The Ruts of Those Who Came Before
Part Six — The Ruts of Those Who Came Before: Luoyang Sword House.
The Third Young Master's camp.
Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps rolled down the corridor, and those who recognized their owner hastily bowed their heads and pressed themselves against the walls.
Ordinarily, the man who owned those footsteps would have drawn a quiet satisfaction from every such display of deference. Today, however, the sound of his own steps rebounding off the corridor walls only frayed his nerves — until it almost felt as though he were being pursued.
"Halt! This is the heart of the Grand Military Advisor's Office—!"
The eyes of the guards who had moved to bar the way as usual went wide.
"E-Elder Namgung…?!"
The owner of the footsteps — Namgung Hyeok-cheon, head of the Third Young Master's faction — spoke in a low voice.
"Open it."
For a moment the two guards at the door, both veterans of the old Wulin Alliance, exchanged glances. But the man before them was not someone they could ever have stopped.
"E-Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon has come to visit the Grand Military Advisor's Office!"
With that shout the doors opened, and Namgung Hyeok-cheon strode straight inside.
"Well, well."
Through the thick scent of ink, in a tone that edged toward mockery, an elderly man of ageless, sage-like bearing — Sama Dae-gunsa — received him.
"To what do we owe the honor of Elder Namgung gracing this humble place in person?"
The sting of sarcasm was no illusion.
Ever since the days of the old Wulin Alliance, the great houses represented by the Namgung Clan, the Military Advisors' Office, and the Nine Great Sects had fought endlessly for power within the Alliance. The tangled, resentment-soaked wreckage of that long struggle for supremacy had followed them all the way here, into the Luoyang Sword House itself.
Which was why no tea was offered, and why the head of the Third Young Master's own faction was left standing while they asked his business first.
"…Have you heard the news of the First Young Master?"
In the thick, uncomfortable air, Namgung Hyeok-cheon asked with a rigid face.
"We have ears of our own. Of course we have."
Sama Dae-gunsa, who had long nursed a direct grudge against the Namgung Clan, abandoned even his usual veneer of courtesy.
"You mean the affair in which the elders under Elder Namgung Hyeok-cheon's command were soundly thrashed and defeated by the First Young Master in the Elder Council Hall, do you not? That little…"
The old man clicked his tongue and muttered as if to himself.
"Our Military Advisors' Office did send Elder Namgung a direct warning about the possibility of the First Young Master's intervention…"
He maintained an attitude thick with open hostility.
"Or was it about the First—"
Sama Dae-gunsa's mouth twisted, baring his teeth — but Namgung Hyeok-cheon cut him off.
"The First Young Master."
He finished the thought himself.
"If you mean the news that he elevated Elder Paeng of the Hebei Faction to the rank of master, I only just heard it myself."
Sama Dae-gunsa twisted his mouth even further.
"Then you must also know that our side's elders have gone swarming off to Wongak-jeong."
He spoke as if mocking him.
"In that case, shouldn't Elder Namgung have been out there reining them in by now…?"
On any ordinary day, one of them would already have lost his temper and the meeting would have been over.
"…Even if I tried to suppress their curiosity about his martial arts right now, it would only deepen into a greater hunger. And that would only leave them more thoroughly at the First Young Master's mercy."
But today's Namgung Hyeok-cheon, though his brows trembled with suppressed fury, continued with grim composure.
"Better to give them a little rein for the moment."
Something in Namgung Hyeok-cheon's manner was different from usual. Sama Dae-gunsa closed his mouth and stopped needling him.
"In that case…"
In place of Sama Dae-gunsa, the young Jegal Dae-gunsa, who had been watching the exchange, spoke up.
"Elder Namgung has come here because—"
"—The Second Young Master's faction."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon abruptly brought up the Second Young Master.
"They split internally into the Luoyang Faction and the Jiangnan Faction, competing for credit, and were defeated one by one by the First Young Master. And…"
Jegal Dae-gunsa nodded and took up the thread.
"And when the decisive moment came, they never even got the chance to bring their full strength to bear before they lost to him."
Why raise the Second Young Master's affairs now, of all times? Sama Dae-gunsa narrowed his eyes and watched the two of them carefully.
"From the Second Young Master's side, it was a hollow defeat bitter enough to make them pound the earth in regret."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon answered him.
"The snare the First Young Master laid was simply too vast, and too swift and precise. Before they could mobilize every strategy and every force at their disposal, the outcome had already been decided…"
The Second Young Master's faction had never truly drawn upon Sa-pae-cheon's power, never fully committed the Sword House's internal strength, never revealed the full might of their allies — and still they had lost.
"With a single victory, the First Young Master drove the Second Young Master's faction to the brink of effective collapse."
Jegal Dae-gunsa moistened his drying lips and asked,
"And the reason you raise this now is…"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon closed his eyes for a moment.
"To you, the worst enemy is neither Sa-pae-cheon, nor the Sichuan Tang Clan, nor even our Family Head, who still lies bedridden."
Naewon Chonggwan had once raised a hand and pointed outside, toward the Elder Council Hall.
"It is the First Young Master who stands there."
"…Minds as sharp as yours must already sense it."
Having settled his resolve once more, Namgung Hyeok-cheon opened his eyes and spoke.
"The road we are walking now is no different from the one the Second Young Master's faction took."
At those words both Grand Military Advisors drew a sharp breath at the same time.
"No. Not merely 'no different.'"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon declared it flatly.
"We are treading the exact same ruts they left behind."
Neither of the Grand Military Advisors dared to deny it. They, too, could feel that truth with painful clarity at this very moment.
"Our plan to unveil the Third Young Master — now risen to the ranks of the masters — at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering and seize the world's attention in a single stroke—"
Sama Dae-gunsa nodded heavily and completed the thought.
"—has already failed, in all but name."
Jegal Dae-gunsa clicked his tongue under his breath.
"We had any number of plans prepared in sequence after that…"
They might be rivals for the central seat of power — but only so long as the Third Young Master, and they themselves, still won.
"Once the First Young Master has flaunted his martial power so preemptively and so outrageously…"
"Everything has lost its meaning."
"The First Young Master…"
Namgung Hyeok-cheon gave voice to a truth he had unconsciously been avoiding until now.
"In every field, he can be said to stand above anyone else."
Jegal Dae-gunsa bit his lip. His competitive drive toward the First Young Master had long since curdled into inferiority. The more he learned of him, the more the man was revealed to the world, the more despairing the gulf between them became.
"This is no longer a time for our camp to remain divided."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon spoke with grave weight.
"The elders from the Nine Great Sects may be another matter. But for now, our great houses and the Military Advisors' Office must join forces first."
He repeated the words he had heard from Naewon Chonggwan.
"Our true enemy — the greatest threat we face — is that First Young Master."
Sama Dae-gunsa let out a long breath, then nodded in agreement.
"…You are right."
The cunning old strategist was not so foolish as to fail to know what truly mattered.
"From this moment on, let us set our personal feelings aside."
"Good."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon sank into a cross-legged seat right there on the floor and rolled up his sleeves.
"From this moment I will share every piece of intelligence I possess. Therefore, both Grand Military Advisors—"
"Of course."
The two advisors sat down in place just as he had.
"The first piece of information the Military Advisors' Office will share is…"
Sama Dae-gunsa took over from Jegal Dae-gunsa.
"News from the North."
"The North…?"
Both the Nine Great Sects and the great houses operated primarily within the Central Kingdom. When it came to intelligence from beyond the borders, none could match the Military Advisors' Office of the old Wulin Alliance, which had woven its information network across the entire realm.
"Among the barbarian tribes of the North, unusual movements are being detected."
"Unusual movements — of what scale?"
In answer to Namgung Hyeok-cheon's question, Sama Dae-gunsa revealed newly arrived intelligence.
"Of a scale that has the Imperial Court itself stirring."
"…The Imperial Court?!"
The name of the Imperial Court carried a weight all its own. However weak the present Emperor might be, that was a matter of palace politics alone. If the Court itself was preparing a response, then whatever was unfolding in the North could not possibly be ordinary.
To have grasped the situation inside the Imperial Court itself… As expected of the Military Advisors' Office…
Namgung Hyeok-cheon murmured inwardly.
"Our plan to use the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering to unveil the Third Young Master has failed."
"Then we must change the very roots of the plan's direction."
Namgung Hyeok-cheon's eyes narrowed.
"Then…!"
The moment he grasped the meaning of what they had just said—
"Precisely."
Jegal Dae-gunsa nodded.
"At present, the Third Young Master's position is close to the North."
Sama Dae-gunsa wore a sly smile that sat oddly on his sage-like face as he spoke.
"Perhaps right now we have seized an opportunity even greater than the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering."
But they did not know.
They did not know that the Emperor's envoy was already visiting Wongak-jeong.
Wongak-jeong, the guest chamber.
As Buma-dowi looked around with an expression full of deep emotion, the triplet maidservant Il-ryeong asked carefully,
"As Your Excellency has resided in the Imperial Court, I would have thought such luxury would be familiar to you…"
"Ah, well."
At that, Buma-dowi gave an embarrassed smile.
"It simply feels strange, all over again, to find myself standing inside Wongak-jeong."
He stroked his short beard and went on.
"That I, who was nothing more than a collateral branch of the Yeon Clan, should be admitted to the guest chamber of Wongak-jeong…"
Il-ryeong's eyes went wide with surprise.
"I had heard there was a member of the Yeon Clan in the Imperial Court, but that person was Your Excellency?!"
"Yes. Though…"
Buma-dowi smiled.
"Now I am a man of the Imperial Court. My origins no longer matter in the least."
He turned his gaze.
"And it is not only I. General Geum Mun-hwi, who commands my escort, was originally…"
Yet the man he indicated, General Geum Mun-hwi, was staring out the window with an unusually tense expression, utterly absorbed.
"General."
At the call, the general spun around with a start quite unlike his usual self.
"Ah—yes. Your command?"
He looked for all the world like a commander facing his first battlefield. Buma-dowi could not help but chuckle as he asked,
"Come now. The Iron Lion General Geum Mun-hwi, whose valor is renowned even in the North — why so on edge?"
Ordinarily, General Geum Mun-hwi would have cleared his throat and colored. Instead—
"Your Excellency's sense for qi is not yet refined enough to feel it, but…"
He gripped the scabbard at his waist so tightly that his great hand had gone white as he continued.
"Even the masters whose presence can be felt within Wongak-jeong alone number more than ten. And more than that…"
Whatever had just taken place, they were flaunting their combative auras without the slightest attempt to conceal them.
"The number of masters now gathering toward Wongak-jeong is more than twice that again."