"Remove your filthy hand. Arrogant human."

Her fine hairs stood on end.

It was the first time since meeting the Imoogi four years ago that Seolhwa had directly heard his voice with her own ears.

The overwhelming oppression she had felt then, like being submerged in pitch-black darkness, instantly seized the air around her.

This was a fragment of the true power of the Imoogi slumbering inside her.

"An Imoogi?"

The Blood Demon recognized him.

There was a glint of interest in his eyes.

"How astounding. Truly astounding. Shadowless Demon God, because of you, this dreadfully tedious life of mine has suddenly become more colorful."

The corners of his mouth curled into a smile of pure delight.

He was genuinely rejoicing.

Not even when he had achieved mastery in martial arts, not when he had returned from missions skirting the edge of life and death, not when he was offered all manner of treasures under Heaven—

—never once had this man smiled.

"I cannot recall how long it has been since I’ve felt such joy. To dominate the world, yet remain neither omniscient nor omnipotent—thus comes true pleasure."

So he was someone capable of such joy.

She was reminded, all over again, that to the Blood Demon, she was nothing but a tool.

Once she realized that, surprisingly, the trembling in her body subsided a little.

"Was it the Imoogi’s power you borrowed? Is the fearsome renown of the Shadowless Demon God nothing but the Imoogi’s aid?"

Around the Blood Demon, a dark red aura surged violently.

The atmosphere shifted sharply. He looked ready to lunge at any moment.

[ Namgoong Seolhwa. That bastard reeking like he’s smeared with cinnamon—leave him to me. You must flee. ]

Beneath the mask, Seolhwa’s eyes blurred.

From the instant the Imoogi had manifested, his strength had been leaking continuously out of her dantian.

Even if she left this place, the Imoogi’s form could hold for a while longer.

[ Do not worry and go. Quickly! ]

"Why have you become a mute with honeyed tongue! Draw your sword! To bare your fangs—was it not to fight me?"

Whooong—

The Blood Demon swung his sword. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

A massive blade-qi hurtled forth, ready to cleave both Seolhwa and the Imoogi in two.

"How dare you!"

[ Go! ]

Kwaaaaaa—!

The Imoogi shot straight into the path of the blade-qi.

With a thrust of his head, a deafening crash resounded—KWAANG!—as the Blood Demon’s blade-qi was shattered.

The ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Imoogi did not stop there. He lunged directly at the Blood Demon.

Kyaaaaaaak—!

Black energy and dark red energy collided, whipping up a storm as they tangled together.

In that chaos, Seolhwa had already staggered away, clutching the trunk of a tree for support.

Ha... haa....

Her vision blurred, her head splitting with unbearable pain.

The more the Imoogi rampaged, the more the world quaked with his roars—the faster Seolhwa’s strength drained away.

Stagger.

‘Not yet.’

It wasn’t time yet.

At most, the Imoogi could buy a quarter of an hour.

Within that time, she had to flee as far from the Blood Demon as possible.

"...."

Her dimming sight weighed down her steps.

Closing her eyes, Seolhwa recalled the training the two elders had drilled into her over the past days, and she spread her qi.

Before long, the terrain around her unfolded in her mind.

Taat—!

Seolhwa hurriedly fled the battlefield.

****

Stumble—

One quarter of an hour.

During that time, Seolhwa poured her life into her footwork techniques, fleeing from the Blood Demon.

Now she understood why the Imoogi had so fiercely opposed manifesting.

Barely a quarter of an hour, and already her body was drained, her consciousness dimming.

The price of forcing her way into a realm she had not yet attained was steep.

‘No... more....’

Seolhwa removed the mask of the Shadowless Demon God and tucked it inside her robes.

If she lost consciousness and someone found her, she had to prevent her identity from being exposed.

Hhhk... hhhuuuh... hhhuuk....

Her breathing grew ragged, cold sweat streamed down her body.

She shivered with chills.

She only wanted to curl into warm blankets and sleep a long, long sleep.

Namgoong Mucheon, Namgoong Cheongun, and the faces of her family came to mind.

‘I must... return....’

Her grandfather would surely be worried.

Her father, too... her father still needed her.

Had the elders escaped safely?

They had endured three days against the Blood Demon.

With this battle, they would have gauged his level. Next time would not be the same.

‘...Yugang.’

Absurdly, Yugang’s face floated up.

That bright, guileless smile, those clear eyes that never missed a chance to gaze at her.

She hoped that this time, he would not suffer grief.

That Elder Guyangdo might survive, so the boy would not once again endure the pain of losing his master.

How pitiful....

"...."

Fwooooh....

Seolhwa stopped walking.

Her gaze fixed ahead.

Someone was approaching.

Soon, rustling—brush parted, and a man emerged.

Seolhwa frowned.

‘...Yugang...?’

To her astonishment, it was Yugang who stood before her.

A hallucination?

Was she seeing illusions just because she had been thinking of him?

She shook her head faintly to steady her hazy vision.

In that moment, he ran toward her.

Seolhwa could no longer hold herself up and collapsed into his arms.

He caught her and lifted her.

He kept speaking, but the ringing in her ears drowned out all sound.

Cradled against him, Seolhwa lifted her clouded gaze to look up at him.

Was it truly Yugang? But Yugang could not possibly be here.

Then who was this man....

Darkness swallowed everything.

That was her last thought before she lost consciousness.

****

"You look really dangerous right now."

"It’s written all over your face: Kill. If I let you go, who knows who you’ll slaughter?"

"I’m a Daoist. I don’t kill people without reason."

"You’re the Namgoong young lady, aren’t you?"

The cheerful voice of a young boy echoed in her head.

That wide smile, showing his teeth, flashed—and Seolhwa’s lips curved faintly before she realized it.

She wanted to smack him. The cheeky brat.

"...."

Seolhwa’s eyes fluttered open.

A familiar ceiling filled her vision.

She turned her head to the side.

But the boy she half-expected to see was not there. Instead, a wall of dry mud met her eyes.

‘This place....’

As her mind cleared, she recalled where she was.

‘An hermitage.’

Gwangcheon’s hermitage.

She had been staying here recently—there was no mistaking it.

‘How... am I here?’

She tried to push herself up with her arm.

But her right arm would not move.

Looking down, she saw it bound in cloth with a splint.

From the throbbing ache, the bone seemed fractured.

With only her left arm, Seolhwa sat up.

Her whole body was battered.

But worst of all was her head.

A sharp, splitting pain forced her to squint one eye shut.

Just then—

The door rattled open, and Yugang entered, carrying a wooden bowl.

He froze when he saw Seolhwa awake.

"Seol..."

He shut his mouth, unable to finish.

Then he stepped inside, set the bowl down, and sat beside her.

"May I hold you?"

Seolhwa blinked slowly.

The sudden question left her hesitant, unable to answer—so Yugang carefully embraced her.

His arms were broad and steady.

It was the same embrace that had reassured her when she lost consciousness.

‘So it really was him.’

The one who appeared in that forest.

"Thank goodness...."

His trembling voice brushed her ear.

"I worried you might never wake again. I’m so glad you did. Truly...."

"How many days was I unconscious?"

"Three."

His low reply reverberated through his chest, and she could feel the trembling of his body as well.

Releasing her, Yugang met her eyes.

"You lay there for three whole days. Like the dead. So still."

"And the elders?"

"Master Gwangcheon has gone down to Shaolin."

"And Elder Guyangdo?"

Yugang lowered his gaze.

Worry shadowed his face.

"He still hasn’t woken. Master Gwangcheon said too much of his qi was drained. He doesn’t know when Elder Guyangdo might awaken."

Seolhwa nodded faintly.

She had seen with her own eyes the Blood Demon steal his internal force.

If only she had arrived a little earlier, Elder Guyangdo might have been spared.

At least things would be better than they were now.

Seolhwa looked down at her hand.

She could not feel the Imoogi’s presence at all.

He had said manifesting put too great a strain on her body, so he would not appear for some time.

Wait until you’ve recovered, he had said.

She had braced herself for this, yet the emptiness felt heavier with not even a trace of him there.

"Drink some water."

At some point, Yugang had stepped out and returned, handing her a bowl.

As Seolhwa drank, he carefully supported the bowl so it would not weigh on her.

Lowering the bowl, she asked him:

"You saved me, didn’t you?"

He nodded.

"Why were you there?"

Hadn’t he said he would wait for his master at the hermitage?

"Master dropped the knot he always tied to his sword. I told Seolmae to deliver it back, but she returned carrying it in her beak. That had never happened before."

With the knot in her mouth, Seolmae circled restlessly above Yugang’s head, anxious.

Sensing that something had happened to his master, Yugang had followed Seolmae all the way to Yunnan.

It was thanks to her that he had found Seolhwa as well.

The distance from Henan to Yunnan was vast. For him to have arrived in time, Yugang must have traveled day and night without rest for several days.

"Thank you. You saved my life."

"I’m grateful to Seolmae as well. Thanks to her, I was able to save you."

Just then, footsteps approached the hermitage from outside.

It was a deliberate sound, made to be heard by those inside.

"I’ll go see who it is."

Yugang rose and stepped outside.

Soon after, someone knocked at the door.