Free Web NovelFifteen minutes later, Yeon Ryang returned with Beopgong, his face looking little different from usual.
“Brother. Are you all right?”
“It’s nothing. I’m fine. The sun’s up, so let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”
But his voice trembled faintly.
Maybe he had not been angry. Maybe something I said had brought up a bad memory. Sometimes, after nightmares, he fell into a bad state.
I slipped closer and linked my arm through his. Yeon Ryang smiled weakly and stroked my head. I forced my voice bright.
“Brother. Don’t you want meat after staying up all night? You like duck. How about roasted duck for breakfast?”
At my easygoing chatter, Yeon Ryang’s eyes curved gently.
“All right. Let’s eat duck.”
“Good grief. Such sibling affection. How is a man without a sister supposed to bear the sorrow?”
Beopgong snorted and grumbled. I pretended not to hear him and looked up at him instead.
“By the way. Is it all right to leave them like that?”
“Them? The Ghost-Spirit Valley fellows?”
“Yes. Won’t their remaining companions come looking for revenge?”
Beopgong shook his head as if there was absolutely no chance of that.
“Not at all. Do you think people like that have anything resembling fellowship?”
“They... don’t?”
“Unorthodox faction groups are no different from beasts, kid. They gather only to increase their odds of survival. They have no ranks and no order. Leave them alone, and they’ll collapse on their own.”
“That’s how it is?”
“Yes. You fought them yourself, so you know, but they were all pathetic, no better than street thugs. Like a school of fish, they use tricks of the eye to make themselves look bigger, but individually they have nothing to them. That is the nature of the unorthodox faction.”
Beopgong spoke coldly, picked at his ear, then blew the earwax off his finger.
“The truly strong don’t form packs. They go around alone, like your brother. Unless we’re talking about the Apostate Alliance’s upper officers that Killing Fiend keeps around.”
“Who is Killing Fiend?”
“The Apostate Alliance Lord. Killing Fiend Chae Honggyo. Haven’t you heard of her? No—better that you haven’t. Kid, never get involved with that madwoman.”
“Her name is Rainbow Bridge?”
“Yeah. They say she named herself that. There are rumors that, on fine days, she likes to scatter people’s blood and watch the rainbow—”
“Beopgong. Stop saying things that kill the appetite.”
Yeon Ryang jabbed Beopgong with his elbow and cut him off.
Beopgong must have realized he had gone too far after seeing my face, because he obediently closed his mouth.
“At any rate, there’s nothing to worry about. They must have earned plenty of resentment by now, so they’ll meet an end fitting their karma. The local people won’t leave them be.”
I slowly nodded. Beopgong had crippled their dantians, but they would not die easily.
If they had swung swords at the weak and made blood tears flow from their eyes, then it was only right that they pay the same price.
...Yes. This was right.
I pressed down my discomfort and cleared away my stray thoughts. Thanks to Yeon Ryang’s warmth, it did not take long to regain my calm.
Whatever happened to those unorthodox faction bastards was none of my business. First, it seemed best to feed this mountain-sized man.
*****
After breakfast, Yeon Ryang entrusted me to Beopgong.
“I’m leaving her with you because I can’t take her with me, but I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“Set your worries aside. I’ll roll her around like my own daughter—no, I mean, look after her.”
“I’m fairly sure you just said roll her around.”
“No chance. You heard wrong.”
At that shameless lie, Yeon Ryang frowned with a deeply uneasy look.
The person leaving me behind did not seem to trust him either, but he still could not take me to Hao Gate.
Yeon Ryang glared at Beopgong and said,
“I’ll be back. Sohae, just in case, stick right by him. As long as you’re beside that bastard, you won’t get hurt.”
“Mm. Come back soon, Brother. Oh, and with the medicine, only pretend to take it and bring it back as is. Let’s see what they put in the antidote.”
“All right. I’ll bring it. Beopgong, I’m counting on you.”
“I told you to set your worries aside. Just go and come back quickly. There’s no time. We’re taking a boat this evening.”
“I know.”
At Beopgong’s urging, Yeon Ryang swallowed a sigh and turned away. Once Yeon Ryang disappeared, Beopgong grinned and curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Kid. It’s just the two of us now.”
At that ominous smile, I hurriedly moved away from Beopgong. When I gave him a wary look, Beopgong snickered.
“There are only two of us left, so I said there are only two of us left. Why are you getting tense? I won’t hit you.”
“What? Were you going to hit me?”
“I said I won’t. How could I hit a little kid like you? It would be different if you were one of those Arhat Hall fellows stinking of sweat.”
You hit me just fine earlier.
I glared at him, then awkwardly fidgeted with my hands. Being left alone with the man I had spent half a day brawling with was nothing but awkward.
“......”
“......”
Beopgong seemed to find it just as awkward, because he was silent for a long while.
He rested his chin on one hand and tapped the table, then soon called a passing inn runner.
“Inn runner! Hot water and a fresh set of tea implements over here.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Kid. Do you like sweet things? Want me to make you a cup of sugar water?”
“Sugar water? You carry sugar around?”
“Yeah. Try it. It’s good for changing your mood.”
After answering, Beopgong pulled a fist-sized jar from his robe. When he opened the lid, it was full of sugar cubes in all sorts of uneven shapes.
Wow. It was so expensive that I had not even seen it since leaving the Tang Clan. Shaolin really was nice.
When the inn runner brought a fresh set of tea implements, Beopgong poured hot water into the teapot and dumped in sugar cubes.
Then he added a cinnamon stick and stirred it round and round to melt the sugar. The sweet scent of cinnamon-flavored sugar water tickled my nose.
“Drink.”
“Yes, thank you.”
I accepted the cup Beopgong handed me and slowly tilted the sugar water back. At the sweet taste I had not had in so long, the corners of my mouth naturally loosened.
Beopgong laughed under his breath and spoke.
“When your brother comes back, we’ll take a boat. It’s quick by water, so if the wind is good, it won’t even take half a day.”
“Yes.”
“Kid. Do you not have a veiled hat?”
“I don’t.”
“Let’s buy one. It doesn’t matter here, since this is a quiet little place, but once you enter Wuhan, things will get noisy. Because the Sword Immortal’s disciple made such a fuss, there isn’t a single Martial Alliance member who doesn’t know your face. You’re famous.”
Damn it. I was starting to dislike Taoist Jinseong a little.
When a deep crease formed between my brows, Beopgong flicked my forehead.
“A tiny thing like you will get wrinkles if you already scowl like that.”
“Ow! That hurt! You said you wouldn’t hit me! What kind of monk uses his fists before his words?”
As I covered my forehead and grumbled, Beopgong chuckled and called the inn runner again.
“Inn runner! Bring a veiled hat this kid can use.”
“Yes, sir!”
The inn runner snatched the piece of silver Beopgong tossed him, and life returned to his eyes. He brought back a veiled hat from somewhere faster than the wind.
After putting the veiled hat on me, Beopgong stroked his chin and made a strange sound.
“Huuuh. How odd.” frёewebηovel.cѳm
“What is?”
“You, kid. No matter how I look at you from every angle, you’re definitely Tang Clan blood, right? But your eyes are different. The corners slope down gently, just like Yeon Ryang’s.”
“That’s the best thing you’ve said so far, Master Beopgong. I hate hearing that I look like Tang Clan blood. I’d rather look like Yeon Ryang.”
“That temper. You’re prickly because your brother isn’t here?”
Beopgong grinned and adjusted the cloth of the veiled hat as he asked,
“Kid. What sort of illegitimate child are you?”
“Why are you asking that? How rude.”
“I’m curious. I’m an illegitimate child too.”
“You too, Master Beopgong?”
“Yeah. My biological father is a high official in Jinling. My biological mother was the legal wife’s maidservant. As soon as I turned five, the bastard who fathered me threw me away on Mount Song and left. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Oh.”
This man’s life had not exactly been smooth either.
As my eyes rolled around, Beopgong snorted.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not pitiful. Thanks to that, I had the good fortune of being taught personally by the old abbot.”
“Ah. Yes. Of all the people I’ve seen so far, you definitely have the most bloated ego.”
“Obviously. I was born a man, so I should have grand ambitions.”
“You’re still a monk, though. You can’t even grow your hair however you like, so what ambitions?”
“Tch. Be quiet.”
Beopgong brought a finger to his lips and put on a stern expression. I shook my head, then subtly asked,
“Do you perhaps know what Yeon Ryang was like...?”
“I’ve never asked. You haven’t asked either?”
“How could I ask that? If he talks about the past... he’ll think of that first.”
“You’re a delicate kid.”
Beopgong shrugged and waved toward someone behind me.
“Hey! Yeon Ryang!”
Startled, I turned around and saw Yeon Ryang coming into the inn. I sprang up and trotted over to him.
“Brother! You’re back already? Nothing happened?”
“I came quickly because I thought my sister would be waiting. Why are you wearing a veiled hat?”
Yeon Ryang winked and extended his arm as if to shelter me. I matched my steps to his and answered,
“Master Beopgong told me to wear it.”
“Hey, do you not see me? There’s a person over here too.”
“Yeah. Why did you call me, fake monk?”
“Aren’t you an illegitimate child too?”
At that unbelievably rude question from out of nowhere, my mouth fell open.
He was asking that like this?
“What? I told you to watch the kid, and you drank in broad daylight?”
Unlike me, who was horrified, Yeon Ryang did not seem to care much. It seemed he was used to Beopgong’s nonsense.
“If not, never mind. Then do you remember who your parents were?”
“Would I? I was kidnapped when I was four. And how would a child born in a pleasure house know his father?”
“Aaah, so you were the son of a courtesan? This one’s an illegitimate child too. Kid. You’re a courtesan’s daughter too, right? That’s what I heard.”
Beopgong clapped as if he had found a point in common.
I rubbed my forehead with a sullen face.
“It’s true that my birth mother was a courtesan. But is there any need to shout it so loudly?”
“What does it matter? If I say it quietly, will you stop being illegitimate children?”
“Forget it. I’d rather talk to a wall than have a conversation with you.”
When I answered sulkily, Yeon Ryang chuckled and patted me.
“You shouldn’t expect common sense from that bastard, Sister.”
“Mm. I’m feeling that down to my bones right now. But, Brother, can I ask more about when you were little?”
“Haha. Why wouldn’t you be able to? Before I was kidnapped, I lived in Sichuan too. My mother was a young courtesan in Chengdu.”
“A courtesan in Chengdu? Do you mean Moon-Fragrance Pavilion?”
“You know Moon-Fragrance Pavilion? Well, I suppose there’s no way you wouldn’t. It’s the largest pleasure house in Chengdu.”
Yeon Ryang answered himself and scratched his cheek.
“I don’t know whether my mother is still alive. I’ve never gone. I’m not inclined to see her aged, and I don’t have the confidence to step forward and say I’m her son.”
“If you’re curious, should I ask for you? I know someone at Moon-Fragrance Pavilion.”
If she had been a courtesan working there thirty-some years ago, Hwahong would probably know her, so I thought I could at least find out whether she was alive.
Yeon Ryang slowly nodded.
“That wouldn’t be bad.”
“Do you remember your mother’s name?”
“Ryeon.”
“I see. Ryeon...... Uh, Brother. Wait a second. Who did you say?”
Startled, I let out a shrill cry.
Ryeon of Moon-Fragrance Pavilion?
Choryeon?
