Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Spiderweb on the Water, Fangs in the Dark
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"Move it! You maggots? If you don't finish before sunrise, no food for anyone!"
General Ma Cheolsan's thunderous command echoed across the riverbank.
The Iron Sand Gang bandits, terrified by the Gold Army commander's roar—more fearsome than any whip—chopped away at the reeds and willows through their tears, swallowing their resentment.
"Aigoo, my back. Even when I was robbing people, I never worked this hard."
"Shut up and chop. Look over there—that woman's polishing her inkstone."
Men who would normally only fleece passing travelers had become emergency laborers saving the nation, madly hacking at the reeds and willows.
I watched the scene with my arms crossed.
They say patriotism or money are the best ways to motivate people with passion. But I knew one more thing.
Fear.
Fear was also an excellent way to get people moving instantly.
'It's an emergency, so no choice. Sometimes you have to crack the whip just right.'
These were criminals.
Instead of letting them rot in prison wasting food, wasn't grinding their bones away on public infrastructure the true path to reform and the greater good?
"Your Highness, the materials are piled up like mountains. But are you really saying we have to weave all of this?"
Minister Gwak Jeong-eon looked worriedly at the heaps of wood. I drew a massive rectangle on the muddy ground with a stick.
"Weave it. Like making a mat."
I demonstrated. I laid thick logs in a grid pattern, filled the gaps tightly with thin branches and bundles of reeds, then bound it all securely with tough kudzu vines and the ropes we had on hand.
"Make it thirty jang across—about ninety meters wide and long. It has to float on the water and be strong enough not to tear even if we load it with rocks."
"Th-that big? That's practically a raft! But Your Highness, why build it on the water? Wouldn't it be easier to make it on land and move it?"
General Ma Cheolsan asked, puzzled. I shook my head.
"No. The spot we need to block is down there in the water. It's quicksand that sucks in anyone who steps in—impossible to work on directly. And if we build it on land, it'll be too heavy to push into the water."
I pointed out over the river.
"So we build it floating like a boat, tow it into position, then sink the whole thing."
This was the Sunken Mat Foundation technique. The same principle as laying down wide planks to walk on mud without sinking.
Work began.
At first, the regular laborers hesitated, but seeing the Iron Sand Gang thugs sweating buckets, they gradually joined in one by one.
The fear of Lord Wei's planted "River God" lingered, but curiosity about this bizarre massive project was starting to push it aside.
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
As time passed, a strange sight unfolded over the river. A gigantic wooden net the size of a soccer field bobbed lightly on the Yellow River's muddy waters, like a brown blanket draped over the stream.
"Whoa... what the hell is that?"
"They made a field of rocks on the water?"
Tomorrow, I'd gather the laborers and show them this site. Then the ridiculous River God charade would be over.
I gazed toward where Lord Wei was likely watching from afar, eyeing him suspiciously. Would a man ignorant of morals and common sense really just sit by?
No room for complacency. I'd seen too many times before how far such madmen would go when cornered, mocking all sense and reason.
Murmurs rose from Lord Wei's camp.
Under a well-set-up tent on the hill, Lord Wei watched the scene, anxiously biting his nails.
'What the hell is that? Not some ritual... Are they actually trying to block it?'
He sensed instinctively: the moment that massive wooden mat was laid on the riverbed, his "River God" excuse was done for. He'd siphoned off a tidy sum from the project, and losing that income left him in despair.
If it was proven the stones vanished due to weak ground—not supernatural causes—he'd have to cough up the embezzled funds. And if just the money wasn't enough... He trusted Consort Wei's influence, but the opponent was the Crown Prince, betting his life on this. Even he wasn't fool enough to think he'd survive if things went smoothly from here.
Recalling that, venom flashed in his eyes. He whispered secretly to the Poison Snake Sect leader beside him.
"Tonight. Burn that abomination."
"Burn it? It's floating on water."
"Douse it in oil! Shoot fire arrows! Do whatever it takes to reduce it to ashes! If that's still there come morning, your heads roll with mine!"
Shared crime meant shared doom. Things looked dire enough that it might actually happen.
The Poison Snake Sect leader had no choice but to nod.
Night fell.
Thick river mist rose along the bank. In the pitch-black darkness where you couldn't see an inch ahead, only the Yellow River's roaring currents rumbled.
I stood atop the completed massive wooden net—the Sunken Mat Foundation. It rocked gently. Well made.
"Your Highness, get inside. They're coming."
Soso said softly.
She'd swapped her usual brush and inkstone for the sharp dagger at her waist.
She seemed to sense something grating against her instincts from afar; her sharp senses had picked up on it in the dark.
I couldn't feel it like Soso, but I knew something ominous was afoot. Probably those lunatics had crossed the final line, just as I'd feared.
"Soso."
"Yes."
"Protect the engineers behind me and Minister Gwak no matter what. Losing them would be a huge setback."
"Understood."
"The Iron Sand Gang thugs... can't be helped. Lowest priority. If we can't save them, abandon. I'd rather you not get hurt."
Soso smirked at my words.
She thought it was a joke. It wasn't.
That was when it happened.
Peeeng—!
A sharp bursting sound pierced the dark as a red streak shot toward us.
"Attack!"
Thud!
A fire arrow lodged in a dry reed pile at the net's edge, igniting instantly.
But it was just the first. Dozens, hundreds rained down like arrows.
"Put out the fire! Bucket water!"
General Ma Cheolsan bellowed. At the same time, dark shadows began drifting down from upstream. No introductions, but obvious: reinforcements from the Poison Snake Sect.
More serious than expected. Their desperation showed how threatened they felt by the corruption's exposure. Or rather, since I'd staked my life too, they could imagine their own miserable ends.
"Your Highness! They're coming from land too!"
Shouts erupted from the embankment along the bank.
"Kill them! Judge those defiling the sacred river!"
"For the River God!"
They'd chanted their nonsense so much they'd started believing it. With weird cries, Poison Snake Sect warriors swarmed like ants, torches and swords in hand.
Private soldiers from Lord Wei joined too, judging by the well-dressed retainers. Whether they knew my identity or not was unclear.
Far more numbers than anticipated. Hard to repel easily. Revealing myself might cause greater chaos—or put my life at greater risk.
Soon the enemies surged in, turning the site into pandemonium. Fire arrows from boats above, sword-wielding thugs from land below.
They were throwing everything to destroy what I'd planned to unveil.
"Damn it, do you know how much that project's worth? How hard I worked!"
Couldn't let the effort burn. Just hold till morning. I'd called in the official troops just in case.
They knew that, so their desperate assault.
"General Ma! Hold the land! Soso, the boat! Can you?"
"Leave it to me! How dare they!"
General Ma Cheolsan drew his massive cleaver and charged the landside. Like a raging bear. Each swing sent three or four Poison Snake warriors flying like scarecrows.
"Come on! I'll crush your bones!"
The Gold Army commander's prowess was overwhelming. Alone, he plugged the narrow embankment pass; enemies couldn't break through. A one-man blockade.
But the real threat wasn't land.
Splash.
The water. Elite Poison Snake assassins approached underwater, reeds in mouths.
Their aim: arson amid the chaos. Sneak attack, burn and smash our creation.
If this net was gone, it was all over.
"Soso."
"I know."
Soso walked to the net's edge. Then, a black hand rose from the river, trying to infiltrate our site.
Crunch!
Soso's foot pinned it precisely. Bones shattered.
"Gaaak!"
The assassin burst from the water with a scream. Soso kicked his face without changing expression.
"Filthy. Coming up without taking off your shoes."
Whoosh—thwack!
Whoosh-whoosh-thwack!
Like a signal flare, dozens leaped from the water. Hooks flew, trying to climb aboard.
Couldn't let them.
Once up, they'd smash everything; too much damage and the net would sink into the mud.
The rocking net was unsteady, but Soso moved like a ghost on flat ground.
Slash—thud!
Her dagger gleamed in the moonlight. Blood fountained from throats where the blade passed.
"Kaaak!"
"Y-you bitch... are you human?!"
Assassins swung swords, but Soso used the net's sway to duck. Their blades sliced air; her kick crushed solar plexuses.
"Splash! Splish!"
Kicked assassins fell like leaves. The river ran red.
Meanwhile, on the land embankment, unable to break General Ma Cheolsan, enemies switched to catapults. Stones and arrows flew.
"You bastards! As Mencius said... Ack!"
Nokhui, who'd been hiding, flattened herself to dodge a flying stone.
"Cowards! Can't win with logic, so you barbarically hurl rocks?!"
"Shut up! Shoot that wench first!"
The Poison Snake Sect leader nocked an arrow himself. Nokhui was in danger.
Then Nokhui grabbed a stray cobblestone.
"The nobleman walks the broad path, but the petty man needs a stone to come to his senses!"
Her clumsy throw carried an odd ki. Green Moon Tribe, so she had a hidden trick. Problem was the sloppiness.
The ki-infused stone flew erratically but struck the sect leader.
Thwack!
"Argh! My eye!"
It hit his brow perfectly.
"Huh...? It hit?"
As Nokhui marveled at her hand, Minister Gwak appeared with a shovel handle, smashing the sect leader's shin.
Even a non-martial old man's blow landed unblocked—clearly, he'd become sect leader through cunning, not strength.
The battlefield descended into total chaos.
But the biggest immediate problem was fire. Fire arrows stuck everywhere refused to die. If unchecked, the whole thing would burn.
"Your Highness! The flames won't go out!"
Iron Sand Gang thugs cried, faces pale. Burns from extinguishing or arrow hits mounted.
They hadn't fled yet, but terror was building.
If they ran, the net burned. Net burns, everything ruined. Conclusion: one option.
I bellowed.
"Bucket water! You thief bastards! If it burns, you'll rebuild it! Wanna remake what we did all night?!"
'Redo' can be scarier than death sometimes.
And the clincher.
"Caught fleeing? Decapitation! Die fighting fire? Hero's funeral, spirit tablet and all! Choose!"
My shout made the Iron Sand Gang hesitate, then resolve. Flight: dog death. Fight: hero (or martyr).
Above all, the office worker's desperate survival instinct—"no more rebuilding"—took over.
"No way! Never again!"
"Extinguish! My labor's masterpiece!"
The thugs screamed, scrambling. Helmets from fallen foes, anything—they scooped water, smothered flames with burning clothes, desperately fighting the fire.
Good. This should hold. Somehow.
The fierce night passed; dawn broke in the east.
"Kuh... Sunrise! Retreat before the officials arrive!"
The swollen, twitching Poison Snake Sect leader ground his teeth, ordering pullback. As some fled, the rest ebbed away like tide.
"We won...!"
"We saved it! The net's intact!"
Iron Sand Gang thugs hugged, cheering. Some arrow-pierced or burned, but joy of survival overtook.
I sprawled starfish on the smoking net, flames dying. Scorched spots everywhere, but frame solid.
"Your Highness. Unharmed?"
Soso approached, wiping bloodied dagger.
"Yeah. Thanks to you. Our casualties?"
"General Ma took minor wounds from numbers. Iron Sand: two dead, rest injured."
"Two... regrettable, but better than expected."
I murmured flatly.
"Carve spirit tablets for the dead as promised. Treat the injured. Extra food for the rest—they'll cover for comrades. Tell them: finish, and they're free."
Not crimes warranting death. In unavoidable straits, they'd acted on my orders—pay the price clearly. Keep promises, give rewards.
Tried clean resolution, saw blood instead. Clean win? Bitterness soured my mouth. Not about fearing reprisal or extra work.
All because one lunatic covering corruption...
I rose slowly. Morning sun burned off mist.
And in its light, our night's defense revealed itself.
The vast Sunken Mat Foundation loomed imposingly.
Far on the hill, Lord Wei stared ashen-faced. To the madman who'd rampaged trusting inner palace backing, I waved.
Not friendly.
A courteous warning: you'd pay dearly for this. Inner palace shield... beyond new Crown Prince's reach alone. But with proof? Different. I'd lop his head somehow.
"Now, to the main event."
I brushed wet clothes, ordering General Ma Cheolsan.
"Your Highness, laborers are exhausted. Rest?"
I shook head.
"No. No rest. Peak excitement now. Cool, and they'll collapse. Next: load the rocks."
"Right now?"
"Yes. A lot."
Time for counterattack. Massive salvage op to bury superstition, fear, and that greedy bastard deep in the riverbed.