Clop! Clop! Clop!
The black horse pulled the cart and came out into the wide yard.
It was midday. The sun was high in the sky. And yet, there were no people coming and going in the stable yard.
Clop! Clop!
The black horse crossed the yard and passed through the stable gate.
No one from the stable came out to see. It was unknown whether they didn’t come out or couldn’t come out… but they were probably being subdued by someone.
Next to the stable boy, Ah Geol, was the old man.
The old man and Ah Geol were on the same side. She could feel it with an assassin’s intuition. But the old man did not come out. He was probably doing something important in the shadows.
Ah Geol drove the black horse without even glancing at the stable.
There were many people coming and going.
But no one paid attention to Ah Geol.
She was lying on the cart. A pile of dry straw was stacked on top of her body.
Ah Geol was transporting straw.
It was a very ordinary daily routine.
A Living Sword Sect swordsman with a sword passed by.
“Where are you going?”
Ah Geol raised his hand and pointed ahead.
He did not speak. He answered with his hand gruffly. But no one thought he was strange. It meant that he had always spoken in this way.
Clop! Clop!
He slowly, very slowly, left Dongseung.
“Where are you going?”
A Living Sword Sect swordsman said, blocking his path.
They were blocking the road from Dongseung to another county and conducting a checkpoint.
There were five people who were visible, and five people resting inside a hut… there were at least ten people. In particular, one of them was holding a fire bomb in his hand. So that he could contact the main sect at any time.
Ah Geol raised his hand and pointed ahead.
“How am I supposed to know where you’re going if you don’t tell me! You rascal!”
The Living Sword Sect swordsman frowned and gave him a scolding. But he did not block the road.
The Living Sword Sect swordsman moved out of the way.
Everyone, a considerable number of people, knew Ah Geol.
‘Hoo!’
She let out a faint sigh.
Because of her… she was sorry.
The fact that many people knew him meant, in other words, that a great many people would soon be pursuing Ah Geol.
Even now, his portrait would soon be posted everywhere he went. A bounty would also be placed on him.
Ah Geol would become a target not only of the Living Sword Sect but also of the righteous martial artists. He would become a target of bounty hunters, and the people who reported him would line up in a row.
There was nowhere for Ah Geol to escape.
By now, the bodies of the two martial artists who had died in the stable might have been discovered. Then a fire bomb would have been fired… and a siege might have already been formed in an unseen place.
On the other hand, the Living Sword Sect knew very little about the assassin who had actually killed Kang Jo.
The tables had turned.
Clop! Clop! Clop!
Ah Geol was calmly driving the horse.
It was a very bad situation… she didn’t know if he even had any idea what would happen to him.
* * *
Ah Geol cleared away the straw.
He didn’t stack it neatly on one side. He threw it around as if he would never use it again.
It meant that the disguise was no longer necessary.
She turned her head to the side and looked around.
A river. She could see a river.
If it was a river near the Living Sword Sect, it was the Geum River.
‘Is he thinking of crossing the river? Or along the river…’
Neither thought was good.
The territory of the Living Sword Sect extended for about two hundred li in all directions from Dongseung, where the main sect was located. Disciples were spread all over that vast land. If you counted the disciples of the disciples, and their disciples, the entire two hundred li was the territory of the Living Sword Sect.
Wherever he went, there were people chasing Ah Geol.
By now, an arrest warrant or a kill order for Ah Geol would have been issued.
Crossing the river was not a good idea.
The same was true for going down along the river.
There were ferry crossings on the river. The Geum River had particularly narrow intervals between ferry crossings, so there was one almost every ten li. And at the ferry crossings, Living Sword Sect swordsmen were on guard.
It was very difficult to escape their sight while going by boat.
It was unlikely that they would not issue a stop order to a stranger going by boat, and it was natural to be discovered if they were searched… a fight was bound to happen.
She did not think that her life was in immediate danger.
Ah Geol was a great master. He was a murderer who performed an ultra powerful martial art that she did not know without a moment’s hesitation. It meant that he had no hesitation in killing people.
For a while, Ah Geol would cut down the Living Sword Sect disciples without hesitation.
But soon his martial arts would be analyzed. A martial artist who could face him would appear.
Before assassinating Kang Jo, she had carefully examined the escape routes.
As a result, she had not seen a way to escape along the river. The same was true for crossing the river.
After killing Kang Jo, the best plan was to evaporate from that spot. She would throw off her mask, hide her sword, and blend in with the residents of Dongseung.
The second best plan was to break through the two hundred li before the Living Sword Sect could even set up a security net.
She had failed in the first method. As soon as she had killed Kang Jo, a Living Sword Sect disciple had followed her. She had no time to hide among the residents of Dongseung. Because she was busy being chased.
The second best plan had also failed.
Thanks to the stable’s old servant, she had obtained a famous horse, but she had failed to break through. The Living Sword Sect’s security net was much more meticulous than she had thought. It was fast and precise.
The assassination was a success, the escape was a failure.
Her life was as good as dead. If the black horse had not been able to get her out and she had been caught in their hands… she would have burst her heart and committed suicide as soon as she opened her eyes.
Now Ah Geol was facing the problem she had faced.
He could not cross the river, he could not go along the river, and he could not turn back.
Ah Geol sat down, looking at the river, as if he knew her thoughts or not.
She was about to speak, but she stopped.
There was nothing to say. There was nothing she could say to Ah Geol. She didn’t know how to escape the clutches of the Living Sword Sect.
‘What should I do?’
“Aigoo! I’m so tired. Why is this hill so high? It should be in a more comfortable place.”
Just then, the old servant appeared with a grumbling sound.
“It’s a mess, isn’t it?”
Ah Geol said.
“Of course it’s a mess. All the people from the stable were taken away… It won’t be a big deal, but they’ll have a hard time.”
The old man came and sat down next to Ah Geol.
“What’s wrong with your head… I told you to take this, why did you leave it behind?”
The old man held out a jar.
“It’s annoying. I have no use for it.”
“Why is this useless?”
“If I’m injured enough to use that, it’s over.”
“Kukuk! Well… you’re right. They’re not the type to show mercy enough for you to use this. No, no. Even if you don’t need it, that young lady needs to use it, doesn’t she? How can you only think of yourself!”
The old man said bluntly and placed the jar in Ah Geol’s arms.
Ah Geol took the jar.
The two of them looked at the river like that. Silently, quietly… they watched the flowing river.
“…Are you satisfied?”
Ah Geol said something strange.
“Huhuhu!”
The old man laughed disgustingly. But in the old man’s laughter, a look of satisfaction was clearly contained.
The old man continued after his laughter.
“Now that you’ve started… go all the way.”
“You know I can’t go.”
“Whether you go or not is your problem. I think I’ve done my part, so I’ll be satisfied with this.”
“That’s nice. You’ve done everything you had to do.”
“Go all the way.”
“Grandpa.”
“What?”
“Grandpa.”
“What! You rascal!”
“Live. Live and receive a drink from me.”
“Don’t you know I’ve quit drinking?”
“That’s why. Receive a drink from me. Drink again.”
“Kukukuk! Alright, later. If you go all the way, I’ll receive a drink then. What’s there not to receive?”
Ah Geol and the old man looked at the river again.
“Should we go?”
“We should. Since we’ve started.”
There was no doubt. There was no anxiety. He had been forced to start, but if it was a path he had to take, he would gladly go. He knew he would die on the way. But he would go all the way, even one step further.
“This.”
The old man held out something wrapped in a cloth.
“What is it?”
“It’s a Half Iron Blade. I worked hard for three years to make this. This will probably save your life once or twice. I didn’t even feel tired while making it, thinking that.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Take it, you rascal! It’s the last gift I’m giving you.”
Ah Geol looked at the old man blankly.
“Grandfather, stay alive.”
“Grandfather… that’s disgusting, you rascal. Don’t worry about me. This life is so worthless that even the grim reaper doesn’t think of taking it. Even if everyone else dies, I will live.”
The two came to the side of the bed and held the four corners.
Ah Geol held the two front corners, and the old man went to the back and held the other two corners.
The bed… the bed that was now just a plank, had turned into a stretcher.
Ah Geol moved first. The old man immediately followed.
Her eyes and the old man’s eyes met. Then the old man smiled and spoke to her.
“That one is so gruff, but he has a lot of affection. He’s someone who will save your life somehow, so don’t worry too much.”
“…Yes.”
She answered obediently.
Ah Geol and the old man… were very strange people. They were clearly people she had met for the first time yesterday, and they had no special connection. And yet, they were as familiar as people she had known for a long time.
‘Ah! Could it be Ice Melting?’
She blinked her eyes and looked at the old man and Ah Geol.
It seemed right. It seemed like Ice Melting.
Ice Melting was an assassin’s term. Ordinary people didn’t know it, it was a secret language known only to assassins.
The pinnacle of assassins was definitely Ice Melting.
The original meaning of Ice Melting was that ice melts very slowly, and melts away.
Assassins longed for such a state.
The world does not guard against a person who does not reveal any killing intent. It also does not guard against a person who does not show any excellence or extraordinariness. No one guards against a person who is inferior to them.
Ah Geol and the old man used Ice Melting.
Even though they had martial arts that were superior to anyone else’s, they did not reveal it at all. Even though they had a terrible killing intent that could cut a person in an instant, they did not show it at all.
They were real masters.
The old man looked at her and said something strange.
“From now on… you will live in a hell where you can’t even walk a single step without stepping on blood, but still, endure it as if it were your fate. Try to be happy at least once a day, even if you have to force it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that since you’ve messed with the Living Sword Sect, it won’t be comfortable.”
“Ah! Yes.”
“If this is also a connection, I should at least know your name.”
“Mongseol. My name is Mongseol.”
She told him the name she was called in the Drunken Flower Garden.
She had another name. But because she had been called by her title since she was young, she was used to her title.
For an assassin to reveal their title was close to a taboo, but what could she not say to those who had already saved her life? She ignored the anxiety that was slowly raising its head.
“Mongseol… is it snow in a dream, or snow falling in a dream? Is it a dreamlike snow? It’s a very pretty name. Huhu! Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen snow. A long time ago… something bad happened on a snowy day.”
The old man muttered to himself.
She was loaded onto a boat.
The bed, which was no different from a wooden plank, was placed on the side of the boat.
“…Grandpa.”
“Don’t worry. I told you I’ll live.”
At those words, Ah Geol turned around abruptly. And he rowed hard.
The boat flowed quickly along the river.
Ah Geol did not look back. But the old man was endlessly watching the boat.
He was taking in Ah Geol with his eyes.
(End of Chapter)