Where The Sword Points (4)

“Were you here?”

Han Cheol-sang and Seol So-ha, about to go upstairs, came over to Jin-hyeon and Do Il-gang.

“Oh? Young hero…?”

Do Il-gang bowed politely.

“It is good to meet you again. I am Do Il-gang.”

Seol So-ha’s eyes widened a little.

“Do Il-gang…?”

Han Cheol-sang cut in at once.

“So you are Young Master Do. Allow me to greet you again. Please know me as Jeong-gyo.”

“Ah, a pleasure.”

Only then did Seol So-ha realize she had nearly slipped.

“I am Seol So-ha of the Seol Clan.”

“I am Do Il-gang. Your swordsmanship was impressive. I hope you do well in tomorrow’s semifinals.”

Seol So-ha’s eyes sparkled.

Maybe because he was a swordsman of the same age, she took real interest in him. More precisely, she was interested because she had heard his potential was tremendous.

Then Jin-hyeon asked out of the blue.

“Brother Han, are you tired?”

Han Cheol-sang made a face.

“How can you call me ‘Brother Han’?”

“It’s fine. His mouth doesn’t open easily anyway.”

Do Il-gang seemed to catch on as well and bowed to Han Cheol-sang in silence.

Scratching his head, Han Cheol-sang spoke.

“Just know me as Jeong-gyo.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“By the way, how did you end up sharing a table with Young Master Do?”

Jin-hyeon pointed at the chairs.

“Don’t just stand. Sit and eat something. You must be hungry.”

“What about Lady Im?”

“She’s sleeping. Seems she was tired.”

“Did you beat her up?”

“Brother Han, that hurts.”

Han Cheol-sang snorted a laugh and picked up his chopsticks. There was plenty of food.

Seol So-ha asked Jin-hyeon,

“Teacher, are you not tired?”

“I was a little tired, but I suddenly feel energized.”

“Eh?”

Jin-hyeon took out a letter and handed it to Han Cheol-sang.

“It’s the letter that fellow Ha Jun sent to Young Master Do. Pass it around.”

The two checked the letter, and their faces changed.

Seol So-ha’s voice turned cold at once.

“So he sent an invitation after all. I knew he was pathetic, but I didn’t know he was twisted to this degree.”

Han Cheol-sang’s face was grave.

“Curious.”

“You see it that way too, Brother Han?”

Puzzlement rose on Seol So-ha’s chilled face.

“What do you mean, curious?”

Han Cheol-sang set the letter on the table.

“It can’t help but be curious. The letter’s politeness goes too far. Obviously Ha Jun didn’t deliver it himself, did he?”

Do Il-gang nodded.

“Correct. A middle-aged man with exceptional bearing delivered it.”

“What was that man’s manner like?”

For a simple question, Han Cheol-sang’s voice was overly cautious. Flustered, Do Il-gang answered.

“Uh, very courteous. He seemed an excellent swordsman, yet he bowed to a novice like me. He seemed like a man with remarkable discipline and character.”

At his innocence, Jin-hyeon and Seol So-ha let out small laughs.

Han Cheol-sang stroked his chin.

“Both the messenger and the letter itself are excessively polite. There was no need to write such direct apology for the last strike and insistence on making amends.”

“Huh?”

“My guess is, from Ha Jun’s position it doesn’t matter if Young Master Do comes or not. If you come, he’ll disgrace you. If you don’t, he’ll spread rumors that you ignored a courteous invitation.”

“?!”

“He might prefer you go, but he’s not the sort to lay on the manners this thick.”

Han Cheol-sang rubbed his nose.

“Something smells off.”

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“For someone with little worldly experience, your nose is sharp, Brother Han.”

“I lack friendly ties, not blade-bound ones. And to be fair, you don’t always need long experience to see this sort of thing.”

“Young Master Do will be embarrassed to hear that.”

Do Il-gang flushed.

Han Cheol-sang tapped the letter.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t go.”

“Eh?”

“Rumors in the Kangho boil up fast and settle just as fast. If you go to some unknown meeting and get entangled, you’ll only wear yourself out.”

“I-is that so?”

“That’s what I would do. Young Master Do may choose differently.”

Han Cheol-sang asked Jin-hyeon,

“What about you, Patriarch?”

“In Young Master Do’s shoes, I wouldn’t go.”

Nodding, Han Cheol-sang suddenly furrowed his brow. Something in Jin-hyeon’s words was odd.

“Then in the Patriarch’s shoes?”

Right then.

A middle-aged man, looking around the now-packed first floor, brushed past their table.

When he passed, a small folded letter was left behind. Han Cheol-sang casually covered it with his sleeve, then passed it to Jin-hyeon.

Jin-hyeon spoke evenly.

“Something felt off, so I called someone to look into them.”

“As expected.”

Jin-hyeon checked the letter from the Black Society informant, let out a silent snort, and handed it to Han Cheol-sang.

Han Cheol-sang’s gaze grew deeper as he read.

“The Cheongyang Association’s Third Elder was here.”

Seol So-ha started.

“Ha Suk-heon, the Divine Palm Adept.”

He was a middle-aged master said to have mastered all of the Association’s palm arts. He was the Association Leader’s younger brother, and Ha Jun’s uncle.

“Ha Suk-heon is among the top five experts even in the Cheongyang Association.”

“How great his martial arts are is the second matter.”

Jin-hyeon’s smile deepened.

“What matters is that an Association executive came here himself.”

Looking at Jin-hyeon with doubtful eyes, Han Cheol-sang let out a sigh.

“We’re truly busy today.”

“We’re short on people as it is. If Brother Han drops out, won’t I be lonely?”

“There’s that.”

Unease crept onto Seol So-ha’s face as well.

“Teacher. Are you perhaps thinking of going there?”

“I may be lacking in propriety, but going without a pretext feels overly rude.”

“Then…?”

Jin-hyeon looked at Do Il-gang.

“Young Master Do.”

“Yes, great hero Jin.”

“…”

“Ah, I will call you Teacher as well.”

“As someone new to the Kangho, would you be interested in a strong taste of real Kangho experience?”

“Y-yes?”

Jin-hyeon briefly explained his idea.

Thinking he should fill his stomach quickly, Han Cheol-sang ate meat in earnest, while Seol So-ha stared at Jin-hyeon, frozen.

Puzzlement showed on Do Il-gang’s face.

“Can we really tell such a lie?”

“Half the warriors in the Kangho live like duckweed. I don’t see a need to take it so seriously.”

Do Il-gang did not hesitate long.

“If Teacher Jin hadn’t warned me about the Seeping Energy, I’d be badly hurt by now. And you gave guidance worth a fortune. If I can help, I’ll throw myself in.”

“I promise you won’t regret today’s experience. Thanks for accepting a pushy request.”

“Not at all. I’m just glad I could help you, Teacher.”

Jin-hyeon took out silver and set it on the table.

“I’ll take care of the bill.”

“Ah, no! I will!”

“Just helping with this already repays your debt and more. If you pay the tab too, the numbers don’t add up. So take that hand out of your robe.”

A deep worry settled on Seol So-ha’s expressionless face.

“Teacher. I know you have thought this through, but Ha Suk-heon is not someone to take lightly.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

In the end, it was a road that could not be stopped.

“Please, return safely.”

“You should rest well, Lady Seol. Now that you’re here, aim to win for real, yes?”

And so Jin-hyeon, Han Cheol-sang, and Do Il-gang left the lodgings.

Chiiik!

A faint heat-haze shimmered from Jin-hyeon’s body.

Burning off all the liquor’s vapors with his internal energy, Jin-hyeon’s gaze turned several times sharper than before.

“Let’s go.”

“Even cheap liquor tastes special after a year.”

A big table was set in a wide courtyard. More than ten steaming dishes were spread across it.

In the center, a middle-aged man sat cross-legged, drinking.

Amazingly, Ha Jun stood beside him with a respectful posture. With his waist slightly bent, there was no trace of the Cheongyang Association Second Young Master’s confidence or dignity.

Behind them, the warriors who had come as Ha Jun’s guards stood in a long line. It was quite a sight.

“Ah, good.”

Though there were so many fancy dishes, the man only drank. The dishes were just a feast for the eyes. The point was the liquor.

“So the year passes like this too. Time flies. Snow will fall here soon.”

“…”

“Jun.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

Ha Jun’s voice was more respectful than ever.

The man called uncle by Ha Jun, Ha Suk-heon, filled his cup and asked,

“How old will you be when this year has passed?”

“I will be twenty-six.”

“Already twenty-six?”

“Yes.”

“Twenty-six… Yes, that should be right. When this uncle returned from roaming the Kangho, you had just been born and were in your mother’s arms.”

“…”

“That wriggling newborn has grown into such a fine young man. Time is truly fleeting and wondrous.”

Ha Jun swallowed without a word.

Ha Suk-heon emptied his cup clean, tapped it, and handed it to Ha Jun.

“Take a cup.”

“Thank you.”

“Do not spill a drop.”

With the bottle in hand, Ha Suk-heon respectfully filled the proffered cup.

Ha Jun’s face reddened. In an instant, the cup’s weight turned like solid iron.

A lump of iron that size isn’t impossibly heavy. But he was not to spill.

The liquor filled to the brim quivered. Had Ha Jun not adjusted like lightning, a few drops would have spilled.

Ha Suk-heon smiled and nodded.

“Drink.”

“!!”

Ha Jun’s face went pale.

A skill that increased the weight of the liquor in the cup until it felt like iron. At his current level, it was beyond imagining. And he was supposed to drink it?

It would be like drinking a liquid with the density of iron. His esophagus and stomach would be ruined the moment he drank.

“U-Uncle.”

“I told you to drink.”

The colder voice sounded like a reaper’s call in Ha Jun’s ears.

In the end, Ha Jun squeezed his eyes shut, turned his head, and drained the cup.

His eyes went round. He had pulled up all his internal energy to protect his insides, but when it entered his mouth, he felt no weight at all.

Chiiik.

A small heat-haze rippled in the air. As Ha Jun tipped the cup to his mouth, the overflow vaporized.

“Is it not utterly hollow?”

“?!”

“The Ha family’s blood is heavy and thick, like that cup you received. It may all look like the same liquor, but the quality differs. That is why it is great and noble.”

“Y-yes!”

“And what about you?”

Flash!

A fearsome light blazed from Ha Suk-heon’s eyes.

“Like the cup you shook clean, that great and noble blood that should run your veins has vanished like mist.”

“!!”

“I hear your eldest uncle warned you to stop your nonsense. Yet you bribed a branch office lackey to appear at the Radiant Sword Festival, and you even came back with your face marked up?”

Ha Jun fell to his knees on the spot.

“I am sorry! I will accept punishment!”

“…”

“But, but I only wanted to do something for the clan…!”

Ha Suk-heon, who had been sighing, felt anger flare again at his nephew’s excuse.

“Can you not hold your tongue!”

“!”

“If you lack talent, at least have tact. If you lack tact, at least obey. How dare you make excuses before me!”

“I-I am sorry.”

Fixing Ha Jun’s head with a terrifying stare, Ha Suk-heon turned his head.

“The only fortunate thing is that your mess led to the discovery of an unexpected talent.”

“?”

“They say he doesn’t seem harmed. Assume that youth saved your life.”

Ha Jun could not at all understand his uncle’s interest in that naïve brat.

A brief silence fell.

“Jun.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

“Since you have entered, you must win.”

“I will keep that…”

“If you fail even to win, I will not spare you in your father’s and eldest uncle’s stead.”

Ha Jun’s complexion turned ashen.

“Yes.”

Without even turning his head, Ha Suk-heon gave orders.

“The food is cold. Throw it all out and bring it fresh.”

Just then.

“Guests have arrived.”