I asked Warrior Ma Sun-bok a question.
“Who do you think did something like that, then?”
“I think I'll need to take a closer look before I can say.”
Well, that was fair enough.
We drew closer to the spot. It was only when we approached it that we began to see details we hadn't been able to make out before.
There were signs of a battle.
More precisely, they were sword marks slashed haphazardly across the wall of snow, around the place where someone had cut that deep hollow into it.
We hadn't been able to see them from a distance. Once we knew something was odd and examined the spot up close, though, they stood out.
And then…
“These are bloodstains.”
The blood on the ground had disappeared under the snow, but blood that had seeped into the sword marks on the snow wall was still there.
I examined the hollow that had been carved out.
It looked as though something like an axe had been used to hack it out a little at a time. There were also white feathers caught against the wall of snow.
They gleamed faintly whenever the light struck them, so much like the snow that they were difficult to tell apart from it.
Seeing those feathers brought back what Hunter Heuk Cheol had told us earlier.
“The timing couldn't be worse. There have been reports of a Child-Wail Bird's cries in the area recently. We were just about to warn you.”
“It's a bird that cries like a child, just as its name suggests. Its feathers are white, almost the same color as the snow.”
I nodded as I spoke.
“A Child-Wail Bird was hiding here. These feathers are the proof.”
I continued.
“It carved this hollow out, then hid inside it, disguising itself as part of the snow wall. After that, it must have used a child's cries to lure its prey closer.”
“Then you're saying the Branch Manager's party heard those cries and came over here?”
“That's my guess. Then they realized there was a Child-Wail Bird here and began fighting it.”
But I couldn't sense anyone nearby.
How had that battle ended? If anyone had survived, where had the survivors gone?
Just then, Escort Guard Jin Yu called out.
“Look at this!”
He was pointing at a Snow-White Tree nearby.
I found nature truly remarkable. Even in a place like the North Sea, there were plants that had adapted to life here and continued to grow in these conditions.
The Snow-White Tree was one of them.
Its name meant a white tree covered in snow. Unusually, even its leaves were white.
The tree also produced heat on its own. That heat melted the snow around it, and the tree lived by taking in the water from the melted snow.
That meant that if you lost your way in the North Sea, you could keep yourself from freezing to death by wrapping your arms around a Snow-White Tree.
Amid the thick growth of leaves on the Snow-White Tree that Escort Guard Jin Yu had indicated, a long strip of torn cloth had been tied to one of the branches.
The cloth was stained with blood.
And the knot used to tie it was a signal the Eunhae Merchant Group used.
It meant…
“They're fleeing. Requesting rescue.”
“And the direction is that way.”
With the signal, they had also marked the direction in which they would be moving.
“What shall we do?”
“I don't think this is for us to decide by ourselves. Let's discuss it with the Junior Commander.”
After all, this wasn't just my own party traveling together. We had formed a search party and were moving as part of it.
And finding the Branch Manager and his companions was important to the Junior Commander, too.
We rejoined the search party.
“Junior Commander.”
“How did your investigation go?”
“We found traces of the Branch Manager's party.”
At my words, his face brightened.
Once he had heard my explanation, he stood up immediately.
“Then we don't have time to sit around like this.”
“But the sun will be setting soon…”
Hunter Heuk Cheol answered that concerned remark firmly.
“If a Child-Wail Bird is pursuing them, we must hurry.”
“Won't it be dangerous?”
“We'll be all right if we stay together. And the moon is bright tonight. It won't be very dark.”
Hunter Heuk Cheol was the person most familiar with the geography and climate of this area. Since he was the one saying we could do it, I could trust his judgment.
We began searching again at once.
—Kui!
Just then, I heard Geumryeong through Voice Transmission.
—Kui! Ku! Kui!
Hmm? You could follow the scent if it was blood?
At first, I had tried having Geumryeong smell one of the Branch Manager's belongings and search for him that way. But it hadn't worked.
According to Geumryeong, snow erased ordinary scents, making them difficult to follow.
The little one had been quite disappointed at missing out on the chance to earn a fee for the errand.
You'd been awfully good at sniffing out money buried in the snow before, though…
—Kui! Ku!
But that didn't mean you were an ordinary animal that liked blood, and I wasn't to get the wrong idea?
I hadn't gotten that idea in the first place.
In any case, if Geumryeong could follow the scent of blood, our task would become much easier.
Did that mean we needed to go back to where we'd found the blood?
—Kui! Ku!
Oh, you already knew its scent?
Good. Off you go.
Geumryeong darted away immediately, becoming a tiny speck and vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Of course, the little one had been tiny to begin with.
In the meantime, we kept moving.
Just as Hunter Heuk Cheol had said, even late at night it was brighter than I had expected, and we had no trouble continuing the search.
“They say a Child-Wail Bird is more persistent than you might think. Once it chooses its prey, it will keep pursuing it to the bitter end.”
“A nasty creature indeed.”
We couldn't simply leave a thing like that alone.
We were still talking and searching when it happened.
With a light thump, Geumryeong landed against my chest and nestled there.
—Kui kui kui! Ku!
You wanted us to follow quickly? They were fighting right now, and they were badly hurt?
I pretended to look around, then pointed toward a spot.
“It looks as though there are some tracks over there.”
Then I took the lead, quietly sending Qi ahead of me to stamp footprints into the snow.
“You're right. Then the direction they took was…”
“This way.”
By making the signs myself like that, I led us toward the place Geumryeong was showing me.
We heard noises from the direction we were heading in and approached the place they were coming from.
“Ghh! Wounded men, fall back!”
“Damn it! This thing just won't give up!”
“Waaaah!”
Among the other sounds, we could hear a baby's cries.
“You bastard! Where do you think you're going?”
“Will someone please do something about that noise!”
We hurried over and came upon a fierce battle already underway.
At the sight of them, the Junior Commander shouted.
“Go help them!”
“Yes, sir!”
But when they saw us, they waved their arms frantically and shouted.
“No!”
“Don't! Stay away! I'm telling you, don't come here!”
“Damn it! If you hear that Child-Wail Bird's voice, it'll bewitch you!”
What?
“Waaaah!”
The Child-Wail Bird's cries rang out again.
At that sound, some of the search party members charging at the front went glassy-eyed and turned their swords on us.
Damn it. So that was why they'd told us to stay away.
Fortunately, at least my Escort Guards hadn't fallen under the spell of that voice.
It seemed you had to get within a certain distance before it could bewitch you.
Then what were we to do about the people it had already bewitched?
I considered it briefly, but the answer was simple.
Knock them out cleanly.
The problem was that to knock them out, we would have to go where they were. If we weren't careful, more of our people might fall under the spell while doing it.
—Kui!
Hmm? You'd help?
—Kui!
You could handle it, so I should stop worrying and just have the silver ready?
I nodded.
—All right.
At my permission, Geumryeong moved immediately.
Moving too fast for the eye to follow, the little one slammed bodily into one stomach after another, each impact landing with a heavy thud.
“Gah!”
“Ghh!”
That was certainly effective.
With every blow, another member of the search party lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
I glared at the Child-Wail Bird, which was still attacking the people in front of it.
To solve the problem at its root, we had to kill the Child-Wail Bird ahead of us.
I let out a breath.
“I'll go.”
At my words, Escort Guard Jin Yu asked a question.
“But… will you be all right?”
“I'll be fine.”
If there had been any danger to me, Lady Seohyang would have warned me.
I approached the Child-Wail Bird.
“Waaaah!”
The child's cries rang out again, but just as I'd expected, the sound had no effect on me at all.
The Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art, a martial art of Snow Wind Palace, protected its practitioner from Evil Arts and illusions.
That must have been why the Child-Wail Birds hadn't dared even think of coming here while Snow Wind Palace was still strong.
In any case, this Child-Wail Bird had chosen its special day today.
The day it would die.
I drew the Silver Mist Sword with a metallic whisper and charged at it.
At the sight of me, the Child-Wail Bird faltered.
Or was it reacting to Geumryeong rather than me?
Either way, this was my chance.
I rushed straight at the Child-Wail Bird and swung the Silver Mist Sword.
The blade sliced into its neck. But perhaps the cut had been too shallow; I had only wounded it, rather than cutting its head off.
“Kreeeeee!”
The Child-Wail Bird let out an ear-splitting cry.
It was a different cry from the child's wailing it had used earlier.
Only now must it have realized it was in danger.
The Child-Wail Bird beat its wings, whipping up a fierce wind.
It looked as though it was trying to get away.
People nearby staggered and fell in that wind, and the Child-Wail Bird rose into the sky.
Heh!
That creature still didn't understand.
It didn't know the true meaning of Snow Wind Palace's name.
I would show it exactly what it meant to command the Snow Winds.
I raised my sword and drew up my True Qi. Then, adapting Snow Wind, the fourth form of the True Snow Twelve Form Sword, I created an artificial Snow Wind around us.
The wind began to howl. Soon the Snow Wind was blowing fiercely, enveloping both the Child-Wail Bird and me.
Even Spirit Beasts took shelter when the Snow Winds blew.
If even Spirit Beasts fled from it, that told you just how terrifying the power of a Snow Wind really was.
The Snow Wind had no effect on me, but the same could not be said for the Child-Wail Bird.
“Kreee!”
Caught in the Snow Wind, the Child-Wail Bird was hurled to the ground. It tried to beat its wings again, but that did it no good.
With an ugly crack, its wings finally bent backward, and the Child-Wail Bird kept crying out in pain.
“Kreee! Kree!”
Perhaps it was time to finish this.
Oh, but there was something I needed to do first.
“Geumryeong. Ask that creature how many Child-Wail Birds there are around here.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong nodded, then put the question to the Child-Wail Bird.
“Kui. Ku? Kui.”
“Kreee. Krruk.”
Geumryeong passed the answer on to me.
About three in this area? Hah! Quite a few had come down this way.
In any case, we would have to take care of those as well.
Now, then. Our business here was finished.
I raised my sword and cut the Child-Wail Bird's head off.
“Krruk!”
The Child-Wail Bird's body twitched a few times, then went limp.
Whew. That settled this incident, too.
As I withdrew my Internal Power, the Snow Wind that had obscured our view subsided.
Part of the reason I had raised that Snow Wind was to stop the Child-Wail Bird from escaping. But I had also done it to block everyone else's view and keep them from hearing what was happening.
“My lord!”
Led by Escort Guard Seo Wu, my Escort Guards hurried over and knelt.
“Forgive us for being of no help to you.”
“Of no help?”
I shook my head as I answered.
“You made the decision the situation called for. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you followed my orders.”
If they had fallen under the Child-Wail Bird's spell and started swinging their swords, we really would have been in serious trouble.
“My lord…”
“So please don't blame yourselves so much.”
As I reassured them, I took the bottle of Geumryeong's saliva from inside my robe and handed some out.
“Now, please see to the wounded.”
“Understood.”
At my request, they hurried to get to work.
It couldn't have been easy to flee while avoiding the Child-Wail Bird's attacks.
The injuries those people had suffered were proof of that.
Meanwhile, I woke the people Geumryeong had knocked unconscious.
It was easy enough. I only had to put a little of my Qi into their bodies to wake them.
It probably felt like being rubbed down with cold water.
A cold-water rubdown while it was snowing… I did feel a little bad about that, but there was no helping it.
Once I'd woken everyone, I spoke to them.
“All right, everyone. It's over now. Go help the others prepare a place for us to camp tonight.”
“Ah!”
“Yes! Ah, understood.”
Then I approached the Branch Manager.
“I'm so glad you're still alive.”
“Thank you so much for rescuing us. Deputy Merchant Lord, we owe you our lives.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“The person we have to thank for being able to rescue you is… Warrior Ma here.”
At those words, Supervisor Gu Pyo, who was beside him, cried out in astonishment.
“W-Wait! You… Aren't you Sun-bok?”
“Uncle…”
He sniffled.
“You little brat! What are you crying for?”
“You've been working… so hard in a place like this… to support me…”
His words were broken by sniffles.
Supervisor Gu Pyo couldn't help giving a little chuckle at that.
“You silly boy.”
I spoke to Supervisor Gu Pyo.
“Warrior Ma deserves a great deal of credit for this rescue. He was the one who discovered the vital clue, and because of that discovery, we were able to find you and your companions.”
Because of the marks he had discovered, Geumryeong had been able to pick up the scent of the blood left there and lead us all the way to this place.
“So please give him plenty of praise.”
“Of course.”
Supervisor Gu Pyo nodded, then called to Warrior Ma Sun-bok.
“Sun-bok! Come here.”
Warrior Ma Sun-bok approached at his call, and Supervisor Gu Pyo promptly dealt him a resounding smack across the back.
“Aagh! Th-That hurts, Uncle!”
“That was to get you to perk up! Am I dead? I'm still perfectly all right! So what are you sniveling for? Have a little more confidence in yourself! Go through life with your head held high!”
He went on.
“You may not have parents, but you've got me, haven't you?”
“Uncle…”
“If you understand, go get a fire going. I'm cold.”
“Yes.”
He hurried off and busied himself with lighting a fire.
“Ghh! This is killing me.”
Having sent Warrior Ma Sun-bok away, Supervisor Gu Pyo let out a groan.
When I looked more closely, I could see that the wounds on his shoulder were fairly deep, and so were the wounds on his back.
Escort Guard Lee Pil came over and applied Geumryeong's saliva to those wounds.
They were startled to see the wounds heal in an instant.
“What is that?”
I answered the question as though it were nothing out of the ordinary.
“Oh, an Elixir.”
“What? A-An Elixir?”
“Good heavens! It must be terribly expensive…”
Of course it was expensive.
You had to wave a Gold Tael or so in front of Geumryeong to get the little one to start drooling, after all.
But instead of telling them that, I urged them to recover quickly.
“Just get well as soon as you can. That's how you'll make this Elixir worth its cost.”
Come to think of it, Geumryeong had done quite a lot today.
Whew. How much would I have to pay before the little one felt properly appreciated?
We would have to negotiate.
Oh, this wasn't an attempt to pay Geumryeong less.
It was to help Geumryeong develop some negotiating skills…
Kui?
Was I the emperor now?
“…”
I had nothing to say to that. Hmph.
–TL Notes–
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