Chapter 22
Jin Cheong-ak looked a little thinner, a little meaner, than the face she remembered.
Even Yeo-il, who'd long since buried her sense of beauty, had to admit he was strikingly handsome. But he seemed colder now, and that reminded her of their first meeting.
"Never thought I'd find you playing the part of a blind noblewoman."
Standing over the Bloody Sword Devil with his foot on the man's chest, Jin Cheong-ak got right up in Yeo-il's face. He stroked his chin, looking puzzled.
"What's gotten into you, Yeo-il? Did that old man's will tell you to live it up disguised as some Namgung family concubine?"
"..."
"Though, I gotta say, the whole 'sweet and helpless' act suits you."
"Brother Ak!"
Just then, Seol-yeong wiped the sweat off his forehead and froze, just as he was about to put Yu-rim down.
"Hah, geez, would ya wait up? Hah, I said let's go together, but you keep running off…"
He had discovered the old man's corpse lying at Jin Cheong-ak's feet.
"Oh my god, is he dead?"
"Did you finally snap and kill him?" He looked at Yeo-il, not Jin Cheong-ak, as if he expected her to have done it.
Yeo-il swallowed a laugh at Seol-yeong's honest reaction and put on a greatly exhausted expression.
"Yeah, Seol-yeong… If this guy hadn't shown up, I'd be dead. It's a damn miracle."
"Puhaha."
Jin Cheong-ak burst out laughing, shook his shoulders, then got himself under control. He asked Yu-rim, who was just standing there staring:
"Hey, Yu-rim. Is this young lady Namgung Soyo? Is that right?"
"Yes? Ah... Yes! That's Namgung Soyo. The... corpse you're stepping on is the Bloody Sword Devil, and..."
Yu-rim, looking around, discovered Namgung Hee-myung, who had collapsed motionlessly in the bushes, and hurriedly limped over.
"Young Master! Young Master Namgung Hee-myung! Oh my god, no way, ah, no!"
Yeo-il comforted Yu-rim, who was trying to check Namgung Hee-myung's pulse with trembling hands.
"Hee-myung's still alive. The Bloody Sword Devil just knocked him out, said he was gonna make him suffer…"
"…Ah! Really, he is. Phew… Thank goodness.… Really, really thank goodness."
Yu-rim's legs seemed to give out. He staggered, then slumped down next to Namgung Hee-myung and let out a huge sigh.
Then, snapping out of it, he crawled over to Yeo-il and stood up.
"Soyo! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. I'm more worried about Hee-myung and Yu-rim. But…"
Yeo-il turned her head towards where Jin Cheong-ak was standing and gave a soft smile.
"I never thought the person Yu-rim called for help would be someone I knew."
She'd sent word to Anhui Province before she left, but she didn't expect him to get here so fast. It looked like he actually hurried for once, instead of dragging his feet.
"Huh?... Oh, yeah, you seemed to know Seol-yeong, too. You called him 'Brother Ak'... What a crazy coincidence. This is the first time I've even known what to call him."
Yu-rim, who showed a faint smile for the first time since they met, returned to Namgung Hee-myung and supported him, looking puzzled.
"Then how do you all know each other…"
"Waaah, waaaah!"
Just then, a loud wail made everyone turn around.
It was Chang-ah. The young servant girl ran over, threw her arms around Yeo-il's waist, and mumbled into her clothes.
"Ah, Miss... I was so scared... Waaah, I'm so glad you're okay..."
Yeo-il's waist area was already damp from how much Chang-ah was crying.
Yeo-il gently stroked Chang-ah's disheveled hair and casually suggested.
"We need to check on Hee-myung's condition. Shall we find a place to rest for a while first?"
They went back down the mountain ridge to spend the night.
Almost midnight.
Yeo-il heard that Namgung Hee-myung had woken up soon after the doctor checked him out.
But when she got there to check on him, he was already meditating, with Yu-rim guarding him. He was working hard to control his inner energy – sweat was already beading on his chin.
"Don't wait up, Soyo. Go get some sleep. This'll take a while."
He was in bad shape, and no wonder. He'd been totally helpless against a master like the Bloody Sword Devil.
"Seol-yeong."
"Yes, yes. I will also protect the Young Master."
Meditating like that without any family or sworn brothers around... It was just like him to be so reckless. But just in case, Yeo-il left Seol-yeong with Namgung Hee-myung and left the room.
The street was quiet.
It was the time of night when you wouldn't expect many people around, but the alley felt extra creepy and cold. It was like the news about the Eight Ghosts that Yu-rim had spread was still hanging in the air.
Suddenly, a tall shadow appeared in front of Yeo-il as she walked, cutting through the heavy night air.
The owner of the shadow, Jin Cheong-ak, was holding someone who was limp, like a corpse, in his hand, dragging him along like a sack of barley.
"Yeo-il."
His voice was heavy with the damp night air.
In that moment, Namgung Soyo vanished from Yeo-il's mind.
[Yeo-il, Yeo-il…]
The unpleasant voice in her memory seemed to disappear behind the brightly shining moon. Yeo-il warned with an icy gaze.
"I told you not to call me that."
"We're sure on a first-name basis, aren't we?"
"Like I said, I don't like anyone calling me that."
A smirk twisted his lips.
"You can't bring yourself to say that you and I are nothing special, can you?"
When Jin Cheong-ak let go of his hand, a pumpkin-like, round head fell to the ground.
"Call me Soyo for now."
"So now I'm a servant, huh? I gave you my life a long time ago, and now I'm your babysitter, too? Should I just call you 'Master'? How about it, Master?"
She closed her mouth, about to correct him that he was a bodyguard, not a servant. Jin Cheong-ak nudged the cheek of the man, who had collapsed powerlessly, with his toe and asked.
"He was sneaking into the room you're staying in. Do you know him?"
Yeo-il checked the black cloth covering the man's lower face and answered nonchalantly.
"Ever since I became Namgung Soyo, assassins have been crawling out of the woodwork. I don't know his face, but I'm getting pretty used to them."
"Almost every day? Aha. That sounds quite interesting…"
When she looked at him with a questioning face, Jin Cheong-ak bent down and tore the assassin's collar with a rough hand.
Soon, a back covered in numerous large and small wounds was revealed. But what silenced Yeo-il was not the common sword wounds and burns.
"I've been a bit hungry lately. I got some food as payment for bringing Yu-rim to Hubei Province."
"..."
"He must've been hauling something important, because these annoying little gnats kept buzzing around him. One time... they even interrupted my dinner, so I decided to find out who they were. We had a nice, long chat."
"..."
"But even on the back of this naked guy, I saw this mark."
A brand burned into the left scapula.
It might seem like an insignificant mark, but not to Yeo-il's eyes.
Yeo-il knelt down and thoroughly examined the assassin's back.
No mistake. It was in the same place as the Salmak brand that had once been imprinted on her back.
