Wiho’s stride as he descended the mountain was completely different from what it had been six months ago.
The weight of his six-foot frame remained unchanged, yet not even the rustle of leaves could be heard whenever his feet touched the ground. He had learned how to step on the energy of the earth and ride the mountain’s breath.
“Buy more salt and cotton cloth this time. If you come back with some unnecessary sweets, know that I’ll really drive you out of the mountain.”
Before he left, Beomseol’s voice came back to him—the tiger god had been sitting with his chin propped on the rock at the cave entrance, snapping at him. His tone was as brusque as ever, but remembering the way his tail had been lazily sweeping across the ground, Wiho smiled faintly. As a spirit deity, Beomseol could neither hide his human ears nor his tail, and because of his long-standing wariness of humans, he never set foot outside the mountain.
‘In the end, I’ll have to bring back salt and cloth, along with some pulled malt candy like last time.’
Wiho adjusted the sack of animal hides and rare medicinal herbs slung over his shoulder and entered the township.
The township beneath the mountain had originally been a border settlement repeatedly seized and lost in turn by Silla and Goguryeo. The residents’ lives swayed every time the flags changed, but this time the atmosphere was far more ominous than usual.
The market district was closed, and deep fear shadowed the faces of the residents passing along the roads.
Wiho approached the owner of the cloth shop he often visited and held out a heavy medicinal root. The shopkeeper glanced around in a panic, then hurriedly pulled Wiho deeper inside the store.
“Good grief, mountain man! This is no time for you to come down!”
“What happened? Why does the township look like this?”
The owner lowered his voice and gestured with trembling hands.
“The Goguryeo soldiers have come back…! A few days ago, a huge Goguryeo force pushed in, drove out Silla’s troops stationed here, and turned the entire township into their forward base. The magistrate’s office and everything else have been taken over by Goguryeo commanders and soldiers!”
A faint gravity settled over Wiho’s gaze. It was a border where territory changed hands again and again, but for a Goguryeo forward base to be established right beneath Seoraksan meant they intended to completely block the passageway below the mountain.
“Do you know who the commander is?”
“I don’t know his name! But they say he’s a high commander from a noble family. He gives off a terrifying aura, yet he issued strict orders not to recklessly plunder the townspeople. A strange man. Still, no matter how strict his military discipline is, how are we supposed to live with enemy soldiers like these frightening us?”
Wiho closed his mouth without a word. A noble birth, overwhelming spiritual energy, and strict military discipline despite managing public sentiment and seeking out talented people.
Six months ago, he had been the Goguryeo commander who blocked Wiho in a narrow passageway and tried to win him over with earnest words in his tent.
After collecting salt and other supplies from the cloth shop, Wiho walked along the passageway at the township’s outskirts with his head lowered as much as possible. He had to return to the mountain quickly. He knew well enough that, although he was no longer a mere soldier as he had been six months ago, this was not yet the time to clash head-on with the Goguryeo army.
That was when it happened.
Clack. Clack.
Dozens of cavalrymen were entering from the township’s central thoroughfare, their orderly iron armor ringing as they came. Wiho instinctively hid behind a stack of hay bales by the roadside. Thanks to his training in stilling the mountain’s breath, his massive body melted perfectly into the darkness and shadows.
The man slowly riding at the head of the cavalry.
The neat features visible beneath his helmet, and the cold, graceful eyes that seemed to press down the air around him.
He was the Goguryeo commander.
From horseback, the commander silently surveyed the township’s terrain and buildings. The seasoned skill of a warlord who had trodden hundreds of battlefields mingled with a sly, snake-like stillness.
Wiho drew a breath and watched the commander’s movements. They were some distance apart, but Wiho’s senses had already reached a level where he could see clearly even at night and catch the faintest breathing.
And then, at that very moment.
The Goguryeo commander, who had been surveying the outskirts of the village, suddenly halted his horse.
The commander turned his head. His gaze fixed precisely on the hay bales and the shadow of the rocks where Wiho was hiding.
A cold shiver ran down Wiho’s spine. He had not revealed himself, and he had stilled his breath perfectly, yet the commander’s senses had detected something amiss. It was the instinct unique to a martial warrior who had reached the limits of humanity.
“General, is something wrong?”
The aide-de-camp guarding his side asked the question.
The Goguryeo commander stared intently toward the direction where Wiho was hidden for some time. A strange sense of incongruity and deep interest flickered across his eyes.
“…Nothing.”
The commander spoke softly. His voice rang coldly throughout the township’s passageway.
“Perhaps it was my imagination. I thought I heard the breathing of some rather large, rough beast.”
The commander turned his horse toward the township’s magistrate’s office. The aide-de-camp and soldiers followed behind him.
Wiho did not move until the commander’s figure had disappeared into the distance. His grip tightened ever so slightly around the shaft of his poleaxe.
Now that the Goguryeo army had made this township its forward base, there would be no avoiding crossing paths with that commander whenever Wiho came down to obtain necessities.
The crisis had already begun.