Silk Road 8
I was struck dumb by the building’s grandeur. I was so overwhelmed by a single structure that I nearly lost myself in it.
The Tongunsa building was a three-story rectangular hall.
But what truly took my breath away was something else entirely.
Its thick wooden pillars were all a dark black-brown, blacker even than bark itself. The outer surface had been charred almost to the point of burning, then coated with perilla oil and left to dry.
It was madness. A ridiculous waste of money.
Just imagining how much firewood had been consumed to build something like that made my head swim.
“You look like you’ve walked straight into the imperial palace. For the first time in your life, too.”
Jin-wol said it with a sneer.
Even then, I still couldn’t tear my eyes away from the hip-and-gable roof trimmed in gold.
I had never seen a street so dazzling, so overflowing with splendor. On both sides of the broad road stretching toward the Tongunsa building, shops and inns lined up without end, creating a scene of almost unbearable abundance.
Because Tongunsa oversaw everything related to military affairs and armaments, weapon merchants and blacksmiths were especially prominent.
At last, I understood why people kept calling this place the main sect. If Tongunsa alone could attract such crowds, then how magnificent must Heavenly Demonic Palace be?
For a moment, Jin-wol seemed strangely distant to me. The authority of an executioner who could come and go through Heavenly Demonic Palace as if it were her own home—not even Tongunsa, but Heavenly Demonic Palace itself.
Staring at that splendor in black and gold, I could almost understand why power was so intoxicating.
We came to a gate tall enough to rise more than one and a half jang, where we were met by a guard.
Jin-wol stepped up before him and flashed her executioner’s badge.
“Open it. Is the military strategist in residence?”
“He has gone to Heavenly Demonic Palace. If I may ask, who is this companion of yours…?”
“He’s Left Guardian-nim’s disciple. I’ll vouch for him.”
“Understood. However, you may not bring weapons inside, so if you could leave them here, we’d be grateful.”
The executioner tossed over her spear.
Standing beside her, I handed over my axe as well.
“Hngh. How am I supposed to hold this…?”
The warrior who received Cheol-wol barely managed to keep his balance.
Apparently, collapsing in front of two women was a humiliation his pride couldn’t tolerate.
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Jin-wol was never hesitant. To put it bluntly, she was bold to the point of recklessness. Even though the Banghosa position was usually treated like a lowly, unimportant post, she had stormed straight in here on the strength of a few whispered promises about bribery and graft.
Just how obsessed had she been with finding fault in the Left Guardian that she would go this far? It was a terrifying kind of fixation. By this point, it didn’t feel like mere suspicion anymore.
For now, all I could do was hope my deduction wasn’t wrong.
We headed for the middle floor. The third floor was reserved for the military strategist’s office and meeting rooms, while half of this floor was set aside as an archive.
Between the shelves lined neatly with scrolls and books, across from a partition labeled Military Supply and Expenditure, there was one locked room.
But that wasn’t a serious problem. Thanks to the key Jin-wol had obtained under her executioner’s authority, we were able to open the door easily.
Inside, there were more shelves, with a partition labeled Personnel Records.
Jin-wol intended to dig through these records for traces of Kang Du-ho.
“So, what was the former Banghosa’s name again?”
“Kang Du-ho.”
“Hmm…”
It was an unbearably dull stretch of time.
For all that I’d been sent here on the Left Guardian’s orders, I was serious about the task.
Once I set my mind on something, I could throw myself into it without hesitation.
Even so, this wasn’t easy.
Every time I turned a page, sleep began to drag at me. It was a strange thing.
My head would keep bobbing up and down, and then, all at once, I’d startle myself awake. I’d read again, and then the drowsiness would return. Over and over.
I had only recently managed to teach myself how to read properly, so there could hardly have been a more brutal ordeal.
By the time I’d nearly grown numb to printed characters, I picked up one of the ledgers. It was a Local Military Register.
The bulky volume detailed the organization of local forces, troop numbers, and even the personal backgrounds of their commanders.
“Found it. Banghosa Kang Du-ho of Wolunryeong.”
Was the vague outline finally beginning to take shape?
I read on.
I couldn’t find any direct proof that he had bought his office, probably because the latest entry was from a full year ago.
Still, since Gong Tae-o had been dead for more than half a year already, that wasn’t really a problem.
The most useful piece of information was Kang Du-ho’s home address.
The rest was just trivial details—the troop formation guarding Wolunryeong, the number of men, the amount of their pay.
Still, it was a gain. It was better than coming away empty-handed.
I called Jin-wol over and shared what I’d found.
“Garyeong Gorge, huh.”
Garyeong Gorge. Kang Du-ho’s house was in a place called Garyeong Gorge.
“Garyeong Gorge…?”
Wait. Something was wrong. That should have been a name I’d never heard before.
It didn’t sit right. Something snagged at me, though I couldn’t say why—I knew this place.
Then it hit me, a bolt of thought tearing through my skull and snapping me fully awake.
Cheongeunru, where they had dragged in a nearby bandit gang and carried out a massacre.
Garyeong Gorge was the name of that very place.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I received the axe.
Now the work ahead of me was clear.
If I went to Garyeong Gorge and searched Kang Du-ho’s estate, I’d almost certainly find a decisive clue. Maybe I could even recover the Blood Heart Pill.
If I secured proof of bribery and corruption, it would go a long way toward helping Jin-wol bring down the Left Guardian.
After all, it had been the Left Guardian who buried the matter of Gong Tae-o because of me.
And if I managed to get my hands on the Blood Heart Pill, I would have fulfilled my duty to the Blood Hyeolsadae.
Of course, I had to make sure she didn’t catch on.
In the end, this was the conclusion: I had to help Jin-wol, but steal the Blood Heart Pill from under her nose. That was the task I had to accomplish.
…Things had really gotten twisted in a hurry.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
By then, the sun had already begun to set.
Even so, the market had lost none of its life; it still buzzed with noise and movement. Shops in their own little corners one by one began to light their lamps, and the warm glow turned the streets a soft yellow.
The inn where we meant to stay was still some distance away, which meant we had to make our way along the main road crowded with peddlers.
Even pushing through their calls was a kind of battle.
At first, they all shoved their faces toward us without discrimination, calling out to us as if we were some wandering female hero or young miss, but the moment Jin-wol’s cold, withering stare brushed over them, they usually turned their attention to me instead.
I couldn’t bring myself to send them away harshly.
How could I, when they were armed with smiles and hospitality, and came at us with compliments about how pretty we were? I couldn’t bring myself to say get lost the way Jin-wol would.
I knew too well that this was just their struggle to survive, and because of that, I hesitated.
Then a traveling merchant wearing a bamboo hat approached me.
He wore threadbare clothes patched in several places. His outfit looked poor, and he carried a modest bundle on his back.
Because faint, iridescent light was leaking from the half-open bundle, I could tell he was a shell inlay seller.
“My, my, young miss! It’s been so long. Will you buy one this time? I even brought plenty of those mirrors you liked before.”
The merchant bowed and scraped before me. He was acting as though we knew each other, though we had clearly just met.
And yet his voice sounded strangely familiar.
Before long, I recognized him. His disguise was so clever that I almost fell for it.
He was Jeong-mu, a fellow member of the Blood Hyeolsadae and the acting head of the Heukwun Trading Company who had gone off to Hao Gate.
My heart dropped. Why was the acting head here?
More importantly, did he know who was standing beside me?
This was no small matter. One mistake, and everything would be over. The executioner I had feared so much was standing right at my side. If I said even a single word wrong, there would be no way back.
At the acting head’s words, Jin-wol voiced her suspicion.
“You know this bastard?”
I answered on reflex. For now, I had to keep pace with the acting head’s performance.
“Ah, I saw him near Red Lotus Manor. I liked the mirror I saw then, but not enough to buy it on the spot…”
As I spoke, the acting head’s eyes glittered beneath his bamboo hat as they skimmed over Jin-wol.
Not even the slightest tremor betrayed him.
“Hmph. Don’t waste time. We’re in a hurry.”
Once she’d heard my answer, Jin-wol turned her head away.
It wasn’t the first or second time she’d brushed off peddlers for me, but now she seemed content to leave it to me to deal with them myself.
Thank goodness. Even so, I couldn’t let my guard down.
She wore the face of a stern woman warrior, but she was a sly one. Right now, she could very well be pretending not to listen while carefully eavesdropping, plotting something underhanded all the while.
My thoughts were instantaneous.
I didn’t even need a moment to get that far.
The acting head undid the bundle he had tied up on the spot. Then he spread a scrap of cloth over the dirt and began laying out several shell-inlaid cases.
His sudden act was already drawing Jin-wol’s attention as well.
Blue and jade, crimson and rose—they were all shell-inlaid boxes.
About half a span wide, they looked less like storage containers and more like handicrafts.
“What useless junk. They’re all ugly.”
Jin-wol’s reaction was only natural.
Even to my untrained eye, they looked like crude little abominations.
And yet I was still trying my hardest.
There had to be a reason behind the acting head’s performance.
I had to notice it. I had to grow into his skill, match his seasoned craft with my own.
I even brought plenty of those mirrors you liked before.
Mirrors. He had said mirrors.
I had liked them before. Which meant what I was looking for now was Kang Du-ho’s trail.
“I’d like to see the mirrors, not these. The one I had my eye on last time, remember?”
As I said it, I stole a sideways glance at Jin-wol’s face.
She had folded her arms, as though merely enduring a waste of time.
“Unfortunately, that mirror broke, but I’ve brought many better things instead.”
Broke? Did that mean… he had failed?
With practiced hands, he rummaged through the bundle. A few odds and ends came tumbling out.
“Let me see, this one, and this one, and this one… Ah, these ugly fellows over here had no room, so I set them aside for now. Naturally, they’re not things worth selling, haha.”
The acting head took out two hand mirrors.
They were so small they could be cradled in one palm, and the backs were adorned with shell inlay in the shape of plum blossoms and azaleas against a black ground.
They were truly exquisite.
It would have been rude even to compare them with the crude items he had first laid out.
“Oh?”
Jin-wol had tried to act indifferent, but she was clearly interested.
“Well then, would you care to buy one apiece?”
The acting head stretched out both hands and offered the mirrors to us. The azalea one for her, the plum blossom one for me.
“That azalea mirror would suit a female hero like you very well. Would you like to take a look? Ah, and you’re truly beautiful, you know.”
He didn’t look the part, but his flattery was first-rate.
Jin-wol even accepted the mirror.
The merchant who had put an object into her hand was none other than Jeong-mu.
Of course. He really was no ordinary man. I couldn’t help admiring his smooth salesmanship.
The plum blossom mirror was mine. But something about it felt off.
I tapped at the shell pieces with my fingernail, and they wobbled so badly they seemed ready to fall off. The glue hadn’t been applied properly.
I turned slightly away from her and peeled off the plum blossom shell decoration.
Then a knife-cut inscription came into view.
It had been carved into the back of the mirror and concealed beneath the ornament.
‘Garyeong Gorge. Second estate from the south entrance.’
Hao Gate’s information was precise. So precise it made all the trouble I’d gone through while traveling with the executioner seem pointless.
I peeled off the remaining plum blossom decoration as well.
‘Being pursued by assassins.’
My heart lurched. Being pursued by assassins.
Had Hao Gate sent killers after him?
No, that couldn’t be right.
Someone was watching the acting head because they wanted to stop him from heading toward Kang Du-ho.
Maybe it was Kang Du-ho himself. If the man had realized we were following him, things would become even more complicated.
Because once pursuit became a chase, the number of things I’d have to worry about would multiply by the day.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After I’d finished calculating everything in my head, I looked up.
By then, the acting head had already gathered his bundle and was on his way out.
Watching his departing back, Jin-wol said,
“Not a bad item. I like the ornament too.”
“Haha, do you?”
“But…”
She tightened her grip on her spear.
Then she took a stance.
“What exactly are you plotting with the acting head of the Heukwun Trading Company?”
Whoosh!
Her long spear shot toward the acting head.