Although Jin Geum-ryeon found the duties he had to oversee as Coalition Leader somewhat tedious, becoming Coalition Leader made it easier to send informants here and there to search for people.
It would have been even better if there had been even a small harvest from those countless investigations, but he had found no clues for those three years, so the task of tracking Ak Mujin had not stopped even after three years. Now, he was so used to it that it felt strange if he didn’t think about Ak Mujin even for a day.
In the meantime, it wasn’t as if Jin Geum-ryeon hadn’t tried to accept Ak Mujin’s death. The Demonic Cultists he met all said, as if they had made a promise, that Ak Mujin was dead, and a resident he met while investigating a village near the Demonic Cult had also said that an important figure of the Demonic Cult had died and had a grand funeral.
Nevertheless, Jin Geum-ryeon concluded that he could not easily accept Ak Mujin’s death unless he saw his body himself.
It was a belated realization.
Since when had Jin Geum-ryeon thought so deeply about Ak Mujin? When he was actually traveling with Ak Mujin, had he ever shown him any favor? Occasionally looking out for Ak Mujin’s convenience was merely something he did to make himself feel better.
The past, where he had lost Ak Mujin while wavering and not realizing his own feelings beforehand, still weighed heavily on Jin Geum-ryeon’s heart.
The figure that seemed to recede endlessly no matter how much he tried to catch up.
His death, which he heard about far too late.
As always, Jin Geum-ryeon, still immersed in lingering attachments he had not yet shaken off, was blankly staring down at the map.
After some silence, one of the Taju, who had been watching him, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Um… Coalition Leader. There is one place we haven’t properly investigated yet… It’s a bit difficult to deploy informants there, so it hasn’t been investigated.”
Only then did Jin Geum-ryeon slightly raise an eyebrow and look down at Hao Mun-ju. She bowed to Jin Geum-ryeon and leaned her head in as if asking if she could come closer, and Jin Geum-ryeon nodded lightly.
Hao Mun-ju, standing next to Jin Geum-ryeon, pointed to the map he was holding.
“Here. There is a small village at the foot of a mountain, isolated from the city. It has no direct connection to the Kunlun Sect, but most of the residents live by receiving help from there. It’s such a closed-off village that there wasn’t a single subordinate from there. There were no inns or shops, so it was difficult to suddenly move a merchant there.”
“…….”
Jin Geum-ryeon seemed to be listening to Hao Mun-ju’s words. It was then.
“Come on. Surely, that precious person wouldn’t be in such a remote mountain village?”
Green Forest King scoffed and said loudly. But Jin Geum-ryeon didn’t even pretend to hear him and muttered to himself.
“…There must be no place that my eyes haven’t reached.”
It was possible that Ak Mujin was anywhere. Even if it was a remote rural village. Jin Geum-ryeon’s golden eyes stared intently at Hao Mun-ju. She immediately bowed her head.
“I will contact Hao Mun immediately and deploy informants.”
A tense voice shouted towards Jin Geum-ryeon.
“No. I will go myself.”
Jin Geum-ryeon, shaking his head lightly, got up from his seat without delay.
Then Hao Mun-ju also hurriedly returned to her place, bowing her head deeply. No one added a word to his statement, so they simply showed the crown of their heads and bowed as he left.
“…Who on earth is Coalition Leader looking for so desperately?”
Im Jin-muk, who had watched this scene, asked Hao Mun-ju, who was standing next to him, only after Jin Geum-ryeon’s figure had disappeared. He was puzzled that no one had stopped the Coalition Leader from saying he would leave during the meeting.
“Well, wouldn’t it be his lover?”
“A lover….”
At the word ‘lover,’ Im Jin-muk tilted his head slightly. Was the Coalition Leader, who had conquered the Demonic Faction, so attached to the affections of a mere lover? While he was thinking, Green Forest King took a step closer and whispered.
“But, I heard that person is dead.”
“Yes?”
Im Jin-muk was startled. Just as Green Forest King was about to say something more, Hao Mun-ju cleared her throat with a clenched fist.
“Ahem. Hmm.”
“Is that really true? Then are we wasting manpower on someone who is already dead?”
“Well, even if we say they’re dead, he doesn’t believe it.”
Head of the Waterway Alliance, who had been listening quietly, brushed past him, spat out those words, and left the main hall.
“Hey, let’s not create unnecessary rumors and go.”
Im Jin-muk widened his eyes as if he couldn’t understand even more, but Hao Mun-ju, as if she knew something but was holding back her words, led Green Forest King and followed him out of the main hall.
Left alone, Im Jin-muk stood blankly for a moment before hurriedly calling out to them and running out.
*
What could he do? The lingering attachment that had taken up a large part of Jin Geum-ryeon’s heart had long since become a part of him. If he stopped this search, it would be the same as admitting Ak Mujin’s death himself.
As time passed, those who remembered Ak Mujin gradually disappeared. He dug through all sorts of places with the desperation of grasping at straws. If even he forgot Ak Mujin, it felt like he would truly become someone who had never existed.
The sky was dark with the night. The fingernail-sized moon was not large enough to light Jin Geum-ryeon’s way. But Jin Geum-ryeon moved busily, searching each and every house in that small village.
His subordinate initially told him that it was somewhat strange for the Coalition Leader to do such a thing himself, and suggested that the Coalition Leader rest comfortably at the lodgings while he went to the village to investigate himself. But Jin Geum-ryeon stubbornly refused to budge from his intention to see it with his own two eyes.
The appearance of Sado Coalition Leader Jin Geum-ryeon was too conspicuous.
Even if he wasn’t wearing the Coalition Leader’s flamboyant attire, it would have been the same.
The village quickly spread the rumor that a handsome young master had suddenly come to town and was asking about people. Eventually, the residents came out to see Jin Geum-ryeon, even waking up from their sleep.
“Why did he come?”
“I don’t know. He seems to be looking for someone.”
“Would there be someone in this village that Young master is looking for?”
“He’s not here to do something bad, is he?”
The villagers whispered as they looked at Jin Geum-ryeon. Jin Geum-ryeon finally turned around and came out only after visiting the last house.
Jin Geum-ryeon still had not obtained any clues.
“…Let’s go back now, Coalition Leader. If we stay any longer, they might call the Kunlun Sect. Besides, there are many rumors that a monster has appeared in this area recently, so outsiders are even more….”
The subordinate, unable to watch any longer, hesitated and urged him. It was no wonder, as he had come to ask about people in the middle of the night, not during the day, right near where the Kunlun Sect was located. Although he had not revealed his identity, it would not be difficult for the Kunlun Sect to pick a fight with the Demonic Faction if they were determined to do so.
In fact, Jin Geum-ryeon had not come with any expectations. But even if there were no expectations, there was definitely disappointment.
Jin Geum-ryeon suppressed his feelings of emptiness and turned his back on his subordinate, who was suggesting that they leave quickly, and climbed the hillside behind the village. There was no reason. It was just that he thought he would feel better if he looked down from a high, open place.
In the end, the subordinate couldn’t leave the Coalition Leader alone and started to follow him.
From afar, the sound of a stream flowing trickled. Jin Geum-ryeon inadvertently looked in that direction. The stream was flowing down, down the mountain valley.
There, the two of them were able to find a figure with long hair hanging down.
Jin Geum-ryeon’s eyes blinked slowly a couple of times, then slowly widened.
The person who had immersed himself in the stream had only his shoulders exposed above the water. But that skin was so white that it felt particularly white even in the darkness. Besides the sound of the stream flowing, the sound of the person splashing as he washed himself could also be clearly heard.
‘A, a monster!’
The subordinate couldn’t make a fuss in front of the Coalition Leader, but what had appeared before them was clearly the rumored monster. He screamed in his heart and couldn’t hide his pale face as he hesitated.
When he glanced at Jin Geum-ryeon, Jin Geum-ryeon was also standing there as if rooted to the spot, unable to take his eyes off that person. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one seeing things.
The person who was bathing slowly came out of the water, as if he didn’t know anyone was around. Then, he slowly wrung out the water from his hair and began to put on a tattered white robe.
The movements were so elegant that the subordinate standing next to Jin Geum-ryeon quickly lost his fear and was mesmerized, mindlessly taking in the sight.
Arms and legs that looked very thin were hidden under the robe, and finally, the person felt something and looked ahead only while tying the robe’s strings.
Those eyes, like Jin Geum-ryeon’s, began to widen.
“…Ahn…Do-hyun….”
Jin Geum-ryeon muttered.
The subordinate standing behind him was startled by the name ‘Ahn Do-hyun’ and began to look back and forth between Jin Geum-ryeon and that person.
The man called Ahn Do-hyun was just standing there blankly.
“Ahn Do-hyun!”
Jin Geum-ryeon shouted and ran to hug that person tightly.
*
Ak Mujin was quite taken aback and dumbfounded by the fact that he had met Jin Geum-ryeon in a place like this. Still, it wasn’t as shocking as when he had met him at the pharmacy.
In any case, the Jin Geum-ryeon he had met again looked like a young master from some group at first glance?
It was definitely not the Demonic Cult, and it was even less likely to be the Martial Alliance or one of the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families. Even so, did that mean that Jin Geum-ryeon had settled down somewhere?
No, how did Jin Geum-ryeon?
Had he abandoned his teacher Mae-yeong?
Why was he hugging my body?
“What on earth….”
“What on earth….”
The same words popped out of both of their mouths. A moment of silence flowed.
Only then did Jin Geum-ryeon come to his senses and hurriedly let go of Ak Mujin. Ak Mujin’s heart was pounding. Jin Geum-ryeon was acting as if he had been desperately searching for Ak Mujin and had finally found him. If that was really the case, then his hatred for Ak Mujin must be enormous.
But there was another reason why Ak Mujin’s heart was beating so fiercely.
He had just come out into the world after being trapped in the Demonic Cult’s Spirit Mausoleum for what seemed like countless days or months.