“Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“...”

“Young Master Yeon?”

“Huh?”

“I said, what’s wrong. Is something bothering you?”

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“Nothing. The back of my neck just started aching out of nowhere.”

“An assassin?”

“Why the hell would it be that.”

“Why not? I heard people talking—Yeon Clan’s supposed to be one of the most famous clans in the martial world.”

“We’re not the top, but yeah, we’re famous.”

“Then as the eldest son of a clan like that, wouldn’t there be a lot of people gunning for you?”

Yeon Hojeong blinked.

“You’re not wrong, but... how’d you jump all the way to that?”

Mookbi grumbled.

“Don’t you think you’re underestimating me a bit?”

“I’m not underestimating you. Not knowing something isn’t a crime.”

“I might be ignorant of the world, but I’m not that bad.”

Get three people together and a faction forms. Then they start butting heads to climb over each other.

Multiply that a few tens of millions of times and you get the martial world. If a sect is famous and powerful, it’s bound to become a target for checks and pressure.

Mookbi had learned that at the Yi God Contest.

“Anyway, it’s already been a month.”

“Yeah.”

They’d been staying at Lake Delicacies Grand Joy Pavilion for over a month now.

It was full-on autumn. Leaves were whipping through the air and the wind had gone sharp. People’s clothes were getting thicker by the day.

Mo Yong-woo had come to see them twenty days ago and gone back that very day. Since then, Yeon Hojeong had finished his market survey, circling the Zhejiang sea routes.

Now it was about time to head home.

“So, are you not going to meet that man again?”

“Who?”

“That man named Mo Yong-woo.”

A crooked smile tugged at Yeon Hojeong’s mouth.

“We’re done talking. It’s his turn to move now. If he takes my proposal, he’ll be in touch again.”

He recalled what Mo Yong-woo had said.

‘But once I’ve made up my mind, I don’t want to move halfheartedly.’

They’d only just met. Two people who’d never even worked together had no reason to stick to each other’s side from the start—and couldn’t even if they wanted to.

If you have someone helping you and you just sit there sucking your fingers, you’ll end up with neither porridge nor rice. You’re always the main actor in your own life. Mo Yong-woo understood that very well.

Do your own digging. I trust you to at least show me that much ability.

“Then we can just go straight back?”

“Pretty much.”

“Aren’t we going to stop by Mount Mogan?”

“Mount Mogan? Oh, Jipyeong?”

“Yeah.”

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.

“You really think he’ll still be there? And even if he is, Mount Mogan is still a mountain. How are you planning to find him on that whole vast range?”

“If we don’t have anything urgent for a while, we can just treat it as body method training and run the whole mountain.”

“Oh? That’s not a bad idea.”

“Hee-hee.”

Yeon Hojeong snorted a laugh.

“You that eager to see Jipyeong?”

Mookbi scratched her cheek.

“He’s a first for me.”

“A first what?”

“The first person who approached me with no hidden agenda... except for you.”

“My father would be pretty hurt if he heard that.”

“Ah, he’s different. I mean, uh...”

“Well, you’ve got a point. Once we’re back, I won’t have much to do besides training anyway, so we can swing by Mount Mogan and... oh, shit!”

“What?”

The color drained from Yeon Hojeong’s face.

Mookbi tensed up without thinking. She’d never seen his expression this serious before.

WUUUUNG.

Drawing up the Living-Bow Steel-String Method, Mookbi swept her gaze over the surroundings.

“Is something wrong? Don’t tell me there really is an enemy...”

“I didn’t send a letter.”

“...What?”

Yeon Hojeong swallowed hard.

“I never sent Father a single letter to say I was well. Not even once.”

“...”

“Son of a... damn it.”

The air went right out of Mookbi.

“You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?”

“Hey! That’s because you don’t know my father! Do you have any idea how much I suffered that day?”

Without realizing it, he grabbed his head with both hands.

People are scarier in silence than when they’re talking. That day, his father hadn’t said a word; he’d just stared at him until Yeon Hojeong recited the entire “Filial Piety” section of the Classic of the Mind engraved on his heart, loud and clear.

It had been a moment on par with the shock of his first kill. The blow to his mental strength had been so huge he hadn’t even slept properly afterward.

Mookbi was dumbfounded.

What even is this man’s real self?

She remembered the first time she’d seen him.

The eyes of a general looking down at her, spewing out a qi that was red and blue, pale and dark all at once.

After he’d subdued her in a single instant, his martial skill as he’d driven Baek Sogyeong to the brink had been nothing short of shocking.

The majesty of a vicious commander with not an ounce of mercy had sent a chill down her spine. Then, when he’d soothed her later, she’d seen the shadow of a taciturn sage.

As time passed and they grew closer, she’d seen the mischievous teasing of a # Nоvеlight # young man with a streak of playfulness. In his talks with Mo Yong-woo, she’d seen the bearing of a decisive strategist overflowing with resolve.

And now?

He’s a complete idiot, isn’t he?

She had no idea how many different faces he was hiding.

But there was one thing she did know.

“In a way, you’re honestly really straightforward, you know that?”

“What are you babbling about?”

“Nothing.”

She turned her head away.

Every face he showed was shocking in its own way, but at least it was never fake. Once he decided someone was his, he never put a mask on in front of them.

Maybe that was Yeon Hojeong’s greatest charm.

“Don’t just stand there like a lump. Let’s get moving.”

“A lump?!”

“I’m heading out first.”

FWAAAAANG!

Mookbi shot off down the mountain path at high speed.

Yeon Hojeong smacked his lips.

Cold, aren’t we.

BOOOM!

In an instant, he was on her tail.

He was following behind—or so it seemed—then at some point he was suddenly right beside her. Mookbi clicked her tongue.

“You’re getting faster by the day.”

“Because I’m trying to make a difference every day.”

“How far have you gotten with it?”

“Stuff like that doesn’t really mean anything.”

“Huh?”

“At least when it comes to body methods, counting in stages and levels is meaningless.”

To him, body method training was simply a study that could deepen without end.

In a way, it wasn’t that different from inner cultivation methods. Saying you’d reached such-and-such level, such-and-such stage as your inner force grew was just putting a label on the outer shell.

All that matters is letting your body move the way that fits you, and the way that fits your own insight.

FOOM.

His body sped up even more.

Despite the increase in speed, not a hair of his posture was out of place. His form had the grace of a lofty crane, yet there was a sense of battle-readiness to him—as if he could swing his axe at any moment.

Mookbi’s eyes deepened.

He’s someone with a lot I can learn from.

As you acquire more and more skills, it’s natural to forget what you learned in the past.

Yeon Hojeong was different. He kept every single thing he’d learned and mastered within reach, continually honing it all.

It’s not just that he’s smart or gifted.

Only now did she understand how the solid foundation for his growth had been formed.

It’s his entire attitude toward life.

He carried everything he’d realized in his head and everything he’d acquired in his body. It was as if he believed the world wouldn’t let him live otherwise.

Whether it was truly possible or not, he threw himself at it first. Even if it should be impossible, he’d still throw himself at it.

Because if you don’t pursue something—even if it’s only an ideal—it means nothing.

FWIP.

“Still too slow, though.”

“You’re just too fast.”

“Hmph.”

PAPAPAPANG!

Mookbi launched into a fearsome series of springing steps, stretching away.

It was a terrifying body method. Watching her back grow smaller, he laughed inwardly.

She’s changed nicely.

When he’d first seen her, she’d been like a crumbling wall on the verge of collapse.

Now she wasn’t. Inside the Yeon household’s fence, she’d felt human warmth; outside in Zhejiang, she’d seen one side of the martial world.

Even though it would’ve been natural for her to be lost, Mookbi was keeping her heart steady.

He found that endearing.

“Hey! Wait up! Slow down a bit!”

“Then run faster!”

“You damn brat!”

Leaping over the mountain paths like that, the two of them reached the lower ridges of Mount Mogan in less than a full day.

One of them had pushed their body method like crazy to avoid losing; the other had done the same to surpass. Each knew how to make up for the other’s weaknesses.

“Phew, aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m dying.”

“Here.”

“Oh? Rice balls?”

“Yep. They’ve got minced pork in the middle. The seasoning’s good.”

“...I really must be fated never to escape rice balls.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. They’re huge, though. One of these and I’ll be full.”

They chewed away at the rice balls.

“Tastes a bit sour.”

“It won’t kill you.”

“Yeah, I won’t die, but still.”

Both of them had lived rough enough lives that this was nothing. Catching and eating rats or snakes was par for the course; there’d been no shortage of times they’d dug up tree roots to survive.

With stomachs made of iron, they had no trouble digesting rice balls that smelled faintly off.

Yeon Hojeong got to his feet.

“All right. Let’s go find Jipyeong.”

“Shall we?”

He loosened his body this way and that, slung the axe over his shoulder, and was about to dash out when—

...

His eyes suddenly went deep.

Mookbi looked at him, puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“...”

“Is there something else you forgot, like that letter?”

“Shh.”

His face was far more serious than she’d expected.

Her expression naturally turned serious as well.

Like a hawk, his eyes swept the area.

...What is this?

His Jade Wave True Qi surged, and the Three Spirit Qis of the Four Spirits began to burn quietly.

Nothing’s touching my senses.

All he could see were trees and dirt, grass and fallen leaves. The lines of the mountains flowed in serene dignity; the wind blowing through them was more than cool—borderline cold.

He could feel everything one could feel on an autumn mountain. Beyond that, nothing.

But this air...

Amid the crisp air, he felt a prickly, razor-like smoke of discomfort, as sharp as a needle and as keen as a razor.

After watching the surroundings for a long while, he spoke.

“How many shots do you have?”

“Huh?”

“Arrows.”

She glanced down at her quiver.

“Twenty-four.”

“Twenty-four...”

WUUUUNG.

He took Mad Dragon Axe off his shoulder and drove Jade Wave True Qi through his body.

His body’s center hardened; every sense throughout his frame sharpened to an extreme.

“Save your arrows. Just in case.”

Her grip tightened on Red Lotus Bow.

“Is it an enemy?”

“Killers.”

“Killers?!”

“I can’t feel any presence. But this foul air... it’s probably killers.”

One of the ways the dark-path surpassed the orthodox was in their assassins—their killers.

A killer raised in the dark-path from the ground up never leaked killing intent. Their craft was so refined it could fool even peak masters.

So how do you fight that?

There is no method. You survive somehow and kill them. If you don’t notice them, you just die.

After enough experiences like that pile up, you eventually start to perceive something other than killing intent.

The changes in the very air.

Something’s off.

His certainty grew.

There were killers here—more precisely, killers targeting him. The increasingly heavy, stale air proved it.

Aside from the killers, there’s something else...

Just then—

Mookbi’s eyes flashed.

“I saw them.”

“Saw what?”

“Two men down the mountain, wearing clothes the same color as old tree bark.”

She’d picked out something even he had trouble seeing clearly at this distance.

An archer’s eyesight surpassed that of any other martial artist. There was even specialized eye training to go with it.

With eyes as sharp as a hawk’s, she’d spotted the killers.

If that’s the case...

Scanning the nearby terrain, he shouted,

“Get higher!”

“Huh?!”

“It’s a Siege-Slaughter Formation! They’re going to push with numbers!”

RIPPLERIPPLERIPPLE!

At that moment, around two hundred killers charged up from the foot of the mountain.

This wasn’t an assassination. They’d chosen a tactic of wiping their targets out in one go with a formation.

The most extreme assault method in a killer’s arsenal. Realizing he and Mookbi had sensed them, they’d moved straight to an all-out attack.

PAPAPAPAPAK!

They blatantly revealed their presence. The killing intent rolling up the slope was extra.

Even though they were clearly assassins, they were acting in a way that couldn’t have been less assassin-like. Yeon Hojeong ground his teeth.

“What the hell are you bastards trying to pull, you sons of bitches!”