Wandering Through Vol. 3 Chapter 76 - The Journey

Gukmu could not bring himself to leave the mountain.

 

No matter how much Eunbi insisted he go, his feet felt too heavy to lift, weighed down by leaving his lady behind. 

 

He eventually came to a stop at the foot of the mountain. 

 

The area was bleak, overrun by minor ghosts driven there by the Crown Prince’s oppressive energy. He could feel the tips of his fingers growing cold.

 

But then, at some point, the ghosts began to flee the mountain, one by two.

 

As if the Crown Prince himself was ascending the slopes.

 

The coolness in the air was soon replaced by the warmth of a spring night, yet Gukmu’s body froze stiff, as if touched by frost.

 

Thud—

 

The faint sound of a branch being stepped on reached his ears.

 

‘…If it was going to be like this, I should have just stayed with her.’

With that final thought, he knelt on the mountain.

 

💫

 

Yiseo frowned up at the night sky, now too dark to continue moving.

 

“Let us rest here for the night and depart at dawn tomorrow, Madame. If we leave at dawn, it will take less than one sijeon (two hours).”

At Old Lady Gwak’s words, Yiseo nodded her head reluctantly. She wanted to say that if it would take less than two hours, they might as well go now. 

 

But she couldn’t bring herself to tell the palanquin carriers who had brought her this far to run through the night.

 

It was already pushing it to have caught up this quickly.

 

But Yiseo felt strangely uneasy and paced restlessly. In the yard of the rented house Old Lady Gwak had paid a few coins for, she couldn’t bring herself to go inside and sleep, and instead kept pacing back and forth.

“Madam. Can’t you sleep?”

 

Perhaps sensing her restlessness, Ban hurried over and asked. 

 

Yiseo nodded and muttered,

“It’s just that it makes me uneasy to rest here when we’re only one or two hours away. Who knows what might happen overnight…”

 

Answering Ban in an uneasy voice, she then shook her head, thinking she was being unnecessarily fussy.

 

“Never mind, it’ll be fine. It’s not like being anxious will let me go anyway. You should go in and sleep. If we’re leaving early at dawn tomorrow, you need to rest now.”

 

Ban stared intently at Yiseo for a moment before going to the back house and bringing out a carrying frame. She set it down in front of Yiseo and placed her on it.

 

“Ban? What’s this all of a sudden…”

 

“Please sit still.”

 

Before Yiseo, suddenly loaded onto the frame, could say anything, Ban hoisted it up and stood. She then practically ran, leaving the house they were in behind.

 

“Ban? Wait, Ban, stop for a second…!”

 

“I’m strong, and you’re light, so I could carry you all day. But I don’t know the way. So you’ll have to guide me, madam,” Ban spoke cheerfully. 

 

Yiseo, who had been about to protest, finally relaxed her body. 

 

After all, this was the same Ban who had carried Yiseo up and down mountains. With a carrying frame on level ground, there was no way she couldn’t manage with her on it. 

 

But…

 

“Aren’t you afraid of the night?”

 

“You’re the one who’s afraid of the night, madam. Did you remember to bring the salt and the talismans?”

 

Thanks to Leegwang having poured an abundance of energy into her before leaving, Yiseo’s otherwise empty body had passed through several villages throughout the day without any issues. 

 

But gradually, that effect seemed to be wearing off, as she could feel minor evil spirits occasionally watching her.

 

“It should last for about two hours.”

 

She truly hadn’t known just how much energy he had slathered onto her body, nor that it would remain this effective even while they were apart.

 

“If it gets too hard or scary, we can turn back. Don’t just endure it.”

 

At Yiseo’s words, Ban just hoisted the carrying frame once and quickly walked on. 

 

Fortunately, the moon was bright, so they could see the path ahead somewhat clearly.

 

Just how long had they walked like that?

 

As they left the village behind and were passing along a hilly path, a small shadow seemed to appear ahead of them, and soon a long, stretched-out human shadow, cast by the moonlight, reached their feet.

 

He was a tall man with his eyes covered.

 

When they reached a distance close enough to recognize each other’s faces, Ban was the first to speak, her voice full of suspicion.

 

“Master?”

 

“Do you know me?”

 

Ban frowned. She had only seen him a few times, but there was no way Ban could have forgotten Gukmu’s face. 

 

Because…

 

“You were the one who entrusted me to the Grand Lord. That’s how I met my lady. What on earth are you doing here, Master?”

 

“…I see. I have come to see the lady behind you.”

 

“No. My lady has somewhere to be. She’s busy, so please come back another time.”

 

“I’m afraid that by then, I will already be dead.”

 

“I said clearly, no…!”

 

Yiseo grabbed Ban’s shoulder. 

 

At her whispered request to be let down, Ban glared suspiciously at Gukmu but lowered Yiseo from the carrier. 

 

Yiseo staggered for a moment, then took a few steps toward Gukmu and asked.

 

“This is my first time seeing you. What business do you have with me?”

 

It was a probing question, to see if it was true that Gukmu had lost all memory of her. 

 

Yiseo couldn’t understand at all why he had come looking for her.

 

Moreover, why was this man, who had supposedly run away with Eunbi, standing before her at the very moment the Grand Lord had gone to capture Eunbi?

 

“I do not know you, my lady, but are you not the one who knows me?”

 

“If you stopped me just to speak such nonsensical, cryptic words…”

 

“It is not nonsense. I have lost most of my memories from before last year. But you must be different, my lady.”

 

“What does that have to do with me?”

 

To Yiseo, who was trying to wriggle out of the situation, Gukmu took out a wooden tablet from his embrace and handed it over. 

 

About the size of a palm, the wooden tablet was densely carved with characters on both front and back, so meticulously that it closely resembled a printing block one might only see at a temple.

“Before I lost my memories, it was as if I knew I would lose them. I left behind records of important things. I memorized and burned most of the records, but I kept this one only because I believed it wasn’t about me.”

In the dim night, the characters carved on the wooden tablet weren’t even visible. 

 

Yet, the deeply engraved letters were felt distinctly against her palm.

 

“It was a story about a certain couple’s past lives, spanning three lifetimes. I thought it was your life.”

“…Why?”

 

“If one of the couple is the Grand Prince, wouldn’t the other be his wife?”

 

Gukmu murmured quietly.

 

“Frankly, more important than how or what I know, is the fact that I brought this wooden tablet not to the Grand Prince, but to you, my lady. To make a deal with you.”

 

“…”

 

“I will give this tablet to you. In return, please release Eunbi, who has been captured by the Grand Prince. If you can also ensure the Grand Prince never finds her again, forever, then you may burn or break that tablet, all according to your will.”

 

Yiseo tried to evade. She could have shouted that the life recorded on that wooden tablet wasn’t hers, or she could have asked what it had to do with her, whether it was given to the Grand Prince or not. 

 

But no words came out of her mouth.

 

“If you make a deal with me, the Grand Prince will never know about the life recorded on that tablet.”

 

Precisely, Gukmu had struck Yiseo’s fear. 

 

It was suspicious how he could possibly know that what Yiseo feared most was the Grand Prince recovering the memories of his past life.

 

However, faced with the blatant record of her past life right before her eyes, Yiseo momentarily forgot her suspicion about how the Shaman could have known such things and proposed this deal to her.

Yiseo wanted to destroy the wooden tablet in her hand immediately.

 

But even if she did, the Shaman had read it with his own fingertips and remembered it. 

 

Therefore, she knew that if she accepted this deal, she must ensure the Grand Prince never finds Eunbi, ever.

 

If Eunbi were to be captured at any time, the Shaman would not hesitate to use the past life record he read as leverage.

“…I will grant your request.”

 

The Shaman bowed his head at Yiseo’s answer. 

 

Holding the wooden tablet, Yiseo turned her back. She hoped that Leegwang would not remember the past life. She hoped he would not suffer from those memories again.

 

But suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

 

Perhaps it wasn’t just for his sake, but for her own as well.

 

Because she did not want to receive his hatred again. 

 

Because she did not want to see his face, which smiled innocently knowing nothing, stained with resentment toward her like before.

 

Because she wanted only the memory of him whispering that he loved her to remain.

 

So perhaps, Yiseo wanted to leave. 

 

To avoid being hurt when Leegwang, who now knew the memories of their past life, came to hate her once more.

…It seems I like you so much that your hatred frightens me this much.

 

💫

 

Even though it was the middle of the night, the village entrance was lit with lights in various places. 

 

Yiseo, who was sitting atop the carrying frame, spoke.

 

“You can let me off from here, Ban.”

 

“I’ll go just a bit further. The path is too dark, it won’t do.”

 

Despite Yiseo’s protests, Ban moved his steps toward the brightly lit village shrine. 

 

However, just as the shrine became visible in the distance, not long after, Yiseo’s body was suddenly lifted sharply upward from the carrying frame.

 

“Aahhh!”

 

Yiseo, who had been suddenly hoisted into the air by her captured waist, let out an involuntary scream. 

 

Before that scream could even finish, she was caught in a familiar embrace.

 

Leegwang held her in his arms and pressed his face extremely close to hers. Their eyes met, and he laughed.

 

“I thought it was a dream, but it’s really you.”