Wangguchaeh
The creek steamed in the cold air, and beside it lay a spring.
Baek Jin-ah seemed almost bewitched as she walked toward it, crouched down, rolled up her sleeves, and dipped a hand into the water.
She snatched it back in surprise, as if it were hotter than she expected.
And yet a smile still lingered at the corners of her mouth. A pleased sort of smile.
She lowered her hand into the water again.
Then, savoring the warmth in silence, she wore an expression of quiet wonder before looking over at me and saying, "If there had been even one place like this in the North Sea, it wouldn’t have been nearly so barren."
There was a trace of wistfulness in the way she said it.
It was only a short remark, but it carried enough of the North Sea’s harshness that I could almost feel it.
Maybe because of that, she looked a little regretful after speaking and closed her mouth.
Probably because of me.
For reasons I didn’t know, Baek Jin-ah wanted to take me with her to the North Sea.
But if she gave off a bad impression, it would only hurt her own position. That was why she was acting like that.
In any case, it seemed Baek Jin-ah was very envious of naturally springing hot water.
She kept dipping her hands in and pulling them out, splashing the water like a child.
Meanwhile, Geumran was staring fixedly at something off to one side.
Her face had gone a little rigid. Her brow was furrowed.
"Yokma. Stay here for a moment."
With those words, Geumran sprang into motion, crossing a few rocks to reach the far side.
Everyone followed her gaze, wondering what she had found.
It wasn’t a human presence. Nor was it a beast.
If it had been either, Gwak So-hwan and Geumran would have already done something about it.
Watching her closely, we saw Geumran pick something up from a corner across the spring.
It was a gourd. And beneath it sat a wooden bucket.
Geumran flung the gourd aside and leapt back toward us.
Then, wearing a displeased expression, she looked at us and said, "This is no time to be lazing around in a hot spring."
Gwak So-hwan regarded her with a grave expression, as if telling her to go on.
"Anyone who draws water and washes themselves this deep in the mountains is no ordinary person."
"Bandits?"
"Who knows? Still, I’d say there’s a good chance of it."
"Tsk."
Perhaps because his bath had been interrupted, Gwak So-hwan looked distinctly irritated.
He clicked his tongue, then quietly surveyed the other side of the spring. After fixing his eyes on one spot, he sprang across.
He didn’t even touch the rocks, simply stepping lightly over the water as though it were a solid path.
Whoa. Was that what it was? Skimming over water? It looked so natural it didn’t seem awkward at all.
"Let’s go after him."
With that, Geumran crossed the spring by stepping from rock to rock alongside Hong Si-yeon.
Baek Jin-ah, Dang Yeong-young, and I followed after them, and as we drew near, Gwak So-hwan moved again among the trees.
He looked as though he was wandering aimlessly, but in truth he strode through the mountain path without a trace of hesitation.
Watching him wave his scabbard in front of him, I figured he was probably clearing away spiderwebs.
Yeah. Spiderwebs on a mountain path are the worst. If one brushed your face… ugh.
But how was Gwak So-hwan walking so boldly? As though he knew the road?
There was no hesitation in his steps. No pausing, no lingering.
After following him for a while, I finally understood how he was navigating the mountain trail.
Broken branches, packed earth, the leaf litter piled on top, trees that had been cut down.
Traces of people passing through. Not animal trails, but marks left by human feet.
I had to look for quite some time before I noticed them, but Gwak So-hwan could see all of that at a glance.
That was why he could lead the way so naturally.
Was that tracking? Was that what they called it?
He must have thought the bandits I mentioned earlier were using this path to reach the spring.
It was only a guess, but it certainly seemed likely.
And before long, my guess proved true.
Smoke in the distance. And a crudely built fence.
One of two things. A bandit stronghold, or a settlement of slash-and-burn farmers.
But if I had to bet money, I’d bet everything on the bandit stronghold.
What was his name again? He’d probably have the full bounty on Jeokseon Ilgoe Gwak So-hwan, former vice-chief of the Janggang Waterway Bandit Stronghold, riding on his head too, right?
If it were a village of slash-and-burn farmers, they wouldn’t have hung animal pelts all over the fence like that.
Gwak So-hwan’s eyes, as he looked at the stronghold, were icy cold.
A gaze fit for looking at vermin.
That was exactly it. There was no better way to describe it.
After staring at the stronghold for a moment, Gwak So-hwan turned to look at me.
Then, in a voice as cold as his gaze, he said, "Since we are exterminating bandits anyway, it would be fitting to wipe out the ones here as well while we are at it."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
I had no intention of contradicting him.
If they were bandits, we should exterminate them. If they’d built a stronghold like this, there was no reason to leave them be.
"Child."
"Yes."
"Those who have abandoned the conscience all humans ought to possess, and those who do not follow the proper path they are meant to walk, need not be shown mercy."
Hearing that, I spent a moment thinking over what he meant.
Then I finally understood what Gwak So-hwan was trying to say.
He meant to cut the bandits down himself.
In other words, he wasn’t planning to hand them over to the authorities like Moyong Jua and Paeng Jeon-ho would have done.
"I understand what you mean."
"Will you be all right?"
That question wasn’t asking whether I was all right in a general sense.
He was asking whether I’d be all right having to kill someone.
Seeing that, this man really was kinder than I’d expected.
It was only that there hadn’t been anyone this kind before, so he’d never had the chance to show it.
"How could I fear splashes of ink on my clothes when I’m already dipping a brush in the ink and writing?"
At my answer, Gwak So-hwan gave me a faint, sorrowful smile.
An expression heavy with pity and regret.
A smile, perhaps, but one no different from crying.
"Yes. That is the fate of one who walks the martial world. The destiny of one who takes up blade and weapon."
With that, Gwak So-hwan drew his sword.
The rasp of steel sliding free—a sound that must have been a death sentence to the bandits in that stronghold.
Geumran drew her sword as well. Hong Si-yeon, seeing that, followed suit.
Baek Jin-ah and Dang Yeong-young didn’t use weapons of their own, so they merely set their faces with resolve at the sight.
And watching them, I drew Hanjunggeom too.
"Let’s finish this quickly."
No one answered. They only gave small nods.
Gwak So-hwan leapt forward.
Geumran and Hong Si-yeon followed right after him, and Baek Jin-ah, Dang Yeong-young, and I chased close behind.
And just like that, one bandit stronghold was annihilated in the blink of an eye.
The first time I drove Hanjunggeom through a human body, I found myself oddly calm.
It was a brutal and horrifying sight.
Cutting off someone’s life with my own hands felt strange too.
But it was entirely different from the hesitation I’d felt when I’d tried to cut down the men who had been chasing Rippling Wave Sword Bandit Gwak So-hwan before.
Why was that? What was the reason?
Was it because of those women who had been held captive?
Was it because they were bandits?
Was it because the people here deserved to die?
Or was it because, all this time, I had been preparing myself to kill someone?
My hands didn’t shake, and I didn’t lose strength.
I didn’t feel sick or dizzy either.
I just looked at those filthy faces and yellow teeth and drove Hanjunggeom into their chests without a second thought.
The sword swung.
Where Hanjunggeom was swung, no bandit remained alive.
No matter what they did, the bandits could not endure even a single exchange.
Well, if they could have taken this kind of assault, they wouldn’t be bandits, would they?
They’d have been holding a position somewhere in one of the black-path demonic sects instead.
There was still plenty of time before the sun climbed to its zenith.
To be honest, our strength was excessive.
Even if Gwak So-hwan and Geumran had simply stood with their arms folded and watched, it wouldn’t have taken much longer to deal with the bandits.
The stronghold didn’t look all that large, but there were quite a lot of bandits inside it.
And yet not a single one managed to flee; they all lost their lives and collapsed onto the ground.
Gwak So-hwan and Geumran stood in the center of the stronghold, sweeping the surroundings with chilly eyes.
Not a drop of blood had splattered on either of them. They looked no different from when they’d left the inn earlier.
Meanwhile, Baek Jin-ah, Dang Yeong-young, and Hong Si-yeon were freeing the people the bandits had held captive.
"H-Hic… thank you. Thank you."
"Aaaagh…"
The women lay on the ground, sobbing bitterly.
If these women had been taken captive by bandits, then it was obvious what they had suffered.
So I could understand their tearful misery. And seeing it left me with a wretched feeling too.
Maybe it was because I’d become a woman myself that I felt it even more strongly.
I had experienced it only briefly, but I too had once fallen asleep pressed against a door because of that fear.
And it wasn’t just women here.
There were also men tied with ropes in this stronghold, and men with iron shackles around their ankles.
The men in shackles seemed to be intended as slave labor, but… what about the one tied up with rope?
And from the look of his clothes, they seemed rather fine, too.
"Thank you for saving me! Oh my word, heavens above! The fair maidens came to our aid!"
The man, after flailing in excitement for quite some time, finally calmed down and explained who he was.
The son of a fairly large merchant house in this area.
Which meant the bandits had kidnapped him for ransom. They were aiming for one big score.
"Hah."
Gwak So-hwan let out a short scoff, as though the whole thing were absurd.
Understandable. This wasn’t the sort of thing ordinary bandits did.
Bandits should not make a spectacle of themselves. The moment they flaunted their strength, they’d be stamped out.
That was why they were never supposed to do things like kidnapping. Who knew what would happen to them?
Bandits were supposed to survive quietly by extorting tolls only from peddlers with no real prospects of revenge.
"This isn’t all of them! From what these bastards were saying, this is Wangguchaeh, and there are two more strongholds like this on the neighboring mountain and the mountain in front!"
What the man said next was even more ridiculous.
There was a stronghold on every mountain? Was that even a viable business model? Calling it a business model was kind of funny, but still.
"Tsk. Something about this doesn’t sit right."
After hearing everything, Gwak So-hwan clicked his tongue and spoke. Geumran also agreed with him.
"Even if we hadn’t known before, now that we do, I don’t think we can just leave it be."
I looked at everyone and said as much.
This wasn’t some petty sense of chivalry.
It was the duty a human being ought to fulfill, and the obligation naturally borne by anyone with power.
Besides, I’d come here under a mission from the Murim Alliance, hadn’t I?
So if possible, it would be better to wipe them all out in one go.
Besides, by my side right now stood Gwak So-hwan and Geumran—two strategic weapons in human form.