Chapter 285 : Silk Road (2)
Chapter 285: Silk Road (2)
After pushing westward for what felt like an eternity through that desolate wasteland where nothing but yellow sand stretched as far as the eye could see, they finally spotted something different on the third morning.
A faint patch of greenish-white land that shimmered in the distance.
Since nothing but sand dunes obstructed their view, the fact that it was visible to the eye did not mean it was anywhere near.
It took them half a day of riding their camels and pulling carts loaded with chests before they finally escaped the desert's grip and set foot on the grassland.
It’s not exactly a lush meadow and more like sparse patches of scrub dotting the landscape here and there, but it's better than the desolate wasteland behind them.
Seeing that green stretching out beyond the open horizon made Il-mok let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, looks like we've made it out of that hellhole at least."
No matter how close Il-mok had gotten to achieving Transcendence, the desert had been an absolute torture for an OCD patient like him. The relentless sandstorms never stopped, and the constant feeling of sand creeping through every gap in his clothes had driven him half-mad with discomfort.
Il-mok urged his camel forward to catch up to Ouyang Hyeok who was leading from the front.
"Black Tiger Corps Leader."
"Yes, Young Master Il-mok."
"What do you say we leave some men to guard the chests and have the rest fan out? We don't know when we'll get another chance to find supplies, so we should try to hunt or find water while we can."
They'd stocked up on emergency rations at Kashgar, but they couldn't just burn through their food and water mindlessly.
Ouyang Hyeok thought it was a solid idea, so he nodded and gave the order.
Following his command, thirty out of the forty corps members paired up in groups of three and spread out across the terrain.
They moved like that for a while, hoping to find a watering hole or something to roast for dinner. That's when Il-mok spotted a bird flying low in the distance and turned to look at Jeong Hyeon.
"Miss Jeong."
"Y-yes. Y-Young Master."
"Think you could hit that bird from here?"
Jeong Hyeon gauged the distance between them and the bird Il-mok was pointing at, then quickly drew an arrow.
"I'll g-give it a shot."
After finishing her words, she closed her mouth and concentrated for a moment.
Twang.
With the crisp sound of the bowstring releasing, her arrow sliced through the air.
Moments later, the bird that had been soaring in the distance plummeted to the ground.
"Ooh! As expected, Miss Jeong's archery skills are the best in the entire Divine Cult!"
"Y-you're too kind." Jeong Hyeon's face flushed red at Il-mok's praise.
They rode their camels over to pick up their dinner.
"Y-Young Master. Someone’s c-coming from the other side."
Jeong Hyeon pointed ahead with a flustered expression, and everyone immediately turned to look at Il-mok.
Their expressions asked if they should prepare for battle.
"Don't draw your weapons. But be ready to strike at any moment."
Just like them, the group approaching from the opposite direction seemed to be discussing amongst themselves about something.
Before long, Il-mok and his companions reached where the bird had fallen.
And ridiculous as it was, there were two arrows sticking out of the bird’s body.
"Miss Jeong. Did you shoot twice?"
"N-no, I didn't."
Her answer told Il-mok exactly what was going on.
‘Damn it. If we're unlucky, this is gonna get messy.’
As if to confirm Il-mok's prediction, the group from the other side started shouting something as they drew near.
"They're claiming the bird is theirs, that they're the ones who hunted it," Ouyang Hyeok translated, apparently understanding the nomads' distinctive dialect.
"Black Tiger Corps Leader, can you translate this for me as well?"
"Long sentences would be difficult, but I can manage simple words and phrases."
"Can you just tell them that we shot it too?" As he spoke, Il-mok pointed to the two arrows sticking out of the bird's body.
Using basic words combined with hand gestures, Ouyang Hyeok conveyed their message to the nomads.
After discovering the second arrow, the nomads huddled together whispering amongst themselves. Then, a middle-aged man stepped up and spoke in broken Chinese.
"Archery. Contest. Decide owner."
At the man's suggestion, Il-mok looked over at Jeong Hyeon.
"Want to give it a try?"
"I-I’ll give it a sh-shot."
Maybe it was her experience working as a stunt actor in those staged duels back in Pingliang, but Jeong Hyeon accepted the challenge despite her stutter.
Il-mok worked out the rules with the guy who spoke broken Chinese.
Just like how they'd caught this bird, representatives from each side would take turns shooting at distant animals, and whoever failed first would lose.
From among the nomads, a fierce-looking man carrying a bow stepped forward and aimed at another bird flying far in the distance.
Swooooosh!
Shortly after the man released his arrow, the flying bird began its descent toward the ground.
"Hmph."
When the man looked at Jeong Hyeon with an expression full of pride, she flinched once before aiming her bow at another bird.
Even at a glance, this bird was noticeably farther away than the one the man had just shot.
"Huuu..."
After finishing her deep breathing while holding her aim, Jeong Hyeon's trembling body settled into calmness.
Twang!
With a satisfying snap of the bowstring, the bird she'd targeted fell from the sky.
"Hmm?"
Surprised by her skill, the nomad champion twitched his brow and started scanning the sky.
He picked a target that was obviously way further out.
Gone was the cocky smirk; the man now wore a deadly serious face as he took aim.
Swooooosh!
The arrow he released tore through the air with a piercing sound.
But because of the distance, the arrow lost its momentum at the very end and slowed down, allowing the bird to narrowly evade it with a light flap of its wings.
"Tch."
The man and his fellow nomads groaned in disappointment, then turned to look at Jeong Hyeon.
She was already aiming at the very bird the man had just failed to hunt.
Despite all the eyes focused on her, her expression remained calm and concentrated to the extreme.
Compared to when she'd worked as the Jade Sword Young Master, this audience was nothing.
Learning from the man's failure, an intense surge of internal energy began overflowing from her body.
CRACK!!
With a sharp whistle, her arrow ripped through the air and zoomed toward the bird.
"OOOOOH!!"
A second later, her target dropped out of the sky.
Right away, the man who'd competed with Jeong Hyeon started shouting something loudly.
Just when Il-mok thought he might be protesting the outcome, the man who spoke broken Central Plains language translated for them.
"Accept defeat. Archery. Want to learn."
Seeing him admit defeat without making excuses, he seemed like a pretty straightforward guy.
"If you can show us where to find water, I can teach you a bit."
When Il-mok set his terms on Jeong Hyeon's behalf, the man serving as translator nodded.
"Teach archery. You are guests."
Seemed like he was saying they'd treat them as honored guests.
When Il-mok accepted his proposal, Ouyang Hyeok quickly sent out a signal. The Black Tiger Corps members who'd spread out returned, and they all headed off somewhere following the nomads.
"Doesn't look like they're Muslims," Il-mok remarked.
Ouyang Hyeok nodded at Il-mok's observation.
The regions to the west and north of Xinjiang were originally the territory of nomads.
It was somewhat strange to call it "territory" since they were divided into various tribes without anything resembling a proper nation, but it was where the nomads lived their lives.
And far away from the distant Western regions, Islam had begun spreading, and recently the nomads had apparently split between those who believed in it and those who didn't.
Some, like the guys who attacked back in his school days, worshiped Allah while keeping their nomadic ways. Others, like this group, stuck to their traditions and worshiped ancestors or Tngri.
This was the information Il-mok had learned through Ouyang Hyeok while preparing for their journey to the Western Regions.
They followed the nomads while staying alert just in case, and before long, some tent-like structures came into view in the distance, with a stream flowing behind them. Sheep and horses were munching on the sparse grass or drinking from the river, with nomads watching over them.
One of the nomads who'd guided Il-mok and his group stepped forward and called out to the people near the tents.
Then someone approached carrying a water container, and others started building a fire in the back.
"Guests, we serve meal."
Hearing that, Il-mok turned to Ouyang Hyeok.
"Looks like they're planning to roast meat. How about we contribute what we caught too?"
"Not a bad idea, Young Master."
And so, the nomads and Black Tiger Corps members worked together preparing meat and setting up dinner.
Various animal meats were placed on the table, and the nomads poured some thick, white liquid into cups and passed them around.
Whether it was horse milk or sheep milk, Il-mok couldn't tell.
Meanwhile, Jeong Hyeon's face had gone pale white as she was being mobbed by the nomads.
She'd become an impromptu archery instructor for them.
"I-I'll explain it to you, so p-please step back a bit."
She'd gotten better at handling people's stares, but having them crowd around her was still too much to bear.
Thanks to Jeong Hyeon's archery skills and their hosts' hospitality, the atmosphere had become quite pleasant.
Here and there, nomads and Black Tiger Corps members who couldn't speak each other's languages were communicating through gestures and hand signals.
The only man who could speak Central Plains language approached Il-mok.
"You. Stay night here."
The man pointed to several of their tents as he spoke.
"You have our deepest gratitude."
Il-mok clasped his fist in thanks for their kindness, then casually threw out a question.
"By the way, I heard Islam is flourishing in these parts. Do your people not believe in it?"
This was the biggest reason Il-mok had deliberately continued the conversation and accepted the useless wager. He needed intel from the locals.
At that question, the guy’s face went ghostly white.
"I-Islam. Scary people. Don't believe Allah, they kill all. Kidnap women, kids. Do bad stuff."
"......"
Hearing the fear in his trembling voice, Il-mok’s face turned serious.
That night, Il-mok and his companions accepted the invitation and slept inside the tents.
Since they needed to guard their belongings, the Black Tiger Corps members divided into groups of ten to take turns standing watch for one hour each.
As Il-mok lay in the tent trying to sleep, Jin Hayeon spoke to him.
"Young Master, I'm not sure if trading with those people is truly the right thing to do."
"Are you troubled by what we heard earlier?"
"They said they kill everyone who doesn't believe in their god. Will they even agree to trade with us?"
"Well, it's Master's orders, so we have to at least try. Besides, merchants from the Central Plains trade with them, so they probably don't just kill everyone on sight."
Despite Il-mok's explanation, Jin Hayeon seemed somehow dissatisfied.
Il-mok looked at her with confusion, then realized what was wrong.
"Are you against trading with them? Because of what they do?"
"…Trading with people who kidnap women and children and do horrible things just because of religion. Truthfully, it feels like it goes against our Divine Cult's doctrines."
She seemed torn because the Master's orders contradicted the Divine Cult's own religious views.
"Not all of them might be like that. Even the Central Plains unbelievers misunderstand our Divine Cult as crazy murderers, don't they? So how about we decide after we've actually made contact with them?"
After calming her down enough to stop her from having a mental breakdown, Il-mok lay back down and closed his eyes.
But he couldn't fall asleep.
He tossed and turned for a while, worrying about the trip ahead.
Then, a shout from one of the guards rang out outside.
"We're under attack!!"
Following that, a familiar shout he hadn't heard in a year and a half echoed through the air.
"ALLAHU AKBAR!!"
Hearing that unwelcome cry, Il-mok sighed and stepped out of the tent.
Before he knew it, the Ascension Sword was already in his hand.