An object from the North Sea.

And not just any object, but one belonging to the North Sea Ice Palace Lord, said to be the master of the North Sea.

And Heavenly Fist had commissioned it?

I had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Heavenly Fist definitely.......

She had said her relationship with the North Sea was a complete mess.

There had even been the reaction she showed after seeing Bow Ghost’s younger form.

So when I heard that she had commissioned a North Sea object as cargo, I looked puzzled.

“A commission from Heavenly Fist? What exactly did she ask for?”

“That, well. Only the Mo Yong Family and Heavenly Fist would know.”

“......Are you joking? You call that an answer?”

“Does it sound like a joke?”

The branch chief smirked.

“This shipment was personally requested by none other than Heavenly Fist. Do you think I have the power right now to easily peer into that person’s belongings? You know that too, our prince.”

“.......”

I frowned.

She was right.

If it involved Heavenly Fist’s territory, even I would find it hard to touch.

That made it even stranger.

Heavenly Fist’s shipment.

The fact that it was the North Sea Ice Palace Lord’s object felt extremely ominous.

As did the fact that the Mo Yong Family was handling its transport together with an escort agency.

“And the reason you’re curious about it is......?”

“We’re people for whom information is important. It smells suspicious no matter who looks at it, so we wanted to get involved. As I said, we don’t intend to interfere.”

“You won’t interfere or even check it?”

“If we check it the wrong way and Heavenly Fist becomes angry, we won’t be able to handle it either.”

“That means you have a vague idea of what the shipment is.”

“......Oh my.”

The branch chief, dressed as a man, smiled.

“I almost let something slip. Think whatever you want.”

Close.

If I had pushed a little further, she might have said something.

If what she said is true.

It was indeed something this branch chief would smell out and try to get involved in.

I looked back.

We had already almost reached the destination.

Then was this—

Do they plan to send it to the North Sea?

Or were they trying to do something with it?

I did not know that much.

The Green Forest bandits got involved. And on top of that—

Even Primal Origin Blade, one of the so-called Four Kings, had tried to intervene.

Considering that, it meant this was no ordinary object.

What is it?

For now, there was no way to know.

*****

A little more time passed after the escort run resumed.

Fortunately, the Green Forest bandits did not appear again.

As for Primal Origin Blade’s state—

It’s a little too early to check.

Since this was a point where I could not touch that for now, I simply left it alone.

Not long after, we arrived at our destination.

“We have arrived.”

At the escort guard’s words, everyone involved in the escort run let out a sigh of relief.

“Haaaa—”

They all looked like they had come back from the dead.

Well, that was understandable.

Whether it was Primal Origin Blade or the Green Forest, they had gone through things that should never happen in an ordinary escort run.

Once the escort run ended, Mo Yong Yeongsun bowed her head and thanked them.

“Thank you. Thanks to all of you, we were able to arrive safely.”

When a child of one of the Five Great Families came out like this, surprise filled everyone’s eyes.

“Not at all, Lady Mo Yong. We did nothing.”

As the escort guard spoke, he looked at me.

I smiled awkwardly at that gaze.

“I didn’t do anything either.”

“How could that be? If Moon Hero had not been here, we would have.......”

“Everyone worked hard.”

Honestly, it was true that I had worked the hardest.

Still, this was the sort of modesty I had to put on.

In any case, as the escort run ended, I looked back.

This place was—

......Aju Merchant Caravan.......

From one merchant caravan to another.

From one family to another family.

The escort-run schedule was strange.

And if it was Aju Merchant Caravan—

Isn’t this the side that moves things through outside routes?

It was not as if there was no interaction at all with the outside martial world.

There was some degree of exchange, and there existed a merchant caravan that specialized in passing goods through those routes.

It was a special case, directly permitted by the Murim Alliance side and also approved by the outside side.

That was this place, Aju Merchant Caravan.

“Welcome.”

As soon as the shipment arrived, someone came out to receive us.

He was an old man who looked well over seventy.

“I am Go Munjin, head of the Aju Merchant Caravan.”

“I am Mo Yong Yeongsun of the Mo Yong Family.”

“It is an honor to meet you. Please, come inside.”

“Pardon the intrusion.”

We entered under his guidance.

At that moment—

“One moment.”

Go Munjin raised a hand.

The escort guards who had been about to enter were stopped where they stood.

Martial artists who had appeared had blocked their way.

“From here onward, outsiders will be forbidden entry.”

The escort guards who had accompanied us frowned, but they had nothing to say.

The escort run ended exactly here.

“I will contact the escort agency separately and pay an additional fee. Thank you for your hard work.”

Mo Yong Yeongsun bowed her head as she spoke, and at those words, the escort guards’ expressions improved somewhat.

Then—

“Caravan Head.”

“Please speak.”

“Even if the escort agency’s people are sent away, these people must come in with us. They came directly from our family.”

She was indicating me and the Hao Clan people.

At those words, Go Munjin stared at her.

“As far as that is concerned, I understand that Moon Hero is not a member of the Mo Yong Family.”

“.......”

At those words, Mo Yong Yeongsun stopped short, and I reacted as well.

Look at this.

The fact that he knew even though I had put the human-skin mask back on just in case meant information had already been exchanged.

At that, I gave a hollow laugh and took off the mask.

RIIIP.

“I am Bang Seongyeon of the Azure Moon Sect.”

“I am meeting a noble guest. I am Go Munjin.”

“Thank you for your words. I apologize for concealing my identity regardless of the circumstances.”

“Not at all. I understand.”

He was not an easy existence.

I could feel it the moment I faced him.

A wall unlike Thousand-Mile Divine Eye—unlike my maternal grandfather—could be felt from him.

At that moment—

“You’d better be careful.”

The branch chief whispered quietly.

“That old monster is quite capable and frightening.”

“I can tell just by looking.”

One could tell at a glance.

Even so, if the branch chief was warning me, that said everything.

The quality of his soul is deep.

Deep and cold.

Those who had been so finely sharpened and tempered were people who must have experienced tremendous things while living their lives.

It meant nothing about him could be taken lightly.

“I did not expect to meet the famed Sword Saint’s inheritor, Moon Hero.”

“Thank you for thinking well of me, but—”

Looking at him, I took a letter from my robes.

“I am participating in this escort run at the request of the Mo Yong Family Head. It is true that Lady Mo Yong is acting as the Family Head’s representative, but I would ask that you take into account that I am no less authorized.”

“......The White King said so?”

“Yes.”

The letter bore the White King’s seal.

I had brought it in advance.

I had used that expensive saved favor, so shouldn’t I at least have this much?

“Hm.”

Go Munjin accepted the letter and narrowed his eyes as he looked it over.

The seal stamped on the letter was undoubtedly the Mo Yong Family’s.

Among those, it was indeed the seal directly belonging to the Family Head.

“You may check the contents as well.”

“No. I trust Moon Hero. I will escort you inside.”

Good.

Thankfully, I was now able to enter the Aju Merchant Caravan.

Go Munjin entered first, and the martial artists guided the shipment at the rear.

*****

The interior of the Aju Merchant Caravan was quite large.

Most successful merchant caravans naturally had that feeling, but this place did not simply stop at being large.

Its atmosphere was different too.

Exotic, should I say?

It was unlike the ordinary feel of the Central Plains.

Interesting.

Feeling something strange, I entered, and we were guided to a huge room meant for receiving guests.

“Please wait for a moment.”

Go Munjin showed proper courtesy and then disappeared.

After a brief silence passed among those of us who remained—

“How far do you plan to follow?”

Mo Yong Yeongsun asked me.

“Surely you don’t intend to look at the shipment too?”

“If I wanted to, could I?”

“If Family Head permitted even that, I would understand....... Otherwise, it would be difficult.”

“......Hm.”

How far had the White King allowed me to go again?

I think he had only made it so I could accompany the escort run.

And I was not sure whether it would even be right to look at the shipment.

“Then it would be better not to see it.”

Saying that, I tried to leave.

At that moment, the branch chief looked at me with a clearly regretful gaze.

What was I supposed to do with those eyes?

She seemed like she wanted to see it.

But that was not possible.

I took them and went outside.

Then the branch chief clicked her tongue and said,

“You’re really not going to see this?”

“Do I look like I can? That wasn’t part of our deal anyway. Besides—”

I looked at the branch chief with flat eyes as I spoke.

“You already have a vague idea of what the shipment is, don’t you?”

She did not know exactly.

I was certain of that much.

I could tell just from her reaction.

“You really are quick on the uptake.”

“......Enough. Let’s end it here. Our business is done too.”

The deal we had spoken of ended here.

With this, the matter could be closed by having her keep quiet about the North Sea Ice Palace Lord.

“Hmph.”

The branch chief made it very obvious that she was disappointed, but what was she going to do?

She should have said from the start, when we made the deal, that she wanted to see what the shipment was.

“That’s enough. Just think about heading back quickly. I also—have something to do when I return.”

Heavenly Fist.

I had no idea why she had taken an object belonging to the North Sea Ice Palace Lord and was trying to return it to him.

And moreover—

If the Green Forest bandits and Sky-Crushing Palace bastards are targeting it—

That meant it was a fairly strange object.

But it was also strange that she had simply entrusted that to the Mo Yong Family and had them conduct an escort run.

What is she trying to do?

While I was wondering about Heavenly Fist’s intent—

CREEEAK.

People were approaching from far away.

“There they come.”

The branch chief watched with interest.

The Aju Merchant Caravan’s people were pulling a cart toward us.

I looked that way.

Just an ordinary cart.

And on top of it—

Hm?

What was that?

The moment I saw it, my head tilted.

The thing coming as the so-called shipment was extremely strange.

A jar?

It was a jar that looked fairly large.

And—

......Huh?

I stopped short.

The things plastered all over the jar were talismans.

And not just any talismans, but blood talismans written with blood-red characters.

They were stuck on as if concealing the jar.

“What the hell.”

The instant I saw them, my soul began to tremble.

Those blood talismans.

Something about them was strange.

They were not ordinary blood talismans. They were blood talismans written and attached by a single person, and it was clear from their form that they were meant to stop a soul from leaking out.

The problem was—

That method.

The way the blood talismans were now attached to the jar.

The method by which those blood talismans had been written.

......It looks the same as the method I learned?

How to use blood talismans.

How to write them.

Even the way they were used to seal off a soul.

It was all far too familiar.

But it should not be.

Because that was—

The method Chief Baek taught me.

My superior from my past life, the man who had been called Chief Baek.

I was the one who had hunted down and sealed all the evil gods.

But he had been the one like a master to me, the one who taught me how to beat them down.