I didn't simply leave Wind Valley.
How hard had I struggled to get here—as if I'd just up and leave?
First, I scoured the interior of the valley. Never before had I been to a place so thoroughly cut off from the outside world.
If I made this place my safe haven, it would be perfect. Never mind secrecy; even if an enemy knew I was here, this was a place they could never enter.
Of course, to bring people I needed to protect inside, I would need far more internal energy than I had now.
I resolved that once I reached a realm where I could enter this place with ease, I would build a villa here.
There was something I absolutely had to do before leaving.
I immediately unfolded the Spacetime Displacement Technique.
I planned to perform the Nine Transformations Demonic Art once before departing. To break through this place, I had used all my latent potential. In that process, I had gained enlightenment, and I wanted to verify that achievement.
Though there was no one here, the reason I deployed the Spacetime Displacement Technique was partly to protect this place's interior, but mainly because I needed to perform the Temporal Heaven Secret Art. To me, internal energy was time, and time was the lives of me and those around me.
Within the Spacetime Displacement Technique, I performed the Nine Transformations Demonic Art. I earnestly went through its forms from the beginning to those I had mastered.
First Form: Annihilation.
Saaaaaaahk!
To an enemy, it would be utterly horrifying and terrifying, but to me, it was an all too familiar sight—the illusory figures of four evil ghosts appearing simultaneously in the east, west, south, and north, swinging their swords.
Swhack! Swhack! Swhack! Swhack!
And today's Annihilation Form was different from before.
In my previous attainment, the four evil ghosts of the cardinal directions had grown faster and stronger; today, there was a change on a different level.
They did not vanish immediately. Instead, they looked at one another. The fearsome one gazed at the handsome one, and the mysterious one exchanged glances with the clever-looking one.
Until now, I had only sensed instinct from them, but today, for the first time, I felt reason and emotion.
Truly, it lasted only an instant, but it felt like the four of them were muttering among themselves!
That feeling was unmistakable.
Before vanishing, the clever-looking one among them glanced at me. I could clearly sense reluctance to part in its eyes.
Just before the four evil ghosts of the cardinal directions disappeared completely, I spoke to them.
"Greetings."
They vanished silently, so in the end it was just a soliloquy, but it was the first greeting I had ever offered them. It felt like taking yet another step closer to the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Next, I performed the Second Form: Grand Annihilation. One look at the Grand Annihilation Form made it clear that my realm in the Nine Transformations Demonic Art had risen.
Sssssssssss.
Originally, the fearsome evil ghost at the center of the four directions split into eight, but now two more had been added, splitting into ten.
Kwaaaaaaak!
The ten evil ghosts swept forward, obliterating everything before them. No matter when I performed it, Grand Annihilation was always spectacularly fierce.
Third Form: Great Demon Wall.
What else would it be but a wall of fierce energy? The Great Demon Wall had grown smaller yet again. The Great Demon Wall congratulated me on my accomplishment by reducing its size.
And then, the Fourth Form.
Dark Flash (暗黑一閃).
Huk!
Darkness descended. A darkness deeper and heavier than before.
Shwiiiing.
A single ray of light streaked across the darkness.
It was faster and more powerful than the previous flash. The darkness had deepened, and the light had brightened.
I had not yet attempted the Fifth Form. Instinctively, I felt that now was not the time to advance, but to consolidate what I had gained.
I considered this achievement a gift from the old man. A gift given to me for working hard and doing well even after my regression. Having broken through the wind to reach this place was also thanks to his guidance.
"I shall continue to do my best going forward."
Striving again and again, so that even if the result turned out wrong, I could still say these words.
Since this had been my best, I had no regrets.
Only at such times could I dream of revenge; yet paradoxically, that very attitude would prevent me from being consumed by vengeance and allow me to live my life fully.
And lastly, when leaving this place, I did not train arduously.
Having endured at the source of the wind with my internal energy pushed to the extreme.
"I'm leaving noooooow!"
I released my hold and let the mad wind carry my body, flying toward the entrance. I flew with sheer exhilaration.
If I ever missed the wind, I would return.
* * *
Hanseol fell into deep thought.
The moment the name Elder Xu came up, she grew grave.
He was the person her mother trusted most and the most respected figure in the Ice Palace.
The quick-witted Ian guessed where her quandary was ultimately pointing.
'She's afraid the Palace Lord might be involved.'
In other words, she couldn't trust her own mother.
At that thought, Ian remembered someone she had forgotten for a long while: a name that made things hard whether present or absent.
Ian controlled her emotions and spoke calmly.
"If he's an important figure in the Ice Palace, I think we need to approach this carefully."
"First, I should meet Elder Xu. I'll go there alone."
"Did you visit him often?"
Hanseol shook her head.
"Then he'll definitely be suspicious."
"What if we say we came out to investigate something specific?"
It would be fortunate if they learned something from that. This was what worried Ian.
"Can you tell if someone is lying? I'm not confident I can, especially when the opponent is an elder."
As if Hanseol would be any better at noticing?
"If Elder Xu is involved in this matter, he'll undoubtedly lie. If we can't detect that lie, we'll only reveal that we're suspicious of him, won't we? Our cards will be exposed before we've even begun to fight in earnest."
She certainly had a point.
"Then what should we do?"
Ian cautiously made a suggestion.
"Let's inform the Young Cult Leader."
Hanseol's expression stiffened slightly. They had found out about Elder Xu through their own efforts—were they giving up already? She wanted to uncover the full truth of this matter through her own strength.
Having guessed her feelings, Ian was all the more careful.
"I think you've already played a major role, Young Palace Lady, simply by finding evidence that Elder Xu is involved."
It was a proposal she would never have accepted under normal circumstances.
"Do you believe the Young Cult Leader will have a clever plan?"
"Yes, I do."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because he has shown us plenty until now."
Hanseol pondered briefly.
"Fine, let's return for now."
Since it involved Elder Xu, she had to handle it with care. She also wanted to see firsthand what abilities the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult possessed.
They returned to their quarters in high spirits and asked Chwima where Geommugeuk was.
"The Young Cult Leader has gone out."
At a time like this, he could have stayed. They had come back thinking, "Just trust our Young Cult Leader," yet here he was, gone again at this crucial moment.
Ian hid those thoughts and smiled.
"He must have gone to take care of something important."
Then Chwima, in a playful mood, said something entirely unnecessary.
"He said he was going to prepare for the cold, didn't he?"
"Pardon?"
"That's all he said before leaving."
"Did he go to buy clothes or something?"
Even as she said it, Ian realized how flimsy her own response sounded.
Ian let out a sigh and looked at Hanseol.
"Shall we go meet Elder Xu right now?"
Hanseol laughed at Ian's joke.
"Huh? You just laughed."
Hanseol said with a straight face,
"I suppose scoffs count as laughter?"
Just then, someone spoke from behind them.
"A scoff is laughter too. Indeed, I know the most magnificent scoff in the world."
They turned to see Geommugeuk entering.
Ian shouted delightedly.
"Young Cult Leader! Where have you been?"
"I went out for some air."
He had truly gotten enough air for a lifetime.
* * *
Half a shichen later, visitors arrived at Elder Xu's residence.
"The Young Palace Lady has come with the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult."
Despite the unannounced visit, Xu Luo was not surprised.
"Show them in at once."
Shortly after, Geommugeuk and Hanseol entered the main hall.
"This is our first meeting. I am Geommugeuk."
"So I finally meet the protagonist of the rumors that shook the Central Plains."
The two exchanged formal greetings.
Xu Luo possessed a benevolent smile, noble speech, and dignified bearing. He had such a warm air about him that it seemed he would forgive any wrongdoing with gentle words.
Indeed, he was a man widely respected not only within the Ice Palace but among the martial artists of the North Sea.
"I heard you are investigating the death of the Lord of Baekju Seolwon?"
"Yes, with the Palace Lord's permission. Since I am a junior of the martial world before I am a Young Cult Leader, please treat me comfortably."
Geommugeuk put on a relaxed smile, just like Xu Luo. The meeting was off to a good start.
"He was a man to be regretted."
"Have you ever had a drink with the Lord?"
At Geommugeuk's casually thrown question, Hanseol tensed instead. The testimonies from Baekju Seolwon had stated the two had shared drinks several times. Would he tell the truth?
"We've had a few drinks. But it was mostly talk of wine; I did not know the Lord well."
Xu Luo did not hide the facts.
"What do you think of the Lord's death?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Do you think there is anyone who might hold a grudge against him?"
Xu Luo held his answer briefly.
"Could it be you've come to investigate me?"
"Is that not allowed?"
At the provocative retort, a momentary, taut tension filled the air. Soon, Geommugeuk smiled and eased the tension.
"A jest. Just a jest. I said I should investigate those around the Lord, and the Young Palace Lady here agreed. Among those around him, the most trustworthy is the Palace Lord, and the next is you, Elder Xu. So I came to see you first—to remove you from the list of suspects early on."
Xu Luo smiled kindly and looked at Hanseol.
"Thank you for thinking of me that way."
"Not at all."
Hanseol slightly bowed her head.
"By the way, you have decorated this main hall splendidly."
Geommugeuk walked over to one wall and examined the display cabinet set before it. All manner of ornaments were placed there.
Meanwhile, Xu Luo looked at Hanseol with his ever-unchanging, benevolent smile.
She had grown up thinking of him as an uncle from a young age. She had heard that her mother had received much help from Elder Xu when she rose to the position of Palace Lord. But now that she was here looking at his face, this thought came to her:
'This isn't the place for this.'
She had heard testimony that the Lord had shared drinks with Elder Xu several times, not that there was evidence Xu Luo had served him the wine.
Originally, she should have been standing by Xu Luo's side, watching Geommugeuk.
'What are Demonic Cult members doing here?' Yet now, alongside the Demonic Cult members, she was suspecting him. How had it come to this?
When she had thought of it vaguely, Elder Xu had seemed suspicious, but now that she saw him smiling at her, she felt sorry for no reason. How different a person's heart could be when seeing someone in person versus not.
"Have you heard the news of the Northern Blood Sect?"
Geommugeuk asked while still examining the items in the display cabinet. Hanseol tried to say something about his rude attitude, but Xu Luo raised his hand to stop her. He had not lost his composure in the slightest.
"What news do you mean?"
"Their second young master lured people into dangerous experiments."
"I haven't heard of it."
"I see."
After a brief pause, Geommugeuk glanced back and asked,
"You don't ask what kind of experiments?"
"Isn't it obvious? That second young master has always been an eccentric one."
"So he is."
Geommugeuk dropped the conversation and touched the ornaments in the cabinet. Hanseol could not sense any of the specialness Ian had spoken of in Geommugeuk. Transcendent? The only thing transcendent about him was his rudeness.
"Is there anything else?"
"No, I came simply to greet you today."
"As expected of the Demonic Cult. Even a simple greeting is enough to put people on edge."
"Why would you be nervous if you've done nothing wrong?"
Hanseol quickly bid farewell.
"We shall take our leave now."
"Come again if you have questions. I shall assist you anytime."
"Thank you."
The two paid their respects and turned to leave. As they walked toward the door with Hanseol, Geommugeuk turned as if he had just remembered something and asked abruptly,
"By the way, what did you use the Fragrant Snow Ice Bead for? Did you go somewhere cold?"
It was Hanseol who was surprised. She hadn't expected Geommugeuk to ask such a question.
Despite the sudden question, Xu Luo was not flustered.
He tilted his head as he answered.
“The Fragrant Snow Ice Pearl? Why ask me about that?”
“Did you not receive it from the Pavilion Master?”
“I never received it.”
His response was so natural that he did not seem to be lying.
“I see.”
After bowing politely, Geom Mugeuk was about to turn away when he looked back once more and asked,
“You’re not asking again? How I knew he gave you the Fragrant Snow Ice Pearl, I mean. Wouldn’t most people be curious? If someone said something about them that wasn’t true.”
“What does that matter? What matters is that I did not receive it.”
Seo Nak did not ask, but Geom Mugeuk told him anyway.
“In the letter the Pavilion Master sent to Lord Chwima, he wrote that he had given the Fragrant Snow Ice Pearl to Elder Seo.”
“I don’t know why the Pavilion Master wrote such a thing, but I have never received the Fragrant Snow Ice Pearl.”
“There must have been some misunderstanding.”
After offering their farewells, the two of them stepped out of the main hall.
Once they had fully left the place behind, Han Seol asked,
“Why did you do that?”
“I was probing him here and there to see if he was lying.”
“You were the one who lied.”
The Pavilion Master had never mentioned Elder Seo to Chwima.
“By lying yourself, did you manage to uncover Elder Seo’s lie?”
Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“I couldn’t tell.”
“Because Elder Seo wasn’t lying.”
“Perhaps not.”
Geom Mugeuk readily admitted it for the sake of what he would say next.
“However, there was one thing that was strange.”
“What was that?”
“After we met him today, there was exactly one moment when Elder Seo became angry. Do you know when?”
“You were so rude so many times that I can’t tell. So? When was it?”
Then an unexpected answer flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s lips.
“When I moved the objects on top of the display cabinet and threw them out of order.”
Han Seol had not noticed that such a thing had happened, nor that Seo Nak had grown angry. Only Geom Mugeuk, who had secretly released his qi throughout the conversation and carefully observed Seo Nak’s emotions, could have known.
“Did you see that display cabinet?”
“No.”
“There wasn’t a single speck of dust, and the objects placed on it were lined up with not an inch out of place. To the point that it felt compulsive.”
“The maidservants must clean it thoroughly.”
“That’s the bigger problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“How frightening must the master be for them to clean it that thoroughly?”
The problem was that it was not a matter of the maidservants.
“If Elder Seo truly had no interest in the display cabinet, he wouldn’t have reacted that way when I disturbed the ornaments.”
Through that incident, Geom Mugeuk had discovered an important fact.
“He has two contradictory sides. A benevolent side that smiles good-naturedly, and a neurotic side that does not permit even the slightest disorder.”
Han Seol was inwardly impressed. What she had failed to recognize despite seeing him for so many years, Geom Mugeuk had grasped in that brief span of time.
Only now did she begin to understand why Ian had said they should inform the Young Cult Leader. Even his rude behavior must have all been calculated.
“Even so, in the end, it’s only his personality, isn’t it?”
She was right. Though the contradictory nature of his personality was unexpected, it was not evidence proving he was behind this matter.
“That’s right. So let’s find out a little more.”
“How?”
That, too, was a method Han Seol had not imagined.
“This time, instead of objects, we’ll shake the people around him.”
Han Seol was seized by a strange tension. Because the first and closest person among those around Seo Nak was someone who, in all her life, had never once shown herself shaken.
‘Can you really shake my mother?’