Chapter 96. Eun Jin-ho Goes Missing (4)
My shin connected with Jin-ho hyung's calf, and he let out a scream of pain.
"Argh!"
Then, in astonishment, he shouted,
"W-what? It wasn't a hallucination?"
"Yeah."
I replied.
"Came to rescue you. Let's go home, hyung."
I said the same to the others beside him.
"We've come to rescue you. Now let's head back to the merchant group."
At my words, Jin-ho hyung burst out,
"Why'd you come? What about the family?"
"Came to rescue you, with the family's permission. It was tough getting that approval."
Jin-ho hyung yelled in frustration,
"No! I mean this place!"
"I know. It's made of fog. The place where people go missing if they enter."
"You knew and still came in?"
I nodded at that.
"Don't worry. I set up a device to get us out."
Hope began to flicker across the faces of the merchant escorts and escorts from the transport company.
"Thirsty, right? Let's quench our throats first and then move."
My group and I set down the water skins we'd been carrying on our backs.
Jin-ho hyung's group swarmed toward the water skins, filling their own containers and gulping it down.
You couldn't give normal food to people starved for so long right away—it could cause problems. You had to start with water and thin porridge to build up their strength before solid meals.
Here, with no time for proper rest, we had to settle for moistening their throats with water.
After catching their breath like that, they immediately started following us.
As we walked along the rope we'd trailed behind us, I realized something was off.
It was tied to a tree, so it should have been taut.
But why did it feel slack, dragging loosely even when I pulled?
We soon learned why.
"Huh?"
Palgap was holding the rope with a puzzled look, but its end was severed.
"Young master, this..."
No need to say it—everyone realized.
We were in trouble getting out now.
But no one voiced it, probably out of fear.
Jin-ho hyung asked me,
"If we wait here, won't the others come looking?"
"Well..."
"...?"
"If anyone enters the fog, we wait two days outside. If no one comes out after two days, then we send someone else in."
"......"
Jin-ho hyung sighed.
"Sorry."
He shook his head at my words.
"How could you have known it was cut? No need to apologize."
"What do we do now?"
After pondering my question, Jin-ho hyung said,
"Let's find where the rope connects. If the cut end is here, the other part should be nearby."
We began searching for the connecting end of the severed rope.
But then Jin-ho hyung called to me.
"Seo-ho, why do you keep heading that way?"
"What're you talking about?"
"The path is this way. Why are you veering into the bushes?"
What was this guy saying?
Bushes?
No. I was going straight.
The others were the ones heading into the bushes.
I suddenly understood why the missing people hadn't escaped the forest.
This fog messed with the senses, clouding judgment.
Listening to Jin-ho hyung, he'd said that even after walking three full days in any direction, they ended up back at the abandoned cart.
The fog made them walk in circles.
"Jin-ho hyung, about where you abandoned the cart earlier."
"Yeah?"
"You walked three days before giving up and leaving it there, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
But we'd reached it in less than half an hour?
Then Palgap cautiously asked me,
"Young master, you did this earlier too—why keep trying to go off the path?"
"...I did earlier too?"
"Yes."
"But you followed me fine before?"
"Well, I'm your servant, so of course."
I looked at the Yi-pil warrior.
"You too, Yi-pil warrior?"
"I just followed. A guard follows wherever his lord goes."
"......"
A wry smile crossed my face.
For some reason, the fog wasn't affecting me. That's why the right path was clear to me.
That's how I'd found Jin-ho hyung's group in half an hour.
Otherwise, we'd have wandered three days too before finding them exhausted.
They'd circled that short distance for three days.
"Jin-ho hyung. Right now, you and your group are heading into bushes. The way I'm going is the real path."
"What are you saying?"
"Check the hem of your pants."
Jin-ho hyung looked down and paled. It was soaked green with grass sap.
"Why's it covered in grass like this..."
"The fog's deceiving your senses. That's why you've been looping the same path over and over."
Jin-ho hyung and the others nodded at my explanation.
They'd experienced the maddening loop firsthand.
"But why not me..."
I didn't know why the fog spared me, but they needed some reason.
"Probably my martial arts training. The path looks straight to me. That's how I found you so quick."
"I see."
Fortunately, they bought it.
"We'll just keep lost like this, so wait here a bit. I'll find where the rope connects."
"You okay alone?"
"Better that way right now."
The Yi-pil warrior bowed his head.
"Sorry I couldn't follow properly."
"No helping it in this situation."
"I came to repay your grace, and..."
To the Seo-u warrior's words, I smiled and replied,
"You're helping plenty even now."
Jin-ho hyung ordered everyone to hold position. Come to think of it, he'd been giving orders since earlier—like he was in charge.
I glanced at the escort leader who'd traveled with him and clicked my tongue inwardly.
Hyung's completely taken over.
Anyway, I started wandering the fog to find the rope's other end.
As expected, the fog only hindered visibility for me.
No other effects.
I soon found it.
The cut end showed no signs of deliberate sabotage.
Just bad rope.
I retied it securely, unspooled more, and returned to Jin-ho hyung's group.
"Jin-ho hyung!"
As I approached, they startled and stared.
"Already back?"
"Yeah. Like you said, it was nearby."
I held up the rope.
"Now we can get out."
"Alright, let's go."
Jin-ho hyung stood, and we started moving, gripping the rejoined rope.
Finally, we reached the entrance to Wuchulmusan.
But no room for carelessness till the end.
So I deliberately didn't tell them this was the exit.
"Come on, let's hurry."
"Move along."
That way, I got Jin-ho hyung and his group out of Wuchulmusan, emerging last myself.
What I saw when I exited was them weeping in the sunlight, overwhelmed with emotion.
It had been a full month.
A month in that hopeless fog.
I'd seen the withered corpses scattered about, so their terror must have peaked.
No wonder they sobbed like that.
Still, crying here might exhaust them into collapse.
As if sensing my worry, the Mak-chung escort leader said,
"I understand your feelings, but better to head to the inn, wash up, eat, and rest."
To the search team, he added,
"Back to the inn."
"Yes!"
.
.
.
We returned to the Eullim Inn.
We'd sent word ahead, so clean water was ready, along with plenty of expensive scented soap to scrub off the grime.
Those who bathed first gathered in the dining hall to eat rice porridge.
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
Normally they'd chat over meals, but not now.
All were nose-deep in their bowls, focused on the porridge.
Jin-ho hyung was among them.
"Hyung, you'll choke. I get it, but slow down."
"Listen."
Jin-ho hyung said between spoonfuls,
"I vowed in that weird forest. If I get out, no more wasting food."
"......"
"Eating like this brings it all back."
I chuckled.
"Still, eat slower."
Only after scraping his bowl clean did Jin-ho hyung grin at me.
"Ah, now my vision's clear. Even when hunger blurred my eyes earlier, I could tell you had a handsome face. Up close, damn, my little bro really is good-looking."
"Such a goof."
I chuckled back.
"Anyway, thanks for staying alive."
"I'm the thankful one. I got mad earlier, but... when I heard you came to rescue me, I nearly cried."
"Didn't you cry when we exited the fog forest?"
At that, Jin-ho hyung coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem, forget that."
Then, smiling, he continued,
"Thanks for saving me and the group."
Then Jeong-chung foreman approached our side.
"Young master Jin-ho."
"Foreman Jeong."
"So glad you're safe."
Tears welled in Jeong-chung foreman's eyes as he looked at Jin-ho hyung. I chimed in,
"Actually, this foreman volunteered for the rescue team."
"Ah! So that's it. For my sake..."
"You're my benefactor, young master. How could I sit idle?"
From their exchange, I gathered Jin-ho hyung had helped Jeong-chung foreman somehow.
Wonder what it was— they seemed especially close.
I hadn't known even in my previous life.
I'll ask later.
For now, it was time to savor being alive.
.
.
.
It had been six days since rescuing Jin-ho hyung and his group.
Those who'd suffered in Wuchulmusan had regained some strength.
Meanwhile, some escorts, porters, and merchant group members had gone to the Eunhae Merchant Group's tea fields in Yun-nam.
They were loaded with premium Pu'er tea ready for distribution—had to bring it back now to sell on time.
They'd arrived today with the tea.
Time to head home.
Pu'er absorbed odors easily, so speed was key.
After long discussions, we decided to depart early tomorrow morning.
.
.
.
"Thank you for all your care."
"Glad you found your people."
We thanked Seong Jun-baek, the resident manager in Yun-nam Province, then set off for the Eunhae Merchant Group.
But why this sudden unease?
The anxiety I felt when I'd overlooked something.
What was it?
What?
Then it hit.
Rumble rumble.
The ground began to shake, and memories flooded back.
The incident when I was seventeen.
The earthquake in southern Yun-nam.
I'd heard some merchant caravan on mountain roads got hurt.
I'd brushed it off then.
Not our Eunhae group, and not a major quake—the roads reopened quick.
But now, that caravan was ours.
The earth quaked, rocks and dirt tumbling from nearby mountains.
The horses panicked and reared.
"Calm the horses!"
"They won't settle!"
"Then release them entirely!"
"Yes!"
"Everyone to the carts! Don't stick your heads out! Head injuries kill!"
Mak-chung escort leader issued calm orders—clearly experienced.
Seo-u warrior was steady too.
"Yun-nam prone to quakes?"
"They happen often."
Makes sense.
Merchant runs were tough, but escort work was extreme.
Then—
"Young master!"
Jin-ho hyung's guard shouted.
I turned. Jin-ho hyung, unsteady from the shaking, was tumbling toward the roadside cliff.
Why him?
Looks like he'd tried protecting the manager.
My body moved before my mind.
Thanks to master's training.
I grabbed his falling arm and yanked him up.
Grab!
Jin-ho hyung clambered onto solid ground, but I hadn't accounted for the recoil.
Our positions flipped.
My feet felt empty air. I let go of his hand.
"Seo-ho!"
Jin-ho hyung's agonized scream toward me was my last memory.