Swoosh— Seolhwa’s sword cut down the last of the monkey demonic beasts. In truth, this fight was the monkeys' to lose from the very beginning. Whether in will or in resentment, Seolhwa’s resolve was by no means inferior to that of a mere monkey demonic beast.
“…This must be the last one.”
Flicking the blood of the monkey demonic beast from his blade, Namgung Cheongun let out a long breath. His body and Seolhwa’s were already soaked in the blood of the monkey demonic beasts.
“After going this far, I’m curious to see what this Heavenly Palace Turtle Head truly is.”
What kind of object could it be, to have its path guarded by such demonic beasts?
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
The two entered the deeper part of the forest from which the monkeys had poured out. The depths of the forest looked far more dangerous than where they had been, but having come this far, they could not turn back. Cheongun did not sheathe his sword.
He kept his energy keenly raised as well. As the two advanced in a state of tension, they stopped at a certain place. Namgung Cheongun’s expression hardened.
“This is…”
“…”
Corpses. No, skeletons.
Hundreds of skeletons were piled high in a pit. Every single skeleton had its skull crushed as if struck by a blunt weapon, and rusted, bent chains were bound to their arms and legs. They were the bodies of those who were simply passing through the mountain path when they were attacked by the monkey demonic beasts.
“How could this be… how could mere creatures…”
How could they be so evil? How could they be so cruel?
How….
Namgung Cheongun could not bring himself to continue his words. Because it was all what a person had done to those mere, lowly creatures. Namgung Cheongun gently closed his eyes.
To whom should this sin be attributed? He, who could have prided himself on distinguishing good and evil more clearly than anyone, was now simply confused.
“We must bring people to collect their remains.”
Seolhwa simply nodded her head.
“Let’s go, Father.”
“…Alright.”
The two passed the pit of skeletons and headed for a deeper, higher place. The sun, which had been tilting towards midday, was now moving beyond it. As they continued onward, the two stopped at a wide peak.
“Hoo…”
It wasn’t a particularly high peak, yet the broad summit was so densely covered in clouds that the ground was not visible. It felt as if they were standing on the clouds themselves.
“Is the Heavenly Palace Turtle Head here?”
Beyond the clouds, beyond the cliff, the lower peaks of Mount Huangshan were visible. There were peaks that were much higher, bald mountains with not a single tree, and mountains full of green. After looking down at the mountains, each with a different appearance, Seolhwa turned her gaze to Namgung Cheongun.
Though a magnificent view unfolded before her eyes, Cheongun’s expression was endlessly dark.
“What are you thinking about?”
Cheongun turned to look at Seolhwa. A faint smile bloomed in the shadows.
“I was thinking what a spectacular view it is.”
Looking at that sad smile, Seolhwa quietly opened her mouth.
“I heard from Grandfather. How you lost me eight years ago.”
The forced smile quickly vanished.
“I was curious. About the circumstances that led me to leave Namgung.”
Had someone kidnapped her? Had she wandered off on her own and gotten lost? Had those who held a grudge against them attacked her?
Was she separated from her parents in an accident? Was she… abandoned?
“…Seolhwa. Back then…”
“Please tell me. I want to hear it from your lips, Father.”
The child spoke. The child he had failed to protect eight years ago was asking. With a gaze filled with pure curiosity, not blame or resentment, she asked him.
“What happened eight years ago?”
His fingertips trembled faintly. Cheongun recalled that day eight years ago.
Clang— Clang-clang!
“Ugh!”
“He-help me!”
The sound of weapons clashing and people’s screams. Soon, the Yellow Dragon Unit Leader, who had gone ahead to assess the situation, returned.
“There’s a battle ahead. It seems bandits have attacked a merchant caravan… What will you do, Young Master?”
Cheongun slightly lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked toward the source of the sounds.
“Arghhh!”
A scream that sounded as if a life was being cut short was heard.
Cheongun frowned.
“You should go.”
Cheongun turned his gaze from the window to his wife, who was riding with him in the carriage. In the arms of the woman, as delicate and beautiful as a lotus flower, a child as white as snow was sleeping.
“Uuungh…”
The child whined, rubbing her face into her mother’s embrace. The loud noise seemed to have disturbed the child’s sleep. The woman, holding the child with a look of love, said, “Seolhwa is asleep, so there’s no one to stop you.
You want to help, don’t you? Go on, hurry.”
“The bandits might not all be there.”
“They attacked the group ahead, so any left would just be stragglers. The Yellow Dragon Unit Leader is here, so we’ll be fine.”
“But…”
“Hurry.”
The woman urged Cheongun on with a flower-like smile. Knowing well her husband’s character of not being able to ignore injustice, she pushed him to go.
“Then, I will be back. I will come as quickly as possible.”
“Return safely.”
Cheongun left his wife and daughter and exited the carriage. Entrusting his family to the accompanying Yellow Dragon Unit Leader, he hurried towards the source of the screams.
Swoosh— “Keuk!”
“Ugh!”
The bandits, composed of nothing more than second-rate fighters, were no match for Cheongun. Cheongun subdued the bandits in an instant and saved the merchant caravan.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“We will not forget the grace of Namgung!”
The people of the caravan, their lives saved, shed tears and expressed their gratitude to Cheongun. Firmly refusing their attempts to reward him with their goods, Cheongun turned back. He hurried back to where his wife and daughter were.
It was a swift return, just as he had promised.
However. Thump.
“…!”
What unfolded before the eyes of the returning Cheongun was a wrecked carriage, shattered to pieces, and a scene awash with blood. The members of the Yellow Dragon Unit who had been escorting them were already corpses rolling on the ground, and the broken debris was stained red in the pools of their blood.
Nowhere to be seen were his wife and daughter.
“Yellow Dragon Unit Leader!”
The only one still breathing was the Yellow Dragon Unit Leader. Even he was barely clinging to life.
“Yo-Young Master… hurry…”
The Yellow Dragon Unit Leader pointed in one direction. With that, his hand fell limp. Just to deliver those words, he had saved his very last breath.
Cheongun, with no time to mourn the Yellow Dragon Unit Leader’s death, ran in the direction his hand had pointed. Passing trees and cutting through bushes. He ran only in that direction.
‘Please… please…’
May he not be too late. May they be alive. If they were alive, he would use any means to save them.
Please….
And finally, the end of the forest came into view. Through the trees, he could see the figures of several people. They were masked men dressed in black.
Cheongun’s grip on his sword tightened. The distance between Cheongun and the masked men quickly closed.
Three zhang. Two zhang.
One zhang— Just as Cheongun was about to swing his sword at them.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
At the sound of a lotus blossom shattering, Cheongun’s heart sank.
Swoosh— “Kuaaak!”
Blood splattered, and one of the masked men fell. They all turned towards Cheongun at once. In that moment, Cheongun saw it.
The smile of one masked man. The hem of a lotus petal disappearing down the cliff.
“Daddy! Daddy! Waaaaah—!”
The cry of a child falling fast.
Shwick— Swoosh—!
His gaze fixed solely on that, Cheongun swung his sword.
“Retreat!”
One of the masked men shouted to his comrades. But that voice did not reach Cheongun’s ears. A sharp ringing echoed in his head.
While the masked men stopped their attack, gathered their fallen comrades, and fled, Cheongun moved forward. Swinging his sword, cutting down anything in his way. Until finally, when nothing was left at the edge of the cliff.
Clatter— Cheongun dropped his sword and fell to his knees. Beeeeep— The whole world converged into a single line. All sound became distant.
A single drop of sweat mixed with blood gathered at the tip of Cheongun’s chin and fell silently. The red droplet fell endlessly. And before that droplet could be swept away by the raging current below, Cheongun’s body collapsed.
It was the sound of Cheongun’s world collapsing.
“If only I hadn’t left the carriage that day, I wouldn’t have lost you and your mother there.”
His tears flowed down and vanished into the clouds.
“If only I hadn’t acted on my petty sense of chivalry… you wouldn’t have had to suffer for eight years…”
The Namgung mobilized all the martial forces of the Inner and Outer Halls to search the area below the cliff and along the river. A few days later, they found the woman’s body. But nowhere was there a body of a child.
“What happened then was entirely my fault. It was my negligence, my arrogance. Because I was lacking…”
Shing— The sound of a sword being drawn was heard. Cheongun turned his trembling gaze toward the source of the sound. Seolhwa was holding a sword.
That sword was aimed at him.