The Return Operation (1)
‘For a merchant, it is important to sell goods well, but it is equally important to guard the money you earn.’
It was a saying Seok Geum-ryong had heard countless times while learning the basics of trade.
Knowing that truth better than anyone, Seok Geum-ryong reined in the somewhat excited members of the group.
“Today, many people saw us, including the people from the Red Demon Yard. They know we sold the Blood-Flame Horse and are carrying a staggering sum in promissory notes.”
His words were sound.
Just the papers alone were worth no less than four thousand gold taels.
In the slums, they said people were killed over a single gold tael. What, then, of more than four thousand?
“And rumors grow as they’re passed along, adding flesh as they go. So let’s consider the trade a success only once we’re back at Bukcheon-won in Seokga Manor.”
Everyone admired the thoughtfulness in Seok Geum-ryong’s words, so mature for his age, and agreed.
“That is correct. In that case, may I suggest that we request additional support from the main manor and meet them at an intermediate point?”
Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil also expected that guarding the money after selling the Blood-Flame Horse would be far more arduous than selling it in the first place.
So he brought out a plan he had prepared in advance.
“That is an excellent idea. Until now, from the perspective of the main manor, the amount was too small to request support, and even if we had asked, it would not have been appropriate. But if it’s more than four thousand gold taels, the matter changes.”
At the superb suggestion, Seok Geum-ryong brightened and nodded.
The main residence of Seokga Manor, where Lord Seok Ji-sung and Chief Butler Jo Seung-pyo resided.
He had grown up wary of the main residence and was not especially close to it, so it had slipped his mind. But if the amount involved was worth four thousand gold taels, they would certainly send reinforcements.
“Not only the main manor, but I will also seek out whoever can assist me and request as much support as possible. So let’s focus only on reaching Hebei Province.”
As Seok Geum-ryong said, once they reached Hebei Province, the territory of Seokga Manor, it would be safe to breathe easy.
But before they could get there, a harsh journey through Shaanxi and then Shanxi lay ahead.
“Right. Who is going to keep the promissory notes, and how?”
Gong Sang-pil asked the most important question.
“That would be...”
Seok Geum-ryong was about to answer lightly, but in case someone overheard, he shifted to sound transmission and sent his reply to the whole group.
It was the moment they fully realized just how grueling the road home would be.
* * *
Seok Geum-ryong’s group politely declined even the grand invitation to the afterparty banquet hosted by the Xi’an horse market.
And then, at dawn the next day, before the sun had even risen.
“Let’s depart!”
They set the carriage in motion, using the remaining Blood-Flame Horses after selling fifty of them.
Driving the carriage, naturally, was the servant Jang Sam’s job.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Afraid someone might pursue them, Seok Geum-ryong chose the most discreet path possible.
For one thing, he told no one the time of departure or their route.
He also avoided retracing the same path he had taken when visiting the Xi’an horse market, in order to create confusion.
“Hoo... the sun is rising.”
With every precaution in place, they traveled until noon, when the members under Seok Geum-ryong finally breathed out in relief.
After that, they were able to move on comfortably without incident, and it almost seemed they had been too wary for nothing.
“Who are these brats?”
“If you want to pass through here, you pay the toll.”
The moment they tried to cross a low, sparsely traveled mountain, they came face to face with a suspicious-looking group.
Most wore animal-hide clothing and had a savage, rough appearance; anyone would have taken them for bandits.
“Well, what do you know.”
At the sight of bandits who looked like a ragtag bunch of nobodies, Shadowless One Shin Dan-woo snorted and stepped forward, intending to subdue them with ease on his own.
“Wait.”
More cautious than ever since deciding to return home, Seok Geum-ryong stopped him.
“Why, young master?”
The bandits numbered about twenty.
Not a single figure resembling a chief or deputy chief was in sight, so it seemed Shin Dan-woo could scatter them by himself.
Yet when his action was stopped, Shin Dan-woo asked in surprise.
“Something is off.”
Seok Geum-ryong narrowed his eyes, studying them intently.
“Pardon?”
“This is a mountain not only short on people, but so remote that neither merchant caravans nor escort bureaus, the main sources of a bandit’s income, would come here. Not even hunters or herbal gatherers go there.”
Seok Geum-ryong explained in a calm voice.
And his reasoning made sense. A broad, sprawling mountain did not necessarily mean bandits lived there.
Bandits needed income, too, in order to survive.
That was why they occupied routes heavily traveled by caravans and escort bureaus. Rather than openly opposing them and clashing over and over, they would often merely collect tolls, and even go so far as to carry luggage or guide travelers.
But this nameless mountain, nearly as barren as wasteland, had no conditions that would make it fit for bandits to live there.
And there was one more thing.
“What’s most suspicious is that ever since we faced them... the mountain birds and beasts have gone silent.”
This was the reason Seok Geum-ryong distrusted them so deeply.
No matter how well one concealed one’s presence and aura, one could not fool the most sensitive birds and herbivores in the mountains.
More than that, if they truly belonged to this mountain and had remained here long enough, then the birds and beasts should have been at ease, moving about freely. Yet they had even hidden their cries?
“That means these people are strangers to this mountain, and they are certainly far more skilled than ordinary bandits.”
Seok Geum-ryong finally realized they were not ordinary bandits at all, but elite troops who had been carefully prepared and trained.
Swish.
And just as expected, the moment their cover was blown, the color drained from their faces.
“I told you we shouldn’t have bothered disguising ourselves.”
“Even if he’s the Seokga heir, there aren’t even ten of them. What kind of mess is this?”
Exposed from the start, the bandits, no, the martial artists of the long-established evil sect Falling Star Sword Sect in Shaanxi voiced their complaints.
The fact that an evil sect could openly operate for so long in Shaanxi was no trivial matter.
That was because Shaanxi housed two major sects belonging to the Nine Great Sects.
There were not many evil sects that could withstand the pressure between the immense mountain sects of Huashan and Mount Zhongnan, both renowned for their swordsmanship.
The very fact that they had survived in Shaanxi for quite some time proved they were exceptional in some way.
“Quiet!”
As his subordinates complained about their useless disguises, the first senior disciple of the Falling Star Sword Sect, the Falling Sun Sword Master Gu Ja-un, barked at them to shut up.
This was no time for them to be bickering among themselves.
‘Since the enemy has caught on at just the right moment...’
If they had not noticed, it would have been one thing.
But now that they had, there was no need to keep up the mask any longer.
“Attack!”
At the first senior disciple Gu Ja-un’s command, the martial artists of the Falling Star Sword Sect drew their swords as if they had been waiting for it.
Falling Star Descending Sword!
They launched a combined attack, opening with the first form of the Falling Star Sword Art, the martial art that represented the Falling Star Sword Sect and had made a name for itself even in Shaanxi.
Belonging to the same sect meant they had a great advantage when attacking together.
Rumble...
The Falling Star Sword Art was an exceptional sword technique established by the first sect leader after he gained great enlightenment from watching a star fall from the heavens. It had been refined and improved through the generations, giving it the flavor of evil-sect martial arts as well.
In particular, attacks that came down from above were nothing short of exquisite.
As expected! They’re no ordinary bandits!
At the sight of their well-trained swordsmanship, Seok Geum-ryong did not retreat.
There were twice as many enemies as there were in his group, so if he showed any sign of being overwhelmed, they might seize the initiative.
Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique: First Form, Greedy Wolf!
Rather than retreat or evade, Seok Geum-ryong met the Falling Star Sword Art head-on and showed not the slightest hesitation, unleashing his full strength.
In other words, he swung the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique with all his power.
Ka-ga-ga-ga-kang!
As a result, the sword forms unleashed by several martial artists of the Falling Star Sword Sect and the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique wielded by Seok Geum-ryong tangled violently in the air.
By common sense, it should have been the adults’ combined attack, and the young Seok Geum-ryong ought to have been forced back in defeat.
“Agh!”
“My, my wrist!”
Slash, slash, slash...
Unbelievably, it was not Seok Geum-ryong who drew blood while wounded, but the martial artists of the Falling Star Sword Sect.
What happened was this: the bandits, who slashed downward with the sharp sword wind of falling stars, did not realize one thing.
If their sword art took inspiration from falling stars, the martial art Seok Geum-ryong was using now was modeled after the Big Dipper, the constellation of seven stars that had shone in the same place for hundreds and thousands of years, rather than something that fell.
How could a star that crumbled after its lifespan was spent possibly compare to the everlasting brilliance of the stars of the North Dipper?
At first glance, it might have seemed like a meaningless subtlety, but that profound difference created a massive gap.
Moreover, the enemy had been careless, and Seok Geum-ryong’s internal energy was beyond imagination, so a reversal was only natural.
“I’ve never heard he was so skilled.”
“This is strange.”
When Seok Geum-ryong himself stepped to the front line and fought, rather than his bodyguards, the pupils of the Falling Star Sword Sect’s martial artists trembled.
But it was too early to despair.
Crack!
Before they could voice their complaints properly, a chilling sword gang shot through the gap between their faces and shattered everything in its path.
Of course, that was the work of Moon Spirit Sword Lady Im So-gun, the transcendent sword expert and one of the Four Honored Guests of Seokga Manor.
“Junior brother! Junior brother!”
During the brief moment they had taken a breath, he lost two beloved junior disciples, and the Falling Sun Sword Master Gu Ja-un could hardly believe the reality before him.
What a terrifying expert! Maybe... even stronger than Master!
Gu Ja-un stared in shock at the cold-faced beauty standing at the very back of Seok Geum-ryong’s group, a sword raised in her hand.
His own master was the sect leader of the Falling Star Sword Sect, a renowned master in the Zenith Realm, but no matter how he looked at it, he did not seem capable of defeating that icy beauty.
“You are... who exactly are you?”
Seeing her skill, Gu Ja-un felt despair and admiration at the same time as he asked cautiously.
But what came back was not the beauty’s lovely voice.
Moon Spirit Heavenly Sword Wave!
It was the sharp finishing strike of the Moon Spirit Sword Art, the pride of the Moon Lady Sect.
The twenty martial artists of the Falling Star Sword Sect.
They were by no means weak, and they had not been especially careless either. Yet they were still struggling, unable to overcome the wall that was Moon Spirit Sword Lady Im So-gun alone.
“Focus all attacks on that woman!
For a brief moment, everyone was stunned.
Then Gu Ja-un, after hesitating in confusion, quickly directed all their force toward Im So-gun.
“The one carrying the promissory notes is definitely Seok Geum-ryong! Our goal is not to annihilate them, but to take the papers!”
What Gu Ja-un meant was that while Im So-gun kept them occupied, they would capture or subdue Seok Geum-ryong and take only the promissory notes he carried.
Of course, Seok Geum-ryong’s skill was nothing to dismiss lightly either, but Gu Ja-un was confident he could handle it.
“You dare spout nonsense in front of me.”
That is, until Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae became absolutely furious.