Chapter 624

Ju Hwaran told me that her grandfather, the Escort King Ju Gongsan, had once said this about the Nanman Beast Palace:

“Nanman is practically a kingdom, and the Nanman Beast Palace is a vast ranch encompassing five counties.”

The Escort King had traveled the Four Seas and Five Lakes and the Nine Provinces and Eight Wastes. He had been right.

The territory directly ruled by the Nanman Beast Palace stretched across five counties. In sheer area, even the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Families of the Central Plains could not compare.

Direct rule versus indirect rule, I suppose.

The Son of Heaven ruled the Central Plains, but in Nanman, the Nanman Beast Palace held supreme authority. It might not surpass the great orthodox factions in martial power, but its influence here was bound to be far greater.

If there was one thing the Escort King had gotten wrong…

This isn’t a ranch. It’s a safari.

I had never seen such a jumble of animals, plants, temperatures, and terrain in one place.

We followed Yayul Mok and his subordinates across grasslands, through jungles, and over mountains and rivers. I could only shake my head.

“What the hell is wrong with this weather?”

Ju Hwaran, riding to my right, answered my mutter.

“One mountain holds four seasons, and ten li bring a different sky.¹ It’s a saying that describes Nanman’s unpredictable nature quite well.”

“Having seen it for myself, I can’t argue. Young Lady Ju, what made you take an escort job to a place like this?”

“I didn’t know it would be this extreme, either. I’ve accompanied my father on escort journeys before, but this is my first time going so deep into Nanman.”

A thick fur pelt was draped over her shoulders. She smiled, and a cloud of white breath escaped her lips.

Most people associated Nanman with jungles. Like anyone else from the Central Plains, I had thought the same.

But this damned land had somehow packed frigid, temperate, subtropical, and tropical climates together like apartments along a hallway.

“At this point, it’s practically cursed land.”

“…Watch your mouth.”

If Hwaran was on my right, Namho was on my left.

The elderly Hidden Shadow Pavilion agent was riding a black panther with one of Yayul Mok’s subordinates. He hunched low to avoid the branches but still found room to glare at me.

“I’m sure they’d love to hear you say that. Don’t you think?”

“So what? It’s true. Besides, I’m speaking Han Chinese. They can’t understand me.”

A few dozen feet ahead, Yayul Mok spoke without warning.

“I’d prefer it if you kept that mouth of yours shut.”

“…That was Han Chinese.”

“…Han Chinese?”

How the hell did he pull that off?

I felt like a cardsharp caught dealing from the bottom of the deck at a flower-card game.² Yayul Mok’s Han Chinese was halting but unmistakable. Namho and I exchanged a look before I asked, “Did you study Han Chinese?”

“A little. I lost interest and quit soon afterward.”

“Oh, really? Only a little? And you quit that quickly?”

Yayul Mok answered my hopeful question with a stony face. “I still understand it well enough. Words like ‘cursed land,’ for example.”

“…”

“We’ll arrive soon, and then you can leave this cursed land. Until then, I’d appreciate it if you stayed quiet.”

There was nothing I could say to that. I shut my mouth, and Namho smiled with the wisdom of a sage.

“Well done. Very well done. Thanks to you, the Nanman Beast Palace and the Murim Alliance should be able to join hands with ease.”

“You make that sound like an insult. Still, you heard the good news.”

“It’s good news for Dark Heaven. The Murim Alliance’s foremost young prodigy came to propose an alliance, asked the Young Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace whether he had a grandfather, and called Nanman a cursed land. Come to think of it, are you with Dark Heaven?”

“Do I look like a member of Dark Heaven?”

“No. But I’ll admit I’m starting to wonder. Enough nonsense. What’s this good news I haven’t heard?”

I answered with confidence. “We’ll be at the Nanman Beast Palace soon.”

“God damn it…”

“Hey, don’t swear.”

“Do I look like I can help swearing right now? That A-Gwi bastard³ they call Taishan—or Geumsugangsan⁴ or whatever his name is—is one problem, but in my opinion, you’re no less troublesome, Pavilion Master. You’re already acting like this before we arrive. What are you going to do if your particular brand of insanity flares up when you actually come face-to-face with the Beast Miao King?”

“‘Insanity’ is a bit harsh. I may look reckless, but I know when I can stretch my legs. And Taishan may be lacking in certain areas, but he’s a major asset. When the time comes, he’ll pull his weight. You don’t need to worry so much.”

At that moment, a mournful animal cry rose behind us, followed by a frantic shout.

Gwooooooo!

“Y-Young Palace Lord! This huge Han bastard is biting my bear’s ear off!”

“Taishan! Bear meat!”

“Captain!”

“Taishan! Stop! Stop eating!”

“Seize that Han bastard!”

I glanced back as we rode, then added, “Of course, his appetite is a problem.”

“For fuck’s sake. There’s appetite, and then there’s appetite. Is that thing a beast or a person?”

I couldn’t argue. Lately, I’d begun to suspect Taishan might be some unknown creature occupying the space between human and beast.

Fire Dragon Pavilion. Are we going to be all right like this?

Taishan was chewing on the ear of the bear he’d been riding. Sama Pyo was trying to put a stop to his subordinate’s animal abuse, while the bear howled in pain and made it abundantly clear that it refused to carry passengers any longer.

I was watching them when Yayul Mok spoke with a sigh.

“We’re here. Please stop this and get off already.”

He was right. The chill in the air had vanished. Humid, oppressive heat surrounded us now, and a dense tropical rainforest stood ahead.

Beyond it…

Rumble, rumble.

An iron gate covered in vines and tree trunks swung open, revealing countless pavilions and houses.

This was a glimpse of the Nanman Beast Palace. Tens of thousands of li¹ from the Central Plains, in the deepest and most secluded part of Nanman, its people had built a kingdom of their own.

Any family or sect of a certain size, including the Jin Family of Taiyuan, generally divided itself into an Outer Hall and an Inner Hall. The division gave it an organizational structure and lines of defense in case enemies attacked.

But the Outer Hall of the Nanman Beast Palace was far larger than that of an ordinary sect.

This is practically a city.

The Escort King had called it a kingdom for good reason.

Unusual houses and countless other buildings, unlike anything commonly seen in the Central Plains, caught my eye. People were haggling at what looked like a market on one side of the street. Nearby, children of six or seven laughed and played with young beasts.

People, buildings, commerce, workshops—there was so much of everything that the place looked like the capital of a small nation. Hyuk Mujin couldn’t close his mouth.

“Wow. I thought I’d seen a lot, but this is beyond anything I imagined. Captain, do you see that? It’s incredible.”

“It is. But there’s something even more incredible. Want to know what?”

Hyuk Mujin kept looking around as he asked, “What?”

“Us.”

“Ah.”

“Now that you get it, close your mouth and stop gawking. We’re attracting enough attention already.”

Judging by the settlement immediately visible before us and its sheer size, the Outer Hall alone probably contained several thousand households.

Moreover, the Nanman Beast Palace was located in the deepest part of Nanman, and outsiders were strictly forbidden from entering. Naturally, we stood out like a handful of pebbles among them.

Quite a few of them were probably seeing Han Chinese for the first time.

Making a fuss wouldn’t help us, especially with the mood like this.

“Are those Han Chinese? They look like us, but a little strange.”

“Shh. Don’t even make eye contact. Haven’t you heard what happened in the north? A bunch of Han Chinese slaughtered an entire Miao village. Those people might be with them.”

“Of course I heard about it. But what could those bastards possibly do here? They look like the Young Palace Lord captured them.”

“They don’t look like prisoners to me… Anyway, what brings Han Chinese all the way here?”

Their languages varied as much as their clothing and appearances. Hwaran, Namho, and I could understand what they were saying, and we spoke among ourselves in low voices.

“Looks like word has already spread.”

“I can only understand the Miao and Bai languages, but the mood here seems tense overall.”

“It happened only a few days ago. Tribes clash dozens of times a year, but an incident involving outsiders might happen once in a decade, if that. Of course word spread quickly.”

If we had built up a good reputation, we might have been welcomed wherever we went. But the massacre of the Miao village about a month earlier had produced the exact opposite result.

Hyuk Mujin shrank back, taking the hint, and grumbled.

“Those lunatics. The Heavenly Demon Escort Bureau, or whatever they were called. Why did they have to commit such an atrocious crime in Nanman of all places…?”

“I wonder. Why did they?”

Sama Pyo had cut in. He continued in an amused tone. “And why now, of all times? That’s worth thinking about. I suspect our friend there has been thinking the same thing I have for a while. Am I right?”

Song Ilseom answered evenly. “Yes, but no.”

“……What does ‘yes, but no’ mean?”

“It means that whatever I may think, I don’t want to talk to you. So don’t.”

“You’re pettier than you look. Well, if that’s how it is.”

I gave Sama Pyo a warning look. He raised an eyebrow, then backed off first.

Their feud aside, I had been carrying the same question throughout the journey.

The Heavenly Demon Escort Bureau.

Coincidence or design, the timing of the massacre was suspicious. It was too early to say what the answer was.

Still, have we avoided the worst?

Before meeting Yayul Mok, I’d been a little worried. No, very worried. I’d feared that Dark Heaven’s scheme had already begun and the Nanman Beast Palace had become a hellscape.

Of course, our image as Han Chinese had plummeted to the level of a pro-Japanese corporation, but the mere fact that nothing had happened yet was more than enough.

Even if we have to take some abuse, this is much better.

As I thought that, a strange sense of déjà vu made me lift my head.

This is…

The others might not have noticed, but I could feel it: the flow of air had grown heavier so gradually that the change was easy to miss. Beyond the crowd’s noise and the countless signs of life around us, someone’s aura was pouring out in rough waves.

I followed it with my eyes.

An old man sat atop a flight of vine-covered steps. His upper body was bare, his frame massive and muscular.

I knew who he was before he opened his mouth.

The Beast Miao King.

It was him.