By Zephyria 
“Youngest. Youngest….”
At the touch of a hand gently shaking his shoulder, Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes snapped open. His body was drenched in cold sweat as his uneasy, flickering gaze rapidly scanned his surroundings. A moment later, fully awake, Seong Mu-yeon let out a long sigh and slumped back onto the bed.
“Ah, it was a dream.”
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Owl held out a bowl of steaming medicine.
The medicine, bitter enough to sting the tongue, seemed to remind him that this was reality, which he found oddly comforting. Seong Mu-yeon downed the entire bowl in one go.
“…It was a truly dreadful dream.”
It had started out peacefully, almost idyllic. Seong Mu-yeon, having returned to his childhood of about five or six years old, was playing house with a living Peng Yuan-jin.
“But then, suddenly, Young Master Peng Do-hwan appeared, holding a greatsword in each hand, and started swinging them wildly……”
Seong Mu-yeon fled in a panic. In the midst of it, Yak Seon suddenly appeared, slapped him hard on the back, and started shouting at him to practice, pouring bitter medicine into his mouth. Then she took him to the training cave on Mount Hua. She threatened him, saying he shouldn’t even think of seeing sunlight until he reached the transcendent realm, and threw him into pitch-black darkness.
“…And then, Master Baek Ryeo-il was there.”
In the darkness, only Baek Ryeo-il’s two eyes glowed. With a sinister gleam in his gaze, he approached step by slow step, and just as he finally seized his shoulder…!
“That’s when you woke me up, hyeongnim.”
Having listened that far, Owl stared at Seong Mu-yeon with an impassive look and said one thing.
“…Get ready to eat.”
“Yes.”
Thud.
As Owl left, Seong Mu-yeon scratched his cheek awkwardly. While dreaming, he had undoubtedly felt an unparalleled, extreme terror, but upon waking, a sense of absurdity washed over him at the nonsensical content of the dream.
Finding wash water that Owl seemed to have prepared, he washed his sweat-covered face. The cold water chased away the last remnants of sleepiness, and his mind gradually cleared.
Seong Mu-yeon, gripping the edge of the washbasin, stared blankly at the water’s surface. As a droplet clinging to the tip of his nose fell onto the water, his own face reflected in it rippled and twisted strangely.
‘…To have such a dream. Did yesterday’s events shock me that much?’
Peng Do-hwan was understandable. Originally, he was destined to stand at the pinnacle alongside his brother and lead the future of the Central Plains. But having lost the one he most trusted and followed due to an unexpected incident, it was only natural for him to be twisted by a sense of loss.
However, Baek Ryeo-il was a slightly different story.
The man he witnessed last night was the very picture of the most normal version Seong Mu-yeon knew.
A ruthless executioner annihilating the enemy.
Naturally, Seong Mu-yeon should have been pleased that Baek Ryeo-il had become the version he most desired.
But…
“……”
Staring quietly at his own reflection in the water, he suddenly stood up and irritably wiped off the moisture.
Just what is this feeling?
Owl soon returned with the meal, so his thoughts couldn’t continue for long. But the lingering, unpleasant feeling didn’t subside, settling heavily in a corner of his heart.
“Be careful not to make a sound… And don’t leave my side…”
Owl held out a badger mask to him after he finished eating. It seemed he didn’t plan to forcibly block his voice like yesterday.
“Especially, be careful not to be left alone with that Taoist…”
Seong Mu-yeon let out a short sigh and pulled the mask over his head.
Once ready, they went downstairs.
Baek Ryeo-il, Gang Woong, and Peng Do-hwan were gathered, engaged in a serious conversation.
“We can just find the Demonic Cult again. Since they’re like rats hiding everywhere, just waiting for an opportunity, they’re bound to leave traces. There must be a place in this village that deals in information; if we catch any demonic cultist and beat the information out of them, we’ll get something.”
As Baek Ryeo-il spoke, Peng Do-hwan slammed the table forcefully.
“No, that’s not it. Deciphering this letter first would be faster! If you’re so confident, I don’t understand why you still haven’t caught that Poison Freak bastard.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“There must be clues in this letter!”
“That’s also a matter for after it’s deciphered.”
Between the two men arguing, Gang Woong, looking bored, stirred his soup bowl, then noticed the two approaching and stood up.
“Did you rest well? Please, sit here.”
Gang Woong pulled out chairs for them. As they joined, Peng Do-hwan’s expression changed, and he greeted them with a bright smile.
“You didn’t come out for breakfast, so I thought you were sleeping in or something.”
“Sleeping in, my foot.”
Baek Ryeo-il snorted loudly.
“Have you found any clues regarding Yakseon Daein’s whereabouts…?”
Owl completely ignored Baek Ryeo-il and asked Peng Do-hwan.
“Not yet. Since that Poison Freak bastard is being sought by many people besides us, he’ll eventually slip up someday, but the problem is there’s no guarantee the hostages will be safe until then. Ultimately, we need to decipher this letter. It’s quite a dilemma.”
“May I take a look at the letter…?”
“Huh? You, young master?”
Peng Do-hwan opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“Thanks to Yak Seon having conducted in-depth research on the Demonic Cult, we also know a fair bit about them… Perhaps we might be able to decipher it…”
“Of course you would.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s snort grew even louder. He openly displayed hostility, firmly crossing his arms over his chest.
“Then I’ll entrust it to you.”
Peng Do-hwan held out the letter.
Owl spread the letter wide so Seong Mu-yeon could see it. At the questioning gaze asking if he could read it, Seong Mu-yeon turned his eyes to the paper.
‘Hmm.’
Most of it was unfamiliar code, so he couldn’t decipher it entirely, but parts of the old system remained, allowing him to read a few words.
Considering that the Divine Demon Sect, led by the Third Young Master, had only split from the original Demonic Cult three years ago, it seemed they hadn’t had time to completely overhaul even these aspects.
As Seong Mu-yeon gave a slight nod, Owl neatly folded the paper.
“May we take it to our room to examine it…? It might be easier to decipher if we focus on it in a quiet place…”
“That won’t do. If you two take off with the only clue, wouldn’t that be our loss?”
Baek Ryeo-il said. After repeated provocations, Owl’s hand finally clenched slightly, as if his patience had finally run out.
“I don’t want to agree with that fellow, but I think the same. Ah! It’s not that I doubt you, but unexpected accidents can happen anytime, right? I’ll give you time; examine it carefully here.”
Peng Do-hwan said apologetically.
‘Ha!’
Seong Mu-yeon was indignant.
Could the massacre of the campsite, which those two committed because they couldn’t control their boiling bloodlust, also be considered an ‘unexpected accident’?
They weren’t the ones to talk, having caused the group to lose their objective and cling to this tiny scrap of paper.
But neither Seong Mu-yeon nor Owl had any desire to be stubborn here and invite unnecessary suspicion.
Owl unfolded the letter again. Blocking the view with the single, thin sheet of paper, he glanced subtly at Seong Mu-yeon with a troubled look.
‘No choice.’
It’s fortunate he’s wearing a mask.
They won’t see Seong Mu-yeon’s lips moving.
– It’s changed a lot, but I can decipher a few words.
His voice, leaking from his lips, didn’t spread through the air but went directly to Owl’s eardrum.
It was telepathic speech.
A high-level technique used when one doesn’t want others to overhear words meant for a specific recipient. There are two tricky aspects to using this technique.
First, it requires the delicate inner force control ability to deliver sound only to the intended person. Second, since it’s meaningless to have a secret conversation if someone reads your lips, you must not show your mouth to others.
Masters above a certain level can create vibrations without making a sound or transmit sound to someone thousands of li away, but Seong Mu-yeon hadn’t reached that realm yet.
Fortunately, the current conditions were optimal for using telepathic speech. Owl was close enough for their shoulders to touch, and the mask would hide his lips, so no one could read them.
– A village is mentioned. It seems to refer to Medicinal Herb Village.
Owl kept his gaze fixed on the letter, waiting until Seong Mu-yeon finished speaking.
– ‘Security’, ‘Yak Seon’, ‘Surprise attack’, and… ‘Nanju’.
The coded text in the letter itself wasn’t very long. It was difficult to infer the entire content from just a few words, but one thing was certain.
‘Nanju’ was the name of a city.
Owl nodded slightly as if he understood. He relayed to the group what Seong Mu-yeon had said, as if he had figured it out himself.
“It seems there’s something in Nanju. If we go there, we should be able to get a clue.”
And so, the next destination was decided.