Chapter 672

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The fierce wind rippled the White Tiger’s snowy fur. Gripping Muyaho by the scruff of his neck, I watched the scenery race past.

Thick undergrowth filled the forest, and trees towered over it like giants. A snake hiding between moss-covered rocks glared at us with bright yellow eyes, while a leopard lying flat in the grass and searching for prey spotted the White Tiger and slowly began backing away.

Above it all, the sky was growing brighter.

Already?

I muttered to myself, then realized how much time had passed. We’d escaped the underground prison just after midnight. By my rough calculation, we’d been running nonstop for at least three shichen.¹

Grrr.

Perhaps that was why the breathing of the White Tiger carrying me—Muyaho—was much rougher than before, and fatigue could be felt in every step he took.

Can’t blame him.

After all my time in Murim, I could say this with confidence: even a Peak Master who knew a movement technique would get varicose veins from running full speed through this godforsaken place for three shichen.¹

And Muyaho was enormous, even for a tiger. Crossing terrain so rugged that Kim Jeong-ho² would have given up on mapmaking must have drained his stamina and worn down his muscles. On top of that, he had me to carry, and I was hardly small.

I wasn’t a veterinarian, but I could tell what condition he was in with my eyes closed.

Only a spiritual creature like him could have lasted this long.

His physical abilities were exceptional, even by the standards of Nanman’s renowned spiritual creatures. But if we kept going like this, he wouldn’t have any strength left when it mattered.

I stroked his neck and whispered, “Let’s stop and rest somewhere nearby.”

—Grrr.

He understood and gave a small nod.

As luck would have it, I could hear running water not far away. We slowed down and soon found a small stream, along with a few animals that had come out early to drink.

Squeal?

Wild boars. Excellent.

I acted on the thought the moment it occurred to me.

Open Inventory. Summon.

I’d stuffed so many things into my Inventory while trying to survive that I was practically a walking armory. I pulled out a cheap iron spear I couldn’t even remember storing and hurled it.

Two large boars dropped before they could make a sound.

Whoosh—thunk!

Squeeeeeal!

They must have been the piglets’ parents. Watching the little ones flee, squealing as they ran, made my heart sink.

“Hoo.”

—Grrr.

Muyaho nodded solemnly. I went on, looking mournful.

“The young ones have more tender meat. I should’ve caught them first.”

—…Grr?

What, you little punk?

Ignoring the look he gave me, as if he couldn’t believe I was human, I skinned the boars and skewered them on the spear.

Fwoosh. Crackle.

I used Scorching Yang Qi to start a campfire. As smoke curled upward and the meat began to cook, a short laugh escaped me.

There was no particular reason. Even I had to admit that what I was doing was absurd.

I’ve made an enemy of all Nanman, and here I am throwing a barbecue party.

I knew it was insane. Turning back along the southeastern route toward the heart of Nanman had been insane to begin with.

But every time I thought it through, I came to the same conclusion. Once I’d decided to follow Yohi’s tracking scent, this was the best thing I could do. It was why I’d gone so far as to light a fire barely a hundred li³ from the Outer Palace.

The more attention I draw here, the better the others’ chances of surviving.

Before leaving, I’d urged Taishan again and again: run without looking back. Persuade the chieftains of the reconnaissance squad’s tribes through Yayul Mok, then use the swift ships of the Water Dragon Stronghold to escape Nanman.

Unlike his usual self, Taishan had fallen silent for a long while. Then he’d spoken.

“Pavilion Master.”

“What?”

“Taishan will go too. Taishan can’t let Pavilion Master go alone.”

Maybe it was because it had been dawn, or maybe because his words had been so unexpected. For that moment, at least, I think I had been rather sentimental too.

But moved as I was, I knew the truth: if even one of them came with me, neither group would be safe.

“Wait with the others. I’ll be back soon.”

“When? How many nights does Taishan have to wait?”

“Who knows? Ten nights or so?”

“Taishan doesn’t like that. Ten nights is too long.”

“Then five.”

“Good. Promise?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

And I’d left them with a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep.

Five nights.

Could I make it back by then? No—could I make it back at all? I honestly didn’t know.

The Logout function was still blocked, even after my escape from the underground prison. By now, countless Nanman people who had become my enemies were probably closing in from every direction.

Maybe…

Rustle.

Yes. Even now.

—Grrr.

Muyaho had been drooling over the browning meat, but now a low growl rose from his throat. I calmed him as he bristled at the intruders and sharpened my senses.

New information flowed in through my heightened five senses.

About fifty. I can’t tell which tribe they’re from yet, but they’re all warriors… and they have no beasts with them. Did they leave the beasts behind so they wouldn’t be spotted?

A truckload of beasts wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but their absence did make things easier.

Once I had the lay of things, I slowly turned the spear over the fire.

Sizzle.

Beyond the appetizing sound of roasting meat, the intruders’ hushed conversation reached my ears.

“That’s him. He has the White Tiger Yayul Mok prized so much. It has to be.”

“I’m not sure. I can only see his back from here. Shouldn’t we turn around and ask for reinforcements?”

“Pathetic. Heaven has handed us an opportunity, and you want to give the glory to another tribe? We’ve come this far, and you’re still talking like a coward?”

“B-but, hyung.⁴ Even if that man really is the Han Chinese we know about, how are we supposed to deal with a monster like him?”

“Even so, he’s still just a human made of flesh and blood. Judging by the fact that he’s cooking meat here dressed like a beggar, he must have been separated from the others and lost his mind. If we capture him here, we’ll gain not only ten thousand gold, but our father might even become the new Great Chieftain.”

Hm. So that’s it.

I listened a moment longer, brushed off my backside, and stood. As I turned, I asked, “Really? Do I look that bad?”

“……!”

“……!”

Even from more than thirty zhang⁵ away, I could feel it: the trembling air and the many emotions wrapping around the enemies who had been approaching as stealthily as possible.

Shock. Astonishment. And…

“Attack!”

A rash decision born of stupidity and a vain thirst for glory.

They didn’t know that my clothes were the only thing worse for wear. My body was in peak condition, and I was already hurtling toward them.

Whoooosh!

My body surged forward like a streak of light. Wind whipped up like a gale, and the thick grass burst apart.

Through the leaves shattering and scattering in every direction, I saw eyes filled with terror.

“What’s everyone doing? Aren’t you going to finish drawing your weapons?”

Despite my helpful advice, their hands froze around weapons that weren’t even halfway out. The man in front of them was no different.

“Y-you…”

I feel like I’ve seen this face somewhere.

It didn’t matter right now.

“Why aren’t you attacking?”

“W-what?”

“You said to attack. You came all the way here, and you’re not going to?”

“Th-that’s…”

“You won’t? Then I will.”

I tossed out a single, quiet word.

“Attack.”

A huge shadow fell across the ground.

—Raaaaar!

With a roar, Muyaho leaped over my head and crashed down on the man.

Crack. Craaack!

Someone once said force and oppression were no way to communicate. If you wanted someone to open their mouth, you needed a gentle expression and a kind tone.

They weren’t entirely wrong. Ordinary force and oppression wouldn’t do it. You needed fucking merciless force and oppression.

And, as I was reminded yet again, I had a real talent for that.

“What’s going on inside the Nanman Beast Palace?”

“You bastard! Just kill me!”

“Fine. Muyaho?”

Crunch!

“Gyaaaah!”

“Good boy. Now spit it out.”

Ptooey.

“Urgh. Hic… hiiic.”

“Why are you bawling so pathetically? You’re a grown-ass man.”

“Hic.”

“That was your leg this time, but if you keep crying, I’ll go for your balls next. Do you understand, you fucking bastard?”

“Ghk. Gnnng…!”

“Good. I’ll ask again. What’s going on inside the Nanman Beast Palace?”

The interrogation went quickly and smoothly. Of course, my preparations for it had been thorough.

I broke both arms of the men who came at me late, and the legs of those who tried to run away.

After crippling about twenty of them, I gave Muyaho his one-bite chance. They all became as docile as golden retrievers.

Is that about it?

They might have lied about some things, but what they’d told me had enough supporting detail to treat it as true for now. Besides, people tended to get honest when death was staring them in the face.

Especially when their balls were at stake.

Once the questioning was done, I glanced at the man Muyaho had pounced on first. His body was crushed, and he was barely breathing. When he caught me looking at him, he groaned.

So that’s where I’d seen him.

He was the spitting image of his father, the tribal chieftain. Not that his father was particularly important to me. On the first day of the Tribal Grand Council and on the day of the tragedy at the Western Yao Estate, he’d been nothing more than a sycophant desperate to get behind Baeksang.

But that was also why I was letting him and the others live.

“Go back and tell them.”

At my quiet words, the man’s lips moved. His eyes were full of fear.

“T-tell them what?”

“That I’m here. That I’m watching you from somewhere nearby.”

“……!”

“Remember everything you heard today. I will.”

The man—and the other Nanman people nearby, who had been watching my every move with all their senses alert—shuddered.

They would probably remember this day for the rest of their lives. My expression, my tone, my voice, my actions—and the warning I’d given them during the interrogation, when I learned that the Miao warriors who’d attacked the underground prison the previous night were still alive.

If you touch them, I’ll kill every one of you. Maybe not today, but tomorrow. Or next year. Perhaps at the very moment you think everything is over and finally let your guard down.

A threat frightened people when they believed it might come true. And in their eyes, I was more than capable of carrying mine out.

The inheritor of the Fire Gate Clan’s legacy. The successor of Jeok Cheongang, the Fire King. An unprecedented monster who had shaken the entire world at only around twenty years of age.

That was enough.

Today I’d carved a fear into their bones that they would never forget. Now it would spread among the Nanman people on Baeksang’s side.

Quickly. Farther and farther.

Until no tribe dared harm the Miao warriors.

With Baeksang still there, I couldn’t guarantee their safety. But this was the best I could do for them right now.

“Leave at once. Unless you want to die here.”

“……!”

“……!”

A little later, from the branch of a giant tree, I watched some fifty pale-faced figures leave the forest. They fled in a panic, as though they’d seen a ghost. I watched until the last of them was gone, then slowly drew up three jiazi⁶ of Scorching Yang Qi.

Fwoosh.

Flames gathered in both my hands.

It was time to light a beacon that would draw the net over heaven and earth toward me. A bright beacon with an entire forest for kindling.

Fwoosh. Whooom!

As I watched the horrifying heat and flames spread in every direction and devour the forest, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Old Master would curse me out if he saw this.

I let out a quiet laugh and turned away from the blazing forest.

Ahead of me, Muyaho was already running energetically with a half-charred piece of wild boar meat clenched in his mouth.