The Unpaid Price
Tang Gwi-ho, Vice Head of the Sichuan Tang Family.
Without the slightest warning, one of the highest-ranking figures of the Sichuan Tang Family had appeared.
Jeong-a furrowed her brows.
Through her Dragon Eyes she peered into him, yet she could read no hostility.
Neither, however, could she find any goodwill.
Even toward Tang Baek—who had waved and greeted him as if glad to see him after so long—there was nothing. Strange. Yet that was all she could discern.
His thoughts were curiously veiled, as if shrouded in fog, visible only as a blurred haze. At best she could vaguely sense the emotions he harbored.
Was he shielding his mind with some special technique, or with a precious artifact of some kind?
"Heh heh. Think of this as a reunion gift and accept it well."
"…"
Tang Baek, who made no secret of his wariness, gave no answer.
But Tang Gwi-ho paid Tang Baek’s reaction no mind at all.
When he flicked his sleeve, the daggers coated in lethal poison vanished from his hands as if they had never been there.
"Well then…"
His gaze turned to Jeong-a.
"Chief Maid Jeong-a, was it?"
Of course, she had never introduced herself.
"Inform your master that I have arrived."
"…What is your business?"
Jeong-a still had not taken her hand from the hilt of her sword.
The answer to that question came not from Tang Gwi-ho, but from behind her.
"Because the Sichuan Tang Family has yet to receive the price promised in its bargain with this First Young Master."
The one who revealed himself was Yeon So-hyeon, looking exactly as he always did.
His black silk-thread outer robe billowing, he spoke in that characteristic voice that bordered on brazen.
"You have come to oversee whether I am truly capable of paying that price in full, I presume."
He smiled toward Tang Gwi-ho.
"Is that not so, Vice Head?"
Jeong-a breathed a quiet sigh of relief within.
Her master, who had failed to complete a full cycle of energy circulation by ordinary means within the allotted time, had somehow succeeded in finishing it through a method she could scarcely comprehend. Thus he was able to present himself without a single flaw in his bearing.
"Heh heh heh."
Tang Gwi-ho, Vice Head of the Sichuan Tang Family, covered his mouth with his sleeve and laughed. At this hour I was certain he would still be circulating his energy… yet the First Young Master’s internal qi runs deeper than I expected.
His gaze, now fixed at last upon Yeon So-hyeon himself, gleamed with an almost clinical intensity, as though dissecting him.
Even without Jeong-a’s eyes, that naked curiosity would have been impossible to miss.
"'Oversee,' you say… what a chilly way to put it."
He wore a sly, almost bewitching smile.
"Heh heh. Shall we say instead that I have come simply to watch with my own eyes whether the contract will be properly fulfilled—and to witness the First Young Master’s exploits?"
First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had made a contract with the Sichuan Tang Family.
He would enable the Sichuan Tang Family to advance into Luoyang through the Valley of Sin, all while remaining beneath the Sword Family’s notice.
And that contract would be complete only after Yeon So-hyeon had taken full control of the Valley of Sin and the Sichuan Tang Family had successfully established its nest there.
"Come inside for now. I can hardly leave so valued a guest standing out here."
Yeon So-hyeon guided him toward the area set aside for receiving guests.
Jeong-a had started toward the Ironclad Fortress to fetch tea and tea implements when Tang Gwi-ho spoke after her.
"Chief Maid. I prefer wine to tea."
"…"
Jeong-a’s eyebrow twitched.
Calling for wine in a place that until moments ago had been a battlefield, a front line in all but name?
Tang Gwi-ho smiled with perfect composure.
"I took a little look around earlier. There is a small cellar below with jars of wine. Heh heh."
The meaning was plain.
Before he had been caught by Jeong-a’s Dragon Eyes, he had been freely roaming the interior of the forward base—where vigilance was at its peak because of the fighting. And that perimeter had been formed by the maid corps and Tang Baek’s subordinates, every one of them an internal-qi cultivator.
When Yeon So-hyeon nodded permission, Jeong-a bowed her head.
"I shall find it and bring it at once."
"If you cannot locate it, feel free to ask me anytime."
Tang Gwi-ho chuckled.
"Ah—but for someone like you, finding it should be trivial, no?"
Jeong-a ignored Tang Gwi-ho’s meaningful glance and withdrew.
In the modest reception room of the forward base, Tang Gwi-ho took a sip of the wine he had poured into a teacup, then spoke toward Jeong-a, who stood behind Yeon So-hyeon.
"Chief Maid. Would you mind giving us the room?"
His gently curved eyes narrowed a fraction.
"As far away as possible, if you would."
Behind Yeon So-hyeon, Tang Baek sat in a corner of the reception room, idly handling his chain sickles and staring at Tang Gwi-ho with undisguised hostility.
Even so, Tang Gwi-ho had singled out Jeong-a alone.
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
"Go inspect the outer perimeter of the base for a while."
Once Jeong-a had left, Tang Gwi-ho laughed with deliberate fussiness.
"My, thank you. Working in intelligence as I do, people with… special talents make me a touch uncomfortable."
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
He had always taken extreme care to keep Jeong-a’s abilities from being judged by outsiders. Tang Gwi-ho’s words were therefore only a guess—an attempt to probe, through Yeon So-hyeon, whether that guess was correct.
"My chief maid is particularly beautiful. More than enough to unsettle a man’s mind."
As expected of the First Young Master who devised a scheme of such colossal scale—he brushes aside even this shallow trick with ease.
A delighted smile deepened at the corners of Tang Gwi-ho’s mouth.
"Did the First Young Master know I would come in person?"
Yeon So-hyeon drank his tea and answered.
"I expected that once I sent the Tang Family proof that the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families of Mount Beimang had declared their intent to join, a high-ranking figure would appear…"
His gaze settled on Tang Gwi-ho.
"But I did not expect you so quickly. Might you already have been inside Luoyang?"
"Heh heh. Of course."
Tang Gwi-ho covered his mouth and laughed.
"We may be the Tang Family, but in the end we are still of Sichuan. And the whole Central Plains knows how short-tempered Sichuan folk can be, does it not?"
Yeon So-hyeon let the empty words wash past him while he ordered the situation in his mind.
He had come down from Mount Beimang, rescued the people of the forward base, and the very first moment he had a breath of leisure—that was when Tang Gwi-ho had shown himself.
And Tang Gwi-ho was the commander of the Shadow Unit, the intelligence corps that answered directly to the Tang Family Head.
What that meant was…
"The Tang Family scattered its shadows across Luoyang before the investment group that includes Daseonrang even left Sichuan."
Yeon So-hyeon continued.
"Did the decision to deploy the shadows come the very moment you accepted the contract with me?"
Clap, clap, clap. Tang Gwi-ho applauded with exaggerated flourish.
"As expected of the First Young Master! Precisely correct!"
Yeon So-hyeon found the overblown manner distasteful. First, let’s wipe that false smile off his face.
"And for the commander of the Shadow Unit—and Vice Head of the Sichuan Tang Family—to come in person…"
"That is how important entry into Luoyang is to our Tang Family."
Yeon So-hyeon offered a subtle smile.
"Appearing at this particular moment rather than any other can only mean you came to confirm whether the former heads of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families of Mount Beimang have truly joined the plan."
"Of course."
Tang Gwi-ho opened a little wider the eyes he habitually kept in gentle arcs and looked at Yeon So-hyeon, yet the characteristic smile remained.
But Yeon So-hyeon’s words were not finished.
"Only after confirming that the former heads of the Sixteen Families have joined will the Sichuan Tang Family approach the plan with genuine seriousness."
"Exactly."
Beneath Tang Gwi-ho’s narrowed lids, eyes steeped in dense venomous qi shone with an eerie green light.
"Because the moment the First Young Master fails to pay the promised price, our Tang Family can withdraw at any time."
The smile lingering at his lips only grew thicker.
"Even if you have brought the former heads on board this time, should you fail here in the Valley of Sin, our Tang Family will halt the projects in Chongqing and along the Yangtze."
He regarded Yeon So-hyeon with the gaze of a viper eyeing eggs in a nest.
"Then the enraged former heads of Mount Beimang will turn around, join hands with another of the Sword Family’s heirs, and tear the First Young Master to pieces."
Should matters reach that point, all the Sichuan Tang Family would lose was the restoration of projects that had already been delayed. And should Yeon So-hyeon succeed, they would fulfill their long-cherished wish of entering Luoyang without friction against the Luoyang Sword Family. The lands formerly owned by the Emei Sect that they had already acquired were simply a bonus.
The risk was slight.
That was why the overlord of an entire region—the Sichuan Tang Family—had joined a plan proposed by Yeon So-hyeon, who was no family head but merely a First Young Master.
"So is it not only natural that I watch the First Young Master myself and decide the Tang Family’s stance?"
He laughed, heh heh heh.
"Of course. Only…"
Even as Tang Gwi-ho spoke of a script for Yeon So-hyeon’s ruin, Yeon So-hyeon remained unruffled.
"Only?"
Yeon So-hyeon idly stroked his teacup.
"You will confirm the former heads of Mount Beimang’s pledges, and thereafter watch the progress I make, and then decide the Tang Family’s position?"
His gaze, catching the light of the lamp, flashed toward Tang Gwi-ho.
"And such crucial confirmation and decision are to be made by the Vice Head himself, here on the ground?"
At the provocative words, Tang Gwi-ho’s brows slowly twisted.
"Are you saying that I—Vice Head of the Sichuan Tang Family and commander of the Shadow Unit—am not in a position to make such a judgment?"
In that instant the temperature inside the reception room seemed to plummet.
"Not at all."
Yeon So-hyeon smiled gently.
"As the sworn younger brother of the current Family Head and as Vice Head, you are more than capable of such a judgment."
Tang Gwi-ho’s brows returned to their former place.
"Of course. This Tang Gwi-ho…"
But Yeon So-hyeon’s words continued.
"Judgment. Yes—I said you could make a judgment."
From Yeon So-hyeon, seated with elegant composure, his characteristic aura began to seep forth.
"But if I were Family Head, I would never entrust the decision that follows the judgment to the head of an intelligence organization."
Tang Gwi-ho’s smile froze exactly as it was.
"No matter that the head of that intelligence organization is a sworn younger brother in whom he places the utmost trust."
"…"
Yeon So-hyeon looked at him and smiled, baring his teeth.
"I believe I have provided the Vice Head with ample opportunity to satisfy his personal curiosity about this First Young Master…"
Yeon So-hyeon set down the teacup he held.
"Would it not be better now to bring in the one who holds the actual power of decision, so that we may get to the heart of the matter?"
"…"
The smile vanished from Tang Gwi-ho’s lips.
"I already instructed the chief maid who just left that more guests would be arriving, so you need only convey word by sound transmission to the decision-maker waiting outside the base."
"…"
From Tang Gwi-ho’s infinitely heavy face, a gaze laden with an aura so cold it seemed to cut flesh fixed upon Yeon So-hyeon.
It lasted only a moment, yet it was more than enough to let one guess the true nature of the being called Tang Gwi-ho.
And that, no doubt, was the real face of the man who bore responsibility for the intelligence of a colossal power like the Sichuan Tang Family.
"Truly impressive."
He drained the teacup before him in a single draught.
"Of course—only someone of this caliber…"
When he set the cup down, his face had returned to its original gentle expression.
"…could have made a transaction as absurd as First Young Master alone versus the entire Sichuan Tang Family miraculously come into being."
Unshaken even when shaken.
On the contrary, in that brief exchange he had read his opponent’s moves and driven him back.
This youth was unlike anyone Tang Gwi-ho had ever seen.
Yeon So-hyeon had proven his ability before his eyes in a matter of moments, and Tang Gwi-ho himself had now reached his judgment.
The decision thereafter belonged to the one who held the power of decision.
A short while later, a figure guided indoors from the entrance of the forward base by Chief Maid Jeong-a stepped into the room.
That figure was wrapped from head to toe in a pitch-black outer robe fashioned from materials as rare as Yeon So-hyeon’s black silk-thread coat. The robe seemed almost to drink in the surrounding light.
"A pleasure to meet you, First Young Master."
When the figure swept back the covering that had hidden the face, long hair shot through with mysterious streaks of green cascaded down like a waterfall.
Deep green eyes—symbol of the purest bloodline of the Sichuan Tang Family—reflected Yeon So-hyeon’s form.
"My name is Tang Eun-rang."
The young woman of indeterminate age looked at Yeon So-hyeon and wore a proud smile.
"I am the Young Mistress of the Sichuan Tang Family."
Young Mistress Tang Eun-rang.
She was the ultimate decision-maker on the Sichuan Tang Family’s side.
"And first, allow me to apologize."
Before Yeon So-hyeon could even introduce himself, she strode forward with unwavering poise and laid a single promissory note upon the table.
The sum was no ordinary amount.
"This expresses our regret for having tested the First Young Master."
Ordinarily, to offer money on the spot while claiming to apologize was considered a vulgar act seen only among merchant caravans.
Yet her manner was courteous and elegant—and at the same time so brazenly confident that it somehow transcended vulgarity.
"Is not a larger sum a far clearer expression of apology than a long-winded string of empty words?"
At her words Yeon So-hyeon laughed openly.
She was a person after his own heart.
"I accept the apology."
Yeon So-hyeon readily invited her to take a seat.