Chapter 528: Give it to me just once.

“How did you know?”

At Amwang’s words, Gu Cheolun looked into his eyes. Eyes like a bottomless pit, dark and without a hint of light or shadow.

Gazing intently at those eyes, he said.

“It’s impossible not to know.”

The Poison King’s message, containing news about my child.

How could I not know that Amwang had intervened for the message to reach Gu Clan?

When I thought about it, it was a simple deduction.

The distance from Sichuan to Shanxi is by no means short.

It’s something Gu Cheolun’s power could achieve in a short time, but that wouldn’t be the case for ordinary people.

However.

“It arrived just a few days after the incident occurred.”

The speed at which the message arrived was strange.

No matter how fast the message was sent, it was chronologically impossible.

Therefore, I had to suspect someone’s intervention, and I concluded it was Amwang.

However, there was one problem here.

“I don’t understand.”

Amwang looked at Gu Cheolun and asked.

“You might have suspicions, but there’s no proof that I did it.”

That doesn’t mean Amwang intervened.

The message arriving quickly. Yes, someone could have interfered and pulled some strings.

However, that couldn’t be the reason Gu Cheolun was certain it was Amwang.

When asked about it.

Gu Cheolun said in a calm tone.

“Aren’t you here, Elder?”

Hearing this, Amwang’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“That alone was enough reason for me to be certain.”

“Hmm.”

Was that why?

Only then could Amwang understand why Gu Cheolun thought this way.

‘He noticed.’

Amwang, who had infiltrated the group in disguise when they departed from Henan to Sichuan.

Does that mean Gu Cheolun had figured it out back then?

Does that mean he didn’t show it?

He looked at Gu Cheolun with newfound eyes.

“Then why didn’t you show it back then?”

“There was simply no point.”

Amwang was mingling with my child’s group. That alone could cause many problems.

‘No point,’ huh.

At those words, Amwang couldn’t help but slightly curl the corners of his lips.

“What if I had harmed your child?”

“Do you intend to?”

Amwang chuckled at Gu Cheolun’s words.

He had already done something akin to harming him.

He had killed him hundreds of times using his powers.

However, if you ask if he intended to do so of his own will…

“It would depend on what your child does.”

He had no intention of acting first.

While he couldn’t say he wouldn’t do it, he had no such intention for now.

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine.”

“Why, do you think that kid won’t do anything to me?”

Is it trust in your child?

“It’s not like that. Although he is my child, he certainly has prickly aspects.”

Sharp thorns. Gu Yangcheon definitely had such aspects.

Moreover, Gu Cheolun knew he himself was partly responsible for those thorns growing.

“Then?”

“Even if he has those aspects, if that child acts that way, I believe there must be a reason.”

He didn’t think he wouldn’t do it. But if he were to act, there would be a reason he had to.

That was the kind of trust Gu Cheolun had in Gu Yangcheon.

Amwang couldn’t understand that.

“How is that different from trusting your child?”

“To call it trust would be closer to atonement.”

Not believing because he trusts, but believing because he must trust.

If there was a reason for that, Gu Cheolun would call it atonement.

Atonement for having made his child that way.

Hearing that, Amwang asked.

“What would you do if I killed that kid like that?”

Even if Gu Yangcheon acted with a certain intention.

There was no reason for Amwang to understand that.

There was also no reason to view that courage favorably.

Gu Cheolun should know that better than anyone.

Why would he say this?

When asked about it, Gu Cheolun looked at Amwang and said.

“I hope you won’t.”

Gu Cheolun hoped Amwang wouldn’t.

This was partly for his child, but put another way…

“It’s for your sake too, Elder.”

Woong-

At Gu Cheolun’s words, Amwang’s body vibrated subtly.

Refined killing intent. Not the rough and crude killing intent of a warrior, but the extremely honed killing intent of an assassin.

It was calm and quiet.

Yet, because it was compressed, the malevolent thoughts felt more intense the closer one got. That emanated from Amwang’s body.

“You’ve grown quite a bit. Enough to threaten me.”

Don’t do it, even for Amwang’s sake.

The meaning of this statement was clear.

It was a clear declaration that if his child was touched, he wouldn’t stand by.

The killing intent grew stronger with time.

A tense, hair-trigger situation.

Even as Amwang’s aura intensified, Gu Cheolun merely watched him calmly.

Just then.

“Hmph.”

Amwang momentarily released his aura, retracting his killing intent.

“Don’t worry, I have expectations for that kid too.”

Although he slightly eased his aura, Gu Cheolun didn’t budge.

He must have realized it was a ploy to test the waters.

Amwang, having expectations for Gu Yangcheon, had no intention of doing anything drastic.

Rather, he needed him to be alive. As Gu Cheolun said, not for Gu Yangcheon’s sake, but for his own.

‘The answer to breaking this curse.’

The curse placed upon Amwang.

More precisely, the key to unlocking the curse bound to his bloodline.

Gu Yangcheon must hold such an answer.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even now, looking at Gu Yangcheon, Amwang could feel his heart pounding.

‘It’s much stronger than when I first saw him.’

Resonance.

The scent of the curse he felt immediately upon seeing Gu Yangcheon.

Back then, it was faint, but now, for some reason, it felt so distinct.

What had changed?

‘Changes in the physical body. Is that the key?’

Although he didn’t look significantly different, Gu Yangcheon’s appearance had changed somehow.

Amwang could tell.

Because his eyes were different from others’.

Thump.

My heart pounds. Just looking at him causes such turmoil.

At first, I thought it was murderous intent, but Amwang recently realized it wasn’t even that.

Yes, this isn’t murderous intent or anything like it.

‘This is…’

“I’m simply grateful that you see me favorably.”

As he pondered, Amwang shook his head at Gu Cheolun’s words.

This isn’t the time to dwell on that.

“I’ve never seen you favorably.”

That was true; he hadn’t exactly seen him favorably.

However, perhaps that answer was enough, as Gu Cheolun merely nodded.

Also, they needed to get back to the main topic.

“Now, I would like you to answer my question.”

How did Amwang intervene?

That was the question.

As Gu Cheolun said, Amwang had indeed intervened in that matter.

He hadn’t moved the message directly, but merely used the Night Watch Assassins to send it faster.

He could boast that the Night Watch Assassins were faster than any other organization in handling such matters.

If Gu Cheolun were to ask Amwang why he did it…

“I just did it because that guy asked me to.”

Amwang answered with a nod of his head.

Following that, Gu Cheolun shifted his gaze.

There was his son, who had been beaten quite a bit, and the Battle Lord, who seemed rather excited.

-Aaargh…! Shit…! My bone got hit…!

-Hey, I told you to dodge backward. Why did you charge so recklessly?

-…But you told me not to dodge earlier!

-Look at this punk? Talking back?

-Then should I speak respectfully to my younger brother? I’m still your elder brother…! Elder, I’m just kidding. Really kidding…!

-It’s fine. People tend to get fixed when they get hit. It’s all part of the process. Come here. Dodging will injure your bones.

-…Damn it.

“…”

Seeing the ridiculous sight, Gu Cheolun almost turned his head away for a moment, but he forced himself to endure it.

“…You mean Battle Lord-nim?”

“Yes.”

This was a request Battle Lord-nim made to Amwang as soon as he heard about Gu Yangcheon’s situation.

He had asked for it to be delivered to Gu Cheolun as quickly as possible.

At that time, the Poison King was sending a message to Gu Clan.

Amwang’s eyes covered the entire Tang Clan, so it was something he couldn’t miss.

He just used this.

‘I thought he didn’t seem very interested.’

Battle Lord-nim was more interested in Gu Yangcheon than expected.

Perhaps because he was the disciple he had sought for many years.

Or perhaps for some other reason, it’s hard to say.

‘So he’s playing the role of a teacher in his own way.’

Although he had watched Biju by his side for a long time.

It was awkward to see a madman obsessed only with martial arts acting like this.

Especially asking him for something.

‘He’s changed.’

Biju was changing somehow.

Amwang didn’t know if it was for the better.

He wasn’t interested either.

Battle Lord-nim is seen plopping down onto the fallen Gu Yangcheon.

Gu Yangcheon, half-conscious, was panting heavily.

Battle Lord-nim’s hands were seen chuckling as he watched that.

They were trembling faintly.

It was proof that Battle Lord-nim was also exhausted. Seeing that, Gu Cheolun turned his body.

“Thank you for telling me. I have matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first.”

“Mm.”

After confirming Gu Yangcheon’s training was over, Gu Cheolun walked away without hesitation.

Watching Gu Cheolun’s retreating back, Amwang suddenly spoke.

“Cheolun.”

Halt.

His name, which felt like it hadn’t been heard in a long time.

In the Central Plains now, the number of people who could call Gu Cheolun like that was probably countable on one hand.

Amwang was among those few.

“I’ll visit soon. Please relay the message to Gu Ryun.”

“…”

Passing a message from the Clan Head to an Elder.

Though he wondered what kind of bizarre situation this was, Gu Cheolun nodded without concern.

“When I return, I will deliver the message.”

With those words, Gu Cheolun vanished like embers.

Amwang, left alone, looked back at Gu Yangcheon.

The intensifying aura.

Just looking at him stirs emotions.

At first, I thought it was murderous intent, then anger.

Now, it has become an even stronger emotion.

-…I’m gonna die… Get off me… Seriously, I’m going to die like this? Aaargh! My head…!

-Seeing your mouth still flapping, it seems I can do more. Get up.

“…”

I hate to admit it, but now I could clearly feel it. The emotion I felt looking at Gu Yangcheon…

This is definitely…

Awe.