Cho Yoon ran lightly down the mountain path, slipping past trees and rocks without so much as scuffing the soil. The cool mountain wind curled around his cheeks and ankles, lifting his mood. Even his hair, which usually fluttered around and annoyed him to no end, stayed neatly tied beneath his bamboo hat.

More than anything, what pleased him most was the sensation of three distinct presences steadily tracking him from behind without falling back.

“Master, please don’t go so fast!”

Sa-yeong’s voice rang out from just behind him. Judging by how she kept glancing over her shoulder, she seemed more worried that her two younger brothers might trip and tumble than about keeping up herself. Without turning his head, Cho Yoon only shifted his gaze to the side to check on them, then gathered his internal energy in his feet and picked up his speed a little.

“Master!”

Sa-yeong raised her voice in protest, but Cho Yoon had his reasons.

They should be able to handle at least this much.

In pure speed, Sa-yeong was the fastest for now. Just a moment ago, she had been the only disciple able to completely close the distance between them. Sa-hyeon’s posture was still a little shaky, but he seemed determined not to fall behind, his eyes fixed on his sister’s back. Cho Yoon had worried the boy was motivated by nothing but petty jealousy, yet it seemed he possessed a healthy competitive streak as well.

And then there was Seomun Cheon-oh.

Seriously, what on earth has that kid been doing every day? Is he secretly seeing another master behind my back?

I definitely never taught him to do it like that.

Mustering strength to accelerate and relaxing to slow down were simple enough. The real difficulty lay in holding the exact same speed from start to finish, especially when racing down a treacherous mountain path.

As Cho Yoon led the way down, Cheon-oh matched him perfectly, keeping the distance between them constant from beginning to end. He never closed the gap to catch up, but he never once fell back either.

He still struggled to completely hide his presence and erase his tracks, but his footwork alone was already remarkably brilliant.

I was so worried he’d grow too strong too fast that I tried to hold him back by teaching him medicine, but… a final boss is a final boss, I guess. No matter what I do, he’s destined to become a monster.

Harboring a knot of mixed feelings, Cho Yoon finally came to a stop.

A wall of thick, milky mist completely blocked the path ahead. Knowing the children would probably collapse from exhaustion if they had to lug their baggage over Mount Jaecheon and Mount Oegong, he had chosen a route that descended straight from Mount Dumang instead.

Before long, the children reached him one after another. All three were gasping for breath, but Sa-hyeon was clearly the most exhausted.

“Huk… huk… Master, we’re not going to travel like this the whole way, are we?” Sa-hyeon wheezed.

“Of course not. We can’t risk dropping what we’re carrying.”

“O-oh… Noona, my knots… they came completely u-undone.”

Each of the children wore a simple hand-crafted backpack Cho Yoon had given them, and he’d made them pack their own clothes and daily necessities. As long as he occasionally stepped in to point out whatever they had forgotten, it was an excellent way to train their independence.

He slid the massive medicine chest off his back and set it on the ground, then began rummaging through its many drawers.

“Is it not difficult for you to carry such a massive chest, Master?” Sa-yeong asked.

“If I were burdened by something this trivial, I wouldn’t be qualified to be your master,” Cho Yoon replied casually.

He drew out an object smaller than his palm and held it up. It was a lock-shaped ornament carved from pristine white jade, its surface etched with delicate cloud motifs, the character Cheon (天, Heaven) raised in perfect relief at the center.

“Cheon-oh, do you still have the jade plaque I gave you before?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Bring it here.”

At his beckoning, the boy, who had been standing quietly beside his senior siblings, trotted over. He drew the jade plaque from his robes and offered it with both hands. Accepting the plaque, Cho Yoon placed the jade lock into the boy’s palms instead.

“This is a Longevity Lock. Carry this with you instead of the plaque from now on. With this, you’ll be able to travel freely through the Point of No Return Mountain Range as well.”

“H-how could I accept something like this…”

“You can accept it. It means you’re now permitted to leave the mountain too. Don’t feel burdened by it. Just keep it with you.”

Cutting off the boy’s attempt to refuse, Cho Yoon turned to Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon.

“And the two of you? You remembered to bring yours?”

“Yes, Master. I have mine here,” Sa-yeong answered.

“H-here it is,” Sa-hyeon echoed.

Sa-yeong reached into her robes and drew out a Silver Fluttering Hairpin, its long, sharply tapered end glinting faintly. Sa-hyeon raised his arm and shook his wrist, revealing a Moonlit Bracelet of silver hidden beneath his sleeve, the tiny charms chiming softly as they moved. Though the ornaments lacked expensive gemstones, the craftsmanship alone made them look incredibly luxurious.

“Just like your senior sister and brother, yours is simply the key to Mount Dumang. Don’t think too much about it. Just accept it.”

“…Yes, Master. Thank you.”

Cheon-oh traced his fingertips over the carved cloud motifs, then carefully tucked the lock into his robes. Smiling warmly to himself, Cho Yoon hoisted the medicine chest back onto his shoulders and turned to continue down the path.

This would be their very first journey together as a family of four.

***

The Qinling Mountains were infamous for their unimaginably treacherous terrain. The plank road, a narrow wooden walkway bolted directly into sheer cliff faces beside roaring waterways, was the only route that offered even a shred of safety from mountain bandits.

Ordinarily, it was used only by lone merchants carrying small bundles. The sight of more than a hundred people inching along it in single file, each with a massive load strapped to their back, was downright bizarre.

Just then, a sickening crack of splintering wood sounded beneath a porter’s foot.

“Creeeak…”

“Hic! Hiiiic!”

“Uwaaah! Hey! If you stumble there, what the hell are the people behind you supposed to do?!”

Terrified out of his wits, the porter scrambled backward. The people packed tight behind him instantly lost their balance and screamed in sheer panic.

The neat line dissolved into chaos, and a furious roar exploded from the rear.

“Stand straight! Keep your distance! Do you all have a death wish?!”

“Ugh… damn it, fuck! I should’ve backed out the moment they said we were taking a path that isn’t even a real path!”

Cursing nonstop, the porters somehow managed to pull themselves back into line.

Watching all this, Jo Woo-il, the martial artist who had just bellowed at them, clicked his tongue in deep frustration.

“Guild Leader, this is going to be incredibly difficult. We haven’t even made it a quarter of the way, let alone halfway, and the porters’ nerves are already shot.”

“…But we have no other route. The Green Forests have unfurled their banner. We can’t go back the way we came. We have to arrive as quickly as possible, but if we completely detour around the mountain…”

Rubbing his brow with slender fingers beside Jo Woo-il was Nan Wi-jeong, Guild Leader of the Dangeum Merchant Guild. Though he insisted they had no other choice, his dark, deeply troubled expression made it obvious he was still agonizing over the decision.

“Even if I have to pay them extra wages, we don’t have any other option. Please, Warrior Jo, do whatever you can to reassure them.”

“What worries me isn’t them, but you, Guild Leader. Your nerves will be worn to threads by the time you spend two days crossing this plank road. Wouldn’t it be better to turn back and ask the Mount Hua Sect to escort us through the passes?”

“I’ve considered that too, but the Mount Hua Sect is…”

“UWAAAAH!”

“What the hell?!”

In the middle of their slow, headache-inducing conversation, the deafening sound of shattering wood ripped through the air from up ahead, followed by a blood-curdling scream that seemed to shake the entire mountain.

They snapped their heads forward.

A large section of the plank road had given way, and two porters were tumbling down the sheer cliff.

“Get back! Get back! Don’t run!”

“Uwaaah! It’s collapsing!”

Jo Woo-il tried desperately to pull the people near the broken section back to safety, but the panic-stricken porters just shrieked and scrambled blindly to escape.

In the end, Nan Wi-jeong had no choice but to order a full retreat.

That day, the Dangeum Merchant Guild lost four porters and thirty taels of silver worth of goods.

“Haaah…”

Nan Wi-jeong stared blankly at the map spread out before him and let out sigh after sigh. It had already been two days since they’d been trapped in this inn in Xi’an, unable to advance or withdraw. Since morning, a torrential, unseasonal rain had been pouring down from the ash-gray sky outside his window.

Tapping his fingernails against the table, Nan Wi-jeong painstakingly re-examined the southern portion of Shaanxi Province. No matter how many times he traced the routes, no brilliant solution appeared.

Those damn bandit bastards. Acting like bleeding innocent civilians dry is some kind of legitimate business or authority.

Right up until the Green Forests raised their banner to declare the start of plundering season, the expedition had gone perfectly. Despite this being his first fieldwork trip in a long while, the Shu brocade he had brought sold at outrageous prices, and he had procured every necessary supply at a bargain.

Then, on the very day he decided to return, the bandits had made their grand declaration.

He couldn’t just sit in Xi’an for months, twiddling his thumbs and waiting for that banner to come down.

As he’d suspected, there was really only one choice left.

I suppose… I have no choice but to grit my teeth and cross it.

He had never once had a good outcome after getting entangled with martial artists. Leaning back, Nan Wi-jeong tilted his head and stared up at the ceiling. He had no idea how long he sat there, mind entirely blank.

A voice called from beyond the door.

“Um, Guild Leader. I think you should step outside for a moment.”

“Warrior Jo? What is it?”

“Well… Wang Pyeong and Wang Geol have returned.”

“What? How?!”

Startled out of his wits, Nan Wi-jeong shot to his feet. He was so shocked he didn’t even realize he’d dropped all formality. Flinging the door open, he hurried after Woo-il down to the inn’s first-floor dining hall.

Two middle-aged men sat in chairs there.

“Wang Pyeong! Wang Geol! You’re alive!”

“Guild Leader!”

Nan Wi-jeong rushed over to them in a single bound.

Up close, it was obvious there wasn’t a spot on their bodies that wasn’t injured. Their arms and legs were held in splints, and their heads were wrapped in thick bandages, but their eyes were clear and focused.

With pure, unfiltered relief on his face, Nan Wi-jeong grasped their hands tightly.

“Thank heaven. Thank heaven you’re alive. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come to save you myself.”

“Aigoo, it’s quite all right, Guild Leader. Thanks to this savior here, we’re perfectly fine.”

“They fished us out of the water when we couldn’t move and even treated our injuries! Wang Cho and Jang Gang are alive too, Guild Leader! Those two still can’t walk yet, so they’re resting in beds at the local apothecary.”

“Wang Cho and Jang Gang are alive as well?”

Just moments ago, he had been certain all four of them were dead, but every one of them had survived. Jaw hanging open, Nan Wi-jeong shifted his gaze past Wang Pyeong.

A figure who had been standing quietly in the background, silently observing their reunion, finally bowed their head in greeting.

Nan Wi-jeong straightened at once and bowed deeply at the waist.

“Thank you, Benefactor. These men are vital members of our merchant guild. For you to not only cross that treacherous path, but also treat their injuries… we’ve incurred a debt we can never repay.”

“…It’s quite all right. But you should thank the children instead. They were the ones who found your men and brought them to me.”

The person who had brought the porters back wore their bamboo hat pulled so low that not a hint of their face could be seen. Even so, their voice was soft and distinctive, and a faint, soothing scent of medicinal herbs drifted from their robes.