The Ember of Heaven's Descendants
It was a blow that would have shattered his skull like an eggshell had it landed even once, but thanks to the length of the staff, the beast's claws raked through empty air, missing Hong-wi's nose by barely the width of a fist.
Yet Hong-wi's peril was far from over.
Cha Gyeong-yeon came bounding over the rocks like a man with wings, and the Pungsan hounds tore after the tiger like the wind itself. But would they arrive in time?
Blue fire kindled in the animal's eyes — a savage glare that would freeze the marrow of man or beast alike and knock the sense clean out of them.
Even in that hair's-breadth crisis, Hong-wi did not retreat. He drew his sword, and in the afternoon light it gleamed like a single shard of pale radiance torn from the sky.
But a bare blade was no threat to a tiger wrapped in that thick pelt. What saved Hong-wi was his own audacity.
The tiger roared again — a bellow that shook mountain and river, grass and tree — yet Hong-wi stood his ground to the very end. And in the beast's mind, a seed of doubt took root. Why did this small creature not flee?
"Stand still, you beast!"
The tiger swung around and roared once more. The people and dogs had crept close without its noticing, and their presence frayed its nerves, pulling it away from Hong-wi. Sensing the tide turning against it, the animal leapt back and withdrew. Yeol Se-ho's men gave chase at a dead run.
"Your Majesty! Are you all right?"
Jeong Ho-chan was somehow already at his side. Hong-wi turned to look at him — come to think of it, where had the man been standing all this while?
"I'm fine. But what of Ho-in?"
"I am unharmed as well, Your Majesty."
Ho-in came hurrying up. Having confirmed that both men were safe, Hong-wi turned his gaze toward Yeol Se-ho and his men still hard on the tiger's trail.
"Then let us follow it ourselves!"
Without waiting for an answer, Hong-wi broke into a run.
Ever since the tiger had appeared before him, he had fallen into a strange state of excitement. He would not be at peace until he saw the creature lying dead at his feet.
"Y-Your Majesty?"
Flustered, Ho-in started to call after him — then simply ran. Jeong Ho-chan watched the two of them go with a meaningful smile, and soon followed.
Meanwhile, the tiger was now surrounded. It bellowed its fiercest threat, but the hunters, seasoned veterans of the tiger chase, did not so much as flinch. Its strength was ebbing considerably, and the unexpected refusal of its prey to yield left the beast bewildered. It roared once more, then launched itself at them.
"Grab it!"
At the same instant, a net of kudzu vine rose into the air. The tiger was quick, but the hunters had accounted for exactly that when they threw. For a heartbeat, the beast almost slipped free of the mesh, just as it had slipped the snare earlier — but this time it failed. Exhaustion had caught up with it at last.
Ensnared, it thrashed as if mad, but the more it struggled, the worse it became: the weighted corners of the net snagged on tree roots and rocks, tightening its own prison.
"Take it down!"
At Yeol Se-ho's command, the men surged forward, throwing blankets over the weakening animal and piling on top to pin it. Even caught in a net, a tiger has strength enough to buck a full-grown man into the air — but these were many, and they were determined. Two men bore down on it while another began winding rope around the beast, coil after coil, and the tiger's furious strength drained away moment by moment.
"We've got it. We've taken it alive!"
Not merely cornered — captured. Hong-wi could scarcely believe it.
Yeol Se-ho, having left the handling of the tiger to his men, approached. Wonder and reverence shone in his eyes.
"Hong-wi, that was truly magnificent!"
Yeol Se-ho spoke with complete sincerity, and Hong-wi answered with a smile.
"You flatter me. It was you and your men who took the beast."
"That may be, but had you not stood in its path, we would have lost it."
"I simply had no other choice."
Hong-wi laughed awkwardly, but Yeol Se-ho shook his head.
"Standing firm is what saved your life. Had you so much as flinched — had you turned and run — that beast would have killed you where you stood. It was because you held your ground that it panicked. You handled it with real courage. That cannot have been easy."
Not only Yeol Se-ho but all his men bowed in respect to Hong-wi. In their eyes, he had earned his place as one of them — a true tiger hunter.
Cha Gyeong-yeon came over and offered a formal bow.
"You were shamed before us, my lord."
"There was no shame in any of it, I assure you!"
Hong-wi grinned. Cha Gyeong-yeon glanced back at Jeong Ho-chan, and Jeong Ho-chan, meeting his gaze, returned it with a smile and a small nod.
By the time the tiger was taken, the sun was already sliding behind the western ridge, so they decided to make camp. The winter cold of the wild lands struck far more cruelly than any winter in Joseon. In such cold, the natives of these wastes — and the beasts, who had dwelt in this land far longer than any man — had no choice but to shrink their lives down to almost nothing, eating little and moving less, simply to endure.
They hurriedly gathered brushwood and kindled fires.
"Even the natives here die by the dozens every winter, unable to see the spring. The animals freeze to death as a matter of course — what need is there to speak of men?"
Yeol Se-ho said this as he whittled at a branch. Hong-wi and Ho-in sat huddled around the bonfire, thawing their numb hands. The sweat they had shed through the day's cold began to freeze on their skin, and the chill sank clean into their bones.
"T-to think that people live even in a wilderness like this. It's remarkable. I couldn't even have imagined surviving here."
Ho-in spoke through chattering teeth. At those words, Yeol Se-ho turned sharply.
"A wilderness, you say? You are wrong! Men have lived on this land since time beyond memory, and it has always been a cradle that bred strong, hardy warriors."
A strange heat seeped into Yeol Se-ho's voice. Ho-in stared at him in open surprise, while Hong-wi watched the man in silence.
"They are our stalwart ancestors — the descendants of Heaven's own line. When this land was younger than it is now, before the Malgal tribesmen and the Khitan came striding across it, a great nation stood here — one that even the mighty dynasties of the Central Plains went to war against and could not easily master. The Liao, the Jin — powerful states in their own right, yet even their glory would have paled beyond doubt before that nation."
The next instant, the fire that had smoldered in Yeol Se-ho's eyes guttered out. He fell silent and looked down at the crackling bonfire.
"That splendor has long since been forgotten. The descendants of Heaven scattered and passed slowly out of memory. All this land holds now are the fading recollections of our forefathers."
Hong-wi stared down at the fire, lost in thought. His eyes were fixed on the wavering flames, as though he were trying to cast into them some long-carried burden, some tangle of heavy thoughts, and let them burn away.
It was then that Jeong Ho-chan approached, and Hong-wi rose to his feet.
"I would like a moment alone with this man."
He held back Ho-in, who had started to rise after him. Ho-in looked up at his master, then turned his eyes to Jeong Ho-chan. The man gave a small nod.
"Do not go too far," Ho-in said.
"The forest is dangerous at night — stay where the fire can be seen," Yeol Se-ho added.
Hong-wi and Jeong Ho-chan nodded and walked out into the dark. When they had gone far enough from the fire, Hong-wi spoke.
"Tell me, Jeong Ho-chan."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"It has been months since I fled Yeongwol. There is so much I wish to ask, so much I wish to hear. Will you tell me?"
"I will answer with everything I know."
Hong-wi hesitated a moment, then spoke as though the words had been wrested from him.
"First… those I left behind in Yeongwol. What became of them?"
The aged eunuchs and court ladies who had attended him in his exile — he had to know what had befallen them. Had he fled, their fate was plain as fire; but any of them might have been Suyang's spy, and above all, everything had happened far too quickly. There had been no way.
Jeong Ho-chan answered evenly.
"I regret to say… we could not look after them."
"Mm."
Hong-wi bowed his head.
"They were dragged to the Uigeumbu and interrogated. Those who survived the torture were said to have been sent into exile — beyond that, I could not learn."
"Enough — say no more. I understand."
Anguish was written plainly across Hong-wi's face.
"Because of me, more innocent people have been put to death."
"…Your Majesty. Steel your heart. This was no fault of yours."
"Words like that help nothing. Had I simply waited like a tame animal to die in Yeongwol, they might still be alive. But what could I do differently now? Ah…"
Hong-wi looked up at the night sky. When he had mastered himself, he turned his gaze back to Jeong Ho-chan.
"My wife… the Queen… did anyone at least recover her body?"
Hong-wi had believed his wife, Song Hyo-bin, dead — yet some sliver of hope had refused to die. Jeong Ho-chan inclined his head slightly before answering.
"She had been condemned as a traitor to the throne, so how Suyang disposed of her remains…"
"Enough. I understand."
Once more Hong-wi raised his eyes to the night sky. The winter moonlight was cold and clear.
"And you? How have you fared?"
"I have been staying in Hamgil Province for a time. Your Majesty, there are still many men of standing there who would take Your Majesty's side. Ever since Elder Yi Jing-ok's tragic death, Suyang's faction has run rampant through the province — and they have sworn that if Your Majesty returns, they will spare no strength in supporting him."
"I see."
Hong-wi smiled bitterly.
"Here I am, having driven countless people to their deaths… all to save this one miserable life of mine."
"Your Majesty."
Jeong Ho-chan spoke with unshakable firmness.
"Suyang has shaken the very foundations of this realm. Its righteous ministers have been torn out by the root, and now a nest of vipers gnaws at the state."
"My uncle Suyang is a capable man — I'm sure he'll manage! He hungered for the throne so badly that he did all this; surely he'll govern it well enough on his own?"
"It has nothing whatever to do with his ability. The point is this: the discipline of the state has been broken. Never in all history, ancient or modern, has there been a monarch of such unimpeachable legitimacy as Your Majesty. For the rightful heir of the rightful heir — the true eldest son's line, generation upon generation — to succeed to the throne is rare not only in Joseon but across all of the civilized world. That legitimacy has now been violated."
Hong-wi gave a slow nod. He too had been raised under a king's education, and he understood well the matter of dynastic legitimacy — the fate that ruled every royal house.
"To overcome one reckless gamble, Suyang is now compounding it with still more. He holds up a pretext — that he is rectifying a weak sovereign and overmighty ministers, that he rescued a feeble king from the domination of powerful vassals. But the corruption born of his reckless usurpation will, in time, become the very wellspring that rots Joseon from within."
Jeong Ho-chan's gaze bored into him.
"And the only man alive who can set it right is you, Your Majesty."
"To unseat an uncle whose position is already secured, I suppose I would have to gamble recklessly myself."
Jeong Ho-chan smiled faintly.
"Set such worries aside for now, Your Majesty. Remain here, establish yourself, and grow strong. I will handle what lies behind."
"Grow strong, you say."
"Win over the Jurchen tribes. Your ancestor, King Taejo, built his great enterprise upon the wild tribes of Hamgil Province. The tribes here live across the river from Hamgil, yet their power is renowned to this day — sung of in ballads. You can do the same, Your Majesty."
"I… rally the Jurchens…"
Hong-wi shook his head slowly.
"I cannot promise I could even manage it. And tell me — in all the annals of history, has a deposed king ever leaned on a foreign host, retook his stolen throne, and been the better for it?"
"Your Majesty, what of King Wuling of Zhao, in ancient times?"
"His case was nothing like mine."
"I know. But Your Majesty's own objection does not hold either. This is not leaning on a foreign power. You would become the master of these tribes — the savior of a kingdom gone astray."
Silence settled over them. Somewhere in the distance, the cry of a cuckoo struck the desolate air.
"How pitiable that would be."
Only after a long moment did Hong-wi shake his head.
"Even supposing it came to pass — how would the scholar-officials of Joseon look upon a man who leads a horde of barbarians against his own homeland?"
"When the rightful sovereign returns to reclaim what is his, what grounds could anyone have to reproach him? Do not trouble yourself over it. While Your Majesty remains here, I will shape the opinion of the mountain-and-forest scholars in Joseon so that it turns in Your Majesty's favor."
The mountain-and-forest scholars — the term meant the Confucian literati buried away in the provinces. Since the seed of Neo-Confucianism was planted in the waning days of Goryeo, its roots had split into two branches: those who left seclusion to serve in office at Hanyang, and those who stayed in the wilderness, devoting themselves to study and the training of disciples. Jeong Ho-chan was, in effect, declaring that he would wage a war of public opinion.
"I hardly know what to say, that you think of me in such terms."
It took Hong-wi a long while to speak, but the skepticism would not leave his face.
"For now, Your Majesty, devote yourself simply to keeping yourself well. All that follows, I will arrange through Cha Gyeong-yeon here."
Hong-wi started, for Cha Gyeong-yeon was somehow standing there before him. The man, as if he had seeped up out of the darkness itself, gave a bow of his head. Hong-wi regarded him for a moment, then spoke.
"Very well. But understand me."
He looked slowly from one man to the other and went on.
"To speak frankly — I do not know, even now, whether I will ever set foot on Joseon soil again. Human affairs are in fortune's keeping; who can say which road destiny will lead me down? Perhaps living out my days here is the path meant for me. But whatever comes,"
Hong-wi clenched his fist.
"while I live here — no, from this day forward — I have no intention of leaving my livelihood to other men and idling away my life, breathing without purpose. I will not live like a fledgling bird, dependent on the food you fetch and drop into my beak. I want to live on my own terms — never again to be swayed by another man's hand!"
At those words, Jeong Ho-chan and Cha Gyeong-yeon both smiled.
"I cannot stay Yeol Se-ho's pensioned retainer forever, after all. So tell me — what should I do next?"