“So, Brother Bang, you're saying this is a 4? And you picked a 6?”
“That's right. Go on, show it.”
In front of the confidently boasting Bang Jo-in, I flipped over the tile in my right hand.
“It’s a 9?”
Bang Jo-in’s eyes widened.
“Huh? How did a 9 come from there? You got something in your hand?”
Bang Jo-in suddenly grabbed my wrist. When I showed him my empty palm, he scratched his head furiously with a bewildered face.
“This can't be…”
I chuckled, dusted off my palms, and stretched. The technique Bang Jo-in had just ambitiously displayed was the 'tile swap'. It was the most basic skill learned first when studying the art of cheating with tiles, hiding one in your palm and swapping it out.
The key to this technique is to keep the hidden tile from being discovered by holding your hand naturally, cupped just slightly to hold the tile. If your hand looks unnatural, like you're holding something, your wrist will be gone in an instant.
Bang Jo-in's tile swap skill was far too clumsy to even fool the eyes of a drunken man. Even if the gambling world of the Western Village was some kind of gambler’s paradise that gathered all the naive suckers in the world, there was no way such a shoddy sleight of hand would work.
Seeing that his hand was still intact, I figured he had only practiced and never actually used it in a gambling den. Gamblers who talk a lot are usually cowards. Watching his clumsy technique, I thought it was pathetic.
So when he offered me his pouch and told me to pick a tile, I stealthily employed a technique of my own with a high tile. It had been years since I'd last held tiles, but I could deceive a half-baked gambler like him with my eyes closed.
Now that he knew his own shortcomings, he should have been locking himself away to train, but Bang Jo-in, oblivious to the fact that I had just extended his lifespan, shuffled the tiles again.
“Just one more time. I think I made a mistake last time because I was nervous. I'm sure of it this time.”
I crossed my arms and casually glanced inside and out. Even if it was at the insistence of my senior, it wasn't good to show a lazy attitude on the first day of work. Especially not here, at the main gate, completely exposed, rather than in the barracks.
I was contemplating whether to slip away by saying I had to use the outhouse when, just in time, two horses pulling a carriage came into view, entering the alley from a distance.
“Brother Bang. There’s a carriage coming.”
“Huh?”
Bang Jo-in quickly put the tiles in his pouch and returned to his post.
“We have guests!”
As Bang Jo-in shouted inside, a servant came running out. The two-horse carriage moved slowly, as if parading down the middle of the rather wide alley.
“Make way!”
The coachman raised his voice, and the pedestrians enjoying the night street hastily moved to the sides. Since it was moving slowly, no one was hit by the horses. Stopping the carriage in front of the main gate, the coachman pulled the reins and shouted.
“An honored guest from the Jeong Family Manor!”
“Proceed directly to the main hall.”
Guided by the servant, the carriage passed through the main gate and stopped in front of the eight-story pavilion. Someone got out from the other side of the carriage. The manager bowed and greeted the guest.
As the carriage disappeared in the direction of the stables, the guest's back was revealed. He was a well-built, middle-aged man dressed in silk clothes. A young martial artist, who appeared to be a guard with a sword at his waist, accompanied him.
His steps were steady, and the aura he exuded was quite sharp.
“That’s the lord of the Jeong Family Manor. He’s a prominent figure who runs a large merchant guild in Hubei. He comes here to have fun about twice a month.”
“Hubei is at least a two-day carriage ride away, yet he comes so often? I’d think there are many famous brothels in Hubei too.”
“Who knows. How would we know the tastes of the rich?”
“They say Ye Hyang’s skill with the pipa is famous. It seems her reputation isn't for nothing.”
“Well… it's not that amazing.”
Bang Jo-in fiddled with his tiles with an indifferent expression.
“Have you heard her play?”
“You can hear it from here. It's nothing special, but maybe it's different if you hear it in front of Ye Hyang." "This is a brothel, so there’s no such thing as being bedded, but as for what they do inside... Here comes another one. We have guests!”
This time it was a small carriage pulled by a single horse. It looked like a cargo wagon with no fancy decorations, just a makeshift roof to shield from the rain.
“Hero Ho Yeon-geom and his party.”
When the coachman quietly announced the guest's identity, a servant, seemingly expecting the reservation, guided them to the main hall. Three martial artists with swords on their backs alighted from the carriage. The man in black, with a stern impression and appearing to be around thirty, seemed to be Ho Yeon-geom.
The other two were young women who looked to be about my age, dressed in light blue robes. They too disappeared into the eight-story pavilion, following the manager.
“Who is Ho Yeon-geom?”
Bang Jo-in, who had been scrutinizing Ho Yeon-geom's party with narrowed eyes, tilted his head.
“I don't know. First time I've heard that title. They must be children from some martial family. What a good life they have, visiting a brothel at that age. I don't get what kind of hobby it is to bring women to a brothel.”
After that, it was quiet. It was still early evening, not long after the sun had set, so not many people were visiting the brothel yet. The tedious shift continued.
Bang Jo-in yawned from across the open gate, his hand habitually fiddling with the tiles. Something came to mind, and I opened my mouth.
“Brother Bang, how long have you been with the Dragon Sky Escort Agency?”
“Me? Let’s see… about three years.”
“You’ll be going on the Sichuan escort mission next month, then?”
“Me? I’m not going.”
“Aren’t you a formal escort?”
Bang Jo-in snorted and grinned.
“Hmph, if all the escorts go on missions, who’s going to guard the Deep Fragrance Pavilion? Only three or four of the guards here will be chosen.”
“If it’s been three years, you must have been here before the Dragon Sky Escort Agency moved to the Western Village?”
“I joined after they settled here. Thanks to an older brother I know. I rolled around in the dirt for a while, then moved to security and washed my hands of escort missions right away. I didn't do it for long, but escort missions just don't suit me. We do all this to make a living, but it's no job for a human, having to wander around with swollen feet all the time like some lingering spirit roaming the nine heavens.”
Bang Jo-in shuddered as if he didn't even want to think about it.
“The Chief Escort Leader and the escort leaders ride horses, but the escorts have to walk on their own two feet, just like the porters. This Sichuan mission will be pretty tough too. You know how rugged the mountains in Sichuan are, right? There are many bandits, and you can easily get sick from the unfamiliar water. No matter what, home is the best. If you wander outside, what else is there but to die on the road…”
As I listened, nodding along appropriately, I realized there wasn't a single thing he said that was wrong. I too had once worked briefly as a guest guard for a small escort agency. So I knew just how awful escort missions could be.
Walking all day and sleeping outdoors in dangerous mountains were minor inconveniences. The truly annoying thing was the robbers targeting the escorted goods, who could appear anytime, anywhere. I received three silver taels for accompanying a mission as a guest guard from Jiangxi to Hunan, and we were ambushed seven times along the way.
One escort died, and two were injured. I myself killed three bandits and robbers during the fighting. Even if Jiangxi and Hunan were territories of the dark paths, this was too much.
It wasn't as if we were transporting goods that would make one’s eyes pop out. It was just that the escort agency was small and looked like an easy target, so every random bandit took a poke at us. Three silver taels just wasn't worth it.
If I was going to make money by shedding blood anyway, it was much better to be hired as a wandering swordsman. The Dragon Sky Escort Agency would be no different. Even large-scale escort missions have many people targeting them.
The bandits in the mountain fortresses who usually let you pass safely after receiving a toll might have other ideas. Here in the Western Village, they have some influence, so no one can easily mess with them, but it’s a different story once they go outside. At times like that, the only ones you can trust are your well-coordinated colleagues.
That’s probably why they were scraping together as many proven escorts as they could. What they said about not having to encounter guests while guarding the Deep Fragrance Pavilion was true. As the night deepened, more carriages arrived at the Deep Fragrance Pavilion, but I couldn't catch a glimpse of who was inside.
They all passed through the main gate and headed straight for the main hall. The night streets of the Western Village outside the alley were also bustling with people who had come for a drink. Even though the Western Village was outside the city walls and had no curfew, patrolmen were out on patrol.
Seeing them just make a round near the Deep Fragrance Pavilion, making their presence known before disappearing, it seemed the claim that the authorities were keeping an eye on things wasn't a lie.
“Do you hear it?”
Bang Hojin called to me in a hushed voice, gesturing toward the pavilion. In the main hall, brightly lit from the first to the eighth floor, joyous laughter never ceased. When the laughter and conversation briefly subsided, the gentle sound of a pipa would fill the silent void, making it not uncomfortable.
I listened intently and then asked Bang Jo-in.
“Is that Ye Hyang playing?”
“Obviously. The Deep Fragrance Pavilion has many courtesans, but when the honored guests want to hear the pipa, Ye Hyang is the only one they seek.”
Was it because my expectations were too high? I felt a little disappointed. The main gate of the Deep Fragrance Pavilion was not a good place to properly appreciate Ye Hyang's skills.
It was over a dozen paces away from the main hall, obscured by walls and windows, and buried under the sound of laughter, so I couldn't hear it properly.
A master of the pipa would have been able to showcase a performance that pierces through the air like an awl through a sack, even in such poor conditions, making one's ears perk up, but Ye Hyang didn't seem to be at that level. Still, the melody had quite a charm. It was at once splendid, simple, and strangely desolate.
As the night deepened, the once boisterous music and laughter gradually subsided, finally falling silent around dawn. The guests who had arrived by carriage also departed by carriage. A languid silence deepened inside and outside the walls as the day broke, pale and hazy.
My first night shift was slowly coming to an end. I switched with the day shift, who had arrived on time, and changed my clothes in the barracks. Jo Gyeong-jik wasn't there.
I had nothing particular to report, so I left the Deep Fragrance Pavilion just like that. On the street outside the alley, shops and inns were beginning to open one by one, but there were no people coming or going. I left the town center, feeling the rather sharp morning sunlight.
I had stayed up all night for the first time in a while, but it was so peaceful it was boring, and I had a hearty late-night meal in the middle, so I wasn't that tired. The pay was a bit low, but it was easier on the body and mind than living as a swordsman.
Still, as I told the Chief Escort Leader, I should just do this until the end of the year and then quit. Living with my days and nights reversed was not something I could do for long. Neither was acting as a house-guarding dog.
As soon as I returned home, I covered the window with a blanket to block the sunlight and lay down. I woke up after noon, stretched languidly, and gulped down cold water. Chewing on tough jerky, I went out to the yard and warmed up by spinning a bamboo staff until I was fully awake.
I lay on the wooden porch, cooling off my sweat and sating my hunger with dry rations, before practicing the Nameless Saber Technique again. In the late afternoon, I attached the willow blade to my back. The sun was still strong, so I put on a bamboo hat and left the house.
When I stopped by the Wind River Inn, Gu-sam brought out my food and asked.
“Hero, did you see Ye Hyang?”
“No.” As I picked up my chopsticks, a few meat dumplings I hadn't ordered were stealthily placed on my plate.
I stared at him blankly, and Gu-sam glanced toward the kitchen and lowered his voice conspiratorially.
“You can't forget about me.”
I alternated my gaze between Gu-sam's burning eyes and the dumplings, then chuckled and picked one up. Guarding the entrance of the Deep Fragrance Pavilion was boring, but not dangerous. All the guests used carriages, so there was no need to deal with drunkards.
The lackeys of the Black Night Gang and the local ruffians also stayed away, seemingly afraid of the Dragon Sky Escort Agency and the Officials. After a few days of uneventful duty, on the fifth day, the head of security, Jo Gyeong-jik, sought me out.
“How are you finding it?”
“It’s manageable.”
“The escort you work with is Bang Jo-in, right?”
“Yes.”
Jo Gyeong-jik paused for a moment before asking in a low, somber voice.
“That bastard, is he still fiddling with his tiles during his shift?”
I remained silent. It didn't seem like a one-time thing, nor did it seem like he was asking because he didn't know. If he already knew everything without me saying a word, it was better to keep my mouth shut.
“Don't get tempted and get any foolish ideas. One out of every three guys who ends up dead in the back alleys of the Western Village is a gambler. That bastard too, in his own time... phew.”
Jo Gyeong-jik let his words trail off with a deep sigh and shook his head. After composing himself, he spoke again.
“Today, some very important guests have booked the entire Deep Fragrance Pavilion. The Prefect will be coming as well. There must not be the slightest neglect in guarding the main gate. If that bastard Bang Jo-in loses his mind and pulls out his tiles, tell him I ordered you to, and kick him in the ass. Understand? And report to me immediately.”
I wondered why he was telling me this instead of talking to the person directly, but from the looks of it, he had already called Bang Jo-in in and given him a stern warning. Even so, he didn't seem reassured.
“I will.”
I went outside, swept the grounds more diligently than usual, and passed by the bustling servants on my way to the main gate. He must have really gotten an earful, because Bang Jo-in’s hands were empty. He was fidgeting with his hands, which felt empty without the tiles, with a gloomy face.
He saw me and quickly approached to talk.
“Did you hear they’ve booked the whole Deep Fragrance Pavilion for tonight?”
“Did the Prefect have a late-born child or something?”
“Huh? Haha, if that were the case, would he rent a brothel like this? He’d throw a feast at his own home. The star of the Deep Fragrance Pavilion tonight isn't the Prefect. It’s a certain young scholar who lives in Hubei.”
“A scholar?”
Bang Jo-in even knew his name, having heard it from somewhere.
“They say his name is Lee Yun-jae. When you hear the word scholar, most of them are pale-faced guys with heads full of nothing but book knowledge, but this friend is an exception.”
As if he were a relative of the scholar himself, Bang Jo-in boasted and chattered on.
“You know what the civil service exam is, right? The test the country holds to select officials. It’s not just one test. There are three stages in total… The provincial exam held in each province. The metropolitan exam where those who passed the provincial exam gather at the Ministry of Rites to take it. And the palace exam, where those who passed the metropolitan exam go to the Imperial Capital to take it before the Son of Heaven. Just passing the provincial exam…” …makes you a Provincial Graduate, which is as good as guaranteeing you a position like county magistrate.
The banquet being held at the Deep Fragrance Pavilion tonight was to celebrate the scholar named Lee Yun-jae passing his provincial exam. The reason the Prefect arranged such an event was probably with the intention of making a promising new official his man. The other guests invited to the feast would likely have similar intentions.
Expanding his network would provide him with strong support for his future career as an official, so it wasn't a bad thing for the scholar named Lee Yun-jae either. It was a mutually beneficial occasion, so the atmosphere would probably be amicable, but Bang Jo-in looked somewhat uneasy.
“The Agency Master might come too.”
High-ranking officials were holding a celebratory banquet at a brothel managed by the Dragon Sky Escort Agency. From the agency master's perspective, it was worth dropping everything to make an appearance. It wasn't strange at all, yet Bang Jo-in’s expression was dark.
He was fidgeting like a puppy that needed to relieve itself. It wasn't pleasant for the master of the organization one belonged to to show up at the workplace, but his anxiety went beyond that. As I watched him with curiosity, Bang Jo-in forced a smile with an awkward expression.
“You’ve never seen the agency master, have you?”
“No. I heard he’s a lay disciple from the Qingcheng Sect?”
“That's right. They say he was quite famous in Sichuan. The name Flying Force Sword Gam Hu-jeong was enough to make those from the dark path startle in their sleep. Even with age, that presence hasn't gone anywhere, so even the escorts sometimes get startled when they see him.”
It seemed Bang Jo-in was one of them. He openly feared the agency master. I wondered if he had ever caused trouble with his tile gambling and been summoned by the agency master.
I was about to ask him subtly when Bang Jo-in stared intently at the far end of the alley. Following his gaze, I saw a two-horse carriage approaching.