The snowflakes danced in the air as they fell from the winter sky, covering the black rocks like a thin white blanket.
Twigs and dried leaves cracked beneath their feet with every step.
Li Yan suddenly stopped.
“Lord, why did you…?” Deng Tianxiong halted mid-question.
The tree branch broke from the weight of the accumulated snow. When the white cast of falling snow subsided, they saw a secluded farmhouse in a distance.
“Tianxiong, how long have we been walking?”
“We’ve walked the entire day, Lord Li. We’re half way down the mountain.”
“There’s nothing nearby. We couldn’t even find feces from wolves to burn. How could there possibly be a farmhouse?”
Li Yan stayed silent for a while. The moon had risen and their coats were too thin to protect them through the harsh winter night.
The thought of succumbing to frostbites was scarier than the possibility of ghosts hidden in the mountain.
“Let’s go have a look.”
The men proceeded to wrap themselves tightly in their clothes and ventured forward suspiciously. It was strange to find a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.
Interpreter Song walked up to the gate and shouted for help. No one expected a pretty young lady to show up at the door.
Her hair was tied up in a delicate bun. Her thin linen winter coat couldn’t cover her slim figure. She stared at the crowd with big, watery eyes.
“Hehe, she’s so pretty, ” Blind Diao whispered cautiously.
A beautiful lady living on an abandoned mountain alone.
What a perfect setting for a ghost story.
“Uncle Diao,” Wang Sheng said in a low voice, “My mother once told me that palm civets would turn into beautiful ladies on snowy nights. They have the ability to turn you to stone if you’re not attracted to them. If you have something bad in mind, they’ll extract your heart while you’re alive.”
Interpreter Song walked up to her and bowed before making a request.
After a while, he walked back to inform Li Yan that the girl was indeed living alone and had agreed to let them stay in her house for one night.
He whispered to Li, “Something’s not right.”
“Obviously,” responded Li Yan in a cold tone.
Everyone entered the farmhouse. They were warmed by the bonfire in the middle of the house.
The oil lamp lit up the entire house as a pot of yams cooked on the fire.
“I assume that our pretty lady is unable to finish that entire pot?” Li Yan asked with his eyebrows raised and then laughed.
She couldn’t understand what Li Yan said but she scooped a bowl of food and passed it to him. Her enchanting smile and defined collarbone got everyone’s attention as she lowered her body.
Everyone in the room locked their eyes on the lady. Some of them even reached for their handguns.
Li Yan stared at her for a while and suddenly laughed out loud. He suddenly grabbed her wrist to pull her onto his lap, despite the soup being spilled on the floor. He rubbed her thigh forcefully although the lady was struggling.
Li Yan whispered in her ears indifferently, “You’ve been staying here alone for so long, and I’m guessing you must be very lonely. We’ve all come from China and are more than willing to help…”
The lady’s eyes turned red and she trembled in anger. She slapped Li Yan, leaving red finger marks on his face.
Deng Tianxiong clenched his jaw and swallowed his saliva, taking in the painful, humiliating sight.
She stepped back, rushed into her room, and locked the door.
Li Yan lifted his head and said with a straight face, “We will take turns to keep watch tonight. Let’s get off of this mountain before dawn tomorrow.”
“Lord, the girl…”
“We’ll leave as soon as the sky lightens,” Li Yan continued, disregarding Deng Tianxiong’s concern for the young lady.
Wang Sheng’s growling stomach caught everyone’s attention.
He felt very shy about it.
One of the soldiers laughed and passed a bowl of soup to him.
“Wait,” Li Yan stopped him and frowned as he thought about it for a while.
He then took out a piece of bread from his bag and tossed it to Wang Sheng.
“Eat this.”
The other men looked at each other, possibly knowing Li Yan’s intentions.
Wang Sheng caught the bread but hesitated.
“Why are you looking around? Just eat the bread Lord Li offered,” said Blind Diao, giggling.
Wang Sheng felt bad about eating it alone, but he was too hungry. He took the bread and turned to a corner to eat it piece by piece.
The aroma of the yams filled the air but nobody dared touch them.
Li Yan glanced at their persistent faces, feeling a bit unsettled.
Although this place seemed a lot safer than the boxing rings, he didn’t dare relax, even for a moment. He only needed his physical skills to win matches, but he had to do a lot more to survive here during wartime and protect his subordinates. He had to bear the burden of their trust and allegiance.
“Lord Li, since there’s a bonfire, I’d like to go out and get some clean ice cubes so we can have drinkable water tomorrow,” suggested Blind Diao.
“Uncle Diao, just rest. I’ll do it,” said one of the soldiers, already on his feet.
The remaining soldiers offered to tag along, but Diao didn’t want to accept their help.
“Do you guys think that I am too old to complete such a simple task?”
“No offense, Uncle Diao, but you’re still injured…”
“It’s not even worth mentioning. You might look strong, but I still have the ability to knock you down. Do you want to try?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I was just trying to help…”
Blind Diao waved at him and turned to Li Yan to ask, “Lord Li, what do you think?”
Li Yan looked up at the sky. It was going to stop snowing soon. He said, “Be back before dark.”
“Sure!” Blind Diao grabbed his sword to head out.
“Uncle Diao.”
Wang Sheng passed his handgun to Blind Diao and mumbled with his mouth full of bread, “Take this with you. If you happen to see animals out there, hunt all of them so we can feast tonight.”
Blind Diao looked at Wang Sheng, patted his head, and said, “Thank you, my boy.”
Wang Sheng laughed.
Blind Diao pushed the door open and the strong wind felt like it was slicing through his neck. He squinted and walked into the endless white snow.
Everyone tried to keep quiet, as the Joseon lady was still in the room.
Time passed slowly by. Li Yan coughed and tried to say something to break the silence, but suddenly there was a knock on the door.
“Excuse me,” a man spoke in Korean.
The door was opened by a young man in a fur coat, looking decent and elegant.
Deng Tianxiong immediately tensed up before he remembered they weren’t wearing their military uniforms. They shouldn’t be too nervous dressed like hunters and farmers.
The young man then asked something in Korean. Interpreter Song approached him enthusiastically.
They chatted for a while. The conversation was casual as they talked about their origins, and what a coincidence it was that they would have met here.
Four assassins suddenly appeared behind the young man, each of them carrying a red sword.
“Lord, look at their swords,” Deng Tianxiong said to Li Yan with a low voice.
The man suddenly turned to them, looking shocked and excited. In Mandarin and said, “Are you men from China?”
…
Blind Diao was holding two big ice cubes in his clothes. He looked too old and weak to resist the cold. He was thinking that one day, he might be too weak to even carry a sword, and he hoped that his son would continue to fight the war for him.
He suddenly saw a deer wandering around in the snow.
He smiled and aimed at the deer using Wang Sheng’s handgun.
“Bang!”
The deer was shot down, but Blind Diao didn’t even look at it.
He saw a Japanese soldier wearing a complete set of red Do-maru armor quietly staring at him. He looked like a burning flame in the snow!
The pattern on the armor looked like a ghost. With the iron flakes and leather wristbands, he looked terrifying.
The armor was magnificent, imperatorial, and cold.
Blind Diao was wearing patched up wool sweaters that barely covered his entire body. His hair was mussed with snowflakes, making him look dirty and miserable.
The Japanese soldier looked like a warrior while Blind Diao looked like a beggar…
Blind Diao threw away the ice cubes and his handgun. He took out a strip of cloth covering his injured belly and wrapped it around his wrist to secure the sword. He then fastened the knot tightly by pulling at it with his teeth, making him look like a lone wolf.
“Screw the Japanese…”