It’s Not Like I’m Doing This For You. (1)

‘It was my mistake to rely on Taoists in the first place.’

Jwa Go-Hak, his mask pulled tightly over his face, flattened himself against the roof of the building and let out a deep sigh.

He admitted it. They weren’t bad people. The people, that was.

The Taoists he had heard about during his life as a Confucian scholar were people who deceived good commoners with empty words and sullied the world with bizarre acts in pursuit of longevity.

They would suddenly appear in villages where the commoners were living peacefully, extort money by claiming they could cure illnesses, fleece them for money to write talismans, and eventually strip even the last grain from their storehouses by promising to perform a ritual and pray for their good fortune.

Even if they weren’t that sort, it was still difficult to look kindly upon fools who buried themselves in some remote mountain valley in the absurd hope of becoming immortals.

But the Taoists of Mount Hua whom he had met in person were vastly different from the priests he had imagined.

To put it another way……

“They’re much more frivolous, foul-mouthed, and violent, and they enjoy tormenting people……”

No, that wasn’t it.

“Hm?”

At the sound of his unconscious muttering, the person standing guard beneath the eaves looked up. Jwa Go-Hak flattened himself against the roof again.

‘That’s right. Honestly, they are all good people.’

Though there were times when it was hard to tell whether they were kind or simply stupid. Of course, there were a few unquestionably stupid ones among them, but every group was bound to have one or two like that, wasn’t it?

Jwa Go-Hak’s honest feelings toward the disciples of Mount Hua were close to goodwill. No, perhaps they were even closer to affection than goodwill.

‘But even so, a Taoist is still a Taoist.’

The greatest difference between Taoists and Confucian scholars was whether they could see the bigger picture. As long as they put their individual path to immortality first, they would ultimately be unable to see anything greater.

Why couldn’t they understand? That for all the people under Heaven, there had to be a foundation on which they could live. And that for commoners, that foundation could only ultimately be the state.

Learning and attaining understanding, then making the state into a proper state—that was the way to bring peace to the world. That was the answer Confucius had found after living through a long age of turmoil.

‘Why do I keep thinking about this? What attachment do I still have?’

This was a problem for Confucian scholars, and for the Confucian community, to begin with. He ought to be grateful to them simply for helping this much.

And yet, the fact that he kept having other thoughts…… meant that Jwa Go-Hak had expected something more from them.

It was just as Jwa Go-Hak was about to let out another heavy sigh.

Rattle.

The firmly shut door of the merchant guild swung wide open. Soon, a group of masked men entered.

Jwa Go-Hak, hiding on the roof, held his breath.

Step. Step. Step.

Jwa Go-Hak narrowed his eyes and examined the appearance of those walking inside. Two things stood out first.

‘They look accustomed to this.’

Even with their vision obstructed by their masks, they headed toward the warehouse where the chests were stacked without the slightest hesitation. It would be impossible unless they had already done the same thing many times. And then.

‘That way of walking…….’

It was certain. They were clearly trained men. They could not walk with such precision without having undergone thorough training. Jwa Go-Hak’s certainty grew stronger.

At that moment, the men who had entered opened the warehouse and began swiftly carrying out the chests.

Jwa Go-Hak watched the entire scene while holding his breath.

The moment all the chests had been loaded onto the carts visible beyond the main gate, the gate silently closed, and the sounds of neighing horses and creaking wheels began to be heard.

‘These bastards…….’

Anger surged through him. Jwa Go-Hak had thought they would move more discreetly. Even under cover of night, moving this much cargo through Beijing while avoiding people’s eyes could not possibly be easy.

But what was this? Horses, and even carts?

‘Chung Myung Taoist was right.’

They had never intended to hide this in the first place. Even if they were discovered, they could smooth things over somehow.

Jwa Go-Hak bit down hard on his lip as he keenly realized once again just how powerful the enemy he was facing truly was.

‘Don’t make me laugh.’

But he was not afraid. Hadn’t he been someone whose purpose from the very beginning was to fight them, set the country right, and create a peaceful realm?

Tap.

Jwa Go-Hak carefully climbed down from the roof and began running silently. He had to be discreet, but he also had to be swift. He could neither be discovered nor lose them.

In Jwa Go-Hak’s line of sight, a procession of carts racing along a lantern-lit road could be seen in the distance.

‘How grand.’

Grinding his teeth, Jwa Go-Hak pursued them with renewed determination. In the meantime, the procession of carts quickly reached the southern gate.

Though it was the middle of the night, the city gate stood wide open, and the troops guarding it were nowhere to be seen. The carts swiftly passed through the gate, which was quite literally left undefended.

Jwa Go-Hak frowned as he assessed the situation.

There were no troops at the gate now, but the moment all the carts passed through, soldiers would certainly emerge from somewhere and bar the gate shut. It would be impossible to follow them without a confrontation.

Making a quick decision, Jwa Go-Hak headed for the city wall instead of the gate. He ran up the stairs leading to the wall and climbed it as quickly as he could with all his strength.

‘Damn it, I should have trained more in movement techniques.’

He had thought that if he properly mastered just Myriad Swords, he would have no equal under Heaven. But the world he had actually encountered was not a place that could be dealt with using a single sword technique.

After quickly reaching the top of the wall, Jwa Go-Hak looked down. The carts that had passed through the gate were splitting onto three roads.

‘Damn it!’

This was exactly why he had said he couldn’t do this alone.

‘What should I do?’

It was then, before Jwa Go-Hak could make a decision.

“Who goes there!”

Jwa Go-Hak gritted his teeth at the shout from behind him. He immediately kicked off the wall and threw himself down from it in one motion. Drawing his sword, he drove it into the wall and slid down its face.

Tap!

When Jwa Go-Hak’s feet finally touched the ground, he chose the middle route—the one taken by the greatest number of carts.

Running with all his might, Jwa Go-Hak caught sight of the procession of carts once more.

As he watched the carts racing furiously ahead, a strange suspicion arose in Jwa Go-Hak’s eyes.

‘How far are they going?’

Farther away? That couldn’t be.

If the procession continued farther away like this, it might actually be a better outcome for Jwa Go-Hak. But that was impossible. If the Eunuch in Charge of Ceremonies were plotting something in the imperial capital, he would not send those weapons far away.

‘Surely…… around here.’

It was at that very moment.

The carts racing ahead abruptly slowed down. Then they left the main road and entered the forest.

‘That’s it.’

Confirming that his guess had been correct, Jwa Go-Hak stealthily followed behind the carts.

Though their speed had clearly diminished, the carts continued down the forest path without stopping.

‘No, this isn’t an ordinary forest path. Carts have already traveled this way many times.’

Jwa Go-Hak held his breath slightly. There was probably a place ahead where Do-Hyeon stored his weapons and where his private soldiers trained. It was surely a place as dangerous as a tiger’s den, but that did not matter. To catch a tiger, one had to find its den, didn’t they?

‘First, I’ll just confirm it and withdraw. Then, as soon as day breaks, if I mobilize the scholars of the Hanlin Academy…….’

Unless the head of Ceremonial Affairs was prepared to kill every scholar of the Hanlin Academy, he would be unable to clean up the situation. Even if he made such an extreme choice, it would not matter. In that case, the lives of the Hanlin Academy scholars would become the spear that brought him down.

‘If even one or two of the Six Ministries would move, things would be easier,’

But even if they did not, it would be fine. In any case, the moment the scholars arrived here would be the end for the Ceremonial Affairs…….

Fweeeee!

At that moment, Jwa Go-Hak sensed something flying toward him and reflexively swung his sword.

Shrrrraack!

His Myriad Swords created countless afterimages as it knocked away the incoming objects one after another.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Four blue daggers bounced into the air. The moment he saw them, Jwa Go-Hak sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.

“How strange.”

At the same time, faint footsteps began to sound beside Jwa Go-Hak’s ears.

‘I’m surrounded.’

A chill ran down Jwa Go-Hak’s back.

Because he had been discovered? No, that wasn’t it. He had realized it instinctively. These men had already been waiting for him here.

“……A trap.”

Jwa Go-Hak’s face flushed bright red.

He had remained cautious, considering the possibility that the enemy might be luring him in. But when the carts entered the forest just as he had guessed and he thought he might be able to strike at the Ceremonial Affairs head vital point, his concentration had wavered.

‘Did I really make such a careless mistake?’

It was then, as Jwa Go-Hak was at a loss beneath the onslaught of self-loathing and anger.

“There should be more than one.”

Step, step.

Bang Hwi, the Eastern Depot’s lieutenant, slowly walked forward as if tightening the noose around Jwa Go-Hak and frowned.

“Besides, this doesn’t seem to be the man who was running wild the other day…… Did he chase after the others?”

“No. He was the only one who had been following us from the beginning.”

“Hmm. Then was our judgment that they were hiding in the Gahwa Trading Company mistaken?”

Large beads of sweat rolled down Jwa Go-Hak’s chin.

‘These bastards, from the very beginning…….’

He had thought the area beneath the lamp would be dark, but apparently that was not the case. At this point, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he had been dancing in the palm of their hands.

‘So this is the Eastern Depot…….’

He had been proud that he was second to no one in the world when it came to using his head, but after leaving the Confucian community, he wondered if he had merely been a frog in a well all along.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Bang Hwi stared at Jwa Go-Hak for a moment, then indicated him with his chin.

“Take him alive. I’ll flay him myself and find out who is behind him.”

Jwa Go-Hak tightened his grip on his sword.

Suicide? What a ridiculous notion.

People thought suicide was a way to sacrifice oneself, but when the Eastern Depot was standing before you, that was completely wrong.

The moment he died, they would identify his status from Jwa Go-Hak’s face alone, and then his family would be branded traitors, with no one surviving.

He had to escape somehow, no matter what!

‘First…….’

But before Jwa Go-Hak could make a move, flexible swords flew at him from every direction. He could see ominous green liquids glistening along the blades of the Eastern Depot’s characteristic supple swords.

‘Poison!’

Jwa Go-Hak swung his sword desperately.

But Jwa Go-Hak realized another problem of his own.

Myriad Swords perfectly blocked every move an opponent could make. Though Baek Cheon had managed to counter it, Myriad Swords was certainly not a sword technique to be underestimated.

But that was when fighting a single person.

With every additional person, the number of possibilities he had to calculate increased severalfold. It was the same even if the opponents were not particularly skilled. When facing multiple opponents, Myriad Swords could never be called an excellent martial art.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Jwa Go-Hak’s sword knocked away the enemy swords in succession. But before they had even exchanged a few moves, his hands began to grow confused.

‘Damn it!’

The succession of mistakes caused by the situation he had never anticipated, and the composure he had lost because of them, robbed Jwa Go-Hak’s sword of its precision.

And the price was small, but fatal.

Slice.

A supple sword bent and flicked lightly across Jwa Go-Hak’s arm. It was merely a scratch, a wound that did not even need to be staunched.

But as soon as the wound appeared, the world before Jwa Go-Hak’s eyes began to sway violently.

“Urgh…….”

Jwa Go-Hak staggered badly and collapsed, bracing himself against the ground. Watching him struggle to raise himself, Bang Hwi coldly shouted.

“One drop is enough to kill a large water buffalo instantly. There’s no point in trying to endure it. You don’t need to worry. You won’t die.”

Jwa Go-Hak’s face was stained with despair.