The Chase Begins
"We've got pursuit."
The coachman from the Coachmen's Gate, still holding the reins, quietly gave us the warning.
"Please move along the escape route we discussed."
I had already mapped out every scenario the day could throw at us. Before I even took stock of the situation, I answered mechanically with the prepared line.
"Understood."
"Did they spot us?"
One of the Thieves' Gate officers asked me.
"If they turn, we'll know soon enough. We adapt as it comes."
The banquet had gone off without a hitch, so why were we being chased? Had our suspicion never fully been dispelled? Or were they simply trying to find out where we lived?
Or could it be—
"Danger—! Urk!"
Before my thoughts could even finish, the coachman's strangled cry rang out.
"Ugh!"
The carriage lost its balance. My body lost its bearings. A moment of weightlessness—and in that instant, the carriage was flipping over.
Oh, for crying out loud.
A Thieves' Gate officer braced one hand against the corner of the carriage and kicked the door clean off its hinges. The door flew away, hinges and all, and three of the officers shot out after it—near-simultaneous movements, almost perfectly synchronized.
Reckless bastards, the lot of them.
Here I was, barely managing to cling to a disco pole, and they don't even think to take me with them.
I kicked off the floor. The genius of lightness arts had drilled the Ascending Absolute Step into me through private lessons, and I had no intention of getting hurt over something like this.
A beat late, perhaps, but I landed lightly from a world of weightlessness back into the world of gravity.
"Are you all right!"
If you're going to ask after me, save me first and then ask. No man has a hobby of being princess-carried, so I supposed I should count that as a mercy.
"I'm fine."
As the Shadowless Divine Thief, I couldn't exactly admit to being in danger. I nodded with composed dignity.
"Surround them! Get the black-hair first!"
"The fake Shadowless Divine Thief is the black-hair! The rest of them you can kill!"
The shouts of our approaching enemies reached us.
"So we've been made."
Where did they catch on? Looks like getting home safely is off the table.
"The river mouth is far from here. If they moved with real intent, a net will already be laid."
"Fortunately, the horses are unharmed."
I offered a hasty prayer for the coachman, who had died screaming under a thrown blade from who knows where, then raised one of the still-intact horses.
To get out of the Domun's strongholds south of the Yangtze, we had to reach the river mouth. I fitted a prepared saddle onto the horse as I spoke.
"Warriors will block the way. Will you be all right?"
"I have some skill in horsemanship. And with no telling what happens from here, I need to conserve every scrap of internal energy I have."
What I carried was five years' worth of inner power. Enough for a second-rate martial artist to spend freely, but not enough to keep unleashing the Ascending Absolute Step of the Shadowless Divine Art.
"Go on ahead. I'll buy you time. See you at the rendezvous."
"We're in your hands. Let's go! Hyah!"
Dawn would break soon. From here on, it was a race against the clock. Why had our identity been exposed? No time to agonize—I had to move on to the next plan before the questions finished forming.
I gripped the reins tight and drove my heels into the horse's flanks.
"Catch him!"
"Tch!"
Pursuers were on me again almost immediately, this time from another direction.
Two things worked in my favor: the horse the Coachmen's Gate had procured was a fine steed, perfect for shaking off clumsy pursuit, and my horsemanship was the one skill I could genuinely claim confidence in.
"Block the road ahead!"
Two sword-wielding warriors cut off the path. If I barreled through as I was, the horse would get hurt.
"Halt!"
I yanked the reins into a hard stop. The horse's hind legs left the ground for an instant. I channeled my inner power and drove strength into my thighs.
Hey. Horse. Your life's on the line here. Can you do it? Steer the direction of your hind legs while you're off balance. Thighs braced, move the hips.
Did it actually understand what I was asking? Following my guidance, the horse spun its body a full 180 degrees.
"What the—? Uwagh!"
"Hind kick! You bastards!"
The horse's full-power hind kick sent both warriors' skulls flying skyward.
"Pweheeng!"
The fine steed, apparently enjoying our rider-and-horse synergy, gave a light snort.
"Let's go!"
The escape had only just begun. I took up the reins again.
"Stop that bastard!"
A wall of people appeared again at the end of the straight stretch. Kicking through this time would probably get me skewered from the side.
In that case, there's another way.
"Drift!"
"Pwuhheuheung!"
Sliding sideways, the horse and I carved a turn together.
"What the hell kind of horsemanship is that!"
"Turns out a madman's son just can't resist something fast and expensive!"
Because, you see, there was once a certain lunatic in Joseon who bought fine horses on the spot from the Manchu traders he did horse trade with—and learned horsemanship from them personally.
"Pwuheung!"
—Not bad. Partner. You're the first one who's ever handled me like this.
I'd learned well enough from that madman that just from a horse's cry and the look in its eyes, I could read its language.
"You were a gift from the Coachmen's Gate, so I'm trusting you!"
I punched through the encirclement and kept galloping.
"Block him!"
This is a problem.
Pursuit behind, sword-wielding warriors ahead. No exit in sight. Should I just ram through? If either the horse or I took so much as a scratch, we'd be caught on the spot.
"Over here! This way!"
Then I saw someone waving from a second-floor window of an inn. A familiar face from the Attendants' Gate. So this was—? I scanned my surroundings at speed. Yes. One of the escape routes we'd planned in advance.
Good. There's a way to survive.
"Hyah! Jump!"
I lashed the horse into a furious charge. The steed leapt clean over the crowd like it was running an obstacle course.
"Pweheung!"
"Not a chance!"
A blade came hurtling at me. That's going to put a hole in my sole. But it didn't matter.
"In that case! Double jump!"
"Pwe... pweheung?"
—You want ME to double jump?
Don't panic. I'm the one doing it. I kicked off the horse's back and sprang skyward.
"Thank you, partner!"
The horse lost its direction midair and began to fall. The look in its eyes was one of panic. No—that wasn't panic. That was the gaze of a truly loyal steed.
I threw the horse a double thumbs-up and exchanged a final farewell with it, eye to eye.
—Master, this is where I leave you. Flee, and quickly.
I'll curse you, you wretch! Damnable thief! Repaying kindness with betrayal!
"I will never forget your sacrifice!"
—I am but a humble creature, yet I am glad that at the end, I could save my master.
How dare you! Me, who has served great ministers and beautiful ladies alike! Undone by a mere barbarian!
"That gallantry, facing your end with your head held high! In your honor, I shall name the next horse Mae-ri!"
I didn't know its real name, after all. A horse met at dawn, who ruled the dawn. Mae-ri—Governor of the Dawn. Go well, old friend.
—I shall curse you, and curse you, and curse you again!
Master, brief though our acquaintance was, it was a joy. Travel safe.
"Thank you!"
There had been a slight translation error at the end, what with simultaneously rendering horse language into human language, but there was no time to issue a correction.
I landed squarely on the roof of the inn's second floor.
"This way!"
The great escape was far from over.
I moved along the prepared escape route.
"There he is! Grab him!"
"Tch!"
I scattered the hidden projectiles I'd prepared in advance and opened up the distance.
"Kgh! This bastard fights dirty with hidden weapons!"
"And a whole mob chasing one man isn't dirty?"
"How dare you state facts so underhandedly! Get him!"
Who said anything about getting caught? I kicked off a wall and dove into one of the escape routes—a mansion's grounds.
"He's inside the mansion! After him!"
How exactly do you plan to follow me? This is premium intel straight from the Thieves' Gate: this place has no patrols on a normal day, so if I just go straight through and out the other side, it's over.
"A thief!!!"
Why are you two here? The moment I cleared the wall, a man and a woman stood frozen in front of me.
"A—a thief!"
"I'm not a thief! Well—no, I am a thief!"
Why are there people here of all places?
"Catch the thief—!"
"Scream like that and my husband will find out about us!"
The woman barely managed to clamp a hand over the man's mouth.
"Ah! Do enjoy your evening!"
Unbelievable.
Fortunately, with the tacit blessing of the adulterous couple, I sped along the escape route.
"You made it. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Squeezing out the last dregs of my inner power, I barely reached the rendezvous point, where two Thieves' Gate officers waited. What happened to the third? I couldn't bring myself to ask. I collapsed into a seat where I stood.
"What of the boats?"
The rendezvous was near the river mouth. Get a boat, and I could return to the mansion where Lady Ha-yeon and Lady Zhuge were waiting.
"You can see the river mouth from the window. Take a look."
I dragged myself up and peered through a narrow gap in the shutters toward the docks.
"There!!! None of you are getting through!!!"
"Hey! There! Open that cargo and let's have a look!"
"They've laid it on thick."
Near the river mouth, sword-armed warriors stood watch all around.
"The sun hasn't risen yet, so few boats cross the river. Whichever vessel we tried to board, we'd be spotted."
"When does the boatman we arranged for arrive?"
I had asked the Coachmen's Gate Head to secure us a ferryman.
"Somehow word leaked. He was taken into custody."
Oh, for crying out loud.
"Is there nowhere we could find even a small ferry?"
"The big boats can afford to watch the wind and hold off sailing, but the day-labor ferrymen—if they launch a boat today, they'll be found as corpses tomorrow."
"Once we're clear of the south bank they can't move against us freely, but getting there is the problem."
There has to be a way. All I need is a boat.
"They say the Domun has sounded the war horn."
While I was lost in thought, a Thieves' Gate officer brought unexpected news.
"Internal strife?"
"They're spilling blood in the name of hunting the Shadowless Divine Thief. It looks like it will boil over into open infighting soon."
So the one thing I'd hoped would never happen, happened after all.
With my imposture exposed, the collision was unavoidable.
"What will the Thieves' Gate do now?"
"......"
"Is the investiture off?"
They'd said the Thieves' Gate would pull out if infighting broke out. But dawn was already creeping in. The sun would rise soon.
'The infighting started too late. Once the sun is up, there'll be a lull.'
Even if the Domun's Gate Head had caught on, it was far too late. The Thieves' Gate officers would know it too. It was too late in the day for the flames of infighting to sweep into all-out war.
If the Thieves' Gate played ignorant, there was still a chance Lady Ha-yeon could be raised as their Gate Head.
"And if it does fall through—what will you do?"
For an instant my heart lurched, and I had to fight to steady it.
What should I say? That I plan to spirit her away? Tell them the truth? No. The officer isn't asking about my plan.
He said if. So what he's asking me right now isn't about a plan—it's about—
"I will take responsibility. Even if it means giving up the daughter of the Thieves' Gate's own Gate Head."
Resolve.
"You speak as her betrothed?"
"As her lover, and as her betrothed."
A woman I've promised myself to, I see through to the end. That is why I ran this far. I fixed the Thieves' Gate officers with a resolute gaze as I spoke.
They studied me for a long moment, then broke into smiles.
"...The investiture will proceed as scheduled, once the sun sets and darkness falls."
"Truly?"
"The two of you have carried things this far, haven't you? This time, it's our turn to persuade the rank and file."
Buying time was worth it. Deceiving the Domun's Gate Head hadn't been for nothing.
"I must get word to Lady Ha-yeon at once."
"With no clever way across the river, that's the trouble. With infighting begun, the Domun won't stop even when the sun rises."
Get a boat, cross the river, and the advantage is ours. The question was how to get one.
Borrow a ship from the Western Sichuan Escort Agency?
Impossible. The Escort Agency's ships never dock south of the Yangtze.
Contact the Coachmen's Gate Head for a ferryman? Not enough time—and it could needlessly expose our position.
What do I do? Then, for a flash, one path crossed my mind.
"There is one way."
A way to seize our first victory.