The Fall of Yishuse
After finishing roughly a month of preparations, they planned to set out for Luoyang in early October. The journey alone would take a full month, so every detail had to be perfect. It was now early September, when the first cool breezes began to stir. Seo Jun had helped tidy the Pohan family forge and was strolling leisurely down the alley toward home.
The sharp clatter of hooves shattered the quiet. Clop-clop-clop-clop!
“Make way! Clear the road!”
Two riders galloped toward the governor’s office at breakneck speed, shouting at the top of their lungs. Arrows jutted from their bodies, and blood soaked their clothes. The desperation rolling off them was unmistakable.
What’s going on?
That kind of appearance could only mean a battle had broken out somewhere nearby. Seo Jeong and Seo Pyeong—his father and uncle—were stationed at Yishuse, while Zhang Liao, who had become like a younger brother, was serving at Daeseong Fortress. Worry flooded Seo Jun’s chest.
I hope they’re all right… but maybe I should head to the governor’s office.
He turned on his heel and strode toward the official compound.
When he arrived, the governor’s office was in complete uproar. Soldiers belonging to the command were dashing in every direction. In the chaos, Seo Jun spotted a familiar face—one of the men who had once served under his father’s old Dun unit.
“Uncle Sang-a!”
“Huh? Oh! Young Master White Dragon?”
Seo Jun stopped the soldier and hurried over.
“Uncle, what in the world is happening? I saw mounted soldiers covered in arrows and blood racing toward the governor’s office like their lives depended on it.”
“Ah… this is…”
The man called Uncle Sang-a wore the expression of someone who had just been handed an impossible dilemma. He hemmed and hawed, unable to give a straight answer.
“Uncle! What is it? Is it really that hard to say?”
“Haa… how do I even begin? Young master, you must steel yourself. The news is… Yishuse has fallen to a Qiang invasion. The entire garrison was wiped out.”
Boom.
“Uncle!! Is… is that true?!”
“It is. That’s why the entire governor’s office has lost its mind.”
“Then… do you have any word about my father and uncle?”
“Haa… I’m afraid both Dunjang officers met the same fate. I’m sorry, young master.”
Suddenly Seo Jun’s chest tightened until he could barely breathe. The world darkened; nothing around him registered anymore. He braced a hand against a nearby pillar to keep from collapsing. He had seen death countless times and thought himself hardened to it—so why was this hitting him so hard?
For a moment he was bewildered by his own reaction. Then he drew a long breath and slowly, deliberately, wrestled his emotions back under control.
So this was it. The event that originally led to the young Seo Jun’s early death.
The original Seo Jun had possessed fierce loyalty and filial piety. He would never have stayed idle after hearing this news. He would have rushed to Yishuse to recover his father and uncle’s bodies, only to die fighting the enemy. The wave of emotion now crashing through Seo Jun was clearly an echo of what the original body had felt.
After several deep breaths steadied his heart, he turned his steps homeward to think clearly about what to do next.
I’ll sort my thoughts at home.
Once inside, Seo Jun sat cross-legged on the wooden platform and closed his eyes.
My heart is pounding so violently I can’t calm it. It looks like I’ll have to go after all…
His condition was far from normal. If he hadn’t been exerting iron control, he would have already bolted out the door. It felt as though his mind belonged to him, but his body had a will of its own. He sensed that unless he went to Yishuse, this turmoil would not subside.
Still… if they annihilated a fortress guarded by five hundred men, the Qiang must have mobilized at least a thousand warriors.
Even for Seo Jun, facing a thousand battle-hardened Qiang tribesmen—not some ragtag bandit rabble—meant risking his life. No matter how small each wound, enough of them could overwhelm even him.
“Even so, I have to go. I need to overcome this damned fate!”
The moment Seo Jun made up his mind, the news of Yishuse’s annihilation spread through the county and the people erupted in panic. Most of the soldiers sent to Yishuse were locals from Shuofang County or the surrounding villages—neighbors everyone knew, however distantly. Seol Ryeon and Yi Hyeon, who had been at the market, came running home gasping for breath the moment they heard.
“Jun!”
They threw themselves into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Hic… Jun! What are we going to do?! They say the entire garrison at Yishuse was wiped out by the Qiang!”
“Waaah… what will happen to us now?!”
They loved him with all their hearts and relied on him completely, yet the brutal reality of possibly losing their husbands left them drowning in grief, unable to find their bearings.
Seo Jun gently patted their backs.
“They’ll be all right. Let’s hold on to hope a little longer.”
Though he had already accepted the likelihood of their deaths, he spoke with deliberate optimism to soothe them. After calming his family, he headed for the Pohan family forge with a firm decision in his heart.
Today the familiar ring of hammers was absent. When Seo Jun stepped inside, he found Pohan, his son Pohyeol, and grandson Powon sitting on crude log stools, faces somber.
“Jun!”
“Big brother!”
The Pohans rushed to him the moment he entered, wrapping him in tight embraces.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Nothing has been confirmed yet, so I’m not giving up hope.”
“That’s right! Those two aren’t the kind of men who fall easily!”
Pohan, recalling Seo Jeong and Seo Pyeong’s skill, clung to that last thread of hope.
“Uncle Po, how are the items I commissioned last time coming along?”
Seo Jun asked about the progress on the armor and prosthetic leg he had ordered.
“They’re finished. I was going to show you and make adjustments if needed, but then this disaster happened.”
Pohan brought over two wooden crates and set them before Seo Jun.
Click.
When the latch on the first crate opened, a finely crafted suit of armor lay inside. The breastplate was neatly covered in black leather, exactly as Seo Jun had requested.
“Simply layering metal plates with leather made it uncomfortable and risked chafing the skin, so I added a layer of soft cowhide underneath. That makes three layers total. Tough wolf hide on the outside, soft cowhide against the body. You should be able to move freely.”
Seo Jun listened to the explanation and tried the armor on. It fit perfectly and felt astonishingly comfortable—far better than he had expected. He swung his arms and legs, testing the range of motion. Not a single restriction.
“Powon helped a great deal. The idea of three layers was his.”
Seo Jun stroked the head of young Powon, who stood beside him looking proud. The boy already showed the makings of an exceptional blacksmith.
“It’s excellent. I can wear it just like this.”
Even though Seo Jun praised the work, Pohan's worried gaze lingered on the younger man’s stiff expression.
Seo Jun opened the second crate and examined the prosthetic leg. When he had first described the concept to Pohan and Powon, he had expected something on the level of Captain Hook’s peg leg from Peter Pan. What he saw now, however, was almost identical to a modern prosthetic—except the primary material was wood rather than plastic and rubber. The ankle joint and sole had been reinforced with metal for durability, and the ankle was even articulated so it moved slightly when the foot lifted, just like a real one. Clearly they had studied actual foot movement in great detail.
“Whoa!”
A genuine gasp of admiration escaped him. He had never imagined it would turn out this well.
“Powon made the prosthetic from start to finish,” Pohan said. “I never realized his skills had advanced this far.”
Pohan wore a deeply satisfied smile, clearly impressed by his grandson’s unexpected talent.