One
A short while later.
Cheok Gwang came up to the third floor. After searching this floor and the first floor thoroughly yet failing to find Nam Okjin, he searched the outer perimeter of the bookstore.
However, finding Nam Okjin, who was on the third floor, by looking on the first floor and the outer perimeter was an impossible task.
In the end, Cheok Gwang had no choice but to start from the beginning again. He grabbed Go Jin by the collar and threw him in the opposite direction. Then, immediately turning his gaze back to Go Jin, he exclaimed—
“Ah.”
Only then did he realize he had carelessly passed over the area around the desk right in front of Go Jin.
“She must definitely be under the desk.”
He was completely certain. Though he was a bit late, Nam Okjin was a rat in a poison jar.
He intended to kill Nam Okjin, seize the Divine Bow, and kill Go Jin as a bonus. The Divine Bow was the key that could open the tomb of the Yellow Emperor from ancient times.
The Yellow Emperor had waged war against Chiyou, but in truth, he was driven to the brink of defeat. At that time, the Jiutian Xuannu appeared before him and gave him a single book, and thanks to that book, the Yellow Emperor was able to repel Chiyou, or so it is said.
In the martial world, this book was firmly believed to be a terrifying secret martial arts manual. Therefore, if one could only obtain the book handed down by the Jiutian Xuannu, reigning over the martial world would be nothing.
The Divine Bow was the only key to obtaining the book that the Jiutian Xuannu had given to the Yellow Emperor.
‘Hehe, no one in the world must know that this seat possesses the Divine Bow.’
His reason for killing Go Jin was to silence a witness. He was the sort of man who would not hesitate to kill even the subordinates who followed him if it was for the sake of a secret.
Cheok Gwang’s body suddenly stiffened. The figure of Go Jin, who should have been on the third floor, was nowhere to be seen. At first, he thought Go Jin might be hiding somewhere among the bookshelves, but that was absolutely not the case.
‘D-don’t tell me this brat ran away?’
It was absurd.
Unless he had vanished into thin air.
Around the bookstore, his subordinates had spread a dragnet. Unless one had learned martial arts, even an adult would find it difficult to jump down from the third floor.
Moreover, Go Jin was merely a young clerk who did not even appear to have come of age. It was unthinkable that such a boy could jump from the third floor and remain unharmed.
On the off chance, he checked under the desk. Because the sorcery of the Baegyo, depending on one’s internal energy, could sufficiently hide not only oneself but about one other person.
‘Wha, she’s not here! Not anywhere on the third floor…’
In an instant, he felt like a fool. He could not find Nam Okjin, and he could not even find Go Jin. An impossible event had occurred right before his eyes.
But he did not know, even in his dreams.
That the Go Jin and Nam Okjin he was searching for were right before his eyes…….
Two
When Cheok Gwang came up to the third floor, Go Jin had unknowingly closed his eyes.
‘He’ll discover us soon.’
However, though quite a bit of time seemed to have passed, there was no reaction from Cheok Gwang. Go Jin opened his eyes slightly in puzzlement.
Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of Cheok Gwang searching every nook and cranny of the third floor. He passed by in front of Go Jin several times, yet did not seem to see him.
“This is definitely the blood that wench shed.”
Cheok Gwang discovered red blood under the table. Before spreading the formation, Go Jin had brought Nam Okjin, who had collapsed under the table, to where he was. If he had spread the formation near the table and the table disappeared, he had thought Cheok Gwang might become suspicious.
“Damn it……”
Cheok Gwang burst with rage at the thought of having missed Nam Okjin right before his eyes.
‘C-can it be that we truly aren’t visible?’
Go Jin was beyond amazed; he was astonished. It was a sight he could not believe even after confirming it with his own two eyes. Cheok Gwang was close enough to reach with an outstretched arm. Yet he could not see Go Jin and Nam Okjin.
‘C-could it be that formations truly exist? Zhuge Liang’s Eight Trigrams Formation was real.’
Go Jin’s astonishment was beyond words.
However, it truly could not help but be a comical matter.
Go Jin was more surprised than anyone else, even though he himself had spread the formation.
But perhaps it was only natural. To him, who had no experience in the martial world whatsoever, the power of the formation was bound to be that shocking.
It was then.
“Umm……”
Nam Okjin groaned and slowly opened her eyes.
It was after half an hour had passed since she collapsed unconscious.
She vaguely realized she had lost consciousness and started in surprise.
‘I-I can’t be like this.’
It was natural for the illusion arts to dispel when one lost consciousness.
She thought she had not yet been discovered by Cheok Gwang and tried to quickly deploy the illusion arts before being discovered.
Then suddenly her eyes widened. She belatedly discovered Cheok Gwang standing tall and imposing right beside her like a high official.
At first, her heart sank, thinking she had been captured by Cheok Gwang.
However, it did not take long for her to feel that the situation was unfolding strangely. Cheok Gwang was searching all around despite having them beside him. His expression was too grim for it to be a joke.
“Cheok Gwang, just what do you think you’re doing?”
She thought Cheok Gwang was mocking her.
“Shh! Please be quiet.”
Go Jin, realizing she had regained consciousness, urgently focused his attention on her.
“That man cannot see us right now.”
“Y-you are the clerk of this bookstore……?”
Nam Okjin recognized Go Jin.
She could not understand what Go Jin was saying. When she tried to ask something, Go Jin stopped her actions with a tense expression.
“This place is somehow strange……”
Cheok Gwang was staring intently at one spot. That spot was Nam Okjin’s toes. Nam Okjin’s entire body stiffened from tension.
However, strictly speaking, it was not Nam Okjin’s toes but the boundary of the formation. The formation Go Jin had spread was not perfect, and his calculations were wrong as well.
He had combined what he knew to spread the formation, but there was no way its power would manifest properly. Because Cheok Gwang had studied illusion arts, his eyesight was keener than others.
He had noticed that one space was subtly misaligned and had been staring at that spot with a doubtful gaze for a while.
“This is definitely the trace of a barrier.”
Space could not be misaligned without illusion arts.
However, the real problem began after that. It seemed certain that space had been distorted by illusion arts, yet he could not sense even the slightest trace of Nam Okjin’s presence.
Illusion arts merely distorted space to create optical illusions; they could not distort one’s presence as well.
Moreover, he put his hand into the misaligned space, but there was nothing inside. Only his arm cut through the air. This too was strange. If it were illusion arts, instead of his arm cutting through the air, it should have caught on Nam Okjin’s body.
Go Jin watched his actions with a tense expression.
He knew better than anyone that the formation was incomplete. If one tried to break the formation, a simple calculation would be enough. Thinking so, cold sweat trickled down his entire body.
Nam Okjin belatedly understood Go Jin’s meaning. Cheok Gwang had his eyes wide open, yet could not see her and Go Jin right before him.
She doubted her own eyes.
‘Can it be that we really aren’t visible?’
Cheok Gwang’s perception could not be completely deceived by the techniques of the Baegyo.
Yet now, as if he had gone completely blind, he was wandering around searching for them despite having them before his eyes. In the end, unable to control his temper, he even huffed furiously.
‘This is absolutely not a joke. Cheok Gwang truly cannot see us.’
Three
“J-just what on earth did you do?”
Nam Okjin asked with an expression of disbelief.
“It is called a formation. It artificially distorts space to perfectly block light and sound. That is why he cannot see us despite us being right before his eyes.”
“W-what? What did you just say?”
Nam Okjin doubted her own ears. The biggest reason formations had not been put to practical use in the martial world since Zhuge Liang was because no one could unlock what was sealed within a formation.
Yet, a youth who had not even come of age had unlocked it. Moreover, Go Jin was an unremarkable youth who appeared to be merely a bookstore clerk. If Go Jin’s words were believable, that would be the stranger thing.
However, she was currently watching Cheok Gwang’s figure clearly with her own eyes, so she could not help but believe.
Go Jin smiled bitterly. He himself had not believed it even though he was the one who spread the formation; how could Nam Okjin be any different? Her reaction was, in a way, natural.
However, strictly speaking, Go Jin’s and Nam Okjin’s reactions were different from each other.
From the beginning, Go Jin had perceived formations as something that existed only in imagination. In contrast, having been born and raised in the martial world, Nam Okjin knew better than anyone that formations actually existed.
If only one could deploy formations, one could reign over the world and dominate the martial world. However, formations were so difficult and abstruse that they were truly a sealed power that no one could deploy.
Cheok Gwang had tried to resolve the phenomenon of the misaligned space for half a shichen, but ultimately could not unlock its secret. He had at least finally confirmed that this was not illusion arts.
“It is not a mechanical device, nor is it illusion arts. Perhaps that wench did something strange to buy time.”
He could not dream of thinking that a formation had been deployed around him. It was no wonder, as formations had not been put into practical use for hundreds of years and were known as accursed martial arts that no one could learn.
Though some suspicion still remained, Cheok Gwang no longer fixated on the misaligned space. If he wasted time in such a strange place, Nam Okjin might be running even farther away right now.
“That damned wench. In that condition, to think she still had the strength to move.”
He thought Nam Okjin had saved Go Jin and escaped the dragnet.
“The only place that wench could seek help is the Zhuge Clan, the world’s greatest sword family.”
He grew impatient.
If Nam Okjin reached the sphere of the Zhuge Clan’s influence, there would be nothing he could do. If there was any fortune to be had, it was that Nam Okjin had taken the soft-hearted route of saving the clerk.
If she had someone who knew nothing of martial arts with her, her movements would inevitably become sluggish. He quickly led his subordinates and disappeared in the direction of the Zhuge Clan.
“Phew!”
Only then did Go Jin relax and slump down in his spot.
He had been so tense for the past half a shichen that his entire body was soaked in sweat, as if he had taken a bath.
Nam Okjin did not relax even after they left for some time. She did not know if they might turn back.
After some time had passed.
Nam Okjin only let out a long sigh after confirming that Cheok Gwang’s group had completely disappeared.
It had been a long, long time.
Though she had hidden under the desk using illusion arts, she had thought she would undoubtedly die by Cheok Gwang’s hand. That she was alive now was thanks to the bookstore clerk, Go Jin. She suddenly looked at Go Jin with strange eyes.
“You are certainly no ordinary clerk.”
In her eyes, Go Jin did not appear to be someone who would live out his life as a mere clerk.
“I am a scholar. I work here to earn money.”
Go Jin did not think of his poor circumstances as shameful.
Rather, he was simply grateful that he could study while working in this manner.
Nam Okjin wanted to help Go Jin.
“Will you not come with me, sir? With your abilities, you could succeed greatly in the martial world even now. You can earn money and study as well.”
She intended to introduce Go Jin to the Zhuge Clan and the Righteous Alliance if he wished. Truthfully, it was far too regrettable for someone with Go Jin’s abilities to rot in a rural village like this.
However, Go Jin shook his head.
“I shall receive your goodwill in my heart.”
It was a polite yet unmistakably firm voice.
There is a saying by the ancient sages: if it is not your path, do not walk it.
Go Jin neither knew nor cared what kind of place the martial world was.
In just one month, he would enter the Cheongun Seowon, and his dream was to study hard there and pass the civil examination with top honors.
And above all, the Eight Formations Manual was not perfect.
This time, he had been lucky that Cheok Gwang could not recognize the formation, but there was no guarantee that fortune like today would continue.
A look of regret appeared on Nam Okjin’s face.
The present world was in a period when the power of the demonic path was stronger than ever. The righteous faction was resisting the demonic path centered around the Righteous Alliance, but the situation was difficult. Justice in the martial world was gradually disappearing, while the Demonic Alliance’s power grew stronger by the day.
The rebellion that had occurred in the Baegyo was also due to Nam Okjin trying to share its fate with the righteous faction. The righteous faction no longer showed any light of hope. To walk the same path as the righteous faction in the current situation was not merely reckless but foolish.
The situation of the righteous faction was at its worst, like a lamp before the wind.
It was so.
At a time when even a single talent was precious, Go Jin could have been a tremendous strength to the righteous faction.
But that was entirely her own greed. She wondered if she should try to change Go Jin’s mind, but soon shook her head. That would be discourteous to the benefactor who had saved her life, and it could mock the pure heart of Go Jin, who intended to walk the path of a scholar for his entire life.
She circulated her energy for a moment to recover her strength. Once she had recovered to some extent, she conveyed her thanks to Go Jin once more and disappeared into the darkness.
“Hm?”
Go Jin suddenly discovered an old, rusted bow fallen in one corner of the floor. It seemed to have fallen when Nam Okjin lost her strength and collapsed to the floor. The bow was one ja and six chi in size, extraordinarily small for a bow. Moreover, the string was broken, rendering it useless as a bow.
Go Jin hurriedly went outside to return the bow to Nam Okjin, but she had long since disappeared into the darkness. Go Jin muttered with a troubled expression.
“Ah…… come to think of it, I didn’t even ask her name!”
Go Jin had no way to return the bow to Nam Okjin even if he wanted to.
Meanwhile, knowing that Cheok Gwang was lying in wait on the road leading to the Zhuge Clan, Nam Okjin turned her direction toward the Righteous Alliance. If she had not heard him muttering, she would have headed to the Zhuge Clan as he predicted.
It was four days later that Nam Okjin arrived at the Righteous Alliance.
The moment she arrived at the Righteous Alliance, she immediately lost consciousness and collapsed. She only regained consciousness after several days had passed. Most of her internal injuries were recovering, but the Divine Bow, which she had cherished like her own life, was gone.
She had hidden the Divine Bow deep in her bosom, but by chance, the fabric there had been torn open. She had only thought about not being caught by Cheok Gwang, but she never dreamed she had actually dropped the Divine Bow. With this, she could not remember when or where she had dropped it.
The distance from the Baegyo to the Righteous Alliance was incomparably vast. Moreover, during the urgent moments while being chased by Cheok Gwang, she had to cross countless brushes with death. Every place she had moved through seemed like a place where she could have dropped the Divine Bow.