The Tiger Cub of Uiseon Suga
“Who exactly are you people?”
Wi Cheon-ryang’s question was perfectly clear.
He was asking why these strangers who did not belong to Chukhobang were traveling with its Assistant Squad Leader—and, more pointedly, why they had been treating that young man like a subordinate. It was only natural he would find it strange.
Cornered with no way to retreat, the two of them finally bit their lips lightly and stepped forward. Then they bowed respectfully toward Wi Cheon-ryang.
“It is an honor to meet you. My name is Yoo Eunhyeon.”
“I am Ju Yu-ryeon of the Uiseon Suga.”
At the mention of the Uiseon Suga, both Gwak Jin and Wi Cheon-ryang’s expressions shifted ever so slightly. Gwak Jin slowly lowered the hand that had been propping up his chin, while Wi Cheon-ryang’s eyelid twitched once before he turned his gaze toward Gwak Jin.
“Yoo Eunhyeon and Ju Yu-ryeon, is it… Elder Gwak, does the Uiseon Suga have names like those?”
“I have never heard of a Yoo Eunhyeon, but Ju Yu-ryeon I have. She is known as the daughter of Yeo U-hui, External Chief of the Uiseon Suga.”
“The External Chief of the Uiseon Suga? Ah, yes. I remember now. I crossed paths with her once. Even at a glance she was quite the formidable heroine. How is her mother faring?”
“She is in excellent health.”
Wi Cheon-ryang gave a light nod, then suddenly looked at Yoo Eunhyeon with open puzzlement.
“Still… no matter how I think about it, something feels off. I cannot understand how the least famous among you somehow ended up as the leader, pushing aside people even I have heard of. Tell me, where exactly do you come from?”
Just as before, he stared fixedly at Yoo Eunhyeon. And he was not the only one. Even Gwak Jin, who until now had shown no desire to interfere, was watching Yoo Eunhyeon with open curiosity.
“My maternal grandfather is Su Gyeong-tak, Lord of the Uiseon Suga.”
“Su Gyeong-tak… you mean Donghyeol Uiju?”
At the name Su Gyeong-tak, Wi Cheon-ryang turned to Gwak Jin once more, as if seeking confirmation. Gwak Jin met that gaze and slowly shook his head.
“Donghyeol Uiju has five grandchildren counting both sons’ and daughters’ children, yet none of them is named Yoo Eunhyeon.”
He spoke firmly, then suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“Of course, among his daughters there is one named Su Hwa-seon. But she left the family long ago and all contact was lost—”
“Yes. My mother is Su Hwa-seon.”
The unexpected answer made Gwak Jin’s mouth fall open in pure shock. It was an expression that said he had never even imagined such a possibility. Beside him, Wi Cheon-ryang let out a low, dry laugh.
“So he simply wasn’t famous, not some nobody after all. Well, as long as you’re not orthodox dogs, that’s fine by me.”
Wi Cheon-ryang rolled his shoulders and picked up the teacup beside him.
“Where were you headed? Dongting Lake isn’t a bad place for sightseeing, but I doubt you’d linger here at a time like this.”
The earlier rough pressure had vanished without a trace; now he was simply asking questions. Standing before him, Yoo Eunhyeon answered without resistance.
“We are going to Qinghai.”
“Qinghai? Why there?”
“An old benefactor of ours has fallen ill, so we are traveling to see him. It is our first time heading that way and we had no idea how to get there, but the Assistant Squad Leader of Chukhobang happens to know the roads well, so he has been helping us for a short while.”
There was no way he could admit they were going to meet Sa Unsik, so Yoo Eunhyeon glossed over the truth as best he could.
“Assistant Squad Leader, is that true?”
“Y-yes! Absolutely true! Actually I accepted because I was worried about that young lady over there—ack!”
Ho Won-jik, reading the room, had started to say something more when Ju Yu-ryeon jabbed him hard in the side. The silent warning was clear: that was enough.
Watching the exchange, Wi Cheon-ryang snorted with laughter. If it was Ho Won-jik, such behavior was entirely believable.
“Just in case I should ask—this benefactor of yours isn’t connected to the Tang Clan, is he?”
“Of course not.”
Since it was not a lie in the slightest, Yoo Eunhyeon answered calmly. Wi Cheon-ryang studied his eyes for a long moment, as if trying to read his intentions. Finding no trace of unease there, he finally laughed with openhearted vigor, as though he had decided further questioning was unnecessary.
“Hahahahat! Then that’s that. Everything I was curious about has been cleared up. You may leave.”
Crossing one leg over the other again as he returned to the table, Wi Cheon-ryang waved them off with a dismissive hand.
“And Assistant Squad Leader. Once this business is finished, return to Chukhobang at once. I’ll inform the Leader of Chukhobang that something came up.”
“Yes! I’ll do exactly that!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Yoo Eunhyeon and his companions dipped their heads lightly toward Wi Cheon-ryang.
After that brief show of courtesy, they fled the room as though escaping.
“Sect Leader. Are you certain it is all right to simply let them go?”
In the end Gwak Jin could no longer suppress his unease and finally posed the question to Wi Cheon-ryang. The Sect Leader, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, turned his head and looked straight at him.
“You heard everything you wanted to hear, didn’t you? Was there something else you were curious about?”
“It’s just that there is more than one thing that does not sit well with me. You know it yourself, Sect Leader. They are hiding something.”
“Let them go. There is no evidence, is there?”
Wi Cheon-ryang’s almost naive reply made Gwak Jin’s brow crease slightly. As an elder of Heokgeonmun who had watched the man’s conduct long before he ever became Sect Leader, Gwak Jin knew better than anyone that Wi Cheon-ryang was not the type to release people so easily.
When Gwak Jin’s expression darkened noticeably, Wi Cheon-ryang could no longer hold back his laughter.
“I understand what you are trying to say. When I first saw that Yoo Eunhyeon fellow, I was honestly a little surprised myself. I thought the Uiseon Suga only had a bunch of green youngsters, yet they were hiding a tiger cub like that… That sneaky bastard Donghyeol Uiju.”
“His martial skill also appeared quite high, did it not?”
“I cannot judge carelessly, but at the present moment he looked roughly on the same level as you, Elder Gwak. He is clearly a talent who will grow into something great.”
Gwak Jin nodded in agreement. Recalling Yoo Eunhyeon’s eyes, Wi Cheon-ryang spoke in a low voice.
“What unsettles me, though… is that even I could not accurately gauge his realm.”
“What? What do you mean by that? You, Sect Leader, could not read his realm?”
At Wi Cheon-ryang’s unexpected words, Gwak Jin’s voice rose a notch. After all, Wi Cheon-ryang occupied one of the Ten Fingers of Wulin; his martial attainment stood at the highest level, a height even Gwak Jin himself could not fully measure.
There should have been nothing such a man could not see through.
Wi Cheon-ryang let out a sigh and slowly tilted his head back as he began to explain.
“Elder Gwak, how do you normally judge an opponent’s martial level?”
“Usually by the power and aura they outwardly display—killing intent and fighting spirit. That is how I judged the young man as well.”
“Exactly. But that method alone makes it difficult to accurately grasp anyone who has reached Yeonhwagyeong or higher.”
“Then how should one judge them?”
At Gwak Jin’s question, Wi Cheon-ryang continued his measured explanation.
“Since ancient times, a true martial artist has never decided a fight by mere strength and fighting spirit alone. When one runs into a wall, one must be able to read that wall and respond to it. Through ‘the eyes that read the wall,’ one grasps what the eyes can see yet the hands cannot seize. Only then can one truly understand a realm and surpass the wall.”
Gwak Jin furrowed his brow.
“In other words…?”
“Yes. That fellow possesses ‘the eyes that read the wall.’ He does not merely look at the wall—he reveals only a portion of his own realm and conceals the rest. What is interesting is that he himself does not seem fully aware of that realm. Outwardly he looks ordinary, yet in truth he is someone of extraordinary potential and judgment.”
For a moment Gwak Jin could not continue speaking.
“Surely… you do not mean that young man stands above even you, Sect Leader…?”
Wi Cheon-ryang slowly tilted his head back and answered with quiet composure.
“No. For now I am still above him. But now that I know his true nature, it is certain we must keep an eye on him. Especially since his purpose was not simply fighting or slaughter.”
Gwak Jin drew his shoulders in and nodded.
“If what you say is true, then he is by no means an ordinary person. I will order men to watch him.”
Wi Cheon-ryang folded his arms and slowly exhaled.
“That brat Won-jik… of all people he had to travel with someone like that… The fact that he still has all his limbs intact can already be called a stroke of heaven’s fortune.”
Wi Cheon-ryang smiled bitterly. Gwak Jin carefully ventured another suggestion.
“Perhaps we should send word even now and pull the Assistant Squad Leader out? No matter how strong he may be, it looks dangerous.”
“No need. Even if we told him to come back, that boy would never listen.”
Wi Cheon-ryang waved the idea off as if it were absurd. Yet a moment later he rose from his reclined posture and muttered under his breath.
“Heh heh. An interesting fellow has appeared in the Murim. The Uiseon Suga… he could become an ally or an enemy. The more variables there are, the better for us.”
Gwak Jin nodded with a strangely tense expression. In the silence of the room, the moment their gazes crossed, Yoo Eunhyeon’s presence only grew sharper and more distinct.
While Wi Cheon-ryang and Gwak Jin were holding their private discussion,
Yoo Eunhyeon’s party left the room and immediately hurried back to their own quarters, packing their belongings in silence. Originally they had planned to stay until the afternoon, but none of the three had the slightest desire to remain here any longer.
Only after they had left Sugyeongru and entered a deserted stretch of road did Ho Won-jik finally let out a long breath of relief.
“Whew. I feel like I can breathe again.”
“Tell me about it. Of all people, we had to run into one of the Ten Fingers there.”
Ju Yu-ryeon also exhaled a small sigh of relief. No matter how bold she usually was, even she had been unable to relax during this encounter.
After checking the surroundings to make certain no one was near, Ho Won-jik whispered in a low voice.
“It makes sense, Noona. Heokjuworin Wi Cheon-ryang is one of the most dangerous among the Ten Fingers. Strength is one thing, but his mood swings so wildly that he can be laughing and chatting one moment and then, if something rubs him the wrong way, he’ll cut a man’s head off the next.”
“I thought he looked half-crazy.”
Ju Yu-ryeon rolled her shoulders as if she had expected as much. Watching her exaggerated expression, Yoo Eunhyeon spoke quietly.
“Let’s pick up the pace while we’re at it. Before something even more troublesome shows up.”
At his words, both Ju Yu-ryeon and Ho Won-jik nodded in agreement. The three of them set off down the road in a hurry.