Yeolang (1)

155. Yeolang (1)

"Heh-heh. Elder. It's the freight wagon. I cornered the trading company chief, leaned on his weak spot and squeezed him—had the wheels replaced with new ones, swapped out the loose joints for fresh parts, and brought it back."

The Hao Sect woman I had met that day arrived proudly, leading the baggage cart. It was drawn not by horses but by two sturdy mules. Horses were much faster, but mules had greater endurance and handled mountain trails well. As horse-donkey hybrids, they resisted disease and lived longer. Aside from their inability to breed, they were better suited than horses both for our journey and for hauling supplies around Yeongsan afterward.

"You did well. Could I hire you for information, too?"

Along with three taels of gold, I gave her ten taels of silver as a bonus. She accepted it politely, then spoke in a low voice.

"I don't know much about information, but the Shanxi Branch Head asked me to tell you this, Elder. Your Great Grandmaster has reached the Beggars' Sect main compound. Since the main compound is near Shijiazhuang, she should arrive at Seungdeok Manor at any moment. There were no attacks along the way."

That was a relief. While we stayed in Sakju, word of our movements must already have reached the Great Sun Association. Whatever their future plans, they would have welcomed Yeongsan Sect's departure for now. Even if they had men to spare, attacking Great Grandmaster's party would drive Yeongsan Sect into an all-or-nothing war, bringing every subordinate force down upon the Great Sun Association. They appeared to have abandoned the pursuit early. Once Great Grandmaster's group reached Hebei, they would be almost entirely safe.

"Thank the Branch Head for me."

The woman beamed at those words.

"We're the grateful ones. You think those Great Sun Association bastards brought a dozen or so men just to snatch those three that day? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They even dragged Commander Geum along to flip over the whole back alley trying to catch us Hao Sect disciples who were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hiding. Sangjo Sect and Gunjo Sect had better win. Those sons of bitches, seriously. If they were hiding that much strength, shouldn't they be beating down the Orthodox Faction bastards instead of going after fellow Unorthodox Faction?"

The woman was fuming.

"Ah, I'm Orthodox, so telling me this—"

"Oh, right, right. That's right? Elder, you're our customer, and I guess I forgot because you felt like one of our side, fighting Great Sun Association and all."

She might have been a seasoned prostitute, but she seemed oddly guileless. She looked down at the gold a few more times before leaving with a happy expression, and at last Yeongsan Sect had transportation. While waiting for the wagon, I'd already prepared a tent. A nomadic tent might have looked impressive, but assembling one would have been a headache, so I simply made a suitable tent with Dwarf's Soul.

Oil-soaked thick cloth and the straw mats to spread on the ground were easy enough to obtain right here in Sakju. Where I'd put thought and effort into design and fabrication was the support poles. Normally, you'd use sturdy, large logs for tent poles. But those were truly heavy and bulky, so I'd stopped by a smithy and made a set of thin, collapsible poles, like tent poles. The blacksmith swore at me when I said I wanted to rent his forge, but as soon as I held out ten taels of silver, he handed the place over without another word.

While I was at it making the collapsible poles, I'd sharpened the blades of everyone's swords that had needed maintenance after this battle, and once the supports became poles, their bulk shrank enormously. The wagon had originally been meant just for the tent, but at last Master and Jeong-hyang could escape porter status. The tent and poles, our clothing, water and food for the next village, hay for the mules—of course, all that load couldn't possibly fill a freight wagon. Master took the chance to buy two mal of rice at the market and loaded it on, and Lee Eun-ha, thrilled, kept topping up the wagon with ingredients.

"Junior Sister, aren't you loading the pot?"

When Son Yeong asked Lee Eun-ha, who still had that huge pot strapped to her back, Lee Eun-ha reddened a little and answered.

"I realized something during this fight. Attacking from a distance is fine, but it was truly terrifying not knowing when sword qi or thrown weapons might come flying from outside my field of vision. So I'm going to carry the pot as a shield to guard my back."

As expected, she was far from a typical martial artist. Son Yeong, a born martial artist, couldn't grasp that, but since she'd been her junior sister for over ten years, she'd long since decided to leave her be. Even I already found Lee Eun-ha looking slightly strange without her rice paddle and pot, and before long, that pot and rice paddle might well spread across the Martial World as the symbol of the Medicine Immortal.

Traveling with a freight wagon was immensely convenient. We didn't know how to drive a wagon, but mules were fairly clever creatures—they walked along the road without anyone steering, and they stopped when they hit a fork. At the campsite we finally reached, I pitched the tent with a pounding heart. It was actually quite difficult work, but I had experience from my past life in the military, so I approached it carefully, and since woodworking counted as construction, the Dwarf's Soul applied and the result was better than expected.

A tent of this portable structure would normally be quite unstable, but despite appearances, it was a very sturdy design because I'd prepared it after careful planning and calculation with the Dwarf's Soul. It was only a straw-woven mat, but once that was laid down, this place already felt like indoors instead of outdoors. It was a cloth tent, not leather, but I'd thoroughly oiled it, so if we looked after it properly, it would guarantee comfortable sleep whether rain fell or snow came.

"Whoa! Master! A house! A house!"

A secret base was every child's dream. Cho-ryeong bounded about, delighted at the sight of the tent, and even setting Cho-ryeong aside, the other women couldn't stop marveling at this cramped, simple tent. The addition of the freight wagon hadn't just improved the quality of our sleep. The meals were far more abundant than before. With no worry about transport and no concern about ingredients spoiling because it was winter, things like grilled sliced beef on skewers came out like camping cuisine. On top of that, if our clothes got dirty we could just change inside the tent, so the quality of everything—food, clothing, shelter—had shot straight up.

Ease of body always brought ease of mind. Once night fell and the full moon shone brightly, Lee Eun-ha brought out a bamboo flute, began to play softly, and at the sight of her, Son Yeong danced a beautiful combination of the Moonlit Divine Sword and Water Moon Dance. We truly enjoyed camping for hours. Then, inside the cramped but cozy tent, we nestled our bodies together and went to sleep.

The wagon had made camping comfortable, but Yeongsan Sect's daily routine didn't change. Even Cho-ryeong, who loved riding things, walked with dignity instead of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trying to ride the freight wagon, and the morning's travel and the afternoon's training were no different than before. But still, none of that diminished the value of the tent and the freight wagon in the slightest. Since this was Yeongsan Sect's first journey through the Martial World, treading the path of martial artists, Master chose camping over inns to maintain the posture of a martial artist, even with a little strictness, but there was no reason to abandon comfort as well. Because no one knew better than our Yeongsan Sect that traveling cold, hungry, and impoverished would never make you strong.

As proof, Cho-ryeong, the only one in Yeongsan Sect who had still been third-rate, had finally become a second-rate martial artist. The reason the girl, whose talent was second only to Son Yeong, had remained at the third-rate level the longest was that Geo Am, who was responsible for her education, had deliberately restricted her growth. Contrary to Geo Am's selfish wish to keep her a cute girl rather than a martial artist with blood on her hands, Cho-ryeong had gone through real combat in this incident, encountered various martial arts from Shaolin, and discovered a desire as a martial artist.

She'd practiced martial arts and grown stronger. But now she wanted to become even stronger. With that martial artist's desire taking root, she ascended to the second-rate realm as naturally as breathing. If you searched the whole world, probably no one but me had reached first-rate in their mid-twenties, and surely nowhere under heaven would you find so young a second-rate expert. Now the entire sect was second-rate or above. In Yeongsan Sect, which had been a wasteland, sturdy green sprouts had already pushed through, and even thick branches were growing.

Nearly a fortnight since leaving Sakju. As we calmly trained our martial arts and drew gradually closer to Henan, we finally reached our next destination: Yeolang. Not large, much like Sakju, but perhaps because it was far from Great Sun Association, the townspeople moved with energy.

"Yeongmok. I'm worried about my master's safety. We'll secure an inn, so please go to the Hao Sect and ask for news of Master."

"Yes, Master."

No sooner had we arrived in Yeolang than Master grew anxious about Great Grandmaster. The Hao Sect had probably already prepared news of Great Grandmaster, but normally you'd have to put in an information request and wait a few days for the answer. Truly, times like this made me realize all over again how incredible the convenient information-communication systems of my past life had been.

"An inn? That hurts my feelings. Brother Baek?"

Just as I was about to find the Hao Sect, a voice suddenly came from behind. Ji-gyu, whom I'd met in Liaoxi, was greeting me with a glad face.

"Ji-yeon!"

Cho-ryeong dashed over when she saw his disciple, Gang Ji-yeon, standing beside Ji-gyu. The two had only played together for a couple of days about three months ago, but the two girls hugged like friends of ten years.

"I greet the Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect."

"It's been a while. Sect Leader of Star-Moon Sect."

After paying his respects to Master, Ji-gyu spoke to me with a bright face.

"Yeongsan Sect is a sect of six disciples, but Star-Moon Sect is only half that, with three. The manor is practically empty, so please stay at our manor. I hate to badmouth my hometown folks, but the inns in Yeolang are notoriously awful in taste."

"In that case, I'll have to impose. Our Yeongsan Sect can rest comfortably even on an icy floor, but we can't stomach bad food."

I'd known that Ji-gyu and Star-Moon Sect—no, the Seongwol Merchant Guild—were here, and I'd planned to get an inn and then go find him, but I hadn't expected him to wait for us at the city entrance like this.

"Were you waiting for us here? How did you know when we'd arrive?"

Yeongsan Sect had become fairly famous, so our movements were exposed to the Beggars' Sect and Hao Sect, but the Star-Moon Sect was only a martial sect in name, so it would have been hard for them to get such information. How had this friend been waiting for us at the village entrance?

"Don't ask. Yesterday a courtesan from Water-Fragrance Pavilion showed up, and it was chaos. You know how impatient Junior Sister Geum is? Before she even heard the whole story, she grabbed me by the collar."

Ji-gyu spoke about his lover with a smile that was both pained and happy. I could feel just from his face how much he loved Geum-hyang.

"I heard about Yeongsan Sect and Red Flower Pavilion from the courtesan, but sending a courtesan as a letter courier—please spare me that next time."

Ji-gyu gave a wry smile and handed me a letter. The letter he gave me had her message written in the pretty handwriting of Lee Yeon, Red Flower Pavilion Mistress.

— Reverend. I offer greetings. Having heard of the Great Sun Association incident, the Master of Seungdeok Manor and the Leader of White Tiger Sect have entered a state of alert. However, after the battle between Yeongsan Sect and Reverend Hyeon-gang, Great Sun Association has withdrawn its forces significantly and is firmly reinforcing the defenses of its main compound. It is said that even the martial artists who had attacked the sects of Shanxi and seized captives have returned for defense, so I expect you need not worry about further pursuit.

Your Great Grandmaster, Madam Seong, has reached Seungdeok Manor. She intends to remain there for the time being rather than head directly to Liaodong. I told Madam Seong that a residence for her is being prepared in Liaodong, but in truth, Deputy Sect Leader Ban Ho-jeong and I are keeping Jo Sa-eun close while we assess her. Please do not worry about Madam Seong or Young Miss Yu. Our women will remain beside them and attend to them with every care. Please continue your journey to Henan.

Your Reverend's courtesan, who always thinks of you as her husband, Lee Yeon—

That last sentence was a little funny, but anyway, she was truly impressive. The distance between Seungdeok and Yeolang had to be considerable, so the events in Sakju would have been relayed to Seungdeok, and Lee Yeon must have sent a letter from there to here—how had her letter arrived here in Yeolang before us? We'd moved at a relaxed pace, but considering our martial prowess, just our morning travel covered far more ground than an ordinary person covered in an entire day. To outpace that distance even a thousand-ri horse would've been impossible, so as expected of Red Flower Pavilion—it was called an information organization in name, and it seemed they'd prepared at least a carrier hawk, not just messenger pigeons.

When I handed the letter to Master, relief spread across her face. Honestly, by the time Great Grandmaster's party had reached the Beggars' Sect main compound, it would really have been harder for them to meet with an accident in Hebei.

"Hero Ji. Where did Miss Geum go?"

Jeong-hyang, who was on fairly close terms with Ji-gyu, asked after Geum-hyang in a friendly way. Normally that kind of friendly smile from Jeong-hyang made the viewer's heart flutter, and everyone in Yeongsan Sect had strictly forbidden it, but Ji-gyu, wholeheartedly devoted to Geum-hyang as he was, simply smiled calmly at the peerless beauty's smile and answered.

"Saying she'd welcome Yeongsan Sect, she's been at the market since morning, and now she's in the middle of cooking. Let me say in advance: my junior sister, being a Yeolang native herself, has no talent for cooking, so please don't expect much from the taste."

Ji-gyu answered, scratching his head. From a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little distance, his disciple Gang Ji-yeon was also nodding slightly.

The Star-Moon Sect manor we followed Ji-gyu to was about the size of a rented manor—a bit small for what you'd call an estate. But even including the servants, it was still too large a place for three sect disciples to live in.

"Miss Jeong!"

Though there were servants present, Geum-hyang, who was supposed to have gone into the kitchen to prepare food for us, came running in her apron calling out happily to Jeong-hyang. Jeong-hyang clasped Geum-hyang's hands, and the two rejoiced in their reunion as delightedly as Cho-ryeong and Gang Ji-yeon.

Right. This was how Yeongsan Sect's journey ought to be—warm. In our fight with Great Sun Association, we'd lost nothing and no one was hurt, but this was still the kind of scene that suited our sect best.