11. Yeongsan Sect (3)
Yeongsan Sect (3)
11. Yeongsan Sect (3)
Unmistakable Joseon speech reached my ears. Son Yeong had already told me on the way here that one of her fellow disciples was from Joseon, so I knew that much. Yet behind her bright, friendly smile, the woman was grumbling in Joseon, a language almost no one from the Central Plains could understand. I began to worry that I might have offended her somehow. It suddenly reminded me of Corporal Kim from my army days in my past life, who had tormented me until my discharge simply because he had disliked me at first sight.
At any rate, she guided us, smiling and gracious, into the building where she had come from. Inside was a long row of dining tables with a small kitchen attached to one side—this had to be the Yeongsan Sect's dining hall. Judging by its size, the sect had once housed over twenty disciples.
A moment later, she brought out warm tea. Instead of the familiar aroma of tea, a strong herbal scent forcibly dragged old memories to the surface.
"Forgive me. Our circumstances are difficult, so I've brewed tea from wild herbs gathered on the mountain. I imagine it won't suit your palate, but please, at least moisten your throat."
She spoke with her cheeks faintly flushed. Despite her embarrassment, I knew exactly what the wild herb was: mugwort. Drinking mugwort tea again after decades stirred a strange nostalgia in me. China was the land of tea. Tea was so deeply rooted in daily life that there was even a unit of time called a tea interval. For that very reason, the Chinese definition of tea was strict. In my past life, drinks made from Solomon's seal, barley, or chrysanthemums were all called tea, but here, only a drink brewed from the leaves of the tea plant truly qualified. Green tea, red tea, white tea, yellow tea, black tea—they'd named and refined them according to their degree of fermentation. The English bastards had been so captivated by the stuff that they invaded China and India, the two most populous countries in the world. Being a fine Chinaman bastard myself, I was thoroughly accustomed to tea by now, yet that warm cup of mugwort tea, steeped in homesickness, still stirred feelings that were hard to put into words.
"Not at all. It's honestly lovely."
"I'm relieved you understand our situation."
The woman surnamed Lee laughed as though pleased. If I had not heard her grumbling earlier, I might truly have taken her for a simple, innocent woman. The teacup, meanwhile, was chipped all around the rim and looked as though it had been used for decades. Then again, could cheap pottery like this really have lasted that long?
As I drank tea in the dining hall and waited, the final member of Yeongsan Sect—the sect leader who might soon become my master—entered with Son Yeong. Like her disciples, she was shabbily dressed, yet her eyes were clear and pure. How could a martial artist have such gentle eyes? I had expected Yeongsan Sect to differ from ordinary sects, but even a market vendor's gaze would probably have held more edge than hers.
She had large, round eyes and a small frame. She, too, was quite a beauty, if not quite equal to Jeong-hyang, but was she truly Son Yeong's master? Even granting that she must look remarkably young for her age, the Sect Leader—who resembled a cute puppy and appeared to be only in her late twenties—stood across from me, lowered her head, and offered a cupped-fist salute.
"I have heard from Yeong. On behalf of the Yeongsan Sect, I offer our profound gratitude for the Young Master's benevolence."
At those words, I rose from my seat and, likewise offering her a cupped-fist salute, paid my respects with due formality.
"I only did what anyone ought to have done. Having the head of a sect receive me with such excessive courtesy makes me uncomfortable, so please raise your head, Sect Leader."
At my words, she smiled, lifted her head, and seated herself across from me. Indeed, as their master, she was a considerable beauty—not quite on Jeong-hyang's level, but still—and for all her small, lean build, her chest was rather generously sized compared to that Joseon woman's. Even if she couldn't match Cho-ryeong, she possessed an exceedingly cute face.
"I followed Miss Son here to request your permission to enter the sect. Before discussing that, however, this is the silver Miss Son requested. I do not mean to be impertinent by offering it so abruptly. I merely wish to make clear that this silver has nothing to do with my own request."
When I held out the prepared pouch of silver, profound relief spread across the Sect Leader's face. Naturally, the silver was a bribe for admission. But by handing it over before making my request, I could leave a favorable impression while placing her under enough obligation to make refusing me more difficult. It was a little trick I'd picked up long ago while working in customer service.
"Thank you, Young Master."
The Sect Leader even let out a small sigh, openly delighted. Son Yeong, standing beside her master, looked deeply satisfied as well. This must have felt like the reward for the months of hardship she had endured. The Joseon woman, however, who had seemed wary of me outside, wore an expression heavy with unease and discontent.
"Master, I am truly sorry to say this in front of the Young Master who wishes to help us, but I believe Yeongsan Sect should endure its hardships through the strength of its own disciples."
"Junior Sister, what do you mean? The difficulties were so hard to bear that we agreed to rely on his kindness."
Son Yeong, who had barely managed to go all the way to Jilin and beg for money, exclaimed in disbelief when the junior sister she'd returned to spoke like this right to her face.
"I understand Eun-ha's point, but realistically speaking, aren't we truly out of both money and grain?"
The Sect Leader, too, explained the inescapable reality to her disciple in a gentle tone. Eun-ha, was it? That Joseon woman, Lee Eun-ha. A common enough name in Hanguk, but wasn't it rather distinctive for a Joseon woman's name?
"Please allow me to go down to the village and earn money. If I cook or sew for households needing extra hands, I can somehow manage our immediate livelihood."
"No, Junior Sister. I understand how you feel, but we are martial artists, not farm wives."
Son Yeong spoke firmly. To be honest, Lee Eun-ha seemed far more realistic than Son Yeong. The sect had been humble from the start, and now, with the sect genuinely collapsing, Son Yeong was still trying to cling to her pride as a martial artist.
"But, Senior Sister Son, we may be martial artists, but we are not the Beggars' Sect."
"Eun-ha has a point, but right now, what choice do we have? Once we begin such work, the people of the village will never again regard our Yeongsan Sect as a martial sect. And then we will be nothing but five women, slash-and-burn farmers. In truth, except for the name of the old Yeongsan Sect, we have nothing left."
The Sect Leader spoke gently. Yet, as befitted a sect leader, she also viewed her sect realistically. She had a point. Who would fear a gangster who took an honest part-time job at a convenience store because he had run out of money? Unless Yeongsan Sect possessed enough strength to ignore what others thought, once the villagers saw them as ordinary local women, they would no longer be respected as martial artists. They would become nothing more than a group of young women anyone could push around.
"Ha... Still."
"I understand Eun-ha's worry.
"Young Master, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. In the name of Yeongsan Sect, we will never forget this debt. I would like to grant any request within my power, but there is a serious difficulty with allowing you to join. This was not originally an all-female sect, yet after the Bloody Calamity, only young, beautiful women in the prime of life remain. If a young gentleman such as yourself were to live among us, I fear that troubling circumstances might arise. I earnestly ask that you understand our position."
The courteous sect leader's gentle refusal. Ah... Now, at last, I understood why that Lee Eun-ha, driven to poverty though she was, had regarded me strangely—me, who had brought silver and rice. The Yeongsan Sect was a sect whose members, despite their weak strength, were entirely female and, simultaneously, entirely beautiful. If I, a benefactor with strong martial power, were to do something monstrous to them, they would be powerless to resist.
Come to think of it, what expression had I been wearing when I first met Lee Eun-ha? I had no mirror, but I'd probably been staring at Jeong-hyang's beauty with a pathetic look on my face, then made the same expression when I saw Lee Eun-ha's large chest. This was my mistake. This wasn't the Baek Clan Estate, and they were not Gyeong Su-yeon. Damn it. I'd prepared so carefully throughout the journey, only to ruin everything at the very end.
"Master, Young Master Baek is by no means a bad man. When I arrived at the Baek Clan Estate in rags, he agreed to help me without hesitation and treated me with the utmost hospitality throughout my stay. It was also through his consideration that we were able to use an escort agency's cart and return so quickly and comfortably to our sect in its time of need."
"And as I told you earlier, the Young Master is a man who understands honor and duty. He wishes to study Daoism here for a time so that he can yield the position of Young Clan Head to his younger brother. Think about it. If he had truly meant to prey on the four of us, he would surely have attached conditions to the silver."
Son Yeong. Beyond her talent for martial arts, she possessed an odd gift for extolling those around her. Her words seemed to have reached their mark; the Sect Leader fell briefly into deliberation. Then, at last, she spoke.
"At present, we are in no position to accept disciples, and we have very little that we could teach you. Even so, there must be some reason you wish to enter Yeongsan Sect, is there not?"
"Yes. That is correct. If formal admission as a disciple is difficult, becoming a lay disciple will suffice."
Strength gathered in the Sect Leader's docile eyes as she fixed them directly on mine.
"Yeong is a clever child. That is why I entrusted the journey into the martial world to her. I do not think the judgment of that child—the eyes of one who has seen the martial world firsthand—could have been mistaken. But Eun-ha's concern is also reasonable, so if you truly wish to enter, I ask one promise of you."
"A promise?"
"Yes. The Young Master and our disciples are all young men and women in the prime of life. It may only be natural for romantic feelings to arise. But while it might end as a passing affair for you, it could leave one of our disciples with a wound she could never erase. So I ask you to promise me this: if you become involved with any of the girls, take responsibility and bring her to the Baek Clan Estate. If you break that promise, I will inform the Daoist sects that still have ties with us of your conduct. Then you will no longer be able to walk the martial world with your head held high."
The Sect Leader delivered that absurd warning with a solemn, stern expression. Wait, sects that still had ties with them? If such connections existed, why had they gone all the way to the Baek Clan Estate in distant Jilin to beg for help? Besides, even if she spread such a rumor, it would cause no real trouble in the martial world. The martial world was ruled entirely by strength.
No, more importantly, she wasn't telling me not to touch them. She was saying it was fine as long as I took responsibility. What was going through that cute, puppy-like head of hers?
"Can you make that promise?"
"Yes. I can promise that."
"Then I shall permit your admission."
The Sect Leader had made it sound as though some grave condition was coming, then granted permission with astonishing ease. I'd expected her to demand a written pledge, even if it would have held no practical force. Son Yeong looked delighted to have repaid my kindness, while Lee Eun-ha wore the resigned expression of someone all too familiar with this kind of situation. After a journey of more than twenty days, I had finally achieved my goal. So why did I feel such powerful sympathy for the Joseon woman who found me so objectionable?