I Absolutely Hate Deliberating
Yi Yeok focused for a long stretch, sharpening his energy sense to an even finer edge. He could feel not only the killing intent of the ambushers within dozens of li, but even the movements of beasts and insects.
"Good."
The grave expression melted from Yi Yeok's face, and his eyes gleamed with cunning once more. Deliberating over a question with no answer had never been his style.
If there's no answer, just make one.
Yi Yeok pulled something out of his coat. At a glance, it looked like a coil of thread.
"Hyaah!"
He urged the horse straight into a run. An Eunchae's body pitched backward. This time, unlike moments before, the speed wasn't so blistering, and she managed to speak without much trouble.
"You're just setting off like this? Without any plan at all?"
"Explaining is a pain. Can't you just shut your mouth and follow me, my lady?"
Fresh anger welled up in An Eunchae's eyes.
"No, you may not. Explain."
"What?"
"I'm your employer. I hired you for a full thirty thousand nyang of silver."
"What? That's absurd!"
"Absurd? If I recall clearly—"
"It's thirty-five thousand one hundred and fifty nyang! What about the lodging fees, the money for the dumplings, the cost of the carriage I was forced to abandon on your account? Where do you get off trying to quietly skim off the top..."
An Eunchae fought down, once again, the urge to simply give up on understanding this money-mad lunatic.
"...Fine. Thirty-five thousand one hundred and fifty nyang. That's the sum I promised, and that's what I hired you for."
"And?"
"What do you mean, 'and'? With that kind of money at stake, you expect me to just follow along with no explanation whatsoever? How can I be certain you're not simply planning to hand me over to those ambushers?"
Huh. Not quite the idiot I took her for, Yi Yeok grumbled inwardly.
"Fine. That sounds reasonable. It's a pain, but I'll explain roughly."
He described the heart method and movement art he had mastered.
The heart method, the Silver Soul Divine White Purity, let him conceal his qi completely. It could fool not just ordinary people, but even a decent martial master or a single insect in the grass.
The movement art, the Silk-Treading Snow Traceless Step, let him move with the freedom of the wind, yet without so much as a sound or footprint—light as a single strand of down. Even the Elder Spirit who had passed it down had marveled openly that the art seemed made for Yi Yeok alone.
Having endured quite a lengthy lecture, An Eunchae was starting to grow bewildered. It wasn't that she was uncurious about the nature of his martial arts, but wasn't this just plain showing off?
"Are you bragging right now? What does that have to do with our situation..."
"Don't interrupt. So, the point is: the combination of my heart method and movement art is invincible under heaven. If I put my mind to it, I could rob an immortal sect. Would need a bit of luck, sure. Anyway, even if hundreds of hunting dogs came swarming after you, my lady, I could slip past every one of them without being seen."
Even as he talked, Yi Yeok was fiddling with the coil of thread in one hand.
"But right now I'm saddled with baggage... ahem, a client, in the form of you, my lady. So this is the best I can manage."
He loosened his grip on the thread. Tied to its end was a Willow-Soft Blade.
He gave the improvised rope-dart—cord with a sharp blade lashed to its end, a weapon for striking at enemies—a few test swings. The force behind them was light, but add the horse's speed and elevation, and the result was formidable.
An Eunchae watched the Willow-Soft Blade's edge slice cleanly through a few leaves hanging in the air.
"So you're saying you intend to break straight through them?"
"Don't worry so much. Once we punch through the ten or so right in front of us, the rest will sort itself out."
"Sort itself out? Isn't that recklessly dangerous? If we turn back now, we could—"
"That's exactly what they want. Retreat now, and we'll be completely surrounded by the hunting dogs."
"But—!"
"There, explanation over! Want to hear more, that'll be an extra charge, my lady. One thousand nyang per question!"
An Eunchae, struck momentarily speechless, finally forced her mouth open.
"Do you... have any friends?"
"What? Friends?"
"I mean companions."
Yi Yeok frowned.
"First time in my life I've heard that word. I don't need friends."
"Everyone needs friends."
"Well, 'everyone' doesn't include me."
"So you intend to live your whole life alone, like this?"
"Good grief, my lady, is something wrong with your head? Do you even know who I am? I'm a bandit who rolls around in a den of thieves. And you want me to find friends there? Among bandits, thugs, highwaymen, and murderers—where exactly am I supposed to find a good one? Looking for friends in that crowd is like hunting for a clean spoonful of rice in a latrine."
An Eunchae couldn't argue. At the same time, Yi Yeok's attitude struck her as stranger than ever.
"You're a bandit yourself, aren't you? Why do you insult your own profession?"
"Am I not allowed to insult my own profession?"
No law against it. Especially not for a madman like him. Eunchae gave up on understanding Yi Yeok yet again. She couldn't fathom why, even as she gave up over and over, she kept trying to understand this man all the same.
"Right. It starts soon."
Yi Yeok swept the rope-dart around him once more, then retrieved it with an elegant flick of the wrist.
"Ready!"
"Don't tell me you're going to kill them all?"
"How many times do I have to say I'm a bandit? If you want people killed, hire an assassin. Want me to introduce you to one?"
"Just today alone you've already killed two peop—"
"Hyaah!"
"Neiiigh!"
Before Eunchae could even finish her sentence, Yi Yeok dug in his heels.
The black horse let out a thunderous cry and broke into a full gallop once more.
"They're coming!"
An unfamiliar voice rang out ahead.
Eunchae gasped and buried her face against Yi Yeok's back.
"Target spotted!"
"Strike!"
In an instant, the ambushers who had lain hidden in concealment burst out and lunged.
An Eunchae realized beyond doubt that she was the target, and threw her arms around Yi Yeok's waist even tighter.
"Hey! Girl! I can't breathe!"
The moment the startled An Eunchae loosened her grip slightly, Yi Yeok swung the freshly made rope-dart in a great arc.
For an instant, the single straight line drawn by the rope-dart seemed to split into dozens, then hundreds—as though a vast hemisphere had formed around Yi Yeok, its surface flashing sharp and bright with the gleam of the Willow-Soft Blade.
"Guhk!"
"Aaaagh! My hand!"
Several of the ambushers in the vanguard fell back screaming. One's face was carved open; another lost his wrist entirely, weapon and hand flying away together.
"He's using some unknown hidden weapon! Be careful!"
Yi Yeok smirked.
"It's not unknown. It's just fast enough that you can't see it."
Wheng-wheng-wheng-wheng-wheng!
The speed of the rope-dart kept building. It sounded like a famous blade cleaving the wind itself.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Yi Yeok burst into wild laughter, plainly having the time of his life.
"That's enough of a warm-up—back off! Come any closer and it's self-defense!"
"Don't let them get away!"
The ambushers charged on regardless. The black horse was fairly worn out by now, and there was no shaking them through speed alone.
Yi Yeok reeled in the spinning rope-dart, then flung it out once more.
This time it flew in a straight line. The Willow-Soft Blade shot out like an arrow and plunged into the chest of the nearest ambusher.
"Ugh...!"
Before the man had even collapsed, Yi Yeok recalled the blade and flung it again. Twice, three times, four times. Each time, another ambusher advancing on them dropped without so much as a proper scream.
"I'm letting you off easy here! You'd admit that, right? Not that I'd know if you died! And that wouldn't be murder, anyway—it'd be self-defense!"
An Eunchae, who could not bring herself to lift her head and remained buried against Yi Yeok's back, felt a fresh wave of puzzlement. Why on earth did this lunatic work so hard to rationalize his every single action?
"Heeheeheeheehee!"
Yi Yeok let out another burst of manic laughter, wearing the expression of someone so delighted he could hardly stand it. Grinning like a child playing with a new toy, he raced ahead at full speed.
Before long, not a single one of the pursuers remained.