Chapter 204: Chapter 204

A few days later, Dan Woo-hyun, who had been staying in the capital of Sichuan Province, began to move again in his carriage. Because it was a long distance, he had intended to take a short rest and move on, but he had been held back by Ji-yak and wasted two more days.

Clack-clack, clack-clack.

Jang Sam-tae, who was sitting on the driver’s seat, turned his head. He looked at Dan Woo-hyun, who was sitting on the driver’s seat instead of inside the carriage, with a rather fascinated expression.

He had said he wanted to get some fresh air, but he had already been sitting there for an hour, so hadn’t he gotten plenty?

Sitting together was extremely uncomfortable, so he wished the man would just go back inside.

Jang Sam-tae ran a hand through his slightly grown hair and sighed.

“By the way, Master.”

“What is it?”

“What was that?”

He asked the question he had been most curious about.

Because Dan Woo-hyun’s mood had not seemed good at all lately, he had not dared to ask. Since putting the map he had taken into his shirt, he had not taken it out even once.

Did it have something to do with Dan Woo-hyun’s past?

“There is no need for you to know. Knowing it won’t do you any good.”

“Haha! Then I don’t need to know. Of course! Aren’t there too many things in the world that one is better off not knowing?”

Jang Sam-tae grinned and drove the horses forward.

It was Dan Woo-hyun, of all people, who had said it.

It must be related to something that Jang Sam-tae could not handle. If so, he should not be curious about it, nor should he get deeply involved.

“Come to think of it, who on earth is that child, Ji-yak? She looks like a child from a fairly reputable family… yet she travels alone without any fear.”

“You still have a long way to go. There are over twenty shadows hiding around that child. Every single one of them is a first-class or peak master.”

“Eh?”

For Jang Sam-tae, who was still weak at sensing energy, it only looked like the child was traveling alone.

Although he did feel strange presences from time to time, he had not thought they belonged to humans. Jang Sam-tae let out an awkward laugh and cleared his throat.

“Did… did such people hide there? Anyway, if that is the case, she must be from a truly formidable family…”

“She is the biological daughter of the Prince of Hunan.”

“Eh?!”

His eyes grew even wider than when he was surprised a moment ago.

He stared at Dan Woo-hyun as if he could not believe it. But this man was not one to tell lies.

“If… if she is the biological daughter of the Hunan Prince’s Mansion…?”

As Jang Sam-tae stammered.

A voice was heard from behind.

“She is the daughter of Prince Yeong. That means she is a princess. Furthermore, the Prince of Hunan is the brother of the current Emperor, and they have a very close relationship, so how could his power be anything but strong?”

Jang Sam-tae ran the numbers in his head.

“Then, is Ji-yak that princess whom even the Emperor cherishes!?”

Flustered, Jang Sam-tae looked at Namgung So-hye. He did so because he thought that even if he asked Dan Woo-hyun, he would not know. Namgung So-hye nodded briefly.

“Yes, that princess must be correct. I caught a glimpse of her when I went to the prince’s mansion last time. She was quite flustered.”

Recalling the time she went to the Hunan Prince’s Mansion in the past, Namgung So-hye smiled. The image of the princess repeatedly begging her never to tell So-mi was still vivid in her mind.

“For me to… know such a person…”

Gulp, Jang Sam-tae swallowed hard.

He had often escorted So-mi when she went to the academy or when she went to meet friends in Yueyang.

At those times, he had shouted at Ji-yak or committed impolite acts more than once or twice.

Jang Sam-tae stroked his neck.

He was checking to make sure his head was still properly attached to his shoulders.

After thinking about it, he soon let out a short exclamation.

‘Right, right, what does a prince matter? There is someone even worse right next to me…’

No matter how much he thought about it, the Dan Woo-hyun beside him was scarier than any royalty.

A fist was closer than the law, after all.

Furthermore, if it was Dan Woo-hyun, he was a ghost of a man who would chew up and spit out royalty or imperial family members without even caring.

Thwack!

“Ouch-!”

“Look ahead. The carriage is shaking.”

“Even so, hitting me like that…”

Jang Sam-tae rubbed the back of his head, where pain was set in, and shed a tear. It could not be that he was hit simply because he did not look ahead. Convinced that his mind had probably been read, he folded all his thoughts.

At times like this, it was best to just maintain a state of mindlessness.

“Aside from that, it is really noisy.”

Namgung So-hye sighed, parting her small lips. With the Heaven Sword Society and the Martial Alliance splitting, the entire Central Plains was in a state of agitation.

Although these two organizations did not clash directly, it was because the groups following them were making every effort to make themselves known.

From the perspective of Namgung So-hye, who had only seen a peaceful Martial World until just a short while ago, it was something she could not quite adapt to.

“Originally, the Martial World is a noisy place. Only then does it feel worth it to wield a sword.”

“Is that how it is?”

“Yes. If it were the past, that is.”

Dan Woo-hyun let out a smirk and closed his eyes.

Although it was hard to tell whether he was reminiscing about the past or simply taking a nap, Namgung So-hye could not bring herself to speak any further and shrugged her shoulders.

A chilly wind blew into the carriage as it sped along.

* * *

“Whew… they finally left.”

Ji-yak let out a small sigh as she watched the carriage disappear into the far distance.

Although she was very sad to send So-mi away, that child had her own journey to make.

She wished she could follow her, but she lamented her circumstances that prevented her from doing so.

At the very least, if Dan Woo-hyun and her father had been close, she might have been able to bring it up somehow, but the two had not even faced each other for the past two days.

It was because her father was too busy.

“What on earth was that?”

She spoke as she trotted back toward the prince’s mansion. There was no one by her side, so the sight of her speaking was quite strange.

However, a human voice echoed from the empty space.

-We cannot know… but it seems to be related to the man named Dan Woo-hyun.

“You mean So-mi’s father?”

Ji-yak recalled Dan Woo-hyun and swallowed a groan.

Although she felt it was extremely unfair to have the map taken away, she could not help but give it to him after seeing his expression.

If it were other people, she would have scolded them, asking what they were talking about, but she could not do that to Dan Woo-hyun, So-mi’s father.

In fact, to Ji-yak, he was a scarier person than her father or her uncle.

“What on earth does he do?”

She fell deep into thought.

She already knew that he was not Dan So-mi’s biological father. She had heard it from So-mi, but she had already investigated before that.

It was fascinating that he used the imperial land as if it were his own, and the security of Yueyang had also improved greatly from the moment Dan Woo-hyun appeared.

Of course, she had not ordered the investigation herself at her young age.

Her father had ordered the investigation, and she had heard the results.

“Is he scary?”

-…If you ask me that, I have no choice but to tell you that he is scary and terrifying.

“Is it to that extent?”

Ji-yak knew well how great of a person the one speaking now was.

He was the former Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was called the greatest master of the imperial family and had once led the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

How great his skill was was as good as explained by that fact alone.

-He saw through our presence from the moment we first met. There are times when he looks around and meets my eyes… and it feels as if my soul is being sucked out.

“I, is that so?”

Ji-yak swallowed hard and nodded.

Indeed, he did look truly terrifying.

She organized the thoughts that came to her mind one by one. In the end, she had lost the secret of the map without solving it, but meeting So-mi was indeed a stroke of heaven’s luck.

Ji-yak opened the main gate of the prince’s mansion and stepped inside.

Taking a step and catching her breath, she turned her head.

Flinch-!

A boy was standing there, staring blankly.

“You must have slept really well and comfortably. Your face is glowing. Did you rest well?”

“A, no, it’s just that…”

The boy trembled and took a few steps back. He was the son of the prince who ruled Sichuan Province.

However, his power was weaker than Ji-yak’s father’s, and since he was not a full sibling of the current Emperor but a half-sibling, he could not carelessly stand up to Ji-yak.

Ji-yak, or rather Ju Ji-yak, approached him with a beaming smile.

“For now, do you want to plant your head on the ground?”

“Y-Yes!”

The boy planted his head on the bare ground with a crying face.

Ju Ji-yak elegantly mounted the boy’s back and let out a sigh.

“I hope it will be a good trip…”

“Groan…”

She did not seem to hear the boy’s painful groans at all.

* * *

“This… indeed…”

There were two monks looking at the burning landscape.

They beat their wooden fish, frowned, lamented, and sighed.

The smell of burning human flesh came riding on the wind to a terrible degree.

“The Great Kunlun…”

What was burning was none other than the Kunlun Sect.

Those who were a pillar of the Nine Sects and One Gang and had ruled as the protectors of this Qinghai for a long time.

They blocked the Demonic Cult to the west, blocked the outer lands to the south, and were a reliable pillar of the orthodox path that kept the Potala Palace in check to the north.

They could not believe that such a Kunlun Sect was burning.

The two monks lamented and looked up at the sky.

When so many people were disappearing into a handful of ashes, why did the heavens not shed a single tear?

Crash-!

The pavilion of the Kunlun Sect, which had been burning, collapsed.

The flames raged even more fiercely, and the blowing wind fanned them further.

It seemed as if the fire demon had taken hold and would never go out.

“Who on earth could have done such a thing?”

“Kunlun is like the symbol of Qinghai… for this place to have collapsed means…”

The two monks looked toward the west at the same time.

At the end of their gaze, they pictured the Heavenly Mountain Demonic Cult, which was not even visible. Was this disaster of Kunlun a declaration of war that they would move into the Central Plains?

If not, was there something else?

The monks, who could not find even a single trace, had a headache.

“Perhaps it is the work of the Blood-Sucking Demonic Devil who is said to be running wild recently.”

At the mention of the Blood-Sucking Demonic Devil, the eyes of the two men narrowed.

From the Potala Palace to this Qinghai, how long of a journey had it been? It was all to capture that Blood-Sucking Demonic Devil.

However, nothing could be gained from the burning Kunlun.

Even if those flames were to die down, they did not think anything that could be a clue would remain.

The two monks bowed their heads and chanted Buddhist prayers.

What they could do now was simply to pray for the souls of the deceased.

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