Chapter 45

Chapter 45: The Sandstorm Calls for Blood (2)

The old man whose deep wrinkles bore the marks of time was none other than Geum Gwan-cheon, the master of the Golden Horse Ranch.

He stood with arms spread wide, blocking Shim Ok's path.

"Who are you, young lady, to casually steal another man's horse?"

"I have no time to explain. Step aside."

"I cannot do that. The horse you are riding is the precious property of our ranch."

"I will compensate you later. The safety of Xinjiang is at stake. Please step aside."

"Ho!"

Geum Gwan-cheon looked at the shouting woman with an expression of disbelief.

Shim Ok reached into her bosom, intending to offer whatever money she had on hand. But she suddenly remembered that she had left all her belongings at Seocheon Mountain Villa. Her money was among them.

She was now completely penniless.

"Damn it!"

In the end, she abandoned any thought of payment and spurred the horse forward.

Even if it meant being branded a thief, she had no choice. Compensation could come later. That was how she reasoned it.

Shim Ok kicked the horse's flanks. The startled animal lunged forward.

"Whoa!"

Geum Gwan-cheon leapt aside in alarm. Had he been a fraction slower, the horse would have trampled him.

"Oh my…"

Geum Gwan-cheon managed to prop himself up and watch the retreating figures of Shim Ok and the horse.

"Catch the thief!"

The laborers mounted their horses in rapid succession.

Shim Ok's agile movements had revealed that she was a trained martial artist, but witnessing Geum Gwan-cheon's helpless state was more than they could bear.

More than anything, horses were their lifeblood. They could not simply stand by and watch one be stolen.

Meanwhile, Shim Ok riding the horse was torn between frustration and bewilderment. She had never dreamed she would be accused of horse theft.

She resented the laborers for not understanding, but now was not the time for explanations.

"I must reach the Central Plains…"

*Whoosh!*

Her words were cut short by a sharp, piercing sound from somewhere.

Shim Ok instinctively ducked her head.

*Thunk!*

By a narrow margin, the object grazed her hair and embedded itself in the ground.

The force in the shaft was so great that the fletching still trembled—it was an arrow. More than half of it had sunk into the earth.

"Where do you think you are going?"

A cold voice echoed across the ranch.

Despair flickered across Shim Ok's face.

*Already?*

She had hurried so desperately, yet they had caught up to her after all.

Parting the curtain of darkness, the warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa emerged. At their head was Jo Hyeol-san.

The arrow that had just flown had been loosed by Jo Hyeol-san himself. He handed the bow to a subordinate and advanced toward Shim Ok.

*Clip-clop!*

The sound of his horse's hooves rang out with unusual clarity.

A cold smile played on Jo Hyeol-san's lips.

"Seocheon Mountain Villa is not the kind of place you can enter and leave at your whim, Young Mistress."

"Urgh!"

"Thanks to you, our villa has suffered considerable damage. Rather than cause further harm, why not come with us quietly?"

"Not a chance. You think I will surrender so easily?"

"Tsk! Refusing a cup of wine in favor of a cup of poison."

"You never intended to offer the wine in the first place, did you?"

"At least, that is how the world will see it. There will be no witnesses anyway—what does it matter?"

"What happened to Heuk-no?"

"If you wish to know, come with us quietly."

Shim Ok shook her head.

"Do not be ridiculous."

"Tsk! You do not even care about the fate of your own subordinate? How cold."

Jo Hyeol-san clicked his tongue. His eyes gleamed with the cold of a serpent.

In his eyes, Shim Ok was nothing more than a pawn. She had not deviated a hair's breadth from his predictions.

Jo Hyeol-san signaled to his subordinates with a look.

"Escort the Young Mistress with all due courtesy. If we let her go like this, our villa's reputation will hit rock bottom."

"Yes, sir!"

The warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa stepped forward and surrounded Shim Ok.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Geum Gwan-cheon watched the sudden intrusion of armed men with a dazed expression.

Having spent decades in the horse trade, Geum Gwan-cheon had honed his ability to read people. He prided himself on having sharper insight than anyone.

In his eyes, Jo Hyeol-san and his warriors were nothing less than killers. The aura emanating from their bodies carried the heavy scent of blood.

It was the unique atmosphere possessed only by those who had stood atop countless corpses.

Laborers gathered around him. They too had instinctively sensed that the situation was turning dire.

"Master…"

"All of you, step back. Quietly!"

Geum Gwan-cheon issued calm orders to the laborers. But his inner state was far from the composure his exterior suggested.

"Hyah!"

In that instant, the warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa attacked Shim Ok.

Watching the warriors brandish their weapons with murderous intent, Geum Gwan-cheon felt his lips going dry.

He prayed that Jo Hyeol-san would not turn his attention to him and the laborers.

But contrary to Geum Gwan-cheon's desperate hopes, Jo Hyeol-san's gaze fell upon the laborers.

"Still, there are too many witnesses."

"We… we saw nothing."

Geum Gwan-cheon answered hastily. The laborers hurriedly bowed their heads and lowered their gazes.

The corners of Jo Hyeol-san's mouth curled upward.

"A keen sense of survival. You have certainly learned well from living long in this world."

"…"

"But what am I to do? I do not trust the word of men. Especially the promises of ignorant commoners—those I trust even less."

"Th-then…"

Jo Hyeol-san's gaze shifted to Shim Ok.

Shim Ok was surrounded by warriors, fighting desperately. Drenched in blood, her appearance was pitiable beyond words.

Though she was managing to hold on for now, she was so weakened that she could collapse at any moment. Jo Hyeol-san had no reason to concern himself with her.

Instead, his killing intent was directed at Geum Gwan-cheon and the ranch folk.

"Consider yourselves unlucky. That calamity chose to come here. That is simply how the world works. You think you can live well on your own, but it is never so. Your fate can be determined by the company you keep. You are such a case. If you wish to blame someone, blame the girl who brought this disaster upon you."

"We have committed no crime."

"I told you—whether you are guilty or not is irrelevant. You are not important enough for me to bother weighing your crimes before killing you. Tsk! How annoying. Having to answer the questions of ignorant commoners."

In that instant, several warriors behind Jo Hyeol-san drew their swords and stepped forward.

Geum Gwan-cheon screamed at the top of his lungs:

"Everyone, run!"

"Aaah!"

The laborers panicked and fled. The warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa pursued them.

*Squelch!*

"Aagh!"

With each swing of their swords, laborers fell.

A vision of hell unfolded across the ranch in the blink of an eye.

Death came without warning to those who had been laughing and joking only a few hours before.

"W-why us?"

A laborer whose belly had been sliced open stared with eyes full of injustice.

He had lived honestly, without cutting corners. He had worked hard, and now that life was finally becoming bearable, to die like this was the cruelest injustice imaginable.

He wanted to live, but through the hands clutching his abdomen, his innards kept spilling out.

"Hhuk, hhuk! Stay inside. Please…"

The laborer tried to push his organs back in. But cruelly, they continued to flow out.

*Plop!*

His innards fell to the ground along with his blood.

"So unjust…"

Those were the last words he would ever speak.

"Dong-wol!"

An older laborer, upon witnessing his death, rushed over. The two had shared an especially deep bond. He could not bear to leave his companion's corpse unattended.

*Whoosh!*

"Aagh!"

But he could not reach the fallen laborer. Death had come for him first.

"How can this be? How is this possible…"

Geum Gwan-cheon's cheeks trembled. His eyes were so bloodshot that they seemed on the verge of weeping tears of blood.

People he had spent his entire life with were dying. The family business built over generations was crumbling.

Geum Gwan-cheon could neither understand nor accept the scene before him.

"How…"

At that moment…

"Grandfather!"

A young girl's scream pierced Geum Gwan-cheon's ears.

"S-So-hye?"

Geum Gwan-cheon instantly recognized the voice as belonging to his granddaughter, Geum So-hye.

He turned to see Geum So-hye standing with Geum Jung-gwang, watching the carnage.

Geum Gwan-cheon screamed until his throat was raw:

"Run! So-hye!"

"Grandfather!"

"Quickly!"

Geum Gwan-cheon's desperate cry rang out again. Only then did Geum Jung-gwang seize Geum So-hye's hand and turn to flee. But their running was too slow.

To Geum Gwan-cheon's eyes, they seemed agonizingly slow.

Two warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa were sprinting toward them. In an instant, they would catch up.

Once those swords fell, their lives would be forfeit.

"How can this happen…"

"That is the way of the world. It is not how you live that matters, but which tide you ride. Unfortunately, the tide you have ridden ends here."

Jo Hyeol-san clicked his tongue and turned away.

Meanwhile, Shim Ok too had heard Geum Gwan-cheon's desperate cries. But she had neither the leisure nor the ability to save the ranch folk.

She could barely protect herself.

All of this had happened because she had come to the ranch.

*I cannot help it. I cannot help it either.*

Thick tears streamed down Shim Ok's cheeks.

She fought desperately with her martial arts while stealing glances at the Geum father and daughter.

*Whoosh!*

The swords of death were descending upon their backs.

Knowing that screams would soon follow, Shim Ok involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut.

*BOOM!*

In that instant, a thunderous sound shook the earth.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

*Scrape! Thud! Scrape! Thud!*