“Ah.”
Sunlight broke across her long, fluttering eyelashes. Even after waking, Ju Hwaran remained lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a long while.
The night before, she and the Yongbong Escort Bureau had finally reached Xi’an.
The Black Stone Stronghold, led by Heavenly Axe, had been the final obstacle on this escort mission.
They had passed through Xi’an’s safe, bustling streets and unloaded their baggage at a secluded inn. Beds, warm food, and hot bathwater had all been waiting for them.
After checking every single item in the shipment, Ju Hwaran had collapsed into sleep.
At last, the end is in sight.
This place was safe. There were no bandits blocking the mountain roads, nor wandering martial artists hiding their identities and attacking in groups. Once they delivered the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, the primary objective of this escort mission, to the Zhongnan Sect, it would be over.
The Yongbong Escort Bureau would receive a reward worthy of its efforts, and they would all return home together.
Together with thirty-three bone urns.
Thirty-three…
Ju Hwaran’s eyes suddenly flickered faintly.
Thirty-three bone urns. Thirty-three faces. Memories of laughing and crying with them flashed before her eyes.
“Ah, I shouldn’t be doing this…”
Ju Hwaran rubbed at the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, then slapped both cheeks hard. The sharp crack brought her scattered thoughts back, if only a little.
“It’s only just beginning. I have to keep my head straight.”
The escort mission was not over yet.
Three days remained until the deadline agreed upon with the Zhongnan Sect, and the mission would not be complete until the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was safely delivered within that time.
“And then… it’ll be a new beginning.”
Muttering softly, Ju Hwaran reached inside her robes. She pulled out the tightly sealed wooden casket and checked it before putting it away again and securing it with a cord.
Even that alone allowed a refreshing fragrance to linger at the tip of her nose before vanishing.
Inside the casket was the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, an age-old elixir coveted by every martial artist in the Murim.
“Don’t lose focus, Ju Hwaran. This is only the first step.”
That was when someone spoke from outside the door.
“Hwaran, are you awake?”
The familiar voice reached her from beyond the door. After straightening her clothes, Ju Hwaran answered.
“Yes, Uncle Heo. You may come in.”
“Then excuse me for a moment.”
A short while later, Chief Escort Heo Jun opened the door and entered, his face bright.
“We’ll be able to return to the Escort Bureau earlier than expected.”
“You mean…”
“The Zhongnan Sect is waiting in Xi’an.”
“The Zhongnan Sect?”
“That’s right. And I hear the Taeeul Merciless Sword himself has come. Hahaha.”
Unlike Heo Jun, who was smiling, Ju Hwaran’s gaze sank deeply.
The Zhongnan Sect? And the Taeeul Merciless Sword came all the way to Xi’an himself?
Their return had been moved forward, so she should have been happy, just like Heo Jun.
But the more she thought about the arrogant and discourteous attitude the Zhongnan Sect had shown them until now, the more unease slowly crept up from the depths of her heart.
“Uncle Heo, don’t you think something is strange?”
“Hm? What do you mean, strange?”
“There are still three days until the agreed-upon deadline.”
“There are only three days left. Even traveling slowly, two days is enough to get from Xi’an to Mount Zhongnan.”
“You used to say this all the time, Uncle. There are no coincidences in the Murim. It’s a place where nothing is too strange, no matter what happens.”
“Hwaran, what are you trying to say?”
Under Heo Jun’s utterly baffled gaze, Ju Hwaran spoke gravely.
“The Zhongnan Sect has been quietly hostile toward our Yongbong Escort Bureau until now. More than anyone, they must have wanted this escort mission to fail. That’s why they deliberately set such difficult conditions.”
“But we accepted them. And we’ve handled them admirably.”
The conditions demanded by the Zhongnan Sect had been extremely difficult. The other heads of escort bureaus who had flocked there, lured by the Zhongnan Sect’s reputation, had even shaken their heads emphatically and abandoned the commission.
If they failed to transport the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng within the required time, the mission would be deemed a failure, and they would have to pay an astronomical sum in damages.
But after much deliberation, Ju Hwaran had accepted the Zhongnan Sect’s commission.
There had been only one reason: to raise the Yongbong Escort Bureau to greater heights.
And we had to pay a terrible price for it.
Something that should never have happened had happened.
The cause had been the leak of information about the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
Ju Hwaran was not a fool. She simply lacked experience. She possessed a sharp mind capable of considering every possibility and keeping all options open.
The suspicions she had kept buried in her heart until now were slowly taking shape. Ju Hwaran spoke quietly.
“Perhaps, perhaps the Zhongnan Sect…”
“Enough.”
Heo Jun’s face had hardened as he cut her off.
“Stop. I know what you’re thinking, but anything beyond that is absurd. No—it’s dangerous.”
“But—”
“I know the rumors about the Zhongnan Sect well. It’s also true that they’ve been keeping us in check so they can build up their own escort bureau. But what you’re trying to say right now, Hwaran… is a dangerous conjecture.”
“Uncle Heo…”
“As your uncle and as the Chief Escort of the Yongbong Escort Bureau, I’m asking you. Don’t put yourself or the Escort Bureau in danger.”
Though they shared not a drop of blood, he was her uncle in every way that mattered, a man who had always treated her warmly since childhood.
When he deliberately poured out those words with such a stern expression, Ju Hwaran could no longer continue speaking about the Zhongnan Sect.
“Phew.”
As Ju Hwaran let out a quiet sigh, Heo Jun gently placed an arm around her shoulders.
“I’m sorry if I was too harsh.”
“No. I suppose I was being overly sensitive.”
“You had reason to be. The Zhongnan Sect did something it had never done before. Who would have expected them to send the Taeeul Merciless Sword instead of a Hall Master or Chief Steward?”
One of the two Senior Brothers of Zhongnan’s Sect Leader.
The Taeeul Merciless Sword usually remained at the main sect, rarely showing himself in public. There was one simple reason people had remembered him for so long.
The First Sword of Zhongnan.
He was a Supreme Peak master produced by the Zhongnan Sect. The owner of a terrifying sword art said to have mastered the ultimate principles of the Heavenly River Thirty-Six Swords was none other than the Taeeul Merciless Sword.
There had to be great significance in a figure comparable to the Sect Leader, the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord, personally stepping forward.
That was what Ju Hwaran found most puzzling.
“Why the Taeeul Merciless Sword, of all people?”
“He must be in a hurry. The reason Zhongnan spent a fortune acquiring the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was the Roaring Fury Swordsman’s Internal Injury, after all. His only Senior Brother ended up like that. How could he not be frantic?”
At first glance, it sounded reasonable.
But Ju Hwaran clearly remembered what her father, Ju Hogun, had told her years ago.
He called him a frightening man.
Her father had been such a kind person that people called him the Junzi Sword. If even Ju Hogun, who was generous in his judgment of others, had described him that way, then the Taeeul Merciless Sword must have been as sharp a person as his swordsmanship.
We must not let our guard down until the very end.
After organizing her thoughts, Ju Hwaran asked Heo Jun a question.
There was still one person weighing on her mind.
“What about Escort Captain Song?”
“Ah, about that…”
Heo Jun hesitated briefly before answering.
“I had trustworthy escorts watching him discreetly day and night, but as you know, Hwaran, everyone let their guard down last night…”
“You took your eyes off him.”
“I have no excuse. It was my fault for failing to keep a closer watch.”
At Heo Jun’s embarrassed attempt to avoid her gaze, Ju Hwaran let out a small sigh.
“Haa…”
Song Ilseom, whose origins were unclear and whose reputation among the public was poor, had been one of their primary subjects of surveillance.
Her suspicions of him had grown particularly strong after he met Jin Taekyung.
I told you repeatedly to keep a close eye on him.
Heo Jun was certainly a good man. He had served the Yongbong Escort Bureau for more than thirty years and had been close enough to Ju Hogun to address him like a brother.
But the careless side he occasionally showed, like now, had also caused one mistake after another, both large and small.
All I can do is hope it doesn’t happen this time.
The milk had already been spilled. In any case, the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was in her possession.
Hiding her disappointment, Ju Hwaran spoke.
“Where did the Zhongnan Sect say they wanted to meet?”
“They asked us to meet at a teahouse called Tengwang Pavilion on the western edge of Xi’an by noon.”
Tengwang Pavilion was a famous teahouse that Ju Hwaran had occasionally visited herself.
There would be plenty of witnesses, and the atmosphere was quiet, making it the perfect place to conclude an escort mission.
“We’ll leave in fifteen minutes. Please prepare.”
Baek Museong came to Xi’an Tower while we were in the middle of packing.
“Are you really leaving right away?”
“I’d like to stay a few more days too, but as you know, our schedule is a little tight.”
“That’s unfortunate. If possible, I would have liked to escort you to the main sect.”
“I’ll stop by on the way back. Give me a tour of Huashan then.”
“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility for showing you everything properly.”
There it was again. The full-course promise.
I wasn’t even expecting a full course. I just hoped that the next time we met, he wouldn’t be in the middle of another bloody fight like this one.
Then, as I stared at Baek Museong’s hearty, laughing face, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Should I at least bring it up? The Yongbong Escort Bureau and the Zhongnan Sect.
I was still debating when Baek Museong touched his face and asked,
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
“…”
“Young Hero Jin?”
“Oh, no. I just got distracted by something for a moment.”
Shit. I don’t know.
When you got right down to it, the Zhongnan Sect and the Yongbong Escort Bureau were both complete strangers to me. Whatever dispute they had was something they needed to resolve among themselves.
I already had more than enough problems of my own. Worrying about something like this would just be meddling where I wasn’t wanted.
This is the Murim, after all.
I muttered inwardly as I seated Jeok Cheongang on the pack frame. Then I picked up the furs and began piling them on top of him one by one.
Even while doing so, I couldn’t figure out why Ju Hwaran kept coming to mind.
Song Ilseom, whom I had only glimpsed in passing, came to mind along with her.
Now that I think about it, he was a suspicious bastard. He gave off an even worse stink than Gung Gibang.
After learning about the relationship between the Yongbong Escort Bureau and the Zhongnan Sect, I became curious about that bastard’s identity.
His Level was an astonishing 110. At that level, he could probably flay one of the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes down to the bone.
He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties at most, but… which sect did he belong to, and who was he?
Could he be an assassin sent by the Zhongnan Sect? No, that’s going too far.
Had he simply fallen for Ju Hwaran’s beauty and stayed behind?
No. If that were the case, there would have been no reason for him to hide his true abilities. Was this one of those stories where the protagonist hides his power? Did some loser hiding his power look cooler when he rescued her?
Ju Hwaran. We only exchanged a few words, but she seemed like a good person. And she had such a refreshingly direct way of speaking.
She also possessed extraordinary martial talent, having reached the Peak realm at her age.
And then, again… yes. The dimples that appeared when she smiled were pretty. So were the eyes that curved like half-moons.
Come to think of it, she looked like a cat.
Cats had always been my favorite animals.
“Um, Captain?”
“Hm? Yeah?”
I turned my head and saw Hyuk Mujin staring at me strangely.
Not just him, either. Gung Gibang, Cheongpung, and even Baek Museong were all looking at me that way.
“What? Why is everyone staring at me?”
“Well, the thing is…”
Hyuk Mujin cautiously pointed at the pack frame.
“In my humble opinion, Great Hero Jeok is going to suffocate if this continues.”
“Gasp!”
I hurriedly flung off the furs that had piled up like a mountain.
Jeok Cheongang, who had nearly gone to meet that person while in a coma, was breathing faintly.
“Oh, Benefactor! You’re just like me!”
“Are you insulting me right now?”
“Ah. No, no. That isn’t what I meant…”
Ignoring Cheongpung, who instantly drooped, I began piling the furs back on. Jeok Cheongang’s small frame soon disappeared beneath them.
Only after confirming that enough air could pass through did I hoist the pack frame onto my back.
“All right. If everyone’s ready, let’s get going.”
We stepped outside amid Xi’an Tower’s lavish hospitality.
In Xi’an’s bustling streets, crowded with people, Baek Museong spoke through the noisy din.
“I’d like to see you off, but you won’t allow that, will you?”
“We’ll be seeing each other again later anyway.”
“Haha. I knew you’d say that. Then I’ll be off. Stay in good health, Martial Uncle Cheongpung.”
“Take care, Martial Nephew Baek!”
In the end, I hadn’t even brought it up. Good. This was fine.
Just as I was about to turn away with a lingering sense of unease amid the warm atmosphere, I heard someone speak.
“Did you hear? The Taeeul Merciless Sword of the Zhongnan Sect is in Xi’an.”
“What? The Taeeul Merciless Sword? Why on earth would he come here?”
“How should I know? Someone saw him heading toward Tengwang Pavilion in the west. Apparently, he’s meeting with the Yongbong Escort Bureau… but I can’t say for sure.”
The whispering voices slowly faded into the distance.
I asked Cheongpung,
“Young Hero Cheong.”
“Yes, Benefactor.”
“Have you tried tea?”
“Yes! I have!”
“No, you haven’t tried tea yet.”
If I said you hadn’t, then you hadn’t.
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