The forest slumbered in pitch-black darkness.
Jang Gak scanned left and right with uneasy eyes, thinking to himself.
Damn it! I knew this would happen.
It had been a mistake to jump at the news of Shaolin Temple hiring swordsmen without a second thought.
If he'd known the job involved going outside the fortress, Jang Gak would have played the part of a bumbling fool who couldn't even handle a proper sword.
Because revenants roamed beyond the fortress walls.
Shaolin had hired unaffiliated warriors like him in the first place because the Central Plains were overrun with revenants, leaving them short on manpower.
Otherwise, a prestigious orthodox sect like Shaolin would never have glanced twice at third-rate warriors like Jang Gak.
His childhood friend Sim Pyeong had been thrilled at first about connecting with Shaolin, but his face had drained of color upon hearing they'd be scouting outside the fortress.
A few years back.
On the day revenants first erupted from Black Wolf Castle.
Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong, tasked by the Murim Alliance, had barely escaped with their lives.
Ever since, the word "revenant" made them tremble. They wouldn't even relieve themselves facing Black Wolf Castle's direction.
And now, in the dead of night, they were scouting the forest where revenants lurked...
As Jang Gak stewed in these thoughts, Sim Pyeong whispered from beside him.
"You know what? This scouting mission's about finding a falcon."
"A falcon? What falcon?"
"You don't even know what a falcon is? The kind that flies."
"We risk our necks leaving the fortress, and that's all they want? Falcon hunting?"
"It's not hunting. It's a Messenger Hawk. A Messenger Hawk!"
Only then did Jang Gak grasp what Sim Pyeong meant.
Messenger Hawk.
A hawk used to send letters over long distances.
Messenger Hawks were superior to carrier pigeons in many ways.
Pigeons needed relays midway for long hauls across the Central Plains, but a hawk could traverse the continent in one go.
As birds of prey, hawks were also less likely to fall victim to beasts en route.
On the downside, they were carnivores, making them expensive to maintain.
And their homing instinct was weaker than pigeons', so there was no guarantee they'd return.
Rearing even one Messenger Hawk would cost more than dozens of third-rate warriors like Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong combined.
The fact that they'd used a Messenger Hawk as a courier meant...?
"The letter's delivery is urgent," Jang Gak murmured.
"And whatever's in it must be crucial too," Sim Pyeong added.
Shaolin, sworn to non-killing, couldn't raise carnivorous hawks. Their Messenger Hawks were trained in a village at the foot of Xiao Shi Peak.
Realizing the scouting was all for one hawk left a bitter taste in Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong's mouths.
"We'll end up as falcon bait before we find it."
"Tell me about it."
The lead Shaolin monk, overhearing, spoke up.
"This Messenger Hawk carries an important letter. It must reach the Abbot."
"We're not against it. It's just... three of us for something this vital?"
"The other 18 Arhats are all on assigned duties."
"Well, yeah, but..."
Knowing the fortress's manpower shortages well, Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong fell silent, swallowing further complaints.
The monk's dharma name was Jin Yeon.
He was one of the 18 Arhats, Shaolin's elite new experts.
Jin Yeon had just returned from the borderlands as the Central Plains murim faced peril. He was no one for third-rates like them to gripe at.
Soon, the forest gave way to a village.
Every house was dark, and dust blanketed the streets as if no human had passed in ages.
A chill crawled up Jang Gak's spine.
"Creepy village. Ghosts wouldn't be out of place here."
"No kidding."
Sim Pyeong nodded, then asked Jin Yeon,
"Monk, you sure the Messenger Hawk's really here?"
"Yes. This village raised them and handled Shaolin's odd jobs."
"But with no people around, why would it come back? Probably flew off somewhere else."
"It's Shaolin's Messenger Hawk. It'll return home before letting wild beasts eat it."
"..."
Jin Yeon's tone was firm.
Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong exchanged uneasy glances.
Looked like they couldn't leave before finding the hawk.
"Let's find it quick and get out. This place gives me the creeps."
The trio moved silently, muffling their footsteps.
In the impenetrable darkness, they couldn't see a few paces ahead.
No torches either—light might draw revenants.
After weaving through alleys, Jin Yeon found the hawk house.
"This the place?"
"Yes."
"What if revenants are inside...?"
"Wait here then."
Leaving the cautious pair, Jin Yeon strode in without hesitation.
Soon, his deep internal energy picked up the flutter of wings.
Flutter, flutter.
Jin Yeon opened the warehouse door where the sound came from.
In the shadowed corner sat a massive hawk, wings folded.
As he approached, it flapped but couldn't fly—blood soaked its wings, likely injured.
Still, the letter remained securely tied to its ankle.
"Good work."
Jin Yeon stroked its head, then cradled it and rose.
Outside, Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong sighed in relief.
"Got the hawk."
"Let's go."
They hurried back.
But as they neared the village edge, Jin Yeon halted.
"What's wrong?"
Jin Yeon pressed a finger to his lips, then clenched his fist.
Enemy sighted.
A revenant burst from the dark, lunging at Jin Yeon.
Clutching the hawk in his left arm, Jin Yeon spun his seven-foot staff with his right.
Shaolin, bound by non-killing, favored staffs over bladed weapons.
But Jin Yeon's staff tip was sharpened like a spear—the Abbot had permitted it against revenants.
Thwuck. The sharp end pierced the revenant's throat.
A flash of Shaolin Staff Technique.
Yet the impaled revenant didn't die. It reared its head and screeched.
Kieeeek!
Revenant. A reanimated corpse.
Already dead once, a pierced throat meant nothing.
"Here we go," Jang Gak muttered, swallowing hard.
Jin Yeon kicked the revenant's gut with Shaolin footwork.
It tumbled back, rolling on the ground.
But it staggered up almost immediately.
Footsteps approached from the darkness.
Thud, thud, thud...
Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong whipped around and paled.
Revenants closed from all four directions. The trio was surrounded by the village horde.
"Damn it! We shouldn't have come out here."
"No kidding."
As they grumbled, Jin Yeon scanned for the thinnest part of the encirclement.
Finding the breakthrough point, he raised his staff.
"Count to three, then run this way. One, two..."
Three!
Jin Yeon charged. Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong followed.
Thud, thud, thwuck.
Jin Yeon stabbed indiscriminately at the blocking revenants, like Zhao Zilong of Shu wielding a worn spear.
"Raaagh!"
Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong swung their broad daos wildly from his flanks.
But even pierced or decapitated, revenants pressed on relentlessly.
Snapping jaws sought flesh; hands grabbed limbs.
Still, their frenzied staff and dao swings shattered the encirclement. They broke through.
"Huff, huff... why are these revenants so fast?"
"Didn't know they speed up at night? Huff."
Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong stopped to catch their breath.
Jin Yeon shook his head, urging them on.
"No time to rest. Another surround and we're done."
He handed the cradled hawk to Jang Gak.
"Take the hawk."
"Why us...?"
Jin Yeon slowly lowered his collar.
Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong's eyes widened in horror.
His nape was torn, flesh ripped by revenant teeth, blood streaming.
"As you see, I was bitten. Soon, I'll become one of them."
"Monk..."
Jin Yeon had carved the escape path, felling over a dozen with Shaolin Staff Technique, heedless of his body.
Without him, breakthrough was impossible.
Realizing too late, Jang Gak and Sim Pyeong were lost for words, guilt heavy.
"I'll hold the revenants. Deliver this hawk to the Abbot."
"We swear. We'll get it there."
"Go."
Jin Yeon nodded. Clutching the hawk, they turned and ran.
Jin Yeon faced the horde with staff raised.
The darkness teemed with black shapes.
His solemn face twisted into a grin. He assumed the Shaolin Staff Technique stance.
Snap.
Three decades of daily practice.
Now, its true power would shine.
Jin Yeon glared and bellowed.
"Come on!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
An hour later, in the Abbot's chamber at Shaolin Temple on Song Mountain's Xiao Shi Peak.
Mu Hye Daesa, Shaolin's Abbot, sat with several murim luminaries.
"Abbot, the Messenger Hawk has arrived."
"Enter."
The door opened. Shaolin monk Jin-mun entered cradling the hawk.
"Brother Jin Yeon found it in the village."
"Why come instead of him?"
"He handed it to the warriors and... stayed."
Jin-mun trailed off. Mu Hye sighed deeply, chanting "Amitabha."
His left eye was blinded, covered by a black patch. But his remaining right eye gleamed with peak internal energy.
Mu Hye took the hawk from Jin-mun and examined the ankle letter.
Sealed tightly in tough leather against weather and tears.
With index and thumb alone, he ripped it open and extracted the scroll.
The luminaries crowded, curious.
Among them, a young scholar in silver gauze mask: Jegal Seong, Jegal Clan's first young master. His right sleeve hung empty—one arm severed.
"What does it say?" Jegal Seong asked Mu Hye.
— SEALED LETTER —
"Shika Manor in Sichuan has discovered a revenant-exorcism technique. The bearer of the manual recording it is en route to Shaolin Temple."
The luminaries exchanged startled glances.
"Shika Manor... you don't mean..."
"Indeed. The place secretly prepared to counter the Western Frontier's Guryun Temple."
Mu Hye passed them and flung open the chamber window, gazing out.
The Central Plains crawled with revenants, but the dawn sky was clear and blue.
Beyond that sky, hope came from Shika Manor in Sichuan.
"We'll hold Shaolin until he arrives."