Jin Sohan quietly watched Ju Yein, who couldn’t stop crying easily. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand that heart. The Blood-Whisper Sect were the kind of people who lived best and ate best on West Black Road even after piling up grudges like this.
If Jin Sohan hadn’t returned, their tyranny would have continued. And why would it stop at West Black Road? It would be the same across the entire Thousand Sun Unorthodox Lands that encompassed West Black Road.
The Thousand Sun Unorthodox Lands of Shaanxi.
One of the reasons the Unorthodox Faction had proliferated here was that, from long ago, a tribal people who frequently fought the Central Plains had settled in the region. Now, with them mixed in among the Han people, it was a meaningless past, but when those tribes were at their strongest, they were savage enough to seize commanderies and counties, and they fought well. The reason the Unorthodox Faction ran rampant in a place called Thousand Sun was because the land itself was etched with a bloody history born from the clashes between the Han people and those tribes, stretching back ages.
Jin Sohan didn’t know it yet, but the news that the Blood-Whisper Sect had fallen was spreading through the entire Thousand Sun Unorthodox Lands.
Ju Yein poured out tears until Jin Sohan had drunk three full cups of liquor alone.
When Jin Sohan said nothing and only kept drinking, Ju Yein finally steadied her heaving chest and revealed her story.
“I’m sorry. I thought of my father and my older brother. The escort captain protected me to the end, so I barely…”
“Then why didn’t that escort captain come with you?”
“He escorted me all the way to East Ghost Road while grievously wounded. If he had rested along the way, he could have recovered his injuries…”
Jin Sohan sighed.
All right. That’s as far as I should hear.
It was a story that hurt both the one speaking and the one listening.
Jin Sohan said,
“Miss Ju, at least on West Black Road.”
“Yes.”
“This won’t happen again going forward. This place is my hometown too, and I lost people I knew to the Blood-Whisper Sect. I intend to make sure nothing like that happens. But if you and I don’t keep our wits, another Blood-Whisper Sect will appear. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes. It is. It will.”
“Here, being weak becomes a sin.”
“Being weak is a sin?”
When Ju Yein looked at him as if she couldn’t agree, Jin Sohan emphasized it once more.
“That’s the kind of world it’s become.”
At those words, Ju Yein looked at Jin Sohan.
Her eyes were asking what kind of person he was. But Jin Sohan’s gaze was cold, as rigid as his expression. Worse, the color of his eyes was strange, like someone addicted to something, making it hard to keep looking for long.
When Ju Yein lowered her head with a frightened expression after staring at him, Jin Sohan gave a small smile.
“It’s nothing. There are circumstances—looking into my eyes will be uncomfortable.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Not offended at all. In any case, Miss Ju…”
“Yes.”
“I’ll help you from here on, so become strong.”
Ju Yein nodded.
“I will become strong.”
When Jin Sohan closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say, Ju Yein pulled something out from inside her clothing and spoke.
“I want to give you this.”
What Ju Yein held out was a jade token engraved with “West Gold.”
Jin Sohan turned it over in his fingers and said,
“What is this?”
“Please use the West Gold Escort Agency whenever you wish, from now on. Your letters, your shipments, and even any information you want—I will gather as much as I can and give it to you. We’re not an intelligence organization, but escort hands hear many stories while on the road. And I will never take payment for the rest of my life. It won’t be enough, but for now, this is what I can offer you in return.”
It wasn’t declaring herself a servant—just repaying a debt in the way she could.
It wasn’t bad, as a way to survive.
And her expression now was far better than when she’d been overwhelmed and crying.
Jin Sohan wondered if he would ever have a reason to use an escort agency, but when he looked at Ju Yein’s face, he answered readily.
“Fine. If I have need, I’ll ask.”
“Yes.”
“And.”
“Please speak.”
“Stop calling me Benefactor now. It would be better to call me Troupe Master.”
“I will.”
“Let’s get up. If you ever need help, come here any time. Even if I’m not here, I’ll make sure you can be helped.”
“Thank you, Troupe Master…”
“Choo Sahyeok.”
Choo Sahyeok answered from the first floor.
“Yes, Troupe Master.”
“You personally escort her back with your men. The West Wind Escort Agency is gone. It’s the West Gold Escort Agency again.”
Jin Sohan settled the situation with remarkable simplicity, and Choo Sahyeok understood at once.
“Understood. I’ll proceed that way.”
Jin Sohan maintained a thoroughly respectful manner as he treated Ju Yein.
Before she went down the stairs, Ju Yein bent at the waist toward Jin Sohan as if bowing.
Their eyes met for a moment.
Partway down the stairs, Ju Yein belatedly realized her back was soaked with sweat.
It was the first time she had ever been afraid of a person himself.
And she still didn’t even know the exact reason why she was that afraid.
Then, after leaving the Mystic Lunar Dance Troupe with Choo Sahyeok’s group promising to escort her, Ju Yein turned back again.
On the second floor, Jin Sohan’s shadow flickered faintly.
A frightening person… and a grateful person.
Holding onto that first impression of Jin Sohan, Ju Yein returned to the West Gold Escort Agency.
******
Not long after Ju Yein returned, Dogon from Rooster Head Tavern came into the Mystic Lunar Dance Troupe carrying something in both hands. Since they knew the tavern server was the Troupe Master’s friend, coming and going through the Mystic Lunar Dance Troupe had become natural for him.
Aside from Choo Sahyeok, there still wasn’t anyone who could speak casually with Jin Sohan, and in that sense, the way Jin Sohan and Dogon talked felt genuinely strange.
From the first floor, Dogon called up to Jin Sohan.
“Sohan.”
“You’re here? Come up.”
It was really like that—no ceremony at all.
As Dogon climbed the stairs, he asked,
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
Dogon hauled his heavy body up and said,
“Let’s eat some dumplings together.”
“You brought a lot.”
“I eat a lot. But what do the others do for meals?”
“Mostly they go out and buy food.”
When Dogon lifted the cloth he’d covered them with, steam rose in soft curls. Jin Sohan grabbed a hot dumpling with his bare hand like it was nothing and started eating.
“Dogon.”
“Yeah.”
“Is Uncle Pung doing well? I haven’t seen him…”
“His back’s bad, so he mostly lies down at home. The tavern’s earnings are all Uncle Pung’s medicine money.”
“Is that so? Then the medicine money—I can…”
“It’s fine. He’s faking it.”
Jin Sohan bit into a dumpling with a hollow expression. Rooster Head Tavern didn’t have many menu items, but the taste was quite good. That was all Dogon’s skill. In a big tavern, the roles would be split between server and cook, but Dogon was the server, the cook, and the acting innkeeper all at once.
While chewing and thinking, Jin Sohan spoke to Dogon.
“Dogon, come into the Mystic Lunar Dance Troupe.”
“Me? What would I even do?”
“Run the kitchen. Bring Uncle Pung later too.”
“What about the tavern?”
“You said it’s Uncle Pung’s medicine money. The Mystic Lunar Dance Troupe has more people now, and it’s hard to go out nearby and buy food every time. And the kitchen here is as big as your tavern’s. You be the dedicated cook. You’re good at cooking.”
It was a sudden suggestion, but it wasn’t a bad one for Dogon.
Chewing a dumpling, Dogon replied,
“Should I?”
“If you’re short on hands, hire people. Either way, you take charge.”
As if a dumpling had gotten stuck, Dogon pounded his chest, then pointed at the liquor.
“Give me a cup.”
When Jin Sohan poured, Dogon downed it in a rush. After letting out a loud belch, Dogon said,
“But, Sohan.”
“Yeah.”
“If I come here and cook, am I not going to get cut down and die?”
“What are you talking about?”
With an awkward, uneasy smile, Dogon continued.
“I saw it all. You fighting. From start to finish. How could I not? I saw it from the moment the Blood-Whisper Sect started swarming in.”
“So you saw it—what are you worried about?”
Dogon grabbed a third dumpling. Just as Jin Sohan drank well, Dogon ate well. Chewing roughly, Dogon said,
“Because you’re going to fight again.”
“Since when was the Rooster Head Tavern server a prophet?”
“Hah. Our Troupe Master looks down on a tavern server. I’ve eaten in the martial world longer than you have. I can see it clear as day. Sohan… let me ask you one thing. There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Ask.”
“How strong are you? Explain it so I can understand. I’ll listen, and then this miserable life of mine… I’ll decide whether I should wrap things up at Rooster Head Tavern, or come here and be the dedicated cook. I know you’re strong, but I don’t know how strong you are in the martial world.”
At that, Jin Sohan burst into laughter.
“How would I know how strong I am? It’s only been a few days.”
“If you gauge it by your lineage, you can estimate, can’t you?”
“My lineage…”
Jin Sohan abruptly stood, then looked around the first floor and the surroundings. Choo Sahyeok had gone to finish the West Gold Escort Agency matter with Ju Yein, so everything was quiet.
Standing at the railing, Jin Sohan let out a small sigh and said,
“I don’t know how strong I am, but how strong my master is has been known in the martial world.”
“Who is it? Is it a secret? It sounds like a famous sect.”
“They call them as a set.”
“What do they call them.”
Turning back to Dogon, Jin Sohan said,
“One of the Four Great Villains.”
“Oh, hell…”
Dogon dropped the dumpling he was chewing. His appetite was gone.
Dogon said,
“Liquor… I’m having one more cup.”
When Jin Sohan smiled, Dogon swallowed the liquor down and looked at Jin Sohan with a pained, sympathetic face.
“Anyway, it’s a relief you came back alive, Sohan…”
Dogon no longer even felt like asking which of the Four Great Villains it was.
No matter who it was, it would be the worst.