The gaze I felt at my back was sticky.
It wasn't curiosity.
It was the gaze of a hunter eyeing its prey.
No, it was an energy far more vulgar and dank than that.
I swallowed dryly and kept walking.
The forest path was growing darker and darker.
The sun sinking toward the western mountains cast long shadows, and in between those shadows, someone was watching us with bated breath.
‘Three of them.’
My hearing, sharpened by the <Yin Kill Secret Record>, pinned down their number exactly.
In their own minds, they were muffling their footsteps.
But to my ears, the sound of fallen leaves being pressed down, the sound of clothes brushing against branches, even the presence of breath being held back, were all perfectly clear.
The distance was closing little by little.
Deeper into the forest.
A place where no one passed.
It was obvious they meant to drive us in there.
I glanced ahead.
The youngest daughter of the Namgung Clan.
The world's greatest beauty.
And the world's greatest at getting lost.
As if she knew nothing at all, Namgung Seol was calmly humming a tune.
“The mountains are truly lovely. The air is clean, too.”
“Miss.”
I called out quietly.
“What is it?”
“I think there are some burrs stuck to your clothes. Why don't we stop for a moment and pick them off?”
This was a signal.
It meant that those guys had latched on behind us, so let's stop naturally and get ready.
It was the kind of phrasing any quick-witted martial world person would catch at once.
But Namgung Seol tilted her head.
“No? My clothes are perfectly fine.”
“......”
Ah, this frustrating woman.
Just as I was about to pound my chest in exasperation.
Namgung Seol suddenly stopped walking.
And without looking back at me, she murmured in a low voice.
“Waiter.”
“Yes?”
“Your ears are more useful than I thought.”
Her voice had changed.
It wasn't the light voice that had been going on about the scenery just a moment ago.
It was the cold, sharp voice of a true martial artist.
Only then did I see it.
At some point, her left hand had firmly gripped the hilt of her white jade sword.
“You...... knew?”
“Their skill at hiding their presence is decent, but they could not hide their killing intent.”
Namgung Seol said calmly.
“They are the ones who have been following us for the last ten li.”
Goosebumps broke out on my skin.
She'd known since ten li back?
And yet she'd walked along pretending not to know, even humming a tune?
I'd forgotten for a moment.
That no matter how badly this woman lost her way, and no matter how ignorant she was of the ways of the world.
She was of the direct bloodline of the Namgung Clan.
“Come out.”
Namgung Seol said coldly toward the forest.
“Have you not had enough of hide-and-seek?”
Her voice cut through the silence of the forest.
There was a moment of silence.
Before long, rough laughter burst out from behind the bushes.
“Keukeukeu. She caught us? Hyung-nim, this wench is sharper than she looks.”
“You're telling me. I thought she was a pampered flower, but her thorns are pretty sharp.”
Rustle, rustle.
Three men emerged from the shade of the forest.
Every one of them had a vicious face.
They wore ragged clothes patched with animal hides, and in their hands they held rusty axes or chipped long-handled sabers.
Typical underlings of the Green Forest Bandits.
No, it was embarrassing even to call them mountain bandits.
They looked closer to a pack of lowlife thugs.
The one-eyed man standing in the middle bared his yellow teeth and grinned.
His gaze started at Namgung Seol's face and slowly slid down along her slender neckline.
It was blatant harassment.
“Oh my, a fairy maiden has descended into this mountain valley.”
“......”
“Did you lose your way? Your Orabeoni here are amazing at giving directions, you know.”
The guys cackled.
“How about coming to our mountain keep and resting up with a nice warm drink? Huh?”
Their encirclement tightened.
I quickly tried to step in front of Namgung Seol.
Expert or not, I couldn't let her be subjected to the filthy stares of guys like these.
That was the duty of a guide and of a hired man.
“Excuse me, Hyung-nims. We're just passing through......”
But I didn't get to finish.
Swish.
A white hand blocked my way.
It was Namgung Seol.
“Step aside, waiter.”
“Miss, still, if we talk them down nicely......”
“Talk them down?”
She turned her head and looked at me.
In that instant, I stopped breathing.
Her eyes no longer belonged to an innocent young lady who'd been lost and wandering.
In them lay a rage as cold as eternal snow, one that would never melt.
“There is no need to speak human words to beasts.”
She took a step forward.
The bandits flinched and stepped back without realizing it.
They had sensed it by instinct.
That the prey before them was no herbivore.
That she was, rather, a predator that would tear out their throats.
“How dare you.”
Namgung Seol's lips twisted coldly.
“How dare you wag such tongues in front of me?”
“This crazy bitch has lost her damn fear!”
The one-eyed boss bellowed.
That was the signal.
The two underlings on either side kicked off the ground at the same time.
“Drag the wench back to the mountain keep, and cut off that guy's head!”
A rusty axe and a chipped long-handled saber cut through the air.
They were rough and crude, but they carried the ferocity of guys who had hurt quite a few people.
I stepped back on reflex.
‘I can see it.’
Their muscles contracting.
Their weapons tracing their trajectories.
The axe was aiming for my left shoulder, and the long-handled saber was digging toward my waist.
I had to dodge.
If I twisted my body to the right, I could dodge the axe.
If I rolled across the ground just like that, the long-handled saber too......
But before my body could even move.
Thwack.
A crisp, sharp crack.
That was all.
One of the underlings swinging the axe suddenly flew up into the air.
As if an invisible giant had kicked him, the guy flew back nearly three zhang and slammed into a tree.
“Kuek!”
As he fell to the ground, the guy spat out bloody spittle.
I rubbed my eyes.
Namgung Seol was standing right where she'd been.
There wasn't even a sign that she'd lifted her foot.
The only difference was that the scabbard in her left hand was raised a little higher than before.
“She...... didn't draw her sword?”
A stupid remark slipped out of my mouth.
She hadn't drawn her sword.
No, she didn't even seem to intend to.
The remaining underling froze in alarm.
After watching his comrade get sent flying in one blow, it was only natural for his knees to go weak.
“Y-you witch of a bitch!”
Fear soon turned into desperation.
The guy charged, swinging his long-handled saber wildly.
Whoom, whoom, whoom!
The sound of it cutting through the air was loud.
But Namgung Seol's expression was so indifferent she looked like she might yawn.
The instant the blade came right in front of her nose, she twisted her body to the side very lightly.
Whish.
The blade cut through empty air.
At the same time, Namgung Seol's scabbard shot out like lightning.
THWACK!
The tip of the scabbard struck the guy's solar plexus precisely.
“Kkeuheok!”
The guy's eyes bulged as if they would pop out.
The sound of breath catching in a throat.
He dropped straight to his knees, then sprawled face-down on the ground like a frog, foaming at the mouth.
Only two movements.
Not a single drop of blood was spilled.
“How dull.”
Namgung Seol spat out coldly.
She looked down at the fallen underlings and clicked her tongue.
“Since you call yourselves the Green Forest Bandits, I thought you could at least wield a blade. You are worse than neighborhood thugs.”
Her hand rested lightly on her scabbard.
“You are not even worth dirtying my sword.”
It was overwhelming.
As if even drawing her sword would be an extravagance, she had ended the situation with her scabbard alone.
‘So this is a prestigious clan.’
A thrill ran down my spine.
I almost felt sorry for secretly looking down on her for her messed-up sense of direction.
“Wh-who the hell are you, bitch?!”
The one-eyed boss, left all alone, backed away.
Even I could see his legs trembling.
He drew a dagger from his robes, but the hand holding it was shaking badly.
“Don't come any closer! If you come closer, I'll use this knife to......!”
“Noisy.”
Namgung Seol said as if bothered.
The next moment.
She vanished.
All I saw was a white afterimage.
WHACK!
With a dull, heavy blow, the one-eyed man's head snapped back.
Namgung Seol was already standing right in front of his nose.
Her scabbard had just struck upward at his chin.
Clatter.
A few yellow teeth scattered through the air.
“Kkeuaaaagh!”
The one-eyed man rolled on the ground, clutching his mouth.
The situation was over.
The time it took to subdue three mountain bandits was less than it would take for a cup of tea to cool.
Namgung Seol brushed the dust off her clothes with a few pats.
Not a single breath out of place; she was perfect.
“Waiter.”
She turned to look at me.
The killing intent that had been hanging around her just moments ago was nowhere to be found.
She had returned to a light smile and a mischievous expression.
“How was it? My skill.”
It was the look of a child hoping for praise.
I'd been standing there with my mouth hanging open, then hurriedly raised a thumbs-up.
“......It's a work of art, Miss.”
“Is it not?”
Namgung Seol nodded, satisfied.
“My elder sister said that subduing with only the scabbard is something only an amateur does, but what does it matter? It is better than getting blood on my clothes.”
An amateur?
If that skill was an amateur's, was I earthworm dung?
“Go.”
Namgung Seol said as she lightly kicked aside their weapons.
“And never do this sort of thing again.”
The punishment was far too merciful.
It was just like a village schoolmaster scolding disobedient children.
“Th-thank you! Heroine! We'll never, really never do it again!”
“We'll become new men!”
The mountain bandits bowed to the ground and pleaded tearfully.
Their faces, smeared with tears and snot, looked more servile and pitiful than anyone's in the world.
Namgung Seol watched them with satisfaction and nodded.
“Very well. I shall believe those tears of yours. Hurry along now.”
“Yes! Yes! Thank you!”
The guys fled into the forest without looking back.
They ran away so fast on their limping legs that they vanished from sight in an instant.
I stared blankly at their retreating backs, then asked Namgung Seol.
“......Miss. Are you really just letting them go?”
“What else?”
“I mean, you should at least break an arm or a leg. Or hand them over to law enforcement. Those guys are definitely going to rob other travelers at the forest entrance again.”
At my words, Namgung Seol's eyes went round.
“Oh, come now. Surely not. They wept so sorrowfully and repented, did they not?”
“......”
“A martial artist of the martial world must have mercy. Now that they have been taught a lesson by my sword, they will not dare do anything wicked again.”
She was naive.
So naive it gave me a throbbing headache.
‘Repented, my foot.’
I could see it.
The vicious look those guys had shot back over their shoulders as they ran away.
It wasn't repentance.
It was a grudge that said, ‘Just you wait.’
The workings of the martial world's lowest rungs are tangled like noodle strands.
Unless you crush them down with force, they never straighten out.
“Miss, the world isn't as clean as you think.”
I let out a sigh.
“Guys who roll around in dung have already got dung poisoning, and there's no cure for it.”
“You are too pessimistic. One must trust people.”
She brushed off my advice with a light laugh and started walking again.
Her back was lofty and beautiful.
But in that moment, a thought flashed through my head and held me back.
‘Wait.’
I swept my eyes over the shade of the forest once more.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Mountain bandits had appeared, and a blade fight had nearly broken out.
It had been a moment when the golden branch and jade leaf of the Namgung Clan was in danger.
‘So why didn't anyone show up?’
Usually, when a daughter of a prestigious clan goes out, there's a ‘shadow guard’ the Clan Head secretly assigned to her.
Whether she wants it or not, it's the bare minimum of protection to guard the family's treasure.
When those guys attacked earlier, I naturally assumed a flying dagger would come from somewhere or a masked man would appear.
But there was nothing.
Not even a single baby ant.
It was a good thing Namgung Seol subdued them without even drawing her blade, but what if those guys had used poison?
‘She really did come alone.’
Goosebumps rose.
No clan guards, no one backing her.
This cute young lady was walking all alone into the tiger's den that was the Hebei Peng Clan.
What could the reason be?
Was she a card her clan had discarded?
Or was the marriage talk with the Peng Clan itself a matter so dangerous it required staking her life?
***
After walking another half day, we finally made it over the mountain.
When the sun was slowly setting and the red glow of sunset was setting the sky ablaze.
At last, our destination came into view.
“There it is.”
Tension filled Namgung Seol's voice.
An enormous fortress revealed its majesty before my eyes.
The Hebei Peng Clan.
It was closer to a gigantic stronghold than a clan estate.
If the Namgung Clan was an elegant crane, the Peng Clan was a crouching bear.
The towering walls were built of rough granite, and the gate was an iron door so thick and heavy it could stop even an elephant.
In front of the gate, two tiger statues glared at visitors with their mouths open.
“That's overwhelming.”
I muttered without realizing it.
A presence that took my breath away just from looking at it from afar.
The size of the gatekeeper guarding that iron gate was even more of a sight.
‘Is that a man, or a boulder?’
He looked to be nearly seven chi tall, and his forearms were as thick as my waist.
In his hand he held an axe-spear as long as a man is tall.
Namgung Seol swallowed dryly, as if nervous, and approached the gate.
I followed close behind her.
THUD.
The gatekeeper slammed his axe-spear into the ground and blocked our way.
The ground shook.
He looked down at us.
His gaze was indifferent and intimidating, as if he were looking at bugs.
“Halt.”
His voice was low and deep.
“This is the main estate of the Hebei Peng Clan. Peddlers are not permitted.”
I hunched my shoulders without realizing it, but Namgung Seol raised her head proudly.
“I am not a peddler.”
She took a jade token from her robes and held it up.
A jade token with a faint, gentle blue glow.
The crest of the Namgung Clan was carved on it.
“I am Namgung Seol, a daughter of the Namgung Clan.”
Her clear, ringing voice cut through the silence.
“I have come to see the Clan Head and discuss the promised marriage.”
The gatekeeper's eyebrow twitched.
He checked the jade token and Namgung Seol's face in turn.
A moment later, bewilderment and astonishment flickered across his stern face.
“N-Namgung Clan? It's real!”
He hastily pulled back his axe-spear and bellowed at the top of his lungs toward the inside of the gate.
“Miss Namgung Seol of the Namgung Clan has arrived!! Open the gate!!”
The booming shout echoed over the walls and inside.
Creeeeeak—.
With the sound of iron hinges scraping, the enormous iron gate slowly began to open.
It was like a giant beast opening its mouth.
“Please go in, Miss.”
Just as I was about to say it as calmly as I could pretend.
THUD.
Something rumbled.
THUD.
Once more.
THUD.
The ground shook.
Inside the open gate.
From within that deep darkness, something enormous was walking out.
Every time it took a step, the earth trembled.
“What...... is this......”
Fighting spirit surged toward us like a tidal wave from far off.
The gatekeepers hastily made way and bowed their heads.
Within the darkness, two eyes glowed with piercing light.
He was coming.
The Hegemon Bear,
Peng Mu-gwang.