Karmic Retribution (2)
I hurriedly prepared to depart for Hanam.
Even amid the rush, I made time to read the letters the children had given me.
"I'm so happy to have a big brother. I heard from the masters. They said it's thanks to big brother that we could move to such a nice place. Thank you."
"Thanks to big brother, I had such a fun time. Actually, I tried tanghulu for the first time. I was so happy."
Each letter was written with such heartfelt care that my eyes grew misty without me realizing it.
I could feel the children's pure emotions radiating from every word.
The ones who couldn't write yet had drawn pictures to express their gratitude—scenes of them happily eating tanghulu, or playing with me.
I'm glad they had fun.
The letter from the child who'd asked me to buy him medicine included an impressively skilled drawing enclosed with it.
It was a landscape featuring my likeness.
Rendered solely in ink with masterful shades of light and dark, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
I should have this framed and hung in my pavilion.
With that thought, I unfolded another letter.
"Gah! *Cough cough cough!*"
I coughed involuntarily.
"Are you alright, young master?"
"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine."
"How did that hap—"
Palgap caught sight of the letter in my hand and furrowed his brow.
"What on earth did you do to that innocent little girl?"
"Don't say it like that—it makes me sound like trash."
"But in ten years..."
"Palgap."
"Yes?"
"Get out."
Two days later.
Palgap, I, and four escorts set out from the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Since we'd need the warriors' help for this, I'd requested four from Division Leader Ko Il-pyeong of the Silver Wind Division.
But we weren't traveling together.
It would draw too much attention before I could assess the situation myself.
Of course, there was no chance Young Hero Han Jae-ik had lied, but I still needed to survey things objectively and decide our course.
The road to Hanam wasn't as treacherous as I'd feared.
We had to cross Buryong Mountain, but an official road made it manageable.
"Talk about bouncing from east to west," Palgap grumbled.
Seo-u Warrior chimed in, "But it's only natural for the young master to move. Isn't Young Hero Han Jae-ik in danger right now?"
"That's true..."
We'd all met Young Hero Han Jae-ik, so hearing his plight tugged at our hearts.
"That Ma Manor Lord is a real scumbag."
"Yeah. A total bastard."
Last time, Young Hero Han Jae-ik had come all the way to the North Sea to stop his sister from becoming the Ma Manor Lord's ninth wife.
Thanks to him, her tragic fate was averted—but we couldn't touch the lord himself.
Han Jae-ik's family had run a modest martial arts school for generations.
Not large, but honest and reputable.
But when the local tyrant and notable, Ma Manor Lord, started threatening students and scheming against them, the disciples dropped out one by one.
Everyone knew who was behind it, but no one dared help the school for fear of retaliation.
Unable to endure, Han Jae-ik's family tried to leave the village—but they were ambushed and pinned down.
Han Jae-ik was injured too, but his father had been gravely wounded shielding his mother, leaving him barely mobile.
The attackers' parting words? "Run, and you're really dead."
To make matters worse, every doctor in the village feared the Ma Manor Lord and refused treatment, so his father's wounds festered.
In desperation—like grasping at straws—Han Jae-ik wrote to me for aid.
Luckily, someone from Fengju Escort Agency delivered it, so they must be on decent terms.
How could I ignore a cry for help like that?
Han Jae-ik leaned against the wall and let out a heavy sigh.
I wonder if the letter made it...
The missive to Vice Division Leader Eun Seo-ho, whom he'd met in the North Sea, was his last resort.
His mother called him then.
"Jae-ik."
"Yes, Mother."
"Your father is calling. Go to him."
He entered his father's room.
His father lay on the bed, stifling groans of pain.
Beside him sat a basin with bloodied bandages from a fresh change.
All they could do was use herbs a sympathetic passing doctor had mentioned.
"Father. I'm here."
His father barely opened his eyes and spoke with effort.
"Jae-ik."
"Yes, Father."
"I'm sorry. You were right—we should have left sooner. My stubbornness..."
"Don't say that. You had your reasons."
At first, Han Jae-ik had urged his father to flee. But his father refused to abandon their ancestral land.
They should have left then.
Now, escape was impossible. It was too late.
The Ma Manor Lord was slowly squeezing the life from them—for defying him.
In this village, his word was law.
His intent was clear: Hand over the hidden sister, or wither away.
He clearly didn't buy the story of her entering the North Sea Ice Palace.
Han Jae-ik had hired escorts from another agency on the way back, parting near the village—so no witnesses.
Even so, he had no intention of sending his sister to that monster.
Not after hearing how his previous wives died horribly within a year.
Hushed up out of fear, but those in the know were aware.
The news of the North Sea Ice Palace opening its doors had been a ray of hope.
That's when he made his choice.
"Hoo..."
He left his father's room and sighed deeply, as if the earth would cave in.
Looking up, he saw the pitch-black night sky.
Just like our future.
But he clenched his fist tight.
"Even if it kills us, I won't send Jae-in to him. You, at least—be happy..."
A star twinkled in the sky.
Shining so purely.
But... our food won't last much longer...
Firewood was scarce too—they could barely heat their parents' room.
How much longer could they hold out?
Despair loomed.
Thud!
Something dropped in the courtyard. He hurried over.
A large bundle lay there.
"What... is this?"
Han Jae-ik cautiously untied it.
"Hm?"
Inside: rice, meat, daily necessities, charcoal, even gold sore salve—packed neatly.
And an enclosed letter.
"We received your letter safely. I haven't forgotten our bond from the North Sea or my promise. Please hold on just a little longer."
"Ah..."
He knew who sent it. Tears welled up unbidden.
Vice Division Leader Eun Seo-ho hadn't forgotten him.
Composing himself, he looked skyward again.
The silver moon, hidden by clouds before, now smiled down on him.
Hanam got its name from lying south of the Yellow River.
The fertile soil from the river made farming thrive, and its central location fostered commerce for ages.
The Ma Family Manor, headed by the Ma Manor Lord, was a longtime local notable.
They'd amassed wealth growing cotton, then invested in trade for more gains.
The current lord, Ma Jeong, was Taegyeong County's richest man—and top ten in the province.
In Taegyeong, his word was law.
Even the county magistrate dared not cross him.
After all, falling afoul of Ma Jeong meant a mysterious death, magistrate or not.
He maintained a formidable private guard with his vast funds.
The law allowed private forces up to a point for protection.
The problem? They ran rampant in his name—but that was none of his concern.
As long as he was pleased.
One thorn in his side: Hangga Martial Hall.
"Daring to defy me and hide that girl?"
He'd spotted a girl named Han Jae-in and marked her as his ninth wife.
But they'd hidden her.
"When I deigned to favor her."
Her father claimed she'd entered the North Sea Ice Palace.
He didn't buy it.
Word was, of ten who tried, only five survived to join.
Sending her there?
What nonsense!
So he was slowly starving them out. Yield the sister, or die.
Until now, nothing had ever thwarted him.
A servant approached.
"Master, visitors from the Murim Alliance."
"Ah, yes? Bring them to the reception hall."
"Yes, sir."
But tiny Taegyeong wasn't enough for him.
He aimed to expand influence via the Murim Alliance—eventually dominating the Central Plains.
They were key allies.
I wasn't staying in Taegyeong County itself, but the adjacent one.
Taegyeong was small, and Ma Manor Lord's reach was total.
Lodging there would tip him off immediately.
From here, investigating him was easy enough.
He was infamous—for all the wrong reasons.
Palgap reported the gathered intel, seething.
"That Ma Manor Lord is a rotten bastard. Beat a ten-year-old for not bowing—crippled his leg."
"...For real?"
"Dead serious. Witnesses galore. And on his birthday, chopped off a man's hand for skipping the greetings."
"..."
Worse than I'd imagined.
The magistrate should have stepped in...
"Over a hundred private guards, twenty first-rate warriors."
I nodded grimly.
The magistrate was probably too busy saving his own skin.
Law's far, fists are near.
Ma Manor Lord ruled his petty kingdom.
Smaller than my current county, even.
What was the provincial governor doing?
Bribed to hell, obviously.
This was on the Anhui-Hanam border, not Hubei.
No big fuss, so they'd look the other way.
My goal: Rescue Han Jae-ik and his parents.
But Father said, since I'm here, handle it properly.
Snatching just them? Ma wouldn't let it slide.
Guys like him—sky-high pride, zero tolerance for defiance.
High chance of retaliation against Eunhae.
Not devastating, but annoying.
So what choice?
Force his acceptance.
Something about Ma Jeong rang a bell from my past life.
Where...?
Jin Yu Warrior knocked.
I'd tasked him with surveilling Ma Manor—something was up.
"Come in."
"Young master, a report."
"Speak."
"Someone I know just entered Ma Manor."
"What?"
"From the Murim Alliance."
That jogged my memory on Ma Jeong.
"Thanks to this Ma Jeong, Baekcheon Merchant Group scored cheap cotton. Flooded the market at low prices..."
Mentioned in a past-life report on Baekcheon.
So, Murim Alliance collaborator.
Hates doing right, loves wrong—this guy's begging for it.