Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Clink—
A clear bell chime struck her ears.
“Ah.”
A timid presence hovered nearby. As though rising from a crouch, there was the sound of rustling cloth, followed by a small whisper.
“…H-hello. I am Yuyu… assigned to attend to Lady Soyo’s room. If there is anything you require….”
Ignoring the greeting, Yeo Il stood beside the railing before the door, her eyes closed.
Judging by the space, even the slightest tilt of her head up or down would likely reveal rooms arranged in a four-story square structure, as densely packed as a grand inn.
There was no wind.
Instead, laughter of women echoed from all sides.
A thick yet hazy fragrance brushed lightly against her nose.
…The sound and reverberation come only from below.
Which meant the room they had been guided to was at the highest level. Only a select few guests were invited to tread there.
“W-where are you going? Lady Soyo! You must wait until the Gate Master arrives…!”
Ignoring the hesitant voice trailing behind her, she descended the nearest staircase.
The sharp scent of alcohol was swallowed by an even heavier fragrance that muddled the mind.
If one’s guard slipped even slightly, it felt as though the brain would melt at once—like that drunkard clinging to the railing, swaying like a reed.
Upon spotting her, the drunk squinted and staggered closer.
“Huh? A woman of Hangryong? Why carry a longsword… hmm? Puhuhu… dressed so neatly, like a young lady of some noble clan. But why are your eyes closed…? Don’t tell me you have no eyeballs? Hahaha!”
When Yeo Il remained unmoving, his laughter gradually died.
“Tsk. So you really are blind… Haven’t even met the Gate Master properly… that lunatic, crazed over women, now picking up blind ones too… Though it does make for something to look at each time… haha.”
Though only the drunk and Yeo Il stood in this corridor, shadows flickered faintly behind the long paper doors lining the hall—long-term guests of Hangryong, no different from him.
The disowned child of a famed merchant.
The elder of a noble clan.
Scholars devoted to art and pleasure, even secret visitors from the Imperial Palace.
They were the true source of Hangryong’s formidable wealth.
The intoxicating scent that dulled reason, the bright laughter of women, and the satisfaction of being treated as honored guests bound them to Hangryong, unable to leave—at least until their purses were emptied.
Reaching her, the drunk lifted a slack hand and tilted her chin from side to side.
“Let me see. Ho! Indeed, a beauty that shines. Skin like silk, pale complexion… mm. I always feel it—Hangryong Gate Master’s taste is consistent. Pale or not, your features are just like that person’s—”
Abruptly, his drunken babble cut off.
Thud.
His heavy body collapsed, and a sticky trail dampened the ground.
Several presences approached silently and dragged the body away. Even with her eyes closed, Yeo Il could picture the man’s final retreat, leaving red traces behind.
She resumed walking.
Farther from the room where Namgung Jeok-myeong was regulating his qi.
Clink—
“Uh… uh… you must not go too far….”
Farther still.
“W-where are you going? Do you need something? I will attend you—just say the word, yes?”
Though the anxious voice followed behind.
“Please don’t go. Yes?”
Though the woman who claimed to be a maid rushed forward and clutched her sleeve desperately.
“Yes?”
Still, farther.
“……”
Then—
Someone opened the door of the room where only Namgung Jeok-myeong remained.
While regulating one’s qi, one is vulnerable to external interference or attack. Even a master of Namgung Jeok-myeong’s caliber could have his breath cut short in an instant if disturbed.
“W-was the room too small and uncomfortable?”
“Enough.”
“…Pardon?”
“Do not touch him. Ever.”
“By him… you mean… Namgung Jeok-myeong…?”
Sensing her hesitation, Yeo Il did not turn back and quickened her pace.
Clink—
“A-are you upset because of the poison? That must be it. But the Gate Master… the Gate Master did not intend to offend you….”
As she descended further, the presence that had seemed ready to enter the room vanished instantly.
“Lady Soyo….”
Since when?
“Why are you doing this?”
The stale indoor scent disappeared, replaced by the biting chill of outside air piercing her lungs.
“Why… why… what has the Gate Master done so wrong…?”
Yeo Il passed through corridor after corridor, shrine after shrine, and crossed once more the bridge they had traversed before.
“Why! Why! Why do you keep trying to leave, again and again!”
At last, she reached the left gate.
Yeo Il slowly opened her tightly closed eyes.
Before her stood the one who had summoned her here, breathing shallowly as though on the verge of collapse.
Clink—
The man was drenched in blood.
His hands were bound, head bowed, panting—it was a posture far too familiar.
His fragmented murmurs, once distant, were now clear at her side.
“Noona… please save Seol Seorin, Noona… Seol Seorin is imprisoned in Hangryong… please save her, Noona….”
Listening quietly, Yeo Il spoke low.
“Seol Yeong.”
“……”
“Nothing has happened to Seol Seorin. Rest for a moment.”
“…Thank you….”
He could not finish the word.
Seol Yeong’s body collapsed at once.
Watching him fall, Yeo Il brushed her thumb along the cold, unfamiliar scabbard in her hand and slowly turned.
A woman stood facing her.
Small—so very small—the woman who had followed her without pause since she left the room.
Just as four years ago, long white hair fluttered, and dark blue eyes like a still lake regarded her.
Clink—
Golden bells gleamed vividly amid white strands.
Clink—
The sole master of Hangryong.
“You cross the line, Gate Master.”
Hangryong Gate Master Yuyu.
The moment she spoke, transparent tears rolled down her pale cheeks like dew.
“Fine….”
“……”
“I knew you were alive…. I knew you must have escaped Cheon Muryeong, that evil wraith. So I searched everywhere. Believing you would one day return, appear before Yuyu again… Even if you changed bodies, even if you wore layer upon layer of another’s skin—only I could recognize you… Yuyu could find you….”
Pure joy bloomed upon her sorrowful face.
Her longing gaze lingered over Yeo Il’s features, then cooled.
“You are alive, and that is good… but I hate it….”
Still insane as ever.
“I hate it so much. Why, why with such insignificant trash and not me…!”
Thus Yeo Il warned,
“Summon a physician.”
“I told you! I hate it!”
“Gate Master.”
“You have no idea how long I waited! Perhaps you never will. You are that kind of woman. Always making only me wait… Not Cheon Muryeong, not Jeokryong Heukdo, not that brat of Mount Hua… only me… only me!”
A sinister aura spread in all directions.
Clenching her teeth, eyes refusing further compromise, the Gate Master smiled.
“I waited with such desperation.”
From the shadows, dozens of killing intents drew their blades toward Yeo Il.
“So… let us never part again.”