The Last Imoogi

Testing Her Own Abilities

Hong didn't know whether to laugh or cry everytime he would accidentally or intentionally glance at Park Sandara. If he only received a threat to his life when Kwon Jiyong interrogated him a few days back, now, he was sure he was going to receive his death sentence if the lofty iceberg finds out that they were following him.

Meanwhile Sandara realized how useful Hong was. She didn't like the idea of having a personal guard before, having someone tailing her and watching her every movement, but she appreciates having him around now. How else would she be able to follow Kwon Jiyong if not for him? Though her feet hurt like hell from walking and she was now starving to death, she forgot all of it when they reached a cave within the dense forest by the foot of Mount Bukhan, the northern boundary of Hanyang.

"Mama... Forgive me for my audacity but... We're seeking death by doing this. If Daewongun Mama finds out we're following him—"

"What? If His Highness finds out, what can he do when we're already here?"

In the end, Hong could only accept his fate.

While following Kwon Jiyong was quite easy, all thanks to Hong's expertise in working as a former shadow guard before becoming one of his trusted assistants, both Sandara and Hong knew that entering the premises would be an impossible thing to do so Sandara decided they should wait until Kwon Jiyong leaves. 

It was not until sunset when they saw Kwon Jiyong come out of the cave, followed by a man Sandara instantly recognized as the one she saw with Choi Seunghyun back at Kwon Jiyong's residence. She was still watching them behind the boulder where they had been hiding since earlier when Kwon Jiyong suddenly turned to their direction. Sandara instinctively ducked down, the expression on her face was so clear that Hong understood what just happened. Hong stood up next and decided to see for himself if their lord was heading their way only to see no one around.

"Mama! They're gone! His Highness is gone!"

Sandara immediately went to see it for herself if what Hong said were true. Real enough, not one single soul could be seen. She went out of the hiding place slowly, looking around to check if Kwon Jiyong was only testing her, but to her glee, it seems the iceberg left for real.

The cave which looked heavily guarded earlier looked empty and desolate upon their arrival. Sandara started to doubt her haunch. She suspected Kwon Jiyong was going out to investigate Sun Hae's death again, but how come the entire day of tailing him only took her to such an eerie place?

"Mama, I think we should go back to the palace." Hong suggested. His Highness' secret hideout nearest to the capital is the Hidden Seclusion and the place was mostly for his dealings with imoogis and imoogans, which means him, heading to another secluded place, was for another pressing matter. 

When Sandara ignored Hong's suggestion, the guard went in front and stepped ahead of her to make sure the place was safe enough for them to walk through. It was fortunate enough that the cave had only one pathway so Hong didn't have a hard time checking the entire area. As they walked in further, they saw an opening by the end and as they passed through it, a residence surrounded by lush bushes and shrubs and medicines being dried on the porch. Sandara noticed that the herbs and medicines were still fresh, meaning, the owner just picked them recently.

"Anyone home?" Sandara shouted as she entered the seemingly empty home. Somehow, she felt at ease at the familiar comforting scent of the drying herbs. It surely reminded her of Lee Donghae and it made her wonder how the kind and ever so calm doctor had been doing. 

She was about to knock on the door when she realized it was left ajar. Soon, a fusty, disgusting smell wafted in the air. It was like a mixture of vinegar and decomposing meat, and it stank so bad that Sandara almost puked her guts out. Hong on the other hand recognized the smell. He stopped Sandara from going further and told her about it.