As dusk fell, the eerie night air brought with it a thick, damp fog. The fog covered everything like a sea. Everywhere the eye could see, a dense white wall hazily illuminated the bottom of the night.
It was a dreamlike atmosphere, the kind that made one want to sit in a high pavilion and leisurely tip a wine cup. It was also a perfect night for a thief to break in. Normally, everyone would be asleep, but now, there was a constant flurry of sharp, unsettled movements.
The torches of the patrolling servants and guards floated in the fog like will-o'-the-wisps. After hearing the information from the Underworld Information Clan’s Zhongqing branch, Gwang-hyo decided not to leave the Radiant Star Pavilion. Somehow, Shaolin's name had become entangled in the matter of stopping the Master Thief.
Tang Hye-seo and I also decided to stay quietly for the night, following Ja-hyeon's advice. If we left now, we wouldn't even travel for two hours before having to find a room at an inn again. The responsibility of protecting the Blue Jade Buddha fell to Gwang-hyo and Daoist Jeong Gyun.
No matter how things turned out, we could just leave tomorrow morning. The time the Notification Master Thief had announced for his arrival to steal the Blue Jade Buddha was the beginning of the hour of the Ox. The fog was so thick that it was impossible to tell the time.
Seeing that the trouble started just as I was getting drowsy, it seemed he wasn't late.
"Thief!"
It began with someone shouting from beyond the wall.
"Go and check. I'll look around separately."
Gwang-hyo raised his Buddhist saber and looked up at the wall. As Tang Hye-seo and I opened the door and went out, a servant on guard, clutching a club, quickly gestured to us.
"Over there! He just vanished over that roof with a whoosh."
The place the servant pointed to was the roof of a warehouse, shrouded in fog.
"He's not there."
"I saw him clearly! He went that way!"
The servant, as if wronged, beat his chest and repeatedly pointed at the roof. I secretly raised my inner energy, watching the fog with heightened senses. It wasn't that far, yet I couldn't feel anything.
Had the Master Thief's stealth art reached a divine realm, completely concealing his presence? How did this man see him... I stared at the servant with a new sense of curiosity.
"Are you perhaps a member of the Underworld Information Clan?"
"Pardon? No. I'm a gatekeeper from the outer hall."
As I narrowed my eyes and stared suspiciously, the servant flinched and swallowed dryly. He looked like he had something to hide.
"This way! He's over here!"
This time, it was far beyond the pavilion. I checked my front and back and approached the passage between the buildings. A warrior from the Qingcheng Sect was looking up at the roof with a troubled expression.
"Did you see the Master Thief?"
"I did not. I came running because the servants here called for help."
Eyewitness accounts continued to pop up from all over, and the entire manor, submerged in fog, was thrown into commotion. Torches danced, and shouts and footsteps boiled in a chaotic mess.
"There! On the wall by the main gate!"
This time, I could see him too. A mysterious man in night clothes stood on the wall against the backdrop of the pure white fog, looking down at the manor. His face was hidden by a bamboo hat.
When I ran over, Gwang-hyo was already there, looking up at the man on the wall. The mysterious man soon disappeared over the wall. In that moment, Gwang-hyo's aura changed completely.
He raised his inner energy to its peak and looked back at me.
"I'll be right back, so wait inside."
"You don't need to go this far."
It's a foggy night. We don't know who that martial artist who looked like the Notification Master Thief was, or what his level of martial ability is. He might have accomplices.
Even with Shaolin's name on the line, it was too dangerous to give chase. We can just leave after sunrise. Gwang-hyo paid me no heed and kicked off the ground, leaping up.
He landed lightly on top of the wall—a height still difficult for me to attempt at my current realm—and vanished into the fog. Tang Hye-seo furrowed her brow.
"It seems our chances of getting a ride on that boat are ruined..."
With nothing else to do, we returned to our guest quarters. While we were waiting for Gwang-hyo with our things packed, Daoist Jeong Gyun came running.
"Where is the Great Monk?"
"He went after the Master Thief."
Jeong Gyun turned his eyes in the direction Tang Hye-seo pointed, his expression turning sour.
"Into that fog?"
"What happened to the Blue Jade Buddha?"
"I don't know."
"Did you perhaps see the Master Thief?"
Jeong Gyun clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"I did not. The fog in Zhongqing is truly terrible, tsk tsk."
Even though the night fog was thick, the servants of the Radiant Star Pavilion had witnessed the Master Thief. It seemed Jeong Gyun didn't even find it strange that only their eyes could see the Master Thief.
"Let's go to the inner hall."
Why did Daoist Jeong Gyun come looking for Gwang-hyo? It was probably because he needed someone to take responsibility. As expected, the atmosphere in the inner hall was grim.
The door of the safe, which had been buried deep in the wall, was torn off as if for show. Recalling the recent events and what I had heard at the Dream Immortal Pavilion about the relationship between the prefectural official and the lord of the Radiant Star Pavilion, the outline of the situation became clear.
"Hah, I trusted Qingcheng and Shaolin, yet how could this happen..."
The lord of the Radiant Star Pavilion trembled with rage. He had every reason to. After all, not only his own life but the fate of his family was riding on tonight's events.
The warriors of the Qingcheng Sect, who had suddenly become key figures in the theft of the Radiant Star Pavilion's family heirloom, were warily enduring the Manor Lord's fury. I didn't know the extent of their martial ability, but it seemed none of them could fathom the Manor Lord's scheme.
When Tang Hye-seo and I entered, the Manor Lord glared at us with bloodshot eyes.
"Where is the Great Monk?"
"He went over the wall in pursuit of the Master Thief."
"The Master Thief? Is that true?"
The Manor Lord's face twisted. He should have been happy to be on the thief's trail, but he looked displeased, as if caught off guard. He seemed flustered, as if this was not part of the plan.
Gwang-hyo returned amidst an awkward silence that felt like a search.
"Great Monk!"
Daoist Jeong Gyun's face lit up as if he'd been saved. Gwang-hyo looked fine. He wasn't injured, and there was no smell of blood.
And he was empty-handed. Tang Hye-seo studied his complexion and asked.
"Are you all right?"
"I am fine."
Even with all eyes in the room on him, Gwang-hyo was composed. The Manor Lord glared at him with angry eyes, as if to hold him responsible.
"Great Monk, how could this..."
Gwang-hyo cut him off and strode forward.
"Manor Lord, please give this humble monk a moment of your time. You two, return to your quarters."
Gwang-hyo and the Manor Lord went into the inner chamber. In the unsettling atmosphere, everyone headed to their respective quarters. We waited in our guest quarters, and Gwang-hyo returned half an hour later.
"Let's rest for a bit, then go to board the boat when the sun rises."
Tang Hye-seo and I looked at each other with puzzled expressions. When I was about to voice some of my suspicions, Gwang-hyo shook his head.
"We'll talk later. There are many listening ears here."
* In the early morning, before the fog had fully lifted, we left the Radiant Star Pavilion in a carriage. Neither the Manor Lord nor the Daoists of the Qingcheng Sect came to see us off.
"It ended well."
"Did you catch that fellow, the Master Thief or whatever he is?"
"I did."
"But how come you returned empty-handed?"
"I received sufficient payment."
Gwang-hyo turned his gaze out the window.
"To remove my name and Shaolin's from this commotion. We never stayed at the Radiant Star Pavilion. Everyone will say so. The Manor Lord, the Qingcheng Sect, and the members of the Underworld Information Clan."
I thought as much. There was no way Gwang-hyo would have recklessly jumped into the fog just to pay the price for a boat ride. If the lord of the Radiant Star Pavilion was so cooperative even after losing his family heirloom, there could only be one reason.
"It seems the Notification Master Thief was hired by the lord of the Radiant Star Pavilion, right? And the Blue Jade Buddha was never at the pavilion to begin with."
A curious light flickered in Gwang-hyo's eyes as he looked at me.
"Is that what you think?"
"No one has seen the Blue Jade Buddha in person, right? And the Manor Lord's reaction after it was stolen was strange."
Gwang-hyo did not deny it. Tang Hye-seo, who had been lost in thought, blinked her surprised eyes.
"Don't tell me... the Manor Lord used the Blue Jade Buddha as a bribe? To the prefectural official's political rival?"
Gwang-hyo nodded calmly.
"The prefectural official caught wind of this and said he wanted to see the Blue Jade Buddha, so the Manor Lord hired a martial artist to stage this act of the Notification Master Thief, using Shaolin and Qingcheng as witnesses."
It must have been the same for the other officials and wealthy men who claimed to have been robbed by the Notification Master Thief. They tried to switch sides and ended up losing their family heirlooms for nothing.
"A storm of blood is about to blow through Zhongqing."
Traitors are welcomed nowhere. It would be even harder to forgive someone who stabbed you in the back during difficult times. The Underworld Information Clan must have secured enough evidence as well.
Gwang-hyo's thoughts were different.
"He will likely hold it over their heads and turn a blind eye. The lord of the Radiant Star Pavilion is a local magnate who has amassed wealth in Zhongqing for generations. The other two are also acquaintances who know the prefectural official well."
It meant they were still useful, and too dangerous to have as enemies.
"If he punishes them too harshly, they might actually betray him. Like all cunning officials, he will most likely choose to indebt them and use them."
It was a plausible guess. If rumors spread that the Blue Jade Buddha was stolen, the one who received it as a bribe wouldn't be able to dispose of it easily either. If that happened, the relationship between the lord of the Radiant Star Pavilion and the prefectural official's rival would be completely ruined.
From the prefectural official's perspective, it was far more beneficial to suppress his anger and embrace them again.
"It's complicated..."
Tang Hye-seo pressed her hand to her throbbing head and shook it back and forth. She seemed to dislike the situation, where schemes and counterschemes were tangled like a messy knot. I also found it quite unpleasant.
I'd rather have sabers and swords clashing and blood flying before my eyes. Winning this kind of insidious battle of wits didn't feel like a victory at all.
"So, who is the prefectural official's political rival?"
I wondered how great he must be to cause all this commotion, but I still didn't recognize the name.
"... Probably a Hanlin Academy Scholar."
"A Hanlin Academy Scholar? Not a minister, but a mere scholar can stand against a prefectural official?"
A scholar should be someone who studies, so I wondered what kind of power he could have. After hearing Gwang-hyo's explanation, it seemed he was worth offering a family heirloom to.
"The Hanlin Academy Scholars are direct advisors to the Emperor. I don't know the details, but I heard he and the prefectural official are old rivals."
While we were talking, the air coming in through the window grew increasingly damp. A little further on, the fog parted and a pier came into view. Finding the Radiant Star Pavilion's ship was easy.
The only ship docked at the wide pier was a massive merchant vessel, as tall as a three-story pavilion. Laborers were diligently loading and unloading cargo since morning. When a group of martial artists approached, the sailors who were tying down cargo and checking the sails stopped what they were doing and stared at us sharply.
They say boatmen are a rough lot, and true to form, their gazes and auras were as fierce as their faces.
"What is it?"
A middle-aged man who appeared to be the captain walked out, and Gwang-hyo dealt with him.
"Is this the Radiant Star Pavilion's merchant ship?"
"It is, but..."
Gwang-hyo took a letter from his robes. The captain took it, read it, and then carefully looked us over.
"Are the four of you the ones boarding the ship?"
"There's a carriage as well."
"We still have about an hour and a half before departure. Let's get the carriage on board first. Hey, stop working! We're loading the carriage first! Move it, move it!"
The laborers quickly moved to one side, and the driver took the reins. The carriage went up onto the deck without difficulty via a wide, sturdy makeshift bridge connected to the merchant ship. The sailors secured the carriage to the hull with ropes and placed wooden blocks under the wheels.
We were each assigned a cabin and unpacked our belongings. As it was a merchant ship, the cabins were not large. It was cramped even for a small bed and a single tea table.
I put down my bundle and my long blade and lay down on the bed. Since it would be a while before we departed, I closed my eyes, planning to rest for a bit. Lost in the silence, I was brought back to my senses by a knock on the door.
"They say we're leaving now. Come on out."
I grabbed only my long blade and went outside. My head was fuzzy, as if I had slept deeply in that short time. When I came out onto the deck with sleepy eyes, the view of the riverbank, with the fog lifted, was quite dazzling.
The winter river had low water levels and was calm. Still, the water was deep enough for a merchant ship of this size to move freely without touching the bottom. The merchant ship, having moved away from the pier, slowly turned its bow toward the center of the river.
After setting its course, it unfurled its sails and began to ride the current in earnest. It was clearly moving, but the water was so calm that the rocking was barely perceptible. The buildings lining the riverbank gradually receded, and mountains of various sizes and strangely shaped rocks drew closer.
The boat was slow and calm, but it moved without rest, crossing Zhongqing and heading toward Gaehyeon.