The Tang Clan (2)
"I met with a fortuitous encounter, and it bore fruit."
Dang Hwa leaned in until their faces were nearly touching.
"That encounter—you found it on Mount Daliang, didn't you? Your energy is far stronger than it was then."
Hyeong Jin let out a sigh.
"That's right."
"So you did eat something up there. Out with it."
A clumsy lie would never pass the Poison Phoenix, Dang Hwa, not when she had already read the change in his realm. Even in his past life she had been infamous for a temperament that bit down and never let go until the end. Eccentric as she was, her word, at least, was iron.
"Empty Green Stalactite Oil."
Dang Hwa's eyes went wide. A heartbeat later they narrowed.
"Were you trying to die? You ate that raw? Without even refining it?"
She looked him over from head to toe.
"How are you even alive?"
Hyeong Jin answered while dodging her gaze.
"I survived. That ought to be enough."
"It is not enough. What's strange is that you're perfectly fine right now."
At the edge in her voice, he quietly looked away. Dang Hwa stared at him in silence. Then her hand shot out and seized him by the collar.
"This won't do."
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Be quiet and come with me. I need to make sure you're actually all right."
"I know my own body. I truly am fine."
Dang Hwa smiled, bright and easy. She was smiling, and still a chill ran down his spine.
"Before I tell my father that a Jeomchang disciple swallowed Empty Green Stalactite Oil raw on Mount Daliang, why don't you hurry along?"
"All right."
Still gripping his collar, she hauled him toward her poison laboratory. Hyeong Jin could no longer tell whether he was a patient or a prisoner. Behind them, the maids' whispers drifted after.
"What's she planning to experiment on this time?"
"Even so, they do look good together, don't they?"
He pretended not to hear and let himself be dragged along.
The laboratory was a disaster of medicinal herbs and scattered books. For an instant Dang Hwa's face went blank.
"Wait outside a moment. And don't you go anywhere!"
Shoved out the door, Hyeong Jin took in the pavilion that housed the laboratory. Fitting for a place devoted to the study of poison, it occupied an entire hall unto itself.
"The Tang, I swear..."
"Come in."
When he stepped back inside, the room was spotless, as if the mess had been a lie.
"When did it get like this..."
"That's far enough."
"..."
"Don't say it."
The tips of her ears had gone red. She forced a cough and changed the subject.
"Come here. If you ate Empty Green Stalactite Oil raw, your meridians must be badly damaged."
"Taking someone's pulse so freely is..."
"So what? There's a man who gulps the stuff down raw, isn't there?"
"That was a situation I had no choice in."
Dang Hwa didn't answer. As her fingers read his pulse, her expression slowly hardened.
"Strange."
She sent a thread of inner energy through her fingertips.
Once. Twice. Three times.
The pulse does not lie.
As if she couldn't believe it, she took his pulse again and frowned.
"You really ate the Empty Green Stalactite Oil?"
"I did."
"If you'd eaten it raw, your meridians should be a wreck."
Her gaze pierced straight through him.
"And yet they're clean. As if they were never damaged to begin with."
When she finished, she stared openly at his body. As that stare grew intense, Hyeong Jin cleared his throat.
"Perhaps I simply have a constitution that takes well to spiritual elixirs?"
A dangerous light kindled in Dang Hwa's eyes. He instinctively stepped back. Something had gone very wrong. Her eyes went wild.
"Young Hero Hyeong Jin. Shall we try a little experiment?"
"Do I actually have the right to refuse?"
Dang Hwa beamed. It was the brightest smile he had seen from her yet, and it raised gooseflesh on his skin.
"You understand your position so well. I like that."
From her robes she drew a feather needle.
"First I'll test your blood, and after that..."
Right. Time to run. There was no cure for a mad dog's bite.
The laboratory door crashed open, and Seo Rin came in.
Seo Rin. A welcome face. Relief loosened something in his chest.
A step too late, she took one look at the feather needle in Dang Hwa's hand and her face hardened.
"Young Lady. Not another move."
Lost in a world of her own, Dang Hwa ignored her.
"I'll draw some blood and examine it. His meridians might be unusual, so..."
"Young Lady!"
The shout, loosed right beside her ear, snapped Dang Hwa back to herself.
"Hey—my ear's going to fall off."
She clutched her ear and grumbled. Seo Rin was smiling, but Hyeong Jin felt a cold edge in that smile. Inwardly, he offered Dang Hwa his condolences.
"I step away for a word with the Outer Court Steward, and this is what I come back to?"
"There's a reason. Really."
Dang Hwa quietly hid the feather needle behind her back.
"How long has it been since you blew up an entire poison laboratory!"
"And now you're making a guest of the Jeomchang Sect into a test subject?"
"I am not letting this go easily this time."
Mid-tirade, Seo Rin struck her own chest as if the frustration were choking her.
"No, that's—"
"Don't you 'no' me. And you, Young Hero—what are you doing with the young lady at this hour?"
Hyeong Jin quietly avoided her eyes.
"The young lady is simply that sort of person. You should have handled it properly. Isn't that so?"
He put on a wronged look.
"I was dragged here."
"Don't make excuses."
Seo Rin's blazing eyes turned on the both of them.
"Young Lady, you will return to your chambers. I will see Young Hero Hyeong Jin to his quarters."
"I'm telling you, this is actually important. Seo Rin."
"And when, Young Lady, has anything ever not been important to you?"
Pushed out of the laboratory, Hyeong Jin swallowed a sigh at a fate that had seen him hauled about twice in a single day. Walking ahead, Seo Rin spoke quietly.
"The young lady has been terribly rude. She didn't mean any harm."
"I know. She's a good person."
Seo Rin smiled, small and brief.
"Yes. She is a good person."
When he reached the guest hall, Hyeong Jin recalled the look in Dang Hwa's eyes and let out a sigh. He had the distinct feeling he had gotten himself into serious trouble.
And so the first night at the Tang Clan deepened.
The Tang Clan Head's fifty-fifth birthday banquet was packed to the walls. People murmured among themselves.
"Look over there. That's Young Hero Namgung Cheon, the Sword Dragon."
"And beside him—is that Myeong Jin of Mount Hua, the Ink Dragon?"
"They said he was a man of few words. He certainly looks it."
Namgung Cheon wore a satisfied look beneath the rain of stares. Seeing him, Myeong Jin shook his head.
The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was held, by custom, in the house of one among the Three Dragons and Two Phoenixes. This time it had been convened at Dang Hwa's house, the Tang Clan, and since everyone was already gathered, they had been drawn into the Clan Head's birthday banquet as well.
Namgung Cheon clapped Myeong Jin on the shoulder.
"That gloomy temperament of yours never changes."
"Don't touch me."
At the sharpness in Myeong Jin's eyes, Namgung Cheon raised both hands.
"My apologies. Where are the others, anyway?"
He began to look around. The hall grew noisy.
"It's Murong Rin, the Snow Phoenix."
"They say the title comes from eyes like fresh snow. Whoever coined it chose well."
Namgung Cheon offered a greeting as she approached their group.
"A pleasure, Lady Murong."
"Yes."
His expression turned awkward. His gaze swept the surroundings.
"And Lady Dang Hwa? Where has the Blade Dragon gone?"
"I wouldn't know about Lady Dang Hwa. Paeng Mu-rin, the Blade Dragon, is probably at the training ground."
Namgung Cheon pressed a hand to his head.
"The banquet is about to begin. What is Brother Paeng doing now?"
Murong Rin let a soft sneer touch her lips.
"There's no helping a fool whose head is packed with nothing but muscle."
Namgung Cheon's eyes turned toward the sky. His sigh deepened.
"Sorry I'm late."
Paeng Mu-rin appeared with his hair still wet, and every woman's gaze swung to him at once. Namgung Cheon's mouth twisted.
"It must be nice, Brother Paeng, being so popular."
Paeng Mu-rin snorted.
"What good is something that doesn't help my training?"
"What's so good about a head full of muscle? All that shrieking over nothing but a face."
Paeng Mu-rin glared at her.
"You finished?"
"I am. What are you going to do about it?"
Their auras began to clash. Namgung Cheon looked to Myeong Jin for help, but that place had been empty for some time.
"These people..."
He clutched his throbbing head, ignored the man and woman locked in their contest of presence, and scanned the crowd. Dang Hwa entered his sight. He started toward her at an easy pace, and a smile bloomed wide across his face.
"Lady Dang—"
She had been walking toward the group. Her steps turned toward another man instead. Namgung Cheon stopped.
"How do I look?"
"Beautiful."
"You want to die, don't you? Put some soul into it. If Seo Rin hadn't been there yesterday, I would have just—"
"Forgive me."
Dang Hwa drew right up to the man and whispered something. Namgung Cheon's eyes hardened, just slightly. She laughed under her breath and tapped the man's shoulder.
"Come to the poison laboratory when this is over."
"..."
To Namgung Cheon's eyes, the man's manner was indifferent. If anything, it was Dang Hwa who seemed to be trying to catch his interest. The smile vanished from Namgung Cheon's face as he looked at him.
But only for a moment. As if nothing had happened, he recovered his smile and approached the two of them.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Namgung Cheon of the Namgung Clan."
"Hyeong Jin of the Jeomchang Sect."
Namgung Cheon extended his hand.
"Good to meet you."
The moment Hyeong Jin took it, immense force poured into Namgung Cheon's grip. A dry crack. Bone ground faintly against bone. The light in Hyeong Jin's eyes changed. A gentle smile still hung on Namgung Cheon's face.
"I expect we'll be seeing a great deal of each other."
Still more strength gathered in his grip.