Chapter 6
Encounter
Jeong-ah hurried toward Wongak Pavilion, the residence of the Eldest Young Master, taking the servants' back roads.
The "back roads" were paths reserved for people of low status.
Ox carts piled high with sacks of grain rolled along the road.
Groups of servant girls chatted as they walked together.
Strong-looking laborers hurried past carrying heavy crates on their backs.
Aside from the absence of loud merchants shouting to advertise their wares and the countless beggars that filled the streets outside, there was little difference from the bustling marketplace beyond the clan grounds.
The endless stream of people, each moving with a purpose, was like the lifeblood flowing through the giant that was the Luoyang Sword Clan.
Jeong-ah wore a hooded cloak and walked quietly through the shadows cast by the surrounding walls.
"Hey, look over there. Isn't she unbelievably beautiful?"
"Idiot! Stop staring! Just one look tells you she's someone of high status. Don't cause trouble!"
"W-Well, that's true... but why would a noble young lady be using the servants' road?"
"How should commoners like us know?"
"I was just saying..."
Some distance away, two servants whispered among themselves, stealing glances at the beauty barely visible beneath her cloak.
In such a noisy place, an ordinary person could never have heard their conversation.
But Jeong-ah 's eyes could.
The movements of their lips...
The shifts in their eyes...
Even the slightest gestures...
Everything vividly conveyed their conversation to her.
Not just theirs.
Every single person she had passed until now had already been observed through her eyes.
Good. Changing clothes was the right decision. No one's following me.
It was hard to imagine the Second or Third Young Master assigning people to watch a mere maid.
Even so, Jeong-ah refused to lower her guard.
Not until she had entered the Eldest Young Master's household.
Like azalea petals drifting on a spring breeze, someone in her position could only be carried wherever the winds of fate blew.
Ignoring the familiar gazes that lingered on her beauty as always, she quickened her pace.
After walking for quite some time, she finally reached her destination.
So... this is Wongak Pavilion...?
The moment she arrived beneath its outer wall, Jeong-ah was stunned.
She had heard countless stories about the immense residence reserved exclusively for the Eldest Young Master, tucked away in the farthest corner of the Luoyang Sword Clan.
But hearing about it and seeing it with her own eyes were two entirely different things.
The walls stretched endlessly in both directions.
Beyond them rose an ancient forest of towering trees that reached high into the sky.
I can't even tell where it ends...
Even with her eyes, she could not grasp its full size.
It had to be one of the largest residential compounds in the entire Luoyang Sword Clan.
But... why is there no one here?
The servants' road, which had felt as lively as a marketplace only moments ago, became quieter the closer she drew to Wongak Pavilion.
Now...
An eerie silence surrounded the place.
It wasn't an exaggeration.
There weren't merely few people.
There was literally no one.
Not even the servants carrying ingredients to the kitchens.
A lesson once taught by the Reception Hall's mistress resurfaced in Jeong-ah 's mind.
"Jeong-ah . Every great clan is the same. If you want to know how wealthy a clan truly is, look at its servants' roads."
By that measure...
Wongak Pavilion was a place whose wealth had completely dried up.
...I already knew that.
Swallowing hard, Jeong-ah continued forward.
After following the outer wall for some time, she reached the main avenue leading toward the front gate.
Unlike the servants' road, this broad avenue was reserved for honored guests, martial artists, and those who held important positions within the clan.
Another lesson echoed in her memory.
"Jeong-ah . If you want to know where a clan's power lies, simply look at the front gate."
Since the very day she had first arrived at the Luoyang Sword Clan...
This was the first time she had ever seen its grand avenue completely empty.
Even knowing the Eldest Young Master had secluded himself... I never imagined it was this bad.
Until now, she had quietly mocked those who spoke ill of the Eldest Young Master behind his back.
But after witnessing the situation herself...
She could no longer bring herself to ridicule them so easily.
The only people in sight were a handful of guards stationed before the main gate.
Even they appeared to be leaning against the wall, enjoying an afternoon nap.
Seeing her approach, they lazily straightened themselves.
Their sloppy appearance was almost laughable.
"Uh... yes? What business brings you here?"
The guard was obviously still half asleep.
Jeong-ah sighed inwardly.
"I've come under the orders of the Head Steward."
Without another word, she presented the Head Steward's written directive.
"The Head Steward?"
At those words, the squad leader—who had been suppressing a yawn behind the others—hurried over and accepted the document.
While he carefully inspected the order, Jeong-ah let out another silent sigh.
The enormous front gate, built wide enough for multiple carriages to pass through with ease, had clearly received no maintenance whatsoever.
Its paint had peeled away.
The wood had rotted in countless places.
It was difficult to believe this neglected structure belonged to the Luoyang Sword Clan she knew.
The outer walls she had walked beside were no better.
Though impressively tall, they had been patched in numerous places with crude repairs, as if someone had merely slapped mud over the damaged sections.
Broken roof tiles, abandoned for so long that it was impossible to tell when they had first cracked, remained scattered across the rooftops.
The sight left an uncomfortable weight in her chest.
...Did I make the wrong choice by choosing the Eldest Young Master?
At this very hour...
If this had been the front gate of the Second Young Master's or the Third Young Master's residence...
Without question, the front gates of the Second and Third Young Masters' residences would be lined with magnificent carriages and distinguished visitors dressed in expensive silk robes, all waiting for permission to enter.
The guards stationed there would be their personal martial retainers, quietly radiating their presence while standing watch with flawless discipline.
They would be nothing like these pitiful guards who spent their shifts napping...
At that moment, goosebumps ran down the back of Jeong-ah 's neck.
It felt as though countless blades had brushed past her body.
The only reason she managed to suppress a scream...
...was because she had experienced this sensation many times before.
Qi Sense...!
That was exactly what it was.
It was the pressure released by martial artists whose internal energy had reached a sufficiently high realm.
And the source of that pressure...
...was none other than the very guards she had just dismissed as incompetent.
These people...! They're not ordinary guards. They're experts!
They had used their qi to search her body.
Did she possess internal energy?
Was she concealing a weapon?
Was she hiding killing intent?
An ordinary maid would never notice such a thing.
So Jeong-ah focused all her effort on maintaining a calm expression.
Of course... this is only natural.
Cold sweat trickled down the back of her neck.
No matter how little respect the Eldest Young Master receives... he is still the clan's legitimate eldest heir.
There was no way an ordinary guard with no martial ability would be entrusted with protecting the entrance to his residence.
Just then, the captain of the guard—an expert disguised as an ordinary guard—approached her after finishing his inspection of the order.
"The directive has been verified."
With the same courtesy he had shown when receiving it, he returned the document.
Jeong-ah barely managed to stop her trembling fingers as she accepted it and tucked it back into her robes.
"Open the gate."
As she stepped through the entrance, the captain called out from behind her.
"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot to tell you something."
She turned around.
His tone remained perfectly casual.
"Whatever you do... don't leave the forest path."
Although she had no idea what he meant, Jeong-ah nodded and continued onward.
Once she had walked far enough away, one of the guards chuckled and shook his head.
"A new maid for Wongak Pavilion? Since when does that Swordless One need a maid?"
"I don't know either, but aren't maids meant for people who actually have important business outside?"
Another guard traced Jeong-ah 's curvy silhouette in the air with his hand and grinned lewdly.
"Maybe the Swordless One doesn't have a sword... but something else is still standing."
Loud laughter erupted among the guards.
As expected...
Hearing every word from a distance, Jeong-ah quietly bit her lip.
In her eyes, the level of contempt toward the Eldest Young Master varied from person to person.
But among martial artists—those who revered strength above all else—it was especially severe.
If wealth and martial might were the two pillars supporting the Luoyang Sword Clan...
Then the Eldest Young Master, branded with the title Swordless One, had already lost one of them completely.
Even experts capable of using Qi Sense merely guarded his gate because it was their assigned duty.
Not one of them appeared to possess even the slightest loyalty toward him.
...He has a long road ahead of him.
Even if the Head Steward was right...
Even if the Eldest Young Master had truly resolved to change...
What could he possibly accomplish?
"...!"
Then she realized it.
She was standing in the very heart of an unimaginably vast formation of incredible density.
The forest...! These trees... the entire forest itself forms a grand formation!
Her eyes revealed it with perfect clarity.
This wasn't the first formation she had ever seen.
She had seen simple formations designed to make trespassers lose their way.
She had seen lethal defensive formations built to slaughter intruders during emergencies.
But among all of them...
Not a single one possessed a density remotely comparable to what lay before her.
It felt as though merely looking at the formation could crush a person into pulp.
Only one thing remained untouched.
The narrow forest path she was walking.
Every other part of the forest...
...appeared pitch black to her.
Even with her extraordinary eyes, she could not begin to comprehend it.
"Whatever you do... don't leave the forest path."
Only now did she finally understand the captain's warning.
And she understood something else as well.
Just like the experts disguised as ordinary guards...
This terrifying formation was the same.
She was now approaching one of the core figures of the most powerful clan on the continent.
No matter how much he was ridiculed...
No matter how much he was despised...
He was still the Eldest Young Master of this clan.
Then...
Her vision flickered.
The forest appeared.
Then the formation.
Then the world brightened...
Before plunging into darkness again.
Over and over.
And then—
Before she realized it...
The Eldest Young Master was standing directly in front of her.
His voice sounded like that of a young boy...
Yet also like that of a young man...
Like the howl of a beast...
And at the same time, the shriek of a demon.
"How... are you able to see the barrier surrounding Wongak Pavilion?"
He—
That thing—
leaned its deathly pale face toward her and tilted its head.
Its eye sockets were hollow, as though someone had gouged the eyes out entirely.
Within those empty cavities stretched an endless abyss.
From that bottomless darkness, yellowish blood mixed with pus flowed down like tears.
"And how... are you able to see me?"
Though it stared directly at her with those empty sockets...
Even with her extraordinary eyes...
She could neither properly see it...
Nor understand it.
It was something that could never truly be seen.
It was something that should never, ever be seen.
"Ah...!"
With a single terrified scream...
Her consciousness went black.
"...What an interesting child."
Standing serenely in the middle of the forest path, he quietly looked down at the unconscious Jeong-ah and spoke.