Raid?

I turned around bewilderedly to the servant at the sudden unexpected word.

“A raid?”

“Several masked men have jumped over the walls of the estate. The disciple of the master guarding the quarters where the young master and young ladies are staying told us to inform the others!”

My disciple guarding the quarters…..

‘That would be Ha Hyun?’

For a moment I feel dizzy.

No, it’s not ending with finding the eldest son, but things are escalating even further. I’m so bewildered I don’t know what the problem is to cause such an uproar. Didn’t I think it would feel like taking a bus when leaving Hwasan?

‘Wait, let’s get a grip.’

The situation is unfolding so unexpectedly and urgently that I unconsciously try to avoid reality.

I bit my lip hard and then released it, nodding to the servant.

“I should go there.”

“I know a quick way. Follow me!”

The plan I had made earlier is scrapped for now. I quickly followed behind the servant who was leading the way.

But after running for a while.

As my head, which had been bewildered by the sudden news, cooled a bit, reason gradually took the place of emotion that had stepped aside. I slowed my running pace little by little as I sensed an ominous feeling and looked around.

I didn’t know the overall layout of the estate, and I had strayed quite far from the center while searching for the eldest son, so I had been thinking somewhat carelessly.

‘I trusted him in a hurry when he said it was a quick way, but….’

Because of that, I was late in realizing.

This person was currently luring me towards the outskirts of the estate.

‘How long has it been since I couldn’t sense any presence?’

Come to think of it, I don’t know if the news of finding the eldest son had spread, but the torches that were burning here and there in the estate were no longer visible. Even the moon is hidden behind clouds, darkening the surroundings.

I gradually came to a stop.

When I stopped following, the servant who had been leading also stopped. Except for the faint sound of wind in the distance, it was quiet all around.

‘No matter how provocative the words used… to fall for such a trick.’

I sighed deeply inside as I gripped the sword handle firmly.

My heart beat faster and faster. It’s the pressure that comes from the fact that the opponent is human, and what I’m holding is a real sword that can take life depending on how it’s used.

But in this world, it’s troublesome to treat an enemy with respect. I had to gain the upper hand.

The moment the other person turned around.

‘Now.’

I immediately unsheathed my sword while surrounding it with inner energy, and at the same time swung it widely horizontally.

Bang!

The servant blocked my sword with his hand, as if he had expected me to do so, albeit barely by a hair’s breadth.

If he blocked a sword swung with inner energy and made a heavy noise instead of his wrist flying off, it means this person can handle inner energy at least as much as I can. That is, he’s a martial artist at the peak level.

‘Is he originally someone who uses fists?’

I’ve never faced a fist user before.

‘No, this is my first actual combat to begin with.’

My senses were on edge. But because I’ve only been doing sparring, I couldn’t grasp well when and how much to distribute inner energy. I’m trying my best to maintain a relaxed expression since it wouldn’t be good to show my nervousness, but I’m not sure if it looks convincing.

The opponent who had leapt back considerably touched his hand and muttered.

“Hmm, not bad.”

The voice was familiar.

As if to give me more certainty, even the clouds covering the moon moved aside at that moment, pouring moonlight onto the ground. The face illuminated beneath it was…..

“I’m a bit surprised. To think you’re already at the peak level, that’s fast?”

It was that fake eldest son I had seen a few hours ago.

“So that’s your true appearance after all?”

“That’s right. Looks quite good, doesn’t it?”

My sword had been pushed sideways a bit because the opponent had retreated. I straightened it again and kept my guard up, ready to attack at any moment, while staring at him silently.

Unlike me who was extremely tense, he seemed relaxed, just like when he was standing in front of Sabaek earlier.

“It doesn’t match the taste of the noble master. That’s a bit troublesome for me too…..”

While letting him ramble on as he pleased, I observed the opponent.

‘He said my progress was fast, but this guy is at least at my level too.’

Moreover, even among martial artists of the same level, there are naturally differences in skill arising from experience and learned martial arts. Unlike me for whom this is the first real combat, this person seemed accustomed to such confrontational situations.

“You don’t even want to exchange words with me?”

Before that, why is he acting so friendly?

“……You only say worthless things. What about the Sabaeks?”

“Ah.”

The opponent smiled brightly.

“So you think that’s valuable information. Well, they should be trapped in a formation by now. I’m also curious how quickly they’ll get out.”

Hearing his words, it seemed he had lured the Sabaeks and trapped them in a formation before coming back here. However, I couldn’t guess why he had done such a thing. Was there still something left to do in this estate?

‘No, perhaps.’

Could it be that the thing left to do was to confront me like this?

Sabaek had advised that it’s difficult or not worth trying to understand what’s going on in the minds of those who cause such problems, and it’s easier to think they just unfortunately tripped over a stone. I also think that advice is correct.

However, I can’t just gloss over it in a situation like this.

I quickly went over the events from this morning when I first encountered the fake eldest son until now.

The true appearance he showed only to me from the beginning. His behavior of pretending to know me twice afterwards while emphasizing ‘next’. Being skilled enough in sorcery to break through the formation set up by Yoo Sung Sabaek alone, and trap both Sabaeks in a formation at once.

‘An outstanding sorcerer targeting me.’

When summarized like that, one thing immediately comes to mind.

Some force that has been targeting me, ‘Ha Heun’, for as long as 6 years ago, though I still haven’t figured out the reason.

“Demonic cult.”

“Hmm?”

“You… you’re from the demonic cult.”

There was no answer. However, the fake eldest son smiled a little more brightly than before. That expression was saying yes.

Suddenly my hand holding the sword started to tremble. I couldn’t tell properly whether it was confusion at his attitude of seeming pleased despite being found out, anger, tension, or perhaps fear.

The only thing clear was that it was an agitation that shouldn’t be revealed during a confrontation.

I gripped the sword handle tighter to suppress the trembling. When I didn’t open my mouth, the opponent asked a question with the same smiling face.

“You’re not rushing at me right away. Is it because you think it’s fine since you directly removed the mental restraints I had placed? Then what about the annihilation of your family? You people are quite diligent about grudges, aren’t you?”

“……No matter how deep the grudge, I can’t do you any favors.”

I hesitated for a moment but answered without delay.

Obtaining this person’s head didn’t seem like it would resolve ‘Ha Heun’s’ grudge anyway. There was no guarantee I could get his head even if I rushed at him, so it was better to try to extract a little more information.

The demonic cult is ‘Ha Heun’s’ enemy, but the one currently being called Ha Heun was me.

So this person was also my enemy targeting me, threatening my safety.

Moreover, seeing that he had grasped even my recent situation, it meant that ‘that incident’ from 6 years ago wasn’t just a one-time act of evil by a pseudo-religious group. There was something about me that even I didn’t know.

Enough to still be investigating me after quite a long time had passed.

‘Maybe… Hwasan could be targeted because of me too.’

That was what I feared most.

I gritted my teeth and exhaled deeply. I need to act cautiously. While making that resolution in my mind, I slowly lowered my sword. I didn’t relax my tension so I could swing it at any time, but not as blatantly pointing the tip at the opponent as before.

“Your cultivation is deep.”

The thought that I didn’t need to lower my sword flashed through my mind for a moment, but soon I realized it wasn’t a bad choice.

“That’s fine. Now that you’ve lowered your sword, we can have a proper conversation.”

Come to think of it, this person had been obsessed with conversation since he was pretending to be the fake eldest son. It seems he was sincere about the topic.

“What do you want to say so badly?”

“I want to tell you some information that might be helpful.”

The opponent tilted his head slightly and said in a sing-song voice.

“Later, tell them to investigate a dark sect called Heukcheonmun.”

“Heukcheonmun? What’s its relationship with the demonic cult?”

“I’m telling you because there is no relationship. We shouldn’t associate the cult with such worthless things. I just intervened briefly to meet you.”

“What……”

For a moment I was speechless with disbelief.

Not only that self-awareness of speaking as if they were something great despite being a pseudo-religious group, but what bothered me more was the last thing he said.

‘Then how did he know I would come on this caravan at this particular time……’

My head turned cold.

Because the moment I raised the question, I realized almost simultaneously what the answer with the highest possibility was.

It’s not that ‘Hwasan could be targeted’.

It was clear that their hand had already reached there long ago.

‘Come to think of it, this person knows that I had a curse placed on me, and that I removed it myself.’

I was late in realizing.

Moreover, I had stayed cooped up in the sect for 6 years after joining, and this was the first time I had gone outside Hwaeum County this year. If he came to meet me matching the time and place this accurately, there was only one answer that could be derived.

“Did you… plant a spy in Hwasan?”

“I can’t answer that far.”

Unlike his words pretending to be troubled, the opponent had a smiling face. Just like earlier when I tried to confirm his identity.

As if he had been hoping I would realize that fact quickly.

‘Who on earth, since when?’

Hwasan is a very large sect. Even though it’s in such a treacherous mountain, the inside of the sect is wide, and many people come and go.

Just the sect members alone number in the hundreds. If you add the porters who deliver food and daily necessities every three days, and the cooks who prepare the food, I couldn’t know how many there were in total.

‘……Calm down.’

Since I don’t know, I shouldn’t think about it further.

At least not now.

“Fine, if you can’t answer.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Don’t try to pull that kind of trick on me. I won’t distrust the people of the sect who raised me just because of words from the likes of you.”

I glared at the opponent and retorted.

I shouldn’t rashly suspect someone of being a spy like this. I’ll have to report in detail to the sect leader, but I didn’t want to take it upon myself to line up Hwasan’s people one by one next to the word ‘demonic cult spy’.

And the next moment, the expression of the person who had been smiling all along hardened for the first time.

“Hmm, sect……”

As if he didn’t quite understand, and at the same time as if he was displeased, he trailed off while glancing at the sword in my hand.

I unconsciously put more strength into the hand holding the sword.

There was still a lot of information I wanted to extract, but now that the opponent’s mood had soured, he might not be as cooperative in conversation as before.

The thought flashed through my mind that I didn’t know what words would make him feel better again, and even if I did know, I wasn’t in a good enough mood to act that way, so the confrontation should end here.

After briefly collecting myself, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Enough, now step aside. If you don’t retreat, I’ll take it as a challenge to fight.”

Come to think of it, I had already dragged out quite a bit of time. In this situation where I might die if I turned my back first and moved away, this was the only option.

“That’s not bad either, but……”

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, I attacked first.

I raised my sword and closed the distance in an instant to thrust, and the fake eldest son, who apparently hadn’t expected that far, widened his eyes and hurriedly retreated. A few strands of hair fluttered into the air.

Without hesitating, I immediately swung horizontally and dove in. As he countered with his hand surrounded by inner energy like before, the opponent asked in a voice tinged with laughter.

“Is it okay for a Taoist to do this?”

“I have no intention of being polite to the likes of you!”

Bang!

I lift my body and swing the sword down. The moment the opponent blocks, I let it slide off first, and as soon as my feet touch the ground, I take another step forward aiming for his neck.

Whether he originally used fists, or had no choice because he had no weapon, the opponent skillfully thwarted my attempts.

After several exchanges like that.

I was able to wipe the smile off his face, but couldn’t land an effective hit.

I leapt back greatly to create distance.

‘I didn’t think it would be easy, but……’

Simple suppression seems impossible. Perhaps the judgment that this was the only way was hasty too? If I charge in with the mindset of giving up self-defense and losing an arm or leg, if I truly resolve to kill this person, I might be able to gain the upper hand.

But am I really prepared for that?

At that moment, the opponent shook his hands a few times and opened his mouth.

“You don’t even need to be outstanding, but you’re better than expected. However, you haven’t used a real sword on a person yet.”

“……What?”

“I can tell that much by looking. Why are you hesitating so much? Are you scared? Indeed, it shows that you were raised gently in a Taoist sect.”

The opponent who had muttered crookedly suddenly narrowed his eyes and sighed.

“Your Sabaeks are returning. I was hoping to have a bit more time, but it’s a shame. In the end, I didn’t really find out anything. Since only I came, it’s hard to drag this out longer….. If it was going to be like this, I should have brought a few people along.”

The opponent who had been speaking suddenly came close. A hand surrounded by inner energy reaches out. I reflexively tried to dodge and block with my sword, but the next moment something unexpected happened.

“Oh dear.”

“What…!”

The blade was caught. The opponent had grabbed the sword with his hand. Though he too seemed to be in a hurry in his own way and used his entire palm rather than just his fingertips to grab it, I was still the one whose weapon had been caught, so I was more in trouble.

I widened my eyes, unable to hide my surprise, and then exerted force as if to shake it off while simultaneously scraping almost all my inner energy to fully infuse into the sword.

However, even as the blade dug into his grip, the opponent’s expression didn’t change at all.

Red blood flows down the arm, instantly soaking the sleeves. My sword was likewise stained red. In an instant, the pungent smell of blood spreads in all directions.

However, the wounded opponent seemed unconcerned, as if it wouldn’t matter even if his hand was cut off. The unfamiliar sensation of the blade cutting through another’s flesh seemed to crawl up my arm through my palm.

‘Can he not feel pain?’

It felt like facing the incomprehensible. Knowing I shouldn’t, my body still freezes. Only then did the opponent finally remove his hand, already standing right next to me.

“Now, I’ve been injured this much first, so you should feel a bit better. Even if not, stay still for now.”

The deeply cut, bleeding hand is thrust before my eyes as if to show off. Then, a cold fingertip touches below my eye.

“You wouldn’t want to go blind, would you?”

The next moment, a burning sensation engulfed both my eyeballs.

“Ugh…!”

“Ah, I had to extract it a bit hastily.”

The opponent casually remarked as he quickly withdrew his hand.

I reflexively covered my eyes. It wasn’t something a martial artist should do in front of an enemy, but then again, I had already gone wrong from the moment I let the enemy reach out his hand right in front of my face, no… from the moment I froze upon seeing some blood.

The burning sensation in my eyeballs quickly faded, but my mood plummeted regardless. More than anything else, the disappointment in myself was the greatest.

I had gained nothing from attacking first.

Because I was lacking.

I slowly removed my hands covering my eyes and asked.

“…What did you extract?”

Perhaps because blood from the cut wound had also smeared when his hand touched me, my palm looked red at a glance. As I slowly blinked and raised my head, the person who had already stepped back a few paces answered with feigned gentleness.

“My main ability.”

Right, he’s a sorcerer.

Suddenly, I remembered what Sabaek and Saju had said.

They had said that the sorcerer pretending to be the eldest son likely changed his appearance and did something separately to my eyes to allow me to see his true form. It seems that was true.

“When did you put it in?”

“You know what I mean?”

“Answer me.”

“Almost immediately after you arrived at this estate.”

“Ha……”

I lowered my sword and sighed. Though I didn’t want to believe it, something came to mind as soon as I heard it, making me realize his words were true.

When I was guided to the quarters I’d use as lodging after arriving at the estate, I clearly felt an inexplicable discomfort from the blowing wind. I even remember my eyes feeling a bit uncomfortable the next moment.

‘So it was from then.’

I know I shouldn’t be like this even if the enemy retreated first with a gesture of no intent to attack, as long as we’re facing each other.

I know, but honestly, the feeling of dejection was quite severe.

Looking back on everything so far… at least until now, I had been moving on a board set up by him, or rather the demonic cult, no different.

‘I was careless. And still am.’

I gripped the lowered sword tightly again, but I knew best that it was actually meaningless. If he had attacked instead of staying still just now, I would already be dead.

When I was peacefully training with the sword at Hwasan, I had never felt this sense of crisis or dejection. Because on that dizzyingly high mountain filled with people favorable to me, you can’t see below the clouds.

‘So I had the leisure to think things like whether the sword is too great a power to be given to an individual.’

The talent I possessed, which all the adults praised and I too clearly felt, wasn’t even properly used in actual combat like this. If his purpose had been to kill me rather than meet me, I would already be a corpse.

Perhaps it was a predictable situation, given that my only goals were to safely become an adult, to find the owner of this body, just that much.

After all, I had lived vaguely thinking that if I could just safely endure the year ‘Ha Heun’ died in the original work, anything would be possible, that I should think more about what comes after once I avoid death.

“Looks like your mood has soured a bit?”

“If you’re going, leave quickly.”

“Hearing harsh words from a Taoist’s mouth too, how interesting. I should do as you wish. But before that, let me just say this last thing. About your disciple……”

The opponent smiled faintly.

“The part about being attacked is true?”

“What?”

I asked reflexively, but he seemed to have said all he wanted to say, reaching into his sleeve with a light expression. Thinking he might have hidden a weapon, I leapt back, and immediately some unknown powder was scattered like mist in all directions from his hand.

“This is to tell you not to think of chasing, so go ahead. Let’s meet again next time.”

The powder particles must be quite small, as they spread quickly and over a wide range.

At first, I thought it was just to create a smoke screen effect. But before long, I witnessed the grass on the ground that the powder touched soon turning yellow.

It was poison.

“No……”

I hurriedly stepped back further, covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve. In the meantime, the sorcerer from the demonic cult, who had been pretending to be the eldest son of the clan leader for who knows how long, had already disappeared from sight over the wall.

“Are you crazy?”

Even for the demonic cult, spreading poison while escaping? Just to prevent being chased?

I bit my lip hard as I quickly memorized the surrounding buildings and such in my head. Since I couldn’t purify it immediately, I needed to remember the location properly so the servants working here wouldn’t suffer unexpected harm later.

And as soon as I was certain I had remembered all the locations, I turned around.

As I ran out, I recalled the sorcerer I had just faced. Reflecting on his attitude, it was clearly contradictory.

‘He was strangely… kind to me.’

It was certain that kindness didn’t stem from pure goodwill, and because of that, there was something twisted about it.

But if I didn’t try to understand the minds of strange people as Sabaek said, it was also true that I had obtained information worth checking, like Heukcheonmun.

The same goes for the last words he threw before leaving.

‘He said it was true that Ha Hyun was attacked.’

Of course, I know now. That there’s not much possibility I can help by going there.

But that doesn’t mean I can just stand here blankly. Checking if my disciple is unharmed is still the right thing to do.

I started running back along the path I had been led on by the fake eldest son pretending to be a servant.

I had come from the outskirts of the estate where I found the real eldest son to an even more remote corner, so if I go in the opposite direction, I should come across something. Feeling I needed to resolve my sunken mood before encountering anyone, I deliberately put more strength into my feet striking the ground.

After a few minutes like that.

Fortunately, it seems I had taken the right direction, as the sound of people murmuring began to faintly reach my ears without me realizing. Following that commotion, I passed a few more pavilions when I slowly began to notice something strange.

For some reason, the shouts of people I could hear were filled with urgency and anxiety. Come to think of it, there was a burning smell mixed in the air.

Above all, despite it still being deep night, the surroundings were…

‘Bright?’

I belatedly realized this fact and raised my head. A flame so huge entered my view that I could hardly believe I had just noticed it.

“……They even set fire.”

Beyond the wall about as high as I stand, a large pavilion was burning.