Chapter 20 – [1805]

The dirt under Wootae and the masses of moving bodies sparkled as the sun's rays bounces off of it. And on such a bright and lovely day, no one had predicted the event to come. Behind the trees and bushes an assassination was planned and in place, and the first target of the affair happened to be Wootae. With an arrow flying his way and with his body turned in an awkward position it would be impossible to catch the shaft with his bare hands. Yet, if he were to dodge the arrow it could possibly kill one of Taeyo’s men riding ahead of him. Those were the two intended considerations, but Wootae was granted no time to have neither thoughts. Even before he could the striking arrow was already terminated by the passerbys.

It was the woman in white who had outstretched her arm to grasp the bolt and drove it to a hasty stop. In her hand she gripped onto the arrow as her party reacted, startled by the sudden attack. “Protect lady Lee!” One of the two, the younger, lad on the horses commanded. Quickly the two on foot surrounded the mounted woman, simultaneously the two on horsebacks scanned their path for sight of the attacker. Their commotion stole the attention of Taeyo and Yungjeong’s side in an instance and had everyone’s guard up.

“What is it?” Taeyo demanded for an answer as he rode toward the back of his crowd. Quickly one of his man filled him in with a bow of his head and a hand over his chest.

“My lord, it looks like a surprise attack,” the covered up man explained.

As quick-witted as he always were, Taeyo instantly knew what to do and laid out orders, “Tighten the defense around Lord Yungjeong along with the goods! A number of you will follow me to hunt down the ones responsible!” Without knowing the full details, he had his battle group ready in no time. Meanwhile the other party had already discovered the hide-out of the attacker. Who appeared to be in common clothes but was a foreigner.

“Behind the trees!” the same younger lad from the opposite party shouted. As both groups joined hands, they charged toward the man on foot who began fleeing on foot. The few that remained includes the woman in white and Wootae. The adolescent was slightly still impressed by the quickness of the lass’s hands and as their eyes met, Wootae thought the lady was expecting a grateful gesture. However, instead she lowered her eyes and briefly bowed her head toward him. Under the sunlight her long lashes were visible and it made her even prettier up close. Though it wasn’t her appearances that kept his eyes attached to her every move, it was how calm she was. And in her slim hand she still held the product that almost tilt Wootae off his bestride. Once she had performed her bow she took one last glimpse of him before riding off.

At this time period Yungjeong was more than afraid for his life. He made sure there were no loopholes for any further surprise attack on him in the small litter. “If anyone hurt me I’m going to kill all of you! Hear me?” Yungjeong screamed as his and the remainder of Taeyo’s men surrounded the cart to keep him protected.

In the meantime Wootae thought he should catch up with his attacker and the others as Yungjeong was well defended by a great number of men. It didn’t take long for him to find the others. They were hidden behind bushes and bodies of wood and trees when he noticed how the two groups was still together, and had the attacker surrounded—as they sat on their horses and with all of their weapons directed toward the single man. He had also discovered the same woman in between her two fellow mounted companions.

“Please spare me,” were the same Korean words repeated and begged by the foreigner as he got on his knees. His hands were clapped together as they shook helplessly. One against more than ten, what can he do to save his own life were the common thoughts floating among the troop.

“Who set you up for this?” Wootae heard Taeyo asked, but the assailant only uttered soft rambles pleading for his life. “I asked you who?!” Taeyo inquired in the loudest tone he could possibly make out.

“Please let me go..please..it wasn’t me, please!”

As Wootae continued to observe he wanted to let out a sigh but instead whispered, “Who may have done this—?” Wootae trailed off when he noticed no one was beside him. Searching around him, it was clear that he was alone apart from the dramatic scene near him. Then it hit him as he remembered Daniel's recent passing. He suddenly felt the dryness in his throat as he approached the confrontation.

“If you tell me who sent you then I’ll spare you—” Taeyo’s words came to an immediate halt when an interruption of a flying sharp metal struck the center of the foreigner’s temple and dropped him straight to the face of the Earth. Everyone, including the woman, converted toward the origin of the weapon's direction and saw the thrower. Wootae remained on his mount with the grown filly circling around him. With all eyes on him, Wootae only cared for the facet of the now-dead man.

“Wootae you! I was close to finding out who sent him and you ruined—” Taeyo started in a loud voice but Wootae silence him straightaway. While Taeyo had started yelling, Wootae took the time to get closer to the group.

“He’s not the attacker,” Wootae disclosed which plastered frowns onto the faces from both groups.

“What do you mean he’s not the attacker? We chased him all the way here from the location of the attack!” this time the older man on the opposite side spoke, he was a dirty lad with rotten and yellow teeth.

“You chased the bait,” Wootae said calmly after the shouting of the latter.

“What does a kid like you know?” One of the man on foot asked in a disgusted tone. Then from a distance they heard a loud, worrisome cry. The groups began looking from one to another for answers and confirmation.

“Isn’t that the direction of our people, my lord?” A man of Taeyo's asked looking over to him. Taeyo took one last look into Wootae’s eyes before riding off toward the bigger party. As the rest began to follow him, the only ones that stayed were the strangers along with Wootae. Once the others started to leave hearing range, the strangers decided to pick on the teen.

“Our lady saved you little runt but what? You’re saying that we’re liars?” the older man began, an obvious move to trigger Wootae. However, the younger lad was not interested nor impressed. Wootae knew all too well that they were not the common people by the way they dressed, and how the lady was able to single-handedly prepare herself to stop an attacking arrow with no warnings. As Wootae locked eyes with her once more, he had a strong feeling that she could be more than he could handle. Thus slowly and surely he began to move away and behind him the mare followed suit without any concerns.

The now angry, older stranger got off his horse and was about to charge Wootae but his younger companion quickly dismounted and rushed to stop him, grabbing the older's shoulders, “Uncle that’s enough, don’t cause any more problems with outsiders,” the younger plead. The older obliged but spat as he glared toward the sight of Wootae's back.

“That little runt, ah! If I see him again I’m going to crush him!” The male rant his frustration meanwhile the woman in white examined the motionless body.

“He’s right,” she spoke, her voice soft and gentle, “how would a man without two fingers on each hand shoot an arrow,” Her words pointed the four men’s attention toward the body.

“What the? Where did his fingers go?” The older man exclaimed in surprised.

In the meantime the young lady looked toward the path of Wootae and the long-gone Taeyo, “Where have I seen that man before?” she asked herself quietly.

When Wootae arrived at the now bloody scene, he noticed Taeyo was covered in blood that wasn’t his own. Lying around and near the litters were the dead and wounded bodies from all three parties. Blood were clearly visible in the form of puddles and splattered across the dry dit and tinted the green grasses. Wootae who was used to the scene showed no emotion as he closed in on their winning and alive side. He realized the surprise attack had came to an end earlier than he had predicted, however, the results weren’t surprising as Wootae knew Taeyo was more than capable of keeping his special guest alive.

Angry and confused, Yungjeong was seen outside of his litter observing the scene with horror. “Which bastard tried to have me killed?” he demanded, but no answer came. Instead Taeyo tried to calm him and even scared the official a little with his bloody sword clutched tightly in his right hand. When Taeyo got the man under control he escorted the lad back into the litter, as it would be safer for him.

Due to further investigation Wootae got a hunch that the assailant party belonged to a trading group that Daniel once was apart of. As most of the dead men were foreigners with raggedy cloth over their mouth. What bothered Wootae was the hidden message behind the attack. Who sent them? And why? Has Daniel’s death reached their ears already? If so then there must be another spy within Woogyu. While Wootae was lost in thoughts, he didn’t notice that Taeyo had approached him on foot.  

“I will have two of my men return to Woogyu to report this incident while I our guest home. As for you, Lord Inpyo is waiting for you at home. Two of my men will accompany you home in Teacher Henney’s place,” Taeyo said, as he was back to his normally composed self, after locking eyes with the teenager. With no objection Wootae nodded. It would be the first time for him to ever go home without Daniel beside him, telling him funky stories, or forcing them to stop at a stall that ‘looks like they are selling good stuff here’.

It was another quiet trip as they passed through the city without any problem and head straight to the cave hidden in the mountain outside of the city. As they dismounted near the door, the two men took Wootae’s ride and head toward the top where the animals were kept. The only animal untouched was the same nameless mare. As she familiarly walked through the tunnel with Wootae, the teenager kept his eyes on her and would caress her neck here and then. Until they arrived at the heart of the cave and Wootae noticed the outline of his father’s figure sitting at the top.

“Are you finally back, boy?” were the exact words that left Inpyo’s lips as he opened his eyes to meet Wootae.

“Yes, my lord,” Wootae answered with a bow of his head and left hand over his chest. After he presented his respect for his father, the older man let out a heavy sigh.

“I see that Daniel isn’t with you,” he said. Wootae kept his head down thus the older couldn’t make out his expression, or if he wore any at all before continuing, “sooner or later I knew he would get caught. Lord Jungook is a man with no patience but I’m rather speechless as to the fact that he had allow this to go on for this long,” Inpyo’s words revealed that Wootae wasn’t the only one who knew of Daniel working as a spy. No. Even Jungook seemed to know. “Although I am curious as to how long ago have you known? Daniel wouldn't have told you unless you found out somehow. Even Daniel couldn't trust you enough to be honest with you,”

Wootae grew stiff. For someone who appeared uninterested and inattentive, Inpyo always tend to know what Daniel and Wootae were trying to hide. And as a parent, Inpyo does has his own intimidation aura about him. When Wootae did not answer, Inpyo carried on.

“Why? Did you think Lord Jungook and I were unaware of his wrongdoings? How could you miss the small clues when he’s always with you?” Inpyo paused, hoping his direct questions had gave Wootae a little scare, “Tell me Wootae, have you grown soft and naive because of him?”

Wootae’s heart was racing but he mustn’t show any sign of fear because Inpyo hated fear. The older man hated cowards and softies too though Wootae could never guess why.

“No, but he has because of me. Because of me, he exposed himself and were then caught. I only kept him close so I could involuntarily expose him,” Wootae expressed carefully.

A genuine satisfied smile grew on Inpyo’s normally dull face as he say, “Soft and naive no, but cold, yes." After a fleeting pause he added, "Good, very good,”

End of Chapter Twenty.