He released his grip.
Baek A-rang stumbled forward a step, then caught herself.
"Now. Every explanation. What do you actually want? And I won't accept a single lie."
She was silent for a moment. Then she pulled down her mask.
Her face was young maybe sixteen, seventeen. Pale skin, sharp cheekbones and dark circles under her eyes.
"I was taken by the Black Lotus when I was seven," she said. "They trained me to kill. I've never known anything else. But I'm not like them. I never enjoy it."
She looked at the broken dagger on the ground.
"Hyun Mu-gak doesn't care about his assassins. We're tools. When we break, he throws us away. I've seen it happen. Friends. Teachers. People who served him for decades." Her voice dropped. "He would have thrown me away too, eventually."
She looked back at Gaon.
"You're not someone I can kill. And if I go back without finishing the job, he'll know something went wrong. He'll punish me. Maybe kill me."
Her hands curled into fists at her sides.
"So I'm asking you. Help me leave. Take me as yours as someone who can fight for you. Someone who can be useful. Because I have nowhere else to go."
Gaon did not speak for a long time. The forge fire crackled behind him.
Jin-ah stepped out from the bushes, a dead rabbit hanging from her hand. She stopped when she saw the girl in black robes standing near Gaon.
Who is this? Is that big sis Seo Yerin?
She looked closer. The body was different. Taller, thinner, younger. Not Seo Yerin.
Gaon glanced at Jin-ah, then back at the assassin.
"I don't have a bed for you…"
The assassin shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I've slept on worse. I know this is a burden. I'm sorry. But I need a place to go. Away from that man."
Gaon was quiet for a moment, thinking.
Then he asked, "What's your name again?"
She hesitated, then answered.
"Baek A-rang."
Gaon said, "My name is Yeon Gaon."
Then he crossed his arms again. "So tell me. What can make me believe you won't attack me while I sleep?"
Baek A-rang did not hesitate.
"I'm willing to make a contract with you. Lifetime. With a heaven and hell promise."
Gaon raised an eyebrow. "A what?"
"A blood oath. The highest bond. If I break it, I forfeit my soul. No afterlife. No reincarnation. Just... nothing. Forever."
Her voice was steady. Her eyes did not blink.
"That's what I'm offering you. My word bound by heaven and hell. You'll never have to fear me."
Gaon nodded.
"Come."
Baek A-rang closed her eyes.
WOOOSGH!
Her qi erupted from her body appeared like black smoke laced with dying embers. The shape of a black lotus flower bloomed across her arms, her chest, and her throat. Petals of shadow curled and uncurled with each breath she took.
She knelt on the ground and pressed her palm to the dirt.
Gaon raised his hand. His external force flowed out pressing against her dark qi like sunlight cutting through fog. He placed his palm over hers.
She raised her voice to the sky.
"I, Baek A-rang, swear this oath before heaven and hell! I will never raise my blade against Yeon Gaon. I will never betray his trust. I will never reveal his secrets. I will serve him with my life and my death. If I break this vow, may my soul be erased from existence."
Her dark qi flared once, then wrapped around their joined hands. Gaon's external force pulsed in response, sealing the edges of her oath.
Then both energies faded.
Baek A-rang opened her eyes. She was still kneeling.
Gaon pulled his hand back.
"Get up," he said. "Tomorrow, we figure out where to put you."
She rose slowly. Her face was pale, but her eyes were no longer empty.
Jin-ah watched from the bushes, the dead rabbit still in her hand, her mouth slightly open.
Gaon looked at Jin-ah. The girl was still standing at the edge of the clearing, the dead rabbit hanging from her small hand.
"Sorry you had to feel that pressure," he said.
Then he smiled.
"Did you catch that rabbit yourself?"
His voice carried a proud tone, the kind a teacher used when a student did something right.
Jin-ah blinked, then nodded slowly. She lifted the rabbit slightly. "It ran fast. But I was faster."
Gaon's smile widened. "Good. We'll eat well tonight."
Baek A-rang watched the exchange in silence, her dark eyes moving between them. She said nothing.
"This is Baek A-rang. She's going to be with us for a while."
Jin-ah's eyes narrowed, still holding the rabbit. "Is she a bad person?"
"Not anymore," Gaon said. "Or at least, she's made a promise not to be."
He looked at Baek A-rang, then back at Jin-ah.
"I'm going to leave soon. Need to sell some things in town. You'll stay here with her. You'll be safe."
Jin-ah glanced at the assassin's dark robes and the broken dagger on the ground. Then she looked at Gaon's calm face and nodded.
"Okay. If you trust her, I trust her."
Baek A-rang said nothing. She just stood there, watching the girl, her expression unreadable behind the mask she had pulled back up.
He turned toward the door.
"Both of you come. I'm going to cook something before I leave."
He walked inside without looking back.
Jin-ah hurried after him, the rabbit still in her hand. Baek A-rang stood still for a moment, then followed, stepping through the doorway into the small, warm hut.
After a while, the small table was crowded with food.
Jin-ah had a plate of fried rabbit in front of her crispy on the outside, tender inside. She tore into it with both hands, grease running down her fingers.
Gaon sat across from her with a bowl of fried rice, seasoned with wild herbs and a few precious eggs. He ate quietly, watching the two girls.
Baek A-rang had not cooked anything for herself. Instead, she reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled out a strip of dried boar meat. She held it out to Jin-ah.
"Here," she said. "Eat."
Jin-ah paused, looked at the meat, then at Gaon. He gave a small nod. She took it and bit into it without hesitation.
Baek A-rang watched her eat. She did not take anything for herself.
Gaon noticed but said nothing.
***
"Go sleep."
She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, nodded, and disappeared into the bedroom.
Then Gaon turned to Baek A-rang. "Go take care of her. I'll trust you to watch over her. Under my name."
Baek A-rang bowed her head. "There's nothing I appreciate more than just protecting someone. You have my word."
Gaon nodded.
He walked to the door, pulled it tight behind him, and stood outside for a moment. The moon was high. The forest was quiet.
He closed his eyes and scaled up.
Five times.
His muscles swelled. His legs thickened. The ground beneath his feet felt softer, lighter. Then he ran.
Trees whipped past him and the wind roared in his ears. His feet barely touched the dirt before pushing off again cutting through the night toward somewhere.
In the city surrounding the Black Lotus fortress, the taverns were loud and thick with smoke.
Men in dark robes sat on wooden benches, cups of rice wine sloshing in their hands. Their faces were flushed, their voices rough from drink.
"To the Northern Conquest!" one man shouted, raising his cup. "Thirty villages in two months!"
The table cheered. Cups clinked. Wine spilled onto the floor.
"Those farmers thought they could resist," another man said, laughing. "Now their fields are ours. Their women are ours. Their children—" He made a cutting motion across his throat.
More laughter.
"Do you remember the look on their faces when we burned the granaries?" a third man added, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "They begged. Actually begged. For grain. For their own grain."
"Should have surrendered sooner."
"Should have kissed the lotus."
The first man slammed his cup down. "The sect leader says our wages will double by summer. Double! And triple by next year. We're going to be richer than any merchant in the central plains."
"To the Black Lotus!"
"To the Black Lotus!"
The toast roared through the tavern. Glasses raised. Men stumbled to their feet, drunk on wine and cruelty and the promise of more.
Outside, the city's lights flickered. Inside, they celebrated murder like a holiday.
To Be Continued.