Back to Shaanxi
Back to Shaanxi
Maintaining a covert affair among martial artists with heightened Qi Senses was no easy matter, and having reached a certain level of martial accomplishment, remaining indefinitely in the sect was hardly proper either.
That said, we had yet to formally wed, and I could scarcely ask Hong Ye to teach me more of the Taiji Sect's secret teachings. Meetings brought partings, and to conceal our bond, we had to part at the right time.
That was why Hong Ye and I now stood facing each other before the main gate of the Taiji Sect, with several of its disciples emerging to see me off on my journey back.
In this setting, Hong Ye could not call me her husband, and I likewise could not call her my wife. At this moment of parting, when we most urgently wished to call each other by those names, we were realizing that the distance between master and disciple was greater than we had thought.
"Well then, I depart having learned well. Please convey my regards to the Grandmaster. I had intended to pay my respects in person, but I was told he is in closed-door training and not receiving visitors."
Hong Ye's eyes glistened as if she were on the verge of tears. But knowing this was no final parting and that we would meet again someday to formalize our marriage pledge, she resolutely held them back. Drawing a deep breath, she assumed the fist-and-palm salute and spoke.
"Understood. I shall pray that the great hero's journey is peaceful."
"You have been the finest teacher I have known since first setting foot in the martial world. I sincerely hope we will meet again."
Hong Ye smiled. The disciples of the sect standing behind her could not see that small, private grin. They wore indifferent expressions or clicked their tongues in regret over my departure, paying no attention to Hong Ye whatsoever.
Still smiling, Hong Ye said,
"We will certainly meet again. Are you not a fine martial artist, great hero? We may see each other at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering before you know it."
I laughed at her words. Now that I had grasped the basics of Taijiquan and diligently raised my martial arts level, perhaps I could go to the Dragon Phoenix Gathering as she suggested. It was not something to worry over at the moment, so I gave an appropriate reply.
"Then let us meet again when fate allows."
We exchanged farewells. Passersby on the street stole glances at the modest proceedings unfolding before the sect's gate. No sooner had the farewells ended than the sect disciples were already turning away, their manner brimming with eagerness to go back inside. Hong Ye, in contrast, stepped one pace forward and spoke.
"I will escort our guest to the gate and return. The rest of you, go on ahead."
Having said this, Hong Ye looked at me and gave a mischievous smile. There were too many eyes watching, and not much time. It pained me that I could not whisk her off to an inn.
The sect disciples were filled with nothing but delight at the prospect of going back quickly.
*******
"Now I will have to face those bastards alone. Will you truly be all right?"
I did not fold my arms. The rumors of the marketplace were a fearsome thing. Even if we merely walked holding hands, word would spread within days as far as Shaanxi that the Taiji Sect's direct disciple and the leader of the Crimson Ring Sect were courting. So we walked at a distance.
But even that distance was a touch closer than that of an ordinary master and disciple.
"What is there to worry about, husband?"
Startled by her words, I glanced around. A faint smile flickered across Hong Ye's face at my reaction, and she lowered her voice. Her tone was so soft I had to bend at the waist to hear.
"You, who told me you need not mind our surroundings — glancing about like this. It is amusing."
"I do it because I worry about you."
Hong Ye quickened her pace. The scenery of the Chengdu market, all reds and yellows, blurred. The street was tinted a pale orange, then returned to its original colors the moment Hong Ye came to a halt. In the distance, the main gate of Chengdu came into view.
We stood still before the gate and fell silent for a while. The sound of carts being hauled. Street hawkers calling out. A merchant bickering with a guard, and the clinking of wine cups from an inn.
What greeted us at the moment of parting were these everyday sounds. Hong Ye took one more step closer to my side. It was an awfully close distance for master and disciple. Still, it was not close enough to draw other people's attention.
"The Grandmaster had a message he wished me to pass on to you, husband."
"What did he say?"
Hong Ye spoke. Her expression was subtle.
"She said, 'I entrust her to you.'"
Had she overheard us? Or had she gleaned it from the atmosphere? There was no way Hong Ye had told her directly. The words "I entrust her to you" planted a curious question in my chest. Hong Ye seemed to feel the same. She tilted her head, and I stepped one pace forward.
The shadow of Chengdu's main gate, right on cue, cast a deep line. Hong Ye stood in the sunlight, one foot touching the shadow, watching me. I faced the rampart and looked at her.
A place full of people.
Hong Ye assumed the fist-and-palm salute.
I returned the gesture.
"Take care on your way."
"I will return without fail."
I turned around. Hong Ye stood rooted to that spot, watching me, until I passed through the main gate.
I would come back.
Because once I killed Venerable Geumbok, there would be nothing to hold me back.
*********
"That was a stunning piece of work."
In the first village beyond Chengdu, Zhuge Yeong-yu was waiting. He sat in an inn, picking up a dumpling to eat as he offered me his praise. I nodded and said,
"It was an easy matter for me."
I had said it was to keep Venerable Geumbok in check, but beyond that, I had gained much from this operation. I had obtained the means to access the Taiji Sect's secret teachings. Zhuge Yeong-yu held out a wine cup to me and said,
"I have heard that Jong Yuseop of the Zhongnan Sect has collapsed from internal injuries. With the man who served as Venerable Geumbok's operations chief out of the picture, Venerable Geumbok's schemes have been thrown into disarray."
The cause of those internal injuries — was it perhaps Hong Ye's letter of rejection? Judging by how she had disclosed the marriage proposal matter to me herself, it seemed she had settled things with Jong Yuseop some time ago.
"What a faint-hearted fellow. Collapsing from internal injuries because a woman turned him down."
At my words, Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded, a trace of laughter lingering on his face. He appeared to find the fact that Jong Yuseop had suffered internal injuries terribly amusing.
"Could you not see it as the depth of his love? It is simply laughable — the way these human-faced beasts who delight in wrecking other people's families go into convulsions when they lose their own love."
He was laughing, but his joke carried a sharp edge. Had Jong Yuseop been standing right in front of him, he would have jeered at the man and cut his head off. I looked at Zhuge Yeong-yu and said,
"So, since matters have concluded this favorably, there must be a next operation. What is the next plan?"
The top priority now was to crush Venerable Geumbok. The power base needed to defeat him had been assembled, and Venerable Geumbok was now facing the greatest crisis of his life.
This was the opportune moment to finish him off.
Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded and spoke.
"While you, great hero, were perfectly blocking the Zhongnan Sect's expansion plans, I used my people to dig into their communication network. With Jong Yuseop bedridden from his internal injuries, all their couriers were forced to stand by in one place, which made it easy to pinpoint their locations."
Zhuge Yeong-yu continued.
"Once Jong Yuseop recovers from his internal injuries, he will jump straight back into operations. He is a man who serves Venerable Geumbok with absolute devotion, and his need for recognition runs that deep."
His need for recognition from Venerable Geumbok was strong. And he was mentally fragile enough to suffer internal injuries from a single letter.
I frowned. A picture of some kind was forming in my mind.
Seeing my frown, Zhuge Yeong-yu tilted his head and said,
"Is there a problem?"
I shook my head for the time being. Then I posed a question to Zhuge Yeong-yu.
"...So, what is your plan for eliminating Jong Yuseop?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu clicked his tongue at my question and said,
"Several options are on the table, but I am still deliberating. For one thing, once Jong Yuseop dies, the Zhongnan Sect will kick up a storm. If we mishandle the job, the Murim Alliance will interfere, and that will spell trouble for us, still weak as we are. I am currently searching for a way that will not provoke the Murim Alliance's temper just yet..."
"I have a method."
There was a method. A way to kill that bastard Jong Yuseop without the Murim Alliance's reach ever touching us. Zhuge Yeong-yu's eyes widened at my words.
"You have a method?"
I placed my hand on the table. As I extended my hand, Zhuge Yeong-yu gave me a look of incomprehension. I looked him straight in the eye and said,
"Can you trust me? Will you do exactly as I say?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu appeared to deliberate for a moment, then nodded. He leaned back in his chair and looked at me, asking,
"What do you want?"
"Exactly what I said. Let me do as I wish. I will bring you Jong Yuseop's head."
Zhuge Yeong-yu blinked. He hesitated briefly, glanced around, then smiled again. Covering his mouth as he laughed, as if by habit, he raised his eyebrows and said,
"Things I had thought impossible, you have accomplished, great hero, as if they were nothing. But can you pull it off this time as well? With this ordinary head of mine, I truly cannot imagine what sort of plan you are hatching."
"Trust me."
Zhuge Yeong-yu still looked as if he were deliberating. But the playful way his eyes darted about and the smile lingering at the corners of his lips plainly showed that his heart was already leaning toward it. He drained the wine in his cup and said,
"Very well. I will trust you. So, what must I do now?"
I nodded and said,
"First, we must bide our time until the bastard recovers. And to know whether this operation will truly succeed, we need to investigate further into the relationship between Venerable Geumbok and Jong Yuseop."
Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded.
I needed time to return to Shaanxi as well, and see my own wife.