By the time the women and men who had gone out with Na-ok returned to the village, a step behind her, they saw a massive flame roaring in the distance.
It was late—most of the villagers, who retired early, were already asleep.
Shouts rang out as people dashed toward the burning house.
"F-fire!"
"There's a fire!"
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In Songga Village, a close-knit clan village, a fire at someone's home was considered a calamity shared by all.
"Fire!? Where is it!?"
"Whose house is it!?"
"I-it looks like Na-ok’s house!"
"What!? Na-ok! Na-eun!"
When they arrived at the burning house, they were greeted by the horrifying sight of Na-ok kneeling in the middle of the yard. Her clothes were scorched, her skin covered in burns, and she was clutching her sister’s lifeless, charred body.
Smoke curled from her battered form, her eyes vacant and dazed. Though her burns must have caused excruciating pain, Na-ok seemed oblivious, half-unconscious.
"W-what happened here!?"
"Na-ok! What is going on!?"
Uncle Song Ho-jung, an escort by trade, demanded answers.
Na-ok slowly lifted her vacant eyes to him and mumbled,
"Uncle... N-Na-eun... Na-eun is..."
The flickering flames illuminated her torn and bruised clothing and her sister’s pale, lifeless face.
When Ho-jung saw Na-eun’s body, his expression twisted in fury.
"Was she already dead when you arrived? Or did you see the bastard who did this!?"
Through trembling lips, Na-ok whispered,
"Uncle... At the village entrance, I saw a man... a stranger... leaving..."
Ho-jung’s voice boomed over the gathered villagers.
"Take half the men and women to stop the fire from spreading! The rest of you, follow me! Someone dared to enter Songga Village and kill my cousin’s daughter! He won’t have gotten far—move out!"
While the villagers fought the flames, carrying buckets of water, Ho-jung and a group of men armed with torches spread out to search the village’s surroundings.
As the fire began to die down, so did the last fragments of Na-ok’s consciousness.
–Thud.
"Na-ok! Na-ok!"
The urgent voice of an aunt seemed to grow distant as Na-ok slumped to the ground, wishing with all her heart that this was just a fleeting nightmare born of the flames.
***
When Na-ok regained consciousness, more than two weeks had passed.
She had teetered between life and death, her body ravaged by burns, and her mind shattered by the trauma of losing her sister in such a brutal way.
"Na... Na-eun!"
Her body was swathed in medicinal herbs and bandages, every inch of her burned flesh wracked with unbearable pain.
But the physical agony was nothing compared to the crushing weight of her sister’s absence—a truth she couldn’t accept.
Na-eun had refused marriage proposals to stay by her side, practically raised as her own daughter. And now, she was gone.
"Ahhh... Auntie... Did they catch him? Did they catch that bastard!?"
Through clenched teeth and tears of desperation, Na-ok asked as soon as she could speak.
Her aunt’s face darkened, and she slowly shook her head.
"Your uncle even sought help from the Escort Bureau, hiring an expert tracker, but... they found nothing. I don’t think there’s anything more we can do, my dear..."
"H-heuk... Na-eun...!"
The search continued for days but yielded no results.
Na-ok was the only one who had seen the man, but the darkness had obscured his face, and too much time had passed while she was unconscious.
Even the tracker, skilled as he was, couldn’t find any clear traces amid the trampled remains of the fire scene.
"I’m so sorry, my child," Ho-jung said, his voice heavy with regret. "I don’t know how I’ll ever face my cousin again..."
But Na-ok had no words for him. She didn’t blame him, nor did she ask why they had failed. She simply lay on the guestroom bed in his home, her gaze turned to the wall, utterly unresponsive.
As autumn faded and all life seemed to sleep, so too did Na-ok’s spirit retreat into silence.
The only signs of life were her faint groans when her bandages were changed or her burns treated.
Time passed like a river, indifferent and unyielding.
–Chirp. Chirp.
The first sounds of crickets heralded the arrival of spring.
Their soft chirping outside her window stirred something in Na-ok’s dormant heart.
It sounded like her sister’s voice, calling to her, pleading with her.
"Sister... catch him... Avenge me... Heuk..."
"Na-eun?"
–Chirp. Chirp.
A bone-deep grudge began to take root. Yes, she had raised her sister; it was her duty to avenge her as well.
With that resolve, Na-ok focused on her recovery, forcing herself to endure the pain.
As soon as her body was strong enough, she knelt before her uncle and aunt, bowing deeply.
"I’m leaving."
"Leaving? Your house hasn’t even been rebuilt yet!"
Her uncle misunderstood, thinking she meant to return home.
"No, I’m leaving Songga Village."
"What!? Where will you go in your condition!?"
"Is it because you feel like a burden? Don’t even think that, Na-ok. How could we face your parents in the afterlife if we let you leave like this? Stay and let us take care of you!"
Na-ok shook her head.
"My sister cries out in pain every night. How can I live in peace while her soul suffers? I must avenge her."
"But how? You’re a woman! You don’t even know who he is!"
Though they tried to stop her, her resolve was unshakable. She even stopped eating, refusing to take another bite unless they allowed her to leave.
In the end, they relented.
On the day she visited Na-eun’s grave one last time, her aunt handed her a bloodstained pouch.
"Please, come back alive."
***
Leaving Songga Village, Na-eun’s first destination was Seongdo.
She believed the man who had encountered Na-eun had gone toward Seongdo, fading into the distance.
She didn’t worry about how she would find a man whose face she never saw.
Like the red burn scars left on Na-ok's body, the man’s voice, the unforgettable voice, had been etched into Na-eun’s memory like a brand.
"Be, careful!"
Thus, Na-eun wandered the streets of Seongdo, speaking to every man she encountered.
"Excuse me..."
"Ugh... What!?"
"Excuse me..."
"Ah! You startled me!"
The once-friendly face, now marred with burn scars, no longer elicited sympathy from those she spoke to, making this a difficult task indeed.
Year after year passed.
As the seasons turned and the crickets began to sing again, Na-ok wandered the streets of Seongdo, half-mad, only finding clarity when the crickets’ songs stopped.
And one fateful day, in a street lined with gambling houses, the voices of men came from an encounter between two strangers entering and exiting a building.
"Hey, watch out!"
"Watch where you're going!"
Under the eaves of an alley where the rain had silenced the crickets, Na-ok, hiding from the rain, finally recognized the voice she had not forgotten.
–Thunder!
A lightning strike from the storm seemed to crash down on her, as if it had fallen straight onto her.
It had been three years.
***
"Goodness..."
The voice of disbelief came from the woman, our shock impossible to put into words.
As we traveled in a carriage, Gu-Pae, who had lost his parents to bandits, had shared his own painful experiences with the woman, only to be struck by even deeper sympathy after hearing her story.
This was no mere tragedy.
After the woman's story faltered, my sister, urging the woman to continue, asked,
"So, what happened next?"
"When I was half out of my mind, a beggar I had become friendly with told me that the man would often come to the gambling house where I worked."
"Ah, so that's why you asked to work at the gambling house?"
The woman nodded in agreement.
"Yes, that's right, miss. At first, I followed him secretly, even considering stabbing him with a knife. But the old beggar seemed to know everything. He said that he was a martial artist, and as a woman, I couldn’t exact revenge on him..."
"So, you begged the gambling house owner to let you work there and, without any payment, offered your services, hoping to poison him?"
The woman’s explanation made sense of what the owner had said earlier.
"Ah, then it was the food that tasted odd, the one the owner mentioned?"
"I bought the poison with the money I begged for, but I think it wasn’t real poison."
The woman had tried to poison the man’s food, but she had been deceived into buying a counterfeit poison.
Eventually, she was driven to a basement where crickets were kept, almost losing her sanity to their incessant chirping. When we rescued her, she seemed to have briefly regained her senses.
–Chirp, chirp.
"So that’s how it happened... Ah, I see. Na-eun... I'll hurry... I’m sorry for being late..."
As the sound of crickets filled the room again, the woman muttered to herself, curling up.
Despite her tragic situation, I wondered if it was right to bring her to the Tang Clan, considering her fragile mental state. After all, the crickets seemed to send her into a frenzy whenever they chirped.
[Will she be able to help?]
I quietly voiced my concern to Gu-Pae and my sister. They both nodded as though it were obvious.
[Once her grudge is avenged, she’ll heal. It’s deep, but it’s the only way. Those who avenge another’s grudge are loyal, never betraying those they owe.]
[Yes, So-ryong. I too spoke to the rain, alone, until the avenger of my parents’ grudge healed me. The person who avenges your grudge will never betray you.]
Though skeptical about the psychological reasoning, I had no choice but to trust their experience.
At least, when she was sane, her knowledge of raising crickets could be useful to our Poison Squad.
[Understood. Then.]
Helping her meant killing the man who had wronged her, the one she called her enemy. Despite never having killed before, I could feel my anger boil as I listened to her tale of suffering.
The more I learned about her torment, the stronger my desire to make the man pay.
He was a murderer who deserved to die.
I couldn't shake the feeling that his crimes were far from over, and there was more we didn’t yet know.
I asked O-gong to quiet the crickets in the meantime.
"Hey, can you make the crickets stop chirping?"
Crickets were cowardly creatures; they went quiet when faced with predators.
–Sizzle!
As O-gong and the others made a sound, the area immediately fell silent.
After waiting, the woman’s voice, now steady, came again.
"Can you really help me? My mind is slipping, and I can’t do this alone anymore... If you help me, I’ll devote my life to serving you until the day I die!"
Having already agreed with my sister and Gu-Pae, I nodded, asking,
"So, who exactly is this bastard?"
Should I have O-gong handle him? Or maybe tie him to a tree with Yo-hwa? Or a quicker end?
Among all the methods, I knew the best approach would be the one that would end it once and for all.