Brothers
Valley of Sin, temporary command tent.
"Th-the Kong Family?!"
"You mean the Kong Family of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families?!"
As the assembly erupted in astonished murmurs, Gwak Nopin arched her brows and fixed her gaze on Yeon So-hyeon. Did the First Young Master move the Kong Family? Even if he already received word of the fire from Mount Beimang through Hyeonwol Pavilion, how could something as trivial as a fire stir the Kong Family—?!
Just then, a clamor of hoofbeats rose outside, and a party of men strode into the command tent.
"Th-that man?!"
Those who recognized the figure who stepped boldly to the fore could not contain their shock.
"I heard the First Young Master of the Sword Family was here… Ah! There you are!"
The crowd parted left and right like an ebbing tide, clearing a path so he could approach Yeon So-hyeon.
A man whose physique remained solid and powerful despite his years came to stand before Yeon So-hyeon and offered a greeting.
"I pay my respects to the First Young Master of the Sword Family. I am Cheong Hyo."
"Surely no one present fails to recognize Lord Cheong. I am Yeon So-hyeon."
Yeon So-hyeon met his gaze without flinching and returned the courtesy with formal grace.
"I never imagined the head of the Cheong Family would come in person for a matter such as this."
"With a temper like mine, I can hardly sit in the rear with my arms folded. When a neighbor is in grave trouble, one ought to lend a hand first and ask questions later, no?"
He laughed with open-hearted vigor.
The officers of the command staff stared at him with wide eyes—and even Yeon So-hyeon was privately astonished. There was good reason.
The man they called Lord Cheong had long been regarded as the very emblem of integrity and impartial justice, a renowned magistrate whose iron verdicts had struck fear into high and low alike. Even in retirement he remained one of Luoyang’s most distinguished men of repute—and the Cheong Family itself was a great house of Luoyang that had produced such magistrates for generations.
So Elder Kong was not merely boasting when he promised me a reliable reinforcement…
Yeon So-hyeon allowed himself a wry smile within.
"And it is not only our Cheong Family. Other houses as well have spared no effort and sent excellent people."
Because the situation was urgent, the various family representatives who had arrived with Lord Cheong exchanged only brief nods of greeting with Yeon So-hyeon.
"First Young Master. For the moment we have already committed the personnel we brought. They have begun fighting the fire from the lowest reaches of the valley, but if redeployment is needed, say the word at any time."
He thumped his chest and laughed.
"You have my thanks, Lord Cheong."
Yeon So-hyeon finished his assessment in an instant.
"However, redeployment will not be necessary. Mixing forces under different chains of command into a situation like this would only multiply the confusion."
He pointed to the map fixed to the temporary wall.
"If the men under Lord Cheong’s command push upward from below, our own forces will sweep downward from above."
Hearing this, Gwak Nopin at once issued orders to those around her.
The fire-status board was updated, discussion of the new situation began, and agents of Hyeonwol Pavilion burst from the tent to relay instructions to the field.
"…Indeed!"
Having taken a quiet look at the way the command tent was running, Lord Cheong nodded with a pleased smile. In the midst of this chaos he has the command staff completely under control. His judgment is precise as well. Truly a talent worthy of Elder Kong’s highest praise…
"Gwak Nopin!"
The old woman’s manner as she answered Yeon So-hyeon had grown markedly more respectful.
"Yes! First Young Master!"
Yeon So-hyeon asked,
"What is the next problem?"
With an easier heart, Gwak Nopin could now bring up the still harder difficulty without reservation.
"As the First Young Master already knows, this Valley of Sin originally falls under two administrative districts, east and west."
Yeon So-hyeon cut straight to the heart of it.
"Meaning the officials responsible for those two districts are each trying to foist the blame on the other and refuse to move."
"Exactly so!"
The northern reaches of Tanlong District and Jiaxiao District—two of Luoyang’s greatest commercial thoroughfares—were precisely the Valley of Sin.
The district magistrates of both wards had washed their hands of extinguishing the fire in the Valley of Sin. They were content merely to throw up firebreaks so the blaze would not spill into the bustling streets, and otherwise stood by and watched. Since the valley was sealed by cliffs on either side, so long as the firebreaks held, the worst that could happen was that only the shanties of the Valley of Sin’s poor would burn to the ground—and that was the attitude they took.
"That, too, is nothing to worry about."
"Pardon…?!"
Yeon So-hyeon’s smile left Gwak Nopin wearing a look of confusion.
"Haha. The First Young Master is right."
Lord Cheong, who had been watching, once again let out a hearty laugh.
"By now the man Elder Kong dispatched at the First Young Master’s request should have arrived there as well."
"E-Elder! You cannot enter here!"
"Out of my way, you whelp!"
The thunderous roar of the large, burly old man seemed to belch fire from his very mouth.
"How dare a creature like you bar the path of this Kong Yo?!"
The old man kicked the mid-ranking official who tried to stop him and flung open the ornate doors with a bang.
"Who dares—?!"
"Did I not say no one was to be admitted?!"
The two district magistrates started to rise in fury—then saw his face and shot to their feet.
"E-Elder Kong Yo?!"
"What brings you here, Elder?!"
The old man called Kong Yo—younger brother of Kong Ryang—looked upon the drinking party they were holding and twisted his face into something like a demon’s.
"District magistrates charged with their wards—and while fire rages in your own districts you sit here holding a drinking bout…?!"
The magistrates waved their hands frantically.
"Aigoo, Elder! It is a misunderstanding!"
"We have already issued orders to establish firebreaks…!"
Ordinarily these magistrates would have snorted at anyone of lesser stature—but their opponent was no ordinary man.
Kong Yo was the younger brother of Kong Ryang, the former head (and still widely regarded as the true master) of the Kong Family; more than that, he himself was a figure renowned throughout the Central Kingdom. He had served as Grand Academician in the Imperial Palace, had been the present Emperor’s tutor as Crown Prince in the boy’s youth, and was now the overall director of the Kong Great Academy in Luoyang.
"Is the Valley of Sin not your jurisdiction?!"
"Well, as to that…"
The two magistrates exchanged awkward glances for a moment.
"In our judgment, protecting the commercial districts comes first…"
"And besides, the administrative boundaries of the Valley of Sin are rather…"
Even as Kong Yo ground his teeth, the two magistrates only ducked their heads in flustered submission.
"I am not asking a favor, nor am I making a request—I am merely telling you to do the work that was already yours…"
The old man’s eyes flashed with a chilling light.
"So it seems this Kong Yo must take matters into his own hands before you will move…!"
At that the two magistrates finally waved their hands in surrender.
"N-no, Elder! Please compose yourself!"
"Y-you there! At once send the fire brigades north into the Valley of Sin!"
Only after Kong Yo had confirmed with his own eyes that they issued the orders and took measures did he turn and descend from the lavish pavilion.
The two administrative officials who were supposed to be shunting responsibility onto each other were sitting at the same drinking table?
As he came down the stairs, strong suspicion replaced the anger on his face.
And until moments before, there was clearly another person in that seat…!
The magistrates had tried to screen the place with their bodies, but they could not deceive Kong Yo’s eyes. By the time he arrived the man had already left—yet another cup and another place setting had unmistakably been there.
Even with me present in person, those magistrate curs still dragged their feet…
Someone of no ordinary standing was clearly behind the two magistrates’ decision to stand by and watch the fire in the Valley of Sin.
With Lord Cheong and his party gone to survey the field, the command tent was quieter.
Yeon So-hyeon’s voice prodded Tang Ye-rin without mercy.
"Tang Ye-rin! The update of the comprehensive status board is late!"
"Y-yes! We’re hurrying!"
Cold sweat pouring down her face, Tang Ye-rin inwardly cursed the First Young Master. Honestly—he doesn’t even look at the comprehensive status board himself, calculates and memorizes everything in his head, and still he drives me like this…!
Just then a boy’s clear, high voice rang through the tent.
"Eldest Brother! This younger brother has arrived!"
The Fourth Young Master had come.
A boy so charming that everyone who saw him could not help smiling with fondness came flying almost at a run to stand before Yeon So-hyeon.
A smile touched the corners of Yeon So-hyeon’s mouth as he looked at him.
"You are later than I expected. Is there a reason?"
The Fourth Young Master grinned broadly.
"On the way I stopped at a branch of the House of Compassion that lay along the route and loaded their medical personnel and medicinal herbs!"
A chorus of admiring “Oh!” rose from the assembly, and the bright-faced officers responsible for such matters dashed out of the tent to take charge of the transfer.
"Well done."
"That is not all!"
The Fourth Young Master rubbed the side of his nose with a finger and continued,
"This younger brother reasoned that if it was Eldest Brother, he would surely have already ordered support from every House of Compassion branch in Luoyang!"
"Correct."
"Therefore this younger brother consulted with the Master of Hyeonwol Pavilion and requested the cooperation of the merchant houses and trading companies that maintain close ties with Hyeonwol Pavilion!"
At those words Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes widened with interest.
"Oh?"
"By now the cargo wagons of those merchant houses and trading companies will have reached the various House of Compassion branches and will be loading goods and personnel!"
Yeon So-hyeon clapped his hands.
"Excellent."
He himself had already sent similar orders by courier—but the Fourth Young Master, who had been with Se-a, Master of Hyeonwol Pavilion, had anticipated the need and moved a step faster. As a result, the support would arrive far sooner than expected.
"Hwahahaha!"
Receiving applause from the eldest brother he respected above all others in the world, the Fourth Young Master planted both hands on his hips, shrugged his shoulders, and laughed at the top of his lungs.
"Urgent report!"
An agent of Hyeonwol Pavilion burst in shouting.
"A new band of slum looters is gathering in the northwestern streets!"
The agent hurried forward and marked the location on the map.
"Very well. How would you handle it?"
Yeon So-hyeon’s question was directed at the Fourth Young Master.
"Mmm…"
The Fourth Young Master’s gaze had already been fixed on the comprehensive status board even before the question was asked.
"If it were this younger brother…"
The boy’s eyes moved rapidly as he mastered the current situation.
"I would half-encircle the northwestern square with garrison troops like this, so that the looters would have no choice but to be driven toward the fire over here."
He pointed at the map with a finger and continued.
"Then, with the forces currently standing by, we could press their flanks and scatter them completely into the alleys."
"And of the forces currently standing by, whom would you deploy?"
The Fourth Young Master answered at once, eyes on the status board.
"I would deploy the security corps of the House of Compassion."
"Why them—poorly armed as they are—rather than martial artists such as those of the Yellow Tiger Escort or the Emei Sect?"
"To overawe and drive off looters, numbers matter most. If we post only a handful of martial artists, the looters who have lost their reason will charge simply because they outnumber us, and in the end we would have to shed blood to scatter them."
At the answer that poured out without the slightest hitch, Yeon So-hyeon nodded and spoke to the captain of the guards.
"You heard all of that? Carry it out."
The captain of the guards nodded hastily—then shook his head.
"The House of Compassion security corps may be one thing, but the men of our mercenary company are still unfamiliar with the terrain!"
Yeon So-hyeon looked at the Fourth Young Master.
"In that case…"
The Fourth Young Master’s eyes swept the roster of personnel currently on the comprehensive status board.
"I will attach the land-sale officers and the House of Compassion’s epidemic-prevention officers to the mercenary company as support."
There was not a hair’s breadth of hesitation in his choice.
"The reason?"
"First reason: at present they have no assigned duties."
The Fourth Young Master’s words flowed like water.
"Second: men who in ordinary times wear their feet raw roaming the Valley of Sin will be able to serve as sure guides even in this situation."
At the brothers’ rapid-fire exchange of questions and answers, the eyes of everyone present flew left and right without rest. And on every face among them rose an expression that could not be hidden: pure admiration.
The prowess these brothers were displaying in their very first field operation soared far beyond the expectations and hopes of most.
With these brothers, a disaster of this scale can be overcome without fail!
Confidence swelled in their hearts.
"Good! An excellent answer!"
Yeon So-hyeon gave a firm nod and said to the Fourth Young Master,
"From this moment I transfer final command authority to you!"
At those words every eye in the tent went round as saucers.
What on earth was this, out of nowhere?
"Yes! Eldest Brother! Leave it to this younger brother!"
The Fourth Young Master, who would have leaped into the flames with kindling on his back if Eldest Brother so ordered, accepted the transfer of command without a shred of doubt.
"W-wait just a moment…!"
Tang Ye-rin leapt up and cried out.
"First Young Master! A sudden transfer of command authority?!"
Everyone except the Fourth Young Master nodded in agreement with her.
"Hm?"
Yeon So-hyeon looked at her as though wondering what she was talking about.
"I ordered you to manage the comprehensive status board in the first place so that I could hand command over to Bi."
"What?!"
Because the comprehensive status board had been so carefully organized, the Fourth Young Master was able to take over with almost no delay.
"Ah, so that was why you kept driving me so hard…. N-no!"
Just as she was beginning to understand, she leapt up again.
"Th-then where does the First Young Master intend to go?!"
Every gaze turned toward the First Young Master.
"From this moment…"
Yeon So-hyeon smiled and pointed on the map to a place somewhere in the middle reaches of the valley.
It was a forward base that had been all but surrounded and isolated, caught up in the fighting among the underworld organizations.
"I go in person to rescue the personnel isolated there."
At those words every eye in the assembly grew as large as lanterns.
A brief silence fell, and then all cried out with one voice.
"Y-you must not! It is too dangerous!"
"Is there any need for the First Young Master to go in person?!"
"It would be better if you remained here a little longer and concentrated on command…!"
While hands waved on every side and voices rose in urgent protest, Yeon So-hyeon stepped down from the raised platform and lightly set his foot forward.
Perhaps this was what the footfalls of the giants in myth had been like.
The solid paving stones that formed the floor of the command post shattered around Yeon So-hyeon and sank more than a handspan deep.
"…"
Shock Step.
It was not even true internal-energy projection—merely the preparatory stage known as Shock Step—and yet that single stamp had pulverized the hard paving stones and driven the ground itself downward. Not a single mote of dust rose. There was no ear-splitting roar.
While everyone fell silent before a mastery of the highest martial principles they could not comprehend, Yeon So-hyeon spoke.
"I will open the path myself."