5 – The Invincible Porter (3)

Chui passed by the main gate of Hojungmun and headed for the rear gate instead.

If he showed the gold plaque he had received from the head escort of Hojil Escort Agency, he could easily enter through the front gate, but… doing so would place many constraints on his actions later.

As he was considering how to get inside, just then—

—Bang!

The rear gate suddenly flew open, and someone rushed out from inside.

“You little bastard! Why are you only showing up now!”

A boy with a tall frame, a fat build, and a fierce-looking face.

Without warning, he grabbed Chui by the back of the neck and dragged him straight through the rear gate into Hojungmun.

“Honestly, this is why you never give work to beggar trash! You looked like you had nowhere to go, so I took pity on you and took you in! I told you to clean up some horse dung, and you couldn’t even handle that before running off!? Where did the rest of your friends go, huh!?”

There seemed to be a misunderstanding, but Chui did not bother correcting him.

The large boy continued to berate him.

“Listen carefully. I am Woo Dongwon, the honorable stablemaster of the great Hojungmun. From now on, you work under me managing the stables. It’s nothing complicated. Just clean up the horse dung on time and feed them properly. If you do that right, you’ll at least get cold rice three times a day. What do you think? Way better than living as a beggar, right? So don’t run off, and work hard, you ungrateful punk!”

At Woo Dongwon’s words, Chui looked down at himself.

His clothes had gotten quite dirty on the way here.

Dirty enough to be mistaken for a beggar boy doing day labor for meals.

Woo Dongwon grumbled as he shoved Chui forward.

“These kids these days have no grit at all. Compared to wandering around begging, working as a servant in Hojungmun is practically paradise. Tsk!”

Soon, Chui was led to the most remote corner of the Hojungmun estate.

The stables.

Woo Dongwon said to Chui,

“You remember all the details I told you the other day, right?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t… what? You talking back to me?”

When Chui remained silent, Woo Dongwon tilted his head, wondering if he had misheard.

Then he began explaining again.

“Geez, you already forgot? Stupid brat. No wonder you live by begging. Sleep in one of the stalls there, eat whatever leftovers we leave behind. Is that really so hard to remember?”

“…”

“The horses are expensive, so professionals take care of them. All guys like us do is clean dung and feed them. If you don’t want to die from a kick to the back leg, don’t go near the horses.”

Finally, Woo Dongwon poked Chui in the forehead with a finger.

“We’re basically surplus labor. But the Sect Leader of Hojungmun showed mercy and hired starving kids from the area. So don’t complain that the work is hard and don’t run away. Work properly. Got— huh?”

Woo Dongwon couldn’t finish his sentence.

Thud— thud— BANG!

A horse suddenly kicked open the stable door and charged inside.

“W-what!? Aah!”

Chui dodged calmly, but Woo Dongwon was grazed by a hoof and his leg snapped.

“Aaaargh!”

Woo Dongwon clutched his leg and rolled on the ground.

“…”

Chui turned his head.

A massive black horse stood inside the stable, snorting violently.

Stone-like hide, iron-like bones, a body far larger than ordinary horses—a truly famous steed.

And now, the owner of that steed was standing outside the stable, laughing loudly.

“That beast really is worth the price. Bought it for the cost of a whole tiled house, and taming it is still a nightmare~”

“Young Master, is this really all right? A stablehand seems to be injured.”

“Aren’t they basically dogs anyway? Just pay dog money and be done with it. Think of it as an extra Boknal this year. Hahaha—”

A young nobleman dressed in silk and what appeared to be his bodyguard were conversing.

Several stable boys supported Woo Dongwon and muttered in low voices.

“It’s Young Master Jo Taebeom from the Jo Family again.”

“Young Master my ass. That lecher.”

“What kind of trouble is he stirring up this time?”

Chui followed their gazes.

Jo Taebeom of the Jo Family.

A handsome young man with sharp eyebrows, deep double eyelids, and a refined gaze.

Covering half his face with a folding fan, Jo Taebeom said,

“It smells like horse dung. Let’s go inside quickly. Just being looked at by lowly creatures makes my clothes feel dirty.”

They turned to leave the stable and head toward the inner courtyard.

At that moment—

“I hurried out when I heard we had a guest, but I didn’t realize it was Young Master Jo.”

Someone blocked Jo Taebeom’s path.

A middle-aged man with a tiger-like appearance and a long beard.

It was Ho Yeonam, the Sect Leader of Hojungmun.

The displeasure in Ho Yeonam’s eyes as he looked at Jo Taebeom was unmistakable.

“What brings Young Master Jo here?”

Jo Taebeom clasped his hands leisurely.

“What else would I visit my in-laws for, Father-in-law? I came to see my future wife.”

“If you mean my Yeyang, I have never accepted any marriage proposal.”

“Not yet, that’s true. I plan to marry once Miss Ho turns seventeen.”

“…”

Ho Yeonam glared at him.

Jo Taebeom smiled slyly and continued.

“The rumors have already spread all over town. That Miss Ho and I will be married in a year. Even the children have made songs about it. ‘Miss Ho of Hojungmun~ secretly paired up~ sneaking Young Master Jo~ into her arms at night~'”

“I suspect those rumors were started by Young Master Jo himself, to ruin my daughter’s prospects.”

“How could that be? What would I gain by going so far to take a woman from a sect far inferior to the Jo Family as my wife—”

Just then—

“Since neither side lacks anything, there is no reason for marriage talks in the first place.”

A sharp voice rang out from behind Ho Yeonam.

A young woman emerged into the courtyard.

At the boundary between girlhood and womanhood.

Jet-black hair like silk, jade-white skin, crescent-shaped dark brows, lashes so long they seemed dusted with snow, and clear eyes like a lake.

Ho Yeyang.

The precious jewel of Hojungmun.

The Sect Leader’s only daughter.

She spoke coldly.

“I do not care about public opinion. Young Master Jo should look elsewhere for a match.”

“But rumors are dangerous things, you know—”

“There is no need to hear any more. I will not marry Young Master Jo, nor anyone from the Jo Family. That will be all.”

A decisive dismissal.

Ho Yeonam and Ho Yeyang turned and left.

Left alone after being blatantly ignored, Jo Taebeom sneered.

“…A third-rate sect barely scraping by, yet still so stiff-necked.”

“Young Master, what shall we do?”

“Well, we only stopped by for amusement on the way to the pleasure house anyway. Let’s go. For today, at least.”

Jo Taebeom slung an arm around his bodyguard’s shoulders and grinned.

“By the way, did you see Ho Yeyang?”

“Today was the first time I saw Miss Ho’s face.”

“How was she?”

“Honestly, my heart nearly stopped the moment I saw her. She was so beautiful she didn’t seem human. Of everyone I’ve seen in my life, the phrase ‘beauty like a flower and moon’ fits her best.”

“Right? A beauty that could topple a nation, just like the rumors?”

“The rumors don’t do her justice.”

“Exactly. There’s a reason I’m obsessed.”

Jo Taebeom continued with a leering smile.

“Then you understand why I say Ho Yeyang’s beauty is one that brings ruin?”

“Because it can destroy a country… yes, I understand.”

The bodyguard nodded, surveying all of Hojungmun.

Jo Taebeom added,

“A beautiful woman without money or power is doomed to misfortune. Ho Yeyang’s misfortune comes entirely from her face. She’s far too beautiful for a place like Hojungmun. That’s why someone like me sets his sights on her. It’s a calamity she brought upon herself~”

“That is true. To be targeted by the great lecher Young Master Jo—Miss Ho’s future is indeed tragic.”

“Hahaha! And that’s coming from someone who wastes half his pay at pleasure houses?”

Laughing together, Jo Taebeom and his bodyguard returned to the stable.

Because of the earlier commotion, all the stable boys had long since fled.

“Hyah! Let’s head to the pleasure house!”

Jo Taebeom leapt onto his black horse.

But strangely, the vicious-tempered steed stood perfectly still, even with Jo Taebeom on its back.

“What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you moving?”

Jo Taebeom looked down at the horse in confusion.

A foreign famed steed purchased at the cost of an entire tiled house.

Normally, a single tug on the reins would send it charging forward.

Yet today, it was unusually docile.

“What, are you sick?”

The bodyguard reached out to touch the horse’s face.

At that moment—

Gurgle…

The black horse suddenly foamed at the mouth and rolled its eyes back.

Then—

Thud!

It collapsed sideways, tongue lolling out, dead.

From a distance, Chui stood watching the stable.

Jo Taebeom and his bodyguard were hopping mad, circling the fallen horse.

They seemed to be examining its body, trying to figure out why it died.

“Waste of effort.”

They would never learn the reason.

Because the one who killed the horse was Chui himself.

Drip— drip—

Blood dripped from the horse’s liver in Chui’s hand.

Having killed countless horses on battlefields, Chui knew more than thirty ways to kill a horse without leaving visible wounds.

One of them involved oiling one’s hand, inserting it into the horse’s anus, and tearing out the liver.

“Fox Claw Art. Fox Sister’s Technique.”

One of the crude tricks he had learned while crawling through battlefields as a low-ranking soldier.

The soldier who taught it to him, named Maegu, used to sneak into the stables to steal horse livers whenever rations ran short.

“He got caught and beheaded, then displayed for three hundred days… but anyway.”

Chui watched Jo Taebeom grumbling as he left the stable.

“So that’s him. The Jo Family’s lecherous only son.”

He knew from Ho Yeyang.

The downfall of Hojungmun had been caused by the Jo Family.

They hired the Heukdobang to attack Hojungmun, wiping it out.

Ho Yeyang had said it was merely a dispute over interests between the Jo Family and Hojungmun…

But the true reason was Jo Taebeom’s lust for Ho Yeyang’s beauty.

Whether Ho Yeyang herself knew this was uncertain.

But Chui was sure that he—no, she—had known.

“So that’s why she burned her face with fire.”

Burning her face and swallowing charcoal was not merely to change her appearance.

It was because she had come to see her own beauty as a curse.

Step—

Having finished his thoughts, Chui began walking.

And he quietly started following Jo Taebeom, who had disappeared beyond the horizon.

Step— step—

When you meet your friend’s mortal enemy, words are unnecessary.

Step— step— step—

Actions will suffice.

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