Just Tell Me Where to Hit You

"Yi Yeok is back!"

The moment he returned unharmed, the inner disciples fell into an uproar. They had been certain he would never come back alive.

"How did that bastard make it back in one piece?"

The shout tore out of Jam Yun in Ju Uk's quarters. Ju Uk sat with his brow knotted, his face grave.

Mok Geom-in spoke.

"He never set a foot inside Black Phoenix Hall. He loafed around somewhere and slunk back. That much is obvious, isn't it?"

Ju Uk's eyes sharpened.

"That's the likeliest explanation."

He considered a moment, then went on.

"If he had truly entered Black Phoenix Hall, he could not have returned alive. I couldn't have. Even the Vice Sect Master or the Sect Master couldn't."

Mok Geom-in asked,

"Then how do we prove the bastard is lying?"

Jam Yun answered with a cold little laugh.

"He can prove it himself. All we have to do is refuse to stop doubting. Until there's proof that Sama Sa-cheol is dead, we don't believe a word!"

Mok Geom-in nodded.

"That will do as well. As if he could ever produce proof."

Ju Uk rose.

"I knew he was shameless. I didn't know he was shameless to this degree."

At that same hour, in So Cheong-ha's quarters, Yi Yeok gave a spare account of his journey. He said nothing at all about the Blood-Jade Dragon Soul he had quietly pocketed along the way.

So Cheong-ha listened with a complicated expression. Yi Yeok smiled.

"What's the matter? You don't believe me?"

"I believe you. And yet..."

He looked at the Seven-Colored Ginseng Yi Yeok held out, and sighed.

"I never imagined your nerve ran this deep. To toy with Sama Sa-cheol."

He studied Yi Yeok again.

"If I am honest, I thought you would step outside, take the air, and drift back after a few days with something plausible. I had already decided I would smooth the matter over for you."

Black Phoenix Hall was no easy opponent. A youth who had barely entered the sect could not possibly face it alone.

"Still, you have returned safely. That is fortune enough."

Yi Yeok smiled with absolute confidence.

"I came back safe because it was me. I really am remarkable, aren't I?"

A smile touched So Cheong-ha's face as well.

"Yes. Remarkable. You did well."

Yi Yeok's eyes lit.

"Supreme Elder, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you saw my methods, you would know. I clearly learned them from that person, and yet I cannot for the life of me tell who he is. Could you at least give me a clue?"

The smile left So Cheong-ha's face.

"That is a matter between the two of you. Should the chance come, ask him yourself."

"Why are you burying it under so much secrecy?"

"All I can tell you is that the affair of the Heavenly Origin Immortal Soul Pill is anything but simple. That was no ordinary elixir."

Yi Yeok scratched his head.

"I know that much already. I heard it has to do with a high immortal sect called Tasa Temple."

"Correct. The strife between the Daoist and Buddhist orders has gone on since ancient times. This incident may widen that rift still further. A turmoil greater than anyone expects may be coming."

He regarded Yi Yeok with a faint worry in his eyes.

"Of course, it is not yet your time to step into a fight of that scale."

"Will the old man be all right? Nothing's going to happen to him, is it?"

"What trouble could a man that sly possibly meet? There is no need to fret. Tend to your own affairs."

Yi Yeok grinned.

"Supreme Elder... are you friends with that old man, by any chance?"

So Cheong-ha's face hardened, and his voice turned reproving.

"Don't talk nonsense. What friends do thieves have?"

Yi Yeok laughed, sheepish, and nodded.

"Fair enough."

So Cheong-ha spoke again.

"Leave the Seven-Colored Ginseng here. I will refine it into a pill for you. Only then will the effect be far greater."

"Understood."

"Go on."

Yi Yeok was halfway out the door when he turned back, his voice teasing.

"I made quite a lot of immortal stones this time. As a token of respect for the Supreme Elder, shall I offer a little tribute?"

So Cheong-ha answered without interest.

"Enough. How much could you possibly have earned?"

"Over four hundred."

So Cheong-ha's eyes went wide. It had been a long time since he had seen so many immortal stones.

"You gathered a great many. Even so, keep them. Put them to good use in your training."

Yi Yeok stuck out his lip.

"I was angling for a little praise. If you don't need them, then I suppose that's that."

He thought a moment.

"Ah, right. Those Dark Shadow Alliance bastards are after me. That won't become a problem for the sect, will it?"

So Cheong-ha gave a soft snort.

"The Dark Shadow Alliance? They thrash about without knowing their place. Should they dare lay a hand on this sect, they will pay for it in full."

Yi Yeok chuckled, offered a passable bow, and was gone in a hurry.

On the way to his own quarters, Yi Yeok came face to face with the inner disciples — Ju Uk, Jam Yun, Mok Geom-in, Dong Pil, and the rest of them.

"Impatient bastards. I haven't been back two hours, and they're already swarming."

They closed around him and barred the path. Ju Uk wore a gentle smile.

"Junior Brother Yi. Did you truly go to Black Phoenix Hall?"

Yi Yeok answered with an easy smile.

"I did. If you doubt me, ask the Supreme Elder."

The smile never left Ju Uk's face.

"The Supreme Elder seems to cherish you a great deal."

He was smiling, but the meaning underneath was plain enough. So Cheong-ha was covering for the lie.

Jam Yun needled him.

"Then Sama Sa-cheol must be dead?"

Yi Yeok answered calmly.

"No."

The corner of her mouth lifted, smug.

"So there's no one who can prove a word you say?"

"No one to prove it. But I went."

"If you went, you must have fought. You faced Sama Sa-cheol and walked away unharmed? Does that even make sense?"

Yi Yeok's face was the picture of innocence.

"We only talked a little, and then I came back."

Laughter burst out all around them. It sounded like the most outrageous bluff imaginable, and Jam Yun could not swallow her sneer.

"A lie every time you open your mouth! Shameless beyond belief!"

Dong Pil quietly opened his mouth.

"'A lie every time one opens one's mouth' derives from the classical idiom to daub one's words with orpiment. It is a term of contempt for speaking rashly, without the slightest basis."

Every eye turned to him. Dong Pil looked faintly embarrassed.

"He is so ignorant I feared he wouldn't understand."

"Quite right. Thank you for the consideration, Senior Brother Dong."

Yi Yeok stood beneath their stares and let his gaze travel, unhurried, over every face. Then he smiled, all innocence.

They all caught, dimly, the weight inside that word. Jam Yun's mouth twitched. Ju Uk was still smiling, but unease had entered his eyes, and one by one they tensed and began to search one another's faces.

"Spouting nonsense without a shred of proof."

Jam Yun's glare was sharp. Yi Yeok laughed, brief and cold.

"Fine. Let's say I was talking nonsense. So what are you going to do about it?"

Ju Uk forced the smile to hold.

"Such conduct can never be a model for the sect. And this was a task the Sect Master himself assigned. It is no small matter."

His tone grew steadily edged. Yi Yeok scratched his head and fixed him with a stare.

"So this was what you wanted from the start."

"Junior Brother Yi, everyone here is your senior. To be so utterly without manners."

Jam Yun piled on.

"You shameless wretch. You dare defy the Sect Master's command? They ought to cripple your cultivation and throw you out this instant!"

Smack.

Yi Yeok's palm caught her across the face and sent her sprawling. Blood ran in strings from her nose and mouth.

"Why are you still squawking? Haven't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you had enough? You think rushing me in a pack changes anything?"

Jam Yun glared up at him, shaking with rage.

"You lowborn filth..."

Thud.

His foot came down on her face, and his voice went cold.

"Shut your mouth. Or I'll shut it for good."

Ju Uk's face twisted, and he roared.

"What do you think you're doing? Striking a senior sister — and in front of me, the Eldest Senior Brother!"

Yi Yeok lifted his head and looked at him without expression.

"Eldest Senior Brother? You seem to think that's something grand. Don't fool yourself, chick. At seven I'd already brought Wolgye Castle to heel. At eight I took over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a gambling den. At ten I burned out a bandit nest and slaughtered seventy-eight of them. Back then you were probably still here, running errands for your precious senior brothers."

"Let her go this instant!"

"And if I don't feel like it?"

Ju Uk's eyes glinted cold.

"You will pay the price for this folly."

"You don't know how frightening the world is. Truly a frog in a well. That's what it means — a frog at the bottom of a well."

He winked at Dong Pil. Dong Pil cleared his throat and looked the other way.

Ju Uk's eyes drowned in crimson. Blood qi boiled up through his whole body and forged itself into armor, and when his right hand swept out a massive sword materialized, ripping the air with a shriek as it drove for Yi Yeok's head.

But Yi Yeok was already gone. An afterimage hung where he had stood, and in the next breath he was behind Ju Uk. Yojiyu flashed, and a cut opened across the armor.

The wound sealed in an instant. Armor wrought of blood qi healed itself with frightening ease.

Ju Uk spun and swung again. The other disciples scrambled clear of the blow, and Mok Geom-in hauled Jam Yun up and fell back with her.

Yi Yeok gave a little ground. At his speed, ending this would have been simple. But So Cheong-ha's warning came back to him — lean on swiftness alone, and one day you will come to a very painful grief.

He steadied his mind and called forth his blood spirit.