The Reed Sea (2)
Ever since he was a boy, Jin Yigang had kept a list of things he absolutely had to accomplish in his lifetime — ten of them in all. The first was passing the Imperial Examination at the top of the list, the Zhuangyuan. And one of the ten was seeing a jiangshi with his own eyes.
A jiangshi was a corpse that moved.
That the dead should return to the earth was the way of nature. A jiangshi was a creature that had defied that law, and he had always yearned to see one. Now, at last, the opportunity had come.
Is it really alive?
Jin Yigang tilted his head as he stared at the jiangshi. Truthfully, he was less curious about why they were transporting the thing to the Imperial Court than about whether it would actually rise.
I remember hearing that it opens its eyes when you peel off that yellow paper……
He turned his attention to the situation outside the wagon.
Shaaaaaa!
The wind had begun to blow, and the sound of reeds churning against one another came roaring through the air.
I've only got a year left — I can't go to my grave carrying unanswered questions. It might scream when it wakes up, so better cover its mouth first.
He lifted the talisman slightly and clamped his right hand over the corpse's mouth.
Ugh, it's freezing!
Jin Yigang grimaced. The corpse's face was cold as a slab of ice.
Now, if I just peel this off……
He pulled the talisman away and stared at the corpse with bated breath. Its face was impossible to describe — it looked young one moment and aged the next.
His gaze drifted down to its chest.
Thank goodness.
The bump beneath the clothing said it wasn't a child. If it had been, he might have felt genuinely terrible about all this.
So it's not a jiangshi after all.
Even with the talisman removed, the corpse showed no change whatsoever.
He moved the paper back toward its forehead, intending to reattach it where it belonged.
Chomp!
The corpse's mouth flew wide open and bit down on his hand. His mistake had been loosening his grip the moment he decided it wasn't a jiangshi.
The instant it bit him, Jin Yigang shoved his hand deeper into its mouth with all his strength. A purely reflexive move — one he owed to his experience of being bitten by beasts. When an animal bites you, pulling your hand back only tears the flesh away and turns a bite into a grievous wound. But drive your fist hard into its mouth, and the jaws are forced open wider until it can't bite down anymore.
Fortunately, the corpse's mouth was small, and once he pushed hard enough it could no longer close its teeth. In that state, he swiftly slapped the talisman back into place.
Grrr!
He glared at the corpse and flexed his left hand.
It's stuck. It's really stuck in there.
The corpse's teeth had sunk into his palm, blood dripping steadily into its open mouth. He forced the jaws apart and pulled his hand free. Even after it came out, the corpse's mouth hung agape, so he shoved its jaw upward to shut it.
Another one off the list.
What he most wanted to see was a jiangshi walking, which was impossible under the circumstances.
This much will have to do.
He fitted the lid back into place, changed his clothes, and stepped outside.
"A headwind."
Countless reeds knocked against one another, raising their peculiar sound. Wind and reeds woven together — this was the only place in the world where you could actually see the wind. Climb to the height of a wagon and watch the reed sea sweep and swirl in the gusts. That swelling, rolling movement was the wind, made visible.
Watching from the wagon's roof would be spectacular.
Jin Yigang smacked his lips. This was no time to savor the view; it was time to watch for enemies. With a headwind, the arrows would come flying faster than ever.
"Form up the ranks!"
Je Hayeong shouted, and the ronin and their newly expanded guard fanned out around the wagons.
"Move out!"
"Hah!"
Jin Yigang cracked his whip.
The wagon plunged into the reed sea at speed.
"Hah! Giddy up!"
He kept snapping the reins, and the wagon tore along at a frightening pace.
"All senses to your ears — watch for the enemy!"
Je Hayeong's shout rang out as she flung herself into motion.
Thud-thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Jin Yigang pricked up his ears and swept the ground to either side. So far, nothing. The wagon kept running. Nearly a full meal's time had passed, and still no ambush.
So I'm going to die just like th— urk!
His face twisted. A swarm of approaching presences registered from the front. Digging into his pocket, he drew out six pills — medicine he had prepared in advance before departing.
"Here, take one of these."
He held one out to the old woman, Yu.
"What is it?"
"Socheon Pill."
"What's a Socheon Pill?"
"Take it when you've suffered an internal injury and you'll be dancing with joy."
"So it's medicine for internal injuries, is that it?"
"They're coming."
"Who? The enemy?"
"Yeah."
"I don't hear anything."
"That's why you should take it. It's the same reason you take liquor medicine before you drink, isn't it?"
"You little rascal."
"Just take it. You too, old man."
Jin Yigang handed one to the old man beside him, then one to each of the other elderly passengers as well.
"What about me?"
Mu Daebo asked.
"You get one too, obviously."
He tossed one over to Mu Daebo.
"Handing them out like that — you must have a whole heap of medicine there."
the old woman Yu said.
"I told you, I lived there for five years."
"At the Jecheon Medical Manor?"
"They say a schoolhouse dog can recite poetry after three years. I spent five, and my brain's a million times sharper than any dog's."
"So you stole them, then."
"I didn't steal anything, I brought them. And as of now I'm officially the son of Je Unseong, Patriarch of the manor. They're here."
Shaaaaaaaaaa!
The sound came from the sky.
Jin Yigang looked up. Arrows came flying in a black wave that blotted out the heavens.
"Arrows!"
"Arrows!"
"Catch this!"
The old man, Na, hurled an umbrella tinged faintly with red toward Jin Yigang. The moment Jin Yigang caught it, he snapped it open.
Bang!
The instant the umbrella bloomed open, he threw his body forward.
"Where—"
The old woman began to ask, and Jin Yigang was already standing with both feet braced on the horses' backs, umbrella raised.
"Chah!"
"Tah!"
Tak! Tak-tak-tak! Tak-tak-tak! Tak-tak-tak!
Countless arrows struck the umbrella and clattered away. Astonishingly, the umbrella the old man Na had thrown him was a treasure that could turn back a storm of arrows.
"Run! Go!"
Jin Yigang urged the horses onward.
"Kill them!"
"Kill them all!"
Hard on the heels of the arrows, the enemy attacked. These attackers, too, were all masked.
Jin Yigang jammed the umbrella between his back and his clothes and swung up into the saddle. The horses pulling the Cheon-uigeo had saddles fitted — evidently prepared in advance for exactly this kind of situation. He mounted the lead horse of the pair. Whether two horses pulled a wagon or four, there was always a lead horse, and the rest simply followed wherever it went. That was why, when riding, you always rode the lead.
"Hah! Giddy up!"
The moment he spurred the horse forward, the old man Na and old woman Yu ran up alongside from the driver's perch.
Whish!
Then, a mere five paces ahead, three masked figures burst out of the reeds. It was in that very instant that Jin Yigang threw the reins into his mouth. The moment the leather settled between his teeth, his right hand ripped through the empty air, and his left followed in a fierce flick of the wrist.
Thwack!
Thud!
"Gwaaak!"
"Kuhek!"
Two dull impacts sounded from up ahead, and two masked men dropped like stones.
Thwack!
The old man Na's fist buried itself in the skull of the last one.
"Kraaaaagh!"
"Aaaaagh!"
"Ughaaaaah!"
Screams erupted one after another.
One had fallen to old man Na; two others had been trampled by the horses and crushed beneath the wagon wheels — men who had taken Jin Yigang's thrown stones.
"Aaaagh!"
"Kraaagh!"
Screams burst endlessly from both flanks. Plenty of the attackers were dying, but their own side was bleeding too.
"Kill them!"
"Wipe them out!"
"It's a different group this time."
Mak Hong shouted, cutting down enemies as he spoke.
"Kraaagh!"
"Aaaagh!"
And it wasn't just the flanks. Ahead, more of them blocked the road, surging in like a black tide. If they hadn't been hauling wagons, they could have scattered into the reed sea — but that was no longer an option.
"There are too many!"
Na Seok-jin shouted.
"Damn it."
Je Hayeong bit her lip. Scanning the road ahead, her eyes fell on the Three Eccentrics.
"We're annihilated."
Gwangbul said, shaking his head. It meant: retreat.
"Understood. Retreat! Turn the horses!"
Je Hayeong bellowed.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
Jin Yigang hauled the horses around in a hard stop-and-turn. The road was wide enough for the wagons to wheel about.
Ku-ku-ku-ku!
With a heavy rumble, the wagon swung about in a sharp turn.
"After them!"
"Kill them!"
The moment the wagon turned, the men who had been charging from the front came running with bloodlust pouring off them. Fortunately, the enemy had not yet reached their rear.
"Run!"
"Run, all of you!"
Je Hayeong and Je Chuyeong drove the column back the way they had come, screaming themselves hoarse.
Thud-thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Far ahead, through the endless running, the entrance came into view.
"The entrance! Push!"
The company dug in and ran even faster, and a short while later they burst out of the reed sea.
Thud-thud-thud!
Even clear of the reeds, the wagon kept on running.
"Stop, you brute!"
Mu Daebo roared and gave chase, but the wagon wouldn't stop.
"I said stop, damn you!"
Mu Daebo threw his full power into his movement art, shot ahead, and hauled the wagon to a halt. It finally shuddered to a standstill.
"That gutless little—"
As he strode forward, Mu Daebo's eyes went wide. He spun and scanned the rear.
"Je Suryong!"
he bellowed.
"He's not here?"
Je Hayeong asked.
"Not back here. What about your side?"
"Not here either."
"That damned fool……"
Mu Daebo flung himself toward the entrance of the reed sea. The stretch of about a hundred paces ran straight and open, the ground visible along its whole length. There was no one. If he'd fallen off along the way, his body should be lying somewhere down there — but it wasn't. The pursuers were the same. As if they'd never existed, they had vanished, leaving only the raucous howl of the wind.
Don't tell me……
Mu Daebo's face crumpled.
"That stupid, reckless—"
He started striding into the reed sea.
"Stop."
The old man Na held him back.
Mu Daebo rounded on him.
"If he's alive, he'll be hiding somewhere in there. The odds are good the enemy doesn't yet know he fell off. And what happens if you march in there? They'll take you for a man searching for someone, and start sweeping the whole field."
"So I'm just supposed to stand here?"
"The boy knows this place well. If he's not dead, he'll come out. Wait for him."
"Wait until when?"
"Until nightfall."
"God damn it all!"
Mu Daebo dropped to the ground where he stood.
Sssssaaaaa!
Only the indifferent wind blew on, rough and relentless.
The old man Na had been right.
Jin Yigang was not dead.
He lay flat against the earth, inching himself forward with painstaking care. He hadn't fallen from the wagon — he had gotten off on purpose. Whenever the wind died, he froze in place; whenever it rose, he moved fast beneath its cover.
I don't even know what I'm getting out of this. If I weren't on a deadline, I'd never do it. Never……
Thump!
Jin Yigang froze mid-crawl.
A figure in a black mask was crouched there, staring straight at him.
Less than two paces separated them.
"You were just—"
The masked man, interrupted mid-relief, scrambled to his feet.