Chapter 605: Curse of the Ice Crystal.

I had a dream.

It was a dream of just walking across a snowfield covered in white snow.

The weather was cold and chilling.

However, I didn’t feel just cold.

[Yiiiaaaah!]

Gu Linghua was running around excitedly in the falling snow.

Watching that, I said.

[You’ll fall if you keep that up.]

[Hihhihi!]

It seemed she wasn’t listening.

If she kept running like that, it wouldn’t be long before…

[Euek!]

[Ah.]

As expected.

Gu Linghua stopped running and fell with a thud.

[Uwaaaaaang]

Perhaps she fell a bit hard, Gu Linghua burst into tears.

Seeing that, I sighed and approached.

[I told you not to run like that.]

[Oppaahhhhh….]

Her cheeks, face, and eyes were all covered.

I gently wiped them away with my hand.

[Hiii….]

[Seriously, when are you ever going to grow up?]

She was, at most, seven or eight years old.

It was a ridiculously embarrassing thing to say, coming from someone who never grew up their entire life.

Thinking about it now, I think I used to talk quite well and was a bit sharp when I was young.

It’s a mystery why I became like this as I grew up.

After taking care of Gu Linghua for a while like that, suddenly.

Ssk.

Someone placed a hand on my hair.

The hand was so big, it completely enveloped my head with room to spare.

Feeling the rough palm, I turned my head slightly.

The first thing I saw was my mother.

Her eyes, smiling brightly at us.

Of course, she wasn’t the owner of the hand. My mother had small hands.

Then who was the owner of the hand?

I shifted my gaze slightly and met the eyes of the hand’s owner.

A man with a tall stature, crimson-dyed eyes, and hair lightly tinged with scarlet.

The Master of Gu Family.

It was my father.

Father was stroking my hair.

Has this ever happened before?

I couldn’t recall. That’s how I knew.

‘It’s a dream.’

So I thought it was a dream. It was so vivid. And although I felt a sense of longing.

This must surely be a dream.

[Father.]

The young me says with a smile.

Smiling while looking at Father – that’s something impossible now.

What was even more surprising was.

‘He’s smiling?’

Father’s lips had curved upwards slightly, albeit subtly.

Father smiled looking at me.

I smiled, and Father smiled too.

[Oh! It’s Daddy!]

Gu Linghua spotted Father, jumped up, and ran to hug him.

Being small in stature, Gu Linghua only managed to wrap her arms around Father’s thighs.

[Daddy!]

At Gu Linghua’s cry, Father silently stroked her head.

Really, how should I put it.

‘It’s not a bad sight.’

Watching it, that thought naturally came to mind.

Is it because I know it’s a dream?

Or perhaps.

‘Is it because this is a sight I wanted to see at least once?’

It was a strange, unexplainable emotion.

Also, a sense of embarrassment, as if I had seen something I shouldn’t have, washed over me.

For some reason, I felt that way.

If it’s a dream, let’s stop watching and wake up.

This isn’t the time to be watching things like this.

Thinking that, I tried to somehow push myself up.

Jjwik.

‘…?’

My cheek suddenly stretched.

I wondered what it was, as someone was pulling my cheek.

Is it Mother? It must be Mother, naturally.

The moment I thought that.

“Oh my. Look how nice your skin is.”

A rough, heavy voice spoke with a tone quite unbefitting it.

“Is it because you’re young? Your skin is definitely plump and firm.”

It was Father.

Father was holding both my cheeks and talking.

What’s more, he was using that kind of tone while maintaining his usual expressionless face.

“If only I were ten years younger, would I have had skin like this? Hoho.”

‘Wow, damn it all.’

Seeing that sent shivers down my spine.

I had a feeling I was having a somewhat decent dream, but…

There couldn’t be a worse nightmare than this.

That tone of voice coming from Father, with his expressionless face.

How could such a horrifying hybrid exist?

‘I need to escape.’

Let’s escape somehow.

That was the only thought in my mind.

“When I saw you before, I thought you didn’t quite resemble him, but you seem to look even more alike since I last saw you?”

It was even worse with the laughter mixed in.

In the increasingly dizzying situation.

I tightly shut my eyes and forcibly summoned energy into my body.

Woong-!

I intended to use the energy to forcibly wake myself up.

“You still look scary. At this rate, even a nephew…”

Woong-! Energy surged, causing a recoil in my body.

Using that momentum, I snapped my eyes open.

“Keok….”

I gasped for air and regained my senses.

Only then could I finally escape the nightmare.

I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

Seeing it, I felt relieved that I had woken up from the dream.

I had truly escaped a horrible, horrible nightmare.

As that thought crossed my mind.

“Oh my.”

The tone I had heard just moments ago in the dream reached my ears.

The difference was that it wasn’t Father’s low, deep voice, but a woman’s delicate one.

Moreover.

My cheeks, which had been held by Father, were still being held.

“Are you awake?”

“…”

With my cheeks still held, I looked at the owner of the voice.

It was a familiar face.

“…Baek-ryeong-geom…?”

I was trying to say Baek Ryeon Geom, but my pronunciation was off because my cheeks were being held.

Hearing me, Baek Ryeon Geom said with a smile.

“It’s been a while.”

With the characteristic prim face of the Moyong Family.

A woman whose appearance was remarkably youthful for her age.

She was Baek Ryeon Geom, the sister of the current Moyong Family Head, Baek Cheon Geomju.

‘Why is this ajumma here?’

It was a completely unexpected person.

No way, is this a dream too?

It was that bewildering an encounter.

So, I tried to sit up first, but…

“…Kke….”

“Oh my, are you alright?”

A heavy fatigue held my entire body.

It wasn’t painful, but my body felt very heavy.

What could be the reason for this?

I recalled the situation right before I collapsed.

The time I went berserk and fought with the Pavilion Lord.

The time I met Hyulgi.

How I stepped into the realm of the mindscape because of it, and how I couldn’t withstand the backlash and passed out from the Pavilion Lord.

And then.

‘Namgung Bi-ah.’

I immediately reached into my clothes.

Something brushed against my fingertips. I grabbed it and took it out.

It was the trinket I had picked up last time.

“…”

Looking at it, I bit my lip.

The thing I most wished was a dream seemed to be the opposite of a dream.

‘Why is this…’

Why did this have to be in that specific place?

Could it just be a trinket that looked the same?

I considered that possibility, but I knew better than anyone that it wasn’t the case.

Why on earth was this there?

It was a location chillingly filled with corpses.

Even with the blizzard raging, the smell of blood was so thick it wouldn’t fade.

Could it… did something terrible happen?

As such thoughts began to tighten their grip on me.

“There were no bodies of that child.”

At Baek Ryeon Geom’s words, I turned my head.

“Therefore, I can’t tell you not to worry. But could you calm down for now?”

“…”

There were no bodies.

Does that mean she already checked?

However, even so.

‘There’s no way I can calm down.’

Emotions don’t die easily.

I’m just trying not to express them.

Ironically, just as Baek Ryeon Geom said.

The news that no bodies were seen was somewhat helpful.

I looked around with cool eyes.

‘A cave?’

All sides were completely enclosed.

The distinct smell mixed in the air indicated it was a cave.

Figuring this out, I asked Baek Ryeon Geom.

“…Where is this place?”

“It’s about a two-hour journey from where you were.”

Two hours.

Was that by running or walking?

It wasn’t a detailed location.

“How is your body?”

“I’m okay…”

As we exchanged words, I circulated my energy.

My core energy was about half full, and apart from severe fatigue, there were no major issues.

The internal injuries I had sustained before.

‘They haven’t worsened that much.’

Even though I had caused a ruckus enough to use up all my energy.

Fortunately, the internal injuries hadn’t deteriorated significantly.

As I was diligently assessing my body.

Baek Ryeon Geom spoke to me.

“Since you collapsed…”

“It seems about a day has passed.”

I answered for her.

Then Baek Ryeon Geom’s eyes widened. It looked like she was asking how I knew.

Since she seemed curious, I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my fists and said to Baek Ryeon Geom.

“The amount of energy I recovered was exactly that much.”

“…Are you tracking all of that in detail?”

Normally, the amount of internal energy isn’t enough to track it like this.

Unless one possessed truly sensitive senses capable of such perception.

It would be impossible for an ordinary martial artist.

‘It must be a considerable amount.’

I had consumed so much in the past. It was at a level where I couldn’t not know.

“You are still amazing. Even tracking things like this…”

Baek Ryeon Geom looked at me as if she found it fascinating.

“It’s just… a minor skill.”

I mumbled sheepishly, brushing off the compliment.

“Anyway, why are you here, Sunbae-nim?”

“…”

At my question, Baek Ryeon Geom remained silent for a moment.

I had heard the news that Baek Ryeon Geom had left for the Northern Sea with Namgung Bi-ah, Woo Hyuk, and Gwaeseon.

I had also heard that Baek Ryeon Geom had created a path that allowed immediate travel to the Northern Sea.

Therefore, it wasn’t strange for Baek Ryeon Geom to be in the Northern Sea, but…

‘Given the circumstances.’

Now was a time when something unusual had occurred in the Northern Sea.

I needed to figure out the reason she was here immediately after I collapsed.

That’s why I asked Baek Ryeon Geom.

Why are you here?

‘In other words.’

How are you involved in this matter?

That was the question.

“…”

Hearing this, Baek Ryeon Geom still didn’t answer and just stared at me.

Could it be something difficult to answer?

A question arose.

Just then.

“Can you move right now?”

“Huh?”

Instead of answering my question, she responded with a question.

Could I move? I pondered for a moment and answered.

“Yes. I can move.”

I had just woken up, so I wasn’t entirely sure, but…

Apart from the fatigue, I was fine.

“In that case, it seems better to talk while we move.”

Move?

We haven’t even finished talking, where are we going?

The moment I slightly frowned at Baek Ryeon Geom’s words.

“The Palace Lord is waiting for you.”

“…”

“I’ll explain as we go, so won’t you follow me for now?”

At Baek Ryeon Geom’s smiling words, I decided to get up first.