Chapter 622

Even counting only the time I had spent in Murim, well over a year had passed.

One unexpected incident after another had taken me out of Shanxi Province and sent me wandering from place to place. Along the way, I had met all kinds of people and visited the sects they belonged to.

But I could say this much for certain: none of those sects, however large or powerful, could compare to the sight before me.

“Huh.”

“Holy…”

Exclamations broke out all around me.

I’d known the place covered an enormous area when I saw it from the mountain peak. I hadn’t expected this.

As the clouds and mist cleared and we drew closer, my jaw dropped farther and farther.

Wait. This is a sect?

It was astonishing for two reasons. The first was its sheer size. The second was…

Nanman Beast Palace

A fence around the vast grounds, and a wooden sign someone had scrawled on in a clumsy hand.

Not a high, sturdy wall or an iron gate. A fence. Just a fence.

…Wait. This is a sect?

The thought was the same. The meaning was different.

The fence wasn’t even intact.

I studied a half-collapsed stretch for a moment, then turned to Namho.

“Elder Namho, surely this isn’t really…”

“You’re asking if it’s the Nanman Beast Palace?”

“Ah, yes.”

I nodded, and Namho answered calmly.

“Can you read?”

“Of course.”

“Then read that sign. No, perhaps I’d better read it for you.”

He pointed at the clumsily lettered board.

“Nan. Man. Beast. Palace.”

“…”

“That’s what it says. The Nanman Beast Palace begins here.”

I knew what the sign said. The problem was how far the place was from anything I’d imagined.

From above, I’d thought there must be an enormous building here. But up close, out of the mist, it was practically an empty field.

“Captain, shouldn’t we call this the Nanman Ranch instead of the Nanman Beast Palace? All I see are fences.”

Ju Hwaran looked around and nodded at Hyuk Mujin’s dubious assessment.

“This is my first time here, so I can’t say I know much about the Nanman Beast Palace, but… it does seem a little lacking for a palace.”

Song Ilseom and Sama Pyo, who had been watching in silence, each weighed in.

“There’s certainly something strange about it.”

“As Hyuk Mujin said, the lack of people bothers me. I don’t see any other pavilions or buildings, either. What do you think, Taishan?”

“My lord. Taishan is hungry. Can Taishan eat that mushroom?”

Sama Pyo shook his head at once.

“No.”

“Then the cow? That cow walking over there looks tasty.”

“You’re the Young Sect Leader of the Black Dragon Demon Gate, aren’t you? Do me a favor and shut that brute’s mouth. If I hear one more word, I think I’ll burst a blood vessel and die.”

“…I understand.”

“One more thing. Every blade of grass and every animal you can see belongs to the Nanman Beast Palace. Please remember that. And remember I’m about to burst a blood vessel.”

Looking considerably older than he had a moment ago, Namho gave Sama Pyo that stern warning, then pointed across the vast grounds.

“I understand why you’re confused, but I never said this place was the Nanman Beast Palace.”

“What? You said exactly that a moment ago.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Ah. Have you gone senile?”

“…”

His expression darkened so quickly that it seemed certain. I gave him a sympathetic look.

“Oh dear. Still, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Someone close to me also suffered from infirmities of old age, but they’ve almost completely recovered now.”

“Three things. First, I do not suffer from the infirmities of old age. Second—and I ask only because you’ve made me curious—how did this acquaintance of yours recover?”

“Returned to Youth.”

“…An excellent method. Apart from the fact that I’m an eighty-year-old man who’s never learned martial arts.”

“Isn’t eighty when life begins?”

“I’d like to end your life here, but I lack the strength.”

Namho swallowed his anger and went on.

“Third, what I said before still stands. I never said this place was the Nanman Beast Palace. I said the Nanman Beast Palace begins here.”

“Oh.”

Similar words, very different meanings. Now that I understood, I asked, “So what is this place?”

“That’s right. This is one of the lands under the rule of the Nanman Beast Palace. Unlike the other regions of Nanman, it is directly administered by the Palace Lord. That may make it easier to understand.”

“So it’s similar to how the Emperor appoints vassal kings or City Lords throughout the realm. This place is like the capital of a country.”

“Exactly. Of course, the Palace Lord doesn’t have the authority of the Son of Heaven, and Nanman’s tribal chiefs have more authority than City Lords.”

Ju Hwaran, who had been listening, gave a quiet exclamation.

“Now that you mention it, I remember reading something like that in my grandfather’s records. He wrote that Nanman was a single kingdom, and the Nanman Beast Palace was like an enormous ranch spanning five counties.”

“As expected of the Escort King’s granddaughter. But even Great Hero Ju Gongsan never crossed this fence. People who aren’t of Nanman’s ethnic groups aren’t allowed inside.”

“It’s that strict?”

“It is.”

If Namho was telling the truth, then even the Sichuan Tang Clan, a sect whose isolation was second to none in the world, would have to yield to the Nanman Beast Palace.

I clicked my tongue and stared beyond the endless line of fences and grasslands.

“But we need to get in.”

“Yes.”

“Is there another way? Since you’re one of the local ethnic groups, perhaps you can enter…”

“I said outsiders aren’t allowed in. I don’t recall saying it was easy for the local peoples, either.”

“Oh.”

“Here, I’m nothing more than a powerless, ordinary old man of the Miao people. If Dark Heaven hadn’t extended its claws into the world, and if you people hadn’t come looking for me, I would have quietly ended my life… you bastard!”

I flinched at his sudden shout.

“Elder Namho, why are you calling yourself that? What’s wrong with quietly living out your days?”

“Not me! That bastard! Catch that fucking son of a bitch!”

At Namho’s frantic yell, we turned.

A huge backside was crawling over the fence. Beyond it, a yellow calf grazed peacefully.

“Oh. Oh, no.”

“Surely he isn’t…”

“When did that bastard get over there?”

“Young Hero Tae!”

“Taishan!”

Sama Pyo’s cry came last. Taishan flinched.

Moo?

The calf sensed something was wrong and jerked its head up. Taishan had somehow already drawn close. An exclamation mark seemed to pop into the calf’s large, clear eyes, and at the same time, its still-growing hooves struck the grass.

Pat-pat-pat!

A quick decision and an attempt to flee—but Taishan was a step faster.

“Beef! Stop right there!”

With that determined shout, his enormous body flew through the air.

The calf was no tiger or leopard. How was it supposed to evade a Peak master who’d decided to catch it?

Taishan landed with a heavy thud, and the calf pinned beneath him screamed.

Moooooo!

It was a plaintive cry, enough to bring tears to your eyes just hearing it. But after days of forced marches and meager rations, all it did was make Taishan’s mouth water.

“Taishan! Beef!”

“Get that bastard off it!”

Before Namho finished shouting, I’d vaulted the fence and reached Taishan.

Grab.

“Let go! Beef tartare!”

“Stop it, you heartless lunatic. Haven’t you seen The Sound of the Bell?”¹

“No!”

“…Ah.”

Well, of course he hadn’t.

That made sense, but it changed nothing. I seized him by the back of the neck and hauled him away.

His mountain-sized body toppled backward. The beef—no, the calf—scrambled to its feet and ran.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Grass flew up beneath its hooves, dust rising in its wake. Taishan watched its rump disappear beyond the pasture and muttered mournfully.

“No. Taishan’s rump meat…”

Was this guy born in Majang-dong or something?²

While I questioned his origins, Namho erupted.

“You brute!”

“Elder Namho, calm down. Please.”

“How am I supposed to calm down right now? I repeatedly warned you not to touch anything in the Nanman Beast Palace’s territory! And this hulking glutton of a bastard ignored every word an elder said and went and caused trouble?”

Sama Pyo hurried between Namho and Taishan.

“I’m sorry, Elder Namho. I looked away for just a moment, and… Taishan, apologize to him at once.”

Taishan looked Namho straight in the eye.

“Taishan is hungry.”

“That fucking bastard. Let go of my hand. Let go! Are you going to let go or not? Did you think I spent over fifty years getting bitten by mosquitoes in Nanman just to see this?”

Life really did begin at eighty. I only had to look at Namho, who had never learned martial arts yet was giving off an aura fierce enough to make even Jeok Cheongang yield to him for once, to know it.

The old Hidden Shadow Pavilion agent, who had been raging like a live volcano, finally calmed down after fifteen minutes.

“Whew. I’m fine now. Let go of my hand.”

“Are you sure?”

“My insides have turned a full circle, but I’m not about to die.”

A 180-degree turn would have been a problem. A full 360? That was fine.

I nodded to Hyuk Mujin, and he released Namho’s hand. Namho sighed, looking as though he were on his deathbed.

“At least nothing happened in the end. If someone from the Nanman Beast Palace had seen that, we’d have been in trouble before we even began.”

At another sect in the Central Plains, someone might have thought, It’s only one cow. But cultures and people differed. Just as nomads treasured their horses like their own lives, livestock was a valuable asset here, where the boundaries between tribes were sharply drawn and relations between them often strained.

It’s called the Nanman Beast Palace, after all.

Even the name sounded animal-friendly. Namho had warned us from the start not to touch anything for a reason.

“So what do we do now?” Hyuk Mujin asked. “We can’t wait here forever for someone to show up.”

“Entering the Nanman Beast Palace’s territory without permission would cause trouble. We’ll have to find another way.”

Namho reached into his bundle and took something out.

“What’s that?”

“An emergency signal firework. If it goes off, someone should at least come out to investigate.”

He smiled confidently and lit the fuse with his fire striker.

Crackle.

The fuse burned rapidly toward the end. Then, with a tremendous noise, the firework shot upward.

Fwoooosh—boom!

The problem was that the firework’s burst came down on the pasture instead of exploding in the air.

“…Huh?”

“…Huh?”

Whoooosh—roar!

The pasture was engulfed in flames alongside the stunned voices of the others.

I watched the livestock flee in every direction and muttered, “…Someone will definitely come out now.”

“…That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Wasn’t supposed to happen, my ass. We were fucked.

It was then, as I stared miserably at the burning pasture, that it happened.

Roooar!

A savage roar rang out, and a figure appeared beyond the hill on the far side of the flames.