Chapter 46
The young lady was dressed differently than usual.
Instead of the pink jeogori she normally liked to wear, she was in shabby clothes, with a long cloak reaching down to her knees pulled over them.
Even so, I was able to recognize her because of the veil covering her face.
Unable to stand, I opened my mouth.
“Since when…?”
I stopped mid-sentence. There was no point in asking now.
The young lady silently walked over to me. Then she looked down at Aso and quietly bowed her head in respect. Seeing that, I was reminded of what had happened at my mother’s grave.
After a brief silence, I suddenly asked,
“Later on, at least…”
I could feel the young lady’s gaze on me.
“Could you collect Aso’s remains?”
“……”
“Give him a funeral, bury him in a sunny place, and send him off properly?”
“……Well.”
After hesitating for a moment, the young lady replied.
“I can’t be certain about anything, but…”
“……”
“If we survive, we can do it. We can promise ourselves a later time.”
“……”
“We can do it then.”
If we survive.
I repeated her words to myself.
She was right. No matter what you wanted to do, you had to be alive first. Death was the end. After death, there was nothing.
So is that why you saved me?
“Even if I went back to the past, I think I would make the same choice…”
Then I have to make sure your choice won’t be in vain.
I reached out and held Aso’s hand for a moment. Then I stood up. The young lady, who had been watching me, held out her hand.
“Let’s go.”
I looked at her hand quietly, then gripped it tightly.
At the same time, I made a silent promise.
I’ll come back. I will return, no matter what.
The young lady headed straight for the ancestral hall.
The path there was smooth. No black-masked men appeared anymore.
Was it because there was no one left here? Suddenly, I thought of Brother Im—how he had taken the masked men elsewhere, saying he would buy us time.
Brother Im…
What happened to him?
Brother Im, Uncle Hwang, Aso…
I shook my head hard, forcing away the gloomy thoughts. Just then, the young lady opened the door to the ancestral hall. I followed her inside, then stopped short.
No one… is here?
There was no one inside the hall.
Worse, the place was a mess.
The incense burner and ritual vessels that had once been neatly placed on the altar were broken and scattered across the floor. More than half of the hanging scrolls and paintings were torn.
I stared blankly at the floor, stained with ash and dust. Yet the young lady, a descendant of this place, calmly walked toward somewhere.
She stopped in front of a painting.
It showed a fairy holding peach blossoms, though it too was damaged.
The young lady lifted the painting and felt around behind it. Then her eyes lit up, as if she had found something. When she pressed down firmly—
Rrrrk.
“……!”
The altar began to move.
The altar at the center rotated ninety degrees and stopped, revealing an opening beneath it.
The dark hole was only large enough for one person to pass through. Only then did I realize how deep it went—and that there were stairs leading down.
So this was the real hiding place.
That was why Uncle Hwang had told us to go to the ancestral hall.
As if to confirm my thoughts, the young lady explained,
“There are a couple of secret passages like this in the So estate. Long ago, a corrupt official built them in case of emergencies. My father knew about it and chose this estate for that reason.”
“Ah…”
“My father and Chief Steward Jeok will use a different passage and bring the rest of the family with them. We should hurry too.”
With that, she immediately went down.
I hesitated for a moment, then followed her. After confirming I had come down, the young lady felt along the wall and pressed a certain spot.
Rrrrk.
With that sound, the entrance closed. The altar returned to its original position.
At the same time, the young lady took something out of her clothes.
It was a fire striker. She lit it and transferred the flame to a wooden torch beside the stairs. Whoosh—the flame flared up, lighting the surroundings.
I was impressed.
She’s fully prepared.
As she continued down the stairs, the young lady spoke again.
“If you follow the passage, there’s a large cavern in the center. Since it was built as a shelter, there’s some water and grain, but not enough. And we don’t know when this place might be discovered.”
“Yes.”
“So as soon as we gather, we’ll leave through the passage and head outside. The end of the passage connects to the foothills of Mount Nabu.”
“……”
“After that, my father and I will cross Mount Nabu and head to Jiangxi Province. There’s a Jiangxi branch of the Soseong Merchant Guild there. Once we arrive, we’ll contact Uncle Namgung.”
She paused, hesitating.
“You…”
But I couldn’t hear the rest. As we turned a corner to the right, a bright space opened up.
It was the cavern she mentioned.
The space felt like both a cave and a plaza, with people gathered inside. But there weren’t many of them. Considering the size of the So household, the number was far too small.
I forgot what the young lady was about to say and looked around. Just then, a shout rang out from among the people.
“Ari, you’re safe!”
It was the estate lord.
He walked toward us, with the chief steward beside him.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Ari, when I heard you left the Sonang Garden first, I was shocked… I’m glad you’re safe, but don’t do that again.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Father.”
Seeing my confused expression, the chief steward whispered,
“She insisted on going with you.”
I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. For a sheltered young lady to risk her life for a mere servant… I was grateful, yet felt sorry toward the estate lord.
But he said nothing more, only spoke with a serious expression.
“I’m glad you’re both safe. Now let’s go.”
We nodded.
With the estate lord leading, the people gathered in the cavern began to move. Some were trembling. Some were quietly crying. If there was one thing they shared, it was resignation.
The group walked through the passage. Sometimes it narrowed, sometimes it widened. And just as the smell of grass brushed my nose and we neared the exit—
Boom!
“…They’re… chasing…!”
At the distant sound, the estate lord’s expression stiffened slightly.
I turned around in shock, but there was no time to look closely. At the same moment the young lady grabbed my hand, the estate lord shouted quietly,
“Run!”
Everyone started running like mad.
Even so, the footsteps behind us steadily drew closer. Thankfully, the exit wasn’t far. The path ahead grew brighter, and soon we burst out of the passage.
But the estate lord’s face was still grim—no, it darkened even further.
“We made it out, but at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before they catch us. What should we do…”
“Estate Lord.”
The chief steward stepped forward.
“There is a mechanism here, is there not?”
“What…?”
“We can block the entrance to the passage.”
The estate lord’s face turned pale. He hesitated, then muttered in despair,
“…But to activate it, someone must stay inside the passage. You know that. To seal the entrance, someone has to go in…”
“I will go.”
I looked up at the chief steward in shock. He was wearing a calm smile.
“I’ve lived long enough. I’m not afraid of death. If I can protect the two of you, what is there to fear?”
“……”
“When I was young, I learned a bit of martial arts. It’s nothing impressive, but if I can slow the enemy down, I can buy you time to escape.”
“……”
“Please go. There’s no time.”
The estate lord closed his eyes and nodded. A sound like a sob escaped the young lady.
“Chief Steward Jeok…”
He didn’t answer. He only smiled gently at her. Then he turned to me and spoke kindly.
“Take good care of the young lady.”
I could only bow my head.
Shing—.
The chief steward drew the sword at his waist.
He went back into the passage. Feeling along the wall as if searching for something, he suddenly looked toward us. Bringing his hands together in a formal salute, he spoke solemnly,
“I pray for the safety of the So family.”
Without a moment of hesitation, he struck a certain spot on the wall with the back of his blade.
Rumble…
With a sound like thunder, the entrance began to shake. Moments later, it collapsed completely.
Boom!
All that remained was a pile of rubble.
