He pointed his chopsticks at Seolhwa.

His sharp eyes fixed on her as if to pierce straight through.

“What kind of dumplings do you prefer, miss?”

Seolhwa’s brows knit faintly.

Yu Gang, just about to take a mouthful of noodles, choked a little and set them back down.

What the hell kind of question is that?

Yu Gang glanced between them, wary.

Baek Yeong was resting his chin on one hand, wearing a face of utmost seriousness as he continued.

“Meat dumplings? Shrimp dumplings?”

“...”

Seolhwa stared straight at him.

She must think this conversation is as strange as I do.

She’s going to snap.

Hopefully she doesn’t cause another commotion.

While Yu Gang worried over that, Seolhwa calmly lifted the lid from her dumpling tray and replied with a composed face.

“As you can see, I prefer vegetable dumplings.”

“I see. I was going to suggest we trade, but alas, I dislike vegetable dumplings.”

“...”

Baek Yeong gazed regretfully at the dumpling tray she had just closed again, as though genuinely disappointed.

Yu Gang, dumbfounded, finally gave up trying to make sense of their exchange and began eating his ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) noodles in peace.

The conversation between Seolhwa and Baek Yeong went on.

“My turn, then?”

“Ask what you will.”

“Why did you hide your identity all this time?”

“Me? I’ve no memory of hiding from you two. Did I not give my name straight away?”

“For us, yes. But for a man of your stature—a hero of your level—to vanish for ten years without a trace? That makes no sense. You must’ve been concealing yourself.”

“Ohh, a clever young lady indeed. It was impressive enough that you recognized me just from my name, but to reason that much out as well?”

A faint smile curled across Baek Yeong’s lips.

“Hmm...”

He took his time choosing his words.

After a long silence, he said,

“Let’s just call it seclusion. I didn’t exactly hide my identity.”

If he hadn’t been concealing himself, that meant he hadn’t appeared in the martial world at all.

“As you know, people thought even Elder Ouyang had died, did they not? It’s like that.”

The word “let’s just” bothered her, but Seolhwa nodded.

By comparison, the time Ouyang’s whereabouts had been unknown was far longer.

“Now, it’s my turn.”

“Please.”

“May I ask him instead?”

Baek Yeong turned to Yu Gang.

Yu Gang, who had just lifted his bowl to slurp the noodle broth, set it down and nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“The man hiding beneath that mask—how old is he?”

“How old do you think?”

“You must have reached thirty at least.”

“Twenty.”

“Ohh...”

Surprise flickered in Baek Yeong’s expression.

To his eyes, this old man’s cultivation was refined to the pinnacle of the Transcendent realm.

To reach that level usually required passing well beyond thirty.

“Well now... I can hardly ask you to take off the mask.”

He tilted his head, studying Yu Gang with a skeptical glance.

Once that round of questions ended, Seolhwa spoke up.

“Our turn.”

“Go on.”

“Why were you following us?”

Seolhwa’s gaze sharpened.

“Me? Following you?”

“We saw you when we entered the city. You were talking with the server at another inn. I assumed you were having a meal there—am I right?”

“Hm.”

Baek Yeong crossed his arms and nodded for her to continue.

“Yet here you are, in this inn. Just as we saw you, you must’ve seen us.”

“And you’re saying I followed you?”

“Aren’t I?”

“I am.”

“What for?”

“Food’s here!”

Just then, the food Baek Yeong had ordered arrived.

“Let’s eat first. They say even a well-fed ghost looks fairer.”

He pushed his dumplings toward Yu Gang and switched his noodle bowl with Seolhwa’s.

When Seolhwa glanced between the swapped bowls and him, Baek Yeong grinned and picked up his chopsticks.

“As you know, I’ve already eaten. Looks like your food’s gone cold because of me—enjoy it.”

He slurped up the swollen, overcooked noodles with unhurried delight, and Seolhwa finally began to eat as well.

After the meal, the three of them gathered in Yu Gang’s room.

“First, I apologize for tailing you. It’s been so long since I met such strong martial artists that I got carried away.”

“It’s fine.”

They knew they should be cautious, but there was no malice in him.

If anything, it was warmth—an easy, open goodwill.

Maybe he really was simply pleased to meet fellow martial artists after so long.

“This region sees few martial people. Do you know why?”

“Because it’s far from what we call the Central Plains.”

The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Houses were all concentrated in the east of the Central Plains.

Here in Xining—north of the western reaches of the Central Plains—the land bordered Xinjiang, the heartland of the Demonic Cult, and the frontier forces of the Western Regions.

Among the Nine Sects, the Kunlun Sect alone made its base in Qinghai, yet even they were forced into caution by the dangers pressing from all sides.

Worse still, this region had another grave problem, beyond the Demonic Cult and the foreign powers.

“Those who come to Xining fall into three kinds.”

Baek Yeong raised three fingers, curling them down one by one.

“First, Demonic Cultists.

Second, martial artists from the Central Plains heading toward the Demonic Cult.”

The last finger folded down, and his face darkened.

“And third, those righteous souls who come to slay the demonic beasts.”

Indeed.

The mountain range dividing the Central Plains and the Demonic Cult’s territory now swarmed with monsters.

That was why the Kunlun Sect could not amass strength, and the greatest reason martial artists avoided this land.

There was no reason to come here to begin with, and with the mountains teeming with beasts, there was even less.

Even Kunlun lay far to the south of Xining, so as Baek Yeong said, those who came here could only be of three kinds.

“So, which one are you?”

“The second.”

Baek Yeong raised two fingers.

“A martial artist of the Central Plains bound for the Demonic Cult.”

“...”

That was the same reason Seolhwa and Yu Gang were here.

Martial artists heading for the Demonic Cult.

“What business takes you there?”

“My wife and child are there. Waiting for me to come.”

Bitterness shadowed Baek Yeong’s face.

It was the expression of a man missing his family.

“That’s why I followed you. If you shared my purpose, I wondered if you might take me along to the Demonic Cult.”

Seolhwa tilted her head.

“Take you along?”

“I can’t cross those mountains crawling with monsters on my own.”

“You’re Baek Yeong.”

One of the Ten Masters, who had reached the Flowering Realm long ago.

At that level, there shouldn’t be a single monster he couldn’t face.

Baek Yeong’s bitter smile deepened.

He rolled up his sleeve and extended his arm toward Seolhwa.

“Do you know how to read the pulse?”

“...You must know what that means.”

A martial artist does not casually offer a hand.

If one’s meridians are read, it’s as good as laying oneself bare.

“Take it as a sign of how desperate I am.”

Seolhwa’s brow furrowed faintly.

Even if he offered it willingly, she had no desire to peer into the inner workings of a man she’d only just met—much less one of the Ten Masters.

“I’ll check.”

Sensing her discomfort, Yu Gang rose and stepped forward.

Baek Yeong calmly extended his arm.

With Seolhwa watching, Yu Gang took his wrist and felt the pulse.

“...”

Yu Gang closed his eyes, reading the meridians.

Gradually, his face darkened.

When he finally opened his eyes, his expression was tangled, hard to describe.

“How is it?”

“You’d better see for yourself.”

Baek Yeong once again offered his arm to Seolhwa.

Seolhwa exhaled a short sigh, then took his wrist.

Su-su-su-su...

“...”

As she traced his meridians, her expression darkened just like Yu Gang’s had.

She read for much longer than Yu Gang had; when she finally opened her eyes, the air around her had grown heavier.

“...Poison. It disrupts your meridians.”

“Indeed.”

“When were you struck?”

“Ten years ago.”

“...”

“I tried to purge it, but I’m hopeless with poisons. I’ve been like this ever since.”

Releasing his wrist, Seolhwa looked up at him.

Ten years ago.

That was exactly when Baek Yeong had vanished from the martial world.

So when he said ‘let’s just call it seclusion,’ this was what he meant.

“Then your family...”

“My wife and child,”

Baek Yeong said evenly, smoothing his sleeve back down,

“entered the Demonic Cult ten years ago.”