The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 113. Lacking in Perception
“Ah! It seems there’s an accomplice. The word is they went to the Ak Dong region. That person would know better than anyone whether they actually saw the kidnapper.”
At Yucheon Chu-hon’s answer, Jeok Sa leaned forward with a startled expression.
“Did he really say he saw the kidnapper?”
When Jeok Sa asked, Yucheon Chu-hon nudged Sam Il, who then spoke in a flustered rush.
“He knows. Yes. He probably saw them.”
“You didn’t see them?”
At Jeok Sa’s question, Sam Il stammered in confusion before answering.
“Eh? Ah! Yes. I didn’t see them myself, but…….”
At that moment, Sam Il glanced back at Yucheon Chu-hon as if startled by something, then nodded hurriedly.
“Yes. I’m certain. He must have seen them. Or rather, I heard him say he saw them. It’s true. Please believe me!”
Watching Sam Il answer in fear while gauging Yucheon Chu-hon’s mood, Jeok Sa gathered that the man had endured quite a harsh interrogation.
He knew that testimony given under such circumstances couldn’t be completely trusted, but in this situation, he needed to grasp at any thread, however thin.
“How far is Ak Dong from here?”
Having drifted into Saja Plain as a child and spent his entire life there, Jeok Sa was unfamiliar with geography beyond that place.
The answer to his question came not from Yucheon Chu-hon, who had received it, but from Yun Yeo-ok standing behind them.
“Ah! I know Ak Dong quite well.”
Surprised by Yun Yeo-ok’s unexpected answer, Jeok Sa turned to look at her. “You really know it well?”
“You do, don’t you? I know it as clearly as the front yard of my own home.”
Jeok Sa gazed at Yun Yeo-ok as she answered spiritedly, then posed a question.
“You don’t know your own home or even remember your own name, yet you know Ak Dong well. Is that what you’re saying?”
Caught off guard by Jeok Sa’s words, Yun Yeo-ok couldn’t find an answer right away.
Watching her struggle in embarrassment, Jeok Sa spoke quietly.
“So what you said about not remembering—that wasn’t true.”
“I, that is…….”
Yun Yeo-ok could only stammer in confusion, offering no real response. Jeok Sa studied her for a long moment before asking.
“Is it difficult for you to go back?”
“It’s…….”
Still unable to answer, Yun Yeo-ok remained silent as Jeok Sa gazed at her once more.
“I understand your meaning. For now, I myself am a dependent here, so let’s find a way forward step by step.”
Yun Yeo-ok’s face brightened as she caught the implication that he wouldn’t turn her out immediately.
“Then let’s go to Ak Dong! It’s getting awkward staying here any longer…….”
In truth, Jeok Sa had never intended to bring Yun Yeo-ok along to hunt down the thief’s accomplice.
But as she said, keeping another woman in his betrothed’s home wasn’t quite right either.
And so, though reluctant, he nodded.
“You’re right. Let’s settle this quickly—we need to uncover any clue we can get.”
Jeok Sa’s real purpose was to find his betrothed as soon as possible and return her, thereby placating the promise he’d made to the Hyeol Yeong Ma-jon, which everyone believed to be his late father but who was in fact very much alive. After that, he meant to return to the Dang Family.
Soon enough, Jeok Sa left behind a letter promising to find and return his betrothed, then departed from the Muwang So Family with Yun Yeo-ok.
It had been difficult to explain the situation and say proper farewells, not least because he wasn’t traveling alone but with her.
For various reasons, Jeok Sa chose to slip away quietly, leaving only a letter.
While they traveled to and from Ak Dong, Yucheon Chu-hon resolved to continue searching for the kidnapper as before.
Accompanied by Yucheon Chu-hon’s farewell, Jeok Sa and Yun Yeo-ok left Muwang and headed toward Ak Dong.
***
So Gwang Yeo finished reading the letter Jeok Sa had left behind and set it down, then turned to Yucheon Chu-hon who had brought it.
“How could someone who only just regained consciousness and gotten to his feet…….”
Yucheon Chu-hon replied curtly to So Gwang Yeo’s worried remark.
“He moved because he was able to move.”
“Is, is that so?”
“Yes. The man was in good spirits, so don’t worry.”
“Well, that’s a relief then. Still, the letter says he’s gone to Ak Dong…….”
“There was testimony that the thief’s accomplice fled to that region. And a statement that he might have seen the kidnapper.”
“From whom did such testimony come?”
“We caught a thief from the Appearance Sketch. The statement came from him.”
“You, you’re saying you caught a thief?”
The startled voice came from So Cheong-jin, who had been sitting beside So Gwang Yeo.
Yucheon Chu-hon nodded at his question.
“My men caught him.”
“When, when did they……?”

“It’s been several days. He barely opened his mouth, so it took a while to extract any information.”
“It would have been better if you’d let us know once you’d captured him…….”
Capturing the thief was not the work of the Yucheon Cheol-ga alone.
The Muwang So Family had also mobilized a contingent of martial artists to search for the thief.
Even now, a group of Muwang So Family fighters roamed in all directions with an appearance sketch of the thief.
It meant they had been wasting their efforts for days without knowing the thief had already been captured.
Yucheon Chu-hon’s eyes blazed with fury at So Cheong-jin’s hint of regret.
“You bastard……. Are you saying I need to report every little thing to you?”
Curses tumbled from Yucheon Chu-hon’s mouth without pause, and So Cheong-jin flinched, shaking his head.
“N-no, that’s not it…….”
He’d forgotten, having grown too accustomed to Yucheon Chu-hon’s recent cooperation.
What kind of man he truly was.
Yucheon Chu-hon, watching So Cheong-jin reproach himself, fixed him with another burning glare before turning his gaze toward So Gwang Yeo.
“So stop looking. Once they find the accomplice, they’ll come back on their own.”
He threw the words down like a threat, his tone savage, and rose to leave, but as if remembering something belated, he added one more thing.
“Ah! While they’re gone, we’ll continue searching for your daughter. You understand?”
With that parting shot, Yucheon Chu-hon departed abruptly, and So Gwang Yeo stared after him in silence, exhaling a low sigh.
“Haa……. And yet I suppose I should be grateful that the Yucheon Cheol-ga hasn’t backed away entirely. How pathetic of me…….”
So Cheong-jin spoke to his brother, whose expression had turned bitter.
“For now, let’s wait. If Jeok Sa truly captures the accomplice and brings back a clue to the kidnapper, we’ll have another chance.”
So Gwang Yeo’s head nodded at So Cheong-jin’s words.
Honestly, there was no other way.
***
Jeok Sa left Muwang and was crossing Haenam with Yun Yeo-ok.
Ak Dong, where the Ak Dong Ho was said to be, lay at the western edge of Haenam.
Muwang, by contrast, clung to the eastern edge of Haenam.
So they would have to traverse the entire breadth of Haenam, from its eastern end to its western end.
Truthfully, the distance wasn’t far at all.
Roughly seven hundred li—about two hundred seventy-five kilometers.
With peak Lightweight Skill, he could cover it in two days even with rest stops in between.
But it was impossible for Jeok Sa’s party now.
The Lightweight Skill he’d once used when he had Internal Energy couldn’t be performed now; although the wind drawn in through Wind Gathering moved like Internal Energy, it simply wasn’t the same.
Meanwhile, the Lightweight Skill embedded in the Wind Gathering that Hyeol Yeong Ma-jon had given him was still beyond Jeok Sa’s ability to perform.
It demanded far too much wind.
Furthermore, Jeok Sa—who knew Yun Yeo-ok as an ordinary woman—was convinced she couldn’t deploy any Lightweight Skill.
In the end, the means of travel they’d chosen was a horse.
Even that, a horse Yucheon Chu-hon had reluctantly provided.
And only one at that.
Yun Yeo-ok, from whom taking two horses from Yucheon Chu-hon would have been nothing, had done no such thing.
She wanted to stay close to Jeok Sa, even if only slightly longer.
Nor did Jeok Sa have the face to demand anything more from the Muwang So Family.
And so Jeok Sa was riding a single horse with Yun Yeo-ok.
Before departure, troubled by the thought of having to share one horse with an unrelated woman, Jeok Sa had asked if a carriage could be provided, but Yucheon Chu-hon refused.
There was no reason Yucheon Chu-hon should have agreed to it anyway.
Though it was because of Yun Yeo-ok’s sharp-eyed glare—a warning that she wouldn’t tolerate it.
Unaware of such things, Jeok Sa had simply accepted it, thinking that a single horse was already a generous provision given its market value.
So now they had no choice but to depend on one horse between them.
At least it was better than walking.
As Jeok Sa urged the horse along the main road, Yun Yeo-ok sat nearly nestled against his chest.
Seemingly delighted by it, Yun Yeo-ok chattered on without pause.
Those who knew her well would never have believed the sight.
Though her words were coarse, she wasn’t one to talk much—yet here she was, running her mouth without ceasing.
The flowers along the roadside were lovely, the wind-tossed branches refreshing, the soaring birds beautiful.
“Oh my, oh my! Look at that bird. It’s pecking at something with its beak.”
Jeok Sa drove the horse forward, listening silently to Yun Yeo-ok marvel at the obvious.
At first, riding a horse while holding an unrelated woman had been uncomfortable, but as time passed, he’d grown accustomed to it, and it was considerably easier than before.
Yun Yeo-ok spoke to him.
“There’s a city called Dal Ju on the road from Muwang to Gyeong Hae. In that place, there’s an inn called Jasam Lodge, and they make a green pepper and pork stir-fry that’s absolutely exceptional. And if you have a cup of Jiannan Spring wine with it……. Wow! It’s simply divine. Let’s go there and have a drink.”
Jeok Sa replied to Yun Yeo-ok, who seemed brimming with excitement.
“We’re not on a pleasure trip.”
“Well, that said…….”
“Eating delicious food while drinking sweet wine isn’t something to be done while traveling, so I’m afraid that will be difficult. I trust you understand.”
“Y-yes. Of course…….”
Though Yun Yeo-ok nodded reluctantly, her lower lip jutted out in disappointment.
But Ryu, who hadn’t seen her expression, remained unmoved.
Because they’d departed in the afternoon, Ryu and Yun Yeo-ok had to face nightfall not long after leaving Muwang.
Ryu settled on an open stretch of mountain road where a stream ran nearby and made it a campsite for the night, hunting a rabbit with his bow and preparing it for a meal.
In truth, Ryu had no money to spare for an inn in town.
He’d never received payment when he left the Dang family, nor when he returned to Haenam after receiving various types of training from the subordinates of the Hyeol Yeong Ma-jon in Goryeo.
The small amount of silver he’d had when leaving Saja Plain had been spent as an information fee to the Hae Mil Mun, so nothing remained in his purse.
Because of this, he had to continue sleeping rough until reaching Ak Dong Ho.
The reason he’d flatly refused Yun Yeo-ok’s request to stop at an inn called Ja Sam Mun and drink a wine called Geom Nam Chun at Cheong Cho Yuk Sa was the same.
There was no reason why they should provide such things for free to people like them who had nothing.
Whether or not Yun Yeo-ok understood Ryu’s true feelings, she seemed to think they were on an outing and even enjoyed sleeping outdoors.
As Ryu listened to Yun Yeo-ok’s ceaseless chatter, he cut off one well-cooked hind leg from the rabbit he’d been roasting and offered it to her.
“I sprinkled some salt on it, so it should be edible.”
As he roasted the rabbit, he’d pulled something from inside his clothes and sprinkled it—apparently it had been salt.
Taking the rabbit leg from Ryu’s hand, Yun Yeo-ok ate it with such gusto that it was almost ravenous.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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