“When did you know?”

“Who can say.”

Seolhwa stared down at the dregs of tea in the cup she’d set down.

“I began to doubt you from the start. It’s more accurate to say I never trusted you at all.”

“Hmph.”

Gwancheon let out a low sigh.

“Even after checking my Blood Channels yourself?”

“You’re far too formidable a man for me to take your word for it.”

Even if he had truly been poisoned, no one claimed a place among the Ten Masters of the Martial World by chance.

Surely not even one among them had gone through life untouched by poison.

That rank was one earned only by those who had endured countless trials and tribulations.

“For a man like you to remain poisoned for ten years—it was too weak to believe.”

“...The poison?”

“Yes.”

Gwancheon’s face turned incredulous.

A poison that could disrupt Blood Channels didn’t even exist in the Central Plains.

“Hahahaha!! Hahahahahaha!!”

Weak, she said.

Who under Heaven would dare call this poison weak?

“I underestimated you. But why accept my request then? You didn’t seem like the type to travel with someone suspicious.”

“Because I wanted to know why you approached us.”

“And did you find out?”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

Gwancheon gave a soft hum and folded his arms, meaning he wanted her to go on.

Seolhwa recounted how she had been watching him.

“When we encountered the white tiger, you snapped a branch on purpose to create an ‘unexpected’ situation. Then you appeared late and shot the bear beast.”

“So I did.”

“You caught small animals along the way and deliberately smeared their blood on our trail. Likely to draw the wolves.”

“You noticed that too?”

“You sensed the wolves closing in and hid yourself—but you hadn’t expected the crows.”

Seolhwa’s lips curved faintly as she met his eyes.

“Considering how you suddenly appeared to shield my companion from them.”

Gwancheon’s own mouth curved in return, amusement in his expression.

“However, there’s a flaw in your words, young lady.”

“Do tell.”

“You know full well—I’m a poisoned man. You’d have me believe I orchestrated all that without this fellow noticing?”

“I think the poison had already been diluted and lost its effect.”

“!”

Gwancheon’s eyes widened, surprise flashing across his face.

With a smile tinged with excitement, he asked, “What makes you ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) think that?”

“I realized it when you shot that arrow at the bear beast. The poison was already neutralized.”

Because that was an arrow no one with disrupted Blood Channels could ever shoot.

Even his performance of “instability” had been nothing but precise control of qi.

He’d only pretended to have unstable Blood Channels; he had never once fought with them truly in disarray.

But Seolhwa had seen plenty of warriors who had.

In her previous life, she had fought Namgoong Mugang himself as he was dying from Power-Scattering Poison.

And in this life, she had watched Seop Mugwang’s desperate struggle after losing his inner power.

A man who claimed he hadn’t seen his wife and child for ten years should have carried that same raw desperation.

Gwancheon did not.

“So, have you reached your conclusion?”

Seolhwa nodded.

Glancing at Yu Gang, still asleep beside her, she said quietly,

“You were testing my companion. But whenever danger struck, you intervened without hesitation—always anxious he might get so much as a scratch.”

“Hmm...”

“And so,” she looked him straight in the eye,

“I wondered if you were someone from the Demonic Sect sent to retrieve him.”

At that, an immense surge of energy burst from around Gwancheon.

His hair whipped in the current, his robe flaring as a vast green aura flooded the camp.

Seolhwa neither flinched nor stepped back, meeting his gaze in perfect calm.

“Just as you watched me, I’ve been watching you.”

Gwancheon’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re someone without openings.”

The one meant to be protected was the man.

From the moment they entered Xining, Gwancheon had recognized them.

Though they wore Human-Skin Masks, the qi they carried was distinct—it told him exactly who they were.

Xining, being the gateway toward the Demonic Cult, was rarely visited by orthodox martial artists. That had helped.

Gwancheon had approached the man first, to observe him more closely.

But what caught his eye had not been the man—it was the woman.

Who is this woman?

I can’t gauge her realm.

Could she possibly have surpassed the Flowering Realm?

Even with her mask hiding her face and thus her age, she didn’t feel that old.

A woman this young, hiding her cultivation so well?

He had not believed she was truly beyond the Flowering Realm.

He might have been long absent from the Central Plains, but he wasn’t ignorant of its news.

No one that young could have reached that height—it made no sense.

I’ll have to watch her.

Still, his orders had been clear: protect and bring back the man.

So Gwancheon focused on him—testing his skill, stepping in when needed, ensuring he didn’t get hurt.

All the while, the woman left the beast-fighting entirely to her companion, never lifting a finger herself.

Perhaps it had been prearranged. Still, it left Gwancheon frustrated—he couldn’t gauge her true ability.

That was why he had drawn the wolf pack.

He’d wanted to drag out something too dangerous for the man to handle alone—to see the woman act.

But the unexpected arrival of the crows ruined that.

To the end, her true strength remained hidden.

Whooooom—

Releasing his inner power, Gwancheon faced her.

“I was ordered to bring this man back. Forgive me—but I must.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then I’ll have to use force.”

Even the way he let his energy flare was close to a threat.

Seolhwa gave a small, easy smile.

Even in a situation where her life was being threatened, she remained composed—because she could still feel no killing intent from him.

“Is it true your family is in the Demonic Sect?”

“They entered with me. Ten years ago.”

“A man of your caliber—why the Demonic Sect?”

“That’s a strange question. The Demonic Sect is no less than the Central Plains’ martial world.”

“They say ten years can change a whole country.”

Fwoosh—

In an instant, Gwancheon’s aura vanished—completely nullified.

Seolhwa’s qi had erased it.

That was something only someone of equal or greater cultivation could do.

“!”

Gwancheon’s eyes flew wide.

His gaze trembled, disbelief written clear within them.

“Who... are you?”

“You should recognize this symbol.”

Seolhwa drew from her robe the cloth marked with the sigil left by the long-scarred bamboo-hatted man and held it out before him.

“...”

“I’m looking for the one with the scar across his face. Do you know where I can find him?”

Gwancheon took the cloth and stared at the mark.

Then he gave a short laugh and shook his head.

“I’ve long suspected it—but the guests of the Strategist are never ordinary.”

He looked at her with a refreshed expression.

“From here on, I’ll escort you myself. There was also an order to personally guide whoever carried this sigil.”