Poison Flower?

Poison Flower?

The cold season that had bleached the whole world white slipped past before anyone noticed, and with spring's arrival, the flowers lining the road had burst into every color under the sun, lifting their beaming faces skyward as if to welcome the new season.

Clatter-rattle—

True to a season that was busily birthing new life, the whole world brimmed with vigor and yet —

"Ugh... how is it this exhausting already?"

— someone inside a carriage plodding faithfully along the road was muttering with a face fit for a funeral, utterly mismatched with all that beauty...

"It's about a month's journey, was it?"

"Most likely? And that's assuming nothing disastrous happens along the way, so with any bad luck it could take even longer."

"Wouldn't we get there a hell of a lot faster if we just ran the whole way on lightfoot technique till we dropped?"

"Are you planning to arrive at the Paeng Clan empty-handed, Young Master? If I were the Paeng Clan Head, I'd shut the front gates the very moment I laid eyes on you."

"Oh, come on... surely they wouldn't go so far as to throw me out?"

"You laid their second son out flat and then come all this way alone with nothing to show for it — I'd say they'd have every right to..."

"Honestly... that mouth of yours is working overtime to earn itself a beating."

And so, inside the carriage where the mood had turned thoroughly dreary, the two men went right on bickering back and forth.

I spent a moment seriously considering planting a fist in the face of Dang Giyeong — a man with a true gift for saying the one thing guaranteed to make your blood boil — before opening my mouth instead.

"By the way, why did you tag along in the first place? You really didn't have to come."

At that, Giyeong's lips pushed out into another pout.

After several months of him glued to my side, I'd grown used enough to his face to read it at a glance...

That's his 'I'm feeling neglected' face...

Just as I was thinking that —

"Am I unwelcome company, then? Last time, I distinctly remember you going on about how I'm your one and only thrall in the Central Plains, and how well you'd take care of me..."

Giyeong wiped away crocodile tears with the back of his hand, and —

Thwack—

"Disgusting. Enough already. Where do you get off whining like that?"

"Aigoo....."

"A grown man bawling like a toddler... and who exactly is supposed to be coddling you?"

His antics had now graduated from summoning punches with words to summoning them with actions, so I dispensed another dose of justice before resuming.

"Someone has to stay behind at the Tang Clan to root out the Demon Cult's little plants. If you come along too, what then..."

Giyeong stroked his own freshly struck head and replied,

"That's fine — the White Heaven Squad Leader is staying behind."

"Honestly, with Jihyeon, the circumstances say she's probably clean, but I can't swear to it..."

"Then why did you bring it up at all?"

"My gut told me she wasn't one, so I just ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said so."

"Gut, my ass....."

"What was that?"

When I raised my fist again and smiled, Giyeong shook his head hard.

"I said nothing whatsoever. In any case, I've already told the White Heaven Squad Leader to look into the other squad leaders, so it will be fine."

"That one, I can't trust at all... no, on second thought, I'd sooner trust Jihyeon."

The slit-eyed man sitting in front of me was even less trustworthy than that snake-scarf woman, so I said it with a scowl, shaking my head —

"Why are you looking at me like that? Can you truly not trust your one and only thrall?"

"Enough with the thrall business already. Thrall this, thrall that... it's about to drive me up the wall."

"Doesn't it feel wonderfully tight-knit, though?"

"Give me a break..."

One ordinary day back at the Tang Clan, while I was shooting the breeze with Du-sik —

"And that, anyway, is how that lunatic Qin Shi Huang ended up as my thrall."

"Oh...? Then that would make me your thrall as well, would it not, Young Master?"

"I... suppose so?"

"Thrall... what a lovely ring it has."

Somewhere in that idle banter, Giyeong had latched onto the word 'thrall' for no good reason, and from that day forward he had been carrying on about it from dawn to dusk — I was on the verge of a full-blown complex.

Back to the carriage, then...

"Forget 'thrall.' Let's just call you my slave. Far more accurate."

"Aw... isn't that a little heartless?"

"........."

When I closed my eyes without a word and leaned my head back against the wall, he tried again.

"Even so, the White Heaven Squad Leader would certainly do a better job than I would."

On any ordinary day, this was a man who would have insisted...

"I handle things better than the White Heaven Squad Leader does, you know."

...or else ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whined...

"Isn't he hopelessly untrustworthy?"

So when he started spouting nonsense as though he'd eaten something spoiled, I asked without opening my eyes.

"Du-sik, it's still spring — how did you catch a heatstroke already? In that case, why don't you head back to the Tang Clan..."

"Aw... don't say such hurtful things. Might you at least ask me why?"

"Fine. Let's hear this reason of yours."

"The truth is, I'm not particularly close with the other squad leaders. The White Heaven Squad Leader gets along with all of them except the Dark Heaven Squad Leader, so he would surely manage better than I."

"........."

"We were clearly quite close as children... but somewhere along the way they all stopped playing with me. These days it's Dang Yun and nobody else who so much as speaks to me."

"Pff... hahahahaha..."

At his out-of-nowhere declaration of lonerhood, I started snorting with laughter.

"Why are you laughing! This is a very serious problem for me!"

Du-sik hollered, but...

"I'm sleeping. Wake me when we reach the inn."

"Yes....."

And with that, I sank into slumber.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Rrrrumble—

The great boulder sealing the cave mouth gave a thunderous groan and rolled aside, opening the way...

Tramp... tramp...

A ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠man walked slowly out of the pitch-black cave.

His hair had grown long enough to show it hadn't seen a blade in ages, and his clothes hung off him in rags.

He was such a wreck that any passerby would have taken him for a vagrant — and yet his eyes blazed with a fierce, vivid light.

"The Peak Realm... at this level, I....."

The man clenched and unclenched his fist a few times, then set off along a path he knew well.....

"Suhyeon. Is your seclusion at an end?"

"Yes, Sect Leader."

"So you have reached the Peak Realm. My congratulations."

"Thank you."

Bowing to the Sect Leader he had not seen in an age, the man carefully concealed the dark ambition smoldering in one corner of his heart.

"Sect Leader, I have one request."

"Speak... and what might this request be? If it lies within my power to grant, I shall grant it."

"I wish to take part in this year's Dragon-Phoenix Tournament."

"Hmm....."

"I want to see for myself just how far I've come."

"Very well... when the invitations arrive, one of them shall be yours."

"Thank you."

The man bowed low, and as he walked back out into the light, he muttered under his breath:

"Dang Muyeong... even if it costs me my life, you, of all people, I will surely....."

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

As someone, somewhere, burned with vows of revenge —

"Du-sik, did somebody just curse me out?"

"Huh? You wake up out of a dead sleep, and that's your first question?"

"My ears were itching. I've never made a single enemy in my life, so why do my ears keep itching lately?"

"Could it be you're busy getting cursed out in Hubei?"

"Is that so...?"

Thwack—

"Ow! What was it this time..."

"Thinking it over, I'm actually pissed... I genuinely did nothing wrong, so how did my good name end up at the bottom of a ditch?"

"And what, pray tell, does that have to do with clubbing my skull?"

"Because you keep saying things nobody asked for, and my blood pressure keeps paying for it."

"Says the one man who can adjust his own blood pressure at will..."

"Hoo... Anyway, when are we stopping by Dongting Lake?"

"What on earth is this about Dongting Lake? That lake is in Hunan — just how were you planning on getting there..."

"Didn't you say we should drop by Dongting Lake on the way?"

"I was merely thinking out loud."

I put on a look of hollow despair, then crept toward him with my fist wound tight and ready —

"Eek... you can't be serious? That thing would kill me stone dead!"

"Turns out a gentle tap won't kill you. Just one — humor me."

"You think a blade driven in 'gently' doesn't hur— AAAAGH!!!!!"

It was a perfectly peaceful spring day.

And so the carriage, before anyone realized it, was crossing the breadth of Shaanxi...

To see the night through, we stopped at an inn.

"We haven't even covered half the distance yet? Ha... one more stretch in this carriage and my mind is going to leave my body entirely."

"Would you care to run there, then? I will be riding in the carriage; you could call it exercise, and racing along beside it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for you, Young Master."

"Ha... forget it... I don't even have the strength left to be angry."

‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Grumbling all over again at this absurdly enormous landmass, I climbed down from the carriage and headed into the inn.

Cre-eak—

The old door groaned on its hinges, but the interior turned out to be surprisingly clean. The moment we stepped inside —

"Guests of the Tang Clan, I presume? A pleasure to meet you. I am Myeongwol of the Mount Hua Sect."

Out of absolutely nowhere, a man in Daoist robes was greeting us.

"Uh....."

While I stood there gaping, the self-proclaimed Myeongwol seized my hand and drew me along.

"Have you eaten? You look as though you haven't. Then why not share our table? Come along, this way."

With otherworldly unflappability, the man dragged me across the room, deposited me at his party's table, and started the introductions all over again.

"Over there we have Myeonghwa, Myeongsu, and Myeongil."

Two men and a woman, whose names carried a distinct whiff of last-minute naming, bowed in silent acknowledgment at his word.

"The pleasure is mine. I am Dang Giyeong, Green Heaven Squad Leader of the Tang Clan, and the gentleman beside me is the Young Clan Head of the Tang Clan, Young Master Dang Muyeong."

While I was still rooted to the spot, Du-sik thankfully deployed his peerless people skills and introduced the both of us in my stead.

"Ah... the 'Lingering Blood Blade' Great Hero himself, no less. And this must be the one I've heard only in rumors..."

"B-Big Senior Brother....."

"Myeonghwa, it's quite all right. The rumors that drift around the Central Plains are seven parts lies and two parts exaggeration, you know."

I had not the faintest idea what was going on anymore, but...

"Well, fate brought us together. Might as well share a meal, as young hero Myeongwol suggests."

"As expected of the 'Lingering Moon Blade' Great Hero — what magnanimity! Hahahaha!"

Between the two extroverts, we somehow found ourselves sitting down to eat together as naturally as anything...

"Waiter! A jar of your strongest white liquor, and any meat dish you please — bring it out!"

Before long, a drinking party had broken out around a platter that looked suspiciously like grilled beef intestines.

The disciples, at least, were nibbling politely at the side dishes, but Myeongwol was pouring liquor down his gullet in perfect sync with Giyeong.

"Tell me, Daoist — are you even permitted to drink?"

"Benefactor Muyeong still speaks so formally... I'd say we are close enough by now. Speak casually."

"Is a Daoist supposed to be putting it away like that?"

"Er... hm. Perhaps that was a touch too casual....."

"You told me to relax?"

"Still, I should think I am the elder between us... well, regardless — you asked whether I may drink?"

Myeongwol, scarlet-faced and radiating fumes of booze, declared:

"Of course not. But so long as our adorable disciples keep their lips sealed, no one is any the wiser."

So saying, he threw his arms around his disciples.

"Urk... Senior Brother! You reek of liquor!"

"You rascals... do you know how dearly I cherish the pair of you?"

"Yes, yes — now kindly let go and say it instead..."

Watching him act up in his drunkenness, I engraved it into my skull one more time:

Daoists really are nothing but a pack of troublemakers. Tsk tsk...

Once the rampaging drunk had been wrestled down by his own disciples and sat there grinning beatifically through his flushed face, I asked him the question that had been nagging at me since earlier —

"By the way, what exactly have you heard about me that had that Daoist girl Myeonghwa trembling in her boots?"

The words had barely left my mouth when the Daoist woman in question hugged both arms over her chest and stared at me as though I were some slavering beast.