Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Chapter 184

“Anyway, the terrain may be rough, but the path itself is not complicated. You need only follow the military road that winds along the valley.”

Even after the merchant finished explaining the shortcut, the inn’s errand boy, Deokchil, still stood there with the tray of noodle bowls in his hands, staring blankly at the table.

“Deokchil, what are you doing? You can set it down now.”

“Ah! Yes, sir...”

Kwak Yeon cast a sidelong glance at Deokchil as the boy hastily placed the noodles down and withdrew.

The boy’s brisk pace as he retreated was wholly different from when he had first taken the order. Seeing that, Kwak Yeon became certain that the errand boy’s occupation was not limited to serving tables.

As expected, he belongs to the Hao Sect.

“And, Taoist.”

At the merchant’s call, Kwak Yeon quickly turned his gaze away from the errand boy.

“Yes, have you yet another teaching to offer me?”

“Aigo, what teaching could a packman like me give?”

Even so, the merchant’s face was cheerful.

“Once you cross Jinryeong Pass, there is a roadside inn.”

“A roadside inn...?”

“A tent set up along the road where they sell meals to travelers.”

“Ah!”

He had never seen one himself, but he recalled the merchants traveling with Escort Captain Hong Sucheon lamenting that their route lacked such an inn, when everyone was tired of the rough dry rations.

“You must be sure to stop there. Not only is it the last place you’ll see before two hundred li of uninhabited road, but the elderly couple who run it serve meals that are truly exquisite. They use only the ingredients they grow themselves in the nearby fields, so it’s a taste you’ll not find elsewhere. Naturally, we intend to stop there as well.”

“Then I shall make certain to do the same.”

Meeting such a tavern just when one has grown weary of dry rations would be harder to pass by than to enter.

― Deng, deng, deng!

Not long after, the bell rang announcing the opening of the city gates, and the merchants all rose, shouldering their loads.

“Then we’ll be on our way. Taoist, may you attain the Dao.”

“And I pray your journey will be safe.”

When Kwak Yeon joined his hands in salute, the merchants’ faces brightened.

“Never thought we would set out on the road with the blessing of a Wudang Taoist.”

“Forgive us for not being able to offer you the ritual fee.”

Kwak Yeon waved his hand.

“Just for showing me the road, you have already given me a great ritual fee.”

Looking at the large packs strapped to each merchant’s back, Kwak Yeon grew solemn.

It was as though he were seeing the weight of life itself.

And yet, their faces were all bright.

Perhaps those burdens are not the weight of life, but of hope. That is why they strive to carry even more.

Lingering a moment in such reflection, Kwak Yeon saw that the hall had emptied and rose to his feet. Paying for his meal at the counter, he asked the innkeeper:

“By chance, do you know where the Beggar Clan branch in this town is?”

“The beggars’ den? Why do you...?”

But then, seeing the Cheonggang Sword at Kwak Yeon’s waist, the innkeeper nodded.

“Ah, a martial man. If you follow the market street, you’ll come to a bridge. Beneath the Hongso Bridge, there’s one of their dens.”

Leaving the inn hall, Kwak Yeon walked along the market street in the growing dawn, then slipped into the first alley.

Soon he appeared atop the roof of a building, just as he had planned, where he could overlook the entire inn.

The wait was not long.

From the back door of the inn came the errand boy, Deokchil.

He glanced about quickly, then hurried down the alley.

After a short while, Deokchil knocked at the door of a small shop.

― Tok tok! Took! Took! Took!

Two short knocks, followed by three long.

From far above, Kwak Yeon quietly observed.

The door opened, and Deokchil slipped inside.

― Clack!

Beneath the closed shop door, Kwak Yeon saw the sign of an overturned jar.

As I thought, a disciple of the Hao Sect.

Not long after, a few pigeons flew up from the shop’s rear courtyard, scattering in all directions.

Those carrier pigeons will soon carry word of my location—and of my route.

Recalling how Deokchil had listened more intently to the merchant’s words than even he had while holding the tray, Kwak Yeon smiled faintly.

Now, he need only wait for that pursuer to diligently follow.

The man moved with secrecy, true, but Kwak Yeon had now been entrusted by the White-Haired Demon Queen with Solitary Moon Illumines the Boundless Skill—a supreme art for evading pursuit.

Like the seeker in a game of hide-and-seek, he could now hone the technique while tracking his pursuer’s traces.

Ha! Once again I am the seeker in this game.

Kwak Yeon recalled with a bitter smile how, as a child, he had always been made the seeker.

Not once had he ever found his elder brothers. They had made him the seeker only so they could leave their younger sibling behind and be rid of him.

When, in the end, he could not find them and sat crying in fear, the brothers would finally emerge from somewhere.

Then they would thrust a handful of wild grapes or kiwiberries into his hand. Sometimes a thrush or a tit would serve as the offering instead.

“If you tell Mother, you’re dead.”

And as they tore a strip of the roasted bird’s leg and handed it to him, the terror of having been abandoned always vanished.

This time, however, there would be no failure as the seeker.

Kwak Yeon rose without hesitation.

In the hut beneath Hongso Bridge, the Beggar Clan’s Hengshan branch master, Sang Heogae, accepted the Hero’s Coin from the young man and bowed deeply.

“Aigo, to think such a noble guest would come to this humble place. Please wait but a moment.”

“...?”

Leaving Kwak Yeon standing there, Sang Heogae turned toward the outside and suddenly bellowed:

“Hey, you beggar brats! Stop staring in here like a pack of crows and hurry to ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) fetch a dog! Make it a yellow dog if you can!”

Startled, Kwak Yeon quickly tried to stop him.

“Branch Master, that will not be necessary.”

“Absolutely not, honored guest!”

Sang Heogae shook his head firmly.

“Our Sub-Clan Master has ordered every branch to treat any guest who comes bearing the Hero’s Coin as though he himself had arrived. You surely know our Sub-Clan Master’s lofty character. So you must accept our hospitality.”

Knowing Chwi Dugae’s fiery temper, Kwak Yeon understood the branch master’s plight. Yet to be served dog meat at dawn was more than he could endure.

If he allowed this, the entire county would soon be roused by barking.

“Branch Master, in truth I am a Taoist, and do not eat dog meat.”

Sang Heogae’s eyes went wide.

“You are a Taoist, honored guest?”

“In my haste I failed to introduce myself. I am Kwak Yeon, Taoist of Samryeong Palace, Wudang Mountain.”

“Gasp! Then you are the very Taoist of the Dark Cavern...”

With the recent uproar in Honam, there was no way a Beggar Clan branch master would not know.

“Yes, I am that Taoist of the cavern.”

Sang Heogae’s eyes grew even wider.

“Aigo! To think the honored guest is the New Dragon of Wudang himself—then one yellow dog will not suffice!”

“...?”

“Hey, you brats outside! Along with the yellow dog, fetch a whole jar of wine!”

Kwak Yeon could only be dumbfounded—he had tried to prevent one burden and now found another added.

He had known Beggar Clan members were disorderly and stubborn, but had not expected such sheer obstinacy.

Just then, a groaning voice came from outside.

“Branch Master, we might manage the yellow dog, but the wine... every tavern has us buried under unpaid tabs.”

Sang Heogae’s face flushed red.

“You brat! Did you have to say that here before the honored guest? Do you want to be beaten to death today?”

As the commotion grew noisier on his account, Kwak Yeon had no choice but to intervene.

“Branch Master, if you insist on such treatment, I will simply go to another branch. Already I feel guilty for rousing the honored Beggar gentlemen from their morning rest—I cannot impose further.”

Alarmed, Sang Heogae cried:

“Aigo, honored guest, you must not! Then I truly would be beaten to death by the Sub-Clan Master.”

“Then please consider that I have received your hospitality already. Besides, I ate breakfast at the inn before coming here, so my belly is not empty.”

“If you insist so firmly... tch.”

At the sound of his regretful tongue-click, Kwak Yeon could not shake the feeling that “hospitality” had been but an excuse.

So this is the beggars’ nature...

He could not help but recall Chwi Dugae’s brazen face.

If shamelessness is the requirement for being leader of beggars, then Brother Chwi Dugae is truly the king of all beggars’ kings.

Wanting only to leave the hut, Kwak Yeon pressed on.

“Branch Master, if a letter from the Sub-Clan Master has arrived, I would be grateful to receive it.”

“Ah! Indeed, a message arrived long ago, meant for whoever brought the Hero’s Coin. I’ll fetch it right away.”

Sang Heogae untied a sack in the corner and rummaged through it.

Kwak Yeon felt a flicker of tension. As expected, Chwi Dugae had moved swiftly.

“Ah, here it is.”

After some searching, Sang Heogae produced a crumpled sheet of paper.

“We doubted anyone would truly come to such a backwater... it’s a bit dirty, but please take it.”

“That is no matter.”

Unconcerned, Kwak Yeon accepted the wrinkled note. So long as the words were legible, it was enough.

Hoo...

Taking a deep breath, he unfolded the paper.

Brother Kwak, I will wait in Hangzhou. We’ll speak in detail then.

This is all...?

The brevity of the note left him feeling drained.

And yet, a worry arose.

Perhaps there was some reason it could not be committed to writing.

But why?

It would have sufficed to write only the name of the Sword Sovereign’s Beggar Clan friend.

Could it be the Beggar Clan Leader himself does not know who that man is?

If so, he could have written simply that he had failed to find out.

This neither-here-nor-there message left Kwak Yeon restless.

At any rate, it is certain the Grandmaster Emeritus has not yet returned to Wudang Mountain.

If he had, Brother Chwi Dugae would not have summoned him to Hangzhou.

Whatever the case, I will know once I go to Hangzhou.

To reach Hangzhou he must pass Mount Wuyi anyway—it was not out of his way.

Seeing Kwak Yeon fold the note, Sang Heogae asked cautiously:

“Honored guest, do you require anything more?”

Reading the branch master’s uneasy eyes, Kwak Yeon understood his concern.

“Branch Master, when I meet the Sub-Clan Master, I will be sure to tell him that here in Hengshan you received me with dog and wine in splendid hospitality.”

“Aigo, that’s not what I meant to ask for, but...”

Despite his words, Sang Heogae’s face lit up with joy.

“In any case, I beg you to convey that.”

With the rousing farewell of Sang Heogae and the beggars, Kwak Yeon departed from beneath Hongso Bridge.

“Honored guest Kwak, may fortune be with you!”

“Taoist, may you attain the Dao!”

“Come again!”

At last, someone took the lead.

“New Dragon of Wudang, your might shakes the world!”

And the beggars chanted in chorus:

“New Dragon of Wudang, might shakes the world!”

Hearing that the voice leading the chant was Sang Heogae’s, Kwak Yeon thought, Ah...

It was so mortifying he wished the ground would swallow him.

I must never again ask Brother Sub-Clan Master for a favor.

Fleeing into the market street, Kwak Yeon hastily bought a few items for sleeping rough and packed a small satchel. Then he left Hengshan at once.

Because he had departed later than planned, night fell while he was still in the mountains.

He lit a small fire and drew from his breast the secret manual.

He had received it from the White-Haired Demon Queen but had found no leisure until now.

Now, alone deep in the mountains, there was no reason to delay further.

Falling Star Nine Swords.

The Nine Swords that make stars fall...

From the title alone, it was impossible to guess the style.

But if the White-Haired Demon Queen’s words were true, then it was without doubt a peerless martial art.