Commencement of War
“The Emei Sect would naturally prefer to avoid locking horns with Big Brother or myself, especially having come all the way to Luoyang—not even their own Sichuan.”
Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi spoke.
“But…”
Every gaze in the room fixed on him.
“We had reliable intelligence that the Emei Sect has been doing everything in their power to purchase shares in Daseonrang.”
That reliable intelligence almost certainly came from his maternal relatives.
“The reason they forced themselves into Daseonrang’s Luoyang visit this time—to a degree that was frankly unsightly—is almost certainly for that purpose.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
“They must be desperate to prevent the misfortune of Daseonrang slipping free of their grasp, no matter the cost.”
“Exactly…”
A bitter feeling passed through everyone present.
Yeom Baek-ha went so far as to snort.
In truth, there had never been any real connection between the success of the merchant company Daseonrang and the martial sect known as Emei. The only link was that Daseonrang’s representatives happened to be young ladies attending the academy Emei operated.
Yet Emei treated Daseonrang as if it had always been sitting inside their own pocket.
“The more Emei covets Daseonrang, the more collisions with us become inevitable.”
Yeom Baek-ha’s face twisted in irritation.
“So until they actually crash into us first, we have no way of knowing just how hard they’re willing to hit us?”
Responding after the fact would run completely counter to the First Young Master’s intent.
The answer came from Elder Yu of the Fourth Young Master’s faction, who had been quietly observing the meeting.
“We will soon know precisely how seriously they are taking this matter.”
The Fourth Young Master picked up the thread.
“Once we learn who the highest-ranking member of Emei is among the investment party’s escort, everything will become crystal clear.”
“I believe it is about time you paid some attention to the uninvited guest as well.”
The voice was authoritative yet stubborn, overbearing yet laced with something sly and cold. If a venomous serpent could speak, it would sound exactly like this.
“Throwing a tantrum demanding hospitality… you must be the sort of guest who has a hard time receiving warm welcomes wherever you go.”
Elder Yeom turned toward the source of the voice.
White hair, already thick with age, had been padded out with a wig into a lavish cloud and adorned with every manner of jewel. Despite her high martial realm and the strength that came with it, her face was a dense map of deep, restless wrinkles that asserted their presence without apology.
“In truth, someone of this humble nun’s standing is usually treated well whether the host welcomes her in his heart or not.”
Every time the old woman spoke, the wrinkles writhed and twisted like the scales of some cold-blooded creature.
“That rather depends on the host.”
Despite the vast gulf in rank, Elder Yeom met her thrust for thrust without yielding an inch. The nun’s eyes narrowed into blades.
“To think that green boy who once could not tell left from right has grown this large and now stands before this old woman with such insolent confidence…”
The Grand Abbess of the Emei Sect.
The core of cores among the sect’s key personnel, the one who managed every coin of Emei’s funds. Closest confidante of the Sect Leader Abbess, and the very architect of Emei’s present success story after the Martial Alliance’s collapse.
She bore the title Purple Voice Divine Nun, yet those well-versed in martial history had another name for her behind her back.
The White-Haired Star of Emei. The White-Haired Poisonous Old Ghost.
She smiled a smile that chilled the blood.
“…The reminiscence is quite refreshing.”
Elder Yeom regarded the Grand Abbess with a flat, unreadable stare.
It seemed Emei had no intention whatsoever of releasing Daseonrang from their grip.
As tension between the two masters who had both stepped beyond the wall of ordinary transcendence turned the air heavy and cold, the atmosphere itself seemed to settle like a weight. Horses snorted and stamped now and then; not a single person made so much as the sound of swallowing dry spit.
Then—
“Aigoo!”
Every eye snapped toward the cry.
There stood Yeon Ha-eung with his hair clenched firmly in a horse’s teeth. The mount he had ridden was chewing away at the strands with an expression of pure nonchalance.
“Ugh—aaagh! The mad horse is eating a person! Somebody save me!”
Just like that, the tension dissolved in an instant.
Watching Yeon Ha-eung finally free himself with the help of several warriors, the Grand Abbess let out an involuntary snort of derision and spoke again.
“In any case.”
Even as the surroundings grew noisy thanks to Yeon Ha-eung, Elder Yeom heard her voice with perfect clarity.
“Daseonrang remains, first and last, an affiliate of our academy and stands under our protection. If you wish to speak with them, you will do so through us.”
Elder Yeom answered with the same expressionless face as before.
“I stand here solely at the request of the Outer Court of the main family. If that is the conversation you desire, I suggest you seek someone else.”
He was as immovable as a great boulder that had held its place for ten thousand years.
“If that is how it is…”
The Grand Abbess’s gaze slid toward Yeon Ha-eung.
“You. You said you were an advisor to the Outer Court?”
Yeon Ha-eung, still muttering while checking his hair, looked at her and broke into a brilliant smile.
“Ah, yes! Yeon Ha-eung, at your service!”
He strode cheerfully right up to the Grand Abbess.
“My, my. What an honor—truly an honor—to meet the Purple Voice Divine Nun, whose profound Buddhist heart is said throughout the Central Plains to be no different from a living Buddha. I never imagined I would one day stand before the Divine Nun herself. Could this be what the Buddhists call destiny?”
“Yes, well—”
But Yeon Ha-eung’s mouth showed no sign of stopping.
“Suddenly I am reminded of something that happened when I was still in Gaebong. It was, let me see, roughly…”
It was a torrent of words so relentless it actually managed to fluster the Grand Abbess, a woman who had weathered every storm of a hundred battles.
In the meantime, the commander of the Xi’an contingent edged closer to Elder Yeom, reading the room, and opened his mouth.
“…I have been wanting to ask since earlier.”
“What is it?”
When Elder Yeom’s gaze turned on him, the commander lowered his voice.
“Why have you brought such an extravagant force with you? My mother also ordered me to prepare thoroughly, but…”
That was why he still had his hawk circling high overhead, watching the surroundings.
“That is—”
Just as Elder Yeom began to answer, something shot skyward from the far south.
It climbed higher and higher with a sound that tore the heavens, a sound utterly familiar to anyone who had ever known a battlefield.
“Signal arrow!”
Almost in the same instant, the commander’s hawk, still aloft, loosed a long warning cry.
“Enemy to the west! From the reed field!”
Enemies on a road under the control of the Luoyang Sword Family?
It defied common sense, yet the commander did not so much as flinch.
“All forces to defensive positions!”
His thunderous shout rolled across the column.
“A signal arrow?”
The leader of Clearfield—the infamous contract assassin band that terrorized Henan Province—found his mouth hanging open before he realized it.
“What kind of nonsense is this…?”
He and every member of the band had lain under camouflage netting in the reed bed for a full five shichen. At last the target had appeared, but the sudden reinforcement of an unknown escort force had forced him to hesitate. Then the appearance of Luoyang Sword Family troops on top of that had made him decide, without further debate, to abandon the commission entirely.
And yet an unidentified signal arrow had just exposed their presence out of nowhere.
Worse, it had been fired from their rear, which meant their exact position was now known.
“Leader! Orders—!”
At the vice-leader’s shout from under the netting, the leader clenched his teeth hard enough to crack them.
“They have cavalry. If we try to withdraw, we will simply be hunted down one-sidedly.”
“Then—?!”
The leader ripped the camouflage netting aside and surged to his feet on the spot.
“All hands, prepare to attack!”
He bared yellowed teeth in a savage grin.
“We take as many of the bastards with us to hell as we can!”
Human silhouettes erupted from the reed bed on every side.
Their number, even at a rough count, exceeded three hundred.
As one, they cut the cords binding waterproof cloths. From within those cloths emerged carefully maintained bows.
In the center of the investment party’s formation, now plunging into sudden chaos, an old man sat astride a massive warhorse.
He was none other than the veteran military advisor attached to Elder Yeom’s side—No-gunsa.
The world around him seemed to freeze while his thoughts accelerated.
Reed field. Enemy has the sun at their backs. Placement that accounts for the wind. No battle cries even after the engagement has begun. They are not charging. Therefore…!
From the old man’s mouth erupted a voice no one would ever have believed belonged to a bent-backed elder.
“Enemy volley!”
Elder Yeom heard it and roared at once.
“Combat Transport Corps! Immediate transition to anti-archery defense formation!”
The armored transport carriages of the Combat Transport Corps—already fully prepared for battle—began to move.
“Cavalry, break out of the enemy’s effective range!”
Twenty heavy cavalry warriors thundered away from the investment party’s formation without a second’s delay.
“All personnel, watch for enemy fire!”
Before the last echo of his shout had even faded, black arrows began raining down with the sun at their backs.
The monstrous greatsword that ripped free from Elder Yeom’s back was itself little different from a metal shield. Sparks showered from the broad blade in a continuous metallic clamor as he protected his massive frame with the barest flicks of his wrist and surveyed the surroundings.
A coordinated volley? These are no ordinary bandits, after all.
Emei’s combat personnel had spread out around the Grand Abbess and were swinging their swords in a chaotic flurry. Every time a nun’s blade cut the air, arrows seemed to be sucked into it and snapped.
The guards hired by the investment party had shoved their employers under the carriages and taken cover behind whatever shields they possessed. They looked like elites of a sort; at the very least they could be expected not to abandon their duty.
Screams rose here and there through the noise of the falling arrows, yet no one was foolish enough to break formation and flee alone.
Then Elder Yeom’s eyes met No-gunsa’s.
From behind a carriage the old advisor held up two fingers. Elder Yeom bellowed immediately.
“Second volley incoming!”
“Fuck! Those fucking bastards!”
The leader of Clearfield hurled the bow he was holding to the ground.
They had been discovered, yes—but they had still held the advantage of surprise and position. Firing angles calculated in advance. Targets pre-assigned to each squad. It should have been a textbook effective fire. The results were catastrophic.
The heavy armored transport carriages of the Luoyang Sword Family’s Combat Transport Corps, drawn up across the front of the investment party’s formation, had blocked more than half the arrows by their mere presence. Arrows aimed at the draft horses had been stopped by the Combat Transport Corps drivers with iron shields; not a single animal had been hit. The cavalry was already far outside the formation.
The second volley, fired into a now-obstructed field of view, had been essentially meaningless.
As expected of the Luoyang Sword Family…
The enemy’s almost unnervingly polished response sent a chill racing down his spine for a moment. He spat on the ground and roared.
“All members, take up weapons!”
An assassin band forced into a frontal charge—this was a nightmare and nothing less. But they were already past the point of no return.
“Elder Yeom! The responsibility and authority for this investment party’s protection rest with us of Emei!”
Even in the middle of this, the Grand Abbess was still trying to seize the initiative. Elder Yeom answered her.
“As you wish.”
“What?!”
Elder Yeom spoke with the exact same flat expression as before.
“We are not here to protect. We are here to attack.”