Chapter 222: Omen. (9)

Before I knew it, it was the day before entering seclusion.

Since there was only one day left, there were no special schedules.

However, there were a few personal matters I needed to resolve.

One was, first and foremost, the matter concerning Tang Soyeol.

Now that the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and the martial arts tournament were over, Tang Soyeol should have returned to Sichuan.

However, Tang Soyeol was still staying in Gugwa.

Namgung Bi-ah’s case was special.

She herself didn’t seem particularly eager to return.

Tang Soyeol was a slightly different case.

I asked Tang Soyeol when she planned to return.

She casually replied that she wouldn’t be going.

“You’re not going back?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

“You know why.”

At Tang Soyeol’s words, I scratched between my brows.

She meant she wasn’t going back because of me.

‘Is she serious?’

Not whether her feelings for me were genuine, but rather… if she truly intended not to return to Sichuan.

“That’s not something you can just decide.”

“Right?”

Right?

As I looked at Tang Soyeol, bewildered, she smiled slightly and said to me,

“Actually, I was supposed to go back to Sichuan. I wanted to stay, but if I kept lingering, my father might come looking for me himself.”

“…The Tang Family Head?”

“Yes, he cares about me so much…”

Does that mean the Poison King himself would come to Shanxi and drag Tang Soyeol away?

That sounds quite terrifying.

‘It was well-known how much the Poison King doted on his daughter.’

Was it any wonder that the reason Tang Soyeol, his direct descendant, could work as a martial artist without getting married was due to the Poison King’s influence?

The Tang Clan also had elders and other higher-ranking members.

But the Poison King’s power was so overwhelming that they were practically meaningless.

‘That’s why I had hoped Tang Soyeol would go back to Sichuan.’

How on earth did she plan to stay in Gugwa?

Seeing my displeased expression, Tang Soyeol smiled brightly and said,

“I have a way, so you don’t need to worry!”

What way…?

“Perhaps, my father will like it too. It was something he somewhat wished for.”

“What did you do to make that happen?”

“I decided to collaborate with the Moyong Family.”

“…Hmm?”

At Tang Soyeol’s words, I paused mid-sip of my tea.

‘Collaboration?’

Collaborating with the Moyong Family out of the blue?

‘Is there even a reason for those two to collaborate…?’

The Tang Clan primarily deals with poison and iron.

If you were to pick master craftsmen who worked with iron in the Central Plains, most belonged to the Tang Clan.

Excluding the Black Night Assassins led by the Shadow King.

The Tang Clan was the only assassination group operating directly under the Martial Arts Alliance.

Conversely, the Moyong Family…

was clearly a sword sect, but…

it wasn’t as solely focused on swordsmanship as the Namgung Family.

The Moyong Family produced silk based on the threads of moth-type demonic beasts.

They earned high profits by creating and selling clothing made from these threads.

Perhaps because they were made from demonic beast silk, they were durable, and their superior texture allowed them to command high prices.

Since only the Moyong Family knew how they were produced and crafted, they rarely engaged in commercial collaborations with others.

‘But suddenly, they’re collaborating with the Tang Clan.’

This certainly didn’t happen in my previous life.

What reason would the two families have to collaborate?

Especially when their products were complete opposites.

‘The Moyong Family is so successful in that area… If they were to collaborate, I’d welcome it with open arms, but…’

Any family that understood the value of silk and clothing…

would never refuse a collaboration with the Moyong Family.

Even my own father, didn’t he sell his only son under the condition that the Moyong Family would establish an industrial complex in Shanxi?

Of course… I readily accepted the terms of the deal myself.

“Because of this, I’ll have to go to Sichuan briefly… but I think I’ll go while Gongzi-nim is in seclusion.”

This means while I’m in seclusion.

Two months is quite a short time to travel to and from Sichuan.

‘So she’ll go back after all.’

Tang Soyeol’s words ultimately meant she would return to Shanxi eventually.

“Collaboration with the Tang Clan…”

The Moyong Family suddenly deciding to collaborate with the Tang Clan, and even establishing a business in Shanxi, which seemed to lack efficiency…

these sudden changes were still difficult to comprehend.

‘Is Tang Soyeol planning to use this as an excuse?’

It seems like she wants to use this as a pretext to stay in Shanxi.

But it wouldn’t be as easy as she thinks.

Tang Soyeol must know that too.

‘There seems to be something more.’

She seemed to have something else that would allow her to return to Gugwa.

As I looked at her with a gaze suggesting I wanted to probe further, the perceptive Tang Soyeol spoke first.

“Ah, regarding the collaboration details. I don’t think even Gongzi-nim can interfere. It’s a contract!”

“…I wasn’t curious.”

[You were just incredibly curious, and now you’re spouting shit out of your mouth?]

‘Spouting shit…’

I felt a moment of dizziness at the vulgar language.

Was it because she was happy about the collaboration with the Moyong Family?

Unlike being pestered by Namgung Bi-ah or Wi Seol-ah, Tang Soyeol wasn’t bringing anything up with me.

Rather, she seemed to be in a better mood lately.

“Ah, right, Gongzi-nim.”

I shifted my gaze at Tang Soyeol’s call.

She blushed and hunched her body as if shy, which was subtle.

“It’s just… if it’s not too much trouble. Perhaps we could go to the county together…”

“Ah.”

The next day, as I was about to enter seclusion, she was suggesting we go to the county before then.

There were things happening later, but a quick trip afterward seemed fine.

I was about to immediately agree to Tang Soyeol’s suggestion.

Just then.

“Um…”

“Sure.”

“Huh?”

It wasn’t me who answered.

At the voice coming from nearby, Tang Soyeol’s and my gazes moved simultaneously.

“…Let’s go… together.”

There stood Namgung Bi-ah, her blue-white hair tied back in a braid for some reason.

“What are you?”

“Huh…?”

“Where did you pop out from?”

“I was training… and came…?”

Only then did Namgung Bi-ah’s appearance register.

Her clothes, soaked in sweat as if she’d trained hard, showing the lines of her body.

And the slightly heated air around her, affected by the internal energy.

“It just… finished…”

‘No, she looks like she rushed here.’

Judging by her breathing and movements, she seemed to have come here in a hurry.

But if she says otherwise, then so be it.

Namgung Bi-ah asked me,

“Are you… going out to the county?”

“You’re going too?”

“Yeah.”

At Namgung Bi-ah’s reply, I glanced at Tang Soyeol.

As expected, Tang Soyeol wore a sulky expression, clearly displeased.

Seeing that, I could only scratch my cheek; there was nothing else I could do.

‘Whichever side I take here, I’ll be screwed.’

My limited survival instincts screamed as much.

I just had to watch passively.

[This is unbelievable…]

As I stood there blankly, suddenly the old man reacted with surprise.

‘What’s wrong?’

[To think you’d develop such awareness… I’ll have to check where the sun rises tomorrow.]

‘…’

Why is this old geezer always like this?

Shaking my slightly dizzy head.

I said to Tang Soyeol and Namgung Bi-ah,

“It’s fine that you’re going out,”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

“…But I need to go somewhere first.”

Their expectant gazes were truly burdensome.

Meanwhile, when I said I was going somewhere, Namgung Bi-ah slightly grabbed my sleeve, looking anxious.

She seemed worried I might run off again.

“Where…?”

Looking at Namgung Bi-ah like that, I replied,

“I need to visit the prison.”

Hearing my words, Namgung Bi-ah tilted her head and said to me,

“Again?”

“…”

Again…

That slightly hurt.

---

With permission from my father, the Family Head, and guidance from the Steward, I went to the prison.

My objective was, naturally, the old man residing in the prison.

Snoreeee-

Even as I walked down the corridor, I could hear snoring from afar.

I went to check, thinking ‘No way’, and the old man was sprawled out on the cold prison floor as if it were a bed.

“…”

What the, why is he sleeping so soundly?

Grrrind…

He was even grinding his teeth.

“Old man, please wake up.”

Grind…

I raised my voice to call the old man, but he just stirred slightly, as if not hearing me at all.

Watching him, I quietly whispered,

“…Maybe if I burn his beard, he’ll wake up.”

“Ughh…! So tired…”

Just as I was considering waking him with a rather drastic method, as if he had heard me, the old man woke up.

The awakened old man looked around and said in a tired voice,

“I was sleeping so well… and a guest has arrived.”

The old man’s appearance wasn’t much different from when I first met him.

Except that instead of clothes stained with grease, blood, and dirt, he was wearing clean, new clothes.

The old man’s gaze turned towards me.

“Are you here to tell me I can finally leave?”

That was quite a brazen statement.

“Unfortunately, that’s not within my jurisdiction.”

“Tsk. Tsk. Why bother this old man, dragging him around for whatever you plan to do.”

The old man was the Hao Moon Master from the Black Night Palace. They said he was thrown into prison as soon as he was brought to Gugwa.

He seemed to be adapting surprisingly well.

I approached the prison bars where the old man was.

“I have something I’d like to ask.”

At my words, the old man shifted his posture with an annoyed expression.

Although his face was hidden by bandages, I could tell from the corners of his mouth.

He looked genuinely annoyed to death.

“You lock me up here and expect me to talk?”

“Lock you up? You came here of your own free will.”

I let him out when he asked, but anyone would think I kidnapped him.

“If you’re going to save me, you have to let me go too!”

“You’re asking for the moon, aren’t you…?”

How could a family belonging to the righteous sects immediately release someone from the unorthodox path, especially the Hao Moon Master?

It was fortunate enough that they hadn’t reported it to the Alliance yet.

“Then when exactly do you plan to release me?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

Only my father would know that.

Perhaps he had no intention of releasing him.

“…I said I escaped from the snake pit, only to be caught by a tiger…”

“Save your lamentations for later; I have something to ask.”

“You only talk about yourself; your personality is dog-shit.”

“What did the Black Night Palace Master want to gain from you that led him to imprison you there?”

“Now you’re ignoring my words too.”

He really takes after his father.

I heard Muo the old man add, laughing hollowly,

“My boy, do you really think I’d tell you something I wouldn’t even tell those bastards?”

If he kept his mouth shut even while enduring brutal torture, he wouldn’t just blurt out such critical information.

“You probably won’t.”

“And you come asking, knowing that?”

“More precisely, I was hoping to make a deal.”

“Ha.”

At my words, Muo the old man chuckled.

His voice laced with disbelief.

“You, making a deal with me?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s hear it. What do you intend to bet? Money? Women?”

“I want information, so I plan to offer information in return.”

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

At my words, the Hao Moon Master laughed even harder.

It seemed incredibly amusing to him.

After all, proposing a trade of information with the head of an intelligence agency that rivals the Beggars’ Sect would naturally seem funny.

It would be funny, wouldn’t it?

“You seem to know who I am.”

“I know a little.”

“No, my boy, you know exactly who I am. It certainly seems that way.”

“Someone who can’t see can’t see anything, can they?”

“…Your way of speaking shows more potential than my sister’s.”

Beyond the bandages tightly wrapped around his eyes, I could feel Muo the old man’s gaze fixed on me.

“…It’s truly strange. Something that seems endlessly light and soft. Conversely, something that appears so heavy and hard.”

“I’m young, so I don’t quite understand your difficult words.”

“I can’t figure it out. My boy. What exactly are you?”

The question was utterly bizarre.

What am I?

“As you can see, I’m the son of this house.”

At my nonchalant reply, Muo the old man paused for a moment, then let out a phlegmy chuckle.

“That was a pointless exchange. Fine, let’s hear it. What information do you intend to offer me in trade?”

Information that the Hao Moon Master would covet.

Honestly, I don’t know much about that.

I wasn’t particularly interested in it in my previous life, and even around the time the Hao Moon caused trouble through their conflict with the Black Night Palace, I wasn’t very interested in worldly affairs and just moved on, thinking ‘Oh, that’s how it is.’

However, I do know about one incident that occurred in the Hao Moon after this event.

I don’t know if this is information the Hao Moon Master would covet, but…

“White Demon Stone (Baekmaseok).”

At the words that came out of my mouth,

“…!”

I saw the Hao Moon Master’s shoulders tremble slightly.

His expression, which had held a hint of amusement, changed.

The surroundings grew quiet.

It wasn’t a change caused by the internal energy, but simply because the old man’s demeanor shifted.

Watching him, Muo the old man asked me,

“What… did you just say?”

I had to observe the old man’s reaction to determine if it was an act or not.

Regarding Muo the old man showing such a reaction, I had to consider two possibilities.

‘One is the possibility of it being an act.’

Given that the old man, who had lived hearing all sorts of tales, displayed such obvious surprise, I had to definitely consider the possibility of it being an act.

‘The second is that it’s that important.’

The possibility that this information was significant enough to elicit such a reaction from the old man.

White Demon Stone.

Or rather, Grade-100 Demon Stone.

It was a demon stone obtainable only by killing a Grade-100 demonic beast, which couldn’t be found now.

“Perhaps, you might be curious about where the White Demon Stone is located, old man.”

The White Demon Stone, hidden beneath the sea at the edge of the northern lands.

The guardian there was so powerful that it was impossible to reach yet, but…

I knew where the White Demon Stone was.

‘Though it wasn’t me who found it.’

It was the Hao Moon who found it.

The Hao Moon, after countless sacrifices and a long period, somehow found the undiminished White Demon Stone.

And they succeeded in acquiring it.

And then.

‘It was stolen by the Heavenly Demon.’

I don’t know why he needed that stone, but the stone possessed by the Hao Moon soon fell into the Heavenly Demon’s hands.

Who then threw it at me as a gift.

I don’t know if this story would shock the Hao Moon Master, but I hoped it would.

‘I don’t intend to hand it over anyway.’

Even if I were to give him the information, recalling my experience absorbing the White Demon Stone in my past life… I had no intention of handing it over.

Especially remembering the power I gained from it.

Muo the old man remained silent, not uttering a word.

As if wondering how I could possibly know that, or what I was even talking about.

He didn’t say any of the things he could have immediately said.

As I endured that uncomfortable silence for a moment,

“…I see. Now I understand.”

Muo the old man finally spoke.

As if he had realized something.

“You are the owner of the ancient book.”

That was a truly unexpected and out-of-the-blue statement.

“…What are you talking about?”