Free Web NovelAs soon as a turquoise light seeped into the night sky, morning broke. It did not feel as if they had gotten very far yet, but sunlight was reaching into every corner of the forest.
She could not tell whether the pounding in her ears was the sound of hoofbeats or the sound of her own heart.
Yehwa started to burrow back into Grand Madam’s embrace that was pressed against her back, but when that drew her away from Yuhwa’s back, she instead clung forward.
Yehwa took Yuhwa’s hand. But there was no strength in Yuhwa’s hand. She wanted to tell her, as she always did, not to zone out, but her mouth would not open.
Clatter, clatter.
Once they passed by the cliff side, the side path they had left began to come into view.
Yehwa’s body stiffened. It was because she could see the high flames and black smoke rising from the Tang manor.
She was not so young that she did not understand that her clan was being wiped out. On the verge of bursting into tears, Yehwa did her best to press her emotions down.
Once they passed the cliff and turned back onto the forest path, their view was blocked again.
A silence of a different texture than before continued.
Sitting in an adult’s saddle made it feel as if her thighs were being torn apart, but Yehwa swallowed her anxiety and sorrow and could not make a sound.
It was then.
All of a sudden, the horse began to slow down. She heard the Red Tiger Unit leader, who had been riding in front, saying something to someone.
She could not understand the meaning, so it seemed to be a code.
Their mother also seemed to understand and stopped the horse.
Soon, a commotion could be heard not far away.
When Yehwa’s body stiffened, Grand Madam laid a hand on her head.
“It’s all right. They are people your maternal grandfather sent.”
At the touch of the hand stroking her head, Yehwa let out the breath she had been holding in, ever so quietly. Yuhwa openly panted, as if her tension had been released.
Soon, a group in brown clothes appeared. Because of their clothing, they looked as if they were one with their horses, and because they were dressed like that in the forest of all places, it was hard to distinguish them from the trees.
They seemed used to moving secretly along forest paths.
'Are they armed escorts?'
Yehwa recalled a conversation her mother and the Chief Steward’s wife had once had. She had heard that among armed escorts, there were often people whose skill was above that of mere experts. There were even those who had once been counted among the foremost martial artists under heaven, but had retired and taken up escort work.
Seeing their massive builds, it did not seem that her mother and the Chief Steward’s wife had been lying.
The men, who had been checking over the Red Tiger Unit and the ladies, came closer to the front.
“Seeing that you’ve come this far out to meet us, it seems the situation is not good.”
The one standing at the very front asked. His hair was flecked with white, making him look by no means young.
Her mother gave no answer. So the Red Tiger Unit leader replied instead.
“Is this all of you?”
His voice showed displeasure at the support of a little over ten men.
The warrior, who had been rolling his eyes and examining the ladies’ faces, let out a dry laugh. His gaze slid over to the Red Tiger Unit leader.
“Isn’t this much enough? We were only ordered to get Grand Madam out safely. No one told us to help the Tang Clan and fight an all-out war. If you want that, you’ll have to recalculate the price.” ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Yehwa flinched at the feel of Yuhwa’s back pressing into her. It was because the frightened Yuhwa was inching her bottom over, trying to cling to her.
It seemed she was not the only one whose skin crawled at the voice of these reinforcements.
There was no way to know what her maternal grandfather had paid them in return.
“Let us move.”
Grand Madam cut through the tension as she spoke.
“By now, pursuit will have caught our trail. I don’t know what your lives are worth, but they don’t look cheap, so we’d better go quickly.”
The leader of the brown-clad group crooked the corner of his mouth.
“A good idea.”
He moved his horse to the side and opened a path.
“We’ll take the front and the rear.”
They meant they would protect them, so she did not know why those words gave her goosebumps.
The five at the head took the lead as if to guide the group, and the remaining seven guarded the rear.
It looked as if they were protecting them, but at the same time...
'It feels like being locked in a prison.'
Yehwa felt a nameless unease.
Just then, an annoyed voice came from the rear.
“Don’t stop, keep riding. We’re not responsible for anyone who falls behind.”
No sooner had the leader’s words fallen than the men riding at the front increased their speed.
A mountain path was not like flat ground, so it was hard to maintain a steady pace. There was a limit to how fast they could go, because if they ran into a tree, it could lead to a serious accident, but the men at the front surpassed that limit by far.
“Hold on tight. You mustn’t fall.”
Grand Madam gave another hard tug on the rope tying the horse and the twins together.
Terrified, the twins clung to the rope around their waists and held on so they would not fall.
She had no idea when they would be able to get out of the mountain. No—she did not even know if they would be safe, even if they did.
Clang.
A sound of something cleaving the air came from behind.
Because Grand Madam’s embrace was shielding her, Yehwa could not tell what was happening.
But, having grown up in a martial clan, she at least knew that that scraping sound was the sound of weapons striking each other.
Clang. Clang.
It seemed the outsiders guarding the rear had slowed down, because the hoofbeats from behind grew fewer.
“Guh-heuk!”
From time to time, she heard screams as well.
It did not seem that the group who were supposed to be protecting them were the ones who were hurt. Soon, the sound of hoofbeats caught up again.
“Damn it. They’re unbelievably fast.”
A muttered curse came from the rear.
Soon, the owner of that voice drew up alongside the Red Tiger Unit.
He immediately threw the dagger in his hand up toward the trees.
“Urgh!”
A demonic warrior who had been moving along the branches plunged to the ground.
At some point, the outsider had drawn his longsword, and no sooner had the demonic warrior fallen beside him than he slashed across his waist.
Slash.
He lowered the hand holding the longsword and, with his other hand, took hold of the reins again. In the hand that gripped the reins was a dagger smeared all over with blood. In that brief span, it seemed he had even retrieved his own dagger.
It did not seem that her maternal grandfather had just sent anyone at random.
She had found it strange that he had sent such unsettling people, but she felt as if she now understood why.
Their skill, at least, was beyond question.
Even Yehwa’s face brightened a little, so there was no need to mention Grand Madam.
Grand Madam’s body, which had been trembling in fine shivers, gradually regained its composure. Yehwa quietly wrapped her hands around the arm with which Grand Madam was pressing down on her waist.
Slash. Slash.
The group who had been in the rear now closed in completely to their side and dealt with the demonic warriors.
Demonic warriors did not die easily. Even after falling or having their bodies cut, they stubbornly chased after them, but they could not reach Grand Madam, or even the Red Tiger Unit’s horses.
It was then.
“L-look! I can see a village!”
Yuhwa let out a cry before she knew it.
It was very far away, but beyond a treeless stretch, they could see a village. They could not go down there, since it lay below a slope, but just seeing with their own eyes that there was an end to the forest made it feel as if they could breathe again.
Once they got down to flat ground, they would be able to go even faster.
But it seemed the demonic warriors had also realized that the forest was coming to an end. For the first time, they raised their voices.
“Why are you helping them?”
Their thunderous voice echoed through the leaves.
It was a strange sound.
Her skin trembled. It felt as if some energy had burrowed into her bones and was transmitting the sound.
Just as Yehwa was running her hand over her gooseflesh-covered arm—
“Do you not know it was the Martial Alliance that destroyed Hyeonrim?”
At those words, Yehwa snapped her head up.
It seemed they were speaking to the outsiders who had come as reinforcements, but they did not reply.
“If you hand them over to us, we will take revenge in your stead.”
At those words, Grand Madam’s arm twitched. Yehwa pressed her back flat against Grand Madam and held her breath. Grand Madam, too, instinctively bent her body forward, as if to protect her child.
But the outsiders’ leader snorted.
“Revenge doesn’t earn money. Why would we bother with such useless things?”
As soon as he said that, the voice came again.
“How much have you been promised?”
“Ten gold ingots in advance, twenty gold ingots once we get them on the boat, and an additional fifty gold ingots if Grand Madam arrives alive at her parents’ home.”
Yehwa’s eyes widened. She was shocked by her maternal grandfather’s boldness. It was nearly a hundred gold ingots. In the capital, one gold ingot was more than enough to buy a house and still have money left over; it was an enormous sum.
“If you hand Grand Madam over to us, we will give you a hundred gold ingots and a chance to take spoils.”
“Tsk, what empty bluffing. As if the likes of you had a hundred gold ingots.”
As the warrior let out a derisive laugh, something flew down from the sky.
Thock.
The leader caught it reflexively. When he opened his palm, his eyes widened a fraction. From the way it shone, it was gold. He bit into the gold coin once with his teeth, then his eyes flew open.
As if they were watching his reaction, another gold coin flew from the trees.
Tock. Tap.
The leader hastily reached out and caught several of them, and the outsiders riding alongside also snatched them up in a flash. There were at least more than ten.
“Look at the pouch tied to Grand Madam’s horse. That has a value greater than gold ingots.”
Even without being told, the leader already knew that. When the direct line of a great sect was fleeing, there was no way they would leave their precious items behind. If they had taken them with them while running, their value had to be tremendous.
As if to tempt him, the low voice settled down again.
“If the Tang Clan is annihilated in this mountain, all of it will be yours.”
The leader fell silent.
Yehwa swallowed dryly. It was because she had seen the Red Tiger Unit, who had drawn closer to Grand Madam, moving their hands. They did not take the outsider’s silence as a good sign.
Grand Madam also carefully untied the belt that bound the twins around the waist. She must have thought they would not be able to keep running much longer.
Slash.
The leader raised his sword and stabbed the Red Tiger Unit leader’s horse.
The horse let out a shrill scream and toppled over. Fortunately, as if he had anticipated such a situation, the leader made a great leap and landed on a tree.
“Do you mercenaries know no loyalty?”
He shouted as he blocked the demonic warriors rushing in.
At the roar that came crashing down like thunder, Yehwa felt as if her heart had dropped.
But the leader snorted.
“What loyalty do you expect from mercenaries who move for money? A mercenary is a hand for whoever pays better. If you’re resentful, you should have paid better for our lives.”
