Chapter 14 – The Assassination Attempt
Meanwhile, Yeong-woo heard that the man had been reduced to an ordinary soldier.
Served him right.
Since morning he had paid little attention to the enemy.
Instead, he searched for that man.
They said he had been sent to the front line.
He would be somewhere among the archers behind the barricades.
The man was nothing but harm.
A leech feeding on the blood of his own comrades.
Back in his hometown he probably had parents.
Perhaps a wife and children as well.
Still—
better that he died.
Outside a battlefield, things might be different.
A little trouble, one bad man—nothing more.
But on a battlefield, comrades died.
They died because of men like him.
Not because of honest mistakes,
but because of greed.
Behind the sturdy barricades before the wall, the backs of archers' heads could be seen.
He had to be somewhere there.
But it was difficult to pick him out.
Yeong-woo muttered,
"They say that bastard is here. Why can't I see him?"
Cheol-ryong asked,
"That bastard? Who?"
"There aren't many people kind souls like us would call a bastard."
"Why? Planning to kill him?"
"I said I'd let him take an arrow in battle."
"You'll die with him if you try."
"Let it go."
"Hatred should stay inside the chest."
"What kind of talk is that?"
"They say grudges poison the one who holds them."
"They don't fade easily."
"Even after death, those bound by hatred cannot escape it."
"What nonsense are you talking?"
Then Yeong-woo saw him.
A long, narrow face among the soldiers.
Park Cheol-gu.
Stripped of rank and mixed among the common soldiers.
But he did not blend in.
Arrogance refused to disappear.
He floated among them like oil on water.
His comrades did not accept him.
For a brief moment he appeared among the moving bodies.
But Yeong-woo knew.
It was him.
Yeong-woo cursed under his breath and glanced around.
Then he set an arrow on the string.
But the bow would not draw.
A slender hand lightly pushed his elbow aside.
Yeong-woo turned.
One of the Black-Robed Immortalsstood beside him.
The same man who had helped them before.
"Why are you stopping me?"
Yeong-woo asked, his voice tight with resentment.
The Immortal shook his head silently.
"Let go of me."
The man lowered his hand.
Yeong-woo's face flushed like a child caught doing something wrong.
When he looked again,
Park Cheol-gu had vanished.
The chance was gone.
If the man had sensed danger and fled,
another chance might never come.
Yeong-woo lowered his bow.
"Understood."
"Do not act rashly," the Immortal said.
"Many eyes are watching."
Yeong-woo glanced around.
Several men across the wall were staring at him.
Men who would overlook Park Cheol-gu's sins.
Han Ji-un, the Immortal, continued,
"Will you ruin your life over a small grudge?"
"If that bastard lives, we die."
"He has already fallen."
"What harm can a man with a broken string cause now?"
"He is the embodiment of greed."
"He does not hesitate."
"He will use power, position—anything."
Han Ji-un sighed.
"Few men are different."
"Everyone lives for themselves."
"Even men like that are sometimes needed to fight the enemy."
Yeong-woo exhaled heavily.
His eyes burned faintly red.
"One day I will kill him."
But the task was accomplished without Yeong-woo's hand.
Spearmen walked the field with long lances three or four times their height.
They stabbed down into the spike pits.
Enemies still breathing among the dead were finished where they lay.
Then suddenly—
an allied soldier slipped and fell into one of the pits.
It was Park Cheol-gu.
He screamed wildly.
"Help me!"
His foot had been cut by the spikes.
A surviving enemy soldier in the pit stabbed him with a sword.
Park Cheol-gu thrashed like a man drowning in mud.
"Help me! I'm dying!"
No one answered.
Cold faces continued finishing the wounded enemies with their long spears.
Finally Park Geun-su ran over.
He lowered a pole and pulled Park Cheol-gu out.
Park Cheol-gu clung to it desperately.
Even when told to wait, he dragged himself upward with frantic strength.
"Why are you down there?" Park Geun-su asked.
"They pushed me."
It did not matter who had pushed him.
The reason was obvious.
Too many grudges had accumulated.
Hundreds of men would shove him into death if given the chance.
Leaving him here would be impossible.
He had once been Park Geun-su's superior.
Park Geun-su spoke quietly.
"I will have you transferred elsewhere."
"No."
"If I go elsewhere, I'll die like a dog."
"And here?"
"You can help me."
"I was once your commander."
"I refuse."
"The men will not accept it."
"You must have loyalty."
A man without loyalty spoke of loyalty.
A loyal man would never have pushed soldiers into death.
Park Geun-su stood.
Park Cheol-gu followed, limping despite his injured leg.
Standing near Park Geun-su was the safest place.
"Return to your position," Park Geun-su said.
"Just let me stay near you."
"They're trying to kill me."
He looked up at the wall.
His eyes met Yeong-woo's.
The truth was that he had stumbled because he tried to avoid Yeong-woo's gaze.
Yeong-woo stared down coldly.
"See?" Park Cheol-gu said bitterly.
"They all want to tear me apart."
"Then why did you act as you did?"
"What glory do you think I sought?"
"I fought for the country."
"You speak of the country?" Park Geun-su replied calmly.
"You thought of yourself."
"Of supplies."
"Of silver."
"You persecute me too?"
"What will you do when I return to office?"
"Then I will resign everything and leave."
"Even General Lee cannot abandon me."
"The frontier generals are maintained by the state."
"I will return."
Park Geun-su answered quietly.
"Live until that day."
Just then,
an arrow suddenly flew from somewhere.
Park Cheol-gu heard the sound and ducked.
The arrow missed him.
No one knew where it had come from.
Or who had fired it.