〈Episode 192〉 Old Hound.
Old Hound. (1)
*Crumble—*
Charred black ashes in the surroundings crumbled and scattered.
It was because the flames, deliberately left uncontrolled, had swept through the surroundings.
"K... kill... meeee..."
At the pitiful words of the last remaining bastard.
I did as he wished.
*Crack.*
The bastard with a broken neck expired on the spot.
He was someone who would have died even if I'd left him alone from the start.
'Is it because I haven't done this in a while? Adjusting isn't easy.'
If it were the past, I would have dragged it out, keeping them from dying while inflicting plenty of pain, but...
Unfortunately, it was too much now.
[...You have created a small purgatory.]
That was the sentiment Shin Noya spat out upon seeing the scorched surroundings.
Purgatory.
'It does feel somewhat similar, I suppose.'
The flames that had not disappeared were burning away the surrounding greenery.
An indescribable smell wafted from the corpses that had burned to death.
One had disappeared, turning to dust as his energy was absorbed.
The remaining five had ended their lives as ash.
Since the bastard I had faced earlier had also turned to dust.
Exactly seven.
'...Just how many of these bastards are there?'
I had thought it wouldn't be just one.
Still, for bastards capable of copying and wearing others' faces and bodies to appear, and two of them at that...
This, too, was something I hadn't known in my previous life.
'So I've taken care of them all for now?'
Since they had been incinerated by flames, it wouldn't have been a comfortable death.
Yet my furrowed forehead showed no signs of smoothing out.
It wasn't due to sentiment for those killed by my hands.
The time to feel such things had long since passed.
'I didn't gain that much.'
This was the reason for my foul mood.
Though there were as many as five mouths I had subdued, there wasn't much information I had properly gained.
Of course, it wasn't that they hadn't opened their mouths.
They simply hadn't spit out the information I wanted.
'Though it's closer to saying they couldn't.'
That damned geumje.
Those who walk the path of stealth definitely carry it on their bodies, but...
It was more complex than I thought, making it impossible to unravel immediately.
'What I found out was that these bastards are indeed affiliated with the Gu Clan.'
They weren't faces I knew when I saw them, but that wasn't important.
There was no way I could know all the martial artists of the Gu Clan, after all.
'However, the unique aura emanating from their bodies was definitely that of the Guseonmun.'
It was the unique internal energy art of Guseonmun that Gu Jeoryeop and the First Elder possessed.
A different aura from the Guyeom Hwaryun Gong that the direct line of the Gu Clan would possess.
This was information I'd obtained when moving on to the third after burning the second.
Since I had expected as much, this wasn't particularly helpful either.
'The other thing is the part about why they were operating with those strange bastards.'
What I had managed to find out was that even they didn't know the details.
They had simply been ordered from above; the only thing was that they believed them to be wearing human skin masks.
'The probability that this is a lie.'
Though not zero, it likely wasn't very high.
I wasn't concerned with why they were doing this to me, a blood relative.
In a situation where I couldn't even trust blood ties, there was no way I would trust and live alongside mere household-affiliated martial artists.
'What's important is that I ultimately failed to obtain proper information.'
I had extracted some necessary information to a degree, but I had ultimately failed to obtain the part I considered most important.
The fact that the First Elder was behind all of this.
'It would have been better if I could have undone the geumje.'
To undo a geumje placed by an opponent, one must be of a higher level than the one who placed it.
And an absurd level of delicacy in manipulating inner qi was required.
At my current level, I shouldn't even think of attempting it.
Perhaps because I'd fought with absurd amounts of inner qi since my previous life.
I was far from delicate to begin with.
'This is something that bastard is good at.'
The mad dog of the martial world who'd shown interest in creating and handling geumje.
It was something a hidden dragon of the martial world might attempt.
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue once and rose to my feet.
At the same time I rose, I recalled the inner qi I had scattered in all directions.
*Huuuk—!*
As a faint wind blew and the inner qi returned to my body, the flames that had been burning the surroundings died down.
Though I hadn't properly obtained an important justification, it didn't matter.
"If I don't have justification, I just need to make it."
What's important is that he ultimately bared his fangs at me.
"I thought I'd given him a fairly clean warning."
How it ends when you bare your fangs at the master of the house—I should have told him clearly before I left.
It seems the old fox didn't understand that.
[Do you intend to eliminate him? That old man?]
I had to contemplate for no short time to answer Noya's question.
"At the very least, I wanted to let him live until the year after next... but if it turns out this way, it can't be helped, can it?"
Whatever he did there, if it had stayed at a cute level, I had been prepared to let it slide appropriately.
If he had gone further and only touched me in the current situation, I might have let that slide too.
'But this goes beyond that level, doesn't it, First Elder.'
Once I saw him touch Namgung Bia, I could no longer overlook it.
[...So, you were going to let it slide roughly, but you cannot let it slide when it touches your wife. Is that what you mean?]
'Why does it become that when I said it's because he touched someone around me?'
[You aren't denying the word 'wife,' you rotten bastard.]
No matter what I said, it was obvious he'd nitpick my words and curse at me, so I decided to just ignore him.
I dusted the dirt off my body and looked around.
'At this level, even demonic beasts wouldn't eat them.'
The charred black pieces of flesh were at a level where even demonic beasts would pass them by without eating.
I reined in the aura I had spread out just in case, and just as I was preparing to hurry back to the campsite.
I sensed a presence from behind.
"Ah."
When I looked, it was Namgung Bia, who had gone down to the campsite first.
She had said she would come back, and it seemed she really had.
I looked at Namgung Bia and spoke bluntly.
"Why'd you come. I was just about to leave now."
At my words, Namgung Bia merely panted quietly, giving no answer.
Having come in such a hurry, Namgung Bia's hair, which had been beautifully tidied by servants' hands during the day, was in complete disarray.
Moreover, seeing the leaves caught between her hair.
It reminded me of when we first met.
'Did she come in a hurry.'
Just as I thought that, Namgung Bia asked me.
"...Are... you okay?"
I nodded at Namgung Bia's question.
"Don't I look fine, without a single wound?"
"The time when I'd get beaten up here and there is long past," I quipped, but Namgung Bia, seemingly unable to believe it, approached and poked me here and there.
"Ah, stop it."
"...You might be... hurt."
"I'm fine. You're the one I told to go and stand guard."
"Besides, if you're checking if I'm hurt, why are you poking?"
As I spoke while subtly creating distance, Namgung Bia averted her gaze slightly and answered.
"Nothing... happened."
That's a relief.
Though I had been certain from the start that their target wasn't at the campsite.
'As expected, their goal didn't seem to be assassination.'
There were many points that didn't fit for it to be called an assassination.
First, their level was too low to call it assassination.
If they had followed from Hanam.
They should have had information on what I had done at the martial arts tournament.
They shouldn't have prepared members at merely second-rate to first-rate levels.
Of course, they seemed skilled at trailing, but that and assassination were separate matters.
If it was for a surprise attack rather than trailing, they should have prepared much more.
'Though they wouldn't have known that Namgung Bia or I would catch on.'
Even if I was one thing, it was surprising that Namgung Bia had noticed this.
After all, I had borrowed the power of the specter.
I couldn't easily understand how Namgung Bia had noticed and drawn out this process alone.
"How did you realize it wasn't me?"
"Hm...?"
"I'm amazed you could say 'no' so decisively."
"The clothes, outward appearance, and energy were all the same."
"The energy contained in the body could be different, but that was impossible to judge unless you touched the body directly, or unless you had reached the level of transcendence."
To my question, Namgung Bia rolled her bead-like eyes this way and that.
"The smell was different."
'Smell...?'
At such an out-of-the-blue answer, I looked at Namgung Bia; she was looking at the surroundings instead of me.
She looked once at the blackened world and those who had died by my hand, then finally shifted her gaze to me.
At a glance, her eyes seemed emotionless, but minute emotions were contained in Namgung Bia's gaze.
They were so faint that I couldn't tell what they meant.
"Cold."
"Hm? All of a sudden?"
"Let's go down now."
Namgung Bia approached me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me down.
I was momentarily taken aback by the sudden touch, but I didn't refuse.
"Where are you going?"
At my words, Namgung Bia stopped walking.
"...Where the people are...?"
Seeing Namgung Bia answer confidently as if asking the obvious, I let out a deep sigh.
"...Then we need to go the opposite way, you idiot."
"...Ah!"
Namgung Bia changed direction immediately upon hearing my words.
The problem was that even that was the wrong direction. In the end, I grabbed her and led her to the campsite in the opposite direction.
"Young Master!"
When I returned to the campsite, Wi Seol-a quickly ran up and embraced me.
She hugged me so urgently that I had to carefully receive her, lest she get hurt.
"Are you okay...?"
"As you can see."
While holding Wi Seol-a, I surveyed the surroundings.
I wondered if anything unexpected had happened, but fortunately, there seemed to be no problems as expected.
Only, the vigilance had become much stricter than before.
'Probably because Namgung Bia had said something.'
I could feel that not only the martial artists of the Dang Clan but also those following as my guards had sharpened their senses.
While observing that, Dang Soyeol, who had been standing some distance away, seemed to spot me and approached.
"Young Master Gu. I heard you were attacked... Are you alright?"
"It wasn't that dangerous a situation. Nothing happened on your end either, right?"
"Yes, I only heard word of it. There were no problems. By any chance... the ones who attacked..."
"I killed them all. I tried to torture them, but they had geumje placed on them, so it wasn't easy."
When I spoke of killing them indifferently, I saw those around flinch in surprise.
Apparently, since I look young on the outside, it seemed somewhat strange that I had taken lives.
"...Oh dear."
At that, Dang Soyeol slightly furrowed her brows as if troubled.
"What's wrong?"
"If I had been there, it would have been easier... What a pity. Next time, if you can subdue them, please bring them to me."
"...What are you going to do if I bring them?"
"Huh?"
I asked again because something about what she said was strange, but Dang Soyeol simply put on a refreshing smile instead.
"My goodness... Why would you ask such a thing! It's a secret... A secret."
The sight of her laughing shyly with a smile on her face was somehow quite terrifying.
I couldn't ask further when Dang Soyeol said it was a secret.
'...Is it because she's been somewhat attached? I had forgotten which family bloodline Dang Soyeol belongs to.'
The Sacheon Dang Clan of the Four Great Families.
A prestigious orthodox family that handles poison and steel.
Moreover, a place more specialized in stealth and torture than anywhere else.
The world says such customs have disappeared as the era of peace has come, but...
Any martial artist living in the present knows that this is not the case.
Even the things done in secret by the young clan head of the Dang Clan—Dang Soyeol's older brother—for the sake of "peace" are mostly inhumane, unlike the name peace, so to speak.
'...Is Dang Soyeol like that too?'
I hadn't known well in my previous life, but even now, the thought that Dang Soyeol was also entangled with that side didn't quite feel right.
I ignored Dang Soyeol for now, who was chewing on an unknown leaf as if disappointed.
Just as I was pondering how to proceed with the journey from now on.
"Young Master...!"
"Hm?"
Mu Yeon ran urgently toward me.
He was the real Mu Yeon, not the fake.
*Seureung—!*
As soon as Mu Yeon appeared at the campsite, those nearby immediately drew their swords and took up a guard stance.
Probably because Namgung Bia had explained beforehand, they seemed to be on guard for now.
"...!"
Mu Yeon seemed flustered by the sudden situation.
I approached Mu Yeon as if nothing was wrong.
"Young Master, wait...!"
A guard taking a defensive stance blocked me as if it were dangerous, but before the guard could grab me, I approached Mu Yeon first.
Fortunately, it seemed Mu Yeon hadn't been separately attacked like Namgung Bia.
I asked such a Mu Yeon.
"Where had you been?"
"Yes?"
At my words, Mu Yeon made an expression as if not knowing what I meant.
Why was he making that expression?
When I kept looking at him as if demanding an answer, Mu Yeon began to give me an answer in a tone that said he didn't understand.
"You said you had something to tell me. You climbed the mountain with me, didn't you?"
"Me?"
I frowned at Mu Yeon's words.
Obviously, I had never done such a thing.
"Yes... However, you told me to wait a moment and then disappeared without appearing again... So I went looking."
"Ha."
A laugh burst out of me involuntarily at Mu Yeon's words.
Because I was finally starting to grasp why the First Elder had bothered with such tricks.
"Wow, that crazy old man."
"Young Master?"
That something taking my form had separated Mu Yeon.
That someone wearing Mu Yeon's skin had tried to pull a trick on me.
And that they had even attacked Namgung Bia separately, practically guaranteeing failure.
Realizing a bit why such means were used, a bitter taste rose in my mouth.
"Perhaps the goal was to slowly isolate me by sowing doubt among those around me."
If this assumption is correct, the First Elder was a far more vicious old man than I had expected.
Furthermore, I felt more at ease.
Because the small hesitation I had been holding onto had disappeared.
"I have to kill him."
A hound that bares its fangs at its master without knowing its place must be disciplined with a whip by nature.