Chương 5: Chapter 49: The Five Noble Families

Their dumplings lay forgotten on the table, while Gwansoo regaled Song with tales of the places he'd visited. Of the shining ports of Silla, the tall forests of Xinjiang and even the jungles south of the Kunlun mountains. It seemed as though the merchant's travels had taken him to every corner of Lemuria. It was a tale as grand as any told by a cultivator. In return, Song talked about the state of the horses, and the pastures.

How the Yu family had a new poison effective against grasswolves, and the various specialties of Changpo. Nam Gwansoo listened attentively, asking pointed questions that were meaningless to Song, but clearly had great meaning for the merchant. Eventually though, all good things must pass.

"I enjoyed our talk, young master, and thank you for the recommendations," Gwansoo stood and bowed.

"No! Merchant Nam, the pleasure was all mine. Thank you for sharing your tales with this young cultivator." Song quickly stood and bowed back.

"Would you be willing to answer one last question from this young cultivator? Why were you willing to spend so much of your time on me?" Gwansoo pulled at his beard, smiling.

"Because you were willing to listen. Not many cultivators are willing to listen to a mere merchant blather about the dao. Or to spend their entire fortune buying a simple doll when it could be used on cultivation materials." He leaned back, cracking his back with a grunt.

"That, and it wasn't all one-sided. You were very helpful in my market research."

"What will you do next?" Song asked, looking around the guanz. It'd mostly emptied out by now, the various peddlers and traders having hurried out an hour ago to get a head start to the East before the day grew too late.

"I'll go meet with a Yu clan Elder, then head back West with the imperial escort. We'll probably reach the waystation some time around late evening. Then it'll be off to Chengdu in the morning."

"How far is it?" Song asked.

"I've never left Changpo."

"If you push your horse, you can reach the waystation in about four hours. It's closer to ten hours by wagon. Chengdu is another nine days by wagon beyond. Though of course," Gwansoo winked, "Jajangmyeon can do it much quicker if she wanted to. It's not my favourite trip; it's mostly rice paddies, peasant shacks, and the occasional tea house all the way to Chengdu." It was still more than he, Lee Song, had ever seen.

They made their polite farewells at the entrance to the guanz, Nam Gwansoo grandly promising that if the heavens willed it, they'd meet again one day in the wide world of Murim. When they were alone, Cyrus piped up. ["Do you want to become a merchant? You said I could take over and have some fun if we went abroad, right? That Silla sounds pretty amazing. And I'd really like to try some of those wines he talked about. Or how about becoming a porter! You're pretty good at delivering things!"] Song held back a laugh!

Imagine! Reduced from a grand cultivator to a pathetic delivery boy! But his laughter was short-lived. Wasn't that practically what he'd been doing for the past few days? And others had praised him on how quick and efficient he was… Was that his dao? To go from one place to the next? A wave of motion, traversing between the cities like light in the Void?

He contemplated his dao, the hopeful blathering of Cyrus mere background noise as his feet carried him back to the Lee family compound to see about delivering the doll to Mae. —"Thank you, my little star!" Lee Chohee said, taking the sheet of freshly folded dumplings from her youngest son. She ruffled his hair in passing, leaving flecks of flour in Song's hair.

"Mother~" Song whined. He hadn't been allowed to disturb Mae's rest, so he was in the preparation pavilion, helping do her usual chores instead.

"Don't you mother me! You've been running around like a new gelding, desperately trying to find your manhood for almost a month! Not a single moment to spare for your poor mother." Chohee paused and wiped a false tear from her eye.

"Only just a man, and you've already forgotten the one who raised you." Song shuffled uncomfortably while she dropped dumplings into the pot of boiling soup.

"I've been busy, you know that."

"Is cultivation really more important than your own mother?" Chohee asked. She put the tray down, then pulled Song into a tight hug. His head barely came up to her shoulders, and his nose buried in her bosom.

"Ah, you're growing so tall. Soon you'll be bigger than me, and I'll be the smallest in our family." ["I'm just gonna go over here."] Cyrus coughed. ["Ignore me and spend some time with your mom."] Go over where. Song thought sardonically. Out loud he said, "Mother, of course I'm getting taller. Soon I'll be as tall as – well maybe not Wook, but definitely Tae."

"Our Taeyang does take after me, but you take more after your father I think. You look a lot like him when he was younger. I'm sure you'll grow up to be just as handsome as him, too." Chohee tweaked his nose, and he tried to pull away, but she held him in a vice-like hug.

"I wonder if you'll be able to grow a beard just as grand." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Song imagined himself with a beard that went down past his belt. He just couldn't see it.

"And how is my little star these days? I never see you unless you're trying to sneak snacks in my kitchen." She went over to a cutting board set up beneath the cooking pavilion, and began chopping daikon. Her cleaver smoothly bounced up and down with a tak tak"I'm fine."

"Hmm…" She held her cleaver aloft, examining its edge.

"There's nothing you want to share with your dear mother?" Song eyed the knife warily.

"I bought Mae a doll. It was really expensive, but I think she'll like it."

"I do hope she gets better," Chohee sighed.

"Elder Minsu says he's hopeful. We're truly blessed by the Heavens to have such a talented physician in our Lee clan. I can't believe there are still so many who distrust him just because he was trained by the Yus. Anything else?" Song considered, before finally giving a noncommittal, "No."

"What is it with my boys and their one word answers?" Chohee put down the cleaver and turned around to look Song directly in the eyes.

"Is that truly everything?" Song rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes."

"Hmmm…" Chohee frowned.

"You know you can tell your mother anything. Even if the entire world was against you, it would be me and you against the world." She turned away and slammed the knife cleanly through a daikon.

"I think we'd be ants trying to shake a tree." Song laughed.

"Just you and me?"

"And your brothers of course. Taeyang wouldn't miss a chance to be contrary, and Wook would never turn down a good fight. Juwon would just follow along, I suppose," She swept the daikon into the pot with an overly theatrical swipe of her knife.

"Not Father?"

"Ah, you know how he is. Responsibilities and honour." Chohee puffed out her chest and mimed a big beard.

"But he'd be there for you, in whatever way he could." ["Uh oh. I think she knows, Song."] Cyrus whispered. ["Do you want to come clean?"] ["No."] Song shot against his dantian. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking fast.

"I'm just… distracted. With the qi deviation, and my new master, and learning from Hunter An. It feels like I've lived a lifetime, and it's still just the month of the dog." His mother pursed her lips and gave her son a disbelieving side-eye.

"As long as you're sure." They finished preparing the rest of the evening's dinner, a task usually performed by Auntie Haru and Mae, then delivered it to the family dining pavilion. The late-summer sun was close to setting by that time, and the first torches were being lit. The sounds of horses and sheep being brought back to the village could be heard over the general din. The atmosphere at dinner was grim. Juwon and Wook had found multiple signs of grasswolves, and even Taeyang was subdued.

He'd spent a good amount of time talking with the merchants, and they'd all spoken of tough times in Chengdu. This summer had been especially hot, and the cost of rice was high; if they weren't able to go East, some of them would lose everything. Their father mostly just brooded, eating his meal silently while Kkongi sat on his shoulder and glared daggers down the table.

"Did you buy those bracers, brother Wook?" Song asked, trying to ignore the ornery bird's gaze.

"Before Merchant Gwansoo left?" Wook held his arms aloft – they sparkled orange on silver in the sunset.

"Of course. You were right, they're perfect. But –" He whistled.

"Did you see that Merchant Nam's wares? I only saw a few things before he packed up. What a ridiculously expensive peddler."

"It made me feel like a toad lusting after swan flesh. His goods were far too much for our small village. Do you know who he was, father?" Tae asked, turning to their normally silent Patriarch. San twitched at the sudden attention, his arm raised with a piece of meat halfway to Kkongi's mouth. The big red hawk squawked angrily at being interrupted, and its beak flashed out to snatch the meat. It regarded Tae with an angry eye then flew off. ["Damn bird eats better than I do."] Cyrus grumbled in Song's head.

["Later,"] Song promised.

"Someone important," San said, pulling at his beard.

"Hiding his name. I think he was even wearing a human skin mask." ["Excuse me?"] Cyrus choked. ["Did he just say a human skin mask??"] ["Not real skin. Look like real face."] Song shot back before the Canadian could get any strange ideas.

"Wouldn't surprise me. Someone with that much wealth on display is just a phoenix strutting amongst chickens." Juwon mused, sipping on his soup.

"But if he meant to travel quietly, why show off his wealth?"

"A trap, I suspect. The martial artists escorting him looked lazy, but weren't simple," San explained.

"No Sign to speak of, but to my senses they were all at least peak foundation level. Likely Orthodox cultivators."

"Maybe he was simply flaunting it," Tae said, considering. He held out his hand and splayed his fingers, like a courtesan showing off a pretty bangle.

"Show off his wealth, not his clan's. I bet he was from one of the Five Noble Families, traveling incognito for fun." Juwon slapped Tae's hand down, and Tae kicked him in the shin in return.

"He did have a dagger with the Tang mark on it," Song noted while his two older brothers muttered insults at each other.

"He showed it openly on his cart." ["Five noble families?"] Cyrus prodded. ["Tang. Jaegal. Namgoong, Peng. Moyong. Big strong Orthodox cultivator clans."] Song explained, pinging his qi against his dantian. ["Sichuan Tang control almost all Sichuan."]"Maybe a secret Tang then. Trying to trap some bandits. They've done it before," San agreed.

"Good eye, Song. Though his guards had strong Earth qi, which would point towards the Namgoongs."

"They looked ragged enough that they could've been hirelings from the beggar sect," Wook pointed out.

"To put people off the trail." San and Song both nodded introspectively. Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion near Seok's yurt. Seojoon emerged from the front flap, looking haggard. The normally stoic cultivator's face was drawn, and his eyes flickered left and right like a foal looking to escape a predator. It pained Song to see his normally indomitable cousin this way. Everyone rose to their feet, and Juwon and Tae even stopped fighting.

"Seojoon?" Chohee asked.

"Is she?"

"Mae's awake. But she's getting worse." Seojoon's eyes landed on Song.

"Do you have that doll? Bring it now." Song gulped.

"Coming."