---

Chapter 206: Sound and Smell

Sound and smell.

Light stretches out and pierces through the fog.

The scarlet hue feels truly alien.

It doesn’t shine brightly, yet it doesn’t not shine either.

This murky light is filled with clarity.

Indeed, it was a contradictory light.

“Why… is it like this?”

As I moved my feet cautiously, Nangong Bi-ah asked me from behind.

“Why, you see over there….”

My mouth stopped mid-question.

There was no way I could miss such bright light.

I squinted and asked Nangong Bi-ah.

“Can’t you see that?”

“•••?”

Nangong Bi-ah tilted her head as if she didn’t understand my question.

It looked like she genuinely couldn’t see it.

‘Is it just me who can see this?’

It meant I was the only one who could see such an obvious light.

[What do you keep looking at?]

‘Even Noya can’t see it.’

If even Noya, who was with me, couldn’t see it, then it must be the ability of the orb.

Whether that was true or not.

‘For now, it makes sense to follow it.’

There was currently no other option.

To find a way out in this insane fog, I had to try something.

‘My Qi perception has been rendered useless.’

My Qi was functioning fine, but using it to survey my surroundings wasn’t working properly.

It probably had something to do with the fog thickening all around.

‘Right, the fog that has persisted for hundreds of years can’t be normal.’

Given this situation, it was understandable that Black Night Palace established its main palace here.

Even if the main palace was located in Mudong Mountain Range.

It would be difficult to find it easily.

If there was even a formation set up, I wouldn’t be able to detect it.

I firmly grasped Nangong Bi-ah’s wrist from behind.

“Stay close.”

I raised my Qi perception as much as I could.

I couldn’t see clearly, but I could see somewhat.

It was only to the extent of what was right in front of me, but in an unfamiliar mountain range, even that was quite helpful.

Gripping Nangong Bi-ah’s arm, I cautiously moved forward.

Although I had abruptly grabbed her without explaining anything.

Nangong Bi-ah did not show any dissatisfaction.

Maybe she was just picking up on the fact that I was always a little directionally challenged.

After a long while of walking through the fog.

Normally, a few leaps would have sufficed.

But due to having to tread cautiously, my progress was nearly nonexistent.

[This is truly dreadful fog.]

‘Yes, it’s absolutely disgusting.’

[Is this the mark of a demon beast?]

‘Yes.’

This special mist emerged when the white-grade Demonic Gate opened in the past.

After the demon beast that burst out was killed, it left behind this mark.

Historically, the number of white-grade demon beasts is minuscule, and while we successfully sealed or eliminated them all.

The power of those beasts was such that they left traces in this world even after death.

Just like the fog of Mudong Mountain Range.

The frost sleeping in the North Sea also bore similar marks.

The boiling heat in the west was the same.

Even after death, influencing nature to that degree was ridiculous.

At this, Shin Noya clicked his tongue in discontent.

It seemed he was bothered by something.

[Tch, such creatures should clean up after themselves, but it really shows a lack of efficiency in their work.]

The fog enveloping an entire mountain range.

Noya was lamenting that after defeating the demon beasts, they hadn’t properly handled the aftermath.

Of course, defeating a singular white-grade demon beast was an immense achievement without a doubt.

But if Noya complained about it like that, I had to understand.

[Back in my day… after getting rid of such beasts, everything would be tidied up. Yet, these juniors… Aah, tsk tsk.]

In the past, during Shin Noya’s era battling the Blood Demon.

It was a time when the ranks of emerging demon beasts were exceptionally high.

Since Noya had actively wielded the Hwasan Sword God title.

He must have faced white-grade demon beasts before.

Let alone, there was an overwhelming amount of evidence in the world to prove so.

Just looking at Mudong Mountain Range now tells me that.

‘That makes sense.’

[Hmm? What’s with you? You actually agree with me, rookie?]

‘Exactly. Can’t you handle the aftermath better?’

[•••Hmm?]

Noya seemed puzzled by my words.

The demon responsible for turning this mountain range into this state is known as the Fog Dragon.

It was the creature that covered the mountain range in mist after its death.

It was also the white-grade demon beast that Hwasan Sword God Shin Cheol had exterminated.

[…]

As I conveyed this fact, Shin Noya fell silent for a while.

It seemed he realized how embarrassing the situation was.

Following the light for quite some time.

Walking alongside the now quiet Shin Noya and the originally reticent Nangong Bi-ah, we soon reached the end.

‘How much time has passed…?’

Due to the excessive fog, I couldn’t be sure, but seeing the dusk gradually creeping in predicted that night would soon fall.

Camping…

While it was possible, the situation wasn’t favorable.

For one, the Orb of Heavenly Road was rendered unusable.

The light was still guiding the way properly, however.

Even though the orb had returned to its original colors, I had no way of knowing what Gu Huibi was experiencing like before.

My field of vision remained unchanged.

This meant that.

‘Is there some problem?’

Perhaps the orb has a limit on usage.

But I believed that wasn’t the case at this moment.

Then, it could indicate an issue with Gu Huibi’s condition.

Ultimately, it was only a speculation that there could possibly be a problem.

Regardless, I found myself in a situation where I had lost what felt like the only viable information.

As such, I had to find a way to break through the circumstances somehow.

However, with the current situation, it wouldn’t be easy to advance.

This fog was naturally a problem, and with night falling.

It was truly a situation where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead.

‘The issue with the orb’s light is also a concern.’

A beam of light shone ahead as if to indicate the way.

But at some point, I felt as though it was swirling around me.

If the light was faulty, no, that wasn’t the case.

Rather, the light appeared to be functioning correctly but…

“Ehh…”

As I frowned while looking around, Nangong Bi-ah asked.

“What’s wrong…?”

“I think there’s a formation here.”

The atmosphere felt peculiar.

It was subtle enough that you couldn’t notice unless you concentrated.

Since I had fully expected a formation to be present from the beginning, I managed to catch onto the faint breach.

However.

‘How should I break in?’

That was the problem.

If this indeed was the main palace.

It wouldn’t be surprising if there were martial artists from Black Night Palace nearby, aside from the formation.

Hence, I had to be cautious and move.

In a circumference full of fog rendering my Qi perception useless.

The darkness obscuring what little sight I had left.

Even the tension from standing in the middle of nowhere.

‘This is the worst.’

Ha.

It was the ultimate horrible situation to the point of making me laugh.

But it was not the time to crawl on the ground led by my emotions.

‘I have to find a method.’

I used to be better at flailing about than anyone else.

So this was nothing to me now.

‘What should I try?’

If there’s a formation in front of me, can I break through it with force?

‘That’s impossible.’

In case I failed, I could easily draw attention to myself.

Moreover, even if, hypothetically, I could destroy the formation.

It would alert them due to the rebound from the formation collapsing.

‘Then what should I do?’

I had no expertise regarding formations.

Recalling my previous life.

‘….I could just break in back then.’

Most of my solutions were brutish methods, so they wouldn’t help now.

In my previous life, it was enough to just rip apart the formation and burn everything down after getting in.

Even before becoming a demon, when such things occurred, the Sleeping Dragon took care of it all.

Thinking about this made me realize once again how reckless I had been in my previous life.

‘For now…. should I buy some time?’

No matter how urgent the situation was, it was dark, and in the end, I had no immediate solutions.

Charging in recklessly would only lead to unforeseen circumstances.

‘…And I’m not alone.’

I had to evaluate things more rationally.

With my thoughts finishing, I spoke to Nangong Bi-ah who was behind me.

“For now, let’s find a safe spot and wait until daylight… hey, what are you doing?”

Nangong Bi-ah was sniffing the air as she looked around.

Seeing her absurd behavior, I hurriedly asked.

“What are you doing right now…?”

“Looking for… a smell….”

“A smell? What smell?”

Why is she acting like this?

While thinking that, I unconsciously began to sniff along with Nangong Bi-ah, but,

there was no special scent at all.

Only the distinct aroma of grass usually found in a forest lingered.

“What on earth is this smell you’re sensing…?”

Just as I was about to ask what was going on, suddenly.

Swoosh.

Nangong Bi-ah drew her sword.

Following that, her hair danced slightly as it was brushed by the wind.

In an instant, thunder Qi enveloped the sword, sending a tingling sensation around us.

I panicked and yelled at Nangong Bi-ah.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

Due to the nature of Thunder Qi, it was of course conspicuous.

And since the energy was particularly vivid, if she didn’t control it well, it would be easy for others to notice.

Despite my shout, Nangong Bi-ah stared unwaveringly at a single spot.

She quietly fixated on the void ahead.

“Here.”

“Here or whatever, just rein in your energy, or we’ll get caught…!”

Nangong Bi-ah seemed not to hear my words and without hesitation, she swung the sword imbued with Thunder Qi towards the air.

Then.

Swish.

“…!”

She merely cut through the air, yet a sound of something being sliced through echoed.

Simultaneously, a translucent barrier began to slowly descend in the air.

“…What is this?”

It was a situation that was utterly ridiculous.

As the transparent barrier connected with Nangong Bi-ah’s sword tip, a minuscule space was created.

It resembled a door in form.

“What the heck… how did you know about this?”

Seeing this, I asked Nangong Bi-ah.

…I could smell it.

Her words made me furrow my brow.

Because it was incomprehensible.

What Nangong Bi-ah just did was slice through the unstable gap in the formation.

Not only was there a risk of backfiring if her swing went wrong.

But the weaknesses in formations are inherently invisible to the human eye.

To not only find the weaknesses but also successfully slice it?

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but think of someone.

‘The Sleeping Dragon.’

The madman born from Wudang.

In my previous life, that guy used to solve formations like this as well.

Looking around, he would cut through the air and claim it was resolved.

It left quite the impression due to how incredibly annoying it was.

It was so baffling that I had even asked the Sleeping Dragon himself.

About how he did it.

In response, his answer was a joke.

– Just listen closely, and you’ll hear it.

– What am I supposed to be hearing? The sound of my inner garments tearing apart?

– That has been audible since earlier.

– This jerk…?

I remembered the moment of his laughter while looking at my face, which made me feel a little sick.

‘Setting that aside…’

Regardless, when comparing what Nangong Bi-ah just said.

– I can smell it.

– I can hear it.

It seemed eerily similar to the Sleeping Dragon’s case.

Nangong Bi-ah looked at me expectantly.

“Aren’t you… going in?”

The space created by Nangong Bi-ah was beginning to fill up slowly.

Since she hadn’t broken the formation but merely created a gap, it would probably refill.

Borrowing from what the Sleeping Dragon did in my previous life, once it was filled, I wouldn’t be able to recreate the same opening.

In that case, it indicated that they’d mostly catch on.

Seeing this, I realized there was no time to hesitate.

“…We have to go.”

I followed Nangong Bi-ah into the created space.

Once I entered, it was a place entirely different from outside the formation.

Stiff.

Time seemed to freeze as the Gungju paused mid-step.

“Gungju-nim?”

The elder, Taeeolgui, who was following behind called out to the Gungju.

“Ugh…”

The Gungju glanced around with a peculiar expression without answering.

Taeeolgui understood.

The direction the Gungju was looking at was not towards the palace’s wall, but rather the other side.

For a brief moment, the Gungju gazed over there, then quickly withdrew her gaze and faced forward again.

“…Taeeolgui.”

“Yes, Gungju-nim.”

“Later, let’s check the formation.”

“…Understood.”

Though Taeeolgui complied, he felt a sense of confusion rising within him.

‘Formation, huh.’

He had just checked it recently, so there shouldn’t be anything strange about it.

Why did the Gungju issue such orders?

Curiosity about her intentions quickly faded.

The elder merely had to follow the Gungju’s words.

The Gungju resumed her steps.

Naturally, she was heading towards ‘that’ room.

Sure enough, the Gungju found the room she had visited yesterday.

Approaching the door, she thought to herself.

‘By now, it should be over.’

At least a day’s worth of time should have been enough for that person to consume the flames.

As she neared her destination, she felt her heart thumping heavily in her chest.

She was filled with a yearning to present a more perfect form to her sky.

Kuwung!

The enormous door creaked open once again.

The Gungju stepped slowly into the room.

Bang!

The moment the Gungju entered, the door shut immediately behind her.

At that instant, she knelt and faced the heavens.

“O Sky… I….”

As the Gungju opened her mouth, she froze at the sight before her.

At the same time, a look of shock crossed her face.

Where darkness should have filled the space, light filled it instead.

A deep purple flame illuminated the room.

This flame was surely the sacred fire ignited by the heavens.

A voice echoed from the center of the flame.

“…Why is this book so difficult? Is there nothing else?”

“Book.”

“No, I mean, is there nothing besides this book?”

“None.”

“…You have a real knack for short replies. Didn’t I say to speak in more than two words?”

“None.”

“Good, well done.”

The one who should have vanished from this world long ago, Gu Huibi, was comfortably seated in the room.

And on Gu Huibi’s lap sat her heavens.

 

---