Chapter 17 – What a Predicament
“We should enter a nearby village before sunset and stay there for the night.”
When Jaha said that to Wang Gyeong, Wang Gyeong immediately objected.
“What are you talking about? It’ll be difficult, but if we keep going through the night, we can reach Shingang by dawn tomorrow.”
“There’s no need to push ourselves that hard.”
“We don’t know when the attackers might come after us again. We can’t afford to stop and rest.”
“That’s exactly why we should rest. If there are still attackers after us, they’ll assume we’ll travel through the night and wait for us somewhere around Shingang. Don’t you think so?”
Wang Gyeong had nothing to say.
If he were one of the attackers, he would have done exactly that.
“But if we don’t show up, they’ll spend the whole night waiting there. And this is only my guess, but I don’t think they’ll chase us anymore.”
“Why do you think that?”
Jaha had spoken as though he were certain, so Wang Gyeong naturally asked for the reason.
“They’ve already realized that attacking us directly isn’t easy. Instead, they’ll probably target our destination. They’ll need time to gather their men anyway. More importantly, I’m having trouble moving right now. I need to take care of my wounds. If we run into those attackers again in my current condition, I’m not confident I can even withstand a single move from them.”
More than anything else, the words I’m having trouble moving convinced Wang Gyeong.
If they encountered the attackers again while Jaha was still injured, escaping from them would be difficult.
As long as Jaha was in good condition, Wang Gyeong felt they could somehow make it to Inui Manor.
In the end, he had no choice but to follow Jaha’s decision.
“Understood. From now on, I’ll trust Young Hero Byeok completely.”
In truth, Jaha could have continued traveling through the night.
He had merely made an excuse because he wanted some time to discover the girl’s identity.
If they went straight to Inui Manor, he would have to hand the girl over without ever learning who she was or why the Hwasan Sect and Hwancheonma had caused such a commotion trying to find her.
If he discovered her identity, perhaps he would also find a way to take revenge on Hwancheonma.
Jaha had no intention of letting that opportunity slip away.
For that reason, learning the girl’s identity was more important than anything else.
After entering a shabby inn in the village, the first thing Jaha did was call for a physician and have his wounds treated.
Even that displeased Wang Gyeong.
“Young Hero Byeok certainly seems to treasure his body quite a lot for a martial artist.”
In situations like this, most martial artists either treated themselves or simply endured their injuries.
Wang Gyeong spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction, wondering whether there had really been any need to call a physician.
But from Jaha’s perspective, this was a newly acquired body.
Naturally, it was more precious to him than anything else.
Besides, Byeokho possessed very little internal energy, so Jaha needed to protect the body as carefully as possible.
A weak body like this could suffer serious consequences even from a small wound.
“People at the bottom like us need to at least keep our bodies healthy.”
Jaha said that because, in his eyes, Byeokho truly was a low-level martial artist.
However, Wang Gyeong interpreted it as Jaha humbling himself.
“Hahaha! Who would dare call Young Hero Byeok a low-level martial artist? If anyone did, I, Wang Gyeong, would be the first to beat him up!”
Wang Gyeong was completely sincere.
What kind of third-rate martial artist could defeat dozens of attackers, including first-rate and even peak experts?
Whether he had defeated them with a formation or by controlling poisonous insects did not matter.
The important point was that Jaha had defeated martial artists Wang Gyeong himself would never have dared to face.
“To be honest, if Young Hero Byeok joined our organization, you would be treated extremely well. Would you perhaps consider joining us? If you’re interested, I can put in a good word for you with our leader.”
“I appreciate the offer, but right now I’m too concerned about my master’s illness and my fellow disciples to think about anything else.”
Normally, anyone would have been greatly tempted by such an offer.
Yet Jaha showed no interest whatsoever.
That only made Wang Gyeong admire him even more.
Once their conversation had become comfortable, Jaha casually brought up another subject.
“By the way, from what I can see, even you don’t seem to know that girl’s identity. I suppose your branch chief simply ordered you to bring her to the destination, even if it cost you your life.”
“That...”
Wang Gyeong was about to ask how Jaha knew, but he immediately realized he had fallen for Jaha’s conversational trick and closed his mouth.
Seeing that, Jaha smiled.
“I could tell from your eyes. Whenever you looked at the girl, you looked at her as though she were a complete stranger.”
Wang Gyeong finally admitted the truth.
“Young Hero Byeok is correct. I don’t know who the girl is. I was only told to take her to the Eccentric Physician.”
Jaha was disappointed.
It seemed he would not be able to discover the girl’s identity through Wang Gyeong after all.
“Let’s sleep early tonight and leave at dawn. The girl can sleep with my junior martial sister.”
Even then, Wang Gyeong still seemed worried and kept pacing around the girl.
“You used to leave her beneath the driver’s seat without worrying about her. Why are you suddenly so nervous?”
At Jaha’s comment, Wang Gyeong gave an awkward smile and went into his room.
Jaha entered his room and lay down on the bed.
Not long afterward, someone opened the door and came inside.
It was the girl.
Han Seol awkwardly followed behind her with an embarrassed expression.
“Senior Brother Byeok, this girl keeps insisting on coming into your room. She won’t listen to me at all.”
“This girl is unconscious right now, so she can’t understand what people are saying.”
“Then why does she keep following only you? She refuses to leave your side even for a moment.”
Jaha sighed.
“I think her consciousness got caught in the technique I used in the forest. That’s probably why she keeps staying near me and copying my actions.”
“Ah! You mean she got caught in the same technique you used to control the wolves?”
“Something like that.”
“Oh, I see.”
Only then did Han Seol finally understand the girl’s strange behavior.
“Then what should we do?”
“She’ll probably keep trying to stay near me until the technique wears off.”
Han Seol replied,
“But you can’t exactly sleep together with the girl.”
“That’s true.”
Jaha thought for a moment before speaking.
“Then you come into my room too, Seol. The three of us can sleep here together.”
“What?”
“We don’t have much choice. We can’t just let the girl sleep alone in my room.”
Han Seol smiled.
“I trust you, Senior Brother. Actually, I trust you even more than I trust myself. So I’ll just let the girl sleep here. I think I’ll feel more comfortable that way too. And if the attackers suddenly show up, she’ll be safer here.”
Jaha nodded.
“Then do that. We’re leaving early in the morning, so go to sleep right away.”
“Yes, Senior Brother. Sleep well.”
Jaha spread bedding on the floor.
He placed the girl on the bed and then lay down on the floor.
The girl immediately lay down as well.
After several days of fighting and forced travel, Jaha fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
Some time later, however, he woke up because something kept pressing against his injured shoulder.
Opening his eyes, he discovered that the girl had burrowed against his side and was sleeping with her head resting on his shoulder.
“This is unbelievable.”
Jaha was speechless.
Then, suddenly curious about the girl’s face, he carefully lifted her veil.
Until now, Wang Gyeong had constantly been watching her, so Jaha had deliberately avoided showing too much interest.
Still, he had always wondered what the face beneath that veil looked like.
“Oh?”
Even from the vague outline visible beneath the veil, he had guessed she was quite beautiful.
But he had never expected her to be this beautiful.
Her nose and eyes looked like fine jade carefully carved by a master craftsman, drawing in anyone who looked at them.
The smooth bridge of her nose was perfectly shaped.
Her lips were full and soft-looking.
Her eyes, nose, and lips harmonized so perfectly that Jaha finally understood why people used expressions comparing a beautiful woman to flowers and the moon.
Even in our cult, I never saw a girl who was both this cute and this beautiful.
His curiosity about the girl’s identity grew even stronger.
But that curiosity soon faded as he watched her quietly sleeping beside him.
Being so close to such a beautiful girl naturally stirred his old habits.
Just as Jaha instinctively tried to reach toward her, however, his hand froze as though it had suddenly become paralyzed.
He had been so distracted by the girl’s beauty that he had briefly forgotten about Byeokho’s white soul.
“Seriously... Because of you, there’s nothing I can do.”
Even the desire that had suddenly risen inside him quickly faded away.
“Now you’re even controlling my desires. Thinking about it, Jesaeng Chongyong suits you better than it suits me. You seem perfectly capable of controlling me however you please.”
Jaha buried his head back into the pillow.
“Fine, fine. I understand. I’ll just sleep, so stop worrying.”
He had no desire to pointlessly struggle against Byeokho’s white soul, so he gave up.
The moment he placed his head back on the pillow, he fell asleep again.
While he slept, the hand that had previously tried to move toward the girl gently wrapped around her shoulder instead.
Jaha woke early the next morning with an aching shoulder and frowned.
“Senior Brother, are you all right?”
Jo Unryong looked at him worriedly, thinking something might have happened to his wound.
In the end, staying at the inn had been useless as far as learning the girl’s identity was concerned.
Jaha had planned to extract the information from Wang Gyeong, only to discover that Wang Gyeong did not know either.
Still, sleeping for several hours had been enough for Jaha to recover most of his stamina.
Byeokho’s body might possess little internal energy, but his physical stamina was actually quite good.
It was a body strengthened through years of doing all kinds of hard labor.
Once they were back inside the carriage, Jo Unryong looked at the girl sitting closely beside Jaha and spoke.
“We don’t even know who that girl is. I think it’s too dangerous to simply take her wherever those people want us to go. If she turned out to be the daughter of the Hwasan Sect Leader, for example, the consequences would be enormous.”
Jo Unryong had thought deeply about it before going to sleep last night.
Eventually, he had even begun wondering whether the girl might be the daughter of the Hwasan Sect Leader.
“Even if she isn’t the Hwasan Sect Leader’s daughter, she must belong to an important family.”
Jaha allowed Jo Unryong to continue speaking.
Although he was young, Jo Unryong was thoughtful and often came up with useful ideas.
At that moment, Han Seol asked,
“Couldn’t she belong to the same group as the attackers? Maybe that’s why they were so desperate to find her.”
Jo Unryong shook his head.
“I don’t think so. Even though the attackers knew the person they were searching for was a girl, they didn’t hesitate to attack the carriage. That means she probably doesn’t belong to their group. Maybe they took her away from the Hwasan Sect’s Taoists.”
Jaha was pleased to see that Jo Unryong had begun broadening his thinking and looking at the situation from a wider perspective.
After listening to the two of them for a little longer, Jaha finally spoke.
“For now, we have no choice but to take the girl to the Eccentric Physician. Treating Master is more important than discovering her identity. And once we meet the Eccentric Physician, we’ll probably learn who she is naturally. We can decide what to do after that.”
Jo Unryong and Han Seol could not argue with him.
They nodded.
However, Jo Unryong still seemed bothered by something and cautiously spoke again.
“But Senior Brother... What if that girl really belongs to the righteous martial world and holds an important position? Young Hero Wang is also from the Black Path. He probably won’t simply let her go.”
“Then we may end up fighting. But even if that happens, treating Master comes first. So neither of you should act on your own. Follow my instructions. We have no idea what unexpected situation might occur.”
“Understood, Senior Brother.”
In truth, Jaha himself had no idea what would happen.
All he could do was respond to each situation as it came.
After traveling for four hours, the carriage finally reached Shingang.
Throughout the journey, Wang Gyeong had remained tense, worried that another attack might occur.
However, just as Jaha had predicted, the attackers never appeared.
Once they reached Shingang, Wang Gyeong finally relaxed.
Only then did the wound in his side, which he had barely noticed because of his nervousness, begin to throb painfully.
As they traveled through Shingang toward Inui Manor, Jaha climbed up onto the driver’s seat.
The girl immediately tried to follow him again.
This time, Jaha used Jesaeng Chongyong and gave her an order.
He had only tried it just in case, but surprisingly, Jesaeng Chongyong worked on the girl.
Interesting. I never knew Jesaeng Chongyong could work on a human.
Only then did the girl remain quietly inside the carriage.
Wang Gyeong looked at Jaha.
“Do you have something to say?”
“As I asked you before, please keep everything that happened during the journey a secret.”
“The Water Thunder Formation as well?”
“Yes. If those events become known, it will put me in a difficult position.”
“Is there really any need to hide them? If people learn what happened, Young Hero Byeok’s reputation will rise considerably.”
“My reputation might rise, but so would the danger around me.”
Wang Gyeong seemed to understand what Jaha meant and nodded.
“Besides, the techniques I used probably wouldn’t be viewed favorably by the righteous martial world. My master and the rest of us have our roots in the White Path. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“Understood. As I told you before, I’ll take this secret to my grave. But if someone asks how we managed to shake off the attackers, what should I say?”
“Tell them we were lucky and made it here without any major trouble.”
“Will anyone actually believe that?”
“What can we do if they don’t?”
“Hahaha! Young Hero Byeok, you really are a difficult man to understand. Sometimes you’re incredibly careful, but at times like this, you can be surprisingly careless.”
“Trying to invent another excuse would only make things more suspicious.”
“Very well.”
Just as their conversation ended, the carriage arrived in front of a large manor.
A plaque hanging above its entrance bore the name—
Inui Manor.
