Side Story 29. Yi-gang, Tianzhu (2)

Many of the Mughal warhorses had coats mixed with brown and white.
They were a little smaller than those thick-furred northern horses, but they were still larger than a man.
If one counted the rider mounted atop the warhorse, then no matter how large Jun Myung was, the difference was like that between an adult and a child.

Those cavalrymen charged forward in ordered ranks.
There was a reason people said that what hunted Murim masters best was armored cavalry.
The horses in the lead were even armored, and the sheer physical force of cavalry charging at full speed was overwhelmingly domineering.
Like a violent storm, they swept people away in an instant.

Jun Myung, Ten Thousand Sword Lord, and Seo Yeong-ji.

Before the onrushing cavalry, the three looked as fragile as leaves in a storm.

Seo Yeong-ji’s heart pounded violently.
She knew how dangerous a cavalry charge was.
The subtle mysteries of swordsmanship and the refined release of internal arts would be of no use at all.
A master on the level of her father would not have cared how fierce a cavalry charge was.
But she was not.
Would Ten Thousand Sword Lord and Jun Myung be different?
They were Transcendent masters, so protecting their own lives should not have been a problem.

“उन सब को मार दो”
“(Un sab ko maar do).”

An unknown foreign tongue rang out thunderously.
Ignoring the gooseflesh rising over her body, she sent streak after streak of Sword Qi pouring out.

Then a crescent blade came crashing down at her.
The foreign cavalryman swung his saber with a shaggy forearm.
Seo Yeong-ji responded.

Seugeong—

Her blade was sharp enough to make all her fears seem foolish.
Even in that sudden moment, the saber art her body unleashed severed the cavalryman’s forearm.
The wrist still clutching the crescent blade spun through the air.
Blood splattered across Seo Yeong-ji’s face.
Regardless of the warmth of the blood, her face turned deathly pale.
An opponent whose arm was severed was neutralized.
That was common sense for martial artists. But the cavalryman didn’t stop.
The rider screamed, but the horse only snorted harshly and didn’t slow down.
Seo Yeong-ji threw herself aside, nearly tumbling.
Hooves crushed the place where she had just stood.

As she moved aside, another crescent blade came flying at her.
It passed by, slicing off a few strands of her hair.

“Tch!”

What Seo Yeong-ji unleashed was not proper saber art, but desperate flailing.
Her blade, filled with blood-colored Saber Qi, bit into the horse’s flank.

Jjeojeojeok!

It sounded less like a clean cut than a tearing rip.
The horse’s belly split open, and its entrails and blood spilled out in a heap.
Seo Yeong-ji stepped on those entrails.
Her footing slid out from under her.
It was a mistake, but there was no way she could have anticipated or guarded against it.
And at that moment, another warhorse charged straight at her.

Was she really going to die by slipping on a horse’s guts?
Here, in this place?
In that instant that felt like an eternity.

Jun Myung stepped in front of Seo Yeong-ji, who had sensed death.
He did something that looked insane.
He lowered his body and met the horse head-on with his shoulder.

Jun Myung’s shoulder and the warhorse’s chest collided violently.
With a crunch, Jun Myung’s planted feet carved deep furrows into the ground, and the horse’s head jerked violently forward.
As if it had slammed into a boulder, the horse pitched over from the impact with Jun Myung’s shoulder.
The cavalryman riding it met a miserable fate.
He struck the ground headfirst, snapped his neck, and died.

“Insane…”

Seo Yeong-ji gasped in admiration without meaning to.
To stop a charging cavalryman with one’s own body.
Jun Myung’s action looked brutish, but it had been the perfect response.
Another horse went down because of the fallen one.
The cavalry’s formation tangled up in an instant.
Five horses and their riders went down at once.
The only reason it stopped there was because the cavalrymen were so skilled at handling their mounts.
The cavalry cursed in an incomprehensible tongue as they reformed their lines.

Seo Yeong-ji and her companions were able to catch their breath for a moment.

“A-are you alright?”

No matter who Seo Yeong-ji was, she could not help but worry about Jun Myung’s condition.
A man and a horse had collided. There was no way he should have come out unharmed.
But Jun Myung merely rolled his shoulder and frowned.

-I’m fine.
“And Ten Thousand Sword Lord…?”

Ten Thousand Sword Lord was likewise uninjured.
They had survived even a cavalry charge remarkably well.

“They attacked the moment they saw us, without even a word. They may have come to capture us from the start.”
“For that, their armament is excessive. It looks as though they came prepared for war from the beginning.”

Meeting the cavalry had been sudden.
The moment they recognized Seo Yeong-ji, they screamed and drove their horses forward.
That was when they had joined up with Jun Myung.
Jun Myung pointed at the flags the cavalry were carrying.

-Those bear Kamran Mirza’s emblem.

Kamran Mirza was a Mughal royal in opposition to Prince Akbar, whom Yi-gang was helping.

-It doesn’t look like they mean to let us go.

The cavalry drew bows and raised spears.
That was not all.

Puuuuuu—

One cavalryman pulled out a horn and blew it. It was clearly a call for reinforcements.
Even if they escaped these riders, pursuit would surely follow.
Then the cavalry split into two groups.
Those circling to the side began drawing their bows, while those charging head-on lowered their spears.
In truth, they had underestimated Seo Yeong-ji’s group earlier.
That was why they had tried to trample them down with only crescent blades in hand, but now they had discarded all carelessness.

Seo Yeong-ji’s face went pale.
This time, it was truly dangerous.

-It would be best if we split up at the same time.

Jun Myung’s words seemed right, but where were they supposed to flee to on such a vast plain?

“गोली मार!”
“(Goli maar!)”

The cavalryman in front shouted, and the riders drew their bowstrings.

“हाँ!!”
“(Haan!!)”

Then they charged.
At the same moment the cavalry surged forward, arrows flew in a volley.

Swaaaaaa!

At the sound, like a waterfall crashing down, the three warriors swung their weapons frantically.

Titititing!

Sparks burst one after another with a sharp rattling like beans popping.
Even for masters, deflecting incoming arrows required intense concentration.
And here, only three of them had to fend off hundreds.
Little by little, wounds began to appear on their bodies.
Worse still, in that span the charging cavalry accelerated.
This time, they held their spears leveled as though unwilling to allow the same outcome as before.

‘…No way, like this.’

In that instant, Seo Yeong-ji knew.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

The treasured daughter of Seo Mun-jae, the Absolute Master and Heretical Alliance Lord.
She, whose beauty, bloodline, and martial talent were counted among the finest in all the Central Plains.
To be trampled to death by foreign soldiers in some distant land no one would know.
Her legs trembled violently.
Even if she had burst into tears then, no one would have had the right to blame her.

At that moment, a black dot appeared in the sky.
It quickly became clear what that growing black dot was.
It was a spear.
A spear hurled by someone far away was flying higher than the arrows.
Then it fell right into the middle of the charging cavalry.

Kwaaaang!

It sounded like a catapult-thrown boulder smashing into a fortress wall.
The cavalry spear, nearly three meters long, skewered both horse and rider at once and drove into the ground.
The cavalry’s formation broke apart again.
At the same time, another spear flew in.

Kwaaaang!

This time, three horses became tangled together and crashed down.
And then another.

Kwaaaang!

This one dropped right into the middle of the cavalry archers.
Because of that, Seo Yeong-ji was finally able to calm the heart pounding wildly in fear.
Someone was throwing those spears.
Far away, at a distance so great it was hard to make out, a single man was standing there.
A man in red robes with long white hair streaming down.

-Martial Uncle Yi-gang!

Jun Myung shouted that.
Having apparently thrown all his spears, he began running toward them.
That great distance closed in an instant. Faster than a horse’s gallop.

“Jun Myung!”

It really was Yi-gang.

“Break toward the hill to the side!”

At those words, Seo Yeong-ji and the others immediately turned.
There was a hill on their right. As soon as they started running that way, the cavalry gave chase.
Using movement arts, they might well have escaped.
Ten Thousand Sword Lord grabbed Seo Yeong-ji and pulled her along.
It seemed they could escape if only they crossed the hill.

“Huk!”

Ten Thousand Sword Lord stopped abruptly.
Cavalry had appeared from the hill as well.
They were more numerous than before, and more heavily armed.
They had been surrounded front and back.
A shadow fell across Ten Thousand Sword Lord’s face.

-No, they’re Prince Akbar’s men!

But Jun Myung shouted that.
The cavalry bore blue banners, not Kamran Mirza’s.
And among them, a young man in the most splendid armor turned toward Jun Myung.

“Are they companions of Teacher?”

Though somewhat awkward, it was clearly the language of the Central Plains.

“Stay here and rest.”

There was an unmistakable authority in his voice.

When the prince shouted in the Mughal tongue, the cavalry threw something.
Round objects like balls flew through the air from a tool that used centrifugal force.
Then they fell behind Kamran Mirza’s cavalry.
Orange fire burst upward. They were Tianzhu fire bombs made from pitch and oil.

“Kraaagh!”
“Aagh!”

Screams erupted, and the formation began to break apart.
At that moment, the prince gave a command.

“हाँ!!”
“(Haan!!)”

His cavalry began charging down the hill as one, blowing their war horns.
Kamran Mirza’s cavalry cried out in alarm, but the prince’s cavalry showed no mercy.
The cavalry units became tangled together.
It was only natural that the side charging downhill had the advantage. Once the formation gave way, the prince’s cavalry swept through them.

“Haa, haa.”

Seo Yeong-ji let out ragged breaths.
Her life had been saved.
But there was no room to take comfort in that.

“Ahk!”

To her astonishment, an arrow was stuck in her rear.

“M-my lady!”
“Aagh, agh!”

Jun Myung gave a bitter smile.
Because he could see it clearly.
The arrow had only lodged in her saber sheath.

Kamran Mirza’s cavalry were completely annihilated.
Once the prince’s cavalry tore through them and Yi-gang joined in, the battle became easy.

Jun Myung and the others could not meet Yi-gang immediately.
They waited for Yi-gang in the prince’s camp until the fighting was completely over.
And at last, Yi-gang came.

-Martial Uncle!
“It’s been a long time!”

Anyone who had known Yi-gang before would have been startled to see him.
Yi-gang and Jun Myung embraced in reunion.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”
-No, I’m alright.
“That’s a relief. You gave me quite a shock. I never expected to find you fighting Kamran Mirza’s cavalry.”

Yi-gang smiled in relief.
As time had passed, Yi-gang’s appearance had changed greatly as well.
He had crossed blades with the Emperor, leader of the Evil Cult, and had exhausted himself by forcibly burning through the power contained in Nüwa’s head.
In that process, his hair had been bleached pure white.
Even with time passing, its color had never returned.

“And these people are…?”

Yi-gang looked toward Seo Yeong-ji and Ten Thousand Sword Lord.
Jun Myung remembered that Seo Yeong-ji had spoken poorly of Yi-gang.
He was a little worried, but…

“G-greetings, Great Hero Heavenly Pillar Baek Yi-gang. I am Seo Yeong-ji, an insignificant junior of Murim.”
“Ah…”
“My father is the Heretical Alliance Lord.”
“I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Yi-gang smiled gently and gave a fist-clasp salute.
Fortunately, once she met Yi-gang in person, Seo Yeong-ji behaved respectfully.

“You’ve been through a rough journey.”
“Yes, yes. Here, this is a letter from our Heretical Alliance.”

Seo Yeong-ji took out a scroll wrapped in purple silk from within her robes and offered it to him.
Yi-gang accepted it as though used to such things.

“I’ll read it carefully.”
“Yes!”

Jun Myung also handed Yi-gang the silk letter packet containing the bundled letters.
As he did, Jun Myung gave Yi-gang a hint.

-Congratulations on gaining disciples, Martial Uncle.
“Disciples?”

Yi-gang’s eyes widened.
Jun Myung smiled faintly as he continued.

-Cheongho, Tsering, and a girl named Baek Sang-ye have entered Azure Forest.

Then he briefly explained the circumstances.
Yi-gang, visibly surprised, quickly opened the bundle of letters.
Among them, he unfolded first the one that described everyday news and the current state of Azure Forest.
Yi-gang read the letter.

“Hahahaha!”

Then he burst out laughing.