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“Ugh, I don’t wanna!”

“….”

The spirit stiffened at my words. Despite the veil covering her face, her expression was predictably frustrated.

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I don’t like it.”

She seemed flustered, scratching her cheek as if lost for words.

“I understand the situation well enough.”

I got it. The Duryeong’s appearance had turned the peaceful place into chaos.

I also knew that the Master of Mankye said someone would come to resolve this mess.

And it seemed that the so-called savior was referring to me.

I understood all of that.

“But I’m not a volunteer, you know?”

Sorry, but I was no hero.

“I’m not the kind of person who helps just because you asked me to.”

“…Huh?”

The spirit’s expression was dumbfounded, clearly not expecting my refusal. It seemed she hadn’t considered that I wouldn’t come to their aid.

“Uh, then… what do you want?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

I smirked as I said it.

“I don’t really expect anything from you, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to do something for nothing…”

I shifted my gaze, checking the entrance I came through.

“Think of something to persuade me. If I like it, I’ll help you out. Just this once, I might even do something that resembles saving you.”

“Aah… Great Being…”

The spirit hurriedly bowed her head again.

“But how do I go outside and get back in?”

Ignoring her, I asked the spirit.

“…What?”

“I need to step out for a moment. How do I come back in?”

“…”

“I’m not here just for this. I’m planning to return, so tell me clearly.”

“To exit… if you follow the path, you’ll see the exit. To return, you’ll need to come back through the same exit…”

“But?”

“If it becomes night… you won’t be able to enter until morning.”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”

I wasn’t planning on staying until nightfall anyway, so it wasn’t a bad situation.

“Then I’ll be off.”

I turned to look at the path ahead. At the same time, I said to the spirit,

“Think about what I said.”

“…Ah-.”

The spirit seemed about to add something to my words, but I didn’t listen and just walked away.

<Fwoosh—!>

My body burst into flames as I dashed down the path.

Following the spirit’s directions, I soon spotted something that looked like an exit.

It appeared guarded by a Gatekeeper, but I paid them no mind and barreled through.

“Hmm?”

<Fwoosh—!!!>

“Gah!?”

Before I could even react, I dashed past the Gatekeeper in a fiery blaze. I reached the massive door and pulled it open.

<Creeeak—!!!>

“Hey! What the—!”

The Gatekeeper reacted too late; I had already opened the door wide enough for me to slip through.

Before they could approach, I vaulted outside.

<Fwoosh.>

My flaming body burst forth from the Spirit’s Den and hovered in the air, taking in the rocky mountain again.

The mountain remained unchanged.

All I could see was rock. Feeling that, I immediately moved.

There was something I needed to confirm.

*

<Fwoosh—!!!>

Flames surged about, stretching countless tendrils.

They spun rapidly, fiercely releasing gouts of fire.

From within, tiny, thin threads of flame emerged and spread in all directions, resembling branches or roots.

Slowly, it began to seize control of the surroundings, densely expanding outward.

This was another form of Qi Perception, resembling the shape of flames.

I could now perceive the surroundings more accurately and delicately.

The Qi I generated engulfed most of Spirit Mountain.

“Hmm…”

All sorts of information flooded into my mind. I squinted as I processed each piece.

There was an abundance of information, but ultimately, there didn’t seem to be much significant.

It felt no different from what I sensed during the night.

‘Still nothing.’

The presence of living beings was still notably low. While I could feel some presence within the Spirit’s Den, outside of that,

‘It’s the same.’

There was no trace of any living beings elsewhere.

Should I spread out a bit more? I shook my head, pondering.

<Fwoosh—!!!!>

The branches that had spread swiftly returned to me. The flames engulfed them and infused them into my heart, allowing me to retrieve all the Qi I had dispersed and stop the flames.

“Hmm…”

I bit my thumb in thought.

“What’s going on?”

I didn’t understand. The mountain, of course, but more importantly,

“…I don’t know where the Duryeong went.”

I couldn’t even sense the presence of the Duryeong I had fought the previous night.

“I was trying to check.”

The Duryeong was said to move at night and not during the day.

If I could spot him in the daytime, it should be easier to deal with him. That’s why I came out here.

‘Where has he disappeared to?’

Until last night, the Duryeong’s presence had been strong, but right now, I couldn’t feel it at all.

Whether he sank into the earth or soared into the sky.

Or maybe he vanished beyond Spirit Mountain, I couldn’t tell.

‘Is this also some sort of power?’

I didn’t see it as merely a matter of being away. If what the spirit said was true, and he could only move at night,

‘He must have laid some kind of plan to keep safe during the day.’

It seemed that he had prepared something for situations like this.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment.

So, it really seems that easy methods won’t work.

At this rate,

‘I’ll have to check again at night.’

That meant I’d have to observe again when the moon rose, which was when the Duryeong would begin to act.

‘Is that even possible?’

Considering how the Duryeong had seemingly spotted me right away, I figured there would be some sort of setup for that as well.

‘If not, it’s impossible.’

It didn’t make sense to think he just found me by sheer skill.

‘There must be some kind of secret.’

It seemed there was a secret to his power.

The exceptional perception he held, the very reason I couldn’t sense him right now.

“…I’ll leave this for now.”

After pausing my search for the Duryeong, I wanted to resolve why I came outside.

“What are you doing?”

“…What the hell—!”

I was startled by a sudden voice.

“Yikes!”

It was none other than the Heavenly Demon.

“Make some noise for once! You scared me!”

“Sorry.”

She replied nonchalantly, her expression completely devoid of remorse.

‘Damn it.’

When did she get here?

I hadn’t noticed the Heavenly Demon approach. Had she appeared while I was temporarily dull from recovering my Qi?

If that were the case, it made sense.

‘…Indeed.’

I couldn’t help but wonder.

“…Where have you been this time?”

The Heavenly Demon, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. She had a tendency to do this, but it felt particularly strange now.

This wasn’t even the Hwasan Sect. Where on earth had she been roaming?

In response to my question, the Heavenly Demon replied with her usual impassive face.

“A stroll.”

“Are you kidding me? If you’re going to make an excuse, at least put some effort into it.”

That was a ridiculous claim.

“…I’m serious.”

“Yeah, right. Do you seriously think this place is good for a stroll?”

In a place full of rocks, who would think of taking a walk?

A passing dog would laugh at that.

“Cut the crap. What did you come here for?”

“…”

The Heavenly Demon didn’t answer.

Seeing this, I frowned.

“Aren’t you going to respond?”

It was already a suspicious situation, and her silence only fueled my irritation.

What’s her deal? Did she sneak off to do something without me?

Doubt began to bubble up, and I was about to step closer when she finally spoke.

“…I went looking.”

“Looking for what?”

What could the Heavenly Demon possibly want to find here? Did she come to search for some oddly shaped rocks?

“The thing we saw yesterday. I went looking for that.”

“You mean…? The little brat?”

Was she saying she had come to track down the Duryeong? If that was the case, why would she do that?

I narrowed my eyes at the strange comment.

“No, not that.”

The Heavenly Demon shook her head, rejecting my assumption.

If it wasn’t the Duryeong, then what?

“Something else.”

“Something else…?”

Ah?

It clicked.

“You mean the one you said was hiding?”

“Yeah.”

While I was fighting the Duryeong, the Heavenly Demon had mentioned there was another entity that had been watching.

She claimed that was why she’d taken me away during the scuffle with the Duryeong.

‘So she was looking for that?’

If it was still around, lurking somewhere, then…

‘That means it escaped my Qi Perception.’

I had been scattering my Qi everywhere until just recently.

If something was hiding, that meant it hadn’t been detected by my perception.

Feeling a slight sense of dread, I swallowed hard.

“But it wasn’t there.”

The Heavenly Demon’s comment made me involuntarily breathe a sigh of relief.

I frowned at that realization.

‘Idiot, why would I be relieved?’

What was I thinking, trusting the Heavenly Demon’s words just because she couldn’t find it?

While I pondered this ridiculousness, I felt a sharp pang at the back of my head.

“Why are you out here?”

The Heavenly Demon asked me.

“What?”

“Why are you out here?”

She seemed to be asking why I had come out of the Spirit’s Den.

“Similar reasons to you.”

I was looking for something.

Whether it was the Duryeong or something else.

Besides…

“It feels a bit uncomfortable in there.”

The Spirit Mountain, where the spirit dwelled.

I felt oddly uneasy around there.

It was ridiculous for them to expect my help without any hope, but on top of that,

‘There’s something there.’

There was definitely something about the Spirit Den and the spirit.

I made that judgment.

It was only natural because

‘The entity that’s supposed to resemble the Master…’

The being that was said to have been born imitating the Master undoubtedly

‘Has something hidden from me.’

Though it appeared to be extremely respectful, there was something it was concealing from me.

That continuous sense of unease was weighing on me.

 

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