The Return Operation (2)
By nature, Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae was a man who could not forgive the shameless or the wicked.
So when those men blatantly ignored him to his face and thought only of seizing Seok Geum-ryong, it was only natural that anger flared in his chest.
“Hmph! What can some old man like you do?”
“What exactly do you think you can do?”
Just as the members of the Mount Lu Sword Sect swaggered forward, still unaware of Yeo Gwang-rae’s true identity.
Yeo Gwang-rae’s golden needles, held back for so long, began to paint the sky with blinding flashes of light.
Who had said it?
That if one were struck by Yeo Gwang-rae’s needles, one would either be dragged back from death’s door or knocked from life into death.
Unluckily for them, the situation now matched that saying perfectly.
Fwoosh-shh-shh-shhk!
With a sound that made the marrow of one’s bones go cold, the demonic sword users who had treated Yeo Gwang-rae like some useless old man in a back room were pierced in the face by golden needles before they could even blink.
Those who had been hit in places that weren’t fatal were the fortunate ones.
“My eye! My eyyyye!”
One man was struck cleanly through the center of the pupil and blinded on the spot.
“Kkheh-khkhkhk!”
Another had his voice cavity struck perfectly, and could do nothing but make wheezing, airless sounds as he writhed in agony.
Most of those hit by Yeo Gwang-rae’s thrown needles ended up crawling on the ground, or else in a state where they would never breathe again.
“T-the Golden Needle Venerable, Yeo Gwang-rae!”
“How can the famed divine physician be here!”
“Damn it, this is insane!”
People in Hebei all knew that Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae had entered Seok Geum-ryong’s service and aligned himself with him, but unfortunately, this place was far away in Shaanxi.
Unless it was some major affair involving Hebei, they had little reason to care about the fifth son of the comparatively obscure Seokga Manor, Seok Geum-ryong.
So the men of the Mount Lu Sword Sect had no idea that Seok Geum-ryong had recently become the most formidable rising force in Seokga Manor, or that Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae and Moon Spirit Sword Lady Im So-gun stood at his side.
Knowledge was power, and because they did not know, they were about to die.
“P-please spare us. We’ll give up and turn back.”
By now, even the overbearing chief disciple of the Mount Lu Sword Sect, the Sunlit Sword, Gu Ja-un, had lost his earlier bluster and sunk into despair.
At the very least, it was wise of him to say he would retreat now.
From Seok Geum-ryong’s point of view, there might still be more enemies out there; there was no need to seize someone who was already backing off and drive them to the bitter end.
More than anything, while they were still bickering here, other enemies could slip in.
“Before that, I have one question.”
Seok Geum-ryong said to Gu Ja-un, whose fighting spirit had been completely stripped away and left him with a hollow, vacant stare.
“Who exactly told the Mount Lu Sword Sect about our movements?”
That was what Seok Geum-ryong wanted to know.
Of course, the fact that his party had made a huge profit at the Xi’an horse market was common knowledge to those in the know, but for the demonic forces of Hebei to have come sniffing after them in so short a time made no sense.
In other words, someone deliberately spread the information and leaked it to them.
For one, the Mount Lu Sword Sect wasn’t especially known for having strong intelligence networks, so the fact that they had found him this quickly meant someone was feeding them information from behind the scenes.
“That is...”
At the demand that he reveal the one behind it, Gu Ja-un hesitated.
Then Yeo Gwang-rae and Im So-gun flew into a rage and shouted.
“So you still haven’t woken up, have you?”
“It seems there’s no helping it. Even if it takes some time, it would be better to wipe them out completely.”
Gu Ja-un flinched before the terrifying fury on Yeo Gwang-rae’s and Im So-gun’s faces, then fumbled awkwardly before finally forcing the words out.
“Th-that... the Red Demon Hall rented out an entire inn and made an enormous scene while complaining loudly. At the very least, there won’t be anyone in Hebei who hasn’t heard the story by now.”
There was not a shred of falsehood in Gu Ja-un’s words.
Of course, that act had been nothing but the Red Demon Hall’s revenge, and an attempt to trip up Seok Geum-ryong.
“Those Red Demon Hall bastards!”
“Still, they’re merchants by trade too. How can they violate the unwritten rules like this?”
Servant Jang Sam and the Scholar in Blue, Gong Sang-pil, felt the same anger and frustration.
Unlike Seokga Manor, the Red Demon Hall handled only horses, but as merchants they should still have observed the unwritten rules.
The rule they had broken was the one against leaking the whereabouts and information of merchants who had made a big score.
That was the crime.
Since old times, merchants had often sold their goods at a good profit only to have them snatched away by those with strength and martial power.
So to reduce the suffering of those powerless merchants, an unwritten rule had been established: merchants were not to stab one another in the back.
But what the Red Demon Hall had done went beyond breaking that rule; it was the behavior of people with no merchant’s code at all.
“It looks like the Hall Master of the Red Demon Hall, Gui Jong-ak, has nursed a deep grudge.”
Gong Sang-pil clicked his tongue and reported it.
“What a petty little man. In the end, we’ll see who the true winner is.”
Seok Geum-ryong made that promise on the spot.
“In any case, because of those Red Demon Hall bastards, more vile scum will surely come after the bill of exchange... so we’ll keep going over this mountain and take the little-traveled road.”
In a slightly clearer voice, he informed the others of their destination.
Gong Sang-pil felt some sense of unease in that decision, but did not bring it up.
“As for you, members of the Mount Lu Sword Sect. Leave before you change your minds.”
Then Seok Geum-ryong barked at the wounded martial artists of the Mount Lu Sword Sect, who had lost a disciple besides suffering heavy injuries.
It was an unmistakable order to get out.
It must have stung their pride to hear such words, but Gu Ja-un knew pride was not what mattered right now.
If they stayed like this, not only his junior brothers but his own head would be severed, and that would mean expulsion from Hebei.
So before the Mount Lu Sword Sect could head toward ruin, they hurriedly fled the scene.
“Move!”
Whoosh!
The moment Seok Geum-ryong told them to get lost, they departed even faster than when they had first appeared, dragging their wounded and dead with them.
“Huuuu.”
Servant Jang Sam let out a long sigh, dazed by how suddenly everything had turned.
“Young master. That was reckless! Why would you discuss our next destination right in front of them?”
Only after the enemy had completely vanished did the Scholar in Blue, Gong Sang-pil, finally point out Seok Geum-ryong’s mistake and chide him.
It seemed he disliked that Seok Geum-ryong had openly spoken of crossing the mountain and taking the little-traveled road.
Grin.
Even after Gong Sang-pil’s scolding, Seok Geum-ryong did not look deflated at all. Instead, he smiled brightly.
“Don’t worry, Steward Gong. Do I really look like I’d take that route?”
Seok Geum-ryong was no fool.
He was far more seasoned, experienced, and sly than Gong Sang-pil had imagined.
“Y-yes?”
“Then...”
Not only Gong Sang-pil, but even Im So-gun widened her eyes in surprise, clearly not having expected this.
“The moment I heard the Red Demon Hall was gossiping about it in Hebei’s outer market, I made up my mind. We’re going by water, not by land.”
Seok Geum-ryong spoke in a low voice, meant only for his party.
To everyone’s shock, his choice was not the land route but the water route, meaning they would travel by boat.
“I-if we take the water route, then we’ll be free of random ambushes and pursuit.”
“And if we can follow the river and enter the Hyehwa River in Hebei Province, it’ll be easy to link up with the Seokga Manor force that comes out to meet us.”
Shadowless One Shin Dan-woo and Gong Sang-pil cried out in surprise.
There were clear advantages to traveling by water instead of land.
In particular, since Hebei, where Seokga Manor stood, had a riverside ferry landing on the Hyehwa River, if they could use the waterways properly, they might be able to advance with all the ease of a great river surging onward.
“Right? Not bad, is it?”
“Not bad? This foolish Gong would never have thought of such insight.”
Gong Sang-pil looked at Seok Geum-ryong again, astonished all over again.
I knew he’d always been calm and quietly clever, but...
It feels as though that ability has fully blossomed since his tenth birthday.
If they took the water route, then the larger pursuers like the Mount Lu Sword Sect would likely flounder around on the wrong land roads.
At the same time, they would be freed from the Red Demon Hall’s threat.
The Red Demon Hall would pursue them by horse, true to its identity, but no matter how fast and agile a horse might be, it could not run on water, could it?
Of course, there was a downside.
“But... unlike land, if the water route brings us face-to-face with enemies in the middle of the river, there’s nowhere to run.”
Gong Sang-pil said with concern.
That was certainly a weakness of the water route.
On land, there was at least some chance of fleeing down another road, but on water they would be surrounded by the river on all sides, leaving no room to evade.
“We should hope it never comes to that, but in the worst case... we’ll have to use the last resort.”
Seok Geum-ryong smiled faintly, displaying not the limits of a high-born young master, but the breadth of a true leader who could command his subordinates.
To someone who did not know better, it might have seemed like nothing more than the smile of a handsome boy with a touch of refinement, but to Gong Sang-pil and even to the oldest among them, Yeo Gwang-rae, that smile inspired trust.
“Let’s do it.”
* * *
Meanwhile, the Sunlit Sword of the Mount Lu Sword Sect, Gu Ja-un, who had been spared by Seok Geum-ryong’s mercy along with his disciples and his own life.
But the moment he returned, he betrayed that mercy by stabbing him in the back.
He climbed the same mountain again, this time bringing with him a host of wandering martial artists and demonic fighters from around Hebei.
Just wait. This time, I won’t let him escape!
Gu Ja-un had never, even while staying in Shaanxi, lowered himself to beg for his life before a master of the Hua Mountain Sect or the Zhongnan Sect.
And yet he had knelt and pleaded for mercy before some rich young master he didn’t even know, staining his own dignity in the process. He was prepared for revenge.
“Huh?”
But what was this?
Even after climbing the mountain they had disguised themselves as bandits on, wandering across the peak, and even crossing over to the next ridge, there was still no sign of Seok Geum-ryong, nor even a single dung heap from the Fiery Blood Horse.
“Hey, Gu Ja-un! What the hell is going on?”
“You said if we came here, we’d catch that little brat worth four thousand gold coins!”
“Don’t tell me you tricked us?”
As Gu Ja-un looked terribly flustered and lost, the wandering fighters and demonic martial artists, who had little patience to begin with, began to show their fury.
In truth, it was Gu Ja-un’s report that he had faced Seok Geum-ryong less than an hour earlier that had led most of the demonic pursuers to trail after him with blind trust.
But now that they could not even spot a single ant, the wicked men’s frustration soared to the heavens.
Before long:
“Don’t tell me... you already took a bribe from Seok Geum-ryong?”
“Maybe he promised you a thousand gold coins to help him escape safely and even connect him with Seokga Manor?”
“You dragged us all here just to lure us in, didn’t you?”
What was more, the more wicked a man was, the less he trusted others and the more likely he was to nurse baseless suspicion.
Especially since they were not from the same sect and had no real bond between them, their doubts and suspicions only grew stronger.
“No, absolutely not. I...”
The Sunlit Sword Gu Ja-un tried to make further excuses with his junior brothers, but the complaints of the wandering fighters and demonic martial artists showed no sign of stopping.
Crack!
Before long, they started fighting among themselves and plunged into a bloody melee, and only after stripping the clothes from Gu Ja-un and the corpses of the Mount Lu Sword Sect disciples did they realize that Gu Ja-un’s words had not been lies.
By the time those vile men understood that truth.
Whooshhhh!
Seok Geum-ryong’s party had already secured a boat and cast it onto the river.
“We’ve caught favorable winds, young master. I’ll set the sail!”
After proving himself adept at horse-driving and everything else besides, servant Jang Sam handled the boat with practiced skill and shot forward like an arrow.