When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 39
Chapter 39
His temper made him want to tie up those naive sons with ropes right now, gag them so they couldn't open their mouths, put them on horses, and send them away with a kick to the horses' rumps.
But the guards were watching.
'I must endure. I must endure.'
He was a warrior known for his patience.
And it wasn't just talk—Ju Myoungyoon truly was patient.
Even so, Baek Giha had managed to drain Ju Myoungyoon's patience in an incredibly short time.
He had only asked a few questions following a perfectly natural train of thought, but somehow after everything was over, he felt like he was the strange one.
While everyone else seemed perfectly fine with the situation, he felt like a petty person unable to be open-minded. Like he was being paranoid. Like he had become someone suffering from a persecution complex.
And as a result, he found himself getting angry more often than usual.
'Are all Clan Heads like this?'
Ju Myoungyoon let out a long sigh.
'He's a formidable opponent. I didn't realize it on the battlefield, but his mind games are intense. No wonder he's a Clan Head.'
"By the way, Lord Myoungyoon."
"Yes?"
As he was contemplating how to smack those sons and send them away, Sa Danyoon called out to him quietly. He immediately stepped closer and reported something.
"What? The Young Lord and Sehwa are heading to the Ju Clan territory now?"
"Yes. The warriors mentioned it as they rushed to the outpost ahead of me."
"So the Clan Head finally... Really."
Is he really trying to connect Baek Giha and my daughter somehow?
His heart sank heavily, incomparable to the frustration he had felt while talking with his sons.
'How could the Clan Head do this to me and my daughter?'
It was then that he had this thought.
"Is your daughter coming here now? ...Together with the Ju Clan's Young Lord?"
Baek Giha's voice cut in.
"Ah, I apologize. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I overheard... But is it true they're coming together?"
Sa Danyoon had spoken quietly enough that even the Ju Clan guards standing closer than Baek Giha shouldn't have been able to hear.
It was surprising enough that he had heard such a quiet voice, but...
"Yes. That's what they say."
The change in his eyes at this affirmative answer was even more surprising.
"I. See. He. Is. Coming. With. Your. Daughter. On. This. Two-day. Journey..."
Emphasizing each word as if for effect, Baek Giha turned to glare at the end of the road.
Such a cold and sharp expression hadn't been seen even on the battlefield.
His face showed that the fact that the Young Lord and Sehwa were coming here together was so displeasing it made him sick to his stomach.
'What am I thinking? The Baek Clan Head and my daughter don't even know each other.'
But seeing Baek Giha like this somehow...
'...I feel like I'm about to understand something again...'
Something keeps feeling just out of reach.
'What could it be?'
Whatever it was, the important thing was that with the Ju Clan guards here, the Baek Clan Head couldn't act like before anymore.
"If you've rested enough, shall we get going? Our mansion isn't far from here, so it would be better for you to rest there. I'll have your quarters prepared as soon as we arrive."
"Yes. Thank you."
This time, Baek Giha also mounted his horse without protest.
Following Ju Myoungyoon's sons who had departed first, the rest of the group began riding toward the Ju Clan territory.
'Yes, this is more like it. This is how fast we should be moving on horseback.'
Caught up in his delight at their completely different pace of travel compared to before, Ju Myoungyoon failed to notice.
That even as they rode together, Baek Giha's gaze remained fixed on the end of the road where the outpost was, endlessly watching their backs.
As Sehwa intended, the group moving from the Human Realm to the Mystic Realm traveled in the late evening.
After confirming that all the many pieces of luggage were following without issue, Sehwa was the first to cross through the gate.
The outpost guards watching the gate had tense expressions.
"Oh, it's you, Young Lady. We thought it was the Young Lord."
"Has the Young Lord not passed through the gate yet?"
"No. We received word that he was coming and have been waiting."
"I see. Thank you for your hard work. Ah, and I've been organizing all the luggage from the Human Realm so our procession is quite long—would it be alright if everything passes through?"
"Of course. But why have you come at this hour? The road must be difficult to travel in this darkness."
"We were delayed getting the procession ready, but once we decided to return to the Mystic Realm, I found myself wanting to feel even a little more of my homeland's energy."
Sehwa lifted her sleeve to wipe her dry eyes.
"Once I leave for the Baek Clan, who knows when I'll be able to set foot in my homeland again? When I thought about that, I couldn't wait even a moment longer, which is why I've come at such a late hour."
"But we don't have enough quarters to properly accommodate you..."
"Don't worry about that. How could I trouble the soldiers who are tired from guarding the territory's borders with such matters? We plan to camp not far from the outpost."
"What? How could Elder Myoungyoon's daughter sleep outdoors? Please wait a moment. We'll quickly clear out some rooms for you."
"No need. As you know, my parents and brothers were all at the battlefield. Having lived in the Human Realm for so long without anyone to look after me, I've become quite good at managing on my own."
"But still—"
"Besides, you have no idea how much I've missed the scent of the spirit trees in the Mystic Realm. Last time I was here, I even took a few leaves for that very reason."
"...I see, so that's what happened."
"There's a small spirit tree not far from the outpost, and I was thinking of setting up camp there for the night. Would that be alright?"
"Of course. By all means. But that tree is thin and weak, not much to look at. If you go a bit northeast of the outpost before it gets too late, there's a grove of spirit trees..."
"No, others might see it as weak and unsightly, but not to me. To me, that appearance looks just like how I'll have to endure my time alone in the Baek Clan..."
Sehwa once again wiped her dry eyes with her jacket sleeve. She had rubbed so hard that her eyes became slightly red.
Seeing this, the soldiers consoled her with pained voices.
"Young Lady, please don't cry."
"You must be so worried about leaving alone. It breaks our hearts."
"It's fine. But I'd like to have something to comfort my heart in a foreign land where I'll have no one to rely on—would it be alright if I took that spirit tree with me?"
"Of course. It's not like we planted it."
"We'll provide soldiers to help you uproot it easily."
A startled Sehwa waved her hands.
"No need. We have plenty of hands on our side. We can handle it ourselves."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Seeing the soldiers agree without suspicion, she nodded her head vigorously with relief.
And so, it was deep into the night when the moon had drawn close to the mountains.
Hadn't she prepared forty vessels of alcohol for this very time?
Twenty vessels were given to the outpost soldiers, and the remaining twenty were distributed to her group along with plenty of prepared side dishes.
After telling them that since the outpost was right next door they didn't need to guard the luggage, and encouraging everyone to eat and drink merrily today, a small feast broke out by the riverside.
Sehwa happily watched them eating, drinking, and singing to their hearts' content while she bided her time.
And now was the moment.
"Well, well, I wondered why we were suddenly camping out instead of staying in a warm mansion, but here we are enjoying such good food and drink to our heart's content."
"That's what I'm saying. I was surprised when she suddenly wanted to camp out on the first night, but if this is camping, I welcome it anytime."
"Our Young Lady lived in the Human Realm for so long before having to go to the Baek Clan."
"Right. How much must she have missed her homeland to want to sleep here even if it meant camping out? Poor thing."
"And yet she's even thoughtful enough to throw such a feast for us too. Ah, who cares about camping?"
'Ha. How many times has the word 'camping' come up in that short conversation?'
"Young Lady, let me do it now. Switch with me."
"Shh. Just keep watch."
Having the luggage stacked high was also for this very purpose.
The luggage filling the yard perfectly concealed the small, dry tree and Sehwa's figure from surrounding eyes.
Sehwa dug into the ground diligently with the shovel she had brought, never taking a break.
Since the spiritual power available to mystics who hadn't undergone exuviation was limited, the progress wasn't very fast.
'This is trouble. But I should be able to finish before morning, right?'
She had expected to dig it up quickly and get to bed while people were laughing and chatting, but...
"Step aside. Let me do it now."
"No. Just keep watch like I told you."
"You already told the outpost soldiers we'd be digging up the tree anyway. If anyone sees, we can just say that's what we're doing."
"...But we are digging up a tree?"
"That's not what you're really doing."
Sa Youngsun, the most physically capable of the three sisters, took the shovel from Sehwa.
Having already completed her exuviation, she was clearly far superior to Sehwa in utilizing spiritual power.
After stomping down with her foot a few times while moving the shovel, she had dug deeper than all of Sehwa's efforts so far.
"How did you know?"
"How could I not know? I got a clear sense of what was going on as soon as you suddenly started talking about digging up the tree... But this tree is really strange. How can it have such wide and deep roots when the top is so weak?"
"..."
"I thought it would be quick just looking at the weak upper part, but since we don't know how far the roots extend, it might take quite some time."
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