The Scholar in Blue (6)
Seok Geum-ryong had successfully rescued Gong Sang-pil, the Scholar in Blue.
After carefully making sure the matter would not leak outside, he waited in silence until the night before his thirteenth birthday at last arrived.
And so, on the eve of his birthday, he moved somewhere with Shadowless One Shin Dan-woo and Moon Spirit Swordswoman Im So-gun.
The place Seok Geum-ryong was heading for was none other than the west side gate of Namyeong-won.
In other words, it was the very moment when, according to the original plan, Vajra Saber Guest Ju Baek-ryun was supposed to have successfully kidnapped the Gong couple, then used Gong Sang-pil as leverage to deliver his report.
It was also the place where Ju Baek-ryun was due to make contact with Seok Ju-woo.
"Have you come?"
It was the dead of night, with darkness thickly pooled all around.
The owner of that voice was the silent second son of Seokga Manor, Seok Ju-woo, a man so taciturn that it was rare to hear him speak at all.
He seemed not to realize that the person slipping in through the darkness was not Ju Baek-ryun, but Seok Geum-ryong.
"Seok Ju-woo."
Seok Geum-ryong called out to him in a low voice.
"...!!"
Only then did Seok Ju-woo, who had arrived late and was drawing closer, stare ahead in shock at the unexpected voice. Unbelievable.
The person waiting for him was not Ju Baek-ryun, but... Seok Geum-ryong, the very one he had tried to kill?
"P-Pang sir!"
When Seok Ju-woo found himself face to face with Seok Geum-ryong instead of Ju Baek-ryun, he panicked and hastily called for Pung Ji-chan, the Vajra Saber Guest of the Four Honored Guests, a first-rate expert among the top-tier masters.
Whoosh!
At once, Pung Ji-chan, who moved with Seok Ju-woo at every step, stepped forward the instant he was called and released a fierce surge of energy.
Swish!
Not to be outdone, Im So-gun, the Moon Spirit Swordswoman and another of the Four Honored Guests, stepped up in return.
Her current skill was about one move, or at most half a move, below the other top-tier masters among the Four Honored Guests, so Shin Dan-woo took his place behind her.
Still, if one looked only at age and potential, Im So-gun was by far the most outstanding, and she did not cower in the least.
Far from being intimidated, she actually exuded a force of her own and faced off evenly against Pung Ji-chan, the Vajra Saber Guest whose saber arts were said to rank among the top five in the realm.
"You may step back."
Seok Geum-ryong motioned Im So-gun back, even as she continued to radiate a powerful aura.
At the same time, he spoke to Seok Ju-woo as well.
"Seok Ju-woo. If I had intended to kill you, do you think I would have come so openly? In any case, this is your own yard. Let us have the Four Honored Guests step back from each other."
Seok Geum-ryong made the proposal in a few short words.
He was right.
From the beginning, Seok Geum-ryong had not come here to harm Seok Ju-woo or kill him.
However good his momentum had become of late, it was still far too early to cut down his brothers.
He had merely become curious about Seok Ju-woo's intent, because this was not the first time, but the second, that he had tried to have him killed.
"P-Pang sir."
Seok Ju-woo, who had been shrinking back in fear, now found some relief in the fact that Namyeong-won was his own territory. If he cried out, there was no doubt that elite first-rate and peak-rank guards would pour out at once.
By contrast, Seok Geum-ryong had brought only two escorts, Im So-gun and Shin Dan-woo, so he relaxed, feeling he held the upper hand.
"Yes."
Pung Ji-chan, too, took half a step back once Im So-gun withdrew her killing intent.
Even so, he remained fully focused on guarding Seok Ju-woo.
"What in the world is going on? Where is Butler Ju Baek-ryun?"
When the silent tension between the two peak masters finally ended and Seok Ju-woo, secure in his advantage, recovered his composure, he asked in a smirking voice.
Among Seok Ji-sung's many sons, Seok Ju-woo had the largest build, but contrary to his bulk, he had not trained in martial arts and was a coward to boot.
"A foolish question."
Seok Geum-ryong answered in a few simple words and explained everything.
It was not Ju Baek-ryun, but Seok Geum-ryong himself who had come here.
Wasn't the meaning of that obvious?
"Don't tell me..."
Seok Ju-woo, realizing at last that everything had gone wrong and fallen apart, turned deathly pale.
"I have one thing I'd like to ask."
"What is it?"
"Why did you try to kill me? Not once, but twice?"
Seok Geum-ryong was truly curious about that.
The first attempt had been hiring assassins from the Blood Killing Gate; the second had been moving Butler Ju Baek-ryun to force Gong Sang-pil into betrayal.
"...You have been getting far too big for your boots lately."
After a brief hesitation, Seok Ju-woo answered honestly.
At first glance, there was some logic to it.
Seok Geum-ryong, who had once had no foundation whatsoever, had recently piled up one achievement after another, earned Lord Seok Ji-sung's recognition, and even drawn extraordinary talents like Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae and Moon Spirit Swordswoman Im So-gun to his side. His rise had been nothing short of startling.
That's a lie.
But Seok Geum-ryong did not believe his excuse for a second.
That was because Seok Ju-woo had been after him since his previous life.
Which meant that in that life, when Seok Geum-ryong had still been clinging to life before the age of fifteen, Seok Ju-woo had already hired assassins from the Blood Killing Gate and tried to force Gong Sang-pil's betrayal.
Then why, exactly?
Seok Ju-woo had built up immense wealth, no less than the first son Seok Dong-seo, and he lacked for nothing within Seokga Manor either.
He certainly would not have tried to kill him out of some petty jealousy like Seok Myo-hee.
As Seok Geum-ryong thought it over, he soon managed to guess at the reason, more or less.
"With Seok Dong-seo pressing down from above and Seok Ho-in and the others pushing up from below, were you scared?"
Seok Geum-ryong knew Seok Ju-woo well from repeatedly encountering him in his previous life.
A cowardly man, and a greedy one.
That was the conclusion one could draw in a single sentence.
The words Seok Geum-ryong had just spoken were exactly right.
The first son, Seok Dong-seo, was allied with Seok Ju-woo in order to keep watch over Seokga Manor's lord, Seok Ji-sung, and eventually pull him down from above, but he never truly let Seok Ju-woo draw close.
Moreover, Seok Ho-in, the eldest daughter Seok Myo-hee, and the younger ones had all grown rapidly and were pressing upward, yet none of them showed the slightest intention of helping Seok Ju-woo.
So there was only one course open to a greedy, fearful man like Seok Ju-woo.
- Kill the easiest target, Seok Geum-ryong, before he gains momentum like the others and threatens me.
That was why Seok Ju-woo had gone after Seok Geum-ryong first, out of all his brothers.
People never change. He had failed in his previous life, and he had failed again in this one.
"Wh-what? Hah!"
Seok Ju-woo forced out a hearty laugh, trying to appear bold, but he could not hide the embarrassment running across his face.
Now one thing was clear.
"Seok Ju-woo. Because of you... I nearly lost everything."
Seok Geum-ryong said it one word at a time, biting each syllable down as though he were grinding his rage into dust.
That was no exaggeration, nor was it empty talk.
Because of Seok Ju-woo's disgraceful actions, Seok Geum-ryong had lost his servant Deung Chon and his butler Gong Sang-pil in his previous life, and before he ever met Woo Do-min, he had been forced to live with his heart sealed shut in the darkness.
"Hmph. The weak are bound to be weeded out. What did I do that was so wrong?"
Even at Seok Geum-ryong's searing words, Seok Ju-woo did not so much as blink.
Seok Geum-ryong warned that shameless bastard.
"The day will come when you fall to pieces in front of me, and when that day comes, it will be pitiful."
Seok Geum-ryong declared it flatly.
By nature, he was not the sort of man who rushed to warn others of their ruin.
He had never even done so to Seok Myo-hee, who had once tried to take his life.
But Seok Ju-woo was different.
I will bring you down first, Seok Ju-woo, even if I have to throw everything I have into it.
With that resolve, Seok Geum-ryong quickly turned on his heel.
This was the first time he had stepped forward so boldly in the struggle against his other brothers and delivered a direct warning.
* * *
Seok Geum-ryong's thirteenth birthday was celebrated in grand style.
Because the Gong couple, whose birthdays were close to his own, had been invited, the occasion was more lavish than ever, and with the wide, splendid grounds of Bukcheon-won adding their brilliance, it became a festival beyond compare.
Seok Geum-ryong, worried that Seok Ju-woo's people might interfere or again come for his life, had prepared for every possible contingency.
But, to his immense relief, no one appeared to overturn the birthday table.
Even if it's Seok Ju-woo, he wouldn't have the nerve to come after me the day after facing me directly.
Seok Ju-woo had snorted at Seok Geum-ryong's warning, but he was a born coward and a shameful older brother who never lived up to his own size.
He must have been rattled by Seok Geum-ryong's unusually murderous warning.
That means Seok Ju-woo's faction won't target me for a while.
He had already failed twice to kill Seok Geum-ryong in his previous life and had stopped for the time being, so it was practically a settled matter.
Now that his personal safety had been secured, the only thing left was...
"I need to sell the Blood-Scaled Horse I acquired properly at the horse market."
A heavy responsibility entrusted to Seok Geum-ryong by Lord Seok Ji-sung.
That responsibility was to stir up a new storm in the horse market and, beyond that, seize the trade dominance of the Central Plains horse market, which was currently monopolized by the Red Horse Hall.
Ooooooh!
At that bold declaration, everyone under Seok Geum-ryong burst into admiration, their faces lighting with anticipation.
In truth, this matter was no exaggeration to call a matter of life and death for Seok Geum-ryong and the people of Bukcheon-won.
If Young Master Seok Geum-ryong handles this well, he won't just keep rising; he'll also be able to pass the internal test at fifteen without trouble when it comes.
Because his career and future were at stake, Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil and Jang Sam, who handled the horses, could only brace themselves and stay alert.
"If I had to guess... the road to Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, where the finest horse market in the Central Plains is held, will surely be a difficult and dangerous one if we carry such a rare Blood-Scaled Horse there."
Seok Geum-ryong said in a tone of concern.
The Blood-Scaled Horse was something coveted by every sect in the Central Plains, and even the imperial court and the military wanted it.
Of course, the court and the army had no cause for worry, since they could simply divide a few among themselves and send them upward as tribute to gain favor. But the martial world of the Central Plains was different.
If there's something they want, there will always be brutes who don't care what means they use and will seize it by force if necessary.
So it was certain that many obstacles would lie in wait before they could take the Blood-Scaled Horse to Xi'an, where the great horse market of Shaanxi Province was located.
For example, Seok Ju-woo, who had just openly crossed swords with Seok Geum-ryong, was an obvious threat, and even the Red Horse Hall, reluctant to see a new rival emerge, might be planning something.
"I agree as well. Since this isn't the main Seokga Manor residence, but rather Young Master Seok Geum-ryong, who is still relatively unknown in the Central Plains, is personally overseeing it... there will surely be people who underestimate you and try to snatch it away."
Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil also said, sounding worried.
Yet he did not try to dissuade him.
He understood perfectly well that high risk also meant enormous reward if they succeeded.
And as for the Seok Geum-ryong he knew, he had no doubt that no matter what difficulty or awkward situation arose, he would overcome it with ease.
"Then I will devote all of Bukcheon-won's strength to the road to Xi'an Horse Market."
Seok Geum-ryong declared it.
And thus began the life-or-death march of Seok Geum-ryong's faction toward the Xi'an Horse Market.