Chapter 550

After everyone left, Hyuk Mujin hurried off to gather what we needed, leaving me alone. I spoke quietly.

“Quest Window Open.”

Ding.

System

Quest

Journey to Nanman

Murim Alliance Leader Mae Jonghak has given the Fire Dragon Pavilion its first mission.

You must now head to Nanman and respond proactively to whatever circumstances may arise.

What lies ahead for you and the Fire Dragon Pavilion is unknown.

Always remain alert and act with a flexible mindset.

Grade: Peak

Restriction: Jin Taekyung and Fire Dragon Pavilion members

Mission: Enter Nanman (Incomplete)

Reward: Linked Quest

???

Failure: Gain the Title Can’t Go to Nanman

Fame and Trust drop significantly.

The Journey to Nanman Quest had appeared when Mae Jonghak gave me the mission.

Judging by the description and mission field, the System wasn’t offering any useful hints this time.

There’s no time limit, either.

Not because we had plenty of time. Given how little we knew about what lay ahead, I didn’t think it was an overreaction to read it the other way.

I sighed quietly and closed the Quest Window.

If nothing happens, that’ll be a relief in its own way…

But if something did happen, it could spiral out of control. I would have to lead the Fire Dragon Pavilion, bring the situation under control quickly, and get everyone home safely.

I could barely look after myself, and now I was responsible for other people. The words Pavilion Master weighed on me more heavily than ever.

“Um…”

A voice abruptly slipped into my ear.

I turned to find Cheongpung standing before the half-destroyed door, a bundle in his hands, staring at me blankly.

“Benefactor, may I come in?”

“Anyone listening would think you always ask permission before coming in.”

When the door was intact, he’d barged in without so much as a knock. Now he was asking permission in front of the wreckage. I couldn’t believe him.

I let out a quiet laugh and waved him in.

“Just come in. I was going to see you anyway, so this works out.”

“I was going to come in whether you gave permission or not.”

The answer, of course, hadn’t come from Cheongpung.

I looked at Mungyeong, who had appeared like a ghost, and muttered, “I was talking to Cheongpung.”

“And I told you. I don’t need your permission.”

Mungyeong strolled into the annex and glanced at the cups on the table and the chairs left out of place.

“You had visitors. Six people in total, including you and Hyuk. One was a woman.”

“How did you know?”

“I can tell by looking.”

Cheongpung added innocently, “I saw the others leaving. I thought I should come when no one else was here.”

“…”

“…”

What the fuck?

Mungyeong met my suspicious stare with an expression that said What are you going to do about it?

“By looking,” he repeated.

“So when you said ‘by looking,’ you meant you literally saw them?”

“I could have worked out something this simple without seeing them.”

“Don’t stare off toward the mountains. There are so many buildings around here you can’t see any.”

“I can see your future instead. Say one more word, and I have a feeling this room will smell of blood.”

“…”

Damn old man. And he goes around pretending to be a medical apprentice.

I shuddered at the phony medical apprentice’s vicious behavior and turned to Cheongpung.

“So what brings you here?”

“I came to say goodbye.”

“What?”

Cheongpung scratched the back of his head and smiled.

“When you told me to go on ahead outside the Alliance Leader’s Hall, I had a feeling you’d be leaving soon, Benefactor. Hehe.”

I hadn’t told him, but he’d guessed.

After a moment’s hesitation, I nodded. “That’s right. I have a mission.”

“Ah! Where are you going?”

“Nanman.”

“Nan…man?”

Cheongpung’s eyes widened. Mungyeong thought for a moment, then murmured, “Nanman. The Beast Palace?”

“Yes.”

“That strange phenomenon. It must be because of the rift.”

“That’s right. If a second rift opens, Dark Heaven would have a hard time finding a better place for it.”

“It’s certainly possible. Nanman is far from the Central Plains, and the route is difficult. If the Nanman Beast Palace falls, chaos will spread from Yunnan like wildfire.”

I thought so too.

If Dark Heaven really was plotting something in Nanman and succeeded, the flames of war wouldn’t stop at Yunnan Province.

They’d spread to neighboring Guizhou and Guangxi—and to Sichuan, which took considerable damage in the last battle.

Guizhou and Guangxi were particularly vulnerable. Both provinces had fewer sects and martial artists than other regions, and those they had were weaker. The flames would spread faster there.

“Nanman, at a time like this,” Mungyeong said. “It’ll be a difficult journey.”

“If nothing happens, great. If something does… we’ll stop it, whatever it takes.”

“With only six of you?”

“A whole six.”

“…?”

“I’ve heard one of them is a young, handsome Supreme Peak master taught by the Fire King and the Slaughter Saint. Ever heard of him?”

“No. I’ve certainly never heard anyone call him handsome.”

“Ah. Right.”

He cut me off without a moment’s hesitation.

Having put an end to my nonsense, Mungyeong turned to Cheongpung.

“I have heard another rumor, though. About someone mad for dumplings who’s latched onto a young medical apprentice and is learning martial arts by watching him.”

“Huh?”

What did I just hear?

It must have shown on my face. Mungyeong nodded.

“It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking.”

“Really?”

“It’s true.”

“But why pass up the almighty Sword Saint to learn from someone with such a foul temper—sorry. That came out wrong.”

Mungyeong had somehow drawn a small sword from his sleeve. I avoided his chilling gaze and looked at Cheongpung.

“If he’s threatening you, blink twice.”

“You little bastard…”

“Hehe. It’s all true, Benefactor.”

I studied Cheongpung, then shrugged. “I know. I was joking.”

I didn’t need anyone to tell me why he’d sought out Mungyeong, or what he hoped to gain from him.

To become stronger. To change himself to fit this world.

It had been more than a year.

I’d been on my way to an inn when some ragged young man had walked up and asked me for a single sweetmeat. Despite Hyuk Mujin’s protests, I gave him every one I had. That was how I met Cheongpung.

We’ve both changed a lot.

The Third Young Master of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, once called the family’s disgrace, had become a Supreme Peak master who shook Murim. And the young genius who loved martial arts and delighted in everything the world had to offer, large or small, had developed a firm resolve somewhere along the way.

You couldn’t see the change, but you could feel it. Only a handful of people close to Cheongpung, myself included, knew it was there.

Tap.

I reached out and patted his shoulder. His eyes went round.

“Benefactor?”

“Nothing. Just telling you to hang in there.”

He stared at me for a moment, then his eyes curved into crescents.

“I will. You too, Benefactor.”

“I’m the one who needs to hang in there. At least you’ve got someone you can lean on. I don’t even have a hill.”

Mungyeong, who had been watching us in silence, spoke up.

“Come to think of it, I don’t see that hill.”

“That hill is staying in Henan. The rest of us are going without him.”

“Well, now I’ve seen everything. To think the Fire King would make that decision.”

“It’s embarrassing to say, but let’s call it the greater good. We need as many hands as we can get right now.”

Even as I answered, I felt a hollow place in my heart.

Maybe it was because this would be the first time since I’d met Jeok Cheongang that we’d gone our separate ways. Even when he’d been unconscious for so long, we’d stayed together.

But it’s time for me to stand on my own.

Jeok Cheongang’s arms were wide enough to shelter me, but I’d grown too quickly to stay in them. And with everything changing around us, we could no longer keep traveling together.

Could it be…?

A thought struck me, and I glanced out the window.

The faces passing along the main road were all unfamiliar, blurred together in the distance. The person I was waiting for never appeared.

Come on. That’s a little harsh.

He could at least have come to see my face before I left.

The words lingered on the tip of my tongue, then faded. I’d already said goodbye before leaving his office with my mission, but I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Before I was a Hunter or a martial artist, I was a person.

“…I’ll see him again soon.”

“What was that?” Mungyeong asked.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

I was about to look away from the window when a small baggage carriage came rattling toward the annex.

That would have been an ordinary sight anywhere, not just in Henan—if the man on the driver’s bench hadn’t been a disguised Peak master.

Song Ilseom.

Finally.

Ju Hwaran must have finished all the preparations within half a shichen¹, just as she had boasted, and sent a carriage that could leave Henan discreetly.

I could already sense Hyuk Mujin coming up the stairs.

Time to go?

I’d grown used to this annex. But it seemed I was fated to spend this life on the road.

I gave the place one last look, then turned to my visitors.

“I’d better get going before it gets any later. Thank you for coming to see me. You too, Cheongpung.”

Cheongpung hesitated, then thrust out the bundle he’d been holding all this time.

“This is for you, Benefactor.”

“What is it?”

“Dumplings. I bought them from the best shop in Henan. I wanted to eat them, but I thought of you and held back.”

Mungyeong added quietly, “He stuffed down at least five on the way here. That’s how much he held back.”

“Ah! Aah…”

I’d known what was in the bundle from the smell, but I was touched all the same. The missing five didn’t change that.

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy them. I’d better go.”

I laughed quietly, took the bundle, and turned away. Then a line of Sound Transmission reached my ear.

—Do you know? Everyone who has received my teachings up to now has died.

“…!”

—So don’t die a pointless death. If you die in Nanman, all that I’ve put up with until now will have been for nothing.

What a terrifying way to show concern. But like the dumplings in my hands, his feelings had come through clearly.

I stood there and gave a small nod before immediately setting off.

Step.

It was a powerful stride that echoed unusually loudly.