Omen (2)
Omen (2)
"So, who is this person you're traveling all the way to Chang'an to meet?"
The carriage bound for Chang'an had ample space left even with two people aboard. We sat side by side, a span of empty seat between us, like estranged lovers. Zhuge Yeong-yu gazed out the window, his face full of inexplicable anxiety, repeatedly asking for water, complaining his mouth kept going dry.
"This is not someone you would ordinarily meet in Chang'an, but they have made a special visit, thinking highly of the great hero's recent exploits. When you meet them, do mind your manners."
I merely shrugged and tilted my head at his words. Even though the meeting was imminent, Zhuge Yeong-yu wouldn't tell me who we were meeting. Seeing how he'd given a vague answer to my earlier question as well, he seemed intent on not revealing the person's identity until I was face-to-face with them.
"You're tense. I don't believe I've ever seen the great hero this tense before."
Zhuge Yeong-yu's shoulders twitched. Though he was looking out the window, I could tell from that one remark that he had laughed.
"Anyone gets tense when a weighty matter lies ahead. During that last Jong Yuseop affair, I only pretended to be composed before the great hero; I spent the night sleepless."
"Can a man who's going to accomplish a great undertaking afford to tremble like that? We're fated to share the same boat; it stings a little to learn you were that anxious."
When I tossed out the jest, Zhuge Yeong-yu now laughed outright. The tension he'd displayed moments before vanished like melting snow. He tapped the wooden frame of the carriage window with a finger and spoke.
"I must apologize; I've always been told I lack nerve, so it's not easy for me to steady myself. It's a habit of the Zhuge clan to always assume the worst-case scenario."
"One could also call that thoroughness. Thinking of it that way, it almost feels like a good thing that the great hero is worrying on my behalf."
Zhuge Yeong-yu looked at me. He wore a slightly startled expression. His eyes went round as he asked this:
"A good thing? What do you mean by that?"
"Doesn't it mean that even when I act on instinct, Great Hero Yeong-yu has already laid out every contingency? If the next phase of the plan proceeds under my lead, it means I can act with even greater certainty. And what if someone as meticulous as you, Great Hero, were the one leading the endeavor?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded at my words. I spread my fingers wide in an exaggerated gesture and looked at him. When he gave no reply, I deliberately beamed a wide smile at him. Zhuge Yeong-yu saw that and hurriedly turned his head away, rested his chin on his hand, and stared outside.
'Was it weird to lock eyes and smile with another dude?'
The carriage rolled on. The lively energy of our recent conversation had vanished without a trace, and an awkward silence hung in the air. When I followed Zhuge Yeong-yu's lead and turned my gaze outside, the trees and undergrowth thinned, and a well-paved road greeted us. Zhuge Yeong-yu looked at the smooth road and spoke.
"At times, I think about qualifications."
"Qualifications?"
"Literally. Qualifications. The qualification to carry on a great undertaking. The qualification to succeed a clan. The qualification to push back the martial world's dominance and restore balance in this world under heaven. It's a complicated issue. Sometimes I even dream. A dream where a blood-soaked martial artist screams at me, 'By what right do you persecute the people of the martial world?'"
I shook my head and said,
"If you start quibbling over qualifications, you'll never be able to do anything. Did I have the qualification to pass judgment on the Zhongnan Sect's Jong Yuseop?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu shook his head. It meant the analogy hadn't landed with him.
"The Zhuge clan bears a sin against this martial world. Carrying that sin on your back makes it no simple task to sit in judgment of others' errors."
I had once heard about the Zhuge clan's sin from Sannyeo. In the days when the imperial household repeated its tyrannical rule, the clan swelled its influence by swearing loyalty to the throne, and when the world under heaven fell into chaos, they gathered power by siding with whoever was advantageous, like bats, forging their current scale.
"So, Great Hero, you're running yourself ragged now to revive those glory days?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu shook his head resolutely at my words.
"Ridiculous. Those days are, ultimately, the work of my ancestors. What I desire is simply to set this broken world right and forge an era of peace."
"Is there anyone who doesn't know this world is twisted? The sects absorb the power and respect that ought to be devoted to the imperial household, and they only watch for the chance to become the kings of the world under heaven themselves. Who made the world this way?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu didn't answer. He merely pressed his lips tight and hung his head. The sins of a clan that had contributed to the world's ruin weighed heavily upon him. His stubborn brow and faintly trembling lips spoke for his psychological state. So I continued speaking in his stead.
"No one points at a man gathering the shards of a broken vessel and asks what right he has to do such a thing. Nor can anyone condemn a man who carries the sins of his ancestors on his back and resolves to take responsibility for them."
Zhuge Yeong-yu stared at me. This time, his gaze was utterly clear and bright, piercing right through me. I found the gaze so burdensome that I turned my head away. Out the window, the figures of merchants heading for other regions and visitors queued in lines drifted slowly past.
Zhuge Yeong-yu's voice rang out from behind me.
"You are truly a fascinating person, Great Hero."
Counting the heads of the people outside, I replied,
"So, who exactly is this person we're meeting today? We're at the threshold of Chang'an; don't you think it's time you told me?"
I heard Zhuge Yeong-yu laugh. It was a deflating little laugh, a puff of breath exhaled.
"It's confidential."
"Thorough to the end, I see."
"It's for the great undertaking; please understand."
I was genuinely curious who he was bringing me to meet like this. But now that we'd arrived in Chang'an, I decided not to press further. It wouldn't do to leave the impression that I was a bothersome man who couldn't wait a few more steps.
******
There are many mansions in Chang'an. The place we arrived at was on the rather modest side among them. The buildings visible before me numbered about three, two of which were single-story structures. The three buildings were enclosed by low walls, giving the impression of a farm stockade.
Patrolling the perimeter wall were several rough-looking men armed with weapons. Each of them looked to have some decent skill, but they boasted a gait and movement that were somewhat foreign to martial artists of the martial world.
Of course, this was a common sight in Chang'an. Honored guests passed through the heart of Shaanxi so often that the mansions of Chang'an always had foreign swordsmen loitering about. I followed Zhuge Yeong-yu out of the carriage.
Zhuge Yeong-yu, who had loosened up just moments before, grew tense again in front of the mansion and kept stealing glances at me. He exchanged a few words with the men guarding the place, then said to me,
"Please wait just a moment. I must go and send word that we have arrived."
"Understood."
While he went inside the mansion, I decided to speculate on the person's identity. But since he'd said it was a woman around our age, I couldn't get a firm grasp at all. Who could it be? Was he introducing me to the finest gisaeng in Chang'an? Or perhaps another peak master of our generation with formidable martial arts?
It didn't matter who it was. Whatever form it took, expanding the points of contact between people was always beneficial for my great undertaking. I squared my shoulders and, stretched taut with anticipation, waited to see whom Zhuge Yeong-yu would reveal.
After a short wait, the door opened and Zhuge Yeong-yu walked out. He swept his gaze around the vicinity with rigid alertness, then approached me and spoke.
"From this moment on, you must not mention the person you are about to meet inside to anyone."
"...Understood."
Who on earth could it be? Watching Zhuge Yeong-yu assume such gravity, I grew even more taut with tension and moved with him.
The moment I stepped inside the mansion grounds, the posture of the guards shifted. Rigidly tense, they scrutinized my every step, and I could see them stiffen whenever I moved my hands. Zhuge Yeong-yu walked a few paces ahead of me with his hands clasped, and I, taking the hint, clasped my hands as well.
Once inside the mansion, a room before me was veiled by a beaded curtain. Beyond the beads, the silhouette of a woman was visible, her two eyes shining distinctly with a blue light. Zhuge Yeong-yu lowered his stance and knelt as he spoke.
"This child of the Zhuge clan, Zhuge Yeong-yu, humbly comes before Her Highness the Princess, together with the Crimson Ring Sect's Sect Leader Docheol."
Princess?
'Princess?'
'The imperial household's Princess?'
I lowered my stance a beat late, and the woman raised a hand as she spoke.
"Lift the curtain. To greet the hero who has delivered Shaanxi from a pernicious mob with my face veiled by this thing—that would be discourteous."
At her words, the sound of the curtain being lifted could be heard. There must have been other attendants inside the room. A crystalline voice drifted over my head. She was using a lofty, imperious tone, but her cadence was slow and pleasing to the ear.
"Raise your head."
I raised my head as bidden. Purple hair and blue eyes. A slightly broad forehead and sharp, three-white eyes. She looked me over, then nodded and spoke thus:
"Are you Docheol, Sect Leader of the Crimson Ring Sect? I heard you performed a great deed this time, and so I wished very much to meet you."