Knowing when to stop is good

The sun rose once again over Jeontu, marking the start of a new day, setting the sky with mesmerising hues of red and orange overwhelming the dark blue night sky. Mt Keun's forest began to grow peaceful as the night creatures made their way back into their hiding places to rest. Everything was tranquil and serene, just as it's meant to be. Well, everything except Han Aeng, who was running like a lunatic before the rooster crowed.

Although the sun had risen, the trees' density made it quite hard for sunlight to completely penetrate through the leaves to give Han Aeng adequate light to assess her surroundings. Still, she easily spotted the figure making its way to her and immediately burst in satisfaction.

"Insik Harabeoji!"

"Aeng-ah!" The old man greeted back with the broadest of smiles.

Insik was nearing 70 years, however his body showed scarce signs of his advanced age. He was tall and accompanied by a sturdy build. Insik possessed light brown eyes, which Han Aeng often referred to as the embodiment of compassion and friendliness, with a simple smile which was an expression of peace and kindness. 

Han Aeng and Inisk had been friends for about four to five years now. They met at the borders of Nonnan when Han Aeng rescued Insik, and their friendship only grew when Inisk moved to Jeontu. The two grew to be intimate friends that resembled a pair of loving grandfather and granddaughter.

"Harabeoji, I missed you so much," Han Aeng professed, engulfing Insik in a bear hug. "But you forgot all about me after your grandson came."

"Silly pumpkin, how could I? Its you who abandoned me," Insik replied, "You never came to visit."

Han Aeng pulled away for their hug. She was both innocent and guilty of the accusation. Yes, she had come to see him, but at that time, Han Aeng nearly lost her life.

Frankly, she wasn't sure how to explain her reason for angering a mother bear, so she just backed down and feigned ignorance. "Aa, I was waiting for Harabeoji to call for me. I don't know when you two would be home, and it would be rude of me to come in uninvited, don't you think?."

Insik scoffed, patting her head. "Aigo, as if I have never walked into the house to find you eating all my food!"

"Those are harsh words, Sir," giggled Han Aeng, "Figured I wouldn't miss you two if I came early in the morning."

"Haha, well, little one, bad timing. That boy left to hunt the bear he's been after for a while now."

"Hunting bears, that's nice."

Bear?

Han Aeng felt her breath hitch. She suddenly understood who the archer that saved her life was and grew concerned. What if he ratted her out to Insik, and more importantly, he'd seen her in such a deplorable state!

Han Aeng wanted to present herself as a perfect girl to Insik's grandson. Simply so, she could have the upper hand in the internal strife of who was more deserving of Insik's love and affection. Although Insik's grandson was naturally more entitled to the love, Han Aeng aspired to mark her territory by proving her worth to her potentially threatening rival.

Insik watched as Han Aeng's face contoured from embarrassment to agony. Confused, he offered a tender smile before patting her head once again. "You head home first. I'll find my grandson and come to meet you."

Han Aeng mindlessly nodded and headed to Insik's bamboo residence.

Quickly she started to feel something ominous about her surroundings. Even against her best attempt to brush off the unsettling feeling, it followed her.

The path to Insik's bamboo residence was still quite a fair distance, but this was not her first time walking this path at this hour. She failed to see what was bothering her and the sinister feeling, haunting her every step, started to become more unbearable.

Frustrated, Han Aeng eventually stopped walking in favour of just listening and observing what was around her in hopes to come to a reasonable explanation.

The wind was gently blowing through the leaves, the insects were crying, the birds chirping, the leaves rustling about. Except for the sound of a few blades drawing, nothing seemed out of place.

Oh.

"People are following me."

Surely enough, five men dressed in black began to appear out of varying hiding places.

"What do you want?" Han Aeng questioned her voice, both bored and demanding. This necessarily was not the first time she encountered things like this, and she knew it would most definitely not be the last. "Mister Assassin, will you fail to reply to this feeble girl's question?"

As Han Aeng waited for a reply, she pulled out a few poison darts that she hid inside her sleeves and waited patiently for one of the assassins to make a move.

The Leader of the assassin watched her for a while in amusement. When he got the order to capture her, he had expected it to be a little more challenging. At the very least, he expected the little girl to not wander around such secluded places by herself and remain at home, more so since she seemed to be expecting him.

It seems waiting for the little girl here was a smart idea. For a moment I almost doubted our boss.

He snickered and signaled for another to approach her.

Just as one of the men stretched out his hand to hold Han Aeng, she promptly stabbed him with the dart while simultaneously launching another one to the man who was walking beside him.

The rest of the men grew guarded, instantly moving away from Han Aeng, for indeed they had underestimated their target. But as far as they were concerned, a little girl would not be able to take on trained assassins as themselves. She got lucky the first time since she had the element of surprise on her side, but that will not always be the case.

The Leader of the men whistled, drawing ten more people out of hiding. While the assassins denied their bosses warning, they were sure to bring back up as they would for any other missions.

If Han Aeng had a slight chance of survival before, there was no hope now. There were too many men for Han Aeng to handle by herself. She had nothing but four more poison darts, and that isn't enough to take down thirteen adult men. If she collected the darts back after throwing them and reusing them on the remaining assassins, then maybe, but still, the chances were too low for her to succeed. She was outnumbered and clearly at a disadvantage.

Knowing the odds of winning this fight, Han Aeng reluctantly yielded. Dropping to her knees, she raised her hands in defeat.

"Alrig-" Before Han Aeng could finish her words, she fell limp and collapsed to the floor "-ht."