〈 Episode 574 〉 In Hanam.
Light green hair reflected in the moonlight.
The color, much brighter than when I had seen it before, somehow even looked dazzling.
The hair that had once come only to her shoulders now reached her waist.
The scent wafting from her was somehow fragrant.
The scent of flowers, perhaps?
It was filled with an indescribably sweet feeling.
Her brightly smiling face, with her baby fat gone and hints of maturity showing, was enough to remind me of someone.
No, saying “someone” would be strange.
‘Because it’s her.’
The woman who had remained alone in the land of Sichuan to stop the demons.
The last hope of the Dang Clan, who had lost both eyes and breathed her last in my hands.
That woman from back then and Dang Soyeol now resembled each other greatly.
If there was one small difference.
It was that she had been dying, emaciated and wretched.
And that Dang Soyeol now shone vibrantly.
Feeling that difference, I felt a strange ache, ludicrous as it was.
Why did it hurt?
It was an emotion I couldn’t understand myself.
I saw Dang Soyeol smiling innocently at me.
I looked at her and asked.
“What brings you here?”
I held back what I truly wanted to ask.
Because while it was something I wanted to ask her, it wasn’t something I should ask her directly.
Upon hearing the question, Dang Soyeol pouted her lips as if displeased about something.
“I went through all the trouble to come here, and you ask for the reason first?”
“No, I just asked because I was curious.”
You appeared so suddenly out of nowhere; how could I not be curious?
Of course, I had heard.
‘The Dark King said he would send you.’
I had already heard him say that he would send her soon once the preparations were complete.
But.
‘I didn’t think you’d come so soon.’
I didn’t know from where she had departed, but I hadn’t expected Dang Soyeol to appear so quickly.
I glanced around while looking at her.
‘So this is why Nahi didn’t react.’
Nahi should have this area completely under her watch. To pierce through her power and enter.
‘They’d have to be at least at the Dark King’s level.’
I didn’t hold him in that high regard, but at the very least, one would need to be near his level.
Thinking so, I looked at Dang Soyeol.
Meeting my eyes, Dang Soyeol smiled.
It was a smile I hadn’t seen in a long time.
Of course, right now I was looking at something other than that.
I had to swallow a hollow breath inwardly as I looked at Dang Soyeol.
‘That bastard, the Dark King…’
What on earth had he done?
‘Her presence itself has completely changed.’
Now I had to concentrate considerably just to look at Dang Soyeol.
Because it felt like I would lose track of her existence otherwise.
Her presence was that faint.
So faint and hazy that I had to focus even with her right in front of my eyes.
It was a completely different state from the Dang Soyeol of the past.
‘I can sense her even this much only thanks to the fragrance.’
The fragrant flower scent emanating from Dang Soyeol.
Thanks to that, it was easy to keep track of her.
If not for that, it would have been much more difficult.
‘She wasn’t even this faint originally.’
The Dang Clan was originally a clan that mainly carried out assassinations led by poison arts.
Thus, the blood descendants of that place generally tended to have faint presences.
It was an innate talent developed over a long time of practicing martial arts.
However.
‘Dang Soyeol wasn’t particularly outstanding even among them.’
To put it nicely, she was mediocre.
To put it badly, one could say her aptitude was low for a blood descendant.
In contrast, Namgung Bia, a blood descendant of the Namgung family, had an extremely intense presence.
She was so much more outstanding than Dang Soyeol in that field.
‘…No, that girl is outstanding at everything, so that’s hardly fair.’
She could make her presence faint if she wanted.
She could make it intense if she wanted.
If one used Namgung Bia as the standard, there were only a handful who could compare.
The people around me were all like that, so it couldn’t be helped.
She had clearly been in such a state.
But how was Dang Soyeol now?
Though it was true that my condition wasn’t good.
‘I couldn’t sense her approach.’
I could only pick up her movement once she had drawn near.
Even if Nahi had let her through, and no matter how bad my physical condition was.
This was an incredible feat.
Thinking of this, I spoke to Dang Soyeol.
“…It seems you went through a lot.”
“Huh?”
Dang Soyeol tilted her head for a moment upon hearing my words, but then smiled brightly as if she had realized my meaning, and said to me,
“I’m all right, Young Master.”
Her hair swayed with her slow movements.
“Because I did this of my own will.”
“…”
Is that really so?
I couldn’t bring myself to speak the words that came to mind.
I was the one who had asked the Dark King for this.
But Dang Soyeol was the one who accepted it.
When I made the request to the Dark King, I had clearly sent word:
If Dang Soyeol said she didn’t want to, she would stop right there.
I had clearly relayed that.
Yet, the fact that Dang Soyeol was here now meant that she had never given up.
Moreover.
‘Considering Dang Soyeol’s talent, for that child to become like that…’
What kind of training must she have gone through?
It had been roughly one or two years since I last saw Dang Soyeol.
Back then, Dang Soyeol’s realm was absolutely not at that level.
But now.
‘Has she reached the Hwagyeong?’
My senses were a mess, so I couldn’t be certain.
But her realm seemed definitely to be around there.
How could that be?
I looked at Dang Soyeol with greatly surprised eyes.
As if she had realized the meaning of my gaze, she held a bashful smile.
“Do you know what, Young Master?”
“Hmm…?”
“You know, I…”
Just as I wondered what she was trying to say.
“Now I can see you a little, Young Master.”
“…”
“I really worked hard. Didn’t I do well?”
Hearing those words, I laughed out loud without realizing it.
She meant that by raising her realm, she could now see a bit of my power that had been invisible before.
At those words, essentially asking for praise.
“…So it seems…”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You really must have worked hard. You did well.”
“Yes!”
At my awkward praise, Dang Soyeol smiled brightly.
Looking somewhat pleased, she bounced subtly on her feet, which was rather amusing.
After a short while, Dang Soyeol, who had been moving around here and there, sent her gaze somewhere.
“But, who is that…?”
I turned my gaze at Dang Soyeol’s words. There was Seongyul, still coughing dryly.
Ah, right.
Looking at him, I had to put on an awkward expression.
‘I forgot.’
Seongyul was currently in a very bad state due to the backlash of the Cheonsal Star.
Having provoked him, I had subjected him to the backlash right after, so his mental state must be quite hazy.
I nodded as I looked at him.
‘I caused this mess, so I have to take responsibility.’
Even if there was a reason, Seongyul’s condition was partly my responsibility.
So, I moved to resolve it.
As I approached Seongyul, the guy looked up at me with dizzy eyes.
After confirming his eyes for a moment.
“So…?”
Slap—!
“Kuk!?”
I smacked his head.
Seongyul, struck just like that, immediately lost consciousness and collapsed.
Thud.
The moment Seongyul collapsed to the floor, a brief silence passed.
Had I been too violent when we were meeting after so long?
I looked at Dang Soyeol, pointed at Seongyul, and spoke.
“He’s a friend. Just a friend. He seems to be feeling a bit under the weather today.”
“…”
It was an excuse that didn’t even sound convincing to me.
But Dang Soyeol laughed upon hearing it.
…Why?
Moreover, her smile was somehow a bit strange.
“Ah, I see!”
She said with a bright smile.
Looking at her expression, I realized something.
What was it…
‘…A feeling of relief that he’s acting normally?’
Should I call it a look of relief?
It was roughly that kind of expression.
For some reason, seeing that made me feel unpleasant.
******************
A few days passed.
Only a few days had passed, yet the season was already crossing from spring to summer.
One could say it was just about the time when the heat would start rising bit by bit.
In terms of time, a few days.
In terms of the season, it was just beginning to change.
Yet in that brief instant, quite a few stories were circulating in the Central Plains.
“Did you hear? The Pungun Ghost Thief has appeared again.”
It was something most people traveling the streets of Hanam were saying.
“Ah, you mean the story about the Pungun Ghost Thief sending a letter to Wudang.”
“That’s supposed to be false? The Pungun Ghost Thief is a person who disappeared ages ago. Even if he were alive, he’d be an old man by now. Would he really steal again?”
The legendary phantom thief who had disappeared dozens of years ago.
The Pungun Ghost Thief had reappeared, and he had sent a warning letter to Wudang.
Such stories were spreading as rumors.
Of course.
“Does that even make sense?”
“It is indeed hard to believe.”
There were few who believed it.
It wasn’t as if the Pungun Ghost Thief had appeared in person; it was merely a warning letter.
The very reason this much rumor spread was because the one who received the warning was Wudang.
Had it not been for that, it would have been a rumor buried in obscurity.
The problem was.
“No, Pungun Ghost Thief or whatever, there’s another story more important than that right now.”
The important rumor right now wasn’t that.
“Have you heard that Wudang was attacked?”
“Yeah, I heard. They even say an elder died.”
Wudang, one of the Nine Great Sects and the sect of the Alliance Leader.
It was said that the place had been attacked recently.
There were even stories circulating that an elder who tried to defend Wudang was murdered by the attacker.
“Does that make sense? Wudang being attacked so easily…”
As it was an era of upheaval.
Wudang and Hanam were considered the safest places.
That such a Wudang had been attacked and even an elder killed made expressions of disbelief appear on people’s faces, but.
“Hey, what do you mean ‘so easily’… No, the one who attacked Wudang this time was no ordinary person.”
The subsequent story made everyone put on serious expressions.
“Though the Wudang Sword Immortal was away from Wudang… the demon who attacked this time is said to be no trivial matter.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…”
Everyone widened their eyes at the quietly begun words.
“What? He tamed a demonic beast?”
“Blowing away half of Wudang with a single gesture. What the…!”
“The elder in a single blow?”
The figure who suddenly appeared in the air astride a massive demonic beast not only forced everyone below to their knees immediately.
He destroyed half of Wudang with a single gesture and defeated the Wudang elder who tried to stop him in one blow.
Then, sneering at Wudang, he disappeared just like that.
“Hey, no matter how much you exaggerate, that’s impossible!”
It wasn’t something that could be easily believed, obviously.
“No, the Beggars’ Sect really said that.”
“Even so…”
“Moreover, there are rumors that he was the one who recently attacked the Alliance branch offices.”
“Ohh…”
The Murim Alliance branch offices dispatched to each region.
Several branches had suffered damage from attacks by an unidentified person.
The culprit behind those attacks was the main culprit of this Wudang incident?
If that were true, it was quite a serious matter.
The world had already become dangerous with the appearance of the Red Demonic Beasts.
And now there was someone hostile to the Alliance that sought to protect the world?
If the rumors were true, he was an extremely powerful being.
Perhaps.
“…Perhaps the culprit is on the level of the Ten Supreme Experts of the Central Plains?”
“What nonsense is that? How could such drivel…!”
The Ten Supreme Experts of the Central Plains, called the Chilcheol Samgwon.
That the culprit of the attack rivaled them?
“Think about it. Who else could attack Wudang, kill an elder, and walk away unscathed if not someone of that level?”
Everyone frowned at the man’s words, but no proper rebuttal came out.
They knew it too.
That if the rumors were true, he was an incredible expert.
The problem was that such a being just happened to be someone hostile to the Alliance that pursued justice.
“…So, who exactly is he?”
“No one knows who he is. All that is known is that he is a tall man wearing a mask.”
It was said he stood nearly seven ch’eok tall, wore black martial attire, and a contrasting white mask.
With every step he took, those around him were crushed by his momentum and forced to their knees, and they felt immense terror at the gaze of the masked figure looking down at them.
His tone was arrogant, yet no one could answer even once to the words he casually uttered.
Nothing was known except his gender.
For such an incredible expert, there was a complete lack of important information.
Where had he suddenly popped out from?
What had he been doing before?
Why was he hostile to the Murim Alliance, and why had he attacked Wudang as well?
No one knew the reason or his identity.
But what little could be known was.
“What he called himself.”
The words the masked figure spat as he introduced himself.
“‘Heavenly Demon.’ That is what he said.”
A devil sent by heaven.
Those two characters meaning that.
Had begun to throw not only Hanam but also the entire Central Plains into an uproar.
And at the same time.
“Achoo.”
The self-proclaimed devil sent by heaven had to rub his nose at the sudden sneeze.
Roughly wiping away his runny nose, he looked around with fierce eyes.
“Argh, who’s cursing me again?”
“Shall I give you a handkerchief?”
“It’s fine, I’ll just wipe it rough.”
Behind Dang Soyeol, who took out a handkerchief in a rustle, Guyang Cheon swallowed his mucus with a snort.
Then he looked ahead.
He stood before a massive building so tall his neck hurt to look up at it.
Looking at it, Guyang Cheon let out a sigh.
Seven days and nights had passed, and they had arrived in Hanam.
They had arrived in Hanam peacefully without any particular incidents on the way.
They had come straight to a building in the center of Hanam.
Guyang Cheon shifted his gaze slightly to look at the building.
He had to furrow his brows at the sight.
“Should we… just go somewhere else first?”
No matter how much he thought about it, he really didn’t want to go.
It was because this place was home to someone Guyang Cheon considered among the top three people he felt uncomfortable around.
Because of that, he had to agonize for a long while.
But the conclusion was only one anyway.
Since it was a time when he had to see them somehow, delaying the order was meaningless.
Guyang Cheon thought up to that point, then looked at the building’s signboard.
There.
Baekhwa Merchant Guild Hanam Branch.
It was clearly written.