YCHW Ch 6

It was a sight that was hard to believe even while seeing it with his own eyes. How could he subdue all those numerous, bear-like bandits without even drawing his sword? Who on earth was that man?

“Ugh…!”

When even the last remnant who had been struggling to the end fell helplessly, the man slowly looked around and then sheathed his long sword back at his waist. The bandits lay sprawled like pinwheels around the man, and except for the man who had tried to attack Yoonso, no one was dead. He had simply subdued them all in a single blow, without taking their lives.

The sight of him standing alone in the midst of the pandemonium was just like the protagonist in a hero novel, and Yoonso could not help but let out an admiration without thinking.

Even though it was a very small sound, it seemed to have reached him, as the man turned around. Yoonso, who had been pulling his body from behind the tree in an almost collapsed posture, took in a sharp breath as soon as his eyes met the man’s.

Below his neatly tied-up black hair, his forehead drew a straight line down to meet his dark, coolly stretched eyebrows. His sharply defined eyes were like a well-honed sword, but they did not give off any feeling of being wicked or vile. Rather, they strangely held one’s gaze and would not let go, making it impossible not to stare endlessly into the pitch-black pupils.

He was a man as if crafted from moonlight, cold but beautiful. Even though the dawn had already broken, it felt as though the moonlight was shining on him, and Yoonso remained dazedly entranced until the man’s lips parted.

“Your courage is commendable.”

As the man’s voice flowed smoothly, Yoonso finally came to his senses. He got up awkwardly, tied the dagger back to his waist, and dusted the dirt off his palms, while the man slowly scanned Yoonso from head to toe.

“From the looks of it, you’ve never even swung a sword before, so why did you interfere instead of running away?”

He could not tell if it was a pure question or a rebuke, but he could not read any other nuance in the man’s cold voice. He had not expected to meet another person in a place like this, so with a somewhat forlorn feeling, Yoonso shrugged his shoulders.

“If I had known you were so skilled in martial arts, would I have interfered? It’s just….”

“Just?”

“I suppose I did not want to create something to regret.”

Yoonso confessed his honest feelings as if sighing. Now that the situation had settled down and he looked back, it seemed he had not wanted to add to his list of regrets. Already a high traitor and leaving his family behind, he did not want to pretend he had not seen a man in danger and just pass by.

Even so, it was nothing more than a paltry act of kindness. A contradiction in itself. Yoonso swallowed a bitter smile and bowed his head.

“In any case, thank you. I owe my life to you. But… what do we do with them?”

The man did not kill the bandits… ah, one was dead. Right before his eyes. A moment ago, the situation had been so urgent that he had no time to pay attention, but recalling it now made him feel like he was going to be sick.

But if it had not been for him, the one crossing the Samdocheon River by now would have been himself. Yoonso calmed his breathing and looked around with a rather pale face.

The fallen bandits were not dead, so it was clear they would run rampant again once they woke up. As he was deep in thought about how to deal with them so that another victim would not be created, the man took a pouch from his bosom.

“All we have to do is light a *nangyeon.”

“Will the government office come if they see the smoke?”

“Yes. Go gather some firewood.”

Yoonso, who had obediently turned and was picking up branches, suddenly realized that he was meekly following the man’s command and faltered. He was someone who had saved his life, so of course he could do this much, but the man’s attitude of commanding him was so natural that it bothered him.

Yoonso glanced at the man while gathering firewood. Judging by the long robe made of fine silk, the man was either of high status or wealthy. Generally, if one was wealthy, one’s status was bound to be high, but there was no kind of official hat [gwan] on the man’s head. He either deliberately did not wear a hat, or he was a *baeksin.

He himself was a fugitive, so he had to be careful. Yoonso lowered his gaze, approached the man, and placed the gathered firewood nearby.

The man took out a tinder and flint and started a fire. Yoonso, who had never used a flint before, diligently watched his movements.

“What did you just put in?”

“Nangbun.”

“Nangbun?”

“It’s wolf dung. Do you think a nangyeon is called a nangyeon for nothing?”

“Did you put it in because the firewood wasn’t enough?”

“If you add nangbun, the smoke rises straight up. If the government office sees it, they’ll know something is wrong.”

“Do you always carry that with you?”

If it’s to inform the government office of a mishap, is he an official then? Or is it something like an essential item that commoners must carry when traveling? It was something he had never read about in books, so while he was waiting for an answer out of curiosity, he suddenly felt the man’s steady gaze and Yoonso raised his eyes.

His pupils, so dark and black they resembled an empty cavity [gongdong], were scanning him intently, making the back of his neck grow stiff for no reason. The lingering gaze flowed over his eyes, nose, and mouth, feeling as if it were leaving a path on his skin. He did not know why he was looking at him like this, and just as he was getting nervous, the gaze was withdrawn.

“If you’re a traveler, it doesn’t hurt to have it. It’s not like I’ve experienced this sort of thing just once or twice.”

His words seemed to be the absolute truth; the series of events, from encountering the bandits to starting the fire, all seemed extremely familiar to the man.

A traveler. Come to think of it, there was no one around him. If he were of high station, he should have at least one servant attending to him…….

“Ughh….”

“Ugh!”

Just then, the bandit lying sprawled at Yoonso’s feet let out a groan and grabbed his ankle, and Yoonso, startled, hit the bandit’s head with his bundle. The bandit went limp once again. As he was letting out a sigh of relief at that, a certain idea flashed through his mind, and Yoonso grabbed the man’s wrist and started running in the opposite direction.

Even while running, the thought that the man’s wrist was quite firm came to mind. The current situation of suddenly dashing off with a strange man in a strange place did not feel real.

Even though he had not run far, he was out of breath up to his chin, and Yoonso panted like a newborn puppy and repeatedly looked back.

When he reached a point where the scattered band of bandits had grown so distant they were barely visible, the strength drained from his legs. Before he could even straighten them, his knees gave out with a thud, and as his body tilted, he let go of the man’s wrist, thinking that he could not let them fall together.

“Ah…!”

He barely covered his head with one arm and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impending impact, but with the sensation of his forearm being strongly squeezed, his body was instead pulled backward. Something firmly supported his lower back, holding Yoonso up. Yoonso’s eyes flew open, and he held his breath and hunched his shoulders at the handsome man’s face right before his nose.

He found himself unknowingly counting each of the black, lush eyelashes that looked as if they had been dipped one more time in ink, and only when the man twitched an eyebrow did he finally come to his senses and push him away.

“I held you because you couldn’t even support your own body, but your reception is disappointing.”

“I… I apologize. The strength left my legs.”

“Are you done running away?”

“…I suppose so. Even if they wake up again, they won’t be able to catch up right away.”

On the outside, he pretended to have fled out of fear of the bandit gang’s retaliation, but Yoonso had another motive. If the fact that he had escaped became known and a description of his appearance was distributed, the government troops were absolutely not a welcome presence. He himself could just leave before the government troops arrived, but it would be a big problem if this man told them of his whereabouts.

So he had deliberately run away with the man, but the man did not seem particularly interested in the disposition of the bandits. If it was a relief, it was a relief.

While he looked around the area, Yoonso calmed his ragged breath and rubbed his stiff eyes. He was extremely tired from having walked without a wink of sleep and even encountering a band of bandits.

How much further did he have to go? Would he be able to leave safely? Could he guarantee that something like this would not happen again? Since every path was his first time, he could not help but feel lost and afraid.

It was when he was lost in such thoughts and staring blankly at the seemingly endless road.

“Where are you going alone at this hour?”

He naturally opened his mouth, but could not easily give an answer. Yoonso, while pretending to straighten his disheveled clothes, furtively studied the man’s expression.

“I am on my way to see my aunt. As for you… Master?”

“I am going to Yehang.”

“Yehang? Do you mean the Yehang in Yeju?”

The man did not answer, but his silence was as good as an affirmation. Yoonso hid his surprise. It was because the place he was going to was also Yehang.

“It seems you are also headed that way.”

“…”

“You are going quite far.”