The Ice Palace Mistress stood by the window.
She was looking far off, in the direction of Geom Mugeuk and Chwima’s residence.
She had received the report that the battle had begun there quite some time ago, yet no report had come up saying it was over.
She wanted to run there at once, but the Ice Palace Mistress forced herself to remain calm.
Below the Palace Mistress’s Hall outside the window, the North Wind Unit, the elite organization directly under the Palace Mistress, was standing by. Not only they, but the various organizations and masters of the Ice Palace were waiting at their assigned locations.
Originally, this was something all of them should have gone to fight.
—Let the monsters be caught by the devils.
Were they catching them properly? Surely they were not being devoured by the monsters instead?
If that happened?
The king of devils who had lost his child would come here for revenge. At that time, perhaps no one would be able to stop him.
Han Seol silently watched the Ice Palace Mistress. Though her figure remained the same as she looked out the window, her mother now was different from usual.
For one thing, her clothes were different. She was dressed in martial attire easy to move in, and on her arm she wore even an artifact she did not usually wear. Beneath her sleeve, the Great Ice Ring, a bracelet that raised the power of ice arts to the extreme, could be seen.
She was truly in a state where, if anything happened, she was ready to rush out to fight at once.
Han Seol’s gaze, which had been on the Ice Palace Mistress, turned toward Ian. Unlike her mother, from whom a sense of urgency could be felt, this side was peace itself.
Ian was reading a book. It was a book that had been on the bookshelf in the Palace Mistress’s Hall. She had asked permission to read it and was sitting there reading. This was the first time Han Seol had seen anyone read a book here. She had thought the books on the shelf were merely for decoration as well.
‘What kind of book is she reading?’
Han Seol walked over and sat down in front of Ian.
Then Ian took her eyes off the book and looked at Han Seol.
“There is a Demon Venerable who loves books. He has read all sorts of books, so there’s nothing he doesn’t know. He always says this: if you want to be good at martial arts, you have to read many books.”
“Do you mean martial arts manuals?”
“No. He says to read without discrimination.”
As she said that, she showed the cover of the book she was reading. Truly out of nowhere, it was a book about house-building in the northern region.
“That helps with martial arts?”
“Who knows? While running away, I might find a place to hide somewhere in a house built in this way.”
Han Seol’s face showed that she could not understand.
“Do I look too carefree? When the Young Cult Master is fighting?”
This time as well, Han Seol nodded honestly. If it were her, she felt the book would not even enter her eyes.
“If the Young Cult Master dies, I can just follow him in death.”
When Han Seol stared at her with wide eyes, Ian said with a smile,
“It’s a joke, a joke. I should take revenge first, then follow him in death.”
Ian smiled at Han Seol, who still said nothing.
“That was a joke too.”
“It isn’t funny.”
It was not a situation for jokes, but Ian was trying hard to keep her heart at ease.
On the outside, she seemed peaceful and carefree, but right now a storm was raging in her heart.
If she did not at least read a book, her heart would pound so hard she could not endure it, and in her mind, the sight of Geom Mugeuk being killed by the enemy kept surfacing.
A scene kept unfolding where if she simply threw herself in and helped for just one move, he could live.
‘Yes, this is a side effect of serving as a bodyguard for too long.’
In the past, when Geom Mugeuk had left the cult alone and returned, she had simply thought vaguely that he would surely come back safely. But being close by together made her worry a hundred times more.
‘Young Master has been fighting battles like this all along.’
Then Han Seol asked,
“Would you like some tea?”
“Yes. I’ll prepare it.”
“No, keep reading.”
Han Seol went and began brewing tea.
Feeling uncomfortable just sitting there, Ian walked over beside her. Just as she was looking around to see if there was anything she could help with, her gaze went to the tea set that had been placed there.
On the white teacups, two birds were drawn in flight, and their appearance was distinctive.
“Why are you looking at it like that?”
“The birds engraved on this teacup… I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere.”
Han Seol glanced at the Ice Palace Mistress standing by the window, then said to Ian again,
“That can’t be.”
She meant that it was an original pattern, but Ian still tilted her head.
“I’m sure I saw it.”
The Ice Palace Mistress turned her head toward Ian. A strange light passed through her eyes.
It was just then.
A subordinate hurried up and reported.
“The battle is over.”
* * *
When the three women, who had rushed over urgently, arrived at the residence where the fight had taken place, they were left speechless.
It was a sea of blood. Dozens of corpses were strewn everywhere, and the fishy smell of blood was so strong they wanted to block their noses.
At the center of that sea of blood were two people.
Chwima lay on the blood, and Geom Mugeuk was leaning against a broken stone lantern, looking up at the sky.
The moment Ian saw that sight, her heart dropped.
She thought Chwima, lying on the blood, was dead.
But the sound of snoring reached her ears. The resounding noise was saying, “I’m safe, so don’t worry.”
Seeing the three of them, Geom Mugeuk made a shushing gesture. It meant he did not want to wake Chwima, who was asleep.
Geom Mugeuk had also experienced the same condition as Chwima many times. When sleep poured over you after fighting with all your strength. At times like this, you had to sleep. Following what the body desperately wanted—that was the best treatment. Trust the body of a master.
Seeing this place in person, the Ice Palace Mistress once again felt just how grave this battle had been.
If a Demon Venerable had fought until he ended up in that state, she could understand how strong the enemy must have been.
She examined a corpse nearby.
These were the Blood King’s subordinates who had died by Geom Mugeuk’s hand.
Just from their trained bodies, she could guess the realm of their martial arts. They were masters. If they had learned the Self-Destruction Art as well, truly many warriors of the Ice Palace would have been sacrificed.
All their vital acupoints had been cut by a sword.
‘He severed all their blood vessels before they could use the Self-Destruction Art.’
Just by looking at the cause of death, she could tell how remarkable Geom Mugeuk’s martial realm was.
Lastly, the Ice Palace Mistress looked at Chwima again.
Was it because he was lying in the blood?
She felt even sorrier toward him. If not for him, countless warriors of the Ice Palace would have been submerged in that blood.
“Let us go back.”
Following the Ice Palace Mistress, Ian and Han Seol turned around.
Before Ian turned away, Geom Mugeuk waved at her first with a bright expression that said, I’m all right.
At that wave and smile, the storm that had been raging in Ian’s heart stopped.
She too smiled brightly, then turned around.
It is not difficult to like someone. What is truly difficult is making effort and struggling so as not to lose the person you like, or the feelings of affection you hold for them.
Because happiness must suffer the challenge of the anxiety that it may shatter at any time. Because the storm blowing in the heart does not cease even when morning comes the next day.
* * *
Chwima opened his eyes at the cold sensation he felt on his cheek.
What had fallen on his cheek was snow.
Snow was falling from the darkening sky.
When he turned his head and looked to the side, Geom Mugeuk was looking up at the snowy sky.
“You awake?”
“How long did I sleep?”
“About three sichen.”
“My mouth didn’t freeze crooked, did it? In this cold place…”
Chwima stopped speaking. It was not cold. The blood-soaked ground and the surroundings were warm.
Chwima could tell. Geom Mugeuk had warmed the surroundings with his yang heat qi.
Chwima tried to raise himself and screamed.
“Aigoo! It hurts. It hurts so much.”
“Want some liquor?”
“No. My head feels like it’s going to split.”
He had drunk so much throughout the fight that the hangover was tremendous.
“If I drink again…”
“You’re my little brother!”
“That’s right. If I drink again, I’m your little brother. Ah, my head hurts so much it feels like it’ll burst.”
Chwima, who had been clutching his head, happened to look down at the ground.
“Aaagh! What’s with all this blood? Is it that bastard’s blood? Don’t tell me you left me lying here?”
“You don’t remember a thing, do you?”
“Ugh, the smell of blood is awful.”
“You were lying there earlier and even smiling.”
“Are you drunk too?”
Then he saw the soles of his feet and was startled.
“My feet! What’s wrong with my feet now?”
Broken liquor bottles were embedded in the soles of his feet. He had fought drunk without even realizing his feet were being torn up.
Chwima pulled out the broken bottle shards stuck in his soles.
“Uuuuugh, it hurts. You could’ve pulled these out while I was drunk.”
“If I was going to do that, I would’ve pulled out the thing stuck in your shoulder first.”
At that, the startled Chwima looked at his own shoulder.
“Aaagh! What’s this now?”
Only then did he see the sharp fragment of a sword lodged in his shoulder.
“When did this get stuck in me?”
“There’s one in the other arm too.”
“Call a doctor! Hurry and tell a doctor to come! The Demon Venerable is in pain!”
Chwima shouted with exaggerated fuss.
As if Geom Mugeuk would have simply left him lying there for several sichen. He had confirmed that the external wounds had not reached the bone, and had secretly sent true qi into his body to examine the inside as well. After confirming, fortunately, that he had suffered no internal injury, he had left him to sleep.
“For a martial artist, wounds are something to boast of.”
“These wounds aren’t even worth boasting about.”
Chwima looked down at the blood still pooling thickly on the ground.
“On the outside, he was a handsome, impressive fellow, but inside, he was worthless. The bastard himself hadn’t actually learned the Self-Destruction Art.”
Geom Mugeuk was surprised by that fact as well.
Before his regression, he had not known much about the Blood King. He had only known the cruel deeds committed by his subordinates.
“If he weren’t worthless, he wouldn’t have implanted the Self-Destruction Art in his subordinates in the first place.”
As if he agreed, Chwima nodded.
The snow began falling heavier and heavier. For a moment, the two of them looked up at the snow falling from the sky that had begun to darken.
“Now the Manor Lord will be able to close his eyes in peace.”
What had begun with the Manor Lord not sending liquor had come this far. It had begun with Chwima and ended with Chwima.
And at the center of that incident had been included the most important matter Geom Mugeuk had to resolve.
Fate was flowing onward, entangled together with the people around him like this.
“Before we go back, let’s have a drink at the peak of the snowy mountain.”
At Chwima’s words, Geom Mugeuk smiled and said,
“Sure thing, little brother.”
* * *
Chwima washed, ate, and fell asleep again.
The most skilled physician in the Northern Sea Ice Palace came and examined Chwima before leaving. He also prescribed medicine that would help his body recover quickly.
While Chwima was resting like that, Geom Mugeuk was meeting with the Ice Palace Mistress.
“You have suffered greatly.”
“Not at all. I am truly grateful that you yielded and allowed us to handle it.”
She could roughly guess, but this was what the Ice Palace Mistress was curious about.
“Did you learn what that man’s objective was?”
“The battle was too urgent, so I did not hear it directly, but I suspect he was trying to use the Extreme Cold Physique to neutralize Your Palace Mistress’s martial arts.”
Geom Mugeuk added one more conjecture.
“He searched for an Extreme Cold Physique for a long time. If his goal had merely been to harm Your Palace Mistress, he would have used the Self-Destruction Art far more actively. I expect there must have been another reason he needed an Extreme Cold Physique. Does anything come to mind?”
The moment she heard those words, the Ice Palace Mistress thought of one reason. Even so, she did not answer at once because it was not something to be revealed lightly to outsiders.
If it were anyone else, she would never have told them, but at least Geom Mugeuk should be made an exception.
“It seems he was aiming for the Ice Palace Treasury.”
The Ice Palace Treasury was a place one could enter only by mastering the secret martial arts passed down to the Palace Mistress of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, or by possessing the Extreme Cold Physique.
“An ordinary person could never withstand the cold there.”
“Then it seems certain he was aiming for the Ice Palace Treasury.”
Now that even his concrete objective had been revealed like this, the Ice Palace Mistress’s heart turned cold.
She deeply regretted not killing him herself.
At the same time, this thought occurred to her.
What if Geom Mugeuk and Chwima had not come to the Northern Sea? What if they had not killed Elder Seo and spirited away the Extreme Cold Physique? What if they had not uncovered the fact that the Northern Blood Sect had joined hands with them?
Would they truly have been able to withstand this conspiracy?
An answer filled with certainty that they could have stopped it did not come easily.
If they had not stopped it? She and Han Seol would have met death, and the Northern Sea Ice Palace would have been taken from them.
That was why there was nothing she would begrudge Geom Mugeuk.
“Is there anything you want? If there is, I will grant anything.”
After pondering for a moment, Geom Mugeuk said,
“There is one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Please allow me to choose one treasure from the Ice Palace Treasury and take it.”
It was an unexpected request.
“What is it you want? Tell me, and I will take it out for you. Whether it is a spiritual medicine or a treasured sword, tell me anything.”
“No. I want to go in and see it myself.”
It was because of the secret chest. At the Pungcheon Cult, he had obtained the black crystal, and at the Evil Dao Alliance, he had obtained the blue crystal. Perhaps he could obtain something related here as well—that was his expectation. If not now, it would be an opportunity difficult to gain again.
“Did I not say earlier? If you do not have the Extreme Cold Physique, you cannot enter.”
Geom Mugeuk said with an inscrutable smile,
“I am strong against the cold.”
Because she did not think Geom Mugeuk was someone who would joke about something like this, the Ice Palace Mistress asked cautiously,
“Are you perhaps also an Extreme Cold Physique?”
“I am not.”
“Then you cannot go there. Absolutely.”
Though she attached the word absolutely, Geom Mugeuk spoke confidently.
“Why not trust me once?”
Could there perhaps be a demonic art that warded off cold? Even so, it should not be able to block that cold.
“I am someone who even endured my father’s cold and frosty paternal affection.”
“This is not the time for jokes. You may die on the way.”
The Ice Palace Mistress was certain that Geom Mugeuk absolutely could not go there. Still, it was a request from the man who had saved the Ice Palace. Also, she was curious why he insisted on going there. And she wanted to coldly break this childish stubbornness as well.
“Let us go. I will hear your regret and reflection after I bring you back to life.”
Following after her, Geom Mugeuk said,
“Doesn’t everyone who comes to the Northern Sea experience their heart freezing solid and stopping at least once?”