Early dawn.
Mist hung around the city gate.
Among those setting out on early journeys, three people stood together.
“Sister Gyo, I’ll pray for your good fortune, even from afar. Please stay safe.”
“T-take care. If we have the chance, let’s meet again.”
The two of them each offered their farewells, but for some reason Ogyo could not get the words out.
Until yesterday she had been so calm, yet now that the moment to part had come, Ogyo’s heart felt strangely heavy.
Seeing tears gather at the corners of her eyes, Cheongdam was startled.
Then she smiled as if pleased and came closer.
“You really are surprisingly tearful for someone who seems so unlike it.”
“Ch-Cheongdam, listen……”
Sniffling like a child, Ogyo clung to Cheongdam’s embrace.
Tugging at the lapel of her clothes, Ogyo said,
“Leave letters at the hermitage in the Qilian Mountains where we stayed together. Then someday I’ll be able to read them.”
“All right, Sister Gyo. The world is vast, so if we make such a promise in advance, our chances of meeting again in this life will be higher.”
“Y-you can’t get sick anymore.”
“You gave me such a healthy body, Sister Gyo, so naturally there should be no reason for me to fall ill again.”
“Let’s meet again……”
Ah, how hateful partings were.
Perhaps she had been happier when she had never known this sort of pain.
After quite some time, Ogyo finally stopped crying.
Perhaps feeling sorry for the reddened corners of her eyes, Cheongdam gave a bitter smile and gently stroked them.
“Then, farewell.”
“Mm.”
Ogyo forced the stinging ache in her heart down along with her tears.
There was nothing more to say now, and nothing with which to hold her back. Only her heart was left regretful.
Cheongdam climbed into the carriage and waved through the window.
When Saun lightly flicked the reins, the carriage began to move forward.
Ogyo gazed endlessly at the carriage as it passed through the city gate and receded beyond the mist, then soon turned away.
*
When Ogyo returned to the pleasure house in Hualiu Harbor, she suddenly recalled something she had forgotten.
‘Come to think of it, where did that guy go?’
In her hazy memory, Ogyo vaguely recalled the face of that careless man, but his name was indistinct.
This wild dog tended not to take much interest in people unless they were beauties, and so she had already erased all matters concerning Wi Pungso from her mind.
To begin with, he had only accompanied her briefly; he had not been a friend or anything of the sort.
On the day of the wedding ceremony at the Chixia Sect, they had parted ways without even having time to exchange farewells, and that had been the end of it.
He was, in his own way, a man with some sense of loyalty, and as compensation for having troubled her, he had paid the price for her when she bought information from Haomun.
So there was that much debt between them, but, well, it hardly mattered.
Ogyo soon forgot about him again.
Mukran welcomed Ogyo, who had returned after about a month, as warmly as before.
The courtesans also grew excited and once more flocked around Ogyo.
As Ogyo was showered with excessive welcomes, Mukran watched with a smile.
“Young Hero, I have yet to ask your name. Might you tell me?”
“Ogyo. I don’t have a surname.”
“Ogyo…… I see.”
Mukran wore a peculiar expression. Her lips were smiling, but her narrowed eyes somehow seemed cold and gloomy.
“Shall I pour you some wine?”
“I don’t drink that stuff.”
Ogyo frowned as if repulsed.
Wine had been the old friend of her former master, Dan Go-hyeong. She had never seen another woman who liked wine so much.
Yet she would not even get drunk; she would drink endlessly like a bottomless jar, and only at the very end would her face finally flush a little.
When she reached that state, Dan Go-hyeong would grow cheerful, her words would soften, and she would show sloppy sides of herself, such as freely expressing affection to her disciples.
And the one who was mostly subjected to those expressions of affection was always Ogyo.
Just remembering the dreadful smell of wine her master used to give off made Ogyo’s stomach churn.
“Then I shall speak directly. You there.”
Without needing to say much, Mukran gave an order with only a glance, and the table bearing food was cleared away.
Mukran took out a large sheet of paper and spread it over the surface.
It was a map of the Great Ming.
Moreover, it was not a common map drawn in rough simplification, but a precise and practical map marked with square grids.
There were marks all over the map, and beside each mark, an explanation was written.
Mukran explained.
“As you requested, we have compiled all the rumors currently circulating through the jianghu concerning deadly poisons and extreme toxins. However, rather than simply writing out a list, I thought it would be better to indicate the locations as well, so I used a map. Each mark indicates the source of a rumor, or the location of the sect or faction said to possess the poison. However, as these are only rumors, some may be inaccurate, and there is also ample possibility that the poisons have been moved elsewhere. I advise that Young Hero take this into consideration and gather additional information anew once on site.”
At Mukran’s uninterrupted speech, Ogyo felt as if her head were spinning.
In the end, Mukran’s judgment was correct. Not only this explanation, but even if she had made a list, it likely would not have been of much use to the wild dog.
There were only so many characters she could read, so even with a list in hand, she would have had no choice but to constantly ask the people around her.
At least this was a map, so she could guess where she needed to go without reading the words.
“So I just have to go to the marked places.”
“Precisely. In any case, this is only a collection of broad rumors. You will have no choice but to investigate carefully on site to find the actual whereabouts of the poisons.”
“Good, got it.”
Mukran nodded, then pointed to one place on the map.
“Our current location is here. If you are looking for someplace nearby, to the south in Sichuan is the famous Tang Clan. Since the Tang Clan is a gathering of masters of poison and hidden weapons, there is a strong possibility they possess the extreme poison Young Hero seeks. To the east, in the rugged lands north of Shaanxi, there is a marsh called Chishui Marsh. This area is ruled by a force called the Jinshami Stockade, and they are said to handle bees with deadly venom. Also, west of Lanzhou, beyond Xining, near Qinghai Lake, there is a great cave called Tianshe Cave……”
She was long-winded every time.
How could she speak so fluently?
Ogyo’s expression grew clouded as she remembered the tedious lessons she used to hear from Yohwa.
Mukran soon noticed Ogyo’s mood, smiled brightly, and removed her hand from the map.
“That is roughly the extent of it. Where you head first from here is for Young Hero to decide.”
“Mm, thanks……”
“There is no need to thank me. I have already received your silver, so this is only natural.”
When Mukran gave another glance, the guard beside her folded the map neatly and held it out toward Ogyo.
As Ogyo held the still-large map in both hands and looked it over this way and that, Mukran asked,
“Young Hero, if it is not discourteous, may I ask why you are searching for the whereabouts of these poisons?”
Ogyo raised her head.
There was nothing particularly discourteous about it. Ogyo, by nature, was not good at keeping secrets, and that was even more true if the other party was a beautiful woman.
“I grow my inner force by eating poison. I learned that sort of heart method.”
“I see.”
She could have pried further, but Mukran always withdrew at the proper moment. Perhaps it was because, as a courtesan, she was more skilled than others at catering to people’s moods.
“Young Hero, among the rumors circulating through the jianghu, there is one such tale. Have you perhaps heard of the Four You Flowers?”
Far from having heard of it, she did not even know how those characters were written.
Ogyo shook her head.
Mukran’s smile deepened. Yet her eyes were sharply observing Ogyo.
“The Four You Flowers refers to people. It means four demonesses whose fame resounds throughout the jianghu.”
“Demonesses?”
“It means women as strange and terrifying as demons.”
For some reason, Mukran’s calm voice made one tense.
She gave a light shrug, then continued, saying that it was nothing more than idle gossip, so please listen at ease.
“These four are currently the figures attracting the greatest attention in the jianghu. They all possess different characteristics, but it is said that all of them share outstanding martial skill.”
Mukran raised her fingers one by one as she spoke.
“Sichuan’s Yanlong’er, Jiangnan Hangzhou’s Shenmi’er, Fujian’s Qinglin’er, and…… Beijing’s Du’er. These four.”
“……Du’er?”
“They say she is a girl with poison arts so powerful that everything her hands touch is tainted with poison. She ran rampant around the Beijing area and plunged many into terror, and they say even the Jinyiwei under heaven had trouble dealing with her existence. In the end, it seems she was subdued by Yang Yishen, the strongest swordsman of the Jinyiwei, said to be without equal in all ages, ancient and modern. Yet they say she still survived without dying, so she is no ordinary person.”
Until then, Ogyo had been listening as though it were someone else’s affair, but once Mukran said that much, her expression could not help but stiffen.
A demoness called Du’er, who used poison arts, ran rampant around Beijing, and was subdued by Yang Yishen.
It was a rumor she had never heard before in her life, but it was undoubtedly a story about Ogyo.
Seeing Ogyo’s expression change, Mukran smiled.
“Does that not refer to you, Young Hero?”
“……You know me?”
“No, I did not. Not until very recently. Rumors about Du’er abound, but there has been no substance to them, so all those in the jianghu could only be curious.”
With elegant movements, Mukran lifted her wine cup and brought it to her lips.
Her long fingers wrapped around the cup, and her well-adorned nails stood out.
The air in the room sank cold in an instant.
With a stiff expression, Ogyo bent one hand, preparing to seize the throwing knife hidden in her sleeve.
The courtesans around them seemed bewildered by the story Mukran had suddenly brought up, exchanging uneasy glances with one another.
Surely not the much-rumored Du’er.
But this girl was so harmless and cute, and no matter how much they touched her, there was not even a hint of being poisoned.
Seeing the courtesans’ frightened expressions, Mukran finally laughed.
“Do not tremble so. This person is not an enemy. Young Hero, please put aside your anger as well. This humble woman knows what Young Hero is worried about.”
When Mukran smiled warmly again, the air in the room eased somewhat.
Since she was so skilled at tormenting people’s nerves like this, one might even think the demoness was that woman instead.
With a calm face, Mukran placed another sheet of paper on the table.
It was the wanted notice for Ogyo that she had seen last time.
Unable to grasp her intention, Ogyo narrowed her eyes.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Please be at ease, Young Hero. We have absolutely no intention of reporting your movements to the authorities. Isn’t that so, everyone?”
As Mukran said this, she looked around at the courtesans.
Though she was smiling with her mouth, her gaze was like ice; in truth, she was not asking for agreement but giving an order.
The courtesans nodded with dazed expressions.
Ogyo looked at Mukran with a frown.
Mukran took out a fan, covered her mouth, and this time smiled with her eyes.
“I learned of it after Young Hero left last time. After reading the contents of this arrest notice, I finally realized it. That you, Young Hero, might be that very Du’er.”
Mukran had not been certain either. That was why she had deliberately brought up the story of the Four You Flowers and observed Ogyo’s complexion, but because the wild dog was so incapable of hiding her expression, she had been found out at once.
“I didn’t know I was being called that.”
“That is what rumors are like. Everyone likes to talk about the affairs of the jianghu, and above all, the protagonists of this rumor are lovely yet dangerous girls, so is it not all the more intriguing?”
“……So? Why are you telling me this?”
“This humble woman was merely moved by curiosity. Handling information is my work, so I had the desire to be the first to discover the identity of Du’er, which no one else knew.”
Just as she said, Mukran was a person whose livelihood was buying and selling information.
This pleasure house was nothing more than a disguise; her true identity was the mistress who ruled one of Haomun’s branch divisions.
Perhaps Ogyo had been found out by the very person who should least have discovered her.
Wu Jiao could not decide whether he should make a move or not.
Mo Lan was still smiling.
“Young Hero, even if you are a rebel who has committed high treason, so long as you are here, you are this humble one’s guest. I have not the slightest intention of harming you. Please believe me.”
“…….”
This woman was clearly the sort of person who could spin lies without so much as twitching an eyebrow.
No fool would readily believe someone like that simply because she asked him to.
This wild dog was not that much of a fool either.
And yet Wu Jiao decided to believe her.
For some reason, it had become bothersome.
“Fine. Whatever.”
“Thank you, Young Hero.”
Mo Lan bowed deeply, then looked at Wu Jiao again.
“Then might you tell me your story, Young Hero?”
“……Story?”
“Yes!”
Mo Lan’s eyes shone like a child’s.
Wu Jiao looked at her with a wary expression.
“As I said earlier, whenever people of the jianghu gather these days, they never fail to speak of you. Among the Sayuhwa, Flame Dragon Child’s name and face are fairly well known, and while much remains hidden about Mystic Child and Blue Scale Child as well, their whereabouts have each been clearly revealed. Only you, Young Hero, are shrouded in mystery.”
“Uh, right…….”
“Is it true that Yang Yishen and the officers of the Jinyiwei gathered in one place and spread a net to capture you? What about the rumor that you defeated Linghu Long Fist Bai Shouhong in a single blow? Who was the master who taught you martial arts? And also…….”
Faced with the barrage of questions, Wu Jiao was struck speechless.
Mo Lan, with all her earlier elegance nowhere to be found, was pressing in with a face as excited as a child’s.
In the end, it seemed this woman truly had no intention of reporting Wu Jiao.
Thinking about it, it was not all that strange.
To begin with, martial artists did not think well of the authorities, and especially now, when the tyranny of officials continued as it had of late, not only martial artists but most of the common people must have been bearing resentment toward the imperial court.
In the midst of that, even if the court issued a wanted order, who would bother paying heed to it?
At most, third-rate rabble after money, like last time, would throw themselves into such a matter.
Wu Jiao was held there for quite some time after that.
As though this had been her goal from the very beginning, Mo Lan kept throwing out the questions she had prepared without pause.
It was only late in the afternoon that he was finally released.
*
As before, when Wu Jiao left, he received a heap of gifts.
The courtesans seemed a little surprised at first when they learned that Wu Jiao was Poison Child, but later, the fact that he possessed such powerful martial arts with that small body seemed to make him even more charming to them, and they doted on him all the more fiercely.
Mo Lan tried to give him a mountain of silver as thanks for generously providing such precious information, but since it would be heavy and only become baggage, Wu Jiao did not accept it.
“Then let us say Haomun owes you a great debt, Young Hero. From now on, no matter which branch you visit, speak this humble one’s name. You will be treated without the slightest lack.”
Those words were a little strange.
Haomun’s influence spread widely across the entire jianghu, so its power could be said to be rather considerable.
Even if Mo Lan was the madam here, she was merely in charge of a single branch in the borderlands. Was it possible for her to exert that kind of influence over all of Haomun’s territories?
But the wild dog, naturally, did not come up with such questions and merely thought himself lucky.
Just by telling his story, he had made Haomun owe him a great debt, so he would be able to make use of that debt again and again.
For instance, by getting free meals at inns run by Haomun, or catching rides on carriages or boats.
Yet when Mo Lan actually offered to prepare a carriage for him, Wu Jiao refused.
He disliked riding in carriages because it made him feel stifled, as if he were trapped inside a box.
After leaving Hualiu Harbor under the courtesans’ send-off, Wu Jiao also prepared to depart Wuwei.
Mo Lan had gone to the trouble of explaining things carefully, but he still had not decided where to go.
He could go anywhere, and it would not matter where he went.
In that case, perhaps it would have been fine to follow Qing Tan’s group to Jiangnan after all.
No, Jiangnan was too far, no matter what.
There were three places in this vicinity that Mo Lan had pointed out as having rumors related to poison.
The Tang Clan of Sichuan, Jinshewei Stockade of Shaanxi, and Tianshui Cave by Qinghai Lake.
Coincidentally, all three lay in different directions. Sichuan was to the south, Shaanxi to the east, and Qinghai Lake far off to the west.
However, no matter which of them he headed for, he first had to go down near the Yellow River.
Thus the place he had to head for immediately was Lanzhou to the south.
It would not be too late to decide his next destination once he got there.