As soon as the competition ended, Ogwang collapsed to the ground and burst into tears like a child.
In the end, it was Sahyeon who had to clean up the mess.
Grabbing the old senior’s collar, Sahyeon forced him to his feet and dragged him through the crowd of excited people.
The bamboo hat he had been wearing flew off after being struck by someone’s elbow.
As the bright sunlight hit his head, he could feel the gazes of people glancing at him from all directions.
It was probably due to the snow-white hair that didn’t suit his youthful age.
When was it?
After that terrible night in Ma Cheon, when he regained consciousness, his once-black hair had completely turned white.
At first, he had hidden it by tearing his clothes, because the reflection of his white hair in the muddy water looked so strange and horrifying.
But looking back, he had actually benefited from having this hair more than he had suffered.
Even in a village where people’s hearts had become hardened by the war, the ‘pitiful child’ with white hair had been given even a spoonful of vegetable porridge.
The young boy who had herded cattle while earning a small wage had been able to enter Seung’s tutelage, likely because his white hair reminded people of the仙童 (a young immortal or celestial child) who protected the immortal.
His master had been someone who revered immortals and raised cranes in his garden.
In the end, he hadn’t turned out to be like an immortal…
“Why are you crying for no reason?” Sahyeon scolded.
Already exhausted from losing 200 nyang because of the stupid chicken, Sahyeon was further drained.
Now, dragging the limp figure of Ogwang, his anger boiled within him.
He eventually threw Ogwang onto the ground and shouted at him.
“Ugh, Hyun-ah, sorry… I’m sorry…! I… I’m such a fool… I should have either lived by digging into the ground or gone to war with a pickaxe when I was hungry… Hyun, you should have gone out and worn fine silk clothes, repaid the master’s debts… But I… I wanted to win this time…!”
How should he deal with this stupid, yet kind-hearted, man?
Or should he even consider whether it was Sahyeon who had been leading him astray all this time?
Wasn’t it the master who had asked Sahyeon to help Ogwang find his own path?
Perhaps, by Sahyeon filling him with high aspirations and distant goals, he had pushed him into such a mess.
Well, from the master’s point of view, Sahyeon probably looked like just another young kid who herded cattle, so maybe he had meant for them both to go into the mountains and live peacefully, farming and tending to the land.
Sahyeon, feeling both frustration and confusion, looked up to the bright blue sky above, as though protesting to the master, who might be somewhere up there.
From far in the sky, a white crane spread its wings and flew in circles.
At this point, it would have been nice if the damn chicken had just dropped dead…
But the crane didn’t comply with Sahyeon’s wish, and instead flew off, tail long, disappearing somewhere in the distance.
Sitting down exhausted in front of Ogwang, Sahyeon let out a deep sigh.
“Ogwang, stop crying. Even if things are tough, coming up with a solution is what I do, right? Just like I’ve done so far… It’ll work out somehow.”
“I’m sorry, Hyun-ah, I’m really sorry…” Ogwang continued to cry.
Of course, even if he calmed down, seeing his older brother crying like a child wasn’t something Sahyeon could easily tolerate.
“Damn it, what good is crying gonna do? Stop it!”
Ogwang, his eyes still teary, seemed like he might cry again.
But realizing he might be abandoned if he continued, he wiped his tears away with his sleeve and nodded.
“…So, did you really lose 200 nyang betting on that stupid chicken?” Sahyeon asked.
“Well, you know… When you borrow money in the cockfighting ring, you have to use it there… You can’t get it back in cash right away. They’ll give it to you as a token and only pay you back in real money if you win…”
Ogwang explained.
Sahyeon was bewildered.
Who in their right mind would give 200 nyang to a person with nothing?
This was madness.
“So, you borrowed money from the cockfighting ring?”
Sahyeon asked, realizing this was a risky situation.
“Yeah, they told me to pay it back when I left.”
Sahyeon was deep in thought.
He washed his face quickly and stared at the cockfighting ring’s entrance.
Big, tough-looking men with menacing knives stood guarding the gates, patting down anyone who tried to leave.
What should he do?
Should he reveal his identity and promise to repay the debt once he started his career as a government official?
Or should he threaten to report them to the authorities, citing the former king’s prohibition of loan sharks?
He feared that if he chose the first option, rumors would spread, and his career as a government official might be destroyed.
The second option could lead to his own death, with those men’s knives at his throat.
Should he just abandon Ogwang and run, leaving him to live out his life at the gambling den?
Lost in thought, Sahyeon felt a hand land on his shoulder.
A group of loan sharks from the cockfighting ring had come up to them.
“Hey, you’re the scholar who said you were going to make a big score today, right? Why are you crying? Are you so moved by your big winnings?”
Before Sahyeon could decide how to get out of this, they continued.
“Well then, scholar. Why don’t you pay the 200 nyang you borrowed and get out?”
But something was off.
Why were they offering to lend 200 nyang to Ogwang, a man with nothing to his name?
How were they planning to collect if he couldn’t pay?
And why were they all staring at Sahyeon, not Ogwang?
One of the old men, holding a thick ledger, smiled at Sahyeon, who awkwardly laughed in response.
“I heard this person owes you 200 nyang.”
“Three hundred, actually.”
Sahyeon, unsure whether Ogwang had lied or not, glared at him.
Ogwang, flustered, raised his voice.
“No, no, Hyun-ah! I only borrowed 200 nyang!”
“They took 100 nyang as interest first and then gave him the 200 nyang. Don’t you scholars know simple math?” one of the loan sharks said, explaining with a mocking smile.
It seemed that Ogwang had fallen into the hands of a ruthless moneylender.
“This is usury! This is taking advantage of people!”
Sahyeon snapped, now realizing they had been swindled.
“Oh, you didn’t know? We explained everything when we lent the money,” the loan shark replied.
This was a terrible mess, and Sahyeon was now thoroughly caught up in it.
He stared at the loan sharks, feeling trapped and desperate.
“Okay. Then how about we do this,” one of the loan sharks said, eyes glinting with malice.
“Right?”
The “Great Master” who was revered and respected by all the people of the continent, the great scholar Chae Gong.
She spent her life wandering, never settling in one place, and though she never held a high official position, her fame spread far and wide, so much so that even the children in the streets knew her name.
“We are actually disciples of Chae Gong.”
Now that Chae Gong has passed away, there was a covert competition within the continent to secure her legitimate successor, with many of her famous disciples being gathered.
Most of her disciples were heading towards Yugang, which was also Chae Gong’s hometown.
However, the King of Pasa had never been favorable towards Chae Gong, and as for Hayeon…
“Ah, I knew she wasn’t an ordinary person. But tell me, Master, did Chae Gong not die at the hands of her disciple?”
The disciple who killed her, the “substitute master” (代師者) Yun Gyu-hwa.
Sahyeon silently clenched his teeth.
He could still vividly hear Chae Gong’s voice, her hand cold as it gripped Sahyeon’s after drinking the poisoned cup.
In those final moments, he had entrusted O-Gwang, who had been like a painful finger to him, to Sahyeon.
Sahyeon couldn’t abandon his teacher’s final wish.
Even though he couldn’t protect his master, he had to somehow rescue O-Gwang from this predicament.
“There was a reckless senior disciple who caused such a tragic event… But, the master did not choose a disciple to inherit the teachings, so now, in each kingdom, they are trying to appoint a disciple of Chae Gong.”
“Once you become a guest official and receive a letter of recommendation, you’ll have the chance to meet the king, and then you can rise to a position of power.”
The basics of persuasion were to deceive with words.
Fortunately, the moneylender seemed intrigued by Sahyeon’s words and nodded as if to continue.
“However, these stewards from noble families, unaware of the situation, are so focused on their own pockets that unless they are bribed, they refuse to allow people into the guest official position. It seems that Sahyeon has resorted to such means to gather the money.”
Then, he made his proposal.
It was about knowing what the other person wanted and making it possible for them to achieve it.
The moneylender must want money, and if there was a firm agreement to obtain that, he would not hold onto the scholars who would only end up being empty.
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