Episode 63. Is That Guy in Xiangyang?
Won Seung showed the prescription, then tossed it into the brazier heating the tea water, burning it to ash.
“To make this pill, I’d have to devote two or three days without rest… There’s not enough time. Instead, I’ll pay you handsomely.”
Gong Yi-gwan thought to himself.
Won Seung had hidden his real name, but seeing him write out the prescription for the Meridian Cleansing Pill on the spot, Gong Yi-gwan was certain they were from the same sect.
“Now then…”
He almost asked what the pill was for, but realized it was a pointless question and closed his mouth.
This guy clearly wouldn’t answer. Someone who wouldn’t even reveal his name wasn’t about to explain his purpose.
After a moment’s hesitation, Gong Yi-gwan decided to hand it over.
He couldn’t treat a fellow sect member too coldly when they’d come all this way.
Of course, once their identities were confirmed, he’d have to teach this arrogant brat a lesson for his insolence today.
How dare he demand medicine from the sect’s senior!
Truthfully, Gong Yi-gwan believed he was destined to become the next leader of the Heavenly Poison Sect. By lineage, he was first in line. So, he regarded Won Seung as a junior disciple.
Though the boy was still young and didn’t know his place, Gong Yi-gwan felt it was his duty as a senior to show some magnanimity.
“But how did you know to come to me?”
“I heard about someone who, when treating Jong Won-bo, sliced open his throat without hesitation and inserted a reed. That’s how I knew.”
“Hmmm.”
A sharp one, this kid. To instantly recognize the unique traits of the Myriad Flower Valley Medical Arts passed down in the Heavenly Poison Sect.
Gong Yi-gwan, who also specialized in medicine and poison, had a fondness for clever talent.
Won Seung’s cunning sparked a bit of goodwill.
“Very well. I’ll give it to you.”
“Thank you. I’ll pay twenty thousand nyang.”
Twenty thousand nyang was a fair price, so Gong Yi-gwan stood up immediately.
He fetched the Meridian Cleansing Pill he’d kept carefully hidden and handed it over.
“I hope we meet again.”
“I hope so too.”
Won Seung bowed and left the Gong family clinic.
*
One of Elder Bi’s duties at Red Blood Mountain was to secretly inspect each branch.
After finishing his inspection of the Luoyang branch, Elder Bi heard about the upcoming three-way martial arts duel in Xiangyang.
With two of the Hundred Great Experts of the Central Plains clashing, and the rare three-way duel format, word was spreading fast.
“The Heavenly Observation Pavilion Master personally proposed a duel? That’s odd. Did he call off the assassination for this?”
Elder Bi hadn’t forgotten that he’d once been asked to kill Hwa Cheon-gang, only for the request to be withdrawn midway.
“Wait, isn’t that guy in Xiangyang?”
Number Fifty, the Ten Perfections candidate, had been assigned to Xiangyang’s Clear Water Sect, specifically to Hwa Cheon-gang.
Should I go check it out?
It’s not far from Luoyang…
He’d told Jong Bi to stick close and send monthly reports, but with all this traveling, he hadn’t kept up with recent developments.
He recalled the last report he’d read.
‘Didn’t it say he left Clear Water Sect and set up a safe house?’
He wondered where the money for that came from.
Honestly, Jong Bi’s vague reports were hard to decipher even when he did read them. Of course, that was because he wrote them exactly as Won Seung dictated.
Elder Bi checked his schedule. If he hurried, he could reach Xiangyang in a day. With a slight detour from his journey to Hebei, he could stop by Xiangyang.
‘Might as well check on the Xiangyang branch too… I should go.’
He planned to witness the life-and-death duel between the Hundred Great Experts and observe the Ten Perfections candidate’s movements.
*
In front of a high wall, Jo Bang-un hesitated for a moment. Once he crossed, things would spiral out of his control.
‘Sometimes, a man has to risk his life!’
Resolving himself, he vaulted over the wall.
He tried to move stealthily, but hadn’t gone far before he was discovered.
With the three-way duel approaching, the Heavenly Observation Pavilion was on high alert. Black-clad guards sprang from all sides, pressing swords to his throat.
A moment later, someone who seemed to be the guard captain approached and barked,
“How dare you! Do you know where you are? State your identity!”
“I am Jo Bang-un. I’ve come to see the Pavilion Master. I have crucial information regarding the three-way duel.”
Jo Bang-un steadied his trembling heart as he spoke.
The words “three-way duel” caught the guard captain’s attention. With the duel imminent, the Pavilion was on edge.
If he could do something to benefit the Pavilion Master now, he’d earn merit.
Normally, he’d rough up the intruder first, but the urge to report quickly and claim credit before anyone else took over.
“Tie him up.”
The captain ordered, then went to find Cheon Il-hae.
Cheon Il-hae, freshly woken, asked in a thoroughly irritated voice,
“This Jo Bang-un claims to have information about the three-way duel?”
Cheon Il-hae knew that Gu Ja-ang had recruited Jo Bang-un as a spy. Still, he avoided direct involvement, wary of possible future complications.
“Tell Elder Gwan Ju-gyeon to interrogate him first. I’ll be there soon.”
Normally, he’d have handed this to Gu Ja-ang, but lately he’d lost faith and passed it to Elder Gwan Ju-gyeon instead.
The guard captain relayed the message. Gwan Ju-gyeon, also roused from sleep, snapped irritably for Jo Bang-un to be brought in.
“?”
Jo Bang-un thought he was being taken to Cheon Il-hae and followed obediently, only to be startled when he found a cruel-looking, gaunt-faced middle-aged man waiting in the courtyard.
A brazier burned nearby, with several iron tongs stuck into the coals.
The guards tied Jo Bang-un to a wooden chair.
He didn’t need to be told what was coming. They meant to torture him.
Jo Bang-un’s mind went blank, but he grit his teeth.
‘Stay calm! They’re just trying to intimidate me. I have to keep my dignity.’
Shaking, Jo Bang-un tried to steel himself.
The more threatening they were, the bolder he had to act to make a good impression. That was how to raise his value. He’d read plenty of such examples in the histories.
Jo Bang-un composed himself, put on a stern face, and shouted,
“What is the meaning of this? I came to see the Pavilion Master with vital information—!”
He raised his voice, but no one paid him any mind.
The cruel-faced man approached and asked,
“You’re Jo Bang-un?”
“Wh-who are you?”
“I am Gwan Ju-gyeon, Elder of the Heavenly Observation Pavilion.”
“Ah! The Mad Dog…”
Jo Bang-un clamped his mouth shut mid-sentence.
He’d almost blurted out the nickname people used to mock Gwan Ju-gyeon as the Mad Dog of Xiangyang.
The middle-aged man grinned.
“Heh. So you’ve heard of me? Mad Dog, huh… I’ll show you why they call me that.”
Gwan Ju-gyeon picked up a glowing-hot iron tong and stood before Jo Bang-un.
“You see, I hate being woken up. Even dogs are like that. Maybe that’s why they call me Mad Dog. A mad dog… bites anything in its path. Even a stinky foot like this…”
Ssssss!
Gwan Ju-gyeon pressed the red-hot tong against Jo Bang-un’s foot.
The heated metal burned through his shoe and into his flesh.
“Aaaargh!”
“Hm, smells better than I expected.”
Gwan Ju-gyeon rolled his eyes and sniffed. Jo Bang-un nearly fainted from the stench of his own burning flesh.
“Wh-why are you doing this? Torturing someone who came to defect… I have v-vital information. With it, you could crush the Clear Water Sect…”
“Oh, don’t spoil it.”
Gwan Ju-gyeon frowned in mock regret.
“Just hold out a bit longer, I’ve only just started to enjoy the smell. If you spill everything now, how am I supposed to savor it? Just a little more… I have to get to the belly at least.”
He pressed the tong to Jo Bang-un’s other foot.
Ssssss!
“Gaaah!”
Jo Bang-un screamed and started babbling.
“There are people from the Sword Pact Sect at Clear Water Sect! Four—four of them! And… and…”
The pain was so intense he couldn’t think of anything else.
“Ugh… so… so… uhuhuh…”
Gwan Ju-gyeon glanced down at the babbling Jo Bang-un and muttered, “Already cooled off?” before going to fetch another tong.
At that, the guards standing by with water dumped a bucket over Jo Bang-un.
Soaked in cold water, Jo Bang-un snapped back to his senses.
His backside felt warm—he’d probably lost control of both bladder and bowels. But that was the least of his worries.
“Don’t trust Pung Un-saeng! He’s betraying you to the Clear Water Sect!”
“What are you talking about…? How’s a mad dog supposed to understand?”
Gwan Ju-gyeon sneered, pulling another red-hot tong from the brazier.
“Eek!”
Jo Bang-un recoiled, but just then, the side door to the courtyard opened and Cheon Il-hae entered.
Everyone in the courtyard immediately bowed.
“Greetings, Pavilion Master!”
Cheon Il-hae frowned at the pitiful sight of Jo Bang-un.
“Elder Gwan, really now. Torturing a man before hearing him out?”
He pretended to scold Gwan Ju-gyeon.
“Ah, my mistake. I thought he was an enemy spy.”
Gwan Ju-gyeon replied in a perfectly calm, serious tone—nothing like the sneering voice he’d used moments before.
Cheon Il-hae nodded.
“I’ll handle our guest. It’s late—go get some rest.”
After Gwan Ju-gyeon left, Cheon Il-hae approached.
“Untie him. Everyone else, leave us.”
The guards untied Jo Bang-un and cleared the courtyard.
“You said you had something to tell me?”
“W-water, please…”
“Ah, you’re in no state to talk. My apologies for asking right away.”
Cheon Il-hae fetched water himself and held it to Jo Bang-un’s lips. After drinking, Jo Bang-un regained his composure.
Cheon Il-hae wrinkled his nose at the faint smell of excrement and stepped back.
Jo Bang-un, afraid Cheon Il-hae might leave, hurriedly spoke up.
“I am the Chief Strategist of Clear Water Sect. Together with your Grand Commander Gu Ja-ang, I’ve been preparing for this operation. Did you know?”
“Is that so?”
Gritting his teeth, Jo Bang-un thought,
As expected, that bastard Gu Ja-ang never mentioned me.
“I—I’m a strategist before anything else. I was the one who first told Grand Commander Gu about Hwa Cheon-baek’s Opening of the Conception and Governing Vessels. So, in truth, I was the one who first set this whole plan in motion.”
“Hm. I’ll confirm the details with Grand Commander Gu. But you said you had important information?”
Seeing Jo Bang-un’s poor condition, Cheon Il-hae decided to get the information first.
With pain radiating from his burned feet, Jo Bang-un just blurted out whatever came to mind.
“The Sword Pact Sect’s Third Disciple Byeok Gyo-woon and the Twelfth Elder Yang Gwan, along with two of Yang Gwan’s disciples, are at Clear Water Sect. Also, the Prefect is quietly supporting the Heavenly Observation Pavilion…”
“Pung Un-Saeng… Ah, the real name of Hundred Flowers Pavilion’s Pung Un-saeng is Pung Un-Saeng. The Pavilion Master knows him, right? You didn’t know? He didn’t tell you his real name because he’s defying Seongwang House’s orders by supporting Clear Water Sect.”
“Yes, yes… He’s fallen for the Clear Water Sect’s daughter. And, what else… He likes tea… tea, as in the drink. Ugh…”
Jo Bang-un desperately tried to recall more, as if his life depended on it.
But in truth, he didn’t know much more.
“Hm. I see. But something doesn’t add up. There’s a saying, ‘the government never supports one side openly.’ So why do you say the Prefect is backing us?”
Cheon Il-hae’s gaze turned icy.