Bead of the Heavenly Path. (1)
The bandages covering his eyes were thick with dust.
Stained red, they bore traces of having shed copious amounts of blood.
Seeing that, it was highly likely he was already blind.
"The girl is calmer than I thought. Tsk tsk."
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi frowned.
It was already a disastrous situation, and with the appearance of an unexpected figure, it was only natural she couldn't let her guard down.
"Who are you."
"If I tell you who I am, would you know?"
A withered body and deep traces of torture.
Even so, that cackling, worn-out laugh was somehow only grating to the ears.
Gu Huibi quickly assessed her own condition.
'Restraints.'
One on each leg, one on each arm.
The internal Qi in her dantian wouldn't move even a bit.
'Are my acupoints sealed?'
If they were sealed, she should have at least been able to tell.
Since she couldn't possibly not know that uncomfortable sensation.
'If not that, then...'
If not that, then what? If her dantian was fine and her acupoints weren't sealed, she couldn't fathom why her internal Qi wouldn't move.
Gu Huibi focused her mind, trying to move her internal Qi somehow.
Even if it couldn't reach her middle dantian, it would be enough if she could move it even a little.
As she focused her entire mind on her dantian.
".••!"
Gu Huibi curled her body at the absurd agony radiating from her dantian.
"Keugh...!"
It wasn't just pain; it was an alien feeling as if something was gnawing away at her entire body.
She wanted to scream right that moment, but Gu Huibi forced her mouth shut.
"Impressive. Just because you endure it doesn't mean it becomes bearable."
The old man simply clicked his tongue, still looking at Gu Huibi from the front.
"...You..."
At the tone that seemed to know her situation, Gu Huibi immediately glared at the old man.
Looking at such a Gu Huibi, the old man continued speaking.
"It would be better not to make such a venomous expression. I am not the culprit, after all."
"...Can you see?"
"Does it look like it?"
"No.... That can't be."
"Right, I am a blind man who sees nothing at all."
Contradictory words.
Pouring out words as if he could see, then calling himself blind.
The bandages covering his eyes were so contradictory.
"Even if you cannot see, there are things you eventually come to see."
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi let out a scoff.
Considering the situation, the old man here seemed like an extraordinary person.
But now was not the time to worry about such things.
"Do you know about the current situation?"
At Gu Huibi's words, the old man made a peculiar expression.
It was a face of sheer wonder.
"Why do you ask?"
"Certainly, a peculiar child. To ask me such a thing in this situation."
"Because there is no one else here besides you, old man."
"How do you know what I will do, that you pose a question first?"
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi gave a blunt answer.
"Didn't you say you weren't the culprit?"
Gu Huibi was still curled up, unable to escape the pain from earlier.
"Do you believe those words?"
"Would it change anything if I don't?"
"Haha."
Laughing hollowly, the old man plopped down in front of Gu Huibi.
To her eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, the old man's figure could finally be seen in detail.
The restraints attached to his two feet were larger and more peculiar than hers.
"I heard the rumors, but you are an even crazier child than that."
"You know me?"
"I know you well, how could I not? The Sword Phoenix of the world."
The number one rising star after Peng Wuzhen.
The treasure of the Gu family, and the masterpiece created by Hohyeop.
A fiery temper and a foul mouth.
Not even her beautiful appearance could hide them.
The little spark of Shanxi, said to possess the talent to silence all those flaws.
That was the Gu Huibi known to the world.
"Just as I heard, you're not in your right mind."
"You speak too recklessly in front of someone."
The old man quietly looked at Gu Huibi.
Since his eyes were blind, perhaps it was more accurate to say he felt her.
'Should I say she is calm, or just reckless.'
If a woman who seemed to have just passed twenty encountered such a situation, a normal reaction wouldn't be like that.
Even if Gu Huibi was a martial artist, she looked excessively nonchalant.
'Or perhaps, she is desperately pretending to be nonchalant.'
The old man did not say this out loud.
For there was no need to bother saying it.
"This place is the Heukya Palace."
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi's body flinched.
Seeing her eyes narrow and her grit her teeth.
"It seems you already knew this much."
Gu Huibi chewed on her lips at the old man's words.
Because, just as the old man said, she had expected it to some extent.
'Then that man really is...'
Gu Huibi recalled her final moments on the frontline.
An unknown Demonic Realm, a crack formed within it, and it was the moment she received the Second Elder's help.
In that fleeting moment, Gu Huibi had to feel the vicious presence crushing her surroundings.
Without even the time to draw her sword, she was pushed away by the Second Elder's hand and saved her life.
Recalling the memory itself was agony.
Leaving behind the Second Elder, who engaged in battle against that calamitous existence.
She had been so incompetent back then.
Not only could she not provide help, but the useless figure of herself, unable to flee as if tied to the ground, remained in her mind.
How many times did she swing her sword to not become such a person?
Even though much time had passed, and she was said to have reached the pinnacle after crossing the wall.
She was still incompetent.
The old man spoke to Gu Huibi, who had fallen silent.
"It seems you have seen the Palace Lord."
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi's eyes widened fully.
"How I know is simple. The only one who can do such a thing to a martial artist's body is the Lord of the Heukya Palace."
"...Then you're saying the reason I can't use my internal Qi is because of that man."
The master the Second Elder fought with all his might.
The sight of him receiving each heavy fist while reducing the surroundings to ruins.
He was truly a monster.
So that was truly the master of the Heukya Palace, called Sama Oje.
"You can use your internal Qi. Didn't you try to use it earlier?"
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi perked up her ears and focused.
He seemed to be referring to the pain she felt when she tried to force it to move.
"If you can endure that pain and recoil, you will be able to use it. Though I don't know if a human can withstand that."
" "
In the end, it meant she couldn't use it.
"...I need to find another way."
"Are you thinking of escaping?"
. !
...........
"Because I can't stay cooped up in here forever."
"Your courage is commendable, but it won't be easy."
Ignoring the old man's words, she looked around a bit more.
A space surrounded by iron bars.
Moonlight streamed in through a tiny hole visible in the wall crevice.
Seeing that, she could barely guess that it was night.
'How much time has passed?'
Setting aside the time, were the Ohgeom Corps and the Second Elder alright?
Her mind was complicated.
She didn't even know why she was here.
«
* ”
•••Hah-
Gu Huibi swept her hair back and had to struggle to calm herself down.
She had to maintain her composure in any situation.
That was something she possessed as the Commander of the Sword Division, and at the same time.
It was also what her father had told her.
It probably meant to manage her fiery temper well.
But it was also a saying that brought many thoughts to Gu Huibi.
'Even now... what should I do?'
The sword at her waist was gone, and her internal Qi wouldn't move.
In the thick darkness, alone with the old man between the iron bars.
"I told you earlier, you're giving me a headache, so just stay still."
"...Are you really blind, old man?"
"When you've lived this long, you must have at least one trick up your sleeve."
Should that trick be called the ability to know the situation even with eyes covered?
The old man just smiled hollowly.
"It was lonely, but it's fine since I've gained a conversation partner."
Truly carefree even in this situation.
"For me, it's rather a hopeful situation, so I can't help but be pleased."
"What does that mean?"
"Doesn't the fact that you are here mean Hohyeop might make a move?"
At the mention of her father's moniker from the old man's mouth.
Gu Huibi couldn't help but frown.
"I don't know why my Family Lord's moniker is coming up here."
"When his daughter has been dragged away, of course the father will move."
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
"I don't know what dream you're dreaming, but the Family Lord is not that kind of person."
He doesn't favor his children.
Nor is he someone who tries to give them something more.
He didn't particularly value them, and if there had been any affection to begin with.
Her own mother.
And his younger brother's mother wouldn't have been left like that either.
"So please throw away such hope."
"..."
At Gu Huibi's resolute words, the old man said nothing.
He only stared at Gu Huibi with eyes that saw nothing.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Saying 'look' to a blind man, what an awful thing to say."
She wasn't in the mood to listen to his petty wordplay.
Gu Huibi was somehow uncomfortable with the old man's seemingly carefree personality.
She didn't have time to bicker, so she had to try to ignore him and organize her thoughts.
Then, the old man spoke to Gu Huibi.
"Child, it seems you don't know your father well."
At the old man's words, Gu Huibi sighed.
"If you're going to say things like I don't know my father's love..."
"It seems you don't know how Hohyeop reacts when his family is touched."
At the subtle words, Gu Huibi furrowed her brow.
"Old man, about my father.... Do you know him?"
"Well, I don't know well."
But his tone sounded as if he knew something.
After saying that, the old man dragged his restraints and leaned back against the wall.
"My body is tired, so I'll sleep first. Do as you please."
"What did you mean by what you just said."
"If you're worried about your safety, you don't have to worry. Not only the Palace Lord, but the others won't be able to lay a finger on you for a while. Ah, and"
The old man slowly reached out and pointed at Gu Huibi's waist.
Gu Huibi checked her waist to see what the old man was pointing at.
She immediately realized what the old man meant.
What Gu Huibi was wearing at her waist was, before she last parted with Gu Yangcheon.
It was the same as the pouch she had given to Gu Yangcheon.
"We'll talk about what's inside that and the things I'm curious about tomorrow. Tsk tsk, one should die when they get old. As my body ages, I get tired easily."
"...Old man, what is your identity?"
"A child with perfectly fine eyes, unlike me, asks strange things? Can't you tell by looking? I'm just a person, a person."
"That's not what I'm asking."
"I'm tired, so stop asking. I have no name, so just call me Elder Muk appropriately. It's annoying, so don't call me today."
With those final words, the old man snored as if telling Gu Huibi to listen, and truly fell asleep.
Left alone, Gu Huibi tore the pouch from her waist with trembling eyes and stuffed it into her embrace.
It seemed the others hadn't discovered it while she was brought here.
In a way, this was a fortunate thing.
On the other hand, worry took precedence for Gu Huibi.
The bead inside the pouch.
What this was, and what its purpose and use were.
Gu Huibi could only pray that her younger brother wouldn't realize it.
Because it was a precious artifact that allowed those who possessed it to pinpoint each other's locations.
While Gu Huibi was examining the pouch and fretting anxiously.
Gu Yangcheon was facing the Second Elder.
Bandaged here and there, the Second Elder plopped down on the floor and spoke to Gu Yangcheon in front of him.
"You look terrible."
At the voice spat out as if dumbfounded.
Gu Yangcheon also answered nonchalantly.
"If you're awake, you should have just lay still on the bed. Why did you come all the way here?"
Fortunately, it seemed the Second Elder had regained his senses.
The physician had said he would wake up soon.
But he didn't know he would wake up this quickly.
No matter how perfect the surgery was, this was purely thanks to the Second Elder's absurd regenerative power.
At Gu Yangcheon's words, the Second Elder clicked his tongue once and spoke.
"Since you couldn't come, this old man personally came, didn't I?"
Just as the Second Elder said, even if the Second Elder had woken up, it wasn't a situation where Gu Yangcheon could go see him.
That was because.
The place Gu Yangcheon was currently in was a prison.
The Gu family's prison, that is.
"Well, I'll be out in a bit, but your temper is still hasty."
"Out in a bit my foot! After causing such a disaster, are you thinking of getting out quickly?"
"It won't take long."
At the Second Elder's yelling, Gu Yangcheon only replied lazily.
"The Third Elder and the Fourth Elder said they would fix your state of mind using this as an excuse."
"Hah, fix who? They're people who aren't even active right now."
Unlike the First Elder and the Second Elder who worked for the family.
They were now old men who didn't particularly participate in family affairs.
Are those kinds of people really trying to pick a fight with me now?
'Damn old bastards.'
"That's right, you brat! Why did you commit such an act when this old man couldn't help you!"
At the Second Elder's yell, Gu Yangcheon only pouted his lips.
He had a justification for killing the First Elder, but this was strictly a story he alone knew.
Even if he temporarily received an unauthorized permission from the Chief Steward.
In the end, since he killed an elder within the family, there was a punishment he had to receive, even if he was of the bloodline.
'It would be fine if the First Elder's basement is discovered.'
As for how to proceed, since his father wasn't in the family, he had no choice but to stay like this.
"How is your body?"
"It is fine."
"You had a hole in your chest, there's no way you're fine."
"You brat? If you weren't going to believe me anyway, why did you ask?"
At Gu Yangcheon's words, the Second Elder let out continuous hollow laughs.
"Are you planning to keep staying like this?"
"What can I do, my father isn't here."
"Do you wish for me to use my power?"
"If the Second Elder were to use his power, it seems you would literally use physical 'force,' so I'm fine."
Seeing his reaction, he was indeed thinking of using physical force to break him out.
Why is a man whose body isn't even well acting like that.
Realizing that this wouldn't work either, the Second Elder brought up another topic.
"Your children are very worried."
"..."
"Especially, the child who is your attendant cries every day."
He seemed to be talking about Wi Seol-a.
"...I will take care of that myself."
It was a sorry thing, but there was nothing he could do right now.
Because this was something he clearly had to do.
Gu Yangcheon put that aside and looked at the Second Elder as he asked.
"Second Elder, please tell me the story."
"What story?"
"I'm talking about Sister Huibi."
"..."
"That's why you came to tell me, isn't it? What happened."
"You weren't like this before, your perceptiveness has needlessly gotten faster."
Gu Huibi's kidnapping and the Second Elder hovering at death's door.
The fact that the Second Elder sought out Gu Yangcheon as soon as he regained consciousness was probably related to this as well.
The Second Elder looked at Gu Yangcheon and opened his mouth hesitantly.