18 – Staff Demon (6)

Ho Yeyang. She couldn’t fall asleep even though the night had grown deep.

“Hoo…”

Rising to sit up on her bed, she lit the oil lamp.

Gon-gwi Gu Gangryong. Because of his visit, Hojeongmun had once again fallen into financial hardship.

The money that the escorts of Hojil Escort Agency had earned by risking their lives—Gon-gwi had taken it away as casually as if he were emptying a pouch of pocket money. The burden of that loss fell squarely on Hojeongmun.

Whether in the martial world or the scholarly world, isn’t every place where people live like this?

The weak are devoured by the strong, and the strong are devoured by those even stronger.

That is the fate of a small and weak sect.

What made it worse was that Hojeongmun was a place that refrained from preying on those weaker than themselves, so the blow was even more severe.

‘Poor Father.’

Ho Yeyang thought of Ho Yeonam, who had drawn his sword for her sake.

In the end, her father had swallowed his anger and bowed his head for the sake of the people of Hojeongmun.

Had things gone slightly wrong, Hojeongmun—which had been passed down through generations—might have been submerged in blood and wiped out in an instant, so in a way it was the natural choice.

In the end, everything came down to the logic of power.

Those who are good must not be weak.

Only by being strong can one uphold one’s principles and convictions.

Drreureuk—

Ho Yeyang took a document from the drawer beside her desk.

<Martial Alliance – Ascending Heaven Academy / Acceptance Notice>

What she held in her hand was a letter sent from far away, from the Martial Alliance.

Ascending Heaven Academy.

It was an academy directly operated by the Martial Alliance, the central coalition of the “Fifteen Pillars of the Orthodox Path,” composed of the Nine Sects, One Gang, and the Five Great Families.

Young people aged sixteen to eighteen were admitted, and through about eight years of training, they were reborn as the next generation of talent that would lead the martial world.

With the systematic support provided there, becoming a master was practically a given, and after graduation one could remain in the Martial Alliance or return to one’s original affiliation.

Ho Yeyang had once secretly visited the Martial Alliance without her parents’ knowledge to take the entrance examination for Ascending Heaven Academy, and she had recently received the results.

“Hoo…”

At her sigh, the lamp flame wavered gently.

“To think I’d pass so easily.”

It was something that would make the younger generations of other great families faint if they heard it.

Ascending Heaven Academy was the undisputed top training ground of the orthodox martial world, a place everyone was desperate to enter.

In the annual Intelligence, Virtue, and Body examinations held by the academy, Ho Yeyang had scored close to full marks.

Despite such an honorable achievement, there was only one reason she was sighing.

The tuition.

The tuition at Ascending Heaven Academy was infamous for being exorbitant.

Then again, since those who applied were usually talents deliberately cultivated by their sects or families, tuition was probably not even something they worried about.

Ho Yeyang too had found the amount burdensome, but she believed that if she could just enroll, her parents would be happy.

After graduating and returning, she could use her experience from the Martial Alliance to greatly elevate her family.

But—

With their fortunes already declining day by day due to interference from the Jo family head and the Black Dao Gang, this latest plundering by Gon-gwi had delivered the final blow.

Money. That was the problem.

“…”

Ho Yeyang gazed silently at the acceptance notice from Ascending Heaven Academy, then crumpled it up.

She decided not to tell her parents about it.

‘Still… it’s a shame.’

She wanted to go to the Martial Alliance.

She wanted to enroll in Ascending Heaven Academy and see a wider, higher world.

But given her current situation, it was difficult, so Ho Yeyang resolved to quickly cast aside her lingering regrets.

Maybe if she got some fresh night air and bought herself a dumpling or two as a late-night snack, she’d feel a bit better.

“…Yeah, as if.”

Ho Yeyang entered an alley with an awkward expression.

Swaaaaaa—

While she was walking along the main road where there hadn’t been a soul in sight, rain suddenly began to pour down.

“Bong-ah! Let’s go in there and take shelter from the rain for now!”

She tugged on the reins of her beloved horse.

The dumpling shop she often visited for late-night snacks had its doors shut tight.

It was late, and more than that, the rain looked like it would keep pouring for days.

Ho Yeyang hurried under the eaves.

Then she leaned against the earthen wall to avoid the rain.

Squeeze—

She wrung the water out of her soaked clothes.

Wiping the rainwater streaming down her forehead, she let out a small sigh.

She had come out for a night walk to shake off her disappointment, and now this—what rotten luck.

Phuhihing—

The horse beside her snorted.

It seemed to like the refreshing downpour, shaking its mane with a satisfied look.

“Bong, you little—your sister’s soaked to the bone, and you’re the only one in a good mood?”

Ho Yeyang laughed as she gave the horse’s rump a light smack.

Just then—

A human voice came from the far end of the alley.

“Hey! Which bastard dumped shit all over the road!?”

It was the voice of the waiter from the dumpling shop she frequented.

He was a big man with a fierce look, so her first thought was that he might be fighting with someone.

“Pick this up right now! How dare you dump this in front of someone else’s dumpling shop—… huh!?”

But then, midway, the waiter’s voice from beyond the darkness changed abruptly.

“I-I’m sorry. Please go on your way. You might’ve really needed to take a dump, right, yeah—just go ahead and do your business. I’ll clean it up tomorrow morning. Haha—look at this rain, it’ll all just wash away anyway. Nothing to clean, right? Haha—hahahaha…”

What was it? What on earth could make that brash waiter cower and run away like that?

Ho Yeyang felt her curiosity stir.

So she led her horse and went around to the back of the alley.

And soon, she came face to face with something.

How should she describe it—this thing, that vivid red thing.

A man standing forlornly in the darkness, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.

His entire body was covered in wounds and blood, and the stench of gore filled the air around him.

Water dripped from the ends of his soaked hair, but even those drops were stained completely red, making it impossible to tell whether they were raindrops or blood.

“E-excuse me?”

Ho Yeyang spoke up in a trembling voice.

“A-are you a person? Or a ghost?”

At that, the crimson shadow turned its gaze toward her.

A small stature and slender build, making it hard to tell whether it was male or female.

She couldn’t see his face, but she knew at a glance.

He was dying.

At length, the shadow answered.

“Whatever it looks like.”

“Then you’re a ghost.”

“…”

At Ho Yeyang’s words, the shadow fell silent.

Then it made a motion as if glancing down at its own appearance.

‘Whew—he’s human.’

Ho Yeyang felt some of her fear ease.

If he were truly a blood-crazed demon, he wouldn’t have answered—he would have lunged at her immediately.

‘Still… that voice sounds familiar.’

She thought so.

The shadow’s voice was rough and hoarse, as if he had swallowed hot embers, and it was hard to hear over the sound of the rain.

Yet despite that, she felt certain she had heard that voice somewhere before.

Just then—

Phuhihing!

Ho Yeyang’s horse broke her train of thought.

“B-Bong-ah! What’s wrong!”

The horse ignored her urgent voice and stamped restlessly.

It seemed frightened of the crimson shadow lingering at the far end of the alley.

Then—

Swish—

The shadow moved.

It looked like he was trying to go past the alley.

Unsteady, staggering steps.

Breathing so labored it seemed he might collapse and die at any moment.

Seeing that, Ho Yeyang spoke without thinking.

“Wait!”

When the shadow stopped, she took a small pouch from her saddle.

Hwak—

She threw the pouch toward the shadow.

Inside was a medicinal powder for treating wounds.

“It’s not expensive, but… if you need it, please use it.”

“…”

The shadow clutched the pouch with the wound medicine and said nothing.

She could only feel his gaze, staring silently at her from beyond the darkness.

Gathering her courage, Ho Yeyang said,

“I don’t know what happened… and I can’t just meddle in the grudges of the martial world… but at the very least, I have enough compassion to help someone in trouble right in front of me. I-if you don’t want it, just throw it away.”

Then—

“…”

The pouch with the wound medicine slid quietly into the darkness.

And then—

Squirm—

The shadow moved once more.

Startled, Ho Yeyang instinctively jumped back a step.

Then, before her—

…Clatter!

A heavy pouch dropped to the ground.

It was a suspicious-looking leather bag, thickly caked with dried blood.

Ho Yeyang exclaimed in a hurry,

“W-what is this? I just wanted to help, why—”

“Put it on the horse.”

The shadow didn’t wait for her to finish.

Pik—

And like a candle being snuffed out, it vanished without a trace.

Ho Yeyang stood there blankly for a moment, rain pouring down on her.

“…What was that?”

Only after some time passed did she cautiously move.

The leather pouch reeked of blood.

What could possibly be inside?

With a faint tremor in her hand, Ho Yeyang reached out.

Fearing something horrific might be inside, she narrowed her eyes and quickly opened the mouth of the bag.

“Hhk!”

The overwhelming stench of blood made her recoil a step.

She had been ready to run immediately if something dangerous was inside.

But—

“…!”

What lay inside widened her eyes in shock.

Gold ingots. And a tremendous amount of them.

Without realizing it, Ho Yeyang reached her hand into the pouch.

Cold, heavy, and reeking of blood—this was undeniably money.

“This is… this is clearly from our Hojeongmun…?”

She stared blankly into the pouch.

Inside were the gold ingots Gon-gwi had taken from Hojeongmun, along with many other pieces of gold and silver.

There were even quite a few promissory notes that appeared to have originated from the Jo family and the Black Dao Gang.

Ho Yeyang understood at once.

This was Gon-gwi Gu Gangryong’s money pouch.

And its original owner was dead.

From somewhere beyond the darkness came the sound of blood-soaked footsteps.

Step—

Weary.

Step—step—

Lonely.

Step—step—step—

In pain.

Step—step—step—step—

Solitary.

Without realizing it, Ho Yeyang rose to her feet.

Ignoring the rain and mud soaking her body, she followed the sound of the footsteps.

But—

“…”

There was nothing where the sound disappeared.

Only the traces of desperate, blood-filled coughs, slowly being washed away by the rain.

 

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