Chapter 1154: Scorched World.

Eyes dyed a burning red. The characteristic slit eyes of this damn family. And their physique, clearly marked by family traits, could also be glimpsed.

Meaning they possessed a small build, unlike the massive frames of Father and Elder Il, but like me or the clansmen of the other Gu family.

Strictly speaking.

‘Originally, about the same level as me.’

About the same height as me, who hasn’t undergone metamorphosis. Meaning they were considerably small for a martial artist.

Furthermore.

‘……He really looks scary.’

I don’t usually say this about anyone, but the person I’m looking at, this family head, looks genuinely scary. A chilling aura could be felt from those sharply slit eyes.

Ah, damn it. Is this the kind of feeling others get when they look at me?

‘……I really hate that?’

Suddenly, I felt like I could understand their perspective, and my mood started to sour. No… what’s important right now isn’t this.

‘So.’

This guy is the family head?

As I stared at the figure who had suddenly appeared, caught off guard.

“Oh my, you’ve arrived?”

Jin Yeon-ryeong smiled brightly at her grandfather.

“You said you’d be late. You came early.”

“……Hmm. The work finished a little early.”

“Ah. I see. Ah, this person here is Baek Yangcheon, the Young Hero… Cheol-un’s companion, I hear.”

“……”

At Jin Yeon-ryeong’s introduction, her grandfather’s gaze locked onto me. Something intense, like being struck by lightning, flashed by.

He immediately stood up.

“……I am Baek Yangcheon of the Azure Dragon Brigade. I greet the Gu family head.”

“……”

Instead of replying, the grandfather nodded his head.

“Sit down. I’ll get you some tea.”

At Jin Yeon-ryeong’s words, the family head plopped down at the table without hesitation. Jin Yeon-ryeong then briefly went outside the hut to get the tea. Suddenly, we were left alone together.

“……”

“……”

What should I do about this uncomfortable, stifling silence? I never expected we’d meet like this.

Not knowing what to say, I just stayed still.

What kind of situation is this?

To end up meeting alone together in a hut like this, of all places.

As I nervously cleared my throat and held back a sigh.

“What brings you here?”

The grandfather spoke to me first. Swallowing dryly at his words, I tried to continue speaking.

“……For the Azure Dragon Brigade mission-“

“That’s incorrect.”

The grandfather cut me off and asked again.

“I am asking how you came to this world and became the Scorched.”

“……”

At his words, I widened my eyes and looked at the grandfather.

‘As expected.’

My prediction was correct.

‘So you are the Scorched one.’

The voice I heard back then. I had a hunch… and it was true, wasn’t it?

‘It was Grandfather.’

The current Gu family head. Was the one who had spoken to me.

What should I do? I pondered deeply about how I should answer this question. Should I deny it or not?

Though I agonized over it, the answer I came up with was ultimately simple.

“What is the Scorched?”

I neither denied it outright nor confronted him directly. For now, I had to ask the question first.

The Scorched.

That word kept sticking in my mind.

“……”

At my question, the grandfather’s gaze shifted slightly.

“You don’t know what it is?”

“I don’t. That’s why I asked.”

“……”

The grandfather, reacting with surprise to my words-

Whoosh-!

“……!”

He suddenly reached out and tried to grab my neck.

Crazy.

Smack-!

I barely managed to grab his wrist. Ah, why do these damn Gu bastards always go for the neck first? Seriously, their tempers are just awful.

“……Why are you doing this?”

As I tried to hold his wrist steady, I put all my strength into my arm. He was strong.

“……”

Even to my question, the grandfather stared intently at me without answering, and then…

Fwoooooosh-!!!

“–!”

He transformed his captured wrist into flames and broke free. His hand, freed in an instant, came straight for me.

Grab-!

“Nngh!”

My neck was finally grabbed. With my neck gripped tightly, I tried to break free somehow, but…

Fwoooooosh–!!!

In the blink of an eye, my whole body caught fire. It was a crimson blaze.

My whole body caught fire as if burning, but there was something strange.

‘It’s not hot.’

The crimson blaze wasn’t painful and didn’t burn any part of my body. It just seemed to envelop me and move around.

For a very short time. The flames that clung to me, barely even a moment in time,

Whoosh.

Soon disappeared without a trace. The family head must have reclaimed them.

“……”

As I looked at him with surprised eyes, he spoke to me.

“How peculiar.”

“……What are you doing?”

“The Karma hasn’t imprinted on your body. Despite already possessing more than enough qualification.”

“……”

“What generation are you?”

“……Pardon?”

“I asked what generation of the Gu family you are.”

“……”

I was surprised.

This guy.

‘He already knows I’m part of the Gu family.’

Baek Yangcheon this or that – none of that mattered. The grandfather seemed to already know I was a clansman of the Gu family.

Furthermore.

‘Family head?’

He asked if I was the family head. Hearing this, I denied it.

“……I’m not the family head in the first place.”

“What?”

This time, the grandfather widened his eyes at my words.

“……You’re not the family head?”

“Yes……”

“Then, you mean the Young Family Head? That can’t be right. How could the Young Family Head be like this……”

“I’m not even the Young Family Head…?”

“……?”

The grandfather fell silent.

“……Not even the Young Family Head?”

“Yes.”

“……”

The grandfather looked at me with eyes that clearly couldn’t understand. What was with that look? Just as I wondered why he was looking at me like that.

“Then… how did you break the restriction? You shouldn’t be able to break it if you’re not even the Young Family Head… but you did.”

The grandfather asked.

“How did you achieve mastery in the Nine Flame Wheel Technique?”

“……”

The mastery of the Nine Flame Wheel Technique and the breaking of the restriction. Hearing that, I realized the grandfather’s point.

‘I see.’

I had heard this before.

The Gu family’s reason for existence. Was to act as a proxy for the lost master of the Central Plains. To do so, upon becoming the Young Family Head, the restriction the world placed on the Central Plains… would be lifted, I was told.

This was ultimately both a benefit and a curse, given to one who had to become the vessel to act as a proxy for the master.

The fact that the grandfather mentioned it alongside the mastery of the Nine Flame Wheel Technique meant…

‘……If the restriction isn’t lifted.’

It meant the Nine Flame Wheel Technique couldn’t be mastered.

‘Tch.’

I hadn’t known that. The Nine Flame Wheel Technique can’t be mastered unless one is at least placed in the position of Young Family Head, right?

‘……That sounds ridiculous.’

It’s a fact I truly didn’t know. If I hadn’t shed my mortal form and maintained my human state, it meant I either wouldn’t have been able to master the Nine Flame Wheel Technique, or it would only have been possible if I became the Young Family Head.

“Your physical body is also strange. You are not human. Scorched… what purpose do you exist for, after all?”

“Asking someone why they exist? That’s quite harsh.”

He kept calling people the Scorched or whatnot. Just as I was starting to get annoyed.

Whoosh-!

“Nngh!?”

Crack-!!

The grandfather suddenly grabbed me and threw me. With a loud noise, the hut broke apart, and my body rolled outside. The pressure was unbelievable.

‘What the hell?’

The moment I landed and looked up.

Whoosh-!!

I saw the sole of his foot. He applied pressure to the ground I was touching.

KWA-GANG-!!

As the air pressure burst, I was pushed back. The grandfather’s foot came crashing down right where I had been.

KUA-AAAAAAAH–!!!

A crimson blaze erupted. It was incredibly hot.

“Hah-!”

Is he seriously starting a fight now? As I tried to gather my fighting spirit while looking at the crimson blaze, the grandfather spoke to me from within the flames.

“Answer my question directly. I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“……Haha.”

Seriously, what am I supposed to do?

‘This damn family is really something.’

That awful temper seems to be a family trait. It’s questionable how they never change. I don’t know what they’re trying to do, attacking me just because I didn’t answer. Moreover, if I hadn’t dodged just now, it had the power to crush my head instantly.

Sssssssseeeeeee—!!!

The grandfather, engulfed in flames, asked me again.

“I will ask.”

As he spoke, flames surged from his body and filled the sky.

The sky changed color over a vast area.

Red Sky (赤天).

Flames dominated the sky.

“What is your purpose?”

“……”

Looking at that damned sky, I sighed. It seems I can’t just let this slide.

“Well…”

Kuru-reureureung-!!

As I swirled energy throughout my body, I said to the grandfather.

“If you’re curious, why don’t you try finding out?”

He started it first. Like I said earlier, the Gu family clansmen generally have foul tempers.

‘And I’m particularly confident among them.’

Even among those Gu bastards, I’m on a different level.

“He needs to get beaten up a bit to come to his senses.”

That’s just how it is; he didn’t get beaten enough. So, we’ll talk after I beat him up. Just as I remembered that and was about to charge-

“Stooooop—!!!”

KWOOONG–!!

“Huh?”

Something massive came crashing down, piercing the air.

KWA-AAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!

Debris flew everywhere from the impact, scattering energy wildly. From within the chaos, a huge figure shook off the debris and shouted.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

A giant with red eyes. The figure was Gu Ryun.

“……Patriarch?”

The grandfather frowned at the sight.

Kwak-!!

Gu Ryun suddenly rushed at the grandfather and grabbed him by the collar.

“What the-“

The grandfather frowned, flustered, the moment…

“Gu Seong-yeol! You pathetic human!”

“……What?”

It was the first time I learned the Gu family head’s name. Ah, so Grandfather’s name is Gu Seong-yeol.

The moment I registered that in my mind.

“Even if you didn’t want him, he’s still your son! You want to run from the truth, so you’re trying to kill your own son!? And you call yourself human!”

“……What?”

“What?”

Both the grandfather and I froze solid at Gu Ryun’s statement.

Uh, that’s not right.

Just as Gu Ryun was spewing nonsense based on a misunderstanding-

Thud.

I heard something fall from the other side.

There.

“Son…?”

Jin Yeon-ryeong, having dropped yakgwa all over the floor, was looking at Gu Seong-yeol with trembling eyes.

‘Wow.’

I laughed in admiration seeing this.

‘It’s a total mess.’

It truly was a mess.