The breath that followed her breathing scattered her view. The Four-Directions Hall fighter out on reconnaissance carefully observed the snowy mountain. A sky whitened into a blur and thick snow that covered everything. Everything within sight was pure white. She felt she understood why people said to be careful not to fall into heart-demons when you came to the Northern Sea. What had first felt beautiful about the Northern Sea’s nature had begun to feel frightening. With no sign of any living thing, it felt as if even time itself were not flowing.
The Four-Directions Hall fighter gripped the reins and signaled with her eyes to the comrade beside her. It was a sign to go up to the ravine. The comrade understood and turned the horse’s head.
Crunch.
Each time the horse moved, pain spread through her frozen thighs.
The comrade who reached the ravine first squinted.
“Oh? Brother, look over there.”
The ground the comrade pointed to had sunk in. Finding it strange, the two Four-Directions Hall fighters approached and brushed away the snow with their scabbards. A smooth stone floor appeared. It was broad in area, gentle in slope, and a road a cart could climb.
“It seems the city the traders are said to frequent is up there.”
At the fighter’s words, the comrade tilted his head.
“But judging by how hard the snow is packed, it looks like no one’s passed over the hill for quite some time.”
The two exchanged glances and in the end led their horses up the slope. When they had carefully climbed the entire sunken road, the Four-Directions Hall warriors froze in place.
The snowy field was filled with white graves. They were not real graves. Single-story buildings were shaped as if covered in snow. Yet it was a sight that made their knees tremble just to face it.
The comrade spoke in a voice full of regret.
“This must be the border city the Administrator was looking for...”
Without answering, the fighter went to the nearest snow-grave and thrust her hand in.
Shraa.
She dug out the snow. But perhaps the building had been left too long; even after a long while of digging, it did not show itself.
“Ah, let’s do it together.”
In the end, the comrade dismounted to help. After the two warriors had flailed their hands for over a quarter of an hour, a door appeared. They sped up, cleared only enough snow to open it, and at once grabbed the handle.
Creak.
The old hinge made a hair-raising sound. A warrior took a fire stick from his breast and lit the lamp by the door. Light spread through the dark interior.
The building looked like a tavern. There were jars of frozen liquor, and dried meat hung in the kitchen.
But there were no traces of people. Only broad black bloodstains dyed the floor.
The two warriors came out in silence. Then, without anyone saying first, they dug out another snow-grave. They checked one or two more buildings, but the situation was the same.
Perhaps because of the cold weather, the interiors had not rotted and kept their shape, but there were no traces of people fleeing.
It was not a slow decline; it seemed someone had attacked and slaughtered the village in an instant. Later, it looked like someone had come to collect the bodies.
The fighter let out a deep sigh.
“As you said, this seems to be the city the Administrator spoke of... this is troublesome.”
Truly, it was perplexing.
Though exchange between the Northern Sea Ice Palace and the Martial Alliance had been cut off decades ago, she had thought that exchange between the Northern Sea and the Central Plains could not be entirely severed.
Where there is demand, supply arises. Even when the imperial palace forbade it, there were those who would risk their lives to smuggle by sea; merchants would hardly abandon the overland roads of the Northern Sea where there were neither imperial troops nor pirates.
Moreover, as Binggeukjicho or ice crystals were sometimes traded in the Central Plains, there surely had been trade routes leading to the Northern Sea.
But seeing this, she felt a suspicion that perhaps exchange between the Central Plains and the Northern Sea truly had been completely severed.
This city lay on the route connected to the southernmost harbor of the Northern Sea, and long ago, before the Martial Alliance cut off exchange, alliance members had often visited.
The situation in the Northern Sea seemed different from what they had thought.
The fighter spoke bitterly.
“For now, let’s go report to the Administrator.”
“Yes, let’s hurry.”
The comrade leapt onto his horse as if he wanted to get away from this scene as quickly as possible. The Hall warrior, who took in the fallen city one more time with regret, mounted as well.
***
The Four-Directions Hall fighters sat in the middle of the snowy field and lit a fire.
The worst.
They shoveled snow into an iron pot, set it over the fire, and boiled water. The advantage of the Northern Sea was that getting drinking water was easy. As soon as the water boiled, a fighter added tea leaves to the pot. They warmed their bodies with hot tea and tapped their cramped thighs.
Watching her subordinates rest, the Four-Directions Hall Administrator walked toward the snowy mountain as if taking a stroll.
It was her first time in the Northern Sea as well.
‘...It’s peaceful to a strange degree.’
Immaculately clean and quiet.
As he had said, the snowy landscape of the Northern Sea felt like a work the gods had shaped with care for peace.
For an instant, Pang Shihyeon’s eyes darkened as she recalled an old memory, and a subordinate’s voice was heard.
“Administrator, please have some tea.”
When Pang Shihyeon took the cup, the subordinate looked around and spoke.
“But Administrator.”
When Pang Shihyeon turned her gaze, the Lord of the Black Tortoise Pavilion lowered his voice.
“It’s excessively quiet.”
“Is it?”
She was thinking the same thing, but Pang Shihyeon feigned ignorance and asked back. The Lord of the Black Tortoise Pavilion continued with a grave face.
“Isn’t this the border where the Central Plains and the Northern Sea meet? Normally, borders keep standing troops, but it’s unsettling that there isn’t even an outpost, much less anyone here.”
Pang Shihyeon smiled and took a sip of tea. The tea that had been boiling hot had already cooled.
Just as the Lord of the Black Tortoise Pavilion was about to voice his unease in earnest, the sound of hooves came from afar. It was the fighters returning from reconnaissance.
Pang Shihyeon’s gaze moved there naturally. But the expressions of those returning were not good.
The Administrator waited until they dismounted. When the two subordinates approached and greeted her, she spoke.
“Judging by your faces, it seems you did find something.”
“Yes, we found the city you mentioned.”
Pang Shihyeon’s face hardened. Though they had found their destination, her subordinates were pale as if they had seen ghosts.
“But there were no people. We can’t know the exact time, but it seems the city was annihilated quite a while ago.”
Pang Shihyeon’s voice dropped.
“Do you remember the way?”
“Yes. There’s a slope by a ravine leading up to the city.”
Turning her gaze, she handed the cup back to the subordinate who had brought the tea and ordered,
“Let’s depart.”
“But didn’t they say the city was annihilated? Won’t it be dangerous?”
“Anywhere will be less dangerous than here.”
“...Ma’am?”
Her gaze turned toward the snow-covered, forested mountain. The snow-covered mountain looked like a net of tangled white threads. There was no way to see anything beyond it.
Yet with her eyes fixed on the snowy mountain, Pang Shihyeon’s lips curved.
The subordinate looked back and forth between the mountain and the Administrator with a troubled look. He could not understand what she meant, but it was the Administrator’s order. There was nothing to do but obey.
The Lord of the Black Tortoise Pavilion urged the resting fighters to tidy up quickly and mount.
***
Sharp arrowheads hung on the trees like fruit.
The whole world was covered in snow, making distance hard to judge, but the archer, accustomed to these conditions, gauged distance with skill. Dozens of arrows aimed at the group seated on the snowy field.
Traders from the Central Plains. Judging by how the good clothing was stuffed with thick cotton, their purses seemed fat.
The one with the bow tilted the head and carefully chose the target. The moment the focus settled on the woman walking up the snowy mountain without fear, the bow slowly lowered.
A subordinate looked up at the one who had interfered, eyes puzzled.
“...Great Lord, why?”
But the Great Lord said nothing. The Great Lord did not even give the young subordinate a glance.
The subordinate scanned the snowy field again.
‘...What is this, are they not merchants?’
Looking closely, they might not be merchants. Their build was closer to escorts than traders. Whatever they were, the cart they had brought looked full of food.
Right now in the ravine there were many dangerous people short on food, let alone medicinal herbs. They were in no position to pick and choose between merchants and escorts.
As if to tempt them further, the woman who seemed to be the leader leisurely drank tea handed to her by a subordinate. Completely relaxed.
The subordinate’s urgent gaze went upward. He asked, urging,
“Great Lord, they’ve let their guard down right now...”
A laugh tickled the subordinate’s eardrums.
“They haven’t let it down; they’ve set a snare. To find out which direction we’re in.”
Pang Shihyeon stopped walking in the middle of the snowy field. Like ink stamped on white paper, her figure imprinted vividly in the archer’s eyes. Even a marksman of no great skill could hit at that range. It was, as the subordinate said, an opportunity.
But the Great Lord knew that woman’s temperament well. If someone pursued her, Pang Shihyeon was the sort who, rather than running, would make herself the target and draw out her trackers, a warlike woman. The woman’s great saber was tilted diagonally, almost touching her right hand, so it could be gripped at any time.
‘At this distance she’ll block every arrow before they can reach.’
And then she will run straight in our direction and cut everything down.
The Great Lord stroked the long scar on the cheek and swallowed. It stung pointlessly—the scar earned after mocking Pang Shihyeon’s temperament as ignorant.
The Great Lord did not explain all this in detail. The subordinates, who had lowered their bows to wait, exchanged looks, then one asked bravely,
“But Great Lord, why do you think they set a snare?”
Curiosity filled the subordinate’s eyes. Curiosity not about the enemy, but about the Great Lord.
The Great Lord had spent a long time in the Central Plains. The Great Lord had, in the end, found a way to recover the sacred relic stolen by the Martial Alliance and drive out the Blood Demon’s blood.
The subordinate swallowed, worrying he might have made a mistake. They could be the Great Lord’s close friends or benefactors.
The warrior who had aimed at Pang Shihyeon asked cautiously,
“...A-are they someone you know?”
The Great Lord nodded.
“She is the Four-Directions Hall Administrator of the Martial Alliance.”
At those words, the subordinate flinched. But the Great Lord had little interest in their reactions, only letting out a shallow sigh.
“Seeing the Administrator move personally, something quite serious must have happened within the Martial Alliance.”
At the words “Four-Directions Hall Administrator,” a subordinate waiting nearby with a bow quietly packed up. He had also worked in the Central Plains, affiliated with the Hidden Pavilion.
Most of the young warriors here had never been to the Central Plains, having been rescued from the Blood Demon’s farm. But they were not without sense.
Seeing that the Martial Alliance had sent an impressive warrior and that the Great Lord had permitted entry, it seemed they were not a group particularly threatening to the Northern Sea.
It was a pity about the cart they had brought, but since the Great Lord had given it up, there was nothing to be done.
The blood of the Northern Sea Ice Palace who had given up watched the Central Plains people move. The people of the Central Plains quickly tidied up and mounted. The blood of the Ice Palace, keeping distance, ran along the mountain path while watching them.
But the people of the Central Plains did not pass through the ravine and instead climbed the slope attached to the entrance. The Northern Sea blood realized the Central Plains people were heading toward Muryeong-do—a city that had once been wealthy but was now a ruin.
A certain emotion flashed in the Great Lord’s eyes. Cutting off the thought that had arisen, the Great Lord turned the body.
“Leave them. They’re not ones who will settle in the Northern Sea anyway, and there are no boats at the shore to go into the island, so they’ll return to the Central Plains soon.”
There was nothing on the road they wished to take. Whatever they had come to obtain, once they realized there was nothing to gain, they would soon go back. It was someone who could not be away from the Central Plains for long.
Watching the Four-Directions Hall group, the blood of the Northern Sea Ice Palace returned to their own domain.
