Book 20 Chapter 17

Two scrolls (書札)

-Dreams come true

Tick-tock-tick-tock!

A fast-moving foot grazes the dewy blades of grass. The grasses bow their heads for a moment under the weight, only to rise again as soon as the foot that crushed their fragile necks is gone. Only a few drops of dew spurred her on, bouncing off her spurs and disappearing into the night air. In-young's breathing is ragged, as if he's in a hurry.

"Huh!"

A woman of great elegance walks on the blades of grass, yet the grass beneath her does not spoil. In her left hand, she clutches a jasper-colored jade veil embossed with flowers and phoenixes. Faint shards of moon and starlight lifted the veil of night from the woman's face. It was the Amulet Goddess Qin Xiaolong.

Her right hand clutched a crumpled copy of the scroll as she darted across the grass like a flying swallow. She had mastered immobility through her high kendo training, but now her face was filled with impatience, as if she were being chased by time.

The problem started with a piece of paper that arrived around sulshi (9pm). I was just getting ready to go to bed when I realized that I had no idea who had placed it there or when.

Strategy.

I'm in your debt, and I'm holding your lovely niece hostage, so you'll have to come to the control tower, thirty li outside the west gate, by midnight. Of course, you must come alone, without informing anyone else, otherwise I cannot guarantee the safety and beauty of your lovely niece. In case you don't believe me, I enclose a piece of evidence here. Of course, you don't have to come, because it would be a great revenge to cut off your niece's head, salt it, and send it to you in a box. Isn't it said that a wound in the heart is more lasting than a wound in the body? Then I will wait for you.

-Confucius.

By the time she woke up, she had already leapt over the closed walls and was running through the open fields. It would be too late to check the authenticity of the scouting later. Without alerting anyone, she ran through the night. There wasn't enough time to send someone out to find out now anyway. The scout had obviously been counting the minutes. Even if she could guarantee the safety of the ninety-nine halflings, she would still run this way to check out the rest of the possibilities. She couldn't just keep her eyes open for any danger that might have come her way. Moreover, she could not accept that there were people under the heavens who would dare to use her nephew, a spirit child, to threaten her.

"Wait, Ling, this aunt will save you. If you inflict even the slightest injury on that child……."

It was a horrible thing to even imagine.

"I'll never let anyone get away with it!"

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

Qin Shaolin increased the pace of his saber rattling. If her mind was distracted, her qi would also be distracted. Uncontrolled qi would be wasted. She rushed forward, unaware that she was rapidly exhausting herself.

'If this is a trap…….'

I wasn't crazy to think that far, but there was a silver lining.

I was worried that I hadn't left a message, but I had already made my regrets irreversible. There was no time for panic.

For now, she had to trust him and move forward.

Late nights.

Yoo Eun-sung's face was set in a stern expression as he made his way to the door. He paused in the middle of the darkened garden and looked around cautiously with sharp eyes. He could see nothing but pitch blackness, hear nothing but the cold night breeze in his ears, and feel nothing but silence. After repeating the same motion three more times, he was certain that there was no one else around. Only then did he stiffen slightly and cover his mouth with one hand. And then…….

"Pow!"

I laughed twice.

"Kuk-kuk-kuk!"

As if he couldn't hold it in just once, another chuckle escaped him, and he immediately resumed his stern demeanor. But after taking three steps again, he twisted his body in the same motion and laughed two more 'kook-kooks'. Once again, he glanced around cautiously twice, then took out what he had been keeping in his bosom and looked at it with a serious, serious gaze. It was a piece of paper. The important thing was that it was a letter from the woman he had so single-mindedly pursued, and on this late night.

'No more… no more…….'

Alas, I could no longer restrain myself. I couldn't keep my face tense any longer. I felt like I was going to melt. I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud. My cheeks flushed. My eyes became crooked and curved. The only good thing was that I wasn't drooling. My shoulders were already heaving and my body was screaming to dance.

'Oh, no! I can't do this. The kids might be watching…….'

But……

"Kuk-kuk-kuk."

I couldn't stop my mouth from dropping from ear to ear whenever I saw it. It was a historic moment, as if the twenty years of cultivation was finally about to come to fruition. The lid of my mind, which had been strictly controlled by sharp reason, was opened, and emotions burst out like a spring.

"Cckk! Cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo!"

He had to laugh out loud for a while longer.

Dengue

Just then, a gong sounded, signaling the end of the sulshi.

"Well, this is not the time for me to do this. I definitely said midnight. I'd better hurry."

To get out of the country, Eunseong quickened his pace. She couldn't afford to be late for her appointment.

"Is there something good going on, Yu Dae-hyeop?"

Two marksmen guarding the main gate spotted Eunseong approaching and greeted him with a flourish.

"Oh, you guys are working late. I need to run some errands outside, if you don't mind?"

"Of course. Have a nice day."

Two of the marksmen standing sentry hurried to open the auxiliary gate for night traffic on one side of the main entrance.

"Okay, thanks. I'll be off then. Take care of yourselves."

Stepping out of the gates of the palace, Yoo Eun-sung's new creation soon disappeared into the darkness of the alleyway. In his hand, he clutched the scroll he'd taken from his bosom earlier.

* * *

The moon hung lonely in the night sky, thin and curved.

The Zhongyang Lookout is also in a state of slumber. Only a few guards are circling the buns in a tension-free manner. The two fires burning in front of the main gate of the palace could only chase away the darkness around the gate and the dew of the night, not enough to dispel the darkness that filled the heavens and earth. Still, the two guards of the Zhongyang palace were most grateful for the chill of the night. Today was no different than yesterday, uneventful and boring.

Ten sheets away, under the branches of a tree, far from the heat and light of the fire, darkness stirred. A man dressed in a black nocturnal robe and a mask over his face, the word "Fear" tattooed on his chest. It was Yi Zheng.

Today was different from when they destroyed the Qinglong Silver Market, which was on the outskirts and could be attacked with pomp and circumstance, but to take down a marker in the center of a large city like this would require stealth and no fanfare.

Only when he was sure that Yoo Eun-sung's figure had completely melted into the darkness of the street did he turn his head to look at Yun Yi-jung beside him.

"You were right on the money. Excellent."

"I'm flattered."

"What about the real bitch?"

"I saw it fly over the fence half a minute ago, and it was so fast I couldn't chase it any further, but……."

"It doesn't matter. It's enough to know what's not in there."

In his criteria, everything else was out of the question.

"So all that's left to do is sneak in there and grab the keys."

Ishigan nodded in satisfaction.

"Exactly, and without much effort. It's never too late to take revenge on those bastards, my lord."

Yoon quickly chimed in.

The balance of power, which had been tipped ever so slightly in that direction, had been tipped completely in this direction by the simultaneous loss of the two great weights that had kept it there. The savage grin on his lips indicated his conviction of the fact. The cooking was done, and now it was just a matter of picking it up with chopsticks. All that remained was a little cleanup. Or so they thought.

Now, the Zhongyang Mark Bureau is in a desperate situation. The future of the Liu brothers and sisters also lay under the cold scythe of fate at this very moment, but they had overlooked one fact. The world is vast and expansive, and it is impossible for human beings to fully grasp it. That the disturbances of chance, whose beginning and end are unknown, often produce contingent events that can only be described as ridiculous. And that they sometimes sweep away the majestic golden towers of reason and logic that they prided themselves on building to perfection, leaving no trace of them, like a desolate beach after a great tidal wave.

Unpredictable, cruel twists of fate have turned what should have been the best choice into the worst. The web of karma is so intricately woven that it's impossible to pinpoint the ultimate cause. But it was clear that something had happened along the way, and it's not uncommon in history for something that can only be described as a fluke to change the fate of a person or a world.

It was not their fault that things went wrong. They did the best they could for the evil they were about to do; it must be admitted that they did the best they could within their skill; and yet, if one were to ask why it failed, there is no other word for it than the will of heaven-written caprice.