Bonds of Fate (1)
Hongyeonru.
The place Kang Yeon and Jo Seol had arrived at was a wine house standing in the heart of Hangzhou’s bustling streets. It was one of the city’s oldest taverns, and even now a steady stream of patrons flowed in and out through its doors.
“Wow? This place hasn’t changed a bit. Look at all the customers.”
Jo Seol tilted her head as she looked the tavern over.
“The craftsman you said you’d meet is here?”
“Yeah. He told me to wait for him here, so probably.”
“He told you to wait?? Since when?”
Kang Yeon furrowed his brow a little and scratched at his cheek with one finger.
“Dunno? I don’t really remember.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I just told him that someday I’d come back to Hangzhou, so he should go wait for me.”
Kang Yeon ambled toward Hongyeonru without a care in the world. Jo Seol hurried after him. The moment they reached the entrance, a waiter immediately recognized Jo Seol.
“Is that not Miss Seol? What brings you to Hongyeonru?”
Kang Yeon thought to himself that Jo Seol must be rather well-known. As it turned out, he was right—Jo Seol was quite famous along the streets of Hangzhou. Or more accurately, she was popular. Among the waitresses who worked the inns and wine houses of the city, Jo Seol was admired for both her remarkable skill and her beauty.
“Ah… my older brother said he had someone to meet here, so I came along.”
The waiter glanced at Kang Yeon and tilted his head.
“Your older brother?”
“Yes, my older brother. The one who left home a long time ago.”
Kang Yeon flashed the waiter a grin.
“Think of me as the prodigal son returned, if you would.”
The waiter snorted a laugh and stepped aside.
“Then please, come inside.”
Kang Yeon and Jo Seol stepped into the wine house. A wave of lively noise and chatter washed over them at once.
“Ahh… this is more like it.”
Kang Yeon drew a deep breath. The sheer vitality radiating from so many people seemed to wake every cell in his body. He had truly missed this air, this atmosphere, through all the long years.
“But Oppa, where’s the person you’re supposed to meet?”
“He’s around somewhere.”
“Huh? Then how are you going to find him?”
Kang Yeon grinned and stirred his internal energy.
“Like this?”
Qi flowed out from his body and filled the entire wine house. The control was so refined that ordinary people never even noticed. Jo Seol herself felt nothing of the energy he had released.
“Um? Like what?”
Kang Yeon smiled gently.
“There’s a way. The reaction should be coming any moment now.”
He glanced around, then broke into a grin.
“There he is. Let’s go, Seol-ah.”
“Where? Who? What on earth are you talking about?”
Kang Yeon started toward one side of the wine house.
“So this is where you were?”
Jo Seol, trailing after him, looked at the person he had addressed. Seated in the most secluded corner of the tavern was a slender man. He wore ordinary scholar’s robes, yet his face was pale, as if he were unwell.
With a soft rustle of cloth, the pale-faced man looked up at Kang Yeon.
“You’re early.”
“Ah… sorry. Though I don’t think I ever said I’d come early… I just told you to wait.”
“Most people don’t tell someone to wait if they’re going to be this late.”
Kang Yeon gave a quiet snort of laughter.
“You didn’t have anywhere else to go anyway. And Hangzhou’s a pretty decent place to wait, isn’t it?”
“That’s true enough. If Hangzhou hadn’t offered its own diversions, I would have left long ago instead of waiting.”
The pale-faced man flicked a glance at Jo Seol.
“And who is this lovely young lady?”
Kang Yeon flinched and stepped in front of Jo Seol.
“You don’t need to know.”
Jo Seol peeked out from behind him and spoke up.
“Hello? I’m Seol, Yeon Oppa’s younger sister.”
“Oh? Miss Seol, is it? But Yeon, did you have a sister?”
Kang Yeon shrugged.
“I do. She’s standing right in front of you.”
“I see. Well, I never did know all that much about you.”
Jo Seol turned to Kang Yeon.
“How do you two know each other? And what’s his name?”
The pale-faced man made an elegant little gesture as he answered.
“My name is Dan U-ryeong. Young Master Yeon and I share the kind of bond where we live only because we failed to kill each other.”
“Excuse me??”
Jo Seol’s expression went blank.
“U-ryeong, stop saying useless things.”
At Kang Yeon’s words, Dan U-ryeong broke into a grin.
“Haha! Only a joke. Yeon and I crossed paths once and traveled the martial world together for a short while.”
“Ah~ so you knew each other from the Murim.”
Curiosity filled Jo Seol’s eyes as she looked at Kang Yeon. He spoke to her before she could press further.
“Don’t get too excited just because I said ‘traveled the Murim.’ It was nothing special, so lose that curious look.”
“Hmm… I’ll ask you later, so you have to tell me. What you were doing all that time.”
Kang Yeon shrugged and turned back to Dan U-ryeong.
“More importantly—are you busy?”
“Busy? Hardly. I’ve just been sitting here every day waiting.”
“Even so, with your skills, people wouldn’t have left you alone.”
Dan U-ryeong shrugged.
“Well… I only worked just enough so I wouldn’t starve.”
“Still as lazy as ever.”
“Lazy? That’s a harsh thing to say in front of a lovely young lady.”
Kang Yeon let out a quiet laugh.
“It’s the truth.”
“Ahem… I have no idea what you mean. I am diligence and sincerity itself.”
“Then from now on you can prove it.”
Dan U-ryeong’s eyes lit up.
“Oh? So you have a request for me?”
“Yeah. It’s been a while—show us what you can do.”
“Heh heh… you do know how expensive it is to hire this body of mine, right?”
Kang Yeon looked at him as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Save that line for other people. You know it doesn’t work on me.”
“Tch… still the same. Fine. So what grand thing are you planning to build this time?”
“Nothing big this time. Just a simple job—repair a small inn for me.”
Dan U-ryeong let out a dry laugh.
“You intend to use this body of mine for mere inn repairs?”
“Mere? I said the scale is simple, not that you should hold back. I need your absolute best.”
“Oh? Is that so? Well, I have built an inn once before.”
Kang Yeon already had a good idea which inn that was.
“Ilyeong Inn?”
“You recognized it at a glance, as expected.”
“As far as I know, no one else has that level of skill.”
“Even so, I threw that one together. My own hands barely touched it.”
Kang Yeon clapped Dan U-ryeong on the shoulder.
“Well done. From now on, pour every last drop of your soul into our inn.”
“All right. Where is it? I’ll get some things ready and head over.”
“It’s called the West Lake Number One Inn. About a hundred paces east of here. I’ll mark it so you can find it.”
Dan U-ryeong shrugged.
“Understood. Looks like I’ll finally get to stretch myself after all this time.”
Having met Dan U-ryeong, Kang Yeon and Jo Seol stepped back out of the wine house. The moment they were outside, Jo Seol began firing questions at him.
“Oppa, what does Young Master Dan even do? From the way he built Ilyeong Inn, he doesn’t sound like an ordinary craftsman. And how do the two of you know each other?”
Kang Yeon glanced at her with a sly smile.
“If you want answers, there are rules.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does here. If you don’t like it, don’t ask.”
Jo Seol bit her lip.
“Honestly, you haven’t changed one bit from the old days.”
“People who change die, don’t they?”
“Tch… fine, what are the rules?”
Kang Yeon grinned and covered his mouth with a finger.
“One question per day. And for every answer you get, you have to do one thing I tell you.”
“Ugh… you’re not going to make me do anything weird, are you?”
“Why would I?? Why bother??”
Jo Seol bristled.
“Anyway! If you tell me to do something weird, I’m not doing it. Just so you know.”
“Yes, yes. So what’s your first question?”
Jo Seol put on a carefully considered expression before she spoke.
“What does Young Master Dan do?”
Typical Jo Seol. She had sensed that Kang Yeon was reluctant to talk about his past, so she asked about Dan U-ryeong instead.
“Dan U-ryeong is a descendant of the Divine Device Sect.”
“The Divine Device Sect? What’s that?”
Kang Yeon grinned.
“One question per day.”
“Hey!! That’s not fair!”
“Oh? Listen to how you’re talking to your big brother.”
Jo Seol fumed, her cheeks puffed out in frustration. Kang Yeon looked at her and snorted a laugh.
“That’s why you should have phrased your question carefully. Too many openings. Lots of openings.”
“Ugh… this is driving me crazy. Just what did you do out there to turn into this kind of person?”
“I’ll answer that one for free. I saved the world.”
Jo Seol stared at him as if she couldn’t believe her ears.
“Even jokes can go too far.”
Kang Yeon spoke right over her reaction.
“Anyway, I answered one question, so now you do one thing I tell you.”
“What is it? What are you going to make me do?”
Kang Yeon picked up his pace.
“I’ll tell you once we get back to the inn.”
Jo Seol scrambled after him, shouting,
“W-wait for me!!”
They cut through the crowded streets of Hangzhou and returned to the inn. Jo Hwan had clearly put some effort into cleaning; the once-filthy front of the building was now swept clean.
“Let’s go in.”
With a creak, Kang Yeon opened the door. Inside, Jo Hwan was diligently polishing the inn’s furnishings.
“Uncle, I already wiped all of those down.”
Jo Hwan kept polishing as he answered.
“I know. But it only feels properly cleaned once I’ve put my own hands on it, you know? More importantly—did you meet the craftsman?”
“Yes, we met him. He’ll probably start the repairs tomorrow.”
“Really? You actually managed to find a craftsman?”
Kang Yeon grinned.
“You could call him my personal craftsman.”
“Is that so? Who is he?”
“Someone I know a little.”
Jo Seol spoke up toward Jo Hwan.
“He’s a young master named Dan U-ryeong. He said he’s a descendant of the Divine Device Sect.”
“The Divine Device Sect??? Is that a Murim sect?? I’ve never heard of it.”
Jo Hwan was no expert on the martial world, but he had lived and worked for decades in Hangzhou, a city that drew every kind of person. Martial artists and gossips alike passed through the inn; after years of running a business, plenty of stories had drifted into his ears whether he paid attention or not.
“It’s no surprise you haven’t heard of them. They’re a sect that isn’t well known in the Murim.”
“Really? Then is his skill any good?”
When Jo Hwan looked a little worried, Kang Yeon smiled and answered,
“I guarantee his skill. You’ll have a hard time finding another craftsman of his caliber.”
Jo Seol spoke up as if she had been waiting for the chance.
“Dad, Young Master Dan also built Ilyeong Inn.”
“What? Really? Ilyeong Inn?”
Lately, Ilyeong Inn had become the most thriving establishment in Hangzhou. Its popularity rested on excellent food and fine wine, but the lavish appearance of the building itself had played a major part from the start.
Kang Yeon scratched his head.
“That’s what he said. Though… he claimed he just threw it together, so he’ll probably do an even better job repairing our inn.”
“Th-threw it together? Ilyeong Inn was thrown together?”
Jo Hwan’s face went blank.
“Yes. He said he was short on money, so he just took on a random job.”
“Heavens… if he’s that great a craftsman, we’ll have to pay him a fortune…”
“You don’t need to worry about that. We’ll cover the material costs, but the repairs themselves are free. Completely free.”
Jo Hwan tilted his head.
“Free? A craftsman that skilled is going to work without any pay?”
Kang Yeon curved his lips into a splendid smile and shrugged.
“Of course. After all, I’m the one who asked him.”