"Damn, where exactly did he go?"

"I know. How far did this kid go? Could something have really happened?"

After searching the area for quite a while, Cheonyeong met Lim Seong-u and returned to where they had last seen Myeong-chun's footprints.

"Let me see, was it around here?"

Cheonyeong's hand, which had been shining the torch to find the footprints' location, suddenly stopped.

"Why are you...?"

At Lim Seong-u's confused words, Cheonyeong raised his hand to stop him.

A metallic smell reached his nose.

The smell of blood?

Damn, another badger's...

With his face contorted, Cheonyeong unconsciously turned his head toward the dead badger's direction, and his gaze fixed on one spot.

What is that? What is it?

A large object that looked like a long rock in the darkness, a little distance from the badger's corpse.

It hadn't been there before.

Though he had swept his gaze across it, how could he have missed such a large change?

As he concentrated his vision, the shape became increasingly clear.

"A person?"

It was night, and thick branches blocked even the moonlight, but Cheonyeong could be certain of the object's identity.

But it wasn't moving.

A corpse...?

"Could it be...?"

Cheonyeong's eyes opened as if they would split.

Myeong-chun's missing final footprints, and a corpse.

Clearly it hadn't been there before, clearly.

His hands began to tremble.

Unease, anxiety, and somewhere among them, a sinister anger and killing intent surging forth.

Thud.

Each step was taken so heavily that it left deep footprints.

As he drew closer, the identity of the corpse became clearly imprinted in his bloodshot eyes.

A limp body, and his face revealed in the torchlight.

"...Myeong-chun."

Lim Seong-u's voice, who had approached Cheonyeong's side, trembled. Cheonyeong had recognized him too.

He knew the name Myeong-chun.

How many years had they been together?

Though he had not said it outright, Cheonyeong had regarded each of his subordinates as family.

Myeong-chun, a vagrant from Ganyang.

His memories of the boy were quite vivid.

A small child he had met while wandering to find Ahn Chilgang's house when he returned to Ganyang.

The boy's young image, mouth wide open for a single coin, came to mind. He had asked for directions to a physician to treat the sick Ahn Chilgang, and when Cheonyeong said he would support him, he came looking for the Tang Family and stayed on as a subordinate.

Something felt strange.

He had witnessed so much death, so much death had passed through his hands.

What was his father's death like?

He couldn't remember.

It was too long ago.

Hadn't the emotion faded with time, leaving only revenge?

It was natural for martial artists to die on the battlefield, something he had accepted as commonplace.

But now, Myeong-chun's death pressed heavily on his chest.

Was this what it felt like?

For someone by one's side to die.

Thud.

Lim Seong-u, whose legs had lost their strength, fell to his knees beside Myeong-chun's face, which was growing cold.

"Why are you here, why are you dead here?"

His voice was full of numbness.

Lim Seong-u's trembling hand touched Myeong-chun's face.

"Myeong-chun..."

Lim Seong-u's trembling hand gripped Myeong-chun's chest. As he sobbed with choking sounds, Cheonyeong, who had been watching silently, saw something in his eyes.

A hidden weapon suddenly protruding from between Myeong-chun's brows...?

"Why is this here?"

It was his own.

It was something Danya had made for him alone, staying up through the night.

"Could it be...?"

The previous situation flashed through his mind.

Four hidden weapons.

The first of them was the Bone-Piercing Needle.

It was impossible that Myeong-chun had been hit by the Bone-Piercing Needle that rotated fiercely and embedded itself in the enemy's bones.

"That bastard!"

Anger surged through the numbness, and the bloodshot in Cheonyeong's eyes burst forth.

Grind.

His teeth ground harshly.

There had been another person here besides Myeong-chun.

That person had taken the hidden weapon Cheonyeong threw and embedded it in Myeong-chun's brow.

Cheonyeong jumped to his feet and began meticulously scanning the surroundings with eyes filled with deep blood light.

Whoosh!

In the torchlight, things previously unseen became visible.

Brush, trees, and traces left on the ground.

And.

"The three axes of a formation...?"

Familiarity was felt in the traces left by the suspected culprit.

"The Seal Sound Illusion Formation?!"

A formation that concealed sound and form.

Cheonyeong suddenly turned his head to look at Myeong-chun's corpse.

That person had been here, watching him from within the formation. Hidden, watching him, and leaving Myeong-chun's corpse to mock him.

The Seal Sound Illusion Formation was very difficult to deploy, but once spread, it was so subtle that even Cheonyeong would have difficulty discovering it.

Only one person could construct such a formation so easily and quickly.

An Upper Heavenly Ghost of Jinkagu. Among them.

"Jin Il-hak. Was it you? Were you here?"

Cheonyeong approached Myeong-chun's corpse and placed his hand on it.

Faint warmth remained inside, which had grown cold.

"Damn it."

He had died in the time Cheonyeong was away.

Right nearby.

If Cheonyeong had examined more carefully at that moment, perhaps Myeong-chun would have lived.

He had been too careless.

Recalling Myeong-chun's painful death with the hidden weapon embedded in his brow, the anger and suppressed killing intent that had been held back spread from his body and wavered like heat shimmer.

"Seong-u."

"Sob, sob, yes. Family Head."

"Tell everyone."

"Yes!"

At the low, controlled voice filled with anger, Lim Seong-u pulled out a small flute from his chest and blew it with all his might.

Piiiii-

An ordinary flute, yet its sound echoed sadly across the mountain ridge.

"It must have hurt."

Cheonyeong knelt beside Myeong-chun and pulled the hidden weapon from between his brows.

"...Were you so frustrated you couldn't even close your eyes?"

His voice was sorrowful.

Myeong-chun's dying form seemed to be drawn vaguely before his eyes.

His acupoint must have been suppressed so he couldn't speak. He couldn't have screamed in pain. He must have died unable to move, facing cold eyes, unable to ask anyone for help, resenting it.

Cheonyeong's trembling hand covered Myeong-chun's eyes.

Slide.

Myeong-chun's eyes were closed.

As if confirming his death, Cheonyeong, who felt a lump in his throat, closed his own eyes.

Sounds of people rushing through the brush came from all directions. Tang Family martial artists who had hurried at the flute's call. The torches in their hands brightly illuminated Cheonyeong's surroundings.

"F-Family Head."

"M-Myeong-chun!"

Different reactions, different shocked faces.

Some couldn't believe Myeong-chun's death, others couldn't believe the current situation.

But they didn't approach.

A sinister killing intent lay thick. A voice laden with that killing intent was uttered quietly.

"Search."

"...!?"

"The assassin who harmed Myeong-chun must be nearby. Search thoroughly but don't scatter. Stay together. And when you find him, don't engage recklessly—just report his location."

"Yes!"

Cheonyeong's command fell.

And the Tang Family martial artists scattered in all directions.

Though anger boiled in his heart, Cheonyeong knew he had to be colder than ever.

The opponent was an Upper Heavenly Ghost.

He couldn't be swayed by emotion.

Now he had to calm his anger and predict the opponent's movements.

"Huu, huu..."

His rough breathing gradually slowed.

Upper Heavenly Ghost Jin Il-hak.

If he had come, he must be curious about the Blue Green Sect incident.

At the time, Jin Yiseon hadn't reported anything to Jinkagu. The messenger he had hidden had even died.

News of the Blue Green Sect's incident had spread through people's mouths, and Jinkagu must have learned that Cheonyeong was at the center. And they would have wanted to know. About him.

Myeong-chun died because of that.

The traces left on Myeong-chun's corpse weren't limited to the hidden weapon.

The Severed Tendon and Severed Meridian technique.

He had been tortured.

That person had tried to extract information about Cheonyeong through Myeong-chun.

He had to think.

Becoming that person instead of himself, what would he do next?

Jin Il-hak, Jin Il-hak.

Cheonyeong pulled out all his past memories and recalled them repeatedly in his mind.

Jin Il-hak's personality, speech, martial arts.

Yes, if it were him, he would never have left this place.

If he had learned enough about Cheonyeong through Myeong-chun, he wouldn't have bothered leaving the corpse to mock him. Erasing traces of murder was basic among assassins.

Leaving Myeong-chun meant.

He had deliberately wanted Cheonyeong to see.

It was to scatter him.

Over a hundred people would be spread across the entire mountain, and he would hide within. It would be too easy to conceal himself within the anger and killing intent that would bloom from Myeong-chun's death.

Then what was he targeting?

"He wants to know more details about me."

Cheonyeong's eyes grew cold.

"Family Head, what has happened?"

No Gwanyeong, who arrived late, asked Cheonyeong. After organizing his thoughts, Cheonyeong spoke in a low voice.

"It seems an assassin has attached himself because of the Blue Green Sect incident."

"The Blue Green Sect incident?"

"It's because of me. He was targeting me."

"..."

"He wanted to know about me, hid nearby watching, and killed Myeong-chun."

Cheonyeong's words stopped.

Just mentioning the previous incident made anger boil.

"Huu..."

After steadying his breathing and swallowing his anger, Cheonyeong continued.

"He won't leave this area. He'll circle around and target another prey."

"Huh?"

"He considers himself an excellent hunter. He thinks he can escape anytime danger comes. This darkness, the killing intent filling all around, the chaos. He's a cunning one who knows how to use everything around him."

"..."

"He hasn't achieved his goal yet. He'll target someone closer to me, easier to catch than Myeong-chun."

"Someone close to you and easy to target?"

"Yongcheon, Sanghui, Baekta."

"..."

"Yongcheon and Sanghui will be together. Follow them and watch their backs. I will follow Baekta. Don't get close. Not until that person appears."

"F-Family Head!"

No Gwanyeong's eyes suddenly widened as he listened to Cheonyeong's words.

"Huh?"

"There's more."

"...?"

"Damn it! I need to go!"

For some reason, No Gwanyeong threw his body forward urgently without even waiting for Cheonyeong's answer.

There was more?

What was that?

* * *

"What on earth is happening?"

"I don't know. I'm still not very familiar with the Tang Family."

At Gongsun Seung's question, the Dokgak-gwi martial artist scratched his head.

No Gwanyeong had left this martial artist to guard Gongsun Seung just in case.

Wasn't Gongsun Seung someone who didn't know martial arts?

"Doesn't the Gongsun Family Head know?"

"I only handle finances."

"I see."

The Dokgak-gwi martial artist nodded.

But there was no disrespect in how he treated Gongsun Seung.

What did it matter that he didn't know martial arts?

He had already observed for several days.

Though young in age, he was someone who stayed by the Family Head's side.

He had heard he was a collateral branch Family Head with a different surname and was responsible for all the Tang Family's business rights.

To his eyes, he seemed remarkable. Even the Vice Family Head who had killed the Samgyeong's commander and the Inner Hall Master who had faced an Upper Heavenly Ghost didn't seem at ease before him, did they? And he was confident even sitting at a drinking table with a Ghost Hand.

In other words, Gongsun Seung was the Tang Family's hidden power broker.

To the Dokgak-gwi's eyes, he appeared as a stepping stone for advancement.

He had to gain this boy's favor before others did and secure a position.

"Gongsun Family Head."

"Yes?"

"It seems we'll have to wait a while, so shall I offer you a cup of alcohol and keep you company?"

"Alcohol? Hmm, the Family Head said I shouldn't until I come of age."

"Ah, one cup doesn't even smell."

At the martial artist's words, Gongsun Seung swallowed hard.

"Then shall we?"

"Here, I, Pal-bu of the Dokgak-gwi, will pour you a cup."

The martial artist held the bottle with both hands and tried to fill the cup Gongsun Seung held.

Ping! 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

And a piercing sound was heard.

Puff!

Pal-bu's head burst like a watermelon.

Right before Gongsun Seung's eyes.

The Tang Family's Departure from the World