A day passed.

Three days had passed since we set out, and the journey toward Liaoning had been proceeding without any particular trouble.

“We should rest here for the day.”

We chose a campsite. We had been riding without pause for days, so the horses needed rest.

The party needed a slightly more comfortable break as well.

After calculating that, we picked a spot and set up camp. Since everyone here was a martial artist, it did not take long.

“It’s a valley.”

Yu Yul said it while looking at the lake and valley nearby.

“This is Ayeon Valley.”

I explained.

“Ayeon. Is it a named valley?”

“That’s what people call it.”

It was not somewhere I came often. It was far from Liaoning, and I only knew the name.

Apparently, there was some fairy legend inside it or something, but I did not particularly care.

For a place with a legend.

Judging by how little spiritual trace there was, it was safe to call it an empty rumor.

The fact that a legend exists in the first place usually means...

There was a high chance something worthy of it existed.

But this valley looks like it has nothing.

I did not feel anything in particular.

“Are we resting here?”

“Yes. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

“What about night watch?”

“You go first. I’ll stand in the middle.”

I gave up the order easily enough. I had been sleeping less anyway.

“I’m going to circle the area for a bit.”

“Should I come with you?”

“No. Please just stay here.”

“Ahaha. No need to be shy.”

I ignored Yu Yul’s nonsense and moved off. I leapt lightly. My body rose above the forest, feeling weightless.

Let’s see.

I climbed a tall tree and surveyed the area.

There aren’t many evil ghosts... and not many other ghosts either.

Maybe because the terrain was safe, I did not sense many troublesome things. It seemed we could continue on like this. I only hoped there would not be a downpour on the way. If I had one wish, that was about it.

The sky looks fine, so it should be all right.

It really had to be. I wanted nothing useless happening on the road.

Hmm.

If things went on like this, we might arrive faster than expected.

As soon as I arrive, first...

I would resolve the soul-side ring. After that.

I should find my brother.

I needed to catch the man who was probably somewhere in the county town drunkenly making trouble. Was Father in Liaoning too? He probably was.

...I already hate this.

There was nothing more exhausting and unpleasant than dealing with two Bang Family men at once.

...Tsk.

Even so, after everything that had happened, I had to face them at least once.

“Whew.”

I exhaled. As I steadied my breathing in the quiet, my insides slowly settled.

Chirrrr. Chirp, chirp.

I heard insects crying in the grass and the sound of blades of grass rustling in the wind. Listening to them, my expression hardened for a moment.

Old man.

I called someone inwardly. The old man who had been quiet for months now.

Old man.

I called again, but there was still no answer. As expected.

Where did he go?

There was no way he had suddenly vanished. With that man’s temperament, he would never pass on peacefully in a way like this.

What happened?

I had not seen him since the dream-vision, and it frustrated me. Was he hiding again and preparing something? If so, was it something that would take this long?

...Tsk.

If he was trying to do something, that made me uneasy. Would it kill him to just tell me?

I have plenty to ask, so can’t you just come out already?

When he was there, he was annoying. Now that he was gone, that was a problem in its own way. It felt as if I had lost my path without realizing it.

Was I relying on him more than I thought?

I had thought I was not.

But maybe, without realizing it, I had been riding on Yoo Cheongil’s back the whole time.

That thought came to me.

“Tch.”

I clicked my tongue lightly. I shook my head. It seemed going back to the family home after so long was filling my head with unnecessary thoughts.

I climbed down from the tree.

At that moment, someone was waiting in front of me.

It was Freak Demon.

“My Sky.”

“...You startled me.”

I had not sensed his presence. I was starting to wonder whether this man was actually a ghost.

“You scared me.”

“My apologies. I did not intend to startle you.”

Freak Demon smiled awkwardly. I looked at him and asked.

“What is it?”

“It is nothing else.”

Freak Demon should have been at the campsite, yet he had gone out of his way to find me. That meant there was a reason.

At my question, Freak Demon answered cautiously.

“I sense human presence not too far from here.”

“Human presence?”

I narrowed my eyes.

There was something there? I had not felt it.

“What kind of human presence?”

There could be people. There were county towns nearby, though they were somewhat far away. Even so, the fact that Freak Demon had come to tell me meant—

It means it’s something different.

It meant it was not ordinary human presence.

“From what I have determined...”

Sure enough.

“They seem to be unorthodox faction scum.”

“...Unorthodox faction?”

It did not seem they were ordinary men.

*****

An abrupt appearance from the unorthodox faction.

After hearing Freak Demon’s words, I tilted my head.

The unorthodox faction? Here, all of a sudden?

This isn’t exactly a dangerous region.

I wondered what reason unorthodox faction bastards would have to appear here. On top of that—

Why did Freak Demon conclude they were unorthodox faction?

A presence that had appeared from a distance. I was curious what made Freak Demon declare them unorthodox just from that.

“We are nearly there.”

Because of that, I moved with Freak Demon alone.

We were beginning to approach Liaoning. We were still far away, but the presence of unorthodox faction bastards in this land was strange.

We crept closer, suppressing our presence.

I began to feel the human presence as well.

Their number...

A little over ten, it seemed.

What is this?

What were they doing?

Unlike my confusion—

Ah.

I thought I understood why Freak Demon had identified them as unorthodox faction.

Their energy is different.

The force I felt from them was different from the start. Sharp and rough. Their coarse energy was obvious, and in the middle of it—

The smell of blood.

The smell of blood clung thickly to them.

Rattle.

They seemed to be moving while pulling a single carriage. The problem was—

...This is.

I frowned when I saw the carriage.

I felt spiritual energy.

Malice was roiling inside it like a flood.

What is that?

What was it?

I focused my gaze.

“Brother. Are we sure we can take this as it is?”

Their voices brushed my ears.

“What else are we supposed to do with it?”

“I mean, no matter how few people pass through here, I’m wondering if it’s all right to move it this openly.”

“It would be ridiculous to hide something this big, and we don’t have the luxury to travel while hiding it.”

“That’s true, but... tsk.”

One of them smacked his lips.

“At the very least, it’d be nice if we had time to rest. We went through all the trouble of getting something precious, and even if we can’t stop by the county town—”

“Who doesn’t know you’d only go there to grab at some courtesan’s skirt?”

“That’s the fun of it, isn’t it?”

“I’m starting to feel hungry myself, so it doesn’t sound bad, but hold it in. The leader’s business comes first.”

“No... so you’re saying we’re taking this all the way to Liaoning?”

“Stop whining. Use that time to carry more.”

The conversation was strange.

They had gotten something precious. They had come through a sparsely traveled place on purpose, too.

They don’t have the luxury to travel while hiding it?

It was strange. Especially because the spiritual energy coming from that carriage kept scraping at my insides.

“Not much farther. We just need to get to Abandoned Mountain like this. The leader will be waiting there.”

“...We really can rest once this is over, right?”

“Probably. The leader promised.”

Tap. Tap.

I tapped my wrist with my finger. I was still sorting through my thoughts.

Then—

“If we complete this offering properly, he said he’d reward us handsomely. So we just need to catch a few more girls and—”

The man’s words reached me.

At that moment, my body sank lightly.

—My Sky?

Freak Demon spoke as if puzzled, but I had already landed on the ground.

“Hm?”

“Who is that?”

“Who are you?”

Shing!

They drew their swords and pointed them at me.

“A traveler at this hour? If so, you’re unlucky.”

The man who had been speaking earlier added in a voice with gleaming eyes.

“If you’d just passed by quietly, you could have—”

“Let me ask one thing.”

I cut him off.

“What’s inside that?”

“Inside?”

At those words, the man’s expression stiffened.

“Why should I tell you that? Who are you?”

“...”

A sensation crawled up from my toes and struck the crown of my head. That feeling of my blood running cold was unpleasant no matter when I felt it.

“Who am I? Hmm.”

What should I say?

I thought about it briefly.

I did not really have an introduction to give.

I simply gripped the sword at my waist carefully.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have a name worth telling you.”

“You little... Are you from the Alliance?”

“Half right.”

“...!”

Their eyes widened at my answer, half an admission.

“Damn it. How did he notice?”

“Combat stance!”

Swords came out at once.

Watching them, I took a step.

“Kill h—!”

Slice.

The head of the man who had been speaking dropped.

“Hah!?”

Immediately after, I cut down the men around him one by one.

The Divine Sword cutting through humans felt like slicing tofu.

Blood soaked the ground in an instant.

“Th-this bastard!”

“He’s a monster...!”

Their realms did not seem high. The strongest among them were first-rate martial artists at most.

First-rate, huh.

It felt strange to see first-rate martial artists and judge them as not high.

Slice—!

Another one. Then another.

I slowly cut them down.

Among them, I saw two turn and run.

“R-run!”

They had judged there was no chance of victory and chosen flight.

Crack!

“Grk!”

But Freak Demon, dressed as a woman, appeared behind them and twisted their necks, killing them.

Before I could count to ten, the ten lives before me had all vanished.

“...”

Drip. Drip.

Watching blood fall from the Divine Sword, I moved.

“My Sky.”

Freak Demon called me. As he spoke, he cautiously knelt.

“...I beg your forgiveness.”

What was he apologizing for?

I did not ask.

Without a word, I approached the carriage.

Then I opened the inside.

Thud.

As soon as the door opened, a pale white hand sagged out from within.

“...”

The inside was packed with corpses.

The corpses of young girls who looked roughly in their teens. Even the oldest of them did not look past twenty.

It was full of bodies like that.

And above them—

Evil ghosts.

The souls of girls who had left their lingering attachments behind and become ghosts full of malice were clustered there.

So the spiritual energy I had felt was this.

—Ah... aah.

Perhaps because the people who had killed them were dead, some of the evil ghosts passed on peacefully.

I did not look at them.

Lives that had died without even closing their eyes.

Looking at them, I spoke.

“...Freak Demon.”

“Yes, my Sky.”

“Please do me one favor.”

Apparently, before heading to Liaoning—

“I shall obey your command. Whatever it may be.”

There was something I had to deal with first.