Old Dog
Rustle.
Black ashes scattered away.
It was because my purposely uncontrolled flas swept through the surrounding area.
KKill
After hearing the bastard beg desperately, I granted his wish.
Crack.
The bastard died as I twisted his neck.
Even if I had left him be, his demise was inevitable.
Its not so easy for to control my power since its been a while.
If it were the old , I would have used just enough strength to tornt slowly, not kill.
However, that was too difficult for at this ti.
[Youve turned this place into a small battlefield.]
Elder Shin spoke, surveying the aftermath.
A battlefield, huh?
It does sowhat feel that way.
Lingering flas, tinged with a peculiar green hue, flickered, casting an eerie glow.
And the stench of the unknown emanated from the corpses claid by the fire.
One of them had completely disintegrated into dust when I absorbed all its energy and the remaining five guys had their life ended by becoming ashes.
Moreover, since there was another guy that I t earlier which I turned into dust, there were a total of seven of them.
How many guys like these are there?
I knew that it wasnt just one, but to think that there were more than two bastards who were able to change their appearances into whoever they wanted.
This was a fact that I did not know of in my past life.
Did I get rid of them all, at least for now?
The fiery demise I bestowed upon them was far from a peaceful end.
Yet, my furrowed brow betrayed my lingering discontent.
It wasnt because I felt bad that I killed them with my own hands.
Too much ti had passed for to feel any emotion from that.
I didnt get much out of this.
That was why I was still upset.
There were five mouths that I was able to get information from, but the details that I got out of them were barely anything.
Its not that they didnt speak at all, rather, they failed to provide the specifics I sought.
Though its more likely that they couldnt speak about it at all.
That annoying Shackle.
I knew that the ones who had important secrets were basically required to have it on them.
As such, the complexities of the situation made it impossible for to get any information out of them.
The only thing I got is that they are indeed from the Gu Clan.
I didnt recognize their faces when I looked at them, but that wasnt the important part.
Because it wasnt like I knew the faces of all the martial artists of my clan.
However, that unique energy around them definitely belonged to Gu Sunmoon.
It was the unique Qi of Gu Sunmoon that Gu Jeolyub and the First Elder had.
It differed from the Destructive Fla Qi unique to the direct bloodlines of Gu Clan.
This was the information I got from the third guy after I burnt the second guy alive.
This was also sothing I expected, so it wasnt actually that helpful.
But, why were they working together with other strange bastards?
The reason why I wasnt able to get information on this was because they themselves did not know as well.
They were re pawns following orders from higher authorities, believing they wore masks to conceal their identities.
And there is also the possibility of this being a lie.
It wasnt completely impossible, but the prospect held minimal credibility.
My focus wasnt on deciphering why I, a direct blood relative, was treated as such.
After all, there was no way that I had trust in that man in a world where it was hard for anyone to even trust their own blood relatives.
The important thing, in the end, is that I couldnt get any real information out of them.
I did get so useful information, but I wasnt able to get the most important parts of it.
I wasnt able to confirm that all of this was caused by the First Elder.
It would be so much easier if I could get rid of their shackle.
To break the shackle cast on another person, the one breaking it had to have a higher martial realm than the one that had put it on them.
And one also needed to have an extrely precise use of Qi.
I couldnt even think of attempting such things at my current level.
And because I had a habit of using an absurd amount of Qi in fights since my past life, I wasnt good at using it precisely.
That bastard is better at this stuff than .
The crazy dog of the Wudang Clan who showed interest in the Shackle.
The Water Dragon of Wudang seed more fitting to break it than .
Tsk.
I got up after clicking my tongue.
At the sa ti that I got up, I retrieved all the Qi that I had scattered out to the nearby area.
Whoosh!
Along with a light breeze and Qi entering my body, the flas around disappeared.
I wasnt able to get any excuse I could use from this, but it didnt matter.
I could just make up one if I have to.
The important thing, in the end, was that he had finally started to show his fangs to .
Even though I gave him a pretty clear warning.
I rembered telling the old fox what happens to a pet showing its fangs to its owner, but it seed like he didnt get the ssage.
[Are you thinking of getting rid of him? That old man?]
To answer Elder Shins question, I had to think for a bit.
I wanted to leave him alive until next year but what can I do if he cos at like this?
Even if he did sothing, I was thinking of letting it slide unless it was a big deal.
But he crossed the line with this one, that First Elder.
I couldnt let it pass after seeing him try to harm Namgung Bi-ah.
[So, youre saying you were okay letting him go until he went after your bride?]
I ant I cant let him pass because he went after people close to . Why twist my words?
[Youre not even comnting about the fact that I called her your bride, you rotting piece of shit.]
I knew that he was only going to continue cursing at if I argued with him about this, so I decided to ignore him for now.
I brushed off the dust on my body and looked around.
Not even demons would try to eat this.
The corpses that turned black after burning were in a state so bad to the point that even demons wouldnt want a taste of it.
I reduced my sharpened senses just in case, but right as I was about to go back to the camp.
I felt a presence behind .
Ah.
When I turned around to see who it was, it was Namgung Bi-ah, who had gone to the camp first.
She said that she would co back, and she kept her word.
I stared at Namgung Bi-ah and asked.
Why did you co? I was just about to leave.
To my words, Namgung Bi-ah only quietly panted, without giving any response.
It seed like she ca in an extre hurry, because her hair, which was nicely tidied up by a servant, had turned into a ss.
And furthermore, when seeing the leaves that were stuck in her hair, it reminded of when I first t her.
Did she co in a hurry?
When I started to have that thought, Namgung Bi-ah asked .
Are you okay?
I nodded to Namgung Bi-ahs question.
Its not like I had any injuries anywhere, so didnt I look fine?
Im a bit past the ti of getting beaten up.
I said in a joking manner, but Namgung Bi-ah ca toward , poking in various places, unconvinced.
Jeez, whats up with you?
You might be hurt.
Im fine. And I told you to protect her there.
And why did you choose to poke if you were trying to check if I was okay?
When I spoke after slightly backing up, Namgung Bi-ah responded, slightly avoiding eye contact.
Nothing happened.
Well, thats good.
Though I was already certain that their target wasnt in the camp to begin with.
It seems like it wasnt an assassination attempt after all.
Too many things didnt add up for it to be an assassination.
Firstly, the people they sent were too weak for such a mission.
If theyd been tailing since Hanam, they would have all the information about because of the performance I displayed back in the tournant.
This ant that they couldnt just afford to make a party of only First-Rate martial artists.
Of course, they seed well-trained in shadowing, but assassinating was a whole different story.
If they wanted to assassinate rather than shadow , theyd need much more preparation.
Though I doubt that they thought Namgung Bi-ah and I would catch them.
I was an exception, but I was just shocked that Namgung Bi-ah could also figure it out.
I borrowed power from the treasure, but I couldnt understand Namgung Bi-ah, who was able to see through their real identity all by herself.
How did you know that it wasnt Muyeon?
Hmm?
I was just shocked that you were so certain.
Not only was he wearing the sa uniform, but even the appearance and the aura felt the sa as Muyeons.
The energy inside the body might have been different, but that was impossible to know unless she placed her hand directly on his body or she had reached the Transcendence Realm of martial arts.
Namgung Bi-ah rolled her pearl-like eyes around at my question.
He slled different.
Then she answered with that.
Sll?
When I looked at Namgung Bi-ah after she gave that very unexpected answer, I saw her gazing around, not at .
After surveying the blackened land and the corpses that died by my hands, she finally looked at .
Despite the seemingly emotionless appearance, there was sothing in her eyes right now.
Although I didnt know what emotion she had because it was so small for to discern.
Im cold.
Hmm?
All of a sudden?
Lets go back now.
Namgung Bi-ah ca toward , grabbed my hand and started to pull .
I was shocked by her sudden act, but I didnt push her back.
Where are we going?
To my question, Namgung Bi-ah stopped her feet.
Where people are?
When I saw Namgung Bi-ah answer as if it were obvious, I let out a sigh.
Then we have to go in the other direction, dummy.
Oh!
As soon as she heard my response, she changed directions.
But the problem was she still got the direction wrong, so in the end, I was the one who led her back to the camp.
********************
Young Master!
As soon as we returned, Wi Seol-Ah ran toward and embraced .
And because she ran at at a very fast speed, I had to catch her carefully so she didnt get hurt.
Are you okay?
You can see that I am.
After catching Wi Seol-Ah, I looked around.
It was to see if anything happened here, but thankfully, nothing seed to have happened here as I expected.
However, everyone seed more alert than before.
Its most likely because Namgung Bi-ah told them about it.
The escorts of my clan, and even those from the Tang Clan, seed to have heightened senses.
Tang Soyeol, noticing from a distance, approached.
Young Master Gu. I heard you were ambushed You are okay, right?
It wasnt really dangerous. Nothing much happened here, right?
Yes, we only heard the news, and no problem occurred here. And the ones that ambushed you
I killed them all. I tried making them speak, but it wasnt easy because they had shackles on them.
I stated plainly, causing those around to flinch in shock.
It seed like they were taken aback by the fact that I, at my young age, had taken lives.
Damn it.
Then, Tang Soyeol frowned with concern.
Whats wrong?
It wouldve been easier if I was there so Im a bit sad about it. If you have the chance to catch them next ti, please bring them to .
What will you do if I bring them?
Pardon?
I asked her because I found her request strange, but she just responded with a smile.
Jeez How could you ask such a thing! Its a secret secret.
Her shy smile, combined with that response, made her appear oddly scary.
I couldnt ask any further because Tang Soyeol insisted it was a secret.
Was it because Id been close to her for a while? I totally forgot what clan Tang Soyeol was from.
The Tang Clan of Sichuan, one of the Four Noble Clans, was one of the Orthodox Faction that specialized in poison, steel, assassination arts, and torture.
While it was said that such practices had diminished in the era of peace, martial artists knew otherwise.
After all, even Tang Soyeols older brother, who was the Young Lord of the clan, was doing so inhumane things for the sake of peace.
Is Tang Soyeol also like that?
I didnt know much about Tang Soyeol in the past, but now I couldnt dismiss the possibility that she might share traits with her clan.
I first put aside Tang Soyeol, who was sad that she couldnt be there to make them talk.
Right as I was about to think of how I should continue this trip,
Young Master!
Hmm?
Muyeon hurriedly ran towards .
It was the real Muyeon this ti.
As he appeared in the camp, those around us drew their swords and remained on high alert.
It seed like Namgung Bi-ah had inford them about the earlier incident.
!
And Muyeon seed to be shocked at what just happened.
Then I walked toward Muyeon without any concerns.
Young Master, wait!
An escort, who was on guard, tried to stop , but before the escort could get a hold of , I went toward Muyeon first.
Thankfully, Muyeon didnt seem to have been ambushed like Namgung Bi-ah did.
I asked Muyeon.
Where were you?
Huh?
Muyeon wore a confused expression in response to my question.
Why was he making that face?
As I stared at him for an answer, Muyeon began speaking in a bewildered tone.
Young Master said that you had sothing to say to , so we climbed the mountain together.
I did?
I frowned after hearing Muyeon.
After all, I obviously didnt ask him such a thing.
Yes However, you told to wait for a bit, then disappeared and never ca back So I was wandering around looking for you.
Ha.
I couldnt help but burst into laughter upon hearing Muyeon.
Because now I felt like I understood a little why the First Elder did such a pointless thing.
Wow, this crazy old man.
Young Master?
The fact that soone with my appearance pulled Muyeon away from .
The fact that they tried to harm with Muyeons appearance
And the fact that they tried ambushing Namgung Bi-ah when it was guaranteed to fail
I began to feel more annoyed as I grasped why he resorted to such thods.
It seed he aid to sow seeds of mistrust among those around .
And if my hunch was correct, the First Elder was a far more cunning and devious man than I had thought.
But thanks to that, I felt more relieved.
Because the tiny lingering hesitation disappeared after that.
Im going to kill him.
I had to take the old dog out myself since he dared to show his fangs to his owner without understanding his place.
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