Bone-Deep Hatred
“If you won’t open it, then throw it into the flames instead. How very like him to say such a thing.”
A faintly bitter expression crossed her face as Soga-yul looked at Cheongwol once more. Her eyes met his, yet it seemed she was gazing past him at someone else entirely.
“You asked what relation I had with him.”
“Yes. Could you tell me?”
Cheongwol regarded her with expectant eyes, but Soga-yul shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I can. There must be a reason your grandfather never spoke of it to you.”
“Ah…”
Cheongwol made no effort to hide his disappointment at her refusal, yet he soon recalled how his grandfather had concealed the will and accepted it.
“You’re right. There must have been a reason Grandfather did so.”
Even though he himself was presently defying that very will.
Watching Cheongwol smile awkwardly, Soga-yul allowed a faint smile of her own.
“For now, let us see what lies inside the box. Only then can we be certain of his intentions.”
“Yes.”
Cheongwol was every bit as curious about the contents, and so he nodded at once.
Soga-yul examined the box with a nostalgic gaze, then applied a gentle force and opened it.
“…This is…”
Within lay a flower-shaped precious jade of transparent green, carved with such exquisite precision that it seemed to have unfurled layer upon layer of petals.
“I never knew Grandfather possessed something like this.”
Cheongwol marveled at the craftsmanship he had never seen before in his life; Soga-yul’s expression, by contrast, grew steadily harder. As far as she knew, there were not many in the Central Plains capable of such delicate workmanship.
“Here—there’s a letter as well.”
While Soga-yul remained lost in thought, Cheongwol discovered the letter resting beneath the jade. The paper looked as old and worn as the will tucked against his own breast, and from that alone one could tell it was a letter his grandfather had left for Soga-yul.
“What he truly wished to convey to me must be this letter.”
Swallowing dryly without realizing it, Soga-yul carefully unfolded the letter.
It was only a single sheet of paper, yet Soga-yul felt her mental strength drain more thoroughly than at any other time in her life. She simply could not bring herself to accept fully what was written there.
“Are you all right?”
Seeing her complexion darken so abruptly while she read, Cheongwol asked with open concern.
“…I’m fine.”
Barely steadying her trembling hands, Soga-yul looked at him.
“I ask only to be certain—did he leave a will for you directly?”
At her question Cheongwol stared back in surprise. How could Soga-yul possibly know that his grandfather had hidden the will’s very existence from him?
“Never mind. Your expression alone tells me everything. I thought as much…”
Before Cheongwol could form a reply, Soga-yul pressed a hand to her forehead and lowered her head. She sighed for a long while afterward, then spoke with a face that looked utterly spent.
“According to what is written in this letter, he wishes me to see that your martial arts are completed.”
“…Completed?”
“The martial arts of the Im Clan originally consist of two secret manuals. One of them is in my possession.”
With that, Soga-yul rose and walked to the window.
“Yet the fact that he hid the will from you without ever delivering it also means he hoped this letter would never reach me. Do you understand what I am saying?”
Cheongwol briefly recalled his grandfather’s smiling face and bit his lip.
“Grandfather wanted me to abandon revenge. He never spoke of the will’s existence even until the moment he closed his eyes. Therefore…”
Their gazes met in the empty air between them.
“The contents of both the will and the letter were written under the assumption that I would carry out the family’s vengeance.”
“…You understand well.”
With those words Cheongwol fell silent and closed his eyes.
The sole remaining descendant of the Im Clan in all the world, and precious blood kin. That was why the old man had told him to forget such things as revenge—yet the very one who spoke those words had been unable to release his hold on vengeance even until the moment he drew his last breath. One needed only look at the unfinished will he had carried in his bosom, the will he could never ultimately deliver.
Yet whatever had gone unwritten in that will, Cheongwol had no intention of following his grandfather’s wishes this time. The will his grandfather had begun with the grudge of the Im Clan—he would finish writing it in the blood of their sworn enemies.
Tears traced paths down his cheeks, yet Cheongwol regarded Soga-yul with an unwavering posture.
“Since Grandfather has passed, I am now the head of the Im Clan. Therefore I make this request not as a childish plea, but from the position of clan head.”
Cheongwol rose, bowed his head to Soga-yul, and clasped his fists in a martial salute.
“Sect Leader. Please help me so that I may avenge the grudge of the Im Clan.”
After Cheongwol left the room, Seomun Hwi entered, his face somehow shadowed.
“The Young Master of the Seomun Clan greets the Sect Leader of the Kongdong Sect.”
“…Come in.”
They exchanged brief courtesies, yet both minds were filled with thoughts of another. Seomun Hwi in particular kept seeing the face of Cheongwol, who had brushed past him in silence.
“Is the Clan Head well?”
Only when Soga-yul first inquired after the Seomun Clan Head’s health did Seomun Hwi collect himself.
“Yes. Thanks to your concern.”
“What thanks. In any case, it is fortunate he is well.”
She drained the cup of long-cold tea, then looked at Seomun Hwi.
“Before we speak of other matters, allow me to ask something.”
“Yes.”
“I have heard that you are friends with the child who came earlier. Is that true?”
Fearing that the wrong answer might jeopardize the clan’s affairs, Seomun Hwi hesitated a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Yes. That is correct.”
Soga-yul showed a flicker of interest.
“Is that so? Can you tell me how the two of you came to know each other?”
“It is not difficult. However…”
An extraordinary aura unsuited to his years flowed through Seomun Hwi’s eyes.
“I would first like to know why the Sect Leader is so curious about Cheongwol.”
No matter that he was Young Master of the Seomun Clan, it was not an attitude one ought to display before the leader of a great sect. Seomun Hwi knew this, yet regret came too late. How could he help it, when Cheongwol—who had emerged with reddened eyes after speaking with the Sect Leader—kept troubling his thoughts?
Yet Soga-yul understood that the rudeness sprang from concern for a friend, and so she merely smirked.
“He is a child who will become my disciple. Is it not natural to be curious?”
“…Pardon? Disciple?”
“Yes. Ah—that does not mean I intend to have him enter the Kongdong Sect. I have no thought of teaching him Kongdong martial arts.”
Seomun Hwi grew more puzzled by the increasingly opaque words, but Soga-yul had no intention of explaining further.
“Simply take it as that. Now it is my turn.”
When she looked at him as if urging him on, Seomun Hwi had no choice but to recall the day he first met Cheongwol.
“…And that is how it came about.”
When Seomun Hwi finished, Soga-yul regarded him with a look of mild incredulity.
“So you are saying you have known each other a mere three days?”
“Yes.”
Watching him answer so steadily, Soga-yul felt a sense of the absurd.
“You glared at me as if you meant to kill me. I assumed you had known each other at least half a month…”
“It was not quite that far… I apologize. But the length of time we have known each other is not what matters, is it? Because he is a truly precious friend, I acted without realizing.”
“Is that so? Well, there are those whose hearts you never know even after a lifetime, and those with whom you understand each other after only a word or two.”
Fortunately Soga-yul accepted the explanation, and Seomun Hwi inwardly sighed in relief. Given that he was charged with the clan’s business, the discourtesy he had shown her moments earlier could easily have driven the matter to ruin.
“Then I shall now speak of the purpose for which I sought the Kongdong Sect. Here is a letter bearing the Clan Head’s seal…”
Seomun Hwi reached into his robes to produce the letter, but Soga-yul waved a hand and shuddered.
“Enough. I have already had my fill of something thoroughly revolting today. For the time being I have no intention of even looking at another letter.”
“Then how…”
“Even without reading it, the fact that you have come makes the matter plain. You require a definite answer, do you not?”
Indeed—was the seat of Sect Leader decided by martial prowess alone? At Soga-yul’s keen words, spoken as if she had already read the letter, Seomun Hwi nodded with equal gravity.
“That is correct. The Clan Head awaits the Sect Leader’s reply.”
“In that case, he need wait no longer. Tell the Clan Head that Kongdong will join the cause.”
She then tossed something lightly; Seomun Hwi’s hand shot out by reflex and caught it. It was a token engraved with seven dragons that held the energies of yin-yang and the five elements—an object that, at a glance, was no ordinary thing.
“It is the Sect Leader’s Token.”
At those words Seomun Hwi rose from his seat in astonishment.
“How can you give me this…”
“Do not make a fuss. Of course it is not the genuine article. That said, it is hardly something I can hand out to just anyone either. Since I cannot give the true token, I made this replica in its place.”
“…Is that so?”
Looking slightly abashed, Seomun Hwi slipped the Sect Leader’s Token into his robes.
“Thank you. I shall deliver it to the Clan Head without fail.”
Yet as he offered his thanks, Soga-yul shook her head.
“No. There is no need. The Sect Leader’s Token is given not to the Seomun Clan Head, but to you.”