Chapter 120 - Heaven-and-Earth Sect, Not Angel Sect

Yi An sent me a sound transmission.

—"What should I do?"

—"He's offering to buy you wine. You decide."

I intended to watch how she handled this.

—"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before."

—"I've never watched it happen to you before, either."

—"Can I really do whatever I want?"

—"Go ahead."

—"I really will."

The Heaven-Soaring Sword Art was all well and good, as was opening her conception and governing meridians, but the most important weapon for protecting her was experience.

The man introduced himself.

"My name is Gok Sa, the young sect master of the Heaven-and-Earth Sect."

He wore expensive silk clothes, with all manner of costly jewels adorning his wrists and fingers. Even his fan was studded with lavish gems.

"Have you heard of our sect?"

"No. I'm afraid my knowledge of the world is limited, so I haven't. I'm sorry."

"Not at all. That's understandable."

In fact, the Heaven-and-Earth Sect was fairly well known in the area.

His clothes alone made it clear that Gok Sa was the sort to go around flaunting his family background. Her failure to recognize it had robbed him of his greatest weapon.

"What sect do you belong to, miss?"

"An obscure sect far away in the countryside. You wouldn't know it."

"Then might you at least tell me your name?"

"White Face."

She had thought of the white mask when choosing her answer. Gok Sa was a little taken aback by the odd name, but soon smiled again.

"Well, Miss White Face. Shall we move somewhere else to talk?"

"That would be a little difficult. We're in the middle of a conversation ourselves."

Only then did Gok Sa look at me. He truly hadn't spared me a single glance since sitting down.

"And who are you, young hero?"

While Yi An hesitated over how to introduce me, I answered first.

"Miss White Face's bodyguard."

Gok Sa's expression soured slightly. Why was a bodyguard sharing her table? That was what his look meant, and that single reaction laid his character bare.

I sent Yi An a sound transmission.

—"For today, I'll be your bodyguard. You've spent your whole life guarding me, so one day should be fine, shouldn't it? Enjoy yourself. Opportunities like this don't come often."

—"I really am going to enjoy myself."

Gok Sa spoke to Yi An.

"You seem quite close to your bodyguard."

She looked at me, mischief dancing in her eyes.

"No matter how often I tell him to live his own life, he refuses to leave my side."

Gok Sa glared at me. His eyes said it all: Aren't you just hanging around, trying to make a move because your mistress is beautiful?

"I'm curious what you could have to discuss with a bodyguard."

"We talk about everything."

"If I may offer some advice, it's best to keep your distance from your bodyguards."

Yi An answered him.

"Growing close to a bodyguard means earning points so they'll die in your place, doesn't it?"

I laughed inwardly. She kept turning everything I had once said back on me.

Gok Sa spoke with an expression that said he found the idea absurd.

"That's not why."

"Why, then?"

"Give your subordinates an opening, and they'll start getting ideas. It's not good for them, either."

He put on a grave expression, but how much life experience could this man draped in jewels possibly be speaking from? I could tell it was bluster intended to impress a woman.

"How cute."

"Pardon? Ah, yes. Sometimes subordinates getting ideas can seem rather cute."

"No, I mean you're cute, Young Hero Gok."

Gok Sa was flustered. Apparently, he hadn't expected her to call him cute so openly.

"All right. Buy me some wine. Take me to the most expensive tavern in town and buy me their most expensive wine."

Yi An stood.

"What's wrong? Have you changed your mind now that I've asked for expensive wine?"

"Of course not! Let's go."

We left the tavern. Yi An wasn't behaving as I had expected. I hadn't imagined she would agree to go drinking so readily.

A little later, we settled into a private room at the most expensive tavern in town.

"Young Hero Gok, since we're having fun, invite all your friends, too. Men, women, bring everyone and let's enjoy ourselves together. What's wrong? Don't you have any friends?"

Gok Sa's face reddened slightly.

"In Murim, you can trust only yourself."

He seemed to have been raised with that lesson: trust no one.

"So you don't have any friends. Then I'll have to be a friend to our lonely Young Hero Gok."

With her characteristic cheer, Yi An was steering a gathering that could have been utterly dismal. The mood grew brighter and brighter, and she was genuinely trying to enjoy herself. It felt something like this:

You want to drink? Fine, why not? If we're going to have fun, let's really enjoy ourselves!

Meanwhile, a lavish feast was laid out. As his attire suggested, having nothing but money was his signature martial art.

"This wine costs over fifty taels a bottle."

Yi An made a great fuss over Gok Sa's boasting.

"I've never had wine this expensive before! Well, thank you. I'll enjoy it. Oh, I'll give my bodyguard a cup, too."

Without waiting for his reply, she poured me some wine.

"Bodyguard Geom, have a cup. It's very expensive, so drink every drop."

"First, allow me to inspect it."

I took out a silver needle and tested the wine and every dish. Gok Sa pulled all sorts of faces, of course, but Yi An smiled at him.

"Young Hero Gok, you wouldn't tamper with the food or anything like that, would you? You'll be in trouble if you do! Real trouble."

"What do you take me for? Women line up for me without my resorting to that sort of thing!"

Yi An gave him a sweet little smile, so enchanting that it could soften even an enemy's heart.

"I thought so. Come on, let's drink."

The three of us toasted. After draining her cup, Yi An voiced a regret.

"It's a shame to keep such good wine to ourselves. You bodyguards outside!"

This time, she called in Gok Sa's guards. All four entered the room.

"Young Hero Gok, let's drink with them, too, shall we?"

Gok Sa immediately looked displeased.

One of the four guards stepped forward.

"We're fine, thank you. We must protect the Young Master."

Yi An addressed him.

"Were you really protecting your young master out there?"

The loaded question left him speechless. All they had been doing was standing watch over the drinking sessions of a wastrel who went around luring women with money.

Yi An gently coaxed Gok Sa.

"Young Hero Gok, don't read too much into this. We're simply sharing a drink. Come, sit down."

The guards looked to Gok Sa for permission.

When Yi An looked a little disappointed, he could resist no longer. He nodded, and the four men sat.

"Here, let me pour each of you a cup."

She poured their wine. Perhaps Yi An felt a tenderness toward them. She was a bodyguard, too, after all.

"Now, let's all have a drink!"

She raised her cup high, and we toasted.

"Ah, that's good wine. Young Hero Gok, order some more! Oh, is it too expensive?"

"Nonsense! Order as much as you like."

Beauty was overpowering everything.

With Yi An's distinctive cheer and vitality added to it, nothing could stop her.

I had never imagined we could create such a mood with these men.

She was utterly uninhibited. Since she approached them without prejudice, no one felt emotionally ill at ease.

I could tell it wasn't simply because I was beside her.

Once again, it came down to confidence in her abilities. Opening her conception and governing meridians must have given that confidence an even greater boost.

We drank and talked about all sorts of things. Even the guards, who had initially been extremely sparing with their words, began answering questions one by one. Things came to light that even Gok Sa hadn't known.

"You had a son ten days ago? Oh, congratulations!"

Yi An didn't interrogate Gok Sa, who naturally hadn't known. Instead, she made it an occasion for everyone.

"Now, our young master has a gift for you! A gift! A gift!"

I admired her. She was giving Gok Sa a way to congratulate the man without making him feel bad. Honestly, at that moment, I thought: She's better at this than I am.

Gok Sa had never given his guards a gift before and didn't know what to do.

Yi An spoke to him calmly.

"I know some people who like drawing lines."

She dipped a chopstick in wine and drew a long line across the table.

"This is where you're hired, and this is the end. When you reach this end, you might even die in your employer's place. Going all the way? That's really not easy. But bodyguards hope for it. They hope their relationship with the person they protect reaches this end. Even though this is the line where they die. That's the kind of people these bodyguards here are."

Her quiet words stirred the four guards. They were also meant for me. She was telling me that she felt that way herself.

"You know a great deal about bodyguards."

The question came from one of the guards.

"I experienced it when I was young."

At that, Gok Sa glared at the guard, his eyes demanding how he dared speak out of turn. The guard shrank back and lowered his head.

Yi An spoke gently to Gok Sa.

"When you look at someone like that, the line goes in the opposite direction."

"I don't believe it. That someone can give their life for another out of pure intentions. Do you believe that, miss?"

Yi An nodded and held out her cup.

"Try believing it yourself, Young Hero Gok."

"Trust people, and you'll get stabbed in the back."

"Will not trusting them stop that from happening?"

He was taken aback.

"We often link betrayal with trust. But that's only the perspective of the person betrayed. 'I trusted you so much, and you betrayed me!' But the person doing the betraying isn't doing it because the other person doesn't trust them, are they? Most of the time, it's for some other reason, isn't it? Money, power, their own personal circumstances. I've never seen someone say, 'I betrayed my master because he didn't trust me.' That's an excuse they give afterward—that they betrayed him because he didn't trust them. So I'm saying it's all right to trust! Betrayal is a separate matter anyway!"

"That's sophistry!"

"Let's drink to today's sophistry!"

Gok Sa couldn't refuse the cup Yi An offered.

He was drunk, but Yi An was only pretending.

I saw her expelling the wine's effects through her fingertips from time to time. Even when she seemed to be having a wild time, she remained cautious. Perfect, Yi An!

—"When did you learn to expel the wine's effects?"

—"When I was young. I simply wasn't strong enough to do it until now. Oh, what a waste of such expensive wine!"

She cried out as though she had only just remembered.

"Oh, right. A gift for the baby! A gift! Give him a gift!"

As she shouted exuberantly, Gok Sa pulled a money pouch from his robes.

"Lots! Lots! Lots!"

In the end, a fairly large sum came out of the pouch.

"You needn't, sir."

"Take it. Buy the child some clothes, at least."

"Thank you."

Looking at Gok Sa, Yi An gave him a thumbs-up.

"Young Hero Gok! You're wonderful!"

"It's nothing."

Gok Sa's face reddened despite himself.

That made the mood even better, and we drank all night. Though we had only just met, we talked about all sorts of things. It was also the first time Gok Sa and his guards had shared drinks.

With Yi An leading the gathering, everyone gradually became immersed in its pleasures, like clothes slowly soaking through in a light rain. We drank through the night, chatting about every little thing. We talked about martial arts, making money, and our families.

Because Yi An treated them sincerely as she guided the conversation, everyone revealed their own true feelings without realizing it. We enjoyed drinking together so much that parting felt genuinely regrettable.

"Young Hero Gok, the next time I come to this town, I'll visit the Angel Sect first."

"It's the Heaven-and-Earth Sect, not the Angel Sect."

"Ah, yes, our Young Hero Gok of the Heaven-and-Earth Sect. I've definitely remembered it now. Young Hero Gok, we're drinking buddies from today on."

Gok Sa couldn't hide his joy at being called her drinking buddy. Perhaps when he had first approached her today, he had begun with the intention of sleeping with her by any means necessary. But now, he was moved by the words 'drinking buddies.'

"And until we meet again, no going around seducing every woman you see! Practice your martial arts, too. Let's see you looking impressive next time. Understood?"

"Understood."

To my surprise, Gok Sa was nodding. I couldn't be sure, but it felt as though he might change starting today. He even gave me some spending money.

"Take good care of your lady."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

Ah, Gok Sa would never know how impressed I was at that very moment. Not with him, but with Yi An. In a single night, she had utterly captivated five men with her charm. Honestly, six. I was truly impressed with her, too.

And so we left. Far in the distance, Gok Sa and his guards watched us go, reluctant to say goodbye.

"To be honest, I was worried about you at first."

"About me? Why?"

"That men would deceive you and push you around. That you'd get worked up and cause trouble. That men would disappoint you and hurt you."

When they had first appeared, I had thought it would end with Gok Sa getting beaten up, or getting killed after taking his antics too far.

Instead, it had ended in a way I had never anticipated. Would dragging Gok Sa to the Yellow Springs Pavilion, frightening him, and beating him have changed him like that? It felt as though sunlight had removed the coat the wind couldn't strip away.

"And now?"

"Now I'm worried about the exact opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm worried about the men. If I let you loose, you'll ruin every man in Murim. They'll squander their fortunes, go mad training to look strong for you, and come down with lovesickness."

Yi An burst into laughter.

"You know how many tails I have, don't you?"

Seeing her today made me determined to have her attain complete mastery of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art. The stronger she became, the more captivating she would be.

"Where are we going now?"

"If we meet another fellow like Gok Sa, we'll have fun with him, too. We'll buy some good food, take in some beautiful scenery along the way, and go watch a wedding."

"Whose wedding?"

"There's one I'm debating whether to stop."

"Why would you stop someone else's wedding?"

"Exactly."

"That sounds fun! I've never properly watched a wedding before!"

Excited, she ran ahead.

Watching her run toward the sun rising in the distance, I thought she looked like a painting. And slowly, I too slipped into that painting.