Dang-gak cut Madam Jo off as if she were saying something absurd.
“It would not look good for me to move when there are younger elders available.”
“...I understand. Then who do you think they will send? Can we not draw the elder going to the Alliance’s main headquarters over to our side?”
“Most likely the Seventh Elder will go. None of the elders will want to take on troublesome work.”
“We cannot allow that! He will try to shield the illegitimate girl, will he not? We must choose someone who will testify that the girl is definitely a Demonic Sect spy.”
When Madam Jo raised her voice, Dang-gak shook his head.
“If we interfere clumsily in the Alliance’s affairs, suspicion may instead turn toward us. If they misunderstand it as an attempt to cut off a tail, how do you intend to deal with the aftermath? Let us wait until the interrogation is over.”
“We cannot kill her ourselves, and we cannot keep her from leaving the Alliance! Then what are we supposed to do?”
Madam Jo shouted and gripped her teacup, breathing hard. Her bloodless hand had gone white. She was clearly suppressing her fury.
Dang-gak pressed a hand to his ear at her shrill voice, and perhaps because he was beginning to feel irritated too, he answered bluntly.
“Simply leave her alone until she returns to the Tang Clan.”
“If that wench has any brain at all, she will not try to return to the Tang Clan.”
“That is why we must let the Seventh Elder go. She was fairly close to the Seventh Elder. Would she not return to the Tang Clan if she followed him?”
“...I do not know. The Seventh Elder also merely watched when that wench was expelled, did he not? What would she trust enough to follow him back?”
“The martial world is not an easy place, Madam. She has felt her life threatened several times, and she has been a wanted fugitive for a long time. By now, she must miss the clan’s embrace. If it is someone from her grandfather’s side, she will trust him and return.”
At his tone, close to certainty, Madam Jo closed her mouth reluctantly.
“When that child returns, we will act then. At that time, this elder will move personally.”
“...Yes.”
Madam Jo answered slowly, then lifted her eyes viciously.
“But you must not forget that promise. The moment that illegitimate girl sets foot on Sichuan soil, you must act yourself, Elder.”
“I will.”
Dang-gak answered obediently and rose.
“It is not good for our meetings to be too conspicuous or too frequent. Do not seek me out for the time being.”
“Yes. I will not see you out. Go carefully.”
Having finished their conversation, the two mocked each other with smiling faces.
Cowardly old man.
Stupid woman.
Dang-gak turned away coldly and left Madam Jo’s hall.
A snort escaped him at Madam Jo’s overbearing attitude. He slowly clenched his fist.
Look. Look at how the son of Tang Cheongi, whom everyone once praised as a genius, was ruining the clan.
And what of the greedy, foolish wife that son had brought in?
Like a pack of starving wild dogs, were they not all busy chasing only the profit before their eyes while gnawing away at their own flesh?
The one truly suited to the seat of Clan Head was not Tang Cheongi’s bloodline.
Soon, his beloved grandson would take that glorious seat.
So until then, just a little longer.
He only had to crouch a little longer.
At the end of long patience, sweetness would be waiting.
With murderous eyes, Dang-gak glared in the direction of the Clan Head’s Hall.
A strand of cold winter wind scraped past his cheek.
*****
The docks were crowded with people.
Workers loading cargo onto ships flying trading-company flags moved busily, and there were many passengers lined up to board passenger boats.
Because the veiled hat obstructed my vision and there were so many people, I thought moving around would be inconvenient, but that worry proved pointless.
Everyone who saw Yeon Ryang and Beopgong flinched and made a path on their own.
...I feel like those two are making my veiled hat stand out even more. Shouldn’t those men be the ones wearing veiled hats, not me?
When I shrank back under the burden of all the sticky gazes clinging to us, Yeon Ryang gently pulled me along.
“Sohae. You’ll board the wrong boat like that. Come this way.”
Meanwhile, Beopgong, who had boarded first and paid the fare, called us over.
“That’s right, kid. Don’t wander onto the wrong boat. Come here.”
The two of them did not seem to care about the surrounding stares at all. I felt like I was the only one being self-conscious.
“You’re paying?”
“We are going a long way, so I can at least pay the boat fare. Call it travel money.”
“Don’t say unlucky things.”
Beopgong cackled and asked,
“Kid. Have you ever fought river bandits?”
“No. I’ve never even met any.”
“Really? Then we will have to practice preparing for enemies who fight on water.”
The instant Beopgong muttered and stretched out his arm, Yeon Ryang quickly blocked it.
“Whoa, no.”
“What? Why?”
“Are you trying to release poison into the river? Do you even know how many poisons Sohae has on her before you try throwing her into the river?”
“Ah. I did not think of that.”
Beopgong smacked his lips and drew his hand back. I stared blankly at him, wondering what he was talking about, then gaped.
“What are you saying? Were you trying to throw me into the river just now? In this winter? In this weather?”
“Do not be disappointed. There will be plenty of chances to throw you.”
I’m not disappointed at all. This man really has no sense of fair dealing.
When I quickly hid behind Yeon Ryang’s back, Beopgong gave a small laugh, took out a liquor bottle, and put the mouth of the bottle to his lips.
The sight of a monk drinking straight from the bottle drew everyone’s eyes.
But that was all. The passengers, frightened by his hulking, muscular appearance, could not even bring themselves to whisper.
They merely edged away.
“Khh. Good liquor.”
...I should pretend I don’t know him. If I stay nearby, I might really get thrown into the river.
I naturally stepped backward and quietly moved away from Beopgong too.
*****
Seeing Tang Sohae vanish into the crowd, Beopgong jerked his chin lightly.
“Hey. Your sister is creeping away. Are you going to leave her alone?”
“She probably doesn’t want to be lumped together with you. It’s her first time on a large boat, so she will want to look around. Let her go.”
“What? What is wrong with me? Where else would you find such a reassuring companion?”
“Say that after putting away the liquor bottle. Everyone is staring.”
At Yeon Ryang’s scolding, Beopgong wiped the strong liquor from the corner of his mouth and asked,
“Yeon Ryang. What are you going to do?”
“About what?”
“What are you going to do from now on? You were planning to clear that kid’s false charge and disappear, weren’t you? Even knowing she is your blood family, are you going to leave her alone?”
At the question that struck the heart of the matter, Yeon Ryang opened his mouth wordlessly, then avoided his gaze.
“...You have disgustingly sharp instincts.”
“You think I would not know what you were thinking? I understood the moment I heard it. Whether you died or ended up locked in prison cells, you were going to ask me to tell the kid you had gone far away, weren’t you?”
“...”
Yeon Ryang pressed his mouth shut and looked up at the sky. Beopgong said calmly,
“That is not something you should do to your sister. If she finds out later, it will stay in the child’s heart for the rest of her life.”
“...I know. I won’t die.”
He murmured and slowly blinked. The winter sky, dazzling enough to sting, filled his eyes.
“Want a sip?”
Beopgong held out the liquor bottle with a tap. Yeon Ryang nodded, took the bottle, and brought it to his mouth.
When he let a mouthful of rough strong liquor flow down his throat, it burned like fire.
Yeon Ryang bit his lip and spoke as if making a vow.
“Somehow... somehow, I will live. I cannot die and leave that child behind.”
“That is a good attitude.”
Beopgong cackled and took the bottle back, tilting his head. After licking the dripping drops of liquor with his tongue, he grumbled.
“Damn, it is empty already. Did you take two mouthfuls?”
“Ha, are you being stingy over a single mouthful? I’ll buy you a whole liquor jar, so stop whining.”
“Really? You promised that with your own mouth. No taking it back, understood?”
“...When I look at you, I get the illusion that I might be able to live proudly too.”
“What is there for you not to be proud of? You are decent enough.”
At Beopgong’s reply, Yeon Ryang laughed like air leaking out of him.
“You and Sohae are both strange. How can you be so calm when you know what I am?”
“It is a little regrettable. If you had learned orthodox arts, the Alliance could have used you well.”
“Get lost. I won’t be your lackey.”
Yeon Ryang glared at Beopgong, then shifted his gaze to the Yangtze River flowing leisurely by.
For the first time in his life, which had been long if called long and short if called short, he had something he had to protect.
So he had to change.
For the child who had given him the ordinary life he had longed for, and a new life.
For his only family, he would live.
...He would absolutely not die.
*****
By the time I finished watching the sailors adjust the sails to match the direction of the wind, evening had already arrived.
The boat cutting through the orange-tinted river was as swift as a sleek fish.
They said we could make it in half a day if the wind was good, and it was true. It’s so fast.
As I craned my neck in fascination and looked down beneath the railing, one of the sailors shouted at the top of his lungs.
“It’s the Water Dragon King! The Water Dragon King!”
“The river bandits have appeared!”
River bandits?
When I lifted my head in confusion, I saw several boats approaching from far away.
Every one of them flew a black flag, and when I looked closely, there was a picture of eighteen huge fish tangled together.
The sailors hastily turned the sails, but the distance only kept narrowing, to no effect at all.
“N-no! My wife is waiting at home!”
“Everyone, prepare to take out what you have and hand it over! Being penniless is better than dying, is it not?”
The passengers, frightened by the band of river bandits drawing nearer and nearer, screamed and crouched down. Some were preparing ransom money.
Beopgong crossed the deck, which had fallen into chaos, in an instant and stood beside me, shading his eyes with a hand over his brows.
“Are those Water Dragon Stockade bastards? I hope they do not use flaming arrows. I hate hot things.”
“Flaming arrows?”
“Yeah. When they mean to kill everyone, they burn the boat or smash it halfway apart. Seeing how they are trying to surround us with several boats, I do not think they are only after ransom.”
“I thought river bandits took tolls and let people go peacefully. Isn’t killing everyone a loss for them too?”
“That Water Dragon or water snake or whatever is a little different. He has a perverted hobby of playing with fire on the water.”
Beopgong shrugged and lifted his chin.
“There are five boats, so if you take two, I take two, and the kid takes one, we should clean them up quickly. Yeon Ryang. What do you think?”
Yeon Ryang, who had come over at some point, nodded.
“Sure.”
“I’ll take the chief boat. The kid can... No need to go far. They have come to us.”
Beopgong rubbed his chin and pointed at the river bandits hooking grapnels onto the railing of our boat.
One of the river bandits whose eyes met mine smiled viciously.
“Khh, hiding your face, are you? You must be a daughter from some noble family. Bet you’re pretty decent-looking. We’ll offer you up to the Water Dragon King.”
Beopgong, who had been watching the river bandit spout nonsense, asked me,
“Kid. What did I tell you before?”
“If you want to have a rational conversation, beat them up first?”
“Correct. Clever girl.”
“I told you not to teach the child strange things.”
I heard Yeon Ryang sigh. Beopgong cackled and crooked a finger.
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Clean up that boat by yourself.”
“What happens if I go over fifteen minutes?”
“Then I will throw you into the river. I am counting. One, two...”
“Huh? No fair! Start counting again from now!”
I shouted and leaped toward the river bandits climbing up the side of the boat.
