Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Something in the Forest
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The white sandalwood forest, with its pale gray bark, was a dreamlike otherworld. People couldn't hide their amazement at the unfamiliar environment so rarely seen in the Central Plains.
But there was no time to admire the forest—they had to keep marching day and night. Heuk Do-san was leading from the front at a rapid pace.
It was strange. No matter where they looked in all directions, there were no signs of direction or even paths. Yet wherever Heuk Do-san went, a path appeared. He forged through the forest without hesitation, like someone who had set his goal from the very start.
The scenery remained exactly the same no matter how far they traveled, making it feel to everyone else like they were simply circling the same spot.
"Where are we going?"
Gong Cheon-ak asked.
"To find the light we saw last night."
"So you're saying you actually know the direction? Sunlight doesn't reach here—we can't even tell east from west or north from south."
"When wind blows through a forest, moss grows on the opposite side of stumps. Sea winds carrying salt avoid it even more. The light we saw last night was in the direction the wind was blowing."
Everyone immediately looked around.
Thanks to the forest's age, large and small stumps lay scattered everywhere. And sure enough, moss grew only on one side.
It was the so-called forest signpost.
In the Central Plains martial world, there were people who could read such signs with astonishing skill. They were the renowned trackers of the jianghu, specialists in hunting down fugitives or those in hiding. They called their craft the Thousand-Li Pursuit Technique.
Of course, it would be absurd for someone who could read the sea and kindle a fire from ten li away with a lens not to know the forest. He had probably spent more years on land than at sea. Even accounting for everything, he was clearly an extraordinary man.
Gong Cheon-ak thought:
'This guy... what the hell is he?'
Yeom Jin-sang thought:
'Thief bastard.'
Hyeon-gak thought:
'The clam meat was so salty, I'm dying of thirst.'
Bing-seol thought:
'He's reliable, after all.'
Dang Yak-ran thought:
'What happened to him over the past ten years?'
Gong Cheon-ak's pride wouldn't allow him to back down so easily. He spoke as if he had him cornered.
"There's an order to everything. Chasing that light from last night is fine, but shouldn't we quench our thirst first? No one's complaining, but everyone's throats must be parched by now. So what I'm saying is, let's find a stream first."
"In a vast, flat expanse like this forest, streams aren't easy to come by—unlike the Central Plains, where mountains and valleys alternate."
"You're not seriously planning to hold out for water until we reach a settlement, are you? Last night, you said the light was about thirty li away. We can't last that long in this state."
"We can get water right now."
Everyone's eyes snapped wide at the promise of water. But no sound of flowing water reached them from anywhere nearby. Where was he going to find water that wasn't there?
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's drink."
"Obtaining water will take at least fifteen minutes. We can't afford to spend that long just for a drink. I'll make sure you get water during our midway break. Hold out until then."
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"If that light yesterday was a campfire from hunters, they won't stay put—they'll move. They're two days away from us. Even at double speed, we'll need a full day of nonstop marching just to catch up. If rain falls in the meantime and washes away their tracks, we might lose them forever."
"Who said anything about collapsing here and sleeping? We just want some water. Delaying fifteen minutes won't make a difference."
Heuk Do-san clamped his mouth shut.
His rush wasn't solely to rendezvous with whoever had lit that campfire. More than that, Bing-seol's words from that morning gnawed at him. And now, the unidentified energy permeating the entire forest.
'There's definitely something in this forest.'
Traveling with a group made things like this a hassle. Answers weren't hard to give.
But explaining one thing meant adding two more details. Why bother with the extra effort when they wouldn't be comrades for life?
Even in the bitter cold, exertion brought sweat. Hurrying through an endless forest like this only made it worse.
After two solid hours of nonstop walking, Bing-seol—the one with the weakest martial arts—tired first, as expected. Her breaths had started out merely ragged but now came in desperate, choking gasps.
That sound strangely grated on everyone's nerves. Picture seven men and women trudging through a primeval forest untouched by human feet, with heavy, erratic breathing coming only from one woman.
"Brother Heuk, let's take a break."
Hyeon-gak finally spoke up, unable to bear it.
"Yes. Just a short rest."
Dang Yak-ran added her voice.
Heuk Do-san, blazing the trail at the front, halted on the spot. It had nothing to do with their pleas.
Up ahead in the clearing, dozens of black vultures clustered pitch-black around something central.
"What's that?"
Dang Yak-ran asked.
"Meat!"
Yeom Jin-sang snatched a random branch, hurled it wildly, and charged forward.
But the branch sailed only about ten jang before smacking into a living tree trunk with a sharp 'crack!' and dropping.
The vultures erupted into the sky in a startled flock. Moments later, the clearing stood empty of even one bird.
"You moron!"
Gong Cheon-ak bellowed.
"Sorry."
Gong Cheon-ak twisted his face into the deepest scowl.
That bald bastard—I want to treat him decently, but he's got a knack for making my blood boil.
'Was hoping for some meat after so long...'
While Yeom Jin-sang and Gong Cheon-ak traded barbs, Heuk Do-san stared grimly at the spot the vultures had vacated.
Blood-matted fur clumps lay scattered in disarray, with a massive animal carcass sprawled in the midst. Gaunt ribs protruded, the head retained its full round shape, and enormous horns jutted out...
Most beasts could be identified from the head alone. This one, though, was ambiguous.
"It's a horse."
Gong Cheon-ak said.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Since when do horses have horns?"
Hyeon-gak retorted.
"Who doesn't know that?"
"You know it and still spout nonsense."
"Then what do you think it is?"
"It's a reindeer. A kind of large deer from the frigid northern lands. They say it eats moss growing under the snow in winter."
"I know what a reindeer is. But no reindeer grows horse-sized, no matter the breed. And if it had eyes, take a look at the head. That's a horse skull, plain as day."
"It's got horns. Horns."
"So if horns make it a reindeer, does that make a snail a deer? Snail horns are antlers, right?"
"What kind of absurd comparison is that? Can't even hold a proper conversation. Dumb as a stable hand."
"What? Ig—ignorant?"
Gong Cheon-ak rolled his eyes back white. Hyeon-gak glared daggers with a 'what now?' expression.
As always, the two locked eyes in murderous stares but made no move to strike.
Confusion gripped the group. The intact head and bone dimensions screamed horse without question.
Yet those massive horns embedded in the skull pointed unmistakably to deer.
Horse head and body, deer antlers—what in the world was this monstrous beast?
"It's a marok."
Heuk Do-san said.
Dang Yak-ran, Bing-seol, and Yeom Jin-sang's gazes snapped to him in unison. Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak broke off their standoff to look at him too.
"Every spring, enormous deer resembling horses appear in the northern forests of Dal-dan. Remove the horns, and you'd swear they were horses—their build and shape are that similar. That's why they're called marok."
"So that means we're in Dal-dan?"
Gong Cheon-ak asked cautiously.
"At minimum, Dal-dan's northern reaches mark the lower boundary. It could easily be much farther north."
"As expected... Arasa?"
Hyeon-gak muttered this time.
White sandalwood forests followed by marok.
At least northern Dal-dan—or as far as Arasa. Either way, tens of thousands of li from Shandong Province.
How had they reached this distant land in mere days?
"I've heard deer species travel in herds. So how did this one end up dead alone?"
Dang Yak-ran asked.
"Felled by a predator."
Predators hunting herd herbivores zero in on the weakest individual relentlessly. They bide their time until the exhausted straggler falls behind, then tear into its nape.
The herbivores, meanwhile, seize the moment of sacrifice to flee far away.
Here's the issue: Even a marok of this size, with its massive horns, counted as one of the weaklings in its herd.
Heuk Do-san scooped a bit of blood-soaked earth and tasted it. The fishy tang lingered fresh—dead anywhere from three days to five at most.
Most likely the work of that beast from the beach.
"Rest here a bit."
Heuk Do-san picked a white sandalwood heavy with leaves and carved a spiral groove downward from head height.
Clear sap beaded along the cut, dripping steadily. At the bottom, he jammed in a conch shell's mouth to catch the flow.
Everyone's jaws dropped.
Water from a tree? How could such a thing be possible? They couldn't help marveling at Heuk Do-san's astonishing ingenuity.
"You still have those conch shells?"
Heuk Do-san turned to Bing-seol and asked.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Five."
"Hand them out to everyone."
Heuk Do-san circled the area, selecting only leafy trees and carving identical spirals into them.
The others then wedged their conch shells slantwise into the groove ends, just as he had.
While the shells filled, Heuk Do-san drew his axe and set to hacking off the marok's horns.
Horns from cold-climate beasts had dense tissue—ordinary blades barely scratched them and dulled fast.
But Old Man Mu's Thunderclap Axe was no ordinary tool. It cleaved the iron-tough horns with clean chops, its edge unscathed.
Everyone thought:
'What the hell is that guy making now?'
The clanging rang out loudly for a spell until the two horns detached from the marok's head. From there, he trimmed away the branching tines, leaving only the main beams.
After about fifteen minutes, Heuk Do-san held two sharp-tipped, crescent-shaped horns. The main beams alone stretched three cheok long each.
"Done."
Heuk Do-san uncoiled the ship's anchor rope from his waist, crossed it over his back in an X, then slotted the pair of marok horns into place.
Dang Yak-ran thought:
'What did he just make?'
Hyeon-gak thought:
'Horn clubs?'
Gong Cheon-ak thought:
'Sturdy enough, sure—but what for?'
Yeom Jin-sang thought:
'He took my Throwing Bone Needles.'
By then, water sloshed decently in the conch shells. Heuk Do-san yanked one free first and gulped it down.
The others watched warily—wondering if it was safe—before following suit. They were stunned.
White sandalwood sap tasted sweeter and more delicious than any water they had ever drunk.
"With white sandalwood everywhere, one conch shell means we'll never worry about water again."
Bing-seol said.
Everyone nodded vigorously.
In the midst, Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang—fearing Heuk Do-san might urge them onward—reinserted their shells to squeeze out even one more drop.
But Heuk Do-san stared fixedly into the southern forest. Just then, Bing-seol's sound transmission echoed in his mind.
[Something is watching us.]