‘If Dang Mun Gi knows, then grandfather must have also noticed.’

That I am getting stronger at an unusually fast pace.

However, Dang Mun Gi, who seemed interested for a moment, turned away as if he had lost interest.

It was as if he had grown tired of everything.

“Yes, what would be important? It is all meaningless.”

His appearance suddenly reminded me of Dang Hwa Ryeong in her childhood. Dang Mun Gi looked exhausted.

I asked Dang Mun Gi.

“Are you really not interested?”

Dang Mun Gi stiffened his mouth.

His sharp gaze turned towards me. The momentum of the old master was fierce.

Moreover, he was the head of the great Dang family clan. It was not yet something I could handle.

[Don’t worry.]

But I felt the warm energy resonating within me.

I met Dang Mun Gi’s eyes without shrinking back.

For a fleeting moment, I had the illusion that his eyes sparkled.

“Don’t follow me. Next time you catch my eye, I won’t let it slide.”

Saying that, Dang Mun Gi left his seat.

[Author, it seems he doesn’t have much life left.]

‘Not much life left?’

[Yes, even masters are bound to die. Sometimes they undergo a transformation and live a bit longer, but still.]

Was it because Dang Mun Gi didn’t have much life left that he didn’t step up?

It was something I couldn’t know unless he told me himself.

‘Because it was something he couldn’t finish even if he stepped up?’

Before that, Dang Mun Gi would die.

‘In the original work, it was said that Dang Mun Gi would disappear soon.’

But was there a description that he died? I couldn’t remember.

I quietly watched Dang Mun Gi’s back. He was a fearless master, one of the top ten in the world.

Yet his back looked somehow lonely.

[This is the timeline separator]

The second day passed uneventfully without any special incidents. Except for Peng Su Hyun constantly following me to buy me a drink.

“Lady Nam Gung, please let me pay the price for my rudeness.”

“It’s alright.”

“Ah, then how about a duel again?”

‘It’s not a misunderstanding that his purpose is more of a duel than a drink, right…?’

Unlike his younger brother Peng Jong Heon, he was really a magnanimous person.

‘That was the image of the Peng family in martial arts novels.’

The children here drink alcohol from a young age, but as a modern person, I was still reluctant to drink.

‘I still have a bit left until I’m of legal age in modern times…!’

It was the same for Je Gal Yu Hee.

‘Following Ji Cheon Wu and Dang Hwa Ryeong, Peng Su Hyun and Je Gal Yu Hee as well.’

Throughout the harmony gathering, they didn’t leave my side.

But there were some accomplishments.

I was able to get acquainted with people from the Five Great Clans and see if there were any suspicious people.

‘The most suspicious person was Dang Pung.’

And his mother, Peng Yeon Sim. I packed my luggage with a small suspicion in my heart.

‘The real deal starts now.’

I was planning to leave the harmony gathering site and set off on a journey with Sin So Gyeong.

I stopped packing and turned around.

“Why are you two following me? The harmony gathering isn’t even over yet. Aren’t you staying longer?”

At my question, Dang Hwa Ryeong and Ji Cheon Wu looked at each other.

‘Why isn’t Dang Hwa Ryeong staying with the Dang family and why isn’t Ji Cheon Wu leaving for the Demon Cult?’

Ji Cheon Wu glared at Dang Hwa Ryeong and asked.

“Right, does the first disciple of the Dang family have nothing to do?”

“You shouldn’t have time to wander around like this either.”

The two growled at each other.

‘If Sin So Gyeong gets involved there too…?’

My head was already dizzy.

“I received permission from the Cult Leader. He told me to run wild and come back.”

I glanced to the side.

I could see the Demon Cult warriors who followed Ji Cheon Wu looking conscious.

‘What Ji Cheon Wu said is true.’

I decided not to think about what it meant to run wild…

“What does that have to do with following Lady Nam Gung?”

Ji Cheon Wu grinned victoriously at Dang Hwa Ryeong’s words.

“You still call her Lady Nam Gung…?”

I was amazed.

It didn’t seem like even children would fight like that.

At Ji Cheon Wu’s reaction, Dang Hwa Ryeong asked me.

“Can I call you Lin too?”

I could see Ji Cheon Wu fiercely glaring at Dang Hwa Ryeong.

I nodded my head.

Then I could see Ji Cheon Wu’s face becoming sullen.

It was a completely different look from when he was glaring at Dang Hwa Ryeong. Dang Hwa Ryeong raised one corner of his mouth with a triumphant face.

‘Nothing has changed at all…!’

The guys haven’t grown at all.

‘Mentally!’

That’s when it happened.

Je Gal Yu Hee appeared, spitting out a loud voice.

“Lady Nam Gung!”

Ignoring the two people in front, Je Gal Yu Hee ran towards me with a thud.

This was also different from the original work. Je Gal Yu Hee didn’t seem interested in Ji Cheon Wu at all.

The dagger uncle teasingly spoke.

[It seems she has fallen for you, not Ji Cheon Wu.]

Je Gal Yu Hee grabbed my hand and sent me a desperate look.

“Lady Nam Gung! You’re leaving already? It would be nice to go together on the way.”

Anhui, where the Nam Gung Clan is located, and Hubei Province, where the Je Gal Clan is located, were on the same way.

“I only thought about leaving with Lady Nam Gung…!”

Je Gal Yu Hee kept shedding tears.

“You must come visit our clan next time!”

“Yes, I’ll go if I have time.”

“I’ll wait for the day we meet again.”

Je Gal Yu Hee nodded, saying that.

I gave her an awkward smile and left the harmony gathering site.

[This is the timeline separator]

The meeting between Ji Cheon Wu and Sin So Gyeong was plain.

“Your divine power has become clearer.”

“You haven’t changed at all.”

The two didn’t look happy to see each other at all.

‘How did it come to this?’

[It’s because they both like you more.]

Still, it wasn’t a bad journey.

Because Ji Cheon Wu and Dang Hwa Ryeong stopped fighting once the schedule started.

Actually, I didn’t tell Je Gal Yu Hee, but my goal was Hubei Province.

To be exact, I was planning to go to the White Dragon Guild located in Hubei Province.

‘The White Dragon Guild is one of the top five guilds in the world.’

And it was the wealthiest in Hubei.

But not long after the Heavenly Demon Cult rises, it begins to walk the path of downfall.

[Why does it walk the path of downfall?]

I answered the dagger uncle’s question.

‘The White Dragon Guild Leader had two sons. Like Dang Hwa Ryeong, they have different mothers.’

[Well, it’s common.]

The White Dragon Guild Leader also lost his first wife and welcomed a second wife.

‘Among the two sons, the eldest was superior in talent.’

In the heart of the White Dragon Guild Leader, the successor was the eldest son.

However, his eldest son eventually fails to inherit the White Dragon Guild.

Because the son of the White Dragon Guild Leader dies while wandering.

‘There is a martial artist afflicted with loneliness who kept harassing Ji Cheon Wu.’

From there, ‘that person’ will begin to appear.

‘Remember the martial artist afflicted with loneliness we met a long time ago?’

[I remember. It’s scary to think about how much stronger he has become by now.]

The martial artist afflicted with loneliness was strong.

‘He must have been strong even before being afflicted with loneliness.’

If he had seriously confronted me, it would have been difficult to return unscathed from that place.

‘I think I will meet him this time.’

[You’re saying that guy will appear this time?]

‘Yes, if he is the person I know.’

The White Dragon Guild Leader cherished his son very much. The one who stepped forward as his guard was Jang Jeon Sang, one of the top martial artists in Honam.

Perhaps the White Dragon Guild Leader never thought that his son would be threatened.

But the one who confronted him was too strong.

And… I had been waiting for this day. Because I was always curious about why that martial artist couldn’t kill me.

‘Why did he kill the Blood-Sucking Twins? And saved me.’

[….]

‘I was always curious. So I hope the person I meet this time is him.’

I had a feeling that I wanted the person I was suspecting to be the one I met last time.

‘Strangely, I keep wanting to see that person. It bothers me.’

[Do you feel pity for him?]

‘No, I know I can’t save him anyway.’

In the future, he was called the Blood-Killing Demon (Hyeol-sal-gwi) in the Heavenly Demon Cult.

That’s how much damage he caused. Of course, it was before the Blood-Killing Demon fully started his activities.

‘I didn’t know his identity when I met him last time, but…’

If I meet him this time, he is someone who must not be allowed to live.

‘It’s from this White Dragon Guild incident that he begins to fully reveal himself.’

The dagger uncle spoke in a resolute tone.

[If you meet him this time, you may have to kill him.]

‘I’m prepared for that.’

The me of the past and the current me are different. Even if the dagger uncle uses my body, I won’t be impacted.

That’s how much stronger I have become.

[Back then, I also let him go considering your body.]

I nodded at the dagger uncle’s words. It was as he said.

Regardless of the Blood-Killing Demon sparing my life last time, if he shows mercy to the living in this incident, he cannot be allowed to live.

[You must not sympathize with those guys.]

The dagger uncle’s voice saying that had a hint of bitterness.

[Sympathizing won’t change anything.]

It was like he was talking to himself. The dagger uncle also ultimately failed to eliminate the Blood-Killing Demon in the past.

He spoke to me as if making a resolution.

[There will be no second mistake. If he is someone who will commit such evil deeds as you say, we can’t leave him be.]