Soran (2)
Jinmyung entered the Haru Sect branch. The moment the old man at the mask stall saw him, he held out one of the masks from his display.
Mask in hand, Jinmyung rounded the corner and found a paper sliding door belonging to the Haru Sect. He stepped through it into a long corridor.
A short walk brought him to another paper door. Jinmyung cleared his throat before it.
"Come in."
A courtesan's voice answered. When Jinmyung slid the door open, he found her bathing in a large wooden tub.
He spun his head away at once. The courtesan watched him and let out a soft laugh.
"You've got the nerve to knock on the Haru Sect's door over a single copper coin, yet you haven't the nerve to look at a naked courtesan?"
"Handing over money is easy. Handing over a glance is another matter entirely — who knows what you'll lose in a place like the Haru Sect?"
The maid attending the courtesan's bath shot Jinmyung a glare. The courtesan soothed her, then spoke again.
"That's not something a man who once walked straight through the Haru Sect on a single copper should be saying. I simply invited you here so we could negotiate without pretense."
At the courtesan's gesture, the maid lowered a screen to hide the tub. She then guided Jinmyung to a spot beside the screen, where a second bath waited.
"Since you're already here, why not bathe with me?"
"Last time you insisted we speak only of certainties. Today the hospitality is rather different."
"Of course it is. A business partner and a first-time visitor are hardly the same. Besides — this way we can strip everything bare and talk freely."
Jinmyung was less than pleased. If there were hidden forces around them — formations, concealment arts — he would be in real danger.
But the courtesan finished speaking and simply waited. It was clear the negotiation would not begin until he entered the tub.
In the end, Jinmyung stripped and climbed in, telling himself that in the worst case he could always flee naked.
The warm water eased a fraction of his tension. As he washed his face and began to enjoy the bath, the courtesan laughed softly.
"You fretted forever about getting in — and now that you're in, you seem to be enjoying yourself."
"There's a saying: if you can't avoid it, enjoy it."
"Well then. Shall we negotiate? Tell me, Myeongjin — do you intend to perform Sichuan opera?"
Sichuan opera was a theatrical form unique to the province, long beloved by its people. But as the art of face-changing had been stamped out, the opera itself had been vanishing with it.
"If I use face-changing in a performance, it would qualify as Sichuan opera, wouldn't it? I expect it would draw a great many eyes. That way I could repay the investment quickly."
"I'd heard you came from outside Sichuan. It seems that was true."
Jinmyung felt a jolt. They had known each other less than a week, and already she seemed to know far too much about him.
"Is Sichuan opera something only a native of Sichuan can perform?"
"Not exactly. It's just that… if you take it up, the Tang Clan will most certainly come looking."
"The Tang Clan… will?"
From behind the screen came the sound of the courtesan splashing in her bath. A moment later the maid approached Jinmyung with a basket.
She upended it into his tub. With a series of heavy plops, the contents spilled into the water.
The bath, already full, began to overflow under the weight of what she had poured in. Jinmyung caught one of the falling objects beneath the surface.
When he lifted his hand from the water, his palm was heaped with copper coins.
"Your investment capital. Enough to start a modest production."
Jinmyung peered into the tub. An ordinary man would have struggled to count the coins submerged on the bottom — but for him it was simple.
This much would let him recruit people from the slums. From the slums? Pointless.
If he drew enough eyes, he could buy time to investigate the Geumjatap at Qingcheng and Emei. That was why he had chosen face-changing rather than some ordinary money-making venture.
But if the Tang Clan took an interest in face-changing, the whole affair would grow larger than expected. And yet…
"You want the Tang Clan to come looking?"
"My, why would you think that?"
"You already knew I meant to build a business around face-changing. You also knew that doing so would bring the Tang Clan. And still you offered a partnership… which means you want to divert their attention."
Again the splash of water from behind the screen. The maid overturned another basket.
Even more copper coins poured into the tub. Water cascaded over the rim, baring Jinmyung's upper body.
Unlike two years ago, there was no spare flesh on him. The maid took one look at the hard lines of his muscle and reminded herself that this man was a martial artist.
"That should be enough to build a small stage at the end of a main road."
"Does the Haru Sect not deal in promissory notes or silver?"
Jinmyung grumbled a little as the spilled water left him cooling.
"Isn't this more fun?"
"At this rate there will soon be more money in here than bathwater."
"Oh my. Is that still not enough? Are you planning to rent out an entire grand inn on the main road?"
"I have no intention of running this venture for long."
"If you want further financing, I think we will need a measure of trust between us."
"Trust… I rather suspect that is the word least suited to the Haru Sect."
"Heh… A little martial skill and already you look down on us. A man who hides his identity, offers no collateral, and still means to walk off with that much money — you talk a fine game."
"…"
With a soft rustle the screen was drawn aside. The courtesan leaned both arms on the rim of her tub and fixed Jinmyung with a hard stare. When the maid handed her a teacup, she took a sip and composed herself.
"If you hadn't been performing face-changing, I would never have treated you this well. The man called Myeongjin — who has read the memoirs of distinguished contributors that exist only in the Murim Alliance archives."
Jinmyung felt the blow land cleanly. He had known the Haru Sect's intelligence network was formidable, but he had not expected it to reach into the Murim Alliance archives in Shaanxi.
He must have failed to hide his expression, because only then did the courtesan smile as though she were finally satisfied.
"Once a bath loosens your tension, it becomes rather hard to conceal your feelings."
Jinmyung covered his mouth with one hand.
"You seem to have read about the Ten-Step Illusionist in those books. Did it never strike you as odd that the Haru Sect took part in the war and still is not counted among the Orthodox factions?"
"The Haru Sect is a cell-based organization. The entire sect never entered the war as one body. And I have heard that in certain regions, Haru Sect betrayal nearly brought disaster."
"Exactly. That is why the Haru Sect is classed as Unorthodox… But the Sichuan branch alone is recognized by the Orthodox sects of Sichuan."
"Thanks to the Ten-Step Illusionist."
"Yes. And before he departed for certain death, he left one item with the Tang Clan — to be delivered to his disciple, should that disciple ever come."
"So the reason the Tang Clan comes looking whenever face-changing appears… is to find the Illusionist's disciple."
The courtesan paused to drink her tea. When her leg rose slightly from the water, Jinmyung turned his head away.
"In those days there were many face-changers besides the Ten-Step Illusionist. Simply performing the art is not enough for the Tang Clan to acknowledge someone as his disciple."
She saw him look away, laughed under her breath, and sent the maid over with a teacup. Jinmyung accepted it.
"The Tang Clan always invites Sichuan opera troupes that use face-changing. Then they put the performer to a test. Inside the Tang compound there is a small shrine dedicated to the Illusionist. If you can bring back the memorial tablet from that shrine before the performance ends… they will recognize you as his disciple."
"And of course, you must not be caught."
"Precisely. The Shadowless Divine Thief we met outside is the Illusionist's only disciple — and even he was caught in the end."
The Shadowless Divine Thief was famous as a righteous outlaw who plundered the ill-gotten wealth of corrupt officials and distributed it among the common people. He had never once been caught, and so no one knew his true identity.
But according to the courtesan, the Shadowless Divine Thief was the Ten-Step Illusionist's disciple — and even so, he had failed the test and been discovered by the Tang Clan.
"So if I perform Sichuan opera and draw their eyes, the Divine Thief will take the tablet?"
"That's right."
The answer to Jinmyung's question came from the doorway. At some point the old man had entered the room.
Jinmyung saw with his own eyes that the old man excelled not only at disguise and bone-shrinking arts, but at concealment as well.
"Do you think the odds are good?"
"Same principle as that shell game of yours. If one doesn't work, try it with two."
Jinmyung fished a copper coin from the bathwater and turned it over in his fingers. The courtesan and the old man both watched him.
After a moment he looked at the courtesan and asked,
"If it is revealed that I am the Illusionist's disciple — what does the Haru Sect gain?"
She glanced at the old man. He gave a small nod, and she answered.
"We could become a member of the Sichuan Alliance."
The Sichuan Alliance was the coalition of Sichuan's three great powers — the Tang Clan, Qingcheng, and Emei. Bound by the comradeship of the last war, they treated one another as brothers-in-arms.
If the Haru Sect joined their ranks, its influence would grow in every sense. And under Haru Sect protection, Jinmyung would be able to visit the Geumjatap of Qingcheng and Emei.
The Haru Sect's plan had his attention.
"I would like to hear the details."
With the old man's leave, the courtesan laid out the scheme. When she finished, the left corner of Jinmyung's mouth curled upward.
"An entertaining plan. I'd put the odds of success at roughly half. But what about something like this instead?"
As Jinmyung spoke on, neither the old man nor the courtesan could hide their astonishment. He smiled faintly at her; she hastily composed her face and shot back,
"W-what… Why should we follow a plan that absurd?"
"I might ask the same of myself — why I should share such a plan with a woman whose name I don't even know. Ah, but partners are supposed to value trust, aren't they?"
Jinmyung rose from the tub. This time it was the courtesan who turned her head away. He laughed under his breath, stepped out, dried himself, and began to dress.
"If the plan succeeds, our partnership may run a little longer than expected."
The maid lowered the screen again, and only then did the courtesan speak.
"And if it fails — how do you intend to make amends?"
"Hmm… Would filling this tub to the brim with gold taels suffice? My nameless partner?"
Men and their sulking… She called after Jinmyung's retreating back as he walked toward the door.
"Call me Soran. Aren't you taking the investment capital?"
"Once the plan is settled, have it delivered to my inn accordingly — Partner Soran."
Jinmyung bowed slightly to the old man and left the room. If things went according to his plan, the copper coins in that tub would fall far short of what was needed.