By Zephyria 
Jegal Un clicked his tongue.
He had rushed all this way, only for Seong Mu-yeon to throw himself into another death trap, unable to wait even a moment.
Looking at the situation, it seemed that leaving things to these two young boys would yield no other solution.
‘He really is of no help.’
At the thought of Seong Mu-yeon, Jegal Un’s insides seethed. This cousin, whose existence he had only recently discovered, had repeatedly pushed him into troublesome situations.
This time was no different.
Seong Mu-yeon was a yoke that Jegal Un could never shake off. He could not abandon him even if he wanted to, nor could he forget him even if he wished to.
Had he remained ignorant, it would be one thing, but now that he knew of his existence, the boy was a nuisance in life and would return as an even greater sin upon death.
‘In the end, must I step forward again?’
Though deeply reluctant, Jegal Un borrowed a messenger hawk from Gyo Hong and sent off a short, scribbled note tied to its leg.
“Is there nothing I can do to help…?”
Gang Woong, unable to stay still, paced anxiously beside Jegal Un, who was busy sending urgent reports here and there.
However, Jegal Un coldly brushed him off.
“There is not. You’re in the way, so go stand over there.”
“Yes…”
‘What do I do! This is driving me crazy!’
Gang Woong screamed silently, feeling as though he wanted to tear his hair out. After hearing Jegal Un’s explanation, the situation was far more serious than he had thought, but with his Master away, what could he—who hadn’t even reached the age of twenty—possibly do? He could do nothing but burn with anxiety.
Suddenly, the sight of Owl, sitting silently, entered Gang Woong’s vision.
“Young Hero… are you alright?”
“I am fine…”
And then, he fell silent again.
Perhaps because he had been deeply shocked by the events in the valley last night, he seemed like a man whose spirit was elsewhere.
Upon learning that the servant wearing the badger mask was Seong Mu-yeon, Gang Woong had many questions he wanted to ask. How Seong Mu-yeon had come to stay with Yak Seon, what his health condition was, and why he had become the ‘youngest,’ among other things.
But thinking that now was not the time, Gang Woong swallowed his questions.
Instead, he felt a sense of pity for Owl. Recalling how devoted Owl had been toward Seong Mu-yeon, he naturally felt a sense of kinship.
“About the Young Taoist’s Master…”
“What about my Master? Is there another problem?”
When Owl suddenly spoke, Gang Woong started and asked back in surprise.
“No… it’s not that… it’s nothing. Please forget it…”
‘How can someone just stop mid-sentence?’
While Gang Woong felt a surge of frustration, Owl was lost in his own thoughts.
‘…What was that?’
The events of last night were perplexing to Owl in many ways. The fact that Seong Mu-yeon had fallen into the enemy’s hands right before his eyes was shocking enough, but what shook him more was Baek Ryeo-il’s reaction.
‘Why go that far…’
The moment Baek Ryeo-il realized Seong Mu-yeon had disappeared, he chased after him without a single backward glance. He vanished into the darkness so instantaneously that Owl and Gang Woong were left behind.
To make matters worse, the remaining remnants of the Demonic Cult found them, preventing them from following Baek Ryeo-il immediately. Only after Gang Woong had managed to defeat them through great hardship could they begin the pursuit.
Fortunately, finding him was not particularly difficult. In the distant, dark mountain valley, red Sword Energy erupted frequently, and the waves of turbulent qi spread all the way down the mountain.
And so, Baek Ryeo-il fought throughout the night.
He threw himself again and again against the valley, which was like an iron fortress. Whenever he was flung back by the steadfast iron wall, he stood up immediately and charged again—dozens, hundreds of times.
As if he possessed a dantian like an inexhaustible spring, he lit up the dawn with a flame that never extinguished.
Owl watched Baek Ryeo-il’s every move from a distance.
Owl’s desire to recover Seong Mu-yeon was no less than anyone else’s. However, what Baek Ryeo-il was doing was nothing more than a futile waste of energy.
Yet, Owl could not take his eyes off him. As Baek Ryeo-il fell, was thrown back, and gasped for breath, squeezing out every last drop of his remaining inner force to launch himself again, Owl could vividly feel something special beyond mere desperation.
That emotion was certainly not murderous intent. And whatever it was, it gave Owl the certainty that Baek Ryeo-il would never harm Seong Mu-yeon.
While Owl was deep in thought, Jegal Un finished sending the messenger hawks.
He had sent them to every place that might be willing to offer help. He didn’t know how many would arrive in time, but…
‘…It’s still not enough.’
Jegal Un bit his lip anxiously.
There were many Masters who would rush in with fire in their eyes if told the Demonic Cult had appeared, but he couldn’t just call anyone.
They had to be located within a distance where they could reach Lanzhou before the Peng Clan arrived, and they had to possess the necessary combat power.
And there was one more, most demanding condition. They had to be a faction willing to rescue Seong Mu-yeon.
A neutral power that, even if not friendly toward him, would want to keep him alive for the time being rather than executing him on sight…
‘There’s no way such a thing exists.’
Most of the Righteous Martial World harbored extreme hostility toward the Seventh Prince Seong Mu-yeon. Even those who had not been personally harmed by him viewed the Demonic Cult as the arch-enemy of the Righteous path, and since the Habeok Blood Demon incident, the Peng Clan had poured in countless resources to pile up malicious rumors about Seong Mu-yeon, to the point where even commoners had heard his name.
Even now, the Peng Clan was likely closing in rapidly, cutting their rest periods short.
With the situation turning unfavorable, Jegal Un even considered borrowing the hand of a demonic cultist named Il-gwang.
‘No. The possibility of internal strife is too high to cooperate with the Demonic Cult. If that happens, the probability of rescuing Seong Mu-yeon will become even slimmer…’
The fact that the situation had deteriorated this much was the result of two factions, as incompatible as oil and water, opposing each other. Even when they shared the same goal, they tended to rush at each other to kill the moment they met, so there was no way they could get the job done properly.
‘…Is this the only way?’
Jegal Un narrowed his eyes and fumbled through his robes. What he pulled out were two identical necklaces.
As a result of monitoring the Zegal Clan’s movements through the Haoh Gate, he learned that the martial alliance had issued a mobilization order sooner than expected while he was away.
This was because rumors had spread widely that the person who attacked the Family Head of the Habeok Peng Clan was Seong Mu-geuk of the Divine Demon Sect.
Coincidentally, his father, the Family Head, had filled his vacant spot and had already left Yungjung, leading the current military force toward Habeok.
They were a force that could be deployed immediately, and since they were currently heading north, they were in the optimal position to arrive around the same time as the Peng Clan if they shifted their direction slightly.
Above all, they were the group with the most optimal conditions to prioritize Seong Mu-yeon’s safety.
“Ha.”
He knew it would come to this eventually. He just didn’t expect it to be this fast…
Some people commit all sorts of atrocities to eliminate the culprit when a great loss befalls them.
Jegal Un had also been anxious to hide the existence of Seong Mu-yeon, who held the primary inheritance rights of the Zegal Clan.
If his existence became known, the Zegal Clan—which was as good as in his hands—would be snatched away entirely.
However, Jegal Un was not stupid enough to dig an even deeper grave for himself. There are no eternal secrets in this world; it is only a matter of time before they are revealed.
It would be a mercy if he, waiting for death in old age decades from now, could not bear the guilt and confessed to his descendants.
Three years ago, Jegal Un had already confirmed that the Yangha Pavilion Master had clearly seen and remembered those necklaces. What if he eliminated the witness, the Yangha Pavilion Master, to keep the secret?
The murders and destruction of evidence that would start from there would follow him like a tag for the rest of his life, yet would never be complete.
How many witnesses were there that he hadn’t identified?
Unless he killed everyone Seong Mu-yeon had met throughout his life, this secret could never be kept.
Jegal Un hiding his existence was merely postponing the inevitable.
If he acted rashly without making such simple predictions, he would not only lose the position of Family Head but would become a murderer, losing his family, his honor, his wealth, and even himself.
Countless sinners overlook this point and handle things hastily, only to be crushed by the mountain of sins they’ve accumulated and eventually ruin their lives, but it is all their own doing.
They are fools caught in the delusion that they can keep a secret for a lifetime that was impossible to keep from the start.
Jegal Un was a slightly better man than that.
After much deliberation, he finally scribbled a short letter. There was no need to write a long, detailed explanation.
Jegal Un placed the letter and the two necklaces in an envelope, tied it securely to a hawk’s leg, and sent it flying.
Watching the hawk grow smaller and eventually disappear, Jegal Un felt a bitter taste in his mouth.