Chapter 202: 266. Road

“Absolutely not! Are you both insane?!”

Predictably enough, Seong Misun was the first to protest the proposed detour.

“We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile, and now you want to wander into the nearest town to see how well the Qin populace reacts to a band of ‘beasts and savages’?”

For once, Misun’s protests weren’t completely unsupported—the rest of the girls were also uneasy. Rika smiled sympathetically as she tried to explain.

“I hate to say it but b—er, Princess Seong is right. The Empire of Qin has a pretty bad reputation for xenophobia, and we don’t exactly blend in.”

Jia shook her head.

“We could use illusions to hide our identities—we’ve done it before.”

“You two can, and so can I, but what about the rest of us? Eunae’s tails take up as much space as the rest of her, how do you hide that?”

“We need to get medicine for Jung, especially if our pace is going to be slower than expected.”

The others went silent. Misun excepted, they were all sympathetic to Jia’s cause, but none of them wanted to risk giving themselves away in the middle of hostile territory. She couldn’t blame them for that, but it was her sister’s life on the line. She was feeling increasingly guilty about asking it of them, and the urge to just capitulate was growing unbearable.

Thankfully, a line of support came from an unexpected direction as Master Ienaga finally spoke up on the matter.

“I’m not going to dismiss the idea out of hand. The Empire is large, and we’ve a long way to travel. Avoiding any civilization on the way would be unrealistic.”

Misun grimaced.

“That doesn’t mean we should seek it out! I’m sure the mortal can manage a while longer under Consul An’s supervision.”

Jia glanced at Narae nervously—her little sister was paying keen attention to the conversation, even if she wasn’t an active participant, and Jia wasn’t sure if she wanted to reveal the full extent of Jung’s condition to her. Eui, however, had no such qualms.

“I’m not. Her sickness is spreading faster than I thought, and my treatments can only fix the damage it causes—they do nothing to stop the disease itself. She needs medicine.”

Narae clenched her teeth, but didn’t seem surprised by the revelation. Ienaga frowned.

“Do you think that a mortal doctor will have the medicine you need?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. We might already have the medicine we need, but I don’t know how to identify or refine any of the herbs we have—especially not for mortal consumption.”

Seong Misun scoffed.

“Some healer you are. Putting that academy education to good use, I see.”

Eui scowled and gestured rudely at the princess.

“I had other things on my mind! You try learning about herbalism when the teacher literally wants to kill you!”

Master Ienaga intervened before Misun could retort, putting herself between the two.

“Enough! I think we can make this work. As I said, avoiding civilization entirely is unrealistic—we need someone to act as scouts. Takeda, Lee, An, you three are ideal for that role. You’re fast, skilled in stealth and illusion, and have keen senses. It will be your duty to watch the road ahead and warn us of any danger. When we encounter settlements—and we will—you will infiltrate them.”

Misun’s eyes widened.

“That’s—”

“What we were going to be doing anyway, Your Highness. Information is everything on a mission like this. Or would you rather travel completely blind, blissfully unaware of any rumors about our presence or the movements of the sects?”

“Ugh, fine.”

Ienaga turned away from Misun to address Jia.

“As I was saying, this is something we needed you to do anyway. Seeking out a doctor is another matter. Frankly, it’s an enormous risk. Travelers passing through and mingling with the townsfolk to resupply and pick up a few rumors is nothing unusual—but travelers with an unusual wealth of magical herbs seeking the help of a local apothecary may turn heads.”

Jia clenched her fists.

“But—”

“I wasn’t finished yet—save your protests. You will need to be extremely careful who you trust. Loyalty to the Emperor is a principal virtue in Qin, and if you are discovered it is very likely that they will betray you to the sects.”

Jia’s eyes lit up.

“Then we can find a doctor for Jung?!”

“Yes, but be discreet! The fewer traces we leave behind, the better. In the meantime, you might as well also try to procure a litter for Lee Jung. If her condition is as bad as you say, then it’s more important than ever to lighten the burden of travel on her.”

Jia threw herself forward and hugged Master Ienaga.

“Thank you, master!”

Ienaga awkwardly reciprocated the hug, giving Jia a gentle pat on the back.

“My priority is getting everyone to our destination safely, but you’re welcome.”

 

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A few hours later, the group was back on the road—an actual road. Now that they were across the border, Master Ienaga wasn’t confident navigating the empire without following roads, and even then gathering information to make sure they were on track would be another of Jia’s duties as a scout.

Scouting while traveling on the roads wasn’t particularly glamorous. Rika trailed behind to make sure that no surprises caught up to them, while Eui had run up ahead to the limit of her connection with Jia to watch the road ahead. Jia herself was essentially just acting as a receiver to communicate anything Eui needed to relay back to the group—they’d be switching places each day.

That left Jia without much to do. Jung had finally woken up, but wasn’t in any condition to walk on her own, so Master Ienaga was still carrying her. The pace was brisk, but not taxing, and nowhere close to anything they’d maintained while crossing the border.

Jia was just about to contemplate how best to use her time when her thoughts were interrupted by a tug on her sleeve. She looked down to meet Narae’s amber eyes, their horizontal pupils staring up at her as she frowned.

“Big sis, why didn’t you tell me mom was getting sicker?”

Jia sighed, considering her answer.

“We weren’t really sure until now. We always knew she needed a better healer, just not how badly.”

Her sister stared down at her feet, pouting.

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“You said you could keep her safe.”

“I know, honey, and we will. I’m doing everything I can to get Jung the help she needs.”

“I want to help too! I want to keep mom safe! I want to get stronger!”

Jia put a hand on Narae’s head and smiled.

“You already did! You even developed your domain while still in the first stage. Not even I did that!”

It had been overshadowed in all the excitement, but Narae’s development hadn’t gone unnoticed. Jia took the opportunity to feel out Narae’s domain. It was underdeveloped yet, but there was an unmistakable sense of love and protection—a beautiful domain, similar to her own in some ways, but unique to Narae.

Narae blushed and scuffed at the ground with her feet.

“I don’t even know what that means. I couldn’t do anything about those scary ghosts except cry like a little baby!”

Jia shook her head.

“Nonsense! You were very brave. But if you want, we can get some training in while we’re on the move. And I think I have an idea for some training that you can do with Auntie Yun that might help you both.”

Narae hesitated for a moment.

“Um, can we do it later? I know I said that, but I don’t think I feel like training right now.”

Jia suppressed a giggle. She couldn’t blame the kid for being tired after such a stressful few days.

“Of course. You can come get me any time.”

“Thanks big sis. Is Heian awake? I haven’t seen her since...”

She trailed off, and Jia bit her lip. Heian had almost completely exhausted herself while they’d been merged as Lee Hei, and her presence in Jia’s domain was down to a tiny flicker—she desperately needed to recover.

“Not yet, sorry. I know you miss your friend, but she’s doing her best too. Moving everybody between worlds really tired her out.”

Narae stared down at her feet again.

“Okay...”

She wandered off to stay close to her mother, shuffling her feet. Jia’s heart ached for the girl, Narae was bored and miserable and had just gone through a terrifying experience, and Jia wished there was more she could do for her.

Looking around, Narae wasn’t the only one. Ja Yun and Eunae walked together in total silence, the former clutching Muddy to her chest and occasionally opening her mouth as if to say something before second guessing herself, and the latter politely pretending not to notice. Meanwhile, Misun trudged on ahead of the group, scowling at anyone who caught her eye.

The only oasis in the oppressive cloud of tension that hung over the group was Jung, who happily chattered away one-sidedly with Master Ienaga. For her part, Ienaga kept her responses mostly polite and professional, but Jung had been probing her for topics that the master martial artist would engage with more enthusiastically—eventually settling on embarrassing stories about Jia’s past.

Jia envied her big sister’s strength. She knew she was dying, and it didn’t faze her one bit. If anything, it only emboldened her to flirt with the most powerful martial artist in the world even more brazenly. Jia didn’t sense even a hint of false bravado, either. Lee Jung was a woman who lived entirely in the moment.

She couldn’t die. Jia refused to let such a bright light go out in a world that was so full of darkness.

 

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It didn’t take them long to find the first town on the road. The further north they traveled, the more hilly the terrain became, bound to eventually transform into the famous mountain peaks for which the Empire and its sects were known. The town itself was nestled up against a large bamboo forest with a river cutting through it.

Even from their vantage point at the top of a nearby hill, Jia could see that the town on one side of the river was much more colorful and neatly arranged than the other, which was drab and scattered. It immediately reminded her of the walls around Goryeon cities back home, with the poorest citizens living in shanty towns outside the walls.

The poorer district didn’t seem as bad as the slums of Goryeo at a glance, but Jia couldn’t help but note that all the rice paddies just happened to be on the poor side of the river. It was almost a comfort to know that no matter where she went, some things never changed.

The group was setting up camp while Jia surveyed the town. They wanted to keep well away from the town to minimize the chances that they’d be spotted by someone who recognized them as foreigners. She was soon joined by Rika, Eui, and Jung to plan out their trip into town.

Jia was a little nervous—her first encounter with the people of Yamato had been a rather severe case of culture shock. She still cringed remembering how badly their attempts to appear disarming had spooked the people of Urayama village. It was just as well that Lady Tennin was so forgiving. Rika had something else on her mind entirely as she put her hands on her hips and stared down at the town.

“How are we getting past that wall?”

Indeed, the entire town was surrounded by a fairly sturdy looking wall. It wasn’t huge—only ten feet tall or so. Jia couldn’t tell if it was stone or wood from where she was, but it didn’t matter much. Rika wasn’t thinking like a spy.

“Through the gate, Rika. We’re not an invading military, we’re just hungry travelers stopping by for a rest.”

Rika smiled sardonically.

“And if they don’t buy that?”

“Then they turn us away and we leave peacefully. They’re not going to have any reason to suspect us.”

“Unless they have cultivators around that notice we’re not what we seem.”

Eui shrugged.

“Qin’s cultivators are mostly stuck in their mountains. They don’t really interact with mortals except to go recruiting or when they need to clean up a monster problem. I don’t see any sects around, do you?”

“Tsk, I guess. It just feels too easy.”

Eui snorted.

“Don’t jinx it. Jung, are you going to be okay to walk?”

Jia’s older sister let out an exasperated sigh.

“An Eui, sweetheart, you are lovely and I appreciate you taking care of me, but I am not a baby. I might not be able to keep up with the absurd pace you monsters call ‘walking’ but I am perfectly capable of putting one foot in front of the other.”

Eui put her hands up defensively.

“Hey, it’s my job to worry about you, alright? Forgive me for caring too much.”

Jung covered her face and giggled.

“You’re forgiven, of course. Now, shall we?”

The girls nodded. It was time to meet the people of Qin.