Side Story 43. Red Eyes (1)

‘Did he hear our conversation?’

Baek Sang-ye thought that for an instant.
She and her group were gathered by a wall, apart from the others.
Even so, because of the subject matter, they had been speaking in low, whispering voices.

What made her stop speaking was Jin Li-yeon placing a hand on her shoulder.
It meant someone was approaching, so lower your voice.
She immediately did so.
Then she turned to look at whoever was approaching.
He was closer than she had expected, so she was a little startled.

“Well then, do go on. Haha.”

And the second thing that surprised her was the fact that he was not from the Central Plains.
He was clearly dressed in Central Plains clothing.
But his features were unmistakably foreign.
Was he in his late twenties?
He was very handsome, but that high bridge of the nose and those striking eyes were definitely not those of a man from the Central Plains.
The red dot marked between his brows.
The earring that looked to be gold.
He was probably from Tianzhu.

Among the hesitant group, Tsering stepped forward at a signal.

“N-namaste.”

Tsering, who had spent time at Potala Palace, could speak the Tianzhu tongue as well.
When she awkwardly greeted him with her palms together, the man who had suddenly appeared also joined his palms politely.

“Namaste. But I can speak the language of the Central Plains, so there’s no need for that.”
“Ah, haha…”

Tsering scratched her head awkwardly.
The man’s Central Plains speech was truly excellent. If one closed one’s eyes and listened, there was nothing strange about it at all.

“Did you hear our conversation?”

Baek Sang-ye asked that.
Her voice was calm, with her wariness concealed.

“Haha, you all just looked so engrossed while talking that I got curious and came over. My name is Ahim.”

Baek Sang-ye didn’t know how to act coldly when someone was introducing himself.
So they had no choice but to introduce themselves in turn.

“…I’m Baek Sang-ye.”
“A fine name.”
“?”

A necklace hung around Ahim’s neck.
He too was one of those who had passed.

“As you can see, I came from Tianzhu.”

He introduced himself with both arms spread wide.
Baek Sang-ye, Tsering, and the others stared intently at Ahim, wondering whether he too might be a martial artist.

“I came here because I love the culture of the Central Plains so very much. I especially love the food of the Central Plains.”

Ahim said it almost like he was singing.
The little turn he gave with his body made it look almost as though he were dancing.
What a funny person, Tsering thought.

“That young lady there, do you like thukpa?”
“Huh? Yes, I do.”
“You’re from Tibet, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“You can tell just by looking. Hahat! I made thukpa and passed the test.”

Ahim was expressing pure joy.
Thukpa was a kind of noodle dish spread across both Tibet and Tianzhu.
To people of the Central Plains, it would certainly have looked creative.

“Wow, now I want to eat thukpa.”

Tsering swallowed hard as the taste of food from home came back to her.
And at the same time, she thought,

‘He’s trained in martial arts.’

A well-developed body. Footwork light to an extreme. Temple points that stood out slightly. All of them were signs of an expert.

“I was so moved by that young boy’s cooking. That’s why I came over to you all.”

Ahim pointed to Cheongho as the reason he had come.
Then he approached the blankly standing Cheongho and questioned him passionately.

“What in the world was that dish? Deokbokgi?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“In all my life, I’ve never heard of such a dish existing in the world. Where did you learn it?”
“…From my dad.”
“Then your father must not be of this world. Hahaha!”

Apparently finding his own words amusing, Ahim burst out laughing by himself.
Cheongho thought blankly. Come to think of it, Yi-gang did often make unheard-of dishes like this.

“I’d like to match skills with you in the next main round.”

Saying that, Ahim held out his hand to Cheongho.
Without thinking, Cheongho took it and shook it.
It was the sort of handshake Yi-gang often used to do.
Ahim’s expression turned odd for a moment, and then he began smiling broadly.

What he said next was entirely unexpected.

“Did you all come here after Guihon Jade as well?”

The atmosphere turned cold.
Jin Li-yeon silently took position behind Ahim, while Tsering and Baek Sang-ye heightened their guard.
But Ahim raised both hands as if to say there was no need to be alarmed.

“No? I thought everyone here was.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“That thing attached to the golden ladle. Isn’t that Guihon Jade?”

The tension drained from Baek Sang-ye’s shoulders.

“The rumor’s spread everywhere. Everyone in Hangzhou who carries a blade must know by now. Hahaha!”
“…I see. Then you too?”
“Of course.”

Ahim said it with complete confidence.

“I may be a convert, but I came here as a proud Kshatriya shramana. I shall obtain that jewel, exhaust my karma, and ascend to moksha!”

It was impossible to tell what in the world he was talking about.
It sounded like he was saying something in the Tianzhu tongue, but even Tsering couldn’t make sense of it.

“In any case, you’re saying everyone who came here is openly after Guihon Jade?”
“That’s right.”

Hearing it put that way, the tension leaked right out of them.

“And I also have talent and passion for cooking. Where else would I find such a precious opportunity?”

Had he come just to brag about himself?
After going on and on about himself for a while, Ahim finally brought up something close to his real point.
He took out a bamboo tube from his pack.

“This too is a matter of fate, so I’d like to cast a fortune for you all. A shramana’s divination is a rare thing, you know. What do you say?”
“I’ve been curious for a while now, but what’s a shramana?”
“Ah, that, you mean.”

Ahim elaborated, looking apologetic.

“A practitioner… hm, in the language of the Central Plains, ‘Daoist’ might be the closest fit.”
“……”

The four actual Daoists standing in front of him were left speechless.
Not noticing that at all, Ahim began rattling the bamboo tube.
Then chopstick-like sticks began popping out through the hole in the tube.

“This is just the sort of bamboo-tube fortune-telling street fortune tellers do…”

Ahim surely heard Tsering’s muttering, but he paid it no mind.
Three or four chopstick-like sticks scattered across the ground.

“Here, besides that young man, is there anyone else participating in the competition?”

Baek Sang-ye cautiously raised her hand.
Ahim examined the scattered sticks on the ground with a serious expression.
The tips of the sticks had colors painted on them or characters written on them.

After pondering for quite a while, Ahim gave the fortune.

“In the end, it seems I’m the one who will obtain the golden ladle. Euhahaha.”
“…What kind of fortune is that?”
“If you don’t believe a Daoist’s fortune reading, Heaven punishes you.”
“I’m a Daoist too.”

The last one to say that was Cheongho.
Ahim broke into a broad grin.

“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then would you like to cast a fortune too?”

Cheongho agreed easily and took the bamboo tube.
He imitated Ahim and shook it.
Several of the sticks fell out.

If Cheongho had asked Ahim how to read the fortune, that would have been rather dull, but he didn’t.
He widened his eyes and examined the sticks intently.
His expression was serious enough that even Baek Sang-ye and Tsering watched him with a little tension.

“Ohh.”

That exclamation came from Ahim.
His brown eyes were fixed intently on Cheongho.
A blue light flashed in Cheongho’s eyes as he concentrated.

“My fortune reading is different.”
“How so?”
“It seems I’m the one who ends up with the Guihon Jade.”

Cheongho said that.
After a brief silence, Tsering snickered.
Ahim laughed right after her.

“Hahaha! Your Daoist power is impressive.”

It was the exact opposite of the fortune Ahim had just given.
Cheongho, perhaps a little awkward, clenched and unclenched his fist.
Ahim smiled and said,

“Let’s measure later whose Daoist power is greater.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Of course! I have to prepare for the next main round!”

What an energetic young man.
All four thought that as they looked at Ahim.

“Then, until we meet again!”

Ahim bid them farewell with the same dramatic manner and gestures as when he had first appeared.
And with that, he left.

As Cheongho watched Ahim walk away, his head slowly turned.
Someone had been watching both Ahim and them.
Squinting and looking more closely, he saw the long sword scar on the man’s face.
It was the man who had passed earlier with the duck noodle dish.

When the man’s gaze met Cheongho’s, he curled one corner of his mouth and sneered slightly.
Then he left.

“Hm.”

The inner compound of the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild was tightly hidden, but from a few of Hangzhou’s high towers, its outer compound could still be seen.
On the roof of an ultra-luxurious five-story pleasure house, a man was holding a spyglass.
The spyglass, brought from the western lands, made the distant outer compound appear near.

Those who had failed the first main-round preliminary were leaving in dejection, while those who had passed and the spectators remained.
Cheongho and his group entered the man’s field of view.
The foreign-looking Ahim departing.
And, watching from a distance, the man with the scar on his face.

It was the one called Jeok-yeom, who had just passed the test.
Jeok-yeom and Cheongho’s eyes met.

The man watching through the spyglass grew a little tense.
Jeok-yeom was one sent by ‘them.’
He had passed the test by good fortune, but somehow it felt like a fight might break out.
His temper was so fiery that, if things went wrong, he might ruin the greater plan.

“…Phew.”

Fortunately, Jeok-yeom turned his head away and left the area.
The man also tucked away the spyglass and climbed down from the roof.
His movements were astonishingly light and elusive.
He slipped beneath the eaves and headed inward toward the top floor of the pleasure house.

A room dark even in broad daylight.
A few candles were lit, but by that light one could barely make out the dim shapes of people sitting there.

Two red eyes emerged from the darkness.

“How is it?”

And to either side of them, several more pairs of red eyes appeared.
No beast had eyes that glowed so vividly red.
But the eyes of those who had consumed Guihon Jade, the Crimson Fighting Fiends, were like that.
The Crimson Fighting Fiends had truly gathered here in Hangzhou.

“Jeok-yeom passed. That makes two as of today.”
“Three or four passing would be good.”
“That bastard must be full of himself. A guy who used to do nothing but cook in the Demon Cult’s back kitchen.”

Jeok-yeom was a Crimson Fighting Fiend from the Demon Cult.
He could be considered a deserter of the Demon Cult.

“To think we have to send even someone like that in. We’ve got no talent left.”
“There were a few promising ones, but you killed them and slit their bellies open.”
“Oh, come now. Do you think I wanted to do that? They failed their mission, so it couldn’t be helped.”

The threat the Murim Alliance had suspected was already becoming reality.
The Crimson Fighting Fiends had already formed an organization.

“If about four of us get in, that should be enough to secure the Guihon Jade. Capturing the Seok Family Manor Lord alone would do it.”

A woman cut in. It was the voice of an old crone.

“That Seok Sung bastard is acting mighty arrogant. He’s laying a trap in the open.”
“Hasn’t he gone senile in his old age too? Like Papa.”
“Hee! Since when does a senile Papa slit open bellies?”

A small spat broke out.
Then the one with the greatest authority cut off the argument.

“Silence!”

The voice sounded like a great tiger growling.
The depth of that internal energy was clearly at least at the Transcendent level.

“He is watching. This is something that must never fail.”

Yet even that person, with such fierce internal energy, spoke with reverence and fear in his voice.
The others too seemed to feel the same at the mention of ‘him.’
A chilly silence descended, and from the darkness a question came.

“Has the intelligence from the Seok Family Manor arrived?”

The Crimson Fighting Fiends had already extended an information network into the Yellow Dragon Merchant Guild.

“Yes, information about the next test has come in, but…”

The man trailed off while gauging the others’ reactions.

“It seems… the second main round is going to take a rather strange turn.”