Chapter 193: Know Your Place. (1)

Kkiiik.

The main gate (大門) opened, and I stepped into the Sega.

After months of travel, I was finally able to arrive at the Gu family.

The season that had been a cold winter had somehow become spring.

The time had come for the flowers, which had been resting briefly, to bloom once more.

This marked the point where it had already been a year since I returned.

‘…It’s only been a year, but why does it feel like so much has passed.’

My pathetic body, which struggled to climb even a single flight of stairs, had been pushed to its peak through all sorts of efforts; and where were those younger days, spent sulking in the corner of my room and wallowing in depression around this time? The grand epithet ‘True Dragon’ was now attached before my name.

It was a year filled with so many changes.

“Hmm?”

As soon as I opened the door and entered, I let out a surprised sound.

As I arrived at the Sega with my companions, the atmosphere felt strangely quiet.

“What the…?”

I had sent a letter in advance, so someone should have come out to greet us. Barely any servants were in sight.

‘What’s going on.’

It was a strange atmosphere. Even for a household that lived behind locked doors and held its breath, it shouldn’t have been this quiet.

“What’s wrong, Gongja-nim?”

As I stood there still, Tang Xiaoye, who had followed behind, approached and asked me. For reference, Tang Xiaoye had said he would stay at the Gu family’s place for a while instead of heading straight to Sichuan. When I asked if he was sure it was okay, Tang Xiaoye averted his gaze slightly and said it was fine. I knew for sure he wasn’t fine…. But I didn’t press the issue.

“No, it’s just… unusually quiet.”

“It certainly is… excessively quiet.”

It was quiet. Strangely so. Such silence can turn into anxiety like this.

‘Something seems to be going on.’

I looked around and started walking towards the center. No, I tried to move. The moment I tried to move, I sensed the presence of someone running towards us. At first, I thought it was the Steward. However, I soon realized the approaching person wasn’t the Steward. I saw a small, delicate body running towards us. It didn’t take long to see who it was. Not only the distinctive martial attire worn by members of the clan, but also the neatly braided hair was a familiar style.

I looked at the girl approaching me and said,

“Why are you… still here?”

The identity of the person who had rushed over was Gu Linghua. Gu Linghua shouldn’t have been at the Gu family’s place right now. She should have left for Mount Hua with Sword Empress long ago, according to the timing. So why was Gu Linghua here?

“O… Oppa…”

“You… what’s wrong?”

Seeing her tearful expression and trembling voice, I quickly approached and grabbed Gu Linghua’s shoulders.

“What happened?”

“Oppaaaa…”

As I got closer, Gu Linghua burst into tears. It seemed like there was genuinely a problem.

“Calm down first…”

“Elder Yi… Elder Yi…”

“What?”

I tried to calm Gu Linghua down, but her words made my emotions surge violently.

“…What did you say?”

I asked Gu Linghua, not hiding my turbulent emotions.

“Oppaaaa…”

Gu Linghua shed tears profusely at my words. But this wasn’t the situation to comfort her.

“…Elder Yi…”

“Stop crying and speak properly.”

My tone came out a bit harsh, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that. As Gu Linghua cried too hard to speak, Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah rushed over to comfort her, but I couldn’t relax my expression. Gu Linghua, who had been sniffling, spoke to me in a voice trembling with all her might. I desperately hoped I had misheard, but

“E-Elder Yi… might die.”

Gu Linghua’s confirmation forced me to gasp for air.

---

Why Gu Linghua hadn’t left for Mount Hua yet. Why no one came out to greet us despite the clan members returning from Henan, and why the atmosphere was so chaotic instead; furthermore, even my intention to visit Elder Il right after arriving was no longer important.

I practically ran into the Sega’s infirmary. Even from the moment I arrived, the air was thick with the smell of blood. Bandages, seemingly used to wipe blood, were piled in a corner; and the infirmary felt heavy with the lingering internal energy (내기) of martial artists mixed in the air.

“…What is this…”

Not only the doctors belonging to the Gu family but also doctors who appeared to be external staff were moving busily. The doctors were tending to patients, sweating profusely; and all the patients were members of the Gu family’s Sword Brigade. Judging by the insignia on their removed martial attire, they were all from the Five Sword Brigade (五劍隊).

I moved, scanning the surroundings with my wavering eyes, searching for a presence. I even raised my internal energy to find the presence I was looking for, and finally, I was able to locate the person I sought. Elder Yi’s presence could be felt from a room at the end of the infirmary. As I immediately moved to enter the room, someone blocked my path.

“Y-You can’t go in!”

When I looked at the figure blocking me, they flinched and took a step back. The one who stopped me was a Gu family physician.

“What?”

As I glared with sharp eyes, I saw the physician trembling.

“…The Divine Physician is performing surgery. They said it’s a critical situation, so no one is allowed to enter…”

“…”

It seemed the Divine Physician was treating Elder Yi inside this room. The Divine Physician themselves had used the word ‘critical’. Coming from someone known as the best in the Central Plains, I could tell how dire the situation was.

I forced myself to relax my clenched jaw and asked the physician,

“…Where is the Steward.”

I barely suppressed the urge to smash something. First, I needed to know. What had happened to cause this situation.

“Greetings, Young Master.”

Shortly after I called for him, the Steward came directly to the infirmary. Normally, I would have gone to find the Steward, but I didn’t want to move from this spot right now.

“I apologize for not coming to see you on your way…”

“Save the apologies. What happened here?”

I cut off the old man offering his apologies. This wasn’t the time to listen to such things.

“What on earth happened to leave things like this?”

“…There was an attack.”

“An attack?”

“Yes.”

It was incomprehensible. An attack?

‘Elder Yi was attacked…?’

Putting aside Elder Yi’s position, he was someone whose usual activities were confined within the Gu family’s estate. Of course, it seemed he occasionally went to Anhui or traveled around, but the fact that a martial artist of Elder Yi’s caliber was attacked and left in critical condition was baffling in itself.

‘Is it related to the Five Sword Brigade.’

I looked at the Five Sword Brigade members lying incapacitated nearby. The Five Sword Brigade was none other than the brigade led by my eldest sister, Gu Huibi. Seeing this, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘…Come to think of it.’

Before leaving for Henan for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, I remembered Elder Yi telling me that Gu Huibi needed help and that he was going to visit her. As expected, the Steward brought this up.

“They say there was an attack on the front lines.”

“So that attack is what caused this mess.”

While I couldn’t know for sure, Elder Yi was at least a martial artist who had surpassed the Hwajing realm. In the Central Plains, reaching the Hwajing realm meant transcending the human form, making it difficult to consider them merely human. The influence of a single individual would be like that of a typhoon. Who could possibly attack such a martial artist, one worthy of being called a walking disaster? And why?

“Do you know who the culprit is?”

“We can’t be certain, so we’ve sent out search parties to gather information…. However, based on witness testimonies, there is a suspected individual.”

I immediately paid attention to the Steward’s words. Fortunately, it seemed they knew the culprit. The Steward, after a moment of silence, finally spoke to me.

“The Black Night Palace Lord.”

At the name that reached my ears, my eyes widened like saucers. It couldn’t be helped. Because it was a name I hadn’t expected at all at this point.

“…Based on the combined testimonies, we’ve identified the attacker as the Black Night Palace Lord.”

‘The Black Night Palace Lord…?’

The master of the Black Night Palace, and one of the Eight Demonic Sects. He was someone destined to be killed when the Black Night Palace was destroyed by the Martial Alliance Alliance a few years from now.

‘…Why would someone like that?’

Whether it truly was the Black Night Palace Lord would only be known once Elder Yi’s treatment was successfully completed, but if it was him, I needed to know why the Black Night Palace Lord would bother attacking the Five Sword Brigade and Elder Yi.

‘This, too, was not part of the plan.’

I had no memory of Elder Yi suffering such a major incident at this particular time. It was possible I might not remember, but

‘There’s no way I’d forget something like this.’

Even an idiot wouldn’t forget something like this. I had experienced countless events where the future changed, but

‘…Is it possible for things to turn out like this?’

If this was something that didn’t happen in the past, then it was most likely changed due to my actions.

‘If so, from where?’

Even if finding the tangled point now wouldn’t untangle it, I needed to know how the Black Night Palace Lord’s steps had reached that place.

“…Wait.”

As I tried to shift my thoughts despite my throbbing head, I realized one crucial fact.

“Steward.”

“Yes… Young Master.”

“Where is my sister?”

“…”

At my question, the shadow on the Steward’s face deepened. The Five Sword Brigade was Gu Huibi’s brigade, and if Elder Yi had gone to the front lines to help Gu Huibi, then where was Gu Huibi herself?

“Where is my sister?”

Gu Huibi wasn’t in the infirmary. Moreover, given Gu Huibi’s personality, if she were well, she wouldn’t be here. She wasn’t the type to lock herself in her room and rest leisurely when her own brigade and Elder Yi were injured. Therefore, knowing Gu Huibi’s whereabouts was even more crucial.

At my words, the Steward hesitated for a moment before speaking to me.

“…They say the Black Night Palace Lord took the Eldest Young Lady.”

“Hah.”

At the Steward’s words, I ran a hand down my face. It was just a series of fucking unfortunate events.

---

Without even properly unpacking my luggage, I leaned against the door in the infirmary and spent time there. Occasionally, Wi Seol-ah approached to offer me meals, but I wasn’t in a state to put anything in my mouth.

I touched my dry lips and stared straight ahead. This wasn’t looking at any particular spot, but rather letting my unfocused gaze wander because I couldn’t handle it.

‘Gu Huibi was kidnapped.’

The Steward had clearly said so. That Gu Huibi was taken by the Black Night Palace Lord.

‘Then was Gu Huibi the target from the beginning?’

Could it be that the reason the Black Night Palace Lord suddenly appeared on the front lines and incapacitated Elder Yi and the Five Sword Brigade was indeed because of Gu Huibi? If so, why did he take Gu Huibi?

‘Why? Why Gu Huibi, of all people.’

No matter how much I thought about it, it was incomprehensible.

‘…The problem is.’

This incident meant that my father was absent from the Sega.

‘He moved out with the First Sword Brigade, didn’t he?’

My father had left the Sega the moment Elder Yi was entrusted to the Divine Physician’s care. His objective was likely the search and recovery of Gu Huibi. Unless something on the level of the True Demon Scripture opened up, it was significant enough for my father, who rarely moved from the Gu estate, to act personally. It seemed my father himself judged it to be a grave matter. I didn’t think my father was the type to have such deep affection for his children to act solely for his daughter’s sake, so there seemed to be some other reason.

Eudeuk.

My teeth clenched involuntarily. I never expected to be greeted by such a situation immediately upon returning from Henan.

‘Someone who seemed like they could easily last another ten years….’

I had so much I needed to ask about, like the recommendation letter from the Sword Master and the ring I’d entrusted to him, but who could have known that old bear of a man would be lying there like that?

“…Shit.”

At the curse whispered softly, Gu Linghua, who had been sleeping nearby, stirred slightly. Because of that, I had to hold back the curse that was about to escape. Looking at Gu Linghua, I thought of Sword Empress. The expert from Mount Hua who was staying temporarily at the Gu family’s place with Gu Linghua.

‘Sword Empress also left with the First Sword Brigade, didn’t she?’

I heard that not only my father but also Sword Empress, who had been staying with Gu Linghua, had moved out to help. I didn’t know how much strength Sword Empress had recovered after her treatment, given she was being consumed by demonic energy, but even if she had fully recovered, I was grateful that she had moved to do something that wasn’t necessary for her.

I had asked Namgung Bi-ah and Tang Xiaoye to wait in their rooms for now, and Wi Seol-ah had been asked to stay with Hong Wa. I didn’t want anyone to see this expression right now. Especially not them.

As I waited foolishly for time to pass,

Kkiiik.

The door through which the Divine Physician was treating opened slowly. As soon as I heard the sound, I urgently got up. The Divine Physician emerged from the room, dragging their weary body. The Divine Physician looked surprised to see me waiting at the door.

“Why the hell are you here…”

“Divine Physician! Is Elder Yi alright?”

I cut him off and yelled first, causing the Divine Physician to cover his ears and frown deeply.

“My ears are going to fall off, you punk! Why are you yelling and causing a scene like this!”

Geung-

The Divine Physician, who had spoken like he was scolding me, groaned and staggered. Seeing that, I immediately supported the Divine Physician.

“…Are you alright?”

“It’s just from sitting for too long, I’m fine. It’s all because I’m old.”

Saying that, the Divine Physician took off his robe.

“The treatment went well. It will take time to recover his energy, but he’ll open his eyes soon.”

At the Divine Physician’s words, I let out a sigh I had been holding back. Seeing me like that, the Divine Physician clicked his tongue briefly.

“Were you holed up here right after you returned?”

“…”

“What a fool. You’re not even a doctor, what difference does waiting here make?”

The Divine Physician spoke curtly and moved aside, clearing the path for me. As if telling me to go inside.

I immediately stepped into the room.

“…!”

Inside the room, Elder Yi lay perfectly still. His massive frame made the room seem particularly small, but that wasn’t what I needed to see now.

‘…There’s a mark where his upper body was pierced.’

Although the treatment was finished, the mark remained plain to see. It was visible even through the bandages wrapped around him. I could tell it must have been a fatal wound, even if not large, on Elder Yi’s body. Beyond that, I could guess how battered his body must have been.

The Divine Physician, following me in, added as if explaining,

“Even while unconscious, his internal energy was stopping the bleeding. Moreover, his regenerative power is exceptional. If even a fraction of it were weaker, he would have died long ago from wounds like these. Truly a monstrous physique.”

“…Haa.”

“Now that you’ve confirmed it, leave. Your presence here only stirs up trouble.”

“…Do you know when he might wake up?”

To my question, the Divine Physician replied with a scoff.

“If I knew that, I’d be a shaman, not a doctor! At most, he’ll open his eyes within four days, so stop worrying needlessly and get lost!”

Even though he spoke harshly, all the necessary information was there. It was his way of telling me to stop worrying and go rest, so I looked at Elder Yi for a moment before turning away. As the Divine Physician said, there was nothing I could do here right now.

“…Please take good care of him. I will pay my proper respects after I’ve tidied myself up.”

“Hmph.”

I left the Divine Physician behind, carefully picked up Gu Linghua, and stepped out of the infirmary. Immediately after, I handed Gu Linghua over to a servant waiting outside.

“She probably won’t wake up easily, so just take her to her room.”

“Understood.”

I had secretly performed acupoint sealing on Gu Linghua, so she wouldn’t wake up. She’ll probably wake up on her own tomorrow morning.

“Should I contact your quarters to prepare a meal?”

The servant seemed concerned that I hadn’t eaten all day, but I shook my head and refused.

“No need. I don’t feel like eating anything right now. Besides.”

Udook.

I stretched my stiff shoulders and looked in a certain direction.

“I have somewhere I need to go.”

I suppressed the turbulent killing intent along with my emotions. Because I had to set aside the mixed feelings regarding Elder Yi and Gu Huibi.

“It’ll be a bit late.”

Saying that, I started walking. The place I was heading was the Gu Clan Gate, where Elder Il would be.