The White Tiger's Howl
The white tiger was howling like a thing gone mad.
Kwaaaaaang— Kwaaaaaang—
The streets of Tianjin County in Hebei Province shook with the beast’s cry.
The Mountain King raced up the mountain in a panic, making for his refuge.
“Hah— hah— hah— hah— hah—”
Acrid smoke brushed his nostrils. Right after came the thick stench of blood, saturating the nest he had always returned to.
“Please, please, please, please, please—”
Paeng Yu-heon repeated the same words over and over as he drove his lightfoot technique to its limit.
Kuuuuuuung—
He landed in the yard of the old thatched cottage.
Warriors of the Paeng Clan, clad in red martial robes embroidered with a white tiger, had already ringed the place. The scent of blood hung heavy, and it only stoked the beast’s fury further.
Kugugugugung— Kugugugugung—
In a single breath, Paeng Yu-heon tore the great blade from his back and circulated the Primordial Thunderclap Divine Art.
Crimson thunder qi surged over his entire body, coiling and thrashing in every direction.
Warriors with great blades closed in around him.
The White Tiger Dominion Unit — Hebei’s foremost force, answering only to the Paeng Clan Head and the Supreme Elder. They leveled their blades at Paeng Yu-heon and spoke.
“Stand down.”
The one who seemed their captain smiled faintly.
“It is the Supreme Elder’s command.”
“Shut your mouth.”
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—
A single stamp of his foot. Paeng Yu-heon’s Mountain King Sovereign Step shook heaven and earth. At that tearing shockwave and the killing intent behind it, the White Tiger Dominion Unit fell back a step.
Bloody tears streamed down both of Paeng Yu-heon’s cheeks.
“It cannot be.”
He roared like a madman.
“Please—tell me it isn’t true!”
But when he stepped into the cottage, his second and third brothers were already there. Both were smiling, and each held a severed head.
Second Brother Paeng Mu-jin laughed with vile delight.
“Elder Brother, this was Grandfather’s order.”
In Paeng Mu-jin’s hand was the head of Seol Rin, the girl Paeng Yu-heon had cherished like a daughter.
Third Brother Paeng Hwi-ryeok snickered as if the whole thing were a fine joke.
“For a blind girl like this to take your fancy—what a waste of affection, wasn’t it?”
In Paeng Hwi-ryeok’s hand was the head of Seol Ha-yeon, the woman with whom Paeng Yu-heon had sworn to spend his life.
Crack.
Something snapped in Paeng Yu-heon’s skull. Reason tore free.
Jjeong— Jjeong— Jjeojeojeojeojeong—
The blade art known only to the Paeng Clan’s direct bloodline. The five tigers of the form descended upon his sword.
“From this day forward…”
Paeng Yu-heon fixed them with bloodshot eyes.
“…I am no longer of the Paeng Clan.”
Even under the weight of his aura, they only kept snickering. Paeng Mu-jin backed away as he spoke.
“You think we would come here without something to lean on?”
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—
The thatched cottage of shared memories collapsed, and someone leapt down through the wreckage. It was Paeng Il-mok, Clan Head of the Hebei Paeng Clan, who had followed Paeng Yu-heon up the mountain.
“Stand down.”
“Father!”
“I order you as Clan Head!”
Paeng Il-mok’s inner-energy-laden voice shook the mountain itself.
“Will you repeat the same mistake I made?”
He howled, raw with grief.
“Your mother, born of a courtesan house, could not endure the second wife’s torment and finally hanged herself.”
His throat closed; he swallowed his tears with difficulty.
“That is simply the fate of a great house!”
“Father!”
Kuuuuuuung—
The Mountain King, favored of the White Tiger God, began to advance one step at a time.
“Cut him down.”
Paeng Il-mok said it.
“If it is for your future, I will even give my life!”
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—
Paeng Yu-heon’s great blade split the earth. By then Paeng Mu-jin and Paeng Hwi-ryeok had already slipped in among the White Tiger Dominion Unit and were laughing their fill.
Paeng Il-mok seized the face of his son, who was weeping tears of blood, and spoke.
“My son.”
He pulled his eldest roughly into his arms.
“A man without power can say nothing in the jianghu.”
His weeping did not stop.
“So show me.”
“Father!”
“The new true house you will set right!”
Chajajajajajajajang—
Like glass shattering, the two who had been trapped in the vision opened their eyes at the same instant.
It had all been a single moment. Not even one breath had passed, yet Yeong-hwa had seen the whole of the man’s life.
Yeong-hwa looked at Paeng Yu-heon in quiet stillness. Paeng Yu-heon only withdrew his blade-qi and gazed back.
After a silence, Paeng Yu-heon sheathed his blade and spoke.
“Who sent you?”
Yeong-hwa lifted his eyes to the sorrowful falling snow.
“The White Tiger God…”
At those words Paeng Yu-heon barked a laugh at once.
“The White Tiger God has already abandoned my house.”
He looked toward the distant seat of the Hebei Paeng Clan and went on.
“Do you hear it?”
Murderous intent filled every word. Yeong-hwa could not bring himself to answer. Paeng Yu-heon answered for himself.
“I will personally flay the Old Tiger’s hide and wipe out the house… and soothe the wronged spirits of those who died.”
The corner of his mouth curled up.
Then Yeong-hwa, who had been staring as if dazed, cried out at the top of his lungs.
“No!”
“What?”
“They are already at your side!”
“Who?”
“Lady Seol Ha-yeon and Lady Seol Rin!”
At Yeong-hwa’s words, Paeng Yu-heon went rigid with shock.
“You… who are you?”
“A third-generation disciple of the Wudang Sect.”
Yeong-hwa’s eyes shone pale and clear.
“I am called Taoist Yeong-hwa.”
He offered Paeng Yu-heon a courteous martial salute. Paeng Yu-heon seemed to have already heard the rumors of Yeong-hwa spreading through the Central Plains. Watching the snow that blanketed every direction, he said,
“Well then. What are they saying?”
“They are trying to stop you.”
“Stop whom?”
“You already know, don’t you?”
Paeng Yu-heon clutched his belly and laughed until he choked.
“A beast that cannot even protect its own family has no right to walk this world.”
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—
He stamped the Mountain King Sovereign Step with savage force and leapt into the air.
“We shall see whether you can stop me!”
Yeong-hwa watched the white tiger vanish into the snow and muttered,
“Damn it…”
Hyeonsong and Hagun, who had drawn their swords against any sudden turn, both let out long breaths.
“Yeong-hwa…”
“Are you all right?”
Yeong-hwa looked at Hyeonsong.
“That isn’t the problem.”
Hyeonsong seemed to understand at once.
“It is no cub.”
“You saw it?”
“Already a great tiger.”
“No.”
Yeong-hwa shook his head hard.
“A white tiger that appears once in a hundred years has gone crooked.”
He looked out over the snowscape that covered the world and sighed.
“Amitabha… Lord Hyeoncheon Sangje… what am I supposed to do?”
When Yeong-hwa sank heavily into the snow, Hagun hoisted him onto his back.
“There’s something you’ve forgotten.”
“What is it, Senior Brother?”
“Is the white tiger dead?”
“No.”
“Then even if we have to thrash him for it, we put him back on the right path!”
Hagun’s smile was bitter as he went on.
“Why are you already thinking of giving up?”
“The gods only like to watch. They never want to intervene.”
“Heave!”
Hagun settled Yeong-hwa more firmly on his back.
“Then what are Taoists for?”
At that, Hyeonsong let out a great, open laugh.
“Let’s try.”
Crestfallen, Yeong-hwa answered with difficulty.
“It will surely cost us our lives.”
Hyeonsong replied in a leisurely voice.
“That is the way of the swordsman to begin with.”
Hagun chimed in with his master.
“Yeong-hwa, I’ve been wanting a proper match with the Hebei Paeng Clan myself!”
At their encouragement, tears pricked Yeong-hwa’s eyes.
“Thank you, Sect Leader… Senior Brother…”
Hyeonsong and Hagun patted the downcast boy and climbed back into the carriage. Snow fell sorrowfully over Hebei Province, and the carriage hurried on. The pure white flakes, indifferent to the weight in their hearts, only piled thicker and thicker without end.
On the third floor of Seolyeong Pavilion, where the sound of the geomungo no longer rose, Paeng Yu-heon sat alone, pouring clear liquor and draining his cup with rough haste. Beside him was Cheon Hwa-rin, a woman he would not once have spared a glance.
“My lord, for today you should stop…”
Thud.
Paeng Yu-heon pulled a purse heavy with silver from his robes. He looked at Cheon Hwa-rin with a wild laugh.
“Is this enough for you to stay at my side?”
Cheon Hwa-rin checked the purse, then nestled into his arms.
“Does my lord mean to buy Seolyeong Pavilion?”
“No. There is someone I am waiting for. Clear the third floor of Seolyeong Pavilion for tonight.”
“As you wish.”
Cheon Hwa-rin cast him a coquettish glance and went downstairs.
When Paeng Yu-heon had emptied an entire bottle of clear liquor, someone vaulted up to the third-floor window in a single bound.
“You’ve come.”
The masked man answered with eyes curved into crescents.
“I could hardly break a promise with the White Tiger, could I?”
Flush with drink, Paeng Yu-heon waved a hand and went on.
“Yes—I must avenge myself, yet my martial skill is… wanting.”
At that the masked man’s voice grew even silkier.
“What is the young master’s dream?”
Paeng Yu-heon rolled his eyes toward him.
“The destruction of a house.”
He spoke slowly.
“And vengeance.”
The masked man rested his hand against his chin. Then, unhurried, he lowered the mask.
“I can grant that wish.”
Paeng Yu-heon laughed wildly.
“And what do you want?”
“Open the path.”
Paeng Yu-heon stopped laughing.
“The Demonic Cult.”
The face beneath the mask was more beautiful than any woman’s.
“Your instincts are rather sharp.”
His hand rested on the hilt at his waist, as if ready for anything.
“Our Cult means to pass through Inner Mongolia and strike the Martial Alliance.”
“Keh… kehahahahahahaha!”
Paeng Yu-heon looked at him as if he were a fool.
“And what of the Beggars’ Guild?”
“Do not take our Cult lightly.”
The man snatched the bottle from Paeng Yu-heon’s hand, filled his own cup, and drained it hard.
“That is not your concern.”
He rose slowly from his seat. His manner of speech had changed; the eyes that had been full of servility were now wholly assured.
“Will you live as a white tiger—or abandon vengeance and live as a great house’s dog?”
Demonic qi rolled over the man’s entire body. Paeng Yu-heon only waved a hand as if the dense miasma meant nothing.
“I have one question.”
“Ask.”
“I am certain I shook every tail. Who told my house where my nest was?”
Clang—
At those very words came the crash of a wine table toppling. Cheon Hwa-rin offered Paeng Yu-heon an awkward smile.
“My lord, my hand slipped.”
But the demonic qi of the man before them wrapped around her.
“That bitch.”
Paeng Yu-heon laughed like a madman.
“So it was you…”
Srrrng—
He drew the crimson great blade from his back and walked slowly toward Cheon Hwa-rin.
“Why did you do it?”
As if she already knew her fate, Cheon Hwa-rin began to scream.
“I wanted to change my life too!”
Her cry went on.
“That damned blind girl—”
Seogeok—
Paeng Yu-heon’s blade fell on Cheon Hwa-rin like lightning.
Puaaaaaaaak—
Her whole body burst as if struck by a thunderbolt. Drenched in blood, Paeng Yu-heon sat back down. He spoke to the man still radiating demonic qi.
“I mean to kill my grandfather.”
“So you would hunt the Old Tiger.”
Paeng Yu-heon shook his head.
“The Old Tiger who once reigned as Mountain King.”
“What strength can an aged tiger still hold?”
“Even so, a great tiger is a great tiger.”
Paeng Yu-heon’s caution made the man’s brow crease.
“And what of our promise?”
“I will not be coming back…”
“That does not matter.”
The man breathing demonic qi smiled with a strange melancholy and held out a short blade shrouded in grotesque miasma.
A short blade steeped in grotesque demonic qi — a vicious art that forcibly opens the blood vessels.
“I honestly prefer not to interfere, but I must say this much.”
He filled a cup as he spoke.
“You are a martial artist favored by the White Tiger God. If you surrender to our Cult—”
Paeng Yu-heon cut him off, one corner of his mouth lifting.
“A tiger that has lost its mate…”
Jjeureureureuk—
Clear liquor filled his cup to the brim.
“…has no reason left to live.”
Satisfied with the answer, the man of demonic qi drained his cup in a single draught.
“Carve the tattoo with that dagger.”
He smiled thinly and held out a single letter to Paeng Yu-heon.
“Inscribe it over your whole body. It is a vicious art that forces the blood vessels open.”
He continued, unhurried.
“Then you will have the strength to hunt the Old Tiger…”