Chapter 14
“Go.”
Yeonwon sprang to his feet so suddenly that the man stumbled and fell backward in surprise.
“R-Really, sir?”
Looking into his eyes, Yeonwon could tell he wasn’t the type to betray anyone. A simple servant who only cared about saving his son—letting him go and keeping the mountain incident quiet seemed like the wiser choice.
“First, though… let’s clean up a bit before you leave.”
“C-Clean up… what, sir?”
“This is a path the villagers sometimes use. Especially if… someone came here to do laundry and saw blood and corpses scattered around, wouldn’t they be shocked?”
The man gawked around. A cold wind swept through the area.
This path wasn’t frequently traveled, especially in winter when Bangbangi Pass was nearby—people rarely came this way.
Laundry, though? There were streams everywhere; what reason would someone have to come all the way here just to wash clothes?
But he didn’t dare argue. Yeonwon’s narrowed eyes, sharp with warning, held him in place.
The man hurriedly got up and helped him. Yeonwon removed the mask from the corpse to check its face. The man looked at it impassively.
He had never met this person before today, never exchanged a word—he didn’t even know his name. Fear was all he felt; there was no other reaction.
Could this be the same man who had kicked him earlier for walking too slowly?
“Sir…”
“Take a short rest. Handle it alone for now.”
Yeonwon sat on a rock, visibly annoyed, leaving the corpse to the man. He busied himself, speaking as he worked.
“Uh, sir… what should I do with myself?”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?”
“No, I mean…”
Yeonwon, still catching his breath, finally understood the question. The man was worried that, with everyone else dead, people would suspect him. He had thought the man simple, but he was clever after all.
Yeonwon considered briefly.
“Say you met a white tiger.”
“Eh? Will that work?”
The man’s doubtful tone made Yeonwon glare sharply. His pride pricked, and he answered with a slightly sharp edge.
“You know tigers live in these mountains, don’t you?”
“B-But what if they don’t believe me? What if they ask why the tiger only spared me, or demand I show traces of it…?”
“Tell them everyone panicked and ran the wrong way over Bangbangi Pass. Claim no one knows what happened to the others. Do I need to tell you every little detail?”
The man, intimidated, closed his mouth. Seeing that, Yeonwon felt a little pity for him.
He realized the man had overestimated ordinary villagers by his own standards. Yet asking carefully in every situation also showed he intended to cover up the meeting well—a quiet diligence that Yeonwon found admirable, so he allowed it.
Suppressing his irritation, Yeonwon added kindly,
“Don’t worry. Think of your weak body and pitiful courage. Even if others doubt you, your words alone will carry weight.”
At that, the man’s face brightened. It seemed strange to rejoice at being called weak, but he was sincerely grateful.
“I will do as you say! Truly remarkable, sir. I never would have thought of such a way. Your kindness… I—ugh!”
Yeonwon slapped his hand over the man’s mouth, annoyed. He was exhausted, and the man kept babbling nonsense. He even tried to warn him that if he kept talking, he might be accused of treason.
Still muffled, the man tried again,
“B-But, sir…”
Yeonwon’s patience snapped as he listened to the voice squeak through his fingers.
“Why are you calling me again?”
“Now… what should I do?”
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Yeonwon removed his hand. It felt uncomfortably sticky.
“What exactly is it you want to do now?”
He clenched his teeth, realizing he couldn’t rest yet. He rubbed his hands on his pants and rose from the rock.
As he briskly approached to grab the corpse’s legs, the man’s frightened voice reached him:
“T-The woman who was going to come back from laundry… she’s already here!”
What nonsense was this? Yeonwon squinted, then his eyes widened slowly. His shout caught in his throat, and his arm dropped with a thud.
“Damn it.”
⋆★⋆
Danchao carefully scanned the snow-covered ground while standing.
Passing the scattered corpses and pools of blood, her eyes fell on the stranger and the corpse Yeonwon held. Leaving the frozen stranger aside, her gaze settled on the corpse in Yeonwon’s hands.
She met Yeonwon’s eyes briefly, then returned her gaze to the fallen corpse. Silently, she exhaled.
“……”
Her thoughts were unreadable. The corpses lay still, the two living men held their breaths—time seemed frozen, unmoving.
Breaking the tense silence, Danchao acted first.
“……!”
She tugged at her skirt to tighten her waist, rolled up her sleeves, and walked briskly forward. She grabbed the arm of the corpse near Yeonwon and looked up at him.
“What are you doing, not pulling it?”
“Uh… oh, yes.”
Yeonwon, still dazed, followed her instructions and helped drag the corpse.
“Move faster! Don’t just stand there.”
“Eh?”
“The white tiger might come down and smell it. Hurry!”
“Uh… yes, yes!”
Even the man snapped out of his fear and began helping. With renewed focus, the two men moved quickly.
“Not here, over there. The snow melts faster here.”
“…Ah, okay.”
“Don’t go there. The ground is soft.”
Following Danchao’s directions, they moved the corpse. She demonstrated carefully, shoveling snow to cover the bloodstains.
The man followed, marveling at her technique, but Yeonwon couldn’t. He watched Danchao tirelessly wipe her cheeks and eyes.
Danchao cried quietly while clearing the corpses, tears born of fear and horror. She wiped them with her sleeves without stopping, moving the corpse’s arms and legs, covering traces with stones.
Her composure was remarkable. Yeonwon had once wanted to shake those eyes, but seeing her weep relentlessly, he knew such thoughts were trivial and inappropriate.
He took a deep breath, looking at Danchao’s reddened cheeks. The pain in his chest, he told himself, was just because he hadn’t fully recovered.
⋆★⋆
Blood soaking the fabric ran into the stream.
Danchao struck the clothing firmly one last time with a laundry bat and held the large jeogori (jacket) in the air, water dripping from it. She checked carefully for bloodstains and rinsed it in the stream again.
Her movements were precise, fast, and efficient.
“You’ll hurt your hands. You should use warm water,” Yeonwon finally said, noticing her work.
“I… it must be rinsed in cold water.”
“…Oh.”
“…Yes.”
“….”
“….”
He had no argument left. Yeonwon’s gaze lingered on Danchao’s back as she worked. He wanted to get closer, speak, or offer excuses—but couldn’t.
There seemed to be a barrier around Danchao, full of tension. Any careless touch might have caused an explosion like shaking the entire mountain.
Since the mountain, Danchao had kept silent. She stopped crying, but her mouth remained sealed. She answered questions clearly, but said nothing else.
She moved quickly and efficiently, but so flawlessly that it left little room for him to intervene.
Breathing became difficult. He was so focused on everything she did that he didn’t even notice whether he was taking medicine through his mouth or nose—he just followed her lead.
Not noticing the cold, he followed immediately after changing into light clothing, desperate to speak, desperate to hear a word, to breathe freely again.
Thud.
“Ugh…”
