“Please lend me just fifty more nyang. I’ll give the money to the steward, become a retainer, and as soon as I receive my first official salary, I’ll pay you back.”
Of course, there was a catch to this proposal.
“That’s a clever idea. Then, may I make a proposal of my own, Scholar?”
It only worked when the other party had no better options.
“I hear the high officials in Seongdo are offering a hefty reward for anyone who captures the white-haired scholar.”
Those damn stewards didn’t even let him step past the front gate—so where had such a rumor started, this talk of capturing someone?
If they’d specifically mentioned Sahyeon, then it must be Yun Gyuhwa’s doing.
As if killing their master wasn’t enough, now they were trying to round up the remaining disciples.
Sahyeon had come all the way to Pasa to escape his grasp, but it seemed even here, his influence reached.
“I’ve caught people for them a few times before, but they weren’t bad folks. They just had their fun, got bored, and then handed them a decent sum of money before letting them go. Scholar, wouldn’t that be good enough for you too? Use that money to get appointed, or whatever you want.”
…Or was it simply that some “high pervert” was throwing around cash to indulge in exotic pleasures?
“That’s… not the main issue here, but did you say ‘people’?”
“Ah…”
The loan shark scratched the scar on his cheek, as if realizing he’d slipped up.
“They’re a couple, actually. They like to play with one person together.”
Damn it.
A happily married couple, apparently.
“So you’re rejecting my offer?”
“Scholar, how much do you think your official salary will be? Who knows how many years that’ll take? Why not just win the favor of those high folks, and yeah, try sweet-talking them into giving you a position straight from the bedroom? Whether you flatter them with your mouth or your ass, what’s the difference?”
Sahyeon rolled his eyes with a sulky expression.
The loan shark took that as a positive sign and waited patiently with a friendly smile.
The most important rule in persuasion is:
When you meet someone who can’t be reasoned with, don’t try to persuade them—just run, if you want to keep your life.
“Brother!”
The people who were supposed to be guarding the door had come in and now surrounded Sahyeon and Ogwang.
More precisely, they encircled Sahyeon, leaving a gap toward Ogwang, who stood fuming.
In that case…?
“Run!”
The loan shark threw off the ledgers he was holding, broke through the encirclement in a flash, and shoved Ogwang toward the door.
Usually slow on the uptake, Ogwang seemed to grasp the urgency this time—he grabbed Sahyeon’s wrist and sprinted without a word.
“Get those bastards!”
Damn it.
Sweet-talking my ass.
Sure, like the loan shark said, it wasn’t impossible to cozy up to those “high perverts” and gain a position.
But being known as someone who got appointed through sweet words was vastly different from being known as someone who shook their hips to get the job.
Sahyeon hadn’t dragged himself all the way up north just for a fancy title.
He had a goal—one he held even when he first became a disciple.
Chae Gong had heard Sahyeon’s dream and said she’d make it come true.
That he should stay by her side and watch.
But her way was wrong.
Chae Gong had proven that by giving her life for it.
So now, it was time to pursue the dream in Sahyeon’s own way.
That dream he’d had long ago, when he was too young to know anything…
“Ugh, damn, huff!”
But now, because of that damn chicken match, he was about to be sold off before he even got the chance to try.
“Huff, Sahyeon! I’ll distract them with this—so you take the next alley and get away!”
Ogwang, his face dripping with sweat, proudly waved a bundle of green onions he must’ve stolen from a nearby stand.
Was he seriously trying to trick them by pretending that green onion bunch was someone’s head?
No way those goons would fall for that!
…Sahyeon wanted to say that, but he was too breathless to speak, only mouthing the words as Ogwang shoved him into a narrow alley.
“Huff, huff…”
Dark shadows, accompanied by hurried footsteps, passed right in front of the alley.
Could it be… that Ogwang’s trick actually worked?
Blinking in confusion, Sahyeon peeked through the alley gap.
“What the hell is that guy holding?!”
The footsteps returned.
“There he is!”
“Damn, I knew it wouldn’t work.”
Sahyeon quickly scrambled to his feet and took off again down the narrow alley.
He had no time to think—only moments to make snap decisions as the alley split this way and that.
—Screech, screech!
A falcon’s cry, like the one from the cockfighting pit, pierced through the haze of his hearing.
Sahyeon squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the sweat blurring his vision to drip away, and raised his head toward the sky.
The rooftops above were so close they looked like they touched, with a long strip of sky stretched between them.
A white gyrfalcon was flying along that sliver of sky.
As it reached a fork, it suddenly veered left, as if it too were inside the maze of alleys.
Before he knew it, Sahyeon was chasing after the falcon, stumbling left into the next alley.
Then right.
Then left again.
Was the falcon truly guiding him?
Or was he simply grabbing onto whatever hope he could find, following a random bird out of desperation?
It was maddening to leave things up to chance.
And yet, every alley he entered was miraculously clear…
The gyrfalcon turned left again.
With breath ragged and chest heaving, Sahyeon flung himself left at the corner.
A flash of white light burst into his vision.
And suddenly—an all-too-familiar street opened up before him.
The front of the inn where he’d been staying in Yeonju.
“Huff, huff…”
As if it had fulfilled its role, the falcon circled lazily above Sahyeon’s head and then disappeared into the sky.
His legs trembled, and he nearly collapsed where he stood.
But behind him came angry shouts: “Where the hell did that bastard go? Find him!”
The passersby glanced at Sahyeon but didn’t look like they were about to help.
And the grumpy innkeeper probably wouldn’t be of much use either.
Come to think of it, there was a shabby stable on the west side of the inn.
If he could just get on a horse, maybe the pain ripping through his chest would ease…
Sahyeon staggered toward the inn’s courtyard.
As he pushed through the wooden gate, a wave of steam from a massive stew pot, boiling for lunch, blasted him in the face.
The stifling air made him falter—and in that moment, a club slammed into his back.
He hadn’t even reached the stable.
Sahyeon collapsed onto the ground.
“Cough, ugh…”
Sparks flew across his vision.
His lungs, already at their limit, screamed in pain—he couldn’t breathe.
Still, he flailed one arm forward, trying not to be dragged away so easily.
His fingers brushed someone’s hem.
Without even seeing who it was, Sahyeon clung to it.
“Damn it, you couldn’t just come quietly, could you…?”
Someone yanked Sahyeon’s hair hard.
With his throat torn, he couldn’t even cry for help.
All he could do was desperately cling to the hem of someone’s clothing.
“Hey, you there. Are you with this guy?”
Until a cold voice dropped heavily from above his head.
“Phew, yes. I was just playing around out of boredom, so ignore it and move on.”
“But this one’s clinging to my clothes.”
“Tsk.”
Something blunt jabbed the back of Sahyeon’s hand.
With a scream of pain, Sahyeon had no choice but to let go of the hem.
“Happy now?”
“Not quite. I don’t like people touching me without permission.”
“Goddammit. I’m already dead tired and now this crap… Hey, dog-eyes. Walk on quietly while I’m asking nicely.”
The man who had been grabbing Sahyeon’s hair let go and stood up.
With great effort, Sahyeon forced open his dust-covered eyelids to look up.
The brutes who had chased him were now all staring at the owner of the icy voice.
He barely had time to consider crawling away before someone’s foot slammed down on his head.
Sahyeon’s face was once again shoved into the ground.
“This one’s already unconscious…”
A soft, mocking laugh followed.
“Shouldn’t his ‘companion’ take responsibility?”
“Aaaaaaagh!”
With a scream that tore through the air, something dropped right in front of Sahyeon’s nose.
After blinking a few times, he could finally see what it was.
It was a hand.
***
“A cockfighting ring?!”
At the outraged shout, the horses tied in the stable neighed wildly and stomped their hooves.
Around that time, the man half-buried in dry straw, Dan Ijae, opened his eyes.
Whether it was the vibrations shaking the ground or just a lingering hangover from the night before, his head throbbed painfully the moment he got up.
Brushing off the straw stuck to his palm, Dan Ijae rubbed his forehead.
Through the crudely woven stable fence, he saw the sharp peak of a straw hat bob past with furious energy.
“Senior or whatever, I’m not letting that bastard off today!”
It seemed that tragedy had struck this inn since early morning.
“Haha, looks like someone’s going to die today.”
Whether he meant it or not, the innkeeper’s laugh—always sounding as if he was mocking someone—grew closer.
Only then did Dan Ijae sluggishly sit up from the straw pile.