Chapter 295

CLATTER!

Brittle brown objects spilled across the table like a shower of dried twigs.

Kwak Yeon recognized at a glance that they were not branches, but carefully dried wild-ginseng roots.

“Brother Cheongmu?”

Taoist Cheongmu beamed.

“I prepared all the wild ginseng I dug up in the mountains and brought every last root with me.”

“......!”

The sight of so many wild-ginseng roots brought a surge of emotion to Kwak’s throat.

Cheongmu must have searched every corner of Mount Wudang to gather this many.

“Little Martial Uncle, Grand-Master Uncle Unseon really must work miracles.”

“......Why do you say that?”

Perhaps because another beloved name had been laid upon the emotion already welling inside him, Kwak’s voice trembled slightly.

“Before I left, I went to the ancestral hall and prayed that Grand-Master Uncle Unseon would let me meet you. And I really did meet you, so that means he works miracles, doesn’t it?”

“......I suppose you’re right.”

Kwak lowered his head under the pretense of nodding.

If Taoist Cheongmu saw the redness around his eyes, he might burst into tears himself.

“Ah! Since Grand-Master Uncle Unseon granted that wish, it would be even better if he granted my other wish too!”

“Brother Cheongmu, what did you wish for?”

“Little Martial Uncle, you can be so foolish sometimes.”

“......?”

“Don’t you know a wish won’t come true if you tell someone else?”

“I was being foolish.”

“This is why I need to stay by your side...” Cheongmu smacked his lips.

“.......”

“Little Martial Uncle, you have to eat these yourself. Only you.”

“I will.”

“You really have to promise.”

“You went through so much trouble to gather them. Of course I should.”

Only then did Taoist Cheongmu smile with relief.

“Now I can stop worrying. You’re so softhearted that I was afraid you’d give them all away.”

“......!”

“Ah! It’s all right to give Sister Jin one root.”

“Why Lady Jin?”

“Because she’s your lady friend.”

Kwak let out a quiet laugh.

“Brother Cheongmu, Lady Jin and I are not involved in that way. We are comrades who are truly only friends.”

“Really?”

Taoist Cheongmu tilted his head before continuing.

“You can still give Sister Jin one. But don’t give any to that beggar.”

“Brother Hu Gae is our comrade as well. He may feel slighted if I exclude him.”

“That beggar can feel slighted.”

“Brother Cheongmu, why do you dislike Brother Hu Gae so much?”

“I don’t know!”

Whenever Taoist Cheongmu did not want to answer something, he invariably claimed not to know. Kwak could press him no further.

“Little Martial Uncle, promise me anyway.”

“Very well.”

“Keep them safe and eat one every day. Then you can make that tickly thing in your lower belly grow big and strong.”

“I will. More importantly, how have things been with Palace Lord Hyeonhae all this time?”

Kwak had heard only scattered fragments about Samryeong Palace from various people. Now that he could hear directly from Taoist Cheongmu what life inside the palace was truly like, anticipation made him impatient to know everything.

The two talked throughout the entire day and still had more to say, continuing deep into the night.

Once Taoist Cheongmu finally fell asleep, Kwak tucked the blanket around him and quietly left the inner room.

Hu Gae, who had been dozing in the main hall of the guest residence, sensed his approach and snapped his head up.

“Oh, you’re finally out?”

“I apologize for keeping you waiting so late. I knew you were here, but I could not bring myself to leave him.”

“It’s fine. Nothing urgent came up. Haaaaah!”

Hu Gae let out a long yawn before continuing.

“There happens to be a Cloud-Drifting Boat leaving for Danjiangkou tomorrow. It departs at noon from the Wild Goose Sand Hill docks outside the Outer Fortress.”

“Noon is rather late for a Cloud-Drifting Boat to depart.”

“A merchant guild reserved space for its cargo, so apparently they can’t move the departure any earlier.”

“Then it cannot be helped.”

“Right.”

Hu Gae nodded.

“Blending in among the other passengers aboard a Cloud-Drifting Boat is the least conspicuous way to travel.”

“.......”

When Kwak continued staring silently at him, Hu Gae frowned.

“I plan to pass as a clean-clothed beggar for a while starting tomorrow, so stop looking at me like that.”

Some members of the Beggar Clan wore clean clothes and lived respectable lives. They were known as clean-clothed beggars.

Many Beggar Clan members married, raised families, or held ordinary occupations, and in such cases, they could hardly spend their lives dressed as beggars.

“Brother, I am sorry I keep putting you through such trouble.”

Kwak knew that Hu Gae harbored an almost pathological hatred of dressing neatly, which made him feel even more apologetic.

“As long as you know.”

Hu Gae waved a hand dismissively.

“I can hide my identity that way, but what will the two of you do?”

“I have not given it much thought. Perhaps we could pose as travelers out sightseeing.”

“Sightseers?”

Hu Gae snorted.

“Who would believe that a handsome man and a beautiful woman as conspicuous as you two were riding a Cloud-Drifting Boat merely to sightsee?”

“You have a point.”

Kwak could not deny it.

Between the Alliance of the Demonic Path, the death of the Right Military Strategist, and the discovery of an infiltrator, even the hidden mastermind’s informants would be watching every road with sharpened eyes.

“Brother, do you have a better idea?”

A trace of pride rose in Hu Gae when Kwak asked for his advice.

“You’re striking enough yourself, Brother Kwak, but Sister Jin’s beauty leaves us very few options. We could find human-skin masks for you, but wearing one for too long damages the face. There is one excuse that would suit the two of you rather well, though...”

Hu Gae trailed off and studied Kwak for a moment.

“Brother, tell me what it is first.”

“The two of you could pretend to be married. If you say you’re a couple from Wuhan traveling to Chang’an because something happened at the wife’s family home, that would perfectly explain why you boarded a Cloud-Drifting Boat bound for Danjiangkou.”

“.......”

“Think it over.”

Hu Gae had begun rising to head for the inner room when he suddenly stopped and asked as though something had just occurred to him.

“Brother Kwak, about Taoist Cheongmu. What happened to him?”

“Taoist Cheongmu suffered a deviation long ago.”

That was what Kwak said, but he had begun to sense vaguely that a deviation was not what had made Cheongmu this way.

“I thought it might be something like that.”

Hu Gae nodded and turned away.

“Brother Kwak, take good care of Taoist Cheongmu and see him off properly tomorrow morning. If he digs in and refuses to leave, it could interfere with us boarding the boat.”

Hu Gae’s concerns proved unfounded. The following morning, Taoist Cheongmu caused no trouble at all.

The only sign of his reluctance was the way he wrapped Kwak in a tight embrace and refused to let go.

“Taoist Cheongmu, it is time to leave.”

After clinging to Kwak for a long while, Taoist Cheongmu finally released him at the urging of a lay worker sent by Hyeonmun Dojang and bravely said his farewell.

“Little Martial Uncle, I’m going now.”

Taoist Cheongmu looked back several times before passing through the guest residence’s main gate, but he neither shed tears nor broke down crying.

Kwak watched him go with a heavy heart.

“Did you meet Martial Uncle Hyeonin?”

He remembered how he had evaded Taoist Cheongmu’s question because he could not bring himself to say that Senior Brother Hyeonin had died.

When Kwak returned to the main hall of the guest residence after seeing Cheongmu off, Hu Gae was sitting across from Jin Cheongha in conversation.

“Brother Kwak, Sister Jin says it’s a good idea. She agrees.”

“......?”

“The thing I suggested last night.”

Kwak frowned slightly.

“Brother, how could you casually put such an embarrassing proposal to her?”

Hu Gae answered with exaggerated innocence.

“What? Do you think Sister Jin would not be good enough as your match, even in pretense?”

“Brother!”

“I’m joking! It was only a joke!”

Hu Gae chuckled.

“You’d only be pretending. Why make such a fuss about it? Isn’t that right, Sister Jin?”

A faint blush touched Jin Cheongha’s cheeks.

“If Chief Secretary Kwak is uncomfortable with it, we can look for another method.”

Kwak shook his head.

“I have no objection either way. I was only concerned that the Young Castle Lord might find it uncomfortable.”

“If Chief Secretary Kwak has no objection, neither do I.”

“Settled.”

Hu Gae immediately cut in.

“Since you both agree, we’ll do it that way and begin preparing. Let me see. A flowered court dress would suit a young wife, while Brother Kwak would look the part in silk scholar’s robes as the young scion of a rising scholar-official family. I’ll have the Strategists’ Office prepare the clothes. I’ll also obtain enough travel money to suit your assumed station.”

Hu Gae rose with a satisfied grin, but Kwak stopped him.

“Brother, while they are preparing everything, ask them to find a set of clothes for a burly servant as well.”

“Hm? Why would we need servant’s clothes...?”

“What do you mean, why? Would it not appear exceedingly strange for a noble young couple to travel without a single servant following them?”

Hu Gae’s eyes widened.

“Brother Kwak, you cannot possibly mean to make me play the servant.”

Kwak smiled.

“You would only be pretending to be a servant. Why are you so reluctant?”

Hu Gae’s face contorted.

“You...”

He nearly shouted, then could only shake his head.

After all, he had been the one to suggest that the other two pretend to be husband and wife.

Damn it!

Under the blazing noon sun, a man and woman dressed as a young nobleman and his lady appeared at the Wild Goose Sand Hill docks.

A burly servant trudged behind them with an enormous bundle strapped to his back.

The lady’s lower face was concealed by a veil, yet she still drew every eye at the docks.

The young nobleman, his lady, and the burdened servant boarded the Cloud-Drifting Boat bound for Danjiangkou without delay.

BWOOOOOO!

A short while later, the Cloud-Drifting Boat pulled away from the docks to the blast of a conch horn. Those left behind watched it depart with wistful, envious expressions.

With every gaze fixed on the boat, no one noticed the shadowy figure slip away from beneath the eaves of a dockside warehouse.

*****

Grand Strategist Sagong Ui was attending to his duties in the Grand Strategist’s hall when an unexpected visitor arrived.

“Hyeonmun Dojang, what brings you here?”

Hyeonmun Dojang spoke with an uncomfortable expression.

“Grand Strategist, I am deeply sorry to trouble you amid your many duties.”

“You would not have come without good reason. Please speak freely.”

“Then I will shamelessly impose upon your kindness. I went to the guest residence just now to find Junior Brother Kwak, only to discover it completely empty. I questioned the workers and guards there, but not one of them knew anything.”

“.......”

“I requested this meeting because I believed the Grand Strategist would know where Junior Brother Kwak had gone.”

“I cannot claim ignorance of Chief Secretary Kwak’s whereabouts.”

Sagong Ui readily acknowledged it, though his expression turned troubled.

“May I ask why Hyeonmun Dojang is searching for Chief Secretary Kwak?”

Hyeonmun Dojang answered with visible embarrassment.

“This is truly humiliating, but I have no choice except to rely upon your kindness, so I will tell you everything without concealment.”

“......?”

“I brought a martial nephew named Cheongmu from Samryeong Palace on this journey. Martial Nephew Cheongmu suffered an accident in childhood, and his faculties have been somewhat limited ever since. Palace Lord Hyeonhae therefore asked me to watch over him with particular care. But this morning, Martial Nephew Cheongmu suddenly disappeared.”