As the woman approached, Seo Daeryong grew flustered.
“Huh? She’s coming this way?”
“See? I told you.”
“She’s coming because you beckoned her over. She’ll come and say this: Why did you call me? Right? Then you’ll have to answer like this: I called you to tease this friend here.”
The closer the woman came, the more Seo Daeryong’s eyes lost focus and the wider his mouth fell open. She wore a face veil, and it only made her seem all the more mysterious. To Seo Daeryong’s eyes, she was like a fairy descended from the heavens.
Of course, she was Ian. She came right up to the two of them and stopped.
Geom Mugeuk said to Ian,
“I told him I came with you, but he doesn’t believe me.”
At that, Ian smiled with her eyes and said to Seo Daeryong,
“You’re Investigator Seo, aren’t you? I’ve heard so much about you.”
Ian spoke in a disguised voice, hiding her original one.
Startled that the woman knew him, Seo Daeryong first sent a sound transmission to Geom Mugeuk.
—How does she know me?
—Because I told her.
—How? Why? You never once told me you knew such a beauty. With your personality, Pavilion Lord, there’s no way you wouldn’t have bragged about it! A strong heart and a strong right arm are all well and good, but what I have is the prettiest face!
While Seo Daeryong was busily sending me sound transmissions, Ian said with a smile,
“I hear you’re the Pavilion Lord’s right arm?”
At that moment, unconcealable joy surged across Seo Daeryong’s face. After all, was not the position of right arm an incredibly precious and magnificent seat coveted by many?
“Oh, really, why would he tell you even that?”
Though he acted bashful, Seo Daeryong’s shoulders were rising toward the heavens.
“He told me this too.”
“What did he say?”
“That you have a cold-hearted, power-oriented personality, yet you’re a true man who loves only one woman; that when everyone else keeps silent, you alone raise your hand, making you both a rebel and a pacifist; and that you’re someone who made a life-changing decision over a cup of wine at an inn?”
Seo Daeryong was stunned. The beauty before him had recited word for word the things he had once gone around saying as jokes. Seo Daeryong looked at Geom Mugeuk with an expression of utter disbelief.
“You introduced me in quite some detail.”
“And not only that, I heard you hold drinking gatherings regularly.”
“You even told her that?”
Seo Daeryong was flustered. This beauty knew far too much about him.
‘Why did the Pavilion Lord tell her about me in such detail?’
That did not mean he was displeased. How could it possibly feel bad that a beauty one might not see even once in a lifetime knew so much about him?
Ordinarily, he had been confident. If someone ever tried to use a beauty trap on him, he would never fall for it. What mattered was the heart; what did appearances matter? That was how he had lived. All the more so in a murim where people using the Red Face Art to deceive others about their age and suck the life force from their victims openly roamed about.
But seeing the woman before him, he thought that if a woman like this truly set her mind to seduction, it would not be easy to resist. She had nothing to do with him, yet he found himself pointlessly wanting to look good in her eyes.
“Do you not hold your drinking gatherings these days?”
“One person is missing, so we’ve put them off for a while.”
Only belatedly did Seo Daeryong think, Ah, and ask Geom Mugeuk,
“Ah! What about Martial Artist Yi?”
“You sure ask quickly.”
Geom Mugeuk’s expression immediately turned gloomy.
“You won’t be able to see her anymore.”
Seo Daeryong flinched in surprise.
“Why?”
“……”
“Don’t tell me. Nothing happened, right?”
“What if it did?”
“Why are you doing this? This isn’t funny. You can joke about anything else, even if someone gets hurt, but don’t joke about this. It won’t work on me.”
“It’s not a joke. You won’t be able to see that Ian anymore.”
Seo Daeryong stared at Geom Mugeuk, then laughed.
“Shall I tell you the decisive reason this sort of joke won’t work?”
“What is it?”
“Because of you, Pavilion Lord.”
“Me? Why me?”
“She went out with you, and something happened to Martial Artist Yi? That’s impossible.”
Then, all of a sudden, Seo Daeryong’s thoughts reached somewhere else.
“Ah, now that I think about it, Pavilion Lord. This is too much.”
“What is it now?”
The next words flew in by sound transmission.
—You met a beauty like that, and in the meantime you threw our Martial Artist Yi aside. As a fellow man, I understand, but still, you can’t do that to Martial Artist Yi. Do you know how much she thinks of you normally? Where is she? Don’t tell me you sent her to the training ground to train the moment you arrived. Ah, if you did, I’ll be disappointed in you, Pavilion Lord.
—Hey, let me talk too.
—Enough. Bring out Martial Artist Yi! No, I’ll go find her myself.
Seo Daeryong asked Ian with a smile,
“By any chance, have you seen a somewhat well-built female warrior?”
“Ah, I have.”
With an expression that said, I knew it, Seo Daeryong said to Geom Mugeuk,
—This kind of joke won’t work on me. I entered Hwangcheon Pavilion at the top of my class, you know. And from now on, I’m going to call you the Lecher Pavilion Lord.
—What did I do?
—You abandoned Martial Artist Yi and brought that beauty back instead! Ah, you really are wicked. Now even that innocent beauty suddenly looks hateful to me.
Seo Daeryong greeted Ian.
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
As he headed toward Ian’s quarters, Seo Daeryong sighed inwardly.
‘Ah, I didn’t even ask her name. Well, it’s not as if I’ll ever see her again anyway.’
Just then, Ian spoke from behind him.
“She isn’t at the training ground right now.”
“Pardon?”
How had this woman known he was about to go search the training ground first?
When Seo Daeryong was startled, Geom Mugeuk said something even more shocking.
“I passed along to her everything you’ve sent me by sound transmission until now.”
Seo Daeryong was startled.
—Why?
—Speak out loud, not by sound transmission.
Seo Daeryong said with an expression of complete incomprehension,
“No, why? Why would you send sound transmissions to this lady? No matter how beautiful she is, you weren’t this kind of person, Pavilion Lord. You’ve really become strange.”
At that, Ian said,
“I’ve become strange too, haven’t I?”
What kind of strange thing was that supposed to mean? Just as Seo Daeryong blinked, Ian took a dagger from within her robes.
It was the very dagger made from melting down Gowol’s ten-thousand-year cold iron shackles.
The moment he saw that dagger, Seo Daeryong was startled and demanded of Geom Mugeuk,
“Why does this lady have the dagger?”
Seo Daeryong, who had been looking at Geom Mugeuk with suspicious eyes, flinched.
“Don’t tell me you took Martial Artist Yi’s dagger and gave it to this young lady. That can’t be it, right? That one is yours, Pavilion Lord, right?”
“Mine is right here. That one really is Ian’s.”
When Geom Mugeuk took out his own dagger and showed it to him, Seo Daeryong shouted,
“You truly cannot do this! This is too much!”
For the first time, Seo Daeryong flared up at Geom Mugeuk like fire.
Geom Mugeuk merely smiled. When he only smiled, Seo Daeryong grew even angrier.
“What in the world happened while you were out? Have you gone mad for women? That dagger was shared among the people who were there that day, wasn’t it? Of course you were the one who gave them to us, Pavilion Lord, but still, isn’t that a dagger that holds great meaning for all of us? And yet you took Martial Artist Yi’s dagger and gave it to that woman? Whose will you give to the next beauty? Here, I’ll give you mine in advance, so take it. No, wait, you can’t take this. I’ll give my dagger to Martial Artist Yi.”
“I didn’t know you cared for Ian this much.”
“She’s a friend I can tell everything in my heart to. She’s my drinking friend.”
Just then, Ian said,
“Let’s go drink.”
Seo Daeryong flinched. The words of refusal did not come out immediately. Still, he gritted his teeth and forced out his rejection.
“Now is a bit difficult.”
Seo Daeryong sighed inwardly.
‘To think I refused when a beauty I may never see again in my life asked me to drink! Why did I have to meet her in a situation like this? Ah, is there any life as ill-fated as mine?’
But even so, Ian came first.
“Right now, I have to look after my abandoned drinking friend first. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Thank you for thinking of me this much.”
Seo Daeryong looked at Ian as if asking what she meant.
Ian removed the face veil she had wrapped around herself. In that instant, it felt as though light were bursting from her face.
At the beautiful face revealed before him, Seo Daeryong’s eyes went wide, but he soon hardened his expression. Now was not the time to admire the beauty before his eyes.
“I still won’t go! I can’t go!”
“Didn’t we promise that when I returned, we’d drink ourselves senseless all night long?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s me. Ian.”
Thrown into a cauldron of confusion, Seo Daeryong only blinked.
“Didn’t we say that in autumn, the three of us would go with Palace Lord Jang to Daecheonsan to drink while looking at the autumn leaves, and in winter we’d drink while snow fell on us?”
When Ian spoke in her own original voice, Seo Daeryong jumped in surprise.
“The voice is right. Are you really Martial Artist Yi?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“……No, you aren’t.”
“I’ll tell you everything about what happened over drinks, when Palace Lord Jang is there.”
Because the way she spoke was Ian’s, only then did Seo Daeryong realize that she truly was Ian.
“You really are Martial Artist Yi!”
For one final confirmation, Seo Daeryong looked at Geom Mugeuk. Geom Mugeuk nodded once, confirming it.
“What was that you said? Lecher Pavilion Lord? Mad for women?”
“Ahhh! I’m sorry!”
Geom Mugeuk smiled at him, who was still bewildered.
“No. You did well. You scored a mountain of points with Ian today.”
At that, Ian said loudly,
“Today’s drinks are on me to the very end.”
“Uwaaaah! Excellent.”
Ian looked at Geom Mugeuk and said,
“May we go drinking? With Palace Lord Jang as well.”
How difficult the Divine Poison Purification Art had been, and how wonderful and fun the journey had been—her face openly showed that she was dying to talk about it all, making Geom Mugeuk smile on his own.
“Drink to your heart’s content today!”
Watching Ian and Seo Daeryong’s excited backs as they left, Geom Mugeuk slowly turned his steps toward the Heavenly Demon Hall.
* * *
The Heavenly Demon Hall was unchanged.
Beyond the Path of Blood, Father sat. I slowly walked over the red carpet to where Father was.
Seeing Father again made me so happy. Who would have thought that his blunt expression and gaze would feel this welcome?
“Father, have you been well in the meantime? I thought I would die without seeing you again.”
I gave Father a deep bow.
“You look as though you have returned from fighting a war.”
“I fought a great war.”
“That is what happens when you needlessly meddle in the affairs of the Evil Dao Alliance.”
“It was not needless. At the very least, I judged that Bi Sain would be easier for us to control than Seok Gwanchu’s grandson.”
Under normal circumstances, it would have been more accurate to say he was a better person, but I said easier to control. Father extremely disliked and guarded against hasty evaluations of people.
“It would have been more advantageous for us if Seok Gwanchu’s grandson became the successor.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that one is far greedier.”
“Wouldn’t the murim become even more chaotic instead?”
“What does that have to do with us?”
I know those words are sincere. After all, the more chaotic the murim became, the more powerfully our cult had exerted its strength.
Father. Even so, surely we cannot continue to grow by feeding on blood forever.
“Why did you not return at once? Were you not concerned about your elder brother taking control of the Demon Supremes?”
“I was concerned.”
“Then why?”
“I never intended to make all the Demon Supremes my people.”
“Why?”
“Because then my brother would be driven into a corner.”
“!”
“If that happens, my brother will ultimately make the worst choice, one that cannot be undone. A choice I would not be able to overlook. I told you, did I not, that the bloodshed in the struggle for succession would stop with my generation?”
Father could not hide his surprise.
“You would leave him a breathing space for that reason? Did you truly think that far?”
“I have to. When I think of how great and tremendous the things I gain by fighting are, I must think deeper and farther than that. I will fight while using my head, making sure to boast of it to you like this as well, Father.”
Father silently gazed at me. I also quietly looked back at Father.
“I would like to ask one thing as well.”
“What is it?”
“When Seok Gwanchu or his master Baek Manggi moved, were you worried about me even a little?”
“I was not.”
“Why not? Did you trust me that much?”
“I did not trust you. I trusted Geugak.”
“You trusted Geugak Soma?”
“Yes. If he was by your side, it must have been because he judged that it was certainly a fight worth taking. I trusted Geugak’s judgment.”
“From now on, please trust your son a little.”
“If I had used you as the standard at the time, our cult would have had to march out to rescue you.”
“Ah! When will I become a trusted son?”
At my exaggerated words, Father still wore an expression that said I was nowhere close. I thought that perhaps even if I became an immortal and ascended to the heavens, Father might look at me with that same expression. And as he watched me rise into the sky, he would say, Do not trust immortals!
“Go and rest.”
“Then I will take my leave.”
I turned to leave, and from behind me, Father spoke.
“You have returned well.”
The moment I heard those words, my chest tightened. It was a short phrase, but more than any other words, they were the ones I had wanted to hear from Father.
I turned back toward Father and silently bowed my head.
Thank you, Father, truly, for steadfastly holding your place there.
After leaving the Heavenly Demon Hall like that, I set off toward the place where the person I had wanted to see most after Father was.