With three thousand men Soowon attacked and sacked the villages on the way to Chuga, making off with several hundred prisoners, including many of the more comely women. But he did not once stop to rest or enjoy the spoils of war; not once did he ride, but always walked with his men. “The world is a carcass, and he who seeks it is a dog,” said he, for he cared not for the worldly goods, but the salvation of his soul in the next. Soowon was as fundamentalist as it got among the Golden Path; he was chief among the Auric Council in living a life of painful humiliation and abnegation, and went as far as to abstain from alcohol and meat for four days a week, and never to touch them when at war. But he was also very impatient for holy war: if not against the infidels, then against the waverers, those settlements and tribes that had sided with the invaders and did not give him assistance in his war. 

Only a month into his campaign he marched on the fort of Kahui, but was unable to storm it. Two companies of mercenaries from Hadajon arrived to harass his rearguard, so he craftily withdrew into the forests, drawing not only the mercenaries, but half the garrison of Kahui after him. In those profound forests where vegetation coiled around the gigantic trees, twilight and terror closed in on the troops. The Nanwians, used to cavalry charges on plains and fighting in formations, never acquired the rudiments of guerilla warfare. Instinctively looking for orders and blindly following them in confusion, they were helpless if left alone, often getting killed while standing still and waiting for commands from their officers, who were first to be killed. Deprived of officers, a mass of Nanwian troops would degenerate into a helpless, immobile mass. But they rarely turned to panic in their cohesion, and would therefore be slaughtered in thick droves where they stood. In those forests countless men met their ends at the hands of the tribal warriors, and Soowon profited greatly by it, for Kahui surrendered quickly when they learnt of the gruesome fates met by their comrades. 

Emboldened by his triumphs, which had breathed new life into the fanaticism of his followers, Soowon was raring to go against Chuga now. Winter was approaching; Soowon believed that the harsh months to come would destroy the besiegers at Makam, and drive Hwanseong out of the valley, his columns of soldiers tattered, his guns buried in the snowy avalanches. Help would not come to Chuga. Thus he determined to strike at Chuga in the dead of winter, for the defenders would be weakened while his own warriors, being masters of their terrain, would be strong as always. There was inactivity for a month, during which he permitted Yujin to return to Yuela to marry Minju and taste the sweets of love; for the young warrior had few burdens in life, save for Minju, who was foremost among them all. But Yujin rely to find that Minju had left to join her father in Makam, delivering medicine and treatment to the wounded defenders. 

In the last month of the year, while winter was at its darkest height, winds lashing the slopes of the mountains like navy whips, sleet and snow covering every surface so thickly that walking became an insurmountable chore, Soowon led his warriors to descend upon Chuga. But he found that Jeongyeon was well-prepared for his attack. Jeongyeon, a native of Heonan, was altogether unlike her superior Hwanseong, who was a roaring tiger of gigantic proportions. The tribals were not very acquainted with people like her, and underestimated the quality of their opponent. In Jeongyeon they found a very cool customer, chillier than the howling wind above them. In stark contrast to her were her weapons of choice: fire and lead, fired from cannon and musket. She had in Chuga many companies of southerner troops, ‘men of fire’, who were well-acquainted with the devilish arts of gunpowder. Soowon’s first attack scarcely reached the first line of defences before being turned back by the thunder of muskets — armour-piercing long guns that could be operated by single men, brought to the shores of Nanwian by seafaring merchants from distant lands two oceans away. 

Soowon was an intrepid warrior whose devotion was above reproach; but he fought without an acquired skill. He had never read military manuals, nor had he studied the great strategists of the past. The peoples of the Chwanjeou, fighting without knowledge of tactics, were supremely flexible, meeting each situation as it developed. They retreated as they attacked in accordance to the ebb and flow of battle. His second attack fared no better, only resulting in more deaths. Victory was slipping from his grasp, and he could not devise any technique to wrest it back into his hold; not any conventional technique applied by all students of war. Dissension rose in his ranks, and his lieutenants began to counsel prudence and withdrawal, to cut their losses and remain content with the gains they had made so far. The warriors were brave and powerful, it is true, but in this world they were not invincible. In the dark caves where the tribals had made their bases, there were reproaches and bitter arguments. 

It was too rash to attack Chuga now, said the warriors. The hour to drive the infidels from the Chwanjeou had not yet arrived, and only the LORD knew when it would come. If such defeats could be inflicted by a minor commander, how could they hope to prevail against the armies of the Sindeok? Victory would not be forthcoming until the entire Chwanjeou was united as one force, fighting for one faith. 

And in this Soowon was in agreement with his detractors. Only through the Golden Path could they ever break free from the insidious, creeping hold of the infidels. Only the Golden Path could prevent treachery and back-sliding. It could only be in the name of the LORD of the Golden Path that this war was to be fought whole-heartedly and by the entire Chwanjeou to a man. But he did not once think of retreat. Now he endeavoured to rouse his men to even greater heights of fervour; to compel them with the infallible proof that the LORD was watching. 

The incredulous Yujin was brought to the forefront of the warriors, whereupon Soowon, whom Yujin had hitherto only known as a member of the Auric Council and the most experienced fighter amongst them, revealed all that he had been told to keep secret until now. 

“Dearest friends, let it be known here that I have never intended to defy the will of the Auric Council. It is in the principles by which our faith of auguries operates on: all things have their place and time. All events will occur at their destined time; all peoples will take their ordained places in this world when the LORD has decided for them. The Auric Council has resolved many things: the expulsion of the infidels from the Chwanejou; the returning of the Golden Temple; the bringing of Paradise to the faithful. Therefore to obey their greater will, I am forced to commit a small evil: Lo! dear friends, here is the One who will lead you all to Paradise — the heir of our Golden Master!”

The announcement caused a great uproar immediately. 

“You are out of your mind!”

“This is a girl, not a man!”

“What proof do you have, Soowon?”

“‘Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of our LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before Him as a tender rose, and as a root out of dry gravel; he hath no ambition nor conceit; and when we see him, there is no greatness that we shall desire him,’” intoned Soowon solemnly.

One of the younger warriors, Park Jongseong, cried, “Do not preach scripture to us, old man, for we know it well! Explain to us how this unseasoned fighter is our Saviour, or cease your jabbering, for you will only embarrass yourself!”

The atmosphere had turned very hostile against Soowon, for he was committing two crimes against the faith now: disobeying the will of the Auric Council, and proclaiming the identity of the One without proof. 

“The Auric Council knows the parentage of this girl;