< Episode 608 > Curse of the Ice Crystal.
What the hell did I just hear?
My mind had gone completely blank with shock, refusing to function properly.
'Who is who?'
And who did what?
At the words that reached my ears, it felt as if the world had stopped.
"What did you just say?"
I asked the Palace Lord again.
I had to ask again.
And it had to be my mistake.
Surely, I had misheard.
It absolutely had to be so.
Even as I wished and hoped.
[Did I not say that the one called Hidden Dragon Uhyeok led the treason?]
Damn it, it seemed I hadn't misheard after all.
"...."
Countless words came to mind, but nothing left my lips immediately.
I tried to organize my thoughts somehow.
It was incomparably complicated, yet this was a time when I had to sort them out by any means necessary.
Yes, it was definitely a time to sort them out, and yet.
'That bastard Uhyeok, what?'
I couldn't get it sorted.
That was how shocking the news was.
'That bastard Uhyeok did what?'
What did he say?
Did he say Biwoegun?
I didn't know if it was a name or a title.
Anyway, the point was that someone called Biwoegun, carrying the bloodline of the Ice Palace on his back, was the ringleader who had incited the rebellion.
And that.
'Is that bastard Uhyeok?'
Moreover, the words about being born to a famous clan of the Northern Sea meant he was not of Central Plains blood, but hailed from the Northern Sea.
It meant a man born in the Northern Sea had gone to the Central Plains and joined Wudang.
How could that be?
No, never mind that for now.
"Are those words truly the truth?"
I had to determine first whether the words the Palace Lord had spoken were true or not.
[Why. Do you think them false?]
"Because it is not something I can easily believe."
[I see. That is understandable.]
This was preposterous to me.
That bastard Uhyeok was suddenly from the Northern Sea.
That he was of the bloodline of a famous clan here.
Not to mention, that he, who had seemed devoid of worldly desire and greed, had incited a rebellion.
There was not a single thing I could believe.
Holding such feelings, I stared at the Palace Lord with bewildered eyes.
[I understand that it is hard to believe. It must be quite abrupt.]
The Palace Lord continued speaking to me.
The problem was.
Crackle.
As a subtle sound was heard from the surroundings—
"...?"
—the cold energy surrounding the area had begun to grow a little denser.
The cold energy looked faint like fog, yet
one could see its shape changing subtly.
What had been round gradually transformed into sharp edges.
Furthermore, the pressure weighing on my shoulders grew stronger.
Feeling all of this, I had to frown.
"What do you think you're doing right now?"
Glaring at the Palace Lord, I asked. He looked at me and spoke.
[As you said, this may be abrupt. But the situation is not very favorable, you see.]
"Ha."
Hearing that, a hollow laugh burst from me.
Amidst the gradually changing atmosphere, only then did I realize what this situation was.
I met eyes with the Palace Lord.
They were still irritating pupils. Looking at them, I spoke.
"So, are you saying you suspect me too?"
[It is but a simple confirmation.]
"Does this look simple to you? You're clearly set on devouring a person alive."
Since the Palace Lord had come looking for me directly right after I woke, I had assumed the situation was quite urgent.
'Was interrogation the intention from the start?'
My mood turned to shit in an instant.
It was too rude to be called a greeting containing simple conversation.
Yet it was too polite to be called an interrogation.
Crackle.
Perhaps due to the cold energy, a sensation of freezing little by little swept up from my toes.
Woooong—!
Inside my body, the rings of the Nine Flames Fire Wheel Art began to rotate on their own.
Heat was circulating instinctively to push away the cold energy.
What the hell kind of situation is this?
'Fuck, it's already hard enough.'
I'm struggling enough just to keep my sanity.
All sorts of ridiculous shit keeps happening.
"Palace Lord."
Ignoring the cold energy I felt, I spoke to the Palace Lord.
"Do you not know why I am here right now?"
Emotion was laced raw into my voice.
[I know.]
At those words, I burst into laughter once more.
"You know?"
I am the benefactor who came from the Central Plains to save the Palace Lord.
It was absurdly laughable to call myself a benefactor with my own mouth, but
from the Palace Lord's perspective, I was indeed the benefactor.
But.
"Knowing that, is this how you treat me?"
Pressure that squeezed so tight it was hard to even breathe.
Cold energy taking sharp forms, spinning round and round near my neck.
"Is this how you treat a guest? Is the Northern Sea always like this?"
To think he'd treat someone who came to save his life this way.
This was no different from asking for a fight.
[Young Master Gu.]
The Palace Lord called out to me.
I didn't spit out an answer.
[Do you truly believe you can break this curse?]
"I don't know. I'd have to try. How would I know that?"
Treating Murong Xiya was one thing.
The Palace Lord's current state was as different as heaven and earth.
As I had said before, I couldn't be certain.
[Yes, it is not certain.]
"Is that the problem?"
Not knowing whether I could properly treat him or not.
I thought that might be the problem, but
[No, that is not much of a problem.]
Along with his words, the chilly cold energy grew a little denser.
[From the start, whether treatment is truly possible or not—that was not important either.]
"Then what the hell."
[I am not so foolish as to entrust my body to one who is suspicious under the circumstances, and furthermore...]
The Palace Lord's vertically slit, light blue-green pupils gleamed with light.
[I had no intention of receiving treatment in the first place, you see.]
"What?"
Hearing the Palace Lord's words, I reflexively asked again.
What did that human just say?
'He has no intention of being treated?'
What kind of ridiculous bullshit was this?
I couldn't understand it.
If the Palace Lord truly said he had no intention of being treated.
"Then why did you look for me?"
What is the reason I am here now?
"Did you call me here to actually interrogate me?"
Did he simply want to see me because I was associated with that bastard Uhyeok?
At the time when such questions were surfacing.
[The first reason was curiosity.]
The Palace Lord's voice reached me.
[I was curious about you, whom Lady Yi spoke of. And I was curious about the familiar energy I had felt long ago.]
By familiar energy, he meant.
'Is he talking about the Nine Flames Fire Wheel Art?'
So he had met my father, after all.
It seemed that was the reason.
[The second reason was the talk of you being a close friend of Biwoegun.]
"So this is indeed an interrogation?"
[Must I not confirm it?]
The Palace Lord did not deny my words.
It meant the current situation was indeed an interrogation.
[Therefore, I would ask that you answer well.]
By now, it had grown so dense that my skin began to react directly.
Crackle.
Frost formed.
It was an uncomfortable and foul feeling.
A sensation like insects crawling on my skin.
It was mere cold energy, yet why did it fill me with such revulsion?
[For I do not wish to wound the child of a friend.]
"..."
It was undeniably a savage threat.
As if to show that his words were no mere threat, the Palace Lord was aiming all of his sharply transformed energy directly at me.
Reading the situation, I asked.
"You said you were my father's friend, yet can you act this way?"
[Even if he is my friend, is not Young Master Gu himself not my friend?]
"That is truly an answer devoid of all warmth."
'A friend is a friend, and a son is a son.' Is that what he means?
As expected of the Lord of Ice, that line he drew was colder than cold.
[I shall ask.]
[Are you truly a close friend of Biwoegun?]
At that, I tilted my head.
Because the question was somewhat odd.
If Uhyeok is indeed Biwoegun, then he should already know that I am a close friend of that bastard.
Then, what he should be asking here... was whether I had been 'involved' in Biwoegun's treason or not.
Not that. He asks if I am a close friend?
'Would you look at this?'
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the Palace Lord.
What reason did the Palace Lord have to ask in such a way?
The conclusion came to me immediately.
That question was probably.
'Are you still a close friend? Is that the question?'
Even knowing he committed treason.
Are you still his close friend?
That was surely the Palace Lord's question.
To put it more precisely.
Will you cut ties with that bastard Uhyeok and stand on this side?
Or will you maintain the relationship of close friends?
That was surely the correct way to see it.
Upon hearing this, I asked the Palace Lord directly.
"If I indeed say that I am a close friend of that bastard, what will you do?"
[Hrmm....]
Crack-crack-!
The ice climbing up from my toes grew a little harder.
[Well then. I would rather you had not been curious.]
"Haha."
I felt I knew without him saying.
If I said yes here, he had no intention of letting me leave peacefully.
I nodded.
Up to here, that much was understandable.
If so.
"Palace Lord."
[Speak.]
"By any chance, did the Palace Lord also summon my companions to your room and interrogate them in this manner?"
When I posed the question, the Palace Lord's gaze changed subtly.
His face seemed to say he hadn't expected me to ask such a thing.
A brief silence passed.
In the meantime, I was quietly staring into the Palace Lord's eyes.
After waiting a few more seconds.
He made an expression as if briefly pondering, then finally opened his mouth.
[If that were the case, what would you—]
Before the Palace Lord's words could even finish.
"Then you'll die here by my hand."
Heat erupted from my body.
Fwoooosh---!!
The rings of the Nine Flames Fire Wheel Art deep inside my heart rapidly rotated and expanded.
Blue flames exploded over my shoulders.
Fwhoosh-!
The blue flames expanded their range and devoured the cold energy that had been targeting me.
Crackle-!
The ice binding my feet couldn't stop my steps and shattered.
I strode forward roughly and spoke to the Palace Lord.
"Answer properly. I just might kill you for real."
I couldn't stand it anymore.