As the drinking party neared its end, Geom Mugeuk was acting as though he and Yang Seok were old friends.
“Young Master Yang, come with me to the Central Plains.”
“I would be delighted. Please broaden my terribly narrow horizons.”
If they drank just a little more, they looked ready to start calling each other sworn brothers.
Throughout the drinking party, Han Seol tried hard to play her role faithfully. She sympathized with Yang Seok, and from time to time took his side. It was meant to seem like she was trying to understand him, but in the end, it became an opportunity to learn about herself.
So this is the kind of person I am.
She could say things she did not mean, lie without trembling, and in the midst of it all, observe what intention Geom Mugeuk had in saying such things. She had thought herself a truly cold person, but she realized there was another side to her as well.
Until now, she had looked into herself alone. Naturally, she had reached her conclusions alone too.
This is who I am.
But the conclusion she had reached then and the one she had learned today were clearly different.
Perhaps coming to know oneself was not a conclusion reached by gazing into a mirror alone. Wasn’t the moment one discovered one’s true self when one saw what form one took among other people?
As Han Seol was thinking such thoughts, her eyes met Geom Mugeuk’s.
“Young Palace Lord, you should return now.”
“What about you, Young Cult Leader?”
“I should drink with Young Master Yang all night long.”
The moment he heard those words, Yang Seok was overwhelmed by Geom Mugeuk’s presence.
He really is no ordinary man.
Right now, at least the Young Palace Lord of the Ice Palace was with him, but what exactly was he trusting in to say he would drink here alone, without a single subordinate? What if poison was mixed in? What if he was ambushed while drunk? Did it not mean he was confident he could handle all of that?
Yes, that’s how it should be. He has to be at least this much for me to cut everything down with this blade.
Yang Seok spoke politely.
“We have drunk a great deal today, so how about we drink again another time?”
Yang Seok, who was trying to restrain him, was also very drunk. He thought he was not drunk, but in Han Seol’s eyes, he was completely intoxicated. He was merely so excited by the fact that he was with the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult that he did not realize how drunk he was.
“Another time? We’re only getting started.”
To Geom Mugeuk, who was expressing his regret, Yang Seok wanted to shout, Are you the Drunken Demon?
“I will arrange another gathering.”
“Ah, what a pity. Very well. Let us meet again soon.”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been about to leave after saying farewell, turned back and said,
“Ah, and if you find the Extreme Cold Body, be sure to contact me.”
“Of course.”
Geom Mugeuk left the Northern Blood Sect together with Han Seol.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been laughing and chatting lightly at the drinking party, had returned to a calm demeanor as if none of that had ever happened.
“Were you really thinking of drinking all night?”
At Han Seol’s question, Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“Of course not. Drinking is only enjoyable when you drink with good company. I nearly died of frustration.”
She had thought as much. She had only asked because his acting had been too good.
“I never had any intention of sending you away alone.”
“Really?”
“In the current situation, when we don’t know how the enemy will act, how could I leave you alone? From now on, you must never move alone. I even told Ian, who is in the Ice Palace, to stay close to the Drunken Demon.”
Until this matter was over, Geom Mugeuk would not let his guard down. Because their opponent was the Blood King, they had to be even more tense.
“To think you would worry about the daughter of the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s Palace Lord while in the Northern Sea.”
“The Palace Lord of that Northern Sea Ice Palace even had his daughter wear protective armor.”
She could not refute that.
In any case, walking together with Geom Mugeuk somehow made her feel reassured.
Today, she had clearly seen from beside him how Geom Mugeuk handled Yang Seok. The important thing was not that he had deceived him. The important thing was that he had made Yang Seok believe he was using Geom Mugeuk.
Han Seol stopped walking. Geom Mugeuk stopped along with her.
Their gazes intertwined beneath the moonlight.
“The more I see of you, the more frightening you are.”
She was not joking.
She had never imagined she would say such a thing to someone. Even if she had felt such fear, she was the type to hide that emotion instead.
She did not know why, but with Geom Mugeuk, she became honest.
Geom Mugeuk smiled and said,
“Isn’t it only natural that I should be frightening? I am the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”
Seeing a faint smile form on Han Seol’s lips as well, Geom Mugeuk continued.
“I have to be frightening. Think about the enemies we are facing. To find the constitution they wanted, they gathered people, experimented on them, and then killed them. They use the Self-Destruction Art without hesitation, and they even kill their own blood kin. If I were not frightening, how could I face such people?”
Even while laughing, chatting, and drinking, this man had been thinking such things. When she thought that, Han Seol once again felt that Geom Mugeuk was more frightening than the enemy. Because it seemed preferable to face those enemies rather than face Geom Mugeuk.
“If he finds the Extreme Cold Body, will he contact you?”
Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“He will absolutely not contact me. He will think the Extreme Cold Body is the one and only move that can protect him. He will also be hoping that it might make him stronger.”
“Then why did you keep mentioning the Extreme Cold Body?”
“Because it is an important card for us as well.”
Geom Mugeuk had anticipated how Yang Seok would move.
“His desire to survive will guide us to the Extreme Cold Body.”
* * *
Early the next morning, Yang Seok headed to the Sect Master’s Hall.
He was suffering from a hangover after drinking too much, but the thought of meeting his father had his nerves on edge.
I must steal away the Extreme Cold Body no matter what.
He did not know why his father wanted the Extreme Cold Body so desperately, but he had to secure it unconditionally for now. He could not hand it over to Geom Mugeuk either. The Extreme Cold Body would become the hidden card that would protect him.
Yang Seok entered the Sect Master’s Hall.
His father was seated on the grand chair ahead.
His heart pounded with a tension he had never felt before. He had never entered this place with such feelings.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
Yang Seok walked up beneath the grand chair and greeted him politely.
Seeing his father made all sorts of thoughts rise within him, and his mouth itched to speak.
Have you truly chosen Ha Gyeol as your successor?
He wanted to ask. He wanted to ask why, even to the point of abandoning his own son, he had made that man his successor.
Normally, he should have asked. He should have been scolded, told, How dare you see me in such a way and misunderstand me like that?
But his father and he were not in a relationship where they could have such a conversation.
Perhaps when an incident occurred and a relationship broke, it was not because of the incident itself. At least in this case, he thought it depended on what kind of relationship it had been until the moment that incident occurred.
“Yesterday, the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult and the Young Palace Lord came to see me, and I drank with them until late.”
Naturally, the Northern Blood Sect Master already knew that.
To be honest, Geom Mugeuk’s visit was not very welcome. In just one more day, the Extreme Cold Body would arrive at the Northern Blood Sect. After tomorrow passed, not only his own fate but the fate of the Northern Sea would change. Once tomorrow passed.
“How was he?”
“As the rumors say, he was an extraordinary figure.”
“Why did he come?”
Yang Seok did not tell the truth.
“He spoke about Elder Seo. He seemed to suspect that there might be something connected to us.”
Inwardly, the Northern Blood Sect Master was actually pleased by Seo Nak’s death. The two people the Blood Men had joined hands with were himself and Seo Nak. Now that Seo Nak was dead, his own importance had risen even further.
Like the martial world beyond the borders, the Northern Sea’s martial world was extremely conservative.
For someone new to establish themselves without the help of existing powers was several times more difficult than in the Central Plains. Moreover, neither the Demonic Cult nor the Martial Alliance would simply sit back and watch a new power grow. Therefore, Seo Nak’s death was an opportunity for the Northern Blood Sect Master.
Yang Seok cautiously asked the Northern Blood Sect Master,
“By the way, have you found the Extreme Cold Body?”
“Not yet.”
At that moment, Yang Seok was deeply disappointed on two counts.
First, his father had lied. He already knew that his father had discovered the Extreme Cold Body and was escorting it here.
Second, that lie had come out without the slightest hesitation. That disappointed him even more than the fact that his father had lied to him.
Do not resent me later.
Yang Seok concluded that his father had abandoned him. It was the moment when the tower of distrust Geom Mugeuk had built late into the previous night was completed.
Because of that, Yang Seok actually felt relieved. There was no need to think in a complicated way anymore. All that remained now was to fight and survive.
“Do not get involved with the Young Cult Leader if you can avoid it. Nothing good will come of entangling yourself with him.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Yang Seok bowed politely and turned to leave.
Today, his father should have told him the truth. The Extreme Cold Body is on its way here now, so we must make full preparations. I am only telling you now, but the Extreme Cold Body will be used for such and such a purpose. I am sorry for telling you so late.
You should not have done this to me, Father.
In that way, Yang Seok steadily piled up justifications for the betrayal to come.
* * *
The next day, a single carriage was racing toward the Northern Blood Sect.
Around the carriage driven by a coachman with cold eyes, two martial artists followed on horseback. They had run without rest, changing horses from time to time along the way. Now, their destination, the Northern Blood Sect, was less than a hundred li away.
The speeding carriage slowed. A tree had fallen and was blocking the road.
The carriage slowly came to a stop, and the three martial artists, including the coachman, surveyed their surroundings tensely.
The martial artist on the driver’s seat, who was in charge of this escort, warned the two martial artists.
“Prepare for an ambush.”
Swish! Swish!
At that moment, even though they had prepared for an ambush, an attack they could not avoid came flying in. A man who had been hiding behind a rock on the other side sprang up and launched a surprise attack.
The two martial artists could not dodge the hidden weapons that flew in at high speed. They twisted and collapsed.
The one who had launched the surprise attack was none other than Yang Seok. In his hand was Seven-Step Certain Kill, a forbidden hidden weapon whose use was banned in the murim. It was known as a hidden weapon that, if launched within seven steps, would certainly kill the opponent.
Before he knew it, the martial artist from the driver’s seat was rushing toward Yang Seok and slashing with his sword.
Because Yang Seok was late in launching his hidden weapon, he met him with his sword.
A battle broke out between the two. The martial artist from the driver’s seat was an expert, but not enough to handle the successor of the Northern Blood Sect.
Before even twenty exchanges had passed, the martial artist instinctively realized that he could not defeat Yang Seok. He did not hesitate in making his final decision.
The martial artist’s face flushed red. When he tried to use the Self-Destruction Art right in front of him in the middle of the fight, Yang Seok was greatly flustered.
Should I dodge? Should I block it? The very moment he hesitated—
Crack!
The martial artist’s face was smashed apart, and he collapsed on the spot. Before he could unleash the Self-Destruction Art, someone had sent out a blast of ganggi and killed him.
Startled, Yang Seok turned around. Ha Gyeol was standing there.
“You!”
Yang Seok was shocked. He had never expected him to appear here.
“Now I have finally done my job as a guard.”
But Ha Gyeol had not killed the subordinate who was about to use the Self-Destruction Art for Yang Seok’s sake. It was because Yang Seok could not be killed yet. If they were to continue using the Northern Blood Sect Master, they had to keep the son, who could become his weakness, alive.
“How did you get here?”
“Why, I am Young Master Yang’s guard, am I not? Wherever Young Master Yang goes, I must go.”
“Enough nonsense!”
Now the smile vanished from Ha Gyeol’s face.
“Young Master Yang, how did you know the carriage would come this way?”
“That is what I should be asking.”
Yang Seok could tell.
The dead men were his subordinates.
If not, there was no way Ha Gyeol would have appeared here. He used people who employed the Self-Destruction Art as his subordinates? Just who are you?
Ha Gyeol, on the other hand, had a different question. How had Yang Seok found this place?
When the news that the Extreme Cold Body had been found came in, the escort mission had been assigned in haste, but even so, the three who had died were people Ha Gyeol trusted.
He had used them to escort the Extreme Cold Body in true secrecy, yet Yang Seok had discovered that they would pass through this place at this time.
Ha Gyeol wondered if there might be a traitor within their ranks.
But Yang Seok had learned the carriage’s route by an unexpected method.
“As you know, my younger brother and I were in charge of searching for the Extreme Cold Body for a long time. What we focused on then was creating the shortest transport routes from various places in the Central Plains to the Northern Sea.”
They had to gather people, bring them to the Northern Sea, and experiment on them. Experiment and discard, then experiment again. The experiments themselves were over in a few days, but bringing the subjects took far too long.
“This time, you used your own people, but you used the transport routes we created. You ran along the routes we made and changed horses at the stables prepared in each region.”
Only then did Ha Gyeol understand. He had figured out which route they were taking through the records of horse changes. They had used them because they had to arrive as early as possible, but Ha Gyeol had not expected him to notice that.
“You are smarter than I thought.”
“If I were smart, I would have gotten rid of you long ago.”
Ha Gyeol laughed as if it were absurd. That is something even your father cannot do.
“Because of this matter, Young Master Yang will receive a severe reprimand from the Sect Master.”
Yang Seok aimed his sword at him and said,
“You will be the one who caused this matter.”
He thought this was actually for the best. He intended to make it look as though Ha Gyeol and these escorting martial artists had fought and both sides had been grievously wounded. Of course, he thought that only because he did not know Ha Gyeol’s hidden martial prowess.
“Before that, let us see just what kind of person possesses the Extreme Cold Body.”
As Yang Seok tried to walk toward the carriage, Ha Gyeol warned him in a low voice.
“If you open that door, you will die by my hand.”
A cold energy flowed from Ha Gyeol’s body.
Yang Seok also raised his aura and turned toward him. As Ha Gyeol began to reveal the true face he had been hiding, that presence was extraordinary.
He had not even revealed a quarter of his aura, yet Yang Seok was already being suppressed by it. Then again, if he had been an ordinary man, his father would not have chosen him.
Shocked by his ability, Yang Seok once again felt that his father had abandoned him.
This man must die by the Young Cult Leader’s hand.
Should he throw down his sword even now? Judging from the fact that Ha Gyeol had saved him earlier, it did not seem like he intended to kill him.
Just as the two were confronting each other, it happened.
Fog began to thicken around them. They thought it was something that sometimes occurred early in the morning.
Ha Gyeol caught a scent within the fog.
“The smell of alcohol?”
Yang Seok also smelled the alcohol imbued in the fog. Realizing that it was not fog but alcohol qi, Ha Gyeol shouted,
“It’s the Drunken Demon!”
Ha Gyeol’s gaze turned toward the carriage. Before he knew it, the carriage was enveloped in the fog.
“Protect the carriage!”
At Ha Gyeol’s shout, Yang Seok drew his sword and launched himself toward the carriage.
It was then.
Whooooosh.
The fog that had wrapped around the carriage scattered and vanished along with the wind that blew through.
With his sword aimed forward, Yang Seok cautiously opened the carriage door. When he checked inside, his heart sank. A person was sitting there, leaning back against the seat, and it was someone he truly had never expected.
Geom Mugeuk stared straight at Yang Seok and said,
“I told you to contact me if you found it, didn’t I?”