After the Curtain Falls (2)
Dang Sohye stared at Hwan in open astonishment. At the mere mention of Mumubaekmyeon, Dang Min’s and Dang Yu’s faces hardened as well.
Mumubaekmyeon only shook his head slowly and spoke.
“When we were preparing the performance at the inn, I was quite startled. I never expected anyone else from the Dang Clan to be present besides Dang Yu. So I searched among the masked performers for the one who would leave the strongest impression on Lady Dang Sohye.”
“Then… you used Mumubaekmyeon to divert my attention?”
“Yes, exactly. That is how we drew the three of you away, and thanks to that, we were able to take the memorial tablet.”
“Hahaha… impressive. Very well, I acknowledge it.”
Dang Woo clapped his hands as he regarded Baekmyeon. Yet his eyes were not smiling at all.
“But according to that story, the Divine Thief was not the one who took the tablet, was he? He would have had to remain on stage performing the face-changing arts…”
“Oh my, was there ever a rule that the Divine Thief himself had to be the one to take the tablet?”
“Haru Branch Leader, that much is true… but do you truly believe I would recognize any other passer of the trial besides the Divine Thief?”
Dang Woo addressed the courtesan. He already knew she was Soran, branch leader of the Haru Sect.
“Is that not so? Divine Thief? Do you have anything further to say?”
Dang Woo looked at Hwan as he asked. Hwan scratched his head and avoided answering. Just then Dang Yu approached the hermitage.
Assuming Dang Yu had come to report, Dang Woo granted him leave to enter. Yet Dang Yu said nothing; instead he rummaged in his sleeve.
From within it he drew out an object and set it upon the table. It was the memorial tablet of the Illusion Master.
Everyone stared at Dang Yu’s face in shock. He covered it with his sleeve. The next instant the face that appeared was no longer Dang Yu’s.
“I see… Dang Yu was the one who personally buried the memorial tablet of the Illusion Master with the tracking incense. Even if the incense clung to it, there would be little reason for suspicion.”
“Correct. That was also why we made certain Dang Yu never left the front of the stage.”
The Divine Thief, his true identity revealed, spoke. Dang Woo looked from him to Baekmyeon.
“And who is this one?”
“Call me Ilsu Hwanmyeon—One-Hand Illusion Face.”
Baekmyeon touched his own face and Woo’s, then performed the face-changing technique. Both now wore clean, unmasked faces as they cupped their fists in salute.
“Divine Thief, is this your disciple? How arrogant. To dare claim the word ‘illusion’ before me?”
At Dang Woo’s words everyone swallowed hard and held their breath. But Dang Woo only smiled as he continued.
“I like him better than you. A successor to the Illusion Master ought to possess at least this much ambition.”
Dang Woo rummaged in his sleeve and tossed a small pouch. It traced a slow arc through the air toward Hwanmyeon.
“This is…?”
“A gift from this old man.”
“I accept it with gratitude.”
“No need for thanks. It was meant for the successor of the Illusion Master from the start.”
Hwanmyeon barely managed to offer his thanks. Dang Woo had delivered the pouch by means of Telekinesis, and everyone present was stunned by the level of that martial skill.
Dang Min, clan head of the Dang Clan, in particular could not hide his surprise at his father Dang Woo’s action. Dang Woo detested flaunting his martial prowess.
The reason was much the same as the Illusion Master’s own. The martial arts of the Dang Clan were not for friendly sparring; their strength was measured only in life-and-death duels.
And Dang Woo had always said that concealing one’s information in a contest where lives hung in the balance was the most basic of basics. There was no reason for such a man to display Telekinesis in a place like this.
Yet Dang Min soon composed his expression. He trusted his father. There must be a reason.
“Then will you now open a seat for us in the Sichuan Alliance?”
“I can yield a seat in the Sichuan Alliance. Whether the Haru Sect can hold that seat, however, is another question.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Think on it after you return. This old man is tired and must retire to his chambers.”
When Dang Woo issued so blatant a dismissal, Soran hesitated, yet rose as if she had no choice. In any case they had passed the trial and secured a place in the Sichuan Alliance.
Soran left the Dang Clan with her companions. Dang Sohye saw them off.
Even as she returned after escorting the Haru Sect party, Dang Sohye’s doubts would not fade. She pondered exactly what it was that troubled her as she made her way back to the hermitage.
Her grandfather and father, who had claimed they would retire, were still deep in conversation. Dang Sohye informed them that the party had departed.
Dang Min ordered her to her chambers, saying the night was late. Dang Sohye answered that she understood, yet she intended to continue her research that night as well.
“Well then, what of Sohye?”
Watching her leave, Dang Woo asked his son. Dang Min set down his teacup and answered.
“You saw it yourself—she failed even while knowing full well it was a test.”
“It is your turn to suffer for the sake of a child. Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through trying to make you clan head?”
Dang Min pretended not to hear and drained his cup. He too, in his youth, had given his father no end of grief by refusing the position of clan head.
“More importantly… will you truly yield the seat in the Sichuan Alliance?”
“A promise is a promise, is it not?”
The Haru Sect of Sichuan claimed to be different from other Haru Sects. Yet Dang Woo had never numbered the Haru Sect among his friends.
The only friend of the Dark Cloud Poison Sovereign had been the Ten-Step Illusion Master. That was why he had prepared a trial that only the Illusion Master’s successor could pass.
Dang Woo smiled as he regarded Dang Min. Dang Min sensed at once that his father was testing him. He pondered what the test might be.
At first glance the Sichuan Alliance appeared to be a fellowship of Sichuan sects bound by wartime camaraderie. In truth they were trading partners who coexisted for mutual benefit.
Sichuan’s most famous specialty was silk. The brocade known as Shu Brocade, with its distinctive texture, was renowned as the finest silk of all.
Silk is spun from the cocoons of silkworm moths that have fed on mulberry leaves. Both Qingcheng Mountain and Emei Mountain held vast stands of mulberry.
And the Dang Clan raised all manner of poisonous creatures and insects for the making of toxins. Among them were silkworm farms as well.
To produce silk one must first obtain the cocoons of the silkworm moth. Once the cocoons are boiled and the thread reeled, the moths die.
In other words, the Sichuan Alliance was a coalition of sects that supplied raw materials to the merchant houses of Sichuan that produced the silk. If that were so…
“You mean the Haru Sect cannot produce Shu Brocade, and thus will find it difficult to keep the seat.”
“We shall see. I have handed over the insects I was keeping for a friend.”
“What? Father!”
“What was entrusted must be returned. And… do you truly believe that simply receiving them will allow the Haru Sect to raise silkworms superior to those of the Dang Clan?”
Dang Min was displeased that the silkworm larvae had been handed over without informing him, the clan head. Yet he agreed with Dang Woo’s words. There was no chance the likes of the Haru Sect could raise those larvae successfully.
“They are far more delicate than ordinary silkworms. The Haru Sect will certainly come asking how to care for them.”
“I understand. Leave the rest to me.”
“Good. Then I too must retire to my chambers.”
The Haru Sect would return to the Dang Clan seeking the method of rearing the larvae. The Dang Clan had already kept its promise to an old comrade-in-arms.
What followed would be ordinary dealings between sects. The Haru Sect would come to stand beneath the Dang Clan’s shadow.
Yet if, by some remote chance, the Haru Sect managed to raise those larvae on their own… they would be able to hold their seat in the Sichuan Alliance firmly. Not that such a thing was likely.
The party that left the Dang Clan headed for a pleasure house. Jinmyung, exhausted from the performance, wanted nothing more than to rest at once, yet Soran dragged them all there without the slightest regard for his wishes.
When she insisted on preparing a drinking party to celebrate their success, it was hard to refuse. The establishment she led them to was Qingxiang Lou—Clear Fragrance Pavilion—the largest pleasure house in Chengdu.
At the sight of painted courtesans coming and going, Jinmyung and Ak Jun scarcely knew where to look. The room they entered, however, held only an empty table waiting for them.
Knowing they were free of other eyes, Jinmyung removed his mask. Seeing him do so, Ak Jun took his off as well.
Soran gestured for the two of them to sit facing her across the table. The Divine Thief, Soran, Jinmyung, and Ak Jun took their places opposite one another.
“You said we’d have a drink, so why does the atmosphere feel like this?”
“Once the accounts are settled I’ll treat everyone to wine, so don’t worry.”
Soran fixed Jinmyung with a steady gaze. He scratched his head and looked elsewhere.
“Settle accounts…? I invested the cost of making the masks and the stage, and in return I drew the Dang Clan’s attention for you… so I’d say the accounts are already settled.”
“There is something that was given to the successor of the Ten-Step Illusion Master.”
“You’ll regret taking that.”
Tap-tap! Soran rapped the table.
“Look here—the Illusion Master’s disciple is sitting right in front of you, and you say such things?”
Jinmyung gave a short laugh and drew out the pouch. He shook it. The pouch wriggled.
Soran flinched and leaned back slightly. Jinmyung watched her and chuckled again.
“I took a quick look earlier… it is certainly something the Illusion Master’s successor will need. If I keep it, it will be of little use to me.”
“Then why…?”
“But we passed the trial by my plan. Shouldn’t I receive some side benefit as well?”
“What if I offered you the profound essence of the face-changing arts?”
The Shadowless Divine Thief cut into the conversation. Those words left both Soran and Jinmyung stunned at once.