Metamorphosis
Valley of Sin, Patrol Headquarters.
The building had been cobbled together from several of the valley's grotesquely expanded houses, and even with the most generous appraisal it was hard to call anything so grand as a "headquarters." Even so, the skilled craftsmen of the Ja-ae-won had managed to fashion a reasonably comfortable working environment within.
Yet for all that comfort, the faces of the patrol staff were anything but bright.
High on the watchtower, looking down over the valley mouth, stood a young man of enormous build.
Kong Dam-ung—known among the Four Heroes of Yellow Lake, and the next successor of the Gong family.
"…I hope this can pass without anything happening."
In the direction of his gaze, countless points of light glittered in the distance like a river reflecting the sun.
"Those are all troops, then?"
The question came from the precepts supervisor of the Emei Sect, who stood with him on the tower.
"They are."
For the past several days the two of them had been coordinating closely to maintain order in the Valley of Sin.
"It's the weapons of the soldiers catching the sunlight."
The armor they wore, which had once looked so awkward on them, now seemed to fit as if made for their bodies.
"…There are a great many."
The precepts supervisor fretted at the hilt of her sword, brow furrowed.
"In truth…"
Kong Dam-ung did not take his eyes from the distant force, watching every shift of its movement as he shrugged.
"Their numbers aren't the real problem."
"No."
She gave a small nod of agreement. When she spoke again it was almost a sigh.
"The problem is that they aren't underworld scum we can just cut down without consequence—"
Kong Dam-ung finished for her.
"—but Luoyang's official peacekeeping forces."
"If we end up fighting government troops…"
He did not bother to answer. She did not bother to hunt for one. There was no need to chase a conversation whose every possible ending was bad.
The talk died there. In an uneasy silence the two of them watched the troops move. It was all they could do for the moment.
…If there's any consolation, it's that we can read their every movement in detail. The terrain of the valley favors us for defense as well. Tactically the advantage is ours. But…
If we clash with the authorities, the losses will be severe no matter how it ends. Best if we can get through this without a fight…
His gaze shifted toward the Joint Business Headquarters of the First and Fourth Young Masters.
"…How long has it been since the district chiefs went in to see the First Young Master?"
The precepts supervisor was looking the same way. Kong Dam-ung answered.
"About one ke now."
"…Is that all it's been?"
In their anxiety the minutes crawled. The sweat on their faces was not only from the afternoon heat.
Hero Yeon…
Kong Dam-ung swallowed dryly.
You'll have some kind of plan this time as well, won't you?
Even as he clung to that hope, another thought twisted in him.
Is leaning on Hero Yeon like this all I can do?
The tower of merchants' heads. The Valley of Sin, still without any meaningful change. Luoyang's political world in upheaval. The succession struggle of the Luoyang Sword Family growing ever more vicious.
I don't truly know or understand a single one of these things.
Of late—more than at any other moment—Kong Dam-ung was feeling the full measure of his own powerlessness.
All the internal energy I've cultivated, all the training I've done… before the waves of the world, they're utterly helpless.
Yeon So-hyeon's voice rose unbidden in his mind.
"Be ashamed before those who have nothing left in this world to rely on but their two fists."
At the time he had not truly understood the words.
"You were born with fine backgrounds they never had, and yet you are nothing but dropouts who chose the easy road because you could not master your own temper."
Now, he thought he finally did.
For me, swinging my fists at the injustice right in front of my nose was the easy thing.
Yes. It had never truly been about solving the problem. Just as Yeon So-hyeon had said, he had simply taken the easy path.
I am not one of those left with only two fists—
The Gong family was one of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families. And he was Kong Dam-ung, its next successor.
…When this is over, I should go see Grandfather.
And so, high on a watchtower in Luoyang's poor quarter, Kong Dam-ung—a man who would one day leave a deep mark on history—began to tear through the shell that enclosed him and take the first steps of his metamorphosis.
"First Young Master."
The chief of Tanryung District spoke in a low voice.
"First of all, I must say that I regret meeting the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family for the first time under circumstances such as these."
"Is that so?"
Yeon So-hyeon offered a wry smile.
"In that case, would it not be simplest for you to withdraw your troops?"
"Needless to say, that is impossible."
The answer came from the chief of Gahyo District, seated beside him.
"And why is that?"
The man clicked his tongue, avoiding Yeon So-hyeon's gaze.
"First Young Master. You have made far too great a spectacle of this affair. What could have ended as simple economic retaliation, you have driven to this extreme…"
"And far from concealing it even a little, you went so far as to stack a tower of merchants' heads…"
The chief of Tanryung District cleared his throat and waved a hand as if the matter were out of his hands.
"You, First Young Master, left us with no other choice."
"Is that so?"
"Did I not just say it was so?"
The chief of Tanryung District answered with something close to irritation—then caught the Fourth Young Master's silent stare and cleared his throat again.
"Ahem…!"
He hastily wiped the sweat from his brow. The pressure that flowed so naturally from the First Young Master only grew heavier as the conversation wore on.
And for some time now, the Fourth Young Master—whatever had so thoroughly soured his mood—had been staring at them without a word, as if he meant to tear them all apart on the spot.
What is a brat doing with eyes like a murderer's?
Something must have happened with the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court, who had visited just before them.
Did that old monster of the Sword Family give him a thrashing?
Before the thought could fully form, Yeon So-hyeon asked them,
"Then what manner of cooperation does this First Young Master need to offer you gentlemen?"
The chief of Gahyo District answered at once.
"Give your full cooperation to the investigation of the mass slaughter committed in broad daylight."
The chief of Tanryung District went a step further.
"You already understand the charges well enough. If you surrender quietly, we will do what we can for leniency."
At the word "surrender" the Fourth Young Master looked ready to erupt, but a small gesture from Yeon So-hyeon stayed him.
"Leniency, you say…"
The voice settled low and quiet. Both district chiefs swallowed at the same time. Their lips had gone dry.
And yet they did not yield. They knew perfectly well that the chief of Cheonghak District—whose administrative territory had included Hodu Village—had been beaten senseless for interfering with Yeon So-hyeon's work. They knew just as well that the Yi family had been annihilated. And they knew, bone-deep, that Luoyang's most powerful houses were fighting a blood war by proxy for the First Young Master and the Second Young Master.
Even so.
Our actions are perfectly neutral, and perfectly justified.
The two chiefs exchanged a glance.
This is a grave the First Young Master dug for himself.
As Luoyang's highest-ranking officials, they were simply doing what they were meant to do.
In procedure, in justification, in political neutrality—there is nothing wrong with what we are doing.
That was why, even under all this pressure, they could bare their fangs at Yeon So-hyeon.
Well then.
They fixed him with eyes like a pair of vipers.
What will you do now, First Young Master?
Cooperate quietly and submit to investigation on the most heinous of charges—or resist legitimate official duty with force, and hurl the name you have raised so high straight into the muck.
Choose.
With both their gazes fixed on him, Yeon So-hyeon rubbed the back of his neck.
"This is rather troublesome."
The look, the gesture—both of a man cornered. The two chiefs smiled inwardly in triumph.
We have the First Young Master—!
The thought never finished.
"Since the two of you refuse to speak honestly, it seems our side will have no choice but to speak honestly first."
The chiefs' faces crumpled.
"…What is that supposed to mean?"
"We are not being honest?"
"You two gentlemen did not come here because of the mass slaughter in broad daylight."
The First Young Master toyed with his teacup, his tone unhurried.
"You came for your own 'survival,' did you not?"
Almost in the same breath both men denied it.
"Survival? What nonsense is that—"
"We are here solely to carry out our official duties—"
The moment their eyes met Yeon So-hyeon's, the excuses died in their throats. The curve of his eyes was infinitely gentle, and yet somehow their mouths refused to work; the words would not come.
"That is… well…"
"Ahem."
Whatever effort they made to push the words out was finished completely by what Yeon So-hyeon said next.
"I am perfectly well aware that the two of you have come because of the black money you have been taking from the Great Immortal Merchant Group."
A smile touched the corner of Yeon So-hyeon's mouth.
"This First Young Master knows it all too well."
The two chiefs screamed without sound. The smile at Yeon So-hyeon's lips only deepened.
"And the reason the pressure the Second Young Master's side put on you to seize this First Young Master could actually work…"
Now it was Yeon So-hyeon whose gaze had become the serpent's, and the two chiefs the rats before a python.
"…is entirely because you have been taking black money from the Great Immortal Merchant Group all this time, is it not?"
They shook their heads in frantic denial.
"Suddenly bringing up—!"
"Th-that's absurd—!"
Of course they denied it.
"If not, then so be it."
Yeon So-hyeon ignored them and continued as if they had not spoken.
"You already know the Great Immortal Merchant Group is urgently moving its funds. Very soon, the Inner Court and the Central Investigation Department of our house will be raiding them."
Their faces went paper-white.
So that was why the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court came to see the First Young Master…!
"Well, if the matter has nothing to do with you, then of course it is none of your concern."
Enjoying their expressions, Yeon So-hyeon went on in that same gentle tone.
"But if, even so—if there is even the slightest corner of this that worries you…"
He whispered like a demon.
"…then after the raid, when the full investigation begins, I can see to it that your names are left off the list. What do you say?"
The two chiefs froze like stone.
Yeon So-hyeon said nothing more. Unnecessary pressure only breeds resentment. He simply leaned back at his ease and savored the fragrance rising from his teacup.
They wanted, desperately, to keep denying the black money. If Yeon So-hyeon had possessed clear proof, he would not have been probing like this.
"…First Young Master."
And yet—
"What is it that you want of us?"
—his offer was far too sweet.
After the two chiefs had gone.
"Elder Brother."
The Fourth Young Master, who had been sunk deep in thought, finally forced the words out.
"…This younger brother, even watching from beside you, cannot understand."
Thick doubt filled the eyes he turned on Yeon So-hyeon.
"Do you believe the Inner Court and Central Investigation Department's raid on the Great Immortal Merchant Group will fail?"
Yeon So-hyeon answered with deliberate opacity.
"Why do you think so?"
Yeon Bi raised his voice.
"If not, there is no reason you would make a deal with those corrupt officials to keep them out of an investigation!"
"No."
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head.
"The raid on the Great Immortal Merchant Group will succeed."
"Then…?"
"However."
He was not finished.
"The investigation that follows it will fail."
"The investigation will fail…?"
"Yes."
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
"In that case…"
The Fourth Young Master's mouth fell slightly open.
"They are paying a price and dealing with me in order to avoid an investigation that was never going to touch them in the first place."
He sat dazed for a moment—then a sudden flash of insight snapped him alert.
"Does that mean… the reason you so readily handed the credit to the Inner Court…?!"
He asked in open shock.
"Was because you already knew the investigation would end in failure?!"
"It was."
"…Tch."
The sound was barely audible. Yeon So-hyeon asked,
"Hm? What did you say?"
The Fourth Young Master looked at him with a blank face.
"How… How can you possibly know the result of an investigation that has not even begun?"
It was already beyond the realm of prediction.
"Do you truly read the future, Elder Brother, the way the rumors say?"
Could a great roc see past the horizon, all the way into what was yet to come? This was closer to prophecy than foresight.
"Read the future?"
Yeon So-hyeon laughed and waved the idea away.
"Even I could never do a thing like that."
"Then how…?"
"There are times, you know."
Yeon So-hyeon looked out the window as he spoke.
"When what matters is not predicting the future and preparing for it, but shaping the process so that the future you desire comes to pass."
Valley of Sin, the entrance.
"All of you, prepare for battle!"
At the commander's shout—orders received from the district chiefs—despair settled over every face.
"We're attacking the Sword Family's First Young Master?"
"Fuck, this is insane…!"
A wave of uproar broke out on every side.
"From this moment we will…!"
But the commander was not finished.
"…cooperate with the First Young Master's side, and thoroughly purge every last underworld dog nested in the Valley of Sin!"
What was he saying?
Why were they suddenly striking at the underworld?
"The district chiefs have investigated the matter personally!"
While everyone stood stunned, the commander pressed on with words he himself scarcely believed.
"The attacks on the merchants this time were all the work of the Valley of Sin's underworld scum, acting on their orders!"