Chapter 107
After the matter at Yongcheok Stronghold was settled. I immediately prepared to leave.
There was nothing for me to do by staying here any longer anyway, and I had also heard that the young lady and her younger brother would be taken care of by Zhuge Ye.
Even though the young lady had regained the will to live, her younger brother’s illness hadn’t been resolved. I had been worried about it myself, but if one of the Five Great Families was willing to take responsibility for them, there was no longer any need to worry.
I gave Zhuge Ye a thumbs-up in my mind and looked toward the Inspection Squad gathered in the distance. They seemed too busy talking among themselves to pay any attention to me. If so, now was the perfect time. If they caught me and held me up again, it could become troublesome.
‘I should disappear quietly.’
I quietly slipped among the bandits. Then, without realizing it, I turned around.
At that moment, our eyes met. With the beautiful man I had first encountered in the pavilion.
At some point, the beauty had been looking in my direction. He was staring straight at me, as though he knew I had slipped among the bandits.
I think I was a little nervous under that unwavering gaze. I was even worried that he might realize I was trying to escape and tell the others. But the beauty did nothing.
He merely watched me quietly. We looked at each other for quite some time. As I continued looking at him, that strange feeling I had experienced earlier in the pavilion surged up again.
This feeling of my heart fluttering somehow, this strange longing rising within me… just what was it?
‘Have I seen him somewhere before?’
But if I had seen him even once, he was a face I could never have forgotten, so I quickly abandoned the thought. Instead, I turned around and started heading down the path I had been taking. If I kept looking at him, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to make my feet move. I waved my hand at the beauty once.
As I did so, I thought,
‘Would it have been better to ask his name?’
Though somehow, I felt like he wouldn’t have answered.
I smiled foolishly to myself and shook off my lingering regret. I figured that if fate ever brought us together again, perhaps we would meet once more.
I headed toward the entrance of the stronghold again. Fortunately, the stronghold was chaotic, with all sorts of people mixed together, so no one paid any attention to me.
Outside the stronghold, several horses were tied to nearby trees. I picked the sturdiest one among them, naturally untied its reins, and led it away while muttering,
“I’ll borrow this for a while~.”
Then I led the horse down the mountain. Only after I had put some distance between myself and the stronghold did I mount the horse and begin riding.
My destination was south. The Ten Thousand Great Mountains, where the headquarters of the Guangjin Cult was located.
I rode without stopping. I passed through several villages and changed horses several times.
At one point, I had an attack. Perhaps because I had exerted myself at Yongcheok Stronghold, the two energies that had yet to fuse began clashing with each other again.
Unfortunately, it happened right by the roadside, so I hurriedly searched for a place where there were no people. Fortunately, there was a cave nearby, so I hid inside and somehow endured it with medicine and alcohol.
However…
‘I wanted to see her.’
The young lady didn’t appear in my dream this time.
I was a little disappointed, but there was nothing I could do. The young lady had never appeared in my dreams that often to begin with, and the frequency had decreased as time passed.
‘…At this rate, I’m going to forget her face.’
Thinking that perhaps I should have an artist draw a portrait of the young lady next time, I set off again.
How much farther had I traveled like that?
Before several days had passed, I arrived at the foot of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
“I’m late, I’m late.”
I looked at the countless rugged mountain ranges as I rode toward the entrance of the mountains. Then, following a path I had already traveled dozens of times and had become familiar with, I rode on until I reached a point where the terrain became steep. There, I stopped and released the horse. Instead, I used my lightness skill and began running on my own.
Tap-tap-tap!
The headquarters of the Guangjin Cult lay farther in. Given the circumstances, it was hidden deep inside so that ordinary people wouldn’t discover it. After crossing a stream and climbing a cliff, a mountain peak that soared high into the sky soon appeared.
An abandoned bow lay nearby. I picked up the bow and took a ‘myeongjeok’ from inside my robes. Then I nocked the ‘myeongjeok’ onto the bowstring, pulled it back with all my strength, and shot it toward the sky.
The ‘myeongjeok’ flew far away, making a long sound.
Piiiiiiii.
I then sat beneath the mountain peak and waited.
A little while later.
Drrrk, drrrk.
A sound came from above my head. I looked up and saw a bamboo basket hanging from a rope descending toward me. It was just large enough for one person to ride in.
I climbed onto the basket as naturally as if I’d done it countless times before. Then I gave the rope a tug once. Soon, the basket began rising again.
Drrk, drrrk, drrk.
I stared blankly at the scenery growing farther away.
There was something strange about riding the basket and looking at the mountain scenery like this. I felt frightened by the distant ground far below, yet at the same time, the view spread out before my eyes made me feel as though my chest had opened wide.
I felt many different emotions, but one thing remained the same: no matter how many times I saw it, I never grew tired of the sight. I spent the time comfortably enjoying the scenery.
The basket continued rising for quite some time.
The scenery around me gradually became blurred, and when I passed through the hazy clouds resting atop the peak…
Thud.
The basket stopped.
When I turned around, I saw the pulley that had pulled the basket up and the men who had been turning it. The men prostrated themselves before me and shouted,
“We welcome the return of our Cult Leader!”
Above Gicheonae in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
On a recessed stretch of land behind the mountain peak, the people of the Guangjin Cult lived together.
It was Mangyeong Village.
***
“Yes, yes, I’m glad to see you all too. Ah, I told you not to bow your backs. And don’t kneel, either. I have something urgent to take care of right now, so I’ll be going…”
I exchanged what could barely be called greetings with the Guangjin Cult members who were happy to see me, then hurried toward the very top of Mangyeong Village.
When I first came here, I couldn’t begin to describe how surprised I was.
I understood the circumstances of the Guangjin Cult. It was only natural that they lived hidden from the world. But I hadn’t expected them to be hiding ‘this’ thoroughly.
‘I figured they’d be living hidden somewhere between the mountain valleys at most.’
But who would have thought there would be a village at the very top of a mountain peak, in a place that couldn’t be reached without riding a pulley?
Even the pulley wouldn’t descend unless a specific signal was sent. It showed just how cautious the Guangjin Cult was about avoiding discovery.
It had been difficult for me to adjust at first, but they say humans are creatures of adaptation.
Before several years had even passed, I quickly became accustomed to this inconvenience. Later, I even felt strangely as though I hadn’t really come home if I didn’t go up and down by pulley.
Looking back at Mangyeong Village, which had become my second home, I hurried my steps.
‘He’s definitely sulking. He has to be.’
The place I was heading toward was the very top of Mangyeong Village, where the largest mansion stood.
Of course, even though it was large, it couldn’t even be compared to the estates of the great clans of the Central Plains. It merely had more rooms and taller walls than the small, cozy houses in the village.
Still, it had been built rather elegantly, and at a glance, it was obvious that someone important lived there.
Yes, that was my residence.
More precisely, it was the place where the former Cult Leader’s son, Young Master Lee, had lived, and where Sahyeon and I currently stayed.
“Hyeonah, your sister’s home!”
I opened the main gate and shouted loudly.
Even though I put my internal energy into my voice and shouted loud enough for it to echo, the house was incredibly quiet.
I awkwardly scratched my head. Normally, Sahyeon would have come running to greet me from the moment I got off the pulley, not just when I reached the front of the house. But now he was pretending not to see me.
‘He’s really angry.’
Well, of course he was. I’d sent him three letters saying that I thought I would be late…
Deciding that I should keep my head down and accept it, I quietly went looking for Sahyeon. Since it was midday, there was a good chance he’d be in the study.
I stood in front of the study and carefully asked,
“Hyeonah, are you angry?”
“……”
After a moment, a voice came from inside.
“Would someone as insignificant as me dare be angry with the great Hero Flower-Glutton?”
‘He’s really angry.’
“Nooo, it’s not like I wanted to be late. There were things happening here and there…”
“Of course. How could I not know of the great hero’s mission to look after every beauty in the world? You could have stayed longer to admire more flowers. Why did you come back so soon?”
“Why else…”
I grinned and said,
“Because the most precious flower is here?”
“……”
“Hyeonah, didn’t you miss me?”
Sahyeon didn’t answer. But I could tell that his mood had improved somewhat after what I’d just said.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I continued rambling.
“I missed our Hyeonah, you know. I missed you so much that I came running all the way here without even resting! But Hyeonah won’t even show me his face, so I’m a little hurt. Still, I can’t help it. Your sister will be leaving now, so once you’re no longer angry…”
As I turned around, pretending to leave, I heard the hurried sound of a chair being pulled back. Soon, the door opened.
Drrrk.
Without even looking back, I spread both arms wide. A heavy weight soon leaped into my embrace. A whining voice came from within my arms.
“You’re too mean, Sister…”
I laughed as I looked at the large body in my arms.
Sahyeon, who had once been smaller than me and looked like a little girl, had somehow become a full-grown man before I knew it.
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