Chapter : 57
Yeonhwa explained the plan going forward.
“If we can just make it down from here, we’ll retrieve the horses at once and ride straight to the Yangtze. We board the ship that’s waiting, and that’s it.”
At that, Deokman’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Yeonhwa patted his shoulder.
“Once we reach Uichang, you two will head to the Murim Alliance as if you’ve simply finished your business. I’ll show myself at the Uichang Office as though I’ve been there the entire time.”
“Yes, yes! Understood!”
Deokman answered excitedly and was just about to move when—
A killing intent shot out from behind them.
Swae-aek!
Yeonhwa sliced apart the unseen force and turned around.
Behind them, the number of masked men had clearly dwindled, but those who remained were approaching. Judging from the blood-soaked aura covering their bodies… it seemed they had finally broken free of whatever shackles had held them back.
“You killed him? Wenling’s subordinate killed Wenling’s own brother. If this fact becomes known, the world will surely grow curious about the hidden history of Mount Xingmen. Wouldn’t they?”
At Yeonhwa’s words, the hearts of the masked men turned cold.
Yet none of them said that he was still alive.
“Everything that happened here today will be buried. And if you gentlemen disappear as well, who will remain to speak of it?”
Unable to endure any longer, one of the masked men spat out in fury and launched himself at her.
Cha-ae-aeng!
The battle began anew.
This time, everyone was battered and torn.
Yeonhwa swung her sword at the enemies rushing her.
They had been trained as assassins, wielding blades that were dark, ruthless, and narrow in scope. That did not mean such techniques were inherently bad. However, martial arts of that disposition aimed not at victory, but at killing the opponent, and thus relied excessively on auxiliary means.
It was why unorthodox tricks rarely triumphed over orthodox methods.
In contrast, the Namgung sword was the pinnacle of the righteous path—a blade of pure orthodoxy.
At first, she had brought down the heavens’ punishment. Now, Yeonhwa was showing them what a true orthodox sword truly was.
Her blade pointed neither to heaven nor to earth.
Only forward—forward—forward!
It was not a soft, flowing chain of techniques.
Under pressure that seemed to sever space itself into fragments, the opponent had no choice but to retreat, and in the end—
Thud, thud!
Her sword plunged into the chest of the man leading the masked group.
Yeonhwa kicked him in the abdomen and withdrew the blade.
“We cannot die like this… We still have things to do… We—!”
She ignored the dying enemy’s cry.
With a flick, she scattered the blood running down her blade onto the ground and immediately sought her next opponent.
It did not take long.
Right beside her, another stood baring his teeth.
Cha-chaeng, chaeng!
A swift sword strike, too fast for the eye to follow, flew at her. Yeonhwa knocked it aside in a single motion and counterattacked.
“Kh—!”
Three, four… five.
Only after the last one lay on the ground did Yeonhwa sheath her sword.
“Hoo… hoo.”
She had pushed herself somewhat.
She quickly checked her body for injuries.
“I-It’s fine! You’re still as beautiful as ever!”
Deokman, who had been crouching at a distance, finally found his chance to step forward and shouted.
Yeonhwa waved him off.
“If I so much as get scratched, rumors will spread that I wasn’t properly treated at the Uichang Office. As long as there’s no visible mark, it’s fine.”
Apparently that had not occurred to him. Deokman scratched his head.
“Shall we head down now?”
At Ji Wonhyeong’s question, Yeonhwa—who until just moments ago had intended to descend immediately—shook her head.
“I need to check what happened to the Third Young Master of the Murong family.”
The rift between the masked men and Murong Yun’o had grown more severe than expected. If he had truly been killed by them, they would at least need to retrieve the body.
Yeonhwa recalled the ledger Ji Wonhyeong had handed her.
Wasn’t it the Third Young Master of the Murong family who had used that very ledger to conceal his movements and travel all the way to Eunshihyeon?
If he were discovered here on Mount Xingmen, she wondered what excuse Wenling Pavilion would give.
Retracing the path they had taken earlier, Yeonhwa and the other two soon heard the clash of weapons not far from the rocks.
It was not particularly fierce, but unmistakably the sound of sharp steel.
By the time she drew close, scarcely anyone on either Murong Yun’o’s side or among the masked men remained standing.
‘Murong Yun’o?’
Yeonhwa’s gaze shifted—and then froze.
In the distance, one masked man was dragging Murong Yun’o toward the far side of a rocky outcrop.
Yeonhwa had not yet gone that way. Seeing her puzzled expression, Deokman cried out, his face pale:
“There’s a cliff over there!”
Yeonhwa’s head snapped around.
“Is it deep?”
Mount Xingmen was not entirely steep. Some parts were gentle, others shallow cliffs covered in soil.
But his answer was firm.
“It’s completely sheer! If you fall, there won’t even be bones left to collect!”
Yeonhwa shut her eyes once and opened them again, then hurried in that direction.
But she was too late.
The masked man stood at the very edge of the cliff, a dagger pressed to Murong Yun’o’s throat.
Even Yeonhwa could not save him in a single breath’s time.
“This time, you’ve lost!”
Even if he failed to complete his mission, the masked man believed he must not let the consequences reach the one who had given the order.
This was his answer.
Unlike the triumphant masked man, Murong Yun’o looked at Yeonhwa with a face as if he were about to wet himself.
Yeonhwa spoke calmly.
“The one who dies is you—and the one dying with you is the Third Young Master of Murong. Why would that mean I’ve lost?”
Her words were so precise that neither of the two at the cliff’s edge could refute them.
Their eyes wavered.
Unbothered, Yeonhwa continued.
“I came where I wanted to. I saved my people. I obtained what I needed. Now I only have to return.”
Unlike you.
She did not need to say it aloud.
Still, she asked once more.
“Isn’t living better? There doesn’t seem to be any reason you must die.”
“Spare me!”
Before she even finished speaking, Murong Yun’o wailed.
The masked man snorted.
He had already judged Murong Yun’o to be a threat to his lord. If eliminating such a man cost him his own life, that was a price worth paying.
As the masked man prepared to throw himself off the cliff with Murong Yun’o—
Murong Yun’o suddenly shoved him aside, reaching desperately to save himself.
Yeonhwa lunged forward as well, reaching toward the hand stretched out to her—
“Ghk!”
But as he fell, the masked man grabbed Murong Yun’o’s sleeve.
Losing his balance, Murong Yun’o was dragged down with him over the cliff.
Swae-ae-aek!
The sound of bodies cutting through the wind continued for a long moment—
Then silence.
Thud…!
The dull crash came only after quite some time had passed.
“There won’t be any proof left that the Third Young Master of Murong was here.”
Yeonhwa murmured like a sigh.
Someone approached from behind.
She did not startle.
Instead, the other person looked even paler, clutching her sleeve and pulling her back from the edge.
“Wonhyeong, how is it over there?”
“There’s nothing left to tidy up.”
“They’re all dead?”
“Yes.”
Yeonhwa slowly shook her head.
If both the masked men and those Murong Yun’o had brought were dead, stirring up this matter would only bring trouble upon themselves.
She gathered Wonhyeong and Deokman and moved again.
She had thought it a success if only the three of them could leave Mount Xingmen alive.
The outcome, however, was more extreme than expected.
Everyone else was dead. Only they remained.
Of course, there would be troublesome aftermath—but even so, it was not a bad ending.
Checking the condition of the two men, Yeonhwa increased their pace.
The rest of their schedule unfolded exactly as planned.
Yeonhwa retrieved the horses she had tethered earlier. In a nearby village, she purchased another and had Wonhyeong ride together with Deokman.
By the time the three reached the Yangtze, where the ship was waiting, seven days had already passed since they had left Uichang.
They had hurried as much as possible, barely resting, and yet this was the result.
‘There must be an uproar.’
Yeonhwa felt heavy-hearted imagining the burden Yu Geonmyeong would have to bear.
After tying up the two horses and instructing the naval soldiers who had waited for them to divide them later, she boarded the ship—but the thought would not leave her.
“This time, I truly thought we wouldn’t make it back.”
Ji Wonhyeong said quietly as he sat beside her.
At that, some of the stiffness left Yeonhwa’s expression.
“You should have believed I would come for you. Even if I couldn’t, I would have sent someone. Don’t give up. I haven’t given up on you—so why would you give up on yourself?”
Ji Wonhyeong smiled, and Yeonhwa loosened her shoulders slightly.
For a long while, she gazed at the waves parting from the bow of the swift ship, stretching out to either side.
