Chapter 433: Lake of Regret.

Vmmmm.

A vibration resonates from Nahi’s body. It was proof that the forbidden seal had been properly woven.

Only then did I remove the hand I was leaning on and push myself up.

“Gasp…”

Nahi lets out ragged breaths. Not only were my ribs cracked, but it was because I had roughly guided my internal energy while attempting the seal.

I hadn’t placed such a significant seal. Not only was there not enough internal energy to warrant it, but I also didn’t feel the need to go that far unnecessarily.

“Hngh… hngh…”

Nahi, who was continuously whimpering as if struggling, looked at me with teary eyes.

“You… what on earth are you…?”

I chuckled at the question. It was a question I heard so often, I was sick and tired of it.

“What would you do with that information?”

My answer to questions like this was always the same, worn out from overuse.

“…What did you do to my brother? That’s why he follows you, isn’t it?”

“Curious?”

Crunch.

As I took a step closer, Nahi flinched and trembled. I wasn’t particularly planning to hit her, but it seemed the effects of the previous attack remained on her body. I bent my knees and met Nahi’s gaze.

“Just bear with it for a bit; you’ll have to become the same way anyway.”

“…I am different from my brother.”

Right, you probably are different.

“That’s your problem to deal with.”

Perhaps Nahi had approached Dangdeok, who suddenly appeared, several times and tried to speak to him. Maybe she even sent him telepathic messages, but I don’t know. Anyway, Dangdeok probably didn’t answer. No, he probably couldn’t have.

I brushed my hands off. The seal itself was merely an agreement to turn a blind eye to each other’s actions. If things went well, I planned to break this seal anyway.

‘Killing him would be convenient…’

As one of Dangdeok’s people, he couldn’t possibly be a decent human. The very fact that he was an assassin for the Tang family meant he was someone with blood on his hands, so I had no qualms.

However.

‘It would be convenient if I also had eyes and ears.’

In a situation where the Tang family’s current state was questionable, having a suitable spy there was beneficial for me too. Provided I could ensure there was no harm to me if discovered, of course. That wasn’t particularly difficult. It was actually something I was quite confident in. Besides, Nahi likely knows information that Dangdeok doesn’t. Killing her like this would be quite a waste.

Even if I did kill her.

‘I should make her spit out everything she knows before killing her.’

Having decided that, I pushed myself up.

“Stay put and guard well. Don’t think about going anywhere.”

“…”

“Oh, feel free to run off if you want to.”

You’ll just get caught quickly anyway. That is, if you aren’t afraid of what will happen afterwards.

I kept those last words to myself. It felt like Nahi understood anyway, even though I didn’t say it out loud.

Turning my back, I approached the lake. The closer I got, the more I could feel the toxic aura.

‘Hmm.’

I hadn’t felt this presence much when it seemed far away, yet… Now that I’m a little closer, it’s this intense?

“…Why do you intend to enter the lake?”

“I never said you could ask questions.”

“Is there something in there?”

You keep talking to me pointlessly, and it’s bothering me. I cast a subtle glance, filled with annoyance, and said:

“Say one more word, and I’ll rip your tongue out.”

“…”

I was serious. As I conveyed it with a hint of killing intent, Nahi’s shoulders began to tremble. I stopped and waited, as if giving her a chance to speak if she had something to say. Nahi didn’t utter another word after that. Seeing that, I started walking again.

Splash.

Sssssss-!

As my feet touched the surface, a sound like something roasting spread out. The toxic aura was causing my body to spasm, trying to engulf it.

‘Hmm.’

Watching it, I thought. Had I prepared new clothes for when I came out?

“…”

Ah, I hadn’t prepared any. For a moment, I considered telling Nahi to prepare clothes too, but I held back.

‘It’ll work out somehow.’

Sssssss….

I moved towards the center of the lake, passing through the toxic vapor. The closer I got to the center, the more potent the poison became.

‘If the outside is this bad, the inside must be even worse.’

I revised my estimate. What I had judged as a quarter-moment, I now considered to be half that duration. Unlike the assessment from afar, it was clearer now that I’d reached the center. This lake…

‘The poison isn’t leaking out,’ poison of this magnitude should have been enough to erode everything within a diameter of one Li. If it was completely undetectable from the outside, I could infer that something was containing the poison. If I went into the lake like this, my protective barrier would unravel before long. If that happened, even my bones wouldn’t remain; they’d melt away completely. It was a chilling thought, just imagining it. Strangely, my mind remained cool. I scanned my surroundings with calm eyes.

‘Where was it.’

Ironically, even so, the option of turning back didn’t occur to me. I needed to cherish my life if I was to prevent the blood calamity within ten years, yet… why was I being so reckless? I wondered. Standing on the lake, for some reason, I had a feeling. That I would be able to find it. That I could do it. Such a feeling was resonating deep within my chest.

‘What’s this now.’

Sensing this, I lifted the corners of my mouth. Oh, I see.

‘It’s calling me.’

It was calling me. Otherwise, I couldn’t have felt this way. It was a sensation I had actually felt many times before. In the past, I lacked certainty, and it was merely a subtle sensation, but now, I could feel it to some extent.

‘Something is calling me.’

Most of the fortunate encounters I’d experienced happened like this. I only thought they were coincidences because I followed them instinctively. Somehow, I could understand now. Where did this difference come from? Was it because my realm reached the Transformation Realm? Or perhaps, because the energy within my body had increased? Or maybe not.

‘Was it because I became a fiend?’

Whatever the reason, nothing was certain. This sensation itself might be false. Still, I had to go. Pursuing only safety would lead to failing to achieve what needed to be done. Hesitation was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

Whoooooosh-!

I drew up my energy, enveloping my entire body. And then.

Plunge-!

I plunged my body into the lake, which was drenched in poison.

Brrrr.

Submerged in the water, I gently opened my eyes. To the eye, it looked no different from ordinary water, but…

Sssssss-!

The pressure I felt on my body told me it was definitely not water. Although I initially estimated the time I could withstand it as a quarter-moment…

‘That was bullshit.’

This was nonsensical. Even reducing that time by half would still be precarious. I expanded my ki sense. And using my internal energy, I descended to the bottom of the lake.

‘It’s deep.’

The lake was much deeper than it looked. The surrounding area was just unremarkable dirt ground, but there had to be an entrance somewhere here.

‘Time is…’

At most, about a minute left. That’s the time my protective barrier could withstand. If the water current directly carved through my flesh, it would be instant death.

‘Where is it.’

Where is the place calling me? I know it’s clearly drawing me in, but…

‘If you’re going to call, do it properly.’

Time was flowing. If this continued, it was a truly dangerous situation. Just when I wondered if I should prioritize getting out of the lake and regrouping… Something popped out from inside my clothes.

“…!”

Shaaa-!

I looked at it with surprised eyes; the identity of the thing was none other than the Water Tiger.

‘That thing…?’

Come to think of it, it was inside my clothes. I had completely forgotten. It was surprising enough that the Water Tiger suddenly popped out of my clothes, but even amidst this situation…

‘It’s swimming?’

It was swimming leisurely in this water filled with poison.

‘Is it that it’s still a Rank-B monster, despite everything…?’

Or perhaps it was because the Water Tiger itself was a monster that harbored poison within its body. Whatever the case, just as getting out of the lake quickly was my priority, Water Tiger or not…

Shaa-!

The Water Tiger coiled its tail around my arm and started pulling me somewhere. Its strength was so weak that it was merely a gesture of pulling, but…

‘What?’

What mattered was that it was suddenly pulling me. I saw the Water Tiger struggling, trying to keep dragging me along. It seemed to have some intention.

‘I need to get out of the lake right now.’

Otherwise, I might actually die, yet… Ironically, even as my mind thought that, my body was already moving in the direction the Water Tiger was pulling. As if possessed by something.

‘Looks like I’m screwed.’

Feeling that, I frowned. The distance wasn’t that far. The floor all looked the same, with no difference. At best, the only difference was the presence or absence of small pebbles. With my internal energy depleting and my protective barrier about to collapse, I had roughly twenty seconds left. It was truly the boundary between life and death.

Shaaa-!

The creature urgently pointed somewhere. Ten seconds vanished with this brief action. The spot it pointed to was just ordinary ground. My ki sense detected nothing there. However, I reached my hand towards it.

Crackle.

My internal energy was gradually depleting. As the barrier wrapped around my body gradually began to crumble…

Tap.

My fingertips touched the surface.

WHOOOSH-!

My vision instantly flipped.

Thump…!

“Gack…”

My body fell somewhere, and I had to roll across the floor. After rolling for quite some time, I barely managed to stop, then gasped for breath for a long while.

“Gasp… pant…”

Only after repeatedly gasping the breath I’d been holding did I look around.

“Where is this…”

It wasn’t underwater. Where the scorched dirt floor I’d been looking at until just now had gone… I was on a finely polished stone floor. Moreover, although I had just come from underwater, my body was completely dry, as if I had never been in the water at all. If any poison had remained, it would have been a disaster. I suppose that was fortunate, in a way.

I lifted my head. Long pillars lined up in a row. Something embedded in the pillars, emitting a soft light. Seeing it, my eyes widened.

“Is that… could it possibly be a Night-shining Pearl?”

I knew it the moment I saw it. The things emitting light from all around were definitely Night-shining Pearls. Expensive items that emitted light. They were the same Night-shining Pearls I saw back when I headed to the secret vault of the Geumcheonyong family. While I was expressing my astonishment at the sight of the Night-shining Pearls…

Shaaaaa….

The Water Tiger appeared and climbed onto my body. Looks like this thing also made it through successfully. Looking at the creature, which seemed exhausted and had its head bowed low, I murmured:

“…Thanks.”

Shaa-?

Since I survived thanks to it, I offered my gratitude first. And I asked.

“How did you know?”

Shaa?

At my question, it merely tilted its head as if asking what I meant. Seeing that, I clicked my tongue and surveyed my surroundings. It was too unbelievable to call it a coincidence, but for now, finding the item was the priority. Judging by the situation, it seemed to have succeeded in breaking through the formation and entering the vault, but… I wondered how the environment could suddenly change from underwater into a vault like this, but things like this didn’t surprise me anymore. I’d had too many experiences like this.

“It seems to be a vault…”

It felt a bit different from the vault I visited in my past life. Back then, there weren’t even any Night-shining Pearls. This meant…

‘Someone else had come here before me…?’

If that were the case…

‘Did they just take the Night-shining Pearls and leave the White Horse Stone behind?’

It didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t a problem. Magic stones aren’t exactly useful to ordinary people in the first place. So it wasn’t strange for someone to just snatch the Night-shining Pearls and run.

‘Whatever. It doesn’t matter.’

My goal was the White Horse Stone anyway. The Night-shining Pearls were just a bonus I’d take along the way. Not that I wouldn’t take them. They’re incredibly expensive, so I definitely have to grab them this time. I nodded and turned my gaze. First, I needed to secure the White Horse Stone.

‘It must be somewhere around here…’

Shaaaa.

As I shifted my gaze here and there, trying to find the White Horse Stone… the Water Tiger on my shoulder suddenly bared its teeth, looking somewhere warily.

“What’s wrong with you now…”

When I turned my head in the direction the Water Tiger was growling…

“…!”

The darkness where the light of the Night-shining Pearls didn’t reach. I felt something beyond it.

Sssssss….

Inside the vault, only silence spread calmly. Someone else was here besides me. As soon as I confirmed it, I tried to draw up my internal energy, but…

Throb-!

“…Gulp!”

My empty dantian seemed to rebel, offering only pain.

‘Damn it.’

The pain was so intense that, although it was only for a moment, I nearly lost consciousness.

“Hoo…”

I fell to one knee from the pain.

[Who are you?]

Then, a voice came from beyond the darkness.

[You’re not Sincheol. Who are you?]

“…”

The familiar name made my eyes snap open. The way they spoke, searching for Sin Noya. The spatial translocation formation. The method felt quite familiar, and looking at the figure beyond the darkness, I frowned. Could this possibly be… I vaguely felt like I knew the identity of that person.

“…Excuse me, but perhaps.”

As if reacting to my words, a translucent figure approached from the front. In situations like this, something usually happened. Especially if I mentioned Sin Noya; it happened without fail. Besides, considering that this place was the Tang family’s territory… All the pieces clicked into place, and I could immediately recall his identity.

“Senior Tang Jemun… huh?”

[Yes.]

However. If there was one shocking, unexpected aspect…

[I am Tang Jemun.]

“…”

[Who are you?]

It was that Tang Jemun was ‘her’, not ‘him’.