83.
“…Let’s go. To Seol-yeong and the children.”
The atmosphere in the back garden of the infirmary was different from the tense air in the office.
A low wooden platform sat under the shade of a tree. Five or six children were gathered around it, with Seol-yeong sitting in the center.
“Is this how you wrap it?”
“Yes. You’re doing well.”
Myeongjin was sitting right beside her knee, carefully bandaging the arm of one of the children. Even as the bandage was being knotted, the child kept their eyes wide open, fixed solely on Myeongjin’s hands.
“How do you read this?”
Each child held a slip of paper in their hands.
Characters were written one by one in small script.
It was Seol-yeong’s handwriting.
“That is the character for ‘bright’ (明). Do you see how it has both the sun (日) and the moon (月) in it?”
“What does it mean?”
“It means to be as bright as the sun and the moon.”
As Uncheon entered the back garden, a few of the children flinched and clutched their slips of paper to their chests.
Myeongjin looked up. He greeted Uncheon loudly.
“It’s the Gang Leader!”
Seol-yeong also slowly raised her head.
“Ah, Benefactor! You’ve come?”
A faint smile spread across her lips.
Her pale face, which had been full of signs of illness, now held a hint of vitality.
“Miss Seol, how are the children doing?”
Uncheon’s question was brief.
“…Only three have regained their speech so far.”
Seol-yeong’s reply was equally calm.
“As for the others, they look at me when I call their names. That alone is a great step forward.”
Her hand gently stroked the hair of the young child sitting beside her. The child blinked, closing and opening their eyes.
Compared to the time when they were in the basement of the Gold Coin Pavilion’s front inn, looking as if they had no will left, they were much improved.
Myeongjin finished the final knot of the bandage and added in a small voice:
“Seol-yeong Noona… gave the children names one by one. They all start with ‘Myeong’.”
“Myeongjin is taking good care of the children.”
This time, Seol-yeong gently stroked Myeongjin’s hair.
The tips of Myeongjin’s ears turned red, but he did not pull away.
Uncheon looked down at Myeongjin.
A child who shared the Taoist Title he had received from Kunlun with other children.
‘…He practices righteousness without even knowing the meaning of it.’
When the child was first dragged out of the hellish basement of the Gold Coin Pavilion, his eyes were the only thing that hadn’t lost their light. That light was now being used in a different way.
If the Kunlun masters Uncheon knew were here, they would have gladly welcomed these children who had lost their way and their names.
“…You are doing very well.”
Uncheon’s voice was low but steady.
The tips of Myeongjin’s ears turned even redder. However, his gaze did not waver.
Seol-yeong looked up at Uncheon slightly.
“Gang Leader, please stop by here occasionally. The children should also know who it was that saved them.”
Uncheon gave a short nod.
“I shall do so. Miss Seol, do not push yourself too hard.”
On his way back, his eyes caught the sight of Seol-yeong’s hand resting on the child’s head.
The fingertips that had once crushed the bookshelves of the Inner Archives were now caring for the children.
Seol-yeong’s hand was no longer a hand that stole warmth.
On the way back to the office, So Ryong added in a low voice from behind:
“Oh, and the items sent by the Inspectorate arrived at the main gate a moment ago. The quantity is quite significant.”
“They are quick with their calculations.”
“And… one more thing….”
So Ryong’s tone shifted slightly.
When they arrived at the entrance of the office, he saw the reason why.
Yi Mok, the Drunken Sword, was leaning against the wall, shaking his wine bottle. Yayul Hyeon was standing next to him.
He wasn’t in his usual sweat-drenched attire. He was dressed in a neat martial arts uniform, as if he had rushed to wash and change since dawn. Yet, he was still wearing his training weights.
He held an envelope in his hand.
Yi Mok looked at Uncheon with a faint smile.
“Gang Leader. This fellow has been pestering me since dawn. He says he wishes to see you.”
With that, he took a swig from his wine bottle and stepped back a pace.
Yayul Hyeon awkwardly stepped forward. The hand holding the envelope was slightly tense.
“Gang Leader. Could you spare a moment of your time?”
“Come in.”
Once inside the office, Yayul Hyeon stood before the table, unable to speak for a long time. So Ryong tactfully stepped back toward the wall and stood quietly.
Uncheon did not rush him. Eventually, Yayul Hyeon placed the envelope on the table with both hands.
The seal stamped on the surface of the envelope caught his eye first.
‘The crest of the Gale Yayul Family… is it?’
The sender was Yayul Cheok.
Yayul Hyeon bowed his head.
“Gang Leader. I know that delivering this is not my duty.
However….”
Yayul Hyeon took a breath.
“My eldest brother sent this via messenger. Although he borrowed the name of the main family, the Family Head still… does not know that this letter has been exchanged.”
Uncheon opened the envelope and examined the contents.
The letter was short.
It was an invitation to Black Dragon Gang Leader Uncheon in the name of the Gale Yayul Family.
The date was the Autumn Equinox. The location was the main family estate.
It included a brief explanation that children of families with ties to the Gale Yayul Family would be in attendance to foster relations, and that a friendly martial duel would be held among the Younger Generation Prodigies ranked in the Wind and Cloud Ranking.
At the end of the letter, Yayul Cheok’s name was written neatly.
However, it was not stamped with the official family seal, but only with his personal seal.
The eldest son of the Gale Yayul Family had sent an invitation to a martial duel without the Family Head’s approval.
“An invitation to a martial duel… Was this your plan, Yayul Hyeon?”
“…Yes. I will explain the situation now.”
Yayul Hyeon’s voice trembled. Now came the main point.
“My sister… is being treated as a disgrace by the main family.”
His lips tightened before opening again.
“News reached the Family Head that the sister who had been cast out by the family was working as an instructor for a third-rate gang in the countryside, and he… flew into a rage and summoned the Wind Demon Squad. He ordered them to bring her back, even if they had to break her legs.”
Uncheon’s eyes settled quietly.
“My eldest brother stopped them. He barely managed to persuade the Family Head to send me instead of the Wind Demon Squad, and ever since then, to appease the Family Head’s anger… he chose this method.”
Yayul Hyeon’s shoulders trembled once.
“If you, Gang Leader, prove your prowess before the Family Head at the martial duel… my father’s opinion of my sister will… surely change!”
His voice grew louder. Determination and desperation poured out at once.
“If the Family Head sees your martial arts with his own eyes, he will know that the place my sister belongs to is not just some backwater gang. Please…!”
Yayul Hyeon bowed deeply before the table.
A brief silence fell over the office.
Uncheon placed the envelope back on the table. Then he said, low but clearly.
“…No, you are wrong.”
Yayul Hyeon snapped his head up.
“W-why…!”
His face hardened. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
“Are you saying you lack the confidence!?”
Uncheon looked straight at Yayul Hyeon.
“I will go to the martial duel.”
Yayul Hyeon’s breath hitched.
“But the one who will prove herself there is not me.”
“…Pardon?”
“She already possesses the skill to prove herself. She obtained the Wind God Steps from the Demonic Academy’s Inner Archives, completed the Raging Wind Saber Arts as her own, and subdued you, who were sent by the main family, in a single strike. Who took all those steps?”
Yayul Hyeon’s eyes widened.
“It was Yayul Hui herself.”
Uncheon spoke calmly. That was why it felt all the more heavy.
“Me stepping in is not respect. It would only bind Yayul Hui to my shadow. Your sister, Yayul Hui, is someone who walked out of the Gale Yayul Family on her own feet and found her own path. It is right for Yayul Hui to prove her own Martial Way to the main family.”
The determination on Yayul Hyeon’s face crumbled.
In its place, other emotions welled up.
Shock, and shame.
He had thought he was worried about his sister. He had believed he was trying to protect her. But the only thing he had actually done was beg for someone stronger to step in on her behalf.
This outsider, the Gang Leader, believed in his sister more deeply than he did.
Yayul Hyeon’s lips trembled.
“I…”
It was then.
A low presence stirred near the office door.
The door was not fully closed. Someone was standing in the gap.
Yayul Hyeon looked back.
Yayul Hui was standing at the doorway. He didn’t know how long she had been there. But her eyes were already wet, and her lips were pressed tight.
Yayul Hui took a step into the office.
She looked at Uncheon once. Uncheon calmly received what was in that gaze.
Then, she shifted her eyes toward Yayul Hyeon.
“…Hyeon.”
The shock and shame on her younger brother’s face were reflected in her eyes.
“The Black Dragon Gang Leader is right.”
Yayul Hui’s voice was low and calm.
“I am grateful for your concern, but I am a martial artist. To a martial artist, that is not respect.”
Yayul Hui caught her breath for a moment.
“I left the family because I wanted to walk the path of a martial artist, not to be treated as a daughter of the Gale Yayul Family.”
Yayul Hui looked her brother straight in the eye.
“So, I will prove it. Myself.”
In that moment, Yayul Hyeon realized for the first time how little he had known his sister.
He bowed his head deeply.
“…I am ashamed.”
His voice was cracked.
“I thought I was worried about my sister. But the only thing I did was try to put the Gang Leader in my sister’s place instead of her.”
Yayul Hyeon’s shoulders trembled once.
“I did not believe in my sister.”
Yayul Hui placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder. It was not a hand of reprimand. It was simply a hand resting there.
“Hyeon.”
“…Yes.”
“I understand your heart in worrying for me. The direction was just a little misguided.”
Yayul Hui’s voice maintained its usual calm tone. However, the look in her eyes as she gazed at her brother was slightly different.
“I do not wish to return as a daughter of the Gale Yayul Family. However, showing my blade before the people of the Gale Yayul Family is a different matter. I will go to that place.”
Yayul Hyeon raised his head. He looked his sister straight in the face.
“…I will go as well.”
The tremor in his voice had vanished.
“I am not going as a person of the Gale Yayul Family. I will go as a retainer of the Black Dragon Gang, as a martial artist. I, too, have learned much here. And so, I wish to show that to my father as well.”
A faint smile touched the corners of Yayul Hui’s lips. She then turned her gaze toward Uncheon.
Uncheon gave a light nod.
“Very well. There is a little over a month until the autumn equinox, is there not?”
So Ryong, who had been standing quietly by the wall, stepped forward. Having been merely observing until now, he spoke cautiously, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Lord, if I may be so bold, I have a word to offer.”
“Speak.”
“The Martial Duel Tournament of the Gale Yayul Family is… it is not merely a place where a few of the younger generation clash their blades within the family. It is an official event hosted by a family that holds one of the Twelve Guardian Clans’ seats; people from the other Twelve Guardian Clans and influential families will also attend. In other words, it will be a gathering of young masters from the upper ranks of the Wind and Cloud Ranking.”
So Ryong caught his breath and added, “On the surface, it is a friendly tournament, but in reality, it is undoubtedly a place of fierce competition and a settling of ranks. It is a venue where families gauge each other’s strength, forge connections, and sometimes even discuss marriage alliances.
There, one can pull a newly named prodigy of the younger generation to their side, or conversely, bring down someone who has fallen out of favor. In the end, the hierarchy of the influential families within the Cult will be rewritten that day.”
Yayul Hui’s gaze darkened.
It was true.
When she was young, whenever a tournament was held at the main family estate, the Clan Leader would spend days beforehand calculating whom to seat where and how to receive each guest.
Those who emerged victorious in the tournament were the face of the family, while those who were defeated there were the family’s shame.
So Ryong continued cautiously, “To put it another way… if the Black Dragon Gang stands there, it means we are a force to be reckoned with among the various rising powers. Of course, we were not officially invited by the Clan Leader, but it is a good opportunity. Even if you simply attend this tournament, Lord, the rumors will spread throughout the Cult.”
“…I see.”
Uncheon’s eyes sharpened slightly.
So Ryong was right. While it might be nothing more than a public stage for the Yayul family to uphold their prestige, for the Black Dragon Gang, it was a stepping stone to ascend to the next level.
“I will go to the tournament.”
There was no hesitation in Uncheon’s voice.
“Myself, Yayul Hui, and Yayul Hyeon. The invitation says up to four people. One spot remains. Do you have anyone in mind?”
So Ryong wore a subtle smile.
“I would like to go as well, but… the Chief cannot leave his post while the Lord is away. Actually, this morning, that fellow Kang Hui came to me, fidgeting, and let something slip. He heard Yayul Hyeon was going to the main estate and asked if he might be able to follow.”
“Kang Hui… raised as a stray dog, he seems to want to peer over the walls of an influential family.”
Uncheon thought for a moment before nodding.
“Jin So-wol is injured, and So Ryong has work to do. Elder Yi Mok is not of the right age, so that leaves only him. We will take Kang Hui. He might even be able to raise his rank from the ninetieth spot on the Wind and Cloud Ranking. Tell him to hone his skills until the autumn equinox.”
0 Comments