Adventure of Namgung Cheon 1

Following the courier’s direction, Namgung Cheon reaches South Gate Way with his jian in hand. His forearm wound is bound beneath his sleeve, and the capital’s dawn mist clings to the stones.

Beyond the open gate, six guards surround a convoy of covered wagons and three drivers prepare the harnesses. The smoke-shrouded swordsman remains behind in the ruined tea house, while the hooded traveler and the wounded courier are nowhere in sight.

One wagon bears the same angular route mark copied onto the rescued map. At its head stands a broad-shouldered middle-aged man in a dark green coat, with graying hair and a flattened nose.

The guards tighten their formation around the marked wagon. The convoy leader, his weathered tan skin marked by a thin scar across one cheek, studies the road ahead, unaware of Namgung Cheon’s arrival beneath the gate’s shadow.

Harness buckles creak, horses stamp in the mist, and the mountain road waits beyond the gate. No one has yet turned toward Namgung Cheon.

Namgung Cheon leaves the gate’s shadow and approaches the convoy leader with his jian lowered but plainly visible. Mist beads on his blue sleeve as the guards turn toward him.

The offer reaches the convoy leader, but the exposed blade and blood-dark bandage draw his eyes first. His expression hardens; one hand drops toward his own weapon.

Six guards tighten around Namgung Cheon, sealing the road between him and the marked wagon. The three drivers freeze beside their harnesses, watching the circle form.

The guards’ formation leaves no safe approach to the wagon. Namgung Cheon’s offer has become a demand for identification, with every hand near a weapon.

Gain the convoy leader’s permission to join the marked convoy

The convoy leader studies Namgung Cheon’s lowered jian, then the angular mark visible beneath his robe. The guards hold their circle, but their blades remain sheathed.

The circle opens. Six guards shift aside, granting Namgung Cheon a clear path to the marked wagon while the drivers resume their work.

Wei Zhen accepts the rescued map, but the comparison costs several precious minutes before the gate bell. The road’s eastern fork remains unverified, and the convoy cannot yet commit to it.

The guards reform around the convoy rather than around Namgung Cheon. Harnesses tighten, wheels creak forward, and his place among the escort is secured.

Namgung Cheon takes his place beside the marked wagon as South Gate Way opens. The convoy rolls into the dawn mist, wheels striking a steady rhythm against the stones.

Six guards surround the covered wagons while three drivers guide the horses through the gate. Namgung Cheon remains with them, his jian ready and his bandaged forearm undisturbed.

By midday, the capital falls behind. Wei Zhen compares the rescued map with a relay note, then directs the convoy onto the eastern mountain road without hesitation.

The caravan climbs beneath dark pines, carrying Namgung Cheon toward the pass and the search for the kidnapped princess. He travels with the convoy, exactly where the route requires.

As the convoy climbs beneath the pines, Namgung Cheon steps onto the rear footboard and loosens the binding around his forearm. The cloth is stiff with dried blood.

Wei Zhen notices from the wagon seat and pulls a clean strip of linen from the provisions. He passes it back without slowing the horses.

Namgung Cheon cleans the shallow cut with water from his flask, then winds the borrowed linen firmly beneath his sleeve. The first pull makes his fingers tremble.

He knots the fresh dressing and tests his grip around the jian’s hilt. Pain bites up the forearm, and the tightened cloth leaves his hand briefly numb.

The convoy keeps moving through the dark pines. The bleeding has stopped, the dressing holds, and Namgung Cheon resumes his place beside the marked wagon with his sword ready.

The convoy climbs steadily through the dark pines, wagon wheels grinding over stone while mist gathers between the trunks. Namgung Cheon keeps pace beside the marked wagon.

Wei Zhen signals the drivers onward. The guards maintain their formation, and the convoy passes beneath leaning pines toward the mountain pass without delay.

By late afternoon, the road rises above the tree line. Broken watchtowers appear along the ridge, and a narrow trail descends from them toward a weathered relay station.

The convoy turns onto the descending trail. Namgung Cheon remains beside the marked wagon as the mountain wind carries the distant clang of an abandoned bell.

The convoy reaches the weathered relay station beneath the broken watchtowers. Namgung Cheon dismounts and searches the courtyard, checking the well, shuttered stalls, and churned earth around the doors.

Inside, dust lies thick across the relay room, but many footprints overlap near the cold hearth. Namgung Cheon finds a snapped cord, a torn pack strap, and several boot marks leading in different directions.

He follows the clearest marks toward the rear storehouse, only to find them ending at a collapsed section of flooring. Beneath it, old ash and rainwater have erased whatever impressions once remained.

Wei Zhen unrolls the relay note beside the marked map. The search has exposed several possible routes, but none can be trusted without comparing them against the station’s records or the terrain beyond the ridge.

Namgung Cheon searches the relay station room by room, lifting warped shutters, checking the hearth stones, and studying the overlapping marks around the cold fire. Dust clouds his sleeves, but the disturbed ground refuses to yield a single trail.

At the rear storehouse, his search shifts a loose plank beside the collapsed floor. Beneath it lies a narrow iron-bound drawer, its lock rusted but its dust less settled than the boards around it.

Wei Zhen kneels beside the broken flooring and unfolds the relay note again. The drawer offers a fixed point, while the scattered tracks now matter only as signs of movement around it.

Namgung Cheon examines the iron-bound drawer from every angle, tracing the rusted lock and the fresher dust around its seam. The mechanism yields to careful pressure, and the drawer opens without damage.

Inside rests a folded relay ledger, a wax-marked strip of cloth, and a thin wooden tally scratched with route symbols. The ledger’s final entry points toward the north ridge and an old bell path.

Wei Zhen leans over the open drawer while Namgung Cheon compares the tally against the rescued map. Several characters have blurred beneath damp, forcing the comparison to take precious daylight.

The search has yielded a recorded route and the bell path’s starting point, but the smeared final turning remains unresolved. Wei Zhen closes the ledger and gathers the map.