glanced at Eunhyeon’s frozen expression as if nothing unusual had happened.
“Shall we relocate quietly, or are you going to keep making a public mess?”
“Somewhere quiet, then.”
Faced with that unyielding attitude, Eunhyeon finally nodded. The man turned without another word and led the way. Together they walked deeper into a back alley still thick with darkness.
“This warehouse district has no houses or shops nearby, so it’s quiet. You needn’t worry.”
The man lit a tobacco stick and spoke in a low voice. The open space was wide enough for wagons to pass. Eunhyeon swept the surroundings once with his senses and asked, just to be sure,
“You’re not planning an ambush, are you?”
“Hah! An ambush? Don’t be ridiculous. Do I look that cowardly to you?”
Only after hearing the half-joking reply—and confirming that no other presence lurked nearby—did Eunhyeon nod. The man gave a short laugh, blew out a stream of smoke, and continued.
“Well then… now that we’re ready to talk, shall we pick up where we left off?”
A faint smile touched his lips. In the same instant his hand flicked.
Whssht.
Something sliced through the air toward Eunhyeon. Sensing it at once, he raised two fingers without the slightest delay. In that fractional moment the object lodged cleanly between them. He glanced down.
This is… the same as before…
A slender needle rested between his fingers. Thin, yes, but otherwise completely ordinary—identical to the ones the man had used while cheating, and thrown with the same technique.
The man muttered as if he had expected exactly this outcome.
“Doesn’t look like it even came close to a vital point… You’re not seriously going to keep playing dumb after that, are you? Don’t get cute with me.”
He had walked straight into the trap. Eunhyeon let out a low breath and finally spoke.
“…Fine. I knew you were cheating with needles. But I never called you out on it, so I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss.”
“Oh, come now. That isn’t the end of it. You interfered, didn’t you?”
“Interfered? What exactly am I supposed to have done?”
The man snapped the accusation, yet Eunhyeon refused to yield an inch, meeting the glare head-on. For a moment the man simply stared, then spoke again.
“My technique was perfect. No one should have noticed a thing. Yet every single time you took the dice cup, I failed. That’s a little too neat to be coincidence, isn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed; suspicion was hardening into certainty.
Damn. I underestimated how sharp he is. How do I get out of this?
While Eunhyeon kept silent, the man pressed on.
“With a skill like that, raking in money should have been easy as breathing… so why hold back? Or did you already know I am Dang Jaseung of the Tang Clan and decide to warn me?”
“…The Tang Clan?”
Eunhyeon’s eyes widened a fraction, genuine surprise flickering across his face. Dang Jaseung flinched at the reaction. Sensing something off, Eunhyeon pressed him.
“The Tang Clan—you mean the Sichuan Dang Clan, one of the Seven Great Clans? Why would someone from a prestigious house be doing this kind of thing out here…?”
A flash of discomfort crossed Dang Jaseung’s face; having his lineage thrown back at him clearly stung. Now that the man had revealed himself, Eunhyeon decided there was no point in further suspicion and chose to come clean as well.
“To be honest, yes—I did interfere. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t just stand by and watch you swindle innocent people. I’m not some thug from Heokgeonmun.”
At the mention of Heokgeonmun, Dang Jaseung’s eyes flashed.
“Then… you truly noticed everything without knowing who I was? Even that I was using the Smoke-Weave Needles?”
“Smoke-Weave Needles? You mean those impossibly thin needles that are almost invisible?”
There was not a shred of deception in Eunhyeon’s answering question. Dang Jaseung could only stare in open astonishment. If the young man was telling the truth, he had seen through the entire scheme without the slightest prior knowledge or clue. Confronted with such skill after so long, Dang Jaseung’s jaw dropped.
“Hah… I had nearly forgotten how wide the world is, and how many masters walk it.”
He murmured the words as though something had finally clicked. A moment later, realizing how thoroughly he had misjudged the situation, he clasped his fists and offered a light bow.
“I apologize for my rudeness.”
“It’s fine. No harm done.”
Eunhyeon waved the apology away, and Dang Jaseung let out a quiet breath of relief. The immediate trouble seemed resolved, yet one question still nagged at the back of Eunhyeon’s mind.
Why is a member of the Sichuan Dang Clan all the way out here running a crooked gambling game?
True, this place was not far from Sichuan, but it was hardly Tang Clan territory. Worse, it was Heokgeonmun’s domain. If anything went wrong and a fight broke out, the consequences would not be simple.
Judging by how hard he pressed me, he was probably worried about the same thing… but that’s none of my business.
As his thoughts began to tangle, Eunhyeon gave a sharp shake of his head and cleared them. He had no desire to create more trouble for himself, so he accepted the apology and left it at that.
He flipped his wrist and flicked the needle back to its owner, speaking curtly as he turned to go.
“Well, since the misunderstanding’s cleared up, I’ll be on my—”
Just as he was about to end the matter, an unfamiliar presence began to gather around them, seeping in from every direction. In the blink of an eye they were surrounded—not by one or two men, but by many. And every single one of them, Eunhyeon sensed at once, was no ordinary fighter or bodyguard, but a master who had cultivated their martial arts to a considerable height.
“Speak of the tiger and he appears.”
Faced with people who made no attempt to hide their presence, Yoo Eunhyeon could only sigh.