The Reason for Trust - 3
Damp.
Perhaps the single best word to describe Cheongho.
Before the sun rose, Cheongho was always a city wreathed in thick mist. Vast and deep though it was, when the heavy vapor billowing from Cheongho—the lake where, legend claimed, a dragon dwelled—settled over Cheongho Fortress City, its people would slowly open their eyes. Then, roused by the moisture clinging to their skin, they would gather themselves and begin the morning's work.
Places swallowed whole by that dense fog were hardly fit for going out, even as a figure of speech. And yet the people of Cheongho never wished to leave. They all knew, after all, that even mist this thick was nothing more than the opening act of a day.
When the sun—the most diligent of climbers—began its ascent, its strong rays set about pleasantly drying the town that Cheongho's mist had soaked through. The children on their way to the village school squinted and scrunched their faces against the light glinting off the glittering wet streets, but not one of them disliked Cheongho.
And so, stepping into this place of people who lived with pride in the land that sustained them, the very first words I heard from the very first person I met were quite memorable.
"This is rigged!!"
...Looks like he lost his money at the Cheongho carriage races.
Even in Cheonsang Myeongwol, such people were a common sight in Cheongho Fortress City. He had probably put his money on the night races, where the payout multipliers ran high.
As he passed by, choking back tears as he flung his tiles—now no different from kindling—onto the ground, Chae Jin, perched atop the carriage, giggled.
"It's one of Cheongho's famous attractions."
"What amazes me is that anyone counts that as an attraction at all."
Casinos—no, even the racetracks alone were full of people like that.
Watching some grumble and others rejoice as they headed off to work, I flicked the reins.
"So, um, where are you headed? I know a decent inn."
"Might I impose on you?"
"Of course. Go straight on from here."
She had settled naturally into the seat beside mine, and now stretched her arm out to point the way. The inn we arrived at was, quite literally, one for which the word ordinary was the best possible description.
"Cha Mo!!"
When we drew up before the inn, a servant guided the horse and carriage into an empty spot. Chae Jin hopped lightly down from the carriage and strode confidently inside.
"Oh my? Young Miss Chae?"
The one to greet her was a dignified middle-aged proprietress who looked to be in her early-to-mid fifties. Beaming, she pulled Chae Jin into an embrace, hiding none of her delight.
"And here I heard you've been busy these days? Where on earth have you been wandering off to??"
"Hehe. Busy with this and that."
"And this beside you would be...?"
The proprietress called Cha Mo looked back and forth between Chae Jin and me. Then she snapped her fingers and began to grin.
At that grin, Chae Jin shook her head in a fluster.
"It's not like that?!"
"I never said a word, did I?"
With that sly retort, she gave the shoulders of a puffing-cheeked Chae Jin a few pats, then bowed her head to me.
"Welcome. I'm Cha Mo, owner of the Cheongho Soma Inn."
"The pleasure is mine. Yu Wol, innkeeper of the Seomhwa Village Inn."
"An innkeeper...? My, my. I never imagined I'd be hosting an innkeeper from another town. Well then. A meal? A drink? Or perhaps..."
"Something simple for the meal. No drink for me. And I'd like lodging as well, if I may."
"Of course. Just a moment, won't you?"
Cha Mo stomped off toward the kitchen with such heavy footfalls that I half expected to hear them thundering through the walls. The inn wasn't a large one—and perhaps for that very reason, its owner doubled as the cook.
Once we had ordered and taken our seats, Chae Jin smiled awkwardly.
"Cha Mo was the maidservant who served me."
"No wonder you two seemed close. But why did she give up service and take over an inn here?"
"Hmm..."
Chae Jin smiled wryly.
"Cha Mo became an innkeeper because of me."
Had something gone wrong?
A maidservant leaving a household she had served well usually meant only one thing: she had committed some fault. Curious, I asked—and she answered without hiding a thing.
"She bet everything she had on my first Cheongho carriage race and won a fortune... Almost no one back then predicted I would take the championship."
"...Ah."
So betting against the favorite really doesn't betray you, huh.
She hit a jackpot that big and bought an inn? Now that's impressive.
"In any case, she took over the inn after that, and thanks to her, I often stay here whenever I come to Cheongho."
"You don't stay at home?"
"Hehe. I find other places more to my liking than home."
I had seen cases like this before. Hating one's home—or hating the people in it. People for whom the house that should have been their refuge had grown more uncomfortable than the world outside were never hard to find. If Chae Jin was one of them, there was nothing particularly wrong with that.
"Still, don't stay out overnight. It wears on the body."
"For a master of my caliber, it's no trouble at all?"
Just then—she must have finished cooking already—Cha Mo emerged, a large tray balanced in her broad hands. Out came thin noodles piled high with meat, along with dumplings and five-spice pork: Cheongho's local specialties.
Once we had filled our stomachs somewhat, Chae Jin sipped her tea and asked.
"So why did you come to Cheongho? Just an official request? Or..."
"There is an official request, but I also have someone I need to meet. Cha Mo, a question for you. A chef of medicinal cuisine who retired from the Imperial Palace—a woman called Yohwan. I hear she's been staying in Cheongho. Would you happen to know her?"
"Anyone in this trade around Cheongho knows her. It's been over half a year since old Yohwan arrived. Every inn, tavern, and restaurant in the area was falling over itself to hire her—and then one day, it all just stopped."
"There's someone like that? No, wait—how did you know that?"
"The Hao Gate told me."
It was something I'd heard some time ago over drinks with Ha-no, branch head of the Hao Gate in Yangwi Fortress. Around last year, it seemed, the Imperial Palace's Grand Chef had retired, and the chefs who had served under him were replaced wholesale. Of course, the vast majority of them were snapped up by renowned families or restaurants near the capital—but one of the exceptions, I'd been told, was staying in Cheongho.
In Cheonsang Myeongwol, one could win the aid of people with stories like these through events, and Sa Yun had been no exception. Yohwan, the woman I had come to meet now, was one such person. If you built a rapport with her through those events, she would cook dishes that raised your physical abilities whenever you brought her specific ingredients. There were a few more events besides, tied to her affiliation. I didn't know whether things would unfold the same way here... but either way, I had to try everything I could, didn't I?
And if I could treat not only Sa Yun but the disciples of the Hongseong Sect to her cooking, raising their physical abilities bit by bit, it would surely prove a great help when I thought of what lay ahead. After all, even specks of dust, gathered together, become a mountain.
"So? Where is she, then?"
To Chae Jin's question, Cha Mo answered as if it were nothing.
"You'll find her at the Cheongho Carriage Racecourse?"
We finished our meal and set off at once. The racecourse was not so far from where we had eaten that walking was impossible. And perhaps because Cheongho lay within Moon Lotus Pavilion's territory, people bowed or stepped aside at the sight of Chae Jin in her pavilion's dress, making our way through the bustling city anything but difficult.
"Ooh. That looks delicious, doesn't it?"
"It does."
"Wow, look at that! Isn't that incredible? The monkey's breaking its chains!"
"Incredible."
"...What a reaction."
"What reaction do you want me to have to a sight like that...? Yangwi Fortress has plenty of the same sort of thing."
And so, gawking at the sights along the way, we arrived at the Cheongho Carriage Racecourse. A broad dirt road ran along the outside of the enormous building. A short-distance race appeared to be underway, for the crowd was roaring, clutching their betting tiles.
"Run! Thunderbolt!"
"I've bet everything I have on you!! Black Gale!!"
They say a gambling den is the finest place to observe human desire, and it was true: most of the crowd at the Cheongho racecourse had eyes gone feverish with dreams of overnight riches. Of course, they were not the only ones there. Among the murim folk, a few seemed to have simply come to watch. When a man in Taoist robes came into view among them, some of the gamblers grumbled.
"Tch. Why would a Taoist come to a place like this?"
Chae Jin stole a glance in that direction, and I shrugged.
"For Taoists and monks, I doubt there's a finer training ground than this."
"Huh? Why?"
"It is said that human desire lies buried within, difficult to draw out into the open. But the madness of desire in this place is by no means small—even one swept up in it while training could come face to face with their own desires with ease, could they not?"
Just as what cannot be seen cannot be severed, once it has been seen, one need only cut it away. For those who cultivated the Dao by casting off their desires one by one, was a bottomless pit of desire like this not, in fact, a splendid training ground?
"Oh. Now that's an interesting opinion."
"It is indeed. Quite an interesting opinion."
That startled me.
A voice other than Chae Jin's had joined in. I turned to find a hale and vigorous old woman, her hair white as snow. The striking thing was that her left eye was covered by a black eyepatch.
"A pleasure to meet you."
So I offered her a cupped-fist salute, and caught a flicker of surprise light her one eye.
"I'm called Yu Wol, innkeeper of the Seomhwa Village Inn. Would you be the chef in question? If you're willing, might you consider working at my inn?"
She—Yohwan, the very person I had come to meet—shook her head, as though telling me to spare her the nonsense. But only for a moment. Then she broke into a crafty grin and produced a set of gambling tiles from her robes.
"Ha. Truth be told, it looks like I'm about to come into some money, and I've no mind to work under anyone. But you've told me an interesting story, so I'll give you a chance. Beat me, and I'll work with you. How about it?"
"Very well."
This, too, had happened in the event. I nodded with a smile, and she led Chae Jin and me around to the side of the racecourse, where she laid her tiles out atop a large crate as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Now. Draw."
"Does whoever draws the highest tile win?"
Instead of answering Chae Jin's question, I drew a tile. An eight. Considering ten was the highest, it wasn't bad. Seeing it, Yohwan grinned and reached out her hand—
—and just as I moved to do the same, Chae Jin got there first, seizing Yohwan's hand with an expression gone ice-cold.
"Your companion has a sharp eye. A lover of yours?"
"Th—that's not...! But regardless! This is cheating! You cheat!"
Concealed in Yohwan's seized hand was a hidden tile. Worth nine points. It seemed her trick could not slip past the keen eyes of a master like Chae Jin.
"Exposing this was the contest all along, Young Miss of Moon Lotus Pavilion."
That's right. Yohwan had never once said the contest was about drawing the highest tile. Chae Jin had simply leaped to that conclusion on her own.
"In any case, that means I've won, doesn't it? Young Miss Chae is on my side, after all."
I had expected her to resist. We had settled the contest, after all—and though I had known of the trick, it was Chae Jin who exposed it.
But Yohwan didn't seem to care either way.
"Ahh, fine. I was growing sick of this place anyway. I'd been thinking that if someone from another town came to hire me, I'd go."
So that must be why, in Cheonsang Myeongwol too, she had accepted Sa Yun's offer and taken the bet.
"Ah. Before that."
She drew tiles from her pouch. Gazing at them as though they were something dear to her, she smirked.
"Since we'll be working together, let me treat you all with these. Hehe. I just placed a bet on rock-solid information. If it pays out, it's a jackpot!"
Laughing in high spirits, Yohwan led us toward the track. The race had already begun, and as several carriages tore recklessly around the course, she clutched her tiles and trembled. And then, a single carriage crossed the finish line.
"Ah... ahhh..."
So this is how a person comes apart.
Slumped lifelessly in her chair, burned utterly white, she let the tile drop from her fingers. I picked it up to check: the carriage she had bet on had come in fourth.
"A d-draw... call it a draw, please..."
Listening to her murmur like a soul leaving its body, I shook my head. As if that were going to happen.
"Come along. Tonight, you lodge under my roof."
Just then, the crowd began to drain away like an ebbing tide. Murmurs rippled through them. And out from among them came a woman I knew well—dressed in the garb of Moon Lotus Pavilion's inner disciples, with sharp, venomous eyes that the word viperous fit to a tee.
"...Chae Jeok-yo."
Chae Jeok-yo. Chae Jin's cousin, and one of the inner disciples backed by Byeokroemun, a subordinate sect of Moon Lotus Pavilion. A woman who, like Chae Ryeon, had her eye on the seat of eldest disciple. And one of the antagonists who appeared in Chae Ryeon's main story.
"Hmmm... So this is where you were. And look—the eldest disciple who ran away from home is here too?"
At the sneer in her voice, Chae Jin's eyes narrowed dangerously. The woman smiled haughtily at her, then held out a hand to Yohwan.
"I've heard all about it. Lost big this time, didn't you? Now then. No choices left for you, is there? Time to head along to Moon Lotus Pavilion."
"Uuuuugh..."
Yohwan, moaning like a corpse, slowly came back to herself and shot the woman a glance.
"I'd bite off my tongue and die before serving under you."
"Hehe. But you've nowhere to go, do you?"
"Who says I've nowhere to go? This man came from Seomhwa Village to hire me."
At that, Chae Jeok-yo whipped her head around to look at me. My lukewarm response to a gaze that would have run me through on the spot, had she been holding something sharp, drew a scoff from her.
And then—
"So it's you?"
"It is."
"Do you know who that woman is?"
"I do."
"Her record of service in the Imperial Palace? Ahaha! Ahh. So you're not murim, are you? Hehe. In that case, there may be things you don't know, beyond that."
Yohwan's face darkened in an instant. Her grip tightened on her chair, the old woman's bony hands turning white.
"That woman is a defrocked nun of the Emei Sect."
A defrocked nun. A monk or nun stripped of their standing for violating the precepts. Short of committing a truly grave sin, such a punishment was never handed down. And yet, being a defrocked nun was reason enough to be shunned—which was why Chae Jeok-yo wore such a triumphant face.
So I answered.
"I know."
"That's right!! So... wait, what?"
Yes. I know.
I knew why Yohwan had been defrocked, and why, even so, the Emei Sect had merely barred her from returning and cast her out. I knew that the Emei Sect—an order of nuns based in Sichuan—had proclaimed before the Murim Alliance that any faction that laid a hand on her should be prepared for their enmity. I knew that if a power outside the murim took Yohwan in, they would earn no hostility from Emei so long as they caused no trouble. I knew that Yohwan still kept in regular contact with the Emei Sect through the Courier Gate. And I knew, too, how vital Yohwan and the Emei Sect would be in our scenario.
"Anyone who cares to know already knows all this. It's hardly some great secret. Even the Hao Gate—unorthodox faction that they are—knew of it."
Silence settled over us. Chae Jeok-yo, Yohwan, and Chae Jeok-yo's underlings alike. All of them stood rooted to the spot, mouths agape, unable to utter a word. Only Chae Jin, for some reason, kept nodding along, looking rather proud of herself.