Chapter 41 : Breaking the Egg (1)

Hoo-uk! Hook! Hook!

The black horse let out a rough breath.

Jacheon Pass seemed to be a difficult mountain even for the famous horse, the black horse. It stuck out its long tongue and panted heavily.

Mongseol stroked the black horse’s mane.

“It’s tough, isn’t it?”

Hoo-uk! Hook!

The black horse climbed the mountain vigorously.

The stones kicked by its hooves rolled down the mountainside.

“Sorry. It’s just a little further to the top. Let’s rest there for a bit.”

Mongseol said sorry, but she did not get off the horse’s back. She continued to ride.

In fact, she was on high alert, scanning her surroundings.

‘There’s no pursuit.’

Originally, Jacheon Pass was a deep and high mountain, so it was a place with few people. It was so high and rugged that it would take a full day for even a good mountain climber to reach Jacheon Pass.

There was no way to cross Jacheon Pass in one day.

So, they had no choice but to spend the night on the mountain, but there were no private houses on Jacheon Pass, so they had to camp out.

For this reason, the assassins of the Drunken Flower Garden used Jacheon Pass.

When they went out on an assassination and were caught without being able to escape properly, they had to cross Jacheon Pass.

They were trying to completely shake off the pursuers while crossing the mountain.

Mongseol had failed very badly.

The assassination was a success, but she had been caught firmly. The Living Sword Sect was even mentioning the name ‘Drunken Flower Garden’.

Thanks to Ah Geol, she had luckily avoided the pursuit, but it was still too early to be relieved.

Hoo-uk! Hoo-uk!

The black horse let out a rough breath and climbed the slippery stone and sand path.

It was Jacheon Pass.

The surroundings came into view at a glance. The mountain path, which had been hidden by large trees, was clearly visible.

There were no pursuers.

‘How can this be? Why is there no pursuit? If they had guessed that I was a Drunken Flower Garden assassin, they would have blocked Jacheon Pass.’

The fact that the caught Drunken Flower Garden assassins escaped through Jacheon Pass was an open secret. They didn’t say it out loud, but almost everyone who knew, knew.

And yet, the Drunken Flower Garden continued to insist on Jacheon Pass.

They did not use Jacheon Pass to shake off the pursuers. They used it because there was no other place where they could grasp the pursuers as clearly as Jacheon Pass.

If the pursuers continued to follow, they would shake them off at Jacheon Pass.

If they still couldn’t shake them off and were caught, they would not go to the Drunken Flower Garden but would move to another place. Or they could die fighting. Or they could commit suicide.

In any case, they would protect the Drunken Flower Garden.

An assassin who had been caught could only return to the Drunken Flower Garden after passing through a gate called the Three Defenses and Shedding the Shell, and grasping the pursuers at Jacheon Pass was the first shedding of the shell.

Mongseol got off the horse.

The black horse would not run away even if the reins were not tied. It would not go far away either. It was a famous horse among famous horses that not only recognized its owner but also did not leave its owner’s side.

She gave the black horse a rest and watched the mountain path.

The pursuers could be hiding in the forest. But the area around the summit of Jacheon Pass was a colony of short yew trees. There was no place to hide. Even if you watched comfortably without straining your eyes, it was clearly visible.

She checked several times. There was no pursuit.

After climbing Jacheon Pass, if you went forty li along the mountain ridge, you would come to a small path that led to Black Hand Valley.

By this time, Mongseol was convinced that there was no pursuit.

She had been watching continuously while following the mountain ridge, but there was no one following. No animals like birds or fighting dogs were following either.

This was the first time this had happened.

When an assassin who had been caught headed for Jacheon Pass, the chances of returning to the Drunken Flower Garden safely were only about one in ten. The rest all died at Jacheon Pass.

It was a path that you could only get out of if you were very lucky, but she was getting out too comfortably.

Was she really lucky, or was something happening that she didn’t know about?

Mongseol urged the black horse on.

There was a way to know what was happening. If she did the second shedding of the shell, the Two Defenses and Shedding the Shell, she would know.

She descended for about one two-hour period along the mountain path of Black Hand Valley.

Mongseol had never used this path. She had never returned to the main garden through Jacheon Pass. But she knew about Jacheon Pass and Black Hand Valley because she had heard about them until her ears were sore.

The mountain path split into two.

If you went to the right, it was the path down to Black Hand Valley, and if you went to the left, you would go to a slash-and-burn farmer’s village.

Mongseol took the path to the left.

“Welcome. You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?”

As soon as she entered the slash-and-burn farmer’s village, a strange woman came running out to greet her warmly.

‘Who…?’

Mongseol couldn’t ask and just blinked her eyes.

The people of the slash-and-burn farmer’s village were helping the Drunken Flower Garden. They helped the caught assassins escape.

“Don’t worry. There are no pursuers.”

“Is that so?”

Mongseol asked back calmly.

The people of the slash-and-burn farmer’s village were not martial artists. They were ordinary people. Also, they did not have a deep connection with the Drunken Flower Garden. They were just helping out in exchange for a certain amount of money from the Drunken Flower Garden every year.

You had to take what they said with a grain of salt.

Would the pursuers be seen by them? Would they recognize a martial artist’s hiding technique?

They would set up a roadblock and say that there were no pursuers if no one was caught.

But you couldn’t completely ignore their words either.

Because they lived on the mountain, they knew the mountain very well. They could guess what was happening just by seeing a flock of birds flying. They could also understand the sound of owls and mountain animals.

They could sense things that assassins could not see or feel.

They could tell you things that were visible to the eyes of a mountain person, not the eyes of a martial artist.

“Do you see that brown gate over there?”

The woman pointed to a gate that looked like it would break at any moment because it was so rotten.

“Yes.”

“That’s the village chief’s house. Go there and hear the details. What about it? Should I feed this one some fodder?”

The woman asked, stroking the black horse’s mane.

In a word, she was asking for money.

“That person named Ah Sam from the stable, he must have been a Red Wolf Squad assassin. They say he used the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword quite well. How else would the Ghost Slaughter Sword have been blown away in one shot? Whew! The Living Sword Sect is in mourning right now.”

The village chief suddenly started talking about things that Mongseol would be curious about.

After parting with Ah Geol, Mongseol did not know what had happened. She had been deaf and blind to everything and had only fumbled along the mountain path. So she did not know anything about what had happened recently.

“What happened to Ah Sam?”

“He died.”

“He… died?”

“Ah! He killed the Ghost Slaughter Sword, so do you think he could have lived? He was taken out by someone who came from the Sacred Sword Sect.”

“Ah, yes…”

Mongseol’s words trailed off.

Ah Sam was dead. Grandpa… he had finally died.

Mongseol thought of the old man with the wrinkled face.

He might have been a demon to others, but to Mongseol, he was a very kind grandfather.

Mongseol asked urgently, “What about Ah Geol?”

“Ah Geol? He’s being chased right now, right? He’s probably dead. The one who killed Ah Sam is chasing him. That person, they say he was such a great master that the Ten Swords of the Living Sword Sect couldn’t even make a sound.”

“Yes…”

Mongseol answered weakly.

She knew the reason why the pursuers had not followed her.

According to the village chief, Ah Sam had completely devastated the Living Sword Sect. The fact that the Ten Swords had tried to catch Ah Sam and had instead met their deaths said it all.

They would not have had the mind to turn their eyes elsewhere.

The death of the scoundrel Kang Jo had already been forgotten.

The net that had been spread to catch the assassin was being used to catch Ah Sam and Ah Geol.

Moreover, the two had moved in the opposite direction from the direction she had moved.

This could not be a coincidence. It seemed that Ah Sam and Ah Geol had deliberately turned their eyes away.

‘Why…?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.

She had tried to remember if she had met them before, but no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t remember anything.

They were definitely strangers, people she had met for the first time.

But why were they protecting her, even losing their lives? They had been living well in Dongseung until she had killed Kang Jo, so why were they suddenly acting up?

There were many parts she couldn’t understand.

In any case, thanks to the two, the pursuers had disappeared.

The Living Sword Sect would not be able to pick a fight with the Drunken Flower Garden in the future. There was no evidence that the Drunken Flower Garden had killed Kang Jo. What would they pick a fight over?

“It seems the Flowing Cloud Sword is also dead. They say he’s missing, but in that world, if you’re missing, you’re dead. What’s with two of the Ten Swords dying?”

“I know, right?”

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry. Rest well and then go.”

“Yes.”

Mongseol answered weakly.

She was safe, but she didn’t know why she kept feeling weak. She didn’t know why she kept thinking of Ah Sam and Ah Geol’s faces. She also didn’t know why her heart felt so heavy.

The final escape route, the completion of the Three Defenses and Shedding the Shell, was decided by the Drunken Flower Garden.

The Drunken Flower Garden already knew everything that was happening on the scene.

Since a main garden assassin had gone out on an assassination, it was only natural to watch their back carefully.

In the case of an assassin who had been caught, they would watch even more carefully.

Because it could bring disaster to the main garden, they would mobilize all their information networks and watch.

Was it a card to be discarded, or should they take the risk and save them?

The answer was the Three Defenses and Shedding the Shell.

“Tsk! Where are you going to go on a mangy horse? It’s so thin that you can recognize it from ten li away.”

An old woman who had been lying on the side of the road as if she were dead muttered.

Mongseol got off the horse.

“I’d like to see you again. Let’s see each other again, okay?”

Mongseol patted the black horse’s neck.

The old woman was telling her to leave the horse.

What decision had the Drunken Flower Garden made? If they had decided to discard her, the black horse would die. Because they would cleanly incinerate all the dregs that had been buried after going out on an assassination.

She didn’t feel sorry for the black horse. If it was a ‘discarded card’, the black horse would die, but she would also die. They would soon meet again and walk the path to the afterlife together. Since it wasn’t just the black horse that was dying… she didn’t feel sorry.

Pat! Pat!

Mongseol stroked the black horse’s neck and then pushed the horse away.

The black horse was truly a spiritual animal. It read Mongseol’s intentions and did not follow. It stood in the place where it had been pushed and quietly ate the grass.

A screen was set up on the side of the road.

It was a road where people came and went… but on one side of the road, a screen made of cotton cloth was set up to block the view.

Mongseol went inside the screen.

As she had heard repeatedly in the Drunken Flower Garden, a set of clothes was placed inside the screen.

Here, she would take off all the belongings she had on her body.

She would also take off her sword.

If it was a discarded card, she would never be able to hold it again, and if they saved her, she would be able to hold it again when she arrived at the Drunken Flower Garden.

She also took off the clothes she was wearing. And she changed into new clothes.

Everything that had been used in the assassination disappeared.

“Whew!”

Mongseol let out a thin sigh.

She hadn’t known when she had heard it, but now that she was inside the screen, she felt quite bad. It felt as if she had entrusted her fate to someone else’s hands. Although that was the truth.

She changed into new clothes and walked for about half a two-hour period.

She walked along the road without knowing where she was going, or where this place was.

Far away… she could see a carriage.

‘I’m saved!’

Of course, she was saved. She had been convinced that the Drunken Flower Garden would not abandon her at the Two Defenses and Shedding the Shell. But when she saw the carriage, a sense of relief washed over her. It was the first time she had been so happy to see a carriage.

The Three Defenses and Shedding the Shell was a very cruel process.

For an assassin who had not been able to shake off their pursuers, it was a blood-curdling path of death.

If you saw the carriage, you were all there. The carriage would only come out to meet you when it was judged that there were no pursuers.

The pursuit was completely shaken off.

“Welcome.”

The woman sitting in the driver’s seat said politely.

She was a strange woman. But she acted familiarly, as if she had done this many times.

Mongseol got on the carriage.

Suddenly, fatigue washed over her. So she leaned her head against the carriage and lay down sideways… and Ah Geol came to mind. He was on her mind. Ah Sam’s voice also echoed painfully in her heart.

-Is it a dream in the snow, or snow in a dream?

It was what Ah Sam had said when she had told him her name, Mongseol.

She closes her eyes.

Ah Sam was already dead, and Ah Geol would also die soon. How could he live when the Living Sword Sect was so extreme?

Clop! Clop! Clop!

The carriage began to move.

(End of Chapter)