Beginning Beyond The Horizon

As the wind howled through the forest, Ya stared at Hajime, who stood a few feet away from her. She felt her heart beating violently, and the beating sound drowned out the sounds of nature. Although Hajime stood shorter than the others, Hajime stared at Ya with angry and cold eyes, which sent shivers down Ya's spine.

Ya pleaded, "It's not like that. Yes, we are merchants, but we only sell goods, not people, unless...unless..."

Hajime asked coldly, "Unless?"

Ya exhaled, raised her head to face Hajime, and said, "Unless... that person is willing to be sold." She looked at the men. "So, we are different from Malik. Trust me."

Abrafo looked at Ya and said, "Convinced us."

Ya knew that if she didn't give the six men some details, they would refuse to help her. Moreover, she did not have the luxury of wasting time, so she looked at the six people and explained, "In the Middle Kingdom, there are two large cities that neither northerners nor southerners dare to pass. These two cities are Traka and Maka. People who lived in either city hated each other."

U-ri asked, "May I ask why?"

Ya said, "Because these two cities are business rivals. As you can see, their business is not an ordinary business." She sighed and looked at the six people.​

Yul asked, "How long have these two cities been in conflict?"

"No one knows," Ya said. "But for as long as we can remember, we have been taught to hate each other." Ya continued. "There are one hundred villages in Traka City, and fifty-four villages in Maka City. Where we are standing now is a large open space between Traka from Maka."

"I heard there is a road that goes all the way to the south," Bong said. "Is this the road?"

"Huh...you did hear a lot of information, but you didn't bother to share it with us." Abrafo crossed his arms on his chest and muttered angrily.

Ya said, "There are no roads here, just this vast wilderness. But usually when people travel here, they travel in groups because they are afraid of Malik and his men."

U-ri asked, "Aren't they afraid of your uncle and your uncle's men?"

Ya said, "Like I said, we are merchant selling goods, not people, unless the individual decides to do so." 

Bong asked, "So are there rivers and villages nearby?"

Ya shook her head. "Malik doesn't allow anyone to live here," she said. "So, there are no villages nearby."

U-ri said, "If there is no village nearby, then why did the last villager give us this information."

Ya said, "Maybe the villagers mistook the rest area for the village."

Abrafo asked, "So, is there any place nearby?"

Ya said, "No, it will take two days to walk from here to the rest area. After arriving at the rest area, it will take another two days to reach Sunset Village, and from Sunset Village, it will take another seven days to arrive at the outskirts of Zans City."

"And here we are thinking we had already reached the outskirts of Zans City," U-ri said in disbelief.

Bong muttered, "That stupid idiot gave us wrong information. What a waste of two silver leaves. If I see that idiot again, I will knock out all his teeth." He clenched his fists angrily.

Ya said, "In other words, you just met Malik's men. Malik often sends his men to the village, disguises themselves as villagers, provides people with false route information, and then robs them. Normally, when people travel south, they take boats or travel in large groups to avoid being caught by Malik's men."

"So, you were really scared when you saw us?" Yul said.

Ya nodded, with tears in her eyes, she knelt down and begged. "Please help save my cousin and other innocent people. We are in this mess because my cousin and I just wanted to help the people who were held captive by Malik's people." She looked up at the six men, with tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. "You six are stronger and powerful. Although we are just strangers and have no trust in each other, please believe me, I am only telling the truth. If... if... if you find out that I lied, you can kill me at any time, but there are still many innocent lives waiting for rescue to arrive, so if you don't think of me, please think of them."

Michio looked at Ya and happened to see the same expression of despair on Ya's face. "Maybe she's telling the truth," he said.

Abrafo looked at Michio and said, "Michio..."

U-ri said, "Please give us some time to discuss this issue and we will give you an answer." U-ri pulled the others away from Ya, who was still kneeling on the ground. "What do you think?" 

Michio replied, "I think whether she is telling the truth or lies, we should help."

"You are always willing to help without asking questions," Abrafo said. "What if this is a trap? She said it herself; Malik's men often disguise themselves and give people wrong information about routes. What if this is what they are trying to do?"

U-ri said, "If what you said is true, then no matter how well they plan, the timing will never be this perfect. There was no way she could have known we would arrive at this moment and see the show she was hosting."

"We have no grudge against her," Bong said. "Why would she set a trap for us?" He rolled his eyes at Abrafo. "No hard feelings, but by the look of your five outfits, anyone can tell without asking that you five are on your last silver leaf. If I were to rob someone, it wouldn't be the five of you for sure."

Yul said, "Judging from her ability to escape, her motive was most likely not to rob us."

Hajime said, "Could her motive be to capture us and then sell us later?"

U-ri said, "Hajime and Bong both have a point."

Yul said, "There are only two outcomes One is that it is a trap, and the other is that she tells us the truth." He looked at the other five people. "No matter which path we choose, this is going to haunt us for a long time."

U-ri said, "I agree with you. If someone is really waiting for us to help them, and we refuse to help, we destroy those innocent people's last hope."

Abrafo said, "This has nothing to do with us. You must first remember the purpose of our coming here. We are here for a short time. And..." He looked at Ya who was still kneeling on the ground. "We have already rescued her by freeing her from those men. She can go and get help." He paused for a moment. "I vote no."

Yul said, "Alright, let's continue on." He looked at the others. "We will give her some food and won't delay her from seeking help."

Yul grabbed his food bag and water bag and walked towards Ya. He knelt down and placed the bag of food and water in front of Ya.

"This..." Ya looked at the two bags of supplied.

Yul looked at Ya and said, "I'm sorry, we can't help you. That's all we can do for you."

Ya picked up the two bags. "Thank you," Ya said, standing up and starting to walk back in the direction Wadi and his men had gone.

Yul walked back to the four Tanzanies and Bong, and the five began to climb back on the backs of the three wolves.

Michio helped U-ri onto the back of the wolf and watched the young woman's back slowly getting farther and farther away from them. He sighed.

U-ri lowered his head and said, "Michio..." He stretched his hand towards Michio.

Michio looked at U-ri and the others who were already on the wolf's back. He said, "I won't go with you for the time being."

Abrafo turned to look at Michio, "What? Why?"

Michio said, "The look in that maiden's eyes were exactly the same as the women we met at the market when we first entered the south." He took a deep breath and looked at his friends with a smile. "Like Yul said, if I don't see the ending, this will haunt me for a long time, maybe even for the rest of my life." He took two steps away from his friends. "If the rescue is successful, I will meet you in Zans City."

Hajime said softly, "Michio..."

Michio said with a smile, "Helping her is against your will, and not helping her is also against Buddhism. So, if my foot is injured, it is because of my own will, and not anyone else's fault." He smiled and nodded to his friend, then quickly ran towards Ya.

Ya turned around and found Michio walking towards her. She stopped and waited until Michio was an arm's length away. "Brother monk, is there anything else?" Ya asked.

Michio smiled and said, "I'm going with you to help your cousin and the others."

Ya smiled and nodded at Michio. "Mmm." Ya and Michio continued walking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to separate you from your friends."

Michio said, "This is not your fault. I chose to help you out of my own will."

"Michio!"

"Michio!"

"Michio!"

The sound of multiple people calling Michio's name made Michio and Ya stop and turn around. They saw three gray wolves and a black panther running towards them.

Ya looked at Michio and said happily, "Brother monk, your friends. They... they..."

The three wolves and a black panther stopped in front of Michio and Ya.

Michio said, "You don't have to do this."

U-ri looked at Michio and said with a smile, "The brain in your bald head will not be as smart as the brain inside this white hair head. You will not be able to come up with a successful plan to rescue the captives on your own."

On the back of the black panther, Abrafo said with a smile, "Our trip has been delayed for many days, and a few more days of delay will not affect the outcome of our original plan."

Hajime said, "We still have thirteen years to save Tanzang. My child is not in a hurry to be born soon, so we still have time."

Yul said, "We've been through a lot together as a team and we're not going to let you do it alone." He smiled at Michio. "We left Tanzang together and will return to Tanzang together."

The grey wolf lowered his body to the ground, and Michio and Ya climbed onto the grey wolf's back. Michio turned to Ya and said, "Now led us to your cousin and the others."