Campfires blazed at various points in the camping site.

Though there was only grass and berries to eat, they smiled broadly at the alcohol Sanghui and Yongcheon had brought.

"Wow! What exactly is this grass?"

"It's tasty, right?"

"Yeah. It has a sweet taste!"

At the Dokgak-gwi martial artists' exclamations, the Green Warrior Unit members smiled contentedly.

They remembered when they too had marveled at it like that.

But at one part of the camping site.

"Why is he so late?"

"Even if he encountered a beast herd, it's not a dangerous one."

Lim Seong-u grew increasingly concerned as Myeong-chun, who had gone to catch the rabbit, did not return.

"Could he be injured?"

"Injured?"

"Yes, maybe he stepped wrong on hidden terrain while focusing on the rabbit..."

"No way? He's not that careless. He'll be back soon. Please eat first."

"No, let's wait. We should all eat together."

At Lim Seong-u's words, Choo Pil-sung shook his head with a smile.

Time passed as they exchanged names and shared stories of their lives.

But Myeong-chun still did not return.

"I can't wait any longer."

Unable to endure it, Lim Seong-u jumped up and ran to where the Tang Family's leadership was.

"Family Head!"

"Huh? Isn't this Seong-u?"

Inner Hall Master Sanghui tilted his head as he looked at Lim Seong-u, who had been under his command for a while.

But to Cheonyeong, Lim Seong-u's expression seemed unusual.

Wrinkles appearing and disappearing on his forehead, downturned mouth corners, eyes that could barely meet him.

He was feeling anxious.

"Seong-u, what's the matter?"

"That's... Myeong-chun hasn't returned."

"What?"

"When he went to gather grass earlier, he spotted a rabbit and ran after it to catch it. But he hasn't come back since then."

"He hasn't returned?"

"No."

Cheonyeong's eyes narrowed.

There was no reason for someone to not return. If they hadn't, something must have happened.

"What are you saying? Are you telling me only Myeong-chun is missing?"

"Yes."

"What's this? Did you forget the camping rules? Didn't we teach that under any circumstances, two or more must travel together?"

As Yongcheon shouted and scolded, Lim Seong-u shrank his neck in fear.

"Yongcheon!"

Cheonyeong shook his head with a stern expression, stopping Yongcheon.

Lim Seong-u of the Green Warrior Unit.

His confidence and willingness to face death were limited only to enemies.

If Yongcheon, one of those who were like their teachers, became angry, he could only become frightened and withdrawn. That was human nature.

"Seong-u, tell me in detail. When did Myeong-chun spot the rabbit and run after it?"

"It was while we were gathering grass after finishing the camping site arrangement."

The sun had just set, not long after.

Cheonyeong looked up at the sky.

The moon had not reached the center of the sky, but it was quite far from the ground. At least an hour and a half must have passed.

"Do you remember where you separated?"

"Yes."

"Let's go then."

"Understood."

As Cheonyeong stood up following Lim Seong-u, Yongcheon tried to stop him.

"You're going yourself?"

"Why?"

"Why go yourself to find one missing child? Sanghui and I will go."

Yongcheon stood up, and Sanghui prepared himself.

"Never mind. Just stay seated."

"But we're going?"

"Why? To scold Seong-u when you get there?"

"No."

"Then? To do something unnecessary in the bushes?"

"...Ugh! Who's doing something unnecessary?"

"You two. I heard about the water mill."

"That's..."

"You two are quite shameless."

At Cheonyeong's mischievous joke, No Gwanyeong and Gongsun Seung chuckled, Yongcheon fell silent, and Sanghui's face turned red.

"I'll go and return. You two talk with the Elder. You still don't know each other well, right?"

"That's true, but..."

"That's enough. There's no good in making a fuss. It seems the atmosphere is just ripening as everyone is having a drink."

Cheonyeong gestured to the other squad members who were chatting quietly.

"I'll just take Seong-u's squad and return."

"Sigh, very well then."

Yongcheon pouted and waved his hand, and Cheonyeong, Lim Seong-u, and his squad members headed into the forest.

"Family Head, it was here. Myeong-chun chased the rabbit in that direction."

The place they arrived at, guided by Lim Seong-u, was a mountainside not far from the camping site.

Cheonyeong swept his sharp gaze across the surroundings.

This was strange.

There were no signs of terrain that would cause an accident nearby.

Since there was no sound of water, there should be no deep ravine close by. Since this was where the mountain began, there shouldn't be any cliffs. It wasn't a place where beast herds would pass either.

"Bring torches."

At Cheonyeong's command, Choo Pil-sung held a torch toward the forest.

After examining for a moment, Cheonyeong discovered what appeared to be Myeong-chun's footprints and the rabbit's tracks.

"First, we scatter from this center. Since he's learned the Tang Family's hunting methods, he wouldn't have chased the rabbit more than a hundred paces in radius. Search thoroughly through dense brush, behind rocks, anywhere that could hide a figure."

"Yes!"

"Scatter!"

Ten martial artists disappeared in a fan shape following Cheonyeong's command.

As Lim Seong-u and his squad members searched, Cheonyeong, who had taken the torch, carefully examined the footprints.

"This kid's quite skilled. His footwork is impressive."

What Cheonyeong had taught the Tang Family members was the footwork of the Yin Yang Flowing Sutra. As one reached the realm of Silent Sound, footsteps would fade, and reaching Silent Shadow, one would move so fast that even shadows couldn't catch up. Reaching the ultimate realm of Formless, one would stand at the peak of change, illusion, and speed—there was nothing more suitable for martial artists using hidden weapons.

Myeong-chun's footprints left on the ground.

Thump.

Cheonyeong casually left footprints beside them.

Half a chi deep.

Considering the boy's weight, comparable to an adult, similar traces should have remained on the soft mountain ground.

No, since he was stepping hard while chasing the rabbit, the marks should be deeper.

But the marks remained only on the surface of the ground.

Cheonyeong immediately understood that Myeong-chun had used the Silent Form Step to close the distance in one bound.

"Huh! When did this kid grow so much?"

Cheonyeong couldn't help but admire Myeong-chun's footwork.

Not only the depth, but the distance covered in a single leap was considerable.

"Sigh, it's praiseworthy, but at this rate, it'll be hard to find him at night. It would be faster to find the rabbit's fleeing footprints instead."

With subtle praise in his words, Cheonyeong gradually traced Myeong-chun's footprints.

Shining the torch and brushing away fallen leaves...

But since they were cutting through dense forest where even moonlight didn't reach, progress was necessarily slow.

One step, one step.

"Huh! Look at this? I might miss the trail?"

It was remarkable.

Had the rabbit gotten away, and Myeong-chun vented his frustration?

The distance between footprints grew increasingly far, and the traces were barely visible.

But then.

"...!"

A presence?

And the faint killing intent contained within it?

Flutter!

At the sensitive perception, something caught on Cheonyeong's sleeve, making it flutter lightly.

Ping! Pi-pi-ping!

Almost simultaneously, three piercing sounds followed the first.

Then Cheonyeong immediately threw his body.

Puff-puff-puff!

Just before his feet touched down, a hidden weapon embedded itself somewhere, and a cat-like cry was heard.

"What? A badger?"

The source of the presence.

It must have come out seeking food under the cover of night.

He looked around but saw and felt nothing.

"I too have confused human killing intent with beast killing intent. This is all because I've been focused only on internal energy recently. Sigh, my training is insufficient. My training is insufficient."

Cheonyeong, staring at the dead badger, scratched his head, blaming himself for having devoted himself solely to internal energy in his recent attempts to reach the next realm of Dual Heaven, which seemed just within grasp but remained elusive.

"But this way finding traces will be difficult? This kid Myeong-chun, only his footwork skills have grown."

Cheonyeong complained irritably about Myeong-chun's superb footwork.

The last footprints he had discovered were almost gone, making it difficult to find anything further at night.

"Damn, there's no choice. I'll have to search the entire area."

Cheonyeong frowned and swept his gaze across the surroundings.

"Myeong-chun! Myeong-chun, where are you!"

Calling out loudly for Myeong-chun.

And as Cheonyeong's voice gradually faded into the distance, at a place slightly away from where he had been searching, the scenery distorted and a figure appeared.

"Krgh, damn it."

A middle-aged man with his face contorted and his shoulder gripped tightly.

He was Jin Il-hak, the Upper Heavenly Ghost of Jinkagu, who had been following Cheonyeong's group and waiting for an opportunity.

Just moments before, he had been interrogating Myeong-chun at a place slightly away from where Cheonyeong had searched.

To learn about Cheonyeong.

At first, the boy had fiercely resisted, but when Jin Il-hak used the Severed Tendon and Severed Meridian technique, the boy had rolled his eyes back and begun spilling everything he knew about Cheonyeong.

As Jin Il-hak had expected, Cheonyeong was at the center of the failed contract in the Blue Green Sect.

The boy said he had killed the captain of the assassins.

Unfortunately, beyond that were only unhelpful pieces of information.

He had held hope since the boy was a martial artist of the Green Warrior Unit, cultivated alongside the Tang Family's founding, but he had obtained nothing beyond the rumors spreading throughout Sichuan.

But then he felt someone approaching and hurriedly suppressed Myeong-chun's acupoints again, spreading a formation nearby.

A formation that concealed form and sound.

But was it too late?

While setting up the final axis of the formation, the man had suddenly thrown a hidden weapon that Jin Il-hak, even as an Upper Heavenly Ghost, could not avoid.

Hidden weapons followed, but fortunately, a badger passing nearby died in Jin Il-hak's place, and the formation was completed just in time.

It was providence.

Jin Il-hak waited, gripping his shoulder tightly to prevent blood from dripping and swallowing even his breathing. The man seemed to examine the surroundings once more but, fortunately, left without harboring great suspicion.

Jin Il-hak, his teeth clenched against the throbbing pain felt in his shoulder, stared in the direction Cheonyeong had disappeared.

"Bone-Piercing Needle..."

A hidden weapon technique that had pierced his flesh and embedded itself in his shoulder bone.

It was perfect craftsmanship.

How was it possible?

How could Cheonyeong know a hidden weapon technique that even Jinkagu's upper-level assassins didn't dare use casually, requiring rotation to be imparted to the hidden weapon?

But Cheonyeong's Bone-Piercing Needle was weak.

If it had been a true Bone-Piercing Needle with poison sealed within to penetrate the marrow, he would have died from the spreading poison in moments.

In his cold eyes, Myeong-chun, held in his hand, came into view.

"Your Family Head's weakness is what kills you."

Thud!

Jin Il-hak pulled out the hidden weapon embedded in his shoulder and drove it straight into Myeong-chun's brow.

Myeong-chun, whose eyes had been wide with pain, trembled and then went limp.

He had died.

Jin Il-hak, staring for a moment, his eyes gleaming with killing intent.

"So to know about Cheonyeong, it means one must be the Family Head or higher. Then I'll scatter him."

Myeong-chun's corpse would serve that purpose.

Enraged by his subordinate's death, Cheonyeong would wake everyone at the camping site and search the mountain.

The entire mountain would be covered with human presence and angry killing intent. There could be no better environment to hide.

He only needed to avoid Cheonyeong.

And once he found and captured the lone Family Head wandering about, that would be all.

"Now, try moving."

With a quiet murmur, Jin Il-hak melted into the darkness, concealing his form.

Myeong-chun's corpse, left desolate in the cold night wind, quickly grew cold.

(End of Chapter)