The Mole Hunt (8)
I was about to enter when the servant came out with an oddly uncomfortable expression. I asked him what the matter was, and he bowed his head in confirmation.
“Yes. She is currently waiting in the reception room.”
“Good. Well done.”
When I stepped into the reception room, a familiar face greeted me. A woman with her hair tied into two perfectly round buns on either side of her head, wearing clothes that clung tightly to her slender figure. And above all, that face with its narrow, smiling eyes—I recognized her immediately.
“It seems I’ve been rude. I should have come out first to greet you…”
“Not at all. Your enjoyment, Jin Hwan-nim, is my enjoyment as well.”
“If you put it that way, I can only be grateful.”
I ordered the servant to bring fresh tea, then personally lifted the teapot and poured for her. Jin Deng accepted the cup, brought it briefly to her lips, offered the customary compliments about the fine leaves harvested at the perfect time, then set the cup down and moved on to the main topic.
“What you’re curious about is Xiahou Yuan’s story, I presume?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“To be honest, you asked so late that I was considering coming to see you first. But since you waited this long, I assumed you had some intention behind it and held off until you were ready to speak.”
“You read me correctly. After all, Xiahou Yuan’s second defection is no small matter. The process itself must have been riddled with problems… so I couldn’t very well reveal it publicly.”
“I thought as much.”
Jin Deng took another sip of tea, savoring it, then began.
“Then where should I start…”
“From the very beginning, if possible.”
“Very well. This concerns the time when Xiahou Yuan-nim and I attacked Danseong together…”
Even though a considerable amount of time had passed, Jin Deng recalled the events as clearly as if they had happened yesterday and explained them in vivid detail. According to her, right after the secret letter from the inner court arrived, Xiahou Yuan and her forces changed their strategy. They mobilized every hidden unit and launched an all-out assault on Danseong. Thanks to their numerical superiority, they surrounded the city without much difficulty. By the time I had defeated Lu Bu, they had successfully captured Danseong.
After Lu Bu turned her forces toward Yangzhou and disappeared for a long time without any word, the defenders of Danseong—believing they had been abandoned—opened the gates themselves. There was some minor fighting inside the castle against a handful of soldiers who refused to surrender, but the remnants lacked both numbers and morale. Their resistance didn’t last long. As a result, Xiahou Yuan and Jin Deng entered Danseong as victors, calmed the chaos within the city, and discussed their next steps.
“What kind of discussion?”
“We received word that you, Jin Hwan-nim, had begun your battle with Cao Cao, so we were debating how to send reinforcements.”
The conclusion of that discussion was that Xiahou Yuan would go to provide support while Jin Deng remained in Danseong to reorganize the troops.
“Listening to this, it doesn’t sound like there were any signs of betrayal from Xiahou Yuan.”
“Exactly. If anything, she fought with excessive zeal.”
“Then when exactly—?”
“This might come as a surprise,” Jin Deng said, lightly tracing the rim of her teacup with her fingertip, “but it happened that very evening.”
“That evening?!”
Because this was so unexpected, genuine shock colored my voice.
In truth, Xiahou Yuan’s betrayal had been understandable. At the time, my abilities had temporarily vanished, causing the subordination contract to gradually weaken. But if Jin Deng’s words were true, then Xiahou Yuan had suddenly turned traitor without any warning whatsoever. That changed everything from “understandable” to “extremely bizarre.” I pressed her for a more detailed explanation so I could make sense of this strange situation.
“What exactly happened?”
“I suspect they took advantage of the complacency right after we captured Danseong.”
Jin Deng furrowed her brow slightly as she dredged up the memory and began to describe the events.
“Around midnight, a disturbance broke out in Xiahou Yuan’s camp. Our sentries reported it immediately. When I got up and went outside, the chaos was already spreading. I took command of the troops and asked what was going on. They said it looked like they had been ambushed. Judging by the circumstances, it seemed only a small force had carried out the raid, yet the confusion wasn’t being contained. That struck me as odd. By the time dawn broke, I entered her camp and only then realized that Xiahou Yuan had vanished.”
“Kidnapped?”
“No, it doesn’t appear so… After we restored order in the camp, I gathered the witnesses and questioned them. Several people testified that she walked out on her own two feet. With that many matching accounts, it’s unlikely they were all mistaken.”
“Hmm…”
I now had a rough grasp of the situation, yet the questions had only multiplied. Why had she suddenly turned? And if she had defected, why hadn’t she taken her troops with her and instead fled alone? Moreover, who exactly was the raiding force that had struck Xiahou Yuan’s camp?
I thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“I can’t make heads or tails of what’s going on. What do you think?”
“Well… it’s not really my place to speculate lightly, but…”
Jin Deng fell silent for a moment before answering.
“I believe it was Cao Cao’s doing. Nothing creates such a sudden and drastic change of heart like family. From the attackers’ perspective, slipping a small force into the heart of our army to extract a general of Xiahou Yuan’s caliber would require considerable confidence. The only ones capable of that are Cao Cao’s forces.”
“That does make sense…”
I nodded in agreement with Jin Deng’s reasoning. Her deduction was perfectly logical. Based solely on the information currently available, it was undoubtedly the most plausible explanation.
But the story changed slightly for someone who knew more than she did.
I knew many things Jin Deng did not. That was why, while I could agree that it looked like Cao Cao’s handiwork, I still harbored doubts about the finer details.
“Just what method did they…”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, never mind. In any case, you’ve been a great help. Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. We’re close, aren’t we, Jin Hwan-nim? If you have any more questions, just call for me. Other matters are welcome too.”
The smile never left Jin Deng’s face as she spoke, making it impossible to tell how much was serious and how much was teasing. I wasn’t entirely sure what our relationship was, but since she clearly wanted to maintain a good one, there was no harm in it.
With that thought, I saw Jin Deng off, then returned to my seat and sank back down.
“Xiahou Yuan, huh…”
Beyond the collapse of my original plan, something else weighed heavily on my mind. I let out a long sigh and slumped deeper into the chair.
“Damn it.”
Even though the contract had weakened, Xiahou Yuan had still been bound by the subordination pact. I couldn’t fathom what could have allowed her to break free of its restraints and abandon her army. It would have been nice to have some clues, but this was the first time a contract had ever been broken in this manner, so I had nothing to go on.
“Hey, do you know anything?”
In my frustration, I asked Ser, but her reply wasn’t particularly enlightening.
"— Information gathering is still in progress, but nothing deviates significantly from Jin Deng's hypothesis. Once Zhang Pae's investigation in Huxu makes further progress, we should be able to identify the truth clearly. —"
“Well, you can’t create information out of thin air…”
"— In any case, the contract breaking is clearly unnatural. It is reasonable to assume some artificial force was involved. Since an unpredictable event has occurred, you must remain sufficiently vigilant. —"
But how?
There was a limit to how much caution one could exercise against something that defied human common sense. After thinking it over, I decided to visit someone who might be able to answer questions about such bizarre phenomena.
“So that’s why you came to me?”
“Well… yeah.”
When I found her, Wu Ji was, as expected, plastered against the western palace wall, diligently painting something. Having seen her several times now, I had grown somewhat familiar with her. I spoke casually to her, while she continued to use polite speech. Even today, she answered me with the same respectful tone.
“…I did think you were an interesting person, but…”
She smiled brightly, her face covered in splatters of paint.
“I didn’t expect it to be this much. Fine… since it was entertaining, I’ll tell you.”
With that, she took the brush in her hand and wrote two characters on the wall.
“Healing…?”
“Hua Tuo is a master physician.”
Instead of directly answering my question, Wu Ji changed the subject.
“She is approaching feats that physicians of this era could never achieve. She accomplishes things others cannot without hesitation. For example… this area was originally impossible to treat with needles or medicine, but Hua Tuo used a bold method to make it possible. Like this…”
Wu Ji tapped her own forehead lightly with her finger.
“The brain…?”
Ugh. Even on the battlefield, I sometimes saw such scenes against my will. The sight of a skull split open with brains spilling out was enough to make me nauseous no matter how many times I witnessed it. Just hearing Wu Ji’s story made me feel sick, but she continued nonchalantly, mimicking the motion of splitting something open with her hand.
“Yes. She supposedly cracks it open with a ‘crack’ and removes the tumor.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It is. Though it’s hardly easy. Above all, it hurts tremendously. That’s why patients are usually tied down so they can’t move. But when you need to perform delicate work, having the patient thrash around makes it incredibly difficult, doesn’t it? So Hua Tuo uses a special medicine called Mabisan to block the patient’s sense of pain before performing the surgery. The ingredients used in this medicine are stalactite, realgar, white quartz, magnetite, red halloysite…”
Wait a minute. These were names I had heard many times before.
Reading the expression on my face, Wu Ji let out a small laugh.
“They sound familiar, don’t they? That’s right. They are the main ingredients of the Five Stone Powder you used before. In order to break away from conventional treatment and adopt the unusual method of surgery, Hua Tuo explored many ways to alleviate the patient’s suffering. One of them was Five Stone Powder. The final result was Mabisan. After hearing of her achievement, I pestered Hua Tuo until I obtained the recipe for Five Stone Powder.”
What? Then didn’t that mean Wu Ji had no reason to claim rights over the Five Stone Powder…?
But as I thought that, I realized her words carried a far greater implication.
There existed someone who, through medical arts that transcended the era, could create drugs that manipulated human consciousness—and ultimately, drugs that could incapacitate the body. If such a person existed, then things once thought impossible could become possible.
I drew a single conclusion from this and asked to confirm.
“Then that bastard is…?”
“Right now Cao Cao is the strongest, after all. Although there is still great potential for growth… many believe that attaching oneself to the strongest warlord is the most effective way to fulfill one’s assigned role.”
“Does that mean there could be others besides Zuo Ci and Hua Tuo?”
I pressed for an answer because what she was saying was alarming, but Wu Ji simply smiled brightly and gave no clear reply.
Well… of course she wouldn’t say more. If anything, it was stranger that she had so readily revealed Hua Tuo’s identity.
In the end, I gave up on extracting any further related information. Instead, I casually changed the subject.
“Then did you come to me because you think I’ll become the strongest in the future?”
“I said there were many, didn’t I? Not all of them. I didn’t come because you are strong. I came because it’s fun.”
“Wow… you really say that straight to my face? I might get hurt, you know.”
“Oh? Did you want me to comfort you with a lie?”
“No, forget it. I was joking. More importantly, I’ll leave Sun Quan’s matter to you.”
“Sun Quan’s…? Ah, that’s right. There was that matter.”
Only then did Wu Ji seem to remember. She clapped her hands together and said,
“Since it came to mind—would you like to go see her once?”