The Price of a Favor
The struggle for the Young Lord’s seat was over. I took Dang Hye’s pulse and checked the wounds across her body.
Aside from the dantian having gone completely empty, there were no internal injuries. Her whole body had been sliced up by throwing knives, though, so she’d needed medicine for cuts smeared over her skin like she’d bathed in it.
After the external treatment was done, she looked at me and smiled. Then, with a triumphant expression, she said, “I finally did it.”
“You’re happier about that than becoming Young Lord?”
“Hmm...”
Dang Hye lowered her head as if she were thinking it over. Before long, she lifted her chin again, her face full of certainty.
“Yeah. I’m happier about succeeding at Myriad Sky Rain than becoming Young Lord.”
“Then you really are a heavenly martial artist now.”
For a martial artist, the greatest joy was still the achievement of invincibility. Becoming Young Lord was certainly a remarkable and happy thing, but as a martial artist, what could compare to reaching a state like that?
The Dang Hye who rejoiced in the growth of her martial arts, rather than the sullen girl I’d first met, would become the stronger fighter.
I looked at her for a moment, then smiled and said, “Then all I need is for you to make me immune to a hundred poisons.”
“I’ll try, but... can I really do that?”
“What?”
“No one in the history of the Central Plains has ever reached immunity to a hundred poisons. So I can’t promise I’ll definitely succeed.”
At that, I stared at Dang Hye as if she’d just said something absurd. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me along with her.
“Anyway, it’s a happy day, so let’s go eat. I’ll pay.”
“You’re acting like you want to trade away immunity to a hundred poisons for a meal.”
“You’re so stingy. I said I’d help, didn’t I?”
The inn she pulled me to was inside the Dang compound.
When we stepped inside, the owner, the cook, and even the runner all looked at Dang Hye with smiles on their faces.
“Hye! No, should I start calling you Young Lord now?”
“Mister, just call me Hye like usual. It feels awkward.”
“How could someone of the Dang clan address the Young Lord by name?”
The owner awkwardly clasped his fists in salute. At that, everyone present burst out laughing.
“Mister, I’m paying today, so bring out a table full of food!”
“Of course! It’s the day Hye became Young Lord! Just wait a bit, and I’ll bring out something good.”
Once the owner and the cook went into the kitchen, I could hear the sounds of cooking and smell the rich aroma of food drifting out.
That was only the beginning. As the inn’s doors kept opening, the residents of the Dang compound began to pour in.
“Miss Hye! Congratulations.”
The owner of the cloth shop.
“I knew from the very beginning Hye would become Young Lord!”
“At least keep your mouth shut.”
The butcher and his wife, who was shaking her head beside him.
“Hye! Or should I say, you? So you were still in the Dang clan. Tell me, would you consider becoming my disciple and learning stonework now?”
Stonework.
The people of the Dang compound kept filling the inn. With not enough seats for everyone, they set up temporary tables outside and began eating, drinking, and making merry together.
Night deepened little by little, but their laughter never stopped. I took a bottle of bamboo-leaf liquor from the table and quietly left the inn.
“It’s so loud I can’t tell whether the food’s going into my mouth or my nose.”
I ended up on the blacksmith shop’s roof. From there, I could look down on the inn. What I’d said about the people of the Dang compound being noisy was sincere.
But the sight itself was good to see.
The atmosphere was overflowing with celebration for Dang Hye. Looking at the expressions she’d worn and the way she’d been treated inside the Dang clan, it almost seemed like her real family was here in the Dang compound.
“So what if you become the greatest person under heaven? There weren’t any people who would laugh like that for me.”
I tipped the bamboo-leaf liquor into my mouth straight from the bottle. The sharp burn slid down my throat.
“Or maybe I was the one who drove them away.”
For a moment, the people of the Baek family flashed through my mind.
When I took another drink, I sensed someone behind me.
“Looks like my drinking buddy finally showed up!”
“Don’t cling to me.”
I turned my head slightly and saw Dang Bo. He stood with his arms folded, looking toward the inn.
His expression hadn’t changed at all, yet somehow it still looked wistful, as if he were remembering something long gone.
“You really did turn Dang Hye into Young Lord.”
“Me?”
I looked at Dang Bo, dumbfounded.
“How would I turn Dang Hye into Young Lord? She did that herself.”
Dang Bo stared at me in silence. Then he turned his gaze back toward the inn.
“In that short a time, an average martial artist can reach the peak and attain immunity to a thousand poisons?”
“She was lucky.”
“Lucky... that’s not something you can say so easily.”
“Anyone gets a chance encounter once in their life. The important thing is whether you can recognize it for what it is and have the courage to seize it.”
“The courage to seize it...”
Dang Bo seemed to be turning my words over in his mind. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but then I asked him a question of my own.
“I’ve got one for you too, Clan Head.”
“What is it?”
“From what I could see, Dang Hye had more than enough talent as a poison user. No, she was exceptional. So why didn’t you raise her yourself?”
“...”
Dang Bo didn’t speak for a long time. So I lifted the bottle back to my lips.
“Hey!”
Before the liquor could reach my mouth, Dang Bo snatched the bottle away. Then he slowly brought it to his own lips and drank deeply.
“Tasteless.”
“Hey, that’s my drink!”
Dang Bo tossed the bottle back to me. But there wasn’t a single drop left in it.
“The reason I didn’t teach Dang Hye martial arts was...”
“Never mind. I don’t want to hear it.”
“What?”
“I did ask, but I have a feeling you’re about to say something all soft and family-like.”
“You...”
Dang Bo looked at me with a dead, expressionless face, then suddenly lifted the corner of his mouth.
“You really are crazy.”
“Huh? Is that a compliment?”
“Let’s call it one. More importantly, what are you going to do now?”
“About what?”
“Those men. You expected them to appear at the Young Lord’s selection, didn’t you? That’s why you were hiding behind me.”
“Ah... yes... right.”
“What’s with that awkward tone?”
As Dang Bo said, I had expected them to make some move for the seat of Young Lord, the position that would decide the Dang family’s major affairs.
It wasn’t exactly why I’d been hiding in the background, though.
“The reason they didn’t show up at the Young Lord’s selection was probably because they were certain Dang Hye wouldn’t become Young Lord.”
“You mean Dang Pae and Dang Ho-yeop are cooperating with them?”
“Maybe they are. Or maybe one of them is one of those men.”
“Hard to accept.”
Despite saying that, Dang Bo showed me no hostility at all.
Not even while he was suspecting his own children.
“So here’s the thing, Clan Head. I need your cooperation.”
“Cooperation?”
“As far as I know, the Dang clan doesn’t have a Young Lord inauguration ceremony or anything like that. I want you to hold one this time.”
“Why?”
“If Dang Hye becoming Young Lord throws off their plans, then they’ll have no choice but to move.”
“You want me to become the bait?”
“Yes.”
“To make such a brazen demand. You really are crazy.”
“I’ll take that as praise.”
Dang Bo thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“And let me check the condition of your body.”
“I can’t stand men.”
“I’m not into that either.”
Despite his words, Dang Bo extended his arm. I took his pulse. It was beating like mad.
I sent my inner power into him. Through that inner power, I observed Dang Bo’s blood flow and dantian, and they were twisted almost beyond recognition. Twisted was too mild a word for it.
The only reason he was still alive was one thing: he was suppressing every poison rampaging through his body with his inner force.
“I’m surprised you’re even alive.”
“...”
What truly surprised me, though, was something else. In that condition, how was he still able to keep such a composed expression?
Maybe that wasn’t my concern.
“The inauguration ceremony will be held at noon tomorrow.”
“That quickly?”
“There’s no reason to delay.”
Dang Bo turned away.
“Was the last martial art Dang Hye showed something you taught her?”
“Myriad Sky Rain?”
“...”
At those words, Dang Bo’s body gave a faint jolt.
“She’s the one who called it Myriad Sky Rain.”
I lifted the Bright Destroying Sword and gave it a shake.
“As you can see, I’m a swordsman. How would I teach a martial art like that?”
“I see.”
Dang Bo took one step forward and spoke.
“Take good care of Hye.”
“Huh? Take good care of what?”
But by the time the words were over, Dang Bo’s figure had already vanished. I sprang up toward the direction he’d disappeared, shouting after him.
“Clan Head! I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but that’s a misunderstanding! I’m not into that sharp-faced type!”
No answer came back.
“Well, the preparations are done, at least. The problem is that there’s no way to know how those bastards will make their move.”
I considered thinking it over, but decided against it. The more thorough the preparations, the easier it would be for them to stay hidden.
That was probably why Dang Bo wanted to move quickly with the inauguration, too.
“Time to go back in.”
I climbed down from the blacksmith shop roof and started toward the inn. It was still noisy. Dang Hye was standing at the entrance.
“Where did you go?”
“Had a drink with my drinking buddy.”
“...Clan Head?”
“Yeah.”
“Where is he?”
Dang Hye hurriedly looked around. But the Dang Bo who had already left was nowhere to be seen.
“He already went inside. He said to tell you that the Young Lord inauguration will be held tomorrow, so you should come to the main hall at noon.”
“A Young Lord inauguration? The Dang clan doesn’t have that kind of tradition.”
“Looks like this Young Lord is special.”
“Hoo. So it’s really over.”
Dang Hye exhaled and stretched her body out. With the liquor in her, the tension she’d been carrying must have finally loosened.
“Baek Mugeuk.”
“What.”
“Thank you.”
At her words, I narrowed my eyes.
“Immune to a hundred poisons! No compromise!”
“Haah... forget it.”
“You’re trying to scam me now, aren’t you? Don’t you know the Dang family rule? A favor is repaid double, and an enemy is repaid tenfold!”
At that, Dang Hye shook her head as if she were sick of me.
I’m Baek Mugeuk. I’m not the kind of man who lets a few slippery words stop him from getting what he came for.
How much was the price of the greatest man under heaven worth? A hundred-poison immunity would be the least of it before the books balanced.