Dragon-Phoenix Gathering (3)
Dragon-Phoenix Gathering (3)
The carriage bound for Hubei Province lurched and rattled uneasily. When I opened the window and looked out from the middle of the mountain path, carriages were moving along roads that branched like a web of veins. Every one of them was heading to watch or take part in the Dragon Phoenix Gathering. Watching those tiny figures creep along roads that split like a tripod's legs, it felt like looking down at a hunting map or a military formation—the sight alone stole my breath.
"Docheol. Look over there. We absolutely have to stop there on our way back!"
Seon-go's eyes sparkled, and she never seemed to tire. She had never traveled this far before, having grown up entirely within the walls of the Crimson Ring Sect. The joy of encountering new things stirred her heart far more than the fatigue of the strenuous long-distance journey.
I patted her hip—she was kneeling and looked ready to leap right out of the carriage—and said,
"It's dangerous if you stick your head out that far. Sit down. Are you really having that much fun?"
"Yes!"
Her answer came at once, voice breathless with excitement, face flushed. Seeing her express joy so openly like a child, I wondered if I should have taken her for a stroll around the neighborhood first. I glanced around; the people from the Zhuge Family and the Embroidered Uniform Guard contingent were all grinning broadly, watching us.
On a long, dreary journey, one lively spirit loosens the whole mood. I stroked Seon-go's head as I asked the man traveling alongside us,
"How much further do we have to go?"
"We have to reach Wuhan. It will still take quite some time."
From Shaanxi, Wuhan lay at the far edge of Hubei Province. It was a much greater distance than I had imagined, so the Zhuge Family's elaborate arrangements were starting to make more sense. If they hadn't moved people out this thoroughly, I would have already run into my friends from the Green Forest at least three times.
"Is Hero Yeong-yu waiting for us there, then?"
"That is correct. Since he is formally invited to the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, going back and forth between Longzhong and Shaanxi seemed a bit burdensome for him. He was disappointed he couldn't come along himself."
"...I would have been more burdened if he had come."
Think about it—a man who lives in Hubei, with an event in Hubei, was going to travel all the way to Shaanxi just to join me, only to turn right back around? If that had happened, I would have ditched Yeong-yu and run. The man laughed loudly at my words.
"Hahaha! Put that way, you're right. Sir Yeong-yu is so fond of jokes—that must have been a joke in the Zhuge Family style."
That was a pretty brutal joke. Amusing yourself by burdening someone else. Truly, a family born with a silver spoon that had monopolized offices like Chancellor had its own peculiar approach to humor.
"The sun is setting, so it seems we can stop and rest at the village ahead. Time-wise, we have plenty of leeway."
We had deliberately built slack into our schedule. I had no reason to tighten it, so I quietly went along with whatever the man suggested. The leisurely pace was perfect for Seon-go's sightseeing too, so I had no complaints at all.
"Docheol! Look at this! There's a huge tree."
Seon-go was excited, like a tourist, peering into every corner of the village. The sight of her leaning from her chair, neck craning out like a pole, was so adorable that I firmly pressed the crown of her head with my hand and said,
"Is it that amazing?"
"Yes!"
Just as we were about to tour the village like that, the man suddenly called out and stopped us.
"Great Hero, would you mind waiting a moment?"
Seon-go, sitting in her wheeled chair, clutched the armrests, heart pounding. When he abruptly stopped us, her expression showed a peculiar mix of disappointment and anxiety. The man scratched his head and then pointed at the other carriages across the village.
"It seems best to postpone our stroll. Do you see those carriages over there?"
I followed the man's gaze and checked the carriages. They were painted black with the Chinese character for "eight" (八) written large on them.
"Oh, that's tacky."
Even by my standards, that carriage's color scheme was tacky. Who exactly rode around in a carriage like that? Painted black, making it gloomy; contrasted with white, giving it the feel of a funeral bier; with strange gilding in places, making it downright grotesque.
As the criticism inadvertently spilled out of my mouth, the man flinched. He looked around, then lowered his voice and said,
"Those bastards over there. It's the carriage of the Eight Trigrams Association (八角會), famous in Hubei Province."
"The Eight Trigrams Association? What kind of guys are they?"
From the name alone, they sounded like some kind of gangster group. But would the Zhuge Family have any reason to care about a mere gangster group? Even in Shaanxi, the Zhuge Family's name carried weight. Yet here, in their home territory of Hubei, if the Zhuge Family was keeping its distance, they couldn't be just any ordinary bunch.
"It's a sort of social group formed by a clique of young masters. But they're all warriors of outstanding skill, so the Murim Alliance backs them. However, their behavior is arrogant and domineering, and they cause so much trouble that everyone hates getting entangled with them."
It wasn't that people shunned them out of fear of the mess; it was that the mess itself was dirty. It felt less like their power was fearsome and more that getting involved with them would invite scandal and gossip. But that alone was a little hard to fathom. Guys that notorious for causing trouble were still roaming around unchecked?
"Wait, if they're masters, aren't they scions of prestigious houses? Are their parents just standing by while their own children stir up trouble?"
"The thing is, every last one of them is a reclusive master of unknown origins. They've been thick as thieves since childhood—their loyalty to each other runs deep, their temperaments feed off each other, so self-correction never happens, and with no elders around, there's no one to rein them in."
"Even so, wouldn't they listen if someone at the level of an elder from another sect had a word with them?"
"At the elder level, no one is interested in these problems. They only care about their own training or how to make their own sect grow larger. The large sects with the power to speak up would rather have a mutually beneficial relationship with the Eight Trigrams Association, and the smaller sects, intimidated by the Association's backing from the Murim Alliance, dare not even open their mouths."
If Zhongnan Sect acted like the king of Shaanxi, in Hubei it seemed the Eight Trigrams Association was the one throwing its weight around. But unlike in Shaanxi, the Zhuge Family had a strong tradition of self-policing—so why hadn't they laid a hand on the Eight Trigrams Association?
"Hero Yeong-yu just lets such men roam around?"
"The Hero alone can't do anything. The Eight Trigrams Association bastards number eight men, ranging from first-rate to peak masters. To simply press them down by force would be a headache, and the Zhuge Family also doesn't want such major friction erupting in Hubei Province. Even if the Eight Trigrams Association causes trouble, since they aren't running around committing full-scale crimes, some people dismiss it as mere hot-bloodedness."
They were more formidable than I had thought.
First-rate to peak masters—that was the level of direct disciples of each sect. For eight such men to pop up from somewhere, band together, and run wild as they pleased was nothing short of a calamity for Hubei Province. And on top of that, these walking disasters had the Murim Alliance at their backs? If it were me, I would have moved away just to avoid the sight of them.
"Is that the reason Hero Yeong-yu comes to Shaanxi more often than Hubei? Because he can't stand the sight of those bastards?"
"...The Eight Trigrams Association doesn't carry on so utterly beyond the pale. From the Zhuge Family's standpoint, it's a level they can ignore if they choose to. If they had been that noisy, they would have been branded unorthodox long ago. More than that, the reason Hero Yeong-yu frequently visits Shaanxi territory is...."
The man stopped there, shaking his head. Then he looked at me and spoke again,
"It's nothing. What great reason could there be? The main reasons are the stability of the martial world and the peace of the realm. Anyway, the Eight Trigrams Association is one troublesome bunch once you get entangled with them. Their drinking habits are foul, they're always singing and shouting at the top of their lungs, and if they see a pretty woman, they're busy making improper advances."
I looked at Seon-go. The more she heard about the Eight Trigrams Association, the more her face crumpled, until finally she went pale and murmured to me,
"They sound like that man."
"That man" referred to the former Sect Leader of the Crimson Ring Sect. It seemed he, too, had foul drinking habits, was always singing and shouting, and was fond of making improper advances toward pretty women. Normally, learning a different side of a dead man can cast his image in a new light.
Yet even after reconstructing his character day after day with new information, the man who rose to the position of Sect Leader never turned out to be anything but the dregs of humanity.
The man said,
"Even if a quarrel does start, it won't escalate into a major incident. You, Great Hero, are the Zhuge Family's guest, and the Eight Trigrams Association knows well enough that being at odds with the Zhuge Family is troublesome. But still, you came in good spirits to travel—wouldn't it sour your mood just the same to get tangled up with such ruffians? I think it would be best for today to simply rest comfortably at the inn, and take your time sightseeing where those bastards aren't around."
Seon-go tugged at the hem of my clothes.
"Let's do that, Docheol. I don't want to go near people like that either."
"That sounds best."
I nodded. It wasn't solely for Seon-go's sake.
After such a long journey, I was simply tired and wanted to rest soundly at the inn.
I asked the man,
"By the way, are those bastards going to the Dragon Phoenix Gathering too?"
"Well, they have the skill, and since they're the ones the Murim Alliance is backing, they were formally invited."
I'd be running into them there again.
Perhaps reading my discomfort from my expression, the man said,
"Don't worry. Why would there be much cause to get entangled? Even those fellows won't cause a disturbance at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering."