Ballad of the Mountain Fox

제 34 장: The Chinese Duet

"Where are you taking me? Let go!"

Nara struggled against the grip of the young man who had introduced himself as Gong Il Woo, to no avail. If anything, his hand around her wrist only tightened as he pulled her deeper into town. Behind them, Il Woo's servant followed wordlessly.

What had happened to Won Soo and Young Min? This callous nobleman had forcibly pulled her away before the fight had ended—the last Nara had seen, Won Soo was lying on the ground, and Young Min was severely outnumbered and growing weaker by the minute. What if they were killed? She had to go back and help them!

"It's quite amusing," Il Woo began, "how much of a fuss people have been making over you, when in reality you're nothing special."

His words stung, but Nara knew he spoke the truth. She was no one special—just the unlucky daughter of a poor soybean farmer.

"I still don't understand what that has to do with bringing me into town," Nara said.

Il Woo stopped and turned back to glare down at her. "I suppose it's too much for a slave like you to comprehend," he spat. "Obviously, if people like the ceramics master and Park Young Min make a fuss over you, it means they see you as something important."

"Someone," the servant softly corrected from behind them.

"Quiet, Kang Dae."

"Yes, young master."

"And so, because I'm important..." Nara began.

"It means they'll get upset if you disappear," Il Woo said, resuming his walk. Nara was yanked after him, and had no choice but to follow.

"D-disappear?" she echoed. She didn't like how this sounded. Before, when she had been escaping from Seok Ji Hoon, she had wanted nothing more than to disappear. Her parents had died, she had been miserable, and when she had finally gone to the river to fake her death, she had spent an unnatural amount of time staring down at the rushing water, imagining alternative, easier methods of escape. After her time with Young Min in the mountains, however, she had begun to hope that perhaps things might change for the better.

"Yes," Il Woo said. "Disappear. There are some Chinese slave traders visiting the marketplace today, and I think you'll fetch a good price. I can only imagine how enraged it will make Ji Hoon and Young Min when they find out you're gone! How I'd love to see their faces!"

"I don't want to go to China!" Nara protested, renewing her efforts to break free of the nobleman's grip.

"No one cares what you want or don't want, slave."

They turned at the corner of an old house and headed down a dusty side road. There were more people in this area, but oddly, any passerby seemed to quickly turn away from the trio as soon as they saw them. One little boy walking along with his mother began to point and cry when he caught sight of them, and Nara furrowed her brow in puzzlement. The mother tried to hush her child, but after several nervous glances up at the approaching Il Woo and Nara, suddenly scooped the boy up and ran off in the other direction.

Nara cast a quick look over to Il Woo. Was he the reason for such odd reactions? The people seemed almost frightened, and the realization made her blood run cold. What had this man done, to terrify these people so?

Il Woo ignored the people around them and continued forward, unperturbed. Nara cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the servant, Kang Dae. He merely gave an apologetic shrug, but either did not know, or did not care to explain, the reason for these people's odd behavior.