Chapter 53
The first to move was Myeong.
The child’s small hand snatched the Millennium Snow Ginseng in one quick motion.
‘Ah!’
And then, before anyone could react, she slipped it right into her martial robe.
‘Ugh!’
Soso thrashed inside the robe, trying to escape.
But Myeong pressed down on her body with both hands, as if deliberately trying to keep her from getting out.
‘Myeong! What are you doing?!’
Moments later, Myeong quietly stepped out of the room and hurried down the stairs to the first floor.
Thud-thud-thud!
She didn’t bump into a single thing — not the walls, not the tables — as she ran straight toward the inn’s front door and pushed it open.
‘Wait… Is she really blind? Could it be we’ve been deceived all along?’
But ever since they’d found the child, her behavior had been perfectly natural — even ordinary.
Neither Namgung Jin nor Jegal Haesoo had noticed anything odd either. That’s why they’d brought her to the inn in the first place.
Everything about this was simply baffling.
Once outside, Myeong pushed her way through the busy crowd. Despite it being morning, the streets were already packed with people.
‘This is bad. Really bad. I need to go back soon.’
At least one thing was fortunate — Soso was wearing the robe made from Heavenly Silkworm Thread, which concealed her spiritual energy.
As long as no martial artist stopped to observe closely, her existence would remain hidden.
Soso stopped struggling.
She had no idea where the child was going, but being trapped in this robe seemed safer than wandering alone in the street and getting caught by a martial artist.
Besides, Namgung Jin and Jegal Haesoo would surely start searching for her once they were done arguing. For now, it was better not to get separated from the child.
So Soso stayed still, holding her breath inside the robe for a long time.
Eventually, Myeong seemed to reach the center of Wuhwan’s bustling city district.
Merchants, warriors, and commoners filled the streets — even more crowded than the night before.
Then, suddenly, as if she had a specific destination in mind, Myeong collided hard into someone.
Thunk!
‘……!’
The impact was so strong that the small girl’s body went tumbling backward.
Once… and then again.
After two full rolls, she fell into a narrow alleyway.
Soso tumbled out with her, rolling helplessly.
When Myeong flipped over for the second time, Soso slipped right out of her robe.
Unable to stop her momentum, she rolled three more times before finally coming to a stop at the far end of the alley.
‘Ouch, my body… I’m dizzy. The world’s spinning. I’m dying, I swear I’m dying.’
After confirming that no one else was nearby, Soso slowly pushed herself upright.
Myeong lay face-down on the ground, completely motionless. Had she fainted? Was she hurt?
Just as Soso began to approach her—
‘……!’
A dark shadow fell over her.
A man had appeared out of nowhere, blocking her path.
‘I made sure no one was around…!’
Her two root-like legs stiffened on the ground.
A cold sensation like sweat ran down her body — though she had none to give, being in the form of the Millennium Snow Ginseng.
What should I do?
‘Play dead. I’ll just pretend to be dead!’
Soso let her body go limp and dropped flat onto the ground.
Thanks to the Heavenly Silkworm robe concealing her energy, the man would hopefully see nothing more than a strange wild ginseng.
“……”
But the man didn’t leave. He simply stood there, staring down at her.
The wide-brimmed black hat he wore — a black-lipped hat (heukrip) — hid most of his face. Yet even through the shadows, she could feel his ominous, predatory gaze.
‘Please, just go. I’m not tasty. I’m an old, bitter ginseng!’
But her desperate wish went unanswered.
“How interesting,” the man murmured softly — and then reached down to pick her up.
‘Aaaah! Someone save the poor ginseng bride! The Millennium Snow Ginseng needs help!’
Before she could resist, the man tucked her into his robe.
When she’d been inside the child’s robe, her head at least stuck out, giving her a bit of a view.
But this man pushed her deep inside his clothing, leaving her completely trapped.
She couldn’t move an inch. It felt like her limbs were bound tight.
Soon, her entire body began swaying violently side to side.
The motion made her nauseous. It was a sensation she’d felt before.
‘This feels just like when Jegal Sohyeop used his light-foot technique.’
That meant… this man was also using qīnggōng, darting swiftly through the city.
He was a martial artist — the very kind of person Soso wanted most to avoid.
At this speed, she knew they were getting farther and farther from the inn.
‘Where on earth is he taking me?’
Even as the motion made her stomach churn, Soso’s mind was filled with dread.
Meanwhile, back in the alley where Soso and the black-hatted man had vanished—
Myeong was still lying on the ground.
The child couldn’t easily get up, and her mind kept replaying the image of the man who had knocked her down.
He had approached without the slightest sound — like a towering mountain made of iron.
A mountain — yes, that was what he was. A vast, unyielding jangsan (壯山).
But every peak of that mountain reeked of blood. His energy was carefully restrained, yet it was clear he practiced some sinister martial art.
Perhaps one of the demonic techniques of the Evil Sect — something with the character for blood (血) in its name.
Myeong had a rough idea who he was.
A high-ranking figure from the Demonic Cult — one who had returned after fifty years of absence.
Even if the men back at the inn fought him together, they wouldn’t be able to cut even the edge of his robe.
Overwhelmed by the stench of blood and killing intent, Myeong couldn’t lift her body off the ground.
The suffocating aura pressed down on her small frame, nearly sending her into convulsions.
She wanted to chase after him, to retrieve the Millennium Snow Ginseng, but her body simply wouldn’t move.
If she raised her head to look at him, she feared he would recognize her true nature — and then brutally slaughter her.
‘If only my body were whole…!’
The oppressive power crushed down on her like a mountain that even heaven itself dared not defy.
So she stayed there, unable to move, until the man disappeared from sight — taking the ginseng with him.
Only after that dreadful aura finally faded did she manage to rise and brush the dust from her knees.
‘Perhaps it was inevitable that those two would meet.’
The Way of Heaven follows the Way of Nature.
Heaven follows the Dao.
Life flows like wind and water — everything must follow its natural course.
There was a destined current in motion, and a mere human like her couldn’t hope to defy it.
All she could do now was pray that the Millennium Snow Ginseng would return safely.
‘I needed to show her to the Moonlit Immortal…’
For the past five years, the Moonlit Immortal whom Myeong served had been searching for someone whose body and soul did not fully align.
She couldn’t be certain that the Millennium Snow Ginseng was that person — but the signs were clear.
The ginseng could alternate between plant and human form precisely because her body and soul were not completely merged.
Myeong was less interested in the ginseng’s tragic story than in whether she was the one the Moonlit Immortal sought.
Perhaps they would never meet again.
‘Will Sister Sam be all right?’
Despite knowing how terrifying that black-hatted man was, Myeong couldn’t shake a strange, firm sense that the ginseng would survive.
Her intuitions — especially ones this strong — had never once been wrong.
In any case, she needed to return to the inn and inform the ginseng’s companions.
‘After that… I must go see the Immortal.’
With that resolve, Myeong dashed off toward the inn.
