Chapter 564: Side Story 64

Chapter side_64

“What…? They disappeared?”

“…Yes.”

Yuk Cheol-wan doubted his ears.

The traces of those bastards who were in Hubei could not be found. Just now, such words had flowed from his subordinate’s mouth.

As the Murim Alliance and the Heavenly Path Society split, their power was divided in two, and as a result, their intelligence capability was also cut in half.

Thus, in the current Central Plains, the organization with the most reliable intelligence network could only be the Heaven and Earth Cult.

Even so, they couldn’t find them… is that what he was saying?

As if he couldn’t easily accept the situation, Yuk Cheol-wan let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair.

Soon, he pinched his forehead and frowned.

“I don’t understand. Since it is certain they were in Hubei… shouldn’t we just search along that path?”

“In the meantime, it rained heavily, erasing the traces, so they cannot be tracked easily. Furthermore, even the Lower District Sect, which is the largest source of information, says they haven’t found anything in particular…”

“The Lower District Sect couldn’t find them… Are you sure they’re not hiding it?”

“We cannot know that far.”

Yuk Cheol-wan wore a bitter smile.

Since the Lower District Sect had brought all kinds of information easily until now, even if they said they couldn’t find out, he couldn’t easily believe it. It made him wonder if they were playing tricks.

However, he soon shook his head.

How much money went into the Lower District Sect every year?

Those who were crazy for money wouldn’t throw it away just to hide someone. Currently, the Heaven and Earth Cult was probably the only one giving the most massive amount of money to the Lower District Sect.

Furthermore, the whereabouts of the disappeared ones were important, but wasn’t there one more incident? Thus.

“Geum Ji-ran… what happened to that wench?”

“It is said the Tang Family stopped tracking her.”

“What on earth does that mean?!”

“We don’t know the details, but could they have lost her…?”

Yuk Cheol-wan burst into laughter as if it was absurd.

It was none other than the great Sichuan Tang Family.

They were persistent beyond compare, and famous for not sparing any means or methods if they had a desired goal. Although they were called one of the Eight Great Families since long ago and represented a pillar of the Righteous Faction, earning them the title of a prestigious righteous sect, in reality, their actions were no different from those of the Unorthodox Faction or the Demonic Cult.

For such guys to abandon the pursuit with the Saintess right in front of them?

It was a ridiculous story.

“What nonsense…!”

“Or, it is possible they captured her secretly and locked her up. Actually… we mobilized all our intelligence network in Sichuan to search, but there is not even a trace.”

At the man’s words, Yuk Cheol-wan nodded.

Rather, this hypothesis made a bit more sense. Although there were countless Heaven and Earth Cult believers in Sichuan, the only one who could protect the Saintess from the Tang Family would be Jin Tae-gong.

However, since even he would be insufficient to block the Tang Family’s full force alone, the idea that she had been captured seemed more credible.

“Hmm… perhaps the latter is correct. The Tang Family wouldn’t give up so easily. However… the key is why they haven’t announced it if they captured her.”

“I will look into it as quickly as possible.”

“Right… and what about that matter?”

Instantly, Yuk Cheol-wan’s eyes sparkled.

In fact, whether it was a divine beast or the Saintess, there was one thing more important than those. Wasn’t it something they had prepared for a long time and could finish soon?

At that thought, he smiled as if his heart was trembling.

“Currently… it is said they are coming toward this place rapidly. Please do not worry.”

“Hahaha! Yes! That’s how it should be! It was worth all the effort.”

Yuk Cheol-wan burst into loud laughter, his face brightening.

Finally, he was able to achieve his long-cherished wish. How much time and money had he spent? And how much had he worried?

Thinking of reaping the fruits of it soon, all the unpleasant talk vanished from his head at once.

With this, the Heaven and Earth Cult would become even more perfect.

* * *

“No, how is this place filled with nothing but rocks and mountains?”

“Hoho, I heard it was a barren place, but it’s even worse than what I heard.”

The people moving along the road to Xinjiang shook their heads as they looked at the surrounding scenery. It was not that there was no fertile land, but most of what was visible was like this.

Whether they had taken the wrong path or it was originally like this, the green landscape commonly seen in the Central Plains could not be easily found anywhere.

“…Still, it is quite cool since it’s different from the Central Plains.”

“It’s only cool for a day or two… It’s already been seven days, and honestly…”

Jang Sam-tae, who was sitting leisurely on the driver’s seat and glaring at Jin Tae-gong, grumbled. As Namgung So-hye said, it was a cool landscape, but watching it continuously made him so sick of it that he was on the verge of getting angry.

Even though they were traveling on a main road, the road was so bad that the rattling was severe. That meant there were many stones and gravel because the road was not properly paved.

Geum Ji-ran, who had not properly cultivated martial arts, had a sore back and had to keep groaning.

“J-Just… h-how much longer do we have to go?”

“How should I know? Everyone else is fine, so why are you the only one throwing a fit?”

“No… why is everyone fine… seriously.”

The carriage rattled without rest.

Although running like this for seven days instead of just a day or two would naturally strain one’s back, not a single person spoke about it.

Let’s put aside the other monsters since they were originally like that.

But why on earth did Dan So-mi, who had not properly cultivated martial arts, say nothing?

Geum Ji-ran barely managed to use the window attached to the carriage to look outside.

“Th-That damn girl…! How dare she… use the White Tiger’s sacred back like a horse!”

She frowned in spite of herself at the scenery visible outside the window. Dan So-mi was clinging to the back of the White Tiger running leisurely, and in Dan So-mi’s arms, the White Cat was held.

To anyone, the sight of the tiger running with a person on its back looked quite precarious, but the strange thing was that Dan So-mi’s expression was very comfortable.

Judging by her expression, it looked a hundred times better than the rattling carriage.

Even when she slept up there, she didn’t fall off. It was as if the White Tiger adjusted its pace to Dan So-mi’s state while running.

Although it was an absurd story, otherwise, how could it make sense that she never fell off even once? Geum Ji-ran’s plan to mock her had gone up in smoke.

“We seem to be almost there.”

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun, who had been closing his eyes gently, slowly opened them and looked straight ahead. At the end of his gaze, a village on the border of Tibet and Xinjiang was visible.

Once they crossed that village, it would be Xinjiang from then on.

The scale of that place was smaller than expected.

Since the only people coming and going were a few who occasionally traded between Tibet and Xinjiang, the village had not grown much, and thanks to that, it was a quiet place.

Also, it was not the kind of feeling commonly seen in the Central Plains.

Should she say it literally looked barren?

As the carriage passed along the road, a few villagers were visible, and all of them had exotic appearances, not looking like Central Plains people at a glance.

“Are we resting here today?”

“Yes. Although we will probably have to sleep outside…”

Looking around, not a single inn could be found. Seeing campers gathered in that corner, it seemed the atmosphere here was to either pay someone to rent a house or sleep outside.

“Renting a house… would be difficult, right?”

“It doesn’t seem very good either.”

At Dan Woo-hyun’s words, Namgung So-hye smiled bitterly and nodded, since it was an undeveloped small village, it seemed there wouldn’t be much difference from sleeping outside.

It would just be wasting money.

And Dan Woo-hyun would by no means tolerate that.

“Then shall we set up near there?”

“Yes.”

Jang Sam-tae, looking around, chose a spot that seemed to have the best location. Other places had uneven ground and many stones and gravel, making sleeping look quite difficult.

However, the spot over there where people were camping was wider than expected and even flat. Unlike other places, it looked very suitable for camping.

Although having to mingle with other people was a drawback, there seemed to be no other alternative than that spot right now.

Jang Sam-tae led the horses and stopped at that spot.

Looking around and glancing at those camping nearby, the moment he discovered something, his eyes widened. Soon, he hurriedly turned his head and looked at Dan Woo-hyun.

“Ha, haha, M-Manor Lord. Shall we go a bit further to rest today?”

“I don’t know how much further we have to go. Let’s rest here today.”

“N-No, I’m saying there might be a good place if we go a bit further. Who knows? A large town might appear and we might sleep in an inn!”

“Oh, that’s great. Let’s go sleep in an inn. Because of my back, I can’t sleep on the floor anymore.”

The clueless Geum Ji-ran brightened at the mention of an inn and clapped her hands. Traveling in a rattling carriage was exhausting enough, but sleeping on the bare ground instead of a bed made her feel like her whole body was breaking down.

Thus, she expressed herself like that, but Jang Sam-tae and Dan Woo-hyun did not even pretend to hear her words.

“A-Ah… no, that…”

“Stop talking nonsense and unload the luggage. It is about time So-mi gets hungry…”

Dan Woo-hyun glanced at the sky.

Soon, it would be time for the sun to set.

So-mi was someone who had eaten exactly at this time from her childhood until now. Since she had never missed that time even once, Dan Woo-hyun’s words were accurate.

“Ah… I’m hungry…”

Dan So-mi, drooping on the back of the White Tiger, grumbled. In addition to her habit of eating at this time originally, the process of coming here had not been so smooth, so her physical exhaustion was no joke compared to other times.

Dan So-mi glanced at Jang Sam-tae.

“Mister… I’m hungry.”

“Y-Yeah…”

Jang Sam-tae could not bring himself to refuse.

Looking at those eyes, how could he say they should go a bit further? If one was human, it would be absolutely impossible.

Ultimately, giving up, Jang Sam-tae looked at Jin Tae-gong, who was still sitting on the driver’s seat.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you moving the luggage quickly!”

“No… I was waiting because we were talking about whether we’re going or not.”

“We’re not going! Then you should move quickly!”

Jang Sam-tae vented his anger on something else and began to take out the luggage. Leaving the preparation for camping to Jin Tae-gong, he seemed to intend to prepare the meal.

Rustle-

Right then, the sound of someone approaching from behind was heard.

Jang Sam-tae, who flinched and shivered, was busy lighting the fire while sitting down, despite sensing the presence.

“Excuse me.”

At the sound that followed immediately, goosebumps broke out across his entire body.

How was it that even though ten years had passed, that voice remained unchanged?

Therefore, pretending to be ignorant, he carefully opened his mouth.

“Yes… what is it?”

“It seems to be just an old man’s delusion… but your face is so familiar, so do not think it strange. By any chance… are you Sam-tae?”

At the words that followed, he flinched and trembled.

It was nothing more than their eyes meeting for a very brief moment, yet he recalled a memory from ten years ago? They said memory declines when one grows old, but it seemed that was all a lie.

‘Why won’t these damn old men just die?’

Jang Sam-tae forced a bitter smile.

“No.”

Without even turning his head, he asserted and closed his mouth.

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