To Hanyang (1)
It happened then. Amid the acrid smoke of burning firewood, a faint whiff of blood tickled the tip of his nose.
...Blood?
The nauseating stench of human flesh charring, mingled with the fresh, warm, moist scent of blood recently spilled into the air. Yi Si-woo's eyes flashed open. Man-seok, whom he'd thought was dozing beside him, had already gripped his sword hilt so tightly it creaked.
Si-woo wound the mechanism with a low click. Chiiik, chik— The mechanical whir echoed through the quiet mountain path. Their peaceful rest ended there.
"Young master, do you hear that?"
As Si-woo nodded in response instead of speaking, a scream tore through the silence from below the fog-shrouded slope, climbing up Cheollyeong Pass.
"Aaaagh! Spare me! Please!"
The screams weren't singular. They were followed by the coarse shouts of an unknown mob and the roar of flames leaping high. Choi Seong-un and the government soldiers, roused from their drowsiness, startled and seized their weapons.
"What is it? An attack?"
As Choi Seong-un scanned the surroundings in panic, Si-woo had already grabbed his horse's reins and unlatched the cart with a snap.
A scouting officer burst from the fog, his face drained of color.
"Se... Senior Commandant, sir! The village below is under attack by the Black Tiger Bandits! They've already set fire to the homes, and there must be at least forty of those ferocious bastards!"
Choi Seong-un's face paled. The government escort protecting the magistrate numbered only ten. In the pitch-black darkness and fog, even gauging the enemy's size was impossible—pure terror.
"The Black Tiger Band? The most brutal bandits infamous across Gangwon Province! No, we can't. We should set camp here and wait for dawn. Send a messenger to the nearest yamen first. Going down alone would be suicide!"
As Choi Seong-un and the terrified soldiers backed away, Si-woo stared coldly at the flames flickering below.
"By the time the messenger reaches the yamen, the village will be a pile of corpses. They're not my people, but how can I stand by haggling over shame while Joseon's subjects are slaughtered before my eyes?"
"Sir! Are you mad? Those are murderers gone insane! Honor is fine, but you need your life to pursue it!"
Ignoring Choi Seong-un's desperate plea, Si-woo turned to Man-seok.
"Man-seok, grab your gear. Looks like we'll loosen up before heading to Hanyang."
"Been waiting for this, sir. I was feeling stiff anyway."
Man-seok grinned, pulling a gleaming black Byeolun Sword and repeating thunderbolt bow from the cart.
"Senior Commandant Choi, if Joseon's officers are late, shouldn't we step in? You lot just stand there and watch. I'll leave the cleanup to you later."
"....."
Choi Seong-un hesitated at Si-woo's words, mind racing. A civil official, the magistrate, was marching into the jaws of death to save the people—could a Senior Commandant, who revered the martial way, show his back? It would tarnish the honor of integrity and loyalty he'd upheld his whole life.
Choi Seong-un clenched his fist until his teeth ground.
"Damn it all! If the court's magistrate swings his sword, how can the king's blade, the Senior Commandant, just spectate?"
"Government soldiers, hear me! Guard the rear of Onseong Magistrate Yi Si-woo! If we retreat while Joseon's people are butchered, what face will we have to eat the nation's rice?"
Choi Seong-un roughly drew his sword. Though fear gripped him, the pride of a man who'd lived upright, hating corruption, propelled his feet forward.
"Waaaaah!"
The ten soldiers charged after him toward the village.
The village was already a hellscape.
"What the hell are those guys? Kill them too!!"
Spotting Si-woo, the bandit leader swung his bloodied axe and bellowed. Over forty bandits swarmed like rabid dogs.
Si-woo pulled the trigger on his thunderbolt bow.
Shuuuk—! Shushu-shu-shuuk!
Metal shrieks ripped through the fog in rapid succession—a firing rate no ordinary wooden bow could dream of. Seven arrows pierced chests and throats in an instant.
"Th-that... is that really a bow? How can arrows pour out without even drawing the string?!"
As the front line collapsed amid screams, Man-seok leaped through the mist. His steel sword cleaved the air, shattering a bandit's crude axe without a whimper.
Choi Seong-un and the soldiers joined, swinging late but fierce.
"You heaven-defying scum! Know that officers who eat the nation's rice stand here! Let not a single one escape—slay them all to wash away the people's grudge!"
Five minutes later, the forty-plus bandits were halved.
"Kaaagh..."
Si-woo and Man-seok pressed deep, exterminating the bandits.
"Young master, right-rear flank!"
"Got it."
As Man-seok twisted right, Si-woo's steel arrow whistled through the gap on the left, embedding in the brow of a bandit targeting a soldier.
Chick, tick— The thunderbolt bow's spring spun idly after dozens of shots. Out of arrows.
The bandits seized the moment, three charging with blades raised.
"He's out of arrows! Kill him!"
"Danger, Magistrate! Get down!"
Choi Seong-un screamed, lunging, but Si-woo didn't flinch. He slung the bow to his back and drew the Byeolun Sword from his waist in one motion.
Srraaak—!
The blade cleared its sheath, and the lead bandit's head sailed through the air.
Si-woo's movements were even more concise and destructive than Man-seok's. Choi Seong-un was dumbfounded. This civil official's swordsmanship outstripped any battle-hardened general in ruthlessness.
"For spilling the people's blood, you'll pay with your lives."
Si-woo flicked his sword diagonally, tracing a vivid red arc through the fog. He snapped an oncoming blade like paper, then thrust the tip through the bandit's heart.
Man-seok crippled two bandits' legs beside him; Si-woo severed their necks without pause, advancing.
The soldiers merely mopped up survivors gasping in Si-woo and Man-seok's wake.
"Wh-what... what the hell are they? No human can do this!"
The bandit leader swung his axe in panic, but Si-woo closed the gap instantly, kicking his chest.
Kwazig!
Ribs cracked; the leader tumbled. Si-woo mercilessly hacked fleeing backs. Pleas for mercy, gestures of surrender—meaningless to him.
In mere moments, all forty bandits lay dead, not one spared. The metallic tang of blood vibrated through the fog.
Choi Seong-un sheathed his sword, panting. His sleeve was splattered with bandit blood. Despite their ten soldiers joining, over eighty percent had fallen to Si-woo and Man-seok alone.
Si-woo approached the groaning leader amid the corpses. Man-seok shook blood from his blade, standing a step behind.
The sword tip pierced the leader's throat. Si-woo yanked it free roughly; a gush of blood sprayed into the mist.
Choi Seong-un, stunned, flinched and stared. A primal fear beyond awe filled his eyes.
"Did my words earlier sound like a joke? If Joseon's officers are late, we fight in their stead, right? Since you drew your sword too, Senior Commandant Choi, this merit is yours and the soldiers'."
"Y-you... are you truly human, Magistrate? How can you take dozens of heads without blinking? A scholar-official cultivating virtue should abhor killing..."
Choi Seong-un covered his mouth, retching at the blood-soaked village horror.
"Senior Commandant, 'virtue' is a pastime for the well-fed debating from books. What use is empty form to those corpses? To me, virtue is killing those who touch my people so it never happens again."
No tremor in Si-woo's eyes. He passed impassively among the bodies, like balancing ledgers, adding, "Now clean these foul heads and hand them to the nearest yamen. The merit's all yours and the soldiers'. The bounty will be handsome—give those terrified men plenty for meat stew and liquor. Hard work deserves numbers, doesn't it?"
"The merit... all to us? When you did it all?"
"Time's more precious to me than merit. We head to Hanyang at dawn, so leave the aftermath to the officers."
Si-woo rewound the thunderbolt bow as if nothing happened. Chiiik, chik— The cold mechanism echoed eerily over the corpse-strewn village.
"Man-seok, pack up. Long road ahead."
"Yes, sir! Right away!"
Si-woo mounted his horse. The fog lifted slowly as a blood-tinged dawn sun rose over Cheollyeong Pass.