Elder Yeo barely survived the bloody fight with Mae-yeong, but he was already troubled by the fact that he had missed Ak Mujin. But now, someone even more skilled than Elder Yeo was by Ak Mujin’s side. It was a truly difficult situation.
He returned to the House of courtesans, tidied his clothes, and poured alcohol into his mouth for a long time.
“…I’m sorry. I should have strengthened security further…”
Chun-wol poured alcohol into his glass, watching him carefully.
“It’s not your fault.”
His voice was irritable, but he didn’t seem to be blaming Chun-wol. Elder Yeo was simply frustrated with himself for missing Ak Mujin right in front of him.
“I should contact the main Demonic Cult and request a pursuit team to be dispatched.”
“You’re not giving up here…?”
Elder Yeo was more persistent than he thought. He nodded firmly.
“How can a great man give up just because he failed a little?”
His face was flushed with intoxication, but his pronunciation was clear and distinct.
“But, that man has lost his memories. All of his Inner Force is gone too. A man who is no longer of any use within the Demonic Cult, what can he do outside?”
“He was even the Vice-Leader. He knows too much about the Demonic Cult. If he regains his memories, it won’t be good for any of us.”
His resolute voice reminded Chun-wol once again.
“And.”
Elder Yeo stared intently into Chun-wol’s eyes and continued.
“Even though he has lost all the Inner Force he has accumulated, not just anyone can cultivate Inner Force. If he has such basic physical qualities, there is still work for him to do in the Demonic Cult.”
Chun-wol’s eyes widened.
“You know better than anyone that a ‘Yin Person’ who can carry a seed is useful everywhere.”
Elder Yeo said, his eyes gleaming. ‘Useful’? The Demonic Cult seemed to be planning to involve Ak Mujin in something even more terrifying than he had imagined.
Even Chun-wol, who was only listening, felt fear despite not being the person involved. What would happen to Ak Mujin in the future? He had succeeded in escaping the Fragrant Flower Pavilion, but it didn’t seem like it would last long.
Chun-wol was very worried about him. But there wasn’t much he could do right now. All she could do was gather as much information as possible from the Fragrant Flower Pavilion. Just as he made up his mind, nodding to Elder Yeo’s words, he spoke.
“…Seeing you say that he is useless… could it be that you had feelings for him?”
“…Excuse me?”
At the unexpected question, Chun-wol’s eyes widened. Elder Yeo looked at Chun-wol as if he knew everything.
“Did you actually want to hide him?”
Chun-wol was very flustered, but he didn’t show it on his face and let out a laugh like the rolling of jade beads.
“Elder Yeo, you’re quite the joker. You’ve had too much to drink.”
Even after hearing those words, Elder Yeo did not take his eyes off Chun-wol and stared at him as if he were interrogating him. Chun-wol lowered his eyes and smiled, as if afraid that he would read his thoughts.
Elder Yeo soon seemed to lose interest, sighed, and threw his glass onto the table as if discarding it.
“Forget it. Well, how could there be feelings between Yin Persons? Clear the table. I need to rest.”
Between Yin Person. Those words sounded quite sad to Chun-wol. But it was enough that he had dropped his suspicion. Chun-wol’s heart, still startled, was pounding.
***
The news of Jin Geum-ryeon brought a fresh shock to Ak Mujin.
In the original story, there was definitely a part where Jin Geum-ryeon righteously pacified the orthodox sects that framed him. But there was no rumor that he had half-destroyed the Martial Alliance in this way. ‘Half-destroyed’ meant that it was almost bombed, didn’t it? What on earth had happened to Jin Geum-ryeon there after he left that he destroyed the Martial Alliance?
The bright moonlight subtly illuminating the sky made it not too bad to walk without a light source.
Ak Mujin became more and more restless as time passed. No matter where he went, it was most important to get as far away from the Fragrant Flower Pavilion as possible. He didn’t have time to worry about the future of the protagonist, who would be successful in whatever he did.
It would be nice if he could find some kind of elixir along the way, but it was too greedy to even think about it since he had no idea where to start looking for them. The ‘manuals’ or ‘elixirs’ of Jin Geum-ryeon that he had hidden throughout the Jianghu were obtained by chance; they certainly existed, but he had not set their exact locations.
Ak Mujin sighed as he came down the hillside. It seemed like four hours had passed since he left the village that Mae-yeong had taken him to. His feet were so sore and his knees were about to buckle, but knowing that he was being tracked, he couldn’t stop for even a moment. He walked and walked endlessly.
How long had it been? Eventually, the moon changed places with the sun, and dawn was breaking.
Ak Mujin finally collapsed to the ground. He rubbed his face dry a few times, then buried his face in his palms.
It was then.
Ah, damn it! Would it hurt them to let me rest for a little bit?
Beyond the horizon that he inadvertently looked at, he could see a small dot in the distance getting bigger and bigger. Ak Mujin couldn’t immediately identify them as Demonic Cultists from this distance, but it wouldn’t hurt to avoid them in advance, so he started to move, limping.
As he hurried along, he seemed to see a small village in the distance.
Just a little further. Just a little further.
In the meantime, the small dot had become large enough to be recognized as people and was close behind him.
“Stop!”
A man’s voice shouted at Ak Mujin, and with a whoosh, a Hidden Weapon grazed near Ak Mujin’s left arm. Ak Mujin was startled and twisted his body to the right, barely avoiding it.
It’s the Demonic Cult! Who throws Hidden Weapon first thing!
Finally entering the village, Ak Mujin gasped for breath and looked for a place to hide.
He had come into the village assuming there would be many people, but unfortunately, it was early in the morning, so there were not many passersby. The merchants were staring blankly as Ak Mujin ran away from the men in black clothes.
How did they know I was a fugitive? Anyway, those Demonic Cultists have an amazing sense of smell.
“Hey, hey. Look at that man. His body is covered in blood.”
“Expensive clothes… How did he end up in such a state?”
“Get out of the way!”
Ak Mujin accidentally bumped into a merchant who had come out into the street to watch. He almost fell, but he barely managed to keep his balance and ran as fast as he could.
The merchants, who had been peeking out as if they were enjoying the spectacle, began to get angry when Ak Mujin knocked over their stalls while running around asking for help.
“Hey!”
Ak Mujin was starting to regret coming into the village. The people chasing him were Demonic Cultists, so what kind of masters could these residents be to ask for help? It would be fortunate if they didn’t get caught in the crossfire.
It would be nice if he could get out of this on his own, but wasn’t the outcome already determined? If his body was like it used to be, he could have easily shaken off those petty followers and run away, but things were different now.
Nevertheless, Ak Mujin couldn’t give up. If he was caught, it was over. Death was not something to be taken lightly.
Ak Mujin’s chest began to hurt from running too much. Before long, his legs became heavier and heavier, and his vision began to blur.
In the end, Ak Mujin was caught. The sword he had taken from the Fragrant Flower Pavilion was useless and only added weight.
“It’s me, Young master. Please be assured.”
Hearing that voice, he was filled with despair, but he was also a little puzzled as he gasped for breath.
It was a very familiar voice, but one he never thought he would hear again.
Suddenly… this person appears?
“It’s me. It’s Seo-mok.”
Seo-mok.
A name almost forgotten in his memory resurfaced. As Ak Mujin slowly turned his head back, he saw the face of a man he knew very well. He was really too dumbfounded, and also very happy.
“Seo-mok…?”
His face was the same as before. The only difference was that there was a rather large scar running diagonally from Seo-mok’s left forehead to his right cheek. In an instant, Ak Mujin was filled with guilt for not being able to protect him.
He remembered Jin Geum-ryeon saying that he had not seen the man presumed to be Seo-mok again. It seemed that he had escaped safely back then. It was very fortunate.
On the other hand, Ak Mujin was even more curious about how he could have met Seo-mok here.
“You… you…, how are you here…?”
“Young master. Please listen carefully to what I have to say from now on.”
He was about to ask what happened in a trembling voice. Seo-mok interrupted Ak Mujin and said in a low voice. Ak Mujin could tell. Seo-mok’s voice was pretending to be calm, but there was a lot of tension in it.
“I have been dispatched from the Demonic Cult.”
“…!”
“Please follow me willingly. Otherwise, you will be seriously injured.”
As he said those words, Seo-mok gestured with his eyes to his back. Ak Mujin carefully moved only his eyes to look behind him, and saw Demonic Cultists in black clothes watching them. From the looks of the situation, Seo-mok had calmed them down for the time being and stepped forward.
Ak Mujin wiped his hands, which were dirty with sweat, on his clothes. His fingertips trembled slightly.
“…What if I don’t go?”
Seo-mok hesitated.
“Young master… Please don’t make me do anything harsh to you.”