Chapter 886

“Stop.”

The clear, bright voice was the last thing I expected to hear. Instinct surged ahead of thought and took over my body.

Whoosh.

I blurred into motion, closing the three-zhang¹ gap in an instant. My hand shot out, obeying instinct.

Toward the owner of that voice.

Toward her snow-white neck.

Whoom.

The wind, unable to keep up with my speed, arrived a beat late. With a heavy whoosh, her hair fluttered.

At the last moment, I fought down my instincts and stopped my hand in midair. I stared at the familiar face before me.

“What is it?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”

So Gyo glanced at my hand, halted just in front of her throat.

“Striking out of nowhere like that. You’re as rash as you look.”

“I think you mean more rash than I look.”

“No, I think I had it right. Now, when do you plan to move that menacing hand?”

“When I’m sure.”

“Sure of what?”

Instead of answering, I sent the internal energy I’d drawn up spreading in every direction.

The System update had sealed my Skills, but that didn’t mean I’d lost the Qi Sense that was part of me as a martial artist.

Whoooosh.

The air rippled like water. I swept a radius of thirty or so zhang¹ in an instant. Finding no one else nearby, I slowly lowered my hand.

Only then did my heartbeat begin to settle.

If this had been a trap…

Shit.

I’d let my guard down. Lost in thought, I hadn’t even noticed someone nearby. If I’d walked into a trap, I’d have had no excuse.

More importantly… why is she here?

As far as I knew, So Gyo was one of the Emperor’s people and stayed in Qianqing Palace.

For a moment, I wondered if I’d wandered deep into the Inner Palace without realizing it. I shook my head.

Impossible.

The boundary between the Outer Palace and Inner Palace was like the difference between heaven and earth. No matter how much freedom I’d been given to move around, I couldn’t have entered the Inner Palace unless every member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard protecting it had taken a group nap like golden retrievers at doggy daycare.

And even lost in thought, I couldn’t have passed all those people in the Inner Palace without noticing them.

Then I’m still in the Outer Palace. Was there a place like this inside the imperial palace?

I looked around.

Exotic flowers and rare plants crowded the grounds. Beside them lay a moss-covered pond, and at the center of it all stood a huge pavilion, rising like a mountain.

For all its size, the place felt desolate. There wasn’t another soul in sight besides So Gyo.

“Where are we?”

I hadn’t expected her to answer, but she proved me wrong.

“Forbidden ground.”

“Forbidden?”

“A place in the imperial palace no one wants to enter, and everyone keeps quiet about.”

“Two people have entered it already.”

“Do you not know the difference between won’t and can’t?”

“Oh.”

“This place was abandoned long ago. No one tries to come near it, so there’s no one to guard it.”

“Not even against outsiders like me?”

“Only thoroughly vetted people can enter the imperial palace. Even an outsider who doesn’t know this place exists wouldn’t stray this far if he had the slightest bit of common sense.”

“So you’re saying I’m an idiot with no common sense?”

“Thank you for saying it yourself.”

She got me there.

But thanks to what she’d said earlier, I thought I could guess where I’d wandered by chance.

“Does the reason no one comes here have something to do with what happened a little over ten years ago?”

“……!”

“Your face tells me I’m right.”

So Gyo’s expression, composed until now, shifted ever so slightly. She regarded me with surprise, then gave a small nod.

“You’re more perceptive than you look.”

“This time, I think you meant as perceptive as I look.”

“I said it right. Just like a moment ago.”

Rather than snap back, I took another look at the desolate grounds.

So this is the place.

Something had seemed wrong from the moment I saw it. There was no one around, and the grounds had been neglected to an almost shocking degree.

But now I understood, at least somewhat.

If this was where the late Emperor and his direct descendants had been confined after the rebellion more than ten years ago, no one in the imperial palace would dare come near it.

But…

“Why are you here?”

That part made no sense. Why would So Gyo, one of the Emperor’s loyal followers, come to a place that was practically his sorest point? And why had she answered my questions so readily when I was all but her enemy?

“Don’t tell me…”

“I didn’t follow you. I thought we’d meet again soon, but I never expected it to be here.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Well…”

I was at a loss for words and could only smack my lips. Then So Gyo, who had been watching me with composed eyes, suddenly spoke.

“Answer one question honestly, and I might tell you.”

“What?”

“I promise.”

What the hell was this woman after?

I thought it over for a moment, but I didn’t hesitate long. There was something I really wanted to know.

“In exchange, can I ask you something else?”

“Of course.”

I still couldn’t read what lay behind her calm expression. I frowned at her, then let out a small sigh.

“Let’s hear your question first. What do you want to know?”

“It’s simple.”

Her next words left me even more confused than before.

“How long have you been learning martial arts?”

“What…?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I asked when you started learning martial arts.”

For a moment, all I could do was blink.

Her question was so far from anything I’d expected that I’d been keeping my expression in check for nothing. I’d been prepared for something like How deep are you in with Ma Sanbao? Instead, the tension drained out of me, leaving only bewilderment.

“No, why would you suddenly ask that…?”

“Have you already forgotten our conversation a moment ago? You only need to answer honestly.”

She had a point.

I could tell her the truth. I had no idea why she wanted to know, but the answer couldn’t hurt me or any of my allies.

The problem was…

Who’d believe me?

I’d spent my time going back and forth between Murim and the modern world. Even adding the time I’d spent in both worlds together, it came to barely two years.

Who would believe I’d reached my current realm in just two years?

Even the handful of people who knew the truth hadn’t fully believed it. They’d simply let it pass, thinking there must be some circumstances behind it.

Even Jeok Cheongang, who’d watched me more closely and for longer than anyone else.

He didn’t fully accept it until he learned about the System and the modern world.

The idea that a Third Rate punk steeped in pleasure had become a Supreme Peak master who shook the Central Plains in only two years was simply beyond the bounds of what anyone could accept.

That was why rumors nowhere near the truth had become accepted as fact.

—Jin Taekyung is a secret weapon the Jin Family of Taiyuan raised at the cost of the family’s survival.

—They had him pretend to be a layabout from an early age so he wouldn’t catch the eye of the Mount Heng Sword Sect or the Head Elder.

—They funneled money to him under the pretense of paying a pleasure house. God knows how many elixirs they bought him with it. Jin Taekyung has three legs, they say.

That last one was a little strange, but anyway.

Rumors like that hadn’t sprung up for no reason. Becoming a Supreme Peak master in two years was impossible even if the heavens split in two, so the wild stories had quickly hardened into accepted fact. That suited me.

If I told the truth outright, I could be branded an irredeemable practitioner of demonic, heterodox arts—or worse, an enemy of all Murim who’d mastered terrifying demonic martial arts.

And if I tell So Gyo the truth, she won’t believe me anyway.

As far as I could tell, she was a First Rate martial artist herself.

Sometimes what looks true matters more than the whole truth.

Like now.

“Fifteen years.”

I met So Gyo’s eyes without a flicker of change in my expression.

“The story going around is that I caught a tiger with a pinecone when I was one, and learned the art of shrinking space when I was two… but that’s a load of bullshit only idiots believe. Going by the memories I still have, it’s been about fifteen years.”

So Gyo murmured, “Fifteen years.”

“You might not know this, but I have a brother just a few years older than me. I trained hard while he knocked me around. I had talent, too, of course.”

“Like Cheongpung, the Huashan Divine Dragon?”

“Right. Cheongpung—wait. You know him? Even his title?”

“I know far more than you think. I’ve kept up with news from Murim.”

“No, I mean, why would you need to?”

“There’s someone I need to find. Someone I absolutely must find.”

So Gyo answered calmly and turned away.

Or rather, she was about to when I shot out an arm as fast as lightning.

“I answered, so you need to keep your promise—”

And then—

Swish. Rustle.

A breeze passed between us.

“Huh?”

I stood frozen like a statue, staring dumbly at the hem of her robe as it brushed past my fingertips.

What was that?

I hadn’t used my full strength, but I’d moved more than fast enough to catch a First Rate martial artist.

Yet So Gyo had slipped past my hand with a movement technique so smooth she seemed to glide. As though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Was that just my imagination? Or…

A thought took shape in my mind, and the blood in my body seemed to turn cold. I glared at So Gyo, my eyes sinking deep.

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I can do quite a few things. Just as you can see.”

“Your movement technique is definitely beyond First Rate… Are you good at lying, getting under people’s skin, and running off, too?”

“Lying? I don’t think you’re in a position to accuse me of that.”

“What?”

“You said you’ve been learning martial arts for fifteen years. Every word of it was a lie.”

“……!”

“Don’t underestimate the imperial family’s intelligence network. That’s why I’m staying here, too.”

A chill ran down my spine.

Her calm eyes seemed to pierce straight through me. And I had a feeling So Gyo wasn’t merely one of the Emperor’s loyal followers.

“You… what are you, exactly?”

Ssshhh.

Three jiazi² of Scorching Yang Qi heated the air around me.