Do You Know the Saber? - Part 3
When the Hao Sect Leader and Dokgo Ryeong stepped into the energy barrier tent to speak alone, Wi Ilcheong found himself a little flustered.
…Even if they tell me to make small talk with these two…
He prided himself on being sociable, yet even he could not easily smile and chat with the pair sitting before him.
Fortunately, Paeng Yudeok seemed to sense his discomfort and spoke first.
"So… Young Master Wi, how did you come to meet Dokgo Jin's daughter?"
"Ah… we met by chance. I had business with Elder Dokgo Jin and was searching the area when I ran into her."
"I see. Might you recall where exactly you met?"
"Haha… I'm afraid it escapes me."
When Wi Ilcheong showed clear reluctance to answer, Paeng Yudeok quickly dropped the matter and moved on.
"If you can't remember, so be it. More importantly—may I ask a rather vulgar question?"
"…I suspect it concerns my moniker."
"Have you already shared the bridal night with Dokgo Jin's daughter?"
"…And for what reason do you ask?"
"I came intending to take her as my daughter-in-law, only to find her sitting beside a man whose title is 'Lust Demon.' How could I not be concerned?"
"…Please set your mind at ease. We have not yet shared the bridal night."
"…Yet?"
Paeng Yudeok's brows rose. He glanced toward the tent where Dokgo Ryeong was still speaking, then back at Wi Ilcheong.
"That 'yet' bothers me."
"It means exactly what it says. I have promised to claim Miss Dokgo's bridal night before long."
"Withdraw that promise."
"I refuse. That is for Miss Dokgo to decide."
"Heh heh… Young people these days have no sense of propriety."
When Hwangbo Gi cut in from the side, Wi Ilcheong shot back at once.
"Is that so…? Discussing the virginity of a young lady whose marriage has not even been arranged seems rather improper itself."
"You little—!"
Hwangbo Gi clenched his fist, unable to restrain his temper, but Paeng Yudeok raised a hand and stopped him.
"Our Fist Venerable seems unusually short-tempered today."
"…Forgive me. I've seen far too many unsightly things already."
"True enough… I feel the same."
Paeng Yudeok lifted a wine jug and offered it toward Wi Ilcheong.
"Will you accept?"
"I will."
Wi Ilcheong courteously held out his cup. Paeng Yudeok began to pour. Even after the cup filled to the brim, he did not stop. Wine spilled over the rim and ran down Wi Ilcheong's hand, yet the young man neither flinched nor shifted his posture. Paeng Yudeok likewise kept pouring until the jug was empty.
"Ah… the wine has run dry."
"I accept it with gratitude."
"Gratitude, my foot…"
Wi Ilcheong drained the overflowing cup in a single swallow. Hwangbo Gi's eyes bulged once more.
"Hold—! Draining a cup in one go is no proper etiquette!"
"Pouring until it overflows is no proper etiquette either."
"…Are you looking for a fight?"
"Hardly. I merely intend to keep a promise."
Wi Ilcheong set the cup down and met Paeng Yudeok's gaze squarely.
"Blade Immortal."
"Speak."
"For what purpose do you swing your saber?"
"Hm…?"
"I swing mine to keep my word. You yourself said a man who goes back on his word is no man at all. Yes—exactly so. In all my life I have never once broken a promise made to a woman."
"And what are you trying to say?"
A spark of interest lit Paeng Yudeok's eyes.
"Therefore, with all due respect to the Blade Immortal, Miss Dokgo will not do."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. After speaking with her, I am certain."
Wi Ilcheong declared it plainly.
"I love Miss Dokgo Ryeong."
"You… you crazy bastard!!"
"I—I startled you, Miss Dokgo."
"Wh-what the hell are you spouting!!"
Watching Dokgo Ryeong thrash about, Eun Yakbyeok pressed a hand to her throbbing temples.
"Haa… I only just finished explaining this to our guest."
Paying no mind to the surrounding eyes, Dokgo Ryeong seized Wi Ilcheong by the collar.
"What kind of sudden nonsense—!"
"Didn't you say so yourself earlier, Miss Dokgo?"
"I said what!"
"That if you feel you can't live without the bastard, that means you love him. I've thought it over carefully, and I don't think I can live without you."
"Ugh… hwaaah…"
Hearing him look her straight in the face and confess that he could not live without her, Dokgo Ryeong's cheeks flushed scarlet. At the same moment her hair flushed a soft pink.
"Tsk tsk tsk… Young people these days…"
"Truly the end of an era."
"I quite agree with both of you. It's so fresh and green I'm embarrassed just watching."
Paeng Yudeok and Hwangbo Gi clicked their tongues at the pair's raw, youthful squabble; even Eun Yakbyeok chimed in from the side.
When the strength left Dokgo Ryeong's grip, Wi Ilcheong instead took her hand and spoke.
"Miss Dokgo."
"H-hweh?!"
"I wish to claim your bridal night. Without fail."
"N-nooo…!"
"And for that reason I wish to keep every promise I made to you. So I will ask."
"Y-your face—get it away…"
As Wi Ilcheong's earnest face drew closer, Dokgo Ryeong's heart began to hammer. Her lower dantian throbbed; she felt the yin energy of her entire body stir and circulate.
Whether he noticed her state or not, Wi Ilcheong continued.
"Will you come with me? Do not marry into the Paeng Clan."
"Ah… th-that…"
"Please answer. Is it me, or the Paeng Clan?"
"N-nooo…"
"It is me…"
"Enough! I think we've all heard enough—stop right there."
It was Paeng Yudeok who rescued the cornered Dokgo Ryeong. When Wi Ilcheong released her hand and looked at the old man with a faintly sour expression, Dokgo Ryeong felt genuine gratitude.
Thank you, Paeng Clan… Never thought I'd owe a debt to you of all people…
Clutching her pounding chest, she turned to Paeng Yudeok and found him scowling fiercely, both hands covering his eyes.
"…Why are you doing that, Blade Immortal?"
"I've just witnessed something thoroughly shameful."
"I merely spoke the truth."
"…You're still young. Haa…"
Paeng Yudeok reached for the wine jug, realized he had already emptied it, and looked at Eun Yakbyeok.
"…Did you leave any in reserve?"
"After watching that spectacle, who wouldn't want a drink?"
"…Just this once, then."
At Eun Yakbyeok's gesture a fresh jug flew into Paeng Yudeok's hand. He pulled the stopper, took several long swallows, and let out a heavy sigh.
"Hoo…. Truly Dokgo Jin's daughter."
"Wh-what about it!"
"Even her love burns hot! Exactly like Dokgo Jin's blood! I give up!"
"N-nooo…!"
"Truth be told… I thought if fortune smiled I might take Dokgo Jin's daughter as a daughter-in-law, so I poked and prodded a bit. But with a lover like that already at her side…"
"I-I'm not his loverrr!!"
"Khahaha, of course not. Sure, sure. I know."
Paeng Yudeok turned to Wi Ilcheong.
"Young Master Wi."
"Yes."
"I admire your spirit. These days the martial world has few men who can spout such insolence to my face and still look me straight in the eye."
"…"
"So I'll ask once more. Have you no interest in learning the saber from me?"
"How could an outsider learn a clan's martial arts?"
When Wi Ilcheong politely declined, Paeng Yudeok laughed.
"I foresaw as much, which is why I made sure to sire both sons and daughters. What do you say?"
"…I must decline."
"Tch tch tch… A pity. I should have met you earlier."
"Then pour me another cup."
Wi Ilcheong held out the cup he had just emptied. Paeng Yudeok's eyes widened at the sight.
"Kh… khahahahat!! I like you! I truly like you!"
He filled Wi Ilcheong's cup—this time carefully, right to the brim but not a drop over.
"I see you carry several swords."
"Yes, Elder."
"Then adding one saber among them shouldn't matter, should it?"
"…Of course not."
"If you ever have business in Hebei, come find me. I'll teach you a thing or two anytime."
"Y-you really needn't…"
"It is the price of every discourtesy I showed today. Is that insufficient?"
"…I understand. Should I ever have reason to visit Hebei, I will call upon the Paeng Clan."
"A promise, then?"
"…I promise."
Eun Yakbyeok, who had been listening in silence, sneered.
"My, my. It seems I took the loss while Young Master Wi walks away with the profit."
"Khahaha! My apologies to the Hao Sect Leader as well. What do you desire?"
"Well… I'll need to think on it a little."
"How about this?"
Paeng Yudeok suddenly fell silent; Eun Yakbyeok's eyes widened. After a brief exchange of sound transmissions, she inclined her head.
"…That is more than enough to settle the account."
"You need not verify it?"
"I already had my suspicions, so it is fine."
"Frightening woman, the Hao Sect Leader."
Having finished with the other two, Paeng Yudeok turned to Dokgo Ryeong.
"And so… Dokgo Jin's daughter."
"What."
"Still without a scrap of manners, heh. Had you been a boy I would have tanned your hide long ago."
"…"
"The truth is… the real reason I came today was because I genuinely wished to make you my daughter-in-law. Well, I've given that up now."
"You think I would have agreed…?"
"Which is why I said I was prepared to go to war with the Tang Clan and the Moyong Clan if necessary."
"…An obvious lie."
"Does it sound like a joke?"
Paeng Yudeok looked her full in the face.
"The Poison Immortal has poisoned the Alliance. He poured out two virulent toxins—'money' and 'drugs.'"
"…"
"The chivalrous beggars who once overflowed with righteousness are now drunk on the Tang Clan's narcotics, and the elders who enjoyed comfortable lives within the Alliance are drunk on Tang gold."
"So what?"
"The Sword Immortal is too soft. He has always cared only for the martial path; the Alliance Leader's seat never suited him."
"…Do you intend to take that seat yourself?"
"I do. And the first thing I will do once I sit there is cleanse Sichuan and Liaoning."
"…That sounds impossible."
"Which is why I am gathering those of like mind. The Thunderforce Fist Venerable of the Hwangbo Clan here is one of them; the Shandong Ak Clan, the Sima Clan, and the Zhuge Clan have also agreed to join."
"…"
The unexpected list of great clans surprised Dokgo Ryeong. To her, Paeng Yudeok had always been nothing more than a noisy nuisance; she had never once imagined him as a man of vast ambition, and that made the revelation all the more unsettling.
Her eyes flicked toward Eun Yakbyeok for confirmation and found the woman looking equally startled.
Shit… how the hell am I supposed to tell if this is real or fake…
Dokgo Ryeong faced Paeng Yudeok again.
"Then why do you need Dokgo Jin?"
"Because he has fought them the most. The man who has clashed with the Tang Clan more than anyone else is Dokgo Jin—so I need him. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear a hundred battles, no?"
"…"
One by one the points Eun Yakbyeok had earlier dismissed as lies were vanishing, leaving Dokgo Ryeong thoroughly confused.
"W-wait a second. Then is my marriage absolutely necessary?"
"…That would be a gift to Dokgo Jin, not to you."
"Huh?"
"I always believed Dokgo Jin was a man with nothing left to lose—yet here he has such a lovely daughter. Would he not also wish for his child's safety?"
"…"
Of course Paeng Yudeok had no idea that Dokgo Ryeong and Dokgo Jin were the same person. As a father who had raised children of his own, his reasoning was only natural.
"But if you just say you're going to thrash the Tang Clan, he'll join on his own. Why not strike right away?"
"I need time. The time required until I become Alliance Leader. Attacking another great clan without a righteous cause would be hard for anyone to accept."
"…"
Dokgo Ryeong's mind spun. Was this the truth or not? Just as her thoughts grew tangled, Eun Yakbyeok's sound transmission slipped into her ear.
"…"
When Eun Yakbyeok confirmed it as fact, Dokgo Ryeong's face twisted.
"…Can't we just thrash them already?"
"That will not do, you ill-mannered girl."
Hwangbo Gi cut in.
"It would split the Orthodox martial world in two with civil war. The middling and lesser sects will flock to whichever side holds the righteous cause—so a justification must come first."
"What if we just expose the existence of the Gu Poison and the Absolute Poison?"
"They would pin it on the Blood Sect or the Demonic Cult. The Beggars' Sect is in their pocket as well; we would lose any war of deception."
"Fuck…"
"Watch your language a little… Hoo…. I'll restrain myself."
Leaving Hwangbo Gi, who had grown used enough to her swearing that he now swallowed his anger on his own, Dokgo Ryeong pondered hard.
…Just get married and they'll thrash them for me—kinda tempting…
Yet she hated the idea of handing her revenge over to someone else's hands.
Just as she steeled herself to refuse the marriage and everything else, Paeng Yudeok spoke first.
"Which brings me to you, Young Master Wi."
"Yes."
"I have one request of you as well."
"…Please speak."
"You see… well…. I've rather thoroughly filled my son's head with expectations, you understand?"
"…"
Wi Ilcheong already had a fair idea what the request would be.
"So would you go and show him the two of you being all lovey-dovey with Dokgo Jin's daughter? So the boy gives up on his own?"
"Very well."
"You… you sons of bitches! Why the hell are you deciding for me!!"