Unrivaled Spear Demon
Chapter 11 - A Gentleman Dies for One Who Knows Him (2)
I will cut a slice from the long winter solstice night, and coil it beneath the spring breeze quilt,To unfold, fold by fold, on the night my beloved arrives.
The night deepens. A candle flame flickers precariously.
Here stands a person at the crossroads of girl and woman.
Hair like a swath of the night sky, and eyes like starlight.
Ho Yeyang.
She lifted her brush from the rice paper and let out a small sigh.
“A marriage proposal…”
Ho Yeyang was seriously contemplating the marriage proposal from the Jo family.
The Hojeong Gate’s financial situation was dire.
They had suffered major accidents on several escort missions, losing escort warriors and porters.
After paying the penalties for the lost cargo and providing consolation funds to the casualties, they could not escape an annual deficit.
In a sullied world, it is difficult to maintain one’s sanity alone.
She had only wanted to treat people as people and regard duty as duty, but… the family’s fortunes only continued to decline.
It was in this situation that the Jo family had presented their proposal.
And with it, an enormous dowry.
Transactional marriages may be common among the poor, but it is the same for the rich.
Strategic marriages.
Only the name they are called by is different.
“Perhaps it cannot be helped.”
Ho Yeyang sighed once more.
For the revival and prosperity of her family, she steeled herself to sacrifice her own body.
Just then.
Clack
The door to her room was flung open.
Ho Yeon-am. Her father entered with a flustered expression.
Beside him stood her mother, Sa Ji-won.
“Hui-ya.”
“Father?”
Startled, Ho Yeyang put down her brush.
This was the first time her parents had opened her door and come to see her without any notice.
And at such a late hour, no less.
‘But this is for the best. I should tell them of my decision now.’
Ho Yeyang struggled to maintain her composure.
Then, with a trembling voice, she opened her mouth.
“Father, regarding the marriage proposal from the Jo family that you dismissed the other day…”
But her words were cut short as Ho Yeon-am spoke first.
“Have you heard? The Jo family has been annihilated.”
“…Pardon?”
* * *
Notices were posted throughout Gorye County and Naesong County.
The content was simple.
One. The Way of Order joined hands with the Black Way to take unjust profits.
Two. In place of those who suffered because of it, punishment is delivered.
The Jo family had secretly commissioned the Black Way Guild to reap numerous unjust profits.
The people, who until now had believed the Black Way Guild to be the sole culprit, were enraged by the duplicity of the Jo family.
However, they could not take their revenge on the Jo family.
Because the Jo family estate had been burned to the ground overnight.
In the center of the burnt manor lay the corpses of Jo Yang-ja and Guyangpo.
Ledgers, proving their long-standing collusion, had been tossed over the walls of the government office.
The Black Way Guild, the Jo family—all those who knew martial arts were dead.
The only survivors were the hired hands who knew no martial arts.
Whenever two or more people gathered in the county, they invariably spoke of the night’s bloody affair.
“What in the world happened?”
“I heard the Black Way Guild and the Jo family got on the wrong side of some reclusive master.”
“They say he charged in alone and killed every last one of them.”
“Those bastards certainly crossed the line recently. To think they’d even touch the Hojeong Gate.”
“Damn right. What kind of sect is the Hojeong Gate? Even if the whole world is rotten, that place is clean. Hmph, they should’ve picked their targets more carefully.”
“By the way, who could have done this? Guyangpo of the Black Way Guild is one thing, but Jo Yang-ja of the Jo family was no pushover.”
“The Murim Alliance must have dispatched a master to pass judgment.”
“You idiot, would the Murim Alliance be this brutal? It must have been the Sado Alliance cutting their losses with the Black Way Guild!”
The already noisy marketplace grew even louder.
The focus of interest was now shifting toward the one who had annihilated the Black Way Guild and the Jo family.
“A surviving handmaiden from the Jo family said she heard something. That before the knight-errant killed Jo Yang-ja, he called his name three times.”
“Why call his name? It’s not like he’s a grim reaper.”
“But they say when he called the name three times like that, Jo Yang-ja got so scared he started weeping.”
“Now that’s terrifying… Calling a name three times and sending them to the Abyss.”
Gossipmongers have always loved to exaggerate.
In the rumors, the master had become an absolute expert who called Jo Yang-ja’s name three times and, in that short span, sent him to the Abyss.
Three-Tiered Abyss.
That became the moniker for the unidentified master.
* * *
A single horse walked along the path.
Ho Yeyang, holding the reins, was lost in thought.
‘The annihilation of the Black Way Guild and the Jo family…’
Her heart was in turmoil.
To find joy in another’s misfortune brings a sense of guilt.
When it becomes a matter between one group and another, that guilt lessens.
Ho Yeyang swallowed the sigh she was about to let out.
‘Right. Let’s think positively.’
With the Black Way Guild burned down, all of the Hojeong Gate’s debt bonds had also disappeared.
Now, even if they wanted to repay the debt, there was no one left to pay.
And the Jo family, who had been using the Black Way Guild to attack the Hojil Escort Agency, was also gone.
The Hojeong Gate would soon be free from its financial crisis.
‘Still, who could it be? That master.’
Ho Yeyang pondered deeply.
Similar stories were often heard in the martial world.
The kind of ghost stories where a great power, boasting of its might, looks down on a lone individual and picks a fight, only to be annihilated, down to the last blade of grass.
Such tales were abundant in stories, but they rarely happened in reality.
…but now, it actually happened.
“Three-Tiered Abyss.”
Rumors are bound to be exaggerated.
But if the one who destroyed the Black Way Guild and the Jo family on consecutive days was truly a single person, was he a man? Or a ghost?
Rustle
Still atop the horse, Ho Yeyang took out a letter.
It was from Head Escort Ju Yehwa, which had arrived via carrier pigeon several days and nights ago.
The letter was quite long.
A missive detailing what had happened on the current escort mission and what their future plans were.
But what caught Ho Yeyang’s attention was the end of the letter.
…Thus, we successfully defended the cargo from the Green Forest’s attack and plan to resume the escort as is.
We were able to save the lives of many escort warriors thanks to the help of a certain knight-errant.
I gave that knight-errant my gold plaque and sent him to the Hojeong Gate, so I ask that you please treat him with the utmost courtesy.
Head Escort Ju Yehwa wrote that they had been attacked by the Green Forest during their mission, had repelled them with the help of a knight-errant, and thanks to him, were able to successfully resume their journey.
‘But there were no guests carrying Head Escort Ju Yehwa’s gold plaque.’
After receiving this letter, Ho Yeon-am had inquired about all the guest retainers who had visited the Hojeong Gate, but there was no such person.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Ho Yeyang.
‘Could it be that the master called Three-Tiered Abyss, who annihilated the Black Way Guild and the Jo family, is the knight-errant Head Escort Ju Yehwa mentioned?’
Her expression turned a little sullen.
‘It seems he didn’t come to our martial hall.’
She was both frightened and curious.
What kind of being was this, to walk a path so beneficial to the Hojeong Gate?
Of course, it had to be a coincidence, but it felt far too strange to be dismissed as mere chance.
At that moment.
“…Ah!”
Ho Yeyang snapped her head up.
Absorbed in the letter and her thoughts, she hadn’t been paying attention to where the horse was going.
Worried she had wandered somewhere strange, Ho Yeyang hastily looked around.
In that instant.
“…Ah.”
A different kind of gasp escaped her lips.
The horse was strolling along a new road near Yugye Lake.
The willow leaves swaying by the lakeside rustled their bodies.
Each time the golden waves shimmered, ducks would dive beneath the surface.
“…”
Ho Yeyang turned her head.
The boy walking silently in front of the horse, holding its reins.
The sight of Chui’s back filled Ho Yeyang’s large, clear eyes.
Ho Yeyang tapped Chui on the shoulder and said,
“How did you know I like lakes and come here? I never told you.”
“You did.”
“Huh?”
Ho Yeyang’s eyes widened.
She fell into thought for a moment, wondering if she had ever told Chui she liked lakes.
Meanwhile, Chui was recalling the past.
‘…On days when you were in a bad mood or had much to think about, you always used to sit by the lake.’
The Ho Yeyang he had met in his past life had truly loved lakesides.
On days when she received an unreasonable mission from a superior, or when she lost many comrades because of it, she would always stand by the lake and gaze at the willow leaves.
He hadn’t disliked the fishy smell of the lake water, and he had been fond of the reeds on the mudflats and the flocks of migratory birds flying above them.
Then, Ho Yeyang spoke.
“You’re really good with horses, aren’t you?”
“…”
When Chui remained silent, Ho Yeyang continued, as if fascinated.
“This horse is actually quite ill-tempered. So the other stablehands tend to avoid him. But he listens to you so well.”
Ho Yeyang looked down at the horse she was riding.
The animal had been watching Chui’s every move and behaving obediently the entire time.
Presently, Chui took the reins and led the horse closer to the lakeside.
In a spot where the sunlight fell nicely, Ho Yeyang stretched.
‘For some reason, today feels so comfortable.’
She thought.
Usually, when the other boys led the horse, they would avoid the sun.
That was because most women did not want direct sunlight on their skin.
But Ho Yeyang had always liked to bask in the sun.
And Chui, as if he knew this, was guiding the horse only toward sunny spots.
Just then.
Bzzzz
A gnat brushed past the tip of Ho Yeyang’s nose.
“Ugh, a bug. Everything about the water is nice, but this is the one problem.”
Lakesides are naturally teeming with flying insects.
Ho Yeyang enjoyed looking at the lake, but the insects were her one annoyance.
Just then.
Sssssss…
Chui took something out from within his robes.
It was dried mugwort.
As Chui lit the mugwort, the flying insects all fled.
Ho Yeyang’s eyes widened.
“Do you carry things like that around?”
“…”
Chui did not answer this time either.
But for some reason, Ho Yeyang did not feel angry.
She asked Chui.
“You seem new, but you have good instincts. Are you always this good at your job?”
Then, at last, Chui answered.
“A gentleman dies for one who knows him.”
He looked back at Ho Yeyang and continued.
“I simply treat those who treat me as family as my own family.”
At Chui’s words, Ho Yeyang’s eyes widened for a moment, and she was speechless.
Finally, her lips parted.
“It seems like you have a story, so I feel a bit awkward pressing you, but…”
Chui’s face was reflected in Ho Yeyang’s large, clear eyes.
“As long as you are at the Hojeong Gate, we are your family.”
Hearing those words, Chui felt for a moment as if he had returned to the past.
‘Do you know why I saved you?’
‘I do not.’
‘It is because you were a porter for the Hojil Escort Agency.’
‘…?’
‘I am the last descendant of the fallen Hojeong Gate.’
‘…!’
‘You once said you worked as a porter for the Hojil Escort Agency for a short time. That its master and his wife were good people.’
‘….’
‘I think it was from that moment. That I began to think of you as family.’
The conversation he had with the dying Ho Yeyang in the pouring rain came to mind.
The final image and voice of his sworn brother were still vivid in his mind.
The more he remembered, the more the sight of his brother before him now pained Chui’s heart.
The past Ho Yeyang, whose face and chest were hideously disfigured by burns.
The present Ho Yeyang, whose beauty was just beginning to bloom.
The past Ho Yeyang, who could only utter a rasping, metallic wheeze after swallowing charcoal.
The present Ho Yeyang, with a voice as clear as rolling pearls.
“…”
Chui closed his mouth.
Rage and vengeance, sorrow and longing.
It is impossible to maintain such emotions indefinitely.
Being human, rage subsides, vengeance fades, and sorrow and longing are forgotten.
Even for Ho Yeyang, an avenger of iron and blood, there must have been moments when her spirit broke and her will weakened.
At times like those, when she looked at her circumstances and her appearance, what must she have thought?
When she became a vengeful demon who had cast aside her gender and appearance, when she had submerged herself in the filth of a latrine, when she had hidden by burrowing into a pile of maggot-infested corpses, when she had been chased by pursuers and forced to flee to a distant frontier battlefield, when she had shared barracks with dirty, uneducated, low-life thugs… what must have been in her heart?
Chui opened his mouth to say something.
Ho Yeyang leaned in, wanting to hear it.
…but.
A shout cut between them.
“Young Miss!”
From behind, U Dong-won could be seen running frantically toward them.
“The escort warriors have returned!”
The moment she heard his words, Ho Yeyang’s eyes shot wide open.
The escort warriors of the Hojil Escort Agency, including Head Escort Ju Yehwa, who had set out on a mission, had returned safely.
It had been a long journey of one hundred and eight days, one that would resolve the Hojeong Gate's financial difficulties in one fell swoop.
Ho Yeyang quickly grabbed the reins.
She looked back at Chui and said.
“Sorry, but I have to go first! There’s going to be a big feast tonight, so save room! You’ll get to eat lots of delicious food!”
After speaking, Ho Yeyang excused herself and quickly spurred her horse on.
Watching Ho Yeyang gallop instantly toward the Hojeong Gate manor, Chui also turned to leave.
From far away, beyond the walls of the Hojeong Gate, the sounds of a grand welcome for the safely returned escort warriors echoed all the way to where he stood.
Just then.
“Hey.”
U Dong-won grabbed the back of Chui’s neck.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
“Who do you think you are, following the Young Miss on your own? Don’t you know that’s a job for the seniors?”
U Dong-won threatened Chui and shoved him in the back.
“This won’t do. I’ll see you at the feast later. Don’t think you’ll even get a taste of the dregs.”
0 Comments