Jeomchang Sect

The first snow had fallen.

Tang Mujin and Dan seol-yeong sat before the hearth, watching pinewood resin crackle and flare in the flames. The smoke was thick from the resin, but the roasted chestnuts carried the fragrance of pine, making them all the more delicious.

Tang Mujin scored the chestnuts with a knife, while Dan seol-yeong poked the fire with tongs, rolling the chestnuts so they cooked evenly.

When she drew out the well-roasted ones, it was Tang Mujin's task again to peel them. His hands quickly blackened from the soot, and soon enough, both their mouths bore smudges as well. Together they rolled the golden chestnuts on their tongues, gazing out at the first snow.

Perhaps because the season was late, this first snow did not fall shyly only to vanish, as most first snows did. It fell thickly and steadily, covering the ground in a white blanket.

Dan seol-yeong asked softly:

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just… a little of this and that."

Not long ago, Tang Mujin had loved snow. But now, he could no longer greet it with the same delight. The memory of last winter—so bitterly cold and harsh—still clung to him.

Still, with Dan seol-yeong beside him, his heart felt warm. He thought, If I could spend a few more winters like this, perhaps I could come to love the snow again.

***

A few days later, Yu Jingwang gathered the Yu Escort Agency's entire monthly earnings and headed once more for the gambling den.

Tang Mujin and Namgung Myeong followed naturally. They had no intention of gambling themselves, but watching was amusement enough. In truth, it was more entertaining to watch than to play.

Yu Jingwang did not stop them. His face brimmed with confidence, as though he considered this the perfect chance to showcase his coming victory.

When the three entered the tavern, the watcher at the door remarked:

"What's this? You brought spectators?"

"This time I'll win for certain. I brought people to celebrate."

Yu Jingwang sat at the table, while Tang Mujin and Namgung Myeong stood nearby, waiting for the show.

A gambler slid quickly into the opposite seat, smiling.

"Been a while. A month already?"

"Yes."

But the sight was hardly entertaining. Yu Jingwang's game of choice was too simple.

Two dice. The higher roll wins. That was all.

Yu Jingwang pushed all his money onto the table and picked up the dice. His opponent rolled first: 2 and 4—not terrible, but far from good.

Yu Jingwang clenched the dice tightly, throwing them with determined vigor. 2 and 1. An abysmal roll.

The gambler scooped up the winnings with a smug chuckle.

"Ha! Fortune favors me today. Lucky indeed."

Yu Jingwang bowed his head, fists clenching. A month's earnings had vanished in an instant—the blow must have been heavy.

Yet when he lifted his face again, there was no despair—only hope.

"It's fine. These things happen. Just bad luck to ward off greater misfortune."

He rose abruptly and walked out of the tavern, leaving his fortune behind.

The wealthy gamblers looked after him, some with pity, others with scorn.

The three returned to the Yu Clan with lightness of step but heaviness of mood. Tang Mujin thought Yu Jingwang's movement carried too much lingering regret.

***

The next month, Yu Jingwang went again, and once more Tang Mujin and Namgung Myeong followed.

He sat in the same seat, laid down his dice, and immediately, the same gambler who had cleaned him out before came rushing over.

"Another round?"

"Of course. I never shy away."

The man tossed the dice with ease, grinning at the result: 6 and 3. Hard to lose with that—at worst a tie.

Yu Jingwang's leg trembled briefly, then he steadied his breath and threw. The dice landed gently on the table, showing 5 and 5. A strong roll. Victory.

Though his opponent lost a hefty sum, he kept a calm expression.

"Your luck's better tonight."

"After so much bad luck, it was bound to change."

"Heh. You've lost far too much to call it mere bad luck. One more?"

"Gladly."

Yu Jingwang dragged his opponent's gold forward, piled it with his own, and stacked everything onto the table—even his fresh winnings.

This time, he rolled first.

***

Half an hour later, Yu Jingwang stood stiffly over the table. Before him was a mountain of wealth—far beyond what he had begun with.

Three gamblers sat across from him, their faces grim. No matter how rich they were, today's losses would not be easily recovered.

Some of the onlookers muttered as they eyed Yu Jingwang's mask.

"…That fellow always used to lose. His luck tonight is something else."

"Maybe all that misfortune really was just bad luck being burned away."

"Could be."

Yu Jingwang was known as a poor gambler with worse fortune. But tonight, he had won four rounds in a row. And each time, he had staked everything. His winnings now amounted to sixteen times his starting sum—more than the Yu Escort Agency could earn in an entire year.

At first, his face had been calm. But now it was twisted oddly, his breathing ragged—as though caught between joy, shock, and a suffocating anticipation he could scarcely contain.

It was the face of a man holding more money than he had ever touched before.

"Anyone else? I'll stake it all again!"

Normally, gamblers would be eager for Yu Jingwang to join their table. But tonight, none dared.

He had won four straight rounds—it felt like time for fortune to turn. Yet the stakes had grown so high that no one dared risk it.

The gain could be massive, yes—but the loss would ruin even the wealthy.

Yu Jingwang's hands shook as he glared at the gamblers, but no one moved.

Finally, the tavernkeeper spoke.

"Seems no one's willing to challenge you tonight."

Yu Jingwang exhaled deeply, then hurriedly stuffed his winnings into his pouch. There was too much—the pouch couldn't hold it. The tavernkeeper handed him a new one with a laugh.

"Quite a haul. Still doesn't make up for all you've lost, I'd wager."

"Even if it was all just bad luck before."

"Since you're flush with coin, why not boost my business a little? Take a cask of good wine home. I'll even throw in some dishes I couldn't sell during the day."

Yu Jingwang hesitated briefly, then shook his head sharply.

"No. If I stagger home drunk and lose this hard-won money, that would be the true waste."

"You could drink it at home, no worry…"

"Enough."

Strange as it sounded, Tang Mujin had to admit—aside from gambling, Yu Jingwang was a frugal man. His clothes were plain, his meals simple, unbefitting the master of an escort agency. But such was the way of the Jeomchang Sect's men at the Yu Clan.

Tang Mujin wished he could buy wine to celebrate Yu Jingwang's victory, but he had left his coin purse behind. The timing was unfortunate.

Namgung Myeong, however, was different. From his robes, he drew three large silver ingots. Their source was suspicious, but the amount was enough to pay for a feast.

"So much? Then the generous gentleman wasn't the gambler after all, but the spectator. What kind of wine would you like?"

"Nothing fancy. Just enough so everyone can drink their fill."

"Done!"

The tavernkeeper bustled inside and returned with three carrying frames, each laden with two casks of wine.

Tang Mujin, Namgung Myeong, and Yu Jingwang each shouldered them like water sellers.

"Wait a moment more."

The tavernkeeper busied himself in the kitchen, reheating cold dishes and stuffing them into neat bundles. The once-cold meat now dripped with fat, and the dumplings looked so fresh that steam burst forth at a single bite.

It even seemed a few of them had been freshly steamed just for the occasion.

It felt less like simple generosity, and more like the tavernkeeper making a move first—just in case they asked him to carry the load instead. Of course, Namgung Myeong was the type who would sooner make more money than demand a refund.

The tavernkeeper hoisted the wine casks onto their shoulders and tied bundles of side dishes to the carrying poles of Tang Mujin and Yu Jingwang. The sight was hardly dignified, but there was no easier way to carry it all.

"If it were up to me, I'd deliver this for you. But seeing as you're wearing masks, I suppose you don't want me following."

"Correct."

With that, the three men left the tavern. From the prickling at the backs of their necks, it was clear that plenty of gamblers envied them.

Unlike before, the three did not use their movement techniques. They walked slowly, pressing through snow that reached their ankles. Their shoulders sagged beneath the weight, but even so, the walk was strangely pleasant.

Yu Jingwang wore a dazed expression the whole time.

"This is the first time I've ever left here with money still in my pouch…"

His voice trembled, as if he were close to tears.

"I must be lucky. Perhaps your presence has finally turned my fortune."

"This has nothing to do with us," Namgung Myeong replied flatly. "Consider it the bad luck you paid off."

He was careful not to let Yu Jingwang credit them with his winnings—if they shared in the luck, they would also share in the blame when misfortune struck.

Tang Mujin asked,

"So then, what will you do with your winnings?"

He asked because even now, it was obvious that the money Yu Jingwang had won was not nearly enough to resolve the sect's debts. Tang Mujin did not know the exact numbers, but Yu Jingwang himself had said it would take fifty years of steady work to repay them. It was plain that this amount was only a drop in the bucket.

"I'll wager it again. I have to win several more times."

"…Forgive me if this is tactless to say on such a day, but wouldn't it be better to work honestly and pay it back little by little? I cannot understand the idea of making money through gambling. For every one man who wins big, dozens are ruined."

This time, Yu Jingwang did not lash out. Instead, he walked silently for a while before speaking again. His story began unexpectedly.

"Do you know how old I was the first time I met my father?"

"I couldn't say."

"Thirteen. Even then, Jeomchang Sect was poor. Ordinary earnings barely kept the sect afloat. Whenever war broke out—whether righteous versus demonic, or righteous versus evil—someone had to leave to earn money in a far-off land."

"So the Flashing Sword, your father, must have spent much of his life away."

"Once you left, it was ten years before you returned. I must have seen my father when I was three, but I remember nothing of it. So the first time I truly met him was when I was thirteen."

The wine casks swayed with each step, and Yu Jingwang's words fell in rhythm.

"He recognized me instantly, though he hadn't seen me in ten years. But I… I didn't recognize him."

"That's only natural. He wouldn't have begrudged you that."

"The trouble was, most of my peers were in the same situation. So many children didn't know their fathers, and in time, we didn't even know how to treat them. So I greeted mine formally, as if he were a stranger: 'Honored Father, it's a pleasure to meet you.' His face fell in an instant."

"Mm…"

"I didn't know what I'd done wrong. And from then on, my father and I were distant. At the time, I thought little of it. But now that I'm a father myself, I realize how terrible that must have been."

From the casks came the sharp scent of wine. Perhaps it was the drink, perhaps the money—but Yu Jingwang was speaking far more than usual.

"A few years later, the righteous-demonic war erupted. My father went to fight with the others, and Jeomchang was burned to the ground. He came back, rebuilt in silence, and once again… money became the problem."

It was much the same as the story Namgung Myeong had told Tang Mujin, yet hearing it from Yu Jingwang himself carried a different weight.

"Again, someone had to leave. As sect leader, my father was not obligated—but dozens of others had to follow in his stead. Sooner or later, I would have had to follow too. My father hated that fate. That's why he sought out the Lord of Man Geumchang and gambled. He lost. And in the end, I too was sent here to Jiangxi."

It was a bitter tale.

"You said you have a child, didn't you?"

"Yes. He was five when I left. He must be eight now. It'll be seven more years before I can see him again. And even then, it won't end. Unless I earn a fortune, Jeomchang's debts will bind us for another fifty years. My son will live this life. My grandson too. I refuse to accept that."

Namgung Myeong cut in:

"Yet if you throw your winnings back onto the gambling table, your great-grandchildren will suffer the same fate."

"My concern extends only as far as my grandson. If I've done enough for him, that's enough. As for those beyond… who can say? A man who doesn't know tomorrow's fate has no business fretting over fifty years ahead."

The wall of the Yu Clan came into view at the end of the street. Their pace slowed.

"When I first heard that my father had gambled and lost, I was dumbfounded. I thought he was a fool. But standing here now, I understand. For me—for his son—he had no choice but to gamble."

Yu Jingwang shifted his load, bracing it on his left shoulder, and raised his right fist high.

"Sometimes I want to take my son and leave Yunnan behind. But I cannot abandon my father's life, nor the life of a Jeomchang warrior. This is the only hope of clearing our debts. Next month, I'll win big and return to Yunnan. That is how I live—clinging to that resolve."

He broke into a cheerful tune, humming as he walked.

Tang Mujin listened to the song for a while before asking quietly,

"But… are you not afraid? If you keep failing…"

Yu Jingwang glanced at him, his eyes calm. Unlike most gamblers, who imagined only themselves winning, Yu Jingwang seemed to have thought deeply about losing as well.

"Gambling is foolish, yes. But it has one virtue: when you lose, only the loser bears the blame. Does anyone curse the warriors of Jeomchang for failing to earn money? Does anyone curse the ancestors who left us with no fortune? No. They curse my father for running, and me for gambling it away. One disgraceful father, and the shame ends there."

As they reached the Yu Clan's gate, people waiting there gaped wide-eyed. Wine casks, bundles of food, an unhurried step—Yu Jingwang looked entirely unlike his usual self.

"But if that fool happens to win, then everyone can return to Yunnan. If it works, all benefit. If it fails, I alone bear the loss. How could anyone refuse such a bargain?"

Yu Jingwang swung up the cask and shouted to the waiting crowd:

"Hey! Your clan leader's brought back a pile of winnings! Tonight we drink ourselves crooked!"

What lay ahead, no one could know. But in that moment, Yu Jingwang's face showed not a trace of worry.

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